#hunk: WHAT. YOU MEAN KOSMO COULD TELEPORT THE WHOLE TIME

[discordiansamba]

Hunk: Wait. Hold on. Keith's a firebender. How are we going to get him into Ba Sing Se?

Shiro: Oh. That actually might be a problem.

Keith, tilting his head: Why would it be a problem?

Pidge: Uh, because you need a passport to enter the city?

Keith, holding out his passport: I've got one of those.

Hunk: wait. you do? But you're-

Keith: I was born in the Earth Kingdom, Hunk. My grandmother's from here. I thought I told you that?

Hunk: ooooooooooohhhhh. well. that solves that problem, I guess!

Lance, Allura & Coran, all slowly raising their hands: well. actually-

[i-write-shakespeare-not-disney]

25 Days of Heartache- Day 1

The Bursting of a Star

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17675945

It didn’t make sense. None of it made sense. That was saying a lot considering how much shit they’d all gone through, and yet Lance stood firmly by it.

When Keith returned from the Blade, he was different. Not a different person, just… changed. Enhanced. He was more mature, a little more level-headed. He was stubborn as hell, of course- Lance didn’t think anything could ever change that about Keith. He still had his temper, but he was more in control of it.

There was more than that, though. He was different for Lance. In his eyes. Maybe it was that stupid saying about distance making the heart grow fonder, or maybe just the amount of times they’d faced death. The fact that if it hadn’t been for Allura, he might have never even seen Keith again. Dying really put things in perspective. Showed you what was important, what wasn’t.

Like the way it wasn’t important that Keith had been better in classes at the Garrison, or that they’d spent the better half of their time bickering over stupid things like who got to eat the last helping of food goo or who could finish a scouting mission quicker, or that they had a juvenile rivalry with no actual basis. How important it was for Lance to feel like he could trust Keith, for Keith to have taken him seriously and encouraged him and depended on him. How important it was that Lance missed Keith, no matter how much he tried to hide it.

Naturally, when Keith came back, Lance was highly aware of what he felt. Of how much he felt. It was a comfort to know Keith would still tease him now and then, that they could still challenge each other over stupid things but come around to encouraging each other more than anything.

But after the game show…. Lance had to talk to Keith. They’d chosen each other. Lance chose Keith and Keith chose him. Keith chose to save him. Not even Hunk and Pidge had mutually chosen each other. That had to mean something. It had to say something about how they saw each other, and maybe Keith didn’t feel what Lance felt, but it was something.

Somehow, the universe had decided to be on his side for once. Lance could still remember the day they talked. They weren’t on Earth yet, and it was definitely not a time to talk about romance with everything happening and the world nearly ending- but that was exactly why Lance decided to do it. If the world was going to end, if Allura wasn’t there to bring them back to life again, he wouldn’t forgive himself for never telling Keith the truth. Especially after what he’d said when they were floating out in space on the verge of insanity.

He could relive that perfectly. He did it often.

He’d sent Keith a video call, asking if they could talk. The others were asleep, and honestly, they needed sleep too, but Lance felt like he was going to burst. Within a few minutes, Keith had asked Shiro to take over Black while Kosmo teleported him into Red.

He’d looked so worried with that near permanent furrow of his eyebrows. “Everything okay?”

“Can we… talk about some stuff?” Keith nodded and leaned against Kosmo, absently stroking his fur as he gave Lance the space to talk. “What I said when we were out there… about you running away and-”

“Hey. I know you didn’t…. We were all really messed up out there. I’m not angry with you.”

Lance took a breath and pulled his legs up on the pilot seat. “Just let me try to get this out, okay?” Keith huffed and nodded. “I know you didn’t run away. And when I said you should’ve stayed away… I didn’t mean it, but… I also did?” Keith’s eyes widened, and Lance rushed to explain himself. “I just mean, I was- maybe still am- angry with you for leaving. I said it out of spite, so no, I don’t want you to go again, but I was… hurt by you leaving.” The petting stopped. Kosmo blinked owlishly at them and bent his knees to settle on the floor. Keith’s expression softened. “I thought we were getting somewhere. And then you just decided to leave.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Keith said softly. “I wanted to help. You wanted to step down, I wanted to find my mom, it made sense that I join the Blade. You wouldn’t feel left out, and I could still be useful. But I never meant to….”

“I know.” It was quiet for a while. Lance felt nervous, but he had him here, he had to say it. It wouldn’t be long before they reached Earth and they didn’t know what would happen when they did. “I guess I’m a little glad you did it though. Because it made me realize that….” He let out a long breath, hoping to get a grip on himself. “Why did you choose me?”

“What?”

Lance looked at him. “In the game show. You chose me. And I know it wasn’t just because you didn’t want to end up stuck in that place with me for eternity.”

Keith turned red and started pacing slowly. It took him a long time to speak. Each passing second left Lance more and more anxious, more and more unsure. Then he said, “I didn’t even have to think about it.” Lance kept his eyes on him. He’d been standing still by then, his eyes flitting around, but always coming to rest on Lance. “Yeah, Allura’s the princess, and Pidge is probably smarter than all of us put together, and Hunk is the nicest, probably the best person to bring people together, but…. Lance, I don’t think you realize how….” His face turned redder. “You don’t realize how amazing you are.

“Yeah, you can be a goofball sometimes, but sometimes that’s what we need. We need a laugh, we need relief, we need a moment of normalcy. And when it comes down to it, you’ve worked harder than any of us to get better at practically anything. Diplomacy, combat, training, helping, flying, leading.” Keith shook his head and chuckled. “You’re a balance of all of us, you know? Hunk’s charisma, Pidge’s intelligence, my determination, Shiro’s leadership. But you’re better because.... Because you’re you! Because you care so much and you listen and you help and have a big heart and you think things through and you’re funny and….” He took a deep breath and stepped closer to Lance, arms crossed stubbornly. “I chose you because aside from Shiro, you’re the best person I know. Because I knew you wanted to see your family again. Because I truly thought you’d have the best shot out of all of us.” He kicked at the ground and shrugged. “And honestly…. Eternity without ever seeing you again would have sucked.”

The words had left Lance frozen. His heart had been pounding obnoxiously, his mind unable to fathom everything Keith was saying. It didn’t make sense to him. He thought he was preparing to accept an unrequited affection, not… this. His heart took control of his body as his mind short circuited. Because while his mind had no idea what to do or think, his heart was very set on reacting.

And that reaction was a kiss.

He’d crashed against Keith so suddenly, so quickly, so harshly that Keith stumbled and Kosmo got up from where he’d been laying down, ready to defend Keith.

Lance hadn’t actually caught up to his own actions until Keith was holding him back by the shoulders, staring at him in shock with cheeks a bright, crimson red.

“What are you doing?” he’d asked.

Lance shrugged, his body shaking with the adrenaline, the intensity of emotions, the need. “I nearly lost my chance once, I don’t want to do it again.”

Keith stared at him with wide eyes that looked more afraid than shocked by then. “I… I don’t know how to kiss someone.”

The response was so… vulnerable, it had made Lance laugh away the tears threatening behind his eyes. “Oh quiznak, Keith, just shut up.”

And he had. And he did not know how to kiss someone. But Lance was fine with that, because Keith was kissing him. With every awkward little bump of their teeth and the way Keith wouldn’t open his mouth much with every hesitant placement of hands, it was their kiss.

“Hey,” Lance whispered, his hands splayed along the side of Keith’s neck, his thumbs reaching his cheeks. “Relax. Let me try something.” Keith shut his eyes and waited, and Lance kissed him again, this time working his mouth open gently, licking his lips softly before he tested if Keith would let him slip into his mouth. But when his tongue dipped past Keith’s lips, he grunted and moved back. “Okay, okay, not yet,” Lance said with a chuckle. “Don’t think about it too much. Just do what I did.”

It had never been stated. They never actually clarified what it meant for them. It felt like it spoke for itself. That whole night spoke for itself. With shared kisses that slowly became more comfortable, more intense. The way they sat together on the floor near Kosmo, touching, always touching wherever they could. Their hands playing with each other’s, a hand on his knee, touch on the cheek. The way they kept coming back for more kisses between murmured apologies and reassurances and new confessions.

It was new for them both. Each kiss and each whisper was a little more of Lance letting himself be honest. Each kiss and each whisper was Keith being a little more vulnerable. Vulnerable to Lance.

There was a clear image in Lance’s head of the way Keith slowly became used to the kisses, the way he hummed when Lance licked into his mouth, the way he managed to mirror each movement himself, and managed to leave Lance’s lips swollen and sore in the best possible way. Lance still thought of the way he’d slowly managed to kiss along his jawline, down to his neck, licking and sucking the skin until it bruised under the graze of his teeth, splotched like a bursting star. The way Keith gasped and his breaths came faster the rougher Lance was on the sensitive skin, the ways his hands gripped onto his shoulders and tugged him closer.

It was no secret to the others either. Two paladins didn’t just wake up with hickeys and matching dopey grins without it being painfully obvious why. The others hadn’t said anything though. They just exchanged smug smirks after a few surprised raised eyebrows.

Maybe they should have said something. Maybe they should have said it aloud. Maybe they should have stated it instead of playing a game of brushing hands and hooked pinkies and playful kisses and blushing gazes.

The problem was Lance. And he knew it. He only took too long to realize it. He liked unspoken. He liked uncertain certainty. He liked the flustered flirting and the lack of an official term. He didn’t think it mattered so much. He didn’t know Keith wanted it. He didn’t know that his preference of not labeling what they had would be a blow to Keith.

It wasn’t because he didn’t like Keith enough. Or because he wouldn’t have loved to be known as Keith’s boyfriend or for Keith to be known as his. It wasn’t because Keith wasn’t worth it. It was because he was terrified of the label, of the pressure it would put on him. He was fairly sure he’d be a good boyfriend, but the term carried so much weight. Lance thought he would have time to build up to the courage for it. He thought Keith was his.

At first he blamed the war. He blamed the chaos of trying to figure out their places around the Garrison and the battles and the exhaustion. That was why Keith was getting distant. That was why their unnamed thing practically disappeared.

Their friends had noticed, but again hadn’t said anything, figuring it was best to let it settle between them. Keith’s distance lessened, he became amicable again in that way a leader is.

Lance should have seen it coming. He should have noticed it sooner, when he could have done something about it.

He’d been miserable when he realized how distant Keith had become, how completely turned around their relationship or dynamic had become. Something about the way Keith looked at him made it sink in that whatever they could have had was gone, and Lance was on the verge of falling apart.

That was when one of the MFE pilots found him, sitting alone, barely holding himself together in an empty conference room. He felt the hand on his shoulder and flinched, then he looked up and saw the one with good hair. James. He looked worried, maybe a little suspicious.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Lance muttered. “Just needed to rest my eyes.” James frowned and sat beside him. “Did you need something?”

“No. I just like to work here.” James set out some folders and cast him a look. “You can pretend I’m not here. Or you can talk to me.”

Lance huffed and shook his head. This guy was just being nice, he didn’t need Lance’s bad attitude. “No, it’s okay. Thanks though. I’m probably gonna find some food.” James nodded and gave him a meager smile. “Good luck with whatever you’re working on.”

“Thanks,” he answered with a more genuine smile.

Lance left the room and started down the hall to sulk in his room, but because the universe was against him again, he ran into Keith. They didn’t talk. Lance didn’t think Keith would’ve even acknowledged him if he hadn’t looked up to see his face. When he did, Keith just gave him an automatic smile and kept walking.

Lance stared after him, trying to muster the courage to talk, to say something, to make their encounters more than insincere smiles.

Then Keith turned the hallway. Toward the conference room. It spiked Lance’s curiosity, but he couldn’t bring himself to follow. He wasn’t sure how he’d explain himself, or what he would do if he found something he didn’t want to find.

He began trying to figure out ways to ask if anyone had seen Keith with James. He knew there was some beef with them from their earlier years in the Garrison, and he knew they’d had to work together often during their Earth battles. But he’d never seen them actually together. Of course, they could well have been meeting for business, and not whatever Lance’s mind was trying to conjure up. The one time he did ask Shiro, Shiro only told him he didn’t think anything was going on, but even if it was Lance didn’t have a right to demand to know. It shouldn’t have stung as much as it did, especially with the gentle way Shiro managed to say it. But it did.

Lance’s brain began to fuck with him after that. Every time Keith and James were in the same room, Lance was hyper aware of any interaction. He noticed each time one pulled the other aside to say something after a meeting or each time they seemed to be eating lunch together, even with some kind of documents between them. Lance wanted to resort to hating James, even without a solid foundation on which to claim the feeling.

But he couldn’t. Because each time James saw him, he was smiling and offering to help him, asking him if how he was feeling, asking if he was holding up, or even asking about his family after they reunited. James was nice. And that didn’t make any sense. If he was with Keith, then he should have hated Lance. He should have wanted to stay away from him, or given him stink eyes, or literally anything except what he was doing.

That’s what gave Lance the hope that maybe nothing was even going on. That maybe it was really all in his head, and maybe it was time that he got his shit together and fixed what he ruined. If Keith was willing to give him a second chance, he’d do it right. He’d take him on dates, he’d introduce him to his family, he’d ask him to be his boyfriend, and he’d say everything that needed to be said. He wouldn’t fuck it up again.

It’d been four months since they returned to Earth, and about two since Keith began to keep his distance. Two months since they’d… broken up without having been together. Lance couldn’t keep things going the way they were. Even if they just went back to their normal bickering, he would take it over this awkward arrangement of half smiles when they ran into each other and two worded answers when they had to speak to each other.

During their next meeting, Lance tore off a sheet of his overview and wrote, can we talk after the meeting? He slid the torn piece toward Keith who was sitting beside him, and nudged his leg to get his attention. Keith looked over and saw the paper, then slid it closer to himself. He turned it over and scribbled a response:ok

The meeting seemed to last an eternity after that. Lance couldn’t even focus. His stomach twisted more with each passing minute, and he just kept repeating what he wanted to say to Keith in his head.

I messed up. I know I did, and I’m sorry. We should have talked about it, I should have taken you more seriously. I shouldn’t have been so scared. But I want to try again. I want to do it right. Just give me one more chance.

Then suddenly, everyone was getting up and gathering their things to head over to the cafeteria for food or to the workout room or to their beds. Except Keith. They waited for everyone to file out and Keith turned to Lance, that same concern from the night they met in Red in his eyes.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

Lance felt a knot in his throat. He hadn’t let himself cry about any of it. “No,” he admitted. Keith leaned forward, concerned and unsure. “Keith, what…? We’re….” He sighed and put his head in his hands. “Keith, I…. The idea of dating someone… I know I talked a big game all the time, but that official label scared me. And when you brought it up…. Look, I don’t know where you’re at anymore. I know you were angry with me, and now things are okay but they’re not. I don’t know if you’ve maybe moved on or if…. I just feel like…. I know, I know, I could have done things better. Handled things better.”

“Hey, come on. It’s okay. We’re in the middle of a war, I get if that wasn’t exactly a priority.” Keith pulled Lance’s hands away, unshielding his face. “You don’t need to apologize. Personally, I’ve moved on-”

Keith continued saying something, but Lance didn’t hear it. He was busy echoing those words. Busy trying not to let them break him. I’ve moved on. I’ve moved on. He moved on.

“Lance? What are you thinking?”

Lance stared at the table, forcing himself to stay composed. “I’m thinking,” he said in a voice that wasn’t even loud enough to be a whisper. “That I’m an idiot.” He scoffed, swearing he was about to laugh, but he could feel three hot tears sliding down his face against his will. He wanted to say more, but it was like those three tears had managed to trigger the flood.

Suddenly the tears were streaming down his face silently. His face felt hot. He felt like he couldn’t even breathe because if he did, he would make a sound and then he’d be sobbing. It was bad enough he was crying in front of Keith, he didn’t want to lose his dignity too. He couldn’t form the rest of the words he’d meant to say. They were all pointless now.

“Lance, don’t… don’t cry. You’re not an idiot.” Keith seemed hesitant about what to do, his hands moving to touch Lance’s, then retreating, his body tilting forward like he wanted to offer a hug, but he was unsure if it would help. And that made it hurt more. “I fucked up too, Lance. I should’ve talked to you more, explained what I was thinking. Maybe we should’ve waited until things were a little calmer down here instead of rushing into something we never even named. But hey.” Lance lifted his blurry, tear-filled gaze toward him. “Now you’ll know what to do when you fall for someone new. And it can be good for you.”

I don’t want anyone else but you.

More tears fell, faster, hotter, there was a physical pain in his chest that he wanted to claw out. He still couldn’t speak.

He had to pull himself together. He had to. He needed to stop crying in front of him, smile, and leave. Then he could fall apart. He wiped at his eyes half-angry, half-desperate. He took a deep breath and nodded. “Guess so. Thanks for talking to me. I should probably get some food.”

“Of course. No matter what, we’re still teammates, Lance. We’re friends. We’ve gotten through a lot together, and nothing’s gonna change that. We’ve got each other’s backs, right?”

Jesus, please stop talking. He nodded and stood up. “Of course.”

His body shook as he walked out. He had to think of each step he took until he reached the door to a room that wasn’t even his. He knocked, almost desperately. He was seconds from completely losing it.

The door opened and Hunk looked at him in confusion that quickly faded to anxious concern. “Lance, what’s wrong? What happened?”

Lance walked in, not trusting his voice. He waited for Hunk to shut the door before he collapsed into his best friends arms and let out a pained sob against his chest.

“Lance! Lance, buddy, what is it? What happened?” Hunk asked, hugging him tightly, his voice panicked.

“He moved on, Hunk. I fucked it all up.”

“What are you…? Oh, Lance.” Hunk hugged him tighter and led him to the bed. Lance laid down, using Hunk’s legs as a pillow. Hunk waited for the sobs to stop racking Lance’s body before he asked, “You want to tell me what happened? Or do you not wanna talk about it? Should I call Pidge in here too?”

Lance hesitated before nodding. Hunk told him to wait and left the room, returning a few minutes later with the third member of their trio. She looked concerned and slightly ready to hit someone.

“Lance? What happened?” She sat beside him, running her fingers through his hair as he leaned against her.

When Hunk sat on his other side, he sighed and recounted with a hoarse voice the gist of the conversation, adding the lines that tore him up the most, voicing to Hunk and Pidge what he hadn’t voiced to Keith. And then he cried some more as they hugged and comforted him.

“You’re going to be okay, Lance. It’ll take a while, but I promise you will,” Pidge whispered, sounding as broken as Lance felt.

“I know it hurts, buddy, but we’ve got you. And you’re one of the most resilient people we know,” Hunk added. Lance tried to believe them, but he couldn’t at that moment. Not with the way his heart felt irreparably broken. It might have been stupid to cry over a heartbreak in the middle of the war they were in, but Lance couldn’t help it. He was human, and he’d lost his chance at something that could have been beautiful.

He couldn’t stop wondering in his head how Keith had moved on so quickly, or if it had been easy for him, was Lance just replaceable, who was it, was Keith kissing him the way Lance taught him to, were they hearing the soft gasps when they kissed his neck, were they making him laugh by kissing that sensitive spot just under his ear, did Keith think of Lance when he kissed him?

But most of all, he wanted to know when this pain would finally go away.

[therecusant]

VLD: I Will Always Find You (1/?)

Author’s Note: So I just kinda felt like doing a little writing practice by doing a post-VLD finale Kallura story, as that was my personal pairing of choice during the show’s run. The “1/?” is because I don’t know how long this story will be, most likely 3 parts total as it’s not meant to be a whole fanfiction adventure. Let me know what you think, hope you enjoy :)

“When I learned you were Galra...”

“Keith, you can do this. The Black Lion has chosen you.”

“The Blade of Marmora can go on without you, but Voltron cannot. We cannot.”

“I’ll always be with you Keith and I’ll always love you.”

Keith shot out of bed with a heavy gasp, his heart racing and his body drenched in sweat. He raised a hand to his head and rubbed his eyes as they strained to make sense of the black that was his room now. It was late enough in the night that even outside the window to his right he could see nothing but darkness. Again, the young man thought, while pushing some of the black hair off to the side of his face. He had been hearing her words in his sleep for the last few weeks, on and off again. They were the words he clung to after she left. It was the only way he could think to describe Allura’s leaving at the time and he remembered the confusion and hurt on Coran’s face as he told him.

Keith always struggled to find the words to explain what they had seen in that realm. Her last moments, giving them all an invaluable lesson to carry with them going forward. She was always teaching them – teaching him – new things. He could never have imagined any sort of diplomacy in his future but here the former paladin was, staying in the guest chambers of a Galra-occupied planet to discuss the next representative of the Galactic Coalition.

Keith did not particularly care this time around, knowing how well Kolivan and Krolia were received by the Galra. They would be re-elected, as expected, and he would fly back to the Blade of Marmora to continue their relief work. He grinned at the realization he was doing exactly what Allura insisted him to do, years ago. Between the three years they jumped ahead to once the Castle of Lions’ entered the Quintessence rift and the two years spent in the Quantum Abyss, it really did feel like a lifetime ago.

She was right when saying he needed to join Voltron’s relief work but of course she was. Allura was always right, even when she was wrong. How much more time he could have spent with her was something often on his mind in recent days. Keith tried to avoid that kind of thinking but since her words started resurfacing it began gnawing at him. Time wasted, time they could have spent together much sooner.

His eyes had finished adjusting to the black, enough to skim over the room and see the framed picture beside his bed on the nightstand. It sat alongside his luxite blade as one of his most cherished belongings. Keith picked the picture up and brought it close to his face to better see it in the darkness. Her arm around him, tight on the red sleeve of the Garrison uniform he wore for the date. She laughed at him when seeing him still in uniform, despite her getting so much more dressed up for the occasion. It was his first and only date and he lacked any real experience in the area but she was so patient with him as he stumbled through the motions.

He originally planned ahead and asked Hunk if he would be willing to help by preparing a meal for the duo but his friend immediately shook his head. At first, Keith felt guilty. It was Hunk’s last day on Earth too, what right did he have to make such a request and take up so much of the Yellow Paladin’s precious time? Of course, he was wrong. Keith misunderstood the meaning behind certain actions often. His mother leaving, his father running back into the burning building, Allura condemning him for joining the Blade of Marmora. He didn’t give himself time to think and understand the why of it. Thankfully, Hunk made a point of it to say it was not his place to be a part of Keith and Allura’s last night together, even as a culinary expert.

It was for that reason the Red Paladin spent the few hours before meeting Allura to find someone capable of helping and ended up doing so through Colleen Holt of all people. Pidge’s mother grinned as she saw him, then glanced over at her husband Sam on the other side of the room, who flashed Keith a similar knowing smile. He knew then that someone had told the Holts about his date and found it then especially annoying when Colleen feigned ignorance to force him to say it himself. She even managed to get him to blurt out he’s liked Allura for a long time and always found a connection to her. His face had never been redder than that moment.

He recalled news of the date reaching Coran and the old man confronting him that afternoon, accusing him of trying to plot a Galra coup once wed to Altea’s princess. He was struck with an initial stutter, confusion and embarrassment overwhelming him, as Keith was hit with the idea of marriage. It was an almost foreign concept given his upbringing. His mother and father had never married and no one ever even knew they were together. He did not even know they were together – or that his mother was an alien – until nearly two decades after and a trip across time and space.

Coran’s usual mixture of silly-stern kept Keith nervous the entire time leading up to the date but he somehow managed to find himself outside Allura’s chambers at the Garrison and calling her name in sync with the knock. The immediate sight of her – white hair usually worn up in a bun let down to the long flowing locks that stretched across the entirety of her back, the earrings in the shape of two leaves, the pink dress that ran only halfway down across her arms and legs, he remembered it all so vividly – left him speechless. He handed her a Juniberry flower that her eyes lit up at as she held the pot close to her chest and smiled back at him before asking how she looked. Keith’s smirk widened in the bed as he repeated the same thing he whispered softly to her back then. “Wonderful.”

They had enough time – thanks to Kosmo – to spend the remainder of the evening watching the sun set on top of the Black Lion. Between them was a single picnic basket and inside a Juniberry pie Keith prided himself on baking, though he did owe the ingredients and preparation to Colleen and Coran respectively.

The spot they watched it from was Keith’s favorite place in the world. It was where his father had taken him as a boy after his first fight, one Keith easily won and was nearly thrown out of school for. He thought his father would be mad – and to an extent he was – but he lifted Keith up over his head so his legs sat on the shoulders and his hands rested on the man’s messy short hair. When Keith transferred to the Garrison, he ended up at this same spot after racing Shiro, a race Shiro easily won. It was his special spot, for the people most important to him. He remembered turning to Allura and seeing the spot of red on her lips that she quickly wiped off with a napkin when he pointed it out and how he snickered when seeing her frantically remove it. He knew he could count Allura among those closest people too.

The night came and they climbed down from the Black Lion this time – Allura was not a fan of using Kosmo’s teleportation, or the wolf itself – before walking back to the Garrison. They stopped by a dead tree and Keith remembered the way Allura walked up and healed it with just her hands before turning to him and telling him that, after all that happened, she was grateful to have met him. It was Keith’s turn to look embarrassed but he managed to compose himself and say the thing that had been on his mind for the longest time, two years too long. He told her that he loved her and she then returned the words before embracing him.

Keith eyed the woman in the picture frame as though he were trying to pull her out of it with his mind to bring her back but he knew it was impossible. Healing all reality was never going to be without a cost. He just found it hard to accept the cost was his entire universe.

 The old man smiled gratefully as he took up the jar of food Keith held out and walked out from the front of the line, leading the next in Keith’s column to come up and receive the rations. In each container was a large volume of the same green goop that Keith and the other paladins survived on in the Castle of Lions. He remembered how just a little help from Hunk had enhanced it to the point of something worth looking forward to eating.

“Thank you, sir,” one of the men in Keith’s line said as he took his rations and turned around. Keith nodded, smiling, and then continued offering more until the entire colony had received their share. It was only a day’s worth of food but Keith had only been there to hand it out initially. Behind him was Zethrid, the muscular half-Galra former general, carrying a massive box with even more of the food goo, months of it at the least. She let out a groan as she placed the container down with the loads of others, totally at least three deca-phoebes worth for the group.

The people waved and smiled as he and the others got back on their ship and flew out. Keith normally took the role of pilot but today he was feeling a little under the weather, having had another of the reoccurring dreams. No, dream was not the right word for it. In a dream, you’ll see something. All he had were the sounds. The sounds of Allura’s voice, whispering to him as though she were right up beside him. It reminded him of the aftermath of Nacxella and the hug – more of a tackle, really – that she gave following his attempt to stop Haggar’s bomb.

“You look tired.” The voice brought his eyes off the comet field he had been eyeing from the red-visor window of their ship and towards its origin, Acxa. The blue-skinned, blue-haired woman was staring at him fairly intently, arms crossed and a quizzical look on her face.

Keith gave a small smile as she stepped a little closer. “Some trouble sleeping,” he confessed while turning away. He could feel her eyes on him even sterner than before and with brows raised to further emphasize her skepticism. It was a half-truth and Keith thought it better to give that than the full thing. He was sure mentioning Allura would only draw the others’ concerns unnecessarily. It was just a couple of nights in reflection.

Looking at the reddened reflection of himself coming off the ship’s window, he saw bags under his eyes that told him it was much more than a couple of nights. Acxa seemed to notice them too. “We’ll be meeting up with the Atlas soon, you should get some rest before then.”

“Yeah,” Keith nodded, his gaze back on the comets. He did not notice her leaving but soon Acxa was gone and he was alone in the room.

“Keith, it’s been so long!” Hunk’s hug was so tight that Keith thought he might break under the grip but he managed to squeeze his arms through the vice grip to reciprocate the gesture. “There are so many things I have got to tell you about!” A whimper came from beside Keith and the former pilot of the Yellow Lion released the hold on his friend to greet Kosmo too. “And hello to you too,” he laughed while reaching a hand down to pat its light blue fur. “Man, he’s gotten big.”

“And still wants to jump up on me,” Keith chuckled. The three began walking through the Atlas, passing by halls that contained familiar memories. The former pilot to the Black Lion glanced into the greenhouse Colleen grew the juniberries in and the kitchen unit where Keith learned to bake the pie. Then came the old rooms he and the other members of Voltron stayed in. He froze as they passed Allura’s while Hunk and Kosmo continued on.

“Go have fun,” she told him in that room after the ship docked for Clear Day.

“It wouldn’t be fun without you,” he wished he had said back then. It would have been different had he stayed instead. Could he have stopped her from accessing the entity? Would it have been better that way? Those were two questions he had asked early on after her sacrifice but they soon faded. One still gnawed at him though: what you could you have said to get her to come with you? Not for the entity, not for the war or Honerva or the team. Just to have another night, another memory with her. Why had he not fought harder to have something else?

Kosmo’s whimper pulled him away from the door and he met Hunk’s saddened eyes. “We…we should go meet Shiro and Iverson.” Keith nodded and followed.

At the brig was Iverson, Shiro and another man with dark brown skin and short hair, smiling welcomingly at Keith and Kosmo. “Cadet,” the former Garrison instructor began as he approached, Shiro following close behind.

“How have things been going with the Blade of Marmora?” Shiro asked, though Keith was sure he already knew. They all kept in touch in some way or another, through direct messages using the Coalition’s shared communications or actual video chats. In the case of Pidge, who had often become so consumed with her work she went days without sleeping – which would normally have been a concern, if someone did not know that was just how she was, the group would receive notification logs of her progress. She had gotten something called “CHIP” running apparently, last he heard.

Keith described their latest work while Shiro nodded as though it were all new information and not from the most recent message Keith sent out days prior to their arrival on the Atlas. By the time he was done, Hunk had already left and managed to convince Kosmo to join him with the offer of new treats and Iverson and the man beside Shiro both moved on to other work. Shiro, though, grinned all the while and then placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder when finished. “That’s good work you’ve been doing, I’m proud of you, Keith.” The two former pilots of the Black Lion shared a smile before Shiro then added, “Allura would be proud too.” It stung a bit, the sudden comment. Keith knew he was not the only one thinking about it but he never heard anyone else say it and that helped to lessen the pain slightly.

Shiro seemed to notice the subtle changes in Keith’s expression the same way Acxa did. His brows furrowed and his lip bent a bit, the bags under his eyes making his demeanor all the more noticeable. Rather than comment on the observation though, Shiro simply suggested that he and the rest of Keith’s crew stay the night on the Atlas which Keith accepted.

“I’ll always be with you Keith and I’ll always love you.”

He panted loudly as he shot out of the bed and grasped his head. It stung badly, like there was some pressing against his skull from the inside to try and pry it open. The harsh needling continued as he sat up on the bed and clutched the sides of his head, wincing. Finally, like an explosion, it let out one last jolt of pain before stopping and he grimaced before slowly removing the fingers at his head.

He was in his old room on the Atlas. Kosmo slept close by, at the foot of his bed. He had to be careful not to disturb the wolf’s sleep. Keith was not sure why he was getting out of bed but he left the room and entered the dimly lit hall. He trailed along it until finding himself outside the same room he hovered in front of while touring around with Hunk. His hand moved up to knock before stopping, realizing nobody would answer.

He entered and looked around the empty space, inspecting it as though he were searching for clues. There was nothing to find, he knew. Allura was gone and there was no mystery behind it. All he was doing was wondering what could have been.

His first thought was to leave the room right then and go back to sleep but his eyes fell to the bed they laid in and the thought of having spent another night struck at his heart. He inched closer to it and saw her laying on it with that determined but sullen expression she often had, the one they seemed to share. “It’s okay,” he wanted to tell that face, “you’re going to do it. You’re going to succeed.” Allura seemed to have always been racked with responsibilities and guilt for what had befallen the universe since the destruction of Daibazaal. She was always careful about how she described it though, once she accepted him as half-Galra; to condemn the entire ten thousand years of history meant condemning Keith’s incidental existence, which he already had done enough of himself.

He could feel her hand on his chest, telling him that she was grateful to have met him. That the War, the Galra’s conquest, was able to create something meaningful. Something beautiful. “Something wonderful,” he could hear her whispering again to him.

“I’ll always be with you Keith and I’ll always love you.” Her lips were against his and he could feel her body pressing against his chest, her arms locking around his back and the embrace as he reciprocated.

“I’ll always love you too,” he whispered to the ghost of a memory as the image of Allura in that moment faded from his mind.

[greenteafiend]

If you’re still doing the “Bad Things Happen” bingo, how about nightmares + Keith with a side of Klance if you’d like?

@badthingshappenbingo​

(Crosses are done)

Hoo boy this one got away from, it is long. Hope you enjoy!

(Read it on Ao3 here if you prefer)

Lance was surprised when Krolia pulled him aside. Alone.

He would have thought that she’d want to spend every second she had left as part of their entourage with Keith, seeing as she was leaving with Kolivan the next morning.

Instead, when everyone else was sufficiently distracted with setting up camp for the night, she grabbed him by the collar, and murmured “come with me,” as if she wasn’t already dragging him anyway. She took him into one of more structurally-sound looking dilapidated buildings.

In the close quarters of a dark room, Krolia looked even more intimidating and formidable than she usually did. Lance felt like a child next to her. For him, it defied all logic that Keith’s mother was this behemoth of a woman, even taller than Shiro, when Keith himself was only just average height by human standards. He wondered what Keith’s father was like…

“Lance,” said Krolia, in her characteristic clipped tone, “as the Red Paladin, you are my son’s second in command, are you not?”

“Uh, yeah. That’s me, Keith’s right-hand-man,” confirmed Lance, puzzled and slightly nervous. It occurred to him that he’d never been alone with Krolia before. She seemed to have as much patience for him as Keith had had in the early days of their acquaintance. That was to say, very little.

The slightly dramatic, cheerful, over-confident front Lance put up to hide how goddam scared and unsure he was all the time irritated her, Lance could tell, but being himself wasn’t an option; he didn’t think she’d like him any better as an emotional wreck.

“What can I do for you?” he asked, shifting his weight hesitantly when Krolia only stared at him, those yellow-tinged eyes glowing slightly even in the darkness of the room.

“I need you to look out for Keith when I am gone,” she intoned. Lance blinked, eyebrows crawling up towards his hairline.

“You want me to–? I mean, of course! That’s my job as his right-hand,” answered Lance, flattered that it was him of all people, and not say Shiro, or Allura, that Krolia had decided to ask this of.  

Krolia nodded stoically, accepting his words.

“He has nightmares. About Naxela,” she continued.

“Naxela-?” echoed Lance, tilting his head in confusion.

Sure, Voltron and a huge chunk of the universe had nearly been destroyed, but they’d been through similar situations before, and Keith hadn’t even been in the blast radius when everything went down. Of all the things that had happened to them, why would Keith have nightmares about Naxela?

Krolia stared at him like she couldn’t believe he didn’t get it.

“Keith nearly died,” she said gravely.

“Keith nearly what?!”

This was the first Lance had ever heard of Keith nearly dying on that mission, and just the idea made something constrict painfully in his chest.

Realisation dawned across Krolia’s features as she took in Lance’s confusion.

“He never told…” she murmured, before sighing heavily. Her posture crumpled slightly, and for the first time, Lance could see some motherly softness in her. It was hard to make out around her general fierceness.

“Keith never told what?” asked Lance sharply. His jovial facade was very quickly crumbling away, and the shrewd look Krolia leveled at him made him wonder if he’d ever had her fooled at all.  

“Before Lotor destroyed Haggar’s ship, Keith was going to crash into it. On purpose.”

Lance understood immediately.

Keith had tried to die for them. The revelation was like a punch to the gut. All these months had passed - years for Keith - and he’d never breathed a word to any of them.

That… that hurt Lance to know.   

“He has nightmares about it,” Krolia repeated.

“Why didn’t he tell us?” asked Lance hoarsely, fists clenched and trembling at his sides.

“I… don’t know,” replied Krolia honestly. “I assumed you all knew… I think I only know because he couldn’t hide it from me in the Quantum abyss. He must have his reasons for not confiding in any of you. Don’t push him.”

“I-I won’t, it’s just…”

He didn’t say anything.

“I need to know that you will look after him,” continued Krolia.

“Why me?” asked Lance, mouth dry.

Krolia just looked at him. She looked right through him, and Lance felt heat bloom in his cheeks.

“Right…” he mumbled awkwardly, “don’t worry, I’ll take care of him. I promise.”

He must have said something right because Krolia smiled at him. It really drove home the resemblance between mother and son; they both rarely smiled, but when they did… it was sort of dazzling.

“Thank you, Lance. You’re a good boy,” she said, pressing a hand against his shoulder for a moment.

She departed the next morning, leaving Lance crushed underneath the weight of her revelation. He could scarcely think about anything else, leaving him unnaturally subdued as he turned and turned the whole thing over in his head.

He hadn’t spared much thought for Naxela since it had happened. It had been a terrifyingly close call, and it had irked him that they had Lotor to thank for their lives. Except it turned out that they didn’t have Lotor to thank for their lives, they had him to thank for Keith’s.

Lance kept himself up at night wondering just how close it had been, and cursing himself for not getting more detail from Krolia. If Keith was still having nightmares about it, it had to have been a near thing. He wondered why Keith hadn’t said anything. They’d had him on the comms, Lance remembered. Keith could have said something… it’s been an honor, boys…

Lance wanted to bring it up. It felt like the sort of thing that needed to be acknowledged and addressed; Keith had tried to die for them. It felt important to figure out why. Was it because Keith cared a whole lot more than he let on, or was it because he’d spent so long with the Blade of Marmora that the mission over individual rhetoric had stuck? Had he thought they didn’t need him anymore because he wasn’t an acting Paladin?

Lance needed to find out, but finding an appropriate time to do so was proving to be difficult.

Firstly, Lance didn’t think that Keith would appreciate it if he blurted it out in front of everyone. He was notoriously private, and tended to lash out when he was backed into a corner. Lance needed to get him alone so they could speak in private, but there wasn’t much privacy to be had seeing as they were living practically on top of one another in their lions.

A few times he got as far as saying “hey, Keith–” only for his damned wolf to teleport between them, or for them to get interrupted by someone else’s presence.

“What did you want, Lance?” Keith would say, and everytime Lance would shrug it off because it was awkward to bring up with Coran puttering around in the Cargo hold behind them, or Hunk cooking lunch.

But in the end, Lance didn’t need to do anything to get Keith alone, because Keith got them alone for him.  

They landed on a habitable planet with lush forests, and unloaded from their lions to spend the night, and stretch their legs.

Keith made off into the underbrush immediately to collect firewood, Kosmo streaking after him like a bright blue shadow.

Lance heaved a deep sigh; Keith had left so fast that he hadn’t even had a chance to volunteer to tag along before he’d disappeared into the green foliage.

“Lance, can you help me with Kalternecker?” called Coran.

“Stubborn cow…” Lance muttered under his breath, before jogging over to help.

After a lot of tugging and cajoling, they managed to get Kalternecker out of the Blue Lion and happily munching on alien grass.

“Why you gotta be so difficult?” said Lance, staring into Kalternecker’s dopey eyes.

Before Kalternecker could offer a reply, Kosmo popped into existence between them.

Lance shouted in surprise, flinging his arms up defensively, and then Kosmo jumped on him, pressing his paws again Lance’s chest.

“Kosmo! What are you-” Lance tipped and started to fall backwards.

Before he could hit the ground, everything seemed to phase out of existence around him. For a split second he was perfectly still, suspended in nothingness. All he could feel was two warm spots on his chest where Kosmo’s paws rested, and then with a rushing roar, the world snapped back into being.

He hit the ground with a painful thud, knocking all the breath from his body.

“-doing,” he wheezed.

Kosmo filled his field of view, licking his cheeks with a sandpapery tongue.

Lance let out an involuntary giggle, it tickled.

“D-d-d-down boy–” he laughed, pushing weakly at Kosmo’s face.

“Kosmo, please, let him up” that was Keith’s voice, sounding put-upon, and there was Keith’s frowny face, looming over him.

It struck Lance as extremely comical that Keith talked to his space wolf like that, seriously like Kosmo was a person that could understand every single word, and he laughed harder. It was endearing, and it shouldn’t have surprised Lance as much as it did; this was the same boy who hadn’t named his wolf for two years because he was waiting for said wolf to tell him his name.

With one last slobbery lick, Kosmo obeyed Keith and teleported himself so he was sitting at Lance’s feet.

“Thanks for bringing him,” Keith said to Kosmo.

Wait, bringing him?

Finally able to sit up, Lance could examine his surrounding. Kalternecker was nowhere to be seen, and neither were any of the Lions.

He was in a clearing in the forest, surrounded by a wall of trees and dappled sunlight.  

“Did you just get your space wolf to fetch me?” said Lance incredulously.

“Yeah…” said Keith sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck, “I’m surprised it even worked, he never fetches anything else I ask him to get.”

“Right,” said Lance, getting to his feet and brushing himself off. Keith watched him do this, shifting his weight nervously. He’d obviously brought Lance here for a reason, so Lance waited patiently for him to speak. Keith began haltingly, face screwed up like the words were unbearably salty.

“I’ve… I’ve been gone awhile. I guess… things have… changed? Since I’ve been gone?”

“I guess?” answered Lance, puzzled about the direction Keith intended to steer this conversation in. He knew what direction he wanted to steer this in, but it was only polite to hear Keith out first before Lance brought up personal information his alien mother had divulged without his knowledge or permission.

“You seem… down,” said Keith, staring at him with those big expressive eyes.

“What?” said Lance, utterly perturbed. That was the last thing he expected Keith to say.

“You’ve seemed pretty down,” repeated Keith, taking a step closer to him.

“I spoke to Hunk and it sounds like something happened, or well, didn’t happen, with Allura?”

Everything in Lance revolted against those words coming out of Keith’s mouth, and he recoiled as if Keith had struck him.

“Excuse me?”

Grimacing, Keith pressed on.

“Look, I know I’m not the best at-at pep-talks, or comfort, but I’m meant to be the leader again, and I just wanted to say-” Keith took a deep breath, “-just because Allura didn’t choose you doesn’t mean someone else won’t-”

“Oh my God. Keith, I need you to stop talking, like, right now,” groaned Lance, burying his face in his hands. Lance had experienced acute embarrassment many many times in his short life, but Keith of all people trying to comfort him over his failed love life was a whole new category of mortification, even for him.

“Kosmo, take me back to the to others,” Lance begged dramatically. Kosmo tilted his head to the side, gazing at Lance quizzically with those unearthly glowing eyes. Keith was looking at him with much the same expression, complete with the head tilt. Lance would have found it unbearably cute if he weren’t so busy being humiliated.     

“I’m just worried about you, you’ve been weird for the past few weeks,” said Keith. He was dripping sincerity which was making it very hard for Lance to be irritated at him like he wanted to be.

“I’m fine,” said Lance shortly.  

“Are you sure? You haven’t been acting fine… I mean, there are a lot of other girls out there–“

“Me estás jodiendo– it’s YOU, you numbskull!” Lance snapped, throwing his hands up.

“Me?” it was Keith’s turn to look totally discombobulated. His expression turned pensive, like he was wracking his brains for what he might have done.

“Is this about that weird game show thing with Bob?” he asked slowly, a frown tugging at his lips. “Look,” he continued, “it was a stressful situation, and I was pissed that you said I can’t draw because I’ve seen your drawings, and you have have no business telling me I can’t draw–”

“This is getting off track, we aren’t meant to be talking about whether you can draw for not,” said Lance, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Quit saying I can’t draw!” snapped Keith, bristling like an angry cat.  

“It’s about Naxela,” blurted Lance. Keith’s ire melted away, giving way to confusion.

“Naxela?” He repeated. “What about Naxela?”  

“UM, you tried to fly straight into Haggar’s ship like a Kamikaze pilot!” Lance cried, waving his arms emphatically.  

“So? That was ages ago,” replied Keith, looking at Lance like he was weird for bringing it up. Of all the ways Lance had envisioned this confrontation going down, he hadn’t imagined Keith being so nonchalant.    

“Ages ago?” he echoed faintly.

“Yeah, it’s not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal?!”

“Are you just gonna repeat everything I say?” asked Keith, irritation creeping into his voice.  

“Keith, it’s a huge fucking deal,” said Lance. It was the most serious thing he’d ever said to him.

“If it weren’t for Lotor–”

“I know,” interrupted Keith. “I know…” he repeated, quiet and subdued.

“But that didn’t happen, so it doesn’t matter.”

Lance could tell from the mulish expression on Keith’s face that he truly meant that.

“If it’s not a big deal, if it doesn’t matter, then why do you still have nightmares about it?”

Keith’s expression faltered, and crumpled. Lance was standing close enough to him to see the way his adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and the way his eyelashes fluttered over his suddenly glassy eyes. Lance hadn’t noticed when, but they’d migrated to stand quite close to each other; both of them seemed to have fallen into the gravity of the conversation.

“That’s why you’ve been acting weird all this time?” asked Keith, clearly trying to change the subject.

“I’ve been trying to bring it up with you since your mom told me about it the day before she left,” confirmed Lance.

“Well, consider it brought up and dealt with. I’m fine,” said Keith hoarsely. He looked anything but fine. He looked haunted, and he was hugging himself like he was trying to keep himself together. Kosmo trotted over and put a paw on Keith’s thigh, letting out a high whine like he was trying to offer comfort.

Lance sighed.

“Keith, what you did, or rather, what you tried to do for us, it’s a big deal. You should have told us. We should have talked about it.”

“What would the point have been? Why does it matter?” asked Keith stubbornly, but his voice was wavering.     

“Keith, it matters because you matter,” said Lance, sounding pained.

“I wasn’t a Paladin anymore, then. You guys, the mission, they were both more important than me, I didn’t matter.”

“You don’t… you don’t really believe that, do you?” asked Lance desperately, searching Keith’s face. The stubborn jut of Keith’s chin, the guarded, steely look in his big eyes; Lance only found confirmation that yes, Keith did believe that. It broke Lance’s heart, neatly fractured it in two, that Keith, brilliant, talented, earnest, Keith, didn’t think he mattered.

He didn’t know whether to yell in his face how wrong he was, or pull him into a hug.

“Are we done here?” huffed Keith impatiently, crossing his arms over his chest. Keith’s defensive posture, his hunched shoulders, it was like watching the shutters snap closed on the window to his soul. Lance knew instinctively that whatever he said now, it would fall on deaf ears. He tried anyway.

“Nearly. I just want to say… we all have nightmares, Keith. You don’t have to suffer through them alone, if you need me I’m here for you.”

Keith gave a curt nod, before turning on his heel and disappearing into the forest.

Rather than following Keith, Kosmos trotted forward and nudged Lance’s hand with his head. Lance automatically petted his soft fur, tangling his fingers between the strands, and then the forest dissolved around him, and he was back in front of Kalternecker. Before he could blink, Kosmo was gone again.   

Keith stayed gone for a long time, and when he returned his expression was guarded. He avoided being alone with Lance for the rest of their interlude on the forested planet, and then, all too soon, they were loading themselves back into their lions for another long slog to whatever destination Pidge and Coran had routed for them.  

This time he had Kalternecker as his travel companion, and he was glad; Kalternecker wouldn’t question how uncharacteristically quiet he was being and how his expression had fixed itself into a thoughtful frown. Kalternecker was content to munch on her alien hay, and leave him to his thoughts of Keith. He hated how they’d left things. Maybe if he’s said or done or said something differently, Keith wouldn’t have run off. Keith would meet his eye, and Keith wouldn’t seem more withdrawn than ever.

He considered bringing up what had happened with Shiro, but ultimately decided not to because Shiro was still recovering, and none of them had any idea what memories he might have retained from his clone. The last thing Lance wanted to do was cause Shiro undue stress, and a very large part of him revolted at running to Shiro for help like a little kid because he was supposed to be Keith’s right hand man now. This was something he was supposed to be able to deal with. Besides, Shiro was in the Black lion with Keith, so he couldn’t exactly radio in and speak to one without the other hearing everything he said. He could radio Pidge, or Hunk, or Allura, but that didn’t feel right either, talking about Keith behind his back like he was a problem.

Keith was prickly and slow to trust, and Lance liked to think he was one of a very select few that Keith actually let in a little. One of the few people who got to see one of his very rare, genuinely joyful smiles. No, he couldn’t risk betraying Keith’s trust, even if he only had his best interests at heart.

With no other recourse, and in very Keith-like fashion, Lance brooded.

He brooded so hard he couldn’t manage to fall asleep that night, so he ended up leaving his pallet bed, padding out of the cargo bay to sit in Red’s pilot seat, and enjoy the view of endless stars. Red’s cockpit was perfectly warm, the temperature kept downright balmy as per Lance’s preference, but he still felt cold.

All of a sudden, his peaceful but somber solitude was disturbed. Kosmos materialised behind him, bringing Keith in tow. Judging by the yelp Keith let out, the way he landed flat on his ass with a thud, Keith hadn’t been brought here of his own volition.

“Keith!” Lance exclaimed, standing and walking around his seat to hover over him. Kosmo was staring at Lance expectantly, while Keith had his face downturned so his eyes were obscured by his bangs.

“What brings you here?” Lance asked after an awkward beat of silence.

“A bad dog,” replied Keith, voice especially gravelly and low, even for him.

Lance didn’t know how he managed it, being a space wolf and all, but Kosmo looked at Keith like a parent might look at their misbehaving child while their teacher recounted their misdeeds; disappointed and exasperated.

Kosmos let out a soft whine, and nudged Keith with his head. Nudged Keith towards Lance…

That was when Lance noticed that Keith was shaking.  

“What’s the matter?” asked Lance, approaching Keith and getting down on one knee beside him like he was a skittish cat; slowly and carefully.

He set a hand on Keith’s shoulder, and although Keith’s breathing hitched at the light touch, he didn’t immediately push him away which counted as a win.

Lance ducked his head to peer into Keith’s face, and saw that it was crumpled in misery. Keith’s eyes were glassy and red, his lips pressed into a thin tremulous line. The last time Lance had witnessed Keith this small and vulnerable, he’d been grieving for Shiro. Just like last time, something in Lance’s chest couldn’t help but respond to Keith’s distress. Lance was an empathetic person; seeing others’ sadness made him sad too. Lance needed to soothe him.

“Can I hug you?” he asked.

“I-I don’t need– I’m fine,” protested Keith, voice hitching in a way that belied his words.

“I didn’t ask if you need a hug, or if you’re okay–” it was plainly obvious to Lance that the answer to those questions were respectively yes, and no, “I asked if I can hug you because I want to,” he said simply.   

“Why?” asked Keith, finally looking up at Lance with those big eyes. The confusion swimming in them was heartbreaking.

“Because I love hugs, they always make me feel better when I’m sad, and well, you look sorta sad, Keith. I wanna help you feel better.”

Lance opened up his arms in wordless invitation.

Keith just stared at him for a beat, blinking in bewilderment, and then he moved so fast he was a blur as he all but threw himself into Lance’s arms. It was as if he was afraid Lance might change his mind if he took too long.

“Easy, I got you,” murmured Lance, catching Keith against his chest, and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. Keith’s hands fisted in the back of Lance’s shirt, and he clung. Folded into Lance’s embrace like this, with only their soft pajamas clothes between them, Keith felt warm and human.

Fragile.

He could feel Keith trembling everywhere they were pressed together. Keith was drawing in short quick breaths like he was trying to calm himself down, ruffling Lance’s hair with every shuddery exhale.

Lance held him tighter, and rubbed his back. It felt like Keith was holding the tension of the world between his shoulder blades, but as Lance idly pressed his fingers into the knots there, Keith slowly relaxed.

Minutes passed, and neither of them let go. Keith’s breathing evened out, and he stopped shaking so badly.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Lance eventually murmured.

Keith nodded, keeping his face tucked into Lance’s neck.

“About Naxela?” That earned him another nod.

“Do you wanna tell me about it?”

Keith shrugged.

“It’s always the same. It’s stupid,” he said gruffly.  

“I’ll listen anyway. And I promise I won’t laugh, even if it is stupid.”

Silence fell again, and lasted for so long that Lance didn’t think Keith would speak.

“Um…” murmured Keith, barely above a whisper.

Lance shifted, intending to set Keith back so he could see his face as he spoke, but Keith’s grip on him didn’t let up. Lance got the message and immediately stopped trying to pull away, letting Keith keep hiding his face.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I just think… maybe it could help? Talking things out makes me feel better,” said Lance.

“Along with hugs?”asked Keith.

“Along with hugs,” Lance confirmed, giving Keith a squeeze. “Don’t you feel better?” he joked weakly.

Keith nodded, and Lance’s heart skipped a beat. Keith took a deep breath, and started to speak.

“So… I’m in the Galra fighter,” he began. Lance had never hung on someone’s words so intently.

“This time… Lotor doesn’t come in time and I– I die, I guess.”

“That’s not stupid, Keith. It’s understandable to have nightmares about it–”

“No, that’s not the part– I mean, this is war. I’ve accepted that I might die,” Keith cleared his throat awkwardly.

“What’s the part that is bothering you?” asked Lance, inwardly apprehensive. He’d had plenty of nightmares himself of dying in space and never getting to see his family again, Keith shrugging that off, not being bothered by dying… it twisted something up inside him.    

“Um… w-when it happened… Shiro said…” Keith breathing was picking up again, and Lance felt him starting to tense up. Lance didn’t need Keith to finish what he was going to say, Lance remembered.

“Shiro said ‘good job, Keith,’” breathed Lance.  Keith nodded.

“He said that and– and y-you guys were all ch-cheering but I’d nearly just– a-and I felt–” Keith was shaking again, and Lance’s heart ached.

“Shh, hey, you’re alright,” soothed Lance desperately, but it was no use; Keith had started to cry. He was obviously trying to to stifle himself, only letting out tiny sniffles, but Lance could feel his tears soaking into the fabric of his nightshirt.

“It’s stupid to feel like this,” Keith choked out vehemently. “It shouldn’t matter, it shouldn’t bother me, but sometimes I dream I-I’m dead a-and y-you’re all cheering and I–I–”

“Listen to me, Keith,” said Lance, low and utterly serious. He pulled back so he could look Keith in the eye, and this time Keith let him. Eyes wet with tears, Keith was the saddest thing Lance had ever seen.

Tutting softly, Lance reached out to brush away the tears with his thumb. “The way you feel isn’t stupid,” he said, “you tried to die for us, and from your perspective, it sounded like we were celebrating. No wonder you have nightmares about it. You know that if we’d known what you were doing, what you tried to do, we wouldn’t have been cheering right? Shiro wouldn’t have said that.”

Keith shrugged.

“I’m serious, Keith. We all really care about you, and not just because you’re the Black Paladin and we need you to form Voltron’s head,” said Lance, unable to help himself when it came to inserting a bit of levity into the heavy conversation.

“I hate that you’ve been dealing with this on your own, and I know the others would too. Anytime you have a nightmare, or just need a hug, any of us would be there for you.”

“I wasn’t totally alone, Krolia helped. I hadn’t had any dream that bad in ages, but since she left…” Keith trailed off.

“How did she help?” asked Lance, genuinely curious. Krolia didn’t seem like the comforting sort. Keith’s cheeks turned pink.

“Um… hugs? And she’d, um… she’d tell me…”

“Tell you what?”

“She’d tell me she loved me,” Keith blurted, ducking his head in embarrassment.

“And that helped?”

Keith nodded, shamefaced.

Lance’s answering smile was fond and indulgent.

“I love you, Keith,” he said easily. Keith’s cheeks turned even redder, and he spluttered indignantly.

“What?! You can’t just–!? You don’t mean– You can’t just say that–” Lance chuckled.

“Why not? You said it helps to hear it, and it’s true,” he replied. “If you asked the others, they’d say the same thing. We all love you. And you love us, too.”  

While Keith seemingly wrestled with what Lance had said, Lance got to his feet, wincing at the stiffness in his knee after kneeling on it on the hard floor of Red’s cockpit for so long.

“Keith,” he said to get the other boy’s attention, offering him a hand. With a pinched frown, Keith accepted and let Lance haul him to his feet, only Lance didn’t just haul him to his feet, he also pulled him in for one last hug.

“Do you feel better?” Lance asked, hooking his chin over Keith’s shoulder.  

“… yeah,” replied Keith. “Thanks, Lance. I love you, too,” he continued quietly. Something about those words, spoken in Keith’s gruff voice, and with complete sincerity, made a riot of butterflies burst into existence in Lance’s stomach.

Lance drew back and cleared his throat, hoping that the sudden warmth in his cheeks wasn’t visible to Keith.  

“Sooo… next time you have a nightmare what are you gonna do?” Lance prompted.

“Um… ask for a hug?” answered Keith hesitantly.

“Atta boy,” said Lance, beaming and clapping Keith on the back. “Now, are you good to try and get some sleep?” he asked.

“Yeah, I think I’ll be okay. Thanks, Lance. I’ll just go back to– hang on…” Keith made a show of looking around the cockpit.

“What is it?” asked Lance, but Keith didn’t reply, he darted into the cargo hold, looking around with an air of desperation.

“Did you lose something?” Lance asked haltingly, following Keith through the cockpit door.

“My way back to my bed,” replied Keith grumpily, crossing his arms over his chest.

Oh.

Kosmos was nowhere to be seen.

“It’s fine, I’m sure Kalternecker won’t mind you bunking with her,” joked Lance, waving an arm at her mound of hay.

Keith gave him a flat, unimpressed look, and then his expression turned sly.

“Last one to your bed has to bunk with Kalternecker!” he exclaimed, and then he was off like a shot, flying across the cargo hold.

“Wha-? Hey! No fair! I didn’t agree to this!” cried Lance, scrambling to chase after him.

(In the end, neither of them bunked with Kalternecker, and Lance woke up the next morning with a mop of black hair on his chest, tickling his chin, and Keith’s hand curled into his.)

(Me estás jodiendo means, roughly, you’re fucking with me)

[blueplanettrash]

Lance Shirogane-West (Part 3)

I hope everyone enjoys this! 💙

“Shiro,” Keith said, turning towards the door. “What’s up?”

I looked him over with concern. He looked a little shaky and definitely pale, well, paler than normal. He shook his head before focusing his attention on Keith.

“Sorry to interrupt, I just need to talk to Lance about something,” he said, before moving his gaze to me. Something in his eyes immediately put me on high alert and I was at his side in an instant. He put his hand on my shoulder and led me out of the room.

“Shiro, what’s wrong?” I asked as soon as we were out of hearing range. He swallowed and opened his mouth but couldn’t seem to get the words out.

He led me to the memorial wall, it was something that Iverson showed us as soon as we got back but ushered us to meeting relatively quickly. It was the first time I really saw the devastation Sendak created on Earth. As my eyes moved across the wall, one face stuck out at me.

“Pa?” I whispered walking slowly over to the wall. Behind me, I could hear Shiro let out a little sob but physically couldn’t make myself turn around. As I brushed my fingers down the plate, my breath caught in my throat. I spun around and threw myself in Shiro’s arms, he wasn’t my father but he was the closest thing I had. He brushed his fingers through my hair and pulled me closer.

“I’m so sorry Lance,” he said regretfully. I knew he meant it and that made it all the harder. I didn’t want him to be sorry, I wanted him and Adam to be together in this universe too. But now, I just didn’t think it was going to happen.

I shook my head and snuggled closer, hoping that some of the horrible truths would go away if I just hid well enough.

“Why don’t we tell everyone else? Maybe they could help us get you home,” Shiro suggested, wiping at his face.

“No, we can’t,” I croaked pulling away. “I know they’re already working on getting me home on the other side; if someone starts on this side the pressure on the rift between could collapse both realities,”

“Oh. Not doing that then,” he said quietly. I gave him a small smile and looked down at the ground.

“I just have to keep believing that they’re looking for me I guess,”

“Of course they’re looking for you, you’re an amazing kid Lance,” Shiro laughed, slapping me on the back.

“Thanks,” I stepped away and looked back at the wall. Tears still pushed against the back of my eyes but this time I wanted to be strong. I had to be strong, for myself and everyone else. I wouldn’t let my feelings hurt the mission and we would rescue Earth.

According to the nurses, it took me three days to wake up after the battle. I wasn’t sure about the rest of the team but I was incredibly rattled and really didn’t know what to think for the whole day afterwards. Then I started seeing the rest of my friend’s families walking down the hall towards their rooms. For some reason, it hurt a lot more than I thought it would. By this point, I thought that I’d gotten used to the fact that my parents weren’t going to show up when I got hurt.

I thought that surely someone would be in to talk to me about the mission or something the first day, but the only people who came in were the nurses assigned to me. I thought that Hunk would wheel himself in and introduce me to his family, or Keith would come in, or maybe even Matt after not seeing us for several years.

But nobody came.

With all that time came a lot of thinking. Thinking about what my future was gonna hold; I wasn’t from their world, I wasn’t where I belonged. I didn’t know anything that was going to happen to me, I’d already been mixed up in a war that wasn’t supposed to be mine. I didn’t know if my parents had made any progress looking for me or if they started trying at all. For all I knew, as soon as I disappeared all time ceased to function and they’re all in the same position all those years ago.

Waiting truly was the worst thing.

After a few days, there was a knock on my door and Shiro stuck his head in. I immediately teared up.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” He asked as he hurried over to my bedside. I just shook my head and reached out to grab a handful of his lapel.

“I was just lonely,” I whimpered, eyes scrunching closed.

“Oh, I’m sorry it took me so long to come and see you, I’ve been really busy with the Atlas up and running now,” he explained, cupping the back of my head and drawing me close.

“It’s okay,” I replied, looping my arms around his neck and burying my face in his neck. We stayed up almost the whole night, he told me everything that was going on with the Atlas and the strides they were making with it. The way Shiro talked about it made it sound like it could be the Castle’s replacement. Really, it’s what we all needed; somewhere safe.

It was a few weeks before everyone was back to fighting shape. It was almost too much of a coincidence that we were better when we got the frantic call from Veronica. They detected a strange anomaly around the Atlas hanger and were sent down to check it out (meaning Voltron and the MFE team)

We stood there, tense, just waiting for something to happen but it was completely silent. I wanted to shoot just to see if there was something invisible in our way.

I’m glad I didn’t.

Moments after the thought went through my mind, there was a bright flash of light and there were three figures standing before us. The two people had their hands raised submissively while the canine at their hips stood resolutely with her ears pressed against her head.

There’s really no glamorous way to say that I felt like throwing up.

My bayard was on the ground and I was running towards them within seconds.

“DAD! PA!” I screamed, tears already streaming down my cheeks. Their faces morphed into ones of recognition and Dad scooped me into his arms as if I weighed nothing. By that point I was a blubbering mess, clutching their clothes as they hugged me and squishing my face in my dad’s shirt.

I didn’t care that my teammates were staring at me. I hadn’t seen my fathers for years and it just dawned on me how much I missed them. It was like a boulder was lifted off of my shoulders and I was just left with utter relief.

“Is-is that Shiro?” I heard Keith ask, his voice baffled.

“Yeah, or, well, I different version of me?” Shiro stated coming up beside Keith.

“What is happening,” Pidge muttered, lowering her bayard. I pulled away from my parents and turned to face my team.

“These are my parents,” I said simply as Pa wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“Your parents!? B-but those are Shiro and um, some guy I don’t know,” Hunk exclaimed, trailing off as he pointed towards my pa.

“Right, I tell you about that too, I promise,” I replied, looking down at the ground. That’s when I remembered the canine and dropped to my knees.

“Clover!” I cried happily, tangling my hands in her fur. She whined excitedly, her tail wagging madly as she licked my cheek. I felt like crying all over again just having my arms wrapped around my best friend again.

“Do we have time?” I asked looking over my shoulder.

“We have all the time in the world,” Dad assured me with a gentle smile.

I lead them towards the student lounge, not too far away from the Atlas’ hanger and waited until everyone was seated and looking at me before I started.

“Everybody, these are my parents Takashi and Adam Shirogane-West and I’m from a different reality,” I stated simply. My dad snorted at the explanation which my pa quickly smacked him in the head for. He looked over at him with a wobbling lip and I laughed out loud at the display, I’d missed them so much.

“How did you get here?” Pidge asked raising her hand.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. They all looked at me like I was crazy, not that I could blame them.

“How can you not know?” Hunk cried in alarm.

“I woke up in this reality, I was asleep when I was transported. I have no idea what happened,” I said honestly.

“I have a question,” Keith announced gesturing to Clover who was sitting happily at my side. “You have a cosmic wolf too?”

“Yup! Clover is one of Kosmo’s pups!” I explained turning to squish Clover’s face happily. She barked and licked the end of my nose.

“I’m a grandfather,” Keith gasped, staring down at Kosmo.

“Wait, did you use Clover to get here? How?” I asked turning to look at the two of them.

“Well, she can already teleport we just enhanced her ability to teleport,” Pa shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal and gestured at the slim collar around her neck. “Of course everyone’s been working on it; Matt, Pidge, Hunk, they all miss you so much,”

“Wait! There are versions of us in your dimension?” Pidge cried, a smile on her face.

“Yup! There are versions of all of you in our dimension,” Dad stated happily, looking around the room before his smile fell a little bit. “Except for…”

“Where am I?” Pa asked, pointing to himself and glancing around the room as well. Immediately, the energy in the room staled and everyone was looking at the floor, while Dad and Pa looked around in confusion.

“Lance?” Pa asked with concern. I looked up at him and even though he was right in front of me, there were tears welling up in my eyes. He noticed them straight away and gently cupped my face. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re dead,” I admitted in a whisper. “In this reality, you didn’t make it out of the crash,”

Dad gasped and looked over at Shiro. It was almost comical, like that spiderman meme I discovered when I was first transported here. But the thought was almost immediately washed away when Shiro started crying. For him, it must have felt like stitches ripping from a healing wound. When he saw my pa, it would have been just as painful.

I quickly moved across the room and wrapped my arms around his middle. I didn’t know if I was comforting him or I was making the wound hurt more but to me, it felt right.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Dad said quietly, walking over to the two of us. Shiro looked up at him, tears still rolling down his cheeks. Now more than ever I realized the differences between the two of them. Maybe it was the time that passed, my dad was certainly older than Shiro or maybe it was the events they went through. I’d never know what the Galra did to my dad, he’d never tell me. I could only hope that Shiro would find the same happiness that my parents did; he deserved it.

Eventually, though, it was time to say goodbye.

“Thank you. All of you for taking care of me,” I said gratefully.

They wrapped me up in a group hug and said their goodbyes. Hunk, Pidge, and Coran were crying outright and I could see tears glistening in everybody else’s eyes. It was hard to pull away but I looked over at my parents and Clover and I just wanted to go home again. I gave everyone a separate hug as well before joining Dad and Pa. As they prepared Clover’s collar for the dimension hop, I looked back at my team.

My team.

Each of them meant so much to me back home, they were my family from the very beginning and they loved me unconditionally. But here, I had to earn their trust and their friendship. I had to start from the very beginning; I got to watch the transition from stranger to friend, to family. It’s something special that will stick with me for the rest of my life. In some ways, I think it makes our relationship more meaningful than at home. Together we went through thick and thin, they had my back when I needed it and I had theirs. We saved lives countless times; sometimes it was our own lives. We broke apart sometimes but formed back together even stronger. I’ll never forget my life from their reality. I found myself there; I discovered what was important, what I was good at. It’s helped me realize loss and sadness; what it’s like to lose someone close to you.

I thank the Legendary Defenders: Voltron for everything they’ve done for me.

The Green Paladin, Pidge, who taught me to never give up when I believed in something.

The Blue Paladin, Allura, who taught me to help everyone I can.

The Yellow Paladin, Hunk, who taught me that it’s okay to be afraid sometimes.

The Red Paladin, Keith, who taught me that what you are doesn’t define you, it’s what you do that’s important.

The Black Paladin, Shiro, who taught me that you don’t always have to be strong.

I’ll keep these lessons and remember them in my darkest times. I hope one day that I’ll see those people again but until then, I’ll remember.

[girigirizine]

“Happy Birthday Keith!”

My dear friend @fiery-mullet and I wanted to create something cute and nice for Keith’s birthday. I’m so glad to have met her, her writing always beautify my artworks by 200% ♥ (btw, this one is a tribute to one of my fav anime: Tamako Market)

She writes, I draw, and here is our present to Keith this year, enjoy~

@fiery-mullet : And so Kya had this beautiful idea of drawing Keith looking so soft and genuinely surprised with people celebrating his birthday. And then it just went from there… For what it’s worth enjoy!

To my dear Kya, this fic would not be here if it wasn’t for you. Thank you for being my Keith. For always saving me from sadness and utter lack of faith in myself. As many times as it takes.

Black Forest and a Purple Candle

After a couple of knocks, the door opened and James’ head popped in.

“Hey Keith, have you seen Kosmo?”

Keith, who was in one of the Galaxy Garrison’s conference room with Pidge and Hunk- or rather was pulled into it by said Paladins about a couple of hours ago- frowned.

“No, why?”

“Commander Iverson messaged me just now and said there was drool all over the stuff in his office.”

“What?! Wait, why would he be in Commander Iverson’s office in the first place?”

“Uh… Oh, you know Commander Iverson. He loves the cosmic wolf. Maybe he offered him a treat or something.”

Keith sighed. “But I still-“

“No, it’s okay Keith. Hunk and I still have to make a few adjustments to the upgrades like you suggested. So it’s not really urgent. You should go before Kosmo teleports Iverson somewhere we can’t find him.”

“Yeah! Besides I still have to send the recipe to-“ Pidge elbowed Hunk, fiercely, before he could finish his sentence.”

“To his mom! He wants to teach them how to make food goo.”

“Yeah! My dad’s been dying to try it.”

Keith wondered why anyone would want to try food goo. Maybe because it was an Altean dish? And his dad wanted to try space cooking?

“Okay. I’ll go get the wolf then. Let me know if you guys need anything.”

Keith left the room, following James to Iverson’s office. The automatic doors opened and closed. Keith didn’t have the fondest memories of this place. In fact, the last time he was there became his last day in the Galaxy Garrison as well, which he honestly thought was the end of his piloting dreams. But it was all in the past.

“Commander, I heard the cosmic wolf came here. I hope he didn’t cause any trouble.”

“That little fella was such a good bo-“ Iverson stopped mid sentence and cleared his throat. His fond smile quickly changed into his usual grumpy face. Just as Keith remembered before he was booted from the Garrison. “A troublemaker, cadet!” He yelled. Keith noticed there was something off about his tone. It wasn’t as fierce and loud as he recalled. “He chewed on a lot of my stuff, and I had to wipe them dry. Wasted my time.”

“I’m sorry, commander. He does that when he’s lonely. If you just played with him for a bit.”

“Oh I did! He even let me pet him and-“ For a few seconds Iverson’s face lit up, but as if he had caught himself, he put his stern face back on. “But I have things to do, cadet. I can’t possibly play with him all day. Just remember to watch your wolf from now on. I have business to discuss with Griffin. You may leave.”

“Sir!” Keith saluted and exited the room.

Frowning, Keith still couldn’t understand why the wolf would even go to Iverson’s office. However, before he could ponder on it any longer, his communicator beeped and Allura spoke.

“Keith! Kosmo’s down in the archives! Could you come pick him up before chews any more storage devices?!”

“Why is he down there?!”

“How am I supposed to know?! Come and pick him up this instant!”

“Okay! I’m coming!”

-

Keith ran down to the other end of the building where the Garrison archives were as fast as he could. However, when he got there, only Allura, Coran, and Matt were there. Matt looked up when he came in.

“Oh, hey Keith!”

“Hey, Matt. Where is he?”

“He just left.” Coran said, twirling his moustache.

“What.” Keith’s eyes drooped. Okay, something wasn’t right here. First, Iverson’s office. Now, the archives. He knew his wolf was a curious little creature. But why was it going to all these places? And what was even weirder, was leaving every time he came to fetch him?

“Wait!!! Kosmo!!! Come back here, you little-!!!”

Keith’s head jerked to the hallway where Lance was chasing after the cosmic wolf. Allura looked on in disbelief as Matt slapped his forehead. Coran sounded thoroughly amused as he said, “Well then young Paladin, I guess you’ve found what you came here for.”

Keith groaned. He dashed out of the archives and saw the cosmic wolf turn at the corner with Lance tailing behind. He ran after them but by the time he caught up to Lance, who was on all fours, panting, the wolf was gone. “That guy’s too fast.”

“Why were you chasing him?”

“I had to… the scarf…” Lance panted.

“What?”

Lance flinched before he got up. He frowned, and seemed to make himself sound annoyed on purpose. “I said your cosmic wolf took my meemaw’s scarf.”

Keith thought back on the bluish-grey scarf with a light streak that was tied on the wolf’s neck. His visual memory is pretty good, and he was sure that was the same scarf Hunk tied around the cosmic creature whenever Hunk had him deliver food to the Voltron pilots and their passengers while they were on the long trip back to Earth. “Wasn’t that Hunk’s?”

“Shut your quiznak, it’s my meemaw’s!”

Keith sighed. This conversation was going nowhere. “Fine. I’ll find the wolf and give it back to your grandmother.”

“No!”

“What?”

“I mean, you don’t know where she lives! Just give it to me, I’ll give it. Hasta la later, Keith!”

And he went on his way

“What’s he talking about. His whole family lives in the Garrison now.” Keith mumbled, watching Lance’s retreating back with a disbelieving face.

“Hey Keith! Kosmo is here at the weapons room. Could you come pick him up?”

And that was Romelle.

-

Keith’s head drooped. The day just kept getting weirder. He couldn’t decide what was more bizarre, the wolf going to the weapons room or Romelle being there, surrounded by dangerous artillery and there have been no explosions or reports of anyone getting hurt. Yet.

He got there in time just to see Romelle slip something into the scarf tied around the wolf’s neck right before he vanished again. More than that, he noticed another person in the room. “Acxa.”

“Keith.”

Ah. That was the reason why the Garrison was still in one piece despite Romelle and firearms being in the same room. Keith inwardly sighed in relief, grinning at Acxa.  

“Romelle, why did-“

Before he could finish his question, his communicator beeped again. This time, it was Shiro.

“Keith, I need you at the hangar.”

“I’ll be right there,” Keith said before dashed out of the weapons room.

-

“Shiro! What wrong…?”  Keith gaped when he saw the cosmic wolf standing beside Shiro.

He crouched down and rubbed his favorite spot just above his nose. The wolf closed his eyes, relishing Keith’s gentle touch. He folded his ears when Keith’s hand moved up to the top of his head.

“What have you been up to, buddy?”

“We asked him to collect a few things. And now we’re down to the last thing on our list.”

Keith got up and looked at Shiro, asking “What’s that?”

With a soft smile, Shiro simply said “You.”

The next moment, Keith’s eyes went wide as Shiro wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. They stayed like that for a long while, until Keith relaxed in his hold, letting his eyes drift close. Resting his head on Shiro’s shoulder, Keith let himself just breathe. For just those few minutes, he wanted to forget all his worries. His responsibilities. His duties.

Shiro finally let him go, and looking down at the cosmic wolf, he said “You know where to take him.”

The cosmic walked towards Keith, and the second they touched, they vanished, leaving only Shiro who could still feel the warmth in his arms.

-

The place they reappeared in was the new base the Blade of Marmora had set up on Earth. Keith wondered why it was so dark. Worried that there might’ve been an attack, he was about to take out his bayard when a candle was lit. From the dim light, he could see a purple pillar candle stabbed right smack in the middle of what looked like an elaborate Black Forest cake- with all its icing, chocolate shavings, and cherries on top mysteriously intact.

Krolia stood beside him and ushered him in. Voice as gentle as always, she greeted her son. “Happy Birthday, Keith. Now blow your candle and make a wish.”

Keith was speechless. The last time he celebrated his birthday was before his father passed away. He had given up ever having another birthday party since, much less one with his family.

“We didn’t know how humans commemorate the day they are born. So we asked the other Paladins, and they told us to make you a sweet confection with a candle on top.”

“I chose it! I made sure to pick purple to represent our heritage! Do you like it Keith?” The taller Blade beside Kolivan and quite the bubbly Galra, Llaf, proudly declared.

“It’s… a very nice color.” Keith grinned lopsidedly.

Closing his eyes, Keith made a wish. Surrounded by his mother, his wolf, and their Blade family, there was nothing else he could really ask for. All he wanted was to be able to make a lot of new memories with them from now on.

After the party, Keith opened his presents from the other paladins and the Garrison. It turned out that that’s what Kosmo had been collecting from everyone, and it was all Pidge and Hunk’s plan. Inside, there was a note from from Shiro.

Hey Keith, We hope you enjoyed our little surprise. It’s been a long time since you celebrated with your mom, and now you have the Blades. So we figured it was best to let you guys bond for today. Happy Birthday!

At the bottom, there was a hastily scribbled message.

We have something for you at the Garrison as well, so don’t think the celebration’s over just yet! -Pidge

Keith couldn’t help but smile.

Fin

Follow her on Tumblr @fiery-mullet  Follow me on Twitter @wonder_kya // Instagram @wonder_kya

[storiesbeyondthestars]

Anonymous request ‘strapped to a bomb’ for @badthingshappenbingo

This takes place in S7 after Krolia leaves, but before they get to Earth. 

Lance stared up at the ceiling, trying to keep as still as possible. He couldn’t help but wonder how Shiro, and now Keith dealt with being inside of a lion that was so dark. Could they make the lights brighter? Or turn on something that didn’t look like borderline ultra violet ones?

“Can you make the lights brighter?” Lance asked.

“I can see fine, don’t worry,” Keith replied, his face appearing in Lance’s frame of view briefly before leaning back. “I can make them brighter, but it would probably hurt your eyes to look at.”

That was fair, and oddly thoughtful. He hummed.

There was a loud bang, and both of them grimaced as Black jerked. Keith froze from where he was kneeling beside Lance, holding his breath as if that would stop anything bad from happening. Once the rocking stopped, he let out a breath. “Fuck.”

“Is everything okay?” Lance could hear Pidge’s voice faintly echo from Keith’s helmet too, the worry positively palpable.

“We’re sorry!” Hunk added almost hysterically. “Those pirates stopped following us, but we didn’t see the meteor coming.”

Lance watched Keith huff angrily. “You guys need to watch out for anything. We have nowhere to set down.”

This whole situation was a mess. Blue was dragging Red around, while Yellow was guiding Black. Green was staying in pace by them, though Pidge was rightfully distracted.

“I should come over there,” Pidge spoke up, not for the first time.

“No!” Lance and Keith both immediately said, before their eyes met. Keith had even gotten Kosmo to teleport over to Red to sit with Romelle for now.

Lance got that. It was probably better than having him there, just in case something went wrong.

And by something going wrong, he meant just in case the bomb that had been strapped to his chest by those stupid space pirates exploded.

Lance stared at the ceiling of the Black Lion, something dark and disgusting welling up within him. God, he was so stupid, wasn’t he? Here he thought he was going to get a good deal on some kind of food Hunk might be able to use, only to get attacked. Not only had they taken the money he had on him to barter, but the people were apparently real, nasty space pirates that decided they wanted the lions, so they strapped a bomb to Lance’s chest.

His eyes turned towards Keith, who was working with extremely steady hands, carefully working the top plate off of the bomb. They had no idea if it was timed to go off, or if it was a remote one, or if motion would trigger it. There were no fancy timers or anything like that to warn them. It was very much a bomb though.

Lance had told Keith to leave him somewhere at first, because god, the thought of hurting him – anyone really – made him sick. Keith, naturally, refused point blank, and starting working on a plan to get it off of him.

The best they could come up with was that he’d had to deactivate it first rather than just remove it. There was very likely a pressure plate on the bottom of it that would set it off the second they tried to lift it off of him.

The bomb was right over the blue V on his chest, and a quick scan showed them that it was, in fact, powerful enough to blow him and anything around him sky high. So when he shifted a bit, Keith reached up, putting a bit of pressure on his chest above that.

“Stop moving.” He quickly turned back, his brow furrowing.

“I’m sorry,” Lance muttered. Maybe they should just throw him out and let the bomb explode with him attached. Coran and Romelle were both there with them. Surely one of them would be able to pilot Red in an emergency? They were also heading back to Earth, so they could probably find someone better there.

“It’s fine, just stay still.” If Keith caught on to what he was really apologizing over, he didn’t let on. “Alright, the power plate is gone.” He set the metal down beside him.

“Okay, scan it again for me so I have a clearer image of what we’re working with,” Pidge ordered. Keith held his gauntlet up and scanned it again, sending the 3D render to both Pidge and Hunk.

Maybe it would have been better for one of them to do this, but Keith had steady hands, and they also didn’t want to put anyone else at risk. Hell, Lance didn’t even want Keith to be there, but he couldn’t do this on his own.

“What kind of idiot lets himself get captured and a bomb strapped do it?” Lance blinked when he realized that he said that one out loud.

“The kind that tries to find more food for us,” Keith answered instantly, as if Lance was stupid for questioning that. He met his gaze again. “The kind that cares about everyone else.”

“He’s right,” Pidge agreed instantly. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you out of it.”

“She’s—look out!” Allura screamed over the coms. Keith’s hands shot away from the bomb, pressing down onto Lance to steady him as something hit them, and they ended up careening until something stopped them.

Both of them breathed heavily, and then they both heard a little beep that sounded so much louder than it really was.

Keith’s eyes went wide, realizing the same thing that Lance did. “Pidge! This thing’s beeping but there’s no timer! Walk me through it now.”

“Okay, okay, work with me here!”

Lance watched with wide eyes as, despite the clear panic in Keith’s eyes, his hands remained steady and he followed Pidge’s instructions word for word. To him though, it sounded like the silence between the beeps was deceasing, and that didn’t sit well with him.

“Keith, just throw me into space,” Lance demanded. God, he didn’t want to die alone, he didn’t want to die at all, but he didn’t want Keith to get hurt because of him.

“What?”

“Better me than you! I’ll be okay. You’ll find a better Red Paladin.”

Keith froze for a split second, eyes meeting Lance as the beeping started getting louder and steadier. A wild look appeared on his face, and Keith tore off Lance’s helmet, grabbing at his armour despite his protests. He pried it off of him and ran.

“Keith!” Lance shrieked when he realized what had just happened. He pushed himself up and tried to leave, but Black slammed the door to the cockpit shut, meaning that Keith had probably opened the airlock (aka Black opened her mouth).

There was a another loud bang and Black shuddered a bit. Lance could hear yelling from over his discarded helmet, his heart pounding in his chest.

Then the door slid open again, and he found himself falling forward right into Keith’s chest. Lance didn’t even completely realize what he was doing, he just found himself scrambling for Keith, hugging him tightly. “You idiot!”

Keith bristled a bit at that. “I wasn’t going to let you blow up!”

“But you almost blew yourself up!” Lance scrambled for Keith’s helmet, pulling it off and tossing it down, cutting out the questions from everyone else. “You idiot!”

“You said that already,” Keith replied. His reached up to where Lance was holding onto the collar of his armour (the same as the armour he had tossed out to save him), and held his hands. “We could never find another Red Paladin that could deal with my shit.”

A shuddering breath escaped Lance’s lips as he leaned his forehead onto Keith’s shoulder, allowing him to hold him close.    

[voltron-s7-8-rewrite]

“The Way Forward”

This is part of my Voltron Season 7 & 8 re-write. If you are interested start HERE

  Previous

Teleporting into an unknown cavern, Keith realizes the others are in danger, and tells Kosmo that they need to get back to help them. However, before anything can be done, Macidus teleports nearby. Keith and Kosmo teleport again, hiding from the Druid.

 Macidus slowly searches the cavern as Keith and Kosmo hide underneath floorboards. The Druid passes by, and after a moment Keith relaxes. His moment of relief is cut short as Macidus stabs a sword down into the floorboards, just barely missing Keith. The Black Paladin Grabs onto Kosmo and they teleport once more, Macidus smiles and teleports as well.

 Back at Macidus's "home", the Druids finish charging up their dark energy, and prepare to unleash their attack against the Paladins when they are suddenly bombarded by laser fire. With the Druids distracted, Allura focuses her power, absorbing the energy keeping her and the others in place, freeing them all.

Once able to move, the Paladins turn to join the fight that's broken out, only to find that their saviors are Galra who are being led by Axca, Ezor, and Zethrid. The Paladins are surprised, but join their fight against the Druids.

As the groups work together, Krolia recognizes some of the Galra in the Ex-General’s group.

   On the run through the tunnels, Keith and Kosmo try to hide and stay ahead of Macidus, but the Druid relentlessly chases them down, never allowing them a break.

Eventually Keith and Kosmo come to a cavern where Kolivan is being held. Macidus appears and Keith, unwilling to leave Kolivan, no longer runs. Unsheathing his Blade, and summoning his Bayard, Keith fights the Druid.

   As the Paladins and the Ex-general’s forces finish off the Druids, Allura orders Pidge to find Keith’s location. Scanning the area, she discovers that he’s underneath them, Allura uses the energy she absorbed to break through the floor into the caverns below.

The Paladins, Shiro, and Krolia head down into the lower caverns where they find Keith fighting Macidus. The group assists Keith, but the Druid is able to evade their attacks. Seeing Macidus attacking his friends, Keith hesitates; closing his eyes, he senses as the Druid teleports. Throwing his blade he is able to hit Macidus, killing him.

   After the fight, the group helps Kolivan, who, despite being in bad shape, is conscious. Keith asks him about the Altean colony, but Kolivan says the Blades were never able to check on it,as they were overwhelmed by attacks from the Druids and Galra factions.

Keith turns to Axca, Ezor, and Zethrid and asks them if they know anything about it, but they say they never even knew of its existence. They had known Lotor had special pilots that he attempted to send into the rift, but they were never told who they were, or where they came from.

Lance asks how they can trust them as they’ve worked against Voltron alongside Lotor, Zarkon, and Haggar. One of the Galra from the Ex-General’s force steps up and defends them, saying they are trustworthy. The Paladins don’t know who this Galra is, but Krolia reveals that this Galra is a Blade, as are many of the others in the Ex-General’s group. Hunk says Macidus said the Druids killed them all, but a Blade says that’s not true, many had been saved by the ex-generals.

Keith asks the three to explain everything and Axca, Ezor, and Zethrid share their story; growing up as half-breeds they were mistreated by Galra for not being being pure blood, and by the other half of their species for being part Galra, causing hatred to form in their hearts. When Lotor came, he used their pain, promising that he would change things for half-breeds. They followed him and his promise to create a universe where they would be accepted, not realizing how Lotor fed their hated by having them believe that only he could bring change for them.

The Ex-Generals lived believing that lie was true, until they saw Keith. Here was another half-breed, embraced by the Blades, by his human friends, and by the Voltron coalition as a whole. At first they could not understand how he did it.

It wasn’t until Lotor admitted in his final battle that he wanted to wipe Galra from the universe, that they realized how they had been nothing but pawns to him this whole time. They had embraced his lies wholeheartedly, blindly following someone just because he was like them and said what they so desperately wanted to hear; rather than working for acceptance and trying to change minds. They ended up rejecting everyone who wasn’t like them in the same way they had been rejected.

After Lotor and the Paladins vanished, they decided that they would no never blindly follow someone again. Instead they decided if they worked at it, maybe they could create a place for themselves in the universe.

Eventually they ended up stumbling upon a damaged Galra cruiser whose surviving crew had been abandoned by their commander. The Ex-Generals took control and worked with the survivors to get the cruiser back up and running. Due to their aid and hard work the Galra crew pledged loyalty to them, not caring that they were half-breeds.

Now, with their ship that they named “The Narti,” they decided to continue doing what they had done for this crew, finding those who needed help and giving aid where they could. Drawing inspiration from the Blade and Voltron coalition, they wanted to change the perception of Galra and half-breeds.

It was then that they started picking up on Blade distress signals and realized the members were being hunted by Druids and other Galra factions. Their mission became finding and aiding any Blade and Rebel call, which caused their crew to grow. Their hope was to find Kolivan, reunite the Blade into a unified force, and continue Voltron’s quest of freeing the universe.

They explain that there are still more Blade distress signals out there, and they plan to continue on their mission. They hope that now, with Kolivan, they can unify the Blade.

Hearing their story, and believing their words, Kolivan asks Axca, Ezor, and Zethrid to assist him in that goal, and offers them an official place in the Blade, which they accept.

The Blade and Paladins decide that while the Paladins continue to Earth, The Narti will find and tell the Rebels of Voltron’s return, and once they finish their mission they will join the Paladins on Earth to form the coalition’s next plans.

Kolivan asks Krolia if she wishes to join them, but she says she is needed more with Voltron. Kolivan accepts this, but gives her his own Blade as a weapon. Kolivan then tells Keith that he is glad to see Keith is back where he belongs, but says that he will always be welcomed in The Blade.

As the Lions of Voltron take off, Kolivan watches from the deck of The Narti. Axca, Ezor and Zethrid join him, all in Blade uniforms.

.::+::.

So, I have Major issues with how all of the General’s stories went, but especially Ezor and Zethrid’s. First off, it's all over the place, ‘We’re loyal to Lotor-, no Zarkon-, wait, now Haggar-, nope, back to Lotor-, Oh, look, we’re pirates now! Guess we can help Voltron? Yay, we’re Blades!’

Like, I get that they were characters who were just trying to survive, but there was no flow to their story, and without getting any of their actual backstory you are just left questioning all their actions.

But even without that, to me their characters were completely derailed and destroyed in season 7. By the end of “The Way Forward” Ezor and Zethrid are just too irredeemable. I mean, they take sadistic glee at the idea of torturing the Paladins, for goodness sake! If they had been permanently killed in that episode I would have been fine*, however they both show back up later with no explanation, do practically nothing, and then are redeemed at the end, despite never showing a genuine change of heart. The fact those two got to live, while Allura died is just beyond comprehensible to me.

*note, I said I would have been fine, that does not mean I would have been happy with their story. I wanted all four generals redeemed since the moment I saw the leaked art of them.

Another thing that felt so wrong was only Axca willingly seek redemption. I had thought that the four generals were close to each other, as in the early seasons Axca came off like a sister to Zethrid and especially Ezor. I thought these ladies were going to have a strong bond, especially after Narti’s death, and Lotor’s treatment of them. But nope, there was nothing there.

So, that’s what I’m giving them. The idea of these three having a strong bond, leaving the empire together, and forging their own path would be such an beautiful story for them. Then through embracing the Paladin’s way of helping others, and gaining respect and loyalty from those who at one time would have rejected them, would be inspiring. Unlike the Empire they grew up in, they didn’t gain power and use that to control others beneath them. They won true loyalty it through their actions and care for others.

As for Krolia staying; she’s just a great character. It’s such a shame that they had her leave in S7, especially after saying she would never leave Keith again. Then to do nothing with her after that is just such a waist! I think it would have been much more interesting if she had stuck around, and we got to see the Garrison react to her...

NEXT

[klimpaloon-loves-superwholock]

I know this is a bit late, and I don’t usually make original posts, but I want to gather my thoughts on VLD s7, even though I literally never participate in fandom discourse lol. So I guess we’ll see how this goes. 

There were great parts of this season. Let’s start with that. 

First of all, Hunk was incredible and I’m so glad he finally got an arc where he could shine, even if I feel like it was long overdue. Seriously, I feel like Hunk was the best part of this season and I cannot state enough how much effect he had on my overall impression of the season. He basically carried the season singlehandedly and I don’t understand why searching through the tag rn I can hardly find any appreciation for him this season. (yeah jk I know why ha)

Everything they did with the Paladins’ families (from Hunk’s arc about rescuing his parents to Lance reuniting with his family and his relationship with Veronica to freaking Colleen!!!! just straight up stealing the show for two episodes!!! What an icon I love her so much!) was absolutely perfect. (I will say I’ve seen speculation that Hunk’s sister and her kids died since they weren’t there in his hospital room, which I desperately hope is not the case since that really should have been mentioned.) 

I also loved seeing Shiro take charge and become Captain of the Atlas without even seeming to realize that he was the man for the job. 

Sendak was a formidable and interesting villain who raised the stakes, which made it more satisfying when they defeated him. 

I enjoyed getting to know Romelle more and see her in action.

Coran and the mice’s team up to break out the rest of the gang was very good and funny.

KOSMO!!!!!!! A GOOD PUPPY!!!!!! HE HAS A NAME!! I LOVE HIM SO!!!

I enjoyed seeing Lotor’s ex-generals again (because I love them), although I do have some issues which I’ll get to later.

The new characters they introduced, mainly Rizavi, Leifsdottir, Kinkade, Veronica, and Griffin were all great and I loved them! They did a great job of making me care about these new people. (And Kinkade is drawn so pretty what the heck y’all sleepin on this beautiful dude)

Seriously Colleen was so great I cannot stress this enough. I’ve been feeling for this poor woman who thought that she’d lost her whole family since season 1 so I’m so glad to finally see her in action, fighting for her family and her planet.

They did a good job of setting up Admiral Sanda’s inevitable betrayal, even if it was a really stupid thing for her to do.

Ep 5 was great; I was super excited to see what the Druids looked like under their masks, Macidus and Keith’s teleporting fight was awesome, and it’s always great to see Allura’s magic develop more, even when I wish it wasn’t so unclear how/what she’s doing.

Lots of the fights were so cool, from the Voltron team taking down the Galra drones in the cave system in Ep 2 to all the MFE fights to Shiro’s rematch against Sendak to even Voltron’s fight against the Robeast. These fights, I’ve noticed, are always especially cool when they unlock a new ability like Hunk’s turrets and Voltron’s double swords. Also I forgot how strong Alteans are until Romelle just straight up ripped apart a drone.

As much as I overall didn’t like The Feud as an episode, it did have some great moments with Pidge taking down Bob, Allura and Hunk being cute in the background, and the team being overall really supportive and loving of each other. 

Shay came to visit Hunk!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, as you may have guessed, I also have a lot of problems with this season. Ones that, for me, are too serious to ignore. But let’s start with my more minor grievances, then work our way up to the big ones, shall we?

I don’t like Shiro’s new arm. It reminds me too much of Sendak’s and is too bulky/strange looking for for my taste. And for some reason my eyes have a hard time finding it? Like they’re drawn to the light emanating from his shoulder and not the forearm/hand. Idk, but I’m not a fan.

I wish Griffin had apologized to Keith for being such a jerk about his parents. I kept waiting for it since they had all these long glances with each other. I came to like him despite the bad initial impression only because he proved to be a good leader who valued every member of his team and knew when to step aside because someone else was better at a job. But I still kinda needed resolution for his rudeness, especially since he’s obviously grown since then and should want to make amends. 

Admiral Sanda’s just so freaking stupid????? Like, how did she get that high in ranking when she consistently makes such bad decisions???? Clearly the dictator who’s controlling earth who comes from a war-mongering culture that enslaves and destroys planets isn’t just gonna let y’all go once he gets Voltron. He’s either gonna continue using you as slaves because nothing’s stopping him or destroy you because you’re no longer useful. Listen to people who know the Galra better than you!!

I saw somewhere that Matt has a girlfriend now???? When did this happen????

They somehow got the ENTIRE BALMERA to Earth?!!!????!!?!?!?!? How did they build a teleduv big enough to do that!?!

Also, where did they get a teleduv? Did the Atlas have one? Or was that something that they built during the epilogue montage??

How did Keith summon his bayard telepathically?? Was that a Galra thing or a new Paladin ability?

How did Shiro manage to survive falling from space to earth on the outside of a ship while fighting Sendak?? I mean I’m really glad he lived, but??? How??

I don’t think we needed so much time dedicated to Sam Holt updating the Garrison and then the rest of earth on what happened in space. I kinda appreciated it since it’s been a long time since I watched the early seasons, but at the same time he didn’t tell them anything that was new information to us as viewers. The only things we gained from those scenes were how others reacted to this info. (And we still didn’t get to see the reaction of the person I was most interested in, Adam, but I’ll get to that later.)

This is a problem I’ve been having with the show since like season 3 or so, but how much time has passed? They actually explicitly said it at a couple of points this season, what with 3 years having gone by for most people but only a few weeks for the Voltron team, but why did that time difference happen? Also, how much time passed between the team leaving Earth and them fighting Lotor in last season’s finale? Because I could believe any time frame between 6 months to a few years for that, which makes a big difference in how old the paladins are. According to the show, Sam landed on earth 4 years before the team gets back to the Milky Way, so I guess Sam left the team a year before they faught Lotor??

I didn’t get the thing with Allura’s crown gem? Since when is that a power source? And I was really struck by the imagery of her literally throwing her crown away to help her friend, but I feel like it would’ve been more powerful if we had been given some information about what exactly that gem is and what it means for her. Just make this more clear for me. Also, Shiro has already lashed out and hurt people against his will, so I really didn’t need that angsty moment for him.

The B-plot in Ep 1 was tonally dissonant from the A-plot of Shiro’s flashbacks, and it ended up being totally useless anyway. As much as I enjoyed Romelle and Hunk’s banter in those parts, they would’ve been better placed somewhere else. They should’ve just dedicated the whole episode to Shiro’s flashbacks and given us more information about him.

If they were going to mention that Shiro had a progressive disease in his flashbacks, then they need to explicitly mention in the show that he doesn’t have it anymore. As it is, people who don’t know about the SDCC announcements are just gonna assume he still has it. If it doesn’t happen in the show, it’s not canon. Also, if he’s had this disease the whole time, then why is s7 the first time it’s mentioned? The way he held his arm in the flashback reminded me of the way he held it when his Galra arm activated for the first time. Did the arm help fight the progression of the disease like that lil wristband did? If so, that should’ve been explained and made clear a long time ago. It just bothers me that this is the first time we’re hearing about this major part of Shiro’s life that he’s been fighting with, and that in show we’re given absolutely no resolution for it.

I guess the gem powering Shiro’s arm and the Castleship diamond powering the Atlas connected somehow?? Which is how Shiro turned it into a giant robot?     ??????????????? I’m genuinely very confused on what was going on there. It needed to be made more clear. I was on board for whatever they were doing at first just because Shiro looked so pretty in that lighting, but they took it in the weirdest direction possible. Why would anyone care about Voltron anymore when you’ve got a bigger, stronger robot now? Voltron’s no longer the most powerful weapon in the universe - the Atlas is. And it only became such by coincidence. Which is just. Irritating.

The Feud episode. Oh boy. First of all, I got some serious emotional whiplash from the change to this episode. It just didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the season at all. Second, they just really did not have to spend that much time making fun of Lance for being stupid. Especially when he’s not. Also, the first two of the people he had to identify had masks on, and Lance had only met them briefly. ALSO you’re telling me that Lance, the most social and outgoing of the Voltron team, is the one who’s bad with names/faces????? ALSO spending less time teasing Lance would’ve opened up more time for giving Hunk and Allura their own activities. ALSO everyone else on the team gets a little speech about how they’re valuable, but Lance just gets “I don’t want to be stuck with him forever”?????? That’s so freaking messed up. Third, the whole premise of the episode was strange to me. Like why would an all powerful being who tests heroes do it in this way? It seems to me that that premise fits Ep 6, where they were stranded in space, much better. They were genuinely tested then, and the forces that attacked them and propelled them through lightyears of space were never explained, so saying that Bob did it and propelled them towards their goal as a reward for passing the test could’ve been a satisfying answer to those questions. And fourth, can I also ask why Morvok was the fourth player?? Like he’s a nonentity in terms of villains. And they still didn’t have the same number of players as team Voltron. Haggar’s still alive, so they could’ve put Sendak on there too. And for the fifth player they could’ve put on a fan favorite villain character. One who showed up in more episodes than Morvok did. One who died a while back and who the fans have wanted to see again ever since. Like, I don’t know, NARTI!! Ugh.

The Robeast. I just. This season could’ve ended on a pretty high note if they had just cut that out and just went straight to the lil epilogue after defeating Sendak. As cool as that fight was at parts, it caused a pretty low finale, which is pretty disappointing after last season’s incredible finale. I get that they needed to foreshadow Haggar’s return to this fight or whatever they’re doing for next season and that she’s been working on the lost Alteans, apparently, but it was just a strange note to end on. Especially with the weird addition of Atlas to the Giant Robot Squad. And Allura’s line “Seriously? We just defeated Sendak and now we gotta deal with this?!?!” (I’m paraphrasing) was a MOOD.

Okay, so this post has gotten kinda out of control, so I’m gonna have to save the biggest issue I had (betcha can guess what it is) for another post. So. Look out for Part 2 of this nonsense. Feel free to reblog with your own ideas/input!