#kolivan is there because he's smiling more now!

[autisticlancemcclain]

My Dearest La

Dear La

Lance,

I really hate it when you’re right.

I know you are smiling as you read this. I can see it so clearly in my head. You are rolling your eyes now, probably, in fact you are probably even straining yourself. But I bet you are still smiling.

…

I miss you.

You told me leaving was stupid. Well, we screamed about it. I don’t like that I left angry. I should have waited so we could have been — well, I don’t know. I just don’t like that I left without saying goodbye properly. I don’t like that I didn’t get to kiss the smush between your eyebrows that you get when you’re mad

The bottom line is that I’m sorry. And I can’t do anything about it now because what’s done is done but. I wish I did. I’m sorry this message is so dorky. I can’t help how I feel about you. I promise I’ll be more — suave, or whatever, in my next one. There’s this Blade I hang out with sometimes, Sedrit, she is awkwardly funny like you. She has promised to give me some pointers because she’s as nosy as you are and read over my shoulder all the other times I tried to write this letter. I don’t trust her judgement but I’d walk into a wall on purpose in front of Pidge’s cameras if I could guarantee it’d make you laugh I think we could always use a smile. I’m ending this letter now because I’m embarrassed and if I write one more line I’ll lose my nerve.

Love,

Warm regards,

Sincerely,

Love,

Keith

———

“Sir? Sir! Hold on! Sir!”

The Balmeran turns, looking back at him curiously. He leans heavily on his cane, back hunched but chin set squarely.

“Yes, Blade?”

Keith jogs all the way over to him, stopping a respectful distance away. He reaches up to deactivate his mask, which he is not supposed to do, but the mask is fucking creepy, okay, it makes people uneasy so clearly that even Keith can see it, so fuck Kolivan’s lectures. He’s vindicated by the visible relaxing of the Balmeran’s shoulders.

“I need — a favour,” Keith says haltingly. His own shoulders begin to hunch. “If you don’t mind.”

The Balmeran’s stiff brows lift in surprise. He looks deliberately down at his newly-bandaged leg, then back up at Keith. Keith flushes.

“A… favour.”

All the pockets on Keith’s uniform are square-shaped and small. Deep, but not very long. Anything he puts in there gets squished. Except for the long, thin pocket-thing hidden against the outside of his thigh.

The letter has been stuffed carefully in there for two weeks. It’s a miracle it hasn’t been destroyed. The top left corner of it has gotten frayed, because Keith keeps catching himself rubbing it with the pad of his thumb.

“I know you’ve been through so much,” Keith says quietly. “I’m sorry even to ask.”

The Balmeran’s stance is still carefully guarded, practiced —

“As have you.”

— but his eyes are soft and knowing.

Keith lets out a long, heavy breath. He slides the letter gently out of its spot, turning it over in his hands; inspecting the familiar creases, ink stains. It’s a rough, recycled envelope. Made out of old briefing notes, by the looks of it, thick black lines of censorship streaking across the pale yellow surface. An ugly thing, really.

“I need to get this to the Red Paladin of Voltron,” he says, forcing himself to hand the thing over. “I don’t — I can’t send it through the Empire delivery service, for obvious reasons. And Voltron’s location is always encrypted. I —” He stops, mouth clamping shut, because suddenly the words have become impossible to force out through the lump in his throat. He hasn’t talked to the team in weeks. He has no way of contacting them without putting them — or himself — in danger. There will be absolutely no way for Lance to send him a letter back, even if he wants to. The whole thing seems, abruptly, a painful kind of hopeless.

And yet.

“I will pass it along,” promises the Balmeran, voice flooded with kind understanding. He wraps his hands around Keith’s, squeezing once, before gently prying the letter out of his clenched fingers. “I don’t know how long it will take, but I have a someone who works in Emerg-med. She travels frequently, and should be able to take it farther than I can.”

“Thank you,” Keith chokes out, blinking rapidly.

The Balmeran smiles. “Keep strong, child.”

———

“Granddaughter,” greets the old man warmly. The young woman turns at his voice, laughing in delight when she sees him and enveloping him carefully in an embrace.

“Grandfather! You’re well!”

“I’m alive,” he corrects, teasingly.

She takes the jest in stride. “You are alive, and so you are well. I am so happy to see you.” There is genuine love in her voice. She holds tightly to his arm. “Are you staying in care long?”

He shakes his head. “No, dear. I dropped by only to see you. And,” he digs around in his pocket, carefully extracting a letter, placing it in her waiting hands, “to ask a favour.”

“A letter?”

“For the Red Paladin, from the Black.”

“I see.” She frowns thoughtfully, turning the paper over in her hands. “Last I heard, they were rebuilding on Ilso. I am going only as far as Igrendia, to visit my cousin.”

“Pass it along then,” he suggests.

She promises she will.

———

A young girl, to her cousin: “Imeld! Can you pass something along for me?”

A cousin, to her lover: “If you could drop it off at the supply camp when you stop by.”

A lover, to his father: “A friend of mine works in that fuel stop. Let him know I sent you?”

A father, to a friend of a friend: “Only a couple stops left, I reckon.”

A friend of a friend, to a friend of a friend, to a friend of a friend: “It’s almost there.

———

A friend of a friend of a friend, to a Paladin:

“I think this is yours. It’s travelled a while.”

———

A smile aches at the apples of Lance’s cheeks. Salt drips onto his tongue, and he swallows, breath shuddering.

“You — dorky asshole,” he whispers, and tucks the envelope in the secret pocket on the thigh of his undersuit.

———

Lance,

I have no idea if my last letter got to you. I hope it did, if not, here’s the rundown: you were right, I regret leaving, and I miss you.

Anyways.

Today I was on a mission in a planet that was just a huge wildflower field. Just — hundreds of hundreds of flowers, every colour you can imagine and then some. It smelled like you. I cried.

Do you remember when we snuck out of that negotiation — thing? Whatever it was? And you poked me hard in the arm and loudly complained about how much of a bummer I was being. And you dared me to roll down the hill with you. And when I was laughing at the bottom of the hill because you had just so much grass in your hair you crawled over me and kissed me like you’d been waiting to do it.

I remember how we kissed until my lips bruised after. And then we just lay there, until I got fidgety, and then you pulled us both up and walked around picking flowers and sticking them in my hair and snickering. This was the flower. Doesn’t it look like the one you brought back?

I thought of you a lot today. It hurt a little bit. A lot bit. I missed you until it ached.

I hope I see you in the flowers again soon.

I love you more than the stars

Love, and lots of it,

Keith

———

“Hey, Sedrit.”

His voice is as hushed as he can make it. He doesn’t want to wake the others. But she won’t be asleep — she never sleeps before big missions. She says it’s because the adrenaline keeps her alert, puffing up her chest. But Keith knows that she prays because she is afraid that she will die.

She doesn’t answer, so he kicks the bottom of the mattress above him. He hears a huff, and then seconds later, a curtain of hair flops over the side of the top bunk, and her wide, pupil-less eyes blink into focus.

“What do you want, shithead.”

He smiles at her guiltily. “A favour?”

“Ugh.”

But she looks at him in begrudging acceptance.

“I need you to — drop something off, when you go to El-dan. Ask another Blade there if they could pass on a letter.”

She must read his tone, because the annoyance vanishes from her expression. She reaches over and flicks him in the nose.

“Yeah, lovebird. I can pass on your letter.”

———

“Hey, man, could you send this along the next off-world?”

“What for?”

“For true love. Or because I asked you to.”

———

“I don’t know what it is. It’s classified. But it needs to get to the Red Paladin.”

———

“I heard it’s news of an ambush!”

“Well, it can’t be news now. It’s weeks old at least.”

“Yes, well, drop it off anyways. It’s Voltron business, you know.”

———

Lance’s door slide opens.

“I have — correspondence,” says Allura, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I was informed of a possible ambush? Perhaps we should read the letter together.”

Prepared remark about greetings and knocking and why they were invented flee Lance’s tongue, and his controller clatters to the ground in his haste to meet her.

“Lemme see,” he demands, snatching the letter straight from her hands. Her protests fall on deaf ears.

You were right, I regret leaving, I miss you.

He grins.

“What is that?”

“No ambush,” he says breathlessly, floating back over to his bed. He traces the shape of every letter, the blots of smudged ink. The scratch of the words is just as important as the content of the letter, Lance has found. He’s long since memorized the first letter, but he still finds himself drawing it out of his pocket, unfolding it with a shaky sort of reverence, studying every slanted T and looped L, closing his eyes and letting the impression of the ink burn into his eyelids. The cadence of the words have become song, hummed over and over and over again in his head.

This time, there’s a drawing. It does indeed look similar to the one hanging, dried, at the head of his bed. He presses the tip of his thumb into the center of it, breathing hard, rapidly blinking away the tears so they don’t drop and ruin the paper.

“I remember,” he manages, half-choked. “I remember, I remember.”

When he looks up again, hours have passed, and Allura has long since left, closing the door quietly behind her.

———

Lance, my love,

I know we do not talk about the observation deck.

It is your sacred place, I think. When you sit in the middle of the floor and look up at the glowing stars and the planets cast shadows on your face and make your eyes shine gold as sunlight the only way to describe you is holy. The first time I ever saw you like that it made my stomach hurt. When I think about it now I miss you so much the ache spreads all the way to my teeth.

When I was a kid I read about how grief makes you hurt but time makes you forget. I read about how men begin to forget the shape of their late wives’ smile. Or the slope of her nose. I read about how children begin to forget the slant of their fathers’ shoulder. How mothers forget the way their babies curled their fist.

Missing you hurts like unravelling. You’re all I think about. I will never forget the fit of your hand in mine as long as I remember how to speak. And I will know the ridges of your teeth so long as I can taste. I will know the length of your back as long as I can walk. I will remember the curve of your lips as long as I can blink. I will know the way you glowed in floating blue starlight until my brain shuts down and my organs fail me.

Patroclus said I will know him in death and at the end of the world.

I will know you every waking second of my life, and I will make myself remember for every nanosecond in between.

Nothing will compare to holding you in my arms again.

Keith

———

Sedrit has officially been declared missing in action. A new soldier has taken her bunk.

Keith’s stomach hurts all the time, now.

“Just — one time,” Keith begs.

“You have way more training than that job requires,” says Kolivan.

“I know. I just —” He realises, suddenly, that even if he had an argument he does not have the strength to make it. The letter creases in his clenched hands. “Please.”

For a long moment the Blade leader does not speak. Keith meets his searching gaze, but his eyes are blank, unfocused. Exhaustion pulls at his features. His hood droops on his shoulders.

“In an out, Keith,” Kolivan relents finally. “A supply mission should take less than four vargas. I want you back here then and not a tick later, so you understand?”

Keith could cry in relief, but Kolivan looks stiff enough already. Should Keith express an emotion in front of him he might be forced into a total system reset, and his programming might not be prepared for that.

“Thank you,” he says instead, and rushes off before he can change his mind.

Matt is leading the supply run. This letter might land right in Lance’s hands.

———

“I’ll get it to him, Keith.”

“Thank you, Matt. I owe you.”

“Take care of yourself, man. They all miss you.”

“…I miss them too.”

———

Matt hands him the letter without a word. No one else says anything, either, when he clenched it tightly between his thumb and forefinger and walks right out of the bridge. Not even Shiro, whose gaze Lance can feel bore a hole into the back of his head.

You’re all I think about, writes Keith’s neat cursive, and Lance presses the paper to his chest and cries.

———

My Lance,

I hate it here.

I miss you.

———

Alarm bells shriek through the headquarters. Keith has become numb to them, at this point.

He slides the letter in between the pages of an intelli-file and hopes.

———

CLASSIFIED

FOR VOLTRON’S EYES ONLY

BIOMETRICS REQUIRED

WILL SELF DESTRUCT

———

There is a letter waiting on his bed when Lance gets back from his mission on Efid-d. He has not slept in three days. His vision is blurry.

He falls asleep with the paper open in his hands, mirroring the curve of Keith’s body.

———

My love,

Naxzela. Soon. I think Kolivan knows there’s something wrong. I’m gonna I might I think I can stay, for a bit. Hopefully.

Well, I will see you again. Damn it all. I don’t care about the world I don’t care about the Empire I don’t care about anything, anymore, I just want to come home —

Naxzela.

It will be weeks until I see you face to face on this mission but already everything seems less bleak. I will admit some of the anger has crept in. I feel awful. I’m trying to remember what you said, in the very beginning, before you kissed me in the flowers. When you held my hands in the purple light and said we make a good team.

I know you say you don’t remember it, you goober. You do. You get embarrassed when I bring it up, that’s how I know. You always get embarrassed when you’re caught being vulnerable.

I loved you then, you know. I didn’t know it then but I did. I thought about your hand in mine for weeks. You have always been so central to me.

Soon, sweetheart. Soon I can hold you again.

Naxzela.

———

He doesn’t bother sending this one along. He tucks it in the secret pocket on the side of his pants, and with every passing day it grows heavier and the weight on his chest grows lighter.

———

When the shield closes over the planet and Keith says, it’s been an honour serving with you all, the scream starts at the bottom of Lance’s feet. It comes up to his knees when he sees the pod speeding towards it, up to his chest when Shiro barks at him to stay in formation. It catches in his throat as he wrenches Red away.

It echoes through space when the pod hits the shield in a shower of blue sparks and grey smoke, and Prince Lotor defects to their side one nanosecond too late.

———

The beep of the healing pod synchs with Lance’s heartbeat. It can’t quite drown out the screech echoing in Lance’s head; that keeps going, and going, and going.

Soon, sweetheart.

He sobs into the half-burned paper.

———

“You better keep your promise, you dorky asshole.”

———

Healing pods have always smelt, inexplicably, of burnt hair.

He hears the slide of the glass door opening, then the whoosh of air as he pitches forward before his arms are awake enough to stop him. Luckily, he falls right into bony arms, and the smell of flowers and sunshine quickly envelops him.

“You motherfucker,” says a voice, heavy with tears, and Keith smiles.

“Hi, sweetheart,” he croaks.

His Lance sobs. The hands on the sides of his arms slide slowly down to his wrists, gripping tightly. Keith forces his eyes open, blinking away the bleariness. Lance has his own eyes squeezed shut, like he’s too afraid to look, head bowed.

Well, that simply won’t do.

“Lance, baby, look at me.”

“You motherfucker,” Lance repeats, and finally he does look up but he’s glaring angrier than Keith has ever seen him. Keith grins wider. “You motherfucker, you damn near lied to me.”

Slowly, half convinced he’ll move to fast and wake up on his bunk, alone, he reaches up and cups Lance’s cheeks. He swipes his thumbs carefully over wet cheekbones, exhaling shakily, revelling in the feel of Lance’s skin under his, finally, finally, finally.

“I’m home, Lance,” he whispers. Tears spring from his own eyes. “Sweetheart, I’m home.”

“Stay,” Lance begs, like he should have months and months ago, like he meant to, like he wanted to.

“There’s no other option,” Keith promises, and as he leans in and presses their lips together, finally, tasting the salt and licking the ridge of his teeth and swallowing every shuddering breath, he vows to never send a letter again.

He’ll tell Lance all he needs to hear himself.

———

all art by @mothmanavenue

concept from this post

[callmelyc]

You can't really do much for Valentine's in space, especially if your boyfriend is on the other side of the Universe with the BoM.

No one says a word as Lance mopes through the castle. His messages to Keith were left on read, everyone else was too busy, and not even the mice were willing to spare him a stray moment of comfort.

So here Lance is, wandering around aimlessly sulking to himself dramatically. No one else seemed to know nor care what day it was, hell he only knew bc he happened to glance at the earth calendar Pidge made.

Not that is really mattered. Valentine's Day wasn't exactly a holiday people did a whole lot for if they weren't dating, but it made Lance miss Keith all the more.

A couples holiday Lance was sure Keith wasn't even aware of, spent alone in the castle halls on a slow day.

Oh woe is he.

Slowly but surely Lance realizes his feet carry him in a familiar direction. The path so ingrained that even when he yearns for a Keith that isn't there his feet will lead him straight to the other man's door.

Lance pauses before it, contemplating his options.

How pathetic. How rude. He is stronger than this! He's a bad bitch he doesn't need no man! He can totally survive without Keith!

. . .

Lance enters the room.

Simply walking in and existing in Keith's space makes Lances shoulders ease. He hates to admit how much he misses his boyfriend because Lance knows it hurts him when he does. Yet now he's alone looking at everything this man owns wishing he was here by his side.

He takes his time brushing fingers over the growing collection of photos and trinkets they'd finally managed to get Keith to agree to. They say cozily on the side table right in the entry way for him to look at every time he came and went. It had taken time to get the samurai to realize he was allowed to hold onto something no matter how small it may seem.

It started with a picture, a photo of the entire team on one rare day spent together between missions. From there his collection grew with gifts, trinkets, memories he could think back on with love. All gathered by his hands, all heartfelt gifts from the team, from his family.

Lance smiles softly at every single one. It's all proof that Keith was here, proof that he will return, proof that he considered this home.

It's when Lance lays down clutching a jacket Keith left behind that he realizes how special it is to have this space to see while he's gone. He has Keith's space to move in while Keith likely has nothing....

He makes a mental note to gather things to brighten up Keith's blade bunk, maybe it'll help brighten everyone's bunk. Lance has never been inside but he bets it's bland in there. Would Kolivan even allow such a thing? Lance doesn't care if he doesn't, he'll send Keith with things anyways! Maybe if he gathers enough things the whole of the blade can decorate their ship to be a little less doom and gloom–

Through all his thinking Lance tosses and turns in Keith's bed, rolling in his scent that lingers faintly in his absence. He'd be embarrassed but no one was there to judge him. Keith wouldn't ever know and neither would the team and even if they did Lance thinks he has a fair claim to Keith's room. It's his duty as his boyfriend to wallow in his absence! Lance is but a wife awaiting her husband to return from war....only, they're both at war...and–well, that's not the important part.

Lance squirms attempting to get his mind off the schematics. All his dramatics shuffle the blankets and pillows they'd both collected there for prime cuddle time, then, something pokes at Lances back.

He huffs, annoyed that something would dare cause discomfort during his time of pain and suffering.

When he flips over to look at the offending object he sees the sharp corner of an envelope folded up, it peeks just from under the pillow pile innocent in its appearance as if it always belonged there.

Lance slides it free, looking it over carefully only to find his name on the front.

It says nothing else so he opens it to pull free the folded paper inside.

Where would Keith even find paper in space? Not that it's the paper they were used to it's far too thick and oddly velvety but it's a novelty nonetheless.

He unfolds it. It's dated at the top to a time before Keith left and written like an old letter, not one too terribly long but it's even signed off like one you'd see in movies.

No one wrote letters anymore yet Keiths handwriting stares back at him so clearly.

Dear Lance,

I don't know when you'll find this and I don't know when I'll be back so I thought I'd leave something behind just in case. Hopefully you're reading this on Valentine's Day so that if we spend it apart you aren't without a symbol of my love to you.

Lance reads through the words like a dying man in the desert. He doesn't even make it halfway through the letter before the tears start to fall. Keith is so incredibly thoughtful when given the chance to show it and here's the proof right in Lances hands. The man had made sure Lance would know he was his Valentine because he knew how much Lance loved the silly holiday. It's so stupidly sweet itales Lances heart ache for him.

He writes the things he loves about Lance, he writes the way he feels when he looks at him. Keith writes like he's pouring his heart and soul into the papers pulp. As if he's allowing for Lance to hold his heart in his hands.

It's single handedly the most romantic gesture has ever received.

"Stupid...." Lance sniffles "I didn't get to send you off with any proof that I feel the same." He dries his eyes as to not get the paper wet before continuing to read.

You thanked me once, saying you were grateful to have met me, but all I could think was that I should be the one whose thanking you.

You changed my life, Lance. I should be the one thanking you, god, the entirety of the universe- whoever it is that needs to hear it- because I am thankful to have known you in this lifetime. I am thankful to know I will go the rest of my life with memories of you.

I never knew I was capable of love like this. It had always been imaginary before you. I love you Lance McClain, more than you'll ever know.

If your dream is to fly then mine is to watch you soar, to watch you smile,to watch you get everything I can possibly give to you because you deserve the world...no, the universe and if I could gift it to you I would on a silver platter. But, for now this letter will have to be enough, hopefully you can accept that for now sweetheart.

Happy valentines day, know I am always thinking of you.

-Keith K.

Lance immediately grabs his com-device, he doesn't care if Keith will leave him on read, doesn't care if that bastard won't pick up. He doesn't go to pour out his feelings just yet, no, he'll do that to Keith's stupid romantic face, but he does send him a warning.

Sharpshooter: If you don't come back soon I will hunt you down myself

It's marked read not long after. A brief . . . blinks before vanishing.

Samurai: Happy valentines day to you too Lance.

He blinks down at Keith's response, at the first response Lance has gotten from him in days.

"That son of a bitch!"

Nothing else he sends gains a response, every single message marked with that annoying little read checkmark.

OH. Now it's on! Lance thinks to himself as he begins to plot his revenge.

He will not be out romanced and if Keith thinks he knows what's coming? He hasn't the faintest clue.

Happy Valentines Day! 💘

[silentwillowwhisperer]

From Krolia to Keith

Okay I found this random angry speech in my drafts with absolutely no context, but whatever. Let's roll with it. (Because I don't feel like coming up with ideas right now.)

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

What if Texas died and Krolia took Keith with her?

-

Keith is a Marmoran soldier. He may look different that his fellow fighters, but he was raised the same as them and now battles the Galra with them.

He doesn't know much about where he comes from, just that his father was from a planet called Earth and died a week after Keith was born.

In some ways, he's more driven than most other Marmoran soldiers, because he fights to avenge his father and the Earth culture that he was robbed of.

But that all changed when he was taken in by Voltron.

They had discovered the blade and landed their castle near to the base. The second Keith entered the castle he could feel something calling out to him. After he found red and fought off several Galran spies, he was accepted as a paladin.

He can tell that the other paladins are slightly wary of Keith thanks to his large fluffy ears, curving horns, and fiery temper, along with several other Galra traits that he inherited from his mother.

Or so he assumes, his mother disappeared on an assignment when Keith was 3, and he has no memory of what she looks like.

He does remember words, lessons, things that she had told him before leaving him behind.

Every time he thinks about her, he can remember a particular conversation clearly.

Krolia is moving quickly around the small dorm that she shares with her young son. She's about to be deployed on a mission, and she knows Kolivan doesn't appreciate lack of punctuality.

However, as she walks toward the door, she feels a soft tug on the tight material of her suit. She looks down to see Keith staring up at her with his large, deep eyes. He reminds her of Texas, both of them with their knowing gazes and endless hunger for knowledge.

“Someone told me about soulmates. They’re made for you and love you forever” He whispers out in his small voice.

Krolia immediately sours. If there's anything she's taught Keith, it's that he's self sufficient, and doesn't need silly reassurances like love to get by. She'll have to talk to Keith's instructor about planting futile ideas in children's minds.

“Ha. Bullshit. I met your father by crash landing on his planet. Those earth people have a way of spinning tales and lies that they create to make themselves feel something like permanence. But you know what? I watched your father die at the hand of my own kind after only a couple years of knowing him. The universe doesn’t care if you’ve finally found happiness, or that you want things to last forever. I watched my heart die along with that man. And when I die, don’t lie to yourself thinking that I won’t because I will, I’ll leave you behind too. And you will be all alone. Sure you’ll feel crushed and empty, but you know what? You’re gonna suck it up! People are a waste of time. The only person you can trust is yourself, got it? Families are only going to steal the breath from your lungs and claw your soul out. And if you are stupid enough to fall into that trap, you will go kicking and screaming. No one can pin you down if you don’t give in. We may be fighting them, but the Galra empire has the right idea. Vrepit Sa, victory or death. There is no in between.”

Keith tries to latch on to that, to keep himself from giving in to the false hope of belonging and security.

But it's hard to ignore the pleasant feelings that flutter through him whenever one of his team mates, his family, sends him a warm smile or gives him a firm pat on the back.

Here, he feels important, like he belongs to this band of chaotic people.

[rangoatemybabynsfw]

So, thinking about Keith growing his hair out as a Galra culture thing. He asks Kolivan about his long braid, and Kolivan reveals that one grows their braid when they start falling in love with someone and the length of the braid indicates how long you've loved them.

So because Keith is definitely in love (you know who it is, come on) he starts actively growing his hair. No cuts, only the occasional trim of the split ends to keep it healthy. He likes the idea of taking part in his culture this way, showing that he is in love with someone via the length of his hair.

Then one day, Kolivan's braid is gone. It's been cut. Keith is worries about what it means.

Did Kolivan stop loving someone?

Turns out that when a Galra is ready to profess their love, they cut their hair and present the braid as a gift, evidence of how long they've loved their paramour from afar. If they accept it, they become a couple.

It took Kolivan fifteen years to profess his love.

How long will Keith's hair be when he does the same?

Earthside, Lance starts noticing that Keith is taking much better care of his hair, because of course he notices that sort of thing. He’s got great eyesight. Plus, you don't spend your whole life making sure your own hair is perfect and not notice when someone else is doing the same.

It's a good couple of months before Lance asks Keith about it. What's he doing with his hair? Giving up the mullet look? Trying to be the next Kolivan? All in that joking tone that he has.

Keith just sort of half smiles and says "It’s a Galra thing, I'll tell you about it sometime".

But Keith never really does tell him about it. Lance actually finds out about it from another Blade member. That it's tradition to grow out a long braid when one falls in love. Lance doesn't know how to feel about that.

Keith in love?

He feels strange about it. Keith's in love with someone, but he hasn't told anyone about this mysterious person. Not Pidge. Not Hunk. Not even Lance, his right hand man from the war. He thought they were friends.

Lately, when Lance really thinks about it, he gets mad.

Why wouldn't Keith tell him about them? This person Keith’s in love with? Then Lance realizes he's jealous, and he hates it.

Jealousy is such an ugly emotion and Lance has tried to curb that feeling since his younger days. Jealousy is for insecure people, not him. Not anymore. He’s so above that.

Right??

On one of their weekly hangouts Lance stews in it. He can't have fun with everyone because all he can think about is Keith. He imagines that Keith wishes he was somewhere else with his special someone. That he’s only hanging out with the team to placate them and he’d rather be anywhere else.

Lance can’t stand it, and tries to leave early, but he’s followed.

By Keith.

"Hey, you heading out?" Keith calls out, walking over to Lance under the darkening sky. "Ah, the sunset. You didn't want to miss it right?" he guesses.

 "Yeah," Lance lies. 

"Race you to the hill then, last one pays the tab next week," Keith suggests with a smirk.

Lance can't hold his frustration in anymore.

"Keith, what are you even doing here?" Lance asks and the mood drops. Keith's smirk disappears.

"What do you mean?" Keith quirks a brow with a frown. "Am I supposed to be somewhere else?"

Lance clenches his jaw and his fists at his side, trying to contain himself.

"You clearly have someone you're waiting on, why not just...go spend time with them instead of your old war buddies," Lance says bitterly. "It's gotta be more fun than being with us."

"I don't follow," Keith says.

"Damn it, Keith, your hair!" Lance finally exclaims while pointing at the braid over his shoulder. He used to think it was so beautiful and now he only holds contempt for it. "You've been growing it out for a year! Just...give it to them and go live happily ever after already!"

Keith blinks in shock at him, clearly surprised. His eyes lid and avert as he raises a hand to thumb the end of his braid.

"Someone told you about the hair thing?" Keith asks, and Lance nods. "Oh," he hums in understanding. "So you...think it's long enough to be a good offering?

"Are you kidding?! Keith if it were me I'd have taken just a curl!" Lance exclaims then smacks a palm to his mouth in shock. He hadn't meant to say that. "Just...ignore that. And go give your person your love token already! Tired of seeing you flaunt how in love you are..."

It's not true. He's not tired of seeing that. He's just tired of knowing it isn't for him. And with his unintended confession its super obvious how jealous he is of Keith's mystery lover.

He expects Keith to be annoyed, angry, or put off by this conversation, but Keith snorts. Chuckling, Keith walks over to Lance, pulling a blade from his hip. He twirls the knife once, grasps his braid, puts the sharp edge near his neck and flicks out, severing the braid in one unceremonious cut.

The mullet is back and the braid is now in Keith's hand. Lance just stares.

"I didn't mean like...right now," Lance mumbles. "Now you have to carry around a braid all night until--" 

"No, I don't," Keith shakes his head with a easy smile. He extends the braid. "This is for you."

Lance stares flabbergasted. Lance blushes and stammers in shock as he looks at it.

The braid, it was for him? this whole time?

"B-But I thought...and you...but this..." Lance stutters. "R-Really? For me?" he asks and Keith nods.

Lance takes the silken braid that's a mere six inches long but it might as well be six feet. A year's worth of Keith's love. He can't believe it. Lance looks up and Keith's got his own little blush going on with a fond smile.

"So...still want to watch the sunset?" Keith asks.

Lance finally smiles and nods. "You...ever gonna grow it out again?" he  wonders. 

"Only if you want me too," Keith says and snorts. "Don't want you to get sick of me 'flaunting my love' around," he jokes and Lance grimaces in shame.

“Sorry, that was...it was ugly. I...I was so jealous," Lance admits, still shamefaced. "I...actually think...long hair suits you." 

"Then I'll think about it," Keith smirks. "Come on, sharpshooter. Or we'll miss it," he says and takes Lance's hand.

They run hand in hand together up the hill, excited smiles on their faces as they look forward to their future together.

The End <3

[paranormal-pinetrees]

<<|| @bladedalchemistreplica ||>> ||S8-for ref||

Cover, they were heading for cover. The blades hadn’t failed this time, no, they didn’t fail their operation. They were tricked. A oversight of the newest member was overlooked and it caused them to be ambushed from their temporary base residency. But it wasn’t just them, the freedom fighters and groups seeking refuge were in the direct line of fire. But now they were being hunted.

Kolivan motioned for another group to come with, within it he noticed the Lieutenant of the Freedom fighters with s shorter blonde haired- human? There was no time to questions such, they just headed for the shelter, they had been. When the ground seemed to collapse beneath them. He didn’t see much for who fell with them, besides the three. Then within ticks they landed hard on the ground. Then there was nothing-unconsciousness took over for him.

@bladedalchemistreplica

Stan was sitting on the back porch of the Mystery Shack, reading the newspaper and sipping a cup of coffee. It was a peaceful morning, perfect for relaxing . Which was exactly what Stan was doing.

Until his twin brother burst out from inside the shack holding a tracking device in his hand.

“GAH!” Stan jumped and almost spilled his coffee all over his newspaper in the process. He turned and glared at his twin. “Ford! I almost spilled my coffee because of you!”

“Sorry about that, Stanley. But this important.” Ford replied, glancing over at his brother. “Years ago I installed special motion detector scanners out in the forests that surround this shack. Well one of them picked up on something, or as I suspect, someone. We have to go and investigate!”

“Oh come on, bro. I’m sure it’s just a deer or flock of birds….or that Velociraptor I saw running around while on my walk yesterday.” Stan said.

“A Velociraptor?” Ford widened his eyes a bit before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Honestly that doesn’t surprise me, given the history of this place.”

Then he turned to Stan once more. “Stanley, please, just humor me and help me track down whatever set off the scanner?”

“Alright, alright, I’ll help you.” Stan sighed and stood up.

“Thank you!” Ford smiled. “Let’s go!”

With that, the two of them headed into the forest in search of whoever set off the scanner.

[bicsbec]

Player's Guidebook (ao3 link)

Kolivan had a roaring headache. He tried to blink it away, but that only made him dizzy.

“Representative?” Lurok’s stern voice came to him annoyed.

“You’re exceeding my patience, Lurok.”

“I come to you as a concerned citizen. Is this how you intend to keep your job? By neglecting it?”

“Your concern will be revised as soon as possible,” Kolivan gritted out. Lurok seemed smugly satisfied and exited Kolivan’s office at a near strut.

Kolivan shoved the report into a thick file labeled Lurok , where he kept all the poorly concealed militaristic agendas Lurok came up with. Sometimes Kolivan brought the file to Krolia so they could laugh at the increasingly ludicrous veils Lurok came up with over drinks. Krolia kept her own file.

Today, however, Lurok had pressed all the wrong buttons, starting with entering the office with a snarky reminder that it had been his “not too long ago” and ending with an almost blatant accusation of nepotism, Kolivan only having kept the position because of his entanglement with “the Altean bootlicker,” which was all kinds of rich —

Kolivan took a not so calming breath, dragging a hand along his face. The obnoxious beeping of a call came ringing, making his ears flatten. He answered without looking.

“ Darling! Wait—this a bad time? ”

Coran’s voice came like a wave of relief. A small smile pulled at Kolivan’s lips.

“Only a little,” he said, sitting up and opening his eyes.

“ I was just double checking for tonight’s plans. That is, if you’re feeling up for it. ”

Tonight. What had he agreed to again?

“ I certainly wouldn’t want to bore you ,” Coran said hurriedly. He was on the verge of rambling; he was insecure of whatever Kolivan had agreed to.

“You could never bore me, Coranic,” Kolivan said confidently. “Once I’ve finished here, I’ll head over. Don’t fuss so much.”

Coran chuckled, the blush on his cheeks a soft tinted blue through the call. “ Alright. I’ll see you soon, love. ”

“Yes.”

“ Bye-bye. ”

The call ended. He still couldn’t recall what he had agreed to, but he was sure he wouldn’t have done so if he hadn’t found it at least a little interesting. It didn’t really matter. Spending time with Coran always lightened his spirits, seldom a dull moment between them. 

He hurried through the paperwork on his desk, meeting requests and project authorizations and Blade deployments that needed special permissions. His temple throbbed, but he’d be home soon and that was somewhat soothing.

“Rest well, sir,” his secretary, Ubzir, said as Kolivan handed him the outgoing correspondence of the day. 

“I expect to, thank you,” Kolivan said with a half-smile.

It was odd, these courtesies. They were words that had no real use, no purpose other than well-wishing. They were foreign to the Galra tongue, still acclimating to their more recent role in history. It was clunky; it was nice.

* * *

He took a public shuttle to Altea, the thought alone of flying himself over being too exhausting. They dismounted at Pilar C, the closest to the Castle of Lions. The first time Kolivan had stepped foot on Altea, he’d first thought it was nothing short of a miracle. A planet that hadn’t been seen in millennia, had endured only the briefest period of Zarkon’s terror, brought back in a state of near intactness. Its allure wore off eventually, becoming just another on the list of places in need of help. Unremarkable until it wasn’t.

Coran changed all that. The Plaza, the Opera, the gardens, the ruins, the fields; places on a map. Places that now lit up in his head and made him smile. The word home came to mind, but he thought that had more to do with Coran than with Altea. He thought of Daibbazal as home too, but only when he knew Coran was waiting for him back at the apartment. 

Once reaching the castle, Gixu escorted him to Coran’s location, the rec room. It was dark, a group of people huddled around the display panel.

“Rep—uh, Kolivan just arrived, sir,” Gixu announced. Coran shot to his feet, Kolivan could almost feel the enthusiasm emanating from him. It was only a little too much after the day he’d had. Kolivan squared his shoulders and braced.

“Thank you very much, Gixu. You can join us, if you like,” Coran said, walking around the couch with the brightest smile.

“I’d hate to intrude, sir,” Gixu said rather anxiously. 

Coran waved the comment off. “Feel free, honestly. Or maybe next time.”

“Sure thing, sir,” Gixu tried for a smile. Kolivan felt like he should spare her from Coran’s attention.

“You’re free to go,” he said as pleasantly as he could. He wasn’t used to giving out gentle dismissals.

“Thank you,” Gixu said, in a breath that sounded like relief. She hurried out of the room faster than Kolivan expected. 

“Let the poor girl breathe,” he said, gathering Coran up in his arms. 

Coran chuckled, squeezing around Kolivan’s neck. “Sorry. It’s just—the more the merrier.”

“Right.”

“Right,” Coran grinned, melting Kolivan’s heart. He leaned up on the tips of his toes to reach Kolivan’s lips, smiling into the kiss. “Come on, then. Let’s get you settled.”

Huddled around the table were Curtis, Shiro, and Emi. The table itself was functioning as a map, the terrain’s relief projected onto the hologram. Kolivan wondered if he had walked into a Coalition meeting.

“Alright, here’s your interface,” Coran handed him a small screen. “Input your character information and this’ll keep track of your stats, like your health points, spell slots, skill proficiencies, and experience points.”

Kolivan tried to keep his face clear from confusion, trying to put together the missing pieces of information. He used to be a lot sharper, able to quickly find his footing in a foreign scenario. The years were gaining on him. 

“Right,” he said with a facade of confidence. Coran smiled brightly, clearly excited for Kolivan to be there. Kolivan willed himself to put everything together faster.

He sat down next to Emi, studying the map on the table. It wasn’t Coalition. There was no strategy in the position of the figures on the board. There was a die with more sides than Kolivan had ever seen and Curtis was leafing through a book, but Kolivan couldn’t make out the letters on the front.

The figures snagged in his mind. He’d seen them a thousand times maybe, but he couldn’t place them. 

His desk. His eyes had settled on one figure, Coran’s figure, for movements. Back when he’d been given the privilege to accompany Coran during his recovery. Kolivan’s eyes had been free to wander anywhere in that room, but they’d always settled on Coran and the little trinkets that surrounded him. 

The game was Monsters & Mana. He’d asked Coran about the figure once, since it was so different from the rest of his trinkets, and Coran went on a passionate rant about the game he'd played as a boy and even played once with the paladins and Allura. Kolivan had been a little enamored by the way Coran juggled talking and working with his hands or did his engineering calculations without seemingly fumbling either.

“Do you have your character ready?” Emi asked, somewhat timidly.

“Hm?”

He pointed at the screen in Kolivan’s hand. “Do you need help?”

Ever since The Incident, Emi had behaved more unnerved around Kolivan. Kolivan had never thought him to be a nervous man before that, so it wasn’t lost on him that Emi had developed some form of fear towards him. Perhaps he thought Kolivan resentful, which he wasn’t. But he did find the new way Emi jumped around him amusing. 

“Yes,” Kolivan said, genuinely grateful.

“Okay,” Emi smiled, his shoulders relaxing. “With which part?”

“All of it,” Kolivan said in a whispered tone. Emi’s smile reached his eyes, looking back to Coran who was answering Curtis’s barrage of questions. Emi knew now that Kolivan’s affections for Coran weren’t flights of fancy, but it couldn’t have been clearer to him than in that moment.

“Very well,” he nodded, “let’s start with your character class.”

They settled on klazgool, Emi reasoned that it aligned best with Kolivan’s instincts, decision-making during the game would come more naturally that way. The interface filled out a portion of the blanks with klazgools’ average statistics. 

“Name?”

Kolivan raised an eyebrow. “Kolivan?”

“No, no, for your character.”

“Is my name not sufficient?”

“Well, no, of course, it’s perfectly sufficient,” Emi said at a near ramble. “But you can name them something else if you like.”

“Like what?”

“Well, I named mine based around their backstory. Trick comes from a long line of mavens and is the eighth of his name, determined to pass on not only his knowledge, but his name as his fathers before him had done.”

“Is that in the Guidebook?”

“No, I made it up. That’s part of the game.”

“Kolivan,” Curtis called his attention over, “if it helps, I named my character Wimbledon, y’know, after the tennis tournament. I like tennis and it sounds fancy, mage-like. It can be as simple as that.”

“Understatement of the century,” Shiro chuckled. “You love tennis. Wimbledon is—and I’ve heard you say this—the most sophisticated word in your vocabulary.”

Curtis elbowed him playfully. “Well, at least I didn’t name my character Gyro. ”

“Look, technically I didn’t name him, but I stand by the decision made before me,” Shiro said with a shrug. “You can absolutely name your character after yourself, Kolivan. I know I would’ve.”

An echo of his headache was creeping back to his temples. They weren’t even playing yet.

“Look here, love,” Coran said gently, placing the player’s guidebook in his hand. “You can pick from the suggestion list here. Klazgools are natural born warriors with a penchant for traditional names, most have between these five.” 

He knew this meant a lot to Coran and he was determined to show him that he understood that. He wanted to try. 

“Kulda. That’s the name. Kulda the…Loyal, first of his name,” Kolivan offered Coran a smile, handing him back the book. Coran’s marks lit up when he smiled, absolutely endearing.

“Alright, is everyone ready?” Coran asked, taking his seat at the map’s control panel. “Then let the adventure begin!”

As it turned out, Coran had run a small portion of the game already; as the players had arrived, Coran had given them only bits of information. 

First had been Shiro: Gyro’s journey had led him to an old man that required a favor in exchange for information. A favor that took him to the entrance to a cave.

Second had been Curtis and Emi: Wimbledon and his companion, Trick, had been tasked with the retrieval of their town’s leader’s war hammer, their only clue leading them to a haunted mountain.

Finally, it was Kolivan, last to have arrived: Kulda had received a poem a few weeks after his sword, Blackrazor, had been stolen. A calling card from the thief that led him to the village of Yellowreach. The “feathered mound” the poem described was only a few miles away.

Kulda opted to investigate the surrounding area at the foot of the mountain, only to find a mage and maven poking around as well. They soon came upon a paladin at the entrance to the cave where they would “burrow away from the sun.”

Coran briefed them of their mission: each were tasked with the same goal—retrieve the three sentient weapons that had been stolen—and delve into the belly of the volcanic mountain, haunted by the demons and traps left behind by the rumored thief—a mage not seen in thirteen hundred years, having had disappeared into the mountain along with his legion of minions. While their allegiances were tied to different wills and masters, they had to work together to wade through White Plume Mountain and escape with their lives.

Coran took them through the cavern, erecting small armies of creatures to get in their way or setting up trap passages to either kill them or impede their progression. Kolivan noticed a growing frustration in Coran when they proved too clever for his puzzles, evident in the furrow of his brow, the notes he seemed to scratch out and rewrite, and the vengeful difficulty at which the puzzles seemed to increase.

The party wandered into a room of permanent darkness early on. The room was guarded by a creature of the night that preyed on the blood of weary travelers. Gyro executed the beast, finding that the old man’s request was under the creature’s protection as well: a trident, the “wave in need of rescue.” Given the choice to abandon the party, his mission complete, Gyro decided against it, being the noble paladin by their side.

Halfway through Coran’s cavern of madness, they emerge above a boiling lake encased in a bubble. A demonic combination of a puzzle and creature encounter, as Wimbledon and Trick faced an enormous crustacean while diverting all harm that would come to the bubble, the delicate barrier that separated the boiling lake from them. The crustacean’s defeat earned them Whelm, the war hammer they sought “past waterspouts double”. The duo remained with the party, thinking their chances of returning alive better if accompanied by the strength of their companions.

Coran seemed a little irked by the camaraderie the party displayed. 

Toward what must’ve been the end of that hell dungeon, Blackrazor found itself in the hands of a monstrous mage—“remaining to be won”—wielded more like a rod of magic than an actual sword. With the help of the newly rescued weapons, Kulda managed to subdue the crazed mage, but they knew it wasn’t their thief.

“Warily, you retrace your steps,” Coran told them. Kolivan surprisingly found himself tense and anxious, like he was expecting a real-life ambush. “Can you all roll me a skill check, please?”

“Which one?” Shiro asked.

“Stealth.”

“Shit,” Emi mumbled.

“Success or failure, fellas?” Coran prodded. 

“Is fifteen a success?” Shiro asked.

Coran frowned at his notes, Kolivan watching the tendons of his hand flex with the urge to edit something. “Barely.”

“Success,” Kolivan informed.

“Success!” Curtis cheered.

“Oh, quiznak ,” Emi whispered. Coran perked up immediately, ready to savor the words that would follow. “Failure. What happens now?”

 Coran grinned from ear to ear, something sadistic and vindictive in his expression. “Trick, you’ve tripped on the rocky path and triggered something. ”

“I cast Arcane Detection,” Curtis said hurriedly.

“Do you have spell slots left?”

“Yes.”

“Are your hands free? That spell has a somatic component.”

“One hand is enough,” Curtis said, checking his interface.

“Fine, you cast Arcane Detection,” Coran relented. “Your senses are flooded, the magic left by the mage extends itself through every crevice of the mountain. As far as your spell ranges, you can tell the path is laced in traps. Anything else you want to do?”

“Run,” Kolivan said.

“Are you crazy?” Emi looked at him, startled.

“There’s already something we’re unaware of unfolding, I’ve got what I came for and I’m not going to wait around to find out what you triggered,” Kolivan reasoned. “Coran, Kulda is running.”

“Wonderful, you run.”

“No checks?” Shiro asked.

Coran simply shrugged. This was borderline psychological warfare.

The party followed Kulda’s lead. Coran allowed them the false hope of spotting the light at the end of the dungeon’s exit, but something crashed upon Kulda’s shoulders, pinning him to the ground. 

“ I care not, former owners brave, what heroes you seek to hire. Though mighty, I’ll make each one my slave, or send him to the fire, ” a frayed voice croaked. A mage stood before them, features grotesque and stature small, much too young for someone over thirteen hundred years of age. “I, the one and only Keraptis, have waited a long time for your arrival. It seems it’s time I handle you myself.”

Coran straightened in his chair, typing something in his interface. Emi sat up as well, eyes wide and stuck to the screen in his hand.

“Fellas,” Trick said warily, “he’s lying. That can’t be Keraptis.”

“ Roll initiative. ”

The mage grew enraged at the suggestion, eloquent poems and long speeches vanishing in lue of a rampage. Kulda was prone, Wimbledon was down, Gyro had used his last spell slot to heal Trick; it wasn’t looking good for the unlikely companions. 

“I am him, he is me,” the creature rasped in a craze. “There is only one who set the trap to lure in my new legion of minions, and it was me. ”

“You are an impostor,” Trick insisted. “The real Keraptis was a Common-man.”

The creature hissed, lunging at Trick.

“You get a reaction for that, Emi,” Coran informed him.

“Okay, I want to do something, but it might end badly,” Emi said, looking around at the table. “Is that okay?”

“I’m good with that,” Curtis said easily. “These saving throws aren’t looking good.”

“I don’t think it could get that much worse,” Kolivan said with a shrug. “Go ahead.”

Shiro nodded in agreement, clearly still trying to strategize some solution. 

“Alright, I cast Fire’s Wick and I try to hold him in place.”

Coran wrinkled his nose at that. “Roll to grapple, contested.”

“Seven.”

Coran went from gleeful to dismayed. “Four.” Coran took a sharp breath. “Alright, you successfully hold on to him as the fire that was spreading from your hands engulfs him. You watch as he screams and writhes and catches on fire. It is not typical for a creature to be so flammable, but as Trick knows, the legion of minions Keraptis kept was an ill-advised one: mlarks, creatures particularly susceptible to fire, creatures that would surely grow mad and disfigured inside a volcanic mountain such as this one. Keraptis had long passed, the impostor before you a mere echo of his most brilliant minion. An echo that was now becoming a dangerous flame, roaring and consuming. What are you guys doing?”

“Can I run?”

“On the next turn, darling.”

“Well, I’m dying here,” Curtis said.

“Not if I can help it,” Shiro said stubbornly. “I pick up Wimbledon and start running to the exit.”

“Alright,” Coran said, turning to Emi. “You take some fire damage, being so close to the mlark.”

“And earn an exhaustion point,” Emi said, frowning at his interface. “I can’t run.”

 “The flames continue to spread, the heat from the walls rising, Gyro and Wimbledon are out of the cave in this turn if you keep running,” Coran said to Shiro, who nodded. “Love, you can move this turn. With your full range of movement, you can get just outside of the flames, but you can also try to get Trick away from the epicenter. You’ll take fire damage, but it’ll be reduced. What will you do?”

“Whelm and Wave are with Gyro and Wimbledon, right?” Kolivan asked.

“Yes.”

Easy enough. “I’m grabbing Trick and using the movement I have left.”

“Strength check.”

“Christ, Coran,” Curtis complained. It wasn’t even his check to make.

“Numbers, please,” Coran insisted. 

“Twenty.”

“ What? ”

“YES!” Emi nearly leaped out of his seat.

“About damn time,” Curtis huffed.

“Alright, alright. You heroically throw Trick over your shoulder, feeling him lighter than you expected him to be, and manage to get 45 cubes away from the fire instead of 30. The flames lick at your back and you take…two fire damage. Gyro and Wimbledon are now in the safety of the outside. Curtis, how are those saving throws?”

Curtis crossed his arms, somewhat defiant. “I’m telling this part.”

Coran conceded easily.

“As Gyro reaches the mouth of the cave, I see through heavy eyelids the first rays of the morning sun and the shifting colors of the sky as night becomes day. I draw a last peaceful breath as I realize we are out of danger, comforted in the arms of my paladin, and my grip on Whelm goes slack.”

“You died?” Emi whispered like it was a secret. 

“I failed my last saving throw, had two successes and two failures.”

Shiro cleared his throat, lacing his fingers with Curtis’s. 

“Aw, babe,” Curtis chuckled sympathetically, cradling his face with his other hand.

“Sorry,” Shiro sniffed, leaning his forehead against his husband’s. “We can keep playing, I just wasn’t expecting it.”

Kolivan averted his eyes, knowing the scene to be rather intimate. He imagined the loss of his companion was a rather sensitive topic for Shirogane. 

“Darling,” Coran got Kolivan’s attention.

“Yes, love?”

“It’s your turn, unless Emi wants to do something?” 

Emi shook his head. 

“I keep running, Coranic. Am I out of the cave yet?”

Coran smiled, one of his kind smiles, and sat up in his seat. “As you make your grand escape, the mlark’s growing flames close behind, you reach the safety of the outside. Victorious in your commissions, Gyro heads out with a heavy heart to deliver the trident to the old man and receive the information he sought, and Trick wanders home, missing his friend but able to complete the mission they had set out together to do. Kulda, both master and slave to Blackrazor’s will and wants, continues his duty to appease the sword and solidify his legacy as the first of his name. And that’s the game.”

“Cheers, Coran,” Emi said, standing up with a stretch. “It was a great game. What hour is it, by the way?”

“Late,” Shiro said through a yawn, looking at his phone. “Super later. Coran, can we stay in my old quarters tonight?”

“You can stay in your quarters whenever, my boy. They’re yours.”

“Alright, well, I’m turning in,” Emi said, stepping around Kolivan. “Goodnight, fellas.”

Shiro and Curtis followed shortly after, leaving Coran to clear the minis from the holographic display and Kolivan leafing through the Player’s Guidebook.

“So, what did you think?” Coran asked with excited curiosity. 

“It was fun,” Kolivan said easily. “I can also see why you’re so adept at battle strategy. I was very impressed.”

“Oh, uh, thank you,” Coran said, clearly caught off guard.

“You are also a very cruel Lore Master.”

That made Coran laugh. “Yes, I’ve definitely heard that one before.”

“Now, I’m going to bed. It’s been a long day,” Kolivan said, leaning over to kiss Coran’s cheek. “I’m not sure if you have any pending matters. Should I wait for you or...?”

“I’ll be right there. I just need to clear the table.” 

“Alright.”

Kolivan slipped heavily into unconsciousness, with only a vague impression that Coran had made it to their bed. The next morning, he woke to find Coran’s side empty. He must have slept in, the exhaustion from the day before a bigger confine than he had realized. 

“He lives,” Coran said from his desk. “I’ve never seen you sleep so much.”

“What’s the time?” Kolivan said, sluggishly sitting up and rubbing his eye. His eyesight was still trying to focus.

“Four hours past sunrise.”

“Hmph, great,” Kolivan stretched and dragged himself out of bed, causing Coran to whistle.

“I love when you don’t sleep with a shirt on,” Coran said with a sigh, making Kolivan chuckle.

“I never wear a shirt to sleep.”

“No, no. There was one time, early in our relationship, maybe the first time you stayed over. Massively disappointing.”

That got a good laugh out of him, making Coran brighten. He walked over to Coran’s desk and pulled a chair closer, crossing his arms and resting his chin on top. Coran’s eyes followed his movements, his hand instinctively reaching out and playing with Kolivan’s ear.

“Any meetings today?” 

“No, just paperwork, processing requests and the like,” Coran said, his eyes skimming over his filer screen. “Hey, I’ve been wondering about something.”

Kolivan’s eyes were closing again, Coran’s fingers digging at some wonderful nerve just past his ear. “Hm? What about?”

“Where did you get the name Kulda?”

Kolivan gave him a questioning look, managing to open one eye. “What do you mean?”

“I love you dearly, you know this, but you’re not the most imaginative man I’ve ever met, Van.”

Kolivan chuckled at that. “Hm, right. It’s a pet name—a pet’s name. I had a fyukl when I was a boy. Ma let me keep it even though feeding it would be difficult. Her name was Kulda. She was a very good girl.”

“A fyukl. I haven’t seen one of those in—”

“Ten thousand years?”

Coran gave him a soft smile, the kind that hid his lips behind his mustache, yet crinkled his eyes. “Give or take, yeah.”

“They were more common on my side of the universe, but even then, they were rare. I haven’t seen one since Kulda.”

“Kulda the Fyukl.”

“First of her name. So, that makes the klazgool second of his name, technically.”

“So, you had fun last night, right?”

Kolivan rose to his elbows and leaned forward, finally kissing the silly man he loved. “Yes,  I had fun.”

He tried to pull away, but Coran held him there, kissing him repeatedly until Kolivan couldn’t help but laugh against his lips.

“You’re sure?”

“I only do things I want to do, Coranic,” Kolivan said, pressing one last kiss to his lips and sitting up. “Speaking of, I’m going to get some breakfast. Have you had any yet?”

“Shiro had left some coffee in the kitchen.”

“ Coran. ”

“ Kolivan. ”

“I’m bringing you something to eat, too,” he said, walking to the dresser and pulling out some clothes.

“You don’t have to.”

“I’m going to. Stop complaining.”

Coran relented, knowing that insisting otherwise would only make them go in circles. 

Kolivan was never picky about what was stocked in the kitchen at any given time. He was used to his food being bland and of questionable texture, any diversion from that was always welcome. He leaned on the counter, eating his food while he waited for Coran’s cream to finish heating up.

“Good morning,” Emi said brightly. “Funny how we never run into each other in the kitchen.”

Kolivan nodded politely, still chewing his green slime. He wasn’t sure what the dish was called.

“Hey, I never said thanks for saving me last night,” Emi continued, as he moved to fetch his own breakfast. “I thought your obvious move was to leave me behind.”

“It didn’t feel obvious,” Kolivan said simply. “It’s what you said about instinct. It made decision-making easier.”

“And your instinct was to save me? Why?”

Kolivan scraped the last few bites from the bottom of the bowl and cleaned the dish, before answering: “I have nothing against you, Emi. And it seemed like bad sportsmanship to just leave you.”

“Oh,” was all Emi seemed able to say. “Really? Even after…?”

Kolivan took a breath. He could have all the understanding in the world for the reasoning behind Emi’s actions, but that didn’t mean it didn’t frustrate him.

“You were just doing your job. Like I did my job last night.”

“Well, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Have a good morning, Emi,” Kolivan said, grabbing Coran’s breakfast and heading back to their room.

He set the warm bowl in front of Coran, pushing away his digital filer. Kolivan had already known that it was a particularly difficult task to get Coran away from his work; he'd thought it was an admirable trait at some point. But as he grew to care about Coran, he realized it was more self-destruction than commitment that drove Coran to his work. 

“Kolivan, I told you—”

“Shut up,” Kolivan said, holding him by the jaw and kissing him. “Eat.”

Coran sat back with a blush that was spreading from his cheeks to his ears, his marks glowing lightly. 

“Alright, er, thank you—for, uh, the food.”

“It’s nothing, love.”

“How was your movement? I didn’t get a chance to ask last night,” Coran said, watching Kolivan take a seat at their bed and grab the book by the nightstand. 

“Fine until it wasn’t,” Kolivan said, searching for his spot in the pages. “Lurok had just left when you called yesterday.”

“Oh.” Kolivan didn’t have to look up to know that Coran was wrinkling his nose. “He’s usually harmless, though, right?”

“He remains so, yes. But he’s fucking obnoxious.”

Coran laughed at that.  “Sorry you have to deal with him.”

“Part of the job, unfortunately.”

“Well, I’m all done eating,” Coran said, tilting his bowl for Kolivan to see.

“Good. Let me know when you’re done with paperwork and the like.”

“Why’s that?”

“Believe it or not, I also find it massively disappointing to find you with clothes on in the morning,” he said, closing his book, having had very little left to read.

“Good grief,” Coran breathed out.

“I think I’ll head to the library, find myself something else to read. Pass the time.”

He looked up to find Coran somewhat dumbstruck.

“I’ll see myself out. Leave you to it.”

“Yes, right.”

It was only fair for Kolivan to play Coran’s game last night, following his lead and rules, since Coran had been playing Kolivan’s for far longer. Simple rules and high rewards that kept Coran from burning out from his workload.

Kolivan was sure it wouldn’t take Coran too much time to wrap up with work. And much to his delight, he was usually right.

[kidge-planet]

Kidge headcanon 11 (ig it's 11) Pidge's second pregnancy:

It happened two years after her last pregnancy.

She this time told Keith before she did the pregnancy test. She told him that she was starting to get worried because her period was almost 2 weeks late and that she started feeling sick in the morning a few days ago.

Keith waited for her patiently in the couch, watching his son playing on the ground with a few plushies.

He was a little nervous ever since their first kid was still a baby and it was already pretty hard to handle... But he was hoping that the test would come positive too! Because becoming a father was one of the best things that happened to him. He wouldn't mind becoming a father again as long as it was with Katie.

Pidge comes out of the bathroom with a nervous expression. It was positive.

Keith gets up from the couch, gently smiled at her and huged her.

They both sat in the couch and talked about it.

They decided to keep the baby.

Keith cuddled her for a while after that, he was SO HAPPY.

Again, during this pregnancy, Pidge had morning sicknesses. Same as before.

But this time, she never really had the quick changes of emotions. Just a few times.

The first person to learn about the pregnancy was Kayden, their 2yo son. He didndidn't undertand everything but he did understood that their was something about Pidge that was going on. About a baby...

Then Pidge told her mother. She just went to her parent's house to help her mother with something. They were normally talking and Colleen started to talk about Kayden and then the fact that Krolia told her that she wanted 30 grandchilds at least... Pidge just answered "Well, she is going to be very happy in nine month then..." Colleen immediately raised her eyes toward her daughter: "Whaaaat?.." "Im pregnant, mom."

Colleen would grab Pidge in her arms and ask her a thousand questions.

Colleen would then call matt that was in a vacation with N7, his girlfriend.

"KATIE IS WHAT?!" Matt became hysterical.

then Sam came back home and Colleen would rush to him.

He would get emotional again.

Colleen would again give the name list that her and Krolia had written years ago... Pidge will refuse it because she already had names in mind...

At the annual paladin's meeting, Keith and pidge decided to announce the news.

At the end of the dinner, Pidge held Keith's hand under the table before to speak up. "Ha, also, Keith and I had news for you guys! Im pregnant."

A silence took place but quickly got replaced bt cheerings.

Space dad cried again, he was so proud.

Hunk grabbed Pidge, then Keith, then both and hugged them tightly. ("Hunk! be careful with her!")

Lance was happy for them but couldn't help but tease: "Do you guys know what a condom is?"

As for Coran, again, He wasn't that surprised. Galran have a lot of kids so he, just like Krolia, was expecting them to have a few more kids. But you could tell that he was happy.

Krolia. KROLIA. She didn't keep her happiness for herself. Every members of the blade was now aware of the pregnancy.

Kolivan=Proud.

This time, they didn't want to know the baby's gender. They decided that they wanted to know only once the baby would be born.

Again, Pidge had pregnancy cravings but it was less weird than the last time... But this time, it was just annoying. She would get Keith to get her a specific type of ice-cream in the middle of the night... He would go get it but like... *sigh*

Her water broke when she was at her parent's house with Kayden, Matt and her mother. Keith was at the blade. (At the end of her pregnancy, when Keith was at the blade, she would make sure that she wasn't alone... )

She was sat in the couch with her mother, talking while UNCLE Matt (He loves being an uncle) was playing on the ground with his nephew.

Pidge will have an horrible cramp while talking with her mother.

Matt and Colleen would get worried. Even Kayden will get up and ask his mama if she is ok... Well, he tried to say it...

Pidge tried to reassure them but a few minutes after, her water broke.

Matt didn't actually know what to do so Colleen took the lead of the situation.

"Matt, take Kayden in another room and keep him busy so he doesn't ask about Katie. Im taking her to the hospital right now. I'll call you once im there."

Matt nodded, took Kayden in his arms and left a quick kiss on his sister's forehead "You're going to do amazing, like always." He then left to go upstairs with Kayden.

Kayden obviously seemed worried for his mother and was asking to see her. He was about to cry but Matt managed to change his mind (even tho he was also worried for his sis...)

meanwhile, Colleen was driving towards the hospital. While she was driving, she called Keith: "Keith! We need you on earth RIGHT NOW! Katie's water broke! She is going through labor!"

Keith panicked and left immediately, still wearing his blade's uniform .

When he told Krolia what was going on, she decided to go with him.

Keith arrived on earth with his mother and joined Pidge and Colleen..Pidge was currently suffering on an hospital bed, waiting the doctor to come.

Keith immediately rushed by her side.

The delivery was easier this time, she felt way much confident about the situation and gave everything she had to do this quick. (She still cursed the whole universe in every languages she knew and insulted Keith for getting her pregnant...)

The baby is a little girl!!!!!!

Pidge was so exhausted that she just told Keith that she wanted her daughter to be called Anaïs before to fall asleep.

Keith named her Anaïs AND added another name... Allura.

Pidge was so glad that he did that, they talked about doing that if it was a girl a few times. Their friends are going to be so happy!! ( I had to add that when I will refer to Anaïs I will just use her principal name. So Anaïs, I won't be using Allura because it feels a lil weird 🥲)

MORE HEADCANONS ABOUT ANAÏS AND EVERYTHING ONCE IM DONE WITH PIDGE'S LAST PREGNANCY!!!!!!

hope you liked that one!

[dawnrider]

For the writing prompt “don’t” - Kidge -

1) don’t listen to them

2) don’t lie to me

3) don’t walk away

❤️💚❤️💚

Hello dear! So I decided to not only use all three prompts, I decided to use all three twice in the same one shot. It's the cheesiest kind of cheesy, but here we are. Enjoy!

Family Dinner

Kidge

Rated T

It was time for another one of their “Family Dinners." The ones they did every year to try to keep the memories of their old lives, their adventures together, alive. To keep Allura’s memory alive for Lance and each other. Keith almost hadn’t made it this year. He was busy most of the time in other parts of the galaxy, using his Blades training to the benefit of the coalition. There were always pirates, bigger planets bullying smaller ones, and vestiges of the Galran empire seeking to regain their former power. They wanted him to start training new recruits this year, though. He was a bit up in the air about the idea. What did he know about teaching?

The reminder popping up on his communicator that it was time to head back to Earth for Family Dinner was a welcome distraction from the decision making process.

He arrived at Lance’s front door, expecting the cacophony that met him but still feeling overwhelmed by it. Voices called out his name, hands clapped him on the back and ushered him inside. He wasn’t even entirely sure who all was greeting him. He smelled food, so he could assume Hunk was working away in the kitchen, and there was a murmur of lively chatter coming from the back patio. He tried to look around and identify where everyone was.

As the paladins had returned to more normal lives on Earth, or elsewhere, the invitees for Family Dinner grew in number. Lance and Veronica were always present, which now meant that Veronica’s husband and two small children were there too. Hunk and Shay made the trip every year and brought Shay’s cousin who had become her planet’s foremost expert in alien cultures. Shiro and Adam only missed the event once and that was strictly because they had been in quarantine with their newly adopted twin girls. Keith was looking forward to seeing the now three-year olds, likely creating a mess somewhere with Veronica’s kids.

Keith was about to look out onto the patio in search of the last paladin, but was redirected into the kitchen where he was nearly crushed by a Hunk Hug. Lance was close behind him, asking all kinds of questions about his last mission. “C’mon man, it can’t all be top secret!” Keith shrugged with a sly smile, leaning against the island in the kitchen as Hunk went back to checking something on the stove.

“Leave him alone, Lance.” Hunk tapped a thermometer on the outside of the oven. “I’m more curious about who he’s been seeing…” A wink was tossed his way and Keith sagged in frustration.

“No one…”

“No one? No one’s jumping at the chance to date an intergalactic savior with a physique like a comic book hero?” Lance nudged him in the ribs. Keith wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a compliment or not. “You really are on the job too much.” He couldn’t really argue with that.

“Well, that might be changing…”

“Oh?” Lance leaned on the island, dramatically cradling his face in his hands and blinking at him expectantly. “Do tell!”

“They uh… They want me to take over training new recruits.”

There was a lengthy silence. Lance stood slowly and nodded. “Like taking over for Kolivan, training?”

“Uh… Sort of.”

“Isn’t he basically a hermit?” Hunk questioned over his shoulder as he stirred a large pot of what appeared to be gravy of some kind. “Not much of a social life.”

Keith threw up his hands and vaguely waved. “I’m not much of a social person, you know.” Hunk was about to respond when a small gaggle of children came stomping into the kitchen, distracting both Lance and the chef du jour to keep anyone from getting spilled on or opening the oven. The former black paladin extricated himself from the room and sighed at the fresh air hitting his face.

“Don’t listen to them. You should do what you want.” He whirled around in response to the familiar voice, an involuntary grin tugging at his lips.

“Pidge!” The auburn haired engineer grinned up at him, the lightly applied lipstick on her mouth catching his attention. It was a very rare day that Pidge “got fancied up.” He looked around. Had she brought a date?

“Hi Mullet,” she teased, opening her arms to demand a hug and tugging on his ponytail in the process. He swept her up, unable to help the urge to take advantage of the difference in their height and relative strength. She laughed but pushed to be put back on her feet. “How ya been, huh? Hearing from you once a month isn’t enough.” Keith neglected to mention that their once a month communication was far more than anyone else got. He started telling her about how he’d been all over on different missions, then paused.

“You… Did someone come with you?”

Pidge looked around in confusion. “No? Was I supposed to bring someone?” He tried to shrug as nonchalantly as possible and not show how utterly pleased he was.

Ever since they had first returned to Earth, before the war even, Keith had been finding himself drawn to Pidge in a way he couldn’t ignore. It was subtle at first, so he didn’t notice it. Finding her in the common room after lights out, the pair of them curling up to watch B-movie cryptid thrillers and often falling asleep after rousing discussions of the plausibility of the film. Sometimes he wandered into the hangar when he couldn’t sleep, finding Pidge puttering away on some invention or another and draping himself over a chair to watch her work.

After the war though… While physically they were galaxies apart, she wrote to him almost weekly at first. Commenting on the state of the planet, the clean up efforts, and the modifications to the Atlas they were making to better incorporate the Altean tech. She would sprinkle in commentary about how their friends were doing, what her family was up to. Keith appreciated the connection with home far more than he anticipated he would.

The weekly letters turned to monthly eventually as Pidge progressed in her career and had less time, he imagined, to dedicate to an intergalactic penpal. They had switched to video recordings which he preferred on her end because he got to see her face, but hated to do himself because he felt so awkward. “I miss our videos,” he blurted out.

“Don’t lie to me,” Pidge chuckled. “I could tell by your face you hated them.”

“I… didn’t.” He winced at how unconvincing that was. “I liked getting yours anyway.” The blush that lit her cheeks made him blink, watching her bite that red-clad lower lip and avert her eyes.

“Oh. You… uh… Didn’t really say.”

He rubbed the back of his neck subconsciously. “I didn’t want you to feel burdened or whatever.” Pidge turned and started walking the line dividing the two slabs of concrete making up Lance’s patio. He watched her put one foot directly in front of the other as though walking a tightrope. “I liked listening to you tell me about your projects,” he muttered sheepishly. “I had to look up half the stuff you were talking about, but it was… nice.”

She paused halfway down the patio, doing a half turn and brushing her hair away from her face. “Are you going to take the job?” she asked after a moment, watching him with a cautious look in her eye.

“I… I don’t know. It’s not just the Blades that want someone to do their training.”

“The garrison.” She already knew. Why hadn’t she said anything before?

“Yes. I just wasn’t sure if… I wasn’t sure if I was ready to come back to Earth yet. Or if there was a reason for me to.” She nodded slowly, thoughtfully, then turned away again. As she took a step toward the end of the patio, Keith felt like she was stretching away from him into the horizon and he couldn’t… “Don’t walk away,” he breathed. She stopped, head lifting as though she'd only partially heard him. “Don’t walk away, please?” he expanded on his plea.

Pidge turned immediately, her hazel eyes glittering. “I won’t if you don’t.” She took several steps in his direction. He followed suit, meeting her in the middle. “Are you sure about this?” she breathed. “Would you be happy here?”

Keith let out a sigh, the tension he hadn’t really realized he was holding onto melting out of his muscles. “I’ve missed home.” He took a fortifying breath. “I’ve missed you.” Their fingers met between them, twining together naturally. “Can you put up with someone who doesn’t have your smarts? Don’t lie to me,” he warned her. Pidge grinned in response, fingers tightening on his.

“Of course. How do you think I’ve put up with Lance all these years?” Keith couldn’t help the grin that lit his face and the chuckle that bubbled out of him. “If you’re at the garrison, you’ll have to see me almost every day. Are you ok with that?”

He let go of her hand so he could trail his knuckles against her cheek and cupped her chin. "I think I could get used to it."

"Oh my gawd, will you two just kiss already?!" Lance's voice cut through the air, jarring the two of them out of their tender moment. Keith threw a heavy scowl over his shoulder at the small crowd of former paladins lurking at the sliding door off the kitchen. "We've been waiting forever for you to figure it out!"

About to argue, Keith was startled by a pair of small hands gaining purchase of his face to turn it and pull it down. "Don't listen to them," she whispered. "The time is right, now." Her lips met his and his eyes dropped closed to savor the moment.

They managed to ignore the whooping and hollering behind them for a while before finally giving in, blushingly joining their friends inside.

"Family Dinner" soon had a very different weight for Keith Kogane.

[godestof3worlds]

Ten Random Lines

Rules: pick any ten of your fics, scroll to the midpoint, pick a line (or three) and share it. Then tag ten people.

I was tagged by @sivan325​ & @scottxlogan. Thank you for the tag!

Have You Ever Seen Something So Wonderful (VLD)

I fumble with my own swords as I take several unbalanced steps backwards until my back is leaning against a wooden pole that holds the sails. I look down to see water just below me, roaring as the storm finally greets the battle.  

It starts pouring rain, my blood mixing with the falling water. Lotor doesn't slip- lucky bastard- but he walks slowly as I try to catch my breath. I grip my sword in my hand tightly, knowing my knuckles turned white.  

Lotor doesn't give a final speech once he approaches me, only an evil smile as he looks down at me like I'm some ant under his boot. I almost laugh at the mere thought but it would pain me too much for just the simple gesture.  

2. Gravity is Not My Friend (Iron Man Movies)

I can’t catch for shit and if I do it doesn’t make much of a difference in the outcome. I remember how I couldn’t catch any fruit Jarvis tossed to me or anything Stane threw at me. I remember how I couldn’t catch Pepper when she fell to her ‘death’ or how I couldn’t catch Rhodey when he got hit by Vision’s beam. I remember how I couldn’t catch the moon Thanos dropped on me or when I did catch Peter the kid still dusted into particles and was gone for five years. I'm not a valuable catcher and now it seems like I have to catch again.

This time though... This time I need to catch my baby girl, even if she is fifteen, she will always be my baby who said she loves my 3,000.

3. BANG BANG BANG (TUA)

Finally, a voice breaks through the fog or pain and numbness, “This is going to hurt.”  

I try to brace for it but somebody grabs me, definitely aggravating my injuries, and then we’re falling again. I clench my eyes shut at the sudden bout of nausea and barely keep the contents of my stomach inside when we finally land. My injuries turn into fire and I arch my back against the pain erupting all over me.  

4. You and Me Against the World (VLD)

No no no no no no. This wasn’t supposed to happen! Pidge was supposed to have gotten away. She was supposed to have followed Kolivan, Sam, and Matt and gotten away. She was supposed to be safe and away, not protecting me. I was supposed to take the hit, I would have survived the hit. Now Pidge is in my arms and dying because she took a hit from that witch that was meant for me.   

I killed her. I killed that witch. Grabbed a stake and stabbed it through her black heart. I watched the life leave her eyes as she dragged her nails down my shoulder, possibly scaring me for life though it wouldn’t be the first time she left a wound that wouldn’t heal. It burns but my chest is in more pain at the mere thought of Pidge not surviving, especially before I tell her my feelings for her.

5. Bleeding Out For You (Divergent)

“No.” I growl before I grab his shirt and I punch him in his chest, seeing him get pushed into one of his lackeys, which they decide to come closer and I know that Tris is getting Caleb so I quickly form a wall with my body while she talks to Caleb.  

“Oh yeah, this is going to be fun.”  

“Everybody just calm down all right?”  

And I see Tris start to advance before I quickly grab her wrist, hoping we won’t have to fight. I see her eyes widen as she looks down at her wrist that is now covered with my blood from the wound. She looks startled as she searches me for wounds until she notices my hip.  

6. Death is Not the End But a Glorified Existence (VLD)

“I don’t know the other guy, but if he’s with Shiro then he has to be a friend then foe.”  

“He’s Keith.”  

I look down at the girl, “You know him?”  

She nods, “He’s the one Pidge has been getting information from and brought her here before he disappeared. He helped us on our last mission and took with him a baby vampire. He's not one though because he was out in the sun and didn’t turn into ash.”  

I turn back to the screen and see that they are both staring at the camera and waiting for something to happen, “What should we do?”

7. I Don't Need to Breathe (But I Still Need Oxygen) (TUA)

“Are you back to the land of the living?”  

I nod my head slowly as I take a deep breath, “Y-yeah. S-so-sorry.”  

I grit my teeth at the stutter. I see Five just nod before he sits on the bed.  

“No need to apologize. You didn’t wake the others; you weren’t even that loud. I only heard because I'm a trained time assassin who was getting his evening coffee.”  

I just nod my head as I put my face in my hands and just sigh. I sit there for a minute before I look up to see Five staring at me.  

8. I'm Not Sorry (TUA)

“Can we go to the Academy?”  

It takes me a second to answer, thinking about what Five said, “I don’t know.”  

“I think we should. I want to meet the others! And he did say that he would make us so...” Keith just shrugs his shoulders with a smile like everything was so easy, “Will Uncle Klaus and Aunt Vanya be there?”  

I shrug my shoulders at his question, “I have no idea buddy, but if you did want to talk to them, we could schedule a date,” I offer.  

9. The Rise of Voltron's Family (VLD)

“Did you hear her?” The Altean didn't sound rude this time, but curious. 

Her head was tilted a little and she had her hands on her hips like she was belittling some kit or something. And then her eyes widen as she takes a step backwards. 

“And why are you pale instead of purple?” Oh yeah, I forgot I had to shift. 

“Because I am what you will call a half-breed, I'm not a full-blooded Galran.” I take a step backwards, not wanting to go into my genetics right now. 

10. I'm Selfish (But It's Warm and Safe) (Avengers Movies)

“Who did this to you?” He repeats.  

I shrug my shoulders and study the ground because I can’t force myself to answer the question. It doesn’t matter, there isn’t much he can do about it anyway, I'll just worry him for no reason. I just need to live through junior and senior year and I'll be out of his way and hopefully out of his iron hold on me. Besides, Stark men are made out of iron. I can totally handle this on my own because I’m a Stark. I don’t need anybody to worry about me. I'm fine.  

I am gonna tag: @flannelfangirl / @quintessenceofdust73 / @dchan87 / @sisiwritesfanfics / @bluedemon1995 / @princessallura052 / @cmdr-fil / @kalluraloveblog / @crimson-mage-02 and whoever wants to join in!

[cyberghost-scout]

mershippies

Delta Queen X Kolivan

~Kolivan somehow gets stranded on an island- dragged himself out of the waters. But because he's a Blade's leader, he removed most of the clothes to avoid hyperthermia and started a fire to stay warm and dry off faster- than stranded. As he waits for the rescue, he notices singing. Lovely, smokey, beautiful singing- by the area where the beach turns to rocky caves. That is curious and suspicious, even as a few options came to his mind. Either another marooned person, this island is not abandoned and can get contact much sooner, or an enemy. So armed with his blade, he went over to investigate the alluring songs to confirm his paranoia. But looking around, he was not expecting to see her. An older octopus mermaid lounging on damp rocks, singing to herself as she was weaving materials. With a big confident smile, her purple eyes shine as she's content with her life now. To him, she is beautiful. After she eventually left, him standing by to listen till it was over, and she left. He returns to his encampment, sleeping with such a rare event in his mind.

~ Perhaps after this event, he'll meet this beautiful siren again. But in a way that'll make his heart leap in his throat. This octopus mermaid is being cornered by the empire's scouts; as for why, who knows. Unwanted suitor from the Galra empire? Generally humans trying to catch for food or as an prize? Either way on the why its sort of the same. She was smart enough to keep some distance from them- adding more to his favorability of her. But Kolivan knew her tricks won't last long. So him being the best- he swims in and takes down most of them, saving her from being captured. He was finally close enough to her, not from afar, and this would be the first time Delta met him. He would be thankful for wearing the mask on-- seeing this siren so close up and acknowledging his existence. And Delta does indeed thank him for saving her.

~ Now then. These two oldies would enjoy leisure time together, curling up to sunbathe. Sometimes in blissful silence. Sometimes, filled with music and song.

~ They are both intelligent, so their conversations would last a while if they wanted to.

~ Okay since @themisplacedtruth-vld thread. Delta after helping pull Kol out of the vent then later gives him a solid distraction for a daring escape. She somehow gets involved with the blades pod. Delta is the second big pink mermaid in this fight pod. But she is not a fighter. But Delta easily takes over a niche that non of the pod considers viable, getting information on many joyous occasions and parties. Her natural talent and already loving parties. And Delta takes the information from loose lips and reports it to the pod. Highly respected by the pod and Kol... Some of the pod are betting on who would ask courting their leader or Delta.

[autisticlancemcclain]

prev

–––

Keith doesn’t sleep a wink the following night. He quickly packs a bunch of supplies into a pod, and then spends hours staring at the base's scanners, waiting for the castle to pop up. He doesn’t hesitate for even a second when it finally does, barely remembering to check in with Kolivan before speedily manoeuvring out of the base and into the castle’s waiting flight deck. 

As promised, the team is gathered there to meet him, clambering over each other to be the first to greet him when he walks out of the pod. It should be flattering, should make a pleased flush redden his skin from his neck to the roots of his hair. It’s everything he’s ever wanted; that kind of love, that kind of joyful acceptance, an excitement to see him. 

But he barely even notices. All of his attention is trained on the figure so far away from everyone else he’s practically shroud in shadows, stiff and stone-faced. Lance stands with a duffel clenched tightly in his fists, jacket zipped up to his neck and hood halfway pulled over his hair.

Everything he sees makes him want to fall over. He almost feels nauseous, and he’s not entirely sure why. Lance has his off-days, Keith knows this. There were days when Keith had to help Lance fight his way out of bed, and when he did the same for Keith. Keith has held him as he sobbed himself to pain on the observation deck floor. Keith has watched him get overwhelmed and mean and snappy and then guilty for days afterwards. 

But he’s never seen Lance like this. He’s never seen Lance…shrink, collapsing into himself so deeply, keep himself so distant. The closest thing he ever saw was when he came to Keith’s room talking about five lions and six paladins, about a seventh wheel.

I solved that problem, he thinks, increasingly desperate. Lance was backed into a corner so Keith threw himself out of the room to give him space. That was the point, that was the purpose, that is why he has stayed in a stupid grey bunk he hates and nodded blankly to masked people he’s not allowed to familiarise himself with and stubbornly refused to leave a man behind no matter how much trouble he gets in. 

He was supposed to have fixed things, and now everything has gotten worse.

“Keith!” Pidge screams the second he emerges from the door, sprinting at him and damn near tackling him to the floor. Despite himself and his dizzying confusion he smiles softly, squeezing her right back.

“Hey, Pigeon,” he says, and she must have really missed him because she doesn’t even deck him for it. 

“You need to call us more,” she grumbles at him, and he snorts and asks her how that holoprojector he asked her for is coming along. 

Before she can launch into yet another rant about how far from the realm of possibility that is, the rest of the team catches up to her, and this time he really does hit the floor. Luckily he lands sprawled on his brother, who only sighs fondly and flicks him on the forehead. 

“We’ve all missed you so much,” he says. “Not the same here without you, squirt.”

Because Keith has misses his brother, he refrains from turning around and throwing hands with him right in the hangar, because why would he call Keith that he��s a grown ass man, basically, not six, Shiro what the fuck. The team teases him anyway because they are the worst, but Keith rolls his eyes and takes it. Between Hunk’s bawling and Pidge’s snark and Allura’s hand gripped in his, Keith can almost pretend like he’s just back from a quick and risky errand, that everything is normal, that his family is just excited to see him and they’re gonna head off for dinner together in a few. The familiar foreignness of it all is almost settled around him like a heavy blanket.

Almost.

“I believe we have an exchange to get on with,” drawls a voice so pretentious it makes Keith recoil even before the cruelty of his words kick in. 

Lotor stands in the middle of the room like he’s centre fucking stage, hip cocked, inspecting his nails, casual and unbothered. A quick glance to the side confirms that Lance’s jaw has tightened at the comment, posture tensed further. Keith looks back to Lotor and wishes with his whole heart that he had laser eyes via Clark Kent so he could fucking obliterate him. He settles for intensely praying for his downfall to the universe, which isn’t enough but will have to be until Keith can sacrifice him for the greatest good or something.

An exchange. Like Lance is a fuckin’...low rate commodity, or something. 

Keith is honestly more disturbed by the fact that no one else seems to be terribly bothered by the comment. He wonders if he’s being too sensitive, if he’s reading into things, if his own hatred for Prince L’Oreal is clouding what could be a similar relationship to what Keith and Lance have, with all the insults and competitions.

The actual thought of that makes him physically gag. 

No, that’s not it. Keith is not mistaking the pain that is radiating off of Lance, the way the air itself in the castle feels wrong. 

“I’m ready to go if you are, Lance,” Keith calls, as softly as he can manage. Unfortunately it doesn’t manage to go far, and Lance only nods once, tightening the duffel over his shoulder and walking over. His steps are deliberate, at least, no downtrodden shuffling – there’s some stubbornness within him still. It’s better than nothing.

“Aw, no, already?” Hunk complains, sniffling. 

Despite the storm raging in Keith’s head, he manages a smile in Hunk’s direction, equally flattered and amused by the affection.

“We’ll be back, man,” Keith promises. “Mission is only supposed to take a few days. Maybe we’ll finish up early and I won’t tell Kolivan, huh, Lance? Spend a couple days here.”

He smiles as brightly as he can manage in Lance’s direction, receiving only a tight-lipped grimace in response, an attempt without the verve to follow through. 

“Yeah, sure.”

He gives the pile of teammates a wide berth as he climbs into the pod, disappearing quickly into the back. Keith tries to pretend his words weren’t sullied with bitterness.

It takes longer than he would like to finally bid everyone goodbye and crawl back into the pod, which he feels a little bad about. Both because he doesn’t want to feel like any interaction with his family is at all a burden, even a goodbye, and because he doesn’t want to keep Lance waiting. But he’s in a rough place right now, off-kilter and almost disoriented, so he cuts himself some slack, breathing deeply as he pulls out of the hangar and back into dead space. He puts the tiny but powerful thrusters up as high as they will go, zooming along at top speeds. He stays in the pilot’s chair, hand firmly on the yoke, until the castle is well out of view, until they are surrounded on all sides by endless darkness. Only then does he steel himself to put the pod on autopilot, to breathe deeply and turn around to face the oppressive awkwardness filling up the small space.

“Hey, Lance,” he says quietly, sitting gingerly on the floor in front of his seat. He’s relieved that Lance doesn’t straight up move away like he expected. He’s even more relieved to notice that Lance doesn’t tense up at his mere presence.

He barely acknowledges Keith past a nod of the head, though, which is depressing. Keith wants to ask another question, get more than a nod out of him so desperately it’s actually embarrassing, but he manages to restrain himself. He knows maybe better than anyone else what it feels like to be crowded by questions when you already feel like you’re suffocating. Keith will just have to wait for Lance, however long it takes.

Thankfully, he doesn’t wait very long.

“I didn’t get any details.” Lance’s voice startles Keith, not because he isn’t expecting it – all he’s been doing is waiting for Lance to talk – but because it’s nothing like he expects. His voice is almost normal, not strained hoarse or even bitter like it was earlier. If Keith squeezes his eyes shut and pretends the last several months didn’t happen, he can almost convince himself that he and Lance are sitting at the briefing room table late at night, heads bent together, trying to iron out a plan for their upcoming mission. He wants that back so badly he aches with it, but the ache is familiar enough now that he thinks he can bear it.

“It’s, uh, a quintessence hunt,” Keith explains. “Or, well, kind of. Hopefully. Kolivan gives a lot of details at once and he speaks in this super depressing monotone and I swear to God I do everything I can to pay attention but at some point it just sounds like the teacher in Charlie Brown. So. That’s my bad.”

He has to force air back into his lungs by the end of it and he’s red in the face to boot. That’s maybe the most words he’s ever spoken in one go (hyperbole whatever let him live) and of course he sounds like the biggest dweeb. Why hasn’t becoming a super cool space ninja made him more aloof and mysterious? This isn’t fair. What happened to gay rights.

To his great surprise, his dorky ramble is rewarded by a flash of Lance’s smile, so brief he would have convinced himself he imagined it if he hadn’t spent so much of his life seeking it out. It’s gone faster than it existed, Lance’s expression falling back into something carefully blank, but the fact that it was there at all is the biggest relief.

Lance takes the tablet Keith hands to him, mission file pulled up and ready to go. He squints slightly as he reads it, tilting his head to the side. “We have to go through…wait, Keith, is this right?” He flips the tablet over to Keith, zoomed in on a pair of coordinates. “This is, like, right next to a black hole. RIght right next to, worryingly next to. I don’t like how close this is. This pod is not really built for that, I don’t think.”

Keith doesn’t recognise the coordinates, so he can’t really say, but there’s a fair bit riding on this mission, so he doubts Kolivan has fucked this particular detail up. 

“Well, it’s either safe or no longer our problem.”

“I suppose.”

A little disappointed that Keith’s attempt at a joke didn’t do much to lighten Lance’s expression, he lets them lapse into silence, tilting his head back onto the seat and closing his eyes as the pod zooms forwards. 

They have a long journey ahead of them.

–––

next

[the-ferocious-kittyrose]

My complicated opinion on Keith Kogane

Keith Kogane is definitely one of the more popular characters in the VLD fandom. People love brooding emo bad boys.

My feelings on Keith are... complicated. I definitely don’t hate him. I have a lot of problems with the character but I don’t think I could ever bring myself to actually hate him. Mainly because I kinda relate to him. We both have problems controlling our emotions, interacting with people, and making friends.

And we both have trouble believing there are people who truly have our best interests at heart and won’t abandon us because we’re a burden.

What I do hate is the way his character was written and the way it negatively impacted the characters around him.

There are definitely a lot of factors that contributed to VLD ending up the way it did. But to me, Keith and the writers insistence on pushing him to the forefront was the poison that killed the show.

Ok, before we get into this whole rant I feel like I should talk about the things I do like about Keith.

I like the premise of Keith’s character. He’s half Galra and never really fit in on Earth. He didn’t act like the other “normal” kids so kids made fun of him and adults didn’t want to deal with him. So in order to protect himself from the pain of rejection he would put up a tough angry facade and push people away and reject them before they could reject him.

This is something that really resonates with me personally having grown up neurodivergent. It’s awful growing up in a world that isn’t made for people like you and not knowing how to interact with or connect with your peers. Especially when you don’t know why you’re like that.

You learn to avoid social interaction because it always ends up negative. You put up walls because you don’t feel like anybody understands you or what you’re going through.

I know the writers probably didn’t intend to code Keith as neurodivergent. They just wanted Keith to be a hothead with abandonment issues, but nonetheless, this interpretation means a lot to me.

I also really like his relationship with Shiro. Keith is so used to being left behind and abandoned that when he meets someone like Shiro who’s patient and genuinely cares it’s new and strange. He’s so ready for Shiro to abandon him, even telling Shiro to send him back to the home, but Shiro refuses to leave him and tells Keith ethat he’s never going to give up on him.

It’s also interesting to see how their relationship develops over time. It’s clear Keith trusts Shiro, but you can tell that that fear of abandonment is still there deep down. In S2, Keith tells Shiro that he’s like a brother to him, and then in season 6, he takes the extra step and tells Shiro that he IS his brother and that he loves him. And for someone like Keith, telling their friend they love them is a big scary thing.

And also it’s just great to see a platonic “I love you,” especially between two guys. Don’t be afraid to tell your bros you love them!!!

Now let’s talk about the stuff I didn’t like.

Keith doesn’t have much going for him in terms of personality. He’s just sorta brooding and serious all the time. He does make jokes occasionally but it’s rare. The writers were more focused on making him cool and badass rather than fun.

I always loved the idea of Keith as a cocky carefree asshole who doesn’t give a shit about rules/laws and is kinda rude/aggressive but has a heart of gold deep down and would do anything for the people he cares about. (Just like a cat.)

I would also make him more alien esc. In terms of design I like the idea of Keith having red eyes with narrow pupils and fangs. And also just small things like the way he walks and holds himself. He growls and bears his teeth when he’s angry, his hair puffs up when scared, he’s fast and agile, disappearing and reappearing without making much noise, small things.

Then you have his race and sexuality. I have no doubt in my mind that Keith was intended to be a straight white dude. A lot of people see him as gay and Asian but there’s no evidence for this in canon. Acxa was originally intended to be his love interest and his race was never mentioned in canon. His name isn’t even Kogane in canon. (And the race of the voice actor doesn’t equal the race of the character. If that was the case Shiro, Hunk, and Lance would be white.)

They should’ve totally made Keith Japanese like he was in the original. It would’ve been so easy! Just canonize Kogane as his last name and have the book say he’s half Japanese half Galra. They could’ve also done what they did with Shiro and keep his og GoLion name. Just have him be Akira Kogane. Definitely cooler than “Keith.”

And as for his sexuality, I definitely think they should’ve had Keith be gay. But well get to that Later...

I also don’t like how they handled the whole Krolia thing. Not only was it crazy rushed, but it completely goes against the shows theme of found family.

Keith’s arc should’ve been about overcoming his abandonment issues and learning to accept the paladins as family. But instead they just get rid of the abandonment issues by just giving him his mom back.

I know a lot of people love Krolia but I don’t feel like she should’ve been introduced in anything other than flashbacks. Because Keith’s mom isn’t really that important. The show is about found family and friendship, not blood relation.

You can definitely have Keith learn about his mom and his family, but I feel like giving him his mom back was too much.

Personally, I always headcanoned that Kolivan was Keith’s grandfather or just a close friend of Krolia’s, and when Keith showed up at the Blade’s base Kolivan recognized the blade as his Krolia’s. Keith could learn about his mom through Kolivan telling him about her, how she was a great person and warrior who died fighting to make the universe a safer place for her son.

Another thing I didn’t like was the whole Keith leaving the team for the Blades thing. I know why he did it, he felt like the team was gonna reject him, he wanted to be more useful, and wanted to learn about his family, but I feel like you could’ve touched on all that without having him abandon his team.

One of the biggest problems with the show is that they did a bad job at establishing the paladins as friends, they feel like coworkers more than anything, and I feel like Keith being absent for two seasons contributed to that.

And his absence is hardly addressed. The team forms Voltron perfectly without him and no one ever says they miss him. Keith doesn’t even seem like he missed them after being gone for two years.

And a lot of the weight was taken out of that Keith v Kuron fight by the fact that Keith and Kuron hardly interacted.

That whole thing amounted to four things, Keith meeting Krolia (which I don’t think should’ve happened), them finding the colony (which was a dumb plot I don’t think should’ve happened), Keith aging up two years (which was weird and unnecessary), and Keith meeting Kosmo (which is... complicated).

I don’t think this plot was necessary. Keith should’ve stayed with his team.

Then you have his relationship with Lance. I know people are very sensitive about this topic. People have very strong opinions about whether or not Keith and Lance were intended to be romantically coded.

Personally, I do like Klance but I don’t believe they were romantically coded. I think if you want them to get together some things would have to go differently.

For example, the bonding moment. In canon, Lance tells Keith, “we make a good team.” I don’t see this as referring to him and Keith. I think he was talking about the whole team. If you want it to be about the two of them, I feel like it should be Lance telling Keith something like, “ya know, you’re not so bad after all,” and then Keith smiles and responds, “you’re not so bad yourself.”

Another example could be the scene where Lance comes to Keith with his insecurities. (Whether it’s as a leader or a friend.) This scene was weird in canon, Lance comes to Keith for advice and Keith basically tells him to just stop thinking about it.

I would prefer if Lance brought up to Keith how he doesn’t feel like he’s good enough or that he doesn’t have, “a thing,” and Keith is completely dumbfounded like, “what are you even talking about?” He goes on about all the good shit about Lance. Talks about how Blue chose him, how he’s a great shot, how he’s good at dealing with people, meanwhile Lance is standing there in shock as Keith says all these nice things about him.

Over all you would just have to develop their relationship more. More meaningful interactions. And if you want the relationship to be romantic you would have to establish that early on. Establish that one or both has romantic feelings for the other in like S1/S2 because if you wait too long it’s gonna feel forced/out of no where.

And then... you have the Black Paladin arc... I’m gonna be real with y’all, this is the arc that killed the show for me, for a few reasons.

One, even ignoring the whole quintessence bond thing, it makes no sense for Keith to be the bp. He doesn’t fit the role. I adore Shiro but choosing Keith as his successor was a dumb move. I get that he saw potential in Keith but they’re are fighting a war, there’s no room for favoritism.

Shiro should’ve chosen Allura as his successor. Not only does she have actual leadership experience, but you would only have one paladin in a new Lion instead of three.

If a lifeguard breaks his leg and can’t work, he should choose an experienced swimmers to take his place, not his little bro that’s still in water wings in the hopes that it’ll teach him to swim.

Two, Keith being the bp doesn’t help his arc. Keith’s arc is about overcoming his abandonment issues and learning to be a team player, he doesn’t need to be the leader for that.

VLD should’ve been about the paladins growing into the best versions of themselves they could be. Their development shown by unlocking new abilities in their respective lions, new forms for their bayards, and new Voltron bayard power ups. They shouldn’t have to change lions and themselves.

Keith and Red have a strong bond and work great together. Keith and Red are both temperamental, unpredictable, and have issues with trust. Keith having to fight to get Red to trust and open up to him mirrors how others have to fight to earn Keith’s trust and get him to let down his walls.

It would’ve been interesting to see them grow together. Keith has no emotional connection with Black.

We never even get to see them bond. Keith just suddenly becomes the “perfect” bp/leader because he got over his mommy issues

Three, it’s a MASSIVE disservice to Shiro’s character. Shiro put all the work in earning his position as the bp, he literally fits fought Zarkon on the astral plane to earn her trust, yet Keith is the true bp? What?

It sucks. Sendak told Shiro that a monster like him could never be a paladin and the writers went and proved him right. Hell Shiro didn’t even get to kill Sendak, Keith got that too.

And don’t tell me, “but he got the Atlas!” REALLY!? A massive Deus ex machina that required absolutely no effort from him to acquire!? Filled with a bunch of rando background characters no one gives a shit about!? You’re totally right, that 100% makes up for it.

I could go on and on about how the treatment of Shiro in this show (and fandom) is blatantly ableist but that’s a rant for another time.

It sucks. I want to like Keith! He had the potential to be an amazing character but the writers just kept on trying to turn him into something he wasn’t and it ruined him for me.

They kept trying to turn Keith into the main character and ignored that ALL the paladins are the main characters. It’s an ensemble cast! You don’t have to have everything come back to one guy.

[damnlance]

21 please

Klance prompt #21

21. “Where did you get all these bruises from?”

Summary: Keith shows Lance his bruises and tells him where and when he got them.

-

It’s been eight days since the mission with The Blade.

The failed mission.

Keith can’t stop thinking about it. It's deep in his head. Flashes behind his eyes every time he closes them. It’s all over his body. Literally.

Dark purple and black bruises decorate his arms and legs and torso. Cuts and scrapes on his face. He deserves it, though. It’s his fault the mission went so badly. He swore he had everything under control. He said all the right things that he rehearsed over and over before landing on that freezing cold, yet weirdly humid, planet. He was calm and straightforward, but not demanding in any way. Or.. at least he thinks he wasn’t..

He still doesn’t know when everything went wrong. They were there to make peace with this planet, called Nagara, and offer them all the food, water, and supplies they needed to rebuild their planet after all the destruction and damage from the war 3 years ago. It was Keith’s job as the frontman and spokesperson to provide the aliens of the planet with a state of peace and safety since the war was over now.

But.. somewhere along the lines, Keith said the wrong thing. Or he did the wrong thing? Or he.. said and did the wrong thing at the same time and it made the Nagarians angry? He doesn’t know and he won’t know. His ears are blank to his own voice and words when he tries to replay the moments, seconds, before everything went wrong.

It doesn’t matter. He will never forget the way his mother looked at him after everything.

Her face was filled with pure rage. A look Keith has only ever seen if she was fighting the enemy. Never looking at him. And Kolivan? Oh, don’t even get him started on Kolivan.

Because what happened was so bad, Kolivan put Keith on a temporary suspension. Meaning he would sit out of all things ‘providing humanitarian relief to other planets’ and so on. That meant no meetings, debriefings, or socialization of any kind involving their mission to restore peace, and he would have to watch a four hour long video on what and what not to do during peace negotiations on otherworldly planets.

He was on complete lockdown and it was fucking pathetic.

Not only did he not bother to watch that stupid, long video. Instead, he kept himself locked in his room on the giant galra ship, not interacting with a single galran soul. Including his mother and Kolivan. He couldn't handle the scalding glares or the whispering in the hallways whenever he left to try to get some type of food in him. It was too much. And it’s what everyone was expecting of him. But not as Keith himself. As a mixed breed; a half galra, half human.

After six days of being temporarily suspended, Keith couldn’t handle anything anymore. It was too much and he was tired of literally everything, so he packed up all the shit he could gather, grabbed his trusty space wolf, and left in his galra cruiser without notifying anyone.

Now, here he is, a day out. The ride down to earth is.. pretty uncomfortable to say the least. His cruiser isn’t as big as it looks and with Kosmo tagging along and his giant duffle bag, it’s a little cramped. But it doesn’t matter, because he’s almost to his destination, and he can’t wait to land. Because yeah okay, he’s suspended temporarily, but that doesn’t mean he can’t get away for some quality Keith time. A little vacation never hurt anyone. And he knows just who he wants to spend his free time with.

knock knock knock!

Lance jerks awake. The first thing his tired eyes land on is the ceiling. It’s dimly lit and as his pupils unblur from the sleep still in them, he can hear the static of the tv that’s still on from some boring action movie he decided to watch. The once fresh bowl of popcorn on the coffee table has run cold long ago and the pitter patter of water droplets hitting the roof from the outside can be heard as well.

Lance sits up slowly and stretches his arms above his head, a yawn slipping its way out of his mouth as he tries to register reality around him. It takes him a few seconds to wake up and when he does, he remembers that it was a knock that woke him in the first place. He carefully stands, slipping his bare feet into the slippers on the floor just next to the navy blue colored couch, and walks over to the front door, hugging himself.

As soon as he opens the door, the pouring rain is louder. And Keith is standing there. Soaking wet with a big duffel bag in one hand and a leash that’s connected to the collar on Kosmo’s neck in the other hand.

“Keith!?” Lance is ten times more awake now as he quickly moves aside to let Keith and Kosmo in. “Oh, shit man, you’re soaking wet! Let me go grab some towels!”

“Thanks,” is the first word out of Keith’s mouth. It’s shy and embarrassed but Lance doesn’t pay any mind to it as he rummages through the towel closet next to the hallway bathroom. He comes back and wraps a big towel around Keith’s shoulders, taking the duffle bag from his hand and setting it next to the smaller couch by the bay window in the living room. Lance takes the other towel, kneeling down to begin drying off Kosmo. Kosmo licks his face as he does it and it makes Lance smile, tossing and turning his head away from the alien wolf’s freakishly long tongue. Once he’s finished, Lance stands and finds Keith on the couch, discarding his wet clothes. He walks over and sits on the coffee table directly in front of him.

“Keith?” He asks, the tone in his voice full of wonder and confusion, but also worry.

“I’m fine,” Keith answers, a sigh leaving his lips. He looks at Lance through his long, wet bangs and sends him a weak but reassuring smirk. “I decided it was time for a.. a small break.”

Lance doesn’t look convinced, sitting there twiddling his thumbs. “How small?”

Keith shrugs, losing their eye contact. “Couple weeks, tops.”

“Weeks sound like a long time to be away..” Lance bites his lower lip, his bed head, or couch head in this situation, making Keith want to reach over and pat his hair down. “I feel like there’s something else I’m missing here.”

A sigh. “Later, Lance, okay? I’m tired and wet and cold, and I just want to shower and lay down, if that’s alright?” He finally looks back over to those dark blue eyes in the dark living room and then, a small nod and a smile.

“Sure,” Lance says, this time with more confidence, but his eyes scan over the scrapes and scratches on Keith’s face. “Let me help you out with your suit.”

They both stand and Keith turns around for Lance to unzip it from the back. He moves his long wet hair over his right shoulder and puts his head down. The literal second that Lance grabs that zipper, Keith remembers how his body looks. And if Lance thinks his face is bad, just wait til he sees his body. Keith jerks away and it startles Lance as he almost trips over the coffee table.

“Keith!? What the he-!?”

“I-I just remembered!” Keith looks everywhere but Lance’s eyes now. “I smell horrible underneath this suit a-and I really don’t want you to smell me, so I’ll just head to the bathroom now!”

“What??” Lance scoffs. “A-are you sure?? I don’t mind a little stink, Keith, I’ve smelled you right after a fight with the-!”

“I’m sure.” Keith nods. He sends a nervous smile towards Lance and quickly leans forward to plant a quick kiss to his cheek. He grabs his duffel bag and b lines it for the guest room, closing the door behind him. Lance watches his every move, then turns back to look at Kosmo who is looking right at him.

“What was that about??” He asks the wolf. Kosmo tilts his head, ears popping up. Lance sighs and begins his walk towards his kitchen. “Come on, boy. You must be hungry.”

Keith wipes the foggy mirror with his hand, exhaling a breath of relief from the heavenly shower he just took. He takes the smaller towel from around his neck and dries his hair, ruffling it up in the process. His eyes scan his tired face and exhausted body. The bruises that decorate his pale skin are of dark purples and blues and blacks. They’re eight days old, but they still hurt like crazy. Keith eyes the one right below his left pec. It’s purple with yellow blotches and he presses down on it just to see and the pain that zips down his spine is more than enough warning to tell him to stop. A deep sigh leaves his mouth as he pushes his hair back and ties it up in a messy bun.

knock knock! “Keith? You okay?”

Keith nearly jumps at Lance’s voice. “U-uh, yeah! I’ll be out in a second.”

“Okay.” The concern in Lance’s voice eases. “No rush, though.”

Keith sighs again. He has to tell Lance. Has to show him. Sure, he’ll freak out and never want him to leave again but.. if he gets it over with, there won’t be any more surprises if Lance wants to touch him again.

A soft smile graces Keith’s lips as he thinks about the man just on the other side of the door. They’ve been through a lot. Individually. Together. And even though it’s only been three years, they still suffer through the after effects of the war. They all do.

Lance gets nightmares. About a lot of things. He says his nightmares feel so real, and sometimes it’s hard to decipher if his nightmares really happened or not. It scares him and has left him very vulnerable in more situations than he likes to admit. There’s a lot more than just the nightmares; flashbacks in the middle of the day, jumping at loud noises, never leaving his home because he feels like everywhere he turns, some species-less threat is gonna come out and attack him, Allura’s sacrifice. Yeah. It’s a pretty long list. But with therapy, his family and friends’ support, and Keith, he’s come a very long way to recovery.

Keith on the other hand got most of the paranoia. Even though he still works in space with his galran colleagues, he still can’t help but get that itch underneath his skin that someday, someone will turn on him and try to attack him. It could happen at any time. Any day or night. Anywhere. Because of this fear, he doesn’t get much sleep, and is very overprotective of his friends. Of his mother. Even his space wolf. His knife has become like a permanent extension to his hand, he never goes anywhere without it. Keeps it underneath his pillow, in his back pocket, in his boot, anywhere that’s easy enough to reach so he can defend himself if need be. He’s even accidentally pulled it on all of his friends at least once. Even on Lance, who barely even flinched at the time. It’s safe to say that no one can ever sneak up on him.

And somehow, through all their damage, Keith and Lance still found each other. It wasn’t right away. And it wasn’t planned, either. It’s just.. happened. They barely talked after the war ended, and unpurposely drifted apart. Keith busied himself in his work with The Blade, and Lance distanced himself away from everyone.

But one year ago, around Christmas, Keith came back to spend the holiday with Shiro and Curtis. Little did he know, they were gone for the holidays, so Keith, and Krolia, decided to stay with Lance and his huge family. Lance was so happy to see him, he couldn’t dare to say no. ‘The more the merrier,’ his mother Rosa said. So, while Keith and Lance spent the time shopping together and baking cookies and wrapping gifts and getting drunk on eggnog, Krolia learned a lot of the Christmas Earth traditions and Cuban recipes from Rosa and even got a few surprise presents from Lance’s niece and nephew. She cried because she didn’t know what else to do. Happiness always makes Krolia cry. Keith bought Lance a red Paladin mug with his face on it that he saw at some flea market on one of their stops on some random planet, and Lance bought Keith a giant blanket to keep him warm while he was away in space. The emotions were flying, the eggnog was settling and long story short, they ended up sleeping together, with every ounce of consent they could muster. It’s still one of the greatest nights of Keith’s life.

They’ve been together since then, five months, and even though they don’t have a label on what they are, Keith is happy this way. He likes being label-less with Lance. He likes having a home to come back to, with a warm kitchen, a warm bed, and a warm body. He likes the open space and how much Kosmo and Kaltenecker get along. He likes how much Kosmo adores Lance and his homemade space wolf food, just for him. He likes that Lance buys stuff for him to have when he’s away so he has new things to come back to. New slippers. A new comfy robe. New matching pajamas. A new toothbrush. Keith likes Lance. And everything that they are in the moments they’re together. And although he knows Lance is still grieving over Allura and that it could take a couple more years until he’s ready for a real relationship, Keith would take this over anything. Any day.

As he emerges from the bathroom, he doesn’t bother putting on all of his clothes, just his red paladin boxer briefs. He and Lance have seen each other naked plenty of times, and he’s very comfortable in his skin around Lance. Lance has that effect on him. So when he walks out in just his boxer briefs and a white cotton towel around his neck, he’s got absolutely nothing to hide. Except, maybe not giving Lance a heart attack tonight. Keith hides behind the wall just before the entryway to the living room and curses himself for what he’s about to do.

“H-hey.. Lance?”

“Yeah?” Lance says, something like food in his mouth. “Where are you, man?”

“I’m…” Keith sighs. “Can you just.. cl-close your eyes for a sec.. please?”

“Uh,” Lance shrugs, Keith can hear from his clothes rumpling up. “Sure.”

Keith peeks around the corner and sees that Lance’s eyes are sealed shut. Kosmo is on the floor next to him, sound asleep. His tongue is hanging out just the slightest bit as snores leave his mouth. Keith smiles at the sight and looks back to Lance. He’s so beautiful. This guy has done some much for him and more. Before the war, during, and now after. He’s the greatest guy that Keith could’ve asked for.. greater than that. With that in mind, Keith steps out from behind the wall and walks over to Lance before his brain tells him that this is all a bad idea. The living room is still dim, only illuminated by the television and the lamp next to the couch Lance is sitting on, but it’ll be more than enough light to see Keith’s battered body.

Once Keith is in front of Lance, he closes his own eyes, fists clenched down by his sides.

“Okay.. now on the count of three, you can open your eyes.. but don’t freak out. Got it?”

Lance lets out a small snort. “Yes, Keef, I got it.”

Keith rolls closed eyes and sticks his nails into the palms of his sweaty hands. “Alright.. one.. two.. three..”

Lance’s eyes open. The breath that gets caught in his throat is enough to send Keith’s gut dropping out of his ass and into the floor.

“Holy shit!” Lance is up, eyes roaming Keith’s entire body. “W-what the fu-!?”

Keith opens his eyes and is face to face with Lance. They’re almost the same height, Keith’s got him by a few inches easily, and the look on Lance’s face is enough to send Keith into cardiac arrest.

“I-I’m fine, Lance, really-”

“No, you’re not!” Lance cuts him off, wanting to reach out but too afraid to do so. Keith’s tone, muscular body is a canvas of dark colors and spots of different shapes. No wonder he jumped earlier, Lance could have hurt him even more than he already looks. A shaky breath leaves Lance’s mouth as he meets Keith’s dark eyes. “What happened to you, love?”

Love. The pet name actually sends Keith’s into cardiac arrest, he’s sure of it. But as soon as Lance cups his face with both of his big, warm hands, it’s over for Keith. His eyes begin to water and his throat closes up on him so that he can’t talk. Tears fall down his cheeks as he looks down to the floor between him and Lance. His bottom lip quivers and when Lance tilts his head back up to look at him again, a sob slips its way out of Keith’s mouth.

“Oh, Keith,” Lance coos, bringing Keith into a big, gentle hug. Keith hugs him back, sobbing into his shoulder. “Baby..” Lance whispers.

Keith just continues to sob. He didn’t even know he had been holding back for so long. But here, in Lance’s arms, he can feel everything that’s been bottled up coming out of his throat and from his teary eyes. Lance only continues to hold him, rubbing his soft hands up and down Keith’s pale bruised back.

Keith doesn’t know how long this goes on. How long he cries. How long Lance holds him. But somewhere in the middle of it all, they’ve moved to Lance’s room. Keith sits on Lance’s bed, wiping his red, teary eyes and snotty nose with a tissue. Lance rummages through his bathroom drawer for some numbing ointment that he recently bought for his back and feet from working out on the farm five days a week. When he returns, Keith is done crying. He sits up straight and removes the white towel from around his neck. Lance stands in front of him and kneels between his open legs. He stares at them. At the bruises and scratches and scabbed gashes.

“I..” he starts, clearing his throat from what has to be a lump forming. “I got this.. numbing cream. It’ll help a lot.”

Keith stares down at him as he talks, his voice is so quiet and gentle.

“Can I..?” Lance asks, looking up to meet Keith’s red eyes.

“Yeah.” Keith nods.

Lance uncaps the ointment, squirting a good amount into the palm of his hand. He sets the tube down and rubs his hands together. Then, he gently, gently, places them on Keith’s bruised thighs and begins rubbing the ointment around.

Keith clenches his jaw, hands fisting in the comforter on Lance’s bed. He lets out the air from his nostrils and feels the pain slowly turning into relief. He looks down and watches as Lance works his hands in circular motions, gently rubbing the ointment onto Keith’s injuries.

“..keith…?“ Lance whispers, eyes focused on his hands covered with ointment that’s slowly making his hands numb.

“Yeah..?” Keith answers back, looking at the ceiling of Lance’s room. Those glow in the dark stars are still there.

“How…” Lance clears his throat. “W.. Where did you get all these bruises from?”

Keith sighs. “..blade mission.. gone wrong..”

Something in Lance’s eyes darken. “What? W-when?? How?? W-Where!?”

“Um..” Keith can’t even look at Lance anymore. The worry in his eyes is too much. “A.. Week ago.. on some planet called Nagara. It was.. all my f.. my faul..” The tears are back. Keith blinks them away and sniffs quietly, looking down at his hands in his lap. He can feel himself sinking back to that day, to that mission. He remembers it all so clearly.

They landed on Nagara. The planet was really cold. He and The Blade were greeted by a tall figure who looked similar to an earth bear. They were big, round, had dark eyes all around, sharp teeth and a snout. Three rows of antenna grew out of their foreheads as well as horns of all shapes and sizes going down their backs and spines. And giant sharp claws for fingers. They looked vicious. And they made it very clear that they didn’t like the Galra.

Keith made the first move. He spoke in a calm voice and made his intentions clear; he and The Blade were only there to help and provide the planet with anything they needed. They had food, water, clothes, and building supplies ready on their ships and were 100% committed to fixing up this planet and its species from the after effects of the war. But their King, King Arxuan, wouldn’t let them go any further until they explained what they were doing there. So Keith did.

He explained it all. Voltron won. Zarkon dead. Princess Allura saved the universe. Keith is the red and black Paladin. The Blade of Marmora is good. The Blade of Marmora is here to help. But Keith being Keith.. he’s not too good with his words. Everything sounded fine in his head. And when it came out of his mouth? Completely different.

“We are The Blade of Marmora,” Keith started. “We’re here to provide supplies to your helpless planet that has clearly been affected by the war and-”

Record scratch. Yeah, poor choice of words on Keith’s end. But they left his mouth so fast that his brain couldn't keep up. The King and his subjects didn’t like it one bit and before Keith could keep up with his offensive word vomit, the Nagarians drew their weapons and like a firework, everything went up in flames.

Keith didn’t mean to offend anyone.. and he didn’t mean it like that. But the Nagarians didn’t know or care how he meant it. They attacked within seconds of Keith’s poor choice of words and thank god for his team’s fast reflexes, otherwise his head would not be on his shoulders and he wouldn’t be sitting here on Lance’s bed.

Legs criss crossed on Lance’s bed, the strong minty scent of numbing cream filling the room.

His fingers locked with Lance’s as Lance rubs his thumb over Keith’s fingers.

Gently.

Domestically.

Lovingly.

Keith feels warmth bloom in the pit of his stomach as he stares down at Lance who’s sitting on the floor in front of him. Those deep blue eyes staring back so affectionately. Altean markings just barely glowing in Lance's dim room.

Lance swallows and squeezes Keith’s hand. “Are you alright?”

“I am now..” Keith shrugs, looking at the floor. “But these last few days have been hell.. and the guilt I have for almost killing my team has.. been..”

Lance nods, understanding. He comes up off of the floor and sits next to Keith. The second his arm goes up, Keith is there leaning into his side, nuzzling into his neck. His cheeks are wet with tears again and quiet sobs leave his throat.

“It’s okay, Keith,” Lance nods, planting a gentle kiss atop Keith’s head. “We all make mistakes. Some worse than others. but.. what matters now is that you’re here. You’re alive. And safe.”

Keith nods, sniffling as tears and snot run down his face. He’s had everything balled up until this very moment. The guilt. The shame. The way Kolivan and his mother looked at him. The way the other Blade members blamed him. None of that mattered anymore. Because here, in Lance’s heavenly embrace, he was fine. He was gonna be alright.

“You’re safe, love..” Lance reassures him. “I’ve got you.”

And he does. Lance holds Keith tight, holds him close. Lance lets him cry and doesn’t judge him. He’s just.. there for him. And it’s everything Keith needed.

Keith wakes up in Lance’s bed.

Blanket crowding his entire body. His long hair is literally everywhere around his face and neck and shoulders. The golden sun is shining through the blinds of the window, making him squint a tiny bit, and the pain from the bruises on his body are somewhat bearable..

There’s a smell hitting his nostrils that makes his mouth water and stomach grumble in a hunger he didn’t know he had. When he sits up, Kosmo is right there beside him, curled up in a ball, staring at him. Keith smiles at the space wolf and reaches to pet his head.

“Hey there, boy.” He rubs behind Kosmo’s ears, chuckling a little when Kosmo nuzzles into his hand. Suddenly, flashes of last night come flooding back to Keith’s mind and he groans out, covering his face. Sure, crying his eyes out all night long and being comforted by Lance, his friend-boyfriend-whatever-they-are was nice, BUT crying your eyes out all night long and and being comforted by Lance, his friend-boyfriend-whatever-they-are took a lot out of Keith. He’s tired. Mentally. Physically. Emotionally. He just wants to spend the rest of his time away from work relaxing with the only person he wants to be with in the entire universe. And Kosmo.

And as if on cue..

“Keith?” Lance’s voice is soft. “You awake, yet?”

Keith looks over to the door and sees Lance popping his head into his own room. When their eyes meet, Keith can feel the undeniable spark between them and it causes his heart to do something funny beneath his rib cage. He smiles a bit shyly and brings his legs up to a criss-cross position, Lance’s puffy space themed blankets bunching up around Keith’s waist.

“Morning..” Keith answers, tucking his long hair behind his ear.

Lance’s eyes never leave his as the Cuban boy finally enters the room, two plates full of food in each of his hands. Keith eyes the food and his stomach grumbles once again. The noise overthrows the silence in the room and Keith has to put his hands over his stomach to silence the sound. It didn’t work.

“Good morning to you, too,” Lance chuckles, setting Keith’s plate into his lap. “Guess I don’t have to ask if you’re hungry, huh?”

“Shut up..” Keith flushes and looks down at his full plate of food. Organic eggs, two fluffy pancakes, sweet turkey bacon and a buttery biscuit with strawberry jam decorate his plate beautifully. All of his favorite breakfast foods right there in front of him. Made by the man right beside him with a matching plate of food for himself.

“Dig in!” Lance says, his mouth already full of food. Keith doesn’t waste a second and obeys the words from Lance's mouth. They eat in a comfortable silence, Kosmo moving to the ground to collect any scraps they throw his way. After a while, Keith clears his throat and musters up the courage to look at Lance’s beautiful face.

“H-hey, uh.. Lance?” He whispers.

“Yeah?” Lance is staring at him now, blue eyes boring into him again.

Keith can’t breathe and he finds himself having to take a really deep breath before he continues.

“Thank you,” he pushes out of his throat, “for everything. For letting me cry in front of you, and.. for not judging me for it.”

Lance stops chewing and swallows. Keith quickly takes him all in before he gets caught; Lance’s messy brown curls, his gorgeous tan skin all over his bare torso, those cute little freckles all over his body, his Altean marks. Everything about him is so breathtaking and Keith can barely keep his heart at bay.

“You don’t have to thank me,” Lance says, breaking Keith’s thoughts. Their eyes meet again. “I’m here for you no matter what, Keith. You have to know that by now.”

“I-I do,” Keith nods, tucking his lower lip between his teeth. He sets his plate onto the bedside table next to him and scoots closer to Lance. As if completely on autopilot, he grabs Lance’s face and forces their eyes to meet once more. He stares deeply into those ocean blue eyes and fights the awkward urge to look away.

“Lance,” he starts, exhaling a breath that smells like eggs, bacon, and syrup, “I love you, so much. Thank you for always comforting me and being my right hand man.. you.. you are the light in my life, and I..”

Tears fill Keith’s eyes and to his surprise, Lance also sports some in his own eyes.

“I know,” Lance whispers, gaze moving from Keith’s eyes, to his lips, and back. “Like I said, you don’t have to thank me. I would do anything for you. Because.. I love you, too.”

The second Lance’s plate is out of the way, the two boys are kissing so fast, the air in their lungs can’t keep up. Lance pulls Keith close by the oversized t-shirt around his torso and clings to him for dear life. Keith does the same and cups Lance’s cheeks. Their kisses are full of passion, desperation, and love. And when they part, Lance is trailing those same kisses down Keith’s jaw, to his neck and his collarbones, kissing every visible bruise he can reach.

“I’m so happy you’re safe, my love,” He says between kisses on Keith’s neck. As he pulls back, Keith is smiling like Lance is his whole world.

“Me, too, Lance,” Keith answers, kissing the corner of Lance’s syrupy mouth, his cheeks and neck flushing red. “Me, too.”

-END-

(send me a klangst prompt)

[bluedemon1995]

Update to Story, and focus on finishing!

Pidge looked to Keith unsurely, tilting her head to the left, she slowly but determinedly continued. “Okay, yes, I get where you are coming from. But are you sure you are ready for this? We aren’t doing what our opponents expect.” Not seeing understanding on Keith’s face, she continued, “Which means they are definitely going to panic because we aren’t doing what they expect. Now, I’m not saying this is necessarily bad but we definitely don’t know what they are going to do next. That is my main concern. I don’t like the uncertainty and I’m just hoping we aren’t making a mistake. We have our main plan and this is is deviating from it. So all I’m doing is pointing out we can still act according to -“

“Pidge.” Keith paused. “Katie. Shit. I know what you are saying, believe me. But I just can’t do anything else. I won’t, well, shit, shit, SHIT! I just can’t pretend that you aren’t important to me. That, you aren’t EVERYTHING to me. I tried that and it failed. And I’ve regretted it more than any other action I’ve ever done. So, FUCK whoever thinks they can come between us. I was stupid before but no more.” Keith looked up into Pidge’s eyes and quietly but resolutely stated, “You’re mine. And everyone should know it.”

Pidge smiles. “Yeah, killer, I get it.” Her face is flushed and she can’t help the soft smile gracing her face. Looking down, she absently thinks, she can’t help but like this new possessive side of his. His resolve. It was never about her before. And she never even knew it mattered. How funny. Life. Love. His stubbornness, well, this time is was all reserved for her. She was never a guys priority before which was fine-it wasn’t a priority. But she wouldn’t like, this is pretty nice.

Keith firmly and resolutely continues, “So, that is settled. Let’s go. We have a statement to make.” He starts for the door but turns abruptly quickly grabbing her arms and pulling her close. “You are never to be alone. Got it?”

Pidge rolls her eyes and moves forward to pull on the door but Keith holds tight. “I’m not kidding. Promise me. Or we don’t leave the damn room. No arguments.”

Pidge retorts, “Yeah I know, my dad will kill you and –“

Keith growls, pulling her to her toes. “Do you think that’s what I care about? Do you know what I would do if something happened to you? Do you think the world would survive?”

Pidge breath caught, she stared. “Yeah ok, I’ll be careful.”

“Not just careful. Never alone. Clear.”

Keith and Pidge emerged from the room, linked hands, heads held high. All day, whispers echoed in the halls, followed them through the cafeteria, and the meeting rooms. Wherever they went, Pidge would catch just a word here and there. All through it Keith never left her side.

Confusion. Some jealousy. A lot of wonder. Honestly, she wondered how Acxa was handling things. She knew they agreed to keep their distance but it did not help her conscience. Knowing she was being used really bothered her. And that she was by herself having to deal with it also made her feel bad. Thankfully, Keith and Cosmo made sure she was busy and Krolia also made sure she was around, throwing her silent support to her. Pidge wasn’t sure what everyone thought but she did notice the absence of a few key players. No captain. No Chief of Engineers. Hmmmm

Finally after an exhausting day, Pidge realizes she was on the verge of a migraine. Lack of sleep, stress and the fact she’s almost on her period created a dangerous mix elements. Pidge’s head was pounding and she was starting to see spots. She tried to let Keith know but he was busy arguing with some other Blades about, fuck, she just could not concentrate. Rubbing her temples, she tried to act like she was fine but when Cosmo leaned on her side she couldn’t stop herself from leaning on him.

Ultimately Kolivan was the one who noticed she wasn’t feeling well. Moving he bent and whispered, nodding. “Keith, your mate needs your assistance. Please take her to your room, if necessary contact the med bay.”

Keith moved quickly to Pidge’s side. “Yes sir. Thank you.”

He crouched next to his girl, “I got you babe.”

Pidge blinked. “I can walk.”

“Sure thing.”

Meanwhile, Matt and Hunk were working on using the program Pidge created. They were close to finding the engineer’s human counterpart, they knew it.

[bicsbec]

Stay a Little Longer pt. 3

The door to his office creaked open. Coran looked up to find Keith peering his head inside with a soft knock on the door.

“Keith!” Coran greeted excitedly, somewhat surprised to see him. He hadn’t been expecting Keith today. The door fully opened to reveal the rest of Keith’s party. “And you brought Acxa and Kolivan, hello!”

Kolivan gave a short bow saying, “Coranic.”

Coran felt himself blush as he rose from his desk, trying to not act as flustered as he felt.

“Coran is just fine, Kolivan,” Coran said once again. Ever since he made his ‘Coranic Mechanic’ joke Kolivan has called him little else.

“An engineer of your stature deserves to be addressed by his proper title,” Kolivan said, the argument he always offered Coran when they faced this issue. Because it was an issue. So much so, that Coran found himself shaking out his nerves with his hands.

“There’s really no need for that,” Coran tried smiling, hoping his blushing wasn’t so obvious. “So, what brings you guys to Altea?”

Kolivan told Coran that Keith was going back to Earth. Just for two movements. But something about that was upsetting for Coran. Keith would visit when he could, he always did. If Coran really thought about it, he’d been hoarding the boy all to himself in the last deca-phoebs. It was only fair that he went to visit his other friends. More than that, it was only fair he’d get to visit Lance. Coran wasn’t oblivious to the affections the boys had for each other. He, like the others, had picked up on it gradually.

“I’m surprised you let them go,” Coran said as the wormhole Keith and Acxa had gone through closed.

“Yes, well, sentimentality is something we can afford now,” Kolivan said, still looking out at the spot they had disappeared through. “Like I’ve said before, I trust how Keith spends his time. I’m sure this trip is necessary in some form or another.”

“Not everything has utility,” Coran said glancing at Kolivan. Kolivan seemed to frown at that.

“I suppose,” Kolivan said reluctantly. He thought for a moment and added with a smirk, “Though, you must be right. There is no utility to making you flustered other than my own amusement.”

Coran turned toward him, gaping like a fish out of water. “Excus—what! You’ve been doing it on purpose!”

Something close to a chuckle rumbled in Kolivan’s chest. “Of course I have, Coranic.”

Coran felt the heat rise to his neck and ears once more. “That’s really not fair!”

“I’m sure you’re the only man I’ve ever met whose title flusters him so much,” Kolivan said with a shake of his head and a small smile.

Coran didn’t have the heart to correct him. Kolivan probably wouldn’t believe him if he did anyway.

Coran cleared his throat. “Have you considered my offer?” he said, trying to change the subject.

“I have. I also spoke with Krolia about it.”

“And?”

“The decision ultimately lies with Keith. I can’t leave the Blades for the Galactic Coalition if Keith doesn’t take over.”

“He doesn’t want your position?”

“He seems…hesitant. There’s something holding him back. Until then, the Coalition will have to do without me.”

“The current Galra representatives were evidently…fond of the Empire. They tend to discreetly relapse into old habits.”

“That’s why Krolia will take up candidacy,” Kolivan turned to Coran. “Hopefully, I’ll follow shortly after.”

“Right,” Coran said with a nod. “I can talk to Keith if you think it’s necessary. Figure out why he’s being so hesitant.”

“I have a feeling he’ll come around soon enough. Thank you, though.”

Coran nodded as they exited the bridge. A slight panic gripped him when he realized Kolivan was leaving. He was so used to Keith staying when he visited that their brief interaction today left him feeling lonely once the shuttle disappeared.

“Erm—so, what are your duties today?” Coran asked, hoping it sounded casual enough.

Kolivan raised an eyebrow. So, not casual enough. Drats.

“Start preparing for the next mission, I suppose,” Kolivan said. “Nothing that requires grunt work yet.”

“How do you mean?”

“It consists of only research and scouting the area, becoming familiar with their star map and put in a request for whatever service they need.”

“Sounds like light work.”

“It is, only tedious on occasion. Why do you ask? Do you require company?”

“Oh—I wasn’t—well, only if it’s not a bother,” Coran said quickly.

“I wouldn’t ask otherwise,” Kolivan said easily.

Coran immediately brightened, only feeling the smallest amount of guilt for keeping Kolivan in the castle. The leader of the Blade of Marmora had probably thought this was a quick drop off and he’d have the rest of the quintant for himself.

“I’m sure the star map room will have all the information you require,” Coran said, trying to be as helpful as he could.

“I’m sure it will,” Kolivan said, turning down the hall to make his way toward the map room. He knew the castle well by then, all those deca-phoebs of collaboration familiarizing him with the layout of the structure.

It had been rare for Keith to be unable to visit and, as rare as it was, it only increased the number of times that Kolivan came over. On these days, they would sit in comfortable silence, much like that first time. Coran had often caught himself watching Kolivan.

Kolivan’s very presence commanded attention. The set of his jaw and the steadiness of his gaze, the confidence in his posture and the intent in his gait. It was distracting.

Whenever Kolivan caught Coran watching, he’d simply smile. Like he’d just noticed Coran walk into the room. An easy smile. Almost like a hello, there. There was something extremely satisfying about that smile.

Now, Coran was watching Kolivan again. Following his confident walk across the star map as his hands navigated through the systems, searching for the information for his next mission.

A flick of Kolivan’s wrist brought back a long-forgotten memory.

“What do you imagine Daibazaal will be like?” the young prince asked, speeding through the star map with an expert flick of his wrist.

“I imagine it wouldn’t be so different from what your governess described, Your Highness,” Coran said, his voice squeaking around the word Highness.

“We’re all alone, Coran. Just call me Alfor,” Prince Alfor huffed. “Your grandad is Father’s right-hand man. I think that’s basis enough for us to be proper friends.”

Coran felt himself blush. He really shouldn’t be indulging in casually addressing Prince Alfor. It felt reckless and exciting. It was too dangerous for his heart.

“What if someone overhears?” he said instead.

Prince Alfor shrugged. “I gave you permission. That should be enough.”

Being close to Prince Alfor should’ve been enough for Coran. Hearing him call them proper friends should be enough. But the closer he got to the prince, the more he wanted. It wasn’t enough. Coran needed protocols and titles to have some semblance of control over his emotions.

“It’d be too weird,” Coran said, hoping to drop the subject.

“Suit yourself,” Prince Alfor said, throwing a smile over his shoulder.

Coran smiled at the memory, remembering the thrill of falling for Alfor. It had been exciting and stupid to have a crush on the Crown Prince. Only later did Coran realize he had fallen in love with him, a calm and devastating wave that overtook his heart.

Coran remembered Kolivan’s smile at Shiro’s wedding, when they had been talking about being young and stupid. Coran’s sudden curiosity was hard to shake off.

“Kolivan, you remember Shiro’s wedding,” Coran began.

“I do, yes.”

“You had mentioned something about being stupid and in love that quintant.”

There was a pause in Kolivan’s hands before he resumed his search. “As I recall, I had said love was stupid to add to your comment about it being sweet and silly.”

“Right, of course, but…you seemed to have experience in the area.”

“I do.”

“Oh.”

The pause that stretched between them was charged, if not a little awkward. Kolivan huffed in realizing he was expected to elaborate.

“I don’t know how to tell this story, Coran,” Kolivan said, looking over his shoulder.

“Well, I don’t mean to pry,” Coran said quickly.

Kolivan shook his head. “You’re not. I just don’t know where to start.”

“You can start with a name,” Coran suggested.

“Lenor,” Kolivan said with a nod, appearing to be glad to have some sort of direction. “She was a Reformation Educator in the colony I had been dispatched to.”

“Dispatched?”

Kolivan’s shoulder’s sagged as he turned to face Coran, leaning on the map’s platform. “I used to be a Galra soldier. That shouldn’t be so surprising.” He said it like he was trying to convince himself of the fact.

Coran could only stare at him. “Somehow I remain surprised.”

Kolivan sighed. “I was born during the Empire’s conquest of the universe. It had been the only reality that made sense. I followed blindly. Until I met her.”

“That sounds lovely, though,” Coran said. “Why would you say loving her was stupid?”

“Loving her wasn’t stupid, but it was a mistake. It made me stupid, delusional. It made me think impossible things, like escaping Zarkon’s empire being a feasible goal.”

“And what happened?”

“I understood that what the Empire was doing was wrong, she had already known. I told her of my plan to escape together and…” Kolivan closed his eyes briefly, like in a soft wince, “she told my commanding officer. She understood her position in the universe and I neglected to see that. I was resentful then, but I’ve made my peace with it since.”

“How long ago was this?”

“Quite a few centuries, I was very young.” Kolivan’s eyes darted away for just a tick before asking, “What about you?”

“The only one worth mentioning is Alfor,” Coran said with a half-smile, feeling a small thrill at the fact that Kolivan had asked a follow-up question. “He was Altea’s last king. I was his advisor, much like I had been Allura’s advisor. He never returned my feeling; I kept them quiet. That’s how that story goes.” Coran shrugged. He had known what were and weren’t his parts to play in Alfor’s life, had made peace with them. He marked his feelings down as a part of youth, silly and sweet and not worth pursuing. They became a part of him, easily overlooked by everything else that made him him.

“Do you still love him?”

The question surprised Coran, but it was easy enough to answer, “I suppose I do. In some way, but not as I did when he was alive… What about you? Do you still love Lenor?”

“Not in any way that I used to. I certainly appreciate her.” There was something in his face that changed. Like he felt uncomfortable thinking about it.

“Is…she still alive?”

“I have no reason to believe the opposite,” Kolivan said with a half-shrug.

“Oh.”

Kolivan chuckled. “I haven’t encountered her in all this time, however. I doubt we’ll find each other now.”

“I apologize for prying so much,” Coran said, feeling guilty for unearthing all this information that felt too intimate for his ears.

“I hardly entertain the thought, don’t worry about it,” Kolivan said easily enough. With that, he turned his attention to the map again and for a moment it felt like none of the conversation had occurred.

Coran was back to watching Kolivan, tracking his movements from across the room. He was struck by the similar pride with which he held himself, not unlike Representative Lurok. Yet, while similar in posture and demeanor, the men almost looked like they were from different species.

Lurok’s pride came from commanding and imposing. Kolivan’s, came from leading and guiding. They were similar enough that they could be confused with one another, but drastic enough to be able to tell the difference.

Some part of Coran’s mind even had trouble thinking of Kolivan as Galra. The word was too tainted to be associated with Kolivan. Yet Coran’s notions of the word didn’t stop reality from being what it was—Kolivan was Galra. Just as Galran as Lurok.

He sat with the thought for a while, trying to get used to it.

“Is something the matter?” Kolivan asked suddenly, looking up from the notes he’d begun to take. “You’ve been staring for a while.”

“N-nothing’s the matter,” Coran stuttered, feeling himself blush. “I was just caught up—thinking.”

“Thinking?”

“Yes. I was thinking about how different you were from your peers.”

“Peers,” Kolivan echoed. “Hm, I suppose so. Red markings aren’t as common as they used to be.”

“Right,” Coran said offering a smile. Kolivan’s words brought his appearance to Coran’s attention. Yellow eyes, purple skin, white fur, red markings, a nasty scar along his face. All together, they made up Kolivan. Very obviously Galra, yet somehow someone Coran cherished.

He thought about how he never would’ve found that possible when he emerged from the pod chamber with Allura and the mice. He smiled at his ignorance. He was glad things could change so drastically.

* * *

Coran’s office door slammed shut, startling him awake. He raised his head, running a hand over his face. There was a quiet pitter-patter inside the room, small feet padding against the hard floor of the office.

The door opened again, this time with Alfor barreling through. He was taking big steps, looking around in an exaggerated manner.

“I heard a rumor that a princess was hiding in here,” Alfor said dramatically. Coran felt movement shifting by his leg and knew that Allura was hiding under his desk.

“I’ve heard no such rumor, Your Majesty,” Coran said, easily playing along.

“I find that hard to believe,” Alfor said continuing his slow, stompy search.

Allura was shivering with excitement under the desk, holding her breath as she waited to be found out.

“I assure you there’s no one here but you and me,” Coran said, scooting his chair slightly to the side so he could hide Allura better. She let out a small giggle.

“Aha!” Alfor said, pointing an accusatory finger at the desk. “Lying to me, are you!”

“Princess!” Coran said with a laugh. “You’re supposed to keep quiet.”

Coran pushed away from his desk and Allura popped from underneath, her giggling now louder.

“Sorry, Coran,” she said, not looking very sorry at all. She crawled onto his lap, trying to sit, before Alfor snatched her up into his arms. The princess was laughing in earnest now. Her joy was contagious, Coran finding himself smiling as he watched the scene unfold.

He stood from his desk and neared the royals as Allura put her little arms out for him. He took her from Alfor’s arms as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Now, why were you running, Princess?”

She hid her face in his neck with a giggle, shaking her head.

“Her governess hasn’t seen her all morning,” Alfor said, putting his hands on his hips. He was still being playful, no real heat behind his tone.

“But I don’t want to gooo,” Allura whined, holding on tighter to Coran.

“Sometimes we don’t get the things we want, my dear,” Alfor said, his tone softer. “And, trust me, no one wants morning lessons.”

“She could stay with me for a while and do her work,” Coran suggested. Allura perked up at that, nodding quickly at the idea.

“Yes! Please, Papa?”

Alfor seemed to think about it for a moment, but Coran knew his mind was already made up. “Alright. But! You can’t distract each other from work.” He pointed a finger at both of them in turn.

“Promise!”

“No promises, Your Majesty.”

Allura looked at Coran, a little alarmed and a little betrayed. He just gave her a mischievous smile and winked, making her crack a smile of her own.

“You two are something else,” Alfor said shaking his head with a chuckle. “I’ll be back for my child, Coran. I best find her in one piece when I get back.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Coran bowed awkwardly, still holding Allura. He made sure Alfor had closed the door behind him before whispering to the princess: “Want to go on an adventure?”

“Yes!” Allura said immediately, her eyes bright and the marks under her eyes shining in excitement. He loved making her smile like that.

Coran’s office door slammed shut, jolting him awake. He half expected to hear the pitter-patter of small feet. He ran a hand over his face, feeling his cheeks wet. He’d woken up crying. It had been a dream. A small sob escaped his chest as the grief washed over him again.

He’d give anything to live that moment once more. He’d give anything to have her back.

Coran needed to escape the castle, if only for a quintant. It was too crowded with memories that constricted his throat. He grabbed a shuttle and headed toward the nearest Atmosframe Pillar, the magnificent towers that held Altea’s artificial rings. The pillars were usually hubs for intergalactic communication and trade, or at least they had been.

Since the return of Altea, most of the universe had already advanced to the point of nearly matching Altea’s technological prowess. They were no longer needed as a provider of news, goods, technology, or science. The universe had others that were ahead in those fields. However, Altea’s specialty remained diplomacy, and in these times of transition, they were still needed.

Now the pillars had more local functions, serving as marketplaces for Alteans and the other residents of their solar system alike.

As Coran flew closer to the pillar’s shuttle bay, he could see the digital veil that was too far up in the atmosphere to be seen properly from the ground. The top of the tower glowed gently with the blue energy that powered the projection. The projections had aided the hubs, showing greetings in different languages and important news to diffuse to different planets. When Zarkon’s conquest began, it would project warnings and last known sightings of Galra forces. Now, it was an idle reminder of Altea’s past relevance to the universe.

Coran dismounted from his shuttle and made his way to the market floor. He perused through the kiosks, finding their selection to be goods he’d likely find in an Unilu swap moon—curiosities that would likely lead to trouble or things far too rare for the vendor to be aware of its true value. The sight honestly thrilled Coran.

He felt like a teenager again, wandering through the little shops, examining little trinkets that would likely have gotten him in trouble if his Pop-Pop had found them. He went to pick up a delicate looking box that simulated a small chest when his pocket vibrated. It was the phone Keith had insisted he’d carry around, an orange rectangle of glass.

Keith was calling.

Coran brought the device to his ear. “Ahoy?”

“Coran, there you are. Where are you? I’ve been looking for you all over the castle.”

“You’re in Altea?”

“Yes. I just got back from Earth. I thought we could go for lunch or something.”

 “We can, but I’m not in the castle right now. I’m at an Atmosframe Pillar.”

“Those have food courts, right?”

“This one does.”

“Alright. Send me your twenty. I’ll be there in a bit.”

“Alright. Bye-bye.” Coran hung up and turned on his location beacon. He went to pick up the little box again. It appeared to be locked by an unmoving latch.

“Pretty little thing’s caught your eye, I see,” the vendor said, startling Coran a little. “A great find, one I can’t deny you. How about 100 GAC for it?”

This Coran knew how to do. “I’m sure it was worth that some time ago, but now looking at it?” He turned it over in his hand, the craftsmanship still impressive even overlooking the stuck latch. “It couldn’t be more than a quarter of that.”

“A quarter? Are you mad? It’s at least 50 GAC if you’re going to devalue it like that!”

“Thirty.”

“Forty-five.”

“Thirty-five.”

“Forty!”

“Forty, then,” Coran grinned. He handed the vendor his currency and pocketed the box.

“Pleasure doin’ business with you, sir,” the vendor said, counting out the GAC.

Satisfied, Coran continued his meandering along the market floor. Keith didn’t take long to show up, bounding up next to Coran with so much enthusiasm Coran almost didn’t recognize him. Of course, it was Kosmo’s shadow that confirmed it was Keith.

“Good trip?” Coran asked with a confused chuckle.

“You could say that,” Keith smiled. Mighty good trip, then.

They made their way down to the food court, the area only slightly less spacious than the market floor. There were plenty of culinary options to choose from, most coming from different parts of the solar system. Coran and Keith stuck with the Altean shops, mostly out of habit and familiarity.

“I don’t know how you can drink that stuff,” Keith said, setting down his food at the table Coran had picked out.

“That stuff. It’s a fine brew,” Coran huffed into his pint. “Nec—”

“Nectar of the gods. Yeah, I know,” Keith shook his head with a smile, taking his seat.

“I remember a time when the Paladins actually had taste,” Coran grumbled.

“Ha llovido,” Keith said absently. Coran’s head snapped up, giving the lad a questioning look. “What?”

“Nothing, I don’t think,” Coran said with a smirk. “How was Earth?”

“Good,” Keith said, beginning to shovel food into his mouth. “Relieving? I was glad to see Shiro doing well.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“What was that?” Keith chuckled.

“No, nothing,” Coran couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “I assume your visit gave you time to think.”

“It…did,” Keith said suspiciously. “What’s with that smile?”

“Since when do you know Spanish so well?”

“Spanish?” Keith seemed genuinely confused, but his face was turning pink. “I don’t know? A while? What’s that gotta do with me thinking?”

Coran waved his hand dismissively. “Have you thought of Kolivan’s offer?”

“I—yeah,” Keith seemed hopelessly confused, setting his fork down. “I’m taking him up on it, why?”

“Good, it was about time. You’ve earned it,” Coran said honestly.

“Thanks, Coran. Now stop being weird.”

“Will do.”

pt. 1 | pt.2 | pt. 4 >

[kidge-planet]

Kidge Headcanons 8 : pregnancy (pidge's first pregnancy)!

When pidge discover her pregnancy, she hysterically laughed before to fall and cry ( not obviously of sadness, but it was a lot to process...)

When She told Keith, he just stared at her for a moment, in chock. They weren't planning on having a kid at all... I mean, they talked about it quickly but never really thought about it.

After a while of just staring at her in shock, he reassuringly smiled at her because he could see that she was pretty scared about it.

"if you are ok with it, I'm ok with it. We sure never really thought together about having a kid, but I have to admit that I thought of it on my own... I mean, I can picture it! You are the only one I want to form a family with, and I knew that this would come at some point. I just... Wasn't expecting it so soon... But hey! It's ok! It's about you now, do you want to keep it or not?". He said, holding her hands and stroking it with his thumb.

She had tears in her eyes and hugged him tightly.

They talked and decided to keep the baby.

Pidge had morning sicknesses. A lot of them... So much that she didn't want to eat. So, Keith had to get her back to bed and to force her to eat a little for her own health but also for the baby.

When they told their friends, they all were happy for them... Especially space dad! (More about Shiro later...)

Hunk was preparing peanut butter cookies for Pidge every weeks so she felt happy ( also because Keith told him about the morning sicknesses and he got worried that she didn't eat enough...)

Hunk was also preparing healthy diner for her from times to times.

Lance teased Pidge and Keith a lot. "YOOOO, THAT MEANS YOU TWO HAD S-

"WE GET IT LANCE!"

Even if he was teasing a lot, he was so happy, he loves kids! Because of his nephew and niece, he knew how to handle kids... Also, kids are cute and nice ( in general...

Lance was also taking care of Pidge a lot, always making sure she is ok and confortable.

Shiro.... Haaaa.... He got hysterical, hugged Pidge, then Keith, then both, then had tears rolling down his face.... He was very proud of them ( especially of Keith)..

When Pidge's stomach became bigger, Shiro would talk to it. Pidge thought it was very cute.

Coran... Well, Coran wasn't surprised. He thought that because Keith was part galra, they would have had a kid sooner because galra usually have kids very young.

He was still very happy tho.

Colleen was waiting for that moment. She hugged both Keith and pidge tightly and directly gave them a list of names that Krolia and her had picked... (WAIT WHAT-)

On the list, York was scribbled...( Colleen probably said yes to Krolia's proposition to make her happy but she would have never accepted this name...)

Collen tells them about how annoying having a kid will be. ( As a joke)

Sam was feeling a little uncomfortable. That meant that his small daughter was not a baby anymore... Like, he couldn't bring himself to the fact that his daughter was an actual adult, with a sexual life.................... He internally knew, but for him, she is still his little girl that does her homework in the kitchen's table, or that is asking him about life...

That got him all emotional and he congratulated them, his voice cracking and tears forming in his eyes. HE IS GOING TO BECOME A GRANDPA! ( Omg, Sam would be the best grandpa......)

Matt hugged pidge very tightly.

"IM GOING TO BE THE COOLEST UNCLE IN THE UNIVERSE. If you think otherwise, FIGHT ME"

"your kid is going to be a trouble maker, tho. Look at the parents..."-Matt

Krolia=proud mother. She wants 30 more grandkids.

"mom, we didn't even had our first one... We are not thinking of having another one... And, hum... About the 30 grandkids, I don't think that'll be possible."

Krolia made a special blade for her grandchildren.

They told kolivan and well, not a big reaction... You know, it's Kolivan. Nha, he was just happy for them and proud of Keith.

After they discovered the gender of the baby ( 5 month later) Keith had doubts: will he be a good father? His father died when he was still very young...

Pidge reassures him, she knows that he'll be a perfect father for her kid.

Pidge had mood swings. She could cry for no reasons. Or get very mad too... Like when she asked Keith if he could bring her some peanut butter cookies that Hunk had made just for her but all the cookies were gone... Well, she ate them earlier and forgot that she ate them all. Hehe, she cried for an hour.

When she cries for no reasons, Keith does his best to calm her down. Cuddle, gently kissing her face, talking to her, caressing her cheeks.... It works sometimes...

When she was getting angry, he tried his best to remain calm. He knew that it wasn't her fault and that she'll calm down quickly. It still started a few fights, which got Keith to sleep in the couch. (Hehehehe)

Alright, I'll stop here, I have an horrible headache 🥲 I'll keep going with these headcanons when I'll feel better because I still have a few ( maybe one, but I need to lay down. Right now. Or my head will explode.

(pretty glad that I wrote so many headcanons today!)

Also, if it doesn't make a lot of sense, I'm sorry, I haven't read back and I'm currently dying. Sorryyyyy!

I hope I kidged you.