#They're both just kids being abused by their neighbors. That's why he's so tired.

[chirsu]

Satoko...

[lilflowerpot]

I'm so sorry if you're tired of getting Keitor AU's, and if that's the case than you can simply ignore this one. But I had a thought and nobody to talk about it with, and I figured your blog would be an okay place to share it?

Neighbors AU where they're both pre-teens/teenagers, but Lotor has got maybe three years on Keith. Keith has the maddest, most obvious puppy crush on Lotor. Lotor finds it awfully cute, but Keith is just a little kid compared to him at this stage, so Lotor is very careful not to cross the line between being friendly and giving false hope.

When Lotor's home life starts getting worse, though, their relationship changes from pleasant but distant neighbors to actual friends. He leaves the house one day to escape the madness that hides behind his closed doors and realizes that Keith must have heard some of the shouting because he looks pretty upset over in his yard - and not embarrassed-upset but bad-flashbacks upset. Lotor knows the rumors about Keith, that he'd been in the foster system for a while and that's why he only just moved in with his mom (maybe Tex died when Krolia was serving time in prison or something, so when she got out it took her a while to track down her son).

Feeling bad about upsetting Keith, Lotor jumps the fence and makes his way over to Keith to apologize. Keith, of course, is blushing and tripping over his words and can barely meet Lotor's eye for more than three seconds, but eventually they start having an actual conversation about their own experiences. It's cathartic for Lotor to have someone to talk to about this stuff, since he keeps it under such tight wraps in public, and while the galra girls all have their own problems at home none of them have had to deal with actual abuse (not that either he or Keith use the word) and don't REALLY get it. Not the way Keith does.

They become friends after that, and eventually best friends as the years go by. As they grow older, graduating high school and attending college and stuff, the age gap becomes less and less significant, so Lotor has to suffer through the stages of "My best friend used to have a crush on me that's so awkward, haha" to "dang son that's a glow-up" to "I think I'm in love with my best friend but he's not in love with me anymore, did I miss my shot?" to of course a happy resolution for the boys.

I'll never be tired of getting keitor aus but I am //begging// the lot of you to actually write and post all these wonderful ideas you keep having because I have a mighty need 🙏