#couldn’t really capture my mullet but that’s okay!

[superhaught]

Got tagged by @robinbuckley to do this picrew!

This is pretty dang good! This was fun tysm for the tag 😁🥰❤️

No pressure tag: @gothimp @sincerestlove @waytoohaught @cas-is-weird-ig @cheesysoup-arlo @pezberrywhoreee

[braineater444]

Bonus Chapter: The Nameless Woman

[Back/Next] [Table of Contents]

(featuring the Haitani Brothers)

18+ MDNI

A/N: Since a few people really like this series and I have no kinktober event... I wrote this chapter about a girl that happens a before Sanzu captures the reader. My writing is significantly better here (I think) and I'll try to maintain this quality in the future; I've been lazy. This a cannon to the series universe, I just wanted to give a little background ;)

Warnings: Noncon/Rape, Snuff (like literal murder), Implied stalking, Object Insertion, Piss, Guns, Knives, Rindō is misogynistic, and Blood, Forced drinking, No Y/N here just a featureless woman who you can project on to...or not [I feel like I'm forgetting something, pls tell me!!]

[3 MONTHS BEFORE YOUR ABDUCTION]

“Please let me go! I promise I won’t tell anyone!” She struggles fiercely against Ran’s grip, nails sinking into his arm, body thrashing against his, and yelling when he doesn’t let her go. The girl hopes someone can hear her and come to her rescue. It’s hopeless. She’s tearing up. That painful lump in her throat is forming. She doesn’t realize what’s going on.

“Help! Someone please!”

It’s late afternoon in a national park. Someone has to be there to save her.

“Shut up!” Ran wasn’t one for all the dramatics, but the bitch was screaming so loud she must’ve not heard him. It’s okay though, he’ll get her to be quiet.

The way she’s thrown onto the rock-protected ground has her body aching. She hadn’t even noticed Ran slammed her down until she was on her hands and knees with rocks cutting deep into her skin. She doesn’t even know these men. What could she have done to them to deserve this?

On her scraped and bloodied hands and knees, she tries to crawl away. She hears a laugh, but she doesn’t know which one of them it is — she doesn’t care who it is. She just wants to getaway.

Her head slams down into the rocks as Rin yanks her knees from under her. The tormenting feeling of her body being dragged along the rock-covered ground, her trying to grab onto something—anything. The tall man laughing, her throat getting sore from her useless screams; it’s all too much. She tries to pull her ankles from the mulleted man’s grasp, but it’s like trying to remove her feet from dried cement.

“We already got you in your panties. Why are you still fighting?” Rindō says as he pulls her onto a blanket they had set out before she’d even showed up.

She was quick to turn around and ready herself to run, then there was a distinct clicking noise at the back of her head.

“You get up again without me telling you to and I’ll shoot you,” Rindō was serious. As much as he loved for girls to fight and cry, he couldn’t stand her running. He’s waited months to use her and get his dick wet. This was his idea; these are the fruits of his labor. She’s going to let him collect his winnings, dead or alive. “Now lay down on your back.”

She does as he says, turning around to face him and his gun as his brother watches on the side.

“Please don’t kill me.” She rasps, tears streaming down her face before she could even register she was crying.

“Don’t what?” Rindō asks as he settles between her legs. Ran takes the spot above her head where they’d set out two folding chairs.

“Kill me.” She whines.

She flinches when he presses the hollow tip of his gun to her chin. A malevolent smile blooms across his face as he watches her freeze and stare back at him in wide-eyed fear. His body hovers above hers, and she was just too afraid to move. This is how he thinks women should be; scared. There’s nothing that turns him on more than a woman with fear in her eyes and hate in her heart.

“Kill you?” He presses the gun further into her skin. “You want me to-”

He couldn’t even finish his sentence before she frantically pushed out a “No-no-no” and shook her head.

“Aw, why not?” He put the gun down on the floor near her head. Fake sympathy riddled his tone, but she played along with him as best she could.

“I don’t want to die, sir.” She looks him in the eye, searching for compassion within him. She came up with nothing. His eyes were far gone, and he wasn’t seeing her. She was the equivalent of a piece of meat to him.

He’d paused.

Sir?

“Ran, you hear her? ‘Sir’” He looks up at his brother and smiles a wide, sick smile, almost as if to confirm what she’d just said. He couldn’t believe his ears.

Ran shoots back a smile and a curt nod before saying, “She’s cute. You made a good choice this time.”

Then, almost immediately, his attention was back on her.

“You don’t want to die?” His hand came up to her breast, pinching and pulling her nipple. Once again, she was shaking her head. Her hand came up to grab his wrist when he’d twisted her nipple too far. Pain shot through her chest and she couldn’t take it, even if it was something as mild as this. She tried to push his hand away, but it didn’t work. He only let go when he wanted, and that was to use the same hand to slap her silly before telling her that not wanting to die isn’t a good enough reason for him not to kill her. “But don’t worry, baby. I’m not gonna kill you.”

Ran moves the gun out of her reach when Rindō reestablishes himself between her legs, dragging the pads of his fingers hard against her clothed cunt. She doesn’t move, she just freezes, or rather... she lays there on the blanket, sniffling and shaking. Rindō takes out another weapon; a pocket knife. He cuts away only one side of her underwear, leaving the fabric clinging only to one of her thighs.

She refuses to watch as he strokes himself to full hardness, but she knows he’s doing it. All she can stand to do is stare up and hope this isn’t real. This couldn’t be happening, right? But the tears on her skin feel real? The burning on her hands and knees feels real? His gun felt real? Oh, and his fingers sinking deep into her cunt feel too real. It’s not fake.

Another wave of intense emotion comes over the woman, and she’s whispering for him to stop. Rin thinks her barely audible pleas are her just trying to convince herself that this is some sort of nightmare she can talk herself up from. Fortunately for him, it’s not. He punches the air out of her lungs and it has her lurching upward with a scream harsher than anything she’s let out so far and crashing back down onto the fabric below her. He could’ve come.

That dull ache in her abdomen will convince her this is real if nothing else could.

He fingers her more for his own pleasure than her comfort. He really doesn’t believe in foreplay at all. Women, to him, shouldn’t feel good; sex is for men’s enjoyment, right? Right. Rindō wholeheartedly believes that this is what women are made for. Ran wouldn’t stop him in his tracks for thinking or saying such a thing, but he also wouldn’t agree with him. They’ve talked about it before, and as much as Ran doesn’t agree, he’s not trying to change his little brother.

Rindō pumps in and out of her slowly with his fingers and when she doesn’t react to him being so kind to her, he apologizes? He pulls his fingers from her walls and he’s back over her with that same hand, grabbing her chin with her juices and telling her how sorry he is. She stays rigid as his soft lips press against hers; as his tongue explores her mouth like this was consensual. There’s a dull taste of beer on his tongue. She recoils at the taste, and he feels it. He only let out another sick laugh into his forced kiss. Then he lets up, but only for one reason.

The next laugh comes from him when he feels her kicking under him, when he slams his full length into her without hesitation. Rindō is not a considerate or patient man. He hardly gets time off to do things like this, so he’s going to do it the way he likes it. When she screams bloody murder, he knows he’s doing something right. It’s music to his ears. He loves girls screaming because of him.

His thrusts are brutal. He’s slamming into the deepest, most sensitive parts of her with no discretion. He’s fucking her like he hates her and she doesn’t even know him. She puts her hands up to push him off of her, but it’s like trying to move a brick wall. The hold he’s got on her is incredibly sturdy. He just pushes his lips against hers for another disgusting, wet kiss.

Rindō’s a messy kisser. He kisses like a drunkard; like he’s trying to smother her. When he kisses her, it’s like he’s trying to absorb her into him, and she wants nothing to do with it. Rin, though? He moans deeply into her mouth like this is romantic or worthy of such pornographic moans.

When he lets her out of the kiss, both hers and his lips are shiny with spit, she feels ashamed. She tells him to stop.

“Or what?” He asks. “You’re fucken worthless, anyway.” His hand comes down hard across one of her tits, but it’s nowhere near as painful as him continually beating her cervix. “You’re so loose it’s pathetic that you’re acting like this hurts.” He was a liar. He was snug in her walls. Rindō also knew she’d been by herself and had fucked no one for at least the past few months since he’s been watching her.

God, she was such a fucking loser. It’s not Rin’s fault. It’s hers. If she had friends, this wouldn’t even be happening, would it?

“Dammit- I’m gonna cum- fuck.” It’s all the warning she got before he was cumming inside of her abused cunt. He gave it a few more pumps before he pulled out.

She hadn’t even thought to get away from them. She was so broken she could barely move. All she could do was turn over and hide her face in the blanket.

Rin tucked himself back in his pants and joined his brother in the chair next to him, cracking open a beer from the cooler they’d brought with them.

Maybe they were talking about something. Whatever it had been, she was too distraught and out of it to listen. She was in her own world, crying into that blanket. That only lasted for three minutes.

Something cold tapped her on her head and she’d paid it no mind. She was in no position to acknowledge any outside stimuli. Her body had started to shut down.

STARTED.

She wasn’t given the chance to become completely unresponsive because, a second later, Ran was towing her back up by her hair and bringing the beer to her lips with his free hand. She chugged it without hesitation; it was all gone in less than a minute. She’d do anything for them to leave her alone.

She’d never see the true end to this torture, though. Ran had her sitting up between his legs drinking beer after beer while he and his brother talked. He felt a little sorry for her. She wasn’t going home tonight.

Might as well be drunk for that, he thought.

His palms were so soft on her chin, as gentle as a lovers touch, as he held her head up to pour the beers down her throat. He’d acted like he wasn’t even aware of her all while getting her intoxicated. Ran knew he was the last nice man she’d ever meet.

“Imma g-go,” she slurred out before trying to move away from the two men. It was the first time she’d talked since Rin had stopped violating her. The seven beers she was forced to down in ten minutes had taken full effect; she was slow at moving and dizzy. Ran only pulled her back by her hair before she could even properly stand.

“Call your mom.” He ordered, handing over her phone that he’d taken from her pocket when he’d stripped her earlier.

“Why?” she whined, turning to meet his eyes and gagging a bit. It was like she was looking through him. “I have a ca-aar~? I can drive?” She hiccuped. Her bitching and moaning was what made him regret getting her drunk.

He’d only thumped her on the forehead and told her to do it. Her mom would need to find her daughter, right?

“Mo-om? Thi-this guy hurt me real real bad and he’s saying I hafta call you. They’re saying I can’t drive. Pick me up.” She whined into the phone. Ran thought she sounded so drunk her mom could probably smell it through the phone.

Her mom panicked out of her mind when she called. All she could manage was to tell her where she was. The girl was too drunk to give details, even when her mom asked for them. The girl had been stupid enough to not even describe even one of their features.

They had about thirty minutes with her before her mom made it there.

They made good use of their limited time.

“Stick your fucken tongue out, make sure you lick my balls.” Ran demands as she slobbers all over his dick. He wrenches his fist tight in her hair as he moves her head back and forth on his shaft.

She’s too dazed to take orders the first time. The girl just sat there on her hands and knees, letting him control her movements. She knew there was nothing she could do to stop these two by now.

“I said stick your fucken tongue out!” He yanks her up from his dick and makes her look at him while he slaps her twice. She’d only made a small noise of pain. Her mind was too far gone to react fully at that point. She only stuck her tongue out as he instructed after taking her lashings.

He shoves her back down as soon as she gets the message. He’d gone back to using her head as a fleshlight. She gagged drunkenly and drooled all over him. He didn’t mind it.

Rindō had moved behind her. She didn’t notice him. What she notices is one of the wide ends of a beer bottle pushing into her cunt. She jerks up to yell in terror and agony as she feels the intense pressure against her walls, but Ran’s hand was already on the back of her head, pushing her down.

“Fuck, she’s bleeding,” Rin beamed as he forced the big bottle in and out of her tearing cunt. It’d only gotten more painful by the second. The drag was intense, and she wasn’t wet enough to accommodate it. All she could do was try to wiggle her hips away from him. She wasn’t getting very far, though.

She squealed and wept around Ran’s dick, but they paid her no mind. They chuckled together at her agony.

The bottle had gone still inside her, but its presence was ever-marked by the searing pain that accompanied the stretch. Ran had gone back to fucking her throat.

“Tongue out!” This time, she did as he said. Her tongue came out to lick his balls while he was lodged uncomfortably far down her throat. It was a struggle, but she was making it work.

Meanwhile, Rin collected blood from the taught and tearing the perimeter of her hole to use it as lube. He rubbed himself hard with it and then pushed himself right into her asshole.

Ran hadn’t prepared for her reaction. Ran let her pull away from him, but caught the front of her hair before she’d gotten too far away, pulling her right back down to be at face level with his dick.

She reached behind her to push Rin’s hands from her waist, wailing and begging him to pull out as he abused both of her holes. His grip on her sides had been abusive enough. He would do no such thing. It felt good like this.

He felt her cunt pulse, right under where he was thrusting inside of her. He could even indirectly feel the bottle that stretched her out. It caused him to go a little crazy. He’d have to do this again someday.

Ran jerked himself to completion and came on her crying face. His moans were low, just like her cries, and she was humiliated. A viscous glob of his cum got in her eye, and she was quick to react. A dirty hand came up to her eye to rub at it viciously.

The burning and stinging in her eyes and her brutalized holes had been enough for her drunken state. Ran watched on in surprise as her body went limp and her eyes closed. He let go of her hair and she fell to the floor like a rag doll.

“Guess she can’t take it…” Ran muttered to himself blankly as he put himself away. He rested his boot on her cheek and she regained consciousness not soon after. She’d only been out for about twenty seconds.

When she woke up, Rindō was still deep inside her and the uncomfortable weight of Ran’s heavy boot greeted her on her cheek. She could hardly move. She laid there and grunted, waiting for this to be over, but it was seemingly eternal.

“Arch! Dumb bitch!” was all the warning she got before Rin’s fist came down over her back. She obeyed and the only thing that came of it was Rin strengthening his assault on her asshole, and Ran’s sole grinding into her cheek as he called her a “good girl”.

When Rindō spilled into her for a second time and pulled out, it relieved her. She thought it was finally over. The air that surrounded them changed, so it must’ve been over?

“Out. Take it out.” She whined as Ran lifted his boot off her face and flipped her onto her back. Rin’s response? A chuckle before driving the bottle deeper into her. She wailed one good time, and he stopped.

“Stop playing around. Give me the knife, Rin.” Ran said, bored as he kneeled behind her and propped her head upon his lap. They were in a time crunch. He wanted to use the minutes they had left well.

She watched with wide eyes and was terrified as Rin passed his brother the knife.

“Wait- no.” She tried to sit up in protest, but to no avail. Rindō barely pushed at her chest and she fell back into his brother’s lap. With her pounding headache and many injuries, she was in no position to stop them. “You said you weren’t gonna kill me?!”

Even Rin could see that her eyes could barely focus. How drunk is she right now?

“I’m not. He is.” Rin smiled as he pressed her arms to her stomach. His full body weight rested on top of her, knees digging into her thighs, forcing them into an awkward and painful split as he held her down.

“No-” she whined, thick tears running down her face. Rin loved this. She was the perfect woman right now. He wanted to kiss her, but he held back. This was Ran’s time.

“You ready?” Ran asked Rin. Still, she countered by shaking her head as Rin nodded above her.

Rin was giddy. He watched as his brother’s thin, long-fingered, veiny hand came to cup her chin and forced her to look up at him. She struggled against him, trying to regain her arms, but he pressed down even harder and told her to stop. He watched impatiently as she begged for him not to do this.

With his other hand, Ran brought the cold, hard knife to her throat and got to sawing at it. Ran wasn’t applying enough pressure to kill her instantly or even cut that deep the first few times; he liked things like this to be drawn out. The elder Haitani liked her still trying to talk him out of this while she could. If he wanted her done faster, he would’ve stabbed her, but that would be a boring waste of such a sharp knife and pretty girl.

She screamed for help for the last time. It was clear no one was coming to save her as blood poured from her wound. Ran had nearly decapitated the girl before he stopped. She was still alive, but she was going to die soon. No person could live for too long, having to hold their head up with their own hands. Her mom would definitely find her a goner, without a doubt.

The last few things she could remember of the brothers was Rin stabbing her in the stomach at three agony-inducing times and the putrid stink of his urine as he pissed on her fading face before disappearing with his brother.

“I called you three fucking times! Where are you?” Sanzu’s voice boomed through the speaker after Ran finally picked up.

“We were busy. It’s our day off.” Rin responded, turning on the car.

“I don’t give a fuck what day it is. We have an emergency and everyone is here, except you two dickheads!”

“Yeah… we’re on our way…” Ran said before clicking.

[spideyspeaches]

The Prince and the Archer ↬ t.h

EDIT: LOOK AT THIS AMAZING MOODBOARD @mischiefmanaged011​ MADE!!!!!!

A/N: So @blissfulparker and I wrote a fic on this prompt I sent to her. She already posted hers AND GO READ IT IT’S AMAZING OKAY?! ANYWAYS-

WC: 2.3k (EXACT HOLY SHIT)

Pairing: Prince!Tom Holland x Archer!Reader

Masterlist || Taglist

Thomas had been nineteen years old when he first saw You.

He had been coming back from the stable with his mentor after a session of horse riding, exhaustion evident in the young Prince’s face. It had been a tough ride, his horse- Jakie- had not been very compliant that day, and Harry had been poking fun at him all day. He loved his brother, but he could be annoying sometimes (most of the time.)

Walking towards the castle, his eyes fell around the sports fields, his vision zeroing onto the Archery range. He had always found the sport interesting. How a single shot from an arrow and a bow could do so much as slice a fruit or pierce an organ, he would never understand. It never ceased to amaze him though.

“You look a little lost there mate.” Harry smirked, eyes following his brother's. He startled when Harry laughed, punching his biceps playfully. 

He didn’t understand what Harry was talking about, until he saw You standing in the field, hands stretched out and legs apart, a perfect stance for a fight. A bow was held tight in your hands, stretching the arrow. He hadn’t even noticed that he had been staring at you, your hair flowing with the wind, a serious expression with your lips pursed as if you were ready for combat, the half of your face glowing with the sun.

The snap of Harry ’s fingers got him back, a blush raising his cheeks at being caught.

"She's pretty isn't she? She's the cook's daughter." He said. 

“Mr. (L/N)?” He asked absentmindedly.

Tom saw as the arrow went sailing in a perfect trajectory, hitting the centre of the eye. He watched in a sort of trance as arrows after arrows hit the various targets, your hands not wavering once even.

 “Uh- you, you go ahead. Tell mother I’ll be back in a minute.” He stuttered. 

“Okay. Her name’s Y/N, by the way.” Harry  retreated, patting his back and giving him a smile that he knew all too well. 

He gestured at his mentor to make his way back to the Castle, walking towards the field where you were practicing. 

You noticed him coming towards him, immediately bowing your head as he approached you. 

"It's alright darling, you don't need to do that." He smiled at You as you nodded feverently. He smiled at you, cooing at the way you shied and hid your face from him. 

“You’re Y/N right?” He asked slowly as you fiddled with your bow, nodding but not looking up for a long time.

“That's me, your majesty, to what do I owe you the pleasure of you visiting the archery range?” You finally said, looking up and stopped fiddling. 

Your heart sped up when you looked at the young prince, hair slicked back in a short mullet, horse riding clothes donned on. 

You had seen him quite a few times while practicing, and even admired him from afar like any other girl your age, but never had the guts to speak. You didn’t know how you would talk to the royalty without the intrusive thoughts of what he would possibly think of a poor girl talking to him. You felt giddy now that he was actually here, talking to you. 

"Oh no no! The pleasure's all mine sweetheart. I, uh, you're good at it."He said, clearing his throat when you raised an eyebrow, “Could you show me? Uhm, how to work a bow and an arrow? I’m actually really bad at it.” He chuckled as you smiled, eyes lighting up when he mentioned the sport.

“Only if you teach me how to ride a horse.” You said back. You couldn't hold back the grin that appeared on your face, neither did he, when you agreed. 

You couldn’t help but do an internal victory dance when he smiled, his soft brown eyes shining in the sunny day sending your mind into a frenzy.

"I could do that. So do we meet here tomorrow? Same time?" He asked, too giddy to notice anything around him. His heart was beating like crazy, feeling a pang of excitement in his tummy as you nodded shyly. 

"Uh yes. That would be great, Mister Holland." You nodded, packing your bow and arrows. Shuffling your feet, you stared at him before he moved out of your way, chuckling when you saw his cheeks flame in a blush. 

"Just Tom is fine!" He said, waving at you with a goofy expression on his young face. He chuckled, shaking his head as he felt an unearthed excitement at the thought of seeing you again.

The feeling felt foreign to the young prince. He had been offered services with other princess' before, danced with them in balls and even had fancy dinners with them, but the thought of spending time with you in the fields felt different, yet the excitement felt the same.

Skipping over to the main halls with a smile on his face that rivaled the brightness of the sun, Tom sighed. His heart was still fluttering from your previous encounter, stomach churning with an unknown feeling. 

It was a few days later, during dinner, that the others started noticing his absences and random visits to the royal grounds with his horse (or how he suddenly was interested in learning archery of all sports).

"What's got you so excited?" His mum smiled, snapping him from his stupor as he looked up from his plate. The steak from his fork nearly fell, the laughter of his brothers making him blush. 

"Is it the girl?" Harry smirked, eating his dinner innocently as he could.

"What girl?" Sam piped in. Everyone's eyes were on him now. Shuffling in his seat, he smiled, remembering your smile when he offered to learn archery from you in exchange of teaching you to horse ride.

"The girl in the archery fields. She's really beautiful. And her aim is impeccable. She's perfect, mum! I've never met a lady like her before." Tom said, looking at his mom with large eyes, anticipation making him sweat. He saw his mother nod, giving him a small smile. 

"An archer you say? Is she by any chance, our cook's daughter?" She asked, resting her fork on her plate. 

"I- I don't know, maybe? How does it matter though?" 

"Tom, you know the rules. There are so many other princesses waiting for you in a like, you can't go for a normal low-life girl." She said, eyes betraying the sadness missing in her stern expression. 

"Just because she's not as wealthy as us doesn't make her a bad person mum!" 

"Tom honey, it's not about that, you have to understand we have certain rules and regulations to follow. For all you know she's a gold digger!" 

Tom was used to the burden of being royalty, and he often felt guilty for feeling burdened with having all the wealth of London, when there were so many poor kids in the streets begging for food and a shelter. 

Sometimes he felt like he would break under all the pressure and rules. 

"How can you say that? You don't even know her! You know what? I don't care. I- You have to understand mum. She's different! She's not like those other snobby princesses who only want to marry me for my name! She's so much more better than those fucking pompous brats okay?-"

"Mind your language Thomas!" 

"You can't stop me!" He said, pushing away his chair angrily before storming away, walking towards the ballroom and ignoring the servants running behind him with apologies. 

Stomping his way to the ballroom, he opened the huge doors, slamming them as fast as he could with his strength. Locking them from the inside, he switched on the lights, sliding down the doors. 

Holding his head, his shoulders shook with silent sobs, tears falling free as he felt himself break. He felt weak, for having such variations of emotions over some girl he saw not long ago. 

Sniffing, he stood up, fixing himself as much as he could in his state, before looking at the small door behind one of the curtains. It was only noticeable if you were looking for it. He smiled, walking towards it. Touching the small latch, he opened the door, sneaking into a garden, the garden only he and his father knew about. 

Pushing aside the shrubbery growing around it, he finally found the rusted gates, slowly removing the rusty chains with his hands.

He smiled fondly, remembering the day his dad had brought him here. He had been sad that day for whatever reasons he didn't remember, sitting on the small swing set as his father pushed him higher and higher until his tummy hurt because of giggling so much. 

Sitting on the swing that was slightly too small for him, he idly pushed his feet back and forth, lost in his thoughts. 

"It's beautiful here isn't it? I didn't think anyone would know about this place, much less the Prince of England." 

His eyes widened, jaw dropping when he heard your voice.

"How do you know about this place?" He asked. 

"My grandfather built this place before you and I were even born. My father told me about this. Now, answer my question." You shrugged, picking the leaves of the bush you were leaning against. 

"That's nice. My father used to bring me here when I was a child. He doesn't do that anymore. I just, I wish he would spend more time with me." He said, biting his lips. 

“You come here often then?” You asked.

“Yes, whenever I feel like being left alone. I come here.” He bit his lip, nervous of the sudden silence.

"I'm sorry." You said, cutting off his wandering thoughts.

"What are you sorry for?" 

"Good childhood memories are sometimes more painful than the bad ones. At least you can deflect the bad ones, but the good ones are just a reminder of what you had and what you can't now." You said. 

"That's not entirely true, good memories can still be made you know? With the person you love." He said, getting up from the swing set. 

Walking towards You, he held his hand up, pushing a strand of your hair from your face as you ducked, shying away from his touch. 

Your breath hitched, your hands clenched behind you as he came closer. You were standing head to head now. You could feel his breath on You, your lips nearly touching. 

In the moment of courage, you leapt forward, capturing his lips in yours. 

You loved fairy tales, small stories that described kisses as magical that made sparks fly. You always thought they were exaggerations, but at this moment, when you were kissing the most beautiful boy, the Prince of England and the boy you had been crushing on since forever, you felt like you were a part of those fantasies. 

The kiss was indeed magical, albeit a little wet. You giggled when you broke apart, short of breath as you laid your hands on his chest, feeling the expensive fabric under your palm. 

"What will the others think?" You whispered. Your hair flew in whisps, the air around you whispering it's reassurance as you stood in front of him. 

"Let them think what they want to, darling. I've been the prey before, I'm ready to do it again." He smirked, pulling you by your waist for another kiss. 

"You're cheesy." You chuckled. 

"Yes, I'm melted cheese for you." 

"That was a terrible joke Holland." 

***

"Okay so you need to hold your stance, stiff but not too stiff. You will feel pressure in your shoulders the first day-" 

"- darling can't we just make out please?" 

You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose as if his yapping was giving you a headache. 

You had gotten comfortable around him since your first encounter, and you felt special, seeing the goofy and happy side of the Prince. Didn't mean he didn't manage to make your heart stutter with his devilishly handsome grin (that made you want to pinch his cheeks and suck his dick).

"Thomas no." 

"Thomas yes! I don't know how you manage to do this, this bow is so heavy!" He whined, keeping down the bow and folding his hands on his chest. He looked adorable with his pout.

Smiling, you shook your head, heaving a sigh, "the bow isn't heavy, Tom. Here, how about this, I'll hold your elbow while you aim alright?" You offer.

"That would be great, princess." You blushed at the nickname, not quite used to being called that. 

"Alright drama queen, don't need to butter me." You muttered, moving closer so your chest touched his back, one hand on his elbow and the other on the string of the bow. 

He could feel your breath on his neck, shuddering as you leaned in, your hair tickling him, your rough but nimble hands featherlight on his skin.

"Now aim." You said, moving your hair from your face. 

He stuttered a response, holding himself straighter. You pushed his elbow up, right as he unleashed it, the arrow hitting the bullseye with a thud. 

"We did it! Oh god Y/N did you see that? We did it ! It hit the centre!" He laughed, turning around, the bow laying on the ground as he lifted you up.

You shrieked as he spun you in circles, laughter bubbling in your chest as you rested your head against his. 

"We did, your majesty." You smiled, leaning in to kiss him. 

You weren't afraid of being caught, you were way past that point. And you felt that you could live like that, if it meant living with the loveliest Prince of England.

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

Hi my favourite a03 and tumblr author! I have a small request for you can, poly post boys dealing with an S/O or Human mate they are trying to win over that gets cat called or wolf whistled at alot, thank you and have a wonderful night

Here you go!! I hope you enjoy!!!

Poly!Lost Boys x Winning Over a Mate that gets Catcalled a Lot

When the boys saw you, they knew. You were their mate. It's why the first thing that left Paul's mouth literally .02 seconds later was a wolf-whistle and why he immediately revved his engine to get your attention before Dwayne could slap him upside the head. To make matters worse, he said, "Hey, how you doing, sugar? Lookin' fine tonight." To their surprise, you not only ignored his antics, but you didn't even respond. Verbally. You simply flipped him off and kept walking. The boys usually took that as a "no", but you were their mate! They couldn't let you walk away! What if they never saw you again?

So, Marko hopped off his bike in an attempt to win you over. He followed you, trying to chat you up and figure out your name. It was usually Paul that was bait, but you'd already denied his advances. So, it was up to him. "Sorry about my friend, he just gets overly excited when he sees pretty girls." He waited. Nothing. Not a single word. "So, um, what's your name?" Again, crickets. The only thing you gave him was a look so practiced and sharp that it nearly made him trip. He stopped in the middle of the crowd, letting you walk ahead and feeling a little bit more than frustrated. You were their mate! Why didn't you like them? When he came back empty-handed, the others were less than pleased.

David was a little conflicted. He knew that if you didn't respond to Marko and Paul, by far the most approachable of their group, that you probably wouldn't respond to him. He decided to test it when he saw you a little ways down the boardwalk later that night. He caught eyes with you, giving you his usual stare. It was usually enough to pierce and capture any sort of prey. You stared back for a moment, giving him a taste of success. But the second a smirk had graced his features, you were looking, and walking, away. Like the others, he'd failed. But really....that only left one option.

Dwayne had seen you walk into a bookstore, and he'd peeled off from the group without a word. He was the least vocal of the group, and it was the hardest for him to act as bait. Still, he was the last option. He saw you trying to reach a book, one just slightly out of your grasp, and he slid next to you and grabbed it for you. He checked the cover, humming at the title, before he was handing the book to you. "You'll hate the ending." He said, and then he was walking away. Or, at least, making it seem like it. He'd laid out his hook, and all you had to do was bite. He'd barely turned before you said, "This is my favorite book, actually." And God if that wasn't a crack at his resolve. He internally panicked, but then he saw the smile grace your features. "But you're right, I do hate the ending." And Dwayne felt a wave of relief crash over him. You bit. Now, he had to reel you in. "If you like that, then you should read this. Better ending." He said, reaching up to the top shelf and picking out another book. He knew his jacket was probably opening. And probably exposing his entire chest. But he totally didn't check to see if you were looking. Instead, he handed you another book, and gave you a small smile. The two of you chatted about the book, and Dwayne found you could actually be quite amiable when a conversation was started about your interests, not how hot you were.

Eventually, the topic of the other boys were brought up. He'd done it with a smooth, "I haven't read that, but my friend has." And you'd arched your brow. You were quick to quip, "Which one? Twisted Sister?" You joked, and Dwayne chuckled. "Nah, Paul doesn't read. David, he's the one that has read this one. He's the guy with the-" "Mullet?" You finished for him, and Dwayne smiled. You had to admit that when Dwayne smiled? It was pretty charming. "Yeah, him. I'll ask him if he liked it." He said, leaving it up to you if you wanted to know more about them. The two of you chatted some more before Dwayne offered to take you to grab something to eat, and you decided to take up his offer. The two of you ended the night walking on the beach, talking about all the books you've read and planned to read. He'd offered to take you home, but you decided to just give him your number instead.

When Dwayne succeeded in getting you to officially meet the others, he'd already apologized for all of their behavior and assured you that "you just have to give them a chance". It didn't take long for them to express how much they liked you, as Paul clearly hadn't learned from before. But, it also didn't take long for you to start dating all of them. The four of them quickly found out why you had been so against some of their advances.

You got catcalled. A lot. Even when you were with one of them. You had trained yourself on how to respond, but the boys found that they had a harder time controlling themselves. Marko was ready to rumble the second a whistle left a guys mouth. He had to be dragged back either by you or one of the others, and he'd curse up a storm the entire time. He'd threaten all kinds of things, and it had surprised you how serious he seemed. David would never fight. Well, unless provoked. All he'd do was narrow his eyes, pull you closer, and kindly tell them that you were already taken. Usually, that got them to back down. Dwayne would stand besides you, as silent as a statue and stare them down. He'd pull you closer by wrapping an arm around your shoulders, glaring at them even as they had already passed. Paul had by far the most interesting reaction. While, at first, he would get upset, he started accepting their "compliments" for you. Whenever someone would yell, "hey there, sexy" or "hey, honey, you wanna come over here", he would be the one who would respond. It would catch them off guard and always make the both of you laugh at their surprised faces. All of the boys made sure to ask if you were okay afterwards, and none of them seem pleased if you ever told them that you were "used to it". After dating them for awhile, you were positive that you started to see some weirdly familiar faces on those missing posters.

[mystaracrosstheuniverse]

Last Piece: JB

title. Last Piece pairing. GOT7′s JB x Reader genre. slice of life, romance, attempts at comedy, angst warnings. cursing, jb being a cute cat dad, brief mentions of bullying and anxiety summary. As an English teacher from abroad, you get a lot of perks. One of the best ones is that you live in an apartment for free. Another perk seems to be the elusive, attractive man who lives two floors above you… Though his cats seem to find their way to you a lot. And so does his mail, which makes you travel to his place pretty often regardless of whether he wants to see you or not. new beginnings masterlist. part one. out of [undecided]

______________________________________________________________ You never wanted to see another box again. Or a suitcase. Or anything involving packaging goods. You were done with moving, but as you looked around your new apartment, you couldn’t help but be proud.  Finally, you were here. In Seoul, South Korea, beginning your lifelong dream of being a EFL teacher and returning to the city that had captured your heart when you came to study abroad years ago. The past few weeks had been overwhelming, trying to reconnect with old friends, connecting with your fellow teachers, and getting ready to start teaching at your school. But as you took out the last of your recycling, you could finally say you were settled in and ready for the year in front of you. On your way back up, you ran into one of your neighbors, a kind older woman who welcomed you in the first weeks of you arriving.  She smiled at you, “Hello dear! All moved in?” “Mhmm! Finally. I can’t wait to actually find out more about this building. I feel bad that I’ve only met you and not anyone else I’m living next to.” You admitted, rubbing the back of your neck. You hadn’t really prioritized getting to know more about your neighbors or the building; you were too focused on getting your apartment together. “If meeting people your age is your goal, I’d go to the rooftop,” The older woman suggested, “There’s a community area there and I’m sure I’ve seen some young folks heading up there every now and again.” Well that was interesting. You found yourself following her suggestion after thanking her and bidding goodbye, hopping off the stairs to reach the roof. And you couldn’t say you blamed people your age for coming up here once you reached the top. It was really pretty, with a great view of the city and comfy seating and a fire pit. You could see yourself and your friends cozying up with blankets and a few drinks up here.  You’re almost too busy admiring the view and seeing if you can pinpoint some places to visit on your weekends to dismiss small mewling sounds coming from the door of the stairwell. The unfamiliar noise caught your attention and you went over to check it out.  Sure enough, there was a small cat looking up at you with big eyes, meowing never ceasing. You leaned down to let the cat smell your hand, eyes immediately drawn to the red collar resting around its neck. “So you’re not a stray... Where’s your owner, little guy?” You asked softly, not wanting to spook the cat sniffing at your hand. Deciding you were okay, he snuggled up to your hand, allowing you to bring him into your arms and look around the stairwell.  The thought to go to the front desk and ask about who owns pets had barely crossed your mind when you heard a male voice call out from the stairwell below.  “Odd??? Odd?? Where are you??” Based on the way the kitty perked up at the voice and name, you figured you found the owner of the little guy. So you followed the voice, and not even a full set of stairs down were you faced with a very distressed, erratic looking young man.  At the sight of the cat (Odd, was it?) in your arms, the relief that visibly took over his form was almost cute. You took the time to take in the owner’s features. Monolid eyes with a couple of distinct moles, piercings, and a dark mullet with shoulders as wide as you’ve ever seen before, he didn’t seem like the type to be cooing and currently chastising over this small cat. “How’d you get out?” He wasn’t even talking to you, fully focused as he leaned down to quietly talk to Odd. It was... a little awkward and so you carefully pushed the cat towards his own arms, finally bringing his attention to you. “Oh sorry,” He took Odd from you, holding him like a baby, “Thanks for finding him, his siblings were worried. I was worried... obviously...” His expression turned sheepish, once again surprising you at how awkward this man seemed to be despite his appearance. You loved animals, so you couldn’t help but ask, “Oh? More pets?” At the mention of his other animals, he smiled. “Yeah, four others. They’re all trouble makers.” “If this one,” You gestured to Odd, “Is anything like the others, I’d say you have your hands full as a cat dad.” “They keep me on my toes for sure... But they’re my kids so I put up with it.”  The two of you stood there in silence for a little while, not meeting each other’s eyes. You cursed yourself for being so awkward with the first potential friend that wasn’t a fellow teacher.  “So, uh.... yeah.” You wanted to hit yourself. “I’m... Y/N, by the way. I just moved here.” “Jaebum.” He nodded, careful to keep Odd in his arms as he bowed. You returned the gesture before deciding the awkward atmosphere was too much. “It was nice to meet you, Jaebum. I’ll see you around?”  He nodded, waving you off as he went back to his hall and you returned down the stairs to your own apartment. Once inside you banged your head against the wall. You always struggled with making friends because of your anxiety, and not everyone was as kind or patient to you as Jaebum had been in that first encounter.   You were determined to show him that next time, you weren’t awkward and he could be your friend.                                    ______________________________ As it turns out, you didn’t show him. A week or so goes by and you fall into a routine of going to school, planning, and sometimes visiting friends. Occasionally you catch Jaebum getting mail or walking out at the same time, but each time you keep clamming up and unable to do more than exchange small talk. Which, judging by his barely concealed grimances, he hated. But he was polite and you honestly were just hoping that you’d pull yourself together and be able to hold a conversation that wasn’t laced with uncomfortable awkwardness. You got your chance, though, when getting your mail after school. Your eyes lit up seeing the package, only to frown and pout when you saw it wasn’t even for you.  It did, however bring you a little excitement to see it’s for Jaebum (with JB in big English letters next to his name, you guessed a nickname) and you saw the apartment number listed in the address. You considered it for only a moment before going up the stairs. After all, he’d want his package right?  Coming up to the door, you hear music from his apartment. You briefly wondered what kind of genres he liked the most before knocking, trying to be a good neighbor (and hopefully friend after this). There wasn’t a response so you knocked again, a bit louder in case he couldn’t hear you over the music.  “I’m coming, can’t you just be patient Yug-- Oh. Y/N.” Jaebum swung open the door, looking a little irritated and tired. Headphones slung around his neck, traces of stubble from not shaving recently, and the bags under his eyes only confirm your suspicions that he hadn’t slept.  “Rough night?” You meekly offer, only to want to throw yourself off a cliff a moment later. Really? That’s what you decide to open with? No wonder he’s not your friend. He rolled his eyes at your question, but nods and gave you a look that clearly said “What do you want and why are you here?”. You certainly didn’t need to be told twice, even with body language.  Barely missing a beat, you held up the package in your arms. “So, uh, I don’t know if this will help, but here! This got delivered to me by accident.”  The second he saw the postage label his eyes brightened and a grin overtook his face as he grabbed it from your arms. You managed to ignore the small jump in your chest at the sight of his genuine smile.  “This must be from Mark! He’s my friend, he lived here for a long time but now he’s back in the U.S... I really miss him but I know he’s doing well.” Jaebum rambled, his eyes focused on the package but once flicking up to you, as if to see if you were paying attention.  Is he... initiating conversation? With you? “I’m glad you can keep in touch this way, I understand how it feels to miss friends far away...” You managed to get out, and his smile turned to you. Oh... He has a nice smile. You wondered if he did it often with friends. You hoped to find out.  A small meow captured your attention, and you look down to see Odd and this other fluffier cat coming to inspect you and what their owner was holding. Just as you were about to ask Jaebum about Odd, the other cat swatted at Odd’s face and pretty much pushed him out the door towards you. Ah... You see how he got out now.  “Nora Stop! You can’t do that to your siblings!” Jaebum immediately put the package down, picking up Nora to scold her. You stifled a laugh, seeing him be such a dad with his cats. He wasn’t joking when he called them his kids. Odd didn’t even try to go back inside, meowing loudly and coming up to you, rubbing himself against your leg as if to gain sympathy. It worked. You picked him up gently, rubbing his ears and letting him relax in your arms. When there was suddenly no scolding, you looked up to see Jaebum looking at you intensely, making you shift a little as your anxiety spiked. Did you do something wrong? “Odd really likes you. Huh.” Was all he said, a small half smile coming on his face as he looked at you. Suddenly the walls felt like they were way too close and you needed space immediately.  Putting the cat down, you made sure he went back into the apartment and cleared your throat, trying not to make eye contact as you said, “Okay! Sorry to bother you, I’ll just leave it at the door next time --”  You’re already making your way down the hall when he calls your name, making you pause and count the seconds before your fight or flight instinct forced you to run to the safety of your apartment. “It’s not a bother. If my cats like you, I like you. See you around, Y/N.” He waved, his voice almost gentle as he closed the door to his apartment. Maybe... he didn’t hate you after all.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

6.7

*** Cloning prt 7

Premise: Captured Lance. Cloning. Langst.

Scene: When the team finally find Lance, they don’t expect to find him with a child that’s the splitting image of Keith. Non con body modifications. No Mpreg. They all live. I guess season 6ish because I love our grizzled Keith…

*

Shiro had been a clone. Shiro had been a clone. The castle was gone. Lotor was… hopefully gone. Keith had a new scar across his face… and Shiro had been a clone. His brother hadn’t been his brother at all…

With everything being how it was, Lance had shut himself in Red. The idiot shouldn’t have been piloting, and he shouldn’t have bonded back with Black… but there they were. His attentions split between Lance who needed him, and Shiro who needed him despite being in a pod. Seeing all those copies of his brother had really messed him up. He couldn’t get the idea of their being tubes like that filled with copies of Lance out there somewhere… or copies of him… or Lancella and Laith. It was only thanks to Lance’s strength of mind that Voltron could form… Lance who jumped at every strange noise and had kept well away from him since the truth had come out.

“Do you think he’s okay?”

Hunk had been pretty devastated that Lance hadn’t been up to talking to them. Keith had basically been kicked out once Lance was out of the shower and in his pyjamas… and now they’d lost the castle. The safe place that Keith had been sure he’d be able to get through to Lance in. He was sure that wasn’t okay, yet that would all make them feel even more miserable

“I don’t know”

“Should we see if he wants something to eat?”

“Yeah. I’ll go. Lancella will probably hate the taste of those ration bars”

Pidge shook her head

“I don’t know how you managed to take care of her and a baby. I have no idea what she was trying to say most of the time”

Yeah…. Nobody had invented a translation app for toddlers so he’d just let Lancella babble

“I didn’t either. I kind of nodded and agreed with her and that seemed to work”

“I still can’t believe Lance is a dad… We haven’t even been able to apologise for thinking he was dead”

Coran gave him a look that told him now would be the perfect time to explain things from his perspective, only Keith wouldn’t do that to Lance

“It’s not your fault. It’s none of our faults. Though if the castle hadn’t been lost I would have liked to take a trip to that planet to give them a little taste of revenge”

Hunk’s bottom lip wobbled at his “bad joke”

“He’s supposed to be my best friend and I didn’t notice. How could I not notice?”

“Hunk, like Shiro, the clone had Lance’s memory. We were probably never meant to know Lance was still out there, but we’ve got him back. And we’ve got Shiro back. That’s what we need to focus on now”

“What if he never wants to talk to us again?”

Keith felt that hard. But he had to believe in Lance like Lance believed in him

“You wouldn’t have been able to form Voltron if he did. I’ll see if I can coax him out”

“Can you tell him we miss him?”

“Yeah, man. I’ll let him know”

Armed with food, Keith headed up Red’s ramp nervous about what he’d find when he finally saw Lance. He had so much to say to him. He didn’t expect Lance to be right there, “playing” with Lancella and Kaltenecker. Lance hadn’t expected him either as his head whipped around and he pulled Lancella away from his precious cow

“I… uh, I brought you up some food. Hunk tried his best. It’s better than rations…”

“How’s Shiro?”

Keith blinked. He hadn’t expected that from Lance. He’d expected an awkward “thanks” followed by that question, not to jump straight there

“He’s healing”

“That’s good. And you?”

Lance was asking him? He didn’t know what he was… Everything with Shiro had been so extreme

“Relax, mullet. I know you’re exhausted. I meant your face”

Oh…

“It doesn’t hurt”

“That’s good. I’m sorry about Shiro”

“That’s not your fault”

“I feel like I should have noticed something”

It was like he was talking with the team about Lance

“The technology was designed so we wouldn’t…”

“I bet the team doesn’t know what to say. Not one but two clones… Lancella, and Laith…”

“They might be clones but they’re still themselves”

Lance’s eyes widened, before his gaze dropped to Lancella

“I know… I’m…”

“Lance?”

“I know that… but it’s still hard. She’s been asking about you… I think you have a fan”

Lance was soooo much better at speaking toddler than he was

“She’s a good kid”

“Yeah… I’ve been thinking and I know I need to tell the team what happened, but with Shiro being our priority, I don’t want to drag everyone else down”

“They want to know… I mean… Hunk said to make sure I told you how much they miss you… but…”

Awkwardness hit hard. Keith kind of knew what he wanted to say, and at the same time he didn’t know if what he wanted to say was what he should say

“… but I think they’d be happy knowing you’re okay”

Lance snorted, before letting Lancella down

“I’m not sure okay is the first word I’d chose. Do you want to see Laith? He’s sleeping”

“Oh… I’m… Um… not if you don’t want me to”

“Technically they’re your children too. I won’t deny you access to seeing them. But if you don’t want to, that’s okay too”

“No! I mean… I do. But I know what he’s like when he doesn’t get enough sleep”

“Yeah… He’s good at making his unhappiness known. Not at all like his fathers”

“I don’t know, I remember plenty of times you didn’t want to go to training in the morning”

“That’s because Allura always chose inhuman hours to set the alarms off”

Both of them ducked their heads as their eyes met. He really had missed Lance. And now with Shiro… Lance would have been the one he turned to. He’d have some kind of “Lance wisdom” that would annoy him yet be appreciated at the same time

“Thanks for the food… You’re right about the ration bars”

It felt like Lance was bringing the conversation to an end, and Keith didn’t want that

“I thought maybe we could talk? We don’t have to talk about that, but…”

“It’s nice to know sometimes never change. You’re as awkward as ever, man”

Put him in front of his crush and that was what happened. He’d nearly lost two out of the three most important men in his life forever

“That’s not my fault. You were always the one who knew what to say…”

“You’re fine, Keith. You nearly lost your brother, no one is expecting you to know what to say right now”

“No… I… I didn’t believe you and I should have”

If he hadn’t dismissed Lance, then maybe things wouldn’t have resulted in the castle being lost to them, and Shiro wouldn’t be lying in a pod. Now it felt like that was exactly why they’d clone Lance, because two clones would be completely unbelievable

“He’s your bother. No one wants to believe their family has been replaced by a clone, good or evil. Lancella, Keith’s got food for us. Do you want to show Keith your room? She’s basically claimed all of Red as hers”

“How does Red feel about that?”

“I think he’s secretly loving being admired for the big beautiful red beast he his. He’s not quite as fond of her when she’s got sticky hands”

Keith didn’t particularly enjoy that either… food goo didn’t equal a good time with a cranky toddler

“Sounds fun”

“Yep. Come on through. Mind the mess and all that. I had to improvise a washing line”

Following Lance and Lancella, Lancella ran over to the bed she clearly shared with Lance and Laith, throwing herself across it as Lance groaned

“Don’t wake you brother”

The room was as small as he remembered it. Almost an afterthought during construction really… and with the washing Lance had up, all that was really left space wise was the bed. Lance’s improvised washing lines looked ready to give up their post at any moment

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting visitors… Babies… poop a lot. Then with her nightmares… I’ve been trying to keep up with it”

“I had the whole castle and mum still had to help…”

“In your defence you never grew up with babies around…”

“No. Lance…”

“It’s okay…”

None of this was okay. Lance was trying his hardest to do everything alone and it showed

“I want to help”

“Keith…”

“They’re my kids too. I want to help”

“You don’t have to feel obligated… They used your DNA because of me”

“And?”

“And I get that you didn’t sign up for suddenly being a dad”

“Neither did you”

Lance’s breath hitched, Keith sensing incoming tears

“What else am I supposed to do? It’s because of me…”

“It’s not your fault”

“They chose me”

“And if they hadn’t you’d be in my shoes telling me I didn’t have to do it alone. You’re exhausted, aren’t you?”

“No more than anyone else. Besides, there’s bigger things going on”

Climbing back off of “her bed” Lancella carried a scrunched piece of paper over to him

“Oh, right. She drew you… I think it’s you. And maybe black? Let me take the food, the bed’s pretty safe but I don’t know how long my favourite little monster is going to sleep”

Lancella wanted his attention now, bottom lip wobbling as her small hands started tearing at the paper. Lance quick to take the bowl of food off of him so Keith could crouch down to Lancella’s height

“Is that for me? Can I have it?”

He thought he’d said all the right things until he looked up to Lance who’d lost his colour

“Can you sit down properly? With her… I…”

“Is it something to do with…?”

“They’d… before they…”

Lance backed up, hitting the side of his bed as he did. Keith letting himself fall back onto his arse before pulling Lancella over to him

“Sure. Now, what do we have here? Did daddy help you draw this?”

“This was all her. I need to thank you for introducing her to pencils. Most of them have managed to make it into bed with us”

“You’re welcome. I didn’t know what to do”

“I know… I’m… sorry, give me a tick”

“Lance, it’s okay. I’m not mad at you for you having triggers. It’d be weirder if you didn’t”

“I don’t want to talk about what happened in front of her. I don’t want her knowing… God knows how I’ll explain this to her in the future”

“You don’t need to. I mean, space is so big…”

“I’d prefer if she never knew but… I still can’t believe the pod stabilised her”

“Yeah… but she’s been okay since, right?”

“I’m surprised you haven’t heard her tantrums. She’s not loving life on a Lion”

Peering over Lancella’s shoulder, Keith didn’t know what he was looking at. There was something red and something black, and a bit of purple

“It looks just like me”

“I know, she got your love for red right. Keith… I meant what I said, you don’t have to feel obligated in any way”

“It’s… I didn’t think I’d be a dad…”

“I don’t know if I can even call myself that… I care about her, and Laith but…”

Lance loved them. He wouldn’t be so attached and determined to do things alone if he didn’t… then again, it was kind of complicated and probably easier for Keith as he hadn’t been there with Lance

“You went through a lot”

“Yeah… I suppose so”

“My mum is happy to babysit if you’d like. And she wants to be involved in their lives… we both do”

Poking at the food in the bowl, Lance pulled out a weedy stem. Their scanners had said some of the foliage on the planet was safe to eat, not that it mattered seeing the ingredients had been saved from the castle

“What does that even look like? You’re you… and I’m… I’m not even sure anymore”

“You��re you. Shiro’s no less Shiro, even if he’s in a clone…”

Snorting sadly, Lance moved from the bed to the floor

“This is why I didn’t want to burden the team. He’s been through so much and all I’m doing is talking about me”

“You need someone to talk to, too”

“I’ve got the kids”

“That’s not the same thing and you know it. I want you to be able to talk to me”

“I dont know what to say anymore. You should be focused on Shiro. He’s going to need you more than ever when he wakes up to find his arm gone again”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t be here for you”

“You need to focus on Shiro. You’re the leader of Voltron, Keith. You…”

Keith was getting sick of being told what he should do, or to focus on Shiro. He was worried enough about him as it was

“I what? I can’t worry about you?”

“You’re only worried about because of the kids”

“That’s not true. When I came back and heard you were dead… I thought I’d lost you forever. I care about you”

“I know… I mean, I knew. Everything’s so messed up now”

“You think I don’t care?”

“I don’t know. I mean… we have the kids now, but you’ve got your own path…”

“So? That doesn’t mean I’m not your friend. I want to know how you’re doing. I want to be here for you”

“If you try to split your time you’re only going to end up exhausted, Keith”

“Isn’t that for me to decide? What I do with my time?”

He was getting defence, but in his defence Lance was as dense as ton of bricks

“I just mean… no. Never mind”

“Say it”

“Alright. I don’t want to be your pet project. I don’t want you to rush in and try to fix everything. I don’t want you to only be my friend because of the kids. Lancella, try this”

Loading up the spoon, Lance held it out for Lancella as Keith struggled with what he’d been told. How could Lance not think they were friends?

“Do you really think that’s the only reason I’m here?”

“I don’t know what to think”

“I thought we were friends… before everything happened”

“But it’s been years for you”

“That… I did miss you”

And he’d dreamt about him… and had visions of a future with Lance… Keith’s cheeks warming at the memory as Lancella smacked the spoon out of Lance’s hand, Lance looking down to where it lay on the floor. The look in his eyes seemed so sad

“Do you want me to try? Hunk had to trick her into accepting the spoon when we first tried to give her goo”

“She… she’s used to using her hands instead of cutlery… she… she’d never coloured in before… or ran and played… or did anything a kid should… they didn’t give us enough rations”

“Is that why you played up?”

“I wanted more food for everyone… she was starving to death and I couldn’t do anything”

Lance had starved himself to look after her. Coran had said Lance was malnourished

“No one’s going to try take your food away. We’ve got enough rations on the lions and with what Hunk brought from the castle. Besides, cutlery is over rated. Think about the people use cutlery when eating pizza”

“I would kill for a slice of pizza…”

“When we get back to Earth I’ll order you a whole quiznakking pizza”

“Only one?”

“It depends on how I’m feeling at the time. Lancella still has plenty of time to learn. She’s a good kid, Lance. She might not have come into the world in the best of ways but that isn’t her fault. She’s alive. And she’s real. And she’s really lucky to have you as a dad”

“I don’t know about that”

“I do. All she wanted was you. She wouldn’t trust you if she thought you were a bad person”

“I feel like the crappiest parent in existence. I don’t know what I’m doing. You’re stuck with the three of us. They used your DNA because of me and I don’t know if I can keep doing any of this…”

Lance hit his emotional limit. Shifting Lancella out of the way, he reached out to take the Red Paladin’s hand. The toddler far more interested in the food now it spoon free

“You can. You’ve always had my back. You’re… you’re my right hand man. When I needed you, you were there for me”

“But we have kids now. How am I supposed to keep them safe when I can’t trust myself anymore?”

“I trust you. You haven’t been sleeping either, have you?”

“I get so scared that this is just another mind game. That I’m going to wake up and it’s going… it’s all going to be fake and we’re still back there”

“I don’t know how to fix that…”

“I don’t know either… Keith… I don’t know what I’m doing. I jump at everything. I can’t sleep and if I do fall asleep all I do is have nightmares. You’re not okay. Shiro’s not okay. The team… I don’t know how to face them… I’m so embarrassed”

“What have you got to be embarrassed about?”

“They chose me… they chose me because they knew I’m the least worthy Paladin… they said no one would know the difference between me a useless clone and they didn’t… I waited and waited… and they… no one came. I couldn’t… I couldn’t stop them. They were in my head and… over and over I begged them to stop but they wouldn’t stop. I feel so broken”

Moving to hug Lance, Lance dissolved into sobs

“I want to be strong for the kids but it hurt. It hurt so much. They… they chose me… but I don’t know why I’m not as good as everyone else”

Lance would have traded places with anyone on their team in a heart beat and not given it a second thought

“You are. You are”

“I wanted to come back…”

“I know you did. I’m sorry I was late. I’m sorry we lost the castle and Lotor was a piece of shit. But I’m not sorry that the kids are ours biologically. You’re not a shit parent, Lance. You’re a parent going through some serious shit”

“But you’re stuck…”

Lance was clinging to him now, Keith clinging back just as hard. Thankfully Lance’s head was hidden against his shoulder where he couldn’t see Keith’s tears

“I’m not stuck. Out of everyone in the team it was you I missed the most. I missed you, Lance. I missed my best friend. I care about you, idiot. If anyone was going to be the father of my children, then I’m glad it’s you”

“I don’t want to be scared anymore. I don’t know if… how many other “mes” might be out there”

“The only important you is right here, sharpshooter”

Swapping to rubbing Lance’s back, Lance cried himself out on his shoulder until Keith was supporting the majority of Lance’s weight

“We should get you to bed”

“I don’t want to sleep”

“Will it make you feel better if I stay?”

“I can’t ask you to do that”

“I’m offering. I know you want the kids as close to you as possible, but would you be okay with mum watching them?”

Lance let out a fresh sob

“Okay. Hey, it’s okay if you’re not ready”

“They took her away over and over… f-f-for testing… we weren’t allowed to talk…”

“No one’s taking her away again. Just know that when you are ready, mum would love to see them”

“She must be so disappointed in me”

“No, Lance. I promise you she isn’t at all. She really wanted to meet you”

“I’m so glad you found her”

“Me too. You should have been there on the whale with us. You would have loved the forest. It even rained”

“I can’t imagine it”

“It wasn’t all fun. Because of some really weird space shit we had visions of the future and the past. She pretty much saw all our history”

“Then she knows I was an arsehole”

“Not that I was any better. She also knows you’re a good guy. And how I feel about you”

“I really missed you, Keith”

“Me too, Lance. I know it’s hard, but I think you should talk to the team about everything. They all miss you”

“I missed them. I can’t… I feel sick thinking about this. It… it keeps playing on repeat”

“That’s because you’re exhausted. I’ll watch the kids, you need sleep”

“You need sleep too”

“I’ll be fine for a couple vargas. If it looks like you’re going to have a nightmare, I’ll wake you up”

“Shiro might…”

“If Shiro wakes up, mum will be there with him. And if he does wake up, I’ll wake you up”

“Promise?”

Lance had no idea what he was doing to Keith’s heart. He wanted to hold him until the pain was all better and Lance was making bad jokes again. All he could do was send Lance to bed, then mind the kids with the hope Lance would be up for talking with everyone once he’d gotten some real rest

“I promise”

[ericsonclan]

Color Me Pink

Summary: Marlon gets ready for the day and notices something that shows that the competition with Renata is far from over.

Word Count: 2786

Read on AO3:

Marlon gave a tired yawn as he got dressed; it was just another morning like any other. Another day where he would go to school and try to pass classes. But now there was something else that came with each school day: his competition with Renata. As luck would have it he had somehow fallen for the same girl as her. Once the two had learned of this fact, neither of them would budge and instead made a deal. They would have a competition and try to woo this girl. Whoever won her heart first would get the girl.

Marlon had no idea why Renata was going after Sophie though. Well, that was a lie. How could someone not fall for Sophie? She was smart, beautiful, funny, kind, her eyes shone extra bright whenever food got brought up. Marlon gave a happy sigh at the thought of his crush but soon snapped himself out of the moment. He had to get out of the bathroom so his siblings could brush their teeth or take a shower before they all had to leave for school.

With another sleepy yawn, Marlon reached up to wipe off the steam on the bathroom mirror. His fingers brushed through the condensation and slowly revealed his image but something about it was off. Marlon’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion as his hand wiped the mirror faster until it was completely clear. The reflection in the mirror made Marlon’s eyes widen in shock. There was no way…

Renata hummed happily as she sat at the dining room table with a big bowl of cereal, her legs excitedly kicking underneath the table. So much so that her leg ended up colliding with the table, causing Prisha’s orange juice to nearly fall over. Prisha made a panicked yelp as she caught the glass just in time, saving a piece of paper she was jotting stuff down on. She took a deep breath then shot over a look at Renata.

“Hehe, whoops! Didn’t mean to almost ruin your homework, Prish.” Renata smiled and stuffed a spoonful of cereal in her mouth before talking again. “Whad homework diwd you not fimish?” Renata’s words were muffled by the food that struggled to stay in her mouth.

“Eat your food first before asking a question, and this isn’t a homework assignment, it's something for the school musical.” Prisha gave a long sigh then resumed her work.

“Ooo! That’s cool! That reminds me - Mom, can I join the dance club at school?” Renata looked back at Carley who was busy flirting with Lee while fixing his tie. The two seemed completely lost in their flirting as Carley leaned forward and captured Lee’s lips in a warm kiss that quickly turned into another one.

“Mom… Mom... “ Renata tried to get Carley’s attention but it wasn’t working.

“Lee!” Clementine spoke up from her spot at the dining room table. The sudden yell made Rosie stand up on alert and give a low bark.

“Hmm? What’s up?” Lee looked over at the table where most of his kids sat.

“Renata wanted to talk with Mom,” Clementine explained as she tossed a piece of bacon in her mouth. Bits of the bacon didn’t hit the mark though and ended up landing on Aasim’s tutoring notes that he was prepping for a certain redhead that he swore was just a friend.

“What’s up, Renata?” Carley walked over towards her middle daughter who opened her mouth to speak when a scream from the upstairs bathroom drew everyone’s attention.

Loud footsteps erupted from the second floor before a series of frantic thumps echoed on the stairs. Seconds later Marlon appeared, only wearing his jeans and a sock that was half on his foot and flying around wildly with each step he took. But that wasn’t the thing that made his family look at him with mouths slightly ajar. It was his mullet that was now a soft pink.

“Why the fuck did you dye your mullet?” Mitch’s eyes focused on his brother’s hair as he ate a piece of toast he had burned to hell and smothered in butter and jam.

“I don’t know, why did I?” Marlon’s eyes wandered over to Renata who gave a smug, playful smile.

“The world is full of mysteries. But didn’t you hear? Soft pink is in!”

Marlon’s frown deepened. “First you changed my alarm, then you caused my pants to rip at school and now my hair is pink! Y’know what? I’m still winning this!” Marlon pointed at Renata then whisked around and stormed back up the stairs.

“Really, Renata? Is it all worth it?” Aasim glanced up from his notes at his older sister who was busy high fiving Mitch.

“Well, considering that Marlon has been pulling similar pranks on me, yes. Yes, it is worth it,” Renata leaned back in her chair and tilted her head back, immediately noticing Carley there.

“I have to go to work but we are going to talk about these pranks. Both you and Marlon are escalating this way too much,” Carley looked at her daughter, her hands on her hips. Renata glanced away, not wanting to add any potential fuel to the fire.

“Your mom is right,” Lee walked forward, placing a hand on Carley’s shoulder with a smile. “After school today we’re going to sit down with you and Marlon.”

“Okay,” Renata gave a small nod, looking sad for a split second before smiling once more when she realized she still had breakfast to eat. Soon the rest of the morning prep was done and the six siblings set off for school. Prisha and Clementine led the way down the hall talking about this and that when all of a sudden Clementine noticed Louis walking the opposite direction. Both of them shared soft smiles at each other.

“Hey, Clem! Ready to see my skills in action during music class?”

“I can’t wait,” Clementine held Louis’ gaze as his smile grew. He then proceeded to spin around and walk backwards to still be able to talk with her.

“I can’t wait to finally hear you play!”

“Gonna have to keep waiting because no way I’m playing an instrument today,” Clementine gave a playful smile back at Louis.

Louis held his heart in mock pain. “You pain me, dear Clementine. Alright, but one day I will!” With a final wink Louis turned around and continued down the hall.

Clementine gave a small, happy sigh and was about to resume her conversation with Prisha when she noticed her older sister’s smile. “What?”

“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all,” Prisha’s lips held a teasing smile which made Clementine’s embarrassment grow but not as much as it did when Renata jumped into the conversation.

“So, when’s the wedding?’ Renata poked her head out from the back of the pack, causing her dark purple shirt to sway as well as some of the jewelry she had on.

“There’s not going to be a wedding,” Clementine replied, looking back at her younger sister.

“Guess you’re eloping then,” Marlon added into the teasing, although most of his energy seemed to go toward shaking off his nerves at all the eyes staring at his soft pink hair.

“Not before you and your mystery girl, Pinkie,” Clementine shot back a smile and Marlon frowned before he focused on seeing if his sports jersey could make his new hair work better or not.

“Speaking of mystery girls, here comes Aasim’s,” Renata jogged forward to be next to Aasim in order to tease him more.

Aasim’s eyes wandered over towards Ruby who was walking down the hall with Jesse and Violet. Ruby was talking happily with Jesse about the idea of visiting the horse stables and going horseback riding together while Violet seemed more focused on her loose shoelaces that she wouldn’t bother to tie. Jesse continued to speak with Ruby, giving a warm smile to his litter sister before he felt eyes on him and looked over towards Aasim.

Aasim immediately pretended to be finding a piece of paper from his notebook. Jesse’s aura was always intimidating so he’d rather not be on the bad side of him. While Aasim was busy trying to find a piece of paper that didn’t exist, Prisha was busy stealing a glance over at Violet who seemed to be doing the same to Prisha. Although perhaps that was hopeful thinking on Prisha’s part. At least that's what she told herself as she watched the blonde for a moment longer.

“Oh?” Clementine’s voice made Prisha look her way to see her playful smile. “Who’s having the wedding now?”

“That’s preposterous, I was simply…” Prisha couldn’t think of any good excuse which only made her siblings tease her more. All of them except for Aasim who was busy waving goodbye to Ruby, both of them blushing a bit when they locked eyes.

Soon the siblings split off and went their separate ways. Marlon tried his best to not let the eyes on him make him nervous but he couldn’t help it. As he worked to open his locker he heard a familiar voice that made his heart pitter patter.

“Heya, Mar! Ready to kick this school day’s ass!” Sophie leaned forward and gave a smile to Marlon. Marlon felt his heartbeat quicken and he tried to work to open his locker faster in case Sophie saw his hair and hated it. “Oh! You dyed your hair?”

Sophie’s words made Marlon freeze. “Yeah, I know it’s-”

“Super cute!” Sophie smiled at Marlon, her eyes focused on his soft pink hair. “It looks kinda badass too!”

Marlon couldn’t believe what he was hearing; his heart was pounding in his ears as he struggled to find the right words. He was in the middle of trying to figure out what to say when his eyes caught sight of Clementine and Mitch. Clementine was busy giving a thumbs up while Mitch seemed to be pressuring Marlon to go ahead and kiss Sophie. Both of his siblings’ actions made Marlon’s nerves grow. Snapping his eyes away and back to his locker he opened it. “Thanks,” Marlon gave a smile towards Sophie who immediately returned it.

“You wanna walk with me to my first class? I think it's on the way to yours,” Sophie’s offer made Marlon happy.

“I’d like that,”

“Say no more!” Sophie spun around and began to fidget with her baseball cap for a second before leading the way.

Marlon sent a look back at his siblings and waved them off, telling them silently to cut it out. Once he was partially successful, Marlon jogged up to join Sophie on the way to class.

The day flew by and lunchtime quickly arrived. Marlon had snuck off to go on a tree climbing adventure with Sophie while Renata focused on wooing the girl she was sure she and Marlon were competing for: Minnie. It only took her a moment to find the redhead sitting on the steps of the school with her guitar. She was busy tuning the guitar and strumming it before sneaking in a small break where she would toss a french fry in her mouth. Renata beamed and immediately made her way over there.

“Hey, Minnie!” Renata sat down beside the redhead with a playful smile.

Minnie, startled by the sudden voice and flustered by Renata’s presence, failed to toss the french fry correctly and ended up hitting herself in the eye. “Ow, fuck,” Minnie blinked wildly for a few seconds.

“Oh no! Are you okay?” Renata asked with concern.

Minnie closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. “Yeah, I think so,” She opened her eyes and felt her face grow extremely hot when she saw how close Renata’s face was to hers. Her eyes traveled down to Renata’s lips for a second before scooting back and clearing her throat. “What are you doing here? Not that I don’t like you here!”

“I saw you and I thought you could use some company. Plus I always love hanging out with you,” Renata kicked her legs lazily back and forth and gave a casual, flirty smile.

Minnie felt her heart flutter at that and she resumed her focus on her guitar. “I’m just playing my guitar, so I hope that's not boring,” She began to pluck at a few strings.

“Nope, it's not boring at all!” Renata shuffled closer to Minnie and listened thoughtfully as Minnie began to play. Both of them were enjoying the simple joy of the moment when things took a turn as Renata opened her lunchbox. As soon as she lifted up the cover a small explosion of pepper shot up and got in Renata’s nose.

“Ren! Are you okay?” Minnie placed down her guitar to check on Renata who gave a smile.

“I’m fin-” Renata was cut off by a series of small sneezes, the force of which made her head shake a bit. Minnie watched on, finding Renata’s sneezes cute, but snapped herself out of that to offer Renata a napkin.

“Here,” “Thanks,” Renata’s hand brushed against Minnie’s and the two locked eyes for a moment. Quickly Minnie pulled back and grabbed her guitar, starting up the song she was writing once more. Renata smiled over at Minnie then resumed enjoying the music. Turns out Marlon had also enlisted the help of Mitch. Well played. Renata glanced over at Minnie then looked up at the sky. It seemed that everything had worked out though. Renata gave another sneeze. Well, sort of.

The rest of the day flew by and soon the Everett siblings were on their way home. Both Marlon and Renata seemed rather smug even though they were about to have a talk with their parents about their pranks. They had each taken huge steps today with the girls they thought were one and the same. It would only be a matter of time before things took a romantic turn and when they did Marlon and Renata were sure they would rub it in the other’s face.

Sophie walked up to her room, a happy smile resting on her face. Today had been amazing, spending all that time with Marlon, going on that tree adventure with him, seeing him with that cute new hair. It was official: she was definitely falling for him. How could she not with how nice he was, his smile, the way he always seemed to really care about what she was saying?

Sophie sighed with contentment as she opened the door to her room. One day she’d get up the nerve to confess to him but for now she’d just continue to be great friends with him. She was so lost in thought that Sophie failed to notice Minnie until she tripped over her, landing harshly on her butt. Sophie looked over to see Minnie wrapped up in a blanket burrito.

“Happy or sad burrito?”

“Happy,” Minnie wrapped herself further in the burrito, trying to hide her somewhat goofy smile.

“That’s good. Is it because of that girl? What was her name again? Renata?” Sophie smiled when she saw her twin get even more flustered. “You have to introduce me to her! I don’t know how I haven’t met her yet, but she's gotta be great if she's turned you into a five foot eleven inch burrito blanket of happiness.”

“She is,” Minnie’s eyes traveled over to her sister. “I think I might have a crush on her.”

“Holy shit! Is that what you’re experiencing?” Sophie teased Minnie who rolled over to bump into Sophie. The two began to laugh when suddenly a knock appeared on the door and James poked his head in.

“Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to play some more Stardew Valley-” James stopped when he saw Minnie in the burrito blanket. “Happy or sad?”

“Happy! She has a crush!” Sophie had a teasing smile on her face as she nudged Minnie playfully.

“Shut up, I know you have a crush too! On that mullet dude,”

Those words seemed to shut up Sophie as her eyes grew large.

“Really? You two have crushes too?” James walked forward and sat down with his sisters.

“Wait, ‘too’?” Minnie popped her head out of the burrito blanket.

“Holy cheeseballs! Is it that guy playing soccer that you spotted when you were taking nature shots?” Sophie asked excitedly.

James tried his best to hide his blush at the mention of his crush.

“A soccer guy? How come I didn’t hear about this yet? You gotta spill!,” Minnie pressed James for details and soon the three siblings were all chattering away, each of them talking about their crushes while the other two cheered them on.

[imashayne]

Of Clouds in the Night Sky

Just a short quick Klance thing I wrote up the other night when I should have been working on bang fics XD This idea hit me and wouldn’t leave me alone, I had to get it out. It’s rough and I plan on doing more with it later, but for now I’m really happy with how it turned out lol

“That’s a wrap!” Coran clapped his hands, voice reaching the entire stage crew, including Lance where he stood up on the bridge. Beneath him the dancers broke their poses, chests heaving and sweat glistening beneath the lights as rehearsal ended. From his vantage he could see the handful of journalists from the school newspaper gather up their things as well.

To his left one of the other spotlights went out, and Lance followed suit. He breathed a small sigh of relief as the air around him cooled without the heat of the 500 watt bulbs. As he made his way over to the lift, gantry shifting with each step, Hunk and Pidge joined him.

“-I can’t believe the university doesn’t replace any of this old ass equipment-” Pidge huffed, folding her arms as they descended. Lance rolled his eyes, this conversation again. He liked working with the old spotlights, after all it was the closest he’d ever get to them he figured.

“We should bring it up to this century ourselves.” Hunk stated in a matter of fact manner, glancing down at Lance as he fanned himself, burnt orange shirt dark with sweat, “how do you not die of heat stroke next to those lamps in that sweater?”

Ignoring how his own clothes stuck to him Lance grabbed the collar of his signature green jacket and tugged it. “Are you kidding? I’m so cool it radiates from me.” Pidge snorted as the lift jarred to a halt.

When they reached the bottom he waved the two of them off, “I’ll catch up with you guys later!”

He began to cleanup, putting props away and hanging up the haphazard pile of discarded costumes. Taking his sweet time.

“Thank you my boy, always such a help. Once you’ve finished, lock up.” After Coran handed him the keys he left. Lance scanned the deserted backstage area, dashed to the left wing of the stage and glanced out into the seats.

Finally alone.

In the quiet Lance could almost pretend, as he stepped out onto the stage from behind the heavy red curtain, that it was the hush before a ballet began. On poised limbs Lance settled in the middle of the darkened stage. He slipped his jacket off in one motion that shifted like fluid into the next and the next.

Lance began to hum as he danced, arms arching and swooping, legs spinning him before he leapt into the air.

It was the almost imperceptible sound of a camera clicking, shutter closing to capture a moment, and the flash, lighting up the empty audience seats, that broke Lance’s concentration. What should have been a perfect landing ended with him falling, knees skidding across the glossed wooden floor.

But he ignored the pain, head snapping around to find who was there, pounding of his heart the only sound he could hear.

Lance didn’t have to look hard, from the wings a kid with pitch hair that looked as if it was in need of a trim rushed towards him, a look of concern on his features. It wasn’t until he was closer that Lance recognized him. Kevin or Keegan or something like that. They’d had a few of their general classes together. A pretty boy who’d never given Lance the time of day.

He held out his hand, “are you al-”

“What are you doing here?” Lance snapped, face flushed as he knocked the offered hand away and stood on his own. He couldn’t meet the other’s gaze, hyper aware of how bare his arms were. Blue eyes flashed back and forth, trying to find where he’d dropped his sweater. There! Center stage.

“Not that I owe you an explanation but I’m taking pictures for the article.” He spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lance tried not to lung for his jacket as he snatched it up, breathing a bit easier as he jammed his arms into the sleeves.

“Why did you take a picture of me?”

Smart guy didn’t have an answer for that one, by the way his mouth slammed shut.

“Well I don’t really care why, but you better delete it.”

The other scoffed. “Fuck no, you’re not my boss.”

“Yeah, and you didn’t ask to take my picture!”

Lance grabbed for the camera, but the other dodged away. Though he looked torn. Lance tried not to think about how cute he was as he bit his lip.

“Tell you what Lance-” That stopped him up short, this guy…. This super cute popular guy remembered him? “This picture will go away if you stop by my place.”

“Wha-no? Why?”

It was the other guy’s turn to blush, but he didn’t answer Lance’s question. “You know the Gama Zeta house?” Lance could only nod. “Meet me there, Saturday, 10 am.” He turned and started out of the theater, and was halfway down the middle aisle when Lance fell out of shock.

“Hey wait what about the picture?”

“I’ll delete it when you show up!”

***

Lance’s alarm went off, but his eyes were already wide open. All night, no, all week he’d been wondering why in the hell that guy asked him over. After what he’d seen that afternoon…

His thoughts ran wild as he brushed his teeth. What even possessed the guy to ask? The nerve. His own jittered in anticipation as he blended the foundation across his cheeks. He donned his jacket to cover his arms and headed out the door.

Anxiety was like electricity through his veins as he walked the campus.

By the time he reached the fraternity he felt lightheaded. It didn’t help that as he knocked on the door he held his breath. A tall guy answered and Lance’s eyes widened as he looked up at the handsome man.

“I’m uh… I’m here for…” Lance realized he never got a name.

“Oh yeah Keith said you’d be coming by for him. His room is up the stairs, second door on the right.

Lance followed the directions, but his fist hovered, hesitating to knock. The door opened regardless.

“Hey Shiro have you- Oh hey Lance you’re early.”

Lance could feel the warmth in his cheeks, “yeah uh…”

“Come in,” Keith stepped aside and as Lance entered he tried not to be too impressed with the mullet’s setup.

“What do you want.”

“Wow okay, no pleasantries.” Keith crossed his arms, “I want you to model for me.”

Lance was speechless, something rarely seen. Not that Keith would know.

“Can I take that silence as a yes?” Keith asked, mouth turned up at the corner. Lance sputtered, turning his gaze away from that adorable expression.

“Why in the hell would I say yes to that? I told you I wanted the one picture you took of me deleted.”

Keith pulled in a deep slow breath, running his fingers back through his hair and hell if Lance didn’t want to do the same thing.

“I’ve wanted to ask you since that class with Iverson-”

“Wait, you’ve wanted a picture of me for that long?” Lance wasn’t quite following.

“Yes-No! I mean…. I’ve wanted to ask you out. It wasn’t till I saw how fucking, Lance just breathtaking you were when you were dancing that I wanted to take your photo.”

For the second time that day, Lance was speechless. He wanted to call Keith a liar. To look around for the others who might be in on this prank.

The hopeful look that shone upon Keith’s features darkened with each second that passed.

But Lance had no idea how to reply, he searched for words, but the only ones that came to mind were “lets get this over with.” Before; “wait wait! I mean…. I don’t understand, like, at all. How you could be into me, and even less so about the, wanting a picture of me front but…. But sure to the date… and the photos…. So like, lets get this over with.” These sentiments rushed out of him before he could organize them.

“Slow down.” Keith chuckled, placing his hands on Lance’s shoulders. Keith began to slip the jacket down the other’s tensed shoulders. Though a part of him wished too, Lance didn’t stop him. It wasn’t until Keith’s hands slipped beneath Lance’s shirt that he did anything at all.

“Uh, what are you doing?” They were so close that Lance could feel the other’s breath hot against his lips.

“Getting you ready for the shoot.”

“Here I thought I was already-” His heart stuttered as the shirt lifted over his head, leaving him the barest he’d ever been around another, “ready.”

“Not for what I have planned.” Keith stated, tracing a part of lighter flesh upon Lance’s torso, hopping to the next pigmented discoloration, and the next, as if connecting stars to make a constellation. Until he reached Lance’s neck, pausing at his pulse, feeling how swift his heart beat.

“Make up?” Keith murmured.

Lance swallowed and nodded.

“It’s uh… it’s called vitiligo…” Lance answered, though Keith hadn’t asked. “It’s a skin condition….”

Keith nodded, taking a step back, leaving Lance feeling even more vulnerable than before.

“Go wash your face and take the rest of your clothes off.” He gestured towards his bathroom.

“No way!” Lance squeaked, covering his chest.

One eyebrow raised and a crooked smile graced Keith’s face. “Would you like my help again?”

The door slamming was his only answer as Lance stormed to the room Keith had pointed out.

When the door opened next Keith barely glanced up as he fiddled with his camera. Lance cleared his throat, unsure of what to do now.

“You can go and sit on my bed, I’ll pose you in a sec…”

Lance glanced between Keith and the neatly made bed.

“You sure do think you’re a smooth fucker huh?” Lance’s voice was tight, and he tried to will himself to calm.

“Yeah but only when I’m really into someone.” He shot a smirk up at Lance, eyebrow raising, “you’re gonna have to take the towel off.”

“I bet you say that to all t-the p-pretty…” his voice stuttered to a halt as Keith took all of him in.

“You’re beautiful.” He stood and pulled Lance’s hand out of the death grip it held on the towel. As the terry cloth fell Lance imagined how Keith’s lips would feel beneath his own. What would happen if, instead of sitting on the bed, Keith moving his limbs into a suggestive air, he grabbed the other boy and tumbled them both onto the blankets.

But then he tried not to think of that, because god forbid he have a damn boner while Keith was taking pictures of him.

“Take a deep breath Lance, hold that position for as long as you can.” He was on his knees, one hand between his legs, hiding his stiffening member, and one splayed back. He had no idea what sort of expression he was making, nor what he should be. But Keith didn’t say anything else as he stepped back, camera clicking away, each time from a different angle.

“Now hang your leg off the bed, but keep the other up and bent beneath you…” Keith walked around the bed, “straighten up, arch your back a bit…” click, “move your left hand to your hip…”click, “now to your shoulder.” Click.

Keith was behind Lance. “look back at me…perfect.” The last word was but a breath. Silence reigned and Lance grew sore with stiffness.

“Oh you can totally move now.”

He almost fell off the bed as he turned to find Keith sitting at his desk, camera already hooked up to his computer.

“Can I see?”

“Not yet, you can leave if you want but-“ Keith’s smile was bright as he looked at Lance again, before his eyes flicked back towards his screen, “I’d enjoy the company.”

Lance blinked before the flush that had never dissipated flared up. He nodded, though Keith wasn’t looking. “Yeah I’ll stay.” He got dressed, touching his face as he exited the bathroom. Of course he’d forgotten his makeup at home. The thought of leaving without any hiding his complexion had the anxiety that flirting had buried resurface. He needed a distraction. But talking with Keith seemed out of the question, he was so focused. Instead Lance began to wander the room. Everything was so tidy, each item had a place, from the boring physics books to the wicked looking knife. It all was a puzzle, like the boy himself.

Being as impatient as he was Lance quickly exhausted every diversion. With a sigh he fell onto the bed, satisfied that the covers mussed. He groaned, rolling onto his stomach, feet kicking up behind him.

Keith’s head fell back. “OMG Lance.”

“I’m bored! Are you done?”

“Ya know I said you could leave.”

“And you said you wanted company!” Lance was standing and didn’t remember doing so.

“Yeah before I knew you’d just be complaining the whole time.”

“I haven’t said a word! But okay whatever, I just wanted to see… I’m going.” Lance stomped over to the door, but a hand closed over his wrist and Keith spun him, leading him to the desk as he sat down he pulled Lance into his lap. Hushing his protests with a kiss. Lightning crackled down through his system but before he could deepen the exchange Keith was already pulling away.

“The edits aren’t done, but…” Keith turned the chair so that they could both look at the screen. What he saw stole Lance’s breath away.

Keith had changed the lighting of the photo to look like evening. But it wasn’t like nighttime around Lance, he’d made Lance the night. He had somehow made the lighter areas of pigmentation on Lance’s skin appear as clouds drifting through the sky. There was one across his right eye, and upon his hip. The one encompassing his shoulder looked as if it were being shaped by his own hand. The freckles that peppered his cheeks and back were brightened to look like stars and the blue of his eyes looked like deep pools.

“Woah.” He murmured, “Keith…. This is amazing.”

“You’re amazing Lance.”

“No way I don’t look like this!”

Keith’s arms tightened around him, “That’s how I see you.”

[calligraphist-artemisia]

Lets Make a Date

Summary: Pidge invites Lance to join her and some family friends for dinner, but neglects to tell him that one of those friends is the renowned pilot of the Kerberos Mission, Takashi Shirogane. (An AU where the Kerberos Mission succeeded and the Galra never captured the crew.)

Pairing: Shance, mildly Kidge

Also posted on AO3 and fanfiction.net (under the username “kishirokitsune”)

I got a request for a fic where Lance has a huge crush on Shiro (in addition to his hero-worship) and couldn’t resist. This was just too much fun to write!

Lets Make a Date

-

“You should have dinner with me tomorrow,” Pidge told him. “Matt and I are going out with some family friends and I could use someone on my side who won't bring up embarrassing childhood stories.”

And Lance, like a fool, had agreed to it without question, figuring it was just dinner with Matt and Pidge. Nothing could go wrong with that. Pidge would definitely warn him if she was inviting him to dinner with, say, famed astro-pilot Takashi Shirogane.

Oh wait.

That was exactly something she would do, because she was simultaneously the best and worst friend ever. (She was, of course, tied for that position with Hunk, who was his BFF and always would be.)

It was too late for him to panic. Too late to work out an excuse as to why he couldn't make it. By the time he realized who he was having dinner with, he was already standing across from Takashi Shirogane.

“Call me Shiro, please,” he said, politely reaching out for a handshake.

Lance wondered if anyone else could tell that he was trembling slightly as he took Shiro's hand. “I'm gay. I mean Lance! I'm Lance!”

Oh no.

Oh no.

A burst of heat rose to his cheeks, growing worse when Pidge nudged him with a knowing grin. The man next to Shiro covered his mouth and coughed discretely in an attempt to hide his amusement.  (Holy crow, it was Keith. Of course it was Keith there to witness him making a complete and utter fool of himself. He'd never live it down.)

Shiro's smile was kind. “It's nice to meet you, Lance.”

After that mortifying introduction, Lance gratefully sat down between Pidge and Matt, glad to keep some distance between himself and Keith, who sat on the other side of Pidge. Unfortunately, that still left Lance directly across from Shiro.

Glaring at Pidge proved ineffective, as she merely winked at him and then turned to strike up a conversation with Keith.

The traitor.

“You know, Shiro, Lance is a pilot as well,” Matt said.

Nope.

Lance was done.

He was one-hundred percent done with anyone with the last name “Holt”. They were all determined to get him to make a fool of himself. Well, he wasn't going to allow it. He wasn't going to play their games. He wasn't-

“Really?” Shiro asked, leaning forward in interest.

Lance wanted to sink into the floor. “I'm just a cargo pilot. It's not a big deal,” he mumbled, shrugging it off.

But Shiro continued to look at him as though he was someone fascinating and worth talking to more; as though a simple cargo pilot was someone important. Lance flushed under the attention.

“I wouldn't say that. Cargo pilots are the backbone of the Galaxy Garrison. Without you, no one would be able to do their job,” Shiro said. “You never know what you'll be asked to transport – it could be delicate technology or food supplies. Important equipment that needs to arrive swiftly and safely. There's a lot you have to take into consideration, and that's no small task.”

Lance could feel his blush spreading across his cheeks, burning its way to his ears. That was honestly the nicest thing he'd ever heard someone say about his job, and he could tell that Shiro genuinely meant every word.

“I guess so... It's just, I always wanted to be able to see parts of space that no one else has. To be someone people look up to,” Lance admitted. “Being a cargo pilot is okay, but it's not my dream.”

Shiro smiled. “Well, I can't promise it's all as exciting as you hope. It's a long road to get assigned the types of missions you want, but I think you have the drive to do it. Don't give up. Not if it's something you really want.”

The waitress interrupted before Lance could come up with a good response, and soon after the focus became what to order.

“Pasta or steak?” Pidge quietly mused next to him.

“Shiro and I are paying, so get whatever you'd like. We are here to celebrate, after all,” Matt told them.

Lance looked up from his menu. “Wait, what are we celebrating?”

“Katie has been picked as Keith's flight partner,” Shiro said, sounding proud as he looked at the two of them.

“Picked. Marched to Iverson's office to demand she be paired with Keith. Same difference,” Matt said with a cheeky grin.

Pidge's blush as she pretended not to hear Matt was definitely something worth investigating. But later. Maybe he'd wait a few days and then bring it up just to watch her sputter. It sounded like appropriate revenge for: (a) neglecting to inform him that Shiro was eating with them, and (b) not telling him the dinner was to celebrate.

(And also, he needed a little more time to process what was happening to his left, because seriously? She had a crush on Keith of all people? Keith, with that stupid haircut and horrendous fashion sense? Pidge had the worst taste.)

“Well, I guess that explains why Admiral Sanda looked like she was about to start spitting fire. She was pushing hard for you to be matched with Griffin,” Shiro remarked.

Pidge crinkled her nose. “I think I'd rather drop out.”

Keith looked at her as though she was the most incredible thing he'd ever seen, and Lance had never been happier to see a waitress return with their tray of drinks, because if he had to watch that for much longer he knew he'd say something regrettable.

Lance gave his order first, and while the others were giving theirs, he pulled out his phone to secretly text Hunk.

To: Hunk | So did u no about Pidge and mullet being flight partners?

Hunk responded almost immediately. 'Yeah, Pidge told me this morning. How's dinner? I wish I could be there.'

To: Hunk | Weird. P sure they're flirting now. Am I in the twilight zone? Am I dreaming??

To: Lance | Nah, if it were one of your dreams Shiro would be shirtless. He's not, is he? Because that would be weird. And inappropriate.

Lance's fingers spazzed over the touchscreen, punching a bunch of letters. 'asdfghjlkajs'

To: Hunk | No

To: Hunk | how do u no that?

To: Hunk | u knew???

To: Hunk | u knew and u didn't tell me????

To: Hunk | friendship over.

Hunk waited until Lance was finished with his panic texting and then responded with one final message: 'Lol, we knew it was the only way you'd show up. You're welcome.'

Lance scowled at his phone.

“Is everything alright, Lance?” Shiro asked.

“Fine!” Lance's voice went a little higher pitched than he liked. “I'm fine. I just, uh – Hunk, our friend, is texting me. That's all.”

“He's in the engineering department, right? You know, if you want to go into space, you'll need a good engineer. Someone you can work well with. Being a pilot isn't a solo gig,” Shiro advised.

Lance shook his head. “Nah, Hunk hates flying. Though...”

Actually, it wasn't a bad idea. Hunk would need to figure out how to handle his motion sickness at some point and there was no one he'd rather team up with than his best buddy. He should probably consider a back-up plan, but the thought of working together with Hunk was so appealing.

He glanced up at Shiro, who was still smiling at him. “I'll think about it. Thanks, Shiro.”

“It's no problem. And if you need any help, just let me know. I wouldn't mind lending you my old notes or any tips I've learned over the years,” Shiro said.

Holy crow. He had to be dreaming.

Lance wasn't sure if he even managed another intelligent response for the rest of dinner. There was so much to think about. So many possibilities. His heart raced at the thought of it all.

For so long he'd held Shiro up as a beacon of what he wanted to be. It'd been full hero-worship when he first started at the Garrison, and after seeing the man around campus a number of times, had budded into a tiny crush. But sitting there and listening to him joke around with Matt and Pidge and watching the brotherly affection he shared with Keith, he became something much more real to Lance.

And as dinner came to a close and they all began to go their separate ways, Lance found that he didn't feel as nervous anymore. Before he left, he even managed a proper: “It was nice to meet you, Shiro.”

Five minutes into his walk home, his phone buzzed with a message from Pidge.

To: Lance | Shiro thinks you're cute and I gave him your number. ;)

Lance grinned the rest of the way home.

[storiesbeyondthestars]

@drpepper-cult-leader requested Klance for snow day (specifically, Keith having never seen snow before) for @fluffbingo

Check it out on AO3

Keith was always a little bit wary when they settled down on planets after a fight with the Galra. The first couple experiences where they let their guard down resulted in Sendak nearly capturing Voltron and Lance dying, while the second incident resulted in the Blue Lion being stolen and Lance being chained to a tree. (He was seeing a bit of a pattern here.)

That being said, as they settled down on the planet they had just chased the Galra from, he couldn’t help but be in complete awe. The sky was covered with thick, puffy silver clouds, and as far as he could see, the entire planet was completely covered in snow.

“Oh my god,” Pidge said, breath swirling up in front of her. Bless their suits for being able to adapt to the temperatures around them. “They’re Yeti.”

Keith agreed. He always had a bit of an interest in myth and legends, including cryptids, and though he doubted many of them could exist naturally on Earth, going into space really made him wonder if the things that people were seeing might have been from other worlds.

He was starting to think that he was onto something, because the people of this world, which Coran called the Yethid people, definitely looked like what Yeti were depicted as.

That should have been the thing that amazed Keith most, it really should have. Or perhaps the festival that they were invited to, or how everything was made from stone and ice, but instead, he couldn’t stop staring at the snow.

Keith had to travel across the universe to see snow for the first time in his life. Well, okay, he had seen pictures and videos before, but he had never actually seen it like this.

He shifted forward to look at a snow sculpture more closely, and a snowball streaked by where he had just been, slamming into the side of Allura’s head instead.

She let out an undignified squawk and wheeled around, azure eyes shimmering with annoyance. “Lance!”

Keith looked around to see Lance staring back at them with wide, almost terrified eyes. He laughed weakly and raised a hand, “Hey, Allura. I was aiming for Keith?”

Allura stared at him for a moment before swooping down to the ground, bundling some snow in her hands, and tossing it at Lance’s face, hitting him dead-on.

For a moment, everyone was silent, and then the Yethid leader loudly declared, “Snow battle!”

All of the Yethid people around him stopped what they were doing and went for the snow. Just like that, a giant snowball war had begun.

(Apparently, it would have been incredibly rude not to participate, so needless to say, they all joined in.)

Keith couldn’t stop the smile that was slowly growing across his features as he weaved around the other Paladins as well as the Yethid people. He was looking one way, aiming a snowball at Shiro and not at all paying attention to where he was going, when he ended up slamming into someone else.

He yelped as they both slid on the ground, toppling down a nearby hill and rolling. As the world spun around him, Keith made out the blue armour on the person rolling with him. At some point, their helmets ended up falling off of them, rolling down a few feet away.

He grunted as he slammed into a snowbank on his back, Lance’s weight landing on top of him. There was a pause, and then both of them burst into hysterical laughter.

Lance pushed himself up on his forearms, grinning down at Keith, who couldn’t stop himself from shaking with amusement.

A few more chuckles slipped out of his lips as he stared up at Lance, before he latched onto something just beyond him. Keith’s eyes widened. “It’s snowing.”

Lance looked up, staring at the large, puffy snowflakes that were softly starting to fall. He rolled off of Keith, sitting beside him instead as he stared up at the sky. “Wow.”

Keith sat up, missing the feeling of Lance’s warmth for reasons he didn’t really want to think about. Not right now. He stood up, staring at the sky in awe. “It’s amazing.” Behind him, Lance stood and tried to take a step towards him, only to slip and stumble. Keith shot around, grabbing onto him to keep him upright. “You good?”

“Yeah.” Lance nodded his head, looking anywhere but at him as his cheeks turned red. “Never seen snow before, Mullet?”

Keith shook his head, slightly aware that he was still holding onto Lance’s arms. “No. I grew up in the desert, and it can get cold at night but this…I’ve never seen this before. I’ve never even been to an ice rink before. The closest I saw were pictures and the things in simulations at the Garrison.”

Lance stared at him for a moment, no doubt surprised by Keith’s detailed answer. Keith himself was surprised at how much he had shared. Still, it made the other boy smile. “I’ve been skating, but I’ve never seen it actually snow either.” Keith looked up at him with surprise. “I grew up in Cuba, and then moved to the Garrison. Hunk was lucky, he got to travel to see it.”

“Oh, right.” Keith was once again reminded that he didn’t really know all the other Paladins all that well. He didn’t like that, but it was so hard to open up more. He could try though. This was something pretty harmless to talk about. “I know it’s just frozen water, but it’s…I dunno. Beautiful?” He looked up at the sky, once again holding out one of his hands to catch up and stare at it closely. This kind of snow looked even more shimmery than the pictures of snow from Earth. It had almost an iridescent gleam to it, which made everything feel almost dream-like, it was weird.

“Yeah, it is.” Lance’s breathless voice made him look at him, and Keith was a bit taken back to see the fond expression on the other boy’s face as he stared at him.

He couldn’t stop himself from taking in the snowflakes that were glittering from where they stuck to Lance’s hair and eyelashes, feeling his own cheeks warm just a bit. It didn’t help that his other hand had remained on Lance’s arm the entire time.

They stared at one another, and Keith couldn’t stop himself from smiling back at him. For a brief moment, it was like nothing else existed except for them.

That was until they heard Hunk calling out for them from somewhere up above them.

Keith blinked. “We should get back to the others.” He reluctantly stepped away, going over to pick up both of their helmets, handing Lance’s over to him.

“Yeah.” He put the helmet on, and took a few steps towards the hill, but got only a couple feet before he slid back down. Lance stared at the hill for a moment before looking at him sheepishly. He reached out, taking Keith’s hand into his. “I may need some help getting up the hill.”

Keith’s eyes widened slightly with surprise, but then he smiled and squeezed Lance’s hand. “We can help each other up.”

They stepped forwarding, working as a team to climb up the slippery slope together.

[starlightlance]

Six Degrees of Separation

Summary: "He never in a million years would’ve thought he’d be heartsick for his self-proclaimed rival, feeling a pain in his chest each time he realized how far away Keith was."

Five times Lance and Keith called each other, and the one time they didn't have to.

Word Count: 8890

Notes: I got super inspired after season five, so I decided to write this! Honestly, it's just a combination of my hopes and dreams for season six with klance on top. I'm honestly pretty proud of it, too. Hope you enjoy! (featuring clone shiro, black paladin lance, and jacket stealing)

Ao3

I. 

Lance grinned as he watched Keith speak on the screen in front of him, listening intently to every word they rarely ever got to hear from him nowadays. Most calls to the Blade of Marmora were to the whole team, but Lance had a few calls with Keith alone, as did the other paladins. But Lance found something special in these calls, at least for him. With Pidge and Hunk closer than ever, talking about science stuff he didn’t understand, Matt joining their genius group, Shiro acting stranger than ever, and Allura and Coran so focused on the Coalition (and Lotor, who Lance didn’t even want to think about), he’d grown to be reminiscent on the times when Keith was with them. His past self never would’ve believed that, but Lance missed Keith. They were...friends now, and he longed to have that friendship again. But of course, right when Lance had begun to realize all that was going on inside his head about Keith, he’d taken off for the Blade of Marmora.

“Lance? You okay?” Keith asked, snapping Lance out of his trance. Lance’s eyes scanned over Keith’s expression, knit eyebrows and a small pout showing concern. He didn’t fail to notice the way his heart soared upon seeing that Keith cared.

He nodded quickly. “Yeah, fine.” Keith had just been telling him about finding his Mom. They’d all seen the vlogs everyone on the team made, and it was no secret that Keith had gotten a bit...overwhelmed in his. Lance was just glad he could find some closure on that. “I’m happy for you, buddy.”

“Thanks.” Keith was doing that thing where he rubbed his thumb and fingers together. “She...hugged me, and now she’s here with me. It’s not perfect or anything, but we’re working through things. Maybe you guys could meet her one day.” The way Keith spoke about his mom made Lance’s heart ache for his own- his mom who gave great hugs and loved him unconditionally. His mom who would run her fingers through his hair when he was upset, his mom who probably thought he was dead for so long. His mom who was now likely worried sick about Lance fighting a war in space and hearing him try not to cry when watching his video. But this was about Keith’s mom, so he pushed those thoughts back for now.

“That’d be great.” Not only because Lance would get to meet Krolia, but because Keith would be back home. “Do you get your stubbornness and hotheadedness from her? Or your mullet?”

Keith rolled his eyes, though his lips tugged upwards at the playful teasing. However, before he could respond, Lance could hear alarms blaring at the Marmora Base. Keith frowned, obviously upset. “Sorry, Lance. I have to go. We’ll talk soon again, yeah?”

Trying to hide his disappointment, Lance nodded. “Yeah, uh huh, see you later, Keith.” He smiled, his heart fluttering at the way Keith smiled back before he hung up the call. As the holographic screen disappeared, Lance sighed, leaning back against his bed. Almost every call seemed to be cut short like that. Either Keith had to go on a mission for the Blade, or Lance one for Voltron. Keith already wasn’t here for the most part; couldn’t Lance pretend he was for more than ten minutes? He never in a million years would’ve thought he’d be heartsick for his self-proclaimed rival, feeling a pain in his chest each time he realized how far away Keith was. Lance couldn’t help but laugh bitterly to himself. He didn’t think Keith would ever feel the same way about him, not when Lance had gotten into petty fights with him constantly before, so what was the use of feeling like this? But Lance couldn’t make it go away, so he allowed himself to imagine what it’d be like if Keith was still with them as he drifted off to sleep.

He was woken from his dream approximately two hours later, shuffling out of the room to throw on his armor and thrust himself into battle while the vision of Keith’s lips against his faded from his mind as quickly as it appeared.

II.

The first time Lance caught on that something was wrong was the day on Olkarian, when the vines attacked them and they projected onto the astral plane. That was the day Shiro had yelled at him, unlike he’d ever yelled before. Lance actually couldn’t recall him doing that with anybody but Slav, and he didn’t want to admit just how much it had hurt. But what really convinced him that something was off was when Shiro called out to him, but couldn’t remember it at all afterward. Lance had felt a knot form in his stomach when Shiro denied that anything had happened, and ever since then, he’d been observing Shiro’s actions. He only grew more sure of it when Shiro admitted to Lance that he didn’t feel like himself. Whatever it was, Lance was determined to get to the bottom of it.

The problem was, he had no idea where to start. Lance wasn’t even sure if the rest of the team would believe him about this. Allura had agreed with him that Shiro was being difficult, but they’d thought it was because of stress before. Lance could tell this wasn’t just stress. He frowned, tapping his foot on the ground of his bedroom floor as he tried to think of a way to tell the others about his suspicions. After a moment, he had a sudden idea- Keith. It seemed ridiculous. Out of everyone, Lance was the most unsure of Keith believing him. He hadn’t even been here to see Shiro acting so off. But Lance felt an urge to tell him. Maybe it was because he was so far away. No matter the reason, Lance decided he was going to try and explain this.

He pulled out the communicator he used to talk to Keith (everyone had been given one, and Lance wondered how often the others used them). He figured he was supposed to be down for breakfast soon, but decided that could wait as he pressed the call button. Lance suddenly realized that he’d just woken up, and reached up to frantically fix his hair, looking in the reflection of the device at himself (it was a stupid concern, but he couldn’t help wanting to look nice when talking to Keith). As the call connected, he quickly shot his hands down and smiled. Keith appeared in front of him, looking exhausted, but with a smile on his face as well.

“Hey man.” Lance waved a little; it seemed like forever since their last individual call, but it definitely hadn’t been as long as it felt.

“Lance, hi.” Keith yawned in the middle of his words, which Lance found endearing. “You’re calling early.”

Lance shrugged in response. “I just woke up.” Well, he’d gotten up and taken off a face mask while contemplating whether or not to tell the team his concerns. “You look tired, you alright?”

“Fine, just a lot of missions lately.” Keith glanced at the ground for a moment before looking back up to his screen. Lance bit the inside of his cheek at that. Whenever he asked Keith about what was going on with the Blade of Marmora, he never seemed to be happy there. He couldn’t help but wonder if Keith would rather be back at the castle. But wouldn’t he have come already if he did?

“Got it.” Lance nodded quickly. He paused for a moment, wondering how to continue with what he was about to say. He had no idea how Keith would take it, but if Lance felt like it didn’t get this out to someone he was going to explode. “I’ve gotta tell you something. About Shiro.”

Keith frowned, looking worried. “Is he okay?” Maybe telling Keith that something was wrong with his brother when he was so far away wasn’t the best idea.

“I don’t know,” Lance admitted. “He’s been acting weirdly, I think ever since he came back after being captured again. But especially now. He hasn’t been listening to the rest of us, and he’s acting like we’re not a team anymore. It’s strange. He never used to be like this.”

Keith’s attention seemed to hang on every word Lance said, a frown forming on his face. “He’s probably under a lot of stress.”

Lance shook his head. “No-I mean, he is, but that’s not it. He yelled at me the other day. I’ve never seen him like that, and he told me he wasn’t feeling like himself. Something’s wrong, Keith.”

“He yelled at you?” Keith’s worry didn’t disappear. “For what?”

Lance waved his hand dismissively, as if his idol’s disappointment hadn’t felt like a stab to the chest. “It doesn’t matter. I think-“

“Yes, it does,” Keith interrupted, sounding insistent. Lance was taken aback by the concern; why was Keith as worried about him as he was about Shiro?

He sighed before speaking. “We, as in the whole team, were fighting over what to do. I tried to give my input and he told me to stay out of it.” He quickly continued before Keith could interject again. “While fighting later, we all went to the astral plane somehow. Everyone else disappeared, and then Shiro was calling out to me, asked me to listen to him before everything faded. He said he didn’t remember when I asked him about it.”

“Shiro always considered the team.” Keith bit his lip. “And he didn’t remember at all? Something has to be wrong.”

“That’s what I’m saying. I just don’t know what it could be.” Lance had thought about the possibilities for awhile, but he needed the rest of the team if they were going to look into this. “You're uh, the first person I’ve told.”

Lance didn’t miss the way Keith’s lips tugged upwards for a split second. (He was in deep, wasn’t he?) The other’s expression quickly shifted back to its concerned state, though. “You should tell someone who’s, you know, there with you. Maybe Allura might know what’s going on. But...thanks for letting me know.”

���‘Course I let you know.” Lance smirked. “You know him best after all.”

Keith let out a soft laugh. “I guess you’re right. But really, tell me if you find out anything else, yeah?”

“Will do,” Lance assured him, nodding. He suddenly realized that the team had definitely noticed his absence from breakfast, and as much as he wanted to never hang up, he didn’t want them to be worried about him. “I’ve gotta run, breakfast calls. But thanks for listening. I had to tell somebody about that.”

For a moment, Keith seemed to be at a loss for words, but he swallowed and nodded. “No problem. Bye, Lance.” They exchanged smiles again before hanging up; that was one of the best things about their calls, the shared smiles. But Lance couldn’t afford to focus on his...complicated feelings for Keith at the moment. He pushed himself off the bed, opening the door to his bedroom and beginning to head down the hallway towards the dining area.

He was still unsure about whether or not his team would believe him. Lance at least hoped they would listen, but there was always the possibility of him being dismissed. But Keith had heard him out. Keith listened to his concerns even though he was much closer to Shiro, and trusted Shiro more. If anything was going to push Lance to tell everyone else, it was that. He’d have to figure out how to do it, but for now, he’d keep that as something he needed to do in the back of his mind. Whatever it was, they were going to get through it.

As he neared the table, spotting the other paladins all sat together, one more thought passed through his mind before he switched his focus and joined them. Thank you, Keith.

III.

He was breathing heavily as he shut his eyes for a moment, concentrating on the feeling of the broadsword clutched in his hand. Lance was still getting used to the new weapon, working on the right way to use it and the right stance, which Allura had been quick to correct him on. He opened his eyes again, determination surging through him as he focused on the training bot in front of him. He then began to fight, putting in every ounce of effort he could. He dodged and swung, avoiding hits from the robot, but not getting any of his own in yet. He yelped as the bot came dangerously close, ducking and doing a forward roll to avoid the swing. He then pushed himself up and pushed his arm forward, the sword going through its chest. Lance grinned as the simulation faded away. What he’d failed to notice was the beeping of a call connecting at the front of the training deck.

The rest of the team had been there with him, training with their own bayards. They’d seemed to have noticed first and had all stopped fighting and moved towards the screen. Lance looked up to see who it was, and a huge smile spread across his face when he made eye contact with Keith, who looked more or less awestruck for some reason. He rested the sword on his shoulder, jogging over to where everyone else who had already said hello was. “Hey, Keith!”

“You have a sword?!” Keith sputtered. His cheeks flushed and his eyes were wide as he gazed at the broadsword.

“Oh, this?” Lance chucked softly. “Yeah, it sort of just happened.” Despite Allura telling him about why she thought his bayard had changed, he still wasn’t too sure how he got it.

“You’re really good at it.” Keith seemed impressed, and Lance beamed at the compliment. He could feel warmth fill his chest as his face tinged red. Keith, the one who fought with blades, thought he was good at sword-fighting. He couldn’t help but feel pleased by that.

“Thanks. Means a lot from our resident sword-user.” Lance deliberately included the word our. Even though Keith was with the Blade of Marmora, he’d always be a part of Team Voltron, whether he wanted to or not. And maybe, just maybe, hearing those things would convince him that coming back was worth it. It was a shot in the dark, but if there was one thing Lance trusted about himself, it was his aim.

Sometimes, Lance really didn’t understand Keith. Why did he look so flustered? He wasn’t even responding, just smiling back at Lance; it seemed like Keith was at a loss for words.

A cough from Pidge interrupted their...whatever they were doing. She raised an eyebrow, glancing back and forth between the two of them. “Last time I checked all of us were here.”

Lance laughed a little, attempting to hide his embarrassment. His broadsword transformed back into his bayard as he walked over to Pidge and ruffled her hair, smirking. “Don’t worry, I won’t take up all the call time.”

He then felt Pidge’s elbow hit his side and rolled his eyes. Shiro broke up the squabble by speaking up, a smile on his face as well. “Hey, Keith. How’ve you been?”

Lance noticed Keith give Shiro a skeptical look, as if he was trying to see what was wrong for himself. It’d be harder than that, though; Shiro’s suspicious actions were more subtle most of the time and seemed to appear in a sporadic pattern. As he’d promised himself, Lance had let the rest of the team know. It took some convincing, but luckily, they believed him. Now, they were working on figuring out what to do. It was hard when they still didn’t know what exactly was wrong, but having the rest of the team helped. Keith seemed to give up on looking for anything. “I’m alright. You guys?”

“We’re doing well, too.” Allura nodded, with a smile. “Having Lotor here has been a...hassle, but we’re managing.” Lance frowned at that. Lotor’s presence annoyed him to no end, but there wasn’t any getting rid of him. (He’d definitely tried.)

Keith furrowed his brows. “At least things are working out. I’ve...missed you guys.”

“We miss you too,” Hunk chimed in. Lance nodded in agreement, almost too quickly. He couldn’t stress how much he missed Keith being at the castle enough. He wished Keith could at least visit them or something. Lance just wanted what they had before again. They were becoming friends, they already were friends now. He hated how alone he felt sometimes without Keith there, and wanted it to end.

The group fell into a steady conversation, serious discussion balanced with playful laughter. Lance always felt light and airy while talking with Keith, alone or with the rest of the team. It was like everything faded away for a moment, and all his focus shifted towards the boy who’d been able to take over so many of his thoughts.

The call lasted a long while, something rare for conversations with Keith. Lance was surprised that there wasn’t an emergency any of them needed to go fix. He knew it couldn’t last forever, and it soon came to an end.

“I have to run soon.” Keith looked like he didn’t want to hang up, but didn’t have much of a choice.

Shiro nodded. “Alright, we’ll talk to you again soon.”

Lance’s bayard transformed back into the broadsword, party because he assumed they’d keep training, and because he liked how impressed Keith was by it. “We’ll get back to our training, then. I’ve gotta work on my technique.” The words were playful, said with a smirk.

“I’ve been trying to teach you the correct stance,” Allura teased. Lance had gotten much better at it over time, so it was more of a joke.

Keith’s grin, something that’d rarely been seen in their early days as paladins, was infectious and endearing. “Good luck with that. Maybe I can teach you sometime...if uh, you still need help.”

Lance felt his heart skip a beat upon hearing that. He took a moment to imagine what Keith helping him with his sword would be like. Granted, he’d be a flustered mess during it, but Keith would be with him, here. “I’ll keep it in mind. Talk to you later, mullet.”

The rest of the team said their goodbyes as well, and Lance felt the rush of disappointment he got everytime a call ended. He was still grinning like an idiot, though. Luckily, training started up again before Hunk or Pidge could tease him for his expression. They had to catch on at some point.

As the simulation started up again and Lance began to swing the sword, he thought stopping his improvement for awhile might be good if it meant he’d get lessons from Keith.

IV.

Going into Keith’s room was something Lance knew he definitely shouldn’t be doing, but he didn’t care as the door opened and he sucked in a breath upon looking at the unoccupied room. The only time he’d been in there was when his mind wasn’t in a good place, and now history seemed to be repeating itself. Except this time, Keith wasn’t there beside him. Lance looked to the side, spotting Keith’s jacket hanging from a hook on the wall. He swallowed thickly, staring at it with longing eyes. Of course Keith left it here; he wouldn’t have any use for it with the Blade of Marmora. Lance took a few steps towards it, barely thinking before reaching out a taking it in his hands. He stood without moving for a few seconds, staring down at the red, yellow, and white fabric. It didn’t look right. Keith should be here, wearing it. Lance tightened his grip on the cloth, turning around and quickly leaving the room. Luckily, he didn’t run into anybody in the hallway as he made his way to his room. Once inside, he slipped off his own jacket, carefully putting Keith’s on.

The first thing Lance noticed was how familiar it was. Even though he’d never worn it himself, he’d seen it on Keith so many times he practically knew the pattern of the stitches by heart. It wasn’t as warm as his own but still had a comforting sense to it, snug and like a permanent blanket draped over his shoulders. He wasn’t sure whether that was because of the jacket itself, or who it belonged to. Either way, it helped. Or it just made Lance miss Keith more.

He sat down on his bed, hugging the jacket to his chest as he tried to make sense of everything. He wondered whether his family had gotten the video he’d made for them, and then curled in on himself more. He didn’t want to think about them. He didn’t want to think about the late nights sneaking downstairs with Marco, Luis, and Veronica to watch movies while tiptoeing to the microwave for popcorn. He didn’t want to think about helping his grandmother with the cooking and her strict, but caring advice. He didn’t want to think about running around in the backyard with his nieces and nephews, and being the one they looked up to. And he certainly didn’t want to think about his mom. Because if he thought about them, things began to spiral. It seemed much too late for that, though, and trying not to picture them in his head did nothing to stop them from appearing.

For a moment, Lance thought about telling somebody, really telling somebody about missing his family or his doubts. But who would he go to? He felt isolated on the team. He’d go to Hunk, but he was probably with Pidge at the moment, talking about something science-related that he wouldn’t understand. Being there would just make things worse. Allura was likely busy, Coran too. And Lance definitely wasn’t going to Shiro with this, not with everything they suspected was going on with him. Besides, Lance wouldn’t have ever thought to do that anyways. His heart felt heavy when he considered Keith as an option. He’d tried once before, and came out of it feeling better, even though it hadn’t permanently fixed anything. But Keith wasn’t here.

Lance’s eyes flickered towards the communicator that sat off to the side. He could call Keith right now, tell him what was going on. He thought it over for a moment. Would Keith really care? Would he be interrupting something much more important? But he had to try. Lance didn’t think he could go on much longer without telling anybody, or everything would fall out in a cataclysmic explosion eventually. He reached over and snatched the communicator before he could change his mind, pressing the button to call Keith.

As the call went through, Lance came to the realization that he was still wearing Keith’s jacket, and his eyes widened. He pulled it off as quickly as he could, throwing it off to the side and not even caring to see where it landed as he sighed with relief; how would he have explained wearing Keith’s jacket to him? He missed the feeling of it around his shoulders, though. Luckily, the call connected right after Lance had gotten it off.

Lance felt warmth explode through his chest as he saw Keith appear on the screen. Keith smiled at him, and Lance felt like everything had melted away to make room for Keith. But it hadn’t, and he was still holed up in his room with Keith’s jacket in the corner of his bed. “Hey, Lance.” Keith’s expression faltered into one of concern. Was it really that obvious? “Are you alright?”

Lance bit the inside of his cheek. He felt the urge to put on a smile, lie and say he was doing great, ask Keith how he was doing with the Blade, but he managed to resist it. He had to do this. He didn’t know what to say, so he just shook his head.

“Did something happen?” Keith asked, looking more worried. Lance was sure it was somewhat jarring to see him like this; he hardly allowed that to happen.

Shaking his head again, Lance spoke up, “No, I just-” He paused, trying to figure out how to word everything. “I wanted to talk to someone, and I didn’t know who, so I...called you.”

Keith seemed taken aback by that. It was strange for Lance to think that Keith didn’t know how much he valued the times they got to speak with one another. Did Keith feel the same way about their calls? Did he miss Lance like Lance missed him? He wasn’t sure, but he hoped that was the case. “Me? Are you...sure?”

Lance nodded in response. Keith didn’t seem to think he’d be good in this sort of situation, but Lance didn’t care. For him, Keith was the best person to talk to right now. “I’m sure.” He made himself continue before he stopped. Lance was afraid if he paused again, he’d end up dropping it. “I just...feel so alone sometimes. Pidge and Hunk are always hanging out, talking science, and Matt joins them a lot. Allura’s always busy, especially with Lotor around, and I just-I don’t even know about, Shiro anymore.” Lance grabbed the blanket that was laying on his bed. He’d chosen Keith’s jacket in favor of it before, but there was no clutching that at the moment. “I’ve never really told anyone this but I dunno, I feel like a seventh wheel here. And I really miss my family.” Even with Keith gone, feeling like the odd one out still stood with Matt being at the castle so often.

“You…” Keith struggled with what to say after everything Lance had just told him. “Lance, why would you think that?”

“I miss you,” Lance blurted out without thinking. It’d been partly a way to deflect the question, but Lance immediately regretted it after saying it. It sounded...much too upfront. He wasn’t even sure what he could call the two of them. They were friends now, weren’t they? It was normal to miss a friend. But it wasn’t normal to miss just a friend the way Lance missed Keith.

He bit his lip as the pause after his words seemed to last much too long, though it was really only a few seconds before Keith spoke again. “I miss you too.” Lance, who’d been looking off to the side and trying not to meet Keith’s eyes, suddenly snapped his gaze towards the other, relief washing over him. “But you’re important. You should know that.”

Lance couldn’t help the way his lips tugged upwards slightly at that. The reassurance from Keith, that made his eyes burn and his chest feel warm, was small, yet incredibly significant to him. “It doesn’t feel like it. You’re all so talented, and incredible, and smart, and have your own special things. I’m just a boy from Cuba.”

“No, you’re not.” Keith’s brows furrowed, which Lance found sort of endearing, though Keith seemed frustrated. “You’ve piloted two lions, you’re a great shot, hell, you’re using a sword now, too. And...you helped me.” That definitely caught Lance’s attention. “You were, uh, sort of my stability when I was the black paladin. I don’t think I could’ve done it without you. And you’re just-you’re so good with words. You knew exactly what to say to me when I was being too reckless-or to anyone when they needed it. You-you know how people work. And I don’t understand that at all.” He looked off to the side for a moment, before shifting his gaze back to Lance. “The point is, you’re the glue that holds the team together. You matter. Your family would be proud of you.”

If one could explode with warmth, Lance would at that moment. He felt a fuzzy, light feeling travel throughout his body as the words tugged on his heartstrings. His cheeks were wet, but for once he didn’t care because Keith had said all these things. Keith, the star pilot who Lance had been disappointed by when he didn’t return his greetings at the Garrison. Keith, who he proclaimed his rival when the other barely noticed he was there. Keith, who he fought alongside with on team Voltron, but hardly got along with at first and who Lance thought would always be better than him in everything. Keith, whose footsteps Lance had promptly followed in. Keith, who was his friend. Keith, the one he was in love with.

“Not good with people huh?” Lance smirked a little, rubbing his eyes and wiping the tears that dotted his cheeks. “After all that, that’s gotta be a lie. Thank you...I kinda needed that.”

“Yeah, I-of course.” Keith seemed a little awkward, but his warm smile was enough to make Lance’s heart soar. Lance wished he could reach through the screen, wrap his arms around Keith and properly let him know how much that meant to him. He didn’t even care what Keith would think at this point. But he settled for an exchange of smiles and feeling warmer than even the jacket had made him. He then realized that Keith’s jacket was still in his room, but it was too late to fix that as Keith’s head tilted and he spoke again. “Is that my jacket?”

“Nope!’ Lance retorted quickly, his demeanor changing completely as he kicked around for a spot on the bed where the jacket might be. Once he spotted it fall on the floor, he looked back to Keith. “Yep, nothing to see here.”

Keith raised an eyebrow, obviously skeptical, but he seemed oddly okay with it to Lance. Lance knew he wouldn’t appreciate someone taking his jacket (it’d actually happened to him a few times before, but he wasn’t sure if he’d just misplaced it or not, since it always ended up back in his room). But Keith seemed to be fine with Lance stealing his. “If you say so. Are you...alright now?” He smiled again, though his voice was laced with concern.

Lance nodded once more, genuinely this time. “Mhm, I’ll be okay. Nothing Lancey Lance can’t handle.”

Judging by Keith’s laugh, he was glad Lance was behaving like he usually did. “Glad it’s not a challenge, then.”

“Thanks to you, for now,” Lance assured him. He had no idea what’d happen in the future, but he’d always have Keith’s reassurance in the back of his mind, now. “I have to go.”

The other nodded in response. “Okay...just, tell me if you need to talk again, yeah?”

“I will,” Lance promised. “Same goes for you, you know?”

Keith’s lips tugged upwards into a thin smile. Lance hoped Keith knew he could come to him if he needed it. “I’ll...keep it in mind. Bye, Lance.”

“See you.” Lance curled in on himself as the call ended. His eyes caught Keith’s jacket curled up on the cold ground, and stood to grab it. Flopping back down on the bed, he held the jacket to his chest, though this time for a completely different reason. Maybe he’d keep it for just a little while longer.

V.

“Lance, come say hi!” Hunk called out from across the common room. Lance turned his head towards him, grinning as he saw what Hunk was doing. He’d been wandering around the castle, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket (Keith’s was still tucked away in his room), and looking around for something to do. They’d finished training for the day, and Lance had tried, but couldn’t fall asleep. He was glad for that when he saw Keith’s face on the holographic projection of Hunk’s communicator, though.

Lance jogged over, sliding onto the couch next to Hunk and hitting into his best friend’s side. He hoped he didn’t appear too eager, but couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment. He hadn’t spoken with Keith since the day he’d stolen the jacket; it’d been a while since then. “What’s up, Mullet?”

Keith crossed his arms over his chest, though it was lighthearted. “Someone’s in a good mood.”

“Am I not allowed to be excited talking to my friend?” Lance shrugged. Even though the exchange was playful, Lance felt strange about it. Keith seemed...off. Lance didn’t know what it was, but he got the sense that something was wrong with Keith.

“Guess you’re right.” Keith looked off to the side for a moment, only further confirming to Lance that he wasn’t alright. Had Keith been talking to Hunk about it? Had something happened with the Blade?

Hunk grinned. “I was just telling him about our most recent mission with the aliens- those Udrosk things? We wouldn’t he made it out of that mess if it wasn’t for you.” Hunk nudged Lance’s side, and Lance smiled to himself. He’d been working on training a lot more, for what he and Allura called their ‘secret project.’

“Thanks, man, you were great too,” Lance responded. “That kick maneuver was fantastic.” Really, they’d all done well during the last mission. He glanced back at Keith, noticing the solemn, almost nostalgic look on his face, and Lance’s lips turned downwards. He had a feeling he knew what was wrong now.

Though before he could ask, Pidge burst through the door. “Hunk! I got it to work!” She was beaming, looking like she was going to burst with excitement. Hunk started to look the same. Lance had no idea what the two were working on, but it had to be something good.

Hunk turned towards Lance, and Keith on the call. “You guys won’t mind if I go, right?”

Lance waved his hand dismissively, giving Hunk a reassuring smile. “Go on, we’ll be fine here.” Keith nodded in agreement.

Hunk cheered a little, hopping off the couch and running after Pidge, the two arguing about double-modulation and triple-modulation as they left. Lance laughed a little and shook his head, turning towards the screen. A lot of the time, he felt a little left out when Hunk and Pidge ran off like that, but now he got to talk Keith. It was like what it used to be.

“They’ve been having a debate over double and triple-modulation. I swear they’re gonna start a war over it. I dunno what they’re doing now, though.” Keith gave a half-hearted laugh in response, and Lance bit the inside of his cheek. He wasn’t expecting any other reaction, but Keith’s voice simply sounded wrong. “Are you okay?”

Keith sighed slightly, shaking his head. He looked reluctant to explain what was going on. Lance knew the feeling, but he wanted to help. He’d promised that Keith could talk to him about anything whenever he needed to before, and he’d meant it.

“You can tell me,” Lance assured him. “I did say you could whenever you needed.”

Keith looked like he was debating it as he bit down on his lip. “I...alright.” He took in a breath before continuing to speak, looking to the side a few times as if he was making sure nobody could hear. “I don’t want to be part of Blade anymore. It’s not that I’m unhappy, I just, it’s not right.”

Lance would never admit it, but his heart practically leaped out of his chest at that. Was Keith going to come back to the castle after so many months of being apart from the team? Lance hoped so; he didn’t know how much longer he could take this. But Keith seemed unsure. Instead of reacting happily like he was on the inside, he opted for raising an eyebrow. “Not right? What do you mean?”

“I-” Keith was obviously struggling to explain, his frustration increasing the more he spoke. “I joined to discover who I am, being you know, Galra. But my mom’s here now, and the Blade is...I think they’re messing with my head. Ever since joining, it feels like my life doesn’t have value. And I know something’s wrong, but it’s drilled into everyone here to just leave people to die for the mission, that dying for the cause is better if you can’t gain anything.”

If Lance’s heart had been soaring before, it was now cracked with sympathy and concern for Keith’s current state. What had the Blade members done to him? Keith was averting his eyes, looking like he thought he shared too much. Lance bit his lip. “That’s not okay, Keith. It’s just not right, and they can’t continue making you think like that.”

Keith threw his hands up in exasperation. “Then what am I supposed to do, Lance? I’m fighting with them right now. I have to think like that.”

“Do you want to, or do you just feel like you have to?” Lance questioned.

Hesitating for a moment, Keith ran a hand through his hair. “I have to.”

“Then it sounds like you’re unhappy to me.”

Lance let the silence hang in the air as he watched Keith’s expression carefully. Keith looked like he was thinking hard after that, coming to the only possible conclusion in Lance’s view. But Lance couldn’t keep the silence going; he had to further reassure Keith. “If you don’t want to fight with the Blade, you shouldn’t keep going. They’ll go on just fine without you. And...we’d really appreciate having you back here, you know.”

For a moment, Lance was worried. Was he being too forward? But Keith looked back to him after Lance spoke, and they made eye contact. “What about Voltron? You already have five paladins. What use would I even be?”

Lance frowned. He recognized the feeling all too well. It was exactly what his concerns had been when he’d went to Keith’s room for the first time. But this time, there seemed to be a solution. “It’s not...definitive, or anything, but Allura and I are working on something. It’d actually work really well if you came back. I’ll explain another time, but know that at least.”

Keith furrowed his brows in confusion, trying to decipher what Lance had meant by that. But he seemed to have dropped it for the moment. “I..don’t know what to say. I’m still unsure.”

“You don’t have to make up your mind now.” Lance wished he could reach through the screen and take Keith’s hand in his own. Wished he could squeeze it and feel the warmth as he reassured Keith that everything was okay. “But consider it, yeah?”

Taking a deep breath, Keith nodded slowly. “Okay..I’ll think about it. Uh, thanks, Lance. I’ve missed being with you guys. I don’t think I realized it when I, you know, pushed you all away, but the team sort of became like a family?”

Lance’s lips tugged upwards. “We’d all be really happy if you came home, then.” He noticed a wet track down Keith’s cheek, and desperately wished he could wipe it away. But maybe, just maybe, he’d get a chance soon.

Although Lance didn’t mind Keith displaying emotions (honestly, he really needed it), Keith seemed to be flustered by it. He swallowed thickly, nodding again. “I’ll try and keep you updated. I’ve gotta go, but tell the others I said hello, yeah?”

“‘Course I’ll tell them. Bye, Keith.” Lance gave him a thin, but encouraging smile, hoping it would be enough. Keith returned the smile and goodbye before hanging up. Lance leaned back against the couch, letting out a bated breath. Lance was beyond worried and just hoped Keith would make the choice to come back soon. If he’d wanted that before, he definitely wanted it now. He could tell Keith hadn’t shared everything; he’d been incredibly hesitant. But whenever Keith decided to tell him more, Lance would be there.

He pushed himself off the couch, deciding it couldn’t hurt to go see what Hunk and Pidge were up to. As he walked, Keith refused to leave his thoughts. Lance imagined him standing by his side in the castle hallways again, and for once, it didn’t seem so impossible.

+1

It had been a week. A week since team Voltron received any sort of call or message from the Blade of Marmora. Lance felt hollow with worry every time he thought about it. The calls had been scarce before, but Keith had told Lance he’d try to give updates, and Lance just wanted to know whether Keith was coming back to the castle or not. He knew it was a difficult decision, but he wouldn’t be able to get the image of Keith laughing along with everyone or simply standing in the hallways out of his mind until he had an answer.

Scratch that. He’d never be able to unless Keith came home.

Lance was also worried out of his mind. Had Keith done something reckless to endanger himself while on missions? Knowing Keith, it seemed likely, but Lance had a feeling whatever Keith was doing with the Blade was a lot more risk-taking than when he had the whole team by his side.

Reaching into the pocket of his jacket, Lance brushed his fingers over the small communicator tucked inside. He’d started carrying it around with him after they’d talked about Keith possibly leaving the Blade, not wanting to miss anything. Now he just knew it was unnecessary. Still, Lance liked to keep it with him, just in case.

A few seconds passed, and Lance was suddenly glad he’d carried that thing around everywhere when he felt the buzzing against his fingertips. His lips immediately spread into a grin and he pulled the communicator out of his pocket, pressing the accept button right away. Luckily, it was actually a call from the Blade like he’d expected, and not anyone else. Lance had been heading towards the hangars to work on his ‘project,’ but that could wait.

He held the communicator up so Keith could see him clearly, but frowned when he was met with a black screen. This had never happened before. Was it some kind of glitch. Lance tilted his head to the side slightly. “Keith, buddy, I think you’ve got your thumb over the camera or something.”

No sound came for a few seconds, just static and what Lance thought sounded like shuffling behind him, but all his focus was on the screen. Then a voice came, so unmistakably Keith. But it sounded...close. “Turn around.”

Lance whipped around, his heart skipping a beat as his eyes landed on Keith, standing about ten feet behind him. Without thinking, without looking, with only feeling, he let the communicator fall to the floor and took off in a run. He nearly crashed into Keith, and was just glad he didn’t knock the other over as he wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. Keith stumbled backward a few steps, but hugged back, burying his face in Lance’s shoulder. Lance subconsciously reached over to weave his fingers through Keith’s hair, accidentally letting out a joyful laugh. “You’re here!” He exclaimed, not wanting to pull back.

Keith nodded. It seemed like he didn’t want to break the embrace yet either. “I’m here.” The words were simple, and while Lance couldn’t see him, he could hear the smile in Keith’s voice. They stayed like that for much longer than a hug would normally last, but it felt like a mere few seconds to Lance. He blinked back happy tears as he pulled away, finally getting a real look at Keith.

He was still wearing the Marmora suit; Lance supposed he didn’t have any other clothes, but he couldn’t help the fear of that meaning he wasn’t staying for good. He pushed that thought from his mind quickly, though. Keith’s hair was tousled and messy, but his eyes shone bright and his lips were curled into a thin smile and his cheeks flushed and all Lance wanted to do was lean in again and kiss him. He spoke again instead, still grinning. “Are you staying? For real?”

“Yeah, I am,” Keith answered. Although they weren’t hugging anymore, he was still incredibly close to Lance, the two brushing against each other every few seconds. “I decided right after the call, but it took a while to get everything in order. I’m sorry I didn’t call you before.”

Lance shook his head dismissively. “It’s fine. And now it’s a surprise.” He had been dwelling on it constantly, but now none of that mattered. All that mattered was he was seeing Keith right next to him. “Does anybody else know you’re here?”

“No, you’re the first one I saw. Uh, my mom’s with the ship we took. I’ll introduce you all once we find everyone.” Keith tugged on a strand of his hair, still smiling. “I didn’t know if you’d have your communicator on you or not, but I figured why not try?”

Lance laughed, glancing back at the device laying on the ground. “I forgot about that for a second. Nearly broke it.” He didn’t move to go pick it up, yet, and had a feeling he wouldn’t remember at all.

Keith looked past Lance at the communicator on the ground, and then seemed to notice where they were. “Why were you heading towards the Black Lion’s hangar?”

“Well, remember when I told you a spot for you on the team might be opening?” Lance tilted back on his heels for a moment. “Turns out we figured out what’s going on with Shiro. I’ll explain later with everyone’s help- it’s way too complicated for me to do alone. But he’s not in a position to be piloting, and...I sort of have a connection with the Black Lion now. It’s still a little shaky, but I’m working on it.”

Keith was definitely worried about Shiro, but seemed to trust Lance for the time being. Lance was glad for that, as he wasn’t sure how Keith would take the actual news of how they had to somehow get the real Shiro back later. But now wasn’t the time for that. Keith’s eyes were wide with surprise, but if Lance wasn’t mistaken, something like pride flashed through them. “So, what you’re saying is...I’ll go back to flying Red? And you’re gonna be the leader?”

“The one and only,” Lance quipped, excitement buzzing through his veins. He hadn’t been sure of the position; he still wasn’t. He didn’t understand why he was the one meant to be piloting the Black Lion. But he had a responsibility to fulfill, and if there was anything he was determined to do, it was to be there for his team.

Keith laughed a little, but it wasn’t condescending or out of disbelief; it was more relieved and happy. “You’re much better fit for it than me. I...I really did want to go back to Red. Do you think she’ll let me in?”

“Definitely.” Lance nodded. “You haven’t lost your connection with her, I can tell. So, what do you say to being my right-hand-man?”

Rolling his eyes, Keith lightly punched Lance in the shoulder. “I’d be honored, Lance.”

Without thinking, Lance took Keith’s hand in his, holding it tightly. “Come on, as much as I want to keep you all to myself, the others need to know you’re here, too!” He didn’t wait for a response as he began tugging Keith along down the hallway, leaving the communicator forgotten on the ground. There was no use for it now when Keith was right next to him, like he’d dreamed of so many times before.

…

They’d quickly found the rest of the team, who enveloped Keith in a large, group hug like the one they’d all shared when Keith left. (Since Lance had been standing next to Keith, he’d been pressed against the other in the middle, which left him a blushing mess). They then spent the rest of the day together, all previous plans forgotten as the team cherished Keith’s return. After all, Lance wasn’t the only one who’d been longing for him to come back. They all met Krolia as well, who Lance took an immediate liking too. He knew she and Keith were working through their issues together, and while seeing the interactions between mother and son made him miss his own again, he was much too happy to let that bring him down.

Later that night, when most of the paladins had finally separated, Lance found himself sitting on the common room couch with Keith beside him. They were both tired, but found themselves not wanting to go to bed in favor of sleepy conversation and muffled giggles.

“So when I went to my room to change earlier,” Keith began. He’d changed out of his Marmora suit after reuniting with everyone else. “I noticed a particular item of clothing missing.”

Lance’s eyes widened as he came to the sudden realization that he still had Keith’s jacket in his room. His face immediately grew red, and he bent down to hide it in his hands. How had he not noticed when Keith came out in his black t-shirt without the signature jacket? He’d been much too wrapped up in Keith’s return to even remember. He moved his hands away from his face after a few seconds, sitting up. “Okay, I may have stolen it that day, and never brought it back.” He was met with Keith’s laugh, a sound Lance would never get tired of hearing, but his expression was annoyed as Keith chuckled at his antics. “What? It’s comfortable!” Lance defended, trying to cover up the fact that he’d really stolen it because of the emotional comfort it provided.

Keith spoke once his short-lived fit of laughter came to an end, “Okay, okay. Will it make you feel better if I admit that I’ve stolen yours a few times before?”

“You!” Lance raised a finger, pointing it at Keith. “I had no idea who kept taking it and putting it back!” His reaction was extravagant and accusatory, but Lance was secretly touched by it. He’d give Keith his jacket as many times as the other wanted. He also wondered whether or not Keith had been taking it for the same reason, but it felt far-fetched.

Throwing his hands up in the air in an exasperated gesture, Keith raised an eyebrow. “You can’t do that when you did the exact same thing.”

“Okay, fair,” Lance agreed, and the two laughed together once more, tilting and bumping into one another a few times, their thighs unconsciously pressed together.

Sitting next to Keith after so long, Lance felt warm and light-hearted. It was like everything had just disappeared, like the world had come to a stop to just focus on the two of them next to each other. Lance examined Keith again, this time more carefully, noticing all the little things he’d taken for granted before. He noticed the way his hair, the stupid mullet Lance had made fun of countless times, fell almost flawlessly on his face and how a few of the strands stuck to his face. The purple flecks in the grey of his irises. The scarred, calloused hands that were weathered and meant for battle, but still so soft and warm. The way his lips were curled upwards into a smile that’d seemed so rare when they first met but one that Lance had constantly been seeing in pixels on a holographic screen. The way Lance desperately wanted to cup Keith’s cheek, lean in, and press their lips together.

So he did exactly that.

Lance’s hand was warm against Keith’s face, his eyes half-lidded and eventually closed as their lips touched. The kiss was electric, sparks running through Lance’s body as his other hand snaked up Keith’s arm. He felt his heart being a mile a minute, practically bursting through his chest as he took in Keith’s scent, one that had lingered on the jacket, and let his mind melt. It only lasted a few seconds before Lance was keenly aware of the fact that he was kissing Keith Kogane, and that Keith Kogane was kissing him back.

He pulled back then, staring at Keith with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. Keith’s expression was identical to his own, and Lance thought the red dusting his cheeks was incredibly cute. Lance struggled to find any words to say, but he luckily didn’t have to, because Keith leaned in again. Lance realized how quick and unplanned the first kiss had been, because this one was much slower and less messy, passion running through both of them.

When they finally pulled back, both of them took in a few breaths, staring at each other with the same wide eyes, but newfound smiles. What this meant, Lance didn’t know, and he was sure Keith didn’t either. They’d have to...talk about everything, but for now Lance basked in the exchange of smiles and the way Keith’s hand felt in his own when Lance reached for it. All Lance had pictured, all he had dreamed, all he had thought of when Keith was away, had been brought to life as they sat together, two beating hearts once separated, now intertwined.

Home again.

[imaginingmarvelandeverything]

Trust

Request: Something really cute and fluffy with Billy Hargrove and number 1 and 12 please and thank youuuuu 💕💕💕💕💕

Prompts: 1. “I love you, please don’t go.” And 12. “Don’t you trust me?”

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Reader

Warnings: Slight angst

Word Count: 602

A/N: Thank you for the request!!!! Requests are open!!!

Xmas Prompts

Prompt List

Masterlist

Y/N and Billy’s relationship had never been smooth sailing. He was possessive and jealous and she was aware of the constant glares it brought her. His fuse was short and he would often snap and Y/N was often caught in the cross fire. She loved him, he loved her. She just thought that his volatility was going to be their downfall and she couldn’t bare to let it get that bad.

“What do you mean we can’t do this?” Billy took a shaky drag from his cigarette before glancing around the abandoned parking lot. It was the morning and everyone else was in lessons.

“I don’t think we can work anymore. I love you but...” She trailed off and looked at her shoes.

“What, Y/N?”

She clutched her hands together. “I’m scared I’m going to lose you to your temper.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“You... Don’t you trust me?” His voice was strained his eyes never leaving her nervous figure.

“I want to.” She met his ocean blue gaze and took in the fear hiding behind his eyes. He didn’t say anything; just stood and stared in disbelief. “I-I’ve got to get to class.”

She went to walk away but his hand softly grasped her hand. “I love you, please don’t go.” His eyes were pleading with her. “I can change, I can clam down but I need you to help me. I promise I can control it but not without you.” She didn’t say anything, merely stared at him. “Look, give me one month and if you still feel the same then you can do what you need to.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

_____________________________________

Billy tried his hardest to change and calm down. He started walking away from fights and would only get into them when the other person attacked first. He started showing up to lessons on time and started being nicer to Max. Y/N noticed and she stuck by him. She was there to calm him down after he walked away from a fight, she kept him on time and helped him realise that Max wasn’t as bad as he thought.

“So, the month’s up.” Billy leant on the side of the Camaro as Y/N sat on the bonnet. He had driven them out to their favourite spot in the woods for the afternoon.

Y/N hummed in response; her eyes focused on the trees in front of her. Billy moved to stand between her legs so her attention was drawn back to him.

“What’s the verdict?” He was playing nervously with his fingers.

She reached down and took his hands, keeping her gaze on their fingers with a small smile on her face. “I think you changed my mind,” He broke into a grin. “as long as you keep it up.”

“Always, princess.” He leaned forward and captured her lips with his. On hand kept himself steady on the bonnet while the other tangled in her hair. She smiled into the kiss as one of her hands tangled in his mullet and the other found its way to his chest. “I love you.” Billy muttered breathlessly as he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.

“I love you too.” She grinned and he matched it with his own.

[flaming-potato-arson]

Angel Rider Part 0ne

Altea Creek. Of course. Why had Lance expected anything else?

The tradition goes as stated below: every year on Christmas, after excessive gift giving and wrangling all of his relatives into a few cars, someone gets to pick where they go and what they do. Some years, the choosen location is closed and they go somewhere else, wether it be the Speedway down the road or the state park two hours from his house. Every year ended up wild and crazy - everything tended to end up wild and crazy with his family, Lance supposed - and a ton of fun. Even when it didn't seem like it.

Altea Creek did not seem like fun to Lance. To his horse crazed, nine year old sister who had been sprouting horses facts for the past five months, it was like Santa and God did a duel blessing/present from Heaven.

"Horses, horses, horses...." Rod chanted softly, swirling the end of a plastic horse's tail on her finger, swinging her feet. Lance held in a groan, opting to look out the frosted window of his mom's mini van, Shaikra blasting in his ears from his ear phones.  The snow was coming down more thickly the farther out they got, a decent foot on the ground as far as the eye could see. The warm, cinnamony smell of his aunt's annual gifted air freshener and artifical hot air filled the car, which Lance thought was much better than the chill outside.  Voices threatened to block out his music, with his three older siblings in the very back row, and three of his four younger siblings inbetween them, all talking and screaming and reading and just generally being themselves.

Lance sighed, shifting against the window.

"Lance, lindo, is something wrong?" Curse-not-curse his mother's innate ability to sense apathy and sadness.

"Nothing, mama. Just a little worn out." He gave a tired smile back at her. She had twisted around almost completely in the passenger's seat to look him dead in the eye, the family junk that always got left in the car piled around her. "Are you sure? You've been holed up in your room a lot lately. Singing....playing loud music...." She trailed off before finishing quickly. "It's alright if you're tired - you can nap in the car while we go on a sleigh ride, if you need to. " Her bright blue eyes (the ones he had inherited) shined back at him. Lance focused on the swaying, classic green alien head hanging from the rearview mirror.

"Nah, I'll come."

"Okay, mi hijo." She sat up as his dad took a wide turn off the freeway on to a long, winding dirt road. Lance watched the alien head against the falling snow through the windshield before exhaling and closing his eyes.

Maybe some Shakira will help.

Oh my god this was the worst idea ever -

Slamming the car door shut, Lance took in the multitude of families wandering around and stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. His aunt's car pulled up behind them, and a door swung open before the car even stopped, his nephew throwing himself out of it. Yelling poured into the air as the rest of the doors opened, countless cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents, and sibling unfolding like clowns from a clown car.

Someone was yelling at his nephew, - thank god, someone had to break him of that habit- cars locked with affirmative beeps,  and dozens of tiny little hands were pulling on his jacket, leading him in the familiar wave of being lost in the crowd that was his family, voices he knew well becoming background noise.

Lance took the time to actually look at his surroundings, checking out the spots where someone might think to hide if they found it funny. Tall, thick evergreen trees made for a shadowy forest on the edges of the premises, with plenty of nooks and crannies to slip inside. A few smaller, barn-like buildings dotted the mostly open, snow covered fields, but a big, firetruck red one dominated the area with a lingering warm and welcoming aurora. A long, thin building replicated itself, leaving an open path in between what he assumed where the stables.  

Stable workers walked around in elf and Santa like clothes, directing couples and kids to sleighs and others hitching horses to lead said sleighs. Laughter and excited squealing came from just about everyone, but someone's laugh tinkled like bells to Lance.  She was bent over, talking to a kid, crystal white hair spilling in waves out of a hat topped with a bell. The classic elf get up fit her nicely, her dark skin a refreshing change from the regular green. The Santa with a prosthetic arm and tuff of bleached hair next to her smiled down at the kids, one hand resting on her back. Their smiles were bright and wide, and the pair of them looked like something of a re-imagined Hallmark card.

It was sickeningly cute and Lance turned away, following his family.

"Hello, if you'd just follow me-" A short gremlin with short, messy hair lead the majority of his family towards a sleigh, a giant, butterscotch colored gypsy horse harnessed to it. The complete feathered look gave it away and Rod had been drilling him with horse facts constantly. Silently, Lance looked at the creases in the attendant's forehead and the look in his mother's eyes and lead a few of the smaller kids away. Ella, his older cousin, joined him with a quick wave.  His mama shot him a smile, and he returned it, herding six kids into a mostly open area.

"Okay, everyone stay in sight of this area. Waiting your turn can get boring, but if we all wander off we're going to get lost, okay?" A chorus of "okay's" came back to him. His nephew - Geroniom, not the crazy, throws-himself-out-of-moving-cars one and his baby sister sat down in the snow, content to throw it at each other, Ella quickly plopping down with the two toddlers. Rod was vibrating with excitement, virtually teleporting around the edge of the clearing to look at every passing horse. The other three were attempting to make a snow fort, that was actually coming along pretty well.

Deciding that his siblings and cousins could handle themselves, Lance turned on his music and shoved his phone in his pocket. His recent Twitter feed wasn't really appealing and the cold wasn't bad enough to need a distraction from. Dropping himself on to a bench, Lance closed his eyes, letting the sounds of a Hallmark movie come to life fill his ears and time cease to exist.

What Hallmark movie involved blood curdling screaming?

Snapping up, joints popping, Lance jumped off the bench and whipped his head around. Pounding and surprised screaming came from the stables, people running away from a literal fucking blur. Lance could only see glimpses of what he thought was a horse while employees tried to capture it before it got out to the clearing. Urgent bells were ringing, adding to the chaos. It was getting closer, and definitely was a horse. An attendant with a jet black mullet made a last grab for the reins, but the horse charged out the stable doors. Snow exploded where inky blue hooves pounded down. It was like someone had ripped an ink blot through a blank canvas. The whole horse was a deep blue that almost looked black, powerful legs launching it across the ground. Frantic energy filled it's motions, fear and anxiety dictating where and how it bolted.

Bolted right towards his little sister in the middle of the clearing.

Rod was frozen with fear, facing the oncoming bullet with her hands up.

The horse didn't seem like it was going to stop.

The horse wasn't going to fucking stop.

Fucking hell.

Lance didn't really care when he started running, just that he was running towards his sister. He wasn't on the track team for damn nothing. The snow tried to cling to his feet, but each adrenaline filled stride shook it off. That horse was fucking big - Some white soccer moms were screaming - and it wasn't going to fucking stop - the chilly air burned horribly with how fast he was taking it in - Goldenrod is nine that beast could fucking kill her- everything was blurry but his little sister - fucking horses - panicked energy circulated heat through his entire body, he swore he felt like a lit fire work - aren't you supposed to approach that fucking thing sideways, fuck it - he slipped - fucking NO - he gained the ground back -oh my fucking god - and tossed himself in between Rod and the horse.

Sharp hooves slammed down inches from his face,  a startled neigh accompanying it. Sweat dripped down the horse's dark blue coat. It - no, she - reared back, rocking on her hind legs. The leathery brown reins shook in front of his face, whipping around with each movement the horse made.

Lance yanked them down.

Wide, fear blown out eyes met his, hot horse breathe almost mixing with his. Stress literally vibrated off this horse, giant frightened huffs and puffs expanding her whole chest. Sky blue eyes stared him down, terror swirling in pitch black pupils. Lance let his eyebrows raise in a stressed out manner and knew he made a mistake.  A rough jerk nearly ripped his hand off his wrist when she tried to buck back, to get away from him, but he gritted his teeth and  held on, trying to anchor her down.

Rule one of horses : Don't show fear or stress. Rule two : They like music.

His phone was off and he couldn't risk letting go. Too many people were around, dead silence dripping stress and caution from the shifty crowd.  If anyone got too close, she's freak and Lance didn't know how much longer he could fight the weight of a wild horse.

Well, he could sing.

"A steady beat goes one, two, three, four " Lance let his eyelids slide down, refusing to make eye contact with the horse. Carefully, he put a hand on her nose, and was a little relieved she didn't try to bite it off.  He let the cold seep into him, letting it encourage him to remain calm."A steady heart goes I love you more"  Her breathing stopped feeling like a punch to the gut and more like a slap to the face against his fingers. "I know, sometimes  it's confusing"

With slow, conscious steps, he started to lead her to the stables, avoiding anyone. When she flinched away, ebony tail dancing, he made eye contact.  "Pick out a moment when you couldn't make up your mind, and you think your entire life is timed" he could hear the quiet crunch of hay under his feet, but he wasn't in the stables. Where were the stables? "You said it's your choice but who's choosing?" A blurry something edged in the corner of his eye, and Lance pushed a hand out, not daring to lose eye contact and unwilling to let this stranger get closer.  (He hopes they were dragging Rod away from the horse.)

"You told me we were the perfect song, so I continued to sing along" At least he didn't sound horrible. Lance never thought three years of chorus would come in handy. Then again, he never expected to be leading a crazed horse through snow. "But now that I know what this is all about, I'll stop talking, and shout..." Warm, giant hands eased onto his shoulders suddenly and Lance had to fight to keep his voice steady. "Hey, I thought we were the greatest symphony, melody, harmony," "Hi, I'm Hunk." A warm breath whispered in his ear, faintly smelling of heat and peppermint. Lance kept singing, monitoring the horse's jostling before she settled. This horse really didn't like anybody. He put his hand back on her muzzle, relishing in the warm air she gave off.

"I'm gonna lead you to the stables okay? I need you to keep singing until we get her squared away. We haven't named her yet and she's really flighty - came from a bad place, and you're the first person to actually calm her down. We're pretty close, just follow my lead, yeah?"

Lance nodded, staring deadfast into sky blue eyes, letting the motion of giant hands on his shoulders push him where he needed to go.  He ignored everything in favor of singing for the horse is front of him, adding a soothing note to the lyrics when she almost fought against going in the stable the guy was pushing him towards - moving a horse backwards was probably a really bad idea, but Lance wasn't going to try his luck anymore today.

Eventually, she was completely inside, shifting around as he and Hunk backed out, Lance letting the words die on his tongue. The door swung close with a solid click, and she neighed softly from the pile of hay she had curled up on. "Look man, I'm really sorry about all this-" Hunk started when Lance turned to face him, hands springing up in a defesive gesture, chestnut eyes wide. There was a light pink tinge burning through the dark color of his ears, a yellow strip of fabric dangling against one.

"It's fine. Nothing really happened -" Lance cut him off, slicing a hand through to air to silence him. Despite his size, Hunk looked like a nervous mouse but the adrenaline leeched out of Lance, leaving him suddenly dead tired, and ready to get the hell out of this crazy horse ranch. "Yeah, but -" Hunk tried to match his unwavering strides through hay and mud. "Look, I'm really tired, so I'm gonna assume you're worried about legal stuff, right? I'm not gonna sue or anything - here you can have my number if you're really that worried" Pulling a pen out of his pocket, Lance bit the cap off and snatched Hunk's bulky forearm. "Yeah, okay, goodbye." Finishing the little scibble with his name, he pulled back and stalked back out.

The rest of his family must have gotten off the sleigh and were crowding around Ella and the others, loudly chattering. He slipped inside, using the fact Ella was the one telling the story and thus, the attention was all on her, to sidle up to his mom and not be noticed. "I'm going to go nap in the car." He said in her ear, not sticking around even when she tossed a surprised  glance his way, treking through the snow to the minivan. Heaving open the back hatch, he wriggled inside, slammed it shut, and flopped on to the row of seats. Sighing, he shifted around, found a blanket folded in the pouch on the back of the seat, spread it over himself, let his tired blue eyes flutter shut in the muted darkness of the near empty car, and passed out.

[ninjatime04-blog]

Voltron: Finding Out The perspective of Keith Kogane

(First off I’d like to let you know that I read/wrote this on YouTube account if you wanna check it out. look up Purple Raven and scroll down a bit until you see a picture of black and purple writing that says Briggsr18 Here is the link to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbk048PxFltc3ah05zMpW1w?view_as=subscriber  Enjoy!!)

“This is not the way I had imagined it would go,” I told himself. It was supposed to be just another simple covert mission given to me by the Blade Of Marmora, but things went south. Okay, okay. Let’s just start from the beginning. Maybe that will help me make sense of what had happened.

I couldn’t tell whether it was day or night. I never could anymore, ever since the team and I found out about Voltron. I miss them. It’s been a while since I had visited them in between my Marmora missions. “You’re getting off track … Come on Keith, stay focused,” I thought to myself.

Like I said before, it was just a simple covert mission to collect intel at another Galra base in space. The Blade was busy with so many missions that it was just Kolivan and me.

The base came up on the scanner almost half a quintant before they decided it was going to be a mission. I called Allura and told her about it. As always, she replied with “Be careful. If anything goes wrong do not hesitate to call us for help. Good luck and we all miss you terribly.”

I responded, telling her that I miss them all as well and that I will visit them soon. But to be honest? I didn’t know how soon it was going to be.

The trip to the Galra base was only a few doboshes long, then it was time to work. Before Kolivan and I had split up he had told me I had one varga before he was leaving. With or without me. Great, good to know that he only cares about the mission.

He went to the main control room to see what kind of intel there was on the ship, and to see if there was anything else going on with the Galra. I went on ahead to scout out as much of the ship as I could. I guess you could say that was when things started to go downhill.

I had passed a few centuries undetected, only to almost run into another century guarding a door that seemed kinda important. Thankfully, I was able to knock him out in time before he was able to call for backup. It almost seemed too easy. I bypassed the security on the door and was walking in as I started to think, I haven’t seen any actual Galra on the ship. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen any sign of actual life on this Galra ship.

When I was checking the cells for any prisoners earlier, I didn’t think much of it when they turned up clean. Spotless, in fact. I was not liking this one bit.

I was about to contact Kolivan when I heard the door close behind me.

“Oh no. No, no, no. This is NOT good,” I thought to myself.

The door seemed to be jammed from the outside. I tried my coms. Quiznack! They’re not working. Must be a bad connection. Okay Keith. Calm down. Don’t panic. How long had it been? Half a varga maybe? I looked at the time. I had only 5 doboshes before Kolivan left me here to deal with the centuries. Wait a tick. Where were the centuries? They should have been trying to break down the door to capture me right about now. In fact, I should be hearing alarms, but I can’t.

Then, out of nowhere, there was this beeping noise coming from behind me. I hadn’t searched the room yet. It was dark. I found the light only to see the source of the ticking staring me down. It was a bomb, with 10 doboshes left on the clock. So much for not panicking.

I had to get out of that room somehow, but there was no way out. No vents, no secret passage. No nothing! It looked like a torture chamber, with surgical utensils, torture weapons, and a medical table. I looked back at the bomb. The ticking seemed to be growing louder and louder. As if it were mocking me. “Only 3 doboshes left before you’re dead,” it seemed to say.

Had it already been 7 doboshes??? I was running out of time. I couldn’t think straight. I was losing my patience. Patience. Shiro had told me once that patience yields focus. Come on Keith. Repeat the mantra. Patience yields focus, patience yields focus, patience yields focus… The words seemed to fade into the back of my head as I looked at the time. 90 ticks left. I wasn’t gonna let this happen. I was not going to die this way.

I grabbed one of the chairs that were in the room and started to ram the door. After much effort, I was able to break it down just as the bomb chimed even louder. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6… I didn’t waste any time now. I sprinted out the door, straight into the hallway ahead of me. 3, 2, 1…

BOOM!!!

I shot forward as the ship exploded in a heap of purple flames. There must have been more bombs aboard because the entire ship seemed to implode around me. If I didn’t know before I knew now that it had been a trap right from the start. Ment for Voltron, but I had ended up being the final victim.

I was floating in space now. Kolivan was gone. I guess he was true to his word. My mask was working, thank goodness. But I was in pain. I could barely move. I was definitely hit. My back felt like it was on fire from the explosion. There was a hole in in my suit. I could feel it. I could also feel what had made that hole. It was a knife, embedded in my right thigh about midway between my hip and my knee. The tray of torture weapons. Quiznak! …... Quiznak! Quiznak!

I couldn’t tell how long it had been. A few ticks? A couple of doboshes? A varga? However long it was, it was too long. I was running out of oxygen, fast. I started to accept the fact that I was going to die. And no one would know. The team would think that I was back with The Blade. Kolivan would think that I found my way back to my team.

I never even got to say goodbye to my friends. To Lance.

And that’s when I realized it. I had feelings for Lance. Not hate, not annoyance, but actual feelings. I guess with us arguing all the time I never really knew it was there. And now I will never be able to say how I truly feel about him.

Love.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I could make out something in the distance. I must have been hallucinating from my wound and the lack of oxygen because I could have sworn I had seen the Red Lion flying towards me with incredible speed.

She swooped over and encased me in her mouth. I could hear footsteps. Next thing I know Lance was at my side. Wait. Was he… crying??? I would have to make fun of him later. Right now, I was just glad to see his face. His stupid, Cuban, sun-kissed face.

“Keith? Hey man are you okay? Can you hear me? What happened? How long have you been out here?” Lance didn’t hesitate to shower me with questions.

“I’m okay Lance,” I replied. “I’ll be fine.” Then his expression changed. He had seen my wound.

“Oh God,” he said, a look of absolute horror in his eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you patched up. Wait right here.”

“It’s not like I can go anywhere,” I spoke with a small laugh. Lance chuckled. “You’re making jokes now. You must be hurt real bad if you’re making jokes like that. Just give me a minute, I’m going to go get the medical supplies.”

He hurried back with the supplies as promised. He took out the rubbing alcohol and some gauze.

“This is gonna hurt,” he warned me.

“I can handle the pain,” I responded.

I was wrong. He gave me to the count of three before he pulled out the knife with a brisk force. I winced in pain as he applied the alcohol.

“You can handle the pain?” he questioned, jokingly.

“Shut up,” I answered. I observed closely as he stitched up my leg and started to wrap it up with the bandage. Very diligent not to miss anything.

“Since when did you know how to mend wounds?” I asked him. Making conversation so it wasn’t so awkward as he touched my thigh.

“Heh. I used to do this all the time back in Cuba. I have a lot of relatives who are very adventurous, much like myself. Anyway, My siblings would always trip and scrape a knee or an elbow or something. I was always playing doctor.”

“Haha, Dr. Lance. That’s hot.” Aaand I made it awkward. Great.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to...” I started.

“No, no it’s fine Keith. You don’t have to apologize,” Lance told me.

Then I did something that I didn’t even think I would do. I positioned myself so that I was looking Lance directly in the eyes… and kissed him. I pulled back and turned away after about 5 ticks.

“Oh my Go… Quiznak! What did I just do?!” I turned to see Lance just kneeling there in shock. “I, I, I’m soooo sorry Lance. I don’t know why I did that. I wasn’t thinking. I, I just… I couldn’t help myself.” I buried my face in the palm of my hands, too scared to look up.

I felt Lance gently grab my wrists, bringing my hands away from my face. I knew he could see me crying.

“What are you apologizing for?” He asked. And before I could answer he pulled me in for another kiss. This time it lasted a little longer. When we stopped, he just smiled at me and said, “Now I don’t have to just hit on girls anymore.” I laughed. “What do you mean?” “I’m bi,” he replied. “I’ve always had a crush on you, but I tried to hide it by starting a rivalry between us so people wouldn’t know. But now that I know that you feel the same way, I don’t have to hide it anymore.”

I started to laugh, a lot.

“What’s so funny?” Lance asked, concern in his voice. “You do like me, right? Or did I read that kiss wrong?”

“No, I do,” I replied, getting myself together. “It’s just adorable how you think we had a rivalry going on between us.”

A grin began to grow on Lance’s face just then. “Oh, I’ll show you adorable, Mullet.” And he kissed me again. More soft this time. He unlocked his lips from mine and picked me up, marriage style.

“Lance, haha. What are you doing?”

“I’m bringing you to the cockpit to set you down in a chair. We need to get you back to the castleship so you can heal properly. I’m not going to let my new boyfriend die on me when I just found out he likes me.”

I chuckled. “ ‘Like’ is an understatement, Loverboy Lance. Haha.”

“Then I guess you’ll just have to prove it to me sometime Mullet.”

And with that, he piloted us both safely back to the caste where I was put in a healing pod.

When I awoke, Lance was right there waiting to catch me in his arms. The rest of the team was right behind him as I was embraced in the biggest hug. Bigger than when I had left to help out the Blade of Marmora.

The Blade. I had almost forgotten about the mission. But before I could say anything Shiro spoke up.

“Alright guys, let’s give Keith some air. How ya feelin?”

“To be honest. I’m pretty hungry.”

Hunk spoke out in excitement, “I’ll make you the best welcoming breakfast you have ever tasted! Well, in space anyway.”

“Heh, thank’s Hunk. You’re a good friend,” I answered.

And with that, we all made our way to the dining hall, stopping at my old room so that I could change out of the healing pod outfit and into my usual clothing.

As we ate, I regaled them on what had happened up to the part where I was saved by Lance and Red. I left out our little love moment. I wanted to keep that to myself. Just a memory for Lance and I. And Red too, I guess. Haha. But Lance and I did tell the team that we were together. That definitely wasn’t going to be a secret for long anyway.

“I knew it was going to happen sooner or later,” Pidge rang in.

Everyone looked at her, a bit confused.

“What? Someone in this group must have known that they were secretly in love with each other. I’m just surprised it didn’t happen sooner.”

“Okay then. Anyway, I’m very happy for you two,” Allura chimed in.

“Yes definitely. At least we know that you two chaps won’t be fighting as much anymore,” Coran added.

“Well, I don’t know about that,” Lance spoke up. “It all depends if Mullet here gets into any more trouble while he’s out with The Blade.”

“Actually, I’m not going back to The Blade for a while,” I commented.

“Why not?” Shiro asked, actually sounding concerned. Funny, I thought he’d be the one who would be happy to have me back.

“Well, I haven’t been around all that much,” I began. “And I’ve missed you all a ton while I was gone. Plus, now I have to make sure that Loverboy here won’t be flirting with anyone else but me now that we’re together.”

“Heheh. You got a deal Mullet,” Lance told him with his warm smile that could make anyone happy in an instant.

And with that, everyone started in a roar of laughter. Happy to have their old friend back.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

6.7

*** Cloning prt 7

Premise: Captured Lance. Cloning. Langst.

Scene: When the team finally find Lance, they don’t expect to find him with a child that’s the splitting image of Keith. Non con body modifications. No Mpreg. They all live. I guess season 6ish because I love our grizzled Keith…

*

Shiro had been a clone. Shiro had been a clone. The castle was gone. Lotor was… hopefully gone. Keith had a new scar across his face… and Shiro had been a clone. His brother hadn’t been his brother at all…

With everything being how it was, Lance had shut himself in Red. The idiot shouldn’t have been piloting, and he shouldn’t have bonded back with Black… but there they were. His attentions split between Lance who needed him, and Shiro who needed him despite being in a pod. Seeing all those copies of his brother had really messed him up. He couldn’t get the idea of their being tubes like that filled with copies of Lance out there somewhere… or copies of him… or Lancella and Laith. It was only thanks to Lance’s strength of mind that Voltron could form… Lance who jumped at every strange noise and had kept well away from him since the truth had come out.

“Do you think he’s okay?”

Hunk had been pretty devastated that Lance hadn’t been up to talking to them. Keith had basically been kicked out once Lance was out of the shower and in his pyjamas… and now they’d lost the castle. The safe place that Keith had been sure he’d be able to get through to Lance in. He was sure that wasn’t okay, yet that would all make them feel even more miserable

“I don’t know”

“Should we see if he wants something to eat?”

“Yeah. I’ll go. Lancella will probably hate the taste of those ration bars”

Pidge shook her head

“I don’t know how you managed to take care of her and a baby. I have no idea what she was trying to say most of the time”

Yeah…. Nobody had invented a translation app for toddlers so he’d just let Lancella babble

“I didn’t either. I kind of nodded and agreed with her and that seemed to work”

“I still can’t believe Lance is a dad… We haven’t even been able to apologise for thinking he was dead”

Coran gave him a look that told him now would be the perfect time to explain things from his perspective, only Keith wouldn’t do that to Lance

“It’s not your fault. It’s none of our faults. Though if the castle hadn’t been lost I would have liked to take a trip to that planet to give them a little taste of revenge”

Hunk’s bottom lip wobbled at his “bad joke”

“He’s supposed to be my best friend and I didn’t notice. How could I not notice?”

“Hunk, like Shiro, the clone had Lance’s memory. We were probably never meant to know Lance was still out there, but we’ve got him back. And we’ve got Shiro back. That’s what we need to focus on now”

“What if he never wants to talk to us again?”

Keith felt that hard. But he had to believe in Lance like Lance believed in him

“You wouldn’t have been able to form Voltron if he did. I’ll see if I can coax him out”

“Can you tell him we miss him?”

“Yeah, man. I’ll let him know”

Armed with food, Keith headed up Red’s ramp nervous about what he’d find when he finally saw Lance. He had so much to say to him. He didn’t expect Lance to be right there, “playing” with Lancella and Kaltenecker. Lance hadn’t expected him either as his head whipped around and he pulled Lancella away from his precious cow

“I… uh, I brought you up some food. Hunk tried his best. It’s better than rations…”

“How’s Shiro?”

Keith blinked. He hadn’t expected that from Lance. He’d expected an awkward “thanks” followed by that question, not to jump straight there

“He’s healing”

“That’s good. And you?”

Lance was asking him? He didn’t know what he was… Everything with Shiro had been so extreme

“Relax, mullet. I know you’re exhausted. I meant your face”

Oh…

“It doesn’t hurt”

“That’s good. I’m sorry about Shiro”

“That’s not your fault”

“I feel like I should have noticed something”

It was like he was talking with the team about Lance

“The technology was designed so we wouldn’t…”

“I bet the team doesn’t know what to say. Not one but two clones… Lancella, and Laith…”

“They might be clones but they’re still themselves”

Lance’s eyes widened, before his gaze dropped to Lancella

“I know… I’m…”

“Lance?”

“I know that… but it’s still hard. She’s been asking about you… I think you have a fan”

Lance was soooo much better at speaking toddler than he was

“She’s a good kid”

“Yeah… I’ve been thinking and I know I need to tell the team what happened, but with Shiro being our priority, I don’t want to drag everyone else down”

“They want to know… I mean… Hunk said to make sure I told you how much they miss you… but…”

Awkwardness hit hard. Keith kind of knew what he wanted to say, and at the same time he didn’t know if what he wanted to say was what he should say

“… but I think they’d be happy knowing you’re okay”

Lance snorted, before letting Lancella down

“I’m not sure okay is the first word I’d chose. Do you want to see Laith? He’s sleeping”

“Oh… I’m… Um… not if you don’t want me to”

“Technically they’re your children too. I won’t deny you access to seeing them. But if you don’t want to, that’s okay too”

“No! I mean… I do. But I know what he’s like when he doesn’t get enough sleep”

“Yeah… He’s good at making his unhappiness known. Not at all like his fathers”

“I don’t know, I remember plenty of times you didn’t want to go to training in the morning”

“That’s because Allura always chose inhuman hours to set the alarms off”

Both of them ducked their heads as their eyes met. He really had missed Lance. And now with Shiro… Lance would have been the one he turned to. He’d have some kind of “Lance wisdom” that would annoy him yet be appreciated at the same time

“Thanks for the food… You’re right about the ration bars”

It felt like Lance was bringing the conversation to an end, and Keith didn’t want that

“I thought maybe we could talk? We don’t have to talk about that, but…”

“It’s nice to know sometimes never change. You’re as awkward as ever, man”

Put him in front of his crush and that was what happened. He’d nearly lost two out of the three most important men in his life forever

“That’s not my fault. You were always the one who knew what to say…”

“You’re fine, Keith. You nearly lost your brother, no one is expecting you to know what to say right now”

“No… I… I didn’t believe you and I should have”

If he hadn’t dismissed Lance, then maybe things wouldn’t have resulted in the castle being lost to them, and Shiro wouldn’t be lying in a pod. Now it felt like that was exactly why they’d clone Lance, because two clones would be completely unbelievable

“He’s your bother. No one wants to believe their family has been replaced by a clone, good or evil. Lancella, Keith’s got food for us. Do you want to show Keith your room? She’s basically claimed all of Red as hers”

“How does Red feel about that?”

“I think he’s secretly loving being admired for the big beautiful red beast he his. He’s not quite as fond of her when she’s got sticky hands”

Keith didn’t particularly enjoy that either… food goo didn’t equal a good time with a cranky toddler

“Sounds fun”

“Yep. Come on through. Mind the mess and all that. I had to improvise a washing line”

Following Lance and Lancella, Lancella ran over to the bed she clearly shared with Lance and Laith, throwing herself across it as Lance groaned

“Don’t wake you brother”

The room was as small as he remembered it. Almost an afterthought during construction really… and with the washing Lance had up, all that was really left space wise was the bed. Lance’s improvised washing lines looked ready to give up their post at any moment

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting visitors… Babies… poop a lot. Then with her nightmares… I’ve been trying to keep up with it”

“I had the whole castle and mum still had to help…”

“In your defence you never grew up with babies around…”

“No. Lance…”

“It’s okay…”

None of this was okay. Lance was trying his hardest to do everything alone and it showed

“I want to help”

“Keith…”

“They’re my kids too. I want to help”

“You don’t have to feel obligated… They used your DNA because of me”

“And?”

“And I get that you didn’t sign up for suddenly being a dad”

“Neither did you”

Lance’s breath hitched, Keith sensing incoming tears

“What else am I supposed to do? It’s because of me…”

“It’s not your fault”

“They chose me”

“And if they hadn’t you’d be in my shoes telling me I didn’t have to do it alone. You’re exhausted, aren’t you?”

“No more than anyone else. Besides, there’s bigger things going on”

Climbing back off of “her bed” Lancella carried a scrunched piece of paper over to him

“Oh, right. She drew you… I think it’s you. And maybe black? Let me take the food, the bed’s pretty safe but I don’t know how long my favourite little monster is going to sleep”

Lancella wanted his attention now, bottom lip wobbling as her small hands started tearing at the paper. Lance quick to take the bowl of food off of him so Keith could crouch down to Lancella’s height

“Is that for me? Can I have it?”

He thought he’d said all the right things until he looked up to Lance who’d lost his colour

“Can you sit down properly? With her… I…”

“Is it something to do with…?”

“They’d… before they…”

Lance backed up, hitting the side of his bed as he did. Keith letting himself fall back onto his arse before pulling Lancella over to him

“Sure. Now, what do we have here? Did daddy help you draw this?”

“This was all her. I need to thank you for introducing her to pencils. Most of them have managed to make it into bed with us”

“You’re welcome. I didn’t know what to do”

“I know… I’m… sorry, give me a tick”

“Lance, it’s okay. I’m not mad at you for you having triggers. It’d be weirder if you didn’t”

“I don’t want to talk about what happened in front of her. I don’t want her knowing… God knows how I’ll explain this to her in the future”

“You don’t need to. I mean, space is so big…”

“I’d prefer if she never knew but… I still can’t believe the pod stabilised her”

“Yeah… but she’s been okay since, right?”

“I’m surprised you haven’t heard her tantrums. She’s not loving life on a Lion”

Peering over Lancella’s shoulder, Keith didn’t know what he was looking at. There was something red and something black, and a bit of purple

“It looks just like me”

“I know, she got your love for red right. Keith… I meant what I said, you don’t have to feel obligated in any way”

“It’s… I didn’t think I’d be a dad…”

“I don’t know if I can even call myself that… I care about her, and Laith but…”

Lance loved them. He wouldn’t be so attached and determined to do things alone if he didn’t… then again, it was kind of complicated and probably easier for Keith as he hadn’t been there with Lance

“You went through a lot”

“Yeah… I suppose so”

“My mum is happy to babysit if you’d like. And she wants to be involved in their lives… we both do”

Poking at the food in the bowl, Lance pulled out a weedy stem. Their scanners had said some of the foliage on the planet was safe to eat, not that it mattered seeing the ingredients had been saved from the castle

“What does that even look like? You’re you… and I’m… I’m not even sure anymore”

“You’re you. Shiro’s no less Shiro, even if he’s in a clone…”

Snorting sadly, Lance moved from the bed to the floor

“This is why I didn’t want to burden the team. He’s been through so much and all I’m doing is talking about me”

“You need someone to talk to, too”

“I’ve got the kids”

“That’s not the same thing and you know it. I want you to be able to talk to me”

“I dont know what to say anymore. You should be focused on Shiro. He’s going to need you more than ever when he wakes up to find his arm gone again”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t be here for you”

“You need to focus on Shiro. You’re the leader of Voltron, Keith. You…”

Keith was getting sick of being told what he should do, or to focus on Shiro. He was worried enough about him as it was

“I what? I can’t worry about you?”

“You’re only worried about because of the kids”

“That’s not true. When I came back and heard you were dead… I thought I’d lost you forever. I care about you”

“I know… I mean, I knew. Everything’s so messed up now”

“You think I don’t care?”

“I don’t know. I mean… we have the kids now, but you’ve got your own path…”

“So? That doesn’t mean I’m not your friend. I want to know how you’re doing. I want to be here for you”

“If you try to split your time you’re only going to end up exhausted, Keith”

“Isn’t that for me to decide? What I do with my time?”

He was getting defence, but in his defence Lance was as dense as ton of bricks

“I just mean… no. Never mind”

“Say it”

“Alright. I don’t want to be your pet project. I don’t want you to rush in and try to fix everything. I don’t want you to only be my friend because of the kids. Lancella, try this”

Loading up the spoon, Lance held it out for Lancella as Keith struggled with what he’d been told. How could Lance not think they were friends?

“Do you really think that’s the only reason I’m here?”

“I don’t know what to think”

“I thought we were friends… before everything happened”

“But it’s been years for you”

“That… I did miss you”

And he’d dreamt about him… and had visions of a future with Lance… Keith’s cheeks warming at the memory as Lancella smacked the spoon out of Lance’s hand, Lance looking down to where it lay on the floor. The look in his eyes seemed so sad

“Do you want me to try? Hunk had to trick her into accepting the spoon when we first tried to give her goo”

“She… she’s used to using her hands instead of cutlery… she… she’d never coloured in before… or ran and played… or did anything a kid should… they didn’t give us enough rations”

“Is that why you played up?”

“I wanted more food for everyone… she was starving to death and I couldn’t do anything”

Lance had starved himself to look after her. Coran had said Lance was malnourished

“No one’s going to try take your food away. We’ve got enough rations on the lions and with what Hunk brought from the castle. Besides, cutlery is over rated. Think about the people use cutlery when eating pizza”

“I would kill for a slice of pizza…”

“When we get back to Earth I’ll order you a whole quiznakking pizza”

“Only one?”

“It depends on how I’m feeling at the time. Lancella still has plenty of time to learn. She’s a good kid, Lance. She might not have come into the world in the best of ways but that isn’t her fault. She’s alive. And she’s real. And she’s really lucky to have you as a dad”

“I don’t know about that”

“I do. All she wanted was you. She wouldn’t trust you if she thought you were a bad person”

“I feel like the crappiest parent in existence. I don’t know what I’m doing. You’re stuck with the three of us. They used your DNA because of me and I don’t know if I can keep doing any of this…”

Lance hit his emotional limit. Shifting Lancella out of the way, he reached out to take the Red Paladin’s hand. The toddler far more interested in the food now it spoon free

“You can. You’ve always had my back. You’re… you’re my right hand man. When I needed you, you were there for me”

“But we have kids now. How am I supposed to keep them safe when I can’t trust myself anymore?”

“I trust you. You haven’t been sleeping either, have you?”

“I get so scared that this is just another mind game. That I’m going to wake up and it’s going… it’s all going to be fake and we’re still back there”

“I don’t know how to fix that…”

“I don’t know either… Keith… I don’t know what I’m doing. I jump at everything. I can’t sleep and if I do fall asleep all I do is have nightmares. You’re not okay. Shiro’s not okay. The team… I don’t know how to face them… I’m so embarrassed”

“What have you got to be embarrassed about?”

“They chose me… they chose me because they knew I’m the least worthy Paladin… they said no one would know the difference between me a useless clone and they didn’t… I waited and waited… and they… no one came. I couldn’t… I couldn’t stop them. They were in my head and… over and over I begged them to stop but they wouldn’t stop. I feel so broken”

Moving to hug Lance, Lance dissolved into sobs

“I want to be strong for the kids but it hurt. It hurt so much. They… they chose me… but I don’t know why I’m not as good as everyone else”

Lance would have traded places with anyone on their team in a heart beat and not given it a second thought

“You are. You are”

“I wanted to come back…”

“I know you did. I’m sorry I was late. I’m sorry we lost the castle and Lotor was a piece of shit. But I’m not sorry that the kids are ours biologically. You’re not a shit parent, Lance. You’re a parent going through some serious shit”

“But you’re stuck…”

Lance was clinging to him now, Keith clinging back just as hard. Thankfully Lance’s head was hidden against his shoulder where he couldn’t see Keith’s tears

“I’m not stuck. Out of everyone in the team it was you I missed the most. I missed you, Lance. I missed my best friend. I care about you, idiot. If anyone was going to be the father of my children, then I’m glad it’s you”

“I don’t want to be scared anymore. I don’t know if… how many other “mes” might be out there”

“The only important you is right here, sharpshooter”

Swapping to rubbing Lance’s back, Lance cried himself out on his shoulder until Keith was supporting the majority of Lance’s weight

“We should get you to bed”

“I don’t want to sleep”

“Will it make you feel better if I stay?”

“I can’t ask you to do that”

“I’m offering. I know you want the kids as close to you as possible, but would you be okay with mum watching them?”

Lance let out a fresh sob

“Okay. Hey, it’s okay if you’re not ready”

“They took her away over and over… f-f-for testing… we weren’t allowed to talk…”

“No one’s taking her away again. Just know that when you are ready, mum would love to see them”

“She must be so disappointed in me”

“No, Lance. I promise you she isn’t at all. She really wanted to meet you”

“I’m so glad you found her”

“Me too. You should have been there on the whale with us. You would have loved the forest. It even rained”

“I can’t imagine it”

“It wasn’t all fun. Because of some really weird space shit we had visions of the future and the past. She pretty much saw all our history”

“Then she knows I was an arsehole”

“Not that I was any better. She also knows you’re a good guy. And how I feel about you”

“I really missed you, Keith”

“Me too, Lance. I know it’s hard, but I think you should talk to the team about everything. They all miss you”

“I missed them. I can’t… I feel sick thinking about this. It… it keeps playing on repeat”

“That’s because you’re exhausted. I’ll watch the kids, you need sleep”

“You need sleep too”

“I’ll be fine for a couple vargas. If it looks like you’re going to have a nightmare, I’ll wake you up”

“Shiro might…”

“If Shiro wakes up, mum will be there with him. And if he does wake up, I’ll wake you up”

“Promise?”

Lance had no idea what he was doing to Keith’s heart. He wanted to hold him until the pain was all better and Lance was making bad jokes again. All he could do was send Lance to bed, then mind the kids with the hope Lance would be up for talking with everyone once he’d gotten some real rest

“I promise”

[stumbling-while-balancing]

Mission (Not) Abandoned (AO3) Lotor Week, Day 1: Abandoned Keitor T

***

“Hunk?” Pidge called across the room, “Did you leave a data chip on my desk?”

“Wasn’t me. You know who it’s from?” Hunk got up from where he was currently fiddling with repairs on a Marmora ship to come over to her work station, peering at the chip like it would suddenly come to life and answer the question itself. Not that unlikely, considering, well- space.

Pidge frowned as she placed the chip into her computer. It was risky, but Pidge was confident enough in her code that she thought any nasty surprises the chip may have in store would be easily handled. At the very least, her computer wasn’t currently hooked up to the mainframe and she had backups of backups, so the damage wouldn’t be too bad.

And she was curious.

A beep drew her away from her inner justifications, and she surveyed the data that had been loaded onto her computer. It was immediately obvious that it was intel from the Blade of Marmora. It was just as obvious that the intel was from mission plans that had been abandoned due to the low likelihood of completion without capture.

Pidge closed her eyes and let out a slow breath, even as Hunk let out a low groan from behind her.

“Coran,” she commed, “Can you tell me where Keith is right now?”

***

Keith, apparently, was nowhere to be found. Correction, Keith was nowhere to be found where anyone could directly get ahold of him. Judging by the looks on the team’s faces, and even by the frowning, disapproving visage that Kolivan’s face currently sported, everyone knew where he probably was.

“At our last correspondence, he said that Voltron would need him for the next quintant.”

Lance snorted, “Yeah, and the last thing he told us was that he was going back to you guys for a mission.”

“So the Coalition has lost track of your most valuable Paladin. Are we going to continue discussing what he told all of you, or are we going to go find him?” Lotor said, loftily impatient.

Lance flinched before turning to face the (really fucking unwelcome) commenter from the peanut gallery. He really didn’t like that guy, something Lotor had made clear was mutual in that annoyingly posh way of his. He wished that Allura and Shiro didn’t insist on including him in things like this. Weren’t prisoners supposed to be locked up in cells, where they remained hidden away from the people they could annoy? But, ‘Lance, Lotor’s an ally we need to be careful with, not a prisoner!’ and ‘Lance, please stop being rude to our guest.’ and ‘Lance, if you can’t be respectful, then please be silent.’

Lance respected Allura more than he could say (she was so, so amazing!) and only about a tenth of that was because he wanted her to be his girl, but sometimes… sometimes he just didn’t agree with her choices.

Especially since-

Wait.

“Most valuable Paladin?!” He burst out, unable to keep the incredulousness out of his voice and interrupting the conversation that Allura, Shiro, Kolivan and Lotor were currently having. “Keith?! He’s not even a Paladin anymore!”

Lotor’s glance at him was about as warm as an iceberg’s, “He is capable of piloting both the Red and the Black Lions, so yes, still a Paladin. As well as being one of the youngest members the Blade has ever had, completing missions that would give even experienced Blade’s trouble. You may try to compete with his talent, but even you cannot deny that it exists.”

Lance drew himself up in righteous fury, ready to let loose his response to all that, when Shiro broke in.

“Guys, this isn’t a popularity contest. It doesn’t matter who the supposedly ‘most valuable Paladin’ is, what matters is that Keith is our friend and could be in trouble right now, so please.”

Well that took the wind right out of Lance’s sails.

“Fine.” He muttered, crossing his arms and deciding to take the high road of ignoring Lotor’s existence.

Shiro turned to Kolivan and continued their discussion, “So you said that the plans were abandoned because of the high risk factor.”

“Yes.” Kolivan said, face still set in disapproving lines, “While the battleship is itself unaccompanied by other ships, it does contain a high number of sentries and drones. However, those aren’t the problem. The problem is the druid on the ship, one of Haggar’s top officers and one who is very good at sensing when traitors to the Galra Empire are near. This druid has some sort of ability that psychologically breaks any who is on the receiving end of it, and the Blades that have encountered him… the few that came back did not do so mentally sound, and they all died shortly afterwards. While the intel on the ship would be invaluable, the risk with low chance of success was far too high to carry through with it.”

Well, fuck.

That actually sounded… really bad.

Lance’s arms uncrossed subconsciously as worry became his strongest emotion.

And Keith was planning on throwing himself at this guy?

“Alzak,” Lotor growled from beside Allura, “I’ve come into contact with him before. His ability traps the recipient of it in a hellish mindscape, where they are tortured by creatures both of the druids design and by their own minds fearful wonderings. He takes pleasure in watching them suffer until they break. If we’re going to go save Keith, we need to do so now.” He finished grimly.

For once, Lance agreed with the jerk, and he was relieved to see Shiro nod.

“I think we’ve prepared as much as we can for now. Kolivan, how many of the Blade will be able to join us?” Shiro asked.

Kolivan grimaced, “Too few, many are currently engaged in missions elsewhere. Ten, at the most. I’ll have them meet you there.”

Shiro nodded, “Thank you.” He said, before ending the transmission and turning to walk toward his Lion, Lance and the other’s quickly following suit.

“I’m going as well.” Lotor interrupted, starting toward the door.

“What! Uh, yeah, no. The last thing we need to worry about while we’re saving Mullet is you stabbing us in the back!” Lance burst out, worry and frustration waring within him.

“I am the one that knows best how to deal with Alzak, and thus am the most likely to be able to bring Keith back without his mind in tatters. Please. Try to stop me if you wish.” Lotor snapped, open hostility uncharacteristically in place as he regarded Lance, a freezing, deep anger present in his eyes.

And was… was that worry in his eyes, as well? Holy shit, what had Keith done to get Lotor to worry about him. He knew that Keith had been spending a lot of the time he was on the Castleship with Lotor, but enough to get Lotor- Lotor!- to care about him? What the quiznack?

“Enough.” Shiro interrupted once more. “We don’t have time for this. Lotor, thank you for the offer. We accept. Lance, get to your Lion.”

Lance hurried to his Lion, for once being willing to leave the situation without the last word. He may not like or trust Lotor, but Keith was his friend, and Shiro was right when he said they didn’t have time for arguing. Maybe trusting Lotor was going to be a mistake, but it was one they were apparently going to make.

***

Hunk’s mind was practically swirling with worry, even as he determinedly forced himself to focus. This was really bad, and with no way to contact Keith without potentially putting him in danger, there was also no way to know what they were going into. Was Keith okay? Were they going to get there in time? What if they got there just in time to see the druid use his ability on Keith and they couldn’t stop it?

Coran and Allura had moved the Castleship as close as it could get to the battleship while still being outside the ship’s radar, and they were halfway to said ship when the Red and Black Lion’s abruptly went dead.

“Guys?” Hunk exclaimed, instantly pulling Yellow to a stop beside them.

“What happened?” Pidge asked, doing the same with the Green Lion.

“I don’t know.” Shiro replied, “Black just… stopped responding. I can’t connect to him, he feels like he’s somewhere else.”

“Red, too.” Lance replied, before adding angrily, “Lotor, if this is something you did-“

“I did nothing.” Lotor snapped, voice openly annoyed, “If the two of you are unable to continue, the rest of us should go ahead.”

That… was a bad idea if the ship had something that could invisibly take out two Lion’s, and he was surprised that Lotor, of all people, was willing to risk it. Hunk didn’t really trust the guy, but… he really did seem like he wanted to get to Keith as soon as possible. (Of course, Lotor could just be trying to betray them, but Hunk determinedly kept his mind away from that thought.)

“That’s a bad idea.” Pidge said, echoing his thoughts, “We don’t know what we’re going into or if they can disable our Lion’s just as easily. We need a plan.”

They argued back and forth about it for a few doboshes, before the Red and Black Lion’s abruptly came back online to Lance and Shiro’s exclamations.

“Everything okay, you guys?” Hunk asked, confused yet relieved to see the Lion’s working again.

“It seems to be, but let’s be cautious. We don’t know why they stopped.” Shiro replied.

“If we can continue, now.” Lotor interrupted, and the team nervously began moving toward the battleship once more.

***

Pidge wasn’t sure whether the drones floating lifelessly around the battleship were a good sign or a trap, and she didn’t like being unsure of things.

The rest of the team seemed similarly nervous, slowing their Lion’s to a slow glide as they approached the darkened battleship.

“Anyone else feeling really nervous about this?” Hunk asked.

“Their lack of response is concerning. We should approach with caution.” Allura said, her voice that careful cool it got sometimes when she was preparing herself for things to go sideways.

“Agreed.” Shiro replied, moving his Lion in front. “We’ll continue as planned, but keep aware of your surroundings. The Blade joining us are still ten doboshes away, so we can’t count on them for backup right now. Pidge, are we still in route to the ship’s main control room?”

Pidge checked the readouts, “Yeah, all we have to do is go to the right a bit and we can break into the ship. Then two rights and a left down the hallways and we’ll be there.”

“Good. Let’s go, team.”

Breaking into the ship was almost frighteningly easy once they reached their drop point, and even Lotor seemed, not exactly nervous, but like he was expecting a difficult fight ahead.

The way that sentries peppered the halls here and there, slumped over like someone had cut their power off, still didn’t put their minds at ease.

Until they reached the control room.

And there was Keith.

At the main computer, typing quickly at it while disabled sentries and a gasping, twitching druid lay beside him.

“Son of a bitch.” Lance cursed from beside her, and Pidge silently agreed.

Keith had given her one of the most frightening scares of her life, and he was apparently fine? And had apparently managed to take on an entire battleship by himself and win?

What the fuck?

She was simultaneously filled with the urge to run up to him and hug him, and run up to him and slap him on the head for taking that huge of a risk.

Keith had stiffened when they entered, and he whirled to face them at Lance’s exclamation, before relaxing at the sight of them.

“You’re early, I’m not finished getting the data yet. The cloaking you added to the ship and my suit works great, Pidge.” He added casually, like his team wasn’t currently freaking out while trying to get over the amount of worry he had put them through right in front of him.

“We’re- Cloaking- What the fuck Keith?!” Lance growled from beside her.

Shiro stepped forward then. “How did you manage to keep the druid’s power from trapping you?” He asked, sounding relieved yet confused.

Keith frowned back behind his shoulder, where his Marmora Blade lay beside the control panel. “It was the Red and Black Lion’s, and… the Blade, I think. They were able to help me reverse the druid’s powers somehow, turn it back onto him rather than having it trap me. After that, I was able to turn off the ship’s security before too many sentries got in.”

Pidge opened her mouth to ask a question, but then Lotor was moving toward Keith, his strides almost predatory as he walked. He reached Keith within a few tick’s time, and before anyone could say anything, he-

Well, he-

He jerked Keith into a deep, intense kiss that wouldn’t look out of place in a porno.

Pidge let out a choked sounding cough before abruptly turning her eyes anywhere that wasn’t their resident Galra prince trying this best to massage Keith’s tonsil’s with his tongue. And from the sound of things, to Keith’s enthusiastic appreciation.

Her eyes awkwardly met Hunk’s, and they stared at each other in shared trauma for a bit before she bit her lip to repress a sudden burst of laughter. It was just so awkward, so incredibly awkward. Did they even realize the rest of the team was still there? She winced at the sound of ruffling clothing, Please don’t let them get undressed, please don’t let them get undressed, please…

Well, at the very least she didn’t have to worry about Lotor’s intentions. After the way that Lotor generally was with Keith, and how he had been acting today…

she was pretty sure that he had it bad for her friend.

***

Keith groaned into the hot mouth that was consuming him, knowing that he needed to pull back but not wanting to. The team was there, the team was right there, probably shuffling around and avoiding looking at Lotor and Keith while they… were busy. Keith should definitely stop this, now. He moaned as Lotor’s mouth attacked his neck. In a dobosh. He should stop it in a dobosh.

***

Allura coughed politely into her hand as she considered her options. She really couldn’t think of anything she’d rather be doing less right now than listen to Zarkon’s son… express his attentions on her friend, but, as Lance sometimes said, there she was.

Doing exactly that.

She probably really should think more kindly of Lotor, as he had been of great service to the Coalition so far. But it was hard, having to work with the son of the man that killed her father.

It was even harder seeing her friend dance around a relationship with said son.

She turned her eyes to the couple (were they a couple now?) in front of the control panel with a frown. Lotor and Keith had actually stopped their activities and were just… looking at each other. Keith was staring up at Lotor with a million different expressions, the strongest a desperate hope, and Lotor…

Lotor was looking at Keith like he was something precious. Like Keith was the most amazing thing he had ever seen, and he was awed by it. Like Keith was something he treasured enough that he would fight the universe to protect and keep it.

Like he was in love with Keith.

Her mind now decided, Allura began to collect and nudge the other Paladins out of the room. She may not know everything in this new, strange universe so different from her home, but she did know one thing.

There was not nearly enough love in the universe, and there was no one more deserving of love than Keith. And she would protect her friend’s right to it, no matter her own feelings on the matter.

Besides, she thought as she risked a glance back and watched Lotor run a tender thumb over Keith’s cheek, I think… I think someone like Lotor might actually be something that Keith has needed for a long time.

And Allura shut the door behind her to give the two the privacy they needed.

End

***

Notes:

This was started a bit ago and finished now. I think it counts as an entry to Lotor week (it's meant to be), but it's definitely not entirely Lotor focused, so if Mod's want to not count it, that's okay!

May contain a sequel with Lotor and Keith working out their relationship, but no promises.