#I really think I figured stuff out with shiro. I can’t let you guys know whit I *think* I know but I do. know.

[localfanbaselurker]

Watching Voltron: Legendary Defender for the first time and recording my thoughts

S1-2 | S3 | S4 | you are here! | S6 | S7 | S8 |

_________________________________________

This one is not as long because I literally finished it like two days ago as I write this so the thoughts are still simmering down but I need to remember them before I watch s6

Pre-S5 thoughts

-> I hope we get Keith back, his near sacrifice really scared me at the end of S4. I want my son back.

-> pLEASE let that poor girl get her father back. Oh my lord. Give him back. Pls. I can’t wait anymore. Will the real Sam Holt please stand up? Please stand up?

-> FRICK Lotor I know they’re probably gonna give him some backstory or whatever on him being a good guy but I DOOOOONNNNNNT CAAAAARRRREEEEEEEEE. I do NOT like him and they can never make me. he is EVIL and you cannot tell me otherwise.

->^“but laura-” idc. I don’t trust him. His voice is too American-Psyco-y. He is a little scheming cunty little elf. He’s onto something. He wants something out of this.

->^I will miss his team of lesbians tho. They ate.

->There seems to be a lot of hints towards allurance! I hope they get a good arc. They are very sweet!

-> I hope we see more of Matt! It’s like that one quote from Brooklyn 99. “I’ve only had [Matt] for [an episode and a half] but if anything were to happen to him, I’d kill everyone in this room, and then myself”

—~—~—~—~—~—///////|||||\\\\\\\—~—~—~—~—~—

Post-S5 Thoughts

-> my suspicions of Shiro grew bigger and bigger as this season progressed. I think I have it figured out by now. 🔍🧐☕️

->^Lotor low key ate her up with this

->^i think that’s her main arc: she needs to let go of the thought that all galra are evil (which she has fair reason to do so), as it is a war, and things aren’t all black and white. As much as I hate to admit it, I feel like having Lotor around this season will help her character development.

->^I wrote that at the beginning of s5, I was right, it did help a little (though then they brought up the fact that Lotor was half altean so maybe she just thinks he’s good because of that—let’s hope not)

->They did not, in fact, bring Keith back. Very upsetting.

->WE GOT SAM HOLT BACK!! THE HOLTS ARE BACK!!! THEY HAVE FOUND THEIR FATHER!!!!

->^That was an emotional episode for me. I cried when they didn’t find him in the “prison” thing and I cried again when Pidge ran into the hologram thing. They make me feel so weak. I was so happy when they got him back fr.

-> And then I cried again at the end of episode 3 cus he was like “I decided im leaving, good luck out there, kids”. Bawling.

->Speaking of episode 3… 🔍🧐

->^and episode 4…and episode 6… ���🧐🧐🧐

->^🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐

->^me rn vs. you guys probably.

->^He’s 1) been listening to everything Lotor says, ignoring the team and going behind their back/without consulting them. And 2) Being uncharacteristically hostile to everyone. I swear I felt like I was reading a really OOC fanfic nearly the whole season.

->^Yes, Shiro is leader-y, but he also (s1-2) tended to listen to his team and have unserious moments. I feel like he’s lost all of that. And I think that last picture is all I need to know.

->(moving on)There seems to be a big focus on Lance this season (yay!) I really hope it’s not for the usual reasons characters get extra screen time (because I would die). I feel like they have been leading him to be the black paladin with how leader-y he has been this season but even if that’s not the case I do still feel they are going to do something really important with him for the next season and I am so excited to see what they are going to do with him! 😊

-> if Keith doesn’t leave the Backyard of Malnutrition next season im going to make myself go inside the show and personally take him out

->/j/j/j…or is it? ☕️🧐 (someone needs to take this emoji away from me it’s made me too powerful)

->WE GOT KEITHS MOM!!!!

->^I was so shocked I literally slammed my computer shut (not that hard, im not a psycho dw)

->^HE GOT HIS MOM BACK!!! I cried after that episode because can you imagine? He just got her back and he thought she was dead/abandoned him for like his entire life. And now he has her back and oh my god I need to open ao3 where are those “first time calling <someone> mom/dad” one shots.

->^AND KROLIA. SHE JUST GOT HER BABY BACK!! Stop im fr crying as i type this. guys. Fuck. I genuinely can’t handle family-related stuff in shows like I will cry so hard. It doesn’t even have to happen on screen my brain just makes the scenarios for me and I obey and bawl my eyes out.

->They are trying to make me like Lotor and Allura together…it is almost working. Almost. I still don’t trust him. And I like allurance better.

->^i just KNOW she was internally kicking her feet and giggling at this. “Then you’re…🤔😯 Half altean 🤭🤭😍😍😍”

->^speaking of that ep, I was sooooo happy for Allura because she finally found a way to still be connected with her dad/culture after having to lose him in s1 and not being able to pilot red in s3, absolutely overjoyed for my best girl!! 🤍🩷🤍

->I absolutely LOVED episode five’s subplots. We have: A-plot) Keith+ his mom going on a mission together, B) Lotor +Allura finding altean stuff in Haggar’s lair, and C) my personal favorite, The garrison trio getting up to shenanigans with a galra robot thing.

->^Later Pala-dudes is my hero, too, lance

->^^Look at those dorks. I love them so much.

->^See this is proof that Lotor is actually Evil™️ and Not Good™️ because he immediately went to violence and trying to fight to greedily get what he wanted while Allura saw the right path and allowed the secrets to be shared with her willingly in this essay I will-

->When is Lotor gonna find out his mom is haggar?? Hopefully s6 cus I can’t take this anymore. the evidence is RIGHT THERE, bucko. Figure it out already.

->If they want me to like Lotor they better work extra hard next season. I’m beginning, BEGINNING, to actually, kinda-sorta-maybe actually like him. BEGINNING! And it is a rough start at that. But im defrosting my built-up dislike for him. It’s a burn slower than 300k words but it’s getting there. They’re gonna hold hands any chapter now.

These are thoughts I’ve been compiling for a while. I will continue to post my thoughts on the tag “laura’s first vld”

I finished Season 5 on 07/13/24. I have not yet started season 6. Stay tuned!

[ridiasfangirlings]

Hellooo i need it for a critique review but do you know where to find where someone compared the wuotes about power of the 7 kings? I remember you commenting on it so i though you might know 😅

I looked around but couldn’t find a post about it, though I feel like I made one at some point (Tumblr’s search function isn’t great so that doesn’t help). In the interests of assistance I figured I’d do a quick King comparison, in number order:

1.Silver King, “the eternal king.” 

-Powers are immortality and flight (…come to think, why flight? Is it just that Kings are naturally drawn to jump off stuff and the Slate thought hey better let the first King fly so he doesn’t die the first time he jumps off a building?). 

-Combat power though seems low, at least from what we see with Shiro. He does a lot of talk no jutsu and we get that bit of umbrella-fu during the Mihashira attack but most of the actual combat seems to be left to Kuroh, which makes me think he doesn’t have a lot of physical strength beyond ‘can’t die.’

-Jumping Off High Things score: 7/10. Being able to fly is a bit of a cheat. Can jump off very high things like airships and even change clothes in mid-air but takes a little too long to land. Also landing by dive bombing face down just isn’t as cool as landing on your feet.

2. Gold King, “the King of prosperity.”

-His powers are stated as something along the lines of ‘the ability to bring out a person’s full potential,’ so basically he can maximize everyone’s talents but at the same time can’t make them stronger than whatever their maximum potential is (Mizuchi is specifically bummed about this in Side Red as I recall, that ‘this’ is as far as he can go). He can also give the power to erase memories and he can throw planets at people. Why? Because fuck you that’s why.

-Combat power is the highest of the seven Kings, even though he’s an old guy he’s built like a brick house. No one can defeat him in combat, which is why Hisui had to wait for him to conveniently die.

-Jumping Off High Things score: 2/10. He never really jumps off anything high, even though he has this huge tower. Maybe he doesn’t like jumping off high things? Disappointing for a man called the strongest King.

3. Red King, “the King of chaos.”

-Powers include burning things, frying things to a crisp, leaving no blood no bone no ash, letting his Sword of Damocles fall and taking power naps.

-For Mikoto specifically, his power is probably about even with Munakata’s. We know he was a strong fighter even before becoming King, but at the same time he has to hold back his powers so they don’t overwhelm him and cause him to destroy everything which is a fairly substantial weakness. 

-Jumping Off High Things score: 7/10. He can jump off balconies and ferris wheels with ease but doesn’t seem to really have the spirit for jumping out of planes. Maybe he just never got the chance. Points for a strong landing though, and the ability to fight Munakata in mid-air just because it Looks Cool.

4. The Blue King, “the King of order.”

-His powers allow him to create blue shields and to enhance his own weapon with blue power. He can also do things like make sandcastles permanent or draw out blueprints in the sky. Also has the power of shiny glasses, but that’s just a Munakata thing, not a King thing. 

-Like I said above, Munakata and Mikoto seem to be about equal in power. Presumably Munakata’s power is more defensive-based and Mikoto’s more offensive — since we do see Munakata use the shields against non-King combatants fairly often — but when they fight each other it’s largely offense and they’re evenly matched. Mikoto is probably a stronger physical fighter but Munakata is more tactical and their strengths cancel each other out.

-Jumping Off High Things score: 10/10. Who can jump off of high things better than Munakata? He leaps out of helicopters with ease, landing dramatically in just the right spot. Truly a master of getting himself onto high things and just waiting for his chance to jump off for no reason other than he can.

5. The Green King, “the King of Change.”

-Powers are lightning and electricity based (and also the internet, for some reason). Hisui generally has to be all wrapped up like a burrito to keep his powers in check but when he lets loose he gets a whole magical girl transformation.

-Combat wise Hisui is second only to Kokujouji when using full power. He’s the only member of the living cast to directly challenge Kokujouji, though he does get defeated. In LSW he seems perfectly willing to fight Munakata for Fushimi’s hand in marriage and stops only because he becomes aware that Mikoto is also present, presumably if he’d only been facing Munakata he would have gone for it.

-Jumping Off High Things score: 4/10. On the one hand he can’t jump at all while in a wheelchair, though he does escape Mihashira somehow (I choose to believe via a tiny propeller that sprouts from his wheelchair). He could also presumably jump off lots of high things once his power is released but it’s more of a hypothetical jumping off of high things, we don’t get to see enough to really judge his abilities.

6. The Gray King, “absolute defense.“

-It’s in his title, pretty much (why doesn’t he get a fancy title?). Can create a gray mist that protects him from things and obscures his opponent’s vision.

-Iwafune’s combat abilities seem to be pretty high, especially for an old guy. He goes toe to toe with Munakata twice, wins the first time and nearly wins the second time until Munakata gets a Power of Friendship power up. From what we see Iwafune prefers to use his King powers to throw his opponent off balance and protect himself while using his gun to attack. I assume only he can see through his own mist, so his aim isn’t obscured at all, and being an older King with a stable Sword is a benefit too.

-Jumping Off High Things score: 0/10. He’s an old drunk man, why do you want him to jump off high things? Let the man have a beer and a nap.

7. The Colorless King, “the joker”

-Power is whatever the fuck Gora wants it to be. Ichigen saw the future, Fox Mask Colorless bodynapped people. The Colorless King is considered a wild card among the Kings for this reason. 

-Combat abilities vary. We know Ichigen was strong but presumably a lot of that was just because of his own swordsmanship skills rather than his King power. Fox Mask didn’t seem to have terribly high combat abilities on his own, since he mostly relies on surprise in order to stab and run away. If Mikoto had actually confronted him while not caring about what body Colorless is in Colorless probably would have gotten punched to death easily. 

-Jumping Off High Things score: ??/10. Ichigen can balance on his cane but we don’t get to see him do much other jumping, he flies helicopters he doesn’t leap out of them (it would be a bad example for his kids). Fox Mask gets thrown off high things a couple times but he jumps bodies when it happens so he’s disqualified, if you’re going to jump off high things you gotta commit to it.

[jxsatlas]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍 ⇢ keith kogane, ch. 2

keith kogane x gn! reader – previous, next

DISCLAIMER! this story does not originally belong to me, the author is @MaddieWolf37 on Wattpad. i have simply received permission to rewrite and continue her story. go and check out her profile for the original version!

SYNOPSIS! a story in which you are thrown into the middle of an intergalactic space war and have the undesirable weight of being a symbol of peace dropped on your shoulders. but maybe if you look past the constant danger and endless fighting, there's some good to being a paladin of voltron.

MATURE CONTENT! swearing, violence, gore, war, graphic descriptions, mentions of self-harm

The roof..? you think to yourself as you watch Pidge disappear through the stairwell. The three of you give it a moment before following him up. Your footsteps will echo loudly in the enclosed stairwell, and you have a hunch that it won't be good if Pidge hears you at this point.

So you try to climb the stairs as quietly as possible, but you still make some noise. It's hard not to when there's three of you.

You reach the top and Lance opens the door leading to the roof slowly. Pidge sits close to the edge of the roof, surrounded by various types of tech. His figure is silhouetted by the glow of the screens.

Lance shoves his hands in his pockets and sneaks up to Pidge, who doesn't hear your brother's approach because of the bulky green headphones he wears.

You and Hunk walk out onto the roof. You shiver slightly from the breeze, wishing you had put on some longer pants.

Lance grabs Pidge's headphones and pulls them off of his ears. "You come here to rock out?" Lance asks, causing Pidge to jump five feet into the air. He relaxes when he realises it's just you three.

"Oh, hey guys," he says.

"Hello," you say and give him a friendly wave.

Lance looks over the tech. "Hey, where'd you get this stuff? It doesn't look like Garrison tech," he asks, furrowing his brows.

Pidge smirks. "I built it," he says with pride.

Hunk's interest is piqued. He steps closer and starts looking over all the things Pidge has laying around him. Although Pidge has to smack Hunk's hands away a couple of times to keep him from touching his stuff.

"With this, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system," Pidge explains.

"All the way to Kerberos?" you ask with a smile as you join Hunk, your eyes sparkling with curiosity and awe.

Pidge hangs his head a little and grumbles at the mention of Pluto's moon.

Lance irks. "You go ballistic every time that's brought up! What's your deal?" he asks in an annoyed tone, but Pidge is hesitant to answer. "Look, we can't have any secrets between us if we wanna bond as a team," Lance says as he puts his hand on his hip.

Pidge looks down at his hands in his lap for a moment, letting Lance's words settle in. He sighs and looks up at the three of you. "Fine. I'll tell you."

He looks back at the objects laying around him and picks up a small notepad. You can't see what's scribbled all over the page as he holds it close to his chest.

"The world as you know it is about to change," Pidge says ominously, looking back at us. "The Kerberos Mission wasn't lost due to some crew malfunction. So, I've been scanning the solar system and picked up alien radio chatter."

"Aliens?" your eyes widen.

"Wait, aliens? Like the little green dudes? Or something bigger and meaner? Like Predator?" Hunk questions with fear, but Pidge only shrugs. This makes him uneasier.

Lance, however, isn't bothered at all by the mention of extraterrestrial life. "Okay, so you're insane," he insults.

"I'm serious," Pidge says sharply, glaring at your brother. "They've been repeating one word, Voltron," he says as he holds up the notepad.

Scribbled on the page with various coloured pencils looks to be something straight out of a Transformers movie. The word Voltron is messily written in big letters above it.

"What is it?" you question, taking the notepad from Pidge's hands. You stare at it. "It looks like a warrior or something."

"It's a superweapon," Pidge answers, "And the aliens are crazier about it more than I have ever heard," Pidge says, turning back to his tech.

"How crazy?" you ask.

The school alarms start to blare the moment the words leave my mouth. A voice crackles over the loudspeakers placed throughout the campus.

"Attention students!" the voice says. You all pause and listen, wondering silently if this has something to do with what Pidge was talking about. "This is not a drill."

You swallow. For some reason, the coincidental emergency announcement makes you uneasy. You grab onto your brother's sleeve in hope of a bit of comfort.

"We are on lockdown," the voice informs. "Security situation Zulu Niner. All students are to remain in barracks until further notice."

The voice repeats the announcement a couple of times, making you feel worse. Whatever it is must be serious.

Hunk stammers, pointing to something in the sky. "Is- Is that a meteor?" he asks wearily. "A really, really big meteor?"

You look up to see a giant bright ball falling towards the earth. Your heart climbs up to your throat and a worried expression takes over your face. Are those the aliens Pidge has been talking about?

Pidge grabs a pair of binoculars he had sitting next to him, using them to look up at the object burning up in the atmosphere.

"It's a ship!" Pidge exclaims.

Lance reaches over and snatches the binoculars from Pidge, taking a look for himself. "Holy crow! That is not one of ours!" he says.

"No, it's one of theirs," Pidge says with awe.

You watch it shoot across the sky, crashing down to the earth in the far distance with a loud boom, a trail of smoke behind it. For a moment, you just stare, trying to process what just happened.

Is this real? Or is it just some dream?

Lance jumps up excitedly. "We have to check out that ship!" he shouts, grabbing your wrist and dragging you to the stairwell. Pidge quickly packs his tech into his backpack and him and Hunk race after the two of us.

"Is that your idea of team bonding?" you ask.

"Yeah!" Lance chirps happily, racing down the stairs with you, Hunk, and Pidge trying to keep up with him.

﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋

The four of you are now perched upon a ledge not too far off from the crash site. The Garrison had beat you to it and were guarding the area heavily. They have the ship loaded up on a large, flatbed truck and a big, science tent set up off to the side. Scientists and high-ranking Garrison officers walk in and out of the said tent and you wonder what they have in there.

Did they find something? An alien? A strange artifact?

Pidge types away furiously on his laptop while Lance surveys the area with a pair of binoculars. You and Hunk sit back, tired and not really wanting to be there. Your head rests on his shoulder and you start to nod. The boredom you feel from the lack of interesting events is getting to you.

How long have you been there exactly?

"Hey," Pidge says, looking back at you and Hunk. You jolt out of your half-asleep state and sit up. "They set up a camera inside and I managed to hack into it and pull up the feed."

You stand up and stretch, yawning as well, and walk over to Pidge. You plop down beside him as he adjusts his position so you can all see his computer screen.

Your eyes widen when you register what you're seeing on the feed. A human man is strapped down to a metal table, his eyes darting around frantically as he struggles against the metal restraints.

He looks extremely familiar and his name is on the tip of your tongue, but you can't quite make out what it is.

A couple more scientists walk into the tent, joining the one that's already in there. They start to prepare a few things, and now that he has an audience, the man starts to shout a few things.

"Shiro, calm down," one of the scientists says, walking over to the man and placing his hand on his shoulder. "We just have to keep you quarantined until we run some tests on you."

"Shiro?" You say under your breath, the identity of the man now clicking in your brain. He was the pilot on the Kerberos mission. Him and his crew were pronounced dead about a year ago. But obviously, that isn't the case, and Pidge knew that for some unknown reason. Shiro is alive. Are his crewmates alive as well?

"Do you know how long you were gone?" a scientist asks.

"I don't know! Months? Maybe years?" Shiro answers frantically. "But we don't have time! Aliens are coming, they're probably on their way right now! They'll destroy us! We have to find Voltron!"

The four of you share a look of shock at the mention of the superweapon, wondering how Shiro knows about it.

"Sir, take a look at this," a scientist says and gestures to Shiro's right arm. "It appears his arm was replaced with a cyborg prosthetic."

The other scientist nods. "Alright. Put him under until we know what that thing can do."

Shiro jerks his body, pulling against the metal restraints at those words. "No! No! Don't put me under! There's no time!"

You watch with wide eyes as the scientists inject an anaesthetic into Shiro, not heeding a single word that comes out of his mouth. You definitely would, seeing how blatantly obvious it is that Shiro was captured by aliens.

"They didn't ask about the rest of his crew," Pidge says, a frown tugging down at his lips.

Lance furrows his brows. "They aren't even listening to him! That guy's a legend," he says.

"We have to get him out," Pidge says.

"Wait, weren't we just watching the feed because we couldn't get in?" You say, raising a brow at the others. "Plus, the place is heavily guarded. It's a miracle we haven't been spotted yet."

"True, but now we're properly motivated," Lance says and holds his chin in his hand. "We can come up with a plan."

Silence only gets a second to settle before Pidge perks up. "Oh! Maybe we can get some hazmat suits and dress up like scientists and sneak in!"

"That could work," You say with a shrug, "But I don't think they have spare suits just lying around in the open desert."

Pidge shrugs. "It's an option."

"Maybe we could tunnel in?" Lance suggests.

"That'll take time we don't have," you say with a roll of your eyes.

"I have an idea!" Hunk announces and you look at him. "Why don't we head back, dress up like chefs, sneak into the commissary, and have a late-night snack?"

"Food does sound appealing," You say and place your hand on your stomach. It's been a few hours since you have eaten dinner and you can feel a minor hunger.

Lance shakes his head. "No, what we need is a distraction–"

You scream when large explosions go off in the not-so-far distance. The loud, booming noise hurts your ears and you slap your hands over them, hoping to muffle it out. You squeeze your eyes shut out of fear.

When it's quiet, you peek through one eye to make sure everything's okay before opening both. Your hands fall to your lap as Hunk starts to panic.

"Were those the aliens? Are they coming for us?" he asks wearily.

"No. That was a distraction," Pidge says and points to something kicking up dust. "For him!"

Pulling up on a red, hoverbike beside a boulder near the tent is another person. Almost immediately you recognise the dark mullet and red jacket, and your brother seems to as well.

"Oh no," Lance growls and jumps up to his feet. "He is not beating me in there!" he says as he slides down the steep side of the small cliff.

Your brother runs towards the tent.

"Who's he?" Pidge asks, shoving his stuff into his bag once again to chase after Lance.

"Keith!" Lance shouts.

"Are you sure?" Hunk asks, following after him.

"Oh, I'd recognise that mullet anywhere!"

You roll your eyes and chase after Lance.

You know Keith as well. He was one of your classmates until he dropped out halfway through the school year.

He was top of the fighter pilot class with you just under him. You always got a score a few points less than his, and secretly strove to surpass him.

You were actually on pretty good terms with him though, seeing as your instructors liked to pair you up for team activities. The two of you were more promising than the rest when working together, so it made sense.

As you run towards the tent, you wonder what he's been up to. And if he even remembers you.

[musicanddancingthroughlife]

Shklance - I Died

I feel like I basically dropped off the face of the planet, and for that I apologize. I have no excuses, except stress and mental health have been a huge problem lately and I’ve just been trying to find balance in my life. I can’t promise anything in the near future, with holidays coming up, and I have finals in like 3 weeks, and then my husband and I are moving at the end of the year, and then my little sister’s wedding is a few weeks after so I’m helping with that, and basically my life is just a mess right now, but I am still working on stuff, comments are always welcome and really do help to get me motivated, and hopefully I can get back into the groove of writing daily and posting weekly!

This story is probs gonna be a part 1 of 2. Hopefully. As is, I wanted it to be a stand alone, but I’ve been drafting it for almost a month now and I just want to throw it at you guys. So know I’m working on a part 2, where they talk about the whole thing and you see everyone’s reactions to what happened. This was actually a request someone made of me on my Ao3 account, but I’ve always loved reading stories dealing with everyone finding out about Lance dying. Just never thought I could do it justice haha. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

---------------------------------------------------

Lance knew that this was going to be an emotional day for all of them, but seriously, this was a little overkill. He knew he shouldn’t have gotten out of bed today.

Sure, it was the one-year anniversary of the day they all saved the universe, ended the war that had gone on for decades, blah blah blah, but getting up also meant that he was going to have to see everyone again.

Not that he wasn’t thrilled to see them! He and Hunk especially had been waiting for this day for months, and he couldn’t wait to see Pidge and Matt again, either. Last Lance had talked to them, they had been working on some seriously neat stuff. They were sure to be a lot of fun.

Hell, he had even been looking forward to seeing Allura again, even though things had never really been the same between them after Allura broke things off. Though, considering how hurt he was still feeling about their break up, it was probably a good thing she had canceled last minute. She’d said that she needed to focus on helping the universe heal. Lance had wanted to go with her, but she rejected him. He knew she was trying to be kind, telling him that he “deserved the time to rest” and that she “knew how much he’s been missing his home planet.” But really, all it had done was serve to remind him that he wasn’t actually necessary.

Not like Shiro and Keith were.

Allura hadn’t had any problems taking them with her, even though everyone else (even Keith) and agreed that if anyone deserved the down time, it was Shiro. Especially since Shiro had seemed a little weary when he accepted the invitation from Allura. Personally, Lance believed the only reason he agreed to go was because he knew that Keith wouldn’t be happy staying in one place anymore, and of course, there was no way they were going to allow themselves to be separated again, not after everything that had happened…

And Lance was even looking forward to seeing Keith and Shiro, since he had probably missed them the most. But he also knew that it was going to be hard. It was always hard seeing them together, but knowing that they’ve been doing so much good out in the universe, that they’ve gotten to see so much more of those worlds than he had… That was going to be hard.

Not to mention Lance still hadn’t managed to shake the crushes he’d had on them for so long now.

Or the fact that while everyone else was off changing the universe, traveling the galaxies, creating newer and better technology and inventions, Lance had done nothing? Okay, so farming wasn’t nothing. And no one could deny that Earth needed some TLC after the trauma of the war had nearly destroyed it. But as much as he enjoyed the simple hard work involved, that didn’t mean he didn’t understand it was stupid. It was pathetic. His friends were still fighting, in their own ways, and Lance felt as if he had simply given up. He couldn’t figure out what he wanted to spend his time doing, what felt most worthy of his time and attention, and so he had allowed himself to fall back on something easy.

And he wasn’t sure that he could face his friends while knowing the truth about himself, that he was a coward and had no mission or goals in life.

******

So, maybe Lance was a bit of a drama queen, because things had actually been going better than he expected. Everyone looked good, older and more experienced. Hunk had even grown out some facial hair, though it was a little sparse coming in. Lance knew that wouldn’t be the case for very long. The most shocking was Allura’s news about expecting a child (Keith and Shiro had passed it on in her absence). That hurt way more than Lance thought had a right to, but he tried hard to suppress that pain until he could process it in private. Possibly while crying over a tub of ice cream.

And as far as their actual dinner and celebration went, well… it really had been inevitable that their discussion would become heavier. And, as usual, Lance couldn’t keep his own mouth shut.

“We had some good times, though, right?” Lance laughed easily, trying to direct the conversation back to something lighter, something easier (at this point he’d had a couple decades to cement his masks, and he was good at pretending like nothing was wrong). “I mean, we might have been injured, and tortured—”

“Lance,” Hunk warned. He darted a quick, concerned look to Keith and Shiro, but thankfully neither of them looked too worried. Instead, they were staring at Lance with such sappy looks Hunk was irritated Lance wasn’t paying enough attention to notice on his own. A shared glance with Pidge told him that at least he wasn’t alone in his annoyance.

Lance continued thoughtlessly, “and I mean, maybe a couple of us died, but hey! In the end, it all turned out okay, and look at everyone, living their best lives!” (Lance was firmly ignoring the fact that he had spent most of his free time leading up to today pouting in bed. No one else knew, and therefore it didn’t count.)

Pidge opened her mouth, but Shiro spoke first. His brows were furrowed, and his nose had scrunched up a little. Lance wanted to melt at the cuteness of it. “Did someone else die? I thought I was the only one. Who else died?”

Lance’s jaw snapped shut. He couldn’t remember if it had even been brought up or not… It had to have, right? There’s no way his friends – his team – had just gone on for this long without knowing! He thought they were just ignoring it! Things had been crazy, and they’d never really gotten a chance to slow down and breathe, let alone discuss everything that had happened. And that was fine! That was to be expected! But now he was supposed to believe they just didn’t know??? Did that mean they didn’t care? That they didn’t notice all the nightmares that had become the norm after his death? The way he was jumpier for months after that battle? And if that were the case, then was it even worth bringing up now, so long after it had happened?

Lance’s face was burning, the warm flush traveling up to the tips of his ears, and possibly all the way down his neck. He could feel his eyes welling up, but he brushed it away, pretending his face palm in order to hide the movement. He glanced at his friends, unsurprised to find Hunk staring at him intently. Pidge was muttering to herself, obviously trying to determine what had happened on her own. Lance couldn’t even bear to drag his gaze to Keith or Shiro.

He tried to get out of answering Keith.

“Oops haha, must’ve miscounted, I meant to say that one of us had died,” Lance laughed again but unlike earlier, this one was decidedly uncomfortable. “Because. Obviously. One of us… did. Sorry, Shiro. But like, you died. That happened. And it was weird and we got a weird clone out of the deal, which was weird – did I say that already? – and like he wasn’t a great dude, so I’m glad you didn’t stay dead, you know? You’re much nicer than that clone was, he was kind of a jerk. No offense, Shiro. I mean, not that you’re the clone or anything, cause you’re Shiro, and that was Not-Shiro—”

Oh dear God why wouldn’t they shut him up? Lance was so busy panicking about what he was saying that he didn’t notice Shiro and Keith slowly standing, approaching him from each side. But Hunk and Pidge could almost see the concern rising off them.

“But he was mean, and he yelled at us a lot. Although I guess he really spent most of his time yelling at me, which really, makes sense, but again, not something you would’ve done, Shiro, so I’m glad you didn’t stay dead or anything, because Not-Shiro was a terrible replacement and—”

“Shiro yelled at you?” Keith had come close enough that he could lay a warm, gentle hand on Lance’s shoulder. Lance almost flinched at the contact, it had been so long since someone had touched him like that. Sure, he saw his family way more often than he had while they were fighting in space, but, come on. They were fighting in space. He never saw them back then! Anything was an improvement over that! Anyway, the point was, he knew he was lonely. He ignored it. It didn’t matter. His friends were happy, his family was safe.

“Weren’t you listening when I said it was Not-Shiro?” was all Lance could think to say. Keith rolled his eyes.

“Why did he yell at you?” Shiro asked. Lance shrugged.

“Lance had some good advice to share. Though honestly, I’m thinking that Lance’s plan just wouldn’t have suited the clone’s purposes and he wanted to make sure that Lance would stop pushing. So he yelled, knowing that would be enough to shut Lance down,” Hunk said. He shot Lance an apologetic look as he did so. Smart, because Lance was Not Happy with him. Now wasn’t the time to share petty hurts!

“Personally, I believe it was because if anyone was going to find out he wasn’t really Shiro, it would’ve been you,” Pidge shrugged. And really, et tu, Pidge? This wasn’t fair at all. Not to mention, now Lance could feel the now-familiar guilt from knowing he hadn’t been able to tell.

And that was what finally had Lance speaking up. “Oh come on, guys, that’s not even the worst any of us suffered out there! Lotor joined the team! I died! Shiro died! Keith left! We had bigger things to deal with!”

There was a brief silence following this, long enough for Lance to squeeze his eyes shut and briefly mutter “Fuck” to himself, and then—

“What do you mean, you died?”

Lance’s ability to make things worse every time he opens his mouth really should be considered a wonder of the world.

He opened his eyes hesitantly to find that everyone was watching him intently. Tears were welling in Hunk’s eyes, and Lance knew that if he paid too much attention to his friend, then he would break almost instantly. He avoided looking in that direction, lips pursed shut, determined to stay quiet now. But they were just as determined to make him talk.

“Lance, please, what happened?” and since when the hell does Pidge beg? That’s just wrong. But effective, because that wrongness made Lance jerk his head up, eyes accidentally locking with Shiro.

He looked so sad…

“It really wasn’t a huge deal, I was just saying that there was a lot happening. It was pretty much impossible for all of us to keep up with each other, what with Lotor and Allura, and Keith disappearing then coming back, and the search for Shiro… and Hunk, Pidge, you guys had a great team thing going on there. That was a lot of fun! And then remember Coran had us playing Monsters and Mana? Good times!”

“You played what?” Keith asked, confused. Then he shook his head. “Stop distracting us, Lance. Answer the questions.”

“Um. What questions?”

Keith’s face hardened, eyes doing that dangerous flinty thing that Lance had always loved to see when he got mad. But before he could say anything, Lance’s phone went off. He really did try to hide the relief on his face as he stood, but the way Shiro set his jaw made him think he was not successful.

Before Lance could answer the call, he felt his phone plucked from his fingers. He lunged for it, and Keith slipped it into his own back pocket, out of Lance’s reach. Even worse, his lunge for it brought their faces way too close. Lance jerked back, face flaming a bright red, but he felt himself crash back into Shiro’s firm, solid chest. He started to stammer apologies, but Keith’s hands settled on Lance’s shoulders, pulling him away, and then he and Shiro pushed him back down into his chair. As Shiro moved to kneel next to Lance’s chair, Keith held him there, grounding and sure. He leaned down, putting his mouth close to Lance’s ear and then murmured “Please. We need to know. We’re horrible friends for not already knowing, but we’re asking now and we need you to tell us. Let us help.” And Shiro gripped Lance’s arm, thumb smoothing against his darker skin, making it harder and harder for Lance to want to move.

Lance knew that they were blowing this out of proportion. But he still felt touched. He’d thought they were just ignoring his death because other things were happening at the same time, but maybe that wasn’t really the case. Maybe they truly hadn’t known. Maybe Allura had never said anything, and Lance, expecting Allura to say something, hadn’t said anything either, and so maybe they just didn’t know. Maybe sharing it now would be okay.

[themysteryofwriting]

5 Times Something was Wrong with Pidge and the One Time they Realized what it meant

TW: Dysphoria, Self-Doubt, Unintentional Misgendering

(A/N:This is dedicated to the person in the enby pidge tag who told me I couldn't headcanon enby Pidge. You filled me w/ enough rage to write this.)

1.

How ironic was it that it was the announcement to the team telling them that she was a girl that started Pidge’s realization.

She thought it would bring a weight off her chest, the secret she had been keeping from most of the team finally revealed.

And yet...that wasn’t the case.

All Pidge could feel was this...sinking feeling as she told them. Like there was something wrong in what she was telling them. And that sinking feeling only got worse as everyone except Lance told her that they already knew.

Pidge could tell something was wrong but she couldn’t tell what. Shouldn’t she feel better after telling them? Why did she feel so much worse instead? Pidge wasn’t a boy so...why did it feel so wrong being called a girl?

Pidge..didn’t want to think about it. She was probably overreacting. After all she had been living with nothing but guys for months and pretending to be one, that was bound to mess with her a bit.

~~

2.

Pidge tried to push down the feeling she was getting in her gut that something was off. And for the most part she succeeded.

At least she did until she walked in on Hunk and Lance talking about her.

“...I still can’t believe I didn’t realize Pidge was a girl Hunk,” Lance groaned, complaining to his fellow Paladin, “I mean it’s soo obvious now, I should have realized she was a girl back in the Garrison.”

Lance clearly hadn’t noticed Pidge yet, as Pidge was pretty sure he wouldn’t be saying this if he knew that she was right behind her.

But as she heard Lance talking, she froze as the sinking feeling returned with a passion. If she had thought it had felt bad telling everyone she was a girl, that was nothing compared to hearing Lance call her a girl.

Pidge had planned to get a drink from the kitchen, but they had to go through the common room to do that and they just...couldn’t. Not with this terrible sinking feeling in her stomach.

Pidge quickly walked away, not even noticing the two had stopped talking and someone was calling out to her.

Wanting to ignore the weird feeling in her chest, Pidge threw herself into some projects. It was easy to forget about what she was feeling when she was working on things.

~~

3.

It was maybe too easy sometimes that she tended to forget to keep track of time when she was working on stuff.

She hadn’t even noticed how late it was until Shiro came into the lab.

“Pidge, how long have you been working,” Shiro called as they walked in, making Pidge jump a little.

“Uhhh I think it’s only been an hour or two,” Pidge lied, hoping Shiro would buy it.

But glancing back at Shiro, Pidge could tell that wasn’t the case.

“Pidge, it’s late, bedtime.”

Pidge groaned, but listened, knowing Shiro would make her if she didn’t, and headed to her room to get ready for bed.

Pidge sighed as they went to change into some more comfy clothes to sleep in. As the started to change they glanced over at the mirror and the weird feeling they had started moving on from their stomach, instead crawling all over their skin.

Wanting the feeling to go away, they quickly shoved the hoodie they were planning on sleeping in.

Immediately the feeling went away, leaving Pidge with a question as they headed to bed.

How long had it been since they were last able to look at themselves in the mirror?

Pidge shook it off, it was probably nothing, and besides she needed to head to bed before Shiro actually came in to check on her like he tended to do when he was worried people weren’t taking care of themselves.

~~

4.

The next day, Pidge was planning on heading back to the lab, after all they didn’t want to think about...whatever happened yesterday anymore than they had to.

And it wasn’t like anyone was going to treat her differently now that she had told them she was a girl right?

As it turned out, the answer to that was a no as Allura came to talk to her while she was eating breakfast.

“Oh Pidge! Good you’re here!”

Pidge flinched a little, having not heard Allura approach. Why did the Alteans have to be so fucking quiet all the time.

“Is there something you need Allura,” Pidge asked, then wincing slightly at how blunt that was, “Sorry I didn't get much sleep last night.”

Wasn’t a complete lie. Pidge had tossed and turned a bit last night, thinking over the weird feeling they kept getting.

Allura nodded in understanding. She probably thought it was nightmares, not whatever Pidge was dealing with.

“Anyways I was thinking, I saw in some of your pictures that you liked to wear dresses when you were younger. I was wondering if you’d like some of my old ones.”

Pidge hesitated for a second. Something about the idea of wearing dresses again felt...wrong to them.

But Allura looked so hopeful and Pidge didn’t want to let her down. Maybe she could just take them and wear them later if she was in the mood?

“Uh sure, I don’t see why not,” Pidge said after a moment.

Allura seemed to light up. “Great, then you can try some on real quick to see if they fit?” Fuck. Pidge couldn’t help but feel like she didn’t have a choice here. “...Right.”

Allura beamed and dragged Pidge along to grab the dresses. Pidge had a sinking feeling that there wasn’t going to be an easy way out of this.

Once they got to Allura’s room, Allura dug out some of the dresses that she had been talking about and handed them over to Pidge. “Hoefully these will work for you, you can try them on in the bathroom over there.”

“Right,” Pidge said, muttering under their breath slightly as they headed to the bathroom. Hopefully just one would appease Allura so Pidge wouldn’t be here all day.

Pidge sighed as they quickly got changed. Just one to appease Allura and then everything would be fine.

At least that’s what Pidge thought until she actually got the dress on and suddenly everything felt so wrong.

She glanced in the mirror after getting the dress on and could feel her skin crawling. All she wanted to do was get this damn dress off.

But why? She had been fine wearing dresses before? Why did she now just want to tear this dress off and never look at it again?

Pidge flinched upon hearing the knock on the door. “Pidge, is everything okay in there?”

“Sorry, I just got a bit distracted,” Pidge called. She hesitated for a second before adding something on. ‘I think this dress is a bit too small for me.”

Pidge hadn’t even realized that as they put it on, but it was clear now. Why else would it feel so tight? Plus it would explain why Pidge wanted to get it off as soon as possible.

“Well I’m sure I have some bigger dresses.”

“Thank you for the offer Allura,” Pidge said, quickly changing back into some more comfortable clothes, but I have work I need to be doing.” As she said this she handed the dresses back to Allura and got out of there as quickly as she could.

~~

5.

Alright enough was enough. Something was up with Pidge. She wasn’t sure what it was but enough stuff had happened in the past few days that she could tell something wasn’t right.

After some pacing, and trying to see if she could figure out what the fuck was going on on her own, she turned to Google.

Well it wasn’t technically Google, giving they were lightyears from Earth and most certainly not close enough for Google to work

It was more like a Space version of Google that Pidge had worked on to make sure it was a language she could understand.

She wasn’t sure exactly what to look up at first, so many different things had been going on recently that she wasn’t sure exactly she was looking for.

After a bit of debate, she decided to just look up everything she’d been feeling recently and hope that something clicked.

After a wild goose chase that Pidge had needed to take a break to eat in the middle of, she found something.

It was a single word but it kep popping up so Pidge figured she should look it up.

“Nonbinary,” she muttered to herself, reading the definition out loud. “an umbrella term for gender identities that are neither male nor female‍ or identities that are outside the gender binary.”

That had to be a coincidence. Pidge had been a girl for the longest time, she would have realized by now if she was nonbinary.

And besides she had been fine getting called a girl before this. She was just being weird now, nothing more than that.

Pidge closed her laptop and walked off, needing to get some fresh air. She really needed to figure out what was going on with her before it started interfering with stuff.

~~

+1

Pidge probably should have realized that people would start to worry about her when she disappeared all of a sudden. She had just needed some alone time to figure stuff out.

That was kind of ruined when Shiro entered. “There you are Pidge,” Shiro sighed in relief. “Everyone’s been looking for you.”

Had it really been that long since she had come out here? “Sorry Shiro, I didn’t mean to worry you guys.”

If it had been anyone else, they would have brushed it off and just let the others know where Pidge was.

Shiro wasn’t just anyone however, and he could tell when people weren't okay.

“Katie, is everything alright?”

The second Pidge heard her real name leave Shiro’s mouth, she flinched. She didn’t understand why but it was...instinctive.

Katie was still her name, even if she preferred to go by Pidge so why did she flinch?

“What’s wrong with me,” Pidge muttered to herself.

Shiro, if he hadn’t been worried before, was definitely worried now.

“K-,” Shiro stopped himself before calling Pidge Katie again. He probably had noticed her flinch when he called her that before. “Pidge, you know you can tell me anything.”

“If I knew what was going on with me, you’d be the first to know Shiro,” Pidge said, “But honestly, I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me.”

Pidge was half expecting Shiro to call her out on her cursing. But apparently Shiro knew she needed to get it out.

“Why don’t you explain to me everything that’s been going on recently and maybe I can help.”

Hearing Shiro’s words, Pidge spilled everything they’d been feeling recently. All of the weird feelings they’d been getting for seemingly no reason and how everything just felt so wrong.

Shiro paused before speaking. “Pidge, I know you dismissed it before, but what you’re describing sounds like you might be nonbinary.”

Pidge wanted to dismiss it but she (they?) hesitated. It was one thing for Pidge to think that but for Shiro to think so to. Could she….could they be nonbinary?

“..I’ll let the others know you’re okay Pidge, I know you’ll need some time to think this over.”

If Shiro’s talk with Pidge led to them coming out to the team a second time, well that was no one’s business but Pidge’s.

~Bonus~

Pidge was on their way back to the lab after finally getting that weight off their chest. The others all accepted them, though they had to explain to Allura and Coran exactly what nonbinary meant.

Before they got too far though, they heard someone calling out to them. “Pidge! Hold on a second.”

Pidge turned around to see Lance running to catch up to them. “Hey Lance, what’s up?”

Lance took a second to catch their breath before speaking. “I wanted to apologize for earlier, when you overheard me talking to Hunk.”

Pidge hadn’t even realized Lance had noticed them standing there. Then again, thinking back on it the two had gone quiet right before they ran off. “Lance it’s fine you didn’t k-”

“Pidge, it's not fine, it really hurt you. I know if I had been in your position, someone complaining about not realizing my gender, it would have really hurt me.”

Pidge blinked a bit at that, the way Lance had said that...it sounded like he was speaking from experience.

“Lance...are you?”

Lance hesitated slightly. “Kind of? I’m not cis if that’s what you’re asking. But uh...I’m trans ftm, not nonbinary. And I know how much it hurts to be misgendered.”

Pidge thought about how weird it had felt being called she and nodded. “I forgive you Lance. Besides I know you couldn’t have known so you didn’t have to apologize.”

Lance grinned. “What can I say, us non-cis folk have to stick together.”

Pidge snickered a bit at that. “I guess you’re right.”

[teenageukulelescreamo]

let’s talk about shiro :)

 so... recently. i was kind of going back through logs, kinda glancing at like- some character stuff for my AU, and i found something i was ranting about- something that... I don’t know, I haven’t seen a ton of people talk about??? im sure there’s been some but. well. let’s get into it, huh?

shiromori comes off, a lot I think, as a figure that doesn’t give a flying fuck about anybody but herself. that doesn’t need to care about anything else, and makes a lot of evil smiling faces, etc. she likes being a bad bitch, and hey man, if i was an ancient tree demon maybe i would like it too!!! who knows! i can’t blame her for that! but... in the future. she... she barely smiles. there’s a noticeable tone shift.

and of course. this is the reason, right here. mystery and shiro’s dynamic has always been quite an interesting one, but... well. the second she sees mystery has someone else now... it’s not so fun to play the bad guy anymore.

and this is noteworthy- he never actually hurts her. he pulls the move above, yeah. but it’s something i think he knows she’ll walk away from. he only defends vivi. he only behaves offensively once, and even then, we’re not really sure it’s even... him in control. 

and when she gets hurt.

mystery defends her. look at the way she’s looking at him in this shot.

she can’t believe he’s doing this for her. that he’s looking out for her, possibly for the first time in hundreds of years. this is absolutely heartbreaking. this is what convinces me that mystery completely abandoned her. sure, we don’t know why. maybe he had a good reason. but it doesn’t change what he might have done.

and he asks vivi not to kill her. this is a specific, undeniable request. he is asking vivi not to hurt her. there is nothing else this could mean. vivi seems to get the message, too.

and she... this... expression reads to me as... hope. hope that, for the first time in so long, maybe he’ll stay with her. maybe he does fucking care about her. maybe he gives a shit, and he’s gonna stay, and be there with her.

and he knows. there’s no way he doesn’t know. this is guilt. this is absolute guilt. 

and then???? 

he fucking abandons her again. he walks away. he registers the look on her face. their history. everything. and he does it anyway. why??? i dont know. i really dont know all the pieces of this puzzle, but until we do, this reads as a real shitty move on mystery’s part.

so you know what????

i don’t blame her for this. i don’t blame her, because he abandoned her again. she’s acting out of pain, and fuck, i would be so angry and hurt too. i don’t think she needed to involve vivi, but... well, that’s another topic.

bitch please you shoulda known she might do something like this.... c’mon man

and then. of course. it happens. of course she goes in for the big leagues. and she’s not having fun anymore. none of this is fun anymore. this is pure pain.

and now. now is when he finally goes on the offensive. although, as i said before? note the green. we don’t even really know if this is mystery or not.

and she goes in for it!!!! and. yeah she looks scary as hell in this but... she’s blinded by her emotions and rage. kinda sounds like someone else we know, huh?

and we don’t see this confrontation. i think that’s for a reason. we just see mystery rolling away. thing is, i wonder if the reason she was able to land this blow was because he pulled back a bit. yes, he still hurt her, and we see it- we see her open heart but... you have to wonder if the reason that he got hurt... like... seemingly worse, was because he didn’t do as much damage as he could have done. i think he might have restrained himself.

and maybe she didn’t expect that. maybe she hoped, or thought, he would go all in. and protect himself somewhat. maybe she didn’t expect to hurt him that badly. i think we’ve already fully established that, deep down, she didn’t want to hurt him at all to begin with. she just... wished he hadn’t hurt her. that he cared about her.

and thing is, folks? he does. he 100% does. he’s fucking horrified. 

this is immensely painful. he does care. he fucked up, he made mistakes, his mistakes led to this. and it’s mortifying. and you know what? he trusted vivi too. he trusted vivi not to hurt shiro. he asked her not to, didn’t he? he trusted that she wouldn’t. and then she did.

and all he can fucking do is watch this. watch her reach out to him. he’s hurt her so much. she’s hurt him too, likely, though we haven’t see tons and tons of evidence of this. just her being sneaky and devious. but like... this is it. this is, seemingly, how their story ends. through the injuries they caused one another. 

and thing is. yeah, a lot of this is on him but. not all of it.

he may have caused the events leading up to this moment.

but he was not the one who ended her tragic, and heartbreaking tale. he was not the one who turned her into a husk. only one person did that.

and i think? i think that said person may very well be his next target.

[actress4him]

Whumptober 2020 - Day 28

This one has a little bit of similarity to yesterday's, but I like it much better. Also, it's been several days since I was really mean to you guys, so...check that "ambiguous ending" warning. I mean, it really leans more toward "bad ending" than anything else, but you are free to imagine a happy one if you'd like.

Read on AO3

Read on FFN

Day 28 - Accidents

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Warnings: similarities to car/plane crash, blood, broken bones, impalement, talk of death, self-sacrifice, ambiguous ending

The first thing that Keith noticed as his awareness trickled back in was that the artificial gravity inside Red’s cockpit wasn’t working. Or at least, that’s what he assumed, since one side of his body felt curiously heavy, like he was dangling in midair.

The second thing was the silence, broken only by a consistent drip, drip, drip.

The third thing was pain.

He couldn’t really pinpoint it to one particular spot, it just hurt, all over. He also couldn’t remember anything that had happened in between the battle that they had been fighting against a Galra fleet, and waking up. Something must have happened. Probably something bad, considering the amount of pain he was in.

Prying open his eyes - well, one of his eyes, anyway, the other seemed to be stuck shut - he found himself looking at a darkened windscreen. The whole cockpit was dark, in fact. Nothing lit up on the dash, no warm red overhead light, no alarms…

Alarms. Suddenly a memory stabbed through him, of alarms wailing and sensors flashing frantically, of himself pushing multiple buttons, hoping for some kind of miracle, while simultaneously pulling back on the controls as hard as he could and watching an unknown planet come spiraling toward him at full speed…

He gasped as the dark, still cockpit came back into focus, causing a wave of pain through his torso. Right. No idea still what had happened to make him and Red lose control, but they had definitely crashed. First things first, then, he needed to check on her and see if she was responding at all.

“Red.” His voice sounded awful. Some kind of liquid had pooled in the back of his throat, and he was forced to cough it out before he could continue. Fire spread through his body as it was jolted. “Red, you there? Can you hear me at all?”

Holding still and closing his eye, he waited for her familiar warmth to brush up against his mind, reassuring him that she would be alright after a little bit of rest. But it didn’t come. Instead, he thought he might have felt the tiniest little nudge, much more like a sickly kitten than a proud lion. Just enough to say, “I’m still here,” but also enough to tell him that she was in really bad shape.

Keith opened his eye again, lifting a stiff, sore arm to wipe at the sticky substance that was still keeping the other one glued shut. It burned when he tried to blink it open, and after hissing in a breath, he ended up just keeping it closed.

Now that he was a bit more awake, he could take in just how bad Red’s state really was. The whole front of the cockpit was crumpled. He didn’t even know it was possible for the Lions to take that kind of damage.

“Oh, Red,” he breathed. “I’m sorry, girl. I’m sorry.”

There was no response that time.

Gathering his courage, Keith started the process of assessing his own situation. First of all, he was still seated in the pilot’s chair, hanging sideways like he had surmised at the beginning, which meant that Red had landed on her side - probably after initially crashing headfirst, based on the way she was crushed. The position was far from comfortable, putting strain on his neck and back.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to remedy that, because the completely obliterated dashboard was sitting on his lap, pinning him in place. The simultaneous good news and bad news was that he couldn’t feel anything from that point down. 

The stuff he had scrubbed off his eye was blood. It was also what was making that dripping noise, as it rolled down from some unknown point on his head, across his eye, down to his temple, then dropped to the wall that was now the floor with a wet plop. He wasn’t sure he really wanted to attempt to see how big the puddle down there was. As for the wound itself, his best guess was that a piece of shrapnel had managed to fly up under his partial faceplate and leave a cut. With his whole head throbbing, it was hard to tell anything for sure.

His left arm was broken. Or at least, that was the diagnosis he was going with after he attempted to move it and ended up screaming. All he could really tell from looking at it was that it was not the shape it should be, and he decided right away that he was just going to keep it right where it was, dangling awkwardly off the side of the chair or not.

He didn’t want to look at his stomach. It had been gradually establishing itself as the most intense of all the pains, and he knew it was going to be bad way before he looked at it. But he had to. He needed to know what he was dealing with, if any of this was going to be survivable or not. Steeling himself, he looked down.

It was bad. Like, even worse than he thought it was going to be bad. There was a huge piece of metal, coated in his blood, sticking out of his stomach. For an eternally long moment, Keith just stared at it, trying to wrap his brain around it. 

Okay. Right. So, he’d been impaled. That was a lot of blood. A whole lot more than was coming out of his head, that was for sure. He was pretty sure that it was going all the way through his body and pinning him to the chair, like those butterfly specimens that one of his teachers used to keep on display. He was also pretty sure that it had missed his spine, though that could definitely change if he moved around any.

It had not, however, missed vital organs. There was no way it hadn’t cut through at least a couple. That bitter tasting liquid from before bubbled up in the back of his throat again, as if to confirm it, as if to say, “Yep, Keith, you’re definitely dying!” Coughing it out jiggled the metal inside of him and made him whine.

So, yeah. He was dying. That was a thing. Even if the other Paladins could find him and get to him, they probably wouldn’t be quick enough, not with the way he was losing blood.

It didn’t really surprise him. Death had followed Keith around for most of his life, hiding in the shadows, waiting for it to be his turn to go like so many others had. Besides, now he was in the middle of a ten thousand year old war. Death happened all around him, every day. He knew it would be his turn sooner or later. And the sooner part wasn’t surprising, either, given how reckless he knew he could be. 

Like you know, jumping out in front of a zaiforge cannon to keep it from hitting Lance. He was pretty sure now that that’s what had happened.

He also had always figured that he would die alone, and that’s pretty much how he was. Though...maybe there was a chance that he didn’t have to be.

“Red. If you’re...if you’re running any kind of systems right now...any repairs you’re trying to make, or anything...divert that power to comms. I know...I know you need help. I promise, you’ll get it. The team’ll find you, and Pidge and Hunk will be able to fix you right up. I promise. You...you’ll be okay. They’ll make sure you go on to fly another day. But...for now...I really, really need this. If you can.”

He still didn’t feel anything from her, but a moment later static began crackling in his ears. Keith gave a tired smile. “Good kitty.”

It took a few seconds for the static to clear up, but he could soon hear the familiar shouts of a battle. At first he just shut his eyes and listened, letting his teammates' voices wash over him. When there was a lull, he cleared his throat. “Guys? Can you hear me?”

“Keith?”

“Keith!”

“Keith, is that you?”

“Holy quiznak, you’re alive!”

“You idiota quiznaking estúpido -!”

He winced at the volume that pierced through his aching head, but was quick to jump back into the conversation. “Hey, yeah, I’m here. It’s me.”

“Oh, thank the Ancestors, Keith, we were so afraid of what had happened to you when we saw the Red Lion go down and you failed to respond!”

“Por qué? Why did you flippin’ jump out in front of me, idiota? What were you trying to prove, huh?”

“Nothing! I wasn’t...wasn’t trying to prove anything, I just...I saw the cannon, I saw you...I didn’t really think, I just...acted.”

“Yeah, that...seems to be a thing with you,” Pidge quipped. “Hunk, on your six!”

“Keith. What happened? Where are you?”

Leave it to Shiro to finally cut to the chase. “Red and I crashed. Not sure where. She’s gone dark, I can’t see anything outside.”

“Number Four, when you say the Red Lion has ‘gone dark’...what extent of damage are we talking about here?”

Keith grimaced. “It’s bad. I can barely feel her. The only reason my comm is working is because I asked her to divert whatever power she had left to it.” Yikes, he maybe shouldn’t have admitted that part. “Her front’s all busted up. No telling what kind of hits she took everywhere else.”

“So, you can’t like, get out and look at where you are?” Lance asked.

“Pidge, you’ve got two fighters coming your way. Keith, he’s right, if we could get a location on you we can come pick you up whenever we get the chance.”

“Uh, yeah. About that, it’s, uh…” To tell the truth, or not? Now was the time to decide. “I’m kinda...pinned. When I said Red’s front was busted up, I...the dash is...yeah.”

The silence only lasted a few ticks. “That sounds bad, that’s like, really bad, isn’t it? What does that mean, anyway, you’re pinned?”

“Hunk, less worrying, more shooting!”

“How bad is it, Keith? What are your other injuries?”

Because of course Shiro would automatically assume there are other injuries. Another chance to choose whether to tell the truth.. “Well, um...it’s not...great, um…” 

“Not great? What...what does that mean?” Hunk was still apparently doing just as much worrying as shooting, the poor guy. And Keith would have attempted to answer him, but he was a little busy trying to breathe through a sudden rush of pain through his middle that made all the noises sound more like high-pitched whines for a minute.

When his hearing returned to normal and he could kind of breathe again, he was being bombarded with frantic voices all trying to get him to respond. “I’m here,” he croaked. “Sorry. I was...just…”

“Pidge, there’s absolutely no way you can get a location?”

“Not while she’s powered down. If he could get her to divert power from the comms to her tracker for a minute -”

“No!” That came out far too forcefully, and it hurt like heck, but he couldn’t lose his connection to the team, he couldn’t. If he cut the comms he might never get them back, and...and he’d die alone, in silence. “No, it’s...you don’t need to do that. I’m okay. You’re already down one Lion, you can’t afford to lose any more for a rescue right now. Just focus on your battle.”

No one spoke for a minute, other than calling out the occasional warning or fight maneuver. Keith knew they were realizing that what he said was true, and he was glad. He was already starting to get lightheaded and have a hard time breathing. If they sent someone after him, it would be for nothing, and they might lose the fight, or worse, lose another paladin.

“Talk to me, Keith. You still haven’t told me what your other injuries are.”

Closing his eyes, he drew in a stuttering breath. “Yeah, well...don’t wanna make Hunk queasy while he’s fighting.”

“Keith…”

“It’ll be okay, Shiro. Don’t worry about me. I just…” Wanted some company. “..didn’t want…” To be lonely. “...to miss out when you beat these guys.” The last victory he’d be a part of, even if he had let them down for the majority of the battle.

“Well, then maybe you shouldn’t have jumped out in front of a zaiforge cannon! Which I have now destroyed, by the way, de nada.”

Keith grunted a laugh, wincing when it pulled at his stomach wound. “Well if I hadn’t, then it’d be you down here.” And he could handle the thought of himself dying a lot better than any of them. “So de nada, yourself.”

Lance was shooting something back, as usual, always ready with a retort, but Keith’s hearing was fading in and out with his vision. A wave of dizziness came over him, and he let out a quiet groan.

“-ith?”

“Still here.” Even he could tell that his voice was much weaker than before.

“Stay with us, buddy. Try not to fall asleep.”

“M’kay. Gonna try. Kinda...losin’ some blood here, so…”

Someone who he was pretty sure was Pidge swore loudly. “We need to find him.”

“Nope. Don’t...don’t need to find me. Need to fight. Stop worrying about me.”

“You’re gonna have to get over it, we’re going to worry about you!” Pidge practically shouted. “You call us and tell us you’ve crashed your Lion and are pinned in your seat and bleeding and you keep randomly switching from talking to moaning and you think we’re not gonna worry about you?”

Guilt threaded its way into his chest. He shouldn’t have called. He was distracting them, he could get them killed. Besides the fact that he was making this way harder on them than it needed to be, making them listen to him as he struggled through his last moments.

“‘m sorry. I shouldn’t have...I’ll just go. You guys need...to focus.”

“Keith, no!”

“No! No no no, don’t go, you’re good, okay? We’re focused. You don’t worry about us, okay? You just concentrate on staying awake, and we’ll concentrate on fighting, and we’ll talk at the same time. Okay?”

Keith’s eyes slipped shut with a combination of relief and exhaustion. “Yeah. Okay. Just...just don’t lose focus. Don’t want any of you...getting hurt.”

“We’re good. I promise.” There was a pause before Shiro continued. “Can you promise me the same? That you’re gonna be okay?”

He didn’t know what to say to that. He hated lying to Shiro. Besides, his head was spinning so much now from blood loss that any words he came up with almost immediately got lost again.

“Hey, Sh’ro?” he finally managed. 

“Yeah, bud?”

“R’member when...I stole your...car?”

It seemed like it was taking Shiro a really long time to respond, but that could have just been because he was drifting in and out of consciousness. “Yeah, bud. That’s kinda hard to forget. You sure knew how to make a first impression.”

A smile played at the corners of Keith’s lips. “But you...you were my friend. Anyway. E’en though...I did that. And I was...a jerk.”

“You weren’t a jerk. Well, okay, maybe a little. But I could tell it was all a front.”

“You were...were the only one who...ever tried. I don’t know if I...ever...said thank you.”

Shiro’s voice sounded strange when he spoke again. “You don’t have to, buddy. Being your friend is my pleasure.”

The other Paladins had fallen strangely silent, not even calling out maneuvers anymore. He hoped they were still listening. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say to them, but he knew it needed to be something.

“Thank...all ‘f you. For...bein’ friends. Good...good friends. Like fam’ly.”

“Keith.” Hunk’s voice had that unmistakable wobble to it that meant he was crying or about to. “You’re killing me here, bud. You’re our family, too.”

“No, shut up, don’t encourage him!” Pidge growled. “This is stupid! You sound like you’re saying goodbye and you need to shut up, because we are coming to get you, do you hear me?”

Leave it to Pidge to think she could threaten him into living. “You...you can’t.”

“Excuse you, what the heck do you mean we can’t?”

The end of Lance’s demand was drowned out by Keith falling into a coughing fit, worse than the last two combined. He could feel the metal ripping further into him. Eventually the fit dwindled into a long whimper, one that he didn’t really want the team to hear but couldn’t help.

“...Keith?”

“You’ll be too late,” he whispered, too tired to keep up the lie any longer. “I’m...bleeding out.”

“I’m going down there right now. I don’t care if I have to search the entire planet, I am not staying up here while he’s down there dy-” She cut off abruptly.

“I’m coming, too. Lance, Hunk, you’ve got this handled.”

“Yes, they’ll be fine, and will have backup from the Castle. Go find Keith.”

They were such good people. Better people than he had deserved to have in his life. He was pretty sure he was slipping away, and pretty sure that he wouldn’t wake back up. But he was doing it with a fond smile on his face. “Love you guys,” he breathed.

.

.

“Keith?”

.

.

“KEITH!”

——————————

Now with a continuation!

[housamo-side-blog-2]

A FAMILIAR FACE PART 1

CONTINUEING!.

Harumo:Who was that guy?

That was the last question you muttered before falling asleep and dreaming about stuff, however, this time, its different your dreaming about the time where you’ve met that stranger when you were with Ryota at the shopping street, there you could see the stranger dressed with a black jacket and blue shorts,you thought you could finally see the stranger’s true face, however the image you’re being shown is only what your mind have captured and the stranger’s face appears black being covered by its hoodie, 

Harumo:Oh c’mon!, even here i couldn’t even see it.....Why am i so determined to see this person?

With your curiosity intact while asleep,you struggled to sleep as you move around in your bed making a lot of creaking noises while the night passes by hopefully those noises won’t wake up anybody, 

{NEXT DAY}

Its another day at Shinjuku Academy, the place where both transients and students of Tokyo are educated and taken care off, The summoners are in Class E chatting like the usual friends they and Kengo being shouted by Shiro for sitting on top of table,Ryota tells the others about what they did back at the shopping street of Shinjuku Park and you happen to have just arrived.

Harumo: Morning Guys!

Shiro: Good Morning Harumo, you look well today.

Kengo: How you doin partner.

Moritaka: Good Morning to you too Harumo, 

Ryota: Morning Harumo!.

Toji: Good Morning to you too.

Harumo: Looks like i made it in time for the first time guys.

Shiro: Indeed, did you have a good sleep?

Harumo: Nope!, I couldn’t stop thinking about that stranger yesterday.

Kengo: What,did you guys fought or something?

Ryota: Oh yeah! When we were running in the shopping street, i accidentaly bump into someone, 

Moritaka: I see, It appears you are not hurt Ryota.

Ryota: Nah, im fit as a feedle,its a good thing it wasn;t that serious.

Shiro: Im glad to hear that, but next time be careful when go running around in crowded areas.

Kengo: You know, your starting to sound like my mom, 

Shiro: i think you mean as a responsible adult. 

Kengo:*mutter* A boring one to be honest.

Shiro: What was that?!

Ryota: Anyway, Guys!, you have got to try Ebisu’s rainbow buns,they are the best buns you could have ever tasted!

Moritaka:Who’s Ebisu?

Ryota: Oh, He’s one of the stall vendors at shopping district, Harumo is actually friends with him. Man you guys were missing out on the deliciousness those buns where giving.

Moritaka: For Ryota to praise someone’s pastry so much, must mean that those Rainbow Buns must be really delicious.. maybe I’ll join you today,is that okay Ryota? 

Ryota:Yay!, Moritaka is coming! Always,the more the merrier they say, how about that Harumo?

Harumo: With the two of you,its going to get really fun.

Moritaka:Im grateful for you acceptance. 

Ryota: How about you guys? wanna come along?

Shiro:Im terribly sorry,I have after school cooking classes today, maybe next time then.

Kengo:No can do Ryota, i have an important sparring match today.

Toji: I also can’t come as well, because, i was tasked to guard the shrine today. My apologies.

 Harumo; AWWW, I really want to spend time with you all.

Shiro; Im terribly sorry, I’ll be sure to come with you next time.

Kengo:Yeah me too.

Toji; Maybe next time then.

Ryota:All right then, its just going to be the three of us.

Harumo and Moritaka:Yeah!

Three of you are going to be hanging today and Mr Jinn has finally arrived and is now about to start his class and the next class and so. Yup a normal school day, You go on with your studies,unknowing about the events that are going to happen.

[After 6 hours}

[SCHOOL BELL RINGS}

Class has finally ended, you’ve finally have some room to stretch your arms from the long period of sitting on your chair, 

Harumo: Ah, my shoulders are starting to get tense,

Ryota:Yay!, im so excited to go the shopping area again, are you excited Moritaka?

Moritaka:Well, off course, nothing is much more excitable than going out with your friends. 

Shiro: I have to go the economics room for my cooking class, see you later everyone.

Kengo: Man, all that sitting around made my shoulders hurt, gotta get some warm up then, see ya.

Toji: I’ll be leaving now, Good luck!

Harumo: See you later Guys!.

Ryota:Okay guys lets meet up infront of the school after we put in our bags at the dorms.

Moritaka:All right Ryota, I’ll see you two later then,

Harumo: See you guys later!

{Dorm Room}

You’ve arrived at your dorm room, put down your bag at the side and took a quick lie down on your bed facing the ceiling, you reminence about whether you are going to meet that stranger again. caught up in your thoughts your butler make his entrance.

{Ring flashes}

Lil Salomon: Hello Master!, Oh,you seem to be lost in thought. 

Harumo: Yeah, i keep on thinking about that that guy we met.

Lil Salomon: You mean the stranger that you and Ryota met at the shopping area?

Harumo: Yes.

Lil Salomon: Hmm, laying down won’t do anything Master, C’mon your friends are probably waiting for you.

Harumo: Oh, yeah thanks for reminding me. 

Lil Salomon: Thats my job as your butler Master,toodles.

You changed your clothes and wore casual clothes and went towards Shinuku Park where your supposed to be meeting, 

{BLACK SCREEN}

[DARK ALLEY}

The dark alley”s of Shinjuku is the favorite meeting spot of several criminals whether its transactions or  place to hang out, In one the alleies is one particular transient that is one to feared off, He is a guy of great strength, heartless intent, and a cold one. is seen laying down on a beaten couch snoring loudly, 

Once a comfy slumber, now turn into a hellish reality to him, as a bunch of strangers not knowing the danger they’re waiking towards.

Thug: Hey idiot, this is our turf! get lost!

Stranger:*Snoring* 

Thug 2: Looks like this runt needs a wake up call.

Thug 3: Heh, How about we bash his head on then.

The trio of idiots did not know who they were messing with as they laugh at the sleeping stranger with the intent to put him in slumber forever....

However....

Stranger: Hey,...... Thanks for the suggestion.

 Thug 1: What the......

The thug quickly had his head smacked on the stone floor, with the sudden emergence of the stranger now with a malicious grin, the other thugs could only watched in surprise as they could not register what just transpired infront of them. With a blink of an eye the other thug who was beside had his entire body thrown in the garbage pile,

Thug 3: H-hey..wHAT the hell is happening!? ,who are you?..

Panicked and fearing for what the stranger is going to do to him,a cold voice whispered to his ear and soon after, the unlucky guy ,was flung towards at a wall knocked out.

Stranger: Psst, Pathethic,man they really ruined my sleep,*yawn* it was getting good. 

Not soon after his stomach released a rumbling sound.

Stranger: I haven’t eaten in a while, maybe i should go get something from the shopping area at the Park. 

{END OF SCENE}

{Outside area of Shinjuku Park} 

You have arrived at a traffic stop and across it is your destination, Shinjuku Park, hom your friends are currently waiting for you at the food area, you are waiting for the traffic light to turn green as you wait the timer on it decreases over time, 

Harumo: What the...

You see an orange cat infront of you, when suddenly..

Harumo: Im not gonna make it...

You hurried towards the cat,that is about to be run over by a truck, everything turned slow as you see the truck getting closer and you aren’t even close to saving the poor creature from its painful death,

 A shadow appeared fast infront of you and saved the cat infront of you,however as soon as you get your bearings back,you only saw a cat running towards you,even though you didn’t save it in time,but the worked of a mysterious stranger who’s movements are so fast they appear to be inhuman.

Harumo: What...just happened? 

You realized, that was the same stranger from before and just disappeared infront of you. went on to search for him and looking left and right for him but you only see passerbies.

Harumo: What the....Where did he go? 

To no signs of him everywhere,you went on with your day and made it towards your destination.

{Shinjuku Park}

Ryota and Moritaka are sitting a bench constantly waiting for their friend to arrived and Ryota”s stomach is starting to rumble fom all the waiting and constant seeing the food placed on the passerby’s hands with its smell wafting through the air.

Harumo: Sorry guys! im late.

Ryota: You’ve made it!

Moritaka: There you are.

Ryota: Im so hungry, and seeing everyone with delicious food in their hands makes me drool.

Moritaka: Holy cow! Ryota i didn’t even notice the drool on the bench!

Ryota: That just means im very hungry, C’mon lets go.

Harumo: Right with you.

Ryota quickly dashes towards the shopping area and starts looking at the delicious food they have in stock,one by one,Ryota dashes from one store to another with inhuman speed like he isn’t affected by his hunger a moment ago. 

Moritaka: Ryota, would you please slow down?, you’re dashing everywhere.

Ryota: Heheh, sorry,...Oh,how about we go to Ebisu’s shop, i think they should be open right about now. Lets go.

Harumo: Woah! slow down, you don’t want to bump into someone again don’t you?.

Ryota: Oh yeah, sorry, Lets waik then.

Moritaka: I could never figure out,how much energy Ryota has.

{Ebisu”s stall}

Ebisu: Hi guys, its so nice to see you two again.

Harumo: HI Ebisu, 

Ryota: Heya Ebisu, I would like you to meet my friend Moritaka here.

Moritaka: Its an honor to meet you Ebisu, my name is Moritaka Shino Inuzuka i hope we could be great friends.

Ebisu: Nice to meet you Moritaka, Im Ebisu im one of the Seven Lucky Gods.

Ryota: Wait, you’re a God? 

Moritaka: Holy smokes, to think im actually meeting a God!

Ebisu: Uhm, guys.... i just inherited the memories of one of the seven luckly Gods.

Ryota: Thats still a big deal.

Ebisu: It really isn’t. ....Anyway what are you buying?

Ryota: 10 rainbow buns please!.

Moritaka: My word Ryota!, are you really eating that much?

Ryota: Don’t worry I’ll share with you guys.

Ebisu: Comin right up. Please wait a moment a please.

As you wait patiently for Ebisu’s rainbow buns, you look around the area and see a lot of people comin in and out of the area and buying delicious food, everyone in the vicinity is either seen eating takoyaki, holding a lot of bags full of food,Ryota’s nose is moving like a hound on a hunt for prey as he faces a stall with delicious fried chicken and another stall with squid on a stick.All of this different kinds of cuisine is seen one place as the smells of different foods mixed together wafting the air you currently breath and could not help but tingle your taste buds even you aren’t tasting anything, the smell alone is enough to make Ryota drool.

Moritaka: So..Many different smells coming into my nose, ,,Ahh im practicly drooling over the scents.

Ryota: I know right, we’re going to try every last one of them.

Harumo: Lets hope we brought enough money for it. 

Ebisu: All right 10 rainbow buns, order up! 

Ryota: OOOHHH! It smells so delicous Ebisu, 

Ebisu: Hehehe, Thanks for coming by, hope you come back again.

Harumo: Im going to miss you Ebisu.

Ebisu: Eh, Uhm Im going to miss you too Harumo.

Ryota: See you later Ebisu!

Moritaka: I hope we could meet again someday Ebisu, bye bye.

Ebisu: See you later Ryota! i also hope to see you again Moritaka, bye bye

Waving at Ebisu and waiking around while eating the delicous rainbow buns Ryota bought, Moritaka could not help but be in aww about how delicious it was. 

Moritaka: This rainbow buns are really delicious especially the green one. It taste like tea.

Ryota: Yeah, here,try this orange one, i bet it taste just like oranges or peaches.

Moritaka: *chewing sound* Mmmm, It taste exactly like oranges, here would like to taste it also Harumo?

Harumo: Only if you feed it to me.

Moritaka: Oh, okay then,, say ahh.

Harumo:Ahhhh * chewing sound*.........MMMMM it taste just like oranges, this is delicous.

Ryota: I think i should have a go with this white one. 

Moritaka: What do you think it would taste like? 

Ryota: One way to find out, Itadikimasu! * chewing sound*

Ryota swallows the bun and takes a second of silence, 

Harumo: Uhm...Ryota? 

Moritaka: Ryo-

Ryota: ITS DELICIOUS! 

Moritaka: Ahh, Ryota you surprised me, What did it taste like.

Ryota: Its White chocolate, and its so creamy!

Harumo: Really?!, Can i try it? 

Ryota: Sure, here you go. 

Harumo: All right down the hatch you g-

{SCREAM]

As you are about to enter a world of flavor, you were interrupted by a sudden scream from a woman, and quickly hurried over to check it out. 

Moritaka: There! 

Harumo: Hey stop!

You discovered a blue bearlike transient with a knife on its hands and threatening someone,  and when they saw you and Moritaka with a sword on his back, the robber immediately turns to take the poor lady hostage. 

Robber: Now you stay back!, Or else i’ll cut her throat out!.

Ryota: *gasping for air* hey guys i made it and Whoah! 

Harumo: You better stop this right now! 

Robber: Oh, how about make me then punk! 

Moritaka who was about to draw out his blade, noticed by the robber he immediately step back with the hostage using her as a human shield, The people behind him are steping back as they fear it could only worsen the situation. confident in his ploy, the robber tries to demand money from eveyone,    

Unfortunately with his head turned around and not noticing the chubby guy infront of him, 

Harumo: Take this! 

With no hesitation, you runned towards the robber and did a powerful punch to his face, all the barehand training you recieved from Kengo seems to be quite useful in this types of situations, the robber startled and confused from the blow lost grip from his prey.

Robber: Tha,,,,darn kid! 

He angrily tries to flee as you chase him,seemingly unable to grab him,one person appeared out of nowhere and suddenly knee kick the robber to the stomach and with the sheer force from his attack,the robber could not be atleast 10 meters away. 

Harumo: What the.. this speed...i’ve seen it before.

You’ve met face to face with the stranger from before and it appears his also the one whom you have met the other the day, Yes, the mysterious stranger whom you have met with Ryota the other day. has now appeared infront of you again and this time,Ryota didn’t bump him. 

Stranger: Really doesn’t know what the consequences are. 

Harumo: Wait! you’re that guy from before.

Stranger: Huh, who the hell are you supposed t- What the hell!

Harumo: Huh?

The stranger who was wearing the same black hoodie as before and its covering his face and its shocked to see you as if he saw something phenomenal. 

Stranger: Why do you?

Harumo: Do i know you from somewhere?

Stranger: Thats my question, Who the hell are you? 

Harumo: I ask you first. 

Stranger: Heh, well if you wanna know then....*shows his face*

Harumo: What the.....Why do you

Stranger: My name is.........

Reitan

Everything felt silent to you as you processed the image your eyes are sending to you as you couldn’t believe the person infront of you. 

Harumo: Why do you....Look like me?

[mydearestreaderfanfics]

Rather Be (Keith x Reader)

Warnings: swearing, alcohol, pining, light angst (with a happy ending)

Word Count: 4,858

Prompt/Request: wb an imagine with my boy keef and a childhood best friend crush,, bonus for blushy flustered keef lmao

Summary: An old promise from their childhood brings back old feelings. When both Keith and the reader fail to communicate, though, will the promises from the past be kept?

Author's Note: Rather Be by Clean Bandit is the musical accompaniment for this fic. What do you guys think, should I add on a song for all fics/fic requests?

Author: Mod Alex

“Keef!”

The young boy dropped his toys and turned around to see his best friend. Although he’d never admit it, he loved the way they mispronounced his name, it was… cute. “(Y/n)! What are you doing here?”

“I came to make a deal.” You held out a paper to him, an adorably serious look on your face.

“A deal?” He took the paper, looking over the crayon written words. The writing was messy and mistake-ridden, but it didn’t matter to Keith, what mattered was that it was a proposal to Keith, a marriage proposal.

“You are my bestest friend ever. So, I’ve decided that if I’m not already married in twenty years, which is like a million years away anyway, then we should get married.”

Keith’s surprise turned into a smile which turned into a laugh. “(Y/N), you’re only 7-”

“And a half! You're only 4 months older anyway, I’m basically 8 like you!”

“Okay, you’re 7 and a half, but shouldn’t you wait until you're older to get married.”

“I am, didn’t you read it? It says 20 years away,” you pointed at a large blue 20, “see? Right there.” You huffed crossing your arms and looking down, your serious face crumbling as you toed at the dirt.

“Okay.” Keith figured if he did want to marry someone one day it should be you.

“Okay?” You looked up, failing to mask your surprise.

“Yup. Oh, I think we need to sign this, right?”

“Oh, right!’ You fished two crayons out of your pocket, handing him the red one, and keeping your favorite colored one for yourself. After setting the paper on the sandbox’s lining you both signed, sealing a contract that would be forgotten for a long time. 19 years to be exact.

-

You were going through some old things of yours (your parents had asked you to come home to see what you wanted to keep and what you wanted to toss as they needed your old room cleared since they were planning on moving). As you were in the process of going through your childhood stuff, you stumbled across your old treasure chest filled with drawings, toys, and crumpled at the very bottom-- a wedding certificate. You laughed as you pulled it out, flattening it as best as you could. Keith absolutely had to see this. After tugging out your phone you sent him a quick message to hurry over.

Keith got there not even twenty minutes later looking for you somewhat panicked. After an apology and a brief explanation, he calmed down. Actually, he was pretty amused. “I can’t believe you told me I was going to marry you.”

“Hey! You’re the one that agreed.” The both of you were laughing as Keith looked over the paper.

“According to this, we’re supposed to get married in a couple weeks.” Keith grinned at you, blushing slightly from what you assumed was second-hand embarrassment from your younger selves.

“Oh gosh, so it does.” Your giggle fit picked up again, as you continued to speak through it. “Guess we have to get married. A contract is a contract, as they say.”

“I’ve never heard that saying, I’m not entirely convinced you didn’t just make that up.”

You held your hand to your chest, barely containing your grin. “Are you, Keith Kogane, saying I’m making things up?”

“Oh absolutely.” He smiled, not even trying to hide his smile.

You gasped dramatically. “How rude.” The paper in your hand caught your attention once more. “Why did you sign it? Way back then, I mean.”

“Why?” Keith took the paper from you, smoothing out some of the worst folds and eyeing it fondly. “How could I not? You came up to me that day and I vaguely remember feeling intimidated-“

“What?! By me?! Your friend?!”

“Well, sure. You came up to me holding this sheet of stark white printer paper- which has seen better days now, but back then it looked official-“

“Kind of what I was going for,” you laughed.

“Right. So any way you come marching up with an official-looking piece of paper and then basically declare that you were going to marry me. And I was intimidated. I mean there was this person I liked-“ Keith fumbled over his words, speaking more quickly after his accidental confession, “and they were asking me to marry them. It was a time of very strong intimidation.” He laughed awkwardly, hoping you hadn’t caught his blunder. “Anyway what are you going to do with this?”

“Wait! You liked me?!”

“I- um- yeah…” He fiddled with the edge of the paper before handing it back to you, noticeably uncomfortable.

“Wow.” The word came out as more of a sound than an actual statement. “I’m just- I can’t believe it. I guess since we signed this I’ll have to keep it. Just, y'know, in case I don’t fall madly in love with some rando within the next three weeks.” You spoke clearly, although your voice did have a slightly teasing tone. It wasn’t mean, though, far from it, if anything it sounded kind of flirty. You hoped Keith understood you were being genuine.

He flushed. “Yeah, maybe… Hey, I’ve got to head out, Shiro’s having this thing and he asked me to go. I’ll see you later?”

“Sounds good. Maybe Sal’s tonight?”

“Sure.” Keith grabbed his bag and basically bounded out of the room, face aflame.

You felt a little guilty about flustering him so much, but really you were feeling quite overwhelmed yourself. Keith and you’d been friends since basically the day you were born and yeah, you’d had a crush on him, and yeah, maybe you still did. But you couldn’t just come out with it. Besides, there was no way he liked you still anyway. You’d gotten a rise out of him for your own amusement (and maybe to see if he still had feelings for you), but you were certain it was just his embarrassment at the situation that made him so flustered. You were a little crushed, to be honest. To be completely truthful you wanted to do nothing more than bottle your feelings up and binge video games all night to forget the awkwardness you’d just set in place, but no, you had already asked Keith to meet you at Sal’s.

-

By the time evening rolled around and it was time to head to Sal’s you had worked yourself into a pit of guilt and regret. Keith wasn’t there when you got there. So you took up residence in the lone booth at the back where the two of you usually sat. Ten minutes had passed before you saw your friends Shiro and Matt walk in. Keith still wasn’t here so you waved them over. They seemed happy enough to see you, you were happy to see them too, even if you had been hoping they had Keith with them. They didn’t.

“(N/n), hey! Is Keith with you?” Shiro grinned, leaning down to side hug you before sliding in opposite you. Matt slid in next to you pulling you into a hug that quickly became a noogie.

“Gah! Matt what the hell, what are you five?” You shoved away from him, giving him the bird as you turned back to Shiro. “No, he was supposed to meet me here like half an hour ago, I thought maybe he was with you.”

“I haven’t seen him since this afternoon.”

“Shit. Did he seriously stand me up?”

“Oh? Did you two finally confess your undying love for each other? And here I thought we had something, (N/n).” Matt lounged against you and you grumbled despite smiling at the dramatic man.

“First of all shut your mouth. Second of all, you know you’re the only one for me.” Shiro barked with laughter and Matt nuzzled in closer to you and you rolled your eyes playfully at the act. “Jesus, you’re being worse than usual, are you drunk?”

“He’s got a buzz.”

“Ah. That makes sense then. Matt, my darling lover, I need you to get your bony ass elbow out from my rib cage.” He laughed as he sat back up.

Though he had been smiling at the antics of his friends only moments prior, Shiro was quick to take up the serious role. “Wait, so you haven’t seen Keith since this morning.” You nodded. “Did something happen between the two of you?”

You flushed, this was the conversation you were hoping wasn’t going to happen. Still, you couldn’t lie to Shiro, the man was pretty much a human lie detector to his friends. “Kind of… I found this dumb thing from when we were kids this morning and I think it upset him.”

Shiro cocked his head to the side. “But Keith loves looking through things from your guy’s childhood.”

“Well, I think maybe it was more so what I said about it. I may have been a bit out of line with my joking.”

“What’d you say?” Math looked at you, eyes widened.

You buried your head in your hands to hide your face. “I may have implied we should get married.” Both Matt and Shiro broke into a fit of laughter at your expense and you groaned. “Guys shut up! Look I didn’t know what else to do, he told me he used to have feelings for me and I guess I was just feeling bold. I’ve been beating myself up for it all day.”

Shiro caught his breath, quietening his chuckles momentarily. “He told you that? And I assume it’s safe to say that you're referring to the fake proposal back in- oh gosh, I want to say first, maybe kindergarten?”

“Second-grade, and yeah. I mean, what would you do? You know how I feel about Keith and it was like he was saying the very thing I wanted to hear for basically all of my life and then he bails the second I reciprocate. The only thing I can think is that I fucked up, which honestly let's be real, is probably the case. And now he’s uncomfortable around me, and I don’t know what to do.”

Shiro blinked, face going slack. “Oh, wow. Okay. I can’t believe he actually told you. I don’t think you scared him off, (N/n), I think maybe he wasn’t expecting you to say anything like that and he didn’t know how to handle it. I’m sure if you give him time he’ll work it out himself. Until then you need to stop beating yourself up over it.”

“Easier said than done.” You crossed your arms, slumping in your seat.

“I know, but you’re going to have to trust me on this one.”

-

Keith had never shown up to Sal’s and honestly now that a few days had passed with him one wording you, Shiro's advice was getting harder and harder to follow. You were in your apartment, putting everything from your old room away when you stumbled across the object that caused this whole situation. You crumpled it, tossing it aside. “As if I needed the reminder.” Your birthday was rapidly approaching, with only little over a week left until the day. It was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but it only served as a reminder that Keith was avoiding you. You glared at the piece of paper laying crumpled pathetically at the floor. A sigh escaped you and you sunk to the floor, grabbing it again. It hurt sure, but you felt bad just tossing it aside like that. Why couldn’t life be as easy as you thought it would be all those years ago? You’d always loved Keith, that much should have been obvious from your proposal. But the idea that your feelings had been reciprocated and that they may not be anymore crushed you; even more than that, the idea that you’d ruined your friendship with Keith completely wrecked you. Even if you couldn’t have him as your significant other, you would always want to be friends; he was your other half.

Your phone rang and you jumped, startled by the sudden noise. The caller ID said it was Matt. Decline. You just couldn’t deal with his silliness right now. The phone rang again and you were irked to see Matt’s face pop up again. Decline. You pressed down on the screen as if the more aggressive action would keep him from calling again. A moment later a message popped up. It was from Matt.

Answer my call D:

You rolled your eyes. A second later the phone started buzzing again. You slid the answer button, annoyance written in your words as you clipped out a curt “What?”.

“About time, I was wondering if I’d have to come to your house to tell you.”

“Tell me what?!”

“Now, now. Is that any way to talk to someone with good news?” His voice was a singsong that only proved to grate on your nerves further.

“You know what, I don’t care.”

His laughter faded. “Okay, okay, sorry. Yeesh, this whole thing has really gotten to you, hasn’t it?” He was quick to take on a more empathetic tone, it was much appreciated on your end.

“I’m sorry, I’m being kind of an ass, aren't I? But, yeah, it has. Anyway, what was your news?”

“Shiro has a surprise for you!”

“Wait, what?”

“Can you meet us at his place?”

“Yeah-- wait, Matt, what’s the surprise?”

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, now would it?” You tried to speak again, but the line went dead. He’d hung up.

You wanted to ignore the phone call, but you know if you did the curiosity would linger much longer than you’d like. So instead, you huffily slipped on your jacket and shoes and headed out to Shiro’s place.

For having a surprise for you, Shiro wasn’t very quick to answer his door. When he finally did open the door he was red in the face and looked like he had just been running laps. You guffawed. “Are you good?” Too breathless to answer, he just nodded, stepping aside to let you in. “What were you doing-- the hell is this?”

“Oh that, that’s nothing. You look great, but hey have you thought about going out, like with us?” You blinked slowly at Matt who was trying to pull your attention from reusable grocery bags that were spilling out streamers and other various decorations.

“What are you talking about?”

“We’re going to go party and you’re coming with us. No more moping. But maybe you might want to get a little more dressed up, that’s on me, I should have told you before. I was just worried you wouldn’t show up.”

"I wouldn’t have. Matt, I don’t want to go out partying. Besides you’re a little early, my birthday isn’t for-”

“We know! But you needed a pick me up, look it won’t be one of those shitty bars, okay. Somewhere more laid back.”

You rolled your eyes again. “What's wrong with what I have on now then?”

“Pwetty pwease. Look, we even bought you a gift!”

Matt pulled out a nicely wrapped gift box, Shiro must have wrapped it.

“Go on, open it.”

So you did, pulling the ribbon and tearing the paper off. Inside the box was an outfit, and despite your earlier protests, you smiled. It was a number you’d been eyeing for a while now. “Thank you both. Fine. We can go party, but just for a little while. Let me go get ready first, yeah?”

“Sounds good.”

-

The place they ended up taking you was Oriande, a place that landed somewhere between a club and a bar. It was classier than most of the bars on the road, but it also still had a dance floor giving it a more casual atmosphere as opposed to the high-class lounges up the road. It was still early in the evening, the sun just barely touching the horizon when you went in. Pastel neon lights engulfed you, the soft yet bright pinks blues and purples inviting you deeper into the establishment. Honestly, you were surprised you hadn’t been here before, it was just your style. Shiro ushered you over to a table nearer the back that looked like it had been decorated for an event. Oh, dang, were you here for someone else's party? But you didn’t even bring anything-

A cheery lady approached you. “You must be one of our bachelorxs!” She clapped a hand on you back and before you could get a word in edgewise she continued. “Now, your hubby-to-be isn't here yet, but that doesn’t mean the fun can't begin right?” She laughed friendly, before continuing, barely a breath in between her last sentence. “So," she stretched out the 'o' so that it sounded more like 'ooh', "we’ve set up a nice little bar section for your party, and of course since it's your party there's an open bar. Your planners were very thorough! If you need anything just holler!” And like that she had run off to attend other matters.

You rounded on your friends who were looking particularly guilty. “What the hell did you do!?”

“Look before you say anything-”

“No. I-” You pinched the bridge of your nose. “I get that you wanted the discount or special treatment or whatever, but did you really have to rope me in?”

“Well actually-”

“Shiro? Why’d you ask me to meet you here? Isn’t it kind of loud--...” There was Keith looking a little worse for the wear than when you’d last seen him, but he had still cleaned up well. Your attention immediately left Shiro.

“Keith?” His face paled as you approached him, eyes darting away as if searching from an exit; your heart clenched painfully. When he realized he couldn't so easily dart away he begrudgingly looked up at you, face a soft pink, although it might have just been the lighting-- it was hard to tell.

“(Y/n)... Hey…”

“It’s nice to see you again.” Even though you don’t want to see me, you thought bitterly. “Did Shiro invite you? It looks like it’s somebody’s party.” This caught him off guard.

“I... it is?”

You shrugged. “I’m assuming, although I think Shiro,” You yanked the fleeing man over, grip iron clad on his arm, Matt had already made his getaway, “and Matthew are running a bit of a con, but there are free drinks so...”

“Oh, my gosh, you two are so cu~ute! You must be our bachelor, I'm sure your fiance must have filled you in, so if you need anything let me know. I’ll let the bartender know that you’re both here.”

You watched in mortification as the chipper woman from before clapped a hand on Keith’s shoulder, effectively labeling him as your fiance. His face was burning with a blush, you were certain it wasn't the lighting this time. “No- that’s not--”

“Berry! We got an issue!” Someone from behind the bar shouted at who you assumed was the chipper lady. She frowned. “Shoot. Sorry, I gotta go handle this, enjoy your party!” Your anger from before you saw Keith had been reignited with a vengeance.

“Okay, so maybe I should explain…” Shiro looked beyond nervous.

“You think?!”

“It was Matt’s idea. Well, okay so originally we thought maybe we could pretend to be getting engaged for a couple of free drinks but then you two… well, you’ve both been a mess and refused to confront each other… So Matt came up with this idea, which in hindsight is kind of a shitty one, but hey now you can talk and there's plenty of pre-paid liquid courage to help you.”

“Shiro!”

“I’m sorry that we put you in this situation, but I’m not sorry I tricked you both into coming. Who knows how long you two would’ve gone on avoiding each other? And I can't deal with you both being upset over the same thing just because you don't want to confront each other. You both have been beating yourselves up, and waiting around for the situation to just magically right itself. So if it takes alcohol to get you to talk, then so be it." Shiro had taken on that authoritative aura of his and you huffed. You hated it when he was right, and he usually was.

"Fine." Your voice sounded cold even to your ears. You hadn’t meant for it to and you couldn't stand the thought of seeing if Keith reacted to it. Honestly, you weren't sure if it would hurt more if he did or didn't. Instead of looking you stubbornly grabbed his hand and dragged him to somewhere you could talk without shouting. You ended up finding yourselves alone in the hallway to the restroom, the music was still blaring but it was far enough away that you could actually talk. You finally let go of Keith’s hand, turning around to face him. It was almost too much, after so many days of having been rejected by him. Your nerves gripped you with a renewed sense of terror. You couldn’t talk, instead, you felt your throat tighten. Fuck. You were gonna cry. You hadn’t dragged him all the way over here just to cry in front of him. A strained whimper left your lips when you made to speak and you quickly snapped your mouth shut, turning away in embarrassment. Why now, of all times did your emotions have to be getting the better of you.

A shaky hand wiped your tears away. Your eyes shot to meet Keith’s. He looked unsure of himself like he would dart away at any second and yet, he still stood before you, gently brushing away the tears that refused to stop flowing. “H-hey, (N/n), hey… No, no, fuck. Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t-- I didn’t mean to make you cry.” That only made you cry harder and soon enough Keith had awkwardly pulled you into his arms. It was no unknown fact that physical affection was one of the quickest ways to comfort you and as your childhood best friend, Keith knew this better than anyone. “I,” He cleared his throat, “I know I fucked up. I never wanted to hurt you. I’d rather die.” He paused and for a moment you thought that he was done talking and tried to focus on recomposing yourself. You never left his arms though, afraid that stepping away would mean you’d never get to be this close to him again. “But I- I didn’t know what to do… I was scared. My feelings for you were laid out and I couldn’t be sure what you were thinking.” Something wet hit the top of your head-- Keith was crying too? “So, I did what I do best and I ran away. I shouldn’t have, but… What else was I supposed to do?” His voice wavered, his question coming out near breathless and timorous.

“I don’t understand? Why were you scared? I don’t care if you used to have a crush on me as a kid! I’m sorry if I scared you off with that stupid comment, I just… I don’t know. I thought maybe…” You had pushed back, this wasn’t a conversation you could very well have with your face smooshed into Keith’s chest. Regret clenched around your heart like a chain, but you’d already froze before. You forced yourself to meet his eyes, the beautiful violet-grey causing a short-lived wave of calm to wash over you. They were familiar, and yet the tears falling from them were not. Keith rarely cried. Acting on instinct alone, your hands made to wipe his tears away. He let you, watching you with a piercing gaze that was trying to dissect your every movement, find answers in the space between your words and your actions. He couldn’t find any hidden meanings, but he couldn't find any answers either.

“Comment?”

“What?” Your voice croaked out, sounding just as confused as he had.

“You said stupid comment? What comment?” Was he serious? Hadn’t your flirting been what caused this all to spiral?

“When I was flirting with you! Isn’t that what ran you off? I mean I didn’t actually mean we had to get married, just like a date or- or whatever…”

“Wait you were flirting with me?!” You felt like screaming, how had you managed to get yourself into this predicament of giving Keith your feelings on a platter thrice in your life now? Regardless of whether he knew or not, you felt like vomiting from the nerves.

“I thought it was obvious?” You laughed, but it came out strange and garbled, “I mean, shit Keith, I only propositioned you for marriage twice now.” The idea was both incredibly embarrassing and way too funny.

He seemed to feel similarly as a snort left him, quickly preceded by a fit of laughter that you too couldn't help but join in on. The both of you sounded delirious, and honestly, you kind of were. Tears flowed freely as you laughed, making you feel as though you may have lost it. When the laughter finally died down you were left shaky and almost numb. But the weight was no longer on your shoulders so that was something. “In your defense,” Keith’s hands had come to wipe away your tears again, completely dismissing his own, “I’ve technically never refused your propositions either.”

Your hand met his on your cheek, stopping the motions but also stopping him from leaving. “I mean, you did run away the second time…”

“But I never said no.”

“Are you saying you want to marry me?” Your brow arched, eyes searching his for a sign that he was joking. Surely, he wasn’t actually saying he wanted to marry you.

His eyes widened and he glanced to the side bashfully. “Maybe not a week from now… Honestly, though, I don’t think I could ever even imagine myself spending the rest of my life with anyone else? Like you’ve been my constant since basically day one and I’ve… I’ve had feelings for you for almost as long.” You could feel the tremble of his hands, letting your grip tighten slightly afraid he might run again if you didn’t. Your other hand moved to press his ridiculous fringe out of his eyes.

“Oh, Keith.” You couldn’t help the soft smile that found its way to your lips. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

He bit his lip. “That depends on what you think I’m saying?”

“Keith… Please don’t make me wait any longer to hear it.”

He laughed, although you could still feel the slight tremble in his hand. “(Y/n) (L/n), I have wanted to be with you since we were in second grade, maybe longer, and that’s never changed. If you’ll have me, I’d love nothing more than to be with you.” He paused a beat. “Oh, but, um, I do think marriage would be rushing it... “

You giggled, though he sounded monotone, you knew he was joking. “I’ve waited this long, I think I can wait a while longer if that’s what it takes.” The two of you shared a laugh and before you knew it, Keith had gently tugged you back into his arms. With your face pressed firmly into his chest, you could feel the erratic beating of his heart. “But really, Keith. I’ve had feelings for you for as long as I can remember. I’m glad we finally get to be here like this.”

“Speaking of, do you want to dip out and go somewhere-”

“Less loud?”

“Yeah.”

“That would be lovely.” With your hand in his, Keith led you through the crowds, neither of you bothering much to say goodbye to the now tipsy Matt and supervising Shiro, instead of finding your way outside into the crisp evening air. It felt like you could breathe finally, although you suspect part of it was because you no longer felt the crushing pressure on your chest of hiding your feelings for Keith. In fact, you realized with delight, you could now… “Hey, Keith?” You stopped on the sidewalk, with him by your side, eyeing you curiously. “Can I try something?”

“Okay?”

Letting the last of your nerves roll off of you, you took your moment of boldness and leaned up to press a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth. Keith startled, after a moment his hand left yours, instead, finding purchase on your waist to tug you closer. “(Y/n), can I try something?” His voice was barely audible, but it still sent shivers through your spine.

“Okay.”

He smiled softly before moving to capture your lips with his own. The kiss was tender and filled with love. His inexperience showed, but it was endearing and you found yourself leaning in to kiss him again after he pulled back. You were left breathless under the lamplight, grinning just as brightly as that day on the playground when Keith first agreed to be yours. And now that he’d agreed once again, well you couldn’t be any happier.

[calligraphist-artemisia]

Soul of a Lion (Chapter 4)

Sequel to The Smallest Blade.

Summary: After the Red Lion steals them away from the Marmora base and takes them through a wormhole, Shiro, Keith, Katla, and Lance find themselves in front of a majestic castle with nowhere to go but inside. The events that unfold while they’re there will change the fate of the universe.

Also posted on AO3 under the username “kishirokitsune”.

☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆

4 | History Revealed

Allura was in good spirits as she made her way to the dining hall, where Coran was already seated and enjoying a heaping plate of food goo. She grimaced at the thought of eating more of it. Food goo was truly an acquired taste and she hoped Hunk was making plans to look into what was available on the planet.

Before she could shuffle off into the royal kitchen for her own plate, Hunk came bustling through the door with a broad grin on his face and a tray carefully balanced in each hand. One of the kitchen droids – a little one nicknamed 'Nikbot' for all of the times Hunk used it to transport picnic supplies – scooted along behind him, beeping in a happy tone as it carried a tray of drinks.

“I made breakfast!” Hunk announced, depositing one tray laden with all kinds of fruits and berries into the center of the table. “Or, well, I found breakfast.”

Nikbot beeped loudly and bumped into his legs.

“Nikbot and I found breakfast,” Hunk amended. “This planet has so much food! We'll be set for phoebs with all of the stuff we found, even with seven of us to feed.”

Allura cleared her throat and held out her hand, allowing her four new friends to scurry down from her shoulder onto the table. “Actually, there are eleven of us. Apparently they shared a pod with me for all of this time! You're looking at the last four genuine Altean mice!”

“Awww,” Hunk cooed.

Coran leaned forward in interest. “Well, hello!”

Allura happily introduced them, starting with the large yellow one (Platt), then the smallest blue one (Chulatt), followed by the skinny greenish-one (Plachu), and finally the pale pink one (Chuchule). She made no mention of her ability to communicate with them – Hunk certainly wouldn't approve of her spying methods, no matter that her intentions were to ensure their safety.

As the mice helped themselves to the array of fruits before them, Allura gladly accepted a steaming cup from Nikbot's tray and took a long, slow sip of the hot beverage. She hummed in pleasure and then surveyed the food, giggling as she witnessed Platt open his mouth wide and fit a whole berry into it. He turned to look at her, his cheeks bulging, and Allura giggled even harder.

“It's good to see you in such high spirits, princess,” Coran remarked as he accepted one of the cold beverages from Nikbot.

“It is going to be a good day, Coran,” Allura said in response. “I thought we could go over our itinerary while we eat. There's a great deal that needs to be done around here and planning is the best way to ensure the important details are accomplished.”

Hunk shifted a little. “I was going to take more food down to the others. I don't think they're fans of the food goo.”

Allura's smile was strained. “Then I shall be brief.” She gently set down her cup and took a deep breath, reminding herself that she needed to give them a chance to prove themselves and that getting angry over it wasn't good for her health. “Our automated systems have kept things in good working order for all of this time, but just in case, I sent out the repair bots last night to see if there's anything that needs our attention. We should have that report once we return to the bridge.

“As long as there isn't anything we need to immediately address, there are tasks that each of us need to complete. Coran, I would like you to check on the engine room. You have the most knowledge and experience in that area and I trust that you'll have it in working order in no time. Hunk, I see you've already begun your work in the kitchens. Once you're certain that the kitchen bots have everything under control, you'll be in charge of the care for our guests. Should Coran need your help in the engine room, he'll call for you.”

She went on to explain that she would be checking in on the crystal chamber, which housed the various power crystals that kept the Castle running. Using her Aspect of Spirit, she would be able to recharge any of the crystals that were running low on energy. It would take her some time to go over all of them, but she predicted to be finished by midday.

After lunch, she would take on the difficult task of speaking with their guests.

Or perhaps she'd only talk to one of them.

Yes, one at a time would be best.

☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆

“They don't really think we'll be content to sit in our rooms all day, do they?” Katla complained as she laid on Shiro's bed and stared at the ceiling.

Next to her, Lance gave a half-hearted shrug. “Maybe it's a test?”

Katla snorted. “If it is, then it's a stupid one.” She sat up suddenly and looked at Shiro and Keith, who were going through a series of warm-up stretches in lieu of their usual morning routine. “If you give me a few doboshes to look over the sensors on our doors, I bet I could disable it without anyone catching on.”

“I think we can offer more patience than that,” Shiro spoke up. He stood up straight and raised his arms above his head as high as he could before relaxing and letting them fall back to his sides. “I don't like feeling stuck either, but we can't blame them for wanting to be cautious. Wouldn't you be, if the situation was reversed?”

“I guess...” Katla reluctantly grumbled and then flopped back down, jostling Lance.

Shiro was right, but that didn't mean she wanted to hear it.

She supposed she was meant to also feel grateful that they were given nice rooms instead of being put into prison cells where their freedom would truly be stripped away. And she was! But that didn't stop the anxiety from kicking in the longer they sat around.

“If we don't see Hunk during lunch then we'll do some exploring on our own,” Shiro said.

Keith looked at him in surprise. “What if we get caught?”

“Well, I've always been good at talking the two of you out of trouble,” Shiro joked with a fond smile.

His comment eased the tension in the room and even Lance cracked a smile – the first Katla had seen from him since their arrival at the castle. It was a smile that immediately fell when they heard a knock at the door.

None of them were surprised to find Hunk standing on the other side.

“I thought you guys might want to get out and see more of the castle,” he said casually.

Katla sat up in an instant, her ears fanned out in excitement. “Can we, Shiro?”

“I suspect I'll have a mutiny on my hands if I say no,” Shiro remarked. “Keith, Lance, what do you two say?”

Lance heaved a sigh but muttered an agreement, while Keith answered by approaching the bed and helping Katla to her feet, which earned him a smile and a kiss on the cheek.

“Everything alright?” she asked quietly.

Keith nodded and turned his head so no one else could see his lips moving as he whispered: “I'll tell you later.”

With everyone in agreement, Hunk began the tour by leading them back to the kitchen and then onto a new branch in the hallway, at the end of which was an elevator. They rode it up three floors and when the doors opened they found themselves in an odd room.

Katla peered around Keith for a better look at the massive console lining the opposite wall, her eyes wide as she took in the startling amount of buttons and switches and the various touch-screens that covered it. Above the module were wide windows that stretched all the way up to the ceiling, through which an even larger and very empty room could be seen. If Katla had to guess, the lower room took up nearly an entire floor on its own.

Shiro stepped forward, his mouth slightly ajar. “Hunk, this is... Are you sure we're allowed to be here?”

“I don't see the harm in it,” Hunk said with a shrug. He waved them in and then walked right up to the console, which lit with a soft glow as he drew closer. “This is the control room for our holo-deck, which you can see down there. You can use it make your own training exercise or use one of the pre-programmed ones, like the electrified invisible maze.”

“But if it's invisible, how do you keep from getting shocked?” Katla asked.

“Oh, well, it's meant to be a teamwork-building thing. One person is up here with a map and can give directions. If you do it well enough, there's no electrocution,” Hunk explained. “Here, let me show you how it works.”

Katla barely refrained from squealing as she pushed past Shiro and Keith so she could get an up close and personal look at how everything worked.

Hunk quickly proved himself a fantastically patient teacher and he answered all of the questions she had, as well as anything Shiro or Keith asked. He walked her through the steps to creating her own program, which turned out to be relatively easy – so easy that she probably could have figured it out half-asleep and with no prior knowledge of what any button did – and then pulled up a full list of every pre-programmed exercise they had. Everything was meticulously labeled and divided into different categories and each program had different levels of difficulty that were clearly noted.

While Shiro and Keith actively participated in the lesson, Lance hung back away from the group, not saying a word but still listening to everything that was being said.

“That's about it,” Hunk told her. “Want to try it out?”

“Yes!” Katla didn't know it was possible for her voice to go that high, but she was too excited to get her hands on Altean tech to really be embarrassed by that fact. (For something so ancient, it was the nicest piece of technology she had ever laid eyes on.)

“Something simple to start out with,” Shiro advised.

Katla barely took notice of what he was saying as she scrolled through the options, oohing and aahing over the possibilities. “Uh huh.”

“Katla, I'm serious.”

“Okay, okay. Something simple,” she promised with a sigh, resisting the urge to call him a killjoy.

Hunk said something about a track, didn't he? One they could put hurdles on for an extra challenge? Katla's fingers hovered over the selection, wondering if it wasn't too simple. The option of an obstacle course was so much more tempting...

Katla selected the track and, with the exception of Lance, they all crowded around the window to watch as the floor of the holo-deck began to warp, twisting parts of itself up into tall squares and rising slightly in the center of the room so there was a clear indentation where they were meant to run.

“So, how do we get down there?” Shiro asked Hunk.

The answer turned out to be pretty simple: there was a second door to the right of the elevator they rode up on and it opened to a moving staircase they could ride down to the holo-deck. Once there, Hunk showed them a secondary control panel.

“You won't be able to change to a different program from here, but you can change the difficulty or move things around. It also has voice recognition that you can use when one of the combat programs are active. It's a built-in safety feature,” Hunk explained.

“This is all so cool,” Katla breathed, looking around the room with a delighted spark in her amber eyes. She grinned and mischievously tapped Keith on the shoulder before sprinting away. “Catch me if you can!”

Keith's grin was a little more feral as he tore off after her.

Katla laughed as she vaulted over the first hurdle. “Shiro, Lance, come on!”

It took a moment for Shiro to talk Lance into running with them, but he eventually agreed and it wasn't long before the four of them were embroiled in a fierce game of tag while Hunk sat back and watched, a smile on his face.

☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆

Shiro was a little wary as he entered the dining room where he was meeting Allura for lunch. After what happened the last time he tried to talk to her, he was understandably uncomfortable about being alone with her, even with Hunk's assurance that she wanted him there.

He hesitated in the doorway when he saw her already seated at the head of the table.

“Shirotak, thank you for joining me,” she said, giving him a strained smile. “Please sit. Our meal will be out shortly.”

Shiro didn't take his eyes off of her as he crossed the room to his seat. “Is it just the two of us, highness?”

“Yes. Coran has a few things he's looking over on the Bridge and will be taking his meal there. I believe Hunk is eating with your friends,” Allura said. “I thought this would be a good opportunity for the two of us to talk and... and I wanted to apologize for my behavior.”

It was the sincerity in her voice that put Shiro more at ease. “Thank you. I can't imagine that it was easy to wake and find yourself surrounded by strangers. Is there anything we can do to help you feel more comfortable?”

“I think getting to talk will help immensely,” Allura responded. “But first, we should eat.”

As if on cue, a pair of kitchen droids rolled into the room and served each of them a plate of food. Shiro was glad that there wasn't a single spoonful of food goo in sight. (But then again, Hunk had told them there was plenty of fresh food to be found on the planet, so was it really such a surprise?)

Shiro waited until Allura took her first bite and then dug into his.

Most of their meal was spent in silence, but Shiro didn't mind the time to think over all of the things he wanted to say to her, as well as to determine what he was allowed to say. Obviously, he'd have to reveal a few things. There was only so long they could keep the Blade of Marmora a secret before someone started to get suspicious, though he was pretty sure he could get away with only hinting towards a secret organization for the moment.

By the time they finished eating, Shiro had most of a plan. For the rest, he'd just have to wing it.

“I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you to join me,” Allura said as the droids cleared away their empty plates. “The truth is, I don't know what to think about this whole situation. I know there's a reason why the Red Lion brought you here, but I don't understand why it's specifically the four of you. The original paladins all knew each other beforehand, so maybe that's part of the prerequisite? But that doesn't explain why there are only four of you and not five...” She trailed off, her gaze distant.

Shiro wondered how much of that she really meant to say. After a few ticks had passed and she didn't continue speaking, he said “I don't have an answer for that.”

Allura blinked and sat up a little straighter as she refocused on the conversation. “Then perhaps a question that you will be able to answer: do you know how the war began?”

“Growing up, I was taught that the Altean king declared war upon the Galra when he ordered the destruction of Daibazaal and that the retaliation of Zarkon and his forces was justified. I later learned that it was all a lie, but we don't know the full truth of things either,” Shiro paused, watching as Allura's expression softened from outright rage to simple indignation.

“My father was a general in Zarkon's army. My mother was convinced of the might and righteousness of the Empire, like many are, and she raised me to believe the same. It was something she believed in until they tried to take me from her.

“It's tradition for the firstborn to begin training at a young age. More than tradition, actually. It's an unspoken requirement that most follow without question. My mother hoped that because of my father's status as a general, as well as the fact that I was the only cub she was able to have, they would allow me to stay with her instead. The army disagreed. My mother ran and took me with her. She didn't get far.”

Shiro hadn't intended on divulging his past to her, but judging from the horrified expression on Allura's face, it was the right way to go. At least she was listening.

“That was the day my faith in the Empire was broken. From that moment on, I began to see them as they truly were and I did everything in my power to become too troublesome to keep around. I knew that one day I would be too old to stay in training and they would send me out whether they thought I was ready or not. When that day came, I would be able to sneak away and they would be too thankful that I was gone to go looking for me. But then came a day when I did something exceptionally... foolish.

“I saved the life of a commanding officer. I can't even say why I did it. In-fighting is common in the Empire and it's not unusual for them to be to the death, but when I saw someone try to sneak up behind her I just... moved. It's how I earned this,” Shiro tapped the bridge of his nose, where his scar cut across. “In return, Ranzaria saved me from my destructive spiral, and eventually, she introduced me to a group dedicated to ending Zarkon's reign of fear and subjugation. I've been with them ever since.”

“Shirotak, I... I'm so sorry,” Allura murmured.

“It was a long time ago, highness, and I would not be the person I am today had I not gone through those experiences,” Shiro said. “But back to your original question, no one knows how the war truly began. The Empire has done everything in their power to obscure the truth and anyone who did know died a long time ago. At least, until the three of you woke up.”

Allura bit her lip and lowered her gaze to the table. “We were allies, once. It... it is true that my father ordered the destruction of Daibazaal, but it was not intended to be an act of war, but of prevention. Sometime before I was born, a meteor struck the surface of Daibazaal and when it was extracted, it revealed a terrible rift that penetrated deep into the core of the planet. For a while, it merely seemed to be an anomaly and was carefully studied by a few hand-picked alchemists, but as time went on they began to realize that it was destabilizing the entire planet. Left unchecked, the rift would have eventually ripped Daibazaal apart and, after that, continued to spread to encompass the entire universe. Destroying Daibazaal was the only way to seal it and prevent such a catastrophe.”

Shiro frowned. “I feel like I'm missing something. Shouldn't it have been up to Zarkon to give that order?”

“Unfortunately, it was not our first attempt at closing the rift.”

Shiro quietly listened as Allura told the whole sad story about trying to use something called “Voltron” to seal the rift and how they had only succeeded in increasing it tenfold, as well as costing the lives of two people – Emperor Zarkon and his wife, Empress Honerva. In the midst of the chaos left from Zarkon's death, King Alfor did his best to maintain control and used his role as head of the Galactic Alliance to order the evacuation and destruction of Daibazaal.

“Had the situation been reversed, it would have been well within Zarkon's rights to do the same,” Allura said, though it pained her to admit it. “Of course, everything went wrong after that. Zarkon was somehow resurrected. My father thought it had something to do with the rift, though we never knew for certain. He declared war on Altea and the rest of our alliance, destroying each of us one-by-one.”

She clenched her hands and glared at the surface of the table. “I never imagined the war would go on for so long. I- I should have fought harder to use the Lions and fight back! If I'd only tried a little harder-!” Her voice broke as a single tear fell from her eyes. She furiously wiped it away and lifted her head. “No longer. This is our second chance and I will not let it go by. I want to know where you stand, Shirotak.”

“We stand against Zarkon and his forces,” Shiro answered, meeting her eyes. “We stand with you.”

☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆

Coran knew that he promised Allura that he wouldn't pull an all-nighter to reconfigure the navigation system, but what harm would it do to check on one last little thing while the system sorted itself off. It wasn't like he'd be able to sleep until he knew why the holo-deck was using extra energy anyway. He'd just pop over to the control room for a quick look and then go to bed.

He looked around the Bridge one last time, checked the progress bar for the seventh time in as many doboshes, and then reluctantly left to begin his trek to his room.

The holo-deck was only a brief detour on his path and Coran swore that he wouldn't stay long. He entered the command room and had to take a moment to comprehend what he was seeing. It was more than just a little problem. The console was fully activated, as though someone was running a program at that very moment.

“Impossible!” Coran said, rushing forward. Allura had gone to bed vargas ago and Hunk wasn't known for skipping out on sleep, or for frequenting the holo-deck. He was about to begin methodically shutting everything down when he happened to glance through the window and into the room below.

Two of the Galra were there. One was the boy with unusual black hair and the other was the girl. They were playing around on one of the climbing courses, occasionally dropping to a cushioned mat below in order to start all over.

Coran found himself relaxing the longer he watched them play. It was as they dropped to the mat at the same time and began a game of chase across the floor, breathlessly giggling, that Coran realized it was an oddly familiar sight.

A long time ago, he'd been blessed enough to witness the beginning of a truly great romance. It was one full of laughter and life and only grew more beautiful once Alfor was able to catch his beloved princess. A love that was cut tragically short.

In the room below, the boy caught up to the girl and pulled her into his arms. His balance must have gotten knocked off because they went down in a tangled heap, huge smiles upon their faces.

Coran couldn't bring himself to interrupt. Eventually, he dragged himself away from the window and off to his room. His dreams that night were full of his memories of happier days when Alfor wasn't yet king and still trying to find the right way to woo the future queen.

[vs-redemption]

Crime is Common. Logic is Rare. (Ch 18)

Chapter Eighteen: Those Words (HawksxGN!Reader)

Plot summary: You thought your hands were full as a regular quirk geneticist, but then you meet Hawks and things get even more exciting!

Warnings:  

⚠️This story contains spoilers from the manga.

⚠️Some events and plot points have been altered from the original manga

Tag List: @gayforkeigo @marshmallow-witch @redflannel @toyo-shiro @elsasshole @astronomyturtle

Next Chapter : Chapter Guide

“Hey, I brought over a book I want you to check out.”

You turn away from the food you were cooking to raise an eyebrow at your boyfriend who was standing behind you holding a decent sized hard cover book with ���Meta Liberation War’ printed across the cover. Hawks had an apologetic look on his face, but you weren’t surprised he was doing this. Staging the murder of Best Jeanist had definitely earned him points with the league of villains, but now he had to continue winning their trust by doing everything he could to prove he believed in the ideals they’d adopted after merging with the liberation army in Deika city. It would look strange if he never brought up the topic he was pretending to be so passionate about with the person he was dating. You let out a sigh, knowing you had to play along.

“Isn’t that book a little outdated?” you ask while turning back to the stove. “Plus, I’m pretty sure the guy that wrote it ended up in prison.” You decided not to jump on board right away so that Hawks would have the chance to convince you. It would help the villains trust him even more if they heard how much he understood and supported the cause.

“The fact that he was arrested is all the more reason to check it out,” Hawks comes up behind you to see what you were making. He hardly got to see you anymore now that he spent half his time in another city with the league of villains, who were now calling themselves the paranormal liberation front. It made communicating very difficult since there were limits to what you could tell each other over phone or text. You both had to make do with seeing each other for an hour or so at a time when you could find time between his hero duties and spy duties. “He was an advocate for quirk liberation back when people first started getting powers and governments around the world were fighting to suppress the people’s freedom to use those powers.”

“He was an advocate for chaos,” you correct him calmly. “There’s a huge difference between rallying people together to protest laws you don’t agree with and scaring people into listening by committing acts of terrorism.”

“That’s simplifying the story just a bit, don’t you think?” Hawks begins sending his feathers around the kitchen to get out any plates and utensils you both would need. “Our quirks are a part of who we are, and putting so many rules and regulations on them is a form of repression.”

“I’d hardly say anyone is being repressed,” you retort with a laugh. “We’re allowed to use our quirks as it suits us in our careers and in the privacy of our homes. It would be much worse, for example, if someone was forbidden to use the extra set of arms they were born with or something just because most other people only have two. I don’t think it’s unfair to restrict the use of quirks in public though.”

“Why do you say that?” Hawks asks curiously as you both grab some dinner and head over to the small table to eat. You really wished you could talk about something else in the limited time you had with your boyfriend, but it was important to act like you had no idea what he was up to with the villains.

“Well, I mean, think about it Bird-kun,” you can’t help but smile at the way he perks up when you use the stupid little nickname, “you spent so many years training your quirk just so that you’d be able to use it safely and effectively around other people. Can you imagine if a person without your control tried sending feathers out everywhere like you do and stabbed someone by mistake or blocked someone’s vision and caused an accident? And that’s just one example. If you imagine a whole community of people using their quirks all willy-nilly like that, you can start to see how things would get out of control.”

“The idea isn’t to create a world like that,” Hawks continues his spiel, “it’s about allowing people the chance to use their quirks to defend themselves or help others instead of having to rely on heroes all the time.”

You let out a sigh, wanting to put this conversation to rest now so that you both could enjoy the rest of your dinner like a normal couple. “Look, It isn’t like I think the system we have now is perfect or anything,” you tell him honestly. “And I won’t claim that I have any better ideas. I’m a scientist, after all. My area of expertise is quirk genetics not quirk regulation.”

“I know, and that’s fine,” Hawks promises. “But, can you at least give the book a shot?” He gives you puppy eyes from across the table. “For me?”

“Magic face.” You mutter under your breath while rolling your eyes dramatically. “Fine! I’ll read it if it means that much to you. You’re lucky I love you.”

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Hawks asks, looking genuinely taken aback to hear you say something like that.

“Huh?” You tilt your head, “I said you’re lucky I love you.” You had been trying to tease him but a look of vulnerability crosses over his face as he processes your comment. It was the first time you’d said those words to him, but you really hadn’t expected them to trip him up like that. Surely it couldn’t be that much of a surprise. Suddenly, Hawks leans forward and cups his hand around his ear with a small smile.

“I heard the first part,” he says, “But one more time… I’m lucky what?”

“I love you.” You decide not to make him work for it since it obviously meant more to him than you realized to hear how you felt. You hoped he didn’t feel strange that you’d thrown something so real into a fake conversation. By the way the feathers on his wings fluffed up you assumed not.

“Nobody has ever said that to me before,” He lets out an awkward laugh while leaning back in his seat.

“What?” You had a hard time believing him until you remembered that he hadn’t seen his family since he was taken in by the hero training facility he’d told you about. He’d also mentioned never having any real friends. Perhaps he wasn’t joking, and that made you feel kind of sad.

“Well, I’ve heard fans say that kind of stuff before,” Hawks admits with a shrug, “But I don’t think they meant it the way you do. You do mean it that way, right?”

“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t,” You promise while reaching across the table to cover his hand with yours. He seemed satisfied with that and his vulnerable energy faded away.

“That’s good,” He grins happily while interlacing your fingers, “Because I love you too!”

“Glad to hear it,” you smile back. The two of you finish up the food and clean up just in time for Hawks to have to take off again. Neither one of you wanted to part ways, but hopefully things wouldn’t have to be this way for too much longer. Hawks was gathering as much information as he could about the internal structure of the Paranormal Liberation Front, and you were spending every moment you could trying to figure out what Dr. Garaki was planning with All For One’s DNA. Hopefully once those pieces fell into place, the heroes could be notified about what was happening so that they could stop the villains before things got even worse.

“Don’t forget to read that book,” Hawks tells you, staying true to his role.

“Yeah, yeah,” you pull him into a kiss so that you wouldn’t have to talk about that subject any longer. “I wish you didn’t have to go.”

“I know,” He sighs in disappointment. “But you know I can’t skip my night patrols. That’s when all the really scary guys come out to play.”

“Well, let’s just hope they play nice,” you let out a dry laugh, “I worry about you.”

“Aw,” Hawks coos your name and pulls you into a hug. You prolong the good-bye as long as you can, but eventually he does have to leave. Once you’re alone in your apartment you send a glare over to the book Hawks had left on your kitchen counter. You had already read it cover to cover and knew it was filled with the ramblings of a dangerous extremist who had no qualms about using people to fight and die for his fanatical ideas. If there were problems in society, there were plenty of reasonable ways to find a solution. All-out war, in your opinion, was not one of them.

[alounuitte]

halfway home

After evading capture by the Garrison's staff, Keith deals with a friend who needs help - and some unwanted guests. (Set during the pilot.)

if you ship shiro with keith (or any of the other paladins) don’t even look at this i’ll block you on sight if you mention or tag this as shipping.

chapter 1/4

Keith pulls back on the throttle sharply and spins to a stop beside the house, dust kicking up into the air as he powers down the engines and the bike settles to the ground. “Oh, gosh,” groans the big guy, whose name Keith still can’t remember; the bike rocks slightly as he sways where he’s perched on the back. “Oh, man, I don’t feel good.”

“Get off my bike if you’re gonna hurl,” Keith tells him with a glance over his shoulder, and jumps to the ground himself, turning quickly to steady Shiro as he slumps forward. “Hey, man, are you with me? Shiro?”

Shiro stirs and mumbles something incomprehensible, his eyes flickering open halfway before closing again. Whatever the Garrison medics gave him must have been pretty strong stuff. Keith sighs and shakes his head, pulling Shiro’s arm around his shoulders to help him down from the bike.

“So, uh, what’s this place?” the scrawny one - Lance - asks, looking up at the house. “Some kinda secret safe house, or what?”

“It’s where I live,” Keith replies, frowning at him. “It’s just my house.”

“Wow,” Lance says. “What a dump.”

Fury prickles hot under his skin, but Keith bites his tongue and tries to ignore the jab. “Come on,” he says, putting an arm around Shiro’s back to support him. Fuck, he can feel his ribs through the thin, ragged shirt he’s wearing. What the hell happened to him? “Let’s get inside, okay?”

He pushes open the door and pulls Shiro over the threshold, moving to kick it closed just as the tiny cadet with the glasses he doesn’t recognize moves to come inside. “Hey, wait,” the kid protests, quickly stepping in to stop him. “What about us?”

“I didn’t mean you,” Keith says, trying to push him back outside with one hand.

“What?” Lance protests, scrambling down from the bike to join his tiny friend. “But we totally helped with your rescue mission!”

“More like got in the way,” Keith snaps. “I came back for Shiro, no one asked you three to get involved—“

“So you’re just gonna strand us out in the desert?” Lance argues, gesturing at the open landscape with one hand. “Where are we gonna go when you live out in the middle of nowhere?”

“Not my problem,” Keith tells him, shrugging. “You’re the ones who decided to hitchhike with me.”

“I’m not leaving til I get to talk to him,” says the one in glasses stubbornly, ducking under Keith’s arm to push his way into the house.

“And we can’t go back to the Garrison,” Lance says, wedging his foot in the door before Keith can slam it shut. “We’re gonna get suspended, or expelled like you—“

“Shut up!” Keith snarls, his free hand curling into a fist at his side.

“Keith?” Shiro asks, his voice thick and slurred as he lifts his head. “Where… what’s…”

“You awake now?” Keith asks, trying to focus on Shiro instead of the others trying to intrude. “Come on, you should sit down.”

“The Garrison,” he mumbles. “They need to - I’ve got to tell them…”

“So, uh,” says the big guy as he appears in the open doorway behind Lance, looking a little unsteady.  “What’s - what happens now? What’s the plan? Do we have a plan?”

“We don’t have a plan,” Keith says, annoyed. “I do, and it doesn’t involve any of you.”

“Well, he’s obviously not thinking clearly,” Lance says, jerking his head at Shiro. “Iverson just tried to lock him up and he wants to go back there!”

“Yeah, no offense, sir,” the big one adds, “but any of us going back to the Garrison right now seems like a bad idea.”

“You don’t… understand,” Shiro manages, trying to push himself upright. “They’re coming, we don’t have much time, I need to get in contact with Flight Command—“

“Sir, I don’t know if the Garrison can be trusted,” the little one says, standing up straighter himself. “They hid the truth about what happened to the Kerberos mission—“

“Stop!” Keith tells him, glowering. “All of you, stop talking—“

He breaks off as Shiro sways and slumps sideways, ducking under his arm again to support him.

“Look,” he says, “if you all want to stay here for the night, fine. But I don’t want you getting in the way, and I don’t want any of you bothering Shiro right now, got it?”

He crosses the room carefully, still supporting most of Shiro’s weight, and helps him to the couch to sit down.

“Hey, man,” he says, perching on the arm of the couch to rest a hand on Shiro’s shoulder. “Can you hear me?”

Shiro stirs a little and groans faintly, trying to lift his head, but if he’s trying to say something he doesn’t manage it. Keith swallows hard.

“He’s gonna need some time to sleep off the sedative they gave him,” he mutters aloud, more for his own benefit than for the bunch of strangers who are now standing in his living room. “Guess asking any questions is gonna have to wait until morning.”

“What about the aliens?” the big guy asks, fidgeting nervously. “You know, the ones he said are coming? Here? To Earth?”

“What did I just say?” Keith asks, annoyed. “I don’t know any more than you do, and Shiro’s still too out of it to tell anyone anything.”

“I mean, yeah, but,” he protests, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Shouldn’t we, I don’t know, do something? Tell somebody?”

“Who?” asks the little one, adjusting his glasses. “Who is gonna believe us when even the Garrison wouldn’t listen?”

“Okay, okay, just because Iverson wouldn’t listen,” Lance begins.

“I thought you didn’t wanna go back,” the big guy reminds him.

Lance shakes his head quickly. “Oh, no, no, no, no, I don’t. Even if we wouldn’t get court-martialed, my sister would kill me. I’m just saying--”

“Will all of you be quiet?” Keith shouts at the top of his lungs, and the three cadets all fall silent. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, or what we should do,” he adds after a moment. “What I do know is that my friend needs time to recover, and my one priority right now is to make sure he’s gonna be okay.”

No one speaks, the three cadets all staring at him wide-eyed, and he’s suddenly far too aware that he looks disheveled and run-down, hardly the picture of some kind of hero even if two of them didn’t know him as that kid who lost his mind last year and got expelled from the academy. Not exactly the kind of guy who inspires trust.

“I’m…” he says, and swallows. “I’m gonna help Shiro lay down. All of you can fight over who gets the couch, or whatever, I don’t care, just - stay down here, okay?”

“Dibs,” Lance says, looking around at the others. The big guy groans.

Keith rolls his eyes, getting to his feet. “Come on, man,” he tells Shiro softly, taking his arm to pull him up. “Let’s get you up to bed.”

Shiro’s still barely conscious, and he has to lean on Keith’s shoulders heavily to stay on his feet, but with Keith’s hand on his back to support and guide him he’s alert enough to walk, at least, and he only stumbles a few times on the stairs. “Keith?” he groans under his breath as they reach the top, his voice still slurred and heavy. “Is… that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Keith says, guiding him into the unused bedroom. “Take it easy, I’ve got you.”  Their footsteps stir up dust from the floor, and he wrinkles his nose, trying not to sneeze.

“Where… are we?” Shiro asks, and coughs weakly.

“My house,” Keith tells him, and swallows. “I mean - my dad’s house, you know, where I…”

“You’ve gotta warn them,” he manages, trying to pull himself upright. “They need to know, Keith, if Iverson won’t listen…”

“I know,” Keith assures him. “I promise, we’ll figure things out in the morning, okay? Right now I think you need to sleep.”

"...Yeah," he agrees slowly, slumping against Keith's shoulder. "Okay."

He all but collapses onto the dusty mattress when Keith goes to help him sit down, and crawls into bed with a groan, struggling clumsily to pull at the covers. Keith tugs the quilt out from under him, swallowing a lump in his throat as he drapes it over Shiro's shoulders. "Night, Shiro," he says quietly.

There's no answer; Shiro's already lapsed back into unconsciousness.

Keith sighs and brushes his hair out of his face, turning away. From the closet he pulls out one of his dad's old t-shirts, examining it in the dim light to determine it's probably around Shiro's size. As quietly as he can, he digs out a pair of jeans and Dad's old vest as well, grimacing at the musty smell of clothes long left untouched. He'll need to wash them first, but Shiro's going to need something other than those rags to wear.

The others in the living room are still awake; he can hear them talking as he creeps back downstairs, but they go quiet before he comes around the corner. At least if they're pretending to sleep they won't try to talk to him, he thinks, and hurries past to the laundry before any of them change their minds about that.

When he’s put the clothes into the wash and started the cycle, he sits down next to the machine and leans back against the cool metal, drawing his knees up to his chest.

In the quiet, with just the rumble of the machine to keep him company, the reality of what’s just happened finally starts to sink in, and he screws his eyes shut as they well up with tears. He’s not going to cry about it, not now, not when he finally knows for sure that Shiro’s okay - and especially not when there are three near-strangers in his living room who could overhear. He takes a deep breath through his teeth to steady himself, lets it out slowly so it rumbles in his chest. He’s not going to cry.

He’d never really thought Shiro was dead. Not when the Garrison reported the loss of the mission, anyways, because the upper brass must have been kidding themselves if they thought passing it off as pilot error would fool anyone. But when weeks passed, and then months, with no renewed contact, no sign of anyone on the crew, no more information on what could have happened - a part of him had started to think he was never going to see him again. And now that he’s back, home —

Keith’s breath catches in his throat and comes out as a choked sob. Shit. He buries his face in his folded arms, tears burning in his eyes. He’s not going to cry, he tells himself, swallowing hard. He’s not.

A tear leaks through his lashes despite his best efforts to fight it back; he feels it hot on his cheek before it runs down into the sleeve of his jacket. He sobs again and presses a hand to his mouth, biting into his skin to smother the sound.

Pull it together, Keith, he tells himself. Shiro needs you. His teeth dig into the heel of his hand until it hurts, until he can feel his pulse in his palm. He takes a deep breath and lets it out before wiping his eyes with the end of his sleeve. He has to be ready to help when Shiro's up - getting him these new clothes is a step, but he'll need to eat, too, and he'll probably still be as confused and frantic as before when he comes around. He's going to need someone around he can count on.

The washer spins to a stop slowly, and he pulls out the change of clothes to throw them in the dryer before he heads upstairs. He can leave them down there for a bit once they're dry if he has to, and he's still much too aware of the three cadets in the living room who he hopes are asleep by now.

At the top of the stairs, he pauses in front of Dad's room, looking around the edge of the door at Shiro where he's sprawled on his back on top of the covers, motionless except for the fair rise and fall of his chest. For a minute he just watches him, tries to keep his own breathing steady despite the tightness in his chest and the lump in his throat. He's not going to cry.

With a sigh he  turns away and slinks into his own room, curling up in bed without pulling the covers up. He's done everything he can before Shiro wakes up, he tells himself. The best thing he can do now is wait.

[ridiasfangirlings]

every clan reacting to their "hate tweets" or their haters in general

S4, I bet Fushimi doesn’t care since he’s the king of haters, there’s nothing any random stranger could say about him that would even bother him (also like what are people going to say, that he’s an asshole, he knows that already he likes being an asshole). Munakata I imagine being similarly unbothered for the most part, he’s a public figure after all and it’s a fact of life that the common people may not always agree with him. He probably perfectly calm reading his hate tweets until he sees one that came from Mikoto and now he’s angrily typing up very serious rebuttals because he can’t just let Suoh have the last word. Awashima finds the entire thing pointless, surely people have better things to do than complain about a complete stranger on the internet. The squad don’t manage to be as chill as their superiors though, like I can see Enomoto turning out to be unexpectedly focused with this and he’s constantly responding or counter-trolling because he’s not letting normies talk about him this way okay. Akiyama claims they should be above this sort of thing until Hidaka shows him a tweet where someone called him short and now Akiyama has to resist the urge to respond (Benzai, on the other hand, is just delivering pointed verbal beatdowns to anyone who posts hate tweets about himself or Akiyama). 

Homra end, Yata definitely couldn’t handle reading hate tweets calmly, he’s yelling and shaking the screen (half his hate tweets are from Fushimi anyway). Totsuka just thinks it’s funny, I imagine him laughing about all his and being very amused by it. Kusanagi is an adult with a job so he doesn’t care much as long as someone doesn’t try to slander his bar, then it’s war. Mikoto’s only interested in sending hate tweets to Munakata and doesn’t pay any attention to his own, the only thing that might annoy him is if like someone suggested the Blue King is better than him. The rest of Homra are probably angrier about Mikoto’s haters than their own, like how dare some asshole say that about Mikoto-san, we should find them and kick their ass. The Homra alphabet aren’t as angry about their tweets as Yata but they’re still annoyed, like imagine Bandou teasing Yata for getting so upset and then he sees someone calling him a ‘maidenless loser’ and is like say that to my face asshole. Dewa calls them all idiots for being angry at random internet people until he sees someone call him ‘Hat Guy’ and immediately starts typing an angry response. 

Jungle have the power of the internet on their side so anyone hate tweets them at their peril, like Hisui can absolutely fry your computer if he feels like it. I feel like Sukuna would be trash talking people right back, bragging loudly about how much he showed that guy, take that haters. Yukari doesn’t deign to respond because hating people isn’t beautiful and anyway if someone hates him so much they’re welcome to face him in combat. Iwafune takes the whole thing in stride, haters gonna hate after all, he’s an old man he’s too drunk to care about this stuff. The Silvers are probably similar, Shiro just laughs and lets the hate roll right off him, he doesn’t really mind. Neko only gets angry if people are mean to Shiro, she’s very adamant that mean people are mean. Kuroh would probably be the one who gets mortally offended, I imagine him lecturing the others about not letting this get to you and then he sees someone hating on Ichigen Miwa’s haiku and now Kuroh must Educate Them.

[bluedemon1995]

I can’t watch you with someone else. It’s tearing me apart. Happy Valentines Day my dear friends!! (Yeah I’m late but whatever)

What’s going on on? I hope you all are good!

Pidge has been quiet for a few weeks, months if she is being completely honest. Analyzing her options carefully and trying to figure out what she should do. She wants to be happy for him. In fact, she is. He deserves to be happy after all. He deserves to be with someone who eases his load and appreciates him. And while she didn’t realize what she really felt for him before she does now. Fuck. There’s no putting that element back into the table now.

Typical. Sometimes the timing in life just sucked. Maybe some distance… maybe she just needs some space to get a little perspective. So with Keith and the Blades scheduled to be back home for at least a few months for negotiations and humanitarian talks Pidge had decided she needed to leave before Keith even got on the planet.

After careful consideration of her options, Pidge ultimately decided to sign up with the MFE pilots for their upcoming space mission. They felt like they needed some in depth experience in space and with the upgrades her and Matt finished on their crafts, it was time to test them out. Pidge secretly talked to a few people and requested to be reassigned as their point person to make adjustments… on their ships… in space.

Pidge knew she had to talk to her parents about her decision but in typical fashion she put it off to the last minute. But with Keith’s eminent arrival, time was up. She sat them both down to let them know why she needed some space. While her mom was not happy, she understood thank goodness. Unfortunately, this time it was her dad who was more…unhappy. Her mom gave her a hug and whispered, “I can handle dad. Just, please be careful and come back safe. Love you.”

With tears in her eyes, Pidge promised.

A few short weeks later, Pidge knows she isn’t going to be able to run away from these feelings but she also knows, she can get through them. She just has to be focused and busy. Which she embraced. So late nights, projects and lack of eating led her to her current problem.

She was currently hanging over James’ shoulder while he stalked through the halls of the ship. She should’ve known he’d enforce the ‘rules’ he placed on her. He was a little more like Shiro than she felt comfortable with. Making her eat, sleep and just be with the team was not what she imagined he’d be like on a mission. Get the job done. So she ignored his requests, then orders. But here they were. He finally gets to her room and throws her down on the bed.

“Stay. Sleep.”

“Um, gee, James I didn’t know I was your pet? What the fuck?” She sits up frowning, pushing her hair back out of her angry eyes.

Pointing at her, he returns, “You’re here until you sleep, at least ten hours! You’re lucky I don’t tie you up! That’s an order.”

“Gee James, kinda kinky, don’tcha think? I didn’t know you ran that way.” She bats his finger away.

“Argh!!! Please tell me you are worse now than before! How did you manage to save the flipping universe?!? You don’t listen, you don’t sleep and I swear I don’t know if you even eat! Take care of your damn self! I’m definitely not trying to be your parent but hell if you don’t need someone looking after you! Look, I don’t care if you have some secret issues that you won’t share with your team leader - “

Suddenly Pidge has lunged for James, hitting him square in the gut followed by a leg sweep. “SHUT UP!! I don’t need another mom or dad, I have two already!” Panting and red faced she stares down at him.

“You wanna fight? Let’s go then! Maybe you will wear yourself out and get some damn sleep!”

He lunges upward and Pidge feints left only to move right, jumping onto the bed and slamming back into him. He falls but quickly grabs Pidge so suddenly she is on top of him, twisting to make sure he falls on the bed.

They end up wresting, each one trying to get the upper hand. Once again James is surprised at her strength and quickness, especially when he knows she must be exhausted. But, James won’t let up. So when Pidge punches him again he grabs her wrists in his hands and holds her down using his weight as leverage. No matter what she doesn’t outweigh him and she’s using too much energy. Finally, after she’s exhausted her little reserves of energy she has she stops moving. Then he hears her sobs.

James eyes widen, instantly letting go of her wrists quietly murmuring, “No, no, no, no crying! For God’s sake are they right? You, um shit. Whoever HE is, he isn’t worth it.” More softly, he adds emphatically, “He isn’t worth your tears.”

With that he pulls her close and lets her cry on his chest. After some time, he looks down and sees she’s basically cried herself to sleep. In his arms. For another guy. Shit. He moves her from his arms to the bed, making sure to take her shoes off and cover her. He starts to leave but when she whimpers he stops. Feeling more tired than ever he debates with himself. Frozen he doesn’t know what to do.

He finally decides to leave when he again hears her whimpering. He groans, pushing off his shoes and laying down in bed beside her-over the covers. He hesitates but when he hears a groan he ultimately pulls her close and holds her, rubbing her back. Laying next to her small form, he can’t help but wonder, who is she hiding from? What idiot wouldn’t thank the stars that this little spitfire wanted him? Sighing, he figured it really wasn’t his business and he just let sleep claim him.

Meanwhile, Keith has finally cornered Matt and Shiro. “Where’s Pidge? And don’t give me that crap - top secret mission stuff either.” It’s been two weeks. And no sign of her. And no one is talking. It stopped being annoying a week ago. Now he’s torn between being mad and nervous. She’s not answering his calls and she KNEW he’d be here on Earth. Why would she leave?

Matt avoids eye contact and mutters, “Why do you care? Aren’t you busy with your team?”

Keith frowns, breathing out of his nose, trying like hell to hold onto his patience. “What. Is. Going. On?”

Matt pushes past Keith muttering, “I can’t tell you a goddamn thing. I promised.” Then yanked the door open and slammed it shut.

Keith looked to Shiro. His heart was racing, and he felt jittery with a bad feeling in his stomach. “Shiro. Please, tell me Shiro. Please. Is she mad at me? Did she leave BECAUSE of me? What the hell??? What’s going on?”

Shiro sighs, “Keith, I can’t give away Pidge’s reasoning. All I can say is she is helping the MFE pilots with their training. In space. It’s a legit mission. You know she worked really hard to”

Keith freezes, “The MFE pilots? Griffin’s team?”

“Um, yeah well he’s there. Why does that matter? Everyone is there and ”

Keith frowns, “Why didn’t Matt go then? This isn’t right. I gotta go, I’ll talk to you later Shiro.”

As he walks away, his thoughts are focused on a past briefing about drills being run, by the MFE pilots. He can get out there with Cosmo. Would that be weird? Frowning he bumps into Kolivan and his mom. Krolia grabs Keith’s arm and pulls him into an empty room.

Kolivan begins, “Keith, the Green Paladin is on a mission. With another team. She is not slated to return until well after our trip is finished. This appears like a strategic move.”

Krolia nods, “Yes, Colleen offered congratulations on your engagement. She said they had been told that you were marrying a fellow Blade. When I discounted this she seemed concerned. I was able to piece a timeline that indicates Pidge took this mission last minute. Why would they think you were mated?”

Keith frowned, “What?Who the heck would say that? Maybe someone on controls sent a wrong message? Shit. They are still really bad at English. But that still doesn’t explain why would she leave?”

Krolia and Kolivan exchanged a long look. Keith growled, “If you know something spit it out. I don’t have time for this. I need to corner Pidge and figure out what’s going on. This isn’t like her.”

Kolivan slowly stared at Keith, “What would you do if you got word that your little green paladin was marrying some other male?”

Keith’s eyes flashed, “What? Who?”

Krolia took his fist carefully in her hand. “Exactly, you’d fight. But I do not think your mate’s first instinct is to fight. Especially in love. She’s young and inexperienced. And if she thinks this is what you want.”

Kolivan returns, “I’m actually surprised myself, I did not picture her running.”

Krolia frowns, “It is a strategic retreat. NOT running.”

Keith froze. After a few doobashes he looks up, “Do you think she ran? Because…”

Krolia shook her head. “Keith, we do not know. This is something you need to ask her. In person. Soon. Where is Cosmo?”

Back on the ship, things have returned to normal. Pidge is working hard and staying focused but has deigned to eat and sleep. When the pilots invited her to the bar for drinks and dinner to celebrate a successful one month in space, she declines.

Back in her room, she was sitting on the bed, wondering what her next steps could be. Should she stay in space? Take another mission? Get back into active duty?? Get some perspective? Travel?

She saw from her phone that Lance was calling but she declined the call and crawled in bed. She still wasn’t ready to talk to anyone about this. Not even a friend. Maybe a movie night was in order. As she was scrolling through her laptop, she decided she needed a comedy. Maybe a series? Then she heard a knock.

Frowning she ignored it. But the knocking didn’t stop, who ever it was they were persistent. Finally getting up, she whips door opened to find James, holding a two bottles of scotch?!?

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Can I come in?”

“Um sure.”

A few hours later, both are laying in her bed, watching the Office reruns and swapping swigs from the same bottle, which is almost empty at this point. Pidge is giggling and keeps saying lines from future episodes, which James has no clue of. Which annoyed him because it wasn’t fair but it just made her laugh more. Then she kept saying, “That’s what she said!”

After James said something, which was clearly irritating him. But for her, it just made it more fun for Pidge. After another season, Griffin was really getting comfy, taking off his shoes and jacket. Pidge teased him, “You know you could take off your uniform shirt and just stay in your t-shirt? Be a rebel.”

James grinned, “That’s what she said!”

Pidge laughed, “Doofus, I literally DID just say that, that’s not how it works!”

As they calmed down and starting watching another season of Jim dance around Pam. James quietly asked, “So, you don’t have to tell me, but who is the guy? … Lance?”

Pidge looks up, “What?!? No! God, there’s too much gossiping on this ship.”

James nods, “Yeah, I agree… but it’s true, right?”

Pidge quietly replies, “Look it doesn’t matter in the end. Lance, Shiro, whoever, the bottom line is he’s with someone and I want him to be happy. So I’ll step back and when I can get my shit together, I’ll be able to be around him again. I just can’t watch him with someone else.”

James stares at her silent for a minute, then turns off the light and removes his uniform shirt, pushing her gently, he says, “Move over.”

Pidge complies and once James gets situated, she snuggles into his side. He continues, “So, definitely not Lance. If, it’s not him, it’s well, it must be Keith. I saw how you two interacted, always eating together on the Atlas, his eyes watching you when you weren’t looking and just being comfortable in each other’s space. So I don’t like him but I’m sorry. For you, because he must be stupid to…” his voice trails when he looks down at her. Her eyes are shiny and he mutters, “Please don’t cry. It, well, it just fucking breaks my heart.”

Pidge tries to laugh, “Look, you and Keith are more alike than not. He’s not perfect but he’s a great guy and well, he should be happy. So. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Now watch this because Pam and Jim will finally get their shot. It, it’s super sweet.” Her voice trails off at the end.

James nods, “Yeah okay. But honestly, this is it, I swear, but, if he doesn’t see how amazing you are. Well, that’s on him. Because, any guy would jump at being yours. Now, I still don’t get how this is romantic. He liked her forever, and she liked him but they won’t take their shot?”

Pidge smiles, “It’s only romantic because the audience wants them together and know how great they’d be. If they don’t get together it would have just been sad but since they do…it’s amazing.”

Pidge awakens to a crack?!?, yelling and the covers suddenly being ripped off of her. Blinking in the surprise, she rubs her eyes to see Keith and Cosmo, in the room?!?

“Keith!! What the hell???” Standing on the bed, she feels Cosmo jump over and rub against her legs. Instinctively holding on to him, she sees Keith punch James and James return the favor. The room is too small and they are bumping and knocking around her already crowded room.

Keith roars, “Why are you in here?!?”

James grins, “C’mon I’m sure you have an idea. Whatever you’re thinking, that’s it.”

Keith’s vision suddenly turns hazy and he launches himself forward. Only to see Pidge jump between them. Instinctively he changes course so he doesn’t hurt her his fist slams into the wall. Breathing heavy, he stares at Pidge, who is hanging on his arm, lowly asking her, “Tell me what’s going on?”

Pidge sighs and turns to James. “James, I think I need some time to talk to Keith. Thanks for, um,” Pidge isn’t quite sure how to finish that sentence so she just waves a hand, “everything.”

James frowns, “Are you sure?”

���Mmmhmmmm.”

As James very slowly gets his stuff to leave, Keith growls noticing he has to pick up his shirt and coat from the floor. Then he takes note that there’s an empty bottle(s) of scotch and her laptop is on the bed. Were they Netflixing and chilling. Did she? Did he? Not Griffin. Please. He closes his eyes to try and focus. This situation somehow just got worse. Worse than he already thought. When he hears the door finally closing he opens his eyes focusing totally on Pidge. He looks at her and realizes, thankfully, she’s in a t-shirt and pajama pants.Okay that’s a good sign. Right? He doesn’t think one would get dressed after having sex so that’s a plus. And Griffin had pants on too come to think of it. He stalks towards her and stops right in front of her. She’s got her arms crossed and is looking at the floor. “Pidge.”

She doesn’t look up. He frowns. He needs. Fuck too much at this point. “One-I’m not engaged or getting married or whatever you thought.”

Pidge’s eyes snap up. “What?!?”

“My mom said your mom thought I was engaged. I am not. Two-if you had questions why the hell would you not call me and ask?!? Instead what-you left? When you knew I was coming back. Three-you, um, didn’t answer my call…calls. What did I do? Why are you mad at me? I fucking left you messages. A lot.” At this point his hands are gripping her upper arms and he has pulled her close. Staring at her, trying to figure out what is eve going on.

Blank. Pidge’s mind is in flux, all she can think is…I can’t think. Shit. “Um, sorry. I um, am helping the, uh-“

“No, that doesn’t explain the silence. You didn’t pick up. Worse, you didn’t call me back. Hell, you left me unreadable, why?”

“Fuck, I’m sorry!!!”

“You’re forgiven, if you tell me WHY?” He pulls her close, and now she’s on her tip toes.

Pidge sighs, “Fuck. Keith, I just can’t watch you with someone else. It would tear me apart, seeing you are with someone else. But I, I want you to be happy and, I, I”

“What?” Keith closes the space, taking the last step closer, both of there chests are now brushing each other and Pidge can feel Keith’s body heat. She blinks. She’s gotta think. How can she think when he’s so close and staring at her?

But then Keith’s hand reacher for her chin, and his thumb brushes her lower lip.

Her mind short circuits and she blurts out, “I have feelings for you. And I “

Keith’s eyes flash, and suddenly his arms are around her. His mouth is on hers before she can formulate any thought and after his mouth was on hers, thought was freaking impossible. Keith was holding her, kissing her and she was responding, moaning and her knees literally buckled.

After some time, Keith has maneuvered her to the bed and is holding her close. His hand is lightly tracing patterns on her lower back, as they snuggle into each other. Keith whispers, “So, moment of truth- my whole reason for coming back to Earth, was to put myself in a strategic position so I could date you. I finally figured it out, that what I felt for you was not simple friendship. It was so much more, so much. I needed to talk to you, needed to ask your opinion and bounce ideas off you. And that was new for me, so I tried to ignore what it could mean. But, I couldn’t not talk to you. Then you went radio silent. And it freaked me out. Really. I can’t, just, don’t EVER do that again.” He gripped her face in his hand, voice dropped, “please.”

“What?”

“Katie, I… can you feel what I am writing on your back?”

“I…L..O..V..E..U. Keith?!? Really?”

“Yeah, I do. Um how do you feel?”

“I love you too.”

“Babe.”

[musicanddancingthroughlife]

Shklance - Courting

I worked hard on this one, guys. Hope you like it; I think it’s one of my favorites :)

Pretty sure next week I will be posting an MCU story, because I have a finished one in my files and it’s midterm season so I’ve really not had a ton of brains left to write haha. I do still have one that I’m working on, and then I think I actually finally figured out what I want to continued my necromancer!Lance story, so hopefully I can work on that this week and have it ready to go soon. But really, this is me apologizing cause I’m really not sure how much new stuff I’ll get written, but midterms should end this week :)

--------------------------------------------

           Really, in hindsight, they supposed it was kind of obvious. All it took was a few study dates with Lance, the last of these ending with Lance realizing he was late for work and rushing out of their apartment, so distracted he didn’t even realize that he’d hugged Shiro (who had just returned from fetching him a glass of water) and kissed Keith on the cheek on his way out, leaving both of them standing there staring at him like idiots.

Shiro recovered first and glanced quickly at Keith to see if he’d noticed. He chuckled at the look on his boyfriend’s face. “You know you’re smitten, right?”

           “Oh ya, like you’re not?” Keith shot back. Shiro sighed.

           “I never said I wasn’t, Keith, would you relax? I was just making an observation.”            “Just making an observation, my ass,” Keith muttered mutinously. There was a pause, and then Keith relented. “What are we gonna do?”

           “We court him.”

           Despite the tension in the room, Keith found himself bursting into laughter at that. “Court him?” he sputtered, “What the hell century are you living in, Shiro?”

           “Oh shut up!” Shiro snapped, his cheeks and the bridge of his nose flushing a deep red. “He deserves to be treated well!”            “Well that, at least, I can agree with.” Keith finally managed to calm himself down, and then he moved toward Shiro. “What about us?”

           Shiro looked down at him blankly. “What about us? I know for a fact you don’t want to be wooed, and I don’t need to be courted, plus we’re already dating.”

           Keith stared at him. “But what if he—”

           “Keith,” Shiro broke in, now chuckling himself, “we’re courting him together, you got that, right? It’s both of us or neither of us, ya moron.”

           “…Oh. I didn’t… didn’t know that was a thing.”

           Shiro gave him a bright smile and pulled Keith into a hug. “That’s okay, but I think we’ve got something to teach you about polyamorous relationships before we even try to court Lance, don’t you think?”

           “Fine. But after that…”

           “Yeah. After that, we make our move on Lance. Promise.”

             It took some time, but soon enough Keith had been educated on the how’s of polyamorous relationships, and they had worked out a game plan to get Lance’s attention. It was a simple plan: Lance had mentioned wishing he had the time to relax that weekend. They knew he had several tests over the course of a few days, and that he had been working more hours than usual that month, in the hopes of saving enough money for tickets back home during their upcoming break. The problem was, Lance hadn’t had a chance to clean his apartment, and so was planning to use his weekend to catch up on those things. But Keith had pointed out how much Lance’s work seemed to be suffering during their study sessions, his normally correct work somehow coming out wrong 9 times out of 10, and his beautiful penmanship nothing more than chicken scratch. Shiro had responded by sharing that Lance had looked especially tired the last couple of days especially, his normally soft and shiny hair greasier than they’d ever seen, and dark shadows under his eyes.

           So that productive weekend he was expecting (but they knew he was also dreading)? Not happening. They would take care of it for him, and then make sure he got the relaxing weekend he was so desperately craving (even if he wouldn’t say that he was).

           Now, neither of them were entirely sure how they were going to get into Lance’s apartment, but Keith was confident he would be able to manage fairly easily.

           Unfortunately, Shiro was a jerk and also a fun-sucker, and he wouldn’t let Keith break into Lance’s apartment (even after promising that he “wouldn’t damage anything and would be super, super careful, c’mon, Shiroooo!”), so they wound up going to their local Lance expert.

           “Um, no offense, cause I love you guys and you’re both absolutely my friends, but like. Why do you need a key to Lance’s apartment?”

           It may have looked like Hunk was including both of them in his question, but Keith knew, okay he just knew that Hunk was eyeing him suspiciously. He huffed. He’d only dumped chocolate sauce on Lance the one time, and it had been a complete accident. It’s not like he spent all his free time trying to figure out how to make Lance’s life miserable! He was too busy dreaming of hugging him, and kissing him, and bringing him food and gifts… Oops. He’d zoned out again.

           “…trying to help him, I promise, Hunk. He just seems like he’s under a lot of stress, and we want to try and take care of some of it for him,” Shiro was saying.

           Hunk bit his lip, a flash of something in his eyes. Keith was curious, but before he could say anything, Hunk had set his jaw, determination in every single one of his features. “Don’t worry about a key, you guys will manage.”

           At that, Shiro and Keith exchanged confused looks, but before Shiro could ask, Hunk was already marching away. There was a moment of silence, and then…

           “Cool, I still get to break in!” Keith cheered.

           Shiro sighed.

           Okay, so yeah, Keith had figured breaking in would be easy… but not that easy.

           “What the hell?!” Keith stared at Shiro’s hand in shock, still resting on the knob of the completely unlocked door to Lance’s apartment. “What is he doing; that’s not safe at all!”

           Shiro was inspecting the door frame and the knob, and after some fiddling he said, “I think the lock is busted.”

           “…What?”

           “He didn’t do it on purpose, Keith,” Shiro said, moving further into the apartment and looking around curiously. His heart sunk as he took in their precious boy’s living space. “Damn he’s been struggling a lot more than he let on.”

           Keith followed, and he was sad to see that Shiro was right. The kitchen was bare, a small number of dishes stacked in the sink, and none remaining in the cupboards. Keith left Shiro inspecting the kitchen to go take a look at the bedrooms. In one, most of the walls and shelves were bare of any personalization, although there were some pictures of their friend group and some of Lance’s family and childhood friends slapped up haphazardly near the bed. The bed itself was perfectly made and even slightly dusty, as if Lance didn’t sleep there often. The other bedroom was even more empty than this one, and how long had Lance been without a roommate?

           Keith wandered back towards the kitchen. “Shiro… how many hours did Lance say he was working, again?”

           “…30…”

           “And how much do these apartments cost?”

           Shiro crossed his arms. “More than he’s making with just his shop at the coffee shop. Unless he has a roommate.”

           Keith gestured back down the hall at the bedrooms. “Well you can rule out the roommate.”

           “…well, shit. No wonder he’s so tired all the time.”

Keith huffed. “What are we gonna do, Shiro? We can’t let him keep doing this to himself!”

           Shiro’s face was twisted into a grimace, eyes lost in thought. Then he sighed, letting his arms fall to his sides, body loosening its tense stance. “Let’s just… Let’s do what we came to do, and we’ll talk to him when he comes home. Maybe call Hunk and talk to him first. But, I promise, Keith, we’ll figure out a way to help him. Maybe see if he wants to move in with us, since we’re off campus and have a little more room. We’ll figure it out.”

           Keith nodded, relief shining in his eyes as Shiro took charge, easily directing their cleaning efforts as they bounced ideas off of each other. Keith was a big fan of having Lance move in; all they would need was a bigger bed! Shiro had shook his head and laughed, a counteroffer at the ready.

           “Keith, we can’t rush this. Lance is a proud guy; he may not want to move in with us right off the bat.”

           “But—”

           “Oh, we’re definitely going to offer it to him. You and I usually share a room anyway, and he can have the second bedroom. But he might prefer to stay here and have some independence. Then maybe we could offer to help pay the second half of his rent. Or even just sneak some groceries into his apartment. Just keep an open mind, okay?”

           Keith was quiet for so long that Shiro was afraid he’d upset him somehow, so he abandoned his current task of organizing all the homework and textbooks that had been scattered around the floor of the living room area (glaring at the blanket and pillow on the couch, because he was pretty sure those meant that Lance had been sleeping on the couch more than his own bed and that was a horrible thought).

           “Keith?” he called.

           When he was met with more silence, his worry only grew, until he turned the tight corner and found Keith sitting on his butt in front of some cabinets. Keith looked up at him, tears in his eyes and all but wailed at Shiro, “He doesn’t even have any food in here!”

           Shiro closed his eyes and forced himself to take a deep breath.

           Yeah, they were going to be having words with their boy, this was just unacceptable.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 140 prt 1

140

Rieva climbed into bed, laying so she was facing him. Lance crying. It hurt yelling at Keith. He’d sacked up and told his boyfriend and Keith... No. Keith had a right to be mad, but Rieva was kind of right that he hadn’t had the right time to tell Keith

“Lance, can you look at me?”

Sniffling, Lance pried his eyes open, Rieva smiling at him

“Boys just don’t get it”

Lance snorted, hiccuping weirdly but she wasn’t yelling so that was kind of nice

“I really have been trying”

“I know you would have been. I’m sorry we heard you”

“I knew he’d be mad... but he wasn’t there”

“He wanted to be. He really did. Not being with you he was angry and he frustrated. I think he’s beyond hurting over Mami. I know he brought her a Christmas gift. I think he believed he’d be coming home to both his family members”

Lance sniffled again

“He was supposed to be...”

“I know. He knows too. You know he blows up when he gets angry at himself, especially when he had this dream to come back to you. Are the twins really in risk?”

“Coran made it sound like... maybe. He said so many things and didn’t want me to come back here alone, but I wanted to be where I’d been with Mami. I could still smell her, and I... we were waiting here for Keith...”

Rieva held her arm open, Lance scooching into her hold

“You two really have so much to talk about. I am a little disappointed you thought Keith wouldn’t return”

“I didn’t know what to think. I thought I’d have Mami for longer than I did. You guys were gone. I thought coming back to a sad sack of a vampire would be the last thing you’d want to do... I wanted to be waiting here happily. I feel like I let you all down by not being okay”

“Idiot. Mami was a wonderful woman. She was very wonderful to us, despite us not being her children”

“She loved everyone... I don’t know if I’m even capable of loving me”

Hugging Rieva felt nice. Hugging Keith had felt nice too

“You think too much! You love Keith and Keith loves you. You will have two healthy babies and I will be the favourite aunt!”

“I don’t know... I... had a bleed”

“And now your heart is full of more fear. Keith’s heart is too filled with fear. He hurts from feeling he is never where you need him. Honestly, much of Rome was very tiresome. Had Shiro not been there to keep him in line I feel he would have come back all the sooner”

“Keith said you were hurt”

“Ah. Yes...”

“I was so mean to you...”

“I would rather you be you than acting out of sympathy for a wound long healed”

“What happened?”

“Lotor went to confront his parents. He was foolish. Though he did kill Zarkon with his own hands. Honerva had already lost her mind, her grief... you know of loss, and of grief”

“Are you really okay?”

“I am. As is Matthew. We both were looking forward to being home with you again”

“I’m sorry I ruined your plan”

Rieva stroked his hair

“You have done nothing wrong. This is hard. Matthew has a big mouth, but a kind heart”

“I love having you guys around. I was... so ashamed of myself”

“Silly. You are very silly. We love you, you are part of our pack”

That’s not how a pack worked

“I’m a vampire”

“We can’t all be perfect. Can you see it in your heart to forgive Keith?”

He wasn’t mad at Keith, he was mad at his inability to just wind back the clock and remember how to be loved by him. Compliments left him flustered, he didn’t see what Keith saw when he looked at him and his big mouth wrecked things

“I know he wasn’t away because he wanted to be, when I think of him coming home to all of this I feel I let him down”

“You are the only one who feels this way. You alone. Now, do you forgive him”

“I forgive him but I don’t forgive me. I know I had to tell him. These are his children. I don’t want to make decisions without him about them. But he’d choose me over them and... even if I’m not comfortable like this, I am so in love with them”

“You are taking too much on alone. Packs stick together. It’s not uncommon at all back at home”

He didn’t know how to be part of a pack. He loved his friends... did that make them there own kind of pack seeing he thought of them as family already?

“I’m just... it’s hard”

“Letting Keith in was hard for you. Letting him go is impossible for you. He cannot let you go either and he would not”

“Everyone leaves in the end”

“They have not met Keith. I seem to remember hearing how you tried to kick him out before you started dating and he refused to go”

Yep. That was true. He’d thrown him out in the sun. Let him drink blood. Jumped out the window to get away from him

“He thought I’d turned him. He punched me in the mouth and started screaming how I bit him”

“No one said he was the smartest of men...”

Lance and his ego took instant offence to that. Keith was smart. He was so fucking smart. He just didn’t believe in himself the way he should

“He’s smart. He can do anything once he puts his mind to it”

“I know that too, yet he is stupidly in love with you”

Rieva sounded like a mother telling their child they were the greatest artist ever to appease them. He hated this. It was just... he didn’t feel like they were quite clicking. He... he wanted Keith. He’d even fed off of him because he knew that was what Keith wanted him to do. He was trying. He was past the stage of a pat on the head or a gold star, but some acknowledgement would be nice

“Rieva, I don’t know how to be better”

“With time. Time heals all wounds. Losing Mami is fresh. Keith knows you never forget but for him, he only found out yesterday he lost his second mother. Give him some time with Matt, and he’ll come back with his head on straight”

“Really?”

“I’m sure of it”

“Can you help me with some stuff? I... I know what it says but I... need someone to tell me I’m not overreacting”

“I would love to. I love you. You may not be a werewolf, but you are my pack”

“I guess that makes you part of my coven?”

Rieva blew a raspberry at him

“Pack is better”

Okay. Pack it was.

*

Heading into the hotel lounge, Matt directed him to bar. Hands on his shoulders, practically shoving him, though Keith wasn’t exactly objecting. Coming over to them, the man behind the counter smiled politely, voice heavily accented, but clearly used to dealing with dumb American’s

“What can I get you both?”

“He needs tequila. We need tequila. Can you put it on our room tab?”

The man looked almost bored at the question

“Of course. I’ll need your room number, ID, and signature. Plus the agreed upon tip for deduction”

“Wait... I think...”

“Keith, let them talk. You know how Rieva is. She’ll only kick us out again”

“But”

“Nope. You need tequila. Trust me. Now, go sit and I’ll be right over”

Keith sat, elbows on his knees, face in his hands. He didn’t think tequila would solve his problems but he’d blown up at Lance. He felt like he was being punished for being away for as long as he had been. That his boyfriend was going through losing his mother was hard enough. That Coran had filled his head with ideas... He wasn’t impressed. Coran’s nagging now might be clear, but like... give a guy a break. Piling this on top of him and making him feel that his best efforts weren’t enough. Surely he had to know sometimes Lance needed a different approach than how he’d normally talk. He’d known Lance long enough to fucking know better. Keith could have kicked the table with how angry he was.

Bringing a tray of shots over, Matt grinned as he kicked his foot lightly

“Look lively, drinks are here”

“I really should be getting back”

“Or you could really drink some over priced tequila that we don’t have to pay for”

“I don’t think me going back drunk is going to help”

“Ah, Lance is already man. Rieva will make him see sense”

“I should be the...”

“Dude, don’t. Look, I didn’t hear everything because Rieva was getting changed and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but she’s kind of hard to ignore, but it sounds like you got mad for a reason”

“He didn’t tell me about the twins. He could fucking lose them...”

“Every pregnancy carries that risk”

“God. You don’t get it, do you? He lost Mami. He doesn’t feel like he’s good enough how he is. He’s so fucking perfect and he’s been dealing alone with this shit”

Matt sat a shot in front of him

“You sound like you’ve already been drinking. Drink”

“I don’t...”

“Drink or I’ll make you drink! Seriously, let Rieva sort things out with Lance. She knows about babies and stuff and she’ll get through to him”

“I want to be get through to him. I want to learn about that stuff”

“Ahhh, but we can’t push them out. Now drink”

Keith drank... and things got a bit blurry. Crying against Matt, he was making a fool of himself. He’d hit that stage of drunkness where he’d word vomited onto Matt. He loved Lance. Like super duper loved Lance. Like he’d marry the fuck out the man. They’d have four kids. Get another dog. He’d get his high school diploma. Maybe find a new job. Get matching tattoos because they were that gross couple. “He’d take the bite and be with Lance forever”, loved Lance. But Lance wouldn’t bite him. He didn’t want to get old. How would they have sex? Lance was so damn pretty. He loved his eyes and he loved that Lance loved his eyes. And all of these thoughts were coming out his mouth instead of staying in his head.

Slumping further against Matt, Keith whined pitifully

“I love him!”

Matt had a high alcohol threshold. And had been putting up with Keith’s crying for the last half an hour

“I know, buddy”

“But I really love him”

“I know”

“But I really, really love him”

“I’ve got the message, dude”

No! Matt didn’t get the message! He loved Lance. What was so hard to figure out?

“He’s so perfect... How can anyone be that perfect?”

“I don’t know, buddy. Maybe it’s time we go back to the room?”

Keith’s bottom lip quivered as he stared at Matt.

“I don’t want him to throw me out again”

“He’s not going to throw you out”

“He didn’t tell me about the twins... Doesn’t he love me? We had sex last night and you should have seen his tummy. Our babies are in that tummy. Like actual people are in his belly. They’re like cupcakes. I want cupcakes!”

Matt sighed at him. The werewolf completely to blame for Keith’s current state

“You can have cupcakes another time”

“No. I want my cupcakes now! I wanna see them!”

Beside, Hunk wasn’t there and Hunk was a god descended upon them. There wasn’t anything that Hunk couldn’t cook. Again, his thoughts were still being said out loud

“Okay. That enough. We’re going back to the room”

“But Lance...”

One moment Keith was down, the next he was up. Matt was holding him up. Why was Matt holding him up? Patting himself down, he didn’t seem to be hurt

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to figure out where I’m hurt”

“You’re not hurt”

“Then why are you holding me up? And my are my feet so far away?”

Matt groaned at him. They were two legitimate questions if anyone asked Keith

“Because your feet are connected to your legs which are connected to the rest of you”

“I want another shot”

“No, buddy. No more tequila”

“Why?”

“The hotel’s run out. Now start moving”

“How does a hotel run out of tequila? We’re in Cuba!”

“You have something to drink when we get back to the room”

“I don’t wanna have sex with you. You’re not Lance. His butt is so pretty. He likes it when I...”

Matt clamped his hand over Keith’s mouth, Keith didn’t know why. He was just going to say Lance liked it when he plowed him into the mattress. He’d be so cute with that tummy hanging while Keith fucked him. Lance was so cute. He missed him.

Making it to the door, Matt knocked, Rieva letting them in

“Rieva! Did Lance talk to you? Does he still love me? I love him... I wanna suck his dick”

Rieva giggled as Matt groaned

“Help”

“Shut up. You wish you were sucking Lance off. Did you suck him off? I’ll kill you if you sucked him off”

Propelled in, Keith crashed into Rieva

“Lance! Keith’s back! He’s had tequila!”

Lance came out wearing a singlet that seemed to accentuate his bump. Keith hiding behind Rieva. He didn’t want to be in trouble with Lance again

“I brought something of yours back”

Keith gripped Rieva

“I don’t wanna go! He’s mad at me!”

Matt took him by the shoulders, Keith pulling Rieva as Matt pulled him

“Please take him. He’s spent the last hour crying about how perfect you are”

Matt didn’t get it! Did he not see that cute little belly?

“Lance is perfect! He is best boy... bestest boy? Besterest? I wanna be with Lance”

“Lance, I’ll never do it again if you take him now”

Lance drew closer, Keith starting to cry. He’d had tooooooo much to drink

“Babe... I’m not mad. Not at you. Not really, I love you, Keith”

Opening his arms, Keith dove straight in for the hug

“I love you, too!”

Chuckling, Lance kissed his cheek

“I’ve got him, guys. Thanks. And thanks for the talk, Rieva. I really did need it”

“You’re most welcome. Seeing dinner won’t be happening, we’ll come see you for breakfast”

“Sounds good. Thanks. Matt, no more tequila for Keith”

“I learned my lesson. I was trying to make him feel better then he started talking about sex... He’s so happy about becoming a dad. Take care of him”

Rieva and Matt left. Lance dragging him into their bedroom. Sitting him on the end of the bed, his boyfriend started undressing him

“What are you doing?”

Lance chuckled at him

“You’re going to have a hell of a hangover, and you can’t go to bed fully clothed”

“But I don’t wanna sleep?”

“You’ll be comfier out of your clothes”

“You just want to sleep with me... you looked so hot with my dick up arse and your belly bouncing as you rode me”

Zero filter. Lance blushed, spluttering slightly as he tugged on Keith’s shoe laces. He didn’t remember putting his shoes back on...

“Babe, you’re drunk”

“I know. But you’re like... like perfection. I wanna marry you. I wanna have four kids and marry you and I wanna fuck you until I get old and grey and I wanna have a life with you and I don’t wanna not have you...”

Lance paused, looking up at him with those gorgeous blue eyes

“Keith, you’re super drunk. Let me get your shoes off”

“I don’t wanna take them off! I wanna cuddle with my cupcakes!”

“Cupcakes?”

“Our twins. They’re so big now and I missed it and it’s not fair because you’re so beautiful and you’re all cute and round and I just wanna be with you for like forever, because I love you”

“If you love me, be good for me and stay still and quiet until I’ve got your shoes off”

Keith gave it a fair effort, going red in the face as he tried to keep quiet. Lance getting his shoes, socks, and shirt off

“Up we go mister, time for the pants”

Not his pants... Lance was gonna see. The breath he’d been holding exploding out, Lance quirking an eyebrow

“I can do it”

“I know. Stand up already”

“But I’m horny...”

“I already know you get horny. It’s alright”

“But we fought... you arse is like... like amazing and all that shit but I love you... I can stick my dick in you when you’re mad at me! What if I poke the twins!?”

He had a new genuine concern. How did that work?! Lance was laughing at him, voice wobbling with laughter

“Babe. Shut up and let me strip you down already”

He’d progressed to drunken slurring

“Nooooo. You’ll see my boner”

“I love you and your boner”

“I wanna stick it in you but I want you to know I love and I want to be with you and I don’t wanna fight and I...”

“Keith, shhh. You’re making this hard. Can we please just get you out your jeans?”

Lance got forceful and Keith was out of his jeans without remembering actually having moved. Wrapping his arms around Lance, he nuzzled into his boyfriend’s bump, Lance placing a hand on his hair as he did

“I’m sorry I got short with you. I’ve been trying so hard to do everything right and it feels like I’m a bad father already”

Keith’s head shot up, shaking it quickly he protested

“I’m the bad dad! I left you for three months! Three! I didn’t wanna but... I wanted you to be safe and I couldn’t even be there and I’m like the worst boyfriend in the world and you should be yelling at me but they’re my twins too and I want to know and I want to hold them already and I don’t want something bad to happen to them and I don’t want to lose you and...”

“I’ve been trying really hard. Doing everything I’m told... I know I broke your heart giving up...”

That was right. He was mad. Lance decided all these things on his own! He wouldn’t just let Lance leave him. He was his boyfriend. His. He’d licked him and that made him his! No backsies or swapsies

“You’re an arsehole and liar! I really love and you doubted me! You said you wouldn’t leave me...”

“Keith, I had no word from you for a month. I was hardly that fun to be around before...”

“It’s not about always having fun! It’s about me! I want you”