#lance is death au

[ethereance]

Au where Lance is "secretly" the Grim Reaper (it could be either like Lance being very obvious about it but everyone thinking he's a theatre goth nerd until the very end where he reveals himself, Or it being kinda like Pidge situation where Lance thinks he is hiding it very well but everyone in the team (save for one person) knows it and go, "well he doesn't seem like he wants to hurt us and besides it might be helpful to have Personification of fucking Death itself on our side")

(I think the reason behind it is that Voltron's reawakening is destined to bring a lot of death and new beginnings and he has to be there to see it all through. Besides Zarkon and Honerva have been running away from him for far too long)

Ooooo, cooking up an intriguing au there anon!! It’s food for thought. Lance being literal Death would certainly change things. The plot, him as a person (how much of him is a mask, a role, how much is genuine?)

-A big part of his homesickness for Earth stems from his family. Being Death—do these people still exist? Are they simply souls now of those who passed long ago (souls he still can communicate with being death and all). How did he become Death? Did he always exist as Death from the very beginning, or is it a role passed down through his family, randomly appointed, did the OG Death make Lance take on his duties for a deal to bring someone back—did Lance lose someone like one of his family members? Was Lance his original name, a name he goes by when he’s faking human? Is Death a separate entity that fuses itself to people and forces them into this position? Are his canon family just random people he inserted himself into the lives of in an attempt to feel normal? Reincarnations of people he’s cared about in the past? Do other reapers exist to collect other souls when Lance is preoccupied? Does he send out projections of himself to do that? Did he not mean to become a human, somehow bound to his human form (and souls are stuck as ghosts, unable to move on)?

-Is he Death for everywhere? Are there Deaths for different planets and cultures? One person from every planet has an assigned soul made into Death?

-If you go the route of being super old ™ what draws him to the garrison? Does he still have those dreams of being a pilot? And this is him enjoying what spare time he has with a hobby, of seeing how far humanity has come with going to space, of living a dream maybe he once had? Is he there on a dare? Did he join because of what happened with Shiro—didn’t sense his death—and felt something big was afoot? Or what you said about Voltron’s reawakening drawing him there? Or is it all coincidental? Did he know Blue was nearby but it wasn’t yet time? Has he bumped into Keith around the cave?

-Lance could be homesick for another time, another place (his dynamic with Coran would intrigue me in this sense). Also, if he was older, his level of maturity would be different. Not personality altering—this is still Lance, he’s still gotta have his playfulness—but in his eyes he’s Death in space with a bunch of kids causing chaos. Some holiday, right?

-Being Death—maybe Melenor, or the part of Alfor’s soul that isn’t with Haggar, is tied to the castle of lions still. Either parent would want to watch over Allura, and wouldn’t feel ready to move on without that. Maybe it’s that determination that keeps them from losing sense of self.

-Or maybe there’s no ghost and he mentions off hand about their current incarnation. Maybe Allura asks to see them again—and she knows it’s not them but. Are they happy?

-Maybe he knows other worldly entities like Bob. Just imagining beings like them having semi-regular meetings in their sleep on an other plane of existence. Lance shows up in full paladin armour and the others are like ‘what did you do this time?’

-He would be extremely confused at Shiro’s death in s2. He can sense he’s departed from this world, but where’s the soul to collect??? It’s gone. Poof. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It’s still not yet his time. When Clone Shiro shows up, he knows he’s different, but where’s the original soul? Something is blocking him.

-Zarkon has met Death before. When he tried to collect him. But his soul was elsewhere, and what was left of him was clinging on, tainted. There’s a strange familiarity when he encounters Lance.

-Lance just having. So much beef with Zarkon and Honerva. He doesn’t really want them in his domain, but they’re annoying him. Can’t they just die already?

-Shiro has a morbid sense of humour to cope ™. Lance offers him a high five every time.

-Lance says that ordinarily he’d feel like Shiro not crossing over was cheating the system (and Keith instantly had to ask if he was planning on taking him back) but Haggar’s the big fish. There’s more to worry about. So stick it to the system for once.

-He lets Keith and Krolia see Keith Dad one more time in a shared dream. It’s all he can do. But Keith appreciates it.

-Lance’s body is human but he is Death and therefore cannot die in the same way others do as Death is eternal. Catch him being a little reckless with his life in the eyes of others.

As for the reveal:

-Him just. Not hiding it. And all these things being ‘just Lance’ things.

-‘I am Death.’ Will get mistaken for ‘deaf.’ Hunk started learning ASL for him.

-Hunk: “We’re all gonna die!!” Lance pulling out a sand timer out of nowhere as he’s trying to be encouraging: “Not yet you’re not.”

-they bump into some alien who just. Sees him and knows. Instantly. “No!! I’m not ready!!! Don’t take me!! I can’t die yet!” Pidge, rolling her eyes “Lance have you been scaring the locals?”

-Has met many celebrities upon collecting their souls. No one believes him.

-Often after battles no one can find him for a while. He’s helping out the departed.

-No one picks up on this because why would they? Lance being Death simply never crosses their minds. He’s not exactly what you’d thinking of when you say grim reaper. Where’s the grim? He’s too. Well. Lance.

-And then it happens. Maybe they get some undeniable evidence, maybe it’s because of the Shiro situation. I don’t know. *Insert however you imagine it going down here anon*.

-On one hand it’s Lance and ‘what the heck do you mean you’re literal death’, on the other, to them at this point why not. Pidge is a girl, Keith’s part galra, Shiro’s a clone, Lance is death, sure. Okay. They’ve seen it all. Hunk it’s your turn to share, what’s your secret?

-And he just shrugs and says he wasn’t hiding it.

-At least Hunk’s ASL came in handy as a skill

-BUUUT if you go with your other option. Of no one knowing.

-Identity shenanigans are always fun

-Coran confronts him about the scan he took of all the paladins to understand more about their physiology. There is something off about them. And whoops he tried his best with a human body but you do miss some things. He just laughs and says he’s built different. A+++ save.

-Blue knows and therefore all the lions end up knowing

-Allura learns through the mice (though at first she can’t believe what she’s hearing. Because Lance??) They’re her information network.

-The biggest slip up is through the paladin bonding exercise wherein they connect minds. For a second—his family look like skeletons.

-His bayard turns into a scythe which he glares at until it becomes a rifle. It’s not like he’s used a scythe in years. He much prefers being a sharpshooter.

-Shiro goes in s2 and Keith immediately tells Lance to bring him back. And he’s all what??? And Keith goes ‘I know you’re Death. If he’s gone, bring him back!!’ ‘It doesn’t work like—how do you know I’m Death?’ Queue everyone realising that everyone knew. Like it was some big open secret.

[jiveyuncle]

Keith cringes at the hiss of the bedroom door sliding open and the unforgiving hall light racing in to fill the darkness. Still, Lance doesn't stir from where he lays sprawled out across the mattress, hair mussed in the pillow and foot hanging off the edge. Keith feels a twinge of guilt at encroaching on his space as he slides his jacket off to hang on the coat rack next to Lance's.

It's not that Keith isn't welcome here - he knows he is. This little back and forth pattern of theirs has been going on long enough that these motions should be as easy as sliding into his own bed, but it's not. Instead, it makes his heart ache just that little bit more, makes the pit of his stomach open up to swallow his insides and leave him feeling empty even as Lance pushes into his space each time to fill it. Because the problem is Lance is comfortable with Keith. He's comfortable with Keith because he is comfortable with everyone. It's who Lance is. Inviting. Open. Caring. He gives himself freely. And after the first few times of bumping into each other wandering the ship in the middle of the night in hopes of exhausting themselves into sleep, then actually falling asleep on the common room couch next to each other only to wake up with achy necks, Lance started boldly dragging Keith to bed and holding him in place to prevent him from wandering until morning.

“There's no way I'm letting you in bed with your shoes on.” Lance mumbles. A precautionary hand appears from under the sheets and flops down over the blanket to ward off any attempts to climb under them.

Keith lets out a huff of air that's just light enough to be considered a laugh. “I was going to kick them off.”

“No, no. We're civilized. Put them away.” The hand guarding the covers lifts and shoos him towards the wardrobe before dropping lazily.

“I wake up before you. You won't even see them.” Keith argues even as he crosses the room to oblige. The cabinet to the wardrobe cries out in protest as he opens it, and Keith winces, yet again, at any sound that disturbs the peaceful quiet. He makes a mental note to bug Hunk for some oil to grease the noisy hinges. If he's going to start putting his shoes in here, it's going to need to be quieter.

“I tripped over them when I got up to piss last time.”

Keith smiles to himself as he slinks back over, Lance already peeling the sheets back to invite him in. Keith slides down into the space to lie on his back and has to fight the urge to swallow hard when Lance's arm lowers down with the covers over his chest and never draws back away. “You're awake?” he says instead.

Lance hums quietly. “Brain won't shut off. The usual stuff. I was actually thinking about heading your way before you showed up.” Lance peeks an eye open, squinting through the exhaustion in the dim light. “You came in day clothes.”

“Walked a couple laps around the ship first. Didn’t know I was coming over.”

Lance lifts his chin in the hint of a nod before letting his eye fall back shut. “Glad I waited, then.” His fingers tug lightly near the collar of Keith's shirt, fiddling with the fabric in the mindless way he does with anything he can get his hands on - sometimes it's a leaf plucked from foliage as they trek through forested pathways, sometimes it's a pen spinning endlessly between his fingers during long diplomatic negotiations, sometimes it's a spoon that never settles back on his plate even an hour after he's taken his last bite and the conversation is flowing, and other times it's Keith’s shirt or hair or fingers at 3am when neither of them can sleep and whatever tension that is sustained in the daylight slips away.

And, as always, it sends a mixture of unwanted hope and desire through Keith's veins that quickly burns away to leave guilt in its destructive wake.

This habit. This closeness.

It means something different to each of them, and it's getting harder and harder for Keith's heart to remember that.

Keith reaches up to still the moving fingers on his chest, but Lance's unquestioning thumb seamlessly, innocently, agonizingly slips up along the side of his hand to trace over his knuckles instead.

Keith controls his next exhale and tries to ignore the gentle movement, but his mind can’t help supplying a word with each tender pass of a thumb: maybe.

Maybe.

Maybe there’s a chance. Maybe these things don't mean something quite so different to Lance. Maybe, if Keith offers a hand, then warm fingers will be there to take it.

Maybe.

He doesn't move again until Lance's breaths deepen and the soft brushes eventually slow to a stop.

When Keith rises in the morning, he bypasses the squeaky wardrobe, tugs on his jacket, and slides out into the hallway with only his socks to fight off the chill of the castleship floors from seeping into his feet. The warmth of a decision burns in his ribs as Keith settles into his lion 20 minutes later to start the early journey out to pick up a member of the Blade. Red senses the change, and a growl of approval rumbles through their bond, deep and affectionate and proud.

Keith’s mouth twitches up at the corner. He sends back his appreciation.

Dead Keith/Red Paladin Lance AU (Part 4/?)

Too bad he came to that decision a little late. Now, he’s kinda stuck not wanting to initiate something that he can no longer start.

Excited for y’all to spot where little nods to this snippet pop up in future chapters.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

You can now read this on AO3 as:

Empty Spaces You Left Behind

[medicated-death]

1/3 of my klance heartstopper au

Y’all im losing my mind over this like it has consumed me they such goobers

[hi-there-buddies]

Being in the Voltron fandom and not shipping anyone is like being apart of a neighborhood where everyone’s house burned down but yours and everyone hates YOU for it

[lewishamiltonstuff]

Idk what part this is 😭 (will update the caption later)

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

My toxic red flag is that everytime I make a post s8 au, Allura always ends up being a woobified poor little meow meow

[areazeromybeloved]

Lance week day 2: Family

“When I was young, Me and my parents would come to this cave draw ourselves to show we were there.”

“W-what happn’ to thm?”

“Well when my sister was just born, my village was under attack by team rocket and my parents came in to fight them off. But the battle killer them both. Leaving me and my sister orphans.”

“So like me?”

“Yes, little Rai, just like you.”

Prompt by @lanceappreciationblog

[magpiedraws]

I just realised I did not post these here whoops

Happy belated valentine's day I guess

[wedielike-insertcharacter]

Yeah Lance becoming a farmer sucks ASS, but have you considered:

Lance becoming a farmer and staying a farmer because he's terrified to go back out? Because he's terrified that if he does, he won't come back? That he'll die and his family will have to greet not their son/brother/cousin/uncle but a corpse of Lance?

Sorry. This post-war canon-compliant au is doing stuff to me, man.

[mylifeisfruk4ever]

Klance Time Loop Au

Lance dies. Sometimes it's the Galra's fault, sometimes it's his own teammates' fault. But even if there are slight differences in how, the blue paladin always dies. And Keith is the only one who remembers. But he only remembers later, when Lance is dying. Keith vows that next time will be different, but he continues to make mistakes, some more unforgivable than others.

On the twelfth loop, on the way back to Earth, Keith accidentally accesses some videos in the Black Lion. Videos made by him, in the previous loops, and a warning: if this time he doesn't save Lance, the paladin's death will be definitive.

@astralscrivener what do you think of it?

[theklancecollection]

Not Even Death Can Tear Us Apart - bbazzy

Word Count: 732

Summary: Lance gets turned and the emotional wreck that is Keith has to put him down

Rating: R

[one-thousand-and-one-fandoms]

Voltron Ghost Whisperer AU - Part 8

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Lance ran until his lungs and legs burned and then some. He lost track of the streets around him as he aimed for the only place where he could calm down. He kept picturing him, the day of the fire, and exactly as the lady described. Lance knew for a fact that they didn't have any pictures taken that day. What she described simply wasn't possible.

He reached the park he always went to when he needed to be alone to think or to sulk, and he found the tree he always climbed and he made good work of climbing to one of the higher branches. Only then, when he could see the sky extending for miles and miles and the houses seemed small and far away did his breathing began to calm down. As it did, his eyes watered and he choked on a sob.

"Lance?!" Hunk called him from below. Lance could see him trying to climb the tree, but failing. Any other time it would have been funny to watch, but now it was mortifying that they saw him freak out and that he inadvertly showed them his secret place.

"Lance, can you come down, please?" Hunk asked, and Lance knew he was worried. But Lance couldn't come down. Not really. Not when the ground felt so suffocating.

"Where is he, Hunk?" Pidge asked as she finally caught up to them. Hunk merely pointed a finger upwards and Pidge looked up. She raised an eyebrow before she tossed her bag next to his and began to climb, as well.

"Guys, c'mon, that's not fair!" Hunk complained and made one more attempt to climb the tree. Meanwhile, like a monkey, Pidge climbed with easy and soon reached the branch next to his.

"Didn't know you could climb," she mentioned offhandedly.

"You didn't ask," he countered softly.

"It looks like you have practice. Imagine the pranks we could-"

"No!" He exclaimed, and Pidge startled, so he backtracked because he didn't want her to fall off the branch, "I'm sorry, but no. That was... that was our thing, y'know? It's just our thing."

"Y'know Hunk and I have never pried about what happened before you came here, but we've gotten clues here and there," Pidge said cautiously, "we know you had a best friend you don't talk about anymore, and we know that the fire in the next town over was in your school."

"It's not like I didn't want to tell you guys. It's just... I don't talk about it... I can't."

"We know, and that's why we never asked."

Lance was quiet for a long time. It wasn't fair that he got two great friends who have been supporting him all these years, and protecting him, and he wasn't honest with them. It also wasn't fair to him that Lance kept his memory hidden from the world and there was no one else who could remember the little boy with fire in his eyes and an attitude problem. So he forced the words to come out of his mouth even if it felt like they were scratching his throat on the way.

"I miss him everyday," Lance he said, voice raspy and low, his chest constricting in pain, "I always wonder if he would have liked you, if he would be part of our group, if he would have played for the football team or maybe gone to piano lessons."

"Is he..." Pidge began but hesitated.

"He's dead... and it was my fault."

"Lance, you can't blame yourself for the fire," Pidge countered immediately, "everyone knows it was caused by improperly storing chemicals in the lab."

Lance shook his head. He had accepted his guilt a long time ago and didn't need Pidge to sugarcoat things for him.

"I didn't start the fire, but I convinced him to skip class with me. If we hadn't, then we would have been evacuated with the rest of our class, but we weren't there and he..." Lance's sob this time escaped in full force with more than a few tears.

"Oh, Lance," Pidge said and put a hand on his knee, "it wasn't your fault. You were just kids and you couldn't have known."

"Pidge's right," Hunk said, panting, hugging a branch just a few feet underneath them for dear life but his face looked determined, "you couldn't have known. I'm sure he wouldn't want you to blame yourself."

Wouldn't he? All these years, and Lance thought he must, for sure, hate Lance for what happened. Lance still thought he should. But now, if what the lady said was correct, he had a way to find out.

The thought made his gut clench unfomfortably and caused his heart to race. What would Lance do if K-he hated him? What would Lancd do if he didn't? Lance didn't think he deserved forgiveness, but regardless of what he thought, now he felt that he had to find out if what this lady said was true: if K-he was truly coming around his old house every day at dusk the way he used to with his pa, if he had truly been waiting all along for someone, anyone, to come find him and if he really wanted to see Lance.

There was only way to find out.

Lance climbed down the tree, followed by Hunk and Pidge. Hunk looked ready to kiss the ground.

"So, what does that lady say that made you so upset?" Pidge asked. Hunk sobered up immediately.

"Her unwanted guest? Well, according to her, that's K-" Lance took a deep breath to dislodge the tennis ball that seemed to have appeared in his throat and gulped loudly, "Keith."

Pidge's features contorted in anger, "I smell a scam."

"I don't."

"Well, you should."

"Wait, Lance, are you saying you believe her?" Hunk asked.

"I do."

"But why?" Hunk asked.

"Because she told me things only I know," Lance answered, "things that the only other person to know would be K-Keith."

"Like what?"

"Like what K-Keith was wearing the day of the fire."

"Pictures," Pidge was quick to argue.

"There were none taken that day, and none in the papers," Lance countered, "I read them all."

"What else?" Hunk asked.

"Every day around dusk K-Keith and his pa would come over for dinner at ours. That isn't something you can find in research," Lance replied.

Pidge huffed in exasperation, and exclaimed, "Fine! But we aren't letting you go on your own."

"Right," Hunk agreed, albeit a bit confused, "where are we going, again?"

"We're going to my old house," Lance answered, "I just... I have to know."

Next

[cheemken]

“No one could deviate from that path. Not even Iris herself could deviate from that path.” KNIGHT THIS DAMNED LINE

She is just SO convinced that she’s destined to be someone she’s not. God I love it when the good characters eventually fall into madness

Also, I would like to hear about Iris freezing people and forcing them to tell Diantha and Lance what they’ve said in the past

Imagine Iris threatening their families lives or threading to kill their Pokémon, like having Haxorus or Hydregion hold down that persons Pokémon while getting ready to maul it to death, if they don’t start talking and explain to her parents what part they played in her descent to insanity

Please Iris needs therapy at this point too😭🤣

Homegirl really fucking lost it na and she's there making sure everyone knows it's their fault and just cjdmbd ough™

But like omf yeah can you imagine cbmdbd the Shadow Triad taking them off the Frigate, down with the others, and god everything suddenly felt colder, everything went quiet, and then Iris looks back to the Triad, telling them to watch over Bianca within the Frigate, make sure Hilda and Hilbert won't come back, kill them if they must. And just chdmdb imagine the other Champions being so wary now that Iris is down there with them, B. Kyurem at her side and god imagine how that'd fuck up the rest of the Unova kids tho, that Iris managed to take Zekrom to fuse with Kyurem. And ofc, the Dragon is there glaring down at everyone, waiting for its hero's commands.

Then Iris approaches this man, fighting off Plasma grunts, she calls out Haxorus, pinning down his Krookodile with a snarl, the man was petrified when he saw Iris, and the grunts took it as an opportunity to also grab him, forcing him to kneel before his god. He looks up at her, terrified, pleading for mercy, it make Iris grin. She then crouched down his level, grabbing his jaw as she forced him to look at Lance and Diantha, "you've always been one of the more.. opinionated ones," Iris began, voice almost sounding soft, then she chuckled, "so go ahead, why don't you tell my parents all the bullshit you tell every goddamn person about me." She sneered, her grip on his jaw lowered down to his neck, her hold on him was tight, his vision almost obscured by black spots. His own words caught in his throat, tears fell from his eyes, the words that came out his mouth were pleas of mercy, which did not appeal to Iris. Growling, she grabbed the man and threw him to the ground, stepping hard on the back of his head, slamming his face to the ground, and an unsettling crack rang in their ears.

"tell them!" She growled, ignoring the cries from Lance and Diantha for her to stop, then she crouched down, grabbing him by his hair, forcing him to look up at her parents again, his face was covered in blood. Iris chuckled now, eyes half lidded as she stared at him, "tell them. Tell them every single one of your thoughts about how fucking pathetic I am. Tell them how much you hate their daughter. Tell them, or I'll make sure you watch your Krookodile die a cold and painful death."

And he finally did, as his tears mixed with his blood, he finally spoke about his hatred for Iris, even before she became Champion. Told them about how he thought she was an incompetent Gym Leader, how she was just a child, doesn't matter she was a prodigy. Told them how she doesn't take her job seriously, even tho she really did. Told them about how he thinks she just got lucky to have beaten Alder, it should've been Hilbert that's the Champion. Told them about every spiteful thing he ever thought about Iris, about how he thought she wasn't fit to be Unova's Champion, how he never gave her the respect she deserves, how he never saw her as a Champion, how he wished she could've lost immediately on her first battle as Champion to be replaced with someone he thinks is more competent. He told them how Drayden should've just left her in Blackthorn. He told them everything. He told them how much he hated a child who only wanted what's best for their region.

Imagine how that'd mess up Dia and Lance tho, cause hearing it first hand now, it fucked them up. This man hated Iris from the start, from the time she was still Gym Leader, thinking she was incompetent. How their daughter had to endure this kind of hatred for so long, since she was young, since she was still a twelve year old kid suddenly thrusted into a world where failure to meet expectations would be met with more spiteful words of discouragement from the masses.

And god just cjdmbd imagine Iris throwing him back to the ground, and he's there crying out for mercy, for forgiveness, but Iris looked at him devoid of any emotion, her eyes almost gleaming with an ominous light, she spoke, "kill him." Then she turned to Haxorus, "both of them." And she went back to Lance and Diantha's side, not sparing a glance back at the man, his and his Krookodile's fate sealed by Haxorus' Guillotine.

Imagine her then smiling wryly, "well.. was that enough? Or do you want to hear more? I'm sure there's a lot of them who wants to tell you just how shit I am." She laughed as if it's some sort of twisted joke, not giving them the time to process the way the grunts and Haxorus killed the man and his pokemon, as Iris dragged them somewhere else, making them hear more of just how the people of Unova see her.

[mysticaltwoface]

Why would dark!Jade would be a feared a Ghostface

If she is on a rage beyond her control she would literally drink some of her victim's blood to calm herself and easy her adrenaline

@prettycutepsycho

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

Me coming up covered in blood: I have another au idea

[jiveyuncle]

Keith keeps popping up in unexpected places.

He appears in the mirror as the scar on Lance's upper lip, acquired the time Keith shoved him down behind a barricade and the butt of his own rifle clocked him in the face. The move had saved Lance's ass, but it still hadn't stopped him from chewing Keith's ear off post-battle for “damaging one of the team's greatest assets.” What did stop him mid-rant, words grinding to a halt on his tongue, was the annoyed huff of, “Don't worry, you're still pretty.” For, like, half a second anyway, before Lance’s brain caught up and he realized Keith was being sarcastic and was definitely insulting him. Lance's hellraising started up with renewed vigor.

Keith appears in the boots that peek up at Lance from the squeaky cabinet of his wardrobe, left behind because Keith was too concerned about waking him the morning he headed out to pick up the Blade member that would eventually kill him.

He lingers in the seventh plate that sits empty at the set dinner table, the one placed there out of habit, then left there as they ate because getting up to put it away felt wrong.

He's in the long dark hairs Lance rolls over in the morning to find stuck to the bedsheets.

He's in the scuff marks on the training deck floor and the sweat that drips down Lance's temple as he increases the bot's fighting difficulty.

He's in the face of the Red Lion - the ship that solidified Keith's place on the team, the place it ended, the spot Lance has to fill.

And when Lance finally makes his way to Red’s cockpit out of his own volition, for Red’s sake, closing his eyes and reaching out to her to offer support in their mutual grief, he finds Keith, again, in the familiarity of the mind link. As Lance’s bond tugs Red’s consciousness to him, he feels her ghost over him. He lets out a shuddering breath. The connection allows the lions and their pilots to communicate and understand one another while also granting them the ability to sense their teammates when they’re bonded in their respective cockpits. It’s welcome - the shared connections are comforting during long flights and necessary in battle. Lance dreams of it when he’s asleep, launches himself from his covers when he feels Keith’s energy flow over him and twine with his, wonders why he never felt the connection break when a blade was dragged across his throat.

Then, Lance’s lungs constrict, freezing the breath halfway into his chest, and his fingers curl tighter around Red’s control arms. A phantom connection whispers along the hairs at the nape of his neck, a specific hum of energy he never anticipated feeling brush against his own ever again.

Blue eyes snap open to take in familiar grey ones staring back, heart seizing at the sight of a mouth set in that stubborn, concentrated frown that says less about its wearer’s emotional state and everything about the intensity of his focus. Slowly, the frown softens, and then turns up gently at the corners.

Keith sighs and leans back against the viewing monitors. “Hey.”

Dead Keith/Red Paladin Lance AU (Part 3/?)

So much of this story is not going to be told linearly and is mostly just a bunch of scenes that are fun for me, but this part felt necessary to share before I start bouncing around.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

You can now read this on AO3 as:

Empty Spaces You Left Behind