#lance: come on Pidge live a little

[autisticlancemcclain]

part one

“Guys,” a soft voice interrupted, and Keith could’ve collapsed with relief. The castle has been flipped sideways during the fall, floor suddenly now 90 degrees, and standing at the side of the control board, now the very high top, was Lance. For whatever reason he had climbed it while they bickered, and now stood very still, gloved hand pressed to the glass of the windshield. Blood trickled from his temple, tracing a line down the side of his face, disappearing in the neckline of his armour. “We got company.”

Shifting gears – Keith was about to tear him a new one, when Shiro says sound off you sound off – but froze when he looked out the window, following Lance’s gaze.

Marching towards them, in numbers Keith couldn’t pretend to count, was an army.

— — —

“Well,” said Hunk, holding Allura in both arms, “that looks bad.”

Shiro snorted. “Thank you, Hunk.”

“Anytime.”

Keith wanted to snap at them both. What time was it to laugh? They were injured, mostly defenseless, castle crashed. The Lions still sat, unusable, in their hangers. Hopefully they were okay, but it wasn’t like anyone could go check. Keith could barely even feel Red’s presence in the back of his mind – that stupid new Empire toy had drained them. It was frightening. And Hunk and Shiro were making jokes?

But Keith couldn’t find the words to chew them out. Instead, his voice was caught in his throat as he looked on the slowly advancing army with wide eyes and tense shoulders.

The advancing army was…trees.

That’s what it looked like, anyways. Rows and rows of rough bark and quietly swaying leaves, advancing in formation. A large black bird flew, cawing, above them. Keith tried not to think about omens. 

“Did a forest come to life?” Pidge muttered, squinting. Keith was relieved she was seeing the same thing. Keith has been in space a long time, at this point, but this was like nothing he had ever seen before. This didn’t look like a people in any way he understood. They were alive, surely, their movements organic in fluid in a way non-living things couldn’t quite manage, but his eyes were not deceiving him, and in front of him was a bunch of moving trees. As he watched, they advanced slightly further, stopped, and froze. 

And then, slowly, they morphed. 

Out of the bark, people seemed to…melt? Was that the right word? The trees planted themselves on the beach as if they’d always been there, as if the giant ocean was simply a lake beside a forest, and the bark of each plant seemed to shimmer, to shift. Humanoid figures took form, with skin like wood and hair like moss and leaves, eyes dark and old and knowing. Little saplings hid behind the sweeping dirt skirts of giant, older trees, giggling amongst themselves. Tiny droplets of water shined in dots on dozens of brown faces, glittering on brows and lips and noses like diamond piercings. Vines wreathed around torsos like tailored clothing. 

Above them, Lance gasped. It was a quick, near-silent sound, one Keith only noticed because he was watching Lance from his peripherals anyway. 

“Dryads,” he whispered, unmistakably excited, and before anyone could get so much as a word in he scrambled down the control board, careened down the bridge, and sprinted his way out the exit. 

“No, what are you – Lance!” Hunk shouted, the first to react. He handed a still-unconscious Allura off to Coran, who took her with a wide-eyed, confused expression. 

“Number Two, what is –”

“I am going to burn your Percy Jackson books,” Hunk seethed, already stomping out after Lance. He scooped up his blue helmet on his way and shook it at the door. “You hear me, Leandro? Burn them! Head outta the clouds, that’s an army!”

Keith was quick to follow. The rest of the team fell in step behind him, jogging after Lance. 

Outside was…well, it startled him. 

He’d seen it on the way down, of course. But he hadn’t been focused, really, hadn’t taken the time to map it past what the air currents felt like, past a safe (ish) place to land. The beauty of it now knocked the breath out of him. The ocean was almost crystalline, it was so clear and blue. Keith could smell it even through his helmet, the salt, the sea, and something Keith couldn’t recognise. Every rock on the seashore shone in the bright golden sun, glittering like encrusted jewellery. Down the beach, where the rocks gave way to beach, the sand was bright brilliant white; hard, actually, to look at. On Keith’s other side was a rolling, sage green meadow, peppered with wildflowers so familiar Keith almost felt he could name them. He saw dozens of fruit trees, all different kinds, so ripe and rich his mouth watered. He was nowhere near enough to smell them, but the fruits were so plump and colourful that every instinct curled up in every corner in his head begged him to gorge himself to coma. Even the army in front of him, the rows and rows of stern tree warriors – dryads, Lance had called them – couldn’t stir wariness in Keith’s heart. His shoulders relaxed without his say-so.

One of the warriors stepped forth. She was wide-set, tall, and the ground trembled with every step. Her eyes were dark as murky green pond depths. Deep gauges lined her face, most from the pattern of the bark that made up her skin, but many that disrupted the pattern; rough, torn scars, one right through her right eye. 

“State your business,” she said, voice rough as sandpaper. 

No one said anything. The awe Keith felt was reflected in his friends, wonder rendering them mute.

“You’re dryads,” said Lance softly. He stepped forward, Hunk’s hand falling from his shoulder. “Tree spirits.”

The tree-woman nodded. “If that’s what your people call us, child. Here, we’re Aegians, Last Guardians of Marmaro. And we ask again – name yourselves.”

Her army raised their weapons as she spoke. Sharp, pointed weapons, some of hardened stone, some of crystal and marble, some of the same wood that made up their flesh. One even had shards of metal attached to a complicated string of vine. 

“We are Paladins of Voltron,” Shiro said, finally, hands held up in peace. He moved slowly up from next to Pidge, eyes never leaving the Aegian leader, until he finally stood in front of her, arm loosely circling Lance’s elbow, tugging him gently back. “We come in peace. Our ship was attacked by the Galran Empire, and we barely made it out intact. We apologise for any damage.”

“I’m not sure ‘intact’ is the right word,” murmured the Aegian leader, glancing quickly at their smoking ship, “but regardless. You are here now.  I am Dryope, and I grant you asylum, as is my birthright.” She said the name like dry-oh-pay, but with a lilt to her vowels Keith couldn’t replicate even in his own head. 

Dryope stood to her full height – which, ho-lee – and struck her staff twice on the rock on which she stood. Immediately, the army fell back, weapons sheathed, postures loosened. 

“Aegians!” she called, and every single tree-warrior stood to attention. “The Paladins of Voltron have come to us. We shall extend our hospitality to them, as dictated in the Ancient Laws.” She turned to them for a moment, contemplating. “Seven households come forward. Our guests are to be fed, clothed, and cared for. Who shall claim the honour?”

Keith exchanged a look with Hunk, shifting uncomfortably. Seven households? They were in no position to complain, but on all the planets they’ve visited before, they’ve never been housed separately. To speak up would surely insult their hosts – but was it safe to split up? They were injured and exhausted – if their hosts proved malevolent, they would be almost powerless individually. Allura was still out, Lance for sure had a head injury, Keith was, now that he noticed, breathing laboriously. A quick glance beside him revealed an odd angle to Pidge’s wrist, probably sprained, and Hunk shifted every couple of seconds like he could not stand comfortably. Shiro favoured his left leg. Only Coran stood tall and strong, Allura held protectively in his arms – but Keith knew better. (He will never, as long as he lives, forget the way the man collapsed, ashen and unresponsive, right at his spot at the castle’s controls. The rest of them had just been deemed healthy enough to fight again after falling ill to Deadman’s Spots, fevered and covered in sores and wasting away. Only Coran had been spared – or so they thought. They had almost lost him.) Coran could have a shard of bone sticking out of his leg and none of them would know. 

They could not afford to refuse the help.

The gathered army rippled and shifted as people answered Dryope’s call. One by one more Aegians pushed their way to the front, until seven stood just behind their leader, shoulder to shoulder, chins raised proudly.

“We have space for the injured girl,” spoke the first Aegian. She stepped forward, and she didn’t look like a warrior at all – the smile on her face was soft and welcoming. She was much stouter than Dryope, and and her eyes held the same maternal kindness that Shiro’s often did, deep and black and understanding. The lined pattern that made up her bark was softer, lining her face like smile lines. Thousands of branches twisted and grew out of her waist, resembling the tangled roots of the biggest tree in the forest. Clinging to her branch-skirt were at least four little saplings, young and reedy, peeking their wide eyes out behind their mama’s hips. She smiled wider, hands outstretched, and Keith had to stop himself from walking into them himself.

“Yes,” said Dryope, nodding at her. Her face went oddly soft, smiling at the maternal woman. When she turned back to face the team, her face morphed back into its impassive expression. “Paladins, Rhea and her family will house your injured girl. She will be well cared for – Rhea has nursed and watched many in her time.”

“Come,” beckoned Rhea, almost interrupting Dryope. The leader didn’t seem to mind. “Bring her to me, she must be laid comfortably.”

Coran walked forward, handing Allura to her gently. It spoke volumes to her character that Coran approached her at all, let alone that he pressed a quiet kiss to his charge’s forehead and stepped away. 

“She is only tired,” he said softly. “Not injured. She needs rest, and perhaps food.”

“I will see to it. Come, children.” With a sweep of her skirts echoing like a bamboo broom, she walked back through the ranks, saplings clinging to her back like baby monkeys.

Next, an elderly man stepped forward. He was hunched, gnarled fingers curled around the haft of a sharp wooden trident that resembled Dryope’s staff. Despite his limp, he walked with dignity, and when he lifted his chin to face Coran, his eyes were bright.

“Have you space, Father?” murmured Dryope.

He nodded. “Always.” 

Using his trident as a walking stick, he strode toward Coran, standing beside him. Coran, ever the diplomat, smiled slightly, and began speaking with him too quietly for Keith to hear. Both men, he noticed, seemed to stand the same way, although he couldn’t explain what that meant. It was just – vibes, he supposed. An energy.

“By the Sky, Mother, how long is this going to take?”

Startled by the abrupt change in tone, Keith jumped, turning towards the man who spoke. He was taller than anyone on the team, although shorter than most of the other Aegians, and covered himself with leaves that looked deliberately sewn rather than grown. His smile was wide and white and what Keith could only describe as shark-like. 

But what was most striking was his skin. The dark lines of patterns that covered it had Keith thinking he was as Aegian as the rest of them, made of tree bark, but then he blinked and realised – they were merely marks, or tattoos. Unlike the rest of the Aegians, this man had skin, this man was – 

Lance gasped. “You’re — human!” 

“Half,” the man corrected, chuckling. He swept forward and delicately grabbed Lance’s hand in one of his, pressing a kiss just above his wrist. Lance blushed up to his hairline. “My name is Peitho. I was born here, on Aegis. My father was a lost human explorer. I have never been to earth. But human genes…” He looked Lance up and down, grinning charmingly. “I’ve always felt they’re very dominant.” 

Lance, obviously pleased with the attention, warmed up quick. He walked over, reaching up to brush the hair out of Peitho’s eyes, touch lingering. Like they were friends or something. Keith ground his teeth so hard you could hear it from the ship’s smoking engine room. 

“I thought…I‘ve never seen a human in space. I thought we were alone, up here.” 

Peitho laughed, full-bodied and bright, like the sound of a smoothly rumbling engine. His handsome face creased lightly as he laughed, emphasizing newly-formed smile lines, which only made him more beautiful, not less. Lance smiled widely along with him. “Oh, my dear,” he said, turning that charming grin full blast on Lance, “you are never alone.”

Keith thought his jaw might crack. What a sleazeball. No wonder Lance liked him so much.

“The introductions need not drag on,” Peitho said grandly, sweeping his arm out like he was in charge or something. His other arm was around Lance’s shoulders. “Akeso, Dysnomia, Elatreus, meet with your paladins. They are hungry, and likely tired from travel. The sooner we have them rested, the sooner they can partake in our welcoming festivities. Right, Mother?”

Dryope nodded, looking a mix of annoyed and amused. “Yes, you embodiment of impertinence.”

As ordered by the embodiment of impertinence, three Aegians stepped forward. The first – who must be Akeso, a tall, reedy person with willowy locs falling to their shoulders, who held no weapon – approached Shiro, nodding tersely. Keith felt his brother match the terseness, stiffening. 

(Internally, Keith winced – could his brother not get someone who smiled, maybe? Akeso was probably fine, but, yeesh. There was once a time when Shiro laughed more than anyone else Keith knew. Sometimes maniacally, on two hours of sleep. But he heard it so rarely now.)

The second Aegian, Dysnomia, approached Pidge. Like the Green Paladin, she was short as shit. Keith met his friends eyes and snickered at her. The murderous look he got would make him more nervous if he, as Lance so often liked to gripe, had a bone of impulse control in his body. (Rich coming from him, but. Whatever. It wasn’t like Keith could argue.) The third, Elatreus, was absolutely, one hundred percent, the coolest Aegian Keith had seen so far. Holding an intricately crafted crossbow and with a shoulder width approximately the size of a small mountain, he lumbered over to Hunk. He held out his fist. Hunk wasted no time bumping with his own. Keith would be jealous if Hunk didn’t deserve it so bad. 

“Oh,” said Peitho, after a moment. “Of course, there is one more. Ares!” He gestured with half as much enthusiasm at Keith. “Your guest.”

Keith stilled. From behind Dryope, the last Aegian host stepped forward. His pale, papery bark was gnarled and scared, bulky, and – stained, it looked like, all the way up the arms. His face was more impassive that Dryope’s, expressionless, except for the slightest of sneers. Resting on one shoulder was a massive club, three times the size of Keith’s head at its tip. Like his host’s arms, it was stained. 

Keith forced himself to meet his stare. His host had eyes red as pomegranates – well. Eye.  The right side of his face, like the rest of the Aegians, was humanoid. The left side looked like it had – looked like someone had clawed out his eye, leaving a gaping, half-healed knot of a scar. 

Ares.

Keith wasn’t familiar with a lot of myths. But he knew what namesake his Aegian host bore – Ares, god of war, god of pain, god of hardened warriors and battlefield and bloodshed.

Fitting, hissed a voice in his mind. Keith curled his fists and ignored it.

“Paladin,” nodded Ares, taking his place next to him.

Keith swallowed. “Ares.”

“That, I believe, is everyone,” said Dryope. “Paladins, please follow your hosts. They will bring you to their homes and ensure you have somewhere to rest. At sundown, we shall reconvene at the hearth, eat, and make merry. Please –” she spread her hands, “enjoy our island. I will see you all shortly.”

She cracked her staff once on the ground. Immediately, her army parted for her, following her in formation once she marched through. Many of them returned to their tree form. It was still strange to watch. 

Keith jumped as a hand reached out and squeezed his shoulder. Shiro smiled slightly at him, squeezing again before letting go. 

“See you soon, kiddo.”

He followed his host, leaving Keith to realise he was the last still gathered in the shadow of their crashed castle. The eyeless Aegian stood next to him, hands resting on his club, watching him curiously. 

Keith cleared his throat. “Um, we can go.”

The Aegian continued to stare. Keith shifted uncomfortably, fighting the urge to draw his bayard. That would certainly not help. Things were precarious enough. 

“You do not trust us,” his host observed. His one remaining eye was unblinking, holding Keith’s stare until his own eyes burned and he had to blink.

“No,” Keith admitted. It wasn’t that he was scared of the Aegians, per se, but he was wary of them in the same way he was wary of the Blades of Marmora. He recognised their strength, their power, and knew from the way Dryope stood that she was keeping a lot of information to herself. Any group that kept secrets was impossible to trust, at least by Keith’s standards. He suddenly wished he had been paying attention enough to watch Pidge, Lance, and Hunk leave with their hosts, to make sure they were armed. 

His host shrugged. “Wise, probably. I would have no trust in your position.”

He started to walk over the rocks, and Keith followed. It was no accident that the Aegian kept Keith on a diagonal to him, visible from his right side. Keith did his best to keep himself in his line of sight. 

“You wouldn’t?”

“Do I look like I would?”

“I don’t know how to answer that diplomatically.”

To Keith’s great surprise, his host huffed a laugh. A slight smile upturned Keith’s own lips.

“Fair.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Off the beach and across the meadow, in a deep, round valley, there was a sprawling village. Small, large-bricked buildings dotted hills and lay nestled at the edge of small farms. Dead centre of the valley was a giant fire pit, gently lit, and surrounding it in a perfect circle were several larger buildings in the same style. Keith recognised many of the buildings as temples. 

“This way,” Keith’s host said, beckoning him forward. He turned off the main path and walked along the edge of the hill. Keith teetered after him, trying desperately to keep his balance. He was reminded how hard it was to breathe with bruising around his ribcage, how tired he was. But he kept his mouth clenched tightly closed, unwilling to look weak. 

They walked far past the centre circle, past outer circles, past even the farthest of farmhouses. In crossing one of them, the man stopped, Keith nearly walking right into him, and waited for several moments. He bent over as a tiny little boar came galloping to the edge of the fence on runty little legs, smiling as he scratched the thing between its tusks. Keith couldn’t help but notice the blood covering the sharp, portraying bones, as if the animal had just recently hunted. 

“Hey, Kyknos. Good to see you.”

He pet the boar for a few more minutes, then wordlessly started walking again. Keith had to jog to keep up, tired from the hike so far.

“That, uh, your pet?”

“No.”

Keith waited. No more information came forth. 

“Oo-kay, then.”

There was a Lance in his head that was laughing at him, bringing up every one-word answer of Keith’s that had frustrated the Blue Paladin to twitching eyes. Keith scowled.

Finally, the host stopped at a house. Keith felt he would nearly faint with relief, beyond ready to lay down his head, wariness or not. 

“This your place?” Keith asked, panting.

His host raised his eyebrow, pushing open the door.

“No,” he deadpanned, “this is my annoying neighbour’s house. He’s on holidays. I’m staying here and using all his things to take revenge for hours of small talk.”

“Oh,” Keith replied, impressed. “Cool.” He’ll have to do that next time Lance is on a solo mission. 

“No, I’m – I’m kidding, Paladin.”

“Oh,” Keith repeated, disappointed. “Less cool.”

“Just – get in the house.”

Keith didn’t argue. He followed his host into the small building, nodded as he was pointed to a guest room, and passed out the second his head hit the straw-stuffed pillow.

— — —

part three

[ohquail]

SBG as Voltron AU

Friends that wanted to be tagged: @blue-eyed-moon-child @niredsw @random-gamer1942

The roles

Black Lion: Tyler He's very much leadership material and with Ashlyn as Allura, it gives Tyler the perfect opportunity to be leader when she's not around yet give her the ability to run things like she does in the comic and Allura does in the show.

Blue Lion: Taylor She's thoughtful, caring, puts others first, like Lance did with everyone (LANCE STOP GETTING HURT), and Allura did at the end of the show.

Red Lion: Aiden Very loose and fast, likes to live on edge, very much a second hand man and doesn't take leadership even when he could, allowing Tyler and Ashlyn to take over. But also protective of everyone, like Keith is of Shiro and King Alfor was of Allura.

Green Lion: Logan Probably the smartest in the group when it comes to school like things. I think that he would struggle in the same way Pidge did when connecting to nature, in the "I like being inside but if I have to connect to the tree I will"

Yellow Lion: Ben Big guy, smart, compassionate, thoughtful, just like Hunk and Gyrgan.

Ashlyn is Allura Ashlyn is Allura because she fits the role of Red as much as Aiden does. So when/if Aiden gets the Keith running off to galra arc, Ashlyn gets the red lion :D

Alex is Coran

Maverick is Zarkon

Ryan is Thace

Jasmine is Haggar (without the weird, being honerva bit? like no romantic feelings please)

Charlie is Sendak (Maybe I'll draw these later)

Continue for Chapter 1: (This will be a continuing series & I will be splitting episodes into one-two chapters depending on length)

“You come up here to rock out?” Aiden asked, removing Logan’s headphones slightly. Logan jumped, whipping around to see who was behind him. “Oh, Aiden, Ben.” Logan greeted with a sigh of relief, “No, um, just looking at the stars,”

Aiden and Ben exchanged a glance. "Stars?" Aiden echoed, lifting his gaze to the empty canvas of the sky. "It's a little cloudy tonight, don't you think?"

Logan shrugged, “So?” “Where'd you get this stuff? It doesn't look like Garrison tech.” Aiden frowned, giving Logan a confused look. “I built it,” Logan sat up proudly and grinned at Aiden and Ben. “You built all of this?” Aiden asked as Ben bent down to touch one of the pieces of equipment. Logan reached over and gently smacked Ben’s hand away, “Stop it!” He turned his attention back to Aiden, “With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system.” “That right?” Aiden asked, a smug grin on his face, “Would you say, all the way to Kerberos?” Logan froze, slightly glaring at Aiden. “You go ballistic every time the instructors bring it up.”

Logan glared at Aiden. The blonde continued, “What's your deal?”

Ben reached towards Logan’s equipment again. “Second warning Ben!” Logan turned and scolded.

“Look, Logan, if we're going to bond as a team, we can't have any secrets.” Aiden squatted down to Logan’s eye level. Logan sighed, “Fine. The world as you know it is about to change. The Kerberos Mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake.” Ben reached over to touch Logan’s computer. “Stop touching my equipment!” Logan demanded.

Ben made a face of disgust before sitting back and nodding that he’d listen this time. Logan continued, “So, I've been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter,” “I’m sorry what?” Aiden asked, blinking in disbelief. “Aliens? Really?” Logan nodded.

“So, you're insane. Got it.” Ben’s phone spoke out for him. “I'm serious.” Logan promised, “They keep repeating one word, ‘Voltron.’ And tonight, it's going crazier than I have ever heard it.”

“What is Voltron?” Aiden asked as if Logan had all the answers.

“I have no clue,” Logan gave a helpless shrug.

Suddenly the PA activated, “Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner.” The gentleman on the comms instructed, “Repeat: all students are to remain in barracks until further notice.”

“What's going on?” Aiden asked, a frown as he looked up at the PA system. “Is that a meteor?” Logan asked, squinting through his glasses. “A very, very big meteor?” Aiden asked, in disbelief as he turned back around. Logan grabbed his binoculars from his bag and held them up to his face. “No. It's a ship,” Logan looked slightly panicked. Aiden grabbed the binoculars and pointed them at the sky. “Holy crow! I can't believe what I'm seeing! That's not one of ours.” “No. It’s one of theirs,” Logan shook his head and started packing up his stuff. “Where are you going? We’re under lock down,” Aiden furrowed his brow in confusion and upset.

“I've got to see that ship,” Logan told Aiden, grabbing his binoculars back before dipping over the short edge of the building they were on. Aiden watched for a moment as Logan hit the ground and started running towards the airship that had now crashed into the ground. “Come on Ben,” Ben grabbed Aiden’s arm before the blonde jumped off the building after Logan. “This is the worst team-building exercise ever,” He had typed into his phone. It read the message out loud before Aiden laughed and turned to jump off the building.

The sound of multiple Garrison vehicles departing to the crash site erupted from the building just before Aiden landed with a thud on softened earth, a cloud of dust billowing around him. Ben touched down more gracefully, landing on the balls of his feet. His eyes remained focused on Logan's receding form.

——— As soon as they approached the crash site, Ben and Aiden noticed that Logan had set up his computer behind a rock formation. Aiden and Ben ran over and crouched down with Logan. “What are you doing?” Aiden asked, looking over Logan’s shoulder to see the computer. “Trying to hack into their security cameras,” Logan shushed Aiden with his finger. “You can do that?” Ben’s phone spoke out for him. “Yeah,” Logan answered without anymore explanation. Aiden and Ben glanced at each other with concerned emotions etched onto their faces. “They set up a camera in there and I grabbed its feed.” Logan moved the computer for Ben and Aiden to both see.

“Look!” Aiden pointed at the screen at a teenage boy struggling against restrains. A staticky voice came through the feed, “Hey! What are you doing?” The boy asked, continuing to struggle. The head of cadet training, Iverson, motioned for two people in hazmat suits to hold the boy down. “Calm down, Tyler. We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests,” Tyler continued to struggle against the people in hazmat suits, “You have to listen to me! They destroy worlds!” He grunted as one of the people threw his shoulder into the table, “Aliens are coming!” “That's Tyler! The pilot of the Kerberos Mission! That guy was in our class!” Aiden looked completely shocked.

Ben watched the video feed for a moment longer, his fingers quickly tapping on the screen of his phone. “Guess he's not dead in space, after all,” the robotic voice echoed around him.

“But where's the rest of the crew?” Logan asked, his eyebrows furrowing as he scanned the screen for the other crew members.

“Do you know how long you've been gone?” Iverson asked Tyler. Tyler shot Iverson a disgusted look, “I don't know. Months? Years? Look, there's no time. Aliens are coming here for a weapon.” Tyler continued to ramble, “They're probably on their way. They'll destroy us. We have to find Voltron!” “Voltron?” Logan asked, staring at the screen in disbelief.

“Put him under,” Iverson instructed, “Until we figure out more,” Tyler freaked out, “Don't put me under! No! There's no time!” He assured them but one of the hazmat suited people stuck a needle into his arm.

The trio outside the tent watched as Tyler drifted off to sleep. “They didn't ask about the rest of the crew.” Logan frowned. “Why didn’t they ask about the rest of the crew?” “What are they doing? He's a legend. They're not even gonna listen to him?” Aiden exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

“We have to get him out.” Logan decided, shutting his computer and stashing it into his backpack. Before Aiden and Logan could jump the gun and rush into the tent to save Tyler, Ben held up a hand as he tried to quickly type out his thoughts. “I hate to be the voice of reason, always, but weren't we watching on Logan’s computer because there was no way to get past the guards?” “That was before we were properly motivated,” Logan assured Ben with a pat on the shoulder before a large explosion rang out on the opposite side of the canyon.

“Is that the aliens? Are they here? They got here so quick!” Ben’s phone rang out after a moment. “No, those explosions were a distraction, for him.” Aiden pointed at a hooded figure parking a hover bike before they rushed into the tent where the Garrison was keeping Tyler.

“The Garrison's headed toward the blast, and he's sneaking in from the other side.” Aiden frowned.

“Who is that?” Ben’s phone asked before Logan and Aiden both jumped over the wall. “Only one way to find out!” Logan called up to the tall boy before the blonde and brunette started to sprint towards the tent.

Ben hesitated, glanced toward the distant explosion once more, then sprinted after them, his phone clutched tight in one hand.

Inside the tent, Tyler was still unconscious, his face pale against the cold metal table. Two people in hazmat suit were examining the unconscious boy as the hooded person walked into the tent. “These readings are off the chart,” One man said before the other noticed the hooded figure. “HEY!” The man shouted, pointing a gloved finger at the intruder.

But the hooded figure moved with a speed that didn’t seem quite possible. They knocked the two men unconscious swiftly and efficiently before rushing over to the table and yanking off their hood. “Tyler?” Taylor asked, her eyes seemingly playing a trick on her. She unbuckled her twin brother from the table before wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “Nope.” Aiden walked in with Logan right on his tail. “No, you— No, no, no. No, you don't. I'm saving Tyler,” “Who are you?” Taylor asked, before looking at Logan. “Logan?” “Hi Taylor,” Logan waved before looking around the tent. “Where’s the rest of the crew?” “No time for that! We need to get out of here before the Garrison grumps come back,” Aiden insisted.

Text from Logan’s phone rang out in the silence. “They’re on their way back. Now.” Logan pointed at the entrance where they had left Ben on look out.

Taylor glared at them, her eyes flitting between Aiden and Logan. But she could feel Tyler sagging against her, his breaths ragged. “Come on,” Taylor sighed, motioning with her free hand for Aiden to walk with her.

Logan followed after them, casting a nervous glance over his shoulder. "We're coming out," Logan sent a message to Ben, who was still outside the tent. As soon as they got outside, all 5 of them loaded onto Taylor’s hover bike, “Can we catch a ride with you? Thanks!” Aiden smiled at the hispanic girl as he climbed up on the bike after her.

“Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?” Logan asked, as Aiden handed him Tyler. “No,” Taylor started the bike and took off as the Garrison professors and admin started to approach the tent. “Why am I holding this guy?” Logan asked, adjusting Tyler’s weight on him but careful not to let the boy fall off the bike.

“Can't this thing go any faster?” Aiden questioned, with a judgmental tone.

“We could toss out some non-essential weight,” Taylor shot back with a smirk on her face.

“Oh, right!” Aiden looked around for something to toss off the bike, “Okay, so that was an insult.” “Big guy! Lean left!” Taylor instructed to Ben. Ben leaned as instructed. His silent compliance added a much-needed stability to their chaotic escape. Tyler groaned softly in Logan's arms, stirring but not waking.

“Aw, man! Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery! No, no. He's fine,” Logan assured the rest of the group. Taylor rolled her eyes.

“Big guy, lean right!” Taylor instructed Ben again and he did as he was told. “Guys? Is that a cliff up ahead?” Logan asked with stammer in his voice.

“Oh, no, no, no!” Aiden protested. “Yup,” Taylor smirked and pressed on the gas pedal. “No, no, no!” Logan and Aiden screamed as the bike approached the edge of the cliff.

“What are you doing? You're going to kill us all!” Logan asked, regret of this adventure seeping into his voice. “Shut up and trust me!” Taylor commanded, her grip tightening on the handlebars. As their speed increased, the ground beneath them dropped away and for a moment they were suspended in air.

————— In the morning, Taylor walked out to where Tyler had been admiring the sunset. “Hey Ty,” She greeted her brother.

"Hey Tay," Tyler responded, not taking his eyes off the horizon. He was sitting on a rock, legs folded beneath him in criss cross applesauce.

“It's good to have you back,” Taylor moved and sat down next to Tyler.

Tyler turned and looked at her with a faint smile on his face. “It's good to be back,” Taylor smiled back before laying into the questions, “So, what happened out there? Where were you?”

“I wish I could tell you, Tay. My head is still pretty scrambled from the whole experience,” Tyler shook his head softly. “I was on an alien ship, but somehow I escaped. It's all a blur. But, how did you know to come save me when I crashed?” “You should come see this,” Taylor stood up and offered Tyler her hand.

——— “What have you been working on, Taylor?” Tyler asked as Taylor yanked a cloth off the cork board on the wall. Logan, Aiden and Ben paused what they were doing and looked over at the twins.

“I can't explain it, really,” Taylor looked at the bulletin board, “After getting booted from the Garrison, I was kind of lost and found myself drawn out to this place. It's like something some energy, was telling me to search,” “Search for what?” Aiden asked.

“Well, I didn't really know at the time until I stumbled across this area,” Taylor pointed at a picture that was almost out of her reach, “It's an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happening last night,” She turned to Tyler, “Then, you showed up.” A thought dawned on Tyler, “I probably should thank you all for helping Tay get me out of there,” He extended his hand towards Aiden. “Aiden, right?”

Aiden nodded and took Tyler’s hand in his. After a firm handshake, Tyler moved to Logan and Ben. “The quiet guy is Ben. I’m Logan. So, did anyone else from your crew make it out?” “Uh, I’m not sure. Everything is a bit of a daze still,” Tyler frowned, “Sorry,” “It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” Logan assured Tyler.

Ben typed up something on his phone, “Yeah, sorry to interrupt, but back to the aliens. Where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for us? Where are they at this very moment?” Everyone chuckled at the automated voice messing up a few words at the general repetitiveness of the message. “I can't really put it together. I remember the word ‘Voltron.’ It's some kind of weapon they're looking for, but I don't know why,” Tyler paused, “Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do.” Ben quickly typed up another message, “Well, last night, I was rummaging through Logan’s stuff, and-” “Why were you going through my stuff?” Logan asked, cutting off the automated voice. Ben rolled his eyes softly before typing out a new message and letting it play. “I watched a lady bug crawl in. But, then, I started reading his diary.” “What?” Logan asked, grabbing the book Ben pulled out of his pocket away from the taller boy. Ben’s message kept playing out of the phone, “I noticed the repeating series of numbers the aliens are searching for -looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line.” “Frown who?” Taylor asked with a frown on her face.

Ben typed a reply quickly, “It's a number describing the emission spectrum of an element, only, this element doesn't exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron. I think can build a machine to look for it, like a Voltron finder,” Aiden stared at his cousin in shock as the tall boy pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. Ben typed up one more message before opening the paper up. “The wavelength looks like this.” “Give me that!” Taylor demanded before holding it up to the picture she had pointed to earlier. The two pictures, the graph and photograph, matched up perfectly.

———

“Okay, I admit it. This is super freaky.” Aiden mumbled under his breath as the group traversed the desert plateaus. “I'm getting a reading.” Taylor looked at the small device that Ben had put together and given her to read. “This way,” She pulled Logan, who’s bag was filled with the rest of the equipment and attached to the device in Taylor’s hand, in the direction of the reading.

After a while of walking, they came across a cave. Adorning the walls was several carvings, no, hundreds of carvings of a female lion.

“Whoa.” The group looked around and gasped simultaneously. Tyler turned towards Taylor, “What are these?” “These are the lion carvings I was telling you about,” Taylor assured Tyler, before dragging her hand over the dust on the wall. Immediately the carving lit up bright blue and shined in Taylor’s face. Taylor jumped back into Tyler’s arms as the ground crumbled beneath the small group. Everyone screamed as the floor collapsed and shot them down a slide like earth fixture. “TAYLOR!” Aiden complained as soon they landed. “Why do you and Ben feel the need to touch everything?” Ben turned and glared at Aiden, but remained quiet as usual. “I didn’t know that touching the wall would make the floor collapse,” Taylor told Aiden, everyone turned toward a large giant Lion with a force field. “Is this it? Is this the Voltron?” Tyler asked. “It must be,” Logan took the tracker device out of Taylor’s hand. “This is what's been causing all of this crazy energy out here.” “Looks like there's a force field around it.” Aiden point out as Taylor and he started to walk up to it.

“Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?” Taylor asked, moving slightly. “No,” Tyler followed his sister and the blonde up to the lion. “Hm, yeah no. It’s definitely following me,” Taylor decided. Aiden walked up and gently put his hands on the force field. “I wonder how we get through this,” Taylor smirked as a idea popped into her head, “Maybe you just have to knock,” She rapped her fingers against the cool energy field, it immediately fell away. “AH!” Taylor jumped back slightly. A vision of a large robotic man appeared in all five kids minds. “Woah,” Logan looked up at the lion.

“Uh, did everyone just see that?” Tyler asked, rubbing his head slightly. “Voltron is a robot.” Aiden muttered as if in a trance, “Voltron is a huge, huge, awesome robot.” “And this thing is only one part of it! I wonder where the rest of them are.” Taylor mused as she walked up to the lion. “This is what they're looking for,” Tyler whispered, mostly to himself. “Incredible.” The lion stood up as Taylor approached, and Ben and Logan screamed. “Come on babies! Let’s check it out!” “Hate to be a voice of reason, like ever, but Taylor stop touching things!” Aiden ran after the girl as she darted into the Lion.

Tyler motioned for Ben and Logan to follow him after the other two. Ben typed something up on his phone quickly, “Isn’t this a bad idea?” “Yeah but it’s a fun idea, live a little,” Tyler smirked before walking up into the lion as well. Ben and Logan glanced at each other once before following Tyler into the ship. As soon as they entered the lion, Aiden turned to them. “Okay, guys, I feel the need to point out, just so that we're all aware. We are in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now.” “Yup,” Taylor smirked, moving to sit down. She put her hands on the controls.

As soon as she did, a deep purring spoke through her head. “Woah,” She turned to the rest of the group, “Did you guys just hear that?” “Hear what?” Logan asked, looking at Taylor. Taylor looked around the small cockpit, “I think it's talking to me.” She mumbled, before moving the controls around. The lion immediately took off, and the lion shot out of the cave.

Aiden, Logan and Ben grabbed each other and screamed. Tyler started at them in disbelief for a moment before turning his attention to Taylor. “Careful Tay,” He pointed out a rock formation. Taylor responded immediately, moving the controls around to avoid the obstacle. “You are the worst pilot ever!” Logan screamed as Taylor sent the Lion into a spiral.

With an eager grin, Taylor turned to the others and exclaimed, “Isn't this awesome?” Taylor asked. “Make it stop.” Logan begged, “Make it stop,” “I’m not doing anything.” Taylor promised, “It's like it's on autopilot.” The Lion steered itself towards the atmosphere, “Where are you going?” Aiden asked, stumbling as the lion rocked violently.

“I just said it's on autopilot!” Taylor insisted, “It says there's an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we're supposed to stop it.” “What did it say, exactly?” Tyler asked, leaning forward to look out the window.

“It's not like it's saying words.” Taylor felt the eyes of all 4 boys fall onto her in disgust and disbelief, “It's more like feeding ideas into my brain, kind of.”

“If this thing is the weapon they're coming for, why don't we just, I don't know, give it to them? Maybe they'll leave us alone.” Ben’s phone read out for him. Tyler turned, offended, “You don't understand,” He assured Ben, “These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path.” Ben gulped, clearly distressed but Tyler continued, “There's no bargaining with them. They won't stop until everything is dead.” “Okay, he gets it,” Aiden defending, “Don’t lay into him like that,” They all turned to see an alien ship entering the space around Earth’s atmosphere. Taylor interrupted the boys before a huge argument could erupt, “Okay, I think I know what to do.” She pushed the controls forward and the lion shot forward into the sky.

“Hey! This isn't a simulator,” Logan reminded Taylor as the Lion reached the exosphere. “That’s good. I always crashed the simulation when I was in school,” She smirked at Logan who gave her a panicked look. “That’s not calming!” Logan told Taylor as the girl moved the controls around. “Let’s try this!” She exclaimed as she pushed the controls forward. The jaw of the lion open and a beam of energy shot out towards the alien ship. The energy beam hit the side of the alien ship, causing a series of bright, violent explosions to ripple across its metallic hull. “Nice job, Tay,” “I think it's time to get these guys away from our planet.” Taylor said, piloting the lion away from Earth. They got a good distance before the alien ship started to follow them. “Oh no,” Tyler mumbled under his breath. “They're gaining on us!” Logan panicked, pushing the back of Taylor’s seat. “It's weird. They're not trying to shoot us. They're just chasing.” Taylor observed, her fingers nimbly adjusting the controls as she kept a steady eye on the pursuing ship.

Aiden put his hands up to get everyone’s attention, “Okay, seriously, now we think having aliens follow us is good? I am not on board with this new direction, guys.” “Where are we?” Ben’s phone read out, the digital voice cutting through the noise in the cockpit.

“Edge of the solar system. There's Kerberos,” Logan pointed at the moon of Pluto. “That’s impossible, it took us months to get out here,” Tyler gasped in disbelief, “We got out here in five seconds.” A spherical opening, a distorted sphere with a glowing center opened up in front of the lion. It was a good distance away but the Lion seemed to be dead set on going through.

“A wormhole of sorts, where does it go?” Logan asked Taylor, who struggled and said she didn’t know.

“Tyler, you're the senior officer here. What should we do?” Taylor looked up at her brother.

Tyler looked at the other kids, “Whatever is happening, the lion knows more than we do.” Tyler looked at Aiden, who nodded, “I say we trust it, but we're a team now. We should decide together.” Taylor glanced around, all for boys nodded at her. “Alright, guess you’re all skipping class tomorrow,” She pushed the controls forward and the Lion shot into the wormhole.

———— As they exited the wormhole, an entirely new vista unfolded before their eyes. Kaleidoscopic patterns of nebulae painted the alien sky, with twinkling stars that seemed to breathe and pulse with life. “Where are we?” Ben’s phone read out again, its digital voice sounding even more surreal amidst this cosmic seascape.

“I have no clue,” Logan answered, “I don’t recognize any of these star patterns,” “Me neither,” Tyler looked out the window at the sky. “We must be a long, long way from Earth.” The lion approached a earth like planet, “The lion seems to want to go to this planet.” Taylor told the boys, “I think I think it's going home.” The lion soared into the planet’s atmosphere, plunging through plumes of vibrant, iridescent clouds. As they broke through the final layer, a sprawling cityscape came into view, nestled amidst a lush expanse of emerald-green forests and crystalline rivers.

"Doesn't look like anything from our textbooks," Aiden remarked, his eyes wide with awe.

“Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole? Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyway?” Logan asked as the Lion approached a castle like building. “It got us away from that alien warship, didn't it?” Taylor shot back. “I don't know if you noticed, but we're in an alien warship.” Tyler pointed out, patting Taylor on the head.

“Oh, are you scared?” Taylor teased. “With you at the helm? Terrified,” Tyler poked the side of her face before turning his attention to the castle they were approaching.

The castle was enormous, a towering structure of gleaming spires and arching buttresses that seemed to shimmer with an ethereal light. As they landed, Tyler pulled everyone’s attention to him. “No one's happy to be in this situation, but we're here now. If we want to get through this, we've got to do it together.” “Yes sir,” Aiden gave a teasing salute.

“Don’t do that,” Tyler crossed his arms.

“Look at that castle though,” Taylor got out of the pilot seat and tried to book it out of the lion. Tyler grabbed her arm and stopped her, “Keep your guard up.” “Is something wrong Tyler?” Logan asked, cautiously prodding for information. Tyler turned to him, “My crew was captured by aliens once. I'm not going to let it happen again,” As soon as the kids were out of the lion and walking up to the castle, the lion moved. “No! I knew it was going to eat us! No!” Logan screeched, covering his head with his hands. The lion roared and the entrance to the castle opened. “No, it’s just opening the door for us,” Aiden pointed out, touching Logan’s shoulder. The slightly taller boy looked up and sighed in relief. Taylor ran into the castle, “Hello?” She called out into the pitch black foyer. “Taylor! Be careful!” Tyler scolded his sister as the boys walked in after her.

“I am!” Taylor promised, “Hello? Is anyone there?” “Please hold for identity scan,” A voice called out before a beam of light scanned over the five kids.

“What? Why are we here? What do you want with us?” Logan asked as the beam stopped scanning them. Lights leading down the hall flickered on, “Guess we’re going that way,” Aiden started walking down the hall. As they all walked down the hall, the lights continued to flick on, lighting and leading their way. Eventually, they were lead to a room with two cryo-pods. Ben typed up a quick message on his phone and played it out for everyone, “Where are we?” “It's some kind of control room,” Logan observed, scanning the unfamiliar technology around them with a hit of curiosity. “Are these guys dead?” Aiden asked, tapping onto one of the cryo-pods. The pod opened with a hiss of air and a red headed girl fell out, her knees buckling as she called out, “Dad!” Aiden leaped forward and caught her, “Hello there,”

“Who are you? Where am I?” The girl asked, looking up into Aiden’s eyes. Aiden smirked, “I’m Aiden, and you’re right here in my arms,”

"Quit the flirt, Aiden. We're not in a rom-com," Tyler grumbled, stepping forward and offering a hand to the girl. “Who are you people?” The girl asked, pushing Aiden to the ground as she took Tyler’s hand. Tyler helped her up. “Where is King Mike? What are you doing in my castle? “A blue lion brought us here,” Taylor butted in. “How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to its paladin? What are you all doing here? Unless,” She paused, “How long has it been?” “We don’t know what your talking about,” Logan said as the girl pushed away from Tyler and walked over to a small panel sticking out of the floor and started typing on it. “Why don't you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help.” Tyler suggested, sticking his hands in his shorts pockets. “I am Princess Ashlyn of Planet Altea,” Ashlyn informed the earthlings, “I've got to find out where we are and how long we've been asleep.” Logan looked over her shoulder, “Okay, that's how that works. What is that language though?” A man groaned before Ashlyn could answer. He fell out of his pod before jumping up, “Enemy combatants!” “Nope! Nope!” Taylor assured him otherwise, “We’re friendly, I promise,” The man looked skeptical but stood at ease. “It can't be.” Ashlyn gasped, covering her mouth. “What is it?” The man asked, suddenly very worried for the princess. “We've been asleep for 10,000 years.” Ashlyn stared forward, “Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed. Alex, Father is gone. Our entire civilization,”

“Maverick,” Alex shook his head is disbelief. “Maverick?” Logan asked in confusion.

“He was the King of the Galra. A vile creature and enemy to all free people.” Ashlyn started to sink onto the floor. “I remember now, I was his prisoner,” Tyler crossed his arms over his chest. “He's still alive? Impossible!” Alex stared at Tyler in disbelief and distrust. “I can't explain it, but it's true,” Tyler nodded, “He's searching for a super weapon called Voltron.” Ashlyn stood back up, “He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him, and that's exactly why we must find it before he does,” “We?” Aiden interrupted, “Why us?

Word Count: 5,074

[electricsynthesis]

"You're going back to Earth," Lance insists, unceremoniously shoving the tablet into Keith's lap. He sticks his nose in the air and sniffs with exaggerated superiority. "And I'm incredibly jealous. So let me live vicariously through you, come on."

"By writing a list?" Keith replies, irritated. He picks up the tablet to find open to a notetaking program. He leans back against the plush couch of the lounge in cursory defiance. As if sinking into the fabric will get his teammates to leave him alone. Hardly.

"By writing a list of Earth things," Pidge stresses. She reaches over Lance's lap to pull the stylus out of it's sleeve on the side of the tablet. She holds it out to Keith, big, young eyes uncompromising.

"It's like, team bonding," Hunk says reasonably, eyes smiling even if his mouth isn't. "Besides, have you thought about what you're going to do with your time on Earth?"

"Uh," Keith mutters. "No? I figured I'd figure it out when I got there. I'll be focused on the mission anyway."

Lance cries, "Diplomacy with the Garrison is not going to take you that long--"

Pidge says, "You'd be insane not to do something--"

And Hunk says, "Well, Allura's coming with you." When everyone else falls silent, he raises an eyebrow. "Don't you want to show her some cool Earth stuff? I know she wants to get to know it better--"

"Fine," Keith snarls. He snatches the stylus from Pidge's fingers and scoots himself until he's sitting up. He positions the stylus over the paper, getting ready to write, and then,

uh, and then nothing.

He sits there, mind utterly blank. Like a still pond in there. Not a single breeze of thought. Keith just stares at the empty page, limbs frozen.

"Keith?"

What do I want to do on Earth?

His mind races. Races, and still gets utterly nowhere. Like a stalling car, his brain stutters and buffers and grinds itself nowhere. "I don't know,"

"What?"

"I don't know what I want to do on Earth."

Lance makes an irritated noise. "You're insane. You must miss something about Earth."

Keith does not move.

"Like, what about the food?" Lance cries. "Or the music? Or the clothes? Or TV? Movies? Concerts? Shopping?"

"Yeah," Hunk agrees, "don't you have a favorite Earth food? Something there's no substitute for out here. Something that just," he sighs, a little wistfully, "is so quintessentially Earth that it just..."

Hunk trails off when Keith begins to write. Something's occurred to him, spurred on by Hunk nostalgia for food. Something that is nostalgic to him, but hadn't entered his mind until Hunk said those words...

Keith wants to hide it from them, but Lance is already bullying his way into Keith's personal space to get a good look at the screen. Keith tries to tilt it away, but Lance's hand jerks out and grips it by the side so he can drag it to his face. He gets right up against it, blinking, as if he can't believe what he's reading.

"Pink Monster?" He says, in utter bewilderment.

Pidge gags. Hunk's mouth drops open.

Keith rips the tablet from Lance's fingers and cradles it defensively against his chest. "What?" He says, more snappishly than he intends. Hunk closes his mouth, Pidge covers her's, but Lance's expression blooms into a smile. And then a grin. And then he's laughing.

It starts out as a snicker; a snort. Then it devolves into giggles, and then further into little laughs that he tries and fails to smother with a hand. And then he gives up, and throws his head back and cackles, lips parted and chest shuddering in wild laughter. He smacks his palms to his cheeks loud enough to make Keith flinch.

"Shut the fuck up!" Keith shouts, despite the fact that Lance hasn't actually said anything. His cheeks are warm with embarrassment. "It's good! I like it!"

Lance drags his hands down his face, still laughing. And, he gasps for breath, face twisted into a smile it seems he almost can't help. He laughs through the words, "You gotta," a breath, "you gotta give it to him, Earth is the only, the only place in the galaxy that would invent pink Monster,"

And then Hunk and Pidge are laughing, too, fondly. Keith himself cracks a smile, shame easing into something warmer. Lance shakes his head, regaining control of himself. His cheeks are still flushed, and his eyes still sparkling. Smiling widely, he asks Keith, "Why do you like it?"

"Every 7/11 had it when I was a kid," he shrugs. "So when I'd get tired of the other kids, I'd skip school to go, and I'd always get a monster. Pink is just my favorite. I did it like three times a week."

"Where'd you get the money?" Pidge asks, narrowing her eyes.

Telling her about the time he got sent to juvie for a stolen candy bar, of all things, was a mistake. "I didn't." It wasn't about the candy bar, anyway. And he never got caught with the Monster.

"No wonder you're insane," Lance says. He pokes Keith's temple, which causes Keith to startle back, glaring at him. "It's all the caffeine."

"It make me feel sleepy," Keith defends.

"Caffeine made you sleepy?"

"Yes--!"

"No, yeah, that happens sometimes," Hunk interjects. "It's called an erroneous response and--"

"So is that it?" Pidge says, loud enough to interrupt the brewing lecture. "That's all you want on Earth?"

Keith narrows his eyes in thought. Then, he shrugs. "You think Allura would be down to go to a concert?"

All three of them yell, loud enough to startle the mice awake across the room: YES!

[voltronisanobsession]

Being Keith’s Older Sibling

The urges were too strong to not write this💆‍♀️💆‍♀️

Sorry if there’s some typos, my eyes are in a LOT of pain rn

Being Keith’s older sibling is definitely a hard feat in itself

After the death of your guys’ dad, things kinda went downhill for both of y’all

Your general mistrust and attitude towards people brushed off on little Keith, which comes to play later in his life as we’ve seen he was a more troubled kid

So while you tried your best to be a good role model for Keith growing up, it was hard to do so when all he ever saw from you was your aggression towards adults who tried separating you both

Eventually, social services do separate you guys, claiming that it would be best to allow Keith to grow without your negative influences but the damage had been done

Keith would grow up to not trust many people in his life because of your separation, always finding ways to sneak off and see you at the school they sent you to

It was times like those where you would promise to take him away from this place, from Earth, and live a life where you won't lose each other again

Because of this, Keith also developed a habit of lying to his guardians about his whereabouts because of your own attachment to him, encouraging him to continue this behavior 😭😭😭

Man none of yall knew better😭💔💔

But as you grew older, you, unfortunately, were sent away to the city to continue your studies there, cutting all contact with your little brother

Keith would then take an interest in flying and would go on to attend the Garrison to learn to become a pilot while you made plans every day to once again be reunited with him

I feel like it would take some time to leave the city and go back to your hometown because of the lack of resources available to you

So by the time you reach the Garrison after finding out he's been attending the school, it would be around the time he flunked out and disappeared

Fate is not fair to yall (crying)

So you get a job at the garrison while trying to find Keith and some time passes (YAY TIME SKIP)

After following Lance and Hunk while also finding Pidge on the rooftops, readying to reprimand and write them up, you all see the space shuttle crash and explosions go off, shooting off immediately to investigate

All while you're yelling at them to get back to the building cuz you don't want to lose the only job you have that's near where you think Keith is lurking💀

After seeing it was Keith who caused the explosions, he doesn't recognize you until you all get to the cabin

It's kinda emotional on your end cuz bro

This is your little brother... He's all grown up now, but in a way, he still looks the same. He's so much taller now, his hair is longer, and he would look at you with a familiar distrust you recognized

It was the same look he would give others when you guys were younger

The worst part is that he doesn't even recognize you because its been YEARS since he's last seen you

So it's a bit of a shock for him when you reveal that hey! I'm your sibling! And I've been trying so hard to get back to you for YEARS!

Very emotional as you both hug it out

Like really hug it out, tears and everything

"I thought I would never see you again."

"I never stopped looking for you Keith."

URGH MY HEART💔💔💔💔

After that everything is HISTORY

The dynamic between you both is kind of a weird thing tbh

While you're still holding onto the past and the younger version of Keith you remember, Keith has since let go of what the past held, ready to start a new future with his older sibling in his life

Because you're still holding onto this past, you treat him as if he's still a child and appear somewhat coddling in a way

You're just so excited and happy to be reunited with Keith again that you forget he's since then grown up. He's learned to be independent from years spent alone

And while Keith does miss you as well, he isn't used to having this new 'guardian figure' in his life, only used to the freedom and advice given to him from others, especially Shiro

Speaking of Shiro, I think you would go to him for advice on the blockage between you both since he basically raised Keith after you had left.

He knows Keith better, as much as it hurts you to admit it

Shiro would definitely tell you to give Keith space, to give him time to adjust to the new changes in his life. He's still a teen and is still learning to deal with his emotions, so just give him space to fully digest the situation at hand

You take this advice to heart and tread carefully, which Keith appreciates A LOT

Like imagine you grow up with unrestricted freedom, being able to do whatever you want and just learning to take care of yourself, and then one day, an authoritative figure appears in your life and begins setting up these restrictions. Telling you to be careful, making small rules that break your routine entirely

That's what Keith felt when you began making your presence more known in his life since you believed that you had to keep protecting him from the world

But he's grown up

He shows you that he doesn't need you protecting him anymore

It's bittersweet for you to see him not need you and makes you sad that you missed out on basically his childhood

BUT HE'S SO SWEET IN LETTING YOU KNOW THAT YOU'LL BE THERE FOR HIM NOW AND HIS FUTURE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

AND THAT HE'LL BE THERE FOR YOURS TOO😭😭😭

There's just TOO MUCH I can say about being Keith's older sibling, like it's such a complex relationship I would love to develop more on!!!!

This is literally just the tip of the iceberg but imma cut it short for now

To keep it sweet, both of you know that now you're together again, nothing is ever separating yall again

Space wars and all, you guys know you're stronger together and your bond just grows into a beautiful relationship as time goes on😭😭

[retro-stars]

What. What if Voltron legendary defender and Rottmnt crossover?

Listen, I have a vision: A younger Lance ran into Leo April-style and he as the reason why Leo originally started learning Spanish

He makes good friends with the turtles and co, acting as something of a fun cousin since he's not in New York consistently and absolutely refuses any Donnie upgrades to his tech when he goes off to the Garrison about a month before the season one plot gets rolling since he wants to be an awesome pilot the fair way or something like that

They talk constantly over message and call, giving updates back and forth. They even manage some in person meet-ups for a while once Leo got the hang of consistent long-distance teleportation before Lance ended up in space

Hunk knows them fairly well (the consequences of being a childhood friend of one Lance McClain, you end up knowing a lot of random people through the weirdest circumstances), but they've only met really online or over the phone with the exception of April He's taken to exchanging recipes with Mikey and talking engineering and biochem with Donnie and giving Leo advice. His default talking buddy is Raph through and through though

Pidge didn't get a chance to meet them but she does hear of them, so they're unaware of the whole mutant thing and also that the fellow rogue hacker she sometimes finds digging through the Garrison databases and the super-smart-and-obnoxious-about-it Donnie she reminds Lance of are in fact the same person. Donnie doesn't tell Lance that he's pretty sure Pidge is in fact one teenaged Katie Holt tricking the entirety of the US military and government because he thinks it's funny and wants to see how long it takes Lance to notice the literal fucking soap opera going on around him. Lance has some suspicions as to how legitimate Pidge's identity is anyway since Donnie is horrid at hiding how he's a little too curious about her, though he never gets a confirmation up until Pidge actually tells the team

AS FOR THE ACTUAL PLOT:

The Garrison Trio's disappearance happens literally like. right before the events of the movie. The timing of those two things just generally ended up really unfortunate, 'cause Lance got into the fighter pilot course and started dealing with some serious issues with his self-esteem and peers as well as the additional stress of the bigger workload right as the team dynamics with turtles started getting really bad

And when he disappeared they didn't get a chance to act on their suspicions due to the whole Kraang situation and after that it was mostly rebuilding and recovery and just hoping and praying Lance returned at some point because all of them were too scared of asking Casey jr. about his future for fear of the answer

Meanwhile Lance is dramatizing his reactions to the whole space thing despite it honestly not being that much of a shift to his worldview after the whole "oh yeah there's magic and a whole bunch of different races living underneath New York that all share the common trait that they lowkey hate/fear humans" thing The whole Galra Keith thing comes out and Lance is just chilling and waiting to ask if he can get tested for anything off with his DNA too since he's not entirely sure how mystic energy works and if it can rub off on someone or like. unlock some secret abilities or something so at this point it's better safe than sorry

When they come back to Earth the first words out of Lance's mouth are just the dawning horror of "I'm gonna die, aren't I?" because he knows that Donnie has been digging around the Garrison classified files since he applied to the academy and there is no way he hasn't broken in and seen the video/warning they sent to Earth already and he is most definitely going to be absolutely pissed Lance didn't at least try and send them a message letting them know he was alive at the very least

The team is just staring in confusion as Lance's face slowly goes through the five stages of grief before settling on the expression of a man facing his execution. Except for Hunk. Hunk took a second but as soon as he got it he was full belly laughing as Lance's expense (or at least until Lance reminds him that they're gonna kill him too since he didn't contact them either. Then he's just scared.)

[emo-ostrich]

1: why doesn’t anyone talk about how heartbreaking this scene is

2: why doesn’t anyone talk about this episode?!?!

it’s actually very well written and serves as a set up for the much darker twist the show is taking

in this episode we learn:

-pidge would sacrifice a good amount of the universe to save her father. they’re the most logical and analytical on the team, yet all that goes out the window when her family gets involved. there’s an argument in the beginning of the episode that is very reminiscent of when pidge was going to leave voltron in season 1 and keith yells at them.

-honerva remembers that lotor is her son. this is a HUGE set up for season 8. she begins the phase 4 of the kuron project which leads to keith returning and becoming the black paladin. but she does all of this because she knows zarkon will kill lotor. she’s ok with lotor killing zarkon bc zarkon is merely a husk of the man he used to be. that realization definitely leads her down the path of “how can i restore my family” (cut to end of season 8).

-on the topic of project kuron, we see the effects of it with shiro lashing out and not being… very shiro like… but he gives lotor HIS BAYARD in the hostage exchange without telling the rest of the team. honerva calls for the beginning of phase 4, and we can see that phase 3 was the shiro that been with the team since he returned in season 3. he’s been living this jekyll and hyde type life with half kuron controlled by honerva and half real shiro.

-we see lance step up and give orders to the team. lance is the red paladin at this point in the series making him the right hand of voltron and this is one of the first times we see him step into that leadership position. watching him grow into that leadership position and learn to feel valued makes the end of season 8 hurt even worse. plus when shiro realizes they need backup he says “lance we could use a little help.” he already acknowledges lance as his right hand man even if lance doesn’t realize it yet. that’s the shiro part talking. lance gives an order and the team says “copy that” which is how lance normally responds to orders. it’s a very clear role reversal that i think is lovely in lance’s character arc (if only dreamworks actually finished his arc smh)

-lotor killing zarkon is proof he really did want peace. he wants nothing to do with his father, doesn’t want zarkon to be his father, and has no hesitation in killing him. lotor and voltron are fighting for the same thing, but simply have different methods. when they fight lotor, he seems hesitant to fire until allura says he’s like zarkon. that’s what throws him over the edge.

lotor becoming emperor of the galra after zarkon’s death shows that having a galra ally on the throne could be the key to peace (hello keith after season 8) so think about the set back in the war efforts when voltron kills the emperor, a former ally, and then disappears. maybe this is why the galra attacked earth? in the beginning on the series, they’re looking at a star map showing that the galra’s progress in conquering worlds is getting closer to reaching earth but hasn’t quite gotten there yet. so either and conquering has sped up and an insane rate, or earth was specifically targeted by the galra while voltron was gone.

-when zarkon is about to kill lotor, the team saves him. the first lion we see fire is allura implying that j was allura that saved lotor a life. that’s kinda big in her development or maybe she was just firing at zarkon who knows

ok sorry that’s all thanks for coming to my ted talk :)

(this is all about season 5 episode 2: blood duel)

[deconstructing-klance]

The Hypocrisy of the Klance & Plance Age Differences

I'm a Plance shipper. I think Lance and Pidge are perfect together. I'll get into that a different day, though.

The main gripe I hear from Klance shippers about how Plance is "creepy" and "doesn't work" is because there's a 3 year age difference between the two.

Alright then, let's look at ages.

The VLD timeline is convoluted at best. I literally spent about 3 hours one night trying to figure out the timeline and eventually came to one that I think works out pretty well. A HUGE shoutout goes to Greg Tyler who wrote several blog articles about this confusing conundrum.

The ages of the Paladins when they leave in the Blue Lion:

Keith - 18

Hunk - 17

***This is where I demonstrate someone can have their own head canon but still respect canon when it comes to official VLD issues. I personally believe his age is really 18. Hunk is listed as being 17 with his birthday is in January. Due to Hunk's looks, size, and maturity, I don't think the year they left in the Blue Lion he turned from 16 to 17. I think he turned from 17 to 18. So in the VLD fan stuff I create, Hunk is older than Lance, not younger. But we'll go with what the creators said and also because Hunk's age is 17 in the guidebook.***

Lance - 17

Pidge - 15

***Pidge's age has been disputed over the years, with some incorrectly saying she's 14. The guidebook states she is 15. I think some of the misinformation is spread so people can look down on the Plance shipping.***

To keep the mathing simple, let's assume Keith was born in the year 2300. Birthdays will be thus:

Again, the year is arbitrary to make mathing easier. I still can't figure out what year VLD takes place.

In S1 E1, there's a calendar on the wall in Keith's shack that has the number 2 on it. Assuming Keith kept up with his calendar, we know the Paladins left in the Blue Lion on the 2nd.

Picture courtesy of Violet the Howler

I go with Greg's timeline, because he's pretty much a Voltron scholar of all the different Voltron branches. Greg worked out that the Paladins left in May, which looks accurate from the scenery.

Note: I live in the desert, and yes, there is a difference between Spring and Fall. The sun light in S1 E1 looks much more like Spring light than Fall light.

So, the Paladins and Shiro left Earth in the Blue Lion on May 2nd, 2319.

Seasons 1-6 take place roughly throughout the rest of 2319 and I believe into 2320.

This is where things get complicated.

By December of 2319, these are the Paladins' ages:

Going along with the timeline, Keith does his two year age jump in the Quantum Abyss sometime in the first half of 2320.

So, the first half of 2320, the ages are:

And at the end of 2320, the ages are:

Take a good, long look at those ages for the second half of 2320.

Most people will be hung up on the fact that Lance is 19 and Pidge is 16. It's a 3 year age difference.

But what is Keith's age minus Lance's age? 22-19?

3 years.

Let's repeat that.

22-19 = 3.

Keith is 3 years older than Lance due to his two year jump in the Quantum Abyss.

Now before y'all come at me, finish reading the entire post.

Pidge and Lance are only 2 years apart for roughly 3.5 months, from April - July.

Lance and Keith are only 2 years apart for roughly 3 months, from July - October.

Thus, because of Keith's time jump, Lance and Keith are as far apart in age as Lance and Pidge.

Actually ... Pidge and Lance are technically closer in age by roughly two weeks.

"But 22 and 19 are better than 19 and 16 because 22 and 19 are adults!" I can just hear some of y'all screaming this at the computer.

Here's a fun little fact:

Just because someone is 18 and a legal adult does not necessarily mean it is okay for them to date another legal adult.

Someone at 19 can still be in a very predatory relationship with someone who is 22.

Klancers who are saying that their ship is more "moral" are just wrong.

It's not more moral. Either Klancers don't know how to math or they're willing to look the other way when it comes to what they want.

And before my words are twisted and taken out of context, I'm not saying Keith and Lance would have a predatory relationship. But the logic that their three year age gap is better than Lance and Pidge's because it's "more moral" doesn't hold any ground and is flawed.

Do Klancers honestly think a story with a 23 year old Pidge and 26 year old Lance is worse than a 23 year old Lance and 26 year old Keith?

Make it make sense.

If Pidge having a crush on Lance when she's 15 and he's 17 and then turns 18 is bad, then no one should have celebrity crushes - or just crushes in general. Ever. Until they're at least 21.

Do you really think a 19 year old Lance would date a 16 year old? I don't think so. Where are your morals if you think Lance would do that? And, quite frankly, neither of them are ready to date at the end of the series (before we get the 5 year in the future photo). Lance is still mourning the loss of Allura and Pidge is focused on improving the Garrison.

Not to mention all of the trauma and therapy everyone needs to go through. They need time to process and work on themselves. But I can see a Pidge and Lance in their 20s connecting with each other. They're a perfect balance of each other.

But, again, that's another post for another day. Don't worry - it's coming.

Right now, though, I'm gonna go water some Plance - I mean, plants.

[badsongpetey]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

The Water Guardian (aka Cryptid Keith AU) Part 8

And so Lance falls into an easy pattern with his new cryptid friend. Every week he brings books to an eagerly awaiting Keith, and steadily the conversations between them become less and less strained. Lance has discovered that he and Keith share similar tastes. Keith loves graphic novels, and in addition to adventure and fantasy stories, has a penchant for horror. The scary monster in the haunted waterfall loves horror, go figure.

Lance would be lying if he hadn’t hoped to get Keith to open up more about his mysterious past, because what’s the fun of having a supernatural friend without learning his cosmic secrets, right? But as the weeks turn to months, Keith remains as reluctant as ever to broach the subject. And strangely, Lance finds himself minding less and less.

Keith, contrary to first impressions, is actually funny. Okay, his sense of humor is definitely an acquired taste, but it’s there, and he frequently has Lance laughing out loud. And stranger still, Keith is just fun to hang out with. He’s smart, and creative, and passionate about the things he cares for. Sure, he’s still stubborn and annoying and almost ridiculously oblivious at times, but in a ways that challenge Lance to be better instead of frustrating him.

Introducing Keith to more modern stories has also opened up a world of questions for the dragon. Every week he hounds Lance for answers: What’s the internet? What’s a TV show? And why do people binge eat them on streams? These are tough to answer as the area where Keith lives is the deadest of dead zones, a fact Lance attributes more to Keith himself than any feature of technology or geography.

In return for Lance’s knowledge, Keith shows him his world. Lance learns secrets of the forest; meets a host of wild animals — some friendlier than others, stupid chipmunks; and is dazzled with dragon magic tricks.

They swim, and hike, and make up stupid challenges to see who can best the other. He even hatches a scheme to camp out and surprise Keith with his first ever movie night. Keith’s face, transfixed as he watches some of Lance’s favorite flicks on his laptop, is something Lance finds far more compelling than the movies themselves. Somewhere along the line, without being fully aware of it, Lance realizes that Keith has gone from being a friend in name only, to one of his best friends.

And speaking of best friends, it crosses his mind more than once that he’s never invited them to come visit Keith. Hunk really should get to meet the dragon he thought was going to eat them, he knows Hunk and Keith would be good friends. And Pidge would be maniacal with glee over the discovery of a whole new species. On second thought, maybe keeping Pidge away is for the best. Keith might actually be forced to eat them in self defense.

Lance tells himself that he’ll introduce them when the time is right, but truth is, he likes having Keith’s friendship to himself. And he tries his best to ignore the weird little flutter thing that his heart does when Keith comes bounding out of the woods like an excited puppy to greet him. Who wouldn’t be excited to have a magical being for a secret friend, right? Of course right, there’s no other explanation.

“Are there any other dragons?” Lance asks one afternoon as they lay sunning themselves on the warm rocks after a swim.

When he’s met with silence, he looks over at Keith unmoving on the rocks beside to him.

“I was just thinking, you know, there must be more dragons out there, besides you and your parents. Maybe, you’ve run into them?” Lance elaborates.

Keith is still quiet, and Lance is about to chalk this one up to things they don’t talk about when…

“I don’t know. I’ve never left my waters.”

Lance sits up. “You’ve never left?” He asks incredulously. “Not once in a century? You’ve just been here all alone?”

Keith is sitting now too, and his brow furrows in response.

“Look,” Lance sighs, “I know there are things you don’t want to discuss, but… I dunno, I worry about you, here all alone.”

“I’m not alone, I have you.”

“And I’m incredible, I know. I mean, you’re not gonna find better than me, human or dragon, that’s a given.” Lance replies over the soft sound of Keith’s scoffs. “But I’m still just one guy, and, well, aren’t you curious? At all?”

Keith frowns and looks away, his established way of shutting down a conversation.

Lance huffs in frustration. “Keith, part of being friends is talking about stuff. Friends talk. They care about each other and help each other, and trust each other. I’m just hoping that maybe you trust me.”

Lance stares at the back of Keith’s head and wonders if he just ruined a friendship and not merely a perfectly nice afternoon. But he’s reached a point with Keith where he wants more. He can’t keep walking on eggshells whenever the subject of Keith’s past comes up, and he’s at a loss about what else he can do.

“My mom, before she… passed… she made me promise to never leave here. To never look for any others. She said it was too dangerous. And it’s been hard, but it was the only thing she asked of me.” Keith’s voice quavers as he replies.

“Keith, I… I’m so sorry, but she couldn’t have wanted you to be all alone for so long…”

“You don’t understand!” Keith snaps, turning around, eyes filling with tears, cutting Lance off mid-sentence.

“Dragons don’t just take care of a body of water, we’re bound to it. A water dragon cannot be, cannot exist, without this bond. My mom came here when she was still pregnant with me. She never told me where she’d come from, only that she came here to protect me. Her magic was strong and she was able to sever her old bond and forge a new one here.”

Lance sits slack-jawed and stunned as the story comes pouring out of Keith.

“Normally, when a young dragon comes of age they find their own place, their own bond. But, I couldn’t go…” Keith hiccups out a sob, “I couldn’t leave, and she couldn’t leave, and… and… she gave her bond to me. She gave it up so I could live. And she… she…”

Keith’s voice breaks as he cries and Lance is moving before he even decides to. He wraps himself around his friend and Keith just collapses in his arms, releasing a grief held for longer than Lance can imagine.

“I’m here now.” He whispers into Keith’s hair. “I’m here and I won’t let you be alone ever again.” He promises. And Lance never breaks a promise.

[ashippingpotato]

Fanfiction ideas that I think are cool but I’m too lazy to write, but have already put to much thought into them to just completely get rid of them(pt1?)

(Also srry if this resembles another fic by accident I promise I didn’t steal this and I’ll take it down if it’s too a-like something)

The ocean may be scary (but you might be ok)

-so basically Keith don’t know how to swim and him Shiro, Adam (there dating), Matt and Pidge all go on a boat trip/ride, idk but Matt owns the boat (also no one knows that Keith can’t swim)

-so they go out on this boat and they go out too far into the ocean and are hit buy a big storm that keeps pushing them farther out

-everyone is holding on for dear life and when a specifically big wave hits Keith fall off the boat into the water this is where Lance comes in

-So Keith falls into the water and is pushed away from the boat but before he can drown he feels strong arms behind him and they pull him up to the surface and back near the boat (if u can’t tell this is mermaid Lance au)

-So before they can get Keith out of the water he sees the bright blue(or brown I don’t have a preference) eyes of his savior Lance quickly goes back into the water right before anyone can see him and Keith is left with the shining scales of a mermaid tail

-Keith tells no one and now every chance he can he goes to the ocean to try and see Lance (after awhile he thinks he just imagined it but he still checks anyway) little does he know that Lance has actually been watching him every time he comes by and one day he gives in and goes to see him

That was the only part I really planned out but also thought of these for later in la fic

-they see each other more then half the week and every time they spend just a tiny bit more time together

-blah blah blah Lance teaches Keith how to swim but one day the go deeper into the ocean and get attacked by a shark Lance protects Keith and wins but has multiple cuts and a big chunk taken out of the right side of his stomach

-so this could go two ways either Lance survives they have this emotional moment of Keith telling everything about Lance but luckily Adam’s actually a doctor and they don’t need to explain to anyone medical professionals that Lance is a mermaid and they live happily every after

-OR you could have Keith do all the same stuff but they don’t get there in time and Lance dies in Keith’s arms (I cradled you in my arms!!!) and they have the “see you in the next life ending

********

Anyway that’s it for that and I love u all who r still reading by never ending thought process :)<3

[aspenmissing]

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚅𝚘𝚕𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗 (𝙿𝚝 𝟷)

"Roll out, donkeys!" Lance, Hunk, and Pidge exit the simulator and stand before Iverson and their class. A young woman stands beside her team, staring at the three in sorrow. Y/N Gane, top of the class; best pilot "Well let's see if we can't use this failure as a lesson for the rest of you students. Can anyone point out the mistakes these three so-called cadets made in the simulator?" Iverson shouted. 

"The engineer puked in the main gearbox," a voice said.

"Correct, as everyone knows, vomit is not an approved lubricant for engine system. What else?" Iverson said while shaking his head.

"The comm spec removed his safety harness," another voice said and Y/N laughs a little. 

"Is there something funny Miss Gane?" Iverson asks. Everyone looks to Y/N and she stands up straight and keeps a straight face. 

"No sir" She replies. 

"Miss Gane, can you tell me something they did wrong?" he asked.

"Erm... The pilot... crashed?"  Iverson looked at Y/N before smiling. 

"Correct! Miss Gane" he shouted and walked away. Y/N gave lance an apologetic smile, who just shrugs and smiles "And worst of all, the whole jump, they're arguing with each other! Heck, if you're going to be this bad individually, you'd better at least be able to work as a team! exists to turn young cadets like you into the next generation of elite Astro explorers, but these kinds of mental mistakes are exactly what cost the lives of the men on the Mission" Y/N's fists clench.

"That's not true, sir!" Pidge shouts. 

"What did you say?!" Lance clasps his hand over Pidge's mouth, but Pidge continues; her voice muffled by the hand.

"Sorry, sir! I-I-I think he may have hit his head when he fell out of his chair. But point taken" Lance says.

"I hope I don't need to remind you that the only reason you're here is that the best pilot in your class had a discipline issue and flunked out, and the second-best refused to be the best" Lance glances at Y/N before back at Inversion "Don't follow in his footsteps" Iverson turns to look at Y/N and her team "Miss Gane, your team is next!" Lance, Hunk and Pidge watch as their classmates board the simulator, Y/N patting Pidge's shoulder, smiling softly. 

==

Later, Lance and Hunk hide in the halls of the Garrison as curfew begins.

"Lights out in five! Everyone back to their dorms, now" Iverson shouts.

"We shouldn't be doing this" Hunk whispers.

"You heard Commander. We need to bond as a team. We're going to grab  Pidge, hit the town, loosen up, meet some nice girls, maybe we can bring Y-" 

"OK, I'm just- I'm just saying this here, right now, on the record: This is a bad idea" The lights turn off; Lance and Hunk sneak through the hallways.

"You know, for someone in a space exploration program, you don't have much of a sense of adventure"

"All of your little 'adventures' end up with me in the principal's office" Lance sneaks by the instructor's lounge and motions for Hunk to follow, which he reluctantly does "Oh, man..." The two hide in recycling cans as a guard passes by.

"L-5 North all clear," The guard says. Lance jumps out; Hunk tries to follow suit but gets stuck and falls over. Hunk stands.

"I'm fine" They hide as Pidge and Y/N leave Iverson's office. The two watch"

"Where are they going?" Lance asks. Y/N and Pidge were sat on the roof of the Galaxy Garrison. Pidge listens to radio chatter through headphones and special equipment. Y/N is sitting beside her, looking up into the sky, eating a snack bar. Hunk crawls along the roof and Lance carefully removes the headphones to speak close to his ear.

"You two come up here to rock out?" Lance asks. Pidge jump and spin around to face Lance and Hunk. Y/N following, snack bar still in her mouth. 

"Agh! - Oh, Lance, Hunk. No, Um... we-" 

 "We were just looking at the stars," Y/N says, chewing.

"Cool. Where did you get all this stuff? It doesn't look like Garrison tech" Lance wondered.

 "He built it," Y/N says, swinging her arm over Pidge's shoulder. 

"He built all of this" Hunk said astonished. He tries to touch the equipment; Pidge smacks his hand away.

"Stop it! With this thing, I can scan to the edge of the solar system" Pidge says, gesturing to the tech.

"That right? All the way to Kerberos" Lance smirks. Pidge looks away but does not respond, Y/N's eyes sadden. "You two go Ballistic, every time the commander brings it up, What's with that?" Lance continued. Hank tries to sneakily touch the equipment again.

"Second warning, Hunk!" Y/N says and Hunk stops.

"Aw...."

"Look, Pidge, if we're going to bond as a team, we can't have any secrets. Same for you Y/N" Y/N looks at Lance confused "You may not be a part of the team, but you're our friend. Friends can't keep secrets from each other"

"I mean they can" Y/N mutters.

"Fine. The world as you know it is about to change. The Mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake—" Pidge sees Hunk trying to touch the equipment again "-STOP TOUCHING MY EQUIPMENT!!" Hunk groans but finally desists "..."So, I've been scanning the system and picking up alien radio talking" Pidge pushed up her glasses.

 "Whoa, what? Aliens?!" Hunk says.

"Oookay. so your insane, Y/N please tell me you don't believe in him," Lance asked me. Y/N nods"

"He is serious" Y/N holds up a pad with 'Voltron?' on it "They keep repeating the same word over and over again, Voltron. and tonight it has been crazier" 

"How crazy" Lance said. The Galaxy Garrison building alarms blare. Iverson speaks over the intercom

"Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown!, Repeat: all students are to remain in barracks until further notice" A fiery object appears in the sky.

"What's going on? Is that a meteor?! ... A very, very big... meteor?" Hunk says and Y/N grabs binoculars

"Its. It's a ship" She says. Lance takes the binoculars and looks at the object. 

"Holy crow! I can't believe what I'm seeing! That's not one of ours" Lance said with wide eyes. 

"No. It' 's one of their" Pidge says.

"So wait, there are aliens out there?!" The three watches as the alien spacecraft crash into the desert. The Garrison sends out land rovers to the crash site.

"We've gotta see that ship!" Pidge says, standing up, pulling Y/N with him.

"Pidge, slow down" She laughs.

"Hunk, Come on" Lance yelled and chases after the two. 

"Oh, this is the worst team-building exercise ever" 

==

Lance, Hunk, Pidge and Y/N spy on the quarantines crash site from a nearby cliff. Lance views the alien spacecraft through binoculars.

"Whoa... What the heck is that thing?! ... And who the heck is she?" Lance asks, looking at women through the binoculars.

"Lance!" Y/N smacks his head.

"Ow! Right, Right, alien ship. Man we will never get past those guards to get a look" Pidge continues to type on her computer.

"Aw, man. Yeah, yeah, I guess there's nothing to do but head back to the barracks, right?" Hunk says.

"Wait for Pidge, there is a camera in there, try and hack into it," Y/N said and pointed at the screen. Pidge hacks into it.

"I've grabbed its feed, Look" They all looked at the screen.  Inside, a man is strapped to a table as Garrison technicians examine him.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Calm down, Shiro. We just need to run some tests" Iverson says, trying to settle Shiro. Y/N chokes on her breath.

"You have to listen to me! They destroyed worlds!" Shiro grunts "Aliens are coming!"

"That's! Shiro The pilot from the Kerberos Mission, That guy's my hero!" Lance shouts with excitement. 

"Guess he's not dead in space after all" Hunk says.

"Where's the rest of the crew?" Pidge asks, saddened. Y/N put her hand on her shoulder, smiling softly. 

"I'm sure they're fine, I mean if Shiro's still alive, I'm sure the rest are" She reassures. 

 "Do you know how long you were gone?" Iverson asks, walking over to Shiro? 

"I don't know, Months? Years? Look there's no time. Aliens are coming here for a weapon. They're probably on their way right now. We need to get Voltron!" Shiro struggles, trying to get out of the bounds holding him down. 

"Voltron!" Pidge and Y/N say in unison.

"Sir, look at this. It appears that his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic" A technician asks, looking at Shiro's arm.

"Put him under, until we figure out what it can do," Iverson said and a technician came over with a syringe. 

"No, no, no don't put me under, There's no time, Let me go!" Shiro is one again trying to get out of the bounds.

"They didn't ask about the other crew members"

"What are they doing? The guy's a legend. They're now even going to listen to him" Lance said. 

"We have to get him out," Y/N says.

"Ah, I hate to be the voice of reason here, always, but weren't we watching on TV, because there was no way getting past the guards" Hunk says, standing up.

"That was before we were properly motivated. We have just got to think. Could we tunnel in" Lance says, standing up. Y/N snorts, standing up alongside him.

"What so funny," Lance asked. 

"Really? Tunnel in, Tunnel in!!" Y/N laughs

"Well at least I have a plan, where's yours," Lance said with a smirk.

"We find some hazmat suits and sneak in like med techs" Y/N smirks back. Lance thought for a while.

 "That's a pretty good idea"

"Or... we could dress up like cooks, sneak into the commissary... little late-night snack" Hunk drools.

"...No. What we need is a distraction" As if on cue, an explosion burst in the distance and the four cadets scream.

"Is that the aliens?! Are—Tha—The—Is that the aliens?! Are they here?! They got here so quick!" 

"No. Those explosions were a distraction, for him!" Pidge points to a figure arriving by hovercraft "The Garrison's headed towards the blast, and he's sneaking in from the other side!" Lance views the new arrival through binoculars.

"No way...!  Oh, he is not going to beat us in there! That guy is always trying to one-up me!"

"Who is it?" Hunk asks.

"Keith!" 

"Come on, Lance. Don't start"

"Who?" Pidge asks.

"Are you sure?" Hunk asks.

"Oh, I'd recognize that mullet anywhere!"

"Lance, come on, man! Keith hasn't done anything"

"Who's Keith?!" Pidge asks. The four-run towards the quarantines crash site. Inside, the technicians examine Shiro, who's been put under.

"These readings are off the chart," The technician says. Keith enters.

"Hey!" Iverson shouts. Keith attacks and knocks out all three technicians, then runs to Shiro, surprised to find him. 

"Shiro...?" Keith cuts Shiro free from his bonds and tries to carry him out. Lance, Hunk, Y/N and Pidge arrive.

"Nope. No, you—No, no, no, no, no, no, no you don't. I'm saving Shiro" Lance lifts Shiro over his shoulder.

"Lance, let's just get him out of here" Y/N looks to Keith "Hey Keith" 

"Hey Y/N, long time no see" Y/N nods "So, who's this?" Keith asks, looking to Lance.

"Who am I? Uh, the name's Lance" Keith silently looks at Lance without recognition "...We were at the same class at the Garrison?"

"Really? Are you an engineer?"

"No, I'm a pilot. We were, like, rivals. You know, Lance and Keith, neck-and-neck" Y/N snorts.

"Oh wait, I remember you. You're a cargo pilot"

"Well, not anymore. I'm fighter class now thanks to you washing out" Lance says, proud.

"Lance!" Keith looks to Y/N in confusion "I refused to take your place, that was yours. I couldn't take it" Keith nods, before looking to Lance.

"Well, congratulations" 

==

Lance and Keith carry Shiro out together. Keith hops onto his hoverbike, along with Lance and Shiro. Keith holds out his hand for Y/N.

"Hop on," He says. Y/N smirks, reaching for his hand before pulling his close.

"You may be a gentlemen and I may be a girl, but this girl beat your ass in training" She whispers into his ear before jumping onto the bike behind him, Keith staring at his hand stunned - and slightly blushing. Hunk spots the Garrison returning.

"Oh, man, they're coming back and they do not look happy. We gotta go. Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?" Hunk asks. Everyone climbs aboard Keith's hovercraft and it tips over.

"Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?" Pidge asks.

"No" Keith replies bluntly. Keith has to take off as the Garrison arrives to pursue them. Pidge has to hold on to Shiro.

"Why am I holding this guy?"

"Hey, we did all fit!"

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Lance asks, looking back at the vehicles following.

"We could toss out some non-essential weight" Keith says sarcastically. Y/N shakes her head, nudging Keith's hip with her knee.

"Oh, right!" He glances around, clearly not getting Keith's sarcasm "OK, so that was an insult. I get it" 

"Big man, lean left!" Keith shouted. Hunk leaned left. 

"Whoa!" They all shouted. Two of the cars smashes into each other.

"Aww, man. Mr Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery. No, wait he's fine" Hunk sighed in relief. They were on one of the roads and next to us was a big ditch 

"Big man, lean Right!" Keith shouted. Hunk leaned right, they managed to get over to the big ditch and land on another road. Two of the cars are still chasing them. They were still all screaming, and they went around a corner. One of the cars crashed, but one is still following. 

"Guys? Is the-the-the-the-that—Is that a cliff up ahead?" Hunk stammers. 

"Oh, no, no, no" Lance shouted. 

"Yup," Keith smirked. 

"Just like old times" Y/N smiles, wrapping her arms around Keith. Keith increases speed, everyone was screaming, apart from Y/N, Keith and Shiro. The hovercraft jumps off the cliff.

 "What are you doing? You're trying to kill us all!" Lance shouts

"Shut up and trust him" She shouts back. Keith safely avoids crashing and continues flying into the desert, escaping the Garrison.

==

Shiro and Y/N stand outside a desert shack at sunrise, the two hugging each other.  

"It's good to see you again, Shiro," Y/N says, smiling. They pull away as Keith approaches.

"It's good to have you back," Keith says, placing his hand on Shiro's shoulder.

"It's good to be back" Shiro replies.

"So what happened out there? Where...were you?" Y/N ask. 

"I wish I could tell you. My head's still pretty scrambled. I was on an... alien ship but... somehow I escaped. It's all a blur. How did you know to come to save me when I crashed?"

"You should come to see this" Shiro and Y/N follow Keith into the shack. Inside, Keith shows Shiro, Y/N, Lance, Hunk and Pidge his board of maps, diagrams and notes.

"What have you been working on?" Shiro muttered.

"I can't explain it. After getting booted from the Garrison, I was kinda... lost and... felt drawn out to this place. It's like something... some energy was telling me to search." Keith explains.

"For what," Shiro asks. Y/N stands close to Shiro, his arm around her shoulders, her own crossed in front of her.

"Well, I didn't know at the time... until I stumbled across this area." Keith pointed at a map  "It's an outcropping of giant caves covered in these ancient markings" We looked at the pictures of the markings "Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happened last night. Then you showed up" Keith explained more. Shiro took his arm from around Y/N's shoulders and walked over to the others. 

"I should thank you for getting me out. Lance, Right?" Shiro says. He offers Lance his prosthetic hand. Lance hesitates but shakes it. Shiro offers to shake Pidge and Hunk's hand, Pidge being the only one who does.

"This nervous guy's Hunk. I'm Pidge. so, did anyone else from your crew make it out?" Pidge asks, which makes Shiro's face saddens

 "I'm not sure. I remember the mission and being captured. After that, it's just bits and pieces" Shiro goes back over to Y/N, placing his arm back over her shoulders as she leans into his side. Lance zones out from the conversation, looking at the two confused.

"Are they TOGETHER! No, Lance, No! Shut up! He's way, way older than her. They're probably just really, really close" Lance thinks "I'll ask Y/N later" 

"You'll ask me what late?" Y/N asks, Lance looks to see Y/N standing in front of him. 

"Uhm, I- I was just wondering if- Uh"

"Come on Lance, spit it out" Lance sighs.

"Uhm.. a-are you and Shiro... Uh... together?" Y/N eyes widen before bursting out in laughter "What's so funny?"

"You thought me and Shiro were dating?" Y/N says, whole trying to catch her breath.

"It was just a question" Y/N continues to laugh, gaining everyone's attention.

"What happened?" Hunk asks.

"I just asked her if she and Shiro are dating" Pidge starts to laugh a bit. Shiro and Keith chuckle.

"What!? Why's that so funny" Lance asks, getting slightly annoyed.

"Okay, okay," Y/N says, trying to catch her breath "I'll tell you" She clears her throat "Shiro, is my brother" There was a long, awkward silence.

"WHAAAATTT!!!!????" Hunk and Lance asks in unison

[autisticlancemcclain]

Cool fingers press lightly into his skin, yanking him from sleep. A hand shakes his shoulder. He clings stubbornly to the last dredges of unconsciousness, desperately trying to ignore the disturbance.

“Keith. Keith. Keith, baby. Get up.”

Unfortunately, this disturbance cannot be ignored.

G-d, Keith fucking hates Halloween.

“What, Lance,” he groans, flailing around blindly for a pillow and smacking it over his head. Lance waits a second, allowing naive hope to bloom in Keith’s unmoving chest, before wrenching the pillow away. Keith opens his eyes just to glare at him. “It’s one in the afternoon!”

Lance’s smile is bright and beautiful. It’s too early for that kind of shit. Keith can’t tear his eyes away.

“I changed my mind about tonight.”

Keith blinks. “…Really?”

That’s…unusual. Lance loves Halloween. Keith has been grumbling about it for decades, but his husband has never swayed, dragging Keith gleefully to pumpkin patches and Target and various thrift stores to prepare for a night of handing out candy to demanding children and teenagers alike. Keith carves a stupid pumpkin every single year. He flies up to the roof to overdecorate and Lance’s fathoming. He dumps overpriced and overpackaged candy into a stupid novelty bucket. He refrains from tearing the doorbell off the doorframe in flinging it into space. He caves, essentially, to every single one of Lance’s whims.

He used to make entire nations cower by baring his teeth. What has become of him, truly.

“I don’t. Actually. Detest this stupid holiday down to my bones,” Keith admits hesitantly, dragging himself so he’s sitting upright. “I mean, well. I do. It’s dumb and cheesy and stupid. But. You love it, so.” He is suddenly sick to his stomach, realizing that all his grumbling might have actually dimmed Lance’s adoration for Halloween, his love for all the silly traditions. As much as he’d rather not have Twilight wannabes and plucky princesses stomping all around his house all night, he will endure it for the way Lance bounces with excitement every ring of the doorbell. He has for over half a century. He thought Lance knew that.

But thankfully there is no heaviness Keith can find in Lance’s expression, no sadness dropping his shoulders. His brown eyes sparkle with the same flash of mischief they usually do; if anything they glow a little brighter, shine a little more golden in the late afternoon sun.

“Oh, please,” he says warmly, flicking the bridge of Keith’s nose. Keith’s affection, however masked, is noted. Keith lets out a sigh of relief. “If the entirety of the western world up and forgot Halloween had any meaning then you would be smug for the next two centuries, you scrooge.”

Keith inclines his head. This is true. “Then why don’t you want to hand out candy this year?”

Too energetic to be still any longer, Lance brushes his knuckles against Keith’s cheek and gets to his feet, spinning towards the window and resting dramatically upon the frame.

“Well,” he says, hand brandished theatrically on his hip, “you know how Pidge can change her appearance for tricks?”

Understanding dawns on Keith. He groans, loudly, falling back onto the mattress and throwing the duvet over his face.

“No, Lance.”

His husband isn’t deterred in the slightest. “Yes!”

“I refuse. Pidge will refuse!”

“Think of Hana! You know Shiro has her dressed as a fat baby pumpkin. You know it, Keith. Think of how cute that will be.”

That will be cute. This is true. But, as Lance so often likes to point out, they live in the age of technology. Keith is sure he will get a slew of pictures of his niece in a pumpkin costume in the next few hours.

“I’m going back to sleep. Good night.”

“Sun’s high in the sky, Count von Count.” Lance yanks the blanket from Keith grip. His smile is wide and victorious when Keith looks at him, because he knows damn well the only reason he could pull back that blanket was because Keith let him.

He knows he’s won. Keith hisses at him.

“Come on,” Lance coaxes, leaning down to kiss Keith gently. “Don’t think of it as us trick or treating. Think of it as…stealing candy from babies! We’re taking the opportunity from some kid, no? Making less to go around?”

“That’s a horrible way to put it,” Keith grumps, even though it isn’t and it’s actually really funny and Keith is furious at himself for the laugh he chokes down. “This is so stupid. We can buy our own candy, Lance.”

“But trick or treat candy has —”

“Do not say there’s magic in it.”

“—magic in it,” Lance finishes, snickering. “And lots of it.”

He shrieks as Keith lunges forward, jabbing him in the ribs until he’s breathless with laughter and protest and pinning his wrists to the mattress. He struggles against Keith’s hold, uselessly, because Keith’s grip is stronger than iron shackles and he’s too weak from giggles to put up a fight. Keith rolls his eyes at his own smile at the sound.

“That is such a dumbass reason,” he says, exasperated.

“It’s real, though,” Lance insists. “The act of freely giving a possession —”

“—imbues it with the power of good will, yeah, yeah, I know.” He leans down and bites the tongue Lance has stuck out on him, smiling slightly at how quickly the witch relents, how quickly he melts into him. Affection bleeds from him in full, Keith finds. Sometimes so potently it changes the weight of the air.

“We can gather everyone up and look like a whole crew,” Lance mumbles against his lips. “Hana in her little pumpkin. Pidge can probably pull off a ten year old without even shifting. Allura and Hunk technically haven’t aged past their teens.”

“Allura is five thousand years old,” Keith grumbles. “At least. She’s an empress. She’s too dignified for this bullshit. She houses Ra.”

“She’ll think this whole thing is funny and you know it.”

Keith sighs. “Yeah, I know.” He kisses Lance one last time before sitting up, letting his husband wiggle out of his hold and buzz around their bedroom to get ready. He draws a line through the air, pulling back the fabric of space with sparks of electric grin, and digs around the little pocket for a moment. It becomes quickly apparent as he extracts two intricately made, exaggerated costumes of a cartoon witch and vampire, that this has been the plan for a while and his husband had no doubts about Keith’s begrudging acceptance.

“I have more costumes for everyone else,” Lance says excitedly. “They’re stereotypical and gaudy and horrible. They took me hours. I can’t wait.”

“You’re a goober,” Keith says fondly. Lance beams back at him. “Let’s go get some stupid candy.”

———

the halloween verse

[princelykitty]

A random snippet of a fic chapter I'm working on:

Lance had been midway through loading the laundry machine, bread slice in his mouth, when he heard the hoverbike. And there was only one person who ever drove their hoverbike out this far to see him.

“Great...” He muttered sarcastically, dropping the last shirt in the machine and turning to head for the front door. There was a knock, a very passionate knock at that.

Lance didn’t remember her mentioning coming today, but then again, he was forgetting a lot of things lately. He sucked in a breath as he finally pulled open the door. “Hey, Krolia.”

“Lance.” Krolia pushed her way inside the moment the door was open. She was immediately looking around, as though analyzing his space for any form of neglect, both to himself and to his surroundings. She did this every time she came over, like he would have suddenly stopped caring for himself without her. Only once she was satisfied that everything seemed fine did she move to place her helmet down on the small table in the entryway— rather oddly shaped for a helmet, but Lance knew it was to fit her large ears.

“You know, it’s the anniversary tomorrow,” she finally spoke, turning to fix her eyes on him. “I just came to check on you.”

Lance grimaced. He did know, of course he knew, but he was trying very hard to forget. It would have been three years since Keith died tomorrow, three years since he sacrificed himself in battle in a desperate attempt to save him. Three years since Lance's life came to a screeching halt all in a single moment. He hated the anniversary, hated the worried texts and calls from his friends and family checking in, hated being treated like something fragile. He wasn’t going to fall apart at the mere mention of Keith’s death; he was fine. “I know, I’m doing okay…You didn’t have to come all the way out here.”

“Lance…” Krolia’s voice was softer now, a subtle change but one that he knew to pick up on. She just didn’t have a very big range of vocal emotion, and he didn’t blame her; for a long time, neither did Keith. Krolia gently brushed her hand against his arm, near his elbow above the forearm cuff of his crutch. “I am not here because I have to be, but because I chose to. Come sit. I haven’t spoken to you in… It feels like weeks. You really should answer your communicator more often. I worry.” She didn’t seem to plan on taking no for an answer, seeing as she was immediately nudging him towards the living room.

He went willingly. He knew well enough at this point that there was no fighting Krolia when she had her mind set on something. He carefully lowered himself down onto the old sofa, one that had originally belonged to Keith’s father. Most of the furniture here had been his at some point, Lance couldn’t be bothered to replace it, not when it was all perfectly functional. Sure, it was a little old fashioned, but it worked. “I’ve just been busy, that’s all.” He knew that Krolia would pick up on the lie immediately. He was never busy; he’d been settled into the same boring but comfortable routine for over two years now.

Just as expected, Krolia furrowed her eyebrows at him in a way that proved she truly didn’t believe him. He never left the house, he didn’t socialize, and she knew this much; he didn’t have anything to be busy with. It wasn’t like he partook in many hobbies as of late. “I was talking with Hunk and Pidge, and they said there is a position available on the Atlas that you would be a prime candidate for. ‘Perfect,’ they said. Supposedly they have been trying to contact you about it, but you never answer your communicator anymore.” She looked sympathetic, mostly. No sign of hostility, no sign that she thought he was grieving for too long or too hard, that he was being lazy and unwilling to work. Even if she didn’t say it, he knew her well enough to see it on her face. “This is a chance for you to be a pilot again, Lance. I believe you would enjoy it.”

“I don’t want to be a pilot. I haven’t wanted that for a long time now. I’m happy here.” Lance reached down to brush a finger over the locket, a nervous habit at this point. He had received the messages. Of course he had. He just wasn’t interested in piloting again, not after the war. Not after everything he’d seen and everything he’d been through. His passion for flying had been crushed along with everything else the day he lost Keith. “Besides, who would look after Kosmo? I can’t just hand him off to someone else. He needs me.”

“You know you could take Kosmo with you. He was involved with us at the Blade of Marmora, and he went with Keith when he returned to Voltron. He can handle a job on the Atlas, and you know the others would love to see him.” Krolia paused for a moment, like she was thinking it over. As though she didn’t want to be too pushy. “Please just consider it, Lance… This would be good for you.”

Lance didn’t respond, turning away from Krolia to instead focus on Kosmo, who had since settled at his feet. He reached down to brush his fingers through his fur, his tail thumping loudly against the ground as it began to wag. He was always such a happy dog, even with Keith gone. He’d grieved along with him for a while, For the first few weeks after Keith had passed, the poor pup had half starved himself, refusing food. But he pulled through; they both did somehow.

Those weeks had been hell for Lance.  He just wished that everyone would stop being so insistent on getting him out of this place, he’d thought he made it pretty clear that he was content here watching over the house for Keith.

“Lance, you know that Keith would want you to—”

“Don’t say it.” Lance gripped the arm on the sofa so tightly he was surprised the old fabric didn’t tear. His body had tensed the moment his name left her mouth. She didn’t get to tell him what Keith would want. No one did. Keith had made his choice. He’d thrown away his life over saving him like he was worth even close to what Keith was to the universe. He didn’t want to hear a single other person try to tell him what Keith would want like they knew a damn thing about his situation. “Keith is dead. He isn’t coming back. He doesn’t want anything.”

He felt bad the moment the words left his mouth, but if Krolia was hurt by it she didn’t show it.

A soft sigh left Krolia’s lips but, despite his outburst, it didn’t sound frustrated or upset. Tired, maybe. He couldn’t exactly tell. “You don’t have to give me your answer. Just… At least think about it. Being in this house alone isn’t good for you. And I promised him I would look after you.”

“I don’t need looking after, I’m twenty one…” Lance pointed out, not that he really felt twenty one. He’d always thought he’d be doing something more impressive with his life by this point. All of the remaining paladins lived such impressive lives. Pidge and Hunk had finally had their wedding a few months back. Hunk was working on his second cookbook, too, at this point; he was a household name when it came to food. Pidge had gotten a job as a research scientist for the Garrison after the war, and they were both doing well for themselves. Coran and Allura both busied themselves with humanitarian work, building up new Altea and providing aid to the planets still affected by the aftermath of the war. The last time he’d called her, Allura had gotten herself a girlfriend. He was happy for her, she seemed happy. Then, of course, Shiro was still piloting the Atlas.

Everyone had their shit together. Everyone but him.

Krolia gazed at Lance with an analytical look on her face. It felt like she was trying to see if he’d crack under pressure or if he was falling apart at the seams. When she finally stood, hand on her hip, she peered down at him with a rather unreadable expression. “I’d argue otherwise. But, if you say so, I won’t insist.”

She was probably the only one who had the guts to talk to him about anything serious these days. He was prone to snapping or to shutting down, or even both, one after the other, yet she remained unbothered by it. Unbothered and persistent. Annoyingly so. It was most likely why Hunk had sent her to talk to him about the job. Lance would bet his life that it was Hunk. He wasn’t as close to Hunk these days and, honestly, Lance missed their close relationship, but he knew Hunk still cared about him. He was one of the few that still tried to push him to do more. He couldn't blame Hunk for the fact they'd drifted apart anyway; Lance had been distancing himself from everyone.

“I'll think about it, alright?” His mind was already made up but, at the very least, if he pretended he’d take the offer into consideration then she might leave him be. Krolia smiled, apparently satisfied with the answer. 

She stuck around for a few hours after that, as she always did whenever she made the trip out. As much as he pretended to be bothered by it, he really didn’t mind Krolia’s company. He’d grown close to her since Keith’s passing. It had been sudden, had shaken both of them. She’d only just gotten her son back and now he was gone forever, right as their relationship was really starting to improve.

[adobedragon]

The Collected Works of sitehound

All my stories, in one place, listed by fandom—which means, mostly Voltron: Legendary Defender—and by romantic ship (if applicable). Ratings vary from G to E.

Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)

Darcy/Loki

A Morbid Taste for Ice (Complete at 200K words | Rated M | Mystery | Romance | Contemporary | Eventual Sex | Mental Health Issues)

My magnum opus! More than a decade after I started posting it, it still, IMO, holds up well.

Following the events of Loki’s attack on New York, Thor, Loki, Darcy Lewis and Jane Foster find themselves unwilling roommates, living in a crappy trailer home in the New Mexico desert.

Original Work

Elrekki Chaosbringer/Kelly Marquez

Lost in Paradise (Ongoing story | Rated M | Space Opera | Romance | Graphic Depictions of Violence | Eventual Sex | Inspired by MCU's Thor & Loki)

A bookstore owner’s life is turned upside down by a mysterious young man who turns out to be a criminal from an alternate universe.

Voltron: Legendary Defender (VLD)

GEN (No, or minimal romance, although Plance does sneak in…)

How to Impress Your Pidgeon (14K words, Complete | Rated T | Mild Violence | Dragons | Dragonriders of Pern crossover)

Pidge, an apprentice in the MasterSmith Crafthall, meets a very opinionated young dragon.

I’ll Stand by You (3K words | Rated T | Bullying | Friendship | Pre-Canon)

In which Pidge, aka Katie Holt, finds that impersonating a male cadet presents challenges she never thought of.

Three (Would-be) Paladins and a DeLorean (5.7K words | Rated T | Garrison Trio | Pre-Canon | AU | Humor | Reckless Driving | Back to the Future DeLorean)

Pidge, Lance and Hunk sneak out of Galaxy Garrison for some unauthorized R&R in the nearby town of Torre Siena. When the inevitable happens—they get kicked out of a bar—they wander the streets and encounter a very strange car.

Lance/Female Reader

A Little Artistic Nudity (9.2K words | Rated E | Post-Canon | Second Person POV | No use of Y/N)

On a planet zillions of light years away, you meet a cute guy in a café and instantly strike up a rapport.

Shiro/Keith

The Color of Joy is Brown? (7.8K words | Rated T | Mild Violence | Dragons | Dragonriders of Pern crossover | Meet-Cute)

An unwanted orphan bounced from Hold to Hold, now a murderer consigned to hard labor in the mines of Crom, Keith is grimly resigned to a short, miserable life. But when a chance encounter leads to him standing on the sands of Benden Weyr's hatching grounds, a Candidate for Impression, he dares to hope for something better.

Keith/Lance

The Scarecrow (19K words, Complete | Rated T | Mild Violence | Pre-canon | AU | Happy Ending | Queerplatonic Relationships)

In the wake of crushing loss, Keith, Pidge and Hunk, once Galaxy Garrison cadets, now conscripts in the Galra war efforts, plan a desperate escape from Sendak’s estate in the New Mexico desert.

No Good Deed… (2400 words | Rated T | Fantasy AU | Urban Fantasy | Wolf-boy Keith | Fey Lance | Ambiguous Ending)

Lance has an encounter in the woods with a wolf-boy.

Pidge/Lance/Keith

Well, There Goes Our Security Deposit (2.1K words | Rated T | Fluff)

Keith comes home one day to find that his partners in love and life have wrecked the apartment.

How I Met Your Chabbit (1.7K words | Rated T | Drunk Pidge | Fluff | Pet Adoption | Domestic Bliss)

Everyone has an origin story. This is Rogelio the chabbit’s.

Centaur’s Rising (Ongoing story | Rated M | Mild Violence | Grief Mourning | Eventual Sex | Pacific Rim Crossover)

The last place Lance wants to be is in a Conn-Pod, but it may be his best chance at a new beginning, provided he can move on from the past. A retelling, of sorts, of Pacific Rim, featuring Pidge, Lance and Keith.

Keith/Pidge

Stop Thinking (9.2K words | Rated E | Post-canon | First Times)

On a dark and stormy night, after years of waiting, Pidge Holt gets what she wants.

Pidge/Lance (Plance, Pidgance, FlirtyRobot, my OTP)

St. Elmo’s Fire (150K words, Complete | Rated M | Post-Canon | Eventual Sex | Grief/Mourning | Graphic Depictions of Violence | Eventual Happy Ending)

More than a decade before, Lance ghosted Pidge. But a chance encounter leads to a journey together in a small spaceship across the Earth’s solar system, offering the opportunity to repair a friendships and fall in love.

Mind the Hardwood (4.5K words, Rated E | Post-Canon | Cut scene from St. Elmo’s Fire)

In which Pidge and Lance get busy in the cockpit of Pidge’s small spaceship.

Us, Only Us (5.2K words | Rated M | Post-Canon | Angst | First Fight | Makeup Sex | Romance | Cut scene from St. Elmo's Fire)

Lance stumbles upon Pidge’s attempt to comprehend and model their relationship using math.

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (11K words, Complete | Rated E | Canon | Canon Divergent | First Times)

Pidge successfully seduces Lance.

A Rain of Terror (3.6K words | Rated T | Post-Canon | Angst | Grief/Mourning)

Pidge Holt can repair anything. Except a broken heart. In the gathering fury of a dangerous Altean oort storm, she struggles with her terrible people skills, needing to get a depressed and nearly catatonic Lance out of the storm’s path.

If a Door Slams in Outer Space, Can You Hear It? (2.9K | Canon | Canon Divergent | Story in a Story)

Lance makes like a bard and courts Pidge with a good story.

To Find a Princess, You Gotta Kiss a Green Paladin (7.6 words | Rated T | AU | Actor AU)

In which Katie Holt, girl genius, finds herself cast in a movie playing an Altean princess to Lance’s Paladin of Voltron.

Turn Over a New Leaf (8.8K words, Complete | Rated T | Fix-it | S8E1 rewrite | Romance | Allura and Lance friendship)

All his life, Lance has craved attention. To be seen as more than the farm boy from Cuba. On the eve of the Galactic Coalition’s final offensive against the Galra, Lance finally learns, with a little help from his friends, that growing up means letting go of what you want and accepting what you need.

In Deep Space Where the Wallflowers Grow (2.4K words | Rated T | Post-Canon | Pidge Salsa Dances)

Pidge Holt is so done with being paraded about the universe, expected to mingle and meet and greet the Galactic Coalition's bigwigs. During a brunch on a Galra cruiser, she retreats to a quiet spot in the stateroom by a vast window to do some stargazing, but her solitude is interrupted by a certain social butterfly.

A Pidge in a Dress is Still a Pidge (5.6K words | Rated T | 1950s AU | Science Fiction)

“Just one dance,” Pidge’s mom had stated. One dance with anyone and Pidge can leave the gala at the Altean embassy, go home, take off this beautiful but totally not-Pidge ballgown and go back to being a tomboy girl genius. Alas, the only available dance partners are creeps who are trying to suck-up to Admiral Sam Holt through his daughter. It's gonna be a long evening

Shapeshifter, Shapeshifter, Shape Me a Match (6.1K words | Rated G | Fantasy AU | Shapeshifter Lance)

On a quiet little farm, a mischievous shapeshifter meets his match in a studious girl.

It Is You I Have Loved (A Collection of Plance Fanart and Short Fiction) (Ongoing project)

What it says in the title: drabble plus fanart.

The Tithe (Ongoing story | Rated T | Teen Romance | Pre-Canon | Garrison Trio | Inspired by Tam Lin | Sex Magic)

Katie Holt, masquerading as Galaxy Garrison cadet Pidge Gunderson, is on a mission: to find the truth about her family’s disappearance. But an unlikely romance leads to the startling discovery that otherworldly forces are at work in the Garrison.

I Crave None of Your Blood (Ongoing story | Rated M | Post-Canon | Graphic Depictions of Violence | Character Turned in a Vampire | Grief/Mourning | Eventual Sex | Rough Sex)

Lance, Pidge and Keith, three Paladins of Voltron, each carrying a permanent legacy of their Voltron experience, and now pawns of forces that might save or destroy the universe.

Centaur’s Rising (Ongoing story | Rated M | Mild Violence | Grief Mourning | Eventual Sex | Pacific Rim Crossover)

The last place Lance wants to be is in a Conn-Pod, but it may be his best chance at a new beginning, provided he can move on from the past. A retelling, of sorts, of Pacific Rim, featuring Pidge, Lance and Keith.

[discordiansamba]

Keith comes from a time before the war, raised in the old ways of the Galra Empire by his mother. He was raised in the ways of his father's people too, but he always leaned more Galra than he did Altean. He's thrilled by the prospect of a good fight, and never really developed much of a head for diplomacy- can't we just fight? This would be so much easier if we could resolve this by combat.

(His bayard takes the form of an Altean broadsword, reflecting on his father's heritage anyways.)

Pidge might be tiny, but she has a high propensity for violence... just the indirect sort, mostly. She knows she's not good in fighting someone straight on, so she's learned to use all kinds of neat little tricks to make up for her lack of physical strength. She's got great speed, though. Other Galra say she fights in a dishonorable fashion, but she'd argue that the Galra have no standing to talk about honor.

(Her bayard takes on the same form as it does in canon. It's already perfect.)

Hunk doesn't like fighting. Or violence. He likes cooking. He likes making people happy. He underwent standard training, so he can fight- he's really good at throwing his weight around, being the biggest and bulkiest of the team. But he doesn't like it. There's usually better ways to resolve conflict! ...but at the same time, he discovers that he's actually more willing to fight than he ever thought he was- he just needed the right thing to fight for.

(His bayard also takes on its canon form, giving him a lot of range- but if one of the other paladins is in a tight spot, he doesn't hesitate to throw himself in there.)

Lance has been training to be a Blade since he could basically walk. All of his older siblings are Blades, and he desperately wants to be like them. He's got great speed and agility, but he makes the mistake of not taking as much advantage as he could, instead trying to use brute force that he doesn't have comparatively as much of to win fights. He's actually a much better marksman than he is a swordfighter, but he's too hung up on using a blaster not being the Blade way to see that.

(His bayard initially takes the shape of an awakened blade, before he starts to realize that's not where his strength lies. It then becomes his canon rifle.)

Shiro is an elite among the elite. He's a skilled fighter, ranging from hand to hand combat, to blasters, to sword fighting. He's not quite as big as Hunk, but he's definitely just as strong. He's an incredibly tough opponent to beat, and it's easy to see how he managed to claw himself up to Lieutenant rank despite being so young. He used to resolve things with combat a lot more, but since losing his memories and living on Earth, he's come to understand the value of negotiating first. Sometimes that's even better than a fight.

(He doesn't have a bayard at first. He settles for hand to hand instead. When he does get it, the shape it takes is a spear- hearkening back to the very origins of the Empire.)

[soulreapin]

hello hello‼️

it's me again and i would like to suggest to you

keith being weirdly good at card games bc in the foster home he used to play them with the younger kids when they couldn't sleep

stop i love good with kids keith. im gonna cook hold on just you wait.

“That is the fucking fourth time you’ve won in Go Fish, Keith!”

Keith shrugs and gathers up the deck of cards to shuffle them between his two thumbs and forefingers.

Zarkon has decided to give the Paladins a night off from the war raging its path around the universe, so on their off day they sit in a loose circle on the main deck of the ship.

Originally, they had tried charades, but one too many altean animals from Allura had killed the mood.

They were at a loss for a while, bickering quietly, when Keith produced a worn pack of playing cards from the inside jacket of his pocket and put together a quiet game of Solitare for himself.

Lance glanced over and saw him shuffling those cards like a pro, and his brief moment of silence was crushed to bits when Pidge suggested they play card games.

“I’m sorry you’re bad at Go Fish,” Keith offers blandly as he shuffles, sounding not at all like he’s even remotely sorry, “But I’m not and you just have to live with it.”

Hunk glowers at him.

“Are we sure his cards aren’t rigged?” Lance comments, leaning towards Pidge for support.

Keith’s nose wrinkles as he shuffles, “How would you rig a fuckin’ deck o’ cards, huh?”

“I—I don’t know, maybe you carved shit into them!”

One single raised eyebrow and Lance’s defense crumbles with a huff.

“How are you so good at these human cards, Keith?” Allura asks, leaning forwards with interest.

Her hair is down and shifts like the steam curling off of a waterfall down over her shoulders.

Keith shrugs. “Go Fish again?”

All of them nod in ascent. He begins to deal out the cards evenly and methodically, and while he does, Keith gradually dredges up the memories associated with his bent and worn red playing cards. “I grew up in an orphanage, yaknow? And nobody really looked at a little ol kid like me, so I had to find ways to entertain myself.”

They begin to play while he talks. Keith stringing together more than six words in a sentence in a normal speaking tone outside of a mission was basically unheard of. “I found a deck of cards one day. One of the older kids taught me how to play Go Fish, and whenever we had time thats what we did. And cards was my only social skill.”

Quietly, Shiro asks Hunk, “Any sevens?”

“Go Fish.”

“I eventually picked up Solitare from the old folks home we visited as community service. All the younguns seemed to really like playing cards with me, so when one of them couldn’t sleep they’d come get me and we’d play a game. Somethin’ easy, even just Solitaire while I sat with them. Shiro, you’ve got a nine, give it to me I know it.”

Begrudgingly, Shiro hands over not one but two nines.

“That’s quite sweet. But I assumed you weren’t fond of other members of your kind?” Allura shakes her head when Lance asks for a six.

Lance gives Keith the finger when Keith mouthes skill issue at him. “Mostly, I ain’t. But little kids are different. They haven’t done anythin’ to deserve being disliked yet. And I know that when I was their age, I needed someone to stay up and play cards with. So I figured I would be that person for them.”

Small tears are beading in Shiro’s eyes.

Playing cards becomes tradition between the seven of them, whenever they get the chance, even if its four in the morning. Keith and his cards are always a comfort.

[silentwillowwhisperer]

Adam

Guys. What if Adam didn’t die?

I’m just going to pretend that the paladins went to earth after Zarkon, Honerva, and aaall of those other random people are successfully defeated.

There’s cursing in this if that bother youuu.

———-

It has been a long, long time since the paladins set foot on Earth.

There’s so many people they want to see.

But for Keith, there’s only one.

Their lions land steadily on the desertous land behind they garrison. A small crowd of people in orange and gray uniforms come out to see why there are multicolored robotic wildcats in their backyard.

Keith walks out of black’s mouth and tells, “Adam!”

The man looks at him and breaks into a wide grin. “Oh my god. Keith you idiot! You’re safe!”

Adam levels him with an icy glare and slaps him across his cheek. Keith rubs at the spot and pretend to be more hurt than he really is. Adam has every right to be mad, it’s not every day that your little brother runs off without warning and disappears for 5 years.

Then they hug again, and this time they sink to the ground in a tiny huddle. Adam wraps his arms around Keith’s head like he’s shielding him from the world, just like he used to years ago when the first met.

Both of their shoulders are shuddering, and they exchange find words. Keith’s family may be small, but once he accepts someone, he’ll never let them go.

The moment is broken when Shiro shuffles over.

He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “Umm.. hey.”

Adam looks up, and they both stare at each other. Their eyes are filled with hurt and longing, but neither acknowledges it.

Shiro extends his robotic arm. Adam raises a brow as he stares at the appendage. That wasn’t there before Shiro left Earth. He knows that he broke up with Shiro years ago, but he could never move on knowing that Shiro was hurt, or worse.

And now he had the audacity to waltz right up to Adam and ruin his moment with Keith.

He accepts the handshake, and all of the emotion filters out of his eyes.

Shiro had chosen to leave Adam, and chosen to leave Keith. Both boys had spent long nights under a shared blanket sobbing together over him before.

Keith has clearly forgiven him, because loosing someone as important as Shiro hit him hard. Adam is so angry that Shiro could this to their brother, never mind himself.

Keith is over this already. He hates to see his brothers/parental figures so in love but so wounded at the same time.

He finally speaks up. “Damn, there’s a lot of tension in here.” He wiggles his eyebrows in a way that he knows makes him look ridiculous, but he would do anything for his family to be happy again.

They both death-stare him and start lecturing him. Keith is very embarrassed that this is happening in front of everyone he knows, but at least the gays are working together again.

Just saying, Adam should be a lawyer.

-

They both shoot each other longing glances all day, and it drives Keith flipping insane. They think that they are being subtle, it’s so obvious.

Lance eventually comes to Keith with Hunk, Pidge, and Allura trailing close behind, and asks what is going on between them.

Keith feels slightly guilty telling the story of the ex-fiancés without their permission, but if they’re going to put Keith through this torture, then they have it coming for them.

All he wants is for things to go back to how they used to be. But at this rate, it’s unlikely.

-

Keith finds Adam staring out at the sunset from a cliff. Anyone else would have struggled to find him, but Keith knows that this is Adam’s favorite place to look at the sky and generally relax.

Keith sits down next to the brunette, his legs hanging off of the cliff.

They don’t say a word to each other, but Adam is calmed by the younger boy’s presence.

Finally, he speaks.

“I didn’t want it to end like this. I knew that if I stayed with Shiro, if I had encouraged him to go on that trip even with his condition, and then if he had died, that I would never be able to live with myself. I asked him to stay with me, I made him choose between us and that stupid mission. And you know what? He chose to leave us here to deal with our grief alone. I know you hate blaming him for things, but it’s the truth.”

Keith looks down at the rock below him. The setting sun has turned it a glowing orange, and he is reminded of all the times he and Shiro went racing all over this desert. Not a day has gone by since Shiro left them that Keith has not felt the clawing betrayal in him chest. He used to think that Shiro would never leave him like all of the people in his past, but Shiro had proven him wrong.

It hurt.

Still, Keith defends him. “Well, I left you too. You aren’t mad at me, right?”

Adam looks at him seriously.

“You know I will never be mad at you for trying to save the people you love. I know you would do it for me. And don’t you deny it, you have the biggest heart of anyone I know, even if you try to hide it under thorns and biting words.”

Adam’s shoulders slump from their normally upright posture, like he’s being weighted down by the past.

“I wasn’t ready to move on. 15 guys, Keith. I’ve dated 15 Gus because you know I’m a hopeless romantic, but all I can think about is you brother. Where is he? Is he hurt ? Is he alive? Has he changed? Does he still love me?”

Adam’s voice cracks horribly in the last sentence. It wrenches into Keith’s gut, but the words cannot be stopped once they are released.

“Because you know what?” Adam is yelling now. “I FUCKING LOVE TAKASHI SHIROGANE! I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED HIM, AND I WILL NEVER SYOP LOVING HIM!”

His words echo down the valley before fading away.

Tears flood his eyes and dampen his cheeks. Keith wraps his arms around him tightly and just lets him cry.

In an ideal world, this would have never happened, but dating Shiro always will be a wild ride.

“Let him prove himself, Adam. He misses you so much. He knows you were right, but you know him. He’s too proud to admit it.”

-

The next day, Keith is a zombie. His warring thoughts had kept him up all night, and now he can barely see straight.

Lance’s arm around his waist is the only thing keeping him upright, but he feels so much freer after talking to Adam.

He’s so out of it that he doesn’t notice Shiro approaching him until he’s being wrapped up in a warm embrace.

“You are the best little brother ever. Thank you, Otōto.”