Thank you for living your truth, @danielhowell. You've helped me live mine, too.
Image Description under the cut:
[illustrated YouTube notification: “Daniel Howell uploaded ‘Basically I’m Gay’”]
Five years ago today, I was lying on the couch in my family home, watching the words of a person I had grown to find pieces of myself in as he bared his soul to the world just to make somebody like me feel a little less alone.
[girl lying on her stomach on the couch, looking at phone]
He said something at the end of that video,
[Illustrated video screenshot of Dan saying “You are valid. It gets so much better.”]
And I’ll never forget hearing those words. Never forget drying my tears, quickly, before my parents came back.
[Three panels: girl wiping tears from face, putting phone down, silhouette walking through front door]
See, the girl on that couch was planning far, far away futures. She couldn’t believe his words just yet, but now she could hope to.
[open shoebox with rainbow flag inside]
Five years later, today, I wish I could tell her:
You don’t have to move halfway across the country to set a flag out on your desk.
[school building and stack of books]
Your parents are coming over tomorrow to help bring you home for the summer. (They’re only an hour’s car ride away.)
[cartoon sun and car]
And see that?
[rainbow flag in a mug with a cat whiskers design]
Yeah, that’s the one decoration you haven’t packed yet.
And that something he said at the end of the video, I still quote it to this day.
[computer playing the Dan birthday livestream with "Misty" on a Zoom call in the corner]
Better yet, I believe it now.
[same girl, older and with shorter hair, holding mug with flag and looking back at someone off-camera that’s saying “Ready to go home?”]
Happy five years of Basically, I’m Gay!
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“Baby,” Lance says.
Keith snorts, loud and uncaring. “God no, not in a million years.”
“Alright.” Lance scratches out a line on his pad of paper. “Does that mean babe’s out too?”
Keith wrinkles his nose. “It’s not the best but tolerable.”
“We’ll note that as a strong maybe.” In which Lance actually does mark down a quick note to the side of the list, and Keith catches himself from rolling his eyes.
For the past week, they’ve been staying at Lance’s family home in Cuba while they decide on their next steps in a post Voltron, post war world. They rest on the back patio, facing the backyard that really extends into open land far beyond them, neighbors a mile away at least. It’s quiet and beautiful and even when the commotion of Lance’s entire family is present, it’s one of Keith’s new favorite places in the world. They watch Lance’s niece and nephew for the afternoon while Lance’s older brother runs errands and Lance’s mother prepares dinner.
Keith angles his head closer to Lance, though he’s still mostly blocked by the small table between them, and gestures to the list. “Is this really necessary?”
“Pet names are important to me,” Lance replies with a quirk to the corner of his mouth. The summer breeze, fresh off the ocean and carrying a thin taste of salt, curls through his brown hair. “Mullet is great but I need at least one more that’s affectionate.”
Keith scrunches his nose.
The thing is, all of this is new to Keith. The peace, the stability, having a permanent place to call home again, and… their relationship. They’ve been dancing around each other for years, as their teammates love to complain about, but officially being together, having the ability to call Lance his partner, boyfriend, lover? That all happened less than a couple weeks ago—and yet it already feels timeless.
Seeing Keith’s reluctance, Lance stands to relocate himself on Keith’s lap, settling his full weight on Keith’s thighs. Keith glares, though he moves his hands onto Lance’s hips and his fingers wiggle under Lance’s loose shirt to hunt for warm patches of skin. Lance tugs on his ears, guiding Keith to tilt his head and capture his mouth in a soft kiss.
And what a lovely kiss it is.
“I’m trying to be nice by giving you a choice.” Lance laughs a little when they break apart, only to lean back down. He stops a hair’s breadth away from Keith’s mouth. When he speaks again, his breath drifts over Keith’s lips, a soft caress. “What about sweetheart, honey bunches, pickle?”
“Okay, now these are just getting ridiculous.” Keith wraps his arms around Lance’s waist, pulling him closer, and buries his nose into the crook of Lance’s neck.
“I don’t know,” Lance mutters, starting to absently play with Keith’s hair, twirling the long strands around his fingers. “I’m kinda partial to sweetheart.”
“Yeah, that’s not bad,” Keith admits as a faint blush rises on his pale cheeks. He tries to bury his face deeper to cover it, but he should’ve guessed how well that would work out.
A shit-eating grin stretches wide across Lance’s face; Keith can feel it against the side of his head. “I see we’ve found our winner.” Humming, Lance leans down toward Keith’s ear. “Sweetheart.”
Face glowing and mind reeling, Keith shoves Lance off his lap. “Shut up,” he lightly growls, mortified at his own reaction.
Lance arches his head back as he cackles from his spot on the ground, eventually flopping down and pillowing his head with his hands as he lazily stares up at Keith. That shit-eating grin refuses to fall off his face. “Yeah, this is going to be fun.”
And despite Keith’s own face remaining beet red, he can’t help but smile too.
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*throws the door open* YAY PRIDE MONTH!!!
Yes, I didn’t have time to draw anything that I wanted, but on the other hand, I still have a whole month... In the meantime, I’ll show you the design of a keychain for myself, which is based on a cool as hell headcanon-
It may not have turned out the way I planned, but I like it so YAY AROACE STEVE!!
Happy Pride Month folks <3
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