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autisticlancemcclain · 1 year ago

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The first bout of whispering, Shiro can ignore. He’s a teacher by trade, after all. Astronaut, sure. Paladin, even. But he always expected to be a teacher, trained for it, and he knows when you put a group of teenagers in a room and expect them to start learning by lecture, there’s going to be some whispering. He’d be concerned if there wasn’t, frankly.

But as it keeps happening, again and again, to the point where it’s almost constant, Shiro begins to lose his patience.

“Lance, Hunk,” he says, catching himself long before then. He tries to smile, gentle but firm. “Everything okay?”

The two boys clam up immediately. Lance even begins to lean slightly away from Hunk, although Shiro’s not sure he notices.

Shiro frowns, puzzled at the reaction. That’s — uncommon. He’s seen embarrassed, seen sheepish, seen unbothered, even seen downright rude, but Lance looks almost… afraid. And Hunk looks at him with a lot more anxiety than the situation calls for, but Shiro is beginning to notice that that’s just Hunk.

The both mutter some semblance of apology, and Shiro moves on quickly, unwilling to dwell on the incident too long.

For the rest of the briefing, he keeps an eye on them. He’s still focused, of course, as their break-in and recon on a nearby Empire warship is not only hugely dangerous, but will also be hugely beneficial, but he lets his notes do a lot of the talking for him. He flits his eyes to the pair every so often, and while Hunk meets his eyes on occasion, smiling slightly, Lance keeps his head down, hunched over his tablet.

Shiro notices that the tablet is powered off. He doesn’t write a single note.

His shoulders are hunched up to his ears.

———

“Alright, kiddo, good job.”

Keith grins, stepping backwards and bowing to finish the fight. Shiro bows back, matching his smile.

“You did great.”

“I know,” Keith says cheekily. “You’re getting easier and easier to beat. Probably because you’re elderly.”

Shiro raises an eyebrow. “Am I.”

His annoying little brother hums, completely unconcerned. He steps off to the side and starts swinging around his training stick, very clearly showing off. “Mhm. It was super easy to fight you. I just went whoosh, smack, bam! —” he punctuates every sound with a swing and slash of the stick — “and every hit just landed. Honestly, I think a punching bag would have been more of a challenge. Adam is a way better spar partner than you. I wish I was shot into space with him.”

Shiro’s eye twitches. It’s a clear goad, he knows it is. Keith isn’t even trying to hide it. He’s a twerp with too much energy and too much experience pressing all of Shiro’s buttons — a favourite button of his, of course, being the bit of…healthy competition Shiro has always had with his boyfriend.

(He’s well aware of the irony. He hears Adam pointing and laughing in his head every time he endures Keith’s complaining about Lance pulling his mullet, so to speak. In fact keeping his mouth shut about the parallels is the only thing keeping him from throwing Keith down the laundry chute. He’s waiting for a moment when the reveal can be well and truly devastating.)

Shiro manages, with herculean strength, to step away from his turd of a brother, putting his training stick away.

“I am leaving,” he says loudly, pointedly turning away. “I said I’d train one hour with you and not a second more.”

He feels Keith’s pout more than sees it. “Coward.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Shiro snorts, waving his hand dismissively. He hears swishing sounds, and the clicks of buttons — Keith is starting up his own training. Again. “Don’t be late for dinner or I’ll send Lance after you.”

“Can’t promise I won’t maim him,” Keith mutters. “Sometimes I just want to wring his neck.”

Shiro is very familiar with that feeling. Or at least the raving about it. He used to feel great pleasure in driving Adam to that point, just because he was hot when he was mad. But Shiro values his limbs — or at least what’s left of them — where they are, so he keeps the comments to himself as he makes his way out of the training room, meandering back to his own quarters.

He takes his time showering and redressing, knowing he’s got some time before dinner. He thinks Hunk even managed to wrestle Coran out of the kitchen, which means no food goo. It also means that he’s banned from even breathing near the kitchen until the food is fully cooked and completed — which is a bullshit ban and one based in false accusations — but he’s sure he can help set the table, or something. Stir a pot. He’s good at that.

He towels off his hair, not bothering to style it, and takes his time walking over to the kitchens. The castle floors are cold under his bare feet, he finds himself wishing he had the lion slippers Lance made him. They’re very warm. He never wears them because he’s terrified of ruining them, but it’s so icy in here that he might start having to, or else he’ll freeze.

As he approaches the kitchen, he hears voices. He freezes, quieting his steps and pausing behind the wall to listen. Hopefully no one else walks by, or that will be humiliating.

“— all you have to do is ask, Lance, just casually, it’s not even —”

“— it is even, Hunk, it’s the worst and I’m not doing it, why would I inconvenience —”

“— it isn’t! Not even a little! It’s the smallest tiniest thing!”

“Hunk —”

Hunk throws his hands up in exasperation, spoon going flying and splattering some kind of blue sauce all over the cabinets. Neither of them even blinks at it.

“I am tired of watching you struggle, Leandro! Heaven forbid you ask for help!”

Shiro frowns. That’s not good. That sounds serious.

“I asked for help,” Lance huffs, arms crossed over his chest. “I asked you, didn’t I?”

“I don’t count and you know it,” Hunk says sharply, mirroring him. “I already knew.”

Lance looks away, clenching his jaw. His fingers are tangled in his jacket’s sleeve, tense.

“You don’t have to help anymore if it’s too hard,” he mumbles. “I can handle it myself.”

Hunk softens. “It’s not that, Lance.” He wipes his hands in his apron and pulls Lance to his chest. Lance goes, although he doesn’t move his arms, burying his face in Hunk’s shoulder. “You know it’s not that. If that’s all we have then I’ll keep doing it, damn the consequences.” He pulls back slightly, nudging Lance back so he can look him in the face. “You can just do better, dude. All you gotta do is tell Shiro about your —”

A hand claps over Hunk’s mouth, cutting him off, and Lance squeaks, “Hey, Shiro, hello, hi!”

Shiro startles. He scrambles upright before Hunk turns all the way, so at least he’s only seen crouching by the door like a weirdo by one person.

He clears his throat. “Uh, hi.”

“You’re banned from the kitchen,” Hunk says, muffled. How he looks so mighty and dignified with Lance’s hands still very much pressed to his face is well and truly beyond him. Shiro is frankly awed.

“I just came to help set the table,” he assures, hands held up in surrender. “Promise I’ll stay away from the actual food.”

Hunk narrows his eyes, but must decide he could use the help, because he nods, stepping backwards so Lance’s hands fall back down.

“Alright,” he sighs. “I’m making stew. You can set out utensils if you must but know I’ll judge you heavily for it. Lance, come help me finish up.”

Lance scrambles after him, avoiding Shiro’s gaze like he’s sure he’s going to get yelled at. Shiro watches him go, perplexed.

———

The next few days are, for the most part, manageable. Their mission goes well, Keith is surprisingly mellow — Shiro suspects the little nerd has discovered a library of some kind — and distress calls are minimal. All in all, Shiro should be taking the time as the blessing it is and catching up on some much needed R&R.

Instead, he’s worrying about the Blue Paladin.

Shiro can’t say he knows him well. They’ve hardly been in space a couple of months, after all, and while Shiro must have taught him a couple times — he was in the piloting program so it’s almost impossible that they didn’t cross paths — the Garrison is huge, and Shiro largely teachers younger students. Shiro can’t recall teaching a Lance, anyway.

But he can tell something’s off.

Besides the fact that Hunk keeps looking at Lance with concern, the Cuban seems…withdrawn, almost. He still works hard in training and smokes them in any kind of long distance, but there doesn’t seem to be any joy in it. Even his arguments with Keith seem halfhearted, which Keith will never admit leave him agitated as much as it has Shiro’s eyebrows raising. Shiro is sure, basically, that something is the matter, and surer still that he has to be the one to fix it.

How exactly he should go about it…well, that’s the part he’s struggling with. He knows Lance is kind of star-eyed around him, even though they’re on the same playing field, so Shiro’s not sure just regular talking to him about it is going to do something. And he seemed pretty resistant when Hunk pressed, in the conversation Shiro overheard. He’s just not sure what to do.

Luckily, the situation starts to resolve itself.

“Hey, Shiro, can I talk to you?” Lance mumbles into his breakfast, as everyone else is distracted by Pidge and Keith’s loud argument about cryptids (Shiro has heard it too many times at this point. He’s tuned it out).

Shiro blinks. “Sure,” he says, trying to keep the shock out of his voice. “Now?”

“Uh, after we eat, maybe.”

Shiro tries very hard not to seem over enthusiastic. He sucks at that, so it doesn’t work, and it seems to make Lance more stressed, which only stresses Shiro out more. By the time everyone has finished up and people are starting to file out to various tasks, the tension between them is so thick Shiro feels as if he might suffocate.

Suddenly, as if he propelled himself, Lance springs to his feet, snatching his bowl and Shiro’s and powerwalking towards the kitchen sink. Shiro, startled, follows him.

“You okay?” Shiro asks softly, noticing the whiteness of Lance’s knuckles, clenched around a sponge, and the robotic way he scrubs it across a dirty spoon.

Lance says nothing. He keeps his eyes trained resolutely on the soapy water, spine ramrod straight, nerves bleeding from him in waves.

Hesitantly, Shiro rolls up his sleeves, standing beside him and beginning to dry what he rinses. As Shiro gets close he gets tenser, shoulders hiked up to his ears, but as the minutes drag on, empty kitchen echoing the sound of swishing water and clanking cutlery, he begins to calm down. Shiro watches his face relax, easing its worries twist, and terror fade from his brown eyes.

He hands Shiro the last clean dish to dry, then pulls the plug on the sink, darting over to grab a hand towel and starting to dry.

“Can you write mission plans in pink?”

The words rush out of him, like he’d been holding them between his teeth for God knows how long and they’d finally spilled out. He looks almost nauseous after he says them.

Shiro blinks. That was…not what he’d expected.

“…Why?”

“It’s perfectly okay if you can’t,” Lance continues, as if Shiro had not spoken. “I mean, whatever. I’ll figure it out. I’ve gone without this long, after all, and it’s totally doable. Of course there’s the migraines and the agony but that’s all light work. It’s war, after all. Ha.” He chuckles nervously.

He’s shrunk in on himself, looking almost small. Shiro stares at him with a dropped jaw and wide eyes. Lance doesn’t even notice, eyes focused intensely on the hand towel, breathing worryingly erratic.

“I just swore to Hunk that I’d ask, you know. He said it wouldn’t hurt. And of course it wouldn’t but I don’t need it. It’s just. You know.”

Shiro cannot stress enough how much he doesn’t know. He hasn’t felt this lost in a while.

“Pink makes the letters stick to the page. And I know that sounds stupid as shit and that’s because it is stupid as shit, unfortunately. Dyslexia is the dumbest thing in the world, actually. And who named it that? You know how hard that word is to spell? It’s hard. They should have called it — I dunno, I just mean, it’s whatever. It’s fine. I’ve handled it this long. Uh.” He looks up, finally, and maybe he doesn’t know how to make sense of Shiro’s expression, because he winces, shame overtaking his face. He sets down the towel and gestures vaguely behind him, stepping towards the door. “I’m just gonna — go. Sorry. See you later. Sorry.”

He all but flees out of the room. Shiro barely manages to snag the back of his hoodie, holding him in place.

“Lance. Chill a second. Give me time to respond.”

Lance looks deploringly at the door, then back at Shiro. He looks like he’s accepting his death. Shiro can’t help but feel the teensiest bit offended.

“I’m not going to bite you,” he says, aghast. “Jesus, kid. You’re going to give me a complex.”

To Shiro’s great relief, the remark makes Lance grin. Some of the tension eases from his face.

“You sound like my mother.”

“From what I’ve heard, that’s a compliment,” Shiro says lightly. He pulls out two chairs, orienting them so they’re facing each other. He deliberately takes the one farthest from the door, so Lance doesn’t feel trapped. He gestures to the other one. “Sit.”

Lance does.

“Now. From the beginning and with a little less fear, hopefully. Tell me what’s up, kiddo.”

Lance looks down at his hands, where he’s picking at a scar on his wrist.

“Um. So. I have dyslexia. I can’t read too well.”

Lance cringes as he says it. Shiro wonders who he has to kill for putting the idea that this is something to be ashamed about in his head.

“Cool,” Shiro says, as encouragingly as he can manage. “The main character of my favourite book series as a kid had dyslexia. I was jealous of everyone who had it. I used to pray for it.”

The revelation startles a laugh out of Lance, like Shiro hoped it would. The tension melts right off of him.

“You prayed?”

“Every night,” Shiro affirms, grinning. “I even crossed my eyes and pretended when it didn’t work. My mother didn’t believe me for a second.”

“You’re a dweeb,” Lance says, sounding kind of awed. Like he’s shocked that Shiro, too, is a nerd loser on this castle full of other nerd losers. “Dyslexia sucks.”

Letting his face settle into something more serious, Shiro nods. “I imagine it does.” He reaches over and squeezes Lance’s hand, subtly stopping him from picking at the skin. Keith has the same bad habit. “Writing in pink helps?”

Lance shrugs. “Sorta. Dunno why. But things are less squiggly when they’re written in pink or red. Not perfect, but it’s something. I can hardly read at all when they’re in black; it’s like my eyes are spinning out of my head trying to focus on ‘em. Gives me migraines like you would not imagine.”

“And thus Hunk whispering the plans to you so you don’t have to read them,” Shiro surmises, the whispering during briefings suddenly making sense. Guilt twinges in his belly.

“Yeah. Sorry about that, by the way. Didn’t mean to be rude.”

“Of course not,” Shiro says gently. “I get it now. Sorry for not understanding.” He frowns, remembering something. “I should’ve asked beforehand. Or suspected something, or known better, really. I had a kid a few years back in one of my astronomy courses. Li-something. I marked all his stuff in red for the same reasons.”

Lance makes a very particular face. Warning bells go off in Shiro’s head.

“I appreciated that very much,” Lance says politely.

It takes a moment for it to click.

Shiro considers banging his head against the table.

“Please tell me no,” he begs, ears reddening.

“It was a great honour to be renamed by the Takashi Shirogane,” Lance insists.

“I had you in my class for three years!” Shiro says, aghast. “I — I called you Li all the time! In front of people!”

“I didn’t want to correct you! That’s — embarrassing!”

Shiro cradles his head in his hands. Dear God. He knows he’s not great with names, but — Jesus. To rename a kid. Blatantly. Other teachers must have thought he was some cruel jackass.

“I think there was a Li McKinney ahead of me in roll call,” Lance offers, patting Shiro’s back delicately. “So. Pretty easy to mess up.”

“Did you write your name as Li on tests? And assignments?”

“After the first couple times, yeah. Hunk laughed at me. At a certain point I’d just dug myself too deep, I think.”

Shiro sighs, dragging his hand down his face. It’s still quite hot. He looks up at Lance, who’s mouth is twitching.

“You were short as shit back then,” he observes, trying to picture the kid in his class. “Like, shorter than Pidge.”

Lance scowls. “I was — saving up on growth spurts. Yeah. So. Purge that from your memory.” He smirks. “Like my name.”

Shiro groans. “I’m never hearing the end of that, am I.”

Lance smiles. “Probably not. I didn’t know you were uncool. It’s interesting. I’m seeing you in a whole new light.”

Shiro rolls his eyes, but reaches over to mess with Lance’s hair, like he would Keith. Unlike Keith, Lance freaks out way harder, screeching something about hard work and artistic expression.

He smiles. “Glad you came to talk to me, kid.”

Lance sticks out his tongue, but he looks pleased, too. “Yeah, yeah.”

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studentinpursuitofclouds · 23 days ago

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Hey! RSV bachelor's/bachelorette when jealous please??

Sure thing :3

I didn't know, dear anon, whether you meant jealousy romantic or any other kind, so I stayed on the romantic. Also since there are hints in the mod about the relationships of some of the candidates (Paula/Anton, Zayne/Irene, etc.), some headcanons will list the candidates' partner as Farmer and others will be neutral. Hope it's ok! Thank you for your ask! 💕

_________________________________________

RSV bachelors/ettes when they're jealous:

If Jio had the ability to sizzle anyone he didn't like or those who let themselves get too much with his lover, there would be a whole circle of ashes around Farmer of all those losers. He has his trusty katana, though... Not that the elf doubts his partner's fidelity, it's just that sometimes they don't realize they're being flirted with. And Jio sees everything. He'll be a bit possessive near Farmer.

No, Corine won't keep quiet about the jealous feelings that have arisen. If something doesn't suit her, she points it out to Farmer directly, without all these games and guesses. She's not the jealous type, but she won't stand for boundaries being violated either by Farmer's interlocutor or by Farmer themself.

Despite all the Amethyst family drama throughout Zayne's life, with jealousy, cheating, and other not-so-nice things (thanks to his parents for a "happy" childhood), the future head of the family himself, fortunately, has not adopted all of this into his worldview about relationship with his partner. He doesn't feel jealous, trusts his partner, and believes that if someone is worried about something, they should share their problems with each other, because healthy relationships are built on honesty and communication.

Faye won't act directly, but she won't miss the opportunity to make passive-aggressive comments and snort in the direction of someone who allows themself to cross the line with her partner. That's the kind of nerve it takes to pry into a taken person's life, especially when she's standing right next to them! Her jealousy, however, Faye will deny if caught off guard with the question.

Anton is afraid. Afraid that he is not good enough for his partner, as his self-esteem has been low lately, to say the least. He's gotten it into his head that he's a total loser and still doesn't understand what his partner saw in him. Won't say his fears out loud, but will start constantly questioning if his partner really loves him and if he's good enough for them.

June, when jealous, stands away from people and starts smoking more than he should, as it helps him to distract himself a little bit from his negative thoughts. This is bad for his health, and Farmer can immediately notice it, to which June will not hide his jealousy. But then he'll apologize and admit that he should have shared his worries with his partner instead of withdrawing and soaking himself in tobacco smoke.

Blair's feelings of jealousy toward Farmer manifest themselves in a huge desire to prank the person who is flirting with her partner. The fisherwoman usually only restrains herself with her mischievous thoughts, as she doesn't want Farmer to think she is jealous and controlling. But if anything, she has stink bombs and itching powder at the ready. Don't mess with her and with Farmer.

Oh, Daia want to teach the cheeky one who's messing with her Farmer a lesson, and have some fun in the process. The ninja will appear out of nowhere, and immediately start flirting with Farmer, giving them a quick kiss on the cheek, putting a hand on their shoulders or waist, saying "I missed you so much, love~ Oh, who's this, your friend? Nice to meet you~" More often than not, the "suitors" will back off. If not - she has shurikens and a katana for those stubborn ones.

When feeling jealous, Shiro will stare silently and glare, but will not share his worries aloud. He already feels like a burden to the family because of his injuries, and that includes his relationship with Farmer. Somewhere inside his head there's a voice saying he's not good enough for Farmer and what they've ever found in him, a cripple. It's not true, but until Shiro voices his thoughts, he's going to think that way all the time when someone tries to hit on Farmer.

Poor Alissa... The girl only once saw some tourist trying to flirt with Farmer (to which they said they were taken btw), and that was enough for her to feel insecure. She realizes it's a stupid and irrational thought, but still.... What if she's not enough for them? Alissa will try to be with Farmer more often for fear of losing them.

Sean is not a jealous person, and doesn't see Farmer's friends and acquaintances as a threat to his and his partner's relationship. On the contrary, new friends, that's neat! Naturally, if someone starts openly flirting or hitting on his partner, the man will remind him that Farmer is already taken. Otherwise, he trusts them and doesn't feel jealous.

As the Governor's bodyguard, Bryle has excellent situational awareness, quickly recognizing threats and people's behavior. He can see both his partner's body language and the body language of the person his partner is talking to from afar, so if someone does start to do wrong moves, all Bryle has to do is stand next to his partner. After all, by having Bryle, they also have the 'scary dog' privilege. Bryle is confident enough in himself and his partner, so not jealous.

The jealousy takes Ian by surprise, as he hasn't felt anything like it before. It was hard for him to know if that person was trying to hit on Farmer or if it was just a casual conversation and he wouldn't want to chop off his shoulder and throw accusations. But if the feeling of jealousy arose again, he'd be blunt about it.

"Maddie, you-" "No, I'm not jealous!" "...want some blueberry pie?" Oh boy, because of the betrayal and pain of her past relationship, Maddie still has insecurities about herself and suspicion of her current partner's loyalty. The lab assistant is well aware that these are irrational thoughts underwritten by low self-esteem, making her angry with herself and, most unpleasantly, likely to snap at her own partner. Maddie tries, but she can easily become jealous towards Farmer.

If Philip feels jealousy, he won't say it to Farmer directly. But he would tell his close friends over a mug of something strong, trying to figure out whether hie is overreacting or it was justified. On the other hand, though, Philip realized that discussing the problem with anyone but Farmer was a foolish and unjustifiable decision. He would try to make amends.

Paula is lost, not knowing what to do with her feelings of jealousy. On the one hand, she wants to share her concern and talk about the time when the doctor thought that the situation was out of line. On the other hand - she's afraid that her insecurities and remarks will only make the situation worse. It's going to take her a little while to get her act together, but she does spill everything to her partner, hoping that communication will solve the problem.

Kenneth isn't too pleased when one of Farmer's friends is clearly trying to be something more than a friend (even though he and Farmer are officially a couple!), but the electrician trusts his partner to work things out for themself and draw the boundaries. Not to say he's trying to eavesdrop on the conversation anyway, he's just curious. Only asks who it was and what they wanted with Farmer. A sliver of jealousy, but nothing serious for accusations.

"Already taken, if you don't know." Maybe a bit blunt and harsh on Kiarra's part, but the girl didn't want to be left with ambiguities and misunderstandings. Farmer's friend, who had been a little too touchy-feely for a friend lately, might take offense at Kiarra's words, but the graphic designer would ask how Farmer's friend would feel if she was trying to flirt with their partner like that. Nothing personal, but respect boundaries.

Does Flor realize that jealousy is a desire for the undivided control of all the time and all the strength, mental and bodily, of another person, which is not healthy for her relationship with Farmer? Of course. Will she begin to address this issue with Farmer? Well... yes, but not right away until she's prepared to voice her thoughts. The red-haired girl is afraid to express herself in such a way that Farmer will not only not understand her, but will take her words to heart, so she wants to be careful. Maybe there isn't really a problem here?

Wait, someone wants to take Farmer away from Ysabelle? No on her watch! It might have been a simple misunderstanding, but the jealous feeling in the girl already surged like fire, and it made her do something about it. She would be by Farmer's side, holding their hand (they are a couple), kissing them and complimenting them (they are a couple, after all) and gently hugging them (they are. a couple. got it?). Wha- Of course not, she's not jealous!

Jeric isn't jealous type, and he knows from himself when just someone shows a mastery of eloquence without any hint of taking his partner. But he's also a virtuoso at speaking and complimenting, so he really doesn't mind battling someone in conversation. Of course he'll win, since he's charming and Farmer thinks so, right dear?~ Though a little later he'll apologize to Farmer if it was a little awkward. Jeric believes them, he just wanted to have a little fun.

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