#and the way they couch what they said about keith in the end in terms of constructive criticism is laughable

[waugh-bao]

[tabloidtoc]

Star, May 10

You can buy a brand new copy of this issue without the mailing label for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Meghan Markle having twin girls (oops!)

Page 1: Famous for doing his own stunts, Tom Cruise helicoptered in to the tiny English village of Levisham to film aboard, or rather hanging off of, a vintage train and along for the ride was his Mission: Impossible 7 costar Hayley Atwell, who was spotted running along the top of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway car and while the pair, surrounded by crew and tech experts, were total pros, it's an open secret on set that their romance is going strong and Tom and Hayley hang out non-stop when the cameras are off and are pretty much joined at the hip but not in a showy, PDA way; it's a very discreet thing they've got going on -- off-camera, 58-year-old Tom and 39-year-old Hayley enjoy quiet nights holed up in Tom's London digs, eating meals specially prepared by his private chef and they'll watch movies or read books or just chill out doing their own thing -- chilling out isn't Tom's forte, as audio leaked of him berating the film's crew for violating COVID-19 protocols, but things have calmed down considerably as the spy flick, due in theaters May 2022, closes in on its wrap date, but the ensuing publicity push will put Tom and Hayley's relationship front and center, but don't expect the devoted Scientologist to jump on any couches (a la Katie Holmes) announcing wife No. 4 as Tom has learned the hard way about putting everything out there and getting picked to pieces; this time, it's all about subtlety

Page 2: Contents, Cher got up and personal with the World's Loneliest Elephant Kaavan, who she helped relocate to Cambodia

Page 3: Brie Larson in a swimsuit with butterflies on it during a getaway to Hawaii, with headphones at the ready Brooke Burke was itching to cut a rug with friends before teaching a silent disco cardio party at the Rafi Lounge in Malibu, Maria Shriver and Christina Schwarzenegger enjoyed some quality time on a stroll in L.A., Boy George sporting a bold look on The Jonathan Ross Show in London

Page 4: In a recent interview, AnnaLynne McCord revealed a shocking diagnosis: for years, the 90210 alum has been battling dissociative identity disorder (often erroneously referred to as multiple personality disorder) -- she told Dr. Daniel Amen she is absolutely uninterested in shame about opening up despite the stigma surrounding mental-health issues because that's how we get to the point where we can articulate the nature of these pervasive traumas as horrible as they are -- for her part, the 33-year-old traces back her troubles to sexual abuse she suffered as a child and as had many of the 200,000 people diagnosed with DID each year, she suppressed those horrific memories and it was only within the past few years that they began to resurface, largely after she sought treatment for PTSD related to another sexual assault and she doesn't have any memories of abuse until around 5, then from 5 to 11, she recounts incidents throughout and then, when she was 13, she has a singled-out memory and it was at that age that she developed what doctors call a second personality identity: as Little Ann, the Georgia-born daughter of a pastor said she was balls to the wall, middle fingers to the sky, anarchist from hell who will stab you with the spike ring that she wears and that helped her survive her nightmarish situation -- ironically, acting created the same dynamic, making it sometimes difficult for AnnaLynne to let go of characters she'd played and all of her roles were splits but she didn't even realize she was doing it

Page 5: Jennifer Aniston wasn't exactly touched when Justin Theroux gushed about how much he still loves her in the issue of Esquire -- complaining about feeling like a hermit during the pandemic, 49-year-old Justin nearly got misty discussing FaceTiming and texting his ex, saying he cherishes their friendship and they can not be together and still bring each other joy and he'd be bereft if they weren't still in touch and he'd like to think the same for her -- but 52-year-old Jen, whose love life has been low-key since the pair's 2018 divorce, has stayed on good terms with most of her exes including Brad Pitt but doesn't want anything more than a friendship with Justin and sure, it's flattering but she's just moved on and wishes he would too, and that goes double for some of her friends who griped that Justin tried to milk Jen's connections to further his career -- in the end, Justin needs to know he's got no chance whatsoever of winning Jen back and she doesn't feel anything remotely close to passion for him anymore

* Roseanne Barr showed off her newly svelte frame on Instagram -- back in 1998, she lost 100 lbs after undergoing gastric-bypass surgery, but yo-yo'd over the next decades but now she's determined to keep the weight off by totally changing the way she eats and she's growing her own fruits and vegetables and has a whole new appreciation of food

* Five months after he entered the Federal Correctional Institution, Mossimo Gianulli finished up his stint at his plush Hidden Hills home and now, the 57-year-old, who along with wife Lori Loughlin, pleaded guilty to paying a $500,000 bribe to get their kids into USC, can't wait to get back to normal and his biggest priority, besides spending time with Lori and the girls, is to get out there on the golf course -- the designer, worth a reported $70 million, still has to perform 250 hours of community service while Lori, who finished up her prison stint in December, is chipping away at hers, doling out meals at L.A.'s Project Angel Food -- Lori and Mossimo have resolved not to dwell on the past and they want to move forward with a positive and grateful attitude

Page 6: Fans of Angelina Jolie's stunts in movies like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Mr. & Mrs. Smith are looking forward to her return to the screen as a wildfire fighter in Those Who Wish Me Dead and in the upcoming Marvel flick Eternals but 45-year-old Angie would rather be behind the camera and she explained the real reason behind her comeback is she loves directing, but she had a change in her family situation that's not made it possible for her to direct for a few years and she needed to just do shorter jobs and be home more, so she went back to doing a few acting jobs -- that change in her family situation, of course, is her divorce from Brad Pitt, ongoing since their 2016 split and with no bitter end in sight and it could drag on for years

* Catherine Zeta-Jones says it's no secret her 20-year marriage to 76-year-old Michael Douglas hasn't been easy and it wouldn't be normal if there weren't any ups and downs -- it's another Michael, her Prodigal Son costar Michael Sheen, who has friends whispering as both are Welsh and only a year apart, the two have been having a lot of fun shooting the serial-killer drama and they had never met before the series but they keep discovering how much they have in common -- while Michael, who has been linked with Kate Beckinsale, Rachel McAdams and Sarah Silverman, has been with Anna Lundberg for two years, friends can't help worrying because it's a little to close for comfort

Page 8: Star Shots -- Marlee Matlin kicked back during a portrait session in La Canada Flintridge in California, a loaded-down Irina Shayk in a Victoria's Secret photoshoot in NYC, Gavin Rossdale and his dog Chewy leaving tennis practice in L.A.

Page 9: Kelly Clarkson and her battle advisor Luis Fonsi on The Voice, John Stamos at the drive-in premiere of his new series Big Shot in L.A.

Page 10: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley toting her $3800 Bottega Veneta Shell bag in NYC, Niall Horan and Anne-Marie jumped into a classic Jaguar XK120 for a music video in Essex in England, Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci on the set of House of Gucci on a bicycle in Rome

Page 11: Jay Leno takes a selfie with a fan, Kate Hudson and her daughter Rani busting out some mommy-and-me moves

Page 12: David Beckham filming a commercial for Maserati, Kaley Cuoco working out with ropes, a windswept Olivia Culpo held on tight to pup Oliver while enjoying a sunset ride aboard a boat named after her dog, Miles Teller looked both ways during a cruise in his blue Ford Bronco which is the same car he flipped in a 2016 accident

Page 13: Garrett Hedlund hit the pavement in a jog in Hollywood, Johnny Depp got behind the camera at the photocall for his film Minamata during the Barcelona Film Festival, friendly exes Sara Gilbert and Linda Perry masked up for a walk in L.A.

Page 14: 2021 ACMs -- country celebrates its best in Nashville -- Elle King and Miranda Lambert kicked off the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards by rolling up in a hot ride before performing, Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley, co-host Keith Urban

Page 15: Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd performed together, Carrie Underwood

Page 16: Margot Robbie inline skating during a beach day in Malibu, Kate Beckinsale carrying her two cats and her dog as she tried to read, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend and their daughter Luna took a silly mid-game family selfie while playing Hedbanz

Page 18: Normal or Not Normal? A sleepy George Stephanopoulos was caught yawning on the Good Morning America set -- normal, Emily Blunt kicked back a little too much at The Jonathan Ross Show -- not normal

Page 19: With a $1400 rainbow Gucci sweater wrapped around her shoulders Selling Sunset's pregnant Christine Quinn with her dogs in L.A. -- normal, Chelsea Handler works out with her dog on her back -- not normal, Zach Braff stuck his tongue out as he took a silly selfie filming the Cheaper by the Dozen reboot -- not normal

Page 22: Fashion -- stars shine in metallic frocks -- Becky G, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Karen Gillan

Page 23: Miranda Lambert, Cynthia Erivo, Renee Zellweger

Page 26: Travis Barker didn't hold back in his birthday tribute to girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian -- sharing a series of sexy shots with 42-year-old Kourtney, including a NSFW video of Kourtney sucking his thumb and the rocker's risque pics quickly went viral, as did Kourt's TMI essay posted to her health and wellness site Poosh titled "Rough Sex: Love It or Leave It?" -- definitely leave it, if it were up to the pair's kids; 17-year-old Landon and 15-year-old Alabama, who are 45-year-old Travis' children with ex-wife Shanna Moakler, are mortified by their dad's behavior and like most teenagers, the two are active on social media and can't avoid the new couple's loved-up posts and Travis' kids are happy that he's happy, but the PDA is weird and takes some getting used to, while Travis' stepdaughter Atiana De La Hoya, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have a problem as the 22-year-old posted a heart-eyes emoji -- as for spending time with Mason, 11, Penelope, 8, and 6-year-old Reign, Kourt's kids with ex Scott Disick, the pair try to restrain themselves but still the lovebirds are happily oblivious and have a hard time toning it down and Kourt and Travis are just being themselves and going with the flow; they're in love and want the world to know it

Page 27: After 10 months of dating Australian model Vanessa Valladares, Zac Efron is officially back on the market -- 33-year-old Zac called it off with the 25-year-old after things got too serious, too soon and they spent every moment together and it was too claustrophobic for him, as Vanessa, who quit her job and gave up everything to be with Zac, became a fixture on set as he worked on Down to Earth with Zac Efron and he felt guilty that she was giving up her dreams and aspirations to be with him -- despite their split, Zac, who had put his L.A. home on the market and extended his stay in Australia after meeting Vanessa, has no plans to rush back to the States because he has made a lot of friends there and feels at home

* Like many planning their vows during the pandemic, Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost had to get strategic when it came to their big day -- Scarlett said they wanted it to feel like it had an intentional intimacy as opposed to being something that felt like they were restricted by all these things -- the intimate and small event the pair threw was at their $4 million Palisades, N.Y. home in October and the ultra-private pair kept their guests safe, and the guest list was tiny and it was understated but lovely, just what they wanted -- now Scarlett and Colin have settled in to married life and Scarlett and Colin both like to steer clear of the spotlight which makes them perfectly suited for each other

* Vanessa Hudgens revealed the surprising way she was introduced to boyfriend Cole Tucker, who she's been dating since November -- 32-year-old Vanessa and 24-year-old Cole met on a Zoom meditation group and Vanessa admits that the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop is just perfect for her and Vanessa and Cole, who debuted their romance on Valentine's Day, moved their budding friendship offline after feeling sparks via the virtual meeting app and they started communicating on their own and found out they have a lot in common -- now Vanessa, who dated Austin Butler for nine years before their 2020 split, is zooming ahead and she doesn't want to rush or jinx things, but she's saying Cole could be The One

Page 28: Cover Story -- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle: Twin Girls -- it was a somber, but loving occasion as the royal family celebrated the life of Prince Philip and amid the pomp and truly touching moments, like Queen Elizabeth sitting frail and alone, viewers waited to see what would happen when Harry and Prince William reunited for the first time since Harry and Meghan stepped down from senior royal duties in March 2020 and just weeks after their bombshell TV interview rocked the monarchy and tensions had been running high before the funeral, but everything went better than expected as William and Harry bonded and united in grief at the loss of their beloved grandfather, the estranged siblings along with William's wife Duchess Kate Middleton, waved away their waiting cars, opting to walk the half-mile from St. George's Chapel to Windsor Castle together and the trio chatted easily as they strolled -- back home in Montecito, Harry has been by pregnant Meghan's side around the clock making sure she takes it easy and the couple are in full-blown prep mode and Harry has been helping baby-proof their mansion and designing the nursery and Harry's been on his hands and knees making the house baby-friendly and he's got the latest, state-of-the-art safety devices installed around the pool -- Harry's promising visit with the royal family has given him one less thing to worry about, but still he and members of The Firm will always have different perspectives and after dismissing William and dad Prince Charles as trapped by the monarchy, Harry was persuaded by Kate to take the first step and she went up to Harry to suggest he have a heart-to-heart with William and their father, then she stepped back; Harry felt nostalgic being back home and it's a work in progress -- Harry made headway with his grandmother as well as he and Queen Elizabeth had a private meeting and spoke for three hours and seeing Harry's face made her smile again and Harry loves his grandmother very much and he's promised to bring his kids back to England later this year and he wants the Queen to spend quality time with them

Page 31: The Home Birth Brigade -- Who needs hospitals? These fearless celebrity moms opted to welcome their babies in the comfort of their own homes -- Ashley Graham, Eva Amurri, Hilary Duff, Gisele Bundchen, Gigi Hadid

Page 32: Kim Kardashian: Billionaire Bachelorette -- months after officially filing for divorce Kanye West, Kim is majorly ready to mingle -- Kanye's miffed that fans think he's the one who got dumped when he simply let her file first

Page 34: Not Boyfriend Material -- celebs share tales of dates gone bad, and guys who definitely didn't deserve a second chance -- Patricia Arquette, Mindy Kaling, Jenny Slate

Page 35: Awkwafina, Emma Watson, Kelly Clarkson

Page 36: For Mom -- for Mother's Day, express gratitude to the No. 1 lady in your life with the perfect gift -- Naomi Watts cofounded the ONDA Mama Box

Page 40: Entertainment

Page 48: Parting Shot -- in honor of Earth Day, Alison Brie kicked off the second year of the Planet Oat Project by planting trees at Rancho Sierra Vista -- the 38-year-old also took to Instagram to bring awareness to the wildlife restoration initiative, noting that a startling three million acres of trees in California have been destroyed by recent wildfires

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt.30

Lance was wallowing. His stomach hurt, he’d run out of snacks, though they hadn’t been a smart idea, and the TV remote was out of reach. Blue had bitten his toes when the blanket had slipped off his feet, and Keith wouldn’t take care of him because Lance refused to admit he needed his help. Thanks to his dumb mouth, he’d blundered. He’d kissed Keith. He didn’t remember it. His first kiss and he didn’t remember it. He remembered everything, but he didn’t remember that. Hearing the vacuum turn on, he dragged his blanket over his head. He wasn’t even allowed to wallow in peace. Now he had blood coming out of places blood wasn’t supposed to come out of. He was stuck permanently semi horny, and he smelt like someone had dumped potpourri over his head. The weekend was upon them, again, and that mean Pidge and Hunk would be making an appearance. Further interrupting his wallowing. He’d locked himself away to spare Keith how sick he felt, but stupid Keith had to worry and he had to go be happy he had someone to worry over him. As the vacuum cleaner drew closer, Lance groaned his annoyance its loud noise, he groaned again as his wallowing was interrupted by Keith pulled the blanket off from over his head as he stepped on the power button, cutting the obnoxious noise

“What was that for?”

“Just making sure you hadn’t permanently expired”

“I’m wallowing”

“I noticed”

With a huff, Lance pulled the blanket back over his head

“I’m allowed to wallow. It hurts”

“I didn’t say you weren’t, but try to shower today, before you start going mouldy”

Keith turned the vacuum back on, Lance hissing at the blasted appliance. If Keith had to clean, then he could at least use a broom, or a carpet sweeper, something that didn’t sound like the hordes of hell stabbing at his ears with their screaming wails. And who was Keith to imply he was going mouldy? He’d had a shower that morning, not that it helped with the cramping or the smell. He did have some pride left. It wasn’t very much, but seeing Keith was acting like their whole screaming match didn’t happen, Lance was following his lead.

Lance got exactly 5 minutes peace between the vacuum turning off and the doorbell ringing. Keith dropping Blue on his head when Lance made no motion of coming out. Clawed by Blue, Lance’s face was used as a jumping pad, his precious baby running away without so much as a lick or a purr. Blue wasn’t getting any wet food until she started loving him again. Listening to Keith walk through the house, Lance tried to cover his head with the couch cushion, but the damn thing was sewn in, leaving him only covered by his blanket.

“‘sup, loser?”

“Hey, Pidge. Hey, Hunk. Come on in, Lance is in the living room”

There was the sound of running feet before Lance was crushed by Pidge sitting on him

“You’re sofas too hard. You should get a new one”

Wiggling her butt, Lance groaned. Of all the place she could have sat, it was on his side, weight irritating his sore stomach

“We all know the lump is Lance. He’s wallowing”

“Oh no. Don’t tell me one of his shows finished? One time he didn’t move for like a week because he didn’t like the ending”

“He’s had the shits all day. You might not want to squash him too much”

Keith could go fuck himself. Lance would have a spun a much better lie if their positions had been reversed

“Ew! Dude, that’s way TMI. Maybe it’s genetic, I hear diarrhoea runs in your jeans”

Hunk groaned at Pidge. Keith, the arsehole, snorted

“I wonder if you’ll find it funny if you squash it out of him”

“Yuck! No thanks”

When Pidge climbed off of him, the gremlin lifted his feet and sat herself down in the opposite corner. Pulling the blanket down to his chin, he pouted at his friend

“I’d still love you. Despite the shit you do”

“I’d love you too, but if you actually crap yourself, I’m never letting you live it down”

“Says you. I still have very vivid memories of a certain blue top...”

A certain blue top that Pidge had managed to cover in vomit as she argued with a taxi driver about some mathematical term that Lance didn’t get, because she’d been too drunk and kept mixing equations. Thankfully they were outside the taxi, Lance paying for the ride, while tipping the man generously as he apologised profusely over Pidge

“Shut up. I was drunk”

“Very. Very, very, drunk. I seem to remember that night you learned that lollywater and beer didn’t mix”

“It was so green”

The same shade as radiator coolant. Blueberry vodka did not go well with beer at all. Poor Pidge had burst into tears, Lance carrying her home and cleaning her up so Hunk wouldn’t have to

“It was. I’m wallowing because I can. What brings you guys over?”

“It’s the weekend. You promised you’d come with us to a certain pub”

Fuck him and his past self making stupid, unreasonable, promises

“I don’t remember that”

“You said we couldn’t go to the mine. Apparently some tourist was checking things out and found the door open. The stupid council has welded it shut now”

“Thank god for that”

Pidge poked him in the leg

“That tourist wouldn’t be you, would it?”

Yep. He was that tourist. The tourist that nearly lost a dog down there. Keith wasn’t a dog, but he did have aspects of being an oversized puppy. And he had followed him down the mine despite the fact he really could have gotten lost

“Nope. They probably went past the cemetery just to see what was there and saw the door open”

“Wankers”

Shuffling over to him, Hunk sat carefully on the arm of the chair

“Dude, how are you sick again?”

“Keith cooked and poisoned me”

Pidge laughed

“Oh man, that’s what happens when you leave two men in a house together. What he did make?”

“There was egg and vegetables with extra egg shell and burnt bits”

Pidge giggled. Lance had cooked dinner last night, this was all about him getting revenge on Keith

“Damn, he’s worse than me”

Hunk didn’t believe him. His best friend staring down at him. Great, he was worrying, Lance wished he had a way too soothe Hunk that wasn’t the truth

“Man, why didn’t you tell us? We would have been over sooner to help out”

“Keith’s doing all the house work in apology. Not the first time I’ve had food poisoning... it was better than some of the other things he’s tried to feed me. He tried to give me meat so rare that it was bleeding”

Hunk wrinkled his nose, knowing Keith wouldn’t have taken the proper precautions for handing raw meat

“I could have made meals for you”

Lance wriggled down as he pulled his blanket tighter

“I’ll be fiiiiine, buddy. Plus, Keith’s been working hard. He’s already vacuumed and done two loads of washing, oh, and he’s been picking on me. He’s on a roll”

“I might be on a roll, but you need to roll your arse off that sofa and go shower. You stink”

Keith sounded annoyed with him. Lance was looking at Hunk so he didn’t have to look at Keith and deal with the whole kiss thing

“Your face stinks. I had a shower this morning”

“Was that before or after you decided to wallow?”

“During. Besides, I’m totally allowed to. I’ve run out of things to watch”

“Then get off the couch and get ready so we can goooooooo”

Pidge poked his leg again, Lance really not feeling like leaving his precious house, but for his friends, he would

“Fiiiiiiine. Don’t let me wallow then”

“TV shows are hardly a good enough reason to be wallowing at it is”

“Says you”

Pidge had done some pretty bad wallowing each and every time a show she was watching ended the way she wanted

“Stop being dramatic and get ready, already”

Changing clothes meant finding something to wear that wouldn’t be too tight against his tender lower belly. Dragging himself off the couch had been enough effort as it was. The shirt part was fine. Not to brag, but he did pull most things off rather effortlessly. A light blue half sleeved button up lay on his bed, as he walked around in his boxer briefs. Seeing he was going out, he wanted to look good. But if he looked too good, then Pidge would tease him about Keith. Lance’s step faltered at the thought of Keith. They’d yelled at each other they wouldn’t mind kissing each other and Lance couldn’t take it back... Big, dumb, stupid, emo Keith. His enemy... who wanted to kiss him. He didn’t know how to kiss people... he didn’t even know how to do what people did next... Did Keith want to date him? But Keith would be leaving soon and he’d probably do his damn best to forget all about their time together... but Matt was moving in, and Shiro was Matt’s best friend... which probably meant Shiro would wanna come visit Matt... or at least talk to him... which kept open that connection to Keith... and... fuck... he didn’t know what to do about that. He liked Keith. He was pretty sure going around in circles the way he was, had to mean the he liked Keith and his dumb mullet. He didn’t want to like Keith. He’d spent his whole life running away from liking people. Especially humans. Humans were so complex... and a constant reminder he was on the outside... Keith was warm... soft... and so very much alive. The hunter deserved a warm loving family after all he’d been through. Lance was barely warm, and his perpetual tiredness left him not overly loving when it came to people who weren’t in his immediate friend circle.

“Lance? You okay, or you having some kind malfunction?”

Lance looked to Keith. Why’d the idiot have to come annoy him in his room... when he was...

“Close your eyes!”

Covering his already covered junk, Lance was mortified

“Relax, you big baby. You’ve got nothing I haven’t seen before”

“Pervert. What are you doing up here? Why are you watching me get dressed?”

“Because you’re taking forever, so Pidge told me I had to come get you. You haven’t even got pants on yet”

“No shit. I’m trying to decide what to wear. Not everyone’s wardrobe consists of black on black”

Keith shrugged

“Black’s my colour. Besides, I’m wearing what Coran gave me to wear. What’s your excuse?”

“I don’t want to look too good, or Pidge will tease me”

“Then put some jeans on”

“I don’t want to wear jeans”

“Why not?”

“Because my stomach hurts. Or did you miss the whole reason for my wallowing?”

“Honestly, I was starting to wonder if you were trying to milk free housework for as long as possible”

Lance abandoned covering his junk in favour of crossing his arms

“You’re the one who told them I had the shits”

“I’m sorry? What else was I supposed to say?”

“That I’m lazy and was taking a nap?”

“I’ll remember that for next time. Did you at least shower?”

“I already showered this morning”

“And I’m telling you, you need to shower again. You smell really sweet”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed”

Keith opened his mouth before realising Lance was being sarcastic

“You’re a douche”

“And you’re a dick”

“Just put some damn pants on. Whatever you pick will look fine”

“I don’t want to look fine, I want to look good”

Keith groaned at him, covering his face with his hand as he shook his head

“You just said you didn’t want to look good”

“Yeah, well... whatever. Now go away so I can get dressed without you perving on my body”

“You wish I was perving”

“That’s beside the point”

Neither of them spoke for a moment. Keith making the first move by walking away from Lance’s open door. What was he doing?! Why was he flirting with Keith? He didn’t want to flirt with Keith! He wanted to be embarrassed over being seen in his underwear, instead his brain decided he need to blurt out a stupid line like that. Keith was right. He was definitely malfunctioning...

*

In Keith’s opinion Lance should still be resting. The vampire had dragged his feet since climbing off the couch. So Keith had volunteered to check on him when hadn’t come back downstairs after 10 minutes had passed. A very long ten minutes at that. Hunk was cranky with him for accidentally poisoning Lance when Lance was finally on the mend. Pidge was cranky that the council had sealed up the mine. Keith was cranky because he was stuck in a house of cranky people.

Piling into Hunk’s car, Lance called shot gun, the hunter having the feeling that Lance was back to avoiding him all over again. Now Keith might be backwards on social cues, but Lance had definitely flirted with him more than once. He wanted him to kiss him, and at this point, Keith would happily kiss Lance if meant this awkwardness would fuck off already. Sure, it might take some liquid courage, but it wasn’t like they weren’t headed to a pub, and it wasn’t like he didn’t have his bank card in his pocket. Pidge was all for exploring now they’d been granted access, while Keith was simply happy over being able to buy his own drinks. He was in the mood to drink this situation under the table and deal with it like any respectable adult would, kiss Lance, then have everything go back to normal. That was it. That was his whole plan, but given his company for the night, he really shouldn’t have planned on it being that simple.

Reaching the pub, the party was already underway. Pidge pushing through the flock of people to reach the bar, where she impatiently waited for service. Hunk was a little more nervous about it all, and Lance seemed very focused on his showed instead of watching where he was going. Taking Lance by the arm, Keith guided him away from their friends, worried Lance really wasn’t up for tonight at all

“What... what are we doing away from Pidge and Hunk?”

Lance blinked at his surrounds like he hadn’t noticed the pub was full

“I wanted to talk to you first. You seem pretty out of it”

“I’m fine, Mullet”

“Bullshit. Look, if you’re not up to this, we can go”

“And leave the pair of them alone? I think not”

“You’re still sick”

“And I’m fine. I mean, I can’t change what’s happening. So I might as well be here where I can help”

“You’re no good if you’re the one who collapses”

“I said I’m fine. God. Get off my back already”

“I’m worried about you”

“Worry about yourself. I’ll be fine. I don’t need your pity, Keith”

Keith wasn’t aware that he was “pitying” Lance. He thought he was going down the whole route of friendship and worrying about a friend. Angry at him, Lance squarely bumped into his shoulder as he marched past him. Well, fuck him. If Lance was going to be a moody bitch, then Keith was going to mind his own business, starting with getting himself a large drink of something strongly alcoholic.

Pidge derailed that plan before he even got to order

“Keith, finally. I know you’re not a people person, but we were waiting for you”

“I was talking to Lance...”

“Yet Lance still joined us before you did. Are you ready? They said we can’t film in the pub, but once we’re in the tunnels it’s fine”

“Or I could stay up here while you poke around down... never mind”

His choice was made by Lance stepping on his boot to shut him up. If Lance didn’t want him worrying, then shouldn’t he be all for leaving Keith up here?”

“Damn straight, “never mind”. We explore, then we do some serious drinking to celebrate. I’ve been trying to get into this place for years”

Great... Pidge and Hunk were going to get wasted. The tunnels were going to be cold and dusty... nothing like what they’d found down in the mine. That’d been... that’d been something special down there. Him and Lance, laying eyes on a sight no one around had seen... Kind of like a secret moment in a secret place... Not under a local pub where they couldn’t take their time and be themselves. Maybe that was why Lance was keeping him at an arms distance? Afraid Keith would dob them in over their own little adventure? Nah. Lance should know that was a moment just for themselves. Keith wasn’t in any hurry to piss Pidge off. Nor to have her and Hunk asking a million questions, though in Hunk’s case it was more likely he’d be telling them off for being reckless. Which meant everything came back to Lance flirting and feeling guilty for doing so. Something he couldn’t exactly fix... or... maybe he was being conceited by thinking that it related to him at all? Maybe it was Lance acting out, out of fear of what his body was becoming? Sure, Keith’s body might not be changing like Lance’s, but there had been a distinct change in him. Wondering what kind of things he’d say to Lance. Wondering what kind of expressions he was making as Lance talked to him. Wondering if he’d able to forget Lance as easily as Lance seemed to think he would. Everything came back to Lance. He didn’t want to hurt Lance. Not physically and not emotionally. He hated that Lance was a vampire, because Lance made him think of Adam, but Lance was Lance. He wasn’t Adam. Why did all of this have to be so hard? Was it his fault? Was he making it hard for Lance? Was it the blood thing? He’d stopped offering, but the offer still stood. He just... he wanted his friend back... and not to be snooping around in abandoned tunnels when said friend wasn’t alright.

[musicanddancingthroughlife]

Shklance - Necromancer Pt2

Sorry about last week, guys, I totally got caught up with my husband’s family reunion, and then I meant to post on Monday, but I misread the requirements for two of my three term papers and got the page count off so they’re longer than I thought they would be and I’ve been freaking out about them all week. And I will continue to do that for this next week because f my life I guess. Just two more weeks of school (and then like half a week where I have just two finals), and then I’m done for summer break, so just know that I’m trying guys haha. But hey, if anyone wants some original stories, I’m editing those all week for class :P

So, I know that I post most of my series in parts, and someone has asked me about that, since my stories tend to time-skip a lot. I do apologize for that, my brain doesn’t like to give me the between to each stories, just little scenes from each, and since I actually write fanfic mostly so I can practice my writing, I don’t push too much for those between scenes. However, this is something I need to work on if I ever want to improve, so I’m working on a longer version of my demon au, if anyone wants to yell at me about that. Anyway, I’m still trying to explore the plot and world to this story, so I hope you guys enjoy this. EDIT: Here is part 1!!!!

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        “Come on, Lance, you have to admit that this is getting out hand!” Keith was yelling at him, but Lance knew better than to let it get to him. Oh, sure, it hurt, because it was definitely a reminder that Keith probably thought he was an idiot. Because let’s face it, he was an idiot. But Lance also knew that whatever anger Keith felt towards him, it was much stronger and directed towards Lotor, not him.

              The school’s only other necromancer had been making Lance’s life miserable ever since they started their classes. It was like it wasn’t enough that Lotor was better than Lance was at the magic itself, or that Professor Haggar definitely preferred Lotor to Lance, or that during all of their stupid dinners with Professor Zarkon (and really, how the hell did they always wind up having dinner with him, when Lance knew for a fact the other classes had dined with multiple teachers by this point) resulted in Lance being ignored on a good day, and verbally abused on a bad day. No, Lotor had resulted to using magics on Lance in the hallways and on the field. And Lance. Couldn’t. Catch. A Fucking. Break.

              Honestly, it was a wonder that Lance had lasted this long without anyone finding out.

              Well, anyone except for his stupidly observant roommates. And seriously? Fuck them.

              “Shut up, Keith, I get it, okay? We all know that I’m too weak and stupid to be able to defend myself against someone as talented and powerful as Lotor.”

              Keith snarled at Lance, lunging forward, but Shiro caught him by the back of his neck and kept him in place. Lance felt a brief surge of triumph and relief, even gratitude toward the older vampire, but then he turned his head to glare at Lance, too, and Lance realized that he was laying on the couch, only half dressed because the other two had insisted on “treating his wounds”, and he was exhausted. As a necromancer, Lance was able to suck up energy and use it as his own, but as is, he used up all of his own sucking up Lotor’s, and the entire endeavor had left him weak as a kitten.

              If Keith really wanted to attack him, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop them.

              “How long?”

              Lance squirmed, wincing as it tugged on the slashes and cuts littering his entire upper body. Yeah, no, he wasn’t going anywhere.

              “Lance,” Shiro said again, “how long?”

              Lance remained silent, valiantly trying to keep quiet. Keith snarled again. “Don’t you get it, you idiot? This isn’t okay! We need to tell someone, which means you have to tell someone something. Even… even if it’s not us. Please.” It was the way Keith’s voice faded by the end of his sentence, as if the idea that Lance wouldn’t trust them with something like this was a very real fear that he had. It made Lance look up at him, curious as to why his friend sounded so emotional.

              Fuck. Was he crying? Lance was pretty sure those were tears shining in Keith’s eyes, and fuck, he wasn’t at all prepared for this. Shiro, maybe. Lance, definitely. But Keith? Keith never cried, what the hell was he supposed to do with that???

              Run away, obviously.

              “Look, you guys have been awesome. Seriously. I mean, I could’ve totally taken care of this mess,” he gestured down his body, gesturing at the ugly mess of bruises and cuts and trying to ignore the way Keith’s tears had slowed and both of the vampires were now glaring at him, “but your help is definitely appreciated. But I have class, you guys have class, we all need some sleep. So let’s try and get on that, yeah?” He swung his legs of the edge of the couch, satisfied that he had found a viable reason to cut this awkward and uncomfortable talk short.

              Yet the instant he swung his body around on the couch – hissing at the pain that lit up at the movement – he found himself blocked by Shiro’s body. He’d stepped forward, trapping Lance on the couch, bracketing him in with his legs. He was so close that Lance was forced to lean back on his hands, just to avoid getting a faceful. Leaning back wasn’t much better, though, as he found himself almost immediately trapped there by Keith, who was leaning over the back of the couch, presumably to make sure Lance couldn’t scramble away from them.

              Like he could do anything of the sort with the way his body was aching. Seriously, fuck Lotor.

              “Lance.” At least Shiro was quieter than Keith. Even if the anger was still obvious. “You can’t keep doing this. We want to help you. Please let us help you.”

              Lance snorted, unable to help himself. “Like you guys could. Don’t you know what Haggar teaches us in those stupid classes of hers?” Shiro inched impossibly closer, even as Keith leaned down, placed his hands on Lance’s shoulders gingerly, but firmly enough that Lance was really started to feel surrounded by them.

              “There have only been rumors,” Shiro admitted, “but Lance, we don’t care. We just want to help you.”

              “Please,” Keith added.

              Lance looked at them, really looked at them. They were genuine, he knew, but would they still accept him after learning the truth? That Haggar had really been training himself and Lotor so they could overpower the other kinds of supernaturals, that she was determined to use them to create some kind of army so that they could take over the world (or something stupid like that, Lance honestly tried not to listen to her shit), that she had challenged both Lotor and Lance to use their new spells and abilities on their vampire roommates, and that’s how Lotor was so easily taken in by the rest of the vampires in the building while simultaneously turning them against Lance (and Shiro and Keith, but they tried not to show how much it bothered them. It didn’t work. Lance knew they were hurting)? Would they still want him around? Would they even still like him? Then again, this wasn’t working, either. So it was just a matter of time before they got sick of him and decided that he was too much work and not worth the effort.

              Well, in that case. Better sooner than later, right?

              “Some of the spells she teaches us are how to control the undead.”

              Keith blinked. “Like, zombies?”

              Lance gaped up at him. “Like vampires, you moron! She wants us both to use the spells she teaches us on our roommates – on you – in order to show how ‘committed’ we are to our education, and so she can decide if we’re ready to progress, and—”

              “You refused,” Shiro stated. “Shit, Lance, don’t tell me that some of this is from her?”

              Lance stared at him, completely confused. “How did you—”

              “Oh, come on, Lance,” Keith rolled his eyes, “obviously you haven’t done anything to us, and that’s actually not one of the worst rumors we’ve heard about Haggar, it’s not a far stretch to think she would stoop to actually abusing a student.”

              “And then Lotor would take this as confirmation that you were weak or something, and of course that would lead to more attacks.” Shiro sounded confident, as if this all made sense and was very logical. “So the only real question would be…”

              “How long?” Keith trapped Lance’s head in his hands, gently tilting him backwards on the couch, forcing Lance to look at him and nothing else. Thankfully, Shiro had stretched forward to support his back at this awkward arch, otherwise the new position would get very painful very fast. As is, it was just uncomfortable, great for encouraging him to answer quickly, if only to regain mobility. “Lance, how long have they been doing this to you?”

              Lance had to blink away tears at the concern and care he heard in Keith’s voice. Between Shiro’s body and Keith’s head, he couldn’t quite reach up to wipe the tears away, so they started to slowly slip down his cheeks.

              “I progressed a lot faster than Lotor did, at first, I promise.” Fuck, he was getting choked up. He heard Shiro make an encouraging noise.

              “Of course you did, you’re ten times smarter than that fucker.” Keith sounded vicious, and it made Lance chuckle, though it sounded entirely too watery to be believable.

              “It took Lotor all semester to get to that point, Haggar didn’t really teach it to him until a couple weeks ago.” A little over four months, since they were partway through the fifth now, and then they would have a month off before the next semester started. Now his tears were really coming. “I got there after two weeks.”

              There was a long silence. When he spoke, his voice sounded dangerous, and Lance was reminded again of Shiro’s own fierce protectiveness towards his friends.

              Towards Lance.

              “That witch has been doing this to you for 4 months?” he hissed viciously. Lance struggled to right himself, but Keith wouldn’t release him, and instead had taken to rubbing his forehead against Lance’s, even as his thumbs smoothed his tears away.

              “No, no!” he managed to sputter, panicked. “She just thought it was too difficult for me to really master! So she’s been teaching me other spells in the meantime, but once Lotor achieved that level and then started to use that same spell on his own roommates and then other vampires, too, she realized I’d just been stalling and told her I couldn’t do the spell.”

              Lance finally managed to get his hands where he needed to, and he pushed insistently at Keith’s head. He growled at the gesture, but eventually moved out of the way. Shiro moved, too, allowing Lance to push himself off the couch – ouch stupid ribs – and walk towards the hallway to his own bedroom. Today had been exhausting and all he wanted was the chance to have some time to himself.

              “Wait, why doesn’t Lotor just do the spell on us? If he’s done it to everyone else in the building?” Shiro wanted to know.

              “Seriously, you think I would let him do that to you? Nobody deserves that.” Lance’s tears were finally starting to stop, but he knew it was going to take him a while to relax. “Plus, so long as you two aren’t spelled, it’s obvious to Haggar that I’m still refusing to do as she asks.” He kept walking, until Keith interrupted him.

              “Lance, if you got there first, why have you been saying all semester that Lotor is better at magic than you are?”

              Lance paused on his way to his bedroom and sighed. Seriously, he was hurting and knew he was going to have to do all of this over again tomorrow, couldn’t they just let him sleep? But he gave in, turning his head just enough to show that he was answering them and said, “Because even from the start, he was willing to do whatever she asked. Did you really think that she would get her hands dirty hurting me, when he was perfectly happy to do it for her?”

              And with that, he headed to bed.

[sampaii-ca]

Nervous (Klance fic)

This is dedicated to perfchan for her birthday, Happy Birthday girl! :) Lance ran his fingers through Keith’s hair.  Making sure to gently untangle any knots that had formed throughout the day.  Keith’s hair was soft to the touch and smelled like sunshine on a warm summer day.

It took awhile for Keith to get use to being touched so often.  His upbringing didn’t include a lot of affectionate touching and therefore he ended up what Lance liked to call, “touch starved”.  

In the beginning of their relationship, the touching made Keith nervous.  Not in a bad sense, but just..nervous.  Pining after Lance for so long and then finally having him was mind blowing to Keith. This is his first meaningful relationship and he was nervous about messing it up.

At first all the touching made him jumpy too.  The stroke of Lance’s finger along his cheek, the way Lance would kiss the back of his hand, when Lance would gently intertwine their fingers while walking or watching TV.  Lance had chuckled every time he got startled, even started calling him his “pequeno frijol saltando”.

Once Keith learned what that meant he was determined to stop being so jumpy (he’s not little thank you very much, Lance and him are the same height!).

It took time but eventually the nervousness and jumpiness faded.  But tonight the nervousness had come back with a vengeance.

Over the past couple of months, he had been falling.  Falling for the soft way Lance would look at him while they were doing something as mundane as washing dishes. Like Keith held all the stars in the sky and Lance couldn’t get enough of the sight. Or when they would take Kosmo for a walk and Lance would talk to him in the stupid baby voice that Keith had a love/hate relationship with.  Keith would smile and chuckle and take photos to set as his phone background for later.  Or when (this was his favorite), right before they would drift off to sleep, Lance would inhale along the back of his neck, like he was trying to breathe Keith in.  Then let out a long exhale that would send a pleasant shiver down Keith’s spine.  He would finish it off with a kiss, a hot press of his lips to the back of Keith’s neck along with a soft “night Keith”.  

Each night Keith’s heart had melted a little more for the beautiful man he got to call his own, Lance.

A few days ago he had come home to Lance sitting on the couch, Kosmo’s head in his lap.  He turned around as Keith had walked through the door and said “Hey babe, welcome home.”  With a small tilt of his lips and a soft glint in his eyes.

And that, that breathtaking gesture is what melted the last of Keith’s heart, he was in love with Lance.  

He didn’t say it in that moment.  The realization hit him hard and heavy.  It had stolen the breath from his lungs and made his eyes water slightly.  Lance had noticed of course but Keith just used the excuse of something getting stuck in his eye.

He wanted to tell Lance so badly, say those three little words.  But he was nervous.

A few days later they were sitting on the couch watching TV, doing nothing extraordinary when the nervousness hit again.   

Keith had decided to tell him tonight, tonight was the night.  He could do this.  His palms were sweaty and a lump was forming in his throat.  His leg started to bounce up and down and Lance had noticed.

“Babe, are you ok?”  Lance looked at him with furrowed brows.  “You don’t look so good.”  He brought his hand up to Keith’s forehead to check for a fever.

“I-I’m fine.”  Keith squeaked out, geez he needed to calm down.

“Keith-”, Lance started but Keith interrupted him.

“Lance I-I need to tell you something.”

Lance’s back straightened and he turned to fully look at Keith.  A look of concern flowing through his ocean blue eyes.

“Ok, sweetheart.  What is it?”

Keith let out a little whine at the term of endearment  and a rosy flush spread up his cheeks.  He loved him so much, he just needed to tell him!

“Ok---I---I,” come on Keith you can do this! “I----” just say it!  

“I love you.”

It rushed out of him like a tidal wave, a rush of air that was hot on the tip of his tongue.

“I love you Lance...so much.”

Lance’s eyes widened and his face was as red as a tomato.  The blush spreading all the way up to his ears.  

Then...then he broke out with the most beautiful smile Keith had ever seen.  Lance’s eyes were watery with tears and the next thing Keith knew, he was being tackled and pinned to the couch.  Lance on top of him, peppering his face with kisses.

Keith could feel Lance’s tears along his cheeks and he giggled when they slid down his chin onto his neck.  But his heart stopped with the next words Lance breathed in between kisses.

“I”

Kiss.

“Love.”

Kiss.

“You.”

Kiss.

“Too.”

Keith’s eyes were watery and he took Lance’s face in his hands and planted a giant kiss to his lips.

Turns out, Keith had nothing to be nervous about.

Lance loves him just as much.

[kitten-keith]

When you Sleep

I don’t like this title either. Or even this fic very much. like I really LOVE parts of it? But the whole fic? MEh. Whatever maybe someone else will enjoy it.

Also it’s got some themes from previous fics like Touch starved Keith, and Cargo Pilot “behind the scenes” canon compliance. But like primarily soft IMO. It’s just... primarily soft.. NSFW-y for a minor blowjob when Keith loses all sense hahaaaa (Meaning I did, I lost all sense, don’t mind me.) Despite the title, surprisingly /not/ a lot of Somni cause they mostly just cuddle a lot. And like. Keith was mostly asleep for that one bit so. meh. Uhhh what else.

4544 words. Klance pre season 2.

Lance gets a little touchy with Keith during a sleep over that starts... things.

Have fun.

---

It starts easy, when the Paladins have all gone to sleep during a team bonding exercise in the wilderness of a planet whose name Lance had trouble pronouncing. He wasn’t sure how he got stuck sleeping between Hunk and Keith but when he stretches his arm out into the empty space on his left, he is too tired to realize just how close he is to the red Paladin.

It’s his waking up before the others that inevitably leads to his downfall.

Or if he was feeling particularly irresponsible, he supposed he could blame the softness of Keith’s cheek or the little crinkle of his brows that made it impossible to pull his hand away.

As it stood, when Lance woke up first to find that Keith had somehow coiled around his arm with his cheek in his open palm, he really couldn’t help it.

When his thumb rubbed over the skin and Keith leaned into him… when he made the most delicious little noise and his whole body squirmed a little closer…

It all gave Lance a terrible idea and frankly he didn’t want it.

Well— he wanted it, but he knew it wasn’t even a slightly good idea and least of all with Keith, so he tried to pull away.

And that was when Keith opened his eyes.

His mouth seemed to say Lance’s name, but no sound came out.

Instead there was only a soft sigh and the very slow tightening of Keith’s grip on Lance’s wrist.

Lance’s heart beat wildly in his chest at the small motion, realizing they were so close he could make out the shine in Keith’s eyes.

“What are you—?”

“Sorry it just… felt nice…” Keith’s eyelids slipped down part way, obscuring them from Lance’s view, “Felt really… good.”

Lance took a breath. Shaky, unsure. The others were still very much asleep but who knew for how long.

This was already a highly compromising position for the two of them to be in and now Keith was telling him he liked it? And not letting go?

At the silence Keith seemed to get a little less brave and his grip lessened.

Lance felt a coldness seep into where his hands had initially held contact. He didn’t think he liked it.

“I’m sorry, you did that by accident…didn’t you? F-forget I said anything.” Keith’s eyes darted up for a second before he looked back down and rolled over turning his back to Lance again. But that one second had been enough.

So, the position had been a little telling. So what?

He scooched over just enough that when he put his hand out to softly run up and down Keith’s side, he was comfortable and could easily make it look like he was mid-stretch if someone woke up and saw.

Keith jumped at the initial contact, small but noticeable thanks to his hand on his body, but in the silence and barely morning light he seemed to melt under his fingers.

By the time Shiro woke up, Lance had settled for carefully playing with the ends of Keith’s hair, something far less damning than a hand on his waist, and their morning started without a hitch.

They didn’t talk about it.

—-

It just becomes this thing that they do, migrating toward each other during easy or vulnerable moments.

Lance realizes quickly that the reason Keith is so receptive is because he’s starved of physical affections. He leans into every touch from every one of his teammates, Lance isn’t special.

Well. Not like that anyway.

Lance is special because he knows, and he provides Keith with a comfort none of the others even realize he needs.

Lance is special because, unlike when Shiro will pat his shoulders or when Pidge will lean into his side, Keith knows Lance’s touches are deliberate. And Lance is special because the night Keith falls asleep on the couch in the rec room— what happens there is purely for Lance.

 It had been weeks already. Small touches stretching on forever, warmth settling under skin. Lance’s favorite thing to do at this point is to graze his palm over the small of Keith’s back, feel him arch just the smallest bit, curving in a way that might keep his hand right there. But Lance always pulls away because the point is to graze not to settle. If Keith wants more, he has to say it.

 Lance is waiting for him to say it.

 And it’s from the rec room couch that he does.

 Lance sees that familiar tuft of black hair and casually lets his hand trail through it as he walks by the couch to turn off the television set Hunk must have left running when he left his movie companion for whatever dire feat of engineering had been required of him.

When he walks back Keith’s eyes are still shut but his lips have parted just enough to look so so inviting.

But Lance won’t. It’s not an invitation if Keith doesn’t say it is. And even though Lance has had the thoughts, the thoughts he spent so many years pushing down at the sight of those indigo eyes, acting on them beyond the touches Keith had already asked for was not on the agenda.

 So as much as those lips may have said to him, Lance steadfastly refused.

Or at least...conditionally refused.

Because he truly can’t help softly placing his hand on Keith’s cheek, his thumb sliding gently over his bottom lip, feeling the change in texture. Keith let him touch like this, so this much was fine.

If anyone were to walk in it would not be fine anymore, but thankfully most of the castle inhabitants had retired to their own chambers for the evening. They should be okay. Lance should be okay to fawn over the man who did such things to his heart…

 Not those feelings. Don’t think about those feelings.

 As Lance resigns himself, pulling his hand away, Keith opens his eyes.

Once again, his throat is dry when he tries to say his name so it’s inaudible, but Lance is starting to memorize the motion; the shape his lips make around his name, he loves it.

A tiny sliver of pink tongue slides over Keith’s lips and Lance prides himself in not freezing up over it, “Morning, Samurai.”

“Morning— it’s not, is it?” Keith mumbles out, his voice returning groggily.

Lance kneels down in front of the couch and smiles cheekily, “Nah, you’re just the loser who passed out during the Altean equivalent of the parent trap. You should probably find your own bed before it is morning though.”

Keith mumbles something inaudible then, Lance watches his lips move with a quirked eyebrow but can’t catch it, whatever it is, it isn’t his name.

 Keith stretches and sits up, his legs coming down off the couch to land beside Lance’s.

“Uh... were you…?” Keith’s hand is raised as he presses his finger tips to his lips.

Lance feels the heat start to build in his face, but he knows he did nothing wrong, so he says as much, “I didn’t kiss you if that’s what you’re thinking.”

 “R-right…” Keith looks back down.

Lance is silent and considers standing again. At this angle he has a nice view of Keith’s collar peeking out of his shirt and he wants things he knows he still shouldn’t think about.

But then Keith speaks again, “Did you… think about it?”

Lance is quiet.

“...b-because you could… if you wanted to… I wouldn’t be mad…”

Lance is silent because he’s not sure he’s hearing Keith correctly over the pounding of his heart and the blood rushing through his ears.

“W-while you were asleep...?”

Keith’s face lights up red so fast Lance almost can’t stand it. His view of his collar lets him watch the blush disappear into his shirt and god Lance wants to see his bare chest heat up with his face in this way.

He wants…

Keith is staring at the ground and his chest is heaving slightly in his own panic, “I just— I mean— I like waking up to your hands on me it feels really— I’m not trying to be weird or anything it’s just that you— uh...fuck.”

Keith deflated into the couch and Lance can’t help but chuckle even with his own nerves buzzing erratically under his skin, “figured you reacted a little strongly… I don’t mind Keith but shouldn’t a first kiss…” Lance allows himself to trail off because he wants to stick his foot in his mouth at the term.

First kiss.

First as in first of many.

And what was he doing trying to give more meaning to a kiss with a guy who simply had a preference for his hands in his sleep there weren’t any—

“First kiss…?”

Lance feels like he’s vibrating he’s so angry with himself he’s so sure he ruined everything—

“Guess you’re right…” Keith’s voice is suddenly so much steadier. Like logic has finally returned to his sleep hazed mind and he’s ready to clarify for Lance that they’re nothing and should keep it that way.

Except he doesn’t. Instead he leans forward with one carefully placed hand tilting Lance’s face toward him and he lets their lips come together softly. It’s so unlike the red paladin and yet so like him all at once Lance doesn’t know what to do for a long moment. And that long moment takes up all the time of their lips pressed together, and the hesitation clearly weighs on Keith because he already has an apology slipping past his lips and Lance isn’t here for it.

He lurches forward and smashes their lips together, it’s uncoordinated and confusing but Keith melts under him and his mouth opens against Lance’s tongue and suddenly he can taste him. He can taste Keith and he can feel him all around him as his arms wrap around his neck and pull him in closer. Keith’s tongue massages his and wills noises out of Lance he’d never thought he’d make before. It’s exhilarating and mind numbing all at once and Lance may or may not climb onto the couch where they spend the rest of the night tangled together kissing the life out of each other until they both fall asleep.

 And thus, came the shift.

Because when Lance wakes up it’s to Keith’s lips on his neck pressing simple soft kisses. It’s to Keith’s arms around his waist holding him so so close. It’s to the minute rolls of Keith’s hips against his, rubbing their morning wood together in a way that makes Lance’s head spin.

“F-fuck..!” Lance groans and Keith stops instantly like some spell was broken.

“Oh—oh my god Lance I’m so sorry I— “

It’s more of a stretch than anything else but the motion of Lance’s body against Keith’s rubs them together harshly and Keith breathes in rapidly through his nose in a panic.

“This is seriously a thing for you isn’t it…some kind of fetish?” Lance mumbles sleepily, sure to keep his voice as amused as possible, show Keith that he’s not mad.

For added measure he pushes his hips forward just a bit more and watches Keith’s eyes roll back in his head as he tries to chase the feeling, his fingers digging into Lance’s sides as he clings to him.

“L-lance I—”

“It’s either that or you were asleep subconsciously reaching out to me in your dreams, so which—”

The full body blush is back, and Keith’s eyes shut tight and he buries his face into Lance’s chest and Lance honestly can’t believe it.

He can’t believe it he can’t believe it he can’t��

His heart is thumping around so fucking hard.

“W-were you really…”

“I didn’t mean to! You just— I—” his voice is muffled by Lance’s shirt and Lance feels like he is simultaneously dying and thriving all at once.

“Were you dreaming about me…?”

Keith’s lips move but he can’t hear what he says.

An alarm goes off through the castle and the conversation needs to be placed on hold.

—-

Lance almost dies on the mission. They’d passed a planet that was clearly under attack and had suited up to defend it. There were civilian families to protect that weren’t quick enough to find shelter. Maybe Lance should have been more careful.

Still, while he doesn’t need a pod Pidge smacks him over the head the second he emerges from the blue lion.

Shiro says nothing though he looks like he can argue. Hunk pulls him into a full embrace talking very loudly in short phrases that sound like he’s chastising a dog: “don’t you ever do that again!”

Allura breathes a sigh of relief upon seeing him all in one piece, asking him to please be more careful. Coran congratulates him for saving the family but quietly warns him that glory only feels good if you’re alive to feel.

Keith tosses his helmet to the ground sometime between Pidge’s smack and Hunk’s hug, he buries his face in his hands while Allura speaks, and he’s out of the hangar well before Coran is done.

 Lance is fine. Broke a bit of a nervous sweat when that cannon fire was conveniently knocked off course. But he’s fine, the civilians were fine, the Galra retreated and everything was okay.

 He doesn’t see Keith except for a passing glance into the training room as Shiro exits. He considers going inside, asking Keith to talk, either about why he was so upset or maybe even travel back to that nice happy place they’d been while on the couch together. But he decides against it. Keith will come to him when he’s ready, he’s sure of it.

 A few weeks pass. Keith is still receptive to touch. Even occasionally initiates it by brushing their hands together or leaning his head down against his shoulder when no one is looking. But they don’t talk.

 Before they are supposed to go on separate missions, Lance to go find some brilliant prisoner, Keith to find materials for their teluduv, Keith finally pulls him aside.

Or rather, it’s as they’re both exiting their rooms that Keith suddenly gets this light in his eyes and turns, abruptly pushing Lance right back into his room and shutting the door behind him.

 “Uh—yes Kei-mmph!”

Keith’s lips are on his again, and he realizes how much he missed it from the one night that felt so long ago.

But they were supposed to be leaving. They hadn’t even gotten into their armors and Allura was still in a bad mood from having to work with Galra. Hell, finding out Keith was one too still hadn’t blown over.

“Keith—mm—ah!”

Keith walks him right up to the bed and shoves him down, quickly climbing on top of him to straddle his hips and reattach to those lips.

They had to go. He loves every feeling of Keith’s body against his, but they had to go.

He tries to grab him, push him off, but his brain never finishes its command because it got as far as “grab him” and his body refused to let go. His fingers dig into Keith’s hips and it makes him moan into Lance’s mouth in a way that excites Lance way too much.

He lays back, taking Keith with him, enjoying his warmth and his weight as he presses down. Lance isn’t sure what got into him, but he wishes it could have happened sooner, before they’d been assigned these missions they were now probably going to be late for.

“Keith—babe, they’re gonna come looking for us…” Lance finally managed to croak out as Keith moves to his neck. When Keith bites into the juncture at his shoulder and collarbone Lance cries out loudly, eyes rolling back as Keith already massages over the bite with his tongue, his hands tugging at Lance’s pants.

“Doors locked.” Keith explains simply, he bites him again, and Lance can feel himself hardening against all his better judgment.

Keith’s hand undoes his button and zipper and in mere seconds his hand is moving.

Lance is melting and panting and so bloody confused.

“Keith, we haven’t— Keith— hah— Keith seriously!?”

The red Paladin freezes before circling back up to Lance’s face, his eyes are hard, determined, and Lance’s body is suddenly so tightly strung staring into those eyes with his hand on his cock he doesn’t know what to do.

The hand tightens, Lance whimpers, and Keith leans in towards his ear, kissing his earlobe lightly as he says, “I need you to cum for me, Lance.”

Lance breathes deep and Keith’s hand slides up his shaft, only then allowing him to realize Keith isn’t wearing his gloves. Keith’s hands are so soft and smooth, always protected under those tacky things, and they feel so good.

“W-why…?” Lance hazards to say out loud. Keith chuckles in his ear and Lance is positive he felt his dick twitch at the sound.

“Because I need you to know what you’re coming back to… maybe…” his hand slides over his head, smearing precum and making Lance grit his teeth to keep from groaning.

“Maybe knowing will keep you from doing any stupid stunts this time around…”

Keith’s hand is slick as it rubs over his head and up and down his shaft, slowly raising in speed.

“K-Keith you don’t have to— mnn..!— you could have just— hah fuck Keith— it feels…”

Keith shrugged as he slid down Lance’s body, the implication very much clear.

“Sure, I guess with you something simple and cheesy and romantic would have worked… but this is more fun and if I’m being honest, I panicked.” He chuckles again and leans his head down to kiss Lance’s hip.

Lance smacks himself in the forehead, “a panicked hand job, definitely how I wanted us to go.”

“Well I mean,” Keith nuzzles his side and Lance’s breath catches, “Spur of the moment decision Lance, yeah. But… I’m definitely not panicking right now. Should have done this ages ago…”

He turns his head to get right up close and personal with Lance’s member and Lance releases a tiny shriek of embarrassment that quickly shifts into something deeper as Keith’s tongue comes out to press flat over the curve of his dick.

And then Keith is moaning, and Lance is overheating because Keith is so unbelievably hot and his tongue feels so good.

“Keith, please...!”

“You taste great, Lance.” He says it with a smile and Lance can’t fucking breathe!

“Now let me make you cum so you come running right back to me.”

Keith’s lips come down over the head of Lance’s cock and Lance can’t help but buck his hips.

“Really—really couldn’t just— SAY—Nnn! Keith...!”

His mouth was hot, really hot, like warm hot not sexy hot but also sexy hot and Jesus— Jesus did Lance mention he’d never gotten a blow job before?

Like there’s been some hand stuff and some like. Cuddling that got a little heated before (hell, that time on the couch wasn’t that long ago was it?)

But Keith coming at him like this— too much too much too—

“Keith— f-ahh— “

Keith’s hand moved down under his shaft to massage his balls as he increased his speed, spit trailing down to make everything feel way too—

“Hnn! C-cuming! I’m cumming! Keith you have to— “

Keith sucks harder and his tongue swirls around his head and Lance looks down just in time to see his smirk.

He has just enough time to think, “sexy fucker.” Before whiting out.

By the time he comes back to his senses Keith has white seeping out of the corner of his lips and he is still sucking and massaging his cock, like he wants every last drop of his cum and Lance feels his soul ascending.

Only to plummet back down as someone bangs on the door, “Lance! What are you doing in there?! The door is locked! You best get your butt down to the hangar in the next five dobashes or so help me!”

The voice sounds further away toward the end, to the point they can barely make out Allura’s going: “and where the quiznak is KEITH?!”

 Keith finally lifts up, visibly swallows and licks his lips.

“Alright. Now you can go on your mission… knowing you have to come back and return the favor, or you’ll be officially labeled a selfish lover.”

Keith hops off the bed like he isn’t ignoring his own erection pushing on his leggings and Lance is dumbfounded.

“S-self—selfish?!”

Keith chuckles while Lance pulls up his pants, “I’ll have you know if we had more time I’d— “

“You’ll just have to show me when we get back.” Keith scoops his gloves up off the floor where he’d apparently tossed them at some point.

“For the love of god, Keith, what even brought this on?!”

Keith pauses at the door, sighs deeply, and turns back around.

“I was mad. I was really mad. That I’d finally gotten up the nerve to kiss you and I almost lost you the next fucking morning. So. I was mad. And I decided I didn’t want to—to... but now… I’m a freaking Galra, Lance. And we’re fighting a war. And I’m not— we’re not… maybe we don’t have a lot of time and I was wasting it by being... angry.”

He walks back up to Lance and kisses him so hard he ends up on his back again. Lance nearly chokes because he doesn’t have the chance to catch his breath and he refuses to be the one to pull away.

It makes his moan come out faster, louder, a little more desperate and maybe Keith hears it and worries because he pulls off then. He kisses Lance’s cheeks and his nose while he catches his breath and he breathe in too.

“Bonus, I really, really wanted to kiss you. And I wasn’t going to wait another minute to do it.”

Lance feels his chest swell a little at that, having gotten enough breath in his lungs he grabs Keith by the back of the neck and pulls him in for another kiss.

It’s quicker, and softer. Lance has the moment to register his own taste on Keith’s tongue before he remembers Allura’s warning.

“I still think you’re nuts. Who jumps straight to blowjobs— “

Keith huffs another laugh. “Who cums after like five minutes— “

“YOU SIR do not get to judge me! You pounced on me! I was not prepared!” Lance kisses him again before he can rebuttal and when Keith is sighing, his lips looking soft and wet and bruised and perfect, he rolls his eyes and grazes his hand over his cheek.

“You wait though. I have to prove myself when we get back now. Cause you’re freaking nuts.”

Keith laughs so hard he’s still chuckling when his suit is on.

It takes a dark look from Allura for him to stop. Lance doesn’t like it. So, he suggests a kiss for luck, realizes that he and Keith haven’t exactly gone public yet and immediately turns to Allura because— well no one would think that was weird right?

He was protecting Keith’s privacy!

It was a joke!

He didn’t think she’d actually do it—

The minor heart attack he had when he felt something against his lips that was so very not Keith should have been punishment enough. Finding out it was a mouse?? Even worse!

 But ya know. Go figure, you get a blowjob from the guy you’re kind of falling in love with and then joke about kissing a girl in front of him— yeah okay he probably deserves Keith’s fury when they return to their rooms after the mission. When Keith keeps his head lowered and tries to keep a pace ahead of him at all times, make it to his room first.

And when he does and Lance reaches out to brush the small of his back, test the waters, he feels Keith pull away for the first time since it all started, and his door shuts behind him.

So yeah. Yeah okay he deserved that.

—

 It’s also why later that evening comes as such a shock.

He hadn’t had the energy to go through his usual skin care routine. Struggling against the obsessive thoughts to let himself into Keith’s room and curl up beside him, explain what had happened in his ridiculous brain to think that was a good idea. Not even to make good on their little agreement he just wanted to forget how awful it felt to watch him pull away!

And Keith didn’t want to waste time being angry. He’s just said that. He’d just said that!

And then Lance had to go and make him angry.

Stupid.

Stupid.

He should get out of bed right this second and apologize. Keith would forgive him once he understood, once he knew Lance was serious and absolutely wasn’t taking advantage of him��� which. Should probably mean Lance shouldn’t let himself into Keith’s room while he’s asleep. Because Keith is so soft when he sleeps and they both know how he is and—

Okay new plan. Getting up early, waiting patiently outside Keith’s door for the red Paladin to come out for his morning training, and then apologizing. With everyone fully awake and not inclined to be distracted.

Yeah.

Solid plan.

 When it feels like he’s just finally gotten to sleep, having been anxious and worried all night, something warm comes to lean against his side.

He’s tired, and it’s comfortable, and he doesn’t know if he slept through his door opening and closing or if the presence just materialized out of thin air, but he isn’t complaining.

He thinks he may have mumbled Keith’s name.

He probably did.

He knows he did. Because he knows it’s Keith’s face pressing into his neck and breathing him in. He knows its Keith’s hair brushing his cheeks and he knows it’s his hands pulling him close.

 Lance softly wraps the arm not bound by the covers and Keith’s weight around him, still a little apprehensive that he might pull away again. That this might actually be a dream and it’ll all go away when he opens his eyes.

He doesn’t risk it, but the pressure remains.

“Goodnight…” Keith mumbles finally, he sounds put out, like he’d struggled to come to this conclusion, but Lance doesn’t mind.

Just whispers his name again with a contented sigh and kisses the top of his head.

 In the morning, when Keith wakes up first with an angry little growl and straddles Lance’s waist to ask what the fuck he was thinking Lance does his best to keep his brain on track.

And when Keith inevitably accepts his groveling and kisses him softly, (“this one’s actually for luck.”) Lance feels all the tension ease from his bones before flipping Keith onto his back and cuddling into him.

“And whenever you wanna collect on your side of things just uh. You let me know, yeah, babe?”

Keith laughed and wrapped his arms around Lance’s head, “yeah right... maybe later.”

[some-cookie-crumbz]

Portions for Foxes

Portions for Foxes - Kidge Month Day 23 Prompt Fill Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Pairing: Kidge; Implied/Past Jeith and Kacxa Summary: 'Cause you're just damage control For a walking corpse like me, like you Standard Disclaimer: If you read and enjoy this, please give it a like/ reblog so I know if I should write more.

Everything sucked for Katie Holt. It was her own fault, sure, but it didn’t mean it was any less frustrating.

She pushed herself upright, sitting up and staring at the prone figure beside her. He was lying on his belly, arms stuffed under his pillow, face pressed into the plush bedding. His hair was still mussed up from sleep, the fringes of his bangs falling in dark stripes over his closed eyes. She hugged her knees close to her chest and rested her head against them, watching him as he shifted to nuzzle closer to his pillow, grumbling something into the fabric too quiet to be heard. She couldn’t help but smile a bit, despite herself. He was surprisingly cute, underneath the gruff exterior.

She had learned a great many things about him in the weeks since their little… Whatever it was had started.

She’d been heartbroken and furious and just a little bit tipsy the night it all started, nearly three months ago. Her boyfriend of nearly two years, James Griffin, had broken up with her only one month before, and then found out that night he had already started seeing Ina Leifsdottir, a mutual friend of theirs. And, as if to just rub salt into the wound, she found out that a few of their other mutual friends had known about it before her and never said anything. And so, she decided to go out that night, alone, to a frat party and forget her woes.

And it was there she bumped into Keith Kogane, campus recluse and one of James’ least favorite members of the student body.

They got to chatting, had a couple drinks. He had seemed a bit surprised when she approached him at the table covered in various different types of liquor and asked him to pour her a glass of something strong and blackout worthy.  “Aren’t you Griffin’s girl?” he asked curiously.

“Not anymore, I’m not. Now hurry it up with the drink,” she had barked back impatiently.

She was surprised to find that he seemed to find that reaction amusing enough to fulfill her request, pouring one for each other them He then held his Solo cup up towards her. “To the users and abusers we all have to deal with?” he prompted.

She stared at him for a moment, stunned at this deviate from what the rumors she’d heard told her to expect of him, before chuckling a bit. “Fucking cheers, I’ll drink to that,” she laughed, tapping her cup against his and taking a huge swig. It took all her self-control and pride to not spit it back out with how strong the taste of boozes was.

She spent the rest of that night hovering in the back with him, the two of them making fun of James and some of the other party-goers. She found that he was a lot funnier than people gave him credit for, his dry, blunt delivery leaving her wheezing every time. And she knew it wasn’t just because she had more liquor in her system than she should have. They bailed out to the roof for a bit to star gaze, swapping slurred stories and more saliva than they should have. When campus security showed up to shut the party down, they bailed out the back together, dipped to his apartment, and ended up hooking up on his couch. They had agreed early on that if it happened, it happened. They both wanted to get under James’ skin and, as petty as it was, seemed like a good enough reason.

The next morning, he actually ran down to the convenience store near his apartment to get her some ginger ale and said nothing when she scarfed down four plain slices of his sandwich bread.

“Sorry I wasn’t prepared for this,” he mumbled as she took another swig from her bottle. When all she gave him was a confused glance, he had flushed and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, but… I don’t really do this all that often.”

“The drinking or the hooking up?” she asked bluntly.

She kind of liked how the flush crept all the way to the tips of his ears at her brashness. “Both,” he admitted.

She tilted her head a bit at him, taking another sip of her ginger ale. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re doing a good job. I mean, I don’t do this often myself, so I guess I wouldn’t know, but still,” she rambled, fiddling with the cap of the bottle as she spoke.

He had smiled and leaned back against the kitchen counter. “Well, as long as you’re giving me a passing grade, I’ll take it,” he said.

And, ever since then, they’d fallen into a certain habit.

They hung out sober and got along great, which was nice. Katie still hung out with her old friends, but sometimes it felt hard. Nadia seemed adamant in wanting to pretend all the unpleasantness hadn’t happened at all, try and pretend things were the way they used to be. She would try to get the group together like how it used to be, inviting James and Ina along, and Katie would then have to scramble with finding a way out. Most of the time, those were the nights she’d end up calling Keith up and creeping into his bed with him.

Not that it was a one-way affair. There had been quite a few nights where the shoe had been on the other foot, too.

She appreciated that they felt comfortable enough with each other to essentially use each other that way and not take it personally. Perhaps it was because they treated one another as friends outside of the bedroom and occasionally did things together. Perhaps it was because they didn’t have a prior history before that. Regardless, though, she knew she was going to be sad when things between them ended. A part of her told her to do it sooner rather than later. She could already feel herself catching feelings, and the last thing she needed was another heartache so soon.

He wasn’t anything like any of the other guys she had been interested in before. She was normally attracted to guys like James Griffin; guys that, for the most part, seemed to have a clean appearance and approach to life. They didn’t go getting into trouble, maintained top-ranking grades, always made sure to dot their ‘I’s and cross their ‘T’s. She thought it was a nice balance with her, who had a bad tendency of running her mouth and getting scatterbrained from time to time. They helped to balance her out, to help keep her honest. Meanwhile, Keith was a guy with a past littered with confrontation with the authorities – “It’s all juvenile offenses. And I don’t count’em since they aren’t easily accessible,” – and seemed to occasionally get just as lost as she did once he got distracted by something he found more interesting. He had told her how, while working on a rebuild of a motorcycle, he had actually forgotten about dinner until it was nearly midnight, when he finally finished what he was doing.

She let out a quiet sigh as she reached out, gently tucking a few strands of hair behind his ear. “This is what I get for getting attached to people, huh?” she mumbled to herself.

He shifted and she yanked her hand back to herself, quickly letting her legs drop. He let out a quiet grumble and cracked his eyes open. He then reached up with one hand and rubbed at his eyes. “Mornin’,” he mumbled.

“Morning,”

“How long have you been up?” he asked through another yawn as he pushed himself to sit up as well.

“Not very,” she said with a small shrug. She watched him for a moment before turning to get out of bed. “You hungry?”

“Yeah. You offering to cook for once?” he said teasingly, voice raspy with sleep but perking up slightly at the jest in his tone.

“Only if you got the actually got the stuff for French toast in your fridge,” she teased back.

His violet eyes got wide. “Oh, shit,” he breathed in sleepy delight, “I think I do.”

She laughed as she pulled her panties and sweatpants back on, shaking her head.  She told herself that, at least right now, it was okay to indulge a little.

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

“He didn’t sleep with her,” she blurted out, staring up at the darkened ceiling of Keith’s bedroom. It had only been about four days since last she’d come by. That night, however, Nadia had tricked her. She had promised that it was just going to be the two of them, Lance and Veronica that night, doing a movie marathon at the McClain residence. Just as the first ten minutes of the film played, though, James and Ina had shown up, bringing cookies and ice cream and wine with them.

Katie had excused herself to the bathroom, snuck out the window, and ducked out to Keith’s. Like usual. She called him first, to make sure it was okay, and he had listened patiently as she rambled about James showing up with his new girlfriend. She hadn’t cried about it, thankfully, but had just been pissed that one of her friends would knowingly lie to her like that. She wasn’t ready to be friends with either of them again, not knowing what she knew. He hadn’t asked her anything when he let her in, just kissed her breathless and stupid as he led her to the back.

But, as they’d laid there and caught their breath, she’d seen the questions he wanted to ask but didn’t. He was so damn respectful of her boundaries and privacy that sometimes it kind of scared her. None of the others had been like that and she found that she liked that much more than she thought reasonable.

And, she realized as the words left her lips, she trusted him with it all.

“He didn’t… technically cheat,” she said more softly, for clarification.

“Define technically,” he scoffed.

“Our relationship… It was struggling for a while before he finally ended it. During last term, I took six classes, and… I passed them all, but it was way too much stress. I was snappy all the time, constantly anxious… James would try to help me, encourage me to take breaks and go do something else, like going out with him, but I was so worried about what it would do to my grades and scholarships… Looking back on it, I must have been a nightmare to deal with,” she admitted.

“Sounds like he couldn't deal with not being your top priority,” Keith scoffed.

“What do you mean?” she asked, shifting to lay on her side and look at him.

“I’m not saying that he shouldn’t have been a priority,” he said evenly, “but he should have also respected that your academics were important. I mean, you’re trying to get your degree so you can have your dream job. Shouldn’t he want to encourage that? I mean, maybe it means you two had to spend some time apart, but there were other ways around it. He could have offered to help you study or something like that.”

She stared at him for a moment before shifting closer, ducker her head to rest against his shoulder. “Is this… Is this okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” He said, moving to gently loop an arm around her waist, his hand stroking along her back.

She closed her eyes and tied to will herself to relax, to enjoy his warmth. To think he’d understood what she’d wanted… He really was going to break her heart.

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Strangest way to meet your neighbor

I had a free day today because my class got cancelled but I ended up washing sleeping bags for my job. So sorry this isn't that good. Neighbor

Lance took a bite of the muffin Hunk had left for him after a stress baking session. He’d been going to meet Shay’s family for the first time and he was so nervous. Lance reaped in the rewards because Hunk was fine and he got the pastries as a result. He was set for breakfast and times he felt peckish for snacks for a while. He went to go sprawl out on the couch, maybe build up the motivation to get started with his next project when someone knocked on his door.

Not bothering to look through the peephole, Lance pulled the door open, taking in the person on the other side of the door. He’d seen him around, lived right across the hall with his brother. And despite the cold weather outside, he was wearing shorts and what he guessed was a tank top under his zip-up hoodie.

“Hi?”

“Um hi. I’m Keith, I live across the hall.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen you around. I’m Lance.”

“Nice to meet you. Um, funny thing, I forgot the keys to my apartment and my brother is at a work thing that he won’t be back from in like an hour from and I just came back from the gym. Do you think it’s possible I could borrow your shower so I don’t smell like sweat waiting for him to come back?”

With his pleading expression, Lance couldn’t find it in himself to say no. “Sure. Come on in.”

Lance led Keith to his bathroom and told him he’d get a towel. Part of Lance wondered what he was doing. He never made an effort to go make friends in his building. He’d still been getting over his break-up with his ex at that point and wanted to be alone. Keith was his type in terms of looks but he wasn’t about to go running into another flirting session, not even a one night stand, not while he was still dealing with his ex. He knocked on the bathroom door and opened it at Keith’s answer.

“Here you…go.”

Keith had his back turned to him and Lance’s eyes trailed over the muscles on Keith’s back. He turned to see Lance at the door and Lance got an eyeful of the defined abs. His arms were also a work of art.

“Lance?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Um, here you go.” Lance shoved the towel at Keith before closing the door and tried to still his beating heart. God, Keith was really hot. Like really hot. “No, nope, not going there. Lance, do not go there.” He muttered going to grab his laptop. Work would distract him.

He opened his laptop, making sure he had his external hard drive and tablet when his phone buzzed. It was from Allura.

I’m coming over.

Lance let out a sigh, leaning back on the couch. He and Allura dated for a while and the fight that ended their relationship actually almost ended their friendship for good. It made matters worse when he found out Allura started dating Lotor. The asshole’s dad had fired him because Lance stood up for himself, which left Lance struggling to find a job after. He never liked Lotor or his family after that, so he’d been pretty miffed when he found out Allura was dating Lotor. He had listened to Allura sing him praises when he tried to tell her what he’d done. It put a lot of strain on their friendship and made him feel awkward around her. They had adopted a cat together, Blue and now he was about to become a single parent of their fur baby because the apartment Allura was moving into didn’t allow pets.

“Ugg, got a hot guy in my bathroom and my ex coming all in one day. I need headache meds. And my headphones.”

Lance went back to his room and grabbed his headphone and plugged them into his iPod, pressing play and letting the music pull his thoughts from the worries he had.

Because of that he didn’t hear Keith calling for him, didn’t see him exit the bathroom trying to look for him.

“I thought I had another shirt.” Keith muttered to himself as he pulled up his sweatpants that was sliding off his hips. “Where did he go?”

Then someone knocked on the door.

Keith looked around and still seeing no sign of Lance, he decided to just go open the door. On the other side was a woman with long white hair with a man with silver white hair.

“Who are you?” the woman asked, narrowing her eyes at him. “Where’s Lance?”

“Inside? May I help you?”

Just then Lance came out from the hallway and stopped at the sight of Allura and her new boyfriend Lotor.

“Lance who is this?” Allura demanded to know.

“Why does it matter?” Lance asked, going over and pulling Keith away from the door and away from Allura. “It’s my apartment, I can have whoever I want over. Besides, why is he here?”

“Lotor drove me over.”

Lance narrowed his at Lotor. “What was so important that you couldn’t text me?”

“I wanted to tell you you’d have to come get Blue yourself. I thought I’d at least come to see you.”

“Still could have texted me.” Lance said, glaring at Lotor.

“What’s the matter McClain? See something you like?”

“I don’t like snakes.” Lance snapped. “I’ll pick Blue up, don’t worry. Just tell me when.”

Allura hadn’t taken her eyes off of Keith, eyes narrowed untrustingly. “Who are you?”

“Keith, I live across the hall.”

“How long have you been sleeping with Lance?”

“Excuse me?”

“OMG, Allura, will you back off? Look, just go please.” Lance shut the door and groaned in his hands. Forget work, he needed a nap.”

“She’s extremely nosy.” Keith pointed out, as he used the towel to dry his hair.

“I’m so sorry about that. That was my ex and her asshole new boyfriend.”

“No offense, but I think your better off. I hope she doesn’t bother you more because of me being here?”

“It’s fine. I just need a nap.”

Keith took in the stressed face. “Do you have tea? It helped me when I’m stressed.”

“Oh, I couldn’t.”

“It’s the least I can do for letting me use your shower.”

Lance nodded in the end. “In the kitchen, cupboard above the stove.”

“Got it. Hey, but do you have a shirt I could borrow?”

Lance took a quick glance at Keith’s bare chest. “Sorry, I haven’t done laundry yet. Try not to burn yourself.”

Lance felt slightly bad that he was ogling at his half-dressed next door neighbour, but he needed something to keep his mind off what just happened.

“Did you guys share a pet or something? Who’s Blue?” Keith asked as he brought over a cup for Lance.

“Allura and I adopted her. She’s a Savanah cat. After we broke up, we still decided to share her but her boyfriend’s new apartment doesn’t allow pets so she’s gonna be mine.”

“If you want, I can come with you when you need to pick her up.”

“Oh, you really don’t have to.” Lance said.

“I don’t mind. I wouldn’t feel right leaving you to deal with them by yourself.”

Lance took a sip of his tea taking Keith in. they’d just met and here he was offering to put himself under the scrutinization of his ex and her annoying boyfriend. Maybe there was something more to this guy.

“Sure.”

[stories-in-the-stars]

The Fallen and the Wandering

It’s that time of the week y’all! Make sure to check reblogs for links to Ao3!

~*~

Chapter 10

“She--so you--?” Keith stammered.

Lance shook his head, pushing himself up. “I don’t know, but what matters now is that she’s way more powerful than any human being should be, and we still have no idea what she wants to do with that power! We have to go after her!”

Lance stood, only to stumble over his arms and fall right into Keith’s arms. Behind them, the Bureau workers sounded like they were calling backup. Keith wasn’t sure if they’d seen what had just happened, but he had no doubt that they weren’t about to give Lance up so easily, even in the interest of stopping Terrell. Still, there was something that Keith did need from them.

Securing Lance beside him, he marched over to the older worker, the one who looked to be in charge.

“You said you made an agreement with Terrell,” Keith stated. “What was it?”

“That--that’s classified--!”

“I don’t give a damn, whatever it was got us into this mess in the first place, so tell me what it was!”

The man looked torn between refusing and relenting to Keith’s demand. In the end, he chose the latter.

“She contacted us first. Said she knew where the sun was, and would tell us if we agreed to a few things, the man explained quickly. “Skeptical as we were, we had to at least follow the lead, especially given that it was Terrell of all people. All she asked was that we downsize our department beforehand, and that we leave her alone once we had the sun. She said that, after all, Jupiter isn’t as crucial as the sun, so what harm was there in letting her go? We agreed, and she told us that the sun was one of our own workers--and he is!”

“Or was, anyways,” Lance mumbled.

“What do you mean? What did she do?”

“She wished for the power of the sun,” Lance said.

“That--” The man decided that he was suddenly done with being confused and out of control of the situation. His expression hardened and his tone became decisive. “This changes nothing, save for the fact that we must bring Terrell in, given that she violated the terms of our agreement. You’ll stay here, albeit in a different office.”

“Thanks, but no thanks, it’s clear to me that you guys can’t be trusted to deal with Terrell--” Lance started scathingly.

The old man bristled and cut him off. “You will be staying here! And you!” he snapped, turning his attention to Keith. “I know I’ve seen you around before, so rest assured you’ll be lucky to even be cleaning the floors around here after this!”

Keith was hardly bothered by the threat, but they would need to find a way past all these workers, and the inevitable back up (probably keepers) they’d called. Lance was still leaning heavily on him, legs shaking with fatigue. There was no way they could fight their way out of this one. Keith regarded the setting. The broom he’d flown in on was buried under the rubble of Terrell’s attack, which meant that they wouldn’t be able to follow Terrell out of the hole in the ceiling she’d created for her dramatic exit. The only other option was to push their way through all these people.

He held Lance a little closer. “Stay close to me,” he whispered.

With a deep breath, Keith reached out with his power once again. It swelled weakly, strained from more use in the last few hours than in his entire life. The shadows rose all the same, and quickly plunged not only the room, but the hallway as well, into a solid darkness. Beside him, Lance gasped, reminding Keith that he hadn’t told Lance that he wasn’t quite human either. There would be time for that later, Keith decided. In the meantime, his attention was on the people blocking their path, who were now thrown into a borderline panic at their sudden loss of sight.

The first three or four of the group blindly stumbled forward, realizing that this was a ploy for escape. Keith evaded them easily. Some of the group towards the rear had broken off and were stumbling back towards the main department, where Keith was certain his power had not yet reached. Gripping Lance tightly, he charged through the few that were left in the hallway, knocking them down with extreme prejudice. A few hands grabbed at him and Lance, but such was their confusion that they slipped right off of them.

They burst out of the darkness to find the few that had broken away from the shadows waiting for them, along with a squad of keepers. With a grunt, Keith plunged the much larger area into black pitch. He wouldn’t be able to hold it for long, he knew. And what about when they reached a bigger area? He could make them invisible in the shadows, but that required them to be unseen in the first place.

“What’s up?” Lance whispered when he noticed that Keith had paused in their escape.

Keith explained the problem to Lance as best he could, and Lance hummed quietly. It was lucky for them everyone hadn’t thought to quiet down and listen instead of look.

“What if we made them think we escaped?” Lance suggested. “Not only is there a back exit through this department, but there’s also a separate, smaller broom closet within this department. I don’t know if they’d cleared it out yet, but it’s worth checking out.”

“Even if it is, my place isn’t that far,” Keith added.

“Right. So what we do is we hide ourselves under a desk or something, and then you let the light come back, they don’t see us and think we’ve escaped, and they’ll all run out trying to find us.”

Keith nodded before remembering that Lance was likely just as blind as everyone else and saying, “Alright, sounds good.”

The plan worked as seamlessly as Lance had made it sound, especially given that they were practically invisible. Everyone was yelling angrily, panicking and squeezing out the doors together in an effort to catch a target they couldn’t see. Within moments, the department was dead silent. Even so, they waited a few moments before emerging from their hiding place, Keith not yet releasing his hold on the shadows that cloaked them. Once they determined the coast was clear, however, he dropped his power with a sigh of relief.

Lance eyed him curiously as they made their way towards the department’s broom closet.

“So… I’m guessing you’re a planet too?” he ventured.

Keith nodded.

“How long have you known?”

“About as long as I’ve known you were the sun,” Keith answered. “That is, only a few months.”

They were silent as they discovered that the broom closet had indeed been cleared out. Lance was far from dressed for the weather--he didn’t even have any shoes, but what other choice did they have? With Lance’s direction, they hurried to a small, back exit, slipping out without a sound. They both agreed that it would be safer to take a back way to Keith’s apartment, for all that it would take a few minutes longer. Lance assured Keith that he would be able to stand the cold for a few minutes longer if it meant they wouldn’t be caught.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lance asked when they were about halfway there.

“Cause you told me yourself that you’d do exactly this,” Keith answered. “You’d give yourself up to save the world--I didn’t want that.”

“Why?”

Keith blinked and looked at Lance. “Why would I not want that? Lance--”

“You told me you don’t love me,” Lance interrupted. “And you told Allura you don’t care--yeah, she told me about that conversation--so if you don’t care, why go through all this trouble?”

“Well,” Keith fumbled, looking for the right words as he peered around a corner to make sure the street leading to his apartment building was clear of Bureau workers. His face felt red hot with shame. “First of all, what I said to Allura was a lie. I do care Lance, I just--I guess I didn’t want to care. Does that make sense?”

“I think so,” Lance mused. Then he shook his head, saying, “Talk about melodramatic though.”

“Yeah, I’m… not proud of the things I said, to you, or Allura, or anyone else.”

“Was what you told me a lie too?”

Keith was silent as they trudged up the stairs, hoping that the fact that he was still helping Lance to stand would serve as an adequate excuse for his hesitation. Even now he still felt drawn to Lance--did that mean he was truly still the sun? After all, Terrell had only asked for the powers of the sun, not to be the sun. Was there a difference?

He helped Lance to sit on the couch once they were safely inside. Lance’s gaze was expectant. Keith went to turn up the heat.

“Keith?”

Keith didn’t look at Lance as he said, “Honestly Lance? I have no idea.”

“How do you not know?”

“Because!” Keith huffed, turning around. “I’m not good at this emotional stuff! I don’t think I’ve ever been in love with someone before, and the one time I think I might be, it turns out he’s the sun and I’m a planet and I’m supposed to be drawn to him anyways! Tell me, Lance, where do you think gravity ends and love begins? In our case, do you think there’s even a difference?!”

Keith stood a ways away, breathing hard. Lance sat in stunned silence. His eyes were wide and did not once waver. Keith looked away, suddenly embarrassed. He mumbled an apology and made to get some socks and a sweater for Lance.

Before he could leave the living room, Lance asked, “Well, what do you want Keith?”

Keith paused briefly. “That doesn’t matter right now.”

He left before Lance could say anything more, but when he returned, Lance was frowning.

“Why would you say it doesn’t matter what you want?” Lance prodded gently.

“It doesn’t, that’s why,” Keith said, holding out the clothing for Lance, who eagerly pulled it all on. Even with the heat on, he was still shivering. “We’ve got more important things to worry about right now, like a person that has the power of Jupiter and the sun.”

“And who do you mean when you say ‘we’?” Lance inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Keith opened and closed his mouth, fishing for an answer.

“Me… and you?” he offered slowly.

Based on Lance’s expression, Keith guessed that that was the wrong answer.

“Sure, we’ll be part of it, but there’s no way we can take Terrell on with just the two of us. We need the other planets. Do you still have your star?”

Keith nodded, pulling it out of his pocket. It was dormant now, shining and settled like any other star. Only now Keith knew he only had to say the word and it would take him wherever he wanted. In theory, anyways. He hadn’t exactly had time to test the limits of it yet. He didn’t even know why it acted as a convenient sort of compass for him, only that it did, and only when asked, whether directly or indirectly.

“Do you suppose it’ll take us to people we haven’t met?” Keith wondered, holding it up by the cord.

Lance shrugged. “No idea, but maybe we’ve already met them. I mean, I am the sun, and you mentioned that gravity might still be a thing between me and the planets, so maybe they just kind of--I don’t know--ended up nearby? One way to find out I guess.”

“Alright… who should we try to find first?”

“Let me think…” Lance said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “If we go by the idea that size correlates with power… we might want to find Saturn first--also, which planet are you?”

“No idea, but I guess through process of elimination we’ll find out, won’t we?” Keith replied. He held the star near to his face, as though it needed to be close to hear him. “Take us to Saturn.”

It didn’t respond immediately as it had when Keith had asked to find Terrell. Perhaps they really did have to know who they were looking for in order to be guided to them. Keith and Lance glanced nervously at each other--what would they do if it didn’t work?--but then the flask began to sway gently, like a pendulum set to ticking. It started so subtly that Keith thought it was his own unsteady hand causing the movement. But the arc of the swing only grew, until it stopped mid-air, pointing solidly in one direction.

They had their heading.

Unfortunately, a problem arose as they prepared to leave. Lance had no shoes, and Keith’s were too small for him to borrow. Not to mention that neither of them had brooms, and they had no idea how near or far Saturn would be. There was also, Lance pointed out when Keith had to stifle a huge yawn, that it was very early in the morning, and Keith had yet to get any sleep.

“We can’t stay here for too long,” Keith argued when Lance suggested they wait before setting out. “The Bureau is going to search our homes when they can’t find us.”

“My place is farther, at least, and my sister always has a few spare brooms lying around. She can bring us brooms and a pair of my shoes,” Lance said.

Which reminded Keith-- “Your sister!” he gasped, fishing around in his pockets for that slip of paper she’d given him.

Lance, meanwhile, looked confused. “Yeah? That’s what I said?”

Keith made a mad dash for his phone once he’d found the slip of paper, and then shoved both towards Lance.

“She came by yesterday, looking for you. She gave me her number and told me to call if anything came up.”

Lance took the phone and dialed his sister’s number. Only seconds later, Lance sheepishly greeted Veronica, and from what Keith could hear, she was equal parts relieved and furious. Lance tried in vain to get in a word through the veritable stream of Spanish being hurled at him (Veronica could be loud when she wanted). Lance let her go on like that for a few minutes, quickly realizing that she just needed to get it out of her system. He replied to her in Spanish, of which Keith thought he could pick up a few words here and there, but ultimately did not understand. And then Veronica began to yell again, causing Lance to heave an impatient sigh. Then, just as quickly as the rapidfire conversation had begun, it ended, and Lance handed the phone back to Keith.

“She’s on her way,” Lance told him. “It won’t take her too long, she’s a fast flier--faster than even you, I’d say.”

“She didn’t sound too happy,” Keith commented idly.

Lance waved a hand dismissively. “I was gone for two days, she was just worried. She’s always been like that, probably cause in our family me and her are closest in age, only she’s just a little older than me so I guess she feels like I’m her responsibility or something? It’s honestly annoying more often than not, but I can always rely on her when I need her most, so…”

He trailed off with a shrug, but his expression was fond and nostalgic. Then he clapped his hands together abruptly, saying that Keith needed some sleep, even if it was just a quick power nap. Keith resisted at first, which prompted Lance to shove Keith all the way into his bedroom and onto his bed. Once he was lying down, however, the weight of fatigue was all too apparent. Lance settled himself right beside Keith, assuring him that he would wake him as soon as Veronica arrived. Even so, the possibility that the Bureau might come breaking down the door at any minute kept Keith on edge. He didn’t even begin to relax, tired as he was, until Lance began running his fingers through Keith’s hair.

“You know, I thought you said my hair was dumb,” Keith mumbled, winding the cord of his flask tightly around his hand so as to not let it slip away. “You seem to like it an awful lot.”

“It is dumb,” Lance replied. “And so are you.”

Keith sighed, letting his eyes fall closed. “Yeah, I am. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“It’s not. I’ve been a jerk these past few months, all because I was scared. You’re not the only one I need to apologize to, you know.”

“I know,” Lance said, his tone gentle. “But for now you need to sleep.”

Keith hummed, and sleep swiftly took him.

He dreamed that strange dream again, the one that was well and truly a dream and out of his control. That sense of anticipation was there again, only this time Keith wasn’t skeptical, but rather curious. The wandering points of light were gathering close, and he along with them. The whispering was there again, using voices Keith thought he recognized but couldn’t quite place. All of them were excited for something, and Keith found that he was excited too, but he knew not for what. All of the excitement, however, seemed to be centered around a single, pale blue dot that Keith could hardly see. It was special, he knew, and had been for some time… but why?

Keith awoke with a violent start when someone started banging at the door. Beside him, Lance launched himself off the bed to go greet whoever it was. Keith checked the time to find that he’d only slept for half an hour at best. He gripped the flask tightly in his hand and rolled out of bed after Lance, worried still that it might be the Bureau. Lance had already opened the door by the time Keith trudged down the hallway, but to his immense relief, it was indeed Veronica, with three brooms and a duffel bag in hand. Her gaze was no less sharp than it had been when Keith had first met her.

“You want to tell me what’s going on now?” she demanded of Lance, who suddenly looked as though he was trying to swallow a rock.

“Not… really?” Lance offered in a squeaky voice.

Veronica opened her mouth, looking supremely unamused, but Keith interrupted.

“It’s just--!” he started a bit louder than he’d intended. He continued in a more reasonable tone, “It’s just that it’s a little difficult to explain and we’re worried you wouldn’t even believe us.”

Veronica looked slightly mollified, but Lance looked appalled. He hurried over to Keith to whisper urgently to him.

“You’re not actually planning on telling her just like that, are you? After all this time of keeping it a secret from all your friends?!”

“Well, look where that got me,” Keith replied in an equally low tone. “Not to mention, she’s your sister, and it doesn’t look like she’s going to back off until she knows what’s going on.”

Lance huffed. “I hate that you’re right, but you said yourself we can’t stay here for too long.”

Keith nodded and turned to Veronica, who was waiting with crossed arms. “We’ll tell you, but not here, we can’t stay here too much longer.”

“Why not?” she demanded.

“Because--” Lance started, only to be cut off by an insistent knocking on the door.

Keith pressed his lips together tightly and motioned for the others to remain silent. He grabbed Lance and gestured for Veronica to come close. She hesitated, confused and concerned, for a second too long. Keith shoved himself and Lance into a shady corner just as the door burst open to a squad of keepers. Veronica looked back and forth between where she had just seen Keith and her brother disappear, and the workers who had so rudely intruded.

“Can I help you?” she asked, regaining her composure quickly.

The leader of the group motioned for the others to search the place.

“We’re looking for Keith Kogane--who are you?” the leader demanded.

“Veronica McClain,” Veronica said politely, though still with an edge.

“Do you know where Keith is?”

Veronica shook her head. “No, ma’am, he was here a few hours ago, but he left and never said when he’d be back.”

From the shadows, Keith resisted the urge to tell Lance that his sister’s acting skills were superb. Talk about remaining cool under pressure.

Meanwhile, the other keepers returned from their brief search (it was a small apartment, after all), and all shook their heads. Their leader scowled, and turned her attention back to Veronica, briskly handing her a card.

“Call us if you see him.”

“Is he in trouble?”

The lead keeper frowned. “That remains yet to be seen, but suffice to say he took something very important from the Bureau, something incredibly essential. That’s all I can say, but I assure you if you try to hide him it won’t turn out well for you.”

The leader then did her own sweep of the living room, eyeing everything with a critical gaze. Once she came dangerously close to where Lance and Keith were hidden, clinging tightly to each other and holding their breaths. Finally, she sighed, deciding that there was nothing to be found there. With an unnecessary flourish, the keeper and her team marched out of the apartment as quickly as they’d broken in, not even bothering to close the door behind them. Veronica watched them leave, and once they disappeared from her sight she closed the door as best she could (it was broken now, much to Keith’s dismay), and then whirled around to face where she had last seen Keith and Lance looking positively livid.

“Any chance we could just stay hidden like this until she’s less likely to kill us?” Lance whispered to Keith, so close to his ear that it made him shiver.

“I can hear you,” Veronica growled. “And if you don’t tell me what’s going on right now, I swear, I’ll--”

She gasped when Keith and Lance reappeared as if out of thin air, but quickly resumed her aggressive posture. Whatever threat she had in mind, Keith had no doubt she would follow through if she didn’t get answers.

“The reason I was gone for two days,” Lance began. “The Bureau had me. Keith broke me out and brought me here.”

Veronica paused, looking back and forth between the two of them. “Why did the Bureau essentially kidnap you? They didn’t arrest you, did they?”

Lance shook his head. “No, they had me because… well…”

“Because Lance is the sun,” Keith blurted.

Veronica rolled her eyes. “That’s very romantic and all, but--”

“No, he’s right,” Lance interrupted. “When the sun, moon, and planets fell to the earth, they didn’t manifest in the same way that stars do. They became human--and I’m the sun. If they were to put me back into the sky, the whole planet would be saved… and I was going to let them.”

There was a moment of silence as Veronica processed this information. Her expression was initially confounded, then astounded, and then back to being angry. Beside him, Lance shuffled nervously.

“You,” Veronica started in a grave tone. “Were going to give yourself up? Just like that?”

“Veronica, the planet is dying! It needs the sun, and if I don’t, then I’ll just die along with everyone else!” Lance argued.

Veronica swore, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Lance, you self-sacrificing moron, did it ever occur to you that there might be another way?”

“Do you know another way?”

“Of course not! But, Lance, you can’t just go throwing yourself away like that!” she shouted.

Lance was about to make a retort, but Keith cut in, “Much as I agree with Veronica, we can’t just sit around here.”

“Why not? They already think you’re not here, which, by the way, how did you do that?” Veronica inquired.

“It’s, uh, a bit involved. We’ll tell you on the way?” Lance offered.

Keith dropped the flask that had been pressed tightly in his palm all this time. The star was still straining against the glass, pointing them in the direction it wanted them to go in. It raised more questions from Veronica, questions that they weren’t really able to answer. Lance threw on the shoes that Veronica had brought for him, and several jackets, and they were about to leave when a third visitor knocked on the now broken door, causing it to fall flat on the floor.

Shiro, to his credit, looked only mildly surprised. His eyes found Keith quickly.

“What’s this I hear about you being a fugitive from the Bureau?”

Apparently Shiro had gone in to work, early as usual, to find everything in a complete state of upheaval. He’d been accosted by a squad of keepers and questioned intensely about Keith and his possible whereabouts. Now that Keith had forgone secrecy, he wanted to tell Shiro everything, but it was as they’d already determined. They didn’t have time to stand around and explain every single detail. Shiro, it seemed, would have to go with them to find Saturn.

Unfortunately, Shiro lived almost as close as Keith did to the Bureau, and had no need of a broom for transportation, which meant that they had to figure something out if he was to go along with them. Ultimately he opted to exercise brotherly authority over Keith, which ended up meaning that Keith would share with Lance. How that was decided was beyond Keith himself, but he decided not to dispute it. They’d already wasted enough time. It was time to find Saturn.

They prepared themselves for a bit of a trek, not knowing how far Saturn would be. They took off, guided by Keith’s star--only to be led directly back to the Bureau. It was buzzing like a hive of angry bees, but the star pointed solidly towards the building. Keith grimaced.

“Figures,” he muttered. He was already thinking of how best to sneak back in, exhausted as he was from using his powers, when Shiro held out his hand.

“Let me find whoever it is. I’m supposed to be coming back from my break soon anyways,” Shiro explained.

Reluctantly, Keith handed over the star. He trusted Shiro more than anyone in the world, but he hated dragging him into this mess like this. Not to mention, there was nothing for the rest of them to do but wait as he searched the building as discreetly as possible. Nothing, except explain the whole fiasco to Veronica, who was still clamoring for answers. They explained everything they knew so far, admitting that there were still many things they didn’t know. Like what Terrell’s true objectives were, for instance. What could she possibly want to do with that much power?

When Shiro returned, it was much sooner than expected, and with someone in tow. What was more, it wasn’t an unfamiliar face.

“Hunk?!” Lance was the first to gasp.

“The star went slack after I practically ran into him, so I assume that he’s who we’re looking for,” Shiro explained.

Hunk, meanwhile, looked alarmed and bewildered. Keith assumed he’d heard the news just the same as Shiro. They made a quick explanation that only seemed to perplex him more.

“You’re saying… I’m a planet?” he clarified. “That--no, no way.”

“The star said so,” Keith said.

“Maybe the star was wrong? I mean, I’ll help you anyways, crazy as it sounds to go after Terrell now that she’s gotten an upgrade to her powers, but seriously--even if I was a planet, I don’t think I’d be Saturn, you know?” Hunk rambled.

“The star hasn’t steered us wrong so far,” Lance said. “We shouldn’t stick around here for too long, not with the place crawling with Bureau workers.”

Hunk sighed resignedly. “We can hide out at my place for a bit, just let me clock out first?”

Half an hour later found them all crammed into the apartment Hunk shared with Pidge, who was quite puzzled by this sudden intrusion, but very open-minded to the idea that Hunk was a planet and Lance was the sun. It was then that Keith realized that, in spite of her revelation, it seemed that Pidge hadn’t told a single person that he, too, was a planet, for which he was grateful.

“So now we have Saturn and… am I even still the sun?” Lance mused aloud. “Keith is a planet but we don’t know which one--”

“What about Shiro and Veronica?” Pidge inquired eagerly. “If we’re going off the idea that all the planets are close to Lance in some way, wouldn’t it make sense if they were planets too? And me?”

“I--” Keith started hesitantly, regarding each of them with a critical eye. Keith was still getting used to the concept of being a planet and being able to sense others--how did Terrell manage to not only sense Lance but correctly reason that he was the sun, just from one chance glance?

“I honestly have no idea,” Keith finally admitted. “If we had more time I might be able to tell, but otherwise we’ll just have to use this star.”

Pidge peered at the star curiously. “You said this star has been guiding you?”

Keith nodded.

“Strange…” she muttered. “I’ve never seen a star behave like that… Hunk?”

Hunk shook his head. “Me neither, although I did once hear about a star found in the southern hemisphere that acted like this--more like a compass than a wish-granter.”

“Interesting,” Pidge noted. “In any event, whether I’m a planet or not, I’m coming to help too.”

“Pidge--” Lance started.

But Pidge was already decided. “You can’t stop me, so don’t even try.”

“Fine. Who are we looking for next then?” Lance relented. “After Jupiter and Saturn… was it Uranus or Neptune that was bigger?”

“Uranus,” Hunk and Pidge answered together.

Pidge grinned. “At least, by diameter. Neptune was more dense than Uranus, so while it was slightly smaller, it was also heavier.”

“So essentially it’s a toss up as to which one we should go after first,” Shiro commented.

“We could just go in the order of the solar system,” Hunk suggested with a shrug.

“We are going to try to find all of them eventually, right?” Veronica pointed out. “So in the end it doesn’t matter, so long as we stop wasting time and just do it.”

Everyone agreed, and looked to Keith with his guiding star. He took a deep breath and willed it to guide them to Uranus. He thought that it was simply gathering it’s bearings, as it had when he’d asked it to take them to Saturn, but even after a full minute nothing happened.

“Do you suppose it can only guide us so many times?” Lance questioned, studying the star as though looking for an answer within it’s light.

Keith hummed, uncertain. “Alright then, take us to Neptune.”

This time, the flask began to swing almost immediately, seeming eager to take them where they wanted to go. It was Veronica who figured out what that must mean.

“Uranus is one of us,” she announced just as Pidge was opening her mouth to say the same.

Pidge beat her to the next conclusion though. “It’s Shiro! It’s got to be Shiro!”

Hunk hummed in agreement. “Yeah, I can see that, that makes sense.”

Shiro, meanwhile, was stunned, but he shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

“Now let’s get moving,” Veronica urged them. “We don’t know who Neptune is or where they might be, but we can’t bank on all the planets nearby. Do you guys have any spare brooms?”

Within moments they were in the air again, following the light of their guiding star. Keith was once again sharing with a broom with Lance, shivering not from the cold as he seemed to register how tightly Lance was pressed against his back every few moments. Lance was no less warm than he’d always been. What part of that was the sun? Keith wondered. And what part was just Lance himself? Keith found himself hoping that there would be time to sort that all out later. And if there wasn’t, he had a feeling Lance would make time.

He braced himself for a longer journey as soon as they left the city limits, plunging into darker skies with only a single, dim little star to light their way. Behind him, Hunk was still debating his status as Saturn (“I feel like maybe, Venus? Or, hey, maybe even the moon would be an alright fit for me, I think,” he suggested over the whip of the winds.), while Pidge and Veronica argued in favor of it (“Saturn was named for the Roman adaptation of the Greek Titan Cronus,” Veronica said. “Wasn’t he associated with time? Does that mean Hunk has the ability to control time?!” Pidge suggested enthusiastically. “Actually that would be kind of cool,” Hunk could barely be heard saying.)

Their ragtag group sailed over dimly lit suburbs, only occasionally spotting Bureau workers in the course of their duties. None of them spared their group a second glance, but Keith held his breath every time. Being spotted could be dangerous for them, even as their numbers were growing. They had three confirmed planets among them, with only one of them having a handle on the powers their planet-hood granted them (however precariously). Then there was Lance, who they weren’t sure if he was still the sun, but even if he had the powers Terrell had stolen from him, Keith was still the only one able to consciously use his powers. Keith found himself hoping that Hunk somehow did have the ability to manipulate time, if only so they could have more of it. Facing Terrell as they were would be a foolhardy move, but what choice did they have?

It could’ve been an hour, or several, but by the time the star guided them downwards, even Keith felt the chill of the air. Lance was clinging to him in a weak attempt to dispel the cold, his arms wrapped around Keith’s torso in a vice grip. Keith hoped that whoever Neptune was, they had a home in which they could warm themselves. Unfortunately, it seemed as though that wouldn’t be the case as they were led to a shadowy, seemingly abandoned warehouse district.

They were just about to touch down when Shiro shouted, “From the rear!”

No sooner had he warned the rest of them than they were being dive-bombed by a pair of Bureau workers in altitude masks. Keith didn’t spare any thought to it. It didn’t matter that their group outnumbered them, what mattered was that they’d been spotted.

“Scatter! Lose them!” he commanded.

But then Lance stopped them, shouting, “Wait, wait!”

The two Bureau workers, who had dove right past them, were circling around to meet their group again, but this time Keith realized they were far from being a threat, especially as they ripped off their altitude masks.

Threat or no, Allura looked far more intimidating than Keith had ever seen her. Her expression was dark as the skies above. Even Romelle, just behind her, looked mildly alarmed.

“Where,” she started dangerously, looking directly at Lance. “Have you been?!”

“Allura! It’s a bit--!” Lance began, only to be cut off almost immediately.

“Do you even know how worried sick I’ve been?! And what’s going on here?! Was I just not important enough to call once you were out of danger, or were you even in any danger at all? Was I--did you just--” Allura began to sputter, voice quavering dangerously.

Lance urged Keith to land, and everyone else followed suit, with Romelle guiding Allura gently down to the ground. Keith’s feet were hardly on the ground before Lance hopped off the broom, running towards Allura to sweep her up in a crushing hug. She was openly crying now, mumbling something that Keith couldn’t make out from where he stood. Lance murmured soft words of reassurance to her, patting her head soothingly and letting her cry her heart out. The rest of them shuffled a ways apart, so as to give them privacy.

“Do you think Allura might be the moon?” Pidge whispered to Veronica as they looked on.

“What on earth are you talking about?” Romelle asked before Veronica could reply.

Keith sighed deeply, but thankfully Pidge and Veronica took it upon themselves to explain the entire situation to them, with an occasional insight or two from Hunk. It left himself and Shiro on the sidelines of two very different conversations, and Keith became acutely aware of a conversation that he had to have with Shiro. He had told himself he would do it when there was time, but it seemed now, just before they found Neptune, was the time for discussion. Besides, what better time than the present?

“Hey,” Keith began hesitantly, grabbing Shiro’s attention. “I know this is long overdue, but--”

“It’s fine,” Shiro said.

Keith frowned. “It’s not fine and you know it. I shouldn’t have said what I said.”

“You’re right--I guess what I meant was, I forgive you.”

“I haven’t even apologized yet.”

Shiro shrugged. “I know you mean it anyways. Besides, I think you were right.”

“Shiro--”

“It’s been over a year, Keith. We both know that I need to be moving on.”

“That still doesn’t mean I should’ve said what I said,” Keith insisted.

Meanwhile, the other conversations dissolved, and everyone began to drift back towards Keith. Shiro patted his shoulder.

“We can talk more later,” he assured Keith.

“Alright, let’s find Neptune!” Lance cheered, his arm slung around Allura’s shoulders.

Keith nodded, and held up the star to light their way. It was hardly bright enough to cast any shadows. Keith urged everyone to stay close to him, so that he could lead them around any potential obstacles as they navigated the veritable maze of abandoned warehouses. The place was quiet, almost ghostly. Keith yawned, following the direction of the star in an absent manner. How long now had it been since he’d slept properly?

He blamed it on his lack of sleep that he hadn’t noticed the snatchers completely surround them until one of them was quite literally in his face. Keith stumbled back into the others, who had taken him very seriously when he’d told them to stay close. The snatcher in front of him swiped at the star, just as it went slack in the flask. Keith pursed his lips. He had a feeling it would take a lot to convince this stranger to join them in their endeavor, when they were already more likely to take Terrell’s side.

The snatchers were close around them, and creeping ever closer, until the one in front of Keith, whose face was completely obscured by his scarves, held up a hand, a silent order for them all to stop.

“Takashi?” the snatcher spoke hoarsely.

Keith froze. He glanced at Shiro, who looked petrified.

“Who’s Takashi?” Lance blurted. Half of their group glared at him, and he shrank back sheepishly. “It was a reasonable question…”

The snatcher removed the scarf from his face--it was like seeing a ghost, except he was real, but no less terrifying. Keith moved aside to let Shiro through. In what little light they had, Keith could see that Shiro was pale and shaking. He didn’t blame him.

“Adam?”

An errant breeze swept through the still moment. The snatcher, Adam, said nothing.

“You’ve been alive all this time?”

Still nothing. Then--

“You were never supposed to find me.”

The wind swirled around them. Shiro clenched his fists, a dangerous mix of emotions evident in his expression.

“Were things really that bad between us?” Shiro finally asked.

“Takashi--”

“You just thought it was better to just give up on us? Not even try to work things out?”

“You don’t understand--!”

The wind was whipping furiously, but it wasn’t until the rain began to fall that Keith began to realize what was happening. As Adam and Shiro began to shout in earnest, Keith shoved himself roughly between them.

“You need to stop!” he told told them. “Your powers are calling up a storm!”

Adam scowled. “Let’s go inside.”

Everyone, snatchers and planets alike, hurried inside to escape the coming storm. Even with their haste, everyone was thoroughly soaked by the time they ducked into the nearest warehouse, in which a veritable village of people were looking in concern towards the old and rattling windows, wondering if they would hold. The dim light of star-stuffed lanterns were hardly enough to keep the shadows at bay. The people looked with interest at these shivering newcomers, but asked no questions as Adam gestured them to a less populated part of the rundown warehouse.

There was a tense moment of silence, accusations and tangled emotions suspended in the air between Shiro and Adam. Keith wasn’t sure what he was feeling. He’d loved Adam just about as dearly as he had Shiro, even during the times they argued. Had it really gotten so bad that when Adam disappeared in that storm all that time ago, he thought it better to not return at all? Keith frowned, brows knit together. The Adam he remembered cared deeply about Shiro, to the point of being overbearing at times. What on earth could’ve possibly changed that?

“Why are you here?” Adam asked, breaking the delicate silence.

It seemed that more personal business would have to wait. It was too clear to Keith that Shiro wanted an explanation, a reason for why he had to grieve for an entire year while Adam had been alive and well all along. But Shiro, like Adam, was well practiced in the art of putting things aside. Keith wasn’t so sure if he’d be able to do the same in such a situation.

“This is going to sound crazy, but the short version is that the sun, moon, and planets became humans when they fell,” Shiro explained crisply. “One such person decided to take the power of the sun for herself, and we think that the best chance we have of stopping her is to gather everyone else together, and you, apparently, are one of those planets.”

Adam hardly batted an eye at the story. Keith wondered if he even believed it. Outside the wind howled with unbridled fury. The rain pounded mercilessly against the thin roof.

Adam sighed. “So Terrell actually managed to get her way, then?”

“You know about her?” Keith blurted, unable to contain himself any longer.

“Of course I do,” Adam scoffed, crossing his arms. “You aren’t in this line of business without at least knowing of her, or what she really is. She’s not exactly quiet about it.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Lance cut in; Keith was amazed he’d lasted this long without butting in, but then, he was probably exhausted. “So you know about Terrell? You know that she’s Jupiter, and you just? Let her be?”

Adam shrugged. “It’s a mutual thing. We leave each other alone. Frankly I’m lucky that she’s so intent on being the only ‘special’ one in her own group, otherwise she probably would’ve tried to recruit me.”

“Recruit you--so you--?” Shiro started incredulously.

“Yes, Takashi. I know what I am. I’ve known ever since that storm.”

The wind rattled the battered warehouse insistently, an unspoken demand for an explanation. Adam sighed.

“You remember as well as I do, don’t you? We were searching over the ocean that day, arguing about something I can’t even remember now--”

“I had flown up towards the sky one too many times, according to you,” Shiro interrupted.

Adam fidgeted in a way that suggested he remembered all too well, for all his denial. “Right. Well--we were arguing, the wind picked up… and then the rain started. We got separated. The wind was too strong for me to go against, and I ended up falling off my broom and falling into the ocean. I should’ve died.”

Everyone shifted uneasily. Beside him, Keith felt Lance shuffle a little closer. Unthinking, he wrapped an arm around Lance; he was probably freezing.

“I didn’t, obviously,” Adam continued. “But I had no idea how long I was out for. While I was under, I had these dreams, only… they weren’t ordinary dreams. More like memories. Memories of a time before I was human, and somehow I knew they were true. I saw myself, and all of you--and I saw Terrell. She was the one that found me, before I came to.”

He paused, clasping his hands tightly together in front of him.

“She didn’t need to tell me what I already knew. All she wanted was some assurance that I’d stay out of her way. I thought about bringing her in, at first. Then she told me her story, about how the Bureau nearly did put her back in the sky even though she has a human form. She’s ambitious, but she’s also terrified.”

Lance blew a raspberry at that. “What does she have to be scared of?”

“Of dying, I suppose,” Adam suggested. “Or at least, the chance of it.”

“Oh.”

“Either way, I agreed to stay out of her way. And if she really does have the power of the sun alongside Jupiter now, that’s what I intend to do,” Adam informed them decidedly.

The reaction was immediate, ranging from, “What?! How can you just sit idly by while Terrell does who knows what with all that power?” to “You really think she’ll hold up her end of the bargain?”

“Adam,” Shiro interjected through it all, his tone almost pleading. “Why?”

Adam’s expression was stern now. “A few reasons. She was already too powerful just as Jupiter. By the time I met her, she had precision control of her powers. A precision that I only barely have, and that I doubt any of you have in any capacity great enough to stop her.”

Everyone fidgeted under his knowing glare.

“She’s never gone back on her word to me, so I have no reason to think she’ll do so now, unless you think she intends to steal the powers of all the planets?”

To that, no one had an answer. Even now, they had no clue as to what Terrell truly intended to do.

Adam huffed. “You’re all on a fool’s errand. And for what? She could just very well want the power of the sun for the sake of having it. In case you haven’t noticed, there doesn’t seem to be anyone she truly cares about but herself.”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try--” Allura started.

“Try to what? What do you want to do with her? Say you do manage to overpower her, by some miracle or other. Do you intend to kill her? Do what the Bureau failed to do all those years ago?” Adam demanded.

Allura recoiled. Lance pressed forward.

“She tried to kill Allura,” he stated. “And she killed those snatchers all those years ago. We know she’s capable of horrible things, and we know she’s capable of going back on her word. You say she doesn’t care about anyone but herself, but you still trust her enough to leave you out of this?”

“I have no reason to doubt her,” Adam insisted.

Near the back of the warehouse, a weary window shattered, allowing in the shrieking winds.

“I can’t believe this,” Shiro started, uncaring for the gale that threatened to bring the place down. “You’re just going to lie down and let her have her way, all because--what, you suddenly think snatching is a ludicrous business? Or is she just that important to you now?”

The sting of the accusation was apparent on Adam’s face, which promptly contorted into something like heartbroken rage.

“Don’t,” Adam started in a low tone. “Ever insinuate that you weren’t important to me. You were the most important person in my life, and it was because of that that I had to stay away!”

He gestured wildly to the shattered window. “When I found out I was Neptune, I found out you were Uranus--sea and sky, Takashi, doesn’t get much more opposite than that! I wanted to come back at first, more than anything, but do you see what happens when we’re even near each other? The Bureau would’ve found us both out, and they would’ve stitched us to the sky!”

“I don’t need you to protect me, Adam, I never did!” Shiro shouted.

“So I’m just not allowed to care about you anymore, is that it?!”

“That’s not what I--”

Shiro stopped abruptly. They all did. Even the other people in the warehouse who had been cowering from the storm and whispering in hushed tones fell still. Outside, the winds still howled, the rain still insistent against the questionable walls. Keith realized he was gripping too tightly to Lance and loosened his grip, only for Lance to press closer to him. For though there had been no sound save for that of wind and rain, a burst of light intense enough to dispel all shadows flashed outside. Only a few seconds later, it was followed by a rumble that shook the warehouse down to it’s crumbling foundation.

Terrell was coming.

[sohotthateveryonedied]

Hey I saw you support trans keith! Right on you, mate! Got any headcanons for us?

bOY DO I HAVE HEADCANONS (though disclaimer: I myself am cis, so if anything I say is wrong please tell me; I really don’t want to offend anyone so don’t be afraid to speak out if I say something wrong okay? okay now let’s go)(also I apologize in advance this is way longer than I thought it would be)

•When Keith was at the Garrison and then living alone in the desert, he would act as masculine as possible because when he was in foster care his families always insisted on him taking part in more “feminine” activities, so you can bet Keith did stuff like work on his bike and get all grimy and let it stain his clothes and later buy ten different colognes and wear all of them at once. Why do you think he loves swords and sword fighting so much? It makes him feel masculine!! Honestly any stereotypical ‘manly’ activities make him feel so much better, he just enjoys them so much

•People ask him sometimes why the long hair but guess what!! He doesn’t need to have short hair to be a man, he’s already a man and he likes his greasy mullet so stay in your own lane dude he’s happy with his long hair and having it doesn’t make him any less manly

•When he started hormones, every day he would practice talking as deeply as he could. Once he found a lizard sitting on a rock and recited the entire Bee Movie script to it in his deepest voice possible

•For most of the time during his time at the Garrison he’d just wear two sports bras instead of a binder because he didn’t really know how to get one and was too scared to ask. Plus he had like four dollars at most on a good day so how could he possibly buy a binder? He started resorting to ace bandages which oh no Keithy boy that’s not how you bind you’re gonna mess up your ribcage sTOP

• But don’t worry, Shiro the Hero™️ is here to help. Back at the Garrison, Shiro was the only person besides the teachers who knew Keith was a trans boy. And lemme just say Shiro is the most supportive human, he did as much research as he could and always stood by Keith whenever people were being jerks (and beat them up when he had to because Keith gets into enough fights as it is, he’s already gotten too many strikes so he’s not allowed to get into more fights or else risk getting expelled and it kills him when he can’t punch someone out for bullying him but guess what Shiro has no problem with that he’s the teacher’s pet anyway he’s not worried about getting in trouble) So when he found out Keith was binding with ace bandages he was like “okay first of all no, I don’t know much but I know for a fact that’s gonna destroy your ribs come on man I’ll go with you we need to buy you some binders”

• When Keith first got to space, one of the things he worried about the most was the fact that he only had the binder he was wearing and that was all, and he was terrified because what if something happened to it and he couldn’t find anything else to bind with oh no

•But never fear, Coran is here!! He asked Coran about it one night because he trusts him and turns out that plenty of Alteans are trans too!! However, they didn’t exactly use binders because they could simply shapeshift to fit their ideal body expectations, but Coran is amazing so he used Keith’s binder as a reference and made a ton of new binders out of this great alien material that stretches in a way that makes them safe to fight in too!! So hooray for Keith not having to worry about breaking a rib during a fight anymore

•And the hormone situation turned out to be easily remedied as well. When Keith realized he couldn’t go much longer without his hormone treatments he worked up the courage to ask Pidge for help, who managed to come up with an alien substitute that worked about the same as his regular hormones from earth so yay!! Now he can get his hormones without any trouble!!

•And at this point Shiro, Coran, and Pidge all know, so Keith figures that he might as well come out to the rest of the team since half of them know already and he may as well get it over with now, since telling them is easier than them all finding out through some accident. And it goes roughly the same way it had when Pidge revealed she was a girl.

•Keith walks into the dining hall one day where everyone is eating breakfast and he kind of just announces “hey by the way I’m trans, guys” and plops down to eat his food goo. (Shiro doesn’t even look up from his book and says “hi Trans, I’m Shiro”) and Hunk is like “oh rad, dude. I mean I kind of suspected but I wasn’t sure and didn’t know how to ask but this is awesome! So what pronouns are you okay with then?” “He/him, thanks” “Okay, cool cool cool” *goes back to eating* And after they explain what the term “transgender” means, Allura says “Oh, we have that on Altea too. For a moment there I thought trans was another alien species and you were admitting you were more than just galra but this is much better” “Thanks..? I guess?”

•And then you have Lance. It takes him a little longer to catch up to speed, but once it sinks in he’s like “but wait what about that time I called you Dolly Parton because of your mullet and when you said y’all oH MY GOD I MISGENDERED YOU IM SO SORRY” “seriously dude it’s fine, chill” “AHHH BUT WHAT IF ITS NOT” It takes him a long time to stop walking on eggshells, and pretty soon Keith being trans is just another fact of life, same as Pidge being a girl and Keith being galra and Shiro being a closeted Taylor Swift fan

•Keith: “I’m trans” Lotor: “I thought you were galra”

•When Keith starts growing facial hair oh my gosh he gets so excited. He starts strutting around so proudly, showing off the hair on his chin and when he walks into a room Hunk is like “heyyy nice beard dude, super manly” *thumbs up* Though the first time Keith tried to shave he cut himself like five times because he did it with his BOM knife, so that didn’t work out too well. Luckily, Lance decided to take pity on him and educate this poor boy on face management and helped him shave properly to avoid future fiascos

•Shiro: “Keith you can’t bind while you’re training, stop ignoring me you’re gonna kill yourself” Keith, firing up his bayard and already turning on the training bot: “What was that I can’t hear you” Shiro: *disapproving Dad Glare™️*

•Keith is an irresponsible boy so he leaves his binder on for like ten hours at a time (which!! please don’t ever do!! this will kill your ribcage please bind safely don’t be like keith!!) After so long of this routine of reminding Keith over and over again to take a break with his binder off and him blatantly ignoring it, Pidge modified the training deck so whenever Keith is in there training for hours at a time he will get alerts to take his binder off which thank god for that because he always either forgets or doesn’t care enough to

•Because he’s not fully transitioned, Keith still gets periods which really sucks. That’s usually when the dysphoria is at its worst so not only does he have to deal with stupid cramps but now he also has dang dysphoria to make him feel even crappier. When that happens, everyone on the ship makes an effort to take every opportunity to use masculine pronouns when talking to him and comfort him when he’s feeling Bad. (It’s a good thing Keith has his awesome boyfriend Lance who is so sweet and always supportive and will cuddle on the couch with him for hours as they eat snacks and watch earth movies for hours on end)

•Once he breaks three ribs during a fight and Allura tells him that he can’t wear his binder for a while otherwise it’ll just make the injury worse but like. Keith is so scared to go around without binding, he doesn’t want anyone to see him so he stays in his room for most of the time but on the occasions in which he does leave his room, he gets so worked up because “shit shit sHIT they’re gonna see me without my binder oh no I can’t do this” but. Nobody really notices? At all? It’s like there’s nothing different. He meets up with everyone for dinner and he’s sweating bullets he’s so nervous but it’s like no one even sees he’s not wearing a binder. So that was quite the experience, and after that Keith gets more comfortable with wearing his binder less often because the reason he always wore it too long was because he didn’t want anyone to see and judge him, but turns out it doesn’t matter in the least to them whether he’s binding or not, so he’s more confident being around them without a binder on days when he’s feeling comfortable enough to go without it.

•Keith has definitely taken an Axe Body Spray shower before this isn’t even a debate

•Shiro takes every opportunity to call Keith his brother not only because wow gotta love that wonderful honorary siblings broganes bond, but also hell yeah calling Keith masculine names.

•Shiro, introducing the paladins: “—and this guy over here is my brother Keith” Keith: *beams*

•Keith: “Zarkon is transphobic” Lance: “why” Keith: “Because I’m trans and he annoys me”

[mizu-writes-kumo]

More Shance Mafia AU!  Because reasons!

A continuation of this!  Or you can read it here on AO3

--

Shiro was a good guy.

Not to say Shiro had never done bad things.  He done more than a collection of terrible, horrible things in his life.  A true laundry list of crimes that attested to that. And scars that told more than a few stories about some of his ventures.  

He wouldn’t lie about that fact.  Or act like they never happened, to a certain degree, because they had. 

But just because he did bad things, did not mean he was a bad guy.

Shiro was a man of his word.  

If he said he was going to do something, he would see it through until the end.  No matter what.  Even if in the end he might not have wanted to, he still did as he said he would.

Nor did he ever think ill of any who feared him.  

He was after all an intimidating man.  Fearing him was a natural response to his presences most of the time. The only person who hadn’t outright feared him was Lance, and that ended in a happy relationship of nearly twenty years, five of which were marriage, once Lance stopped trying to stab him.  As long as no one got a stupid wave of bravery, there was no issue.  Shiro was never out of cause more grief and pain than was necessary.

He was a reasonable man.  

If he could come to terms or an agreement, then he would settle it.  More for putting things to rest than drawing anything out as “insurance”.  Again he wasn’t a fan of unnecessary conflict.  Everyone on his streets knew that, and they respected that.

Nor did Shiro hold any kind of grudge against Keith.  

Even though he plucked the boy off the streets, gave him a place to live, and showed him how to fight and use a gun.  And Keith repaid him, by going away and joining the FBI.  But Shiro never hated him for it.  Not matter how many times Lance told him he should, just a little bit at most.  If Keith was happy living his life, than so be it.

And he took care of his family.  

He loved his husband, Lance, to the ends of the universe and back.  Same for his children.  He would do anything for them, if it meant they were safe and sound and happy.  He wouldn’t think twice about it.

It was why they in the middle of Nowhere, France hiding with Witness Protection.

So he was a good guy.

It’s just...

He promised Lance, he would fix the water.  

Called the plumber and everything.  

Because as handy as both Lance and Shiro could be, plumbing was something that was above their heads.  Especially plumbing in an old European house in the middle of nowhere...anywhere. 

He figured it was just rusty pipes, or a leak in pipe where dirt go in. Something that was a quick fix of sorts.

But then the plumber told him, in an overly snobby tone and thickly accented voice that just sounded like he was all knowing, that the pipes were fine.  For as old and crumbling as the house they were in was, they were in an admirable state.  And fixing them would do nothing for the water issue.

And then had the audacity, to charge Shiro an arm and a leg for just coming out there.  And make some comment, in muttered French, about the metal state of Shiro’s right arm and how easy it was to swindle someone like Shiro.  Only to follow it with a simple statement of how that was his standard rate, and business was business.

Which Shiro understood.

Really he did.

But he totally got why Lance blew up part of a grocery store. 

Because before Shiro knew it, the bat in his hand snaps in half.  And just Shit!  All Shiro wants to do is make his family comfortable and happy, with nice clean water running out of his tab.  

And he just kept hitting obstacle after obstacle.

Which sucks, cause it’s going to take him way longer to fix the whole issue, and he promised Lance.

“Quite a fall the plumber took.”  Lance comment lightly as he came to drape himself over Shiro’s body on the couch.  He rested his chin on Shiro’s chest, and drummed his fingers along his torso with a soft hum.  “Shame it happened.  Whose going to fix our pipes now?”

“The pipes aren’t the issue, Sharp.”  Shiro stated offhandedly as he moved loop his arm around Lance’s waist.

“Oh, then what is?”  Lance asked with a curious tilt of his head.

“I don’t know yet.  The plumber fell and hit his head before he could tell me.”

“Shame.”  Lance breathed as he rested his head back down on Shiro’s chest.  “Maybe I’ll make some guava pastries, and try to see if Pidge and Hunk can find out what it is.”

“No.”  Shiro growled out roughly.  

A tone that would make most cower away from him or duck in submission.  But Lance just looked up a smile softly at Shiro.  Like he did when Shiro played so easily into his loving hands in just the right way.

Little shit.

“I told you, I would get the water fixed.”  Shiro continued just as roughly.  “So I’ll figure out the problem is and get it fixed.  Don’t worry that beautiful little head of yours.  Okay?”  

Lance nodded with a soft sigh of understanding.

“But you can still make some guava pastries, if you’d like.”  Shiro continued softly.  

Lance snorted and laughed.  

Burying his face in Shiro’s chest as his whole body shook with laughter.  Shiro joins him after a few seconds.  Already knowing he couldn’t try to make it sound like he was asking for the kids.  Because well he wanted them too, they all were wanting something that tasted more like home.

“Oh, I wish, I could make some.”  Lance said lightly as he rested his chin on Shiro’s chest again.  “But I doubt middle of nowhere, France has any guava paste to begin with.  I mean, I was mocked for simply asking if there was peanut butter in a store.”  Lance said as he rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, let me ask from something ‘ethnic’ on top of that."

Shiro shook his head as he smiled at his husband.

“Besides, the French don’t have the right cheese anyway.”  Lance stated.

“Truly a shame.”  Shiro commented as he leaned forward to kiss Lance.

Lance happily moved to kiss him as well.  Leaving a happy sounding hum on Shiro’s lips while he body moved to a better position of top of Shiro.  A hand sliding up across Shiro’s cheek and into his hair that he had let grow out a little bit.

“Ew, stop making-out on the couch!” Karina’s voice suddenly sounded above them.  “This is a common area and I want to watch some TV.”

--

AN:  More Mafia Shance AU!  I wanted to write more of it.  So I did, because this was the part that was sticking in my head.

Maybe next time I write how Shiro and Lance meet in this AU.  Or maybe something form Lance’s POV.  Cause I have an idea of him trying to make friends with neighbors, and then just going to bother Pidge, and Hunk when it fails a bit.  Or maybe it will be like BBQ scene in the movie, where both Lance and Shiro want to kill everyone for getting on their nerves.

[musicanddancingthroughlife]

So Tired -- Lance Fanfic (Voltron)

Ummm. So I just looked through some of my files (cleaning up cause it’s nearly the end of the term – yay!!!) and I found this? I’m… not sure when I wrote this, honestly. And it was unfinished, so I kinda proofread it and finished it and now I’m handing it off to share, I guess. Hope someone enjoys it! XD If I had to guess, I would say I wrote this… definitely before season 4 aired. But maybe even before season 3? I’m not entirely sure, but it takes place in the Voltron universe during whenever Shiro was missing, so. Also, I may not remember writing this, but I definitely know it was intended for @taylor-tut, either as a gift or a thank you, so I’m gonna go ahead and say it’s a late birthday/early Christmas (or whatever holiday you want) present, and it’s a thank you for inspiring me to pick up my own writing again and to be proud of it, even if I don’t think it’s any good at times haha. There are loads of others out there who have inspired me, too, especially with Voltron fics, but I can’t remember them all and would hate to leave some out. And, I’m gonna quit talking and get back to my homework now. Hope you enjoy! 

He was so, so tired. Tired of trying. He knew he was smart. It’s just… It took a lot out of him. Taking charge, trying to fill the gap left in Shiro’s absence and Keith’s anxiety. He could take charge, but trying to pull together a group of – well, kids, really – who just wanted to fall apart was so draining.

Especially while trying to fight your own depression and anxiety.

It had just happened a few minutes ago actually. Keith had left training early after blowing up at Hunk for “shooting in his general direction”. Hunk had been aiming a good ten feet away. But Keith wasn’t listening to them. Hunk was close to tears, Pidge was pissed. Lance was trying so hard to fight back his own tears, because Keith had already made some jabs at him. Just the usual stuff, Shiro left me in charge, you’re not trying hard enough, stop taking everything as a joke… Too bad Keith couldn’t see how he spent his nights, huh?

“Keith, buddy, just calm down. Hunk didn’t mean to shoot at you. He’s probably just a little tired.” Lance knew this was true. Hunk had been up all night, talking to Lance. Hunk didn’t often let his homesickness overwhelm him, but every time it did, he knew he could count on Lance to be there. And he was. He stayed with him while the boy cried. Then Hunk had finally fallen asleep, exhausted, but Lance had stayed with him until he woke up. ‘Course, that meant Lance was pretty tired, too, but he needed to take care of this right now.

“C’mon,” he tried again. “Let’s just take a little breather and then —“

“Just SHUT UP, LANCE!” Keith bellowed. Stunned, Lance looked at him. He almost, almost snapped back, but then he noticed the puffiness to Keith’s eyes, and what looked like dried tear trails on his cheeks.

“Keith.” Lance’s voice, suddenly soft, seemed to startle the other boy, who yelled his frustration one last time and then raced from the training room.

“Lance! What just happened?” Allura’s voice over the speakers brought his attention to the fact that everyone’s eyes were on him. He clenched his eyes shut. Normally he didn’t mind being the center of attention, but he was so tired. He was really exhausted. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten a decent night’s rest. Hunk last night hadn’t been the first time, either. Before that, he’d spent most of the night helping Allura search for Shiro. Until he and Coran had finally gotten her to go to bed. But by that point, Lance had been dealing with his own homesickness and anxiety, so he’d asked Coran to give him some chores to keep his mind off of things. Coran had seemed worried but Lance brushed off his concerns with a laugh that only sounded a little forced. But it must’ve done the trick, because Lance spent the rest of the night helping Coran out by cleaning the healing pods and other random rooms he came across.

And before that, he’d been helping Pidge in her own search for Shiro, as well as for the rest of her family. At least, until he’d notice her fighting off tears. At first, he’d ignored those, but then she started to become more irritable than normal, and then she’d started to doze off, so once he’d decided it was safe enough to do so, he’d gently closed her laptop and then slid it out of the way as he lifted her in his arms and carried her over to the couch. Maybe it wasn’t as comfortable as her own bed, but the couch was closer. Besides that, he hadn’t been eating much lately, too busy making sure everyone else was making it to meals. And ever since Shiro had disappeared, he’d found it difficult to get any sleep that wasn’t full of nightmares. Lance groaned. What was that? Like 4 nights of little to no sleep? 5??? God, was he tired.

He felt a cool hand cup his cheek, and his eyes flew open at the sudden contact. He found himself flinching away from Hunk, trying to ignore the concern in his eyes. “Lance, are you all right?”

Lance forced himself to grin, though he was sure it looked more like a grimace. It definitely felt like a grimace. “Hey, Hunk,” he said instead, “don’t mind Keith, okay? I know he’s been having a lot of trouble sleeping the last few nights, and since I was busy last night, I wasn’t there to check up on him. My bad. I completely spaced about it. But I’ll go do that now.” He turned, feeling vertigo begin to creep up on him, and then took a deep breath and made a concentrated effort to not fall over as he left the training room.

“You all right in there, buddy?” Lance was met with silence. “Keith?” he tried again. Still no answer. Scratching his head, but at a loss of what else he could do – besides barging in himself – Lance uncertainly raised his hand to knock again. Then he heard a soft chuffing noise from inside Keith’s room, and skipped knocking in favor of opening the door and peeking in gingerly. When he saw Keith’s red eyes and shaking form, he stepped inside. “Hey, Keith. You all right? Did you even get any sleep last night?”

Keith seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then he slowly shook his head. Lance could tell he was trying to choke back sobs. Lance sighed before making his way over to the bed, holding his arms out as he went, silently offering Keith what little comfort he could maybe give. Keith accepted, slumping against Lance as soon as he sat next to him. Lance held Keith in his arms, keeping the hug loose in case Keith became uncomfortable and wanted to pull out. He was surprised when instead, Keith wormed closer to him, clutching Lance close to him and tucking his face into Lance’s chest. Lance let him sit in silence for a few minutes, waiting for him to calm down a little bit before talking.

Once his breathing had calmed a bit, Lance spoke up. “You know you really hurt Hunk.”

Keith was quiet for another minute before sighing, the sound catching in the back of his throat. “I know. I didn’t mean to. I promise I’ll go apologize in a minute. I’m just so tired.”

Lance frowned. “When’s the last time you slept?”

Keith was quiet for a long time. Lance groaned. “Keith. You need sleep.”

Keith still didn’t say anything. He just squirmed closer to Lance, all but sitting in his lap. Lance let out a breath before gently pressing a kiss to the top of Keith’s head. “Come on. I’ll go talk to Hunk and see if he won’t make you something to eat in a bit, and you get some rest, okay? I think we could all use a day off.”

Lance knew he could definitely use a day off. He was starting to see black dots and his vision was fuzzy and swimming. But he fought the sensations, struggling to be there for his team. He could do this. He needed to do this. But his heart sank when he felt Keith shaking his head, when he began to pull away. Lance pulled him back, forcing him to relax against him again. “We need to train! We need to find Shiro!”

“Keith.” Lance nearly flinched when he heard the harshness in his voice. But damn it, he was TIRED! And he was sick of these kids not taking care of themselves, forcing him (another teenager, dang it!) to take care of them and keeping him from taking care of himself for once! “If you get sick. Or if Hunk gets sick. Or Pidge or Allura or Coran. Then we waste valuable time in trying to get you or them back up to full health so we can rescue Shiro when we find him.” When. Not if. When. “You all. Need. Sleep. Actually, Pidge is probably good on sleep, but I know for a fact that she hasn’t eaten in almost a full day. But Hunk needs sleep. Allura needs a break. Coran needs some time to sit and relax, as well. And you need sleep. So go. To. Sleep.”

It took a few minutes, but Keith finally relented. When he finally pulled back, Lance releasing him so he could do so, he could see that Keith didn’t like the idea, but seemed to agree. Though he may have just been too tired to fight him on that. Whatever. He’d take what he could get.

The only problem was leaving. Lance really wasn’t sure that he’d be able to get up. He waited a good minute, in which Keith just passed out, finally tucked in his own bed and under his blankets. The poor idiot must’ve been pretty tired if he could just ignore Lance sitting there like that, but whatever. Mullet was stupid, the sky is blue. Well not right now, but that was too much to think about, so Lance focused on just pushing himself slowly off the bed and making his way to the kitchens where he knew he would find Hunk.

Finally. Finally done. Lance was so grateful that was over with. He’d gotten everyone settled. Keith had eaten a little, then fallen back asleep. Pidge had gotten some food. Allura and Coran had been in their own rooms for the last hour or so, hopefully taking some time to rest and relax (thought it had been hard to convince Allura to leave the ship’s computer and controls to continue searching for Shiro). Hunk had even finished in the kitchens and headed to his room for a nap, as well. It had taken forever. And tears had been shed, though he was forever grateful they weren’t his own. But he was tired. So, so, so tired. He collapsed on his bed, not even bothering to climb under his blankets. Then he heard running in the hall. He heard Keith cry out in his sleep next door. His heart sunk. He couldn’t do it. It was too much. He began to cry. Silently, at first, he didn’t even notice the tears. But then he heard Allura yelling at Pidge for something, and Hunk yelling back at Allura, and he could tell that things weren’t as settled as he’d thought but he was too tired to do anything about it. His door slid open and involuntarily, his eyes slid open to see Keith standing in the doorway, his hair tangled and clothes rumpled from his three hours of sleep. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned away, trying to hide the tears he could now feel streaming down his cheeks.

“Lance, can’t you do anything about their yelling? You’re usually good at stopping their arguments!” Why did he sound annoyed? Didn’t he see how hard Lance had been working? He was TIRED. He heard Keith suck in a breath, and swore under his breath. He didn’t mean to say that out loud.

Lance felt Keith’s hand stroke his hair, and despite his bitterness toward Keith at that moment, he leaned into the touch, loving the way it felt. “Lance,” Keith breathed. “When’s the last time you got any sleep?” Lance’s hands curled into fists and despite the headache creeping up on him, the hot tears trailing down his cheeks, and the nausea in his stomach, he struggled to clear his head and sit up.

“I’m fine. You’re right. Let me go talk to them.” But when he stood to leave, he swayed on his feet and felt Keith’s hand return, this time to his shoulder, gently but firmly pressing him back down onto his bed.

“No. You stay. Sleep. You need it.”

“I’m fine, you guys need me more.” Once more Lance struggled, but somehow, Keith managed to wrangle him back under his blankets, gingerly laying his head on his pillow.

“Sleep. I’ll go tell the others to keep it down, or to knock it off or something. I think you were right. None of us should be dealing with this much emotion while we’re this tired. They’ll understand that you need the break, and so do the rest of us.”

Keith’s hand had taken its place in Lance’s hair again, softly raking his gloved fingers through the strands, lulling Lance to sleep. Despite his muttered protests, Keith kept up the motions, watching over Lance as sleep pulled him under, smiling as he remembered all the times Lance had done the same for him, and the rest of the team. Once Lance’s breaths had evened out, he stood, bending over briefly to press a light kiss to the blue paladin’s forehead. “Thanks for watching over us so well.”

Keith wasn’t sure, but he thought as he turned away that he saw a small smile cross the other boy’s face.

�0

[abracadora-archived]

Outward Honour for Inward Toil

This is my fic for the @safeklancewriters MiniBang. I was paired with the artists @cheritsundere and @cimderslla , so please go check out their pieces as well!

Pairings: Keith/Lance 

Rating: G

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Word Count: 28k

As the rival nations of Márea and Altea form an alliance after years of tension and border issues, Prince Lance is forced to deal with a treaty that is far too involved in his personal life, an infuriating Altean knight surrounded by shady rumours, and the rising threat of the Galra empire closing in on Lance’s kingdom.

Sample: 

Lance is undeniably eager when he peeks through his bedroom window and sees the dark smudge against the horizon line that is a team of Máreaan horses, pulling a gleaming carriage in tow. This signals his sister’s arrival from her foreign affairs, and he’s undeniably eager to hear the news.

“Hunk,” he says excitedly, and prods at his best friend who sits, curled on a low-lying couch, nose buried in a gilded book of fairy tales. “Unless, I’m mistaken, Ramira’s returned.”

Hunk looks up and peers out of the window next to Lance. “Unless I’m mistaken, I think you’re right. Should we head down to greet her, or let her speak about the private matters in private?” Hunk raises a single eyebrow, and it’s clear to Lance what Hunk believes is the better idea.

“Oh, dear friend.” Lance claps Hunk on the shoulder and grins. “You’re an admirable advisor, but you need to loosen up! Come, we must try and meet her as soon as possible .” Lance ends the sentence with pointed emphasis, though he doesn’t pretend that his words carry any true command; Hunk is far too familiar and far too flippant with him for that to work anymore.

“Yes, my Prince,” Hunk says dryly. He closes the book neatly, placing one of the bookmarks that Lance never bothers to use in between the pages, and sets it delicately on the window sill. “When have ever I denied your request.”

“Hurry,” Lance urges. He doesn’t bother to put on a jacket or coat and settles for buttoning up his shirt. Hunk takes no such leisure and securely fastens the laces of his sunny yellow coat before following along as Lance marches resolutely out the door.

The reason he makes such haste to catch his sister before anyone else is simply because her special meeting is meant to be kept quiet. Ramira, the second child of the royal family, is the official foreign ambassador of Márea, and just days ago, she left the kingdom to travel to a location that wasn’t disclosed to Lance, who is apparently unqualified to know such top level matters while he’s still in training.

But no matter.

He knows where Ramira has been: their neighboring kingdom, Altea. This hasn’t been the first time he’s eavesdropped to find out classified information, and it almost definitely won’t be the last.

In recent months, as threats from other kingdoms have increased, Márea has nurtured the idea of forming an alliance with their closest neighbors. This is a difficult concept to put into motion, mostly due to the tense history between the two kingdoms from petty skirmishes and trade disagreements. Unfortunately, the current atmosphere seems to be enough for Márea to reach out to Altea.

Lance figures that Ramira was there to discuss a possible meeting, maybe even something unassuming like inviting the leaders of Altea for dinner and castle festivities. He speeds up his pace as he and Hunk wind through the castle halls, determined to be included in the discussions.  

They arrive at the front doors just as Ramira is stepping out of the carriage, dressed in her plain, dark travel clothes. Lance’s mother, Queen Reina, stands at the edge of the marble stairs, watching quietly as Ramira is escorted by the guards up the steps and towards the doors. Lance’s eldest sister, Juliana, stands next to her.

“Welcome back,” his mother says warmly, taking a single step forward to greet Ramira. His mother puts her hand to Ramira’s shoulder and Ramira puts her hand to their mother’s waist, and they embrace with minimal contact and a simple cheek-to-cheek kiss. Ramira does the same with Juliana. Their proper, affectionate exchange will have to wait until later, in the privacy of their rooms- right now, they keep up appearances in front of the guards.

“Hello, Lance.” Ramira floats past their mother and sister and greets Lance the same way. Out of courtesy, Lance gives her a slight bow, and takes satisfaction in the way her lips quirk up from amusement.

“Princess,” Hunk says politely, though not unkindly, and he bows much lower than Lance, an indication of her authority.

Ramira smiles properly and reaches out a hand to tousle Hunk’s well-styled hair. If he were anyone else, their mother and Juliana would look scandalized, but Hunk is well-known amongst everyone in the castle as practically the fourth child of the royal family.

“Your father is in the meeting room,” Lance’s mother says, walking so that she stands level with Ramira. “Perhaps we should…” Her eyes slide over Hunk, then Lance, and Lance feels the familiar flash of irritation when he knows that she’s about to order him to leave.

“Let me stay for the meeting,” he says insistently.

The Queen hesitates. “Lance…”

“Please.” He stiffens his back, posture and face straight. “Let me be included.”

“It’s fine,” Ramira says. She shrugs her black jacket off, revealing the gray waistcoat she wears underneath. The Queen’s eyes cut to her, but she says nothing. “Let Lance stay, it’ll give him experience. He can’t learn these things if he isn’t exposed to him.”

Lance gives Ramira a grateful look as his mother sighs and says, “Very well. Let’s hurry to the meeting room.”

The meeting room they go to is not the large, high-ceilinged one that Lance’s parents use to discuss matters with all their top generals and advisors. Instead, they go to a place that’s more like a lounge, with comfortable seats placed around and oblong table, and silver platters of biscuits placed in the center.

Lance reaches for a sugared biscuit without second thought. Hunk gives him a reproachful look that screams “ behave like a Prince ” before Lance hands him a biscuit and Hunk rolls his eyes, giving in.

At the very head of the table sits Lance’s father: King Julio II, King of Márea. He’s broad-shouldered and gruff looking, with an impressive moustache and coal black hair. If Lance hadn’t known him since childhood, he would be intimidated.

Lance’s mother appears kinder, with soft brown hair and deep blue eyes like Lance’s, and she certainly is kind, but Lance knows to be alert around her. She’s the Queen, but more so she’s his mother, and that means she’s perceptive enough to pick up the slightest bit of mischief. She takes a seat to the King’s right, sharp eyes sweeping over the table. Juliana takes the seat to their father’s left, and Ramira sits next to her.

Nobody questions Hunk when he sits next to Lance, at the farthest end of the table. There are only a handful of others who are not part of the family, and none of them seem to be under the age of 50- all royal advisors and veterans of the Court or military.

“Lance and Hunk will be joining the meeting,” Lance’s mother whispers to the King. He gives a short nod and then leans forward, folding his hands together on the table.

“Very well,” he says. His voice, although quiet, is steady, and his words command respect no matter how brief they are. “As you all know- or may not know,” he amends, addressing Lance and Hunk. “Ramira has returned from her meeting in Altea.”

Lance exchanged a triumphant glance with Hunk.

“I’ll try to keep this talk short, so we can move forward with our plans.” He nods at Ramira. “You may give your report.”

Ramira takes a deep breath and smiles. Her shoulders are straight, confident, not betraying a hint of nerves. “As you all know, tensions have been running high, with the rising of the Galra kingdom.” She pauses, as many of the council members frown. “Fortunately for us, this seems to be a similar case in Altea.”

“They are rather private with their kingdom’s state, naturally, but from what I could glean from the conversations, the Galra are their main concerns. They seemed to be willing to do whatever it takes to stop the enemy forces from pressing closer to their borders. Including-” Ramira takes a pause, likely for a dramatic effect. “-cooperating with us.”

Juliana leans forward. “Meaning.”

Ramira smiles, and it’s sharp, victorious. “I persuaded them to attend treaty talks.”

Lance’s jaw drops. Altea has never been opposed to forming alliances, but Márea is the kingdom that they have had disputes with for long before Lance was even a thought in his parents’ minds. After the last, rather brutal skirmish over a piece of river territory a few years ago- which Márea won, to everyone’s surprise- Altea has been stubbornly resistant to any sort of peacemaking between the kingdoms. For Altea to give in after a single meeting with a single ambassador, they must be desperate.

Lance briefly wonders if the situation with the Galra is worse than it seems.

“Have they said when they would like to host the talks?” the Queen asks, her voice careful and considering.

“They didn’t specify,” Ramira answers, “They mentioned shortly that they would have it sooner rather than later, but there were no demands of specific timing.”

“Good,” the King’s personal advisor speaks up. “This means that we can set the terms of the meeting ourselves.”

“Preferably, we should have it in Márea,” Juliana cuts in. “A show of strength would benefit us.”

They turn, through some unanimous decision, to the King, watching as he strokes his chin thoughtfully. “We need a few weeks to properly decide our terms for the treaty,” he says after a pause. “We should also arrange festivities of a sort, to show off our kingdom as a whole, not just military. However, we should not push it for too long, or we risk them setting the terms of our meeting, or, worse, the Galra attacking before there is any sort of external support.” Another pause. “Expect to meet with the Alteans in a month’s time.”

The council murmurs assent.

The King sends a sweeping gaze over them. “This meeting has concluded. You are dismissed.”

Everyone except the King and Queen rise (no doubt they are planning to have further discussions). Lance considers offering to walk Ramira to her room, as a gesture of kindness and maybe to question her further and see if she divulges any details, but he dismisses that idea in favour of turning towards Hunk and gesturing excitedly.

“That was interesting!” he exclaims. “I would never have believed that we would meet with Altea, of all kingdoms, for a treaty. Do you think that trade compromise will be brought up?”

“Are you sure you’re meant to be talking about all this in public?” Hunk asks with amusement, as they walk through an empty hallway (really, a guard should be stationed here, but Lance won’t be the one to snitch). “I hope it will. Although I’m not sure if Altea would agree, they’ve always been stingy about that route. Do you think Altea will have a show of arms?” Hunk is silent for a moment. “Do you think they’ll show us any of their technology? Or do you think they’d be willing to share even a slice of information?”

“I don’t think a show of arms on foreign soil is very proper,” Lance muses, “And aren’t they very secretive about all that stuff?”

When Hunk deflates, he adds, “They would probably willing to show you something in the name of bolstering their reputation. Although I wonder if they will send anyone who’s willing to teach you. Do you think we could visit the stables? I haven’t gone riding in far too long.”

“Let’s go,” Hunk agrees. “Even I can’t return to my studies so soon, ugh. My tutor has been impossibly harsh of late.”

“Don’t even mention tutors,” Lance cries dramatically, throwing his arm over his eyes. “I need fresh air.”

Hunk snorts in amusement, and says , “Let’s hurry before the sun goes down.”

[Continue reading on AO3]

[gilly-psycho-journal]

This might be a wise place to remind you that the opinions expressed in these blogs are not necessarily representative of WCC and they are not given on behalf of the organisation.

Without further ado here is David Gill’s wonderfully erudite and entertaining responses. Please enjoy!

LD: Why and when did you decide to become a counsellor? DG: After I left Afghanistan and closed the door on my life as a social documentary filmmaker and photographer, I realised that I was still looking to find a way to continue to engage with humanity. To listen and to learn from people. I was looking for a fresh challenge. Three years ago, I had a germ of an idea about wanting to be a therapist. If you’d asked me to give you an answer as to why I wanted to do this, it would probably be much different to the answer I’d give you right now and probably different in another three years. I suppose like everything it depends on who is asking and what I think they want to hear.

Having spent three years in the academic system, I still hold the opinion, despite the over-medicalisation of therapy, that this vocation has room for creative individuals and free thinkers. This optimism is based on delving into the lives of its originators such as Rogers, Freud, Klein, Adler and Ellis and it’s more weird and wonderful leftfield luminaries such as Jung and RD Laing. One thing that struck me about all of these people and what kept me going was that every single one of them at some point was regarded as frauds, charlatans, quacks, counter-culture renegades or just plain bonkers. To a man (and the odd woman) they were all rule-breakers, all of them questioned and challenged the status quo in their desire to unlock the secrets of the human psyche.

LD: What did you do before you became a counsellor? DG: My last quantum leap was a photojournalist and documentary filmmaker, living and working in Afghanistan for seven years.

LD: Why and when did you decide to join the team at WCC? DG: I joined WCC back in February 2019. I found the whole atmosphere warm and extremely welcoming, and without sounding too affected – it has ‘soul’. It’s also very diverse in both practitioners, and it’s client base which is what I am looking for in my private practice. They were also the first people to say ‘yes.’

LD: Is there a certain model of counselling you use in your work? Can you explain in less than 10 words what it means? DG: Integrative Approach – ‘Promiscuous and flirtatious around the psychodynamic, relational and humanistic theory.’ = 10 words – I did it!

LD: How have you adapted to doing your counselling work during the lockdown? DG: Novelist Tom Holt summed it up for me, ‘Human beings can get used to virtually anything, given plenty of time and no choice in the matter whatsoever.’ I accepted the inevitability of going online with a certain grim foreboding. Within weeks I realised that I was spending a third of the session looking at myself. I Googled it and found out it was normal. Then I discovered how to mute my face. Concealment was a revelation. Now there’s a paradox!

LD: Do you feel as though the lockdown has increased peoples’ need for counselling and therapy? DG: The media has been reporting a lot of research highlighting the negative impact on people’s mental health and finding it difficult to cope with the emotional challenges of isolation. Personally, I thought lockdown was enlightening at first, aside from the grim death toll I found exhilaration in its novelty. No traffic, low pollution, endless sunny days. ‘All in it together’ and all that malarkey.

The current lockdown is very different, and I can sense a collective anxiety building amongst all my clients. It is impacting everyone in a myriad of ways, but now I feel as though we are all yearning for things to return to normal. Although as James Hillman said in, We’ve Had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy – and the World’s Getting Worse, ‘In a world like ours, where what’s considered normal is a sickly compromise between how much boredom you can stomach and how much denial you can defend, new thoughts and explorations are often couched in terms of psychosis’. So maybe it is an opportunity for people to look at new meanings and new beginnings instead of looking back. It could be the jolt some of us require.

LD: What would you say to someone who is thinking about receiving therapy or counselling? DG: Be careful, as Carl Jung said, ‘Be aware of unearned wisdom.’ Searching for the truth is not the same as what’s desirable. My god that sounds enough to scare the pants off anyone. Honestly, it’s great. How about Socrates? ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ No, that also sounds quite intimidating. Ok… just do it you’ll never look back. Oh no! That’s the whole point. What about; Be as truthful as possible with your therapist and ask questions. Get stuck in and do the work. It will reward you.

LD: What do you find most rewarding about being a counsellor? DG: The trust that clients place in me and the utter privilege I feel from receiving that trust. James Andreoni claimed the ‘glow of giving makes acts of generosity ultimately selfish.’ In sum; Helping people is a win-win.

LD: What do you find most challenging about being a counsellor? DG: The trust that clients place in me and the utter terror I feel from receiving that trust. Which is good right? Terror broadens the mind. When you’re scared, the stress response induces an adrenaline rush and floods your brain and body with oxygen, increasing your stamina.

LD: What advice do you have for people who are thinking about becoming a counsellor or therapist? DG: Take the red pill. It represents an uncertain future. Living the “truth of reality” is harsher and more difficult than you could imagine. But as Morpheus says in The Matrix, “if you take the blue pill…the story ends.” If you haven’t seen the Matrix, then that won’t make any sense. But maybe this is a trick question because as counsellors we are not meant to give advice. So perhaps I should adopt the Oscar Wilde approach on this one, ‘I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.’

LD: What’s your favourite technique to keep happy and healthy at home during the lockdown? DG: Cooking hearty soups and getting stuck into a Cold War Steve jigsaw puzzle. Twitter @Coldwar_Steve

LD: How do you start your day? DG: Tragically, like most people, these days, going to the loo and staring at my iPhone.

LD: Which 3 people would be on your guest-list for your dream dinner party? DG: RD Laing, Dorothy Parker and Keith Moon. Although I might be too terrified to attend.

LD: What’s the best book you’ve read in the last year? DG: I’m a Joke, and So Are You – Reflections on Humour and Humanity by Robin Ince & Stewart Lee.

LD: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? DG: Not sure it is solid advice but more of a statement from Maya Angelou, ‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.’ She sounds a bit harsh and judgey, but I get the point. But I think the best advice I have read is that therapists should read more stories, more great literature, more Greek myths. Case studies, diagnosis, theories are great, but a lot of the time we are dealing in fiction. Freud said, ‘It’s how you remember, not what actually happened.’ That’s what clients do. They tell us stories that they have told themselves, and we should be always aware of that.

LD: What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve done in life? DG: Besides embarking on a career in therapy, I suppose it must be going to live in a so-called ‘war-zone’ and eating meat-based Kandahar street food in the blazing summer.

LD: When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up? DG: In the Navy, but my mates told me that it was a bit ‘gay’. Please don’t blame me. It was Yorkshire in the 1970s in and literally, everything you didn’t like or understand was pejoratively called ‘gay’.

LD: What thing are you most excited to do once the lockdown has finished, and it’s safe to travel again? DG: Travelling on the Central Line in rush hour and licking shop windows outside Harrods.

LD: What are you irrationally scared of? DG: I am scared of faking it and making it. Freud called it ‘success neurosis’, but the great poet Phillip Larkin, said, ‘Life has a practice of living you, if you don’t live it.’ So I try not to be scared of living.

LD: What 3 things would you bring to a desert island? DG: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I have never managed to read it (the paperback is over 1100 pages) but apparently, it echoes a timeless conundrum: the propensity for humans to distract themselves, often mindlessly, from boredom and the trauma of life. If that doesn’t work the complete audio works of Alan Watts and Screamadelica by Primal Scream and maybe something to play them on if that’s not too greedy.

LD: What does 2021 hold for you? DG: Hopefully spending less time staring into a screen and shouting, ‘Can you hear me?’ However, I must end on another quotation since this interview is drowning in them. ‘If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.’ Woody Allen.

David Gill info@gillypsychotherapy.com www.gillypsychotherapy.com

[against-a-dark-background]

Brisbane to Surabaya

“Are you watching this?” asked Gary

“Yeah, I’m watching it,” said Charles “Was that a plane? Seriously?”

“Yes, it was an aeroplane, straight into the side of the building.”

“This is a movie. This isn’t real, this has to be a movie.”

It wasn’t a movie it was the 9/11 terror attacks happening in real time on their television sets while they spoke on the phone to each other.

           “So, Gary…I’m grateful you sent me the money. You didn’t have to do that,” said Charles.

           “Think nothing of it. I wanted to help you,” said Gary.

Charles did some thinking before he spoke again. He had to choose his next words carefully.

           “I wish I could see you more often Gary. It’s so hard with me in Brisbane and you in Sydney.”

There was a pause on the line before Gary spoke.

           “Would you move in with me here in Sydney?” he asked

Charles did a little dance on the spot that was most incongruous with the images of collapsing buildings on the television.

           “Are you sure it won’t be an imposition?” he asked

           “I’ll have to run it by my roommate, but I don’t think he’ll object,” said Gary.

 Charles and Gary had met at an online in-person gathering in Sydney. Charles had driven there from Brisbane — a journey of 1,000 kilometres. It was obvious to Charles that Gary was attracted to him but at the time, he made nothing of it. Charles had an attraction of his own toward Gary, but it was only intellectual, after all Charles was twenty-eight and Gary was fifty-four. It wasn’t until much later that Charles decided to take advantage of Gary’s attraction toward him. 

Charles had gotten himself into debt and he saw no other way out of it than to turn to prostitution. He spent exactly one night doing it and had exactly one customer before he decided to give that up. Unfortunately for Charles, the debt was for drugs and the people he’d got the drugs from were becoming insistent. This was when Charles remembered Gary, so he began calling him to establish some sort of a relationship and bring it to a point where he felt comfortable asking Gary for the money. This didn’t take long as it turned out that Gary was quite besotted with Charles and felt giddy that Charles had expressed an interest toward him.

Charles was desperate to move out of his current place of residence. He shared it with an old crone, Miss Jane, a friend of Charles’ family since time immemorial. She was a woman of peculiar habits and had a very porous memory. Charles would pay his share of the rent and utilities and Miss Jane would buy lotto tickets, or go to darts matches and get drunk and then forget Charles had paid her his share. He was sick of it, so the offer to live in Sydney with Gary could not have come sooner. The phone rang.

           “Hello?”

           “Hello dear, it’s Gary. Guess what? Wayne said yes. You can come and live with me!” Gary was beaming.

           “Oh, that’s wonderful. When do you think we can do it? I’m at my wit’s end here,” said Charles.

           “We can do it as soon as you’re ready. Now I’ve not got much room for a lot of stuff, so I’m a bit worried there,” said Gary.

           “I was thinking of bringing down my clothes and storing the rest of my furniture and stuff at my sister’s place. They have these enormous sheds that I’m sure they won’t mind me using,” said Charles.

           “Oh fabulous. You’ll be driving down?

           “Yes, for sure.”

           “So, when can I expect you darling?”

           “Let’s say about a week?” replied Charles

From the moment Charles arrived in Sydney, Gary found all manner of ways of showing him off. They went to the pub together where Gary would swan about the rooms introducing people to Charles whose names Charles promptly forgot. It was like being paraded around at a fashion show, but Charles put up with it, a wan smile on his face matching Gary’s beaming demeanour. Then there were the endless drag shows and nightclubs that they just had to make an appearance at. Charles had begun to regret his decision to move in with Gary as Gary draped Charles over his arm like a Chanel scarf.

It was Gary’s friend Rhonda’s 50th birthday party and Gary was excited to attend. Charles groaned inwardly but put a smile on his face to try to keep Gary happy. When they arrived, the party was in full swing and the chardonnay was flowing freely. Gary and Charles mingled, and Charles was introduced to Peter, Donna, Richard, Keith, Felicia — and they were instantly forgotten. Charles didn’t know these people. He had no history with them, no anecdotes to share — nothing to connect him to them. Charles was pondering the idea of this when he heard Rhonda shout:

           “Ya really robbin’ the fuckin’ cradle there Gary! Has he even finished school yet?”

After which she held back her head and brayed like a donkey. Other partygoers either laughed in that embarrassed way people laugh when they know they’re not supposed to be laughing or stood in stunned silence. The moment lasted minutes, then the party began again as if nothing had happened. Charles waited as long as he could stand it.

           “Can we please go?” he asked Gary.

           “She was only joking darling, don’t let it get to you.”

           “I mean it. I want to go. Now,” said Charles.

           “Alright darling, we’ll go, we’ll go.”

The next few weeks were difficult for the pair. They argued, Charles usually arguing about not wanting to be a fashion accessory and Gary pointing out that he was paying for everything since Charles was on the dole. Charles had to be careful. If they broke up, he’d be on his own and on the streets. Charles tried to smooth everything over and it usually worked. It seemed Gary was quite chuffed that someone as young as Charles had taken up with him. It was sometime later that Charles overheard Wayne talking to Gary.

           “Can’t you see he’s with you for your money Gary?’ asked Wayne

           “He’s not. It’s genuine,” said Gary

           “Ahh, you’re blinded by him Gary. One day you’re going to wake up and realise you’ve been had.”

           “Oh nonsense.”

Charles was careful with his behaviour after overhearing this, but it didn’t take long for the shine to wear off again and there he was, resentful and wishing he had a way out. He soon found it.

Gary, Wayne, and Charles decided to go out for dinner at an Italian diner. Charles didn’t drink red wine because he was allergic to it, but Wayne and Gary insisted he drink a bottle of red with them.

           “You have to mature your palate, mate,” said Wayne.

           “I’m telling you, I can’t drink red wine,” protested Charles.

           “Oh, come on darling, a little bit here and there isn’t going to hurt you,” said Gary.

So, Charles drank red wine with his meal, and he kept up with the two other men at their insistence. Two bottles were empty by the time dinner was finished. As they walked home, Charles could barely stand up and was feeling nauseous. As they got in the front door, Charles collapsed onto the couch in the living room where he passed out. The next day he awoke to the sound of Wayne screaming.

           “What the fuck have you done to me new carpet?” he roared “You couldn’t even get up and go to the toilet could ya? I’ll never get this cleaned. It’s fucking brand new! Gary! Gary! Get down here!”

Gary came rushing down the stairs.

“Look what he’s done!” said Wayne

“Oh dear, a bit of baking soda will bring that out, let’s clean it up,” said Gary.

“Fuck the baking soda, I put that carpet in cause I wanted to sell this place. I had people coming today. I want him out Gary. No ifs or buts. Get him out. That’s my last fuckin’ word on the matter,” said Wayne.

Charles began to cry. He knew it was over for him here — Gary couldn’t save him, as Wayne owned the house and Gary was just renting. What would he do? Where would he go? He cried harder but no-one paid him the slightest bit of attention.

So it was that Charles found himself walking through Newtown with just a suitcase to his name, filled with his clothes and some I.D. He found a Wesley Mission for men and knocked. They let him in, gave him some bread and soup and a place to sleep for the night. The man in charge came over to Charles’ bed.

           “You know this is only for the night, ok? You have to be out in the morning,” he said

           “What will happen to me after that? Where can I go?” Charles was miserable.

           “I don’t usually do this, but I can hook you up with the Salvation Army tomorrow, they’ve got a long-term place over in Surrey Hills. I’ll see if I can get you in,” he said

           “Thank you so much,” said Charles

Charles made his way to Surrey Hills and found the Salvation Army Home for Homeless Men. He went through an intake interview where he had to give a urine sample for a drug test. If he passed, there would be a room for him. They would search all his belongings for contraband. He passed the drug test and had no contraband and was shown to a room. The homeless shelter was quite large, six stories tall with many rooms on each floor. There were rules, breakfast was at 6am and occupants could leave the shelter after breakfast, but they had to return by 6pm, or they would be locked out. Charles lived in the shelter for three months before getting a job managing a café in the CBD of Sydney, right next to Macquarie Bank and opposite the Post Office building. Because Charles had a job, he was given extra privileges regarding the curfew. If he sometimes finished late, he was allowed entry after 6pm. The café was owned by a small Korean woman who rarely paid her bills on time and ran as a loan shark. He knew this because she lent $22,000 to a shady Korean man who paid her back $24,000 and she then asked Charles to call her husband who didn’t speak English very well at all to pose as someone from the bank, saying that there had been an error in the bank’s computers, and this would explain why the amount of $22,000 had disappeared for several days. Charles made her pay him $100 for doing all that.

Because Charles had a job and was becoming stable, the Salvation Army wanted him out, so he found an unbelievably cheap room in a disgusting boarding house in Darlinghurst. Charles walked to work and walked home every day. On his days off, Charles would go to the gay bathhouse on Sussex Street, around Market Street. On one of his days off in the bathhouse, Charles met a charming Indonesian man named Todo where they made love with Charles being the top and Todo being the bottom. Afterwards, Todo said.

           “I’ve never let anyone do that before.”

           “Oh! Why did you let me do it then?’

           “Because I think I like you,” said Todo.

They met often at the bathhouse, until one day Todo insisted they meet in the park. Charles was worried he’d done something wrong, just when things were getting good.

           “I want to tell you something, but I’m scared you’ll run away from me,” said Todo.

           “You can tell me anything. I won’t run away,” said Charles.

           “I think I love you Charles,” said Todo.

           “I think I love you too.”

Within a week, Charles had moved from his awful boarding house in Darlinghurst to Todo’s room in a shared house, close to the University of Sydney. Todo was in Australia, studying his master’s degree. What he didn’t tell Charles was that he only had three months to go. The subject came up in conversation.

           “Charles, I have something to tell you,” said Todo.

           “What is it?”

           “I have to go back to Indonesia, to Surabaya in three months. That’s when I finish my degree,” said Todo

Without thinking Charles said: “I’m coming with you.”

For the next three months, Charles worked as hard as he could managing the café, trying to earn extra cash for the airfare and some spending money. He knew he’d only be allowed to stay in Indonesia for three months, so he had to make sure he had the cash for that long.

When the time came to go, Charles was extremely excited. He’d never left the country before. They were going to Bali first and were to stay there for a few days while Todo visited friends. It’s a seven-hour flight and Charles was aching and tired. They deplaned and went through customs through which Charles could see a sign painted with red letters one meter high “DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG SMUGGLERS.” It was a frightening thing to see. Once they’d cleared customs, they got to the exit. Charles stepped through. It was like walking into a wall of air, not just heated, but heavily scented by clove cigarettes. Charles couldn’t wait to try them for himself. Todo and Charles got into a taxi and went to Todo’s friend’s house. They were welcomed there with hot tea and biscuits, which struck Charles as charming. They stayed there for two days before flying to Surabaya.

Surabaya shocked Charles, even though they came in at night, the sheer size of the city was overwhelming. Todo had organised for him and Charles to stay at his brother Budi’s place for Charles’ three month stay. 

The next day Budi and Todo took Charles out for Bakso, rich broth with meatballs. It was delicious. Charles looked around, there was poverty here, real poverty. A man sat at the side of the road offering to repair tyres. All he had was a small box of tools and a sign, and he was in business. There were many street traders, some offering food, others offering services.

They were invited to Todo’s sister Ayu’s house. Thankfully, there were air conditioners to take away Surabaya’s humidity. Todo had told his family that Charles was a good cook and could make excellent fried rice. So, in front of Budi, Ayu, Todo and their mother, Charles had to cook fried rice. Now Charles had a distinct way of cooking the rice which involves frying the rice in oil until it’s nutty brown and then adding water and soy sauce to absorb into the rice. But oh, no! Todo’s mum washed the rice first, so it was wet. Charles just stood there with the spatula in his hand, wondering if he could just disappear.

In Indonesia, there are six state approved religions and one had to belong to one of these religions in case one is mistaken for an atheist which is synonymous with being a communist. Charles chose to be a Buddhist for his stay in Indonesia and Todo’s family believed that he was a Buddhist. They decided to take a trip to Gunung Kawi, a mountain that has religious significance. Charles went to the Buddhist temple on the top of the mountain and prayed to Kwan-Yen, the goddess of mercy. It was hard going climbing the mountain, the cars could only go so far. When Charles got to the temple, he lit incense and got down on his knees and prayed to Kwan-Yen. Todo’s family were delighted. After this prayer, they moved into another room, and picked up inscribed sticks and threw them onto the floor; this somehow told fortunes. It was cool at the top of the mountain and there were no annoying mosquitoes at this altitude.

After Gunung Kawi, Todo decided to take Charles to Yogyakarta to see Borobudur, the ancient carved edifice that tells the tale of Buddha. When they first arrived in Yogyakarta, Todo insisted Charles try something called Gudeg, a spicy cooked jackfruit. Before they went to Borobudur, Todo took Charles to Gajah Mada University. He wanted to take Charles to a specific place.

           “This building was designed by President Sukarno. He was a civil engineer,” said Todo.

           “That’s amazing, such a beautiful building,” said Charles.

Charles enjoyed the rest of his trip, visiting here and there with Todo, but he was already thinking about how he could come and live here permanently. He would have to go back to Australia, get a decent job, save like crazy and try and get a job interview set up in Jakarta, teaching English or something. That would be the way to do it. 

[soylentramen]

Words are like toothpaste

Inspired by @lordzuuko’s wonderful Voltron Family AU. The kids are in middle school. The toothpaste thing is not my invention – I’ve seen it posted around a couple different places, and I just love the concept.

——–

“What did you say?” Lance asked the boy sitting across the table from him, his shoulders tensing.

His group partner shrugged, gluing another piece onto the diorama they were making in class. “I mean, it’s like with my step-dad, right? It’s not like either of them is your real dad, so why do they get to tell you what to do?”

Lance jumped up from his seat, the legs of the chair screaming as they dragged along the tile floor of the classroom. Before he could do anything with his tightly-clenched fists, though, he felt a steady hand on his shoulder. “Just ignore him, Lance,” came Hunk’s calm voice. “He doesn’t know anything about our family.”

The younger boy didn’t move for a moment, his slender frame shaking with the need to do something. But then, just as quickly as it had come, his temper left him in a long, slow breath that had him sagging in his chair like a deflated hot-air balloon. Sparing a final glare at his partner, he put the whole conversation out of his mind and went back to his work. And that was the end of it…

… until the next time he and Daddy Keith got into an argument. It wasn’t even anything that important; it just sort of escalated from heated discussion to, “What would you know? You’re not even my real dad!” before he had a chance to filter the words through his brain first, and then everything just… sort of… stopped. The expression on Keith’s face was not unlike the expression of the fish Lance had caught the last time they went camping: wide-eyed and slack-jawed, and struggling for breath or words or anything, really. “I…” Lance started again once he found his voice, and the sound seemed to break Keith out of his stupor.

“Go to your room,” he said, and his voice was so, so quiet. “Do your homework, and don’t come out until we call you for dinner.”

“Please, Daddy Keith, I….” In that moment, Lance’s one wish was that he could have unseen the way Keith flinched at the familiar name.

“Lance. Go. To. Your. Room,” he said, his tone clipped and eyes closed to hold back the tide of his emotion. “Now.” Once the boy had gone, Keith allowed himself to lean against the wall and slide to the floor, the strength having left his legs. He was still sitting like that, knees drawn up to his chest, his face buried in his arms, when Pidge came back from her computer club some time later.

“Daddy Keith?” she asked, coming to a stop a short distance away in the hall. “Are… are you okay?”

He looked up with a start, hastily scrubbing at the moisture around his eyes. “Yeah, sweetie, yeah.” He paused to clear his throat. “Just… a little tired. It’s been a long day.” He stood and offered her an approximation of a smile. “Wanna help me get dinner going? Daddy Shiro has a long shift today, so I’m sure he’ll be happy to come home to find everything all ready to eat.”

Pidge wrinkled her nose slightly at the suggestion. “I’m no good at cooking, just ask my home ec. teacher. What about Hunk? Or Lance?”

“You and Hunk could both help, if you wanted. We could have some family time. Lance is on timeout in his room at least until Daddy Shiro gets home, though, so we’ll have to do without him.”

“Uh oh. What did that idiot to this time?”

Keith shook his head. “Pidge, honey, that’s not a good word to call other people, especially your own brother,” he chided gently. “And we don’t gossip in this house, do we?”

“No, we don’t. Sorry, Daddy Keith.”

He felt a genuine smile on his lips as he reached out to ruffle her hair. “I’ll let it go this time, but just try to keep it in mind for the future, okay, peanut?”

“I will.”

“That’s my girl. Now, how about a hug before we track down your brother?” If he held her a little tighter and a little longer than normal, she didn’t complain.

By the time Shiro got home, the table was set and the food was prepared, and Keith, Pidge, and Hunk were only wearing a few of the ingredients on their faces or clothes. “Thanks for making dinner, love,” he said, swiping a bit of sauce from Keith’s cheek with his thumb. “It smells delicious.” He looked around a bit. “But… where’s Lance?”

Sighing, Keith looked away down the hall. “In his room. If we’re ready to eat, please let him know he can come out for dinner.”

The meal was pleasant enough, though Lance and Keith were both uncharacteristically quiet. Hunk and Pidge left the two of them to their own devices and instead discussed their days with Shiro, who decided he would worry about the others later. When everyone was finished and the table was cleared, Lance stood quietly, running his hand nervously over the hair at the back of his head. “Well, I’ll just… uh… I’ll get going back… to my room, then.” Without waiting for anyone to reply, he scurried off and vanished behind his closed door again. Shiro followed him with his eyes and then turned a questioning gaze on Keith, who heaved an exasperated sigh.

“I can tell it’s been eating at you all evening,” he said, waving Shiro toward Lance’s room with a flick of his wrist. “Go on, go talk to him. I don’t particularly want to repeat what he said.”

Nodding, Shiro walked down the hall and knocked on Lance’s door. “Hey, buddy. Can I come in? I wanted to talk about whatever’s been bothering you and Daddy Keith tonight.” He waited a moment for a response, and then began slowly opening the door only to wind up with an armful of tearful brunet a moment later. “Hey now, easy. Deep breaths. Let’s go sit on your bed, can we? Let’s talk it out. It’ll be okay.”

Snuffling pitifully, Lance stepped out of the hug and hurled himself onto his bed. “No, it won’t. I ruined everything,” he wailed.

Shiro sat carefully on the edge of the mattress and ran his hand soothingly over Lance’s back. “Shhh, it’s okay. I’m sure you didn’t ruin anything. Just tell me what happened.”

“I… I got in a-a fight with Daddy Keith,” he started, his words punctuated with occasional hiccups as he struggled to master his breathing again. “And I s-said something really… really mean, and now he’s never going to talk to me again, and it’s all my fault, and I don’t even know why I said it, I just…”

“Okay, okay,” Shiro cut in. “Slow down there, bud. What did you say?”

“I said… I said that he wasn’t my r-real… my real dad.” At Shiro’s sharp intake of breath, he buried his face in his blankets again. “I didn’t mean it,” he added quietly, though the down comforter muffled the words almost beyond recognition.

“I…” Shiro began, only to pause, searching for the right words. “I think I see now why you two were acting the way you were. I’ve got an idea. I’ll be right back, buddy, okay? We’ll figure this out.” Shiro ducked out of Lance’s room and returned a moment later with an unopened tube of toothpaste and a heavy-duty paper plate. “Okay, sit up.” He handed both the toothpaste and the plate to Lance. “So, you’re feeling pretty upset right now, right?” Lance nodded. “Okay. I think what might help you feel better is to open that toothpaste and see just how fast you can squeeze it out onto that plate. Does that sound fun?” Lance nodded again, attempting a smile. “Okay, then. Let’s do it. All of the toothpaste onto that plate, just as fast as you can.”

Sticking his tongue out slightly in concentration, Lance began squeezing the toothpaste onto the plate. Then, at Shiro’s prompting, he applied more pressure to the tube to increase his speed. At one point, his grip slipped, and a glob of toothpaste striped the bridge of Shiro’s nose, causing them both to break into genuine laughter for the first time all evening. Once the job was finished, Shiro turned back to Lance. “All right. Are you feeling a bit better now?” When Lance nodded again, he continued, “Okay, good. So what we’re going to do now is to see how quickly you can get all this toothpaste back into the tube.”

Wide-eyed, Lance looked quickly between the uneven loops of spilled toothpaste on the plate and the crumpled, empty tube, his face falling. “But… but, Daddy Shiro, I don’t think I can….”

“No?” Shiro followed his gaze. “You know, you may be right.” With one finger, he swiped the toothpaste off his nose and added it to the plate. “You know, this toothpaste is a lot like your words. It may make you feel better in the short term to say a lot of things without thinking, but once those words are out….” He gestured to the plate. “You can’t take them back.” Next, he pointed at his nose, where a thin residue of toothpaste still remained. “Sometimes, you’ll even miss your intended target. And if you’ve ever bitten your cheek and forgotten about it until you started brushing your teeth, you know that sometimes words can find the little things that bother a person and really make them hurt. That’s what happened with Daddy Keith today.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “The truth is, Lance, we know that we’re not your birth parents; there’s not a day that goes by that we don’t think about it, that we don’t worry about whether we’re doing the right thing, or if maybe you three would’ve been happier with some other family. But we do our best, and… and I think we do all right, most days. So, Daddy Keith has been biting his cheek, and today you just got some toothpaste in it. But I bet it would help him feel better if you apologized. Okay?”

Leaving the empty tube and the plate of toothpaste on Lance’s desk for the moment, the two of them exited the room and set out to find Keith. When they found him reclining on the couch with a book, Shiro gave Lance a gentle nudge forward and cleared his throat. “Lance has something he would like to say,” he said once Keith looked up. Keith’s only response was to arch an eyebrow and lay the open book across his lap. “Go on,” Shiro prompted quietly.

Trying to formulate the best apology, Lance shuffled slightly from foot to foot. “Um… Daddy Keith, I… I’m….” Any plans he had managed to form went out the window when he finally managed to speak. “I’m sorry I hit you in the face with a plate of toothpaste.”

“… What?” Keith glanced between Lance, who was growing increasingly flustered, and Shiro, who was failing at stifling his laughter, and rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. “You didn’t hit me with toothpaste, Lance, you….”

“I know!” Lance interrupted, frustration evident in his own voice. “I know what I did, what I said, and… and, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it, even when I said it. I just… I wasn’t thinking, and the words just came out. I almost got in a fight with someone at school the other day when he said that to me about you, so I don’t… I don’t know why I even… You both are our real dads, no matter what anyone says, and I just… I’m so, so sorry….”

There were no longer any dry eyes in the room as Keith jumped up from the couch, his book forgotten. He pulled Lance into a tight hug. “Oh, sweetheart. It’s okay. I forgive you. Everyone says something they don’t mean every once in a while. It’s what you do afterward that counts.” Standing up straight after releasing the embrace, he looked at Shiro, tilting his head to one side quizzically. “Do I want to know why there’s toothpaste in your hair?”