#no one understands Keith better than Shiro. even if getting used to his baby brother being *a lot* larger than him in mer form

[discordiansamba]

spitballing some more about the Mer AU because I can. it's my blog and I make the rules.

I like to imagine that before Hunk and Lance can even like, consistently communicate with each other, they've already established a tradition I would like to call 'bring the other the coolest thing they can find and show them off'. Show and tell but it's a human and a merman.

Hunk introduces Lance to human cuisine. Lance brings Hunk fish in return, which Hunk brings to his parents. He got them from his friend Lance! :)

Hunk's mom, unsuspecting: Oh, Hunk must have befriended a fisherman's son.

The town of Plaht City is actually relatively close knit, so when Keith goes missing after his father's death, everyone goes looking for him. No one thinks to look in the ocean.

Heath was originally from out of town. He's a marine researcher who lives on a remote piece of property on the beach, complete with a recovery pool for injured marine life housed in a shack he built on the water. The townsfolk hear rumors that he has a partner, but no one ever meets her. One day he comes into town with a son.

I think Mer actually lay like. the mer equivalent of fish eggs but they can also get pregnant in the human sense in their human forms. This means every other Mer but Keith was hatched from a fish egg (and also probably part of the reason why Keith prefers the surface).

When Keith abruptly turns back up again after going missing for a year and a half, it's huge news at the time but things have calmed down now. He's taken in by Shiro's parents after some debate over who should look after him.

When Shiro's parents die, Keith just sort of assumes he'll be on his own from now. Shiro catches him halfway out the window with a bag of his stuff and has to explicitly tell him he can stay before he gets the message.

Keith just sort of aimlessly drifts though life. He's not really sure what he wants, or even sometimes where he belongs. He's never met another half-Mer, or even any other Galra Mers. All the Mers in Plaht City are Altean Mers.

Lotor is a highly successful businessman who invests a lot of his money into the town's infrastructure. He's generally well liked, except by Keith, who can't stand his face. The feeling is mutual.

Even in human form, Keith's lung capacity is well above average. He can open his eyes underwater with no ill effects.

Allura is eager to befriend Keith, despite his strange, surface-dwelling ways. Lance is also not totally hiding from Allura because he knows if she seems him and Hunk hanging out together, she'll put two and two together and realize that Hunk knows what he is and then he'll get in trouble.

Romelle and Allura are childhood friends. She's heard her talk on a few occasions about the strange mute Galra Mer she befriend that she calls 'Red', but she doesn't have any reason to connect him to Keith.

Mers can send and receive thoughts in human form as well... except for Keith of course, who can't even receive thoughts in human form. Lance thinks he's just being rude, Allura thinks he just prefers verbal communication. Only Coran has correctly deduced the truth.

(Shiro can send and receive thoughts just fine once he's freed from Haggar's control, which is... an adjustment for him.)

Keith's the only Mer who knows how to swim as a human. If you toss Lance into a pool and tell him to swim, he's just gonna drown. Keith thinks this is incredibly funny.

[electricsynthesis]

the way I conceive of the garrison era where the team (sans pidge) were all attending at the same time is so specific. like first of all, it’s important that you understand that I don’t just think that keith was an irritatingly competent child prodigy. I think keith was the best irritatingly competent child prodigy to grace the garrisons doors, ever. I think keith was that 1 in a million talent, the kind of talent that makes you want to claw your eyes out because he’s tiny and he’s insane and he’s MEAN but by god he can fly better than anyone. like. I don’t just think keith was the top of the sim scores. I think he was beating the records for the sim scores. Ever.

so if there’s one thing that causes groups of students to go insane it’s ^^ that. It’s knowing that there’s a guy Your Age who is not only better than you but is better than Anyone Else. mix in the fact that socially, keith is like a stray dog that’s been kicked too many times, and you have a bad combination.

I think keith got away with a lot because while he may be the star student of the century, takashi shirogane is the golden boy. he can do no wrong. A kind man with a charmed childhood who dreamed of the stars. joined the military for all the right reasons and none of the wrong ones. Isn’t a suck up but absolutely bows to authority like it’s his job. iverson fucking LOVES him. Has never raised his voice. he’ll chew keith out for 20 mins and then turn to shirogane and sweet like milk will be all…… well I guess it’s fine. I won’t give kogane detention I guess

everyone loves shiro and everyone has loved shiro since shiro entered the school at baby faced aged 15 with stars in his eyes. He’s 23 and getting married and there is a not a soul on this earth that dislikes him. so he shows up like :) so my foster brother is joining us this year! and he warns everyone that keith is “pretty shy” and “a little anxious & awkward” and everyone’s like awwww shiros baby brother is gonna be shy :) and then shiro carts in this 16 year old hell child who talks to no one unless directly addressed and even then has to get a Look from shiro before he’s like. Hi. and somehow it is the angriest sounding hi ever conceived. It’s not surly. It’s not whiney. He just sounds mad

and shiro now spends half his time gripping this random ass kid by the scruff of his neck (metaphorically and literally depending on the situation) and very kindly explaining to him that getting into Physical Altercations with his classmates does not beget learning. and he keeps using these goofy ass phrases that belong on a motivational poster. what the fuck is “patience yields focus”. What the hell does that even mean. but then it seems to WORK??? The kids like yeah. Patience yields focus. You’re right.

I don’t even think half the fights keith gets into are really the fault of his overactive temper. I think insecurity and teenaged immortality is going to be causing these children to treat keith like the dirt underneath their boots. I’m talking sabotage. Someone definitely tries the “is nice to him to get his guard down in order to sabotage something” trick but it doesn’t work because by the time keith is at the garrison he already hates the world and the children are FEEDING into this . and he isn’t going to take this with a stiff upper lip he’s fucking biting people

The reason he doesn’t remember lance is because keith was getting bullied by like 3 other people who were all actual fighter pilots in his class and shiro spent all his time talking keith out of doing the social version of chewing on electrical chords. Lance was unmemorable because he was harmless . a bit of a dick maybe but that wouldn’t have registered to keith at the time. he remembers hunk as a guy who bought him lunch once when he came into the cafeteria bleeding from multiple lip splits after having gotten his wallet stolen

The administration has wanted keith out of this school for like an entire year by the time shiro leaves for kerberos. The only reason he isn’t court martialed to hell for slamming someone’s head into a locker hard enough to bounce is because shiro hit iverson with the puppy dog eyes. once Shiro’s gone it’s a foregone conclusion and only a matter of time before keith’s getting the boot. even the most minor infraction is going to send his ass packing . They are waiting for him to even slightly fuck up. 1 feather out of place

he still manages to go out in a blaze of glory by punching iversons lights out so bad he breaks his nose. he’s five foot five and seventeen. Iverson is 6’3 and 45. It’s the greatest thing the entire student body has ever seen. lance feels something awaken in him

[actress4him]

Bonus Whumptober Content Part 2

Original Whumptober fic here

Bonus Content Part 1 here

Find it all on AO3 here

.

Thanks for all of the support on the last chapter! I appreciate each and every one of the likes and reblogs and follows I’ve gotten.

Tagging @outtacommission again because Keith would not have been resurrected from the dead without his bribery.

Here is chapter 3 of this fic... see you next week for the conclusion!

.

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Warnings: referenced amputation, blood mention, referenced broken bones, self-esteem issues, suicide ideation, death mention, nightmares, abandonment issues

.

When he woke again, he was lying back down on the pillow, staring up at the blank white ceiling. For one, blissful moment, he didn’t remember the events leading up to him passing out again. But it all came crashing down on him an instant later, taking his breath away.

My leg.

My leg, my leg.

My arm, my face, my leg.

“Keith?” Shiro’s voice was quiet, tentative. Not like him. “Are you awake?”

He wanted to roll over on his side and ignore him. Close his eyes, maybe go back to sleep, pretend that the world and this nightmare didn’t exist for a little while longer. The only reason he refrained was because he wasn’t sure if his stupid, wrecked body could actually manage it.

“What did you do to me?” It was only a whisper, and as slurred as it was, he wouldn’t have been surprised if it was impossible to understand.

Shiro’s breath hitched audibly. If Keith had been looking at his face, he was sure he wouldn’t like the anguished expression that he would see there. But at that moment, he didn’t have the capacity to care.

“Do you want me to...explain...how it...happened?”

No. Yes. He didn’t know. He needed to know why him losing a leg had been the best option, but at the same time he wasn’t sure if he could handle hearing about it. In the end, he just lifted one shoulder - the one that actually listened and responded right away - in a shrug. 

Shiro shifted in his seat, leaning forward so just the tip of his white bangs were in Keith’s periphery. “I already told you that you...died. On that planet. So when we got back to the Castle, you dying again was a distinct possibility. We...it’s like Fallenta said. We had to get you into a pod, even though your...your left arm was broken, and your knees, especially, were a mess from where the console landed on them.”

He paused, rubbing his palms together. “We didn’t know what would happen. I was scared to death that some of those breaks wouldn’t be able to be fixed after the pod. I mean, we were headed to Tellima, but…” His head dropped. “We had no choice. That hole in your stomach...you were dying.”

Keith could almost imagine it - the frantic atmosphere in the infirmary, the blood everywhere, the desperate conversations escalating into shouts as they debated on what to do. He had no doubt that he really had been dying, that they had made the choice they thought was best. He just wasn’t sure if he agreed with that choice. 

“When you came out of the pod, once the stomach wound was healed enough for you to be stable, Fallenta started working on re-breaking the bones so that they could be set correctly. It was...awful.” The shudder was obvious in his voice. “I’m glad she was able to do it, of course, but I’m also glad that you were unconscious the whole time. Your arm was relatively easy. Your left knee...it took her hours. It was in so many tiny little pieces. And your right…”

Automatically Keith flinched at the reminder of what was no longer there. Of the scarred, chopped off stump that lay just underneath the blanket, and the way his leg just...ended. He could see the void where the rest of it should have been even now, if he were to look down. He was purposely avoiding it.

Shiro heaved a huge sigh. “Unfortunately, your right knee was shattered in a way that had been blocking the circulation in your lower leg the whole time. The tissue down there was...dead.” He paused again. “Keith, I’ve...trust me, I’ve gone ‘round and ‘round in my head ever since we...trying to figure out if there was something I could have done differently. And...I don’t think there was. We did what we had to do to save your life. I’m just...I’m sorry that we couldn’t save your leg, too.”

His leg was gone. 

Would he ever be able to walk again? Could they find a prosthetic for him like Shiro had, that worked as well as the real thing? Even if they did, how long would it take him to get used to walking on it? Just walking, not even counting anything like running, jumping, fighting. 

Fighting was what he did. It was the one and only thing besides flying that he was good at. He was crap with a gun, he couldn’t sit up in a sniper’s nest like Lance. He needed to be able to move. If he couldn’t, even just for the time that it took to learn how with a new leg and an arm that only half worked...

They’d replace him. What good was a paladin who was crippled? Who couldn’t pull his weight? As soon as Red woke up and found out what happened to him she would realize that he was useless now. And the Princess, the rest of the team...they already knew it. They were probably already looking for a new Red Paladin. How long would it be until they dropped him off on Earth, or on some Coalition planet? Probably as soon as he was healed enough. They didn’t have time to keep taking care of an invalid, they had a universe to save.

They did. Not him. Not anymore.

“Should’ve left me there.”

There was dead silence for a moment.

“What?”

Keith tipped his head back further into the pillow, eyes roving over the featureless ceiling as if he’d see something new. “I tol’ you not to come. I tol’ you to leave me there. You didn’t listen.”

“And now you’re alive.”

“Yeah, but why?”

“Keith…”

His hands fisted in the blanket, jaw clenched in sudden fury. “Don’t ‘Keith’ me. Why, Shiro? Why am I alive? What is the point? You know what all this means.”

It meant he’d be alone. And he couldn’t...he couldn’t do alone. Not again. Not when he found a group of people that he actually cared about for the first time in so long. Not when he was just finally getting used to always having people around, always having someone to talk to or distract him from the thoughts that tried to consume him. Not when he barely survived it the first time. 

He’d rather be dead than alone.

Shiro sucked in a deep breath through his nose. “That life is gonna be hard for a while? That you’re gonna have to work harder than ever to get back to where you were? Yeah, Keith, I do know. I know more than anyone else.”

Oh.

Shiro must think he was so incredibly self-centered.

He was self-centered.

He should have thought about how acting like losing a leg was worse than dying would seem to the man who had lost an arm and kept going. But instead he was all caught up in how he was going to lose everything he had grown to love and rely on. Acting like the self-absorbed brat that everyone at the Garrison except Shiro had accused him of being.

“That means I also know how hard it is to accept,” Shiro was saying. “It’s going to take time to adjust. But you will, I promise, and I’ll be here to help you every step of the way.”

Yeah, right. Keith didn’t know if he was lying to make him feel better, or if he just hadn’t yet realized or accepted that Allura and the rest of the team wouldn’t want to keep him around.

“Just...please, Keith. Please don’t say that we should have let you die. You don’t know…” His voice caught. “I’ve spent these last weeks hoping, praying that you would live. Scared out of my mind every moment of every day that you wouldn’t.”

Keith finally forced himself to turn his head toward his brother and saw him brush the back of his wrist across his eyes. Just that movement was enough to make his heart drop to his stomach. Shiro didn’t cry. At least not where anyone could see him. 

Slowly, he slid his hand out across the bed, palm up. A peace offering. It took only a moment for Shiro to take it, squeezing it so hard he thought a few more bones might break.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. And he was. Not for thinking it, but for saying it. He didn’t want to cause any more pain for any of his friends. 

That’s why when it was time for him to go, he’d do it quietly. No fuss. Don’t let them see your fear or your pain - he had learned that long, long ago. He was good at it. 

Shiro gave him a shaky smile. “It’ll be alright, Keith. I promise.”

Swallowing down the words that sprang to his tongue, he gave a nod. “Okay.”

.

.

The next morning Keith woke up to an empty room. In a way, it was a relief. They obviously didn’t see the need to watch over him and baby him twenty-four-seven anymore. But he was, for all intents and purposes, stuck. With no leg, he couldn’t just get up and leave the room whenever he wanted, head to the training room like he normally would in the morning. There’d be no training for him for a long time. 

Of course there was breakfast to think about, too, and he wasn’t sure whether to expect someone to bring it to him, or to bring him to it. Either way, he hated it. He had always hated being treated like he was helpless, and now it was even worse because he actually was helpless. 

He went ahead and made up his mind, though. No matter what their plan was, he had no desire to be carried through the Castle to the dining room where everyone would give him those looks of pity. Poor Keith. Can’t even walk by himself. It’s just too bad he can’t stay.

He was in the midst of pushing himself up off the pillows, trying to get his right side to cooperate long enough to get in an upright position he could balance in and trying to ignore the strange lightness of his leg, when the door opened and Pidge slipped in.

“Hey,” she said softly. Padding over, she perched carefully on the edge of the chair that first Hunk, then Shiro had occupied. 

Tucking his left leg up close to him - the knee creaking in protest at being used for the first time since healing - Keith cleared his throat. “Hi.” 

Silence fell, but it had never been awkward between the two. The introverted arms of Voltron. Pidge just gazed at him for a long moment, her eyes saying all the things he knew she would never actually be able to say with words. “It’s good to see you awake. I was really worried about you.” 

On the outside, she merely shoved her glasses back up into the bridge of her nose and sniffed. “You better not quiznakin’ ever do that again.”

Keith’s lips turned up at the corners for the first time since waking the day before. “Alright.” 

Besides Shiro, he thought he would miss Pidge the most of all. They got each other more than anyone else.

“So.” Straightening up, she whipped a tablet out of her hoodie pocket. “We’ve been working on a leg for you. The Tellimites have crazy good medical technology, so obviously we’re using their notes, but I’ve also been talking back and forth with the Olkari, because they’re, of course, crazy good with biological connections, and we’ve come up with a design that should communicate really well with your body and, essentially, work like the real thing.”

She launched into a detailed scientific explanation of how every inch of it worked, tapping and flicking through various diagrams that just looked like a plain prosthetic leg to him. He didn’t understand but a few words here and there, but he let her talk. This was one of her passions, and it was nice to let her be able to ramble about it for once without having to worry about being rushed. The way her face lit up was worth every second.

“So...what do you think?” Suddenly she sounded uncertain as she blinked up at him. “We definitely want your input on it. I mean, I suggested putting in a rocket booster, but Hunk pointed out that it would be difficult to control with only one. Lance wanted to add lasers that shot out anytime you stomped your foot, but that seemed pretty dangerous for like, running and stuff, so…”

It almost sounded like they expected him to still be fighting with this thing. Well, maybe he would. Eventually. After all, he wouldn’t feel right about just ignoring the existence of the war when the people he cared about were still out there fighting it, so he’d do his best to get back into shape. Maybe he could convince them to find a Coalition planet for him that had soldiers he could fight with someday.

It wouldn’t be the same as fighting with this team, his...his friends. But at least he wouldn’t be completely useless.

He met Pidge’s eyes and realized she was still waiting on an answer from him. Part of him wanted to keep his words to a minimum, not wanting her to hear his new speech impediment, but he swallowed his pride. “It, uh...whatever you guys come up with I’m sure will be great.” He actually hadn’t even been sure whether to expect them to work on it themselves, or put it off on the Tellimites or some other able species. It made sense, though, that Pidge and Hunk would want to jump on this opportunity to design something they had never gotten to do before. He forced a small smile. “But...yeah, let’s hold off on weaponizing it.”

Smirking, Pidge turned off the tablet and stuck it back in her pocket. “Alright, if you insist. Lance is gonna be super disappointed, though.”

“I’m sure.” He could hear the whining and complaining about how boring and unimaginative he was now. 

“So, I was supposed to ask you about breakfast…?”

Keith stared down at his hands. “Oh. Yeah. I don’...think I’m really ready to...try to move around yet, so…”

He was such a bad liar. But Pidge either didn’t notice or was being nice and pretending not to, merely nodding and standing. 

“Okay. I’ll tell Shiro, he’ll probably bring you a plate down here.”

“Thanks, Pidge.”

She turned back from the doorway and smiled softly at him. “No problem.”

.

.

The nightmares came that night.

And the next. And the next.

Snippets of things he didn’t remember during the day, and wouldn’t remember again when he woke. Alarms blaring. Lights flashing. A horrifying crunching sound, then crippling pain and a bitter taste in the back of his throat.

And then...nothing. No one came. No one heard him calling. He stayed there, alone and bleeding in the dark, until the pain became too much and he slipped away.

He woke with tears streaming down his cheeks and a scream on his lips that didn’t quite make it out into the still air of the infirmary, not knowing what he was even crying about other than the nauseating loneliness that weighed him down, pinning him to the bed. 

Forcing his right hand to be the one to clumsily scrub away the tears - because it was going to work, dang it - he gritted his teeth and pushed against the weight to flop over onto his side. 

Get over it. Get over it, get used to it, stop being such a baby. You’ve always known that this wouldn’t last. It’s a miracle they’ve stuck around for as long as they have. If you try to hang onto them they’ll just end up hating you before they leave. 

.

.

He got away with hiding in the infirmary for two days before Fallenta declared him well enough to be up and about, and Shiro and Allura showed up with the Altean version of crutches. They escorted him slowly down the halls of the Castle to the dining room, chatting amiably the whole way. Keith assumed it was meant to either distract him from his plight, or to keep themselves from staring and pitying.

“Hey, look who finally decided to join us!” Lance announced loudly as soon as he hobbled into the room. “It’s about time you were out of bed, Mullet-head.”

“What Lance means,” Hunk sighed, “is that it’s good to see you up, Keith.”

“That it is, Number Four!” Coran rushed to pull out his usual seat, and his smile was so bright Keith couldn’t even be mad about the special treatment. “You had us all worried for a while there, for sure!”

Swallowing, Keith fiddled with his spork, unsure whether he was supposed to respond. “Um...yeah. Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Keith.” Shiro smiled at him softly, knowingly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

He just barely kept another ‘sorry’ from escaping. Instead he nodded, picked up his spork with his left hand, and changed the subject. “So, uh...wha’s been going on lately?”

That was all it took for everyone to launch into tales of short missions in the Lions, repairs on Red, and alliances with Tellima. Keith barely remembered to keep eating his goo as he watched all of the animated faces and gesturing hands with a small smile on his face. It was good to be back among his teammates. They were so unlike him in so many ways, it was no wonder that he had never really fit in with them. But he cared about them anyway. They might not feel the same way about him, but he was so glad that they had become a part of his life. 

And now they wouldn’t be anymore. Scowling down into his bowl where no one would notice, he poked at the green goo. How did I let myself get so attached? Before Shiro, it had been many, many years since he had let himself care about anyone this much. He should have known better by then. Letting himself come to consider any person or place home was just setting himself up for heartbreak.

As much as he loved spending this last bit of time with them, he almost wished they would stop acting so natural, as if they weren’t getting ready to kick him out any day now. No one mentioned a search for a new paladin. No one said whether they were headed to Earth, or some other planet. 

He wasn’t going to be able to stand the suspense for many more days. They needed to just get it over with.

.

Later that night, after waking from another nightmare back in his own room, Keith stared at the bare walls, so lifeless compared to the other paladin’s rooms. Maybe I was always prepared for this moment, after all. Or maybe he had just been kicked out and left behind so many times that the ability to settle in was impossible for him no matter where he went. 

Struggling to sit up, he groped for the crutches and pulled himself to his feet. He wasn’t going to get back to sleep anytime soon, and no one had expressly forbidden him from venturing out on his own - not that it would have stopped him even if they had.

It took far too long to make it down the four hallways between his room and Red’s hangar. Walking with crutches used a whole new set of muscles that he wasn’t used to accessing, and trying to force his right side to carry that much weight was exhausting. He had to stop and lean against the wall, panting for breath, several times along the way. 

But he made it, eventually. He paused once more outside the door, debating whether or not he was actually ready to see the damage done to Red, before he sucked it up and punched the scanner.

He wasn’t ready. 

The great mechanical beast was lying on her side, a position that somehow managed to make her look vulnerable despite her hulking size. Her legs were splayed awkwardly as if she had just been dropped there. She probably had.

The worst part, though, was that her face was nearly unrecognizable. What had once been her muzzle was completely smashed in, there were spiderweb cracks across one of her dull grey eyes, and the other was missing altogether. 

Actually, he took that back. The worst part was the cold and the silence. 

No purr in his head to greet him. No eyes lighting up in recognition of her Paladin. No warmth filling up his chest and spreading out to his fingers and toes. With Red, there was always some kind of heat. Now, though, a shiver shook his body.

Clenching his jaw, Keith forced himself a few steps closer, until he could reach out, balancing precariously, and lay a hand against her warped, dented nose. It was cold, too. 

Suddenly tears sprang to his eyes for the first time since his panic attack a couple of days before. “‘m sorry, Red.” He stroked his hand over the metal, feeling all of the bumps that shouldn’t have been there. “I’m sorry this happened to you. You didn’t deserve it. You...you’ve always protected me, and…”

Tipping his head back, he took in the mess of a cockpit again, and this time he saw flashes of his nightmare. Something sharp pinning him to the chair. Blood dripping onto the floor.

One tear escaped, sliding rapidly down to his chin. “I don’t even know how I survived this. But if either of us deserved to survive, it’s you. Please, Red...if you can hear me at all...please don’t give up. I know I...I can’t fly you anymore, but…”

It hit him then, the brutal truth of that statement. He’d never fly her again. He might never fly anything again. He’d known it ever since finding out what had happened to him, but now it stabbed him through the heart, how much he was going to miss this semi-sentient alien ship. 

Before he knew it, he was falling none-too-gracefully to the floor, one hand planted in front of him while the other remained on her snout, crutches clattering loudly to the side. The tears came in earnest, then. “Red...Red I lost my leg. I...I can’t fight anymore, I can’t fly…I’m useless.”

He’d told her that before. That time, though, she had reassured him that no, he was her Paladin, he was a defender of the universe, not useless. Never useless.

But now there was no one to reassure him. Even if she had been able, Red would know the truth. He wasn’t her Paladin anymore, he wasn’t a defender of the universe. He was useless.

Next

[chaoticevilbean]

Voltron HC’s for my Humans Are Weird Lance-Centric Story

Lance became immune to most poisons because he wanted to be like Westley in The Princess Bride

Lance has worn heels, dresses, makeup, extensions, etc, multiple times His sisters and brothers helped him learn the skills

Lance has learned how to fix engines, along with other basic/simple engineering skills, because of his brother Marco

Lance is an amazing chemist and knows how to make an impromptu bomb with sweat, a bobby pin and something made of glass, because of his sister-in-law Bella

Lance speaks practically every language to communicate with his friends Lance can cook and bake relatively well because he helped his mother and grandmothers cook

Lance may not be Pidge’s level, but he is a white hat hacker who made money after being hired by multiple governments to make sure they weren’t vulnerable because his brother-in-law Theo dared he couldn’t

Lance knows how macgyver basically anything because of the many things he had happen with his cousins and siblings

Lance can use bows, throwing knives, darts, blowguns, and guns really well, as well as a sling and has a throwing arm of incredibly accuracy because of his father encouraging it (and a boomerang to honor his favorite character Sokka)

Lance knows juego de mani and limalama because Veronica told him to learn to protect himself without weapons and he wanted to make her proud

Lance can sew, knit, crochet, etc, because he wanted to help his mother and grandmothers and sisters

Lance is a disguise pro because of his sisters

Lance is amazing at acting and lie detecting because of his younger relatives and siblings

Lance can dance in practically every way, revealed through pole dancing and aerial silks, and Lance is so flexible Hunk insists he has no bones, all because he played Twister and limbo and refused to lose - and then took gymnastics and dancing classes when his aunt found out and paid

Lance has multiple service animals because his mind doesn’t work like others and he has various needs - each animal does something different

He had a boa constrictor for his anxiety, a parrot to tell him when he accidentally switched languages, a goose to make sure no one hurt his feelings (accidental or purposeful), and a small snake that they couldn’t identify that helps him focus

Therefore, Lance handles all animals extremely well and they automatically love him - several times, he comes back to the Castle with new animals that they can’t get rid of and have to take along

Lance has run and won three marathons so his older brother Phillipe would be motivated to exercise

Lance can swim, climb, and jump better than most people, including Pidge, Hunk, and Keith. He can only swim and jump better than Shiro - they’re matched for climbing, unless they’re in trees, in which Lance wins, because of siblings and relatives

Lance can eat Carolina Reapers without crying because of bets

Lance can sing and knows many styles, including opera - his voice is incredibly strong, and he is told to not sing opera unless there is something protecting other species from the volume - his family would sing together and he took lessons after his uncle started crying at his ‘angelic voice’

Lance is the best diplomat because he understands people and how to get them to loosen up and have fun, which causes them to accept his ‘pack-bonding’ and want to be his ally/friend - because everyone back home was family

Lance can storytell with the best of them because of his grandparents telling their own stories and him mimicking them as he told them about his day

Lance once broke his leg, sprained his wrist, dislocated his shoulder, and scraped himself up really badly because he fell down a steep hill on an island - a few friendly sharks and dolphins came together to help him make it back to home (Hunk’s home because he was visiting)

Caffeine does nothing to Lance - he can consume a gallon of pure espresso without dying or so much as twitching, and he won’t be affected at all. He cannot be addicted, and it’s because his uncle would give him coffee and soda as a little baby when his parents weren’t looking, but he came over semi-irregularly due to travel

Lance cannot get hungover and it takes a whole lot of alcohol to make him drunk. He’s gone to several open clubs, and gotten many drinks bought for him both normally and in a dress and heels - his family had competitions often and he participated from fifteen onwards and somehow was again immune for the most part

Lance can eat a whole pineapple on his own (it was a dare that he worked up to) Lance can whisper at many different volumes and in many ways. He can also throw off his voice. Hide-and-seek tag was fun, especially in the dark where you could freak out whoever was it

Lance can flip knives and screwdrivers and such. He can also throw simple objects with deadly accuracy (pencils) because his brother came out as gay and was bullied, so he learned to flip knives and transferred that to school items, which then transferred to bullies finding their backpacks pinned by a colored pencil that was thrown nearly hitting their necks.

Lance can make a fire easily due to bonfires on the beach. He has no fear for it, and knows minor blacksmithing because him and Veronica liked to make things out of stuff they found on the shore.

Lance has cute hiccups and sneezes, like a little kitten, but only Hunk knows. Whenever someone sneezes or hiccups, Hunk gives Lance a look, waiting for the moment when the cuteness comes. It hasn’t… yet

Lance can do a million what if’s and figure out deep theories for each because his family got bored easily

Lance can mimic practically anything due to a combo of games with siblings and survival skills - and learning to screech in his sister’s ear

Lance can make up a million different swears because they weren’t allowed to cuss around the younger kids. He knows how to come up with the so fast that Pidge wonders if it’s another language for him

Lance is the most protective - Hunk is the only one who’s truly seen what he looks like in a rage (the Galra see - and their ship goes down before they can tell anyone - thank you Black Lion) - Lance will never lose someone in a crowd, and no one can kidnap someone around him - he spent years herding kids in crowded areas and saving them from creeps. He will never lose someone.

Lance is so empathic that he befriends several Galra teams and those eventually join the Blades - he watched his younger relatives fall down and had to kiss lots of boo-boos

He had so many female relatives, Lance knows how to handle periods better than some girls

Lance goes calm when scared - he had to handle whatever danger there was before it could hurt or affect his family - he supercalculates and becomes a supersoldier/assassin

Lance has the best intuition and every human learns this - he knows when something is low quality, when something or someone cannot be trusted, when something is wrong, etc. - Hunk vouches the first time when it’s just humans, and the second time (outside of a battle or something), the Alteans are forced to listen when the four other humans insist Lance should be trusted - it helped him avoid danger

Lance handles stress so well, he barely feels it. His adrenaline is completely on beck and call. He never told anyone but his family because no one else he knows of has achieved a mental switch to the adrenaline rush. He can use hysterical strength on command, but he’s only done it once before. He just goes as calm as when scared if he gets too stressed or if everyone else is too stressed

Lance is the best at grooming - thank you sisters

Hunk and Lance have tattoos and pierced ears (Hunk has a large traditional tattoo on his back); Lance has several tattoos on his center back (flowers and skulls and leaves) with some spreading outwards (vines with more flowers and stuff growing out) and has band tattoos on his shins and biceps; Lance has many piercings in his ears that no one notices unless he’s wearing earrings - his siblings took him to get the tattoos and piercings, and his mother took him to get the first piercings and his father the first tattoo (a small flower on his shoulder blade)

Lance is best at child games like tag and hidenseek because of his family Sometimes, Lance speaks in such complex slang and metaphors that even Hunk barely understands him because he and his siblings and cousins wanted to speak to each other (gossip) without eavesdroppers

Lance cannot control his curiosity well because he had to explore things for and with his family and knew he could handle the situations if they went wrong

Lance loves cute things because of pets and nieces and nephews

Lance learned to talk backwards and can go silent for a long time without losing his voice because of dares

Lance has a high pain tolerance even if he hasn’t been hurt in a long time and it’s helped him (sharks and dolphin incident, saving Coran, just contributing to fight and help his family and friends even in pain) - however, he will likely be extremely dreamy when that happens

ONE DAY: Pidge makes a teleporter and manages to get a friend back on Earth to set up another. She also gets communications up. 

Shiro talks with Adam (this is Adashi and Alluratt), and gets sent some official medals to show he’s a General because of all he’s done and been through. 

Hunk’s mothers and sisters send him homegrown ingredients and some better tools. 

Pidge’s mother spends half the time telling Sam, Matt, and Pidge off for leaving and the other half asking if they’re okay and then sends them each a care package. 

Keith also talks with Adam and gets sent a knife “to remind you of home”. 

Lance’s family takes an hour just introducing themselves to Keith (who Lance insists stays with since he said he didn’t have family - “you can share mine then”) and then spends a good many more telling about what happened; they send over a bunch of shoes and clothes and sewing/knitting supplies and chemistry supplies and etc so he won’t get bored and then Veronica asks him if he can ask Pidge if the teleporter can do it with living things. 

She says it can, but don’t have anyone come because of the danger - Veronica sends Lance’s service animals and they all missed him so much and instantly like the team. 

Maverick is the goose (*tell dad that joke with a straight face*)

Princey is the boa constrictor

Alexander is the parrot 

Cleopatra is the unidentifiable snake

Maverick tries to peck Keith whenever he makes a rude comment on accident, so Keith starts learning what’s hurtful and how to rephrase his thoughts so they’re not as hurtful but still honest.

Princey loves Hunk and tries to hug everyone.

Alex imitates Coran’s voice and uses that from then on unless Coran is around then he’ll bark like a dog once to alert Lance that it’s the real deal - Alex knows that helping Lance is important and Coran helps Lance so using Coran’s voice helps a lot. 

Pidge wants to know what Cleo is, but Cleo doesn’t leave Lance’s side unless necessary because he ‘disappeared’ for the animals.

The other collected animal assortment learn how to help Lance from his service animals and soon he almost always (except battle) has at least three other creatures besides his service ones following him and helping.

Lance took drama class and was in the play put on by the class, but worked backstage as stage manager (was on the floor and used his intuition for lights and sound and stuff)

For the drama club play - he was the lead almost every time no matter how many times he suggested someone else might be better.The one time he wasn’t, he was the love interest (he was Mais Merian instead of Robin Hood)

He always got special recognition when backstage and that time as the interest despite him nominating literally everyone else

Lance has met Mothman - that’s all he tells Keith and co, but he used to get together every Saturday night for stargazing with Mothman and a lovely sasquatch, and they kept in touch when he left for the Garrison; Veronica helped them and let the cryptids know that Lance was okay after communicating with the Paladins.

Mothman was named Emilio by Lance and nicknamed Em. The sasquatch was named Alli.

Lance has been “adopted” by packs of wild animals several times and not always packs. He once was pushed by a bully over the edge of the crocodile enclosure at a zoo (bully just pushed, didn’t mean to make him go over) on a school field trip when he was twelve. They couldn’t get the crocs to give him back til his abuelita came over with a chancla and scolded them until they gave the boy back. 

He was allowed back into the zoo for free so long as he helped when the animals were cranky or needing shots because they were always calm around him. 

He befriended every animal. 

Rosa the gorilla was a lovely little lady who would sing with him and she would start singing the moment she heard/saw him. They had a special song just for the two of them to sing. 

Lance went viral, but not many recognize the twelve year old as him, especially because people stopped posting when it became clear he wasn’t going to stop and they got used to it. 

Keith remembers the hippo video and wishes he could’ve joined that boy. When it is eventually revealed that Lance is the Animal Tamer, he promises to get Keith his own hippo (his uncle bought the zoo when it started to close down a few years back -same people work there, just different ownership. Lance knows his uncle won’t mind) 

Keith is ecstatic and refuses to believe Lance is lying, and Shiro and Pidge worry and are shocked. Hunk knew.

Lance learned to hang upside down like a bat for long periods of time because his family had a huge vacation house with rafters but the house got crowded since everyone would come and Lance would stay in the rafters with Veronica to provide more room and both became known as the Bat Twins. 

Lance uses this to scare the Blades by telling Keith to tell Kolivan about vampires and then hanging from the vents and hissing at people while wearing black and dark red and a cape that he made. 

He also has fake fangs and red contacts so no one recognized him but the humans and now everyone is on the lookout for the vampire in the vents. 

Keith and Shiro never leave the team or disappear. The Blades approach the Paladins seeking an alliance.

Hunk and Lance were pen pals at three because of Lance’s aunt who knows one of Hunk’s moms, and they met at five when the aunt brought him back. 

He went every year for both short and long trips, and the island Hunk lived on accepted Lance into the community, so now he has traditional tattoos on his lower back and across his shoulders that meld with his previous tattoos easily. 

He got the lower back one when he was thirteen and the shoulders when he was fourteen. The bands are a combo of Cuban and Samoan culture in their styling.

Lance had worked on some of his relatives’ farm after school since he was seven. He knows how to milk a cow, herd flocks, lasso (probably lassos a thief at some point), hogtie, farm (plants), make animal calls and whistles, get chickens to obey, ride a horse and a bull, use a scythe like a pro (and terrify Pidge and Shiro on their makeshift Halloween while Keith attempts to figure out how a cryptid, a quiznacking GRIM REAPER, got aboard. Hunk just stands back to watch the chaos), bargain/barter like a pro, withstand extremely strong winds and other storm conditions without falling over (he can walk, make himself heard, and even run and jump and climb like normal), tell when something is sick or ready to be harvested/milked, tend to many animals, speak in farmer slang, and has memorized the planting requirements for many crops.

Lance can stand off in a growl/roaring match (baring teeth and trying to seem bigger) against bears, Alli the sasquatch, wolves, and several Galra soldiers. He came across many Earth predators and knew that his logical mind could overcome his primal instincts that would make him give in to a wild animal. 

Therefore, whenever Lance and co happened on one and needed to scare it off, he would do so by not giving in in the slightest, which eventually broke the other, especially since it was always obvious he was protecting his family. 

If it was two ‘mamas’ (Lance is ‘mama’), then both seemed to feel it and would stand down and head their separate ways.

The Galra found out when Lance stood off against a commander in a ground base and got the enemy to give in. Once the commander was submissive, the others gave in and the base was converted (secretly) to the Blades.

After all, Lance didn’t try to hurt them, simply continued on his way. And he was heard getting the others to not destroy the base because “these soldiers aren’t with the Empire. At least, not because they want to be. They’re with the Empire because it’s all they know. Let’s leave them be now.”

The Blades found out as a whole when a Blade tried to tell Keith off of going on a small reconnaissance mission because he was too small.

Lance came to the defense, and unbeknownst to the Paladins, Lance was then on known as the Caretaker of the group, a type of alpha that doesn’t lead, but is very protective of their pack and is willing to do whatever necessary to protect them. Shiro is the alpha, but even he will give in to the Caretaker if faced off with the alpha side of it.

Lance then finds himself taking less fire during battle, which helped him focus better on protecting his team, because the word got out and the Galra don’t attack Caretakers or kits because they’re the most important. Together they are the future.

Lance is both a kit and a Caretaker, attempting to protect his fellow kits, and that means that they are very hesitant to attack. They have to rethink strategies to avoid lethal offenses due to Lance’s willingness to take the hits and the fact that they are all kits.

There is one adult in their group and it’s a crazy middle-aged Altean.

Kolivan sees the Caretaker up close and personal when he ‘loses’ Keith. Before Lance can do more than growl and prepare to shout and cuss out the Blade for losing his teammate, Keith comes busting out of the vents spouting off about how he was training and then he was asked to go find the vampire and even though he knows the truth it was too good an opportunity, and then he thinks the Blades lost track of him and then he heard the Paladins boarding and it wasn’t Kolivan’s fault, it was an accident.

Lance immediately backs off and tells Keith to use the Castle’s training room. He seriously just got back from the reconnaissance mission, take a break.

Lance can handle many different temperatures because of the weather back home and his siblings often taking him out camping.

Back home, everyone was family to Lance. On Hunk’s island home, everyone around them was family or friends.

Lance and Hunk can walk, talk, sing, dance, and overall move in unison to the point where they seem telepathic. They can do so for a long time.

Their record is three days, where they woke up and went to sleep at the same time and helped each other make food and overall astounded their fellow Garrison cadets. Pidge was there and can vouch that it was terrifying.

Lance will always rescue someone in need. It gains them many allies from Galra, Empire supporters who only support it because it’s all they know, pirates, fauna, some flora, a few allies who were going to discuss the alliance until Lance helped a kid up or saved an animal without any incentive. They all saw a caring nature in a vicious predator and decided that was the perfect ally.

Lance celebrates Hanukkah, Christmas, Días Des Les Muertos (check spelling), a bunch of other holidays and a lot of birthdays because of his large family. He keeps it up in space by either putting up decorations in a few rooms (sometimes rooms that no one visits so they won’t be taken down) or going around saying something like “Happy Marco’s birthday!”

Lance has an incredible sense of smell because of diapers, cooking, identifying nature and other things so he can tell what is in something rather easily and can even track down stronger smelling things with relative ease.

Lance is the flower crown making champ and can make all sorts of styles since his nieces and nephews always wanted them

Lance and Hunk have the worst dark humor and it’s a major surprise, but it comes from being exposed to other people a lot and Lance had social media.

His Instagram is of animals and nature, his Twitter is of weather and the beach and more nature, his Facebook is his crafts and art and occasionally some songs (just audio clips and you can’t really identify him with his voice, he even did opera once), Reddit has theories and he’s incredibly respected for his ideas and theories especially because it’s just for fun and he says that, Tumblr is random stuff and everyone loves him (both the fandoms and the hipsters).

None of his accounts have his face or information, so he’s completely anonymous. Hunk learned from Lance.

Lance has wonderful rhythm because he had to get thirty kids to sing Cotton Eye Joe and do the dances at the same time

Lance never took ice skating lessons but is really good and has had several people offer to teach him or ask him to join an event/team

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 207 prt 1

207

Lotor was still a sack of shit. Keith managed to get him pinned, then the arsehole had pierced his side with his nails, fangs bared and irritation in his eyes as he stared down at Keith. The pain causing him to shift back, Lotor finding it amusing in causing him to yield, but he’d get him back. Dragging himself to the showers, the amount of blood running down the drain was alarming. Keith really wasn’t used to these kinds of wounds not being fatal. It was tiresome to have to spar in cheap shorts because the moment he shifted his clothes were ruined. Lance had taken him op-shopping. Proud that he was getting the hand of letting the shift happen. Keith didn’t think he was getting the hand of it. He only seemed to be able to shift when he was training... and then it’d taken days to be able to do it again after his first wilful shift... that he didn’t remember.

Leaving the shower, still bleeding, Keith nearly had a heart attack at Krolia sitting on the bench in front of his locker. His mother were a concerned look, that took a long moment for Keith to work out. A hot shower on top of blood loss was a silly idea. Instead of feeling clean, he felt faint

“Mum?”

Lifting the first aid kit beside her, his mother was creeping him out with her concern

“I thought you could use some help with your wounds”

“Oh... uh, they’ll heal”

Krolia sounded almost disappointed in him as she pointed to the spot next to her. He wasn’t getting out of this

“Humour me”

Be fussed over by his mother was different to being fussed over by Shiro or Lance. Lance kissed his wounds, before he cleaned them up and told him he was proud that Keith was making progress, even if he hated seeing him coming home bleeding. Shiro went to fretting and wondering if he needed stitches. Krolia went to the alcohol wipes that made him yip

“Sit still you big baby”

“Stop poking at them. They’ll heal”

“You’re very lucky you’re a wolf. You’d be dead if you were still human”

Rolling his eyes, he knew that. He knew that a hundred times over. The fact his body healed was so damn weird

“Tell me something I don’t know”

Dropping the wipe she’d been assaulting his right hand side with, his mother pulled him into a hug that left him still. He didn’t move to return the hug, nor did it feel like a nice loving hug... No. This was the kind of hug he’d gotten from Lance after his accident. The “I’m worried about you” hug that made his heart race

“Mum?”

“I want you to stop training with Lotor”

She what now? Blinking half a dozen times, Keith wrinkled his brow

“Mum, you know I’m okay...”

“I know, but I can’t stand it. I’ve been watching your training sessions with him... Keith, it scares me. I don’t want that kind of violence for you”

“We’re training...”

“You’re fine the way you are. I know you’re a skilled hunter, but every time I see you covered in blood, it hurts. I know it hurts Lance too. He called me in tears the first time it happened. He’s very proud of you, and he’d never tell you not to train. I’m very proud of you. But I think you need to take a break for a little while. You can go on patrol with Shiro, just... please... I know you heal, but I’m scared you’ll go too far”

Keith was shaking. He’d worked his arse off for this. He had yet to actually beat Lotor, but he was getting to know how his wolf. He was getting to be less scared about what he was now. Now Lance was having secret conversations with Krolia, while telling him to his face he was proud of him... and his mother was telling him not to fight? She’d fought every day of her life in more ways than one...

“I don’t get it”

He simply didn’t. He was strong. He was fast. The wounds healed. And his ego agreed with him. They could do this

“Keith... I overstepped. Just... I want you to be careful. You’re my son. I am so proud of you”

Why did it feel like there was a “but” to that?

“But?”

“I know I was never a good mother. I guess seeing your father again reminded me of a time when I didn’t have to fight... Let me finish cleaning you up”

“Mum, I’m okay. Training with Lotor is helping. It means I’ll actually know my limits in the field and be able to protect Shiro and Curtis”

“But who’s going to protect you?”

He didn’t have an answer for that. His ego said he didn’t need protecting. That they were better than those humans. The thought upsetting him as soon as it crossed his mind. Shiro was his brother. His pack. He has his back more times than Keith had hot dinners. Maybe... maybe he was getting too cocky? Maybe... he was being mean and didn’t know it? He and Lance hadn’t been very intimate since he’d started training with Lotor... Was Lance thinking he didn’t want to touch him?

“Keith?”

“I’ll think about it. You don’t have to worry about dressing the wounds. Lance will take care of it at home”

He wanted to go home to his fiancé and talk this out. He thought Lance had been proud of him. Not running to his mother because he couldn’t face him. Lance said he understood Keith’s fatigue... He’d said he was proud... Honestly, Lance not being honest upset him far more than Krolia telling him to stop

“About that. Yeah, Lance isn’t at home right now. I picked him up earlier and now he’s with Curtis and Shiro”

Had he fucked up? Why wasn’t Lance at home

“What do you mean he’s not at home?!”

“You don’t need to yell. Rieva was a little worried about him, and I wanted to borrow him anyway. He’s fine. Rieva couldn’t very well to his future mother-in-law needing to borrow him, not when I said I’d bring him to Platt”

“Mum!”

Rieva was Lance’s babysitter. He’d lapsed back into barely being able to keep his eyes open again. The female werewolf was sure labour would be coming on soon, Lance cut her down by saying he was exhausted from her and her birthing plan. Keith was exhausted from hearing about the birthing plan... and he wasn’t the one doing any of the hard work. Frankly she was slightly scary

“Again with yelling!”

“You can’t go stealing Lance”

“I didn’t steal him. Anyway, he’s safe. I needed to borrow him for the afternoon, actually, I needed to borrow both of you. Preferably for the night according to Matt”

Matt couldn’t go kicking them out their own home. Frankly Keith had enough to deal with. He wanted to hurry up and buy Lance the engagement ring already, but the engagement ring had to be the right ring. It had to match his plans for his replica of Mami’s ring. Lance never mentioned it, but he’d noticed that his fiancé had had a sad look on his face as he looked at Rieva’s new bling. They still hadn’t told anyone... and for Keith, the novelty had started wearing off. He wanted to scream and shout they were engaged... but until he got a ring for Lance, they’d only cop judgment from their friends.

“He can go fuck himself”

Three werewolves were not meant to live together when they were all worried over Lance. Matt had ever started trying to feed Lance, sacrificing his precious food to Lance who only felt worse and worse each time he did

“Don’t be like that. He’s planning Lance’s surprise baby shower. Pidge is in charge of the entertainment and drinks. Hunk and Shay are doing the catering. Rieva is decorating, and Matt is providing the muscles. Allura and Coran are going to drive down in the morning. Thankfully I had a valid reason for needing the both of you, so it all worked out rather nicely”

“Do I get to know what this reason is?”

“I think it’s better I show you rather than simply tell you”

His mother was enjoying this. Keith huffing at her in annoyance. Now his talk with Lance would have to wait, and his stupid ego would be all bent out of shape as it did. He really missed being a human.

*

Krolia sprung another surprise on him. He’d thought his mother had her own apartment in a seperate part of the city. Not her own apartment a floor below where Shiro’s apartment was. Confused at why they’d gotten off a floor early, the only thing that kept him huffing about it was subtle traces of Lance’s scent in the hallway. Lead down to one of the anonymous doors, Krolia took delight in opening it

“Welcome to my apartment!”

The place was decorated the same as theirs. The same primary colours, accented with black and white. Her sofa was black, instead of red, but for the most part it was disorientatingly similar. Sitting on the sofa, Lance was asleep against next to Curtis who had his arms around the vampire’s shoulder

“Hey, Keith. Come on in. Lance’s been out for about half an hour now, and Shiro’s upstairs”

Curtis’s familiarity with the apartment annoyed Keith. As Krolia’s son, he didn’t understand how he was the last to know she lived right below him. He didn’t want to deal with her shit

“Fuck this. I’m going to get my bike”

As he turned, Krolia sidestepped. Grabbing him by the wrist, he was propelled into her apartment and the door closed behind the pair of them. The look in his mother’s eyes told him he had to stay, no matter how he might feel about it

“Thanks, Curtis. I’ve got it from here”

“No worries. You know, you could have told us you actually lived her”

Kroli shrugged, smug as she did

“I would have, but none of you thought to ask”

Why did he keep letting Krolia do this to? He’d never understand her sense of humour

“Mum, you... why do you do this to me?”

“I’ve got 20 years of mum jokes to make up for. I can, and will, have this. Can I get something you something to drink?”

“Can it be alcoholic?”

Something strong. Something that burned on the way down. Something that’d make him forget his weirdo mother’s excess of weirdness and soothe his annoyance with the situation. Krolia laughed far too hard

“Keith, you my son, are a funny one. Go save Curtis from Lance and I’ll whip up something up to go with our drinks”

Taking Lance from Curtis, Lance barely stirred. Slurring his name, he smiled at Keith as if he hadn’t seen him in years, not a few hours. Snuggling into him, the vampire sighed in content. Lance wouldn’t lie to him, Krolia had to have misunderstood. Stretching, Curtis shot them both a smile. Keith not matching it as his lover smelt too much like everyone else

“He’s had some blood from a bag. He felt a bit warm earlier, so I don’t know if he’s coming down with a fever, or if he’s just super tired. One moment we were discussing our show, and the next he’d fallen asleep”

“He does that. Thanks for watching over him”

“It’s fine. He seems a bit stressed about what’s happening at home. When you’re done here, come on up. I’m going to grab some blood bags before I go home”

“Thanks. That’d be handy. How big is the party going to be?”

“Not that big. Pidge has been warned against loud noises. Hunk was having a nervous breakdown over the cake, but I think he’s got that sorted now”

“As long as he doesn’t go overboard”

“With three werewolves to feed, I don’t think even Hunk can over cater. I’ll give you our gift when you come up”

“Nah, save it until tomorrow. Lance will get suspicious if you’re suddenly giving us gifts”

“Provided he can stay awake long enough. Is he okay to be sleeping?”

“Yeah. From what we can tell it’s a pregnancy thing. I’ll keep an eye on him and call Coran if he does develop a fever”

“Okay, then I’m off. I’ll see you tomorrow, Krolia!”

“See ya, Curtis!”

Left alone with Lance in his mother’s den, Keith stroked his fiancé’s hair. Fresh blood would help perk Lance back up, but his mother seemed uncomfortable when he fed him, plus he’d kind of lost a fair bit thanks to Lotor. He could imagine Coran in there scraping his blood off the training room floor for testing, the werewolf’s nose wrinkling at the thought of it all. Lance could have told him if he’d acted out, or if his ego had been being mean to him. He could have told him if he was scared of who, or what, Keith was becoming. He’d nearly given up, then Lance had encouraged him to keep going... Maybe it was a hormone thing? Like when Lance had cried over the puppy in a TV commercial the other day...

Attempting to be civilised, his mother brought him out of his thoughts by placing down a serving tray with two coffees, a tea, and an unopened packet of biscuits. Squeezing herself onto the sofa, Krolia slung her arm over Keith’s shoulder

“This is nice, isn’t it?”

“That you’ve been hiding you’ve been living here? Or that I’ve got no idea what’s going on?”

He and Shiro might be hopeless decorators, but they’d managed to make the apartment feel like theirs. Krolia’s apartment lacked all the personal touches he’s become used to... plus there was a disturbing lack of fur over everything

“Both. Both is good. Now, I know I’ve ruined your plans, but I’ve got something to show you”

“It better be good. Lance should be sleeping in a proper bed”

“You can put him in mine, if you want”

“Lance is fine right here with his Keith”

Poking Lance in the side, Keith kissed Lance’s hair as he did. Mumbling Lance was a sleepy Lance

“You’re supposed to be sleeping”

“I am... can’t you tell?”

“Oh, yes, babe. 10 out of 10, best sleeper”

“I feel sick... you smell like blood”

Lance must have felt too sick to praise him for his monster dick. Thank god they weren’t having that conversation in his mother’s apartment

“Lotor got me again”

Lance huffed, nosing into Keith’s chest right near where Lotor had got him in the left side with his thumb nail

“He sucks... get it, because he’s a vampire and a wanker”

“I get it. Do you want to wake up for me? Or do you want to sleep some more?”

“Cuddles and awake”

“Okay. You going to sit up?”

“Nope. Sorry for interrupting you”

“You’re fine, babe. Mum was about to cut the crap and tell me what she wanted to show me”

“Oooh... I wanna see. Can I see?”

Krolia tried to crane past him to see Lance, Keith shifting slightly to angle his back more towards her as a barrier between the pair of them

“I thought it best that you were to see it with Keith. Are we ready?”

“Yes, please”

“Hiiiiiiii, Keith. Hey, mummy’s big boy... Hello my love. Joe, he looks just like you. Look at him. He’s got your frown. Aw, Keith. It’s okay. Daddy isn’t very scary. No, he’s not”

“Krolia, I think you’re scaring him with the camera”

“You shouldn’t have let me buy it if you didn’t want me using it”

As his father laughed, baby him let out an unhappy cry. His father rushing to hush him as Krolia’s laugh crackled.

Bundled in his father’s arms on screen, Keith had to keep blinking away the tears in his eyes. His dad. His dad was there... The camera footage was old and grainy. He looked thoroughly unamused at Krolia poking the camera so close, but... it was him. Him and his dad. His dad...

“H-how...?”

“After Lance had cleaned I managed to find these in Joe’s closet. They were down the bottom in a box without any labels. I didn’t know what was on there until I dropped the tapes in to be put on DVD... You always hated having a camera anywhere near you when you were a baby”

“Dad...”

“They could only recover footage from two of the tapes. I kept the lot, in case one day they find some way to pull the videos off... You were such cute baby. You never liked having your nappy changed. The moment the cloth touched your balls, you’d scream and scream as if I was trying to murder you”

“You would too if someone was putting a cold cloth on your balls. I didn’t know you and dad had a camera”

“It was a gift. Nothing fancy and certainly not new... I’d forgotten about it. I didn’t see it at the house, so I’ve got not idea what happened it to. Things weren’t like they are now. We didn’t have video cameras in our palms”

He and Lance agreed to keep photos of the twins off social media. Lance had seen a really messed up case during his last time through university. How the law failed parents who posted photos of their children online where they could be seen by less than desirable people. The thought revolted him

“How old was I?”

“I’d say you’re about a month or two. You got a lot more photogenic as you got older. The other video is when you’re 4”

The first video was only 5 minutes long. A really silly video of his dad trying to settle him while Krolia laughed at all his fussing.

“Keith. Hey, Keith, what are you doing?”

Younger him gave the camera a toothy grin, missing his front two. He was so small. His eyes as purple as ever

“You came off your bike and knocked them out. Joe rushed you to the doctor. You were more concerned with not being able to have homemade lemonade than about losing your teeth”

“Keith, I’m talking to you”

Young Keith was as done with Krolia’s crap as he was. Holding his purple hippo, he was twisting himself back and forth, showing off for the camera as he whined directly at the lens

“Mum, I’m waiting for dad!”

“You’re waiting for daddy? But he’s at work”

“I know he’s at work. I’m not dumb”

Huffing, young him pouted, stomped his foot and crossed his arms.

Lance snorted at him, his hand squeezing Keith’s gently

“You haven’t changed one bit. You’re so adorable”

“Wasn’t he? He loved that hippo so much...”

“Guys, I’m trying to watch the video”

He didn’t want to watch himself, but he did hope his dad would be in it. Having been warned, Lance and Krolia shut up.

“I didn’t say you were. You can do just about anything, and I think you should take me on a tour of our house so I can show daddy later”

Young him huffed again

“That’s dumb. Dad knows where everything is, mum. He’s not like you”

He was a vicious little shit

“You’re really mean to me. Don’t you love, mummy?”

“Not when she’s asking stupid questions...”

Oh god. Keith’s cheeks were flaming with embarrassment. Krolia laughing on the video

“Okay. Okay. Mummy obviously doesn’t know best. Why don’t you do a dance and I’ll film you?”

To his horror, young him shook himself out and danced on the spot. Lance laughing at his “dancing”. Finishing, he stared up at the camera, when Krolia didn’t say anything, he did it again. Parents shouldn’t be allowed cameras

“That’s my boy. Are you sure you don’t want to show me around?”

Pushing his finger to his cheek, he twisted it on the spot as if he was thinking “seriously”

“Are you going to get lost if I don’t?”

“I might”

Sigh dramatically, young him rolled his eyes heavily

“Fine, but you’ve got to remember this stuff, mum. I can’t remember everything for you all of the time. It’s too much”

Young him took them on a tour of their home. Bragging about his dad being a firefighter who rode in a huge truck. His favourite toy being his hippo, but he also loved his toy cars and had kicked a hole in the wall of his room when he’d been put in a time out. He sounded like the spawn of Satan. He definitely had far too much sass for a four year old. Krolia repeatedly scolded for her questions, laughing at him every time he got cranky with her. Seeing the house lived in, he could see the love. His things were everywhere. His “art” pinned to the fridge. Krolia slipping on his discarded skateboard, swearing loudly as she caught herself, young him happy to parrot the bad word then question why it was a bad word if mummy was saying it.

As young Keith concluded his tour, the door to the shack opened. Krolia forgotten

“Daddy!”

Rushing to his dad, the camera was placed down, the video slipping sideways as his father scooped him up.

Keith’s heart ached. His dad was everything he’d hoped he’d be. Everything he’d said he was as he passed from home to home. Yet he barely remembered him. The sound of his voice filled with so much longing to reach through the screen and hug his dad.

“Hey, kiddo! Did you have fun with mummy today?”

“Mum said “Fuck””

Young him giggled at the word as his father huffed

“I’m not surprised. Hey, hun. I see his fever went down, he’s still a bit a warm”

Krolia entered the video, his father wrapping his arm around her and kissing her on the top of her head

“Yeah. You wouldn’t have known he sick last night”

His father hiked him up on his hip, kissing Keith’s forehead

“He takes after you. Don’t you, kiddo?”

“I wanna be like daddy. Mummy is weird”

His father laughed, Krolia moving away from them

“She might be, but if you keep saying that you’re going to make her cranky”

“She’s scary when she’s mad...”

“I can still hear both of you. I think this means no dessert for either of you tonight”

Krolia moved back to the camera, the last shot was of him throwing up on his dad and bursting into tears.

A long moment passed into two. Lance grunting as he wiggled himself forward on the sofa

“Babe?”

[loveafterthefact]

Love After the Fact Chapter 75: Two Different Kinds of Tension

One of our lead couples has lunch with their in-laws and the other couples goes on a date.

Much, much later than I said it would be, here’s chapter 75!!!

First  Previous  Next

Adam is preparing to return home, watched by a very forlorn Galra. As eager as he is to go home, to get every detail of Altea back into working order, he finds a certain reluctance tugging at the back of his shirt. A part of him wants to stay.

“Do you really have to go?” Shiro asks, not for the first or last time, even though he already knows the answer. He wants Adam to stay too, or maybe he wants to follow. Neither is possible.

“Yes, I really have to go.” Adam pulls the last of his clothes from the captain’s closet, realizing just how many of his things -all of them- made it into Shiro’s quarters. “I’m leaving tomorrow with their Majesties and Pidge, as planned and expected.”

“I know. I know. I’m just really gonna miss you. You can’t blame me for that.”

“I suppose not.” Adam murmurs, laying out a set of nightclothes and a change of clothes for tomorrow on the stool up against the wall. “Though I still don’t really know what you see in me.”

“No, you don’t, do you?” Shiro hangs his shears on the wall, sweeping the trimmings off the floor below his trellises. The pieces he wants to keep are laid out on a worktable, ready to be tied and hung. All normal, innocent, except for the sly smirk on the man’s face.

Adam bristles. No one gets under his skin, sees everything underneath, the way Shiro does.

“I am a soldier, Adam. As far as I’m concerned, loyalty is the best characteristic a person can possess. The Captain takes his hand, gently tugs to pull him closer. “You fit that ideal more than anyone I’ve ever met. You’re clever, conniving, brilliant, beautiful-”

“That’s not-”

“It is true,” Shiro insists. “You are many things, and I wonder if you’re actually living up to your true potential.”

Adam licks his lips. Gulps. Melts against Shiro’s encompassing frame. “I am happy with what I’m doing. Though I’m not happy it’s time to leave.”

“It’s probably for the best, though. At least for now. My season is coming up in another movement. It might be a good thing you’re a planet away.”

“Right.” Adam’s edges fit with Shiro’s as best it can despite the size difference between them. “Call me after so I know you’re well, and let me know if I can send you anything.”

“Definitely. I’ll probably be missing your voice anyway. Maybe you could leave something of yours behind for me?”

“Just pick something. Whatever you want.” Adam closes his eyes, wraps his arms around Shiro’s waist. “I’m sorry I can’t give you more. I don’t want to leave you behind bonded to me.”

“I know. I’ll hold out for a day in the future, when one of us finally decides to retire. When we’re old and impotent.”

Adam scoffs. “Like we’ll like that long.” He steps back. “But I’ll look forward to it, just in case… What should we do with our last day?”

“Steal a ship and go for a joyride?” Shiro suggests. “I have something I’d like to show you.”

Adam regards his companion. “Yes, alright.”

“Excellent!”

As he pulls Adam down the hall, he never lets go of his hand. Adam doesn’t let go either.

Lance sighs, finishing the final clasp on his vest. “Can’t believe we’re going from baby joy to lunch with Zarkon. Are we being punished?”

“I’m just surprised he actually wants to see me,” Keith admits, tossing his now ill-fitting vest aside in favor of traditional clothes. He plans to decline a new wardrobe upon his return, at least until he has the kit. There’s no point in wasting materials. “I bet it’s just out of obligation. We’ve been here a phoeb and a half and he hasn’t called upon us yet. Word’s probably reached the people by now. Do I look okay?”

“What do you mean?” Lance asks.

“Do I… I want him to regret it. Throwing me away,” Keith whispers. “I want him to know he made a mistake.”

Lance stares at him for a long moment before kissing his forehead. “If he doesn’t already know, he will. That’s a promise, beloved. As for how you look, you look like a prince of Altea. We can do better, and we will soon, but this will do for now.”

“What does better look like?”

“Like a Galran prince of Altea. Like I said, when we go home, we’ll pick some better colors for you, and get some new jewelry made, and maybe replace this-” Lance points at Keith’s circlet. “-with that comb I gave you.”

Keith smiles, takes a deep breath. “Let’s grab Bruna and Calik. I don’t feel like walking- hi, baby!” BleepBloop scurries in, leaping into Keith’s open arms, wrapping his own arms around the prince’s neck. “Aw, I missed you too. You wanna come make a mess at lunch? Yeah, let’s go.”

“My only real competition,” Lance quips.

Keith cradles his pet, turning to his mate with a grin. “For now.”

Lance gasps, pretending offense. “That goes both ways, beloved!”

The princes mount their elk, returned this quintant by Krolia, hastening them on toward the compound at the top of the mountain. Krolia is waiting for them, smile quiet and subtle, another Galra with cheek and lip piercings standing beside her. “Bashti, take these elk to the stables; make sure they are fed and watered. Your majesties, I have been asked to escort you. His excellency has decided to eat outside today.”

Krolia leads them through halls into a courtyard bearing nothing but a table furnished with food and drink. The edge of the open ceiling is framed by columns, shaded halls beyond. The royal family is already there, Lotor speaking urgently to his father. Krolia leans in to explain.

“One of Captain Shirogane’s men, Haxus, failed to report a few quintants ago. No one has seen him since. This makes forty-seven members of the compound militia. Others have vanished from various fleets and battalions. Zarkon believes they are simply deserters. Lotor disagrees.”

Allura catches sight of them from her seat next to Lotor, face splitting into a grin when she sees her brother. She gets up, hurrying over, throwing her arms around her brother.

“Hi! It’s so good to see you both!”

“Hey! How’s my nibling doing?” Lance pats Allura’s rounding belly.

“Nibling is fine. I’m fine too, in case you were wondering. Lotor is… resisting the urge to commit patricide-”

“Sounds normal.”

“Yes. Romelle is… less fine, but she’s relatively healthy, so that’s something.” Allura tucks a loose curl behind her ear.

“I’m so sorry, ‘Lura.”

“It is what it is.” Allura smiles. “Father’s still looking, but at this point I’m not optimistic.”

“We’ll make sure she’s well taken care of, regardless.” Lance kisses his sister’s cheek, maneuvering carefully around her protruding belly. “Shall we go rescue your dear husband before he runs out of self-restraint?”

“Please and thank you,” Allura agrees. She pulls Keith into a hug. “I’m so glad to see you’re well-”

The prince pounds his fist on the table, making Allura jump. “IT IS NOT NORMAL!!!”

“Son, please. There is political upheaval. The people will adjust.”

Lotor seethes, jabbing a finger at his father. “You are completely-”

“Ah, Crown Prince Lancel, Prince Yorak! Welcome! I apologize for anything you might have overheard. My son and I were just having a disagreement.”

“It’s fine.” Lance waves away the emperor’s apology with a cheerful smile before helping Keith into his chair. “I’m just glad to know I’m not the only one who has the occasional screaming match with their father.”

“Oh, surely you and Alfor get along,” Honerva protests. “You are both so much alike.”

“I know.” Lance’s grin is sheepish as he takes his seat. If he notices the sly curl to the empress consort’s smile, he doesn’t show it. “I fear that’s where the problem lies. Our personalities are quite similar, but our views are quite different.”

“It is always this way with sons,” Honerva sighs. “It is for this reason I hope my sweet daughter is carrying a daughter of her own.”

Keith can feel the way Lance bristles at Honerva’s claim to his sister and nibling. He nudges his mate with his foot under the table.

Allura rescues them from a response. “Son, daughter, neither, either, I care not. If they are healthy and firm in their convictions, I will be satisfied.”

Zarkon grunts. “Better a son. At least let them present as male, so they’ll have better success in conquest.”

“Father, that is wildly archaic.” Lotor glares. “Conquest isn’t everything.”

“Conquest is the foundation for our entire society! If we have no conquest, we have nothing!” the emperor snaps.

Lance sighs. “Just when I think I understand you people…”

“Mnh. Understanding. A powerful thing,” Lotor agrees. “One that our peoples unfortunately struggle to find.” His gaze darts to his father with vicious accuracy.

Keith takes a deep breath, willing no one to start a fight as he starts in on his lunch. He has no real fondness for his uncle or aunt, less so as time goes on, as he processes everything these people have done to him. He meets his cousin’s eyes across the table, a flicker of understanding in his hybrid eyes.

“I’m working on it,” Lance continues, clearly trying to steer conversation. “I have a few ideas, but nothing actionable as of now… What concerns me is the fear. The locals here were terrified of me when I first arrived. It’s taken me my entire stay and a kronil attack to gain their trust, and I’m still not entirely sure that I have it.”

“They trust you,” Keith assures, dropping a kiss to his shoulder.

“Mnh. They did until we got back from your den in the woods and all my scales were glowing red.”

“They what now?” Allura looks up from her lunch, eyeing her brother with bafflement. “Why would they do that?”

When Lance only shrugs, Honerva cuts in. “Your alchemical abilities are unstable, aren’t they?”

Lance nods. Keith rises to his defense. “But improving every day.”

There’s a stretch of awkward silence in the wake of Honerva’s unimpressed look.

“At any rate,” Zarkon says, breaking the silence. “You all have much to learn, including how to be respectful of tradition. The Galra will not be altering their ways to please the Alteans. It’s your duty to make amends.”

“Make amends?” Lance frowns.

“Your people attacked us. Sooner or later, reparations must be paid.”

Lance inhales, ready to snap, but Keith kicks him under the table. The Altean bites his tongue, not willing to put Keith in the line of fire, even indirectly.

“I'm sure we’ll pay in one way or another,” Lance murmurs, thinking of his people’s declining numbers and quality of life. “We both will, I think. Having so much mistrust in your closest neighbor, it’s not good for any of us.”

Zarkon hums, watching Lance eat. He says nothing. No one does.

Keith watches his uncle, observing the way he inspects his mate. He can sense Honerva observing them, too. A glance at his cousin and sister-in-law shows that they’ve both noticed the imperial couple’s fixation on them. He wonders suddenly if his uncle can tell he’s pregnant, is already deciding how to use their kit the moment they’re born. Possibly before, if he can come up with something.

Have they made a mistake?

Keith finds Lance’s hand under the table, guides it to where his blade is concealed at his hip, a silent warning that they might be in danger. Lance laces their fingers together, acknowledging his concerns, promising support.

It only occurs to Keith much later that Lance was extremely careful not to reveal how much authority he has on Altea. He suspects that was for the best.

“So, you’ve seen rivers by now, and rain, and thunderstorms, but have you ever seen a sea?”” Shiro asks.

“I have not. I assume by your tone they are impressive?”

“I find them impressive, so I figure an Altean would as well. And this particular place has sentimental value to me.”

“Very well, then,” Adam sighs, pretending to find the excursion tedious. “Show me.”

Shiro kisses his cheek. “Always so contrary. I’ll settle us a ways back from the shore… This is where I was born, though it was a village at the time. It was destroyed in a skirmish before I lost my first set of teeth.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Mnh. Thank you, but I don’t really remember enough to be sorry myself.”

They both know that’s why Adam is sorry, but neither mentions it.

Shiro settles their ‘borrowed’ craft down on a flat bit of orange rock speckled with green corals, lowers the ramp. Adam takes the Galra’s hand preemptively, finding the action oddly satisfying. “Show me your sea, then. And what’s left of your first home.”

Shiro leads him from the craft, onto a swath of rock formations. The air smells of salt. “Watch your step. It’s just this way. I would have landed closer, but there’s not much more than sand where we’re going. It’s not good for the craft.”

Shiro leads him down the smoothed mounds of stone and around a bend, revealing a view of blue sky and brilliant green lagoon, waves curling over bright yellow sands. There are large, winged reptiles flapping overhead, diving into the water. In the distance, a great beast breaches the water, scales glinting in the sunlight, fins like wings as it sails long over the water.

“Well, here it is. The, um. The headman’s house was over there-” Shiro points their joined hands across the sand to the other side of the lagoon. “And there was a dock in the middle that stretched to the edge of the lagoon and across in both directions. The homes were made of wood and reeds, and they floated on the water.”

“What happened when it stormed?”

“We came ashore and hid in the cave cellars. Or so I’ve been told.” Shiro smiles. “We were a fishing village, and our livelihood came from the sea. Can you imagine it? Me? A fisherman?! But who knows, maybe I would have been good at it. Happy, even.”

“I can’t quite see you sitting on a mat of floating reeds, catching fish,” Adam muses. “I don’t think you could sit still long enough, if fishing actually works as I’ve heard it does.”

“With a stick and a string? Yes, that’s how it works.”

“Definitely not for you.” Adam gazes out at the green water, wind in his hair, salt in his nose, sun on his skin. “Then again, I imagine you would have loved the view. You could fish, and stare at it all day, imagining what’s beneath and on the other side.”

Shiro laughs. “I do think about it! Whenever I find the time to come here, I think about it… I’d like to take you back here, one day. To stay a few quintants, if it’s agreeable to you. I know it’s beneath you, but-”

Adam stops short, turning Shiro to face him. “It’s not. Nothing about you is beneath me, Takashi. Nothing at all. Please, if you believe nothing else, believe that.”

“If you say so.” The soldier gives him a crooked smile before leaning in to kiss him.

For once in his life, Adam decides not to resist change, or even hesitate, choosing instead to drown, to reciprocate. He pours as much into the kiss as he can, trying his best to feel sincere.

He lets their tongues twist, one smooth, one raspy. His fingers curl into the Galra’s short hair as their bodies press close together.

When they finally break apart, because that’s how it always is, Shiro’s gaze is part surprise, part questioning.

“I will miss you, Shiro. Every day.” It’s imperative that Shiro believes him.

“I’ll miss you too. Every day.” The Galra smiles, gray eyes shockingly warm.

Adam turns back to the sea, the waves sighing in his ears. “We should come back here someday. It’s quiet.”

“If ever we both find a day off, we will. But for this quintant, I think we have time for a walk?”

“Yes, we do.”

Grinning, Shiro reclaims his hand, leading him off across the sand, pointing out the remains of some architecture, a net stuck fast in a rockface.

When they return late in the evening, and Adam has time to pack all but the very last of his things, he finds hidden within them a small glass bottle full of bright yellow sand and a few tiny shells.

“Did you put this in here?”

“Yes. It’s a gift. I’ve had it as long as I can remember.”

Adam stares at the bottle, index finger running over a chip in the cork, a scratch in the glass. It’s an incredibly sweet gift, one he hadn’t expected.

“Takashi, will you do something for me?”

“Of course, if I can.”

“Will you- Will you write to me? Writing’s easier than talking.”

“Sure.” Shiro’s hands find his waist. “I look forward to reading what you have to write.”

“And I look forward to more gifts.”

Shiro chuckles. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Adam believes him. He promises himself he’ll reciprocate.

[snaileer]

Chips & Salsa Chp 6

Okay, Lance had definitely not thought through the whole ‘angrily stomp out of the room and leave Keith stunned behind him’ thing. Mostly because now Keith was in his room and Lance had nowhere else to be at five in the morning. It was still a good 2 hours until anyone was supposed to be awake.

What that really meant was everybody still had 2 hours of productive free time until they’d agreed Allura was allowed to beckon for them. God, he wished he hadn’t argued for the extra hours of ‘beauty sleep’ now. Even if sleep was all he wanted to do.

Still, maybe the time would give him an opportunity to shake off the lingering heaviness of his nightmare.

Lance fiddled with the bracelet on his arm. Pidge really was their very own genius extraordinaire. It was measured perfectly to his wrist. Which was saying something, because he had itsy-bitsy crazy thin wrists. From his Mom’s side.

His siblings had teased him relentlessly for having ‘dainty’ wrists. Ha! Lance smiled to himself at the thought. If only his family could see him now; he would absolutely destroy them in arm-wrestling.

He might even be able to beat Marco, but his brother had-

The ringing surged, “Ah!” Lance stumbled to the side with his head in his hands. His elbow hit the wall and he yanked back immediately, “OooooH! Mmmm- ! Mother trucker!” 

His arm tingled with pins-and-needles as he lost balance and fell to the floor.

“Lance!?”

Shiro? 

Shiro. 

He ran down the hall towards Lance, “Lance! What’s wrong?”

“I hit-” Lance hissed in pain again, “I hit my funny bone.” He cradled his left arm against his chest.

Shiro froze in surprise, until he started to shake. Within seconds Shiro stopped trying to contain his snickering and was laughing outright.

“Shiro!” Lance said scandalized, “Stop laughing at me! The funny-bone hurts!”

Shiro was laughing so hard he was wheezing, “I’m sorry,” he could barely get a word out, “It’s just so funny!”

Lance dropped his head against the ground with a thump. “It’s still tingling!” He whined into his chest, sounding for all the world like a petulant child. Which only made Shiro laugh harder.

-x-

Now, Coran had seen some things in his days. He’d seen stars and galaxies and war and peace, applez and orranges, kings and queens. The rise of civilizations. The fall of planets. The lives in between them. 

Still, it was quite a sight to come upon the blue and black paladins in the hallway of his castle. One rolling on the ground in pain and the other laughing uncontrollably at his friend.

“Paladins?”

“Coran!” Shiro managed to talk as he tried to catch his breath.

“What is the meaning of this, Number one?”

“Lance, hit his-” he wheezed again, “funny bone,” A giant smile still plastered across his face.

Lance shouted out next to him, “There’s nothing funny about the funny bone Shiro!”

“There is for me!” 

“Would you like some help, Number Three?” Coran asked as he walked in front of Lance on the floor.

“Dios mio, yes! Please!” Lance took Coran’s hand to pull himself back up, still rubbing his elbow as he glared at Shiro.

Coran shook his head, “I don't think I will ever understand you humans, you’re a very… unique breed.” 

“Don't even try with this one. The funny bone is the most useless, pointless thing the human body ever came up with,” Lance stated the fact like it was his greatest enemy.

“I’ll have to disagree with you there, Lance, because that was exactly what I needed this morning,” Shiro smiled smugly.

“You shouldn't even be awake this early!”

“Oh, but I am. And I will never forget this. Oo-!” Shiro hummed with a discovery, “But thank you for reminding me! I was hoping to catch up with you to go over the Blue Lion.”

Lance’s playful smile dropped.

“You have Olympic talents for dampening a mood, you know that right?” 

“I have been told that once or twice.” Shiro smirked, “And yet we’ve still got to do it.” He latched his hand onto the back of Lance’s jacket.

Lance’s mind worked overtime to try and figure a way out. He couldn’t confront Blue, not after everything that happened. Everything that he’d done.

“A unique breed indeed,” Coran murmured as he watched Shiro continue to half-drag Lance towards the hangers.

“See you at breakfast, Coran!” Shiro waved at him before turning a corner.

“Hey! There’s an option: breakfast! Y’know… eat, talk... not mess with the Blue Lion.” Lance tried to smile.

Shiro infused his voice with false cheer, “Sure, sounds like a great idea! If you’re willing to actually talk now,” Lance cringed, “Didn’t think so.” 

Shiro stopped them in front of the hangar doors, his shoulders sagging a bit, “Listen, Lance, I get the whole not wanting to share with us thing. I don't like talking about my experiences either.” He sighed, “I know it would probably help to talk about it, we both know that, but we also know how hard that is.” Shiro made pointed eye contact with Lance, “So if we’re not going to work on the emotional, then we’ve got to work on the logical. And that means the Blue Lion.”

“Or…” Lance mock shrugged with his hands, “how ‘bout we don't and say we did?” 

Shiro raised a judgemental eyebrow.

“Fine, fine,” Lance raised his arms in surrender, “Didn’t think that one would work anyways,” he grumbled, “All I wanted was some sleep.”

Stepping up to the hanger doors felt more ominous than usual. But when they opened, Blue was just as amazing as he remembered.

And her barrier just as strong.

Shiro followed him into the room as he slowly made it to the particle shield.

“Hey, Baby Blue,” he paused to look up at her eyes, “Miss me?” 

Lance rested a hand on the barrier, trying to feel her in his mind. She used to be a constant presence. Always there to reassure him, to push him further, to help him be better. 

Now?

Now, as he searched for her connection, Lance could feel the walls between them.

Now, as he desperately hoped for even a sliver of her peace, there was nothing.

Now, as his fears were silently confirmed, Lance knew he’d been cut-off from her.

“Sorry, Shiro, it’s just not happening,” He pulled his hand back from the shield quicker than necessary. He hurried to get out of the hanger and alone.

“It’s okay, Lance, I was planning on a bonding session today anyways,” Shiro smiled gently and followed after him.

Lance spun to face him, “Why?! Because you knew this wouldn’t work?!”

Shiro was started back a bit, “No, I just-”

“Don’t worry! I knew it wouldn’t work, too! Of course it wouldn’t work! Why in the wide wide world of Webkinz would Blue ever want me back?! She wouldn’t! I don't even know why any of you want me back! You have Allura now! She’s literally a magical alien princess! How can I compare to that?!”

“We want you back because you're our friend, Lance. You’re the only one comparing yourself to Allura,” Shiro tried to comfort him, tried to fill in those insecurities and worries. He’d seen them in Lance before, known they were there, but they’d grown since he’d been... taken. “We told you: Blue barely let Allura fly her, you are the Blue paladin. Not anybody else.” 

“Well somebody forgot to tell her that! Did you know I can feel the walls between us? I can literally feel everything that’s stopping me from connecting to her. To my lion. Can you even imagine that? I wish I could help you, but maybe I’m not even meant to be a paladin anymore.”

“No, that’s not true, Lance. I know it’s not. Please, just come to the training today. We’ll try this again, and-”

“Don't you get it, Shiro?! It’s not going to work! We can keep trying, but it’ll never work because she shut me out! She cut me off!” Lance’s voice saddened, “Completely.” 

“We can’t be sure of-”

“Fine! I’ll be there. But I’m not promising anything,” Lance turned his back to Shiro, “So don't get your hopes up.” He left the hangar quickly, pushing himself farther and farther away from the Blue Lion. Further into the abandoned darkness.

Lance curled his arms around himself in the empty hallways, but kept walking. A weight settled in his chest. Accumulating from the nightmare, the fight and, Blue. He was so tired.

The density of the heartache slowed him to a stop in front of the observatory, doors opening automatically.

Oh, how he missed the stars.

He’d been in space for probably more than a year now and he’d spent three months without seeing the stars. Without a window once the entire time.

The tablet-pad in the wall told him he still had an hour ‘till he was needed for anything. The massive window ledges called to him. They were hard, but wide enough and long enough for him to lay on them.

Lance stared out at the space beyond the glass. The infinite universe of stars and planets and cultures.

And silence. Without muddling noise or cheering crowds or hushed whispers or dying fear. 

Just calm, clear silence.

A roar thundered through his mind, and he shot upwards, his eyes snapping open. When had he dozed off?

Fading growls echoed in his ears. Quickly being replaced by the ringing.

He just wanted a moment. Just to relax. To relax without shrill screams lingering in the background. He just wanted to escape it. Escape what it pushed him towards. Escape what it made him do. 

Not now. Not now. Not now. 

Not yet.

Lance worked to calm himself down. It’d been worse than this before and it’d be worse again. He just had to move around it. 

Lance climbed off the window ledge and made his way to the wall tablet. He had to get to breakfast with the team. 

God, Keith would be there. 

God, Shiro would be there. He has the actual worst planning ever. Two fights in as many hours with people he literally can’t avoid.

“Ugh, breakfast is gonna be so awkward,” Lance groaned and then forced himself towards the dining room.

He was correct. Breakfast was insanely awkward. Both Keith and Shiro were there and he pointedly avoided making eye contact with them. 

By staring at his goo. 

Shiro cleared his throat, “So, today’s gonna be a training day. Just to get back in the rhythm.”

Ah, green goo. 

“Of working together.”

Very…. 

“As a team.”

Green.

“Including a bonding session.”

Much goo. Very wow.

“Lance, unless you’ve discovered the secrets to Voltron in your goo, please listen to me.”

Lance lifted his eyes in a deadpan look, “I am listening and the goo says 42. I said I’d do it so let’s do it.” His chair scraped against the floor when he stood up. He wished it’d been louder.

“I really don't think mind-melding is something I want to do right after eating.” Hunk protested as he collected bowls to drop off in the kitchen.

“We’re not going swimming Hunk, you’ll be fine,” Pidge patted his shoulder in reassurance.

Once everyone had left the kitchen, they headed straight for the training room. Lance ahead of them, leaving tension in his wake. He just wanted this whole mess of a day to be over already.

Coran handed them the headbands in silence and they all sat together again. The same pattern as their first day as Voltron. But everything else was different, so very different.

“This is going to be a bit of a change from last time, since we’re trying to focus on just Lance. I’ve adjusted the headbands to compensate.” 

“Let’s just get this over with.” Lance put his headband on, watching the others do the same.

“Relax and breath.” 

Lance gritted his teeth against the ringing, he could handle it for now. For this.

“Let your minds connect. The flow between each of you is crucial to your bond as Voltron.”

Hunk reached out first, feeling the link snap into place. Except one. Something blocked him from Lance’s mind.

He tapped it, pressing curiously and shifting around the edges. Searching for the roots and the boundaries of it.

Pidge was second, she hit the wall harder than Hunk had, then followed his lead. Working to discover the problem. To learn.

“Lance, why aren’t you letting us in? You have to let us in for this to work at all.” Pidge snapped at him.

“Yes, I know that. But I can’t feel you guys,” Lance grumbled back.

“Then what’s wrong? Why can't we get in?” Keith argued as he banged against the mental block, trying to force it away.

“I don't know. I can’t feel any of you.”

“Just keep trying, I know we can do this,” Shiro pushed against the barrier between them, the team following suit.

“I can feel you guys now. Just a little.” Lance’s words sounded tight.

“It’s working, just a bit farther,” Hunk urged. They pressed harder.

“I- I don't know guys,” Lance paused for a second, his team didn't, “I think I have a headache-” Lance gasped.

A pulse shot through the wall, slamming into the paladins, forcing them out of the bond, 

“GET. OUT. OF. MY. MIND!!” 

It smashed against them, knocking them back forcefully.

Hunk wheezed from his place on the floor, 

“owww.”

Everyone else groaned in agreement.

“Gaaah!” Lance shouted from his seat, pressing his palms to his temples in pain, “This doesn't make any- what was- but it didn't-”

“Hey, Lance, Lance, come on. What’s happening?” Shiro moved forward quickly  on one knee, grabbing hold of his shoulders and trying to get him to look up. “Lance, what was that?”

“I don't know. I don't know what happened. But the moment you guys got pushed back, I remembered something.” Lance shook his head roughly.

“What?” Shiro let go of him and rocked back in surprise.

“You never said you had memory blanks.” Pidge pointed out at him from propped up on her elbows.

“I didn't- I don’t.” Lance tried to guarantee that as fact for himself, “But for a moment, when something lashed out at you, a memory came through. But it can't be mine. It can’t be.”

“Why not?”

“Because I haven’t forgotten anything! I hate it; but I remember everything!” Lance jerked out his hands, “I counted. I measured. I numbered every. single. day. At most I was off by a week, maybe two. But this isn't- It doesn't fit.”

“Wait, Lance, how long did you count?” This time it was Pidge that approached him. Getting as close as she could with her hologram wrist gauntlet.

“Ninety-one,” Lance yelled, “I was there for ninety-one days and I remember every goddamn one of them!”

“Wait but 91 days is only-” Hunk started in the background, but Pidge quickly interrupted.

“Ninety-one days only adds up to about three months.”

“And?”

“And you were missing for six months. Not three.” Pidge flipped around her hologram to show the numbers ticking past days on the calendar, finally stopping at 182.

Six Months.

Next Chapter: https://snaileer.tumblr.com/post/622144446399758336/chips-salsa-chp-7

First Chapter: https://snaileer.tumblr.com/post/613092735756402688/chips-and-salsa-chp-1

[why-did-i-join-this-fandom]

youngest!voltron member headcanons? like the reader is the youngest out of all of them and she gets constantly babied, maybe for a more specific part she proves that she is just as strong as the other by saving the team when they're kidnapped

I didn’t write the whole “reader getting kidnapped” thing as a headcanon.  I hope you don’t mind.   This was super fun to write!!  Thank you for requesting!!  Please leave some feedback so that I can improve my writing.

Word count: 1439

Being the youngest member of Voltron:

You’re obviously the baby of the group (even though you’re only a year younger than Pidge)

If you joined at the beginning of their adventures, then they’re more likely to trust you to hold your own.  But, if you joined later on, they are more likely to baby you

Hunk is probably the second person to start to not baby you.  He’s probably baking or cooking and you start opening up to him.  You both talk about your families back on Earth.  Maybe you have a younger sibling that you had to defend, or maybe an older sibling taught you how to defend yourself.  Either way, you end up telling stories about the times that you defended yourself and others.  Hunk is still cautious about letting you fight, but at least he knows that you can defend yourself well

Pidge is the first person to not baby you.  She understands that being younger doesn’t mean that you are weaker.  While she can be a bit standoffish, when you do get her to open up, she gets you to help her with training and her technology.  You may not understand everything technological, but it’s still nice to be able to help her and be there to listen to her.  Overall, she understands that you can hold your own and will be there to defend you when the others start babying you.

Keith is surprisingly okay with you fighting.  That doesn’t mean that he won’t baby you, though.  He’s more of the type to train you so that you don’t get hurt.  It’s likely that he’ll be wary of you coming on missions.  If you end up getting hurt, he’ll scold you and train you even harder.  He doesn’t really “baby” you, it’s more of him making sure that you don’t get hurt or die.  It’s either him training you to be your best, or him refusing to take you on any missions.

Allura totally denies that you are strong enough to fight.  She’ll send you on smaller missions that she knows won’t include (much) fighting.  Although her intentions are good, it still makes you mad that she doesn’t seem to trust you.  She sets a tight schedule for your training and barely lets you take any breaks.  The difficulty level for the training is lower than you need, but she’s reluctant to increase it.  Overall, she’s worried that you’ll get hurt, and will likely be like a worried older sister.

Coran is totally for you fighting.  If you are in the castle’s training room.  On the easiest difficulty.  He tries to assign you smaller tasks to stop you from training and going on missions.  No matter how fast you complete the tasks he assigns and how ready you are to fight, there’s seemingly an endless list of things to do.  On the rare occasion that he does let you on a mission, it’s always something small.  You could be collecting something from an abandoned planet and he would still send the whole team to protect you.  He doesn’t like the idea of you getting hurt and will assign you chores around the ship.

Shiro is totally Space Dad(™).  He is strict on not letting you go on missions.  Even the smallest missions are a no from him.  This puts a rift between you two.  You know he means well.  It’s just so frustrating that he won’t even let you show him what you can do.  Not only that, but he tries to not let you do anything dangerous.  Fighting?  No.  Training?  Nope.  Missions?  No way!  Even ovens are off limits for you.  He just wants to protect you and make sure that you don’t get hurt.  You tell him that he might as well baby proof the castle and he actually considers it.

Lance is 100% the protective older brother.  He’s similar to Shiro in the way that he doesn’t want you to get hurt, but deep down, he knows that you can hold your own.  He’s had experience with younger kids and he knows how fragile they are.  But, he also knows how strong they are.  Truthfully, he misses his family back on Earth and is desperately trying to hold onto something familiar.  While Shiro is baby proofing everything, he is babysitting you.

Everyone trying to baby you is so stressful, that when you land on the next planet, you practically bolt outside.  You just want some space to breathe.  The planet was practically abandoned, so you weren’t too worried about the potential danger.

Maybe you should have listened to everyone...

  You were surrounded by aliens.  Not thinking much of it, you tried to tell them that you meant no harm and tried to introduce yourself to them.

  “We know who you are.  You are the baby of Voltron.”  You noticed the evil look in their eyes.  “You will be our leverage against Voltron.”  They readied their weapons, and leapt at you one by one.

  “Guys?  I think I need a little help.”  Your voice came out between grunts and gasps.  It was better to get a hold of the team first, then you could worry about fighting them off.

  Allura was the first to hear your plea for help.  Her response came after about a minute of silence on their end.  She called everyone else and got them to gear up.  While they were gearing up, you were getting increasingly worn out.

  “We’re on our way.  What’s going on?  Are you okay?”  

  “I’m holding up.”  You were interrupted by a swift kick to the gut.  “No major injuries.  They’re trying to use me as leverage.”  They kept attacking, but you kept dodging.

  “Keep fighting.  Voltron is on its way.”

  You kept fighting.  You didn’t want to kill them, but you also didn’t want to be kidnapped.  Knocking them out was a temporary solution, but it seemed to be the best one for now.  The team approached as you fought off the last ones.

  “[Y/N]!”

  The sound of the team yelling for you distracted you briefly.  The last alien took its shot, hitting you in the arm.  You let out a pained yelp, but continued to fight.  You were covered with cuts and bruises.  It hurt like hell, and you wanted to give in to the pain, but you didn’t.  The team was so close.  You had to prove yourself to them.  You had to prove that you could help them.

  Team Voltron landed as you knocked out the last alien.  They crowded around you and started to yell at you for being so reckless.

  Getting tired of their yelling and scolding, you finally spoke up.  “Can’t you see that I’m okay?  I defended myself without any of your guys’s help!  Why can’t you trust me?”  They stopped talking.  “I just want you to trust that I can defend myself!  Almost everyone is treating me like a baby!  You keeping me from fighting is hurting me more than actually fighting ever would!”

  Shiro spoke up.  “Let’s get back to the castle, we’ll discuss this more when we get there.”

  Everyone silently agreed, and made their way back to their lions.  The ride to the castle was tense.  When everyone landed, you walked out with your head held down.

  Pidge was the one to break the tension.  “She’s right, you know.  We all keep babying her.”  She paused to think.  “You guys may not like the idea of her going on missions or fighting.  But, I think she’s proven that she isn’t as weak as you guys think.”  You send a nod to her, silently thanking her for defending you.

  “Yeah, I mean, she always talks about how she defended her younger siblings and how her older siblings taught her how to defend herself.”  Hunk was second to your defense.

  Keith reluctantly chimed in.  “I’ve been training with her, and she’s actually kind of good.”  He doesn’t say anything else, but he didn’t need to.

Lance, Shiro, Coran, and Allura were exchanging thoughtful glances.  The tension slowly rose in the room, before they all nodded at each other.

“Alright.  We’ll try to be a little less controlling.  You’re going to have to double your training and prove that you can handle yourself.”  Shiro spoke.  Lance, Coran, and Allura all reluctantly agreed.

  You wanted to argue that what just happened was enough proof, but you knew that it would be better to just agree with them.  “Thank you.  I promise you won’t regret this!”  With a huge smile you ran over to hug them.

  Maybe almost getting kidnapped was just what you needed.  It’s funny how things work out.

[rangoatemybabynsfw]

Remember how I said I had deaf!Keith headcanons...

I have TWO deaf!Keith au ideas that will probably never get around to writing but I’m throwing them down right here because I need them out of my brain so I can do some actual writing, kay? (Both are Klance btw)

It’s long so it’s under the cut. Feel free to leave comments, thoughts, etc in the replies since my ask box is still closed haha.

Born deaf Keith AU (not as angsty) 

Parents figured it out a little late as he wouldn’t respond to them when they talked. But he was always watching them intently, his stubby little baby fingers on their mouths. 

Gets his first hearing aid at two. Cries when he hears his parent’s voices for the first time.

He doesn’t like it when people stare at his hearing aids, so he keeps them out for the longest time when at school.

Falls behind in middle school because he can’t hear the lecture-only teachers and they talk too fast for him to figure it out via lipreading. And since he’s not a particularly outgoing kid he doesn’t ask others for their notes.

Shiro becomes his tutor. He’s fluent in sign language as his brother is deaf. Keith comes to admire Shiro a lot and starts wearing his aids again but growing his hair out to hide them.

He’s one of the smartest kids in the high school. Has a few friends but he doesn’t talk. He doesn’t like the sound of his voice when he does talk so he avoids it. They chalk it up to him being introverted since they don’t know about his deafness. 

Meets Lance in high school and it’s rocky. Lance thinks Keith’s a pretentious straight-A asshole who was ignoring him when he asked a question about his notes (he couldn’t hear him sometimes he just doesn’t wear his aids) so they don’t get along at first.

Lance throws things at Keith sometimes and shoots rude glares at him. Keith then begins to actively ignore him.

Lance catches him adjusting his aids in his seat and stares perplexed. What the hell are those? Is he listening to music in class? Typical. The straight-A student gets to do whatever he wants because he’s so smart.

More animosity.

Someone comes to talk to Keith at the school about colleges and asks Lance for his classroom. Lance points the way, shocked that Keith talks to anyone since he doesn’t think he’s ever heard Keith speak even once. He watches as they have a conversation with his hands with confusion. 

What the hell? Keith’s deaf? Why didn’t he just say that? He never would have picked a fight with him if he’d known.

Keith signs at him ‘But you still would have picked a fight with me if I’d been able to hear? I shouldn’t have to tell you that I’m deaf for you to be a decent fucking human being.’

Lance leaves Keith alone for a while. Keith thinks he’s finally gotten Lance off his case.

Several weeks later Lance taps Keith’s shoulder and asks if they can talk. He does a whole practiced bunch of sign language to apologize. 

Signs out ‘I wanted to tell you I’m sorry. I should have been nicer, regardless of your hearing. I was terrible and you don’t have to forgive me but can I tell you why I got so mad at you?’  Keith nods, arms crossed and waiting for an explanation. ‘Do you have your hearing aids in?’ Keith nods again so Lance speaks to Keith. ‘I have a big family and uh, I love them but the worst thing about it is sometimes it feels like no one’s listening to you. Like no one is hearing you even when you scream. It’s annoying and they’re not even doing it intentionally. So when it felt like you were ignoring me on purpose it got me frustrated. And angry. You don’t talk much but I get the feeling you know the feeling. Being ignored or not listened to…sucks.’ Keith admits that true with a nod. ‘So can we start again?’ he asks and signs out ‘want to be friends?’

Keith and Lance start over. Lots of talking on Lance’s end and lots of listening on Keith’s.

Lance does some tutoring with Keith and Shiro to bring his grades back up. He learns a little sign language by proxy. Sometimes Shiro will teach him some when they finish their lessons. 

Lance and Keith start having conversations at school with sign, their friendship growing. He stops caring if people know if he’s deaf. Leaves his hair long in case he wants to cover them but starts wearing his hair in a tail so people can see his hearing aids without feeling embarrassed.

People ask Lance how to say things to Keith. They want to talk to Keith too. Now Keith’s got lots of school friends eager to talk to him.

Lance starts falling for Keith over the summer break. They hang out regularly with Keith’s super smart friends from other schools. (Pidge and Allura from an all girls school and Hunk from another school) YAY! THE SQUAD!

By the end of high school they’re both in love (BECAUSE I LIKE A HAPPY ENDING DAMN IT)

Not born deaf Keith (ANGSTY TW: PHYSICAL ABUSE and BULLYING)

He was a really quiet infant and toddler, almost never opening his mouth to speak. But then his parents died in an accident and he stopped talking period.

He was shuttled off to a foster home and was teased relentlessly by other kids for not talking. He knows how but he doesn’t want to. He just wants to be left alone. He gets into fights with the kids until he’s moved to a different home.

The second home is worse. The kids don’t pick on him but one of the adults beats him regularly when he doesn’t answer or doesn’t do what he’s told. 

He takes a beating so bad he has to be taken to the hospital. It’s so bad that he ruptured both eardrums and loses his hearing. 

Keith gets moved to a new home again, this one with an older couple, one of them deaf. They try to teach him sign but he’s obstinate. He figures he’ll just be shuttled off again when he’s too inconvenient for them. But things get better. They’re nicer than the last few homes. 

He gets teased in middle school about his hearing aids but it doesn’t last long when he beats up his bullies. 

One of the older couple passes away. As much as they want to keep them she can’t take care of all her foster kids on her own. They’re all sent out to new homes.

The newest home isn’t bad but it’s not great either. The parents do the bare minimum but they don’t beat him and the other kids give him his space. Better than nothing. He starts high school in the fall.

Lance comes into the school two weeks late. Just moved. Settles into the class pretty well but takes note of Keith who always seems to sit alone at the back of the class.

He notices that people tend to avoid the deaf kid but some of them mess with him. Throw paper airplanes and such at him. He sits alone at lunch. And the kid never talks. Not even to the teachers about the bullying that’s clearly going on.

Lance sees Keith getting beat up after school. They take out his hearing aid and toss it around. Keith’s about to just leave without it until an enraged Lance decks the head honcho. He returns Keith his hearing aid that he puts back in.

‘I didn’t ask you to help me’ Keith writes in a small steno pad. ‘Why did you do that?’

‘I don’t need a reason to help someone’ Lance tells him. ‘Besides those scumbags had it coming…taking someone’s means to navigate the world around them. No mercy.’

Keith keeps an eye out for Lance after that. Sees the way he’s constantly helping people and teachers with anything they need. Turns out Lance has a blind sister who used to get teased a lot. Kids would steal her walking stick and hide it when she was little and Lance always came to her rescue.

Keith doesn’t get picked on for over a week. It’s weird. He keeps expecting the usual guys to come and try to take his hearing aids but they don’t. They seem to be preoccupied with other things now.

He asks Lance about it after a few days. Lance says he told them to leave Keith alone is all. ‘Really? That’s it and they listened to you?’ Keith asks on his steno pad. ‘Yeah’ Lance tells him with a smile. ‘I’m a very persuasive guy’

Someone tells Keith later that the reason they aren’t picking on Keith anymore is that they’re picking on Lance instead. They saw him get beat up in the locker room the other day. He had bruises all over.

Keith is furious. That nosey idiot! Doesn’t he know that if he gets hit hard enough he’ll end up just like Keith? He can’t let that happen to the only kid who’s ever been nice to him. 

He overhears the beatdown behind the school. ‘What a moron, taking that deaf kid’s place’ they say and ‘what has that guy ever done for you or anyone other than scowl at them?’ and ‘why are you even helping him? He your boyfriend?’  Lance just answers ‘I don’t need a reason to help someone, so just…leave him alone.”

Keith slams the door open and they drop Lance to the floor. Keith readies his fists but the group laughs. They’re done there so they leave. Keith helps Lance up off the floor and to the nurses office. (The nurse thinks for a hot second that Keith beat him up but Lance assures them it wasn’t him.) 

Once they’re sure there’s no permanent damage Keith angrily signs at him. Lance doesn’t understand. He uses the notebook instead. ‘You’re an idiot. A moron. You could have gotten hurt, badly hurt. You have friends and family. You shouldn’t get beat up for me.’ But Lance says that’s his choice to make, not Keith’s. 

After that Keith doesn’t let Lance out of his sight. Hell if he’s getting beat again because of Keith. That works two fold because the bullies don’t want to mess with two people at once since there’s a chance they could lose. Keith and Lance together is too much of a gamble to risk.

Being together all the time after that, Lance talks with Keith regularly in his notebook. Then he learns some sign language to talk more. Keith actually starts smiling at school after that and Lance’s new friend turns into his new crush. 

The one time the bully group tries to take them both the bullies fail spectacularly. Keith and Lance trounce them (suffering a few bruises for their troubles). In their victory, they kiss. After that they begin dating. 

They make it through high school without any more hiccups. Keith’s never been happier. They end up going to the same college so they won’t be split up. Because as formidable as the are on their own, they’re best as a team. (BECAUSE I LIKE A HAPPY ENDING OKAY??)

[ephemelody]

everyone knows my love is you

commission for @/interstelklance on twitter! the prompt was: no one believes keith & lance are dating until their engagement, gasp!

“Pidge, look.” Lance wiggles into a seating position on Keith’s lap, settling in as Keith loops his arms around his waist. “You’ve spent the whole morning with us at our apartment today, watching us do the laundry together and feed each other waffles and cuddle on this couch. I’m wearing Keith’s shirt right now, too, if you haven’t noticed. Do you really think I would do all that if I wasn’t head over heels in love with him?”

“I could kiss him if that helps.”

Keith sounds entirely too hopeful voicing that suggestion. Lance shoots him an admonishing — yet disgustingly giddy — look.

“Holy quiznak,” is all Pidge can push out in the end, realization crashing into her like two terabytes of code. “You guys are engaged.”

They tell Pidge first, because for all her brains and computer smarts, she couldn’t figure out the most obvious answer.

“Hey Lance, when did your photoshop skills get so good?” Pidge asks, staring at a picture of Lance holding his left hand up to the camera, Keith hugging him from behind. They’re on one of the beaches of Cuba, the setting sun casting a golden-pink glow behind their backs, and it’s honestly the perfect picture, with their smiles so broad and bright. “You almost got me!”

“Got what?”

Lance is sprawled on the couch on the other side of the coffee table, his stomach cushioned over Keith’s thighs. He’s working on a stack of Garrison reports, feet kicking up and down as he types away at his tablet. Keith, sitting comfortably beneath his weight, is quietly reading a book.

“This, your Instastory.” Pidge waves her phone in the air. Lance tilts his head sideways to take a look. “That ring almost looks real.”

“Oh, you mean this?”

Lance flicks out his wrist, and resting on his finger is the exact same ring in the picture, red jewel bright as a flame against the band of gold.

Pidge gapes. Lance gloats.  

For several long moments, no one says a word.

Then, Pidge hollers — “Since when?!” Her brain furiously processes through the last several months, wondering how a literal engagement sprung out of nowhere. “When did you guys even start dating?!”

“Since June?” Now Lance looks affronted. “Pidget, I literally announced it everywhere, even on Facebook!”

“But— that? Was a joke?” Pidge feels like a wire in her brain has fried up, gone kaput. Only snatches of memories fizz weakly in the wreckage now: Lance and Keith holding hands, kissing each other good morning at breakfast, hugging each other intimately beneath the soft glow of street lamps. Those had all been for show, as she and the other paladins had collectively believed. “This whole time everyone thought you guys were just messing around! Both of you told us you were better off as friends last year when we tried to set you two up!”

“That was before we got together,” Lance clarifies matter-of-factly. “We’re very much happy boyfriends, partners, future hubby and husband now, thank you very much! I can’t believe that hasn’t been obvious from the start.”

Pidge continues gawping like a fish. Lance flops onto his back, giggling when Keith runs a hand across his stomach.

“Pidge, look.” He wiggles into a seating position on Keith’s lap, settling in as Keith loops his arms around his waist. “You’ve spent the whole morning with us at our apartment today, watching us do the laundry together and feed each other waffles and cuddle on this couch. I’m wearing Keith’s shirt right now, too, if you haven’t noticed. Do you really think I would do all that if I wasn’t head over heels in love with him?” 

“I could kiss him if that helps.”

Keith sounds entirely too hopeful voicing that suggestion. Lance shoots him an admonishing — yet disgustingly giddy — look.

“Holy quiznak,” is all Pidge can push out in the end, realization crashing into her like two terabytes of code. “You guys are engaged.”

Everything made so much more sense now. The way Keith and Lance would always disappear together in the middle of Garrison meetings. The nonstop flirting, touching, gag-inducing nickname calling—

They were meant for each other, in all the best ways.

“Awww, is the little pigeon crying for us?”

Lance makes his way around the coffee table to sit down next to her, bundling her into his arms. Pidge doesn’t dignify him with an answer, but she hugs him fiercely back, wrapping her other arm around Keith when he joins them, a gentle palm patting her head.

These two became her closest friends in the lonely infinity of space; her most trusted comrades on the battlefield, and now the brothers she loves so dearly as they grow older and wiser together. 

She couldn’t be more happy for them.  

❦

Hunk comes next, with his culinary and engineering skills in dire need for the planning of the wedding. Lance and Keith visit him during his restaurant off-hours, walking through the backdoor into a tidy, well-lit kitchen. They find Hunk elbows deep in a line of bakery orders.

“Hunk, will you make us a cake for our wedding?”

“Uh-huh, sure Lance,” Hunk agrees absentmindedly. His brows are deeply furrowed, jaw clenched in perfect concentration as he shapes the loveliest blossom of icing with a nozzle tip. “Who’s wedding?”

“Mine and Keith’s.”

A row of buttercream piping veers jaggedly to the side, streaking the otherwise faultless cake. Hunk lifts his head slowly and blinks at them, as if emerging from a dream.

“You… and Keith?”

Lance nods excitedly as Keith pilfers some of the icing. “Yeah! We were thinking maybe chocolate and peanut brittle, or red velvet in case anyone has allergies. Oh, and a mini rollercoaster going in and out of the cake, with the Lions as the rides!”

“But—” Hunk struggles for words, utterly flummoxed by this sudden turn of events. “You guys aren’t even dating?”

At that, Lance visibly deflates. Hunk grasps for an apology, struck by the distraught on his friend’s face, but the younger man quickly smooths his expression over. “Hunk, I’ve been calling Keith my boyfriend for over a year now.”

“You call me your baby daddy,” Hunk rejoins.  

Keith chokes. Lance scrambles. “Food baby daddy. And there’s a difference Hunk! Have I ever kissed you?”

“Well— no, but—”

“Fondled your pecs?”

“Uhhh—”

“Sucked your dick—?”

“Okay no! I get it now, I get it!”

Lance huffs, satisfied with Hunk’s admission. Meanwhile, Hunk is reshaping the last one and a half years of his life, based on the belief that this entire time, his two best friends had only been messing around with each other, acting overly affectionate just for jokes. Somehow, he and all the other paladins had convinced themselves of that, after watching these two dance around each other for years and years, before announcing that they were perfectly fine staying friends.

But maybe things had changed after that.

Understanding dawns on him, like a giant vat of batter pouring over his head. On instinct, Hunk grabs the nearest loaf of brioche and cuts two slices from it, slapping them over his ears.

“I,” he says gravely, “am an idiot sandwich.”

A beat of perfect silence. 

And then Keith doubles over with laughter, clutching his stomach and the edge of the counter, nearly kneeling on the flour-dusted tiles. Meanwhile, Lance gently takes away the slices of bread from Hunk’s hands, eyes twinkling with fondness and mirth.

“You,” he says very seriously, “are the most delicious sandwich to ever exist. And I know you’re gonna make the best cake Keith and I could ever dream of for the wedding.”

An hour later, after Lance and Keith had left, Romelle walks in, inspecting the state of the kitchen with eyes round as marbles.

“Hunk, what happened?” she asks, staring baffled at the war zone of icing, the lopsided, teetering cake, and the random loaf of brioche sitting on top.

“Started making it, had a break down.” Hunk dusts his hands off on his apron, his shock gradually morphing to a shimmering excitement and happiness for his newly engaged friends. “Bon appétit.”

❦

In retrospect, announcing the news at dinner to the family probably wasn’t the best idea. Shiro’s reaction to it certainly wasn’t expected.

“Don’t you think you’re taking this joke a little too far?” the retired space veteran asks, ladling a plate of bolognese as Keith and Lance regard him with matching bewildered expressions. Next to his side, Adam shifts in his seat, taking a long sip of wine without coming up for air.

Keith manages to answer first. “Joke?” Against the table, his hand wraps tight around Lance’s, the gold bands on their ring fingers twinkling beneath the light, one red star to link the blue. “We’re engaged, Shiro. As my mentor and my brother, I’m asking you to be my best man at the wedding.”

Shiro sets the plate of food down and falters on filling up the next, a waver in the train of his thoughts. True — it wouldn’t be like Keith to joke about something like that. He had been Shiro’s best man at his own wedding after all, and Shiro had promised Keith to return the gesture once it was the younger man’s time. But everyone knows he and Lance haven’t been dating these past few years. Shiro knows he would’ve realized it.

Or…

Had he?

“Shiro, we’ve been dating for over year now,” Lance says, cheerful and tinged with a breath of laughter. “Man, and I thought Keith was the dense one in the family. When we got together I literally had to take off all my clothes before he—”

“Lance,” comes the fond, exasperated rasp of Keith’s voice, just as Adam chokes on his second glass of wine.

“We tried setting you guys up last year, though,” Shiro says, sitting down as his mind swirls with confusion. “You guys came home from the date and said that you’d rather remain friends.”

A wry smile crosses Keith’s lips. “I was scared,” he admits, in a moment of vulnerability, “of ruining what I already had with Lance. Loving him in whatever way I could was better than not being able to love him at all.”

Lance’s heart squeezes at the open honesty of his words. He lifts the back of Keith’s hand to press a kiss there, pouring the breadth of his emotions into that light, warm touch. Shiro stares at them, unable to believe that he hadn’t seen it before, the utter love and devotion between them.

“But— but I’m your brother.” How could he not have realized? “I would’ve—”

“There, there, Takashi,” Adam soothes, setting down his wine glass.

“Did you know?”

Adam doesn’t even hesitate. “I did,” he says, and Shiro lets out an anguished, betrayed gasp, burying his head into his arm. “It was obvious, dear.” He gently runs his fingers through the nape of Shiro’s hair, smiling fondly at his husband before turning his gaze to the couple across the table.

“Congratulations, Keith, Lance. Takashi and I will look forward to your wedding.”

❦

Later that night, Lance is oddly quiet as they go to bed.

They had just gotten off the phone with Allura, who was currently staying in Altea with Coran. She had taken the news of their engagement with grace and excitement, though she too had been surprised at first as well.

Keith turns around to take Lance’s hand before shutting off the light.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” he asks, noting the spider-line crease between Lance’s brows and his soft, pursed frown. His blue eyes seem to glisten like a lake beneath sunset, rippling with a sheen of tears.

“Do you know why none of them realized we were dating this whole time? All their combined brain cells, and yet no one connected the dots.” Lance pauses, the frown folding deeper. “Is it because I don’t show my love for you enough?”

Keith’s heart eases from its worry, settling into a familiar, gentle affection. He pulls Lance into his arms, dropping a kiss to the corner of the younger man’s brow.

“Pretty sure all of them combined equals one braincell,” he says, smiling when he hears Lance’s aborted laugh, breath feathering hot across his collarbone. Lance nuzzles into him, nosing the curve of his throat. “We literally made out in front of them for ten minutes during the New Year’s Eve party, remember?”

A leg is thrown over his hip, and Lance tilts his head back just a little to gaze up at him, eyes now twinkling with a brighter, easier light. “I think they were all too drunk to pay any attention to us ravishing each other.”

Keith cocks a brow. “We fucked in the shower when they were all having breakfast the next morning, and you weren’t exactly quiet.” He thinks of the memory fondly, while Lance’s face colors crimson with heat.

“Allura’s walls are soundproof, just so you know. And I can’t believe you kiss me with that filthy mouth, yeesh.”

“You’re marrying this mouth,” Keith counters childishly, boldly, because it’s the truth, and it fills with him joy like none other. In the low light of their bedroom, Lance’s engagement ring shines next to his.

“I know,” Lance whispers, soft and adoring. “I love this mouth,” he presses a finger to Keith’s lips, “I love you, more than anything in the universe.”

And they would have the rest of their lives, sharing that love, together. 

[methoxyethane]

Pokedrabbles 2

(Keith, 13)

Keith had been a trainer for almost six month now, and had officially decided that pokemon were better than people in pretty much every conceivable way.

Pokemon didn’t make fun of you, and if you got into a fight with a pokemon they didn’t tell the teachers on you. When you bonded with a pokemon they stayed with you for life, and no pokemon had every pretended to be someone’s friend just to publicly humiliate them later.

They weren’t mean like kids, they weren’t pretentious and overbearing like adults. Keith would rather spend every day out in the world traveling and battling with his pokemon friends than ever try and make human friends again.

The only exception to that rule was his brother, Shiro. Shiro was brave and cool and understanding, a former league champion turned teacher and the only person in Keith’s life to ever le Keith down. He was the only person who trusted Keith knew what he was doing, and in return he was the only person Keith trusted back.

Shiro had even been the one to give Keith his first pokemon. He’d caught a baby growlithe while he was on a lecture tour and brought it home to give to Keith, and together they had named it Kosmo. Kosmo had been the first pokemon Keith had ever been trusted with, and the first one he was ever able to form a strong bond with, and Keith knew they’d never be apart from each other’s side.

When he’d started out his journey the first pokemon he’d battled had been a simple pidgey. He hadn’t caught it, because Keith didn’t believe in hoarding pokemon you didn’t plan on using and he knew he’s never need a pidgey. No, the first poekmon Keith had caught had been a wild vulpix, a little baby he’d found sniffing around his camp one day when he’d been feeding Kosmo.

Those had been his only two pokemon for a long time. It wasn’t until after he’d met someone interesting enough to declare Keith their eternal rival that he’d ended up collecting any more, and before that Keith hadn’t even really planned on it.

But there was something about that other boy, the one with the weird foreign water pokemon… even though Keith had won like he always did, battling with him had been fun instead of boring. It was… interesting. Keith wanted to find out of there were more trainers he could connect with like that.

And that meant first he’d have to start taking his pokemon training more seriously. Which made it kind of ironic that he found the next pokemon in his party on accident, too.

He’d been up in Celadon City trying for his very first gym badge, thinking that a gym leader would have to be someone who was fun o face. Before he got the chance to even find the gym however, he ran into a bunch of school kids playing with a cat.

It was a litten, he realized when he got closer, probably someone’s pet that had gotten loose. Hopefully it didn’t belong to any of these boys, because they didn’t seem to be treating it very nicely. One of them was pulling hard on it’s whiskers and laughing, and Keith had had about all he could of watching at that point.

“Hey!” He called out, Kosmo out of his pokeball and growling at his side. “What are you guys doing to that poor pokemon?”

“None of your business, nerd.” One of the boys told him back, getting defensive because he knew he was doing something wrong.

“It’s my business if your hurting it,” Keith said, and Kosmo barked in agreement.

There was a brief argument, but it didn’t turn into a scuffle because Keith had a pokemon and the boys picking on the litten were still too young to have Trainer IDs and be allowed to keep any. Everyone knew whoever had a pokemon backing them up automatically had the advantage in a fight, even if there were four boys to only one Keith.

They ended up running away, and Keith leaned down to address the pokemon they had been abusing. “You alright little guy? Need to go to a pokemon center, or can I leave you to go back to your family?”

The kitten meowed at him, licking his hand. “I don’t speak cat, but I’m assuming you’re alright?”

The little litten mewed at him again, stepping forward on little bitty paws. Keith nodded, assuming that meant it was alright, and prepared to leave it behind. “Alright, good luck little fella. Don’t get caught by those boys again, okay?”

And with that, he turned around to leave.

He got about twenty feet away before he realized the litten was following him. “Would you quit that? I told you to go home already.”

The litten looked up at him curiously, and gave another little meow. “You’ve gotta have a home, you’re too cute to be a stray. I’m not stealing someone’s pokemon, okay?”

The kitten meowed at him again, and this time Kosmo looked up at Keith and gave him a little whine, too.

“Seriously, now you too?” Keith sighed heavily. “Fine, you can come with me to the gym. But after that I’m figuring out where you belong and bringing you back there.”

The kitten meowed happily, and jumped up onto his shoulder.

Needless to say, there was no getting rid of this one.

—

[gotmeringinghellsbells]

Thank you so much for doing my prompt, I loved it!（＾ω＾） I'd like to suggest another one if that's okay, but you don't have to do this one if you don't want to :") Maybe a Klance one where Lance wants to tell Keith about his love for tickling, but doesn't know how to go about it? (Since he's afraid Keith would break up with him or think he's a weirdo.)??

“Secret”

Fandom: Voltron Legendary Defender

Characters: Keith Kogane, Lance McClain

A/N: Of course it’s okay! I’m literally asking people for prompts, don’t be shy XD. This too was an adorable concept and I hope my execution of it was was as soft as your idea!

Description: After yet another tickle fight, Keith is left breathless and sore. He’s noticed Lance has been tickling him a lot lately and is curious to know why. Lance, however, isn’t too confident in sharing such information. But Keith’s reaction in the end reassures him it’s fine. 

_

A soft squeal bounced about the cabin walls aboard the Atlas as the black paladin tried to escape the unexpected cuddle. He tried to hide into his fluffy son as to avoid such tormenting hands, but it was no use. Keith threw his head back softly as he tried to curl more into Kosmo, the soul being who was preventing the tormentor to gain access to the bed. 

Unfortunately, that gave Lance more places to roam, rather than being confined to Keith’s upper body, which the red paladin was eagerly taking advantage of. “Lhahahance, sthahahop thahaht,” the older cried softly. His son was becoming a bit curious. He rested his head atop the side of his dad’s face, watching. 

“Come on kitten, let’s go out and have fun, huh?” Lance really wanted to spend time at this fair with Keith, rather than winning toys for someone who would stay in the Atlas. “I dhhahahaon’t whahant thahaho!” Hiccupy giggles became even more feather touched as Lance worked skilled fingers around. The less ticklish areas would give off the most pure sound if touched correctly. 

It was like a siren's song to the Cuban male’s ears! He could just never get enough of Keith’s laughter, or seeing that adorable, true smile. Sure, he loved to hear Hunk, Shiro, and his niece and nephew’s laughs too, but there was just something about Keith’s that was so….. Silky?

He didn’t know, it just made his day ten times better and gave him such soft butterflies! “Khahahosmo!” The wolf was half assedly crawling over his dad to sniff at the other human in the room. He smelt food, didn’t he? Well, Lance had been outside already, looking for Keith. THat’s when an idea hit him. “Kosmo, you wanna go find Adam? Huh? You want Adam?!” Oh did that tail start wagging. Grandpa!

Between Iverson and Adam, they were and even tie of favorites under Keith. The tail brushed along partially covered legs, earning a soft smile as Keith shook his head. “No, Lance stop.” The male hugged his baby as to get more protection or cuddles, but the wolf slipped away before teleporting out of the room. 

No dad, no one to tell him he couldn’t eat x, y, and z! Food-topia time baby, whoo hoo! The leader pouted as he watched the blue light fade away. He was comfy with his big lap puppy! It took the older a minute to notice the smirk radiating from beside him. Oh boy. Glancing up, Keith blushed softly at the threatening face. 

Lance looked a bit charming in all the crepiness of the evil “persona” before two clawed hands really sent the boy nto a panic. He let out a shriek before rolling away to hide in his small bed; Something Lance wasn’t letting happen. He followed after the shorter quickly, finally getting to properly cuddle. “Where are you going kitty, huh? You trying to get away from me?” The red paladin was blessed as anticipating squeals let out. Keith shook his head. “Yehehhes! I dhahaon’t whahahant to ghahaho! Don’t, don’t!” Tactics changed as Keith decided to lay on his back, giggling breathlessly. His blush was still soft, ieyes watering. 

“No,” he stated softly as he pushed the hand away. As soon as he moved it away, it swopped back around and came back into view. Lance snorted. “No?” The older nodded. “No.” Oh, but hads said otherwise. “But, why not yes?” Keith started to giggle a bit harder. “Whahahy ahahre yhahahou tickling meheh so mhahauch lately?” The playfulness was slowly ending as Keith’s sides and stomach started to outweigh the pain from his smile. 

Lance frowned a bit as the question came up. Had he been doing it more than normal? He didn’t think so. “No, I’ve been tickling you the same amount since we started dating back a little before Kuron came in.” The other blinked before shaking his head. “No, we hardly saw each other.” Lance pouted as he thought. “No, no, before you ran off with your knfe dad I use to tickle the snot out of you like… daily.”

“Weekly,” Keith corrected. “Even on our way home you never did this, not this much.” The older rubbed his sides as he tried to relieve the slight tenderness. “Are you alright?” Lance blinked a bit. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Keith shrugged. “You look like something’s bothering you.” Seeing as Lance made his emotions very obvious. 

The taller shook his head. “No. Did I hurt you?” Keith didn’t answer, he just hummed before going to tickle behind his boyfriend’s ear. Blue eyes widened before squeezing shut as the Cuban mae became a snickering turtle. “H-Hehehey!” He turned his head away, giggling more as he noticed Keith fall over to follow him. But, Lance had the advantage of the floor, whereas Keith was tangled in bed by his blankets. 

“Lance.” Keith slowly stopped messing around. He wanted answers. The other shrugged with a sigh. “I don’t know man, I guess your laugh is just too addicting.” If Keith was well, less dense, perhaps he would have thought Lance wanted to calm down with the childish game to distract himself from stresses and other issues that were occurring lately. 

However, Keith is dense, and just wasn’t understanding. “Your lying, your tone is becoming more serious.” Attention to detail much? The other hummed, looking away shyly. He didn’t want to say it, he couldn’t! What if Keith got weirded out? Shiro did say it was something he and Adam used as a playful form of bonding for the other; Just to help bring him out of his shell and remind him he was loved!

But would Lance admitting his fixation with the game be too much? Would it end their relationship? Would Keith think the other was trying to sexually advance over him?! Blue eyes watered. No, no, it wouldn’t be like that, right? Keith knew Lance respected that he was ace, even if he didn’t fully understand what it meant. 

He did know, didn’t he? It wasn’t a kink, it was just fun and addicting! “What’s wrong, why are you crying?” The softness and sincerity in the older’s voice caused the other to shake his head before standing and brushing off his uniform. “Ah, I’m not crying. Just… little…. Mmm.” Space dust? Keith would want to talk about this no matter what. 

One look into that concerned face and the other felt himself crumble. “I’m… strange, alright? Just don’t want to lose you over something like this.” A little more context would be nice. Rather than walking away, like normal, and trying to avoid Keith, Lance walked to the opening hand and let it take his softly. 

That was a first. Sitting down, Lance then started to untangle Keith from the gray sheet and… crocheted blankets? Where did he…? “You seem willing to talk about it.” Of course that’s what he’d say. The taller shrugged. “Well,” his eyes watered up as his tongue tried to stop him. But, soft, loving rubs form the side of the calloused thumb on the top of the tanned, soft hand slowly eased the male. 

“Lance, come on. It’s clearly bothering you.” Concerned was still present on the older’s face as he moved closer. Okay Lance, like mama says, like a bandaid. “I really like tickling.” It was so fast and quiet that it took Keith a moment to process what had been said. That damn word caused Lance to cringe after the fact.

He didn’t bother to explain or anything else, not yet. He just wasn’t there yet. “Okay…. And? I… guess I do too?” Yeah, it was mice when Adam or Shiro tickled him, even when his mom did. So why wouldn't it be when his boyfriend did too? “Huh? No like… I really like tickling. I…. It makes me really happy and I like to tickle… others a lot too.” Keith tilted his head. “I’m not… getting it?” Bingo. Lance started to calm down more. “I guess you kind of are? It’s not like a kink or anything to do with sex or dominance in a seperate veiw. It’s just…. I guess a fun thing I like to do and feel. “ 

Keith nodded. “Yeah, like I said…. It’s fine. I like it too. Maybe not as much, but I do enjoy it. It means safety and…. Bonding.” He gave a bit of an irritated face with the last part. “We’ve had plenty of cuddles since then Mr.! Shush!” The older rolled his eyes before letting go of Lance’s hand and laying back down, offering him room this time as apparently Kosmo had ditched him for Adam, or maybe Iverson. Lance smiled before removing his jacket and pants so he could cuddle comfortably. Keith nuzzled into his chest, listening to the anxious heart beat. 

He smiled softly as he thought of an idea. Lance, however, was trying to change the topic. “So, where did these blankets- gah! Oh no, Keith!” Lance was so flustered, of course his freaking boyfriend had to do this now! Fingers moved up and down his sides in a soft pattern as the younger started to relax. “Adam’s mom and Shiro’s grandma.” Lance wasn’t really paying attention to the answer as he just started to ease his mind of his anxieties. 

Keith was okay with it! Hell, he was tickling him now! “So, should I do this more often,” the smaller chuckled with a playful and arguably flirty smile. “Iahahf yhahaou whahant.” It felt nice when Keith tickled him. He was always light though, afraid to hurt the other. It wasn’t like Shiro where both brother’s would mercilessly dig into each other until one begged for mercy; Or in a newer time: Adam. 

Maybe that’s why Hunk liked being tickled by Keith too, he knew boundaries. Which was why he just didn’t tickle Pidge or Allura at all…. He helped Lance ice those bruises. “Whhahahaoa kay! Keahahaith!” He spoke to soon. The other jumped as fingers wigged under his arms. Keith, however, smiled in absolute delight. How cute!

“You said you like tickling,” he teased softly before stopping to give Lance a small eskimo kiss. His eyes were open, a small blush dusting his face as he smiled. Despite the pants, Lacne felt his lips curl upwards happily. With eyes starting to close, he too blushed, butterflies trying to escape him. Rolling them over to their side, he ran a hand through Keith’s hair before moving in to cuddle him. “So… about the festival outside?”

[rainforestgeek]

If you lose your strength to stand (I”m gonna reach for your hand) pt. 12 “Enemies, and their Power”

Part 11

AO3 link

Being American, I reserve the right to make digs at the U.S.

--

Pidge took a deep gulp from her caffeinated fruit-tea (God bless Hunk, honestly). The hangar where Hunk, Lotor, and Allura worked on the quintessence ships was huge and had catwalks all along the walls. Pidge had hit dead end after dead end with tracking Haggar through the clone until she was absolutely ready to scream. Once she realized she was just staring at the wall instead of working, Pidge took her equipment from the Green hangar to perch on one of the catwalks.

Allura had just walked out to go to the bridge. She passed by Pidge’s perch close enough that Pidge overheard her conversation with Lance – those comm earrings were pretty loud.

Keith was such a fucking hypocrite.

Pidge had never quite forgotten the day that, over a year ago, Keith yelled at her for trying to leave Voltron and find her family. He’d hurled accusations at her like a firing squad. He’d called her selfish. That’d hit too close to home. She remembered his voice echoing in her head alongside the voices of school kids who’d said she was cold or weird or didn’t care about anyone but her robots. She didn’t get that expectation that she had to feel for strangers; it’s not like she had the time or energy to prioritize everyone in the world.

Of course Pidge had learned a lot since then. There was such a thing as caring without that visceral wrench in her stomach. She could understand and prioritize the good for people she didn’t know and love. There was such a thing as empathy without instinct.

But it wasn’t fair that Keith thought he could run away from the war he used to dive headfirst into. He’d been all invested when Shiro had been here, when he’d had his family. He shouldn’t talk about selfish.

Pidge hoped Lance would snap him out of whatever weird-ass funk this was. If she had to work despite her grief then so did Keith.

Meanwhile, the Shiro-clone was still in stasis. Presumably, if he was being monitored, manipulated, and controlled by Haggar, it would be through the mechanical arm. It’s probably not as efficient as having it hooked up directly to the brain, but Hunk was certain that access through the shoulder into the central nervous system was sufficient. Even with the change of scenery (which often helped her think) Pidge was about ready to throw her laptop at the wall, though, because no matter what she tried the arm software was a fucking dead end.

Actually, no, never the laptop no matter how angry or frustrated she got. That computer was her baby. She’d built it back on Earth and added a ton of Altean modifications to the hardware – including some incredibly impressive RAM that allowed her to multitask like a crazy person and put the computer’s original 64 GB to shame.

Pidge pulled up the clone’s medical records. The cryo-pod did a full body scan twice a varga and she’d linked the data to continuously upload to her laptop (thank you, alien random access memory), focusing on the CNS. And –

Okay, that was different. The original clone scans showed no distinction between those of the real Shiro, allowing for expected discrepancies on the cellular and molecular levels due to time passing. One of the things the pods monitored closely was an individual’s quintessence. She was no biologist, but Pidge did grasp the basic concepts of thermodynamics and the quintessence seemed to be deteriorating. She didn’t know what it meant, though.

A hefty creaking noise distracted her. Hunk pulled his way onto the catwalk and settled in beside her. “Pidge. Can I chew your ear for a minute?”

“Aren’t you busy?”

“Lotor went to make some, uh, conference calls, I think.”

Pidge glared at the computer screen and decided to fuck it, she’s not getting anywhere with this anyway. “Yeah, why not. Shoot.”

Hunk blew out a puff of air. “We’ve made a lot of progress on the technology. Allura’s been working on adapting the ships to travel between universes and I’m really close to finding the most efficient ways to collect and contain the energy. It’s just, um…what if we aren’t doing the right thing here, Pidge?”

She eyed him. “If we can end the war without more war, I’m all for it. I know I wasn’t on board at first, and I’m no economist, but this seems like a good way to stabilize the universe.”

“I’m just thinking. Humans and galra have one big thing in common: exhausting resources. Sure, the quintessence field seems endless now, but the same can be said for every single resource humans overexploited in history. We don’t know how this could affect the universe.��� He was getting worked up.

“Hunk.” Pidge placed a hand on his wrist, knowing he takes comfort from even small touches. “You’re a huge part of this project. You and Allura can find a way to make this harvesting sustainable.”

He hummed. His bushy eyebrows drew together.

Pidge continued, “Is this really the only thing bugging you?”

“I’m not…convinced doing this harvesting will lead to peace. Like, I get why Lotor thinks this will solve things,” Hunk said in a low voice. “Increase supply, satisfy demand, spare bad harvesting practices etc. But what do the galra need all this quintessence for?”

“I don’t know, space ships? Power grids? Fuel?…Weapons?”

“Exactly. These guys have been conquering for thousands of years. How can we be sure they won’t just keep conquering when we hand over the power?”

Pidge massaged her temples. “I hear you Hunk, but I’m way out of my depth here. I’d rather trust that Allura and Lotor know way more about alien politics and economics than I do, you know, being born rulers and everything.”

“Since when did you trust Lotor?”

Pidge finally tore her eyes away from the screen and leaned in close to Hunk. “I trust Allura. Do you, do you think Lotor can pull the wool over her eyes?”

“Yeah, well, the man has only been a military strategist for several millennia, I think it’s probable.”

Pidge pulled up another window. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been keeping up with the news. Lotor is on the manhunt for any and all galra factions who don’t pledge loyalty to him. And most of the ones who have are extracting their control over recently conquered sectors. It’s a start.”

“How do you completely reform a culture that’s built on war and conquest?”

“Rome and America became republics, didn’t they?”

Hunk groaned and rubbed his eyes. “It’s so complicated. I wish I could just fix up these ships and that would automatically make everything okay.”

She patted his shoulder. “I know the feeling. I’m confused here, too. Look.”

“Aren’t those scans of the fake Shiro? Why…man I can’t read these, why’s the blue glowing in the middle getting dimmer in each picture?”

“It’s his quintessence. It’s deteriorating. But look, it didn’t start until after we put him in stasis, see? The readings are exactly the same between the scan of Shiro and the very first scan of the clone.”

Understanding lit up Hunk’s face. Good, good, thermodynamics were safe, comprehensible ground. “And that’s when the energy started wasting away. Nothing’s regenerating the quintessence. Pidge, Haggar’s magic!”

She banged her fist on the catwalk. The echoing clang make Hunk flinch. “Of course! I should’ve figured that out. If it doesn’t make sense, then magic.” She huffed a sigh. “But if there’s no magic connected to the clone then that means I can’t trace it. It’s another dead end.”

Hunk was quiet for a few minutes, while Pidge stewed in her failure.

"Although," Hunk said, "Zarkon was obsessed with quintessence for his own personal use. He's gone now and if we get rid of Haggar too, then the demand should go down significantly. She's our biggest threat right now and with so much of the military devoted to Lotor he should be able to keep the rogues in check, right?"

Pidge shut her laptop. "See, you figured it out. What do you need me for."

---

“So let me get this straight.”

It was first thing in the morning, and they were in the Blade-equivalent of a conference room with Krolia and Kolivan. Lance pressed his fingertips to his temple like he was trying to organize something in his head (except in Keith’s experience, that usually happened out loud).

Lance gestured to Krolia. “You were undercover at Ranveig’s base, where he intercepted mega-powerful quintessence and accidentally used it to create a terrifying robeast but without the robot parts. Which you both then sic-ed onto a different general attacking the base so you could escape and presumably that thing is still on the planet.

“And you’ve tracked the quintessence to its source but it’s guarded by impenetrable space-time anomalies and we don’t know who was shipping it.”

Keith said, “It does fit Haggar’s M.O.”

Lance sighed. “We should call the Castle of Lions and get them in on this meeting.”

--

Pidge just about leapt out of her skin (and did leap out of her bed) at the loud, insistent banging on her door. She tripped over something on her floor and narrowly avoided face-planting in a pile of dirty socks.

“Pidge! Pidge, wake up!”

Vision still kinda fuzzy from sleep, she scrambled to her feet to slam her hand against the door panel. It hissed open as Hunk prepared to pound on it again. Had he been any shorter he would have punched Pidge in the head, but as it was his fist met thin air and he had to windmill his arms to not fall on her.

“Hunk! What is it? What’s happening?” Pidge demanded.

“Whoa, hey chill out. There’s no emergency.”

She glared at him. “Did you just scare me awake for shits and giggles? Do you have any idea how loud it is when you bang on a metal surface?!”

Because he was the worst, Hunk flat-out ignored her tirade. “Your brother, Lance, and Keith want everyone on a conference call. We’ve been trying to wake you up for half an hour.”

Pidge took a deep breath in through her nose. Then let it out. “If you value our continued friendship, you will get me the largest canteen you can find and fill it to the brim with the not-coffee. And it better fucking be hot.”

It was hot, and she and everyone else were soon in front of multiple huge screens showing her brother, her missing teammates, Kolivan, and another galra she didn’t recognize. The first thing that happened was Keith held up a placating hand before Allura could lay into him.

“I know what you’re going to say, and I’m sorry for leaving without telling you guys why. I got overwhelmed and needed to do something. But it won’t happen again.”

Allura drummed her fingers irritably. “It better not.”

“And by something,” Lance interjected, “Keith here means he had to have some face time with his LONG LOST MOTHER. Guys, meet Krolia, Keith’s galra mom!”

Pidge choked mid-drink and spewed liquid all over Hunk. Fucking what????

“Pidge, did you just do an actual spit take?” Lance demanded, blatantly ignoring the irritated glare Keith was shooting him.

“Did you deliberately wait until I was taking a sip to say that?”

“Depends.”

“Okay, you two can flirt later,” Matt said. Lance’s entire face and neck flushed. “We have important news.”

They proceeded to explain the quintessence the super-powerful quintessence, the spacetime equivalent of a minefield they’d tracked it to, and their suspicions that Haggar was somehow mining it to fuel her military and her magic.

Pidge downed the rest of her “caffeine” in two gulps.

“We believe the source is behind the quantum abyss, rather than the abyss itself,” Kolivan was explaining. “If we can cut Haggar off from her major quintessence supply then we stand a far greater chance at permanently vanquishing her forces.”

Krolia spoke, “The tricky part is navigating the abyss. It requires precise calculations and the consequences of being trapped inside would be dire.”

“Hunk, Pidge, think you can work through those calculations?” Keith asked.

They responded with a synchronous “probably.” Pidge thanked God she now had a new project to work on. One more day with the stupid clone arm and she was gonna lose her hair.

“I believe I know where that quintessence is coming from.” Lotor’s cool voice silenced the entire room. Pidge noticed with shock that his face had gone paper-white. He looked like the ghost of a general rather than a living emperor.

“It is a place I have not been to in some time."

Part 13

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 210

210

For some reason only known to the lord above, on their bed, “wrapped” with a red ribbon around its handle, was a lawnmower. Blue, silver, and black in colour, this had to be Shiro’s dumb idea. No normal human would gift them a lawnmower at a baby shower, nor would they put it “in bed” like it made any kind of logical sense. It hadn’t been there when Keith opened the windows earlier... if he’d seen it, he would have moved it. Sniffling loudly, Lance then choked out

“They got me a lawnmower! I’m a terrible person!”

Now that he knew Matt had been in their space, he could smell him in the room. Too many scents were in their room. Matt, Curtis, and Shiro, three scents that didn’t belong in their space. Lance gave them pretty much free reign of the house, allowing them to violate the sanctity of his office with the promise they’d never look at his client files, or in the boxes that’d come from Lenny and were currently occupying the spare bed

“Let me take it off the bed, then you sit down and we’ll talk”

Lance shook his head, the way he gazed at their bed hurt to see

“I need the bathroom first...”

“Okay, baby. It’s okay, we’ll sort this out”

Lance came stumbling out the bathroom looking worse than when he’d headed in. Downstairs Rieva had started yelling at Matt for being stupid, then started yelling at Shiro for encouraging Matt to be stupid. Coran had tried to calm her, so she’d yelled at him about how he should understand what Lance was feeling with his nesting instincts and being close to giving birth. There was a whole lot of yelling for a party that had been otherwise running semi-smoothly, provided you didn’t count Pidge feeling a bit down and Shiro and Curtis cremating the sausages on the barbecue, somehow managing to leave the middle red raw.

Waddling over to him, Keith held his arms open, Lance going straight for the hug. Nosing at Lance’s belly, Keith sighed softly as his fiancé started playing with his hair

“You should sit down”

“My stomach feels gross, I want to stand for a bit...”

“You don’t need to hide it. Matt shouldn’t have been in here”

“I know he lives here... but this was supposed to be our alone space... I can smell him... and... and... the windows open and all our smells are gone. Why would he open the window? Why did he have to come in and ruin our room? I don’t go in theirs! Not even to clean! I get they wanted to surprise us but... this is our room! I don’t want the... the smell changing and now it’s being ruined”

With tears dropping on Keith’s hair, Keith tilted his head back to look up at Lance

“I’m... the one who opened the windows. I’m sorry. I was trying to get rid of Lotor’s scent for you. I didn’t think about how comforting scent is when we’re like this. I’m sorry I fucked things up for you”

Lance hiccuped a sob as he tried to bring his crying under control

“You... you didn’t... know... I... I don’t know what to do. This feels... wrong... in here... I can’t... I don’t know how to... how to... fix it... This... was... my safe space...”

Keith got it. Lance’s loved the comfort of blankets before he’d gotten pregnant, with all the instincts running through him, he had to have things a certain way. Despite his fiancé being anal about the dirty washing going in the dirty clothes basket, more than a few of Keith’s shirts had made it between the blankets. Keith also benefited from the space being so thoroughly soaked in their scents. He could smell the difference between Matt’s lingering scent in the halls and his fresh scent in his room. Poor Matt copping the brunt of his silent jealous as he was the only other person in the house that could get Lance pregnant, had his fiancé not already been pregnant. His ego had a hard time accepting Matt near Lance when Lance could pop at any moment. His fear made no logic sense, yet that didn’t mean that did exist

“It’s still our safe place. I’m sorry my brother is incapable of being a normal human, and I’m sorry that he was probably really proud of putting the lawnmower on our bed...”

“I want to laugh at that, it’s a good one and it’s funny, but I feel so angry that I’m not sure I won’t go for blood if we go downstairs... I don’t want to be that way. Not today. They put together a great party for us. I just wanted to be normal enough to enjoy it”

“There’s still plenty of time. We can strip the bed and change out what’s on it. It’ll help to get rid of Lotor’s scent too”

“I know. I know it’s just some sheets and blankets, but...”

“You’re exhausted. I know you are, babe. Let me change the sheets and you can have a bit of a nap. With the amount of alcohol Pidge stocked, I’m pretty sure drinking is on the plans”

“I haven’t thanked anyone... I don’t deserve any of this. Not a barbecue, or an outside set, or a really nice new lawnmower...”

Keith would steal every star in the sky if it made Lance happy

“You do. No one made our friends go out and buy anything. They chose to, and it’s not like it’s just for us. I’m sorry I didn’t get you a present”

“You don’t need to. And I don’t need a fancy ring. You keep your word, babe. That’s all I need”

“Let’s get you to bed. Tonight we’ll make sure to really stink the blankets up”

Lance gave a broken sob of a laugh

“You’d have sex with me, when I look like this?”

“If you haven’t realised by now, all you have to do is breathe and I’m like “I want to tap that”

“You’re going the right way for a smacked arse”

“Promises, promises. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to let you pull my hair as I rail you to the mattress”

“Now who’s making promises?”

“You already said it, I keep my word. Just keep your night open, because I’m not letting you slip away”

*

Lance fought going down for a nap, Keith fought the urge to stay with him, dragging himself from their room and downstairs. Their friends knew better than to let the pair of them disappearing bring the party to a close. Coran was now getting a lesson in beer pong from a ruthless Pidge. Rieva and Matt both seemed saddened, their scents weird as they hit his nose. Allura the first to cast a smile in his direction

“I’m assuming that Lance went down for a nap as you’ve returned alone?”

“Yeah. He needed it. I’ll wake him up in a couple of hours”

Shiro cleared his throat, Allura about to say something else but stopped so Shiro could

“I’m sorry about the lawnmower, we thought it’d be hilarious”

Lance’s obsession with grass was well known, the only way the joke could have been funnier was if they’d dressed the lawnmower in lingerie

“Oh, Lance thinks it’s funny as fuck. He loves it. He’s just super sensitive to scents, and I made it worse by airing out our bedroom. He’ll bounce back and you know he’s going to be apologising when he comes back down. I still don’t know why you guys had to go through our drawers”

Shiro answered for Matt who copped a very direct glare from Keith. Matt couldn’t help being a werewolf any more than Keith could. Both of them cared deeply for Lance, their stupid egos and scents making things ridiculous for the pair of them

“I needed a spanner. We were joking about how being Lance, he’d probably keep on in his room... you know, because he fixes everything the moment he knows somethings broken or leaking”

Keith groaned. That was logical. He wouldn’t be surprised if Lance did. Everyone knew Lance was the handiest person in their group

“Okay. That’s fair. But stay out of our room from now on. This scent thing is really messing with his head. He doesn’t want to be mad, but he’s also emotionally exhausted”

Shiro gave him a mock salute

“Message received loud and clear. Are you staying down here, or headed back up?”

The temptation to go back to Lance was enormous. Helping him strip down to his shirt and underwear, Keith had tucked him with plenty of kisses until Lance finally drifted off to sleep. His fiancé looked so angelic when he was slept, though plenty of people would argue the snoring and drooling ruined the effect

“Nah, he’ll be fine. I’m more interested in who’s winning and who’s idea it was to let Coran face Pidge of all people”

“His. Grab a beer and come sit down”

A beer sounded great... This was a party after all... but he’d been a drunken idiot far too many times with Lance taking care of him. The time had come to be an adult and stick with water for the rest of the party

“Ugh. I wish. I’ll be back in a minute”

Being a fae, they were renown as trickster demons. Keith had never seen Coran this competitive as the tables turned on the game of beer pong. Starting to make trick shots, Pidge was soon swapped out for Curtis, heading down the wrong side of tipsy she tripped and landed in Krolia’s lap, declaring a rematch would be had once she’d sobered up enough not to be yelling into Krolia’s crotch. Curtis put on a valiant effort, making more shots than he missed, yet Coran didn’t show the slightest hint of intoxication. Lance would have been shocked. Keith was shocked. In Coran’s world there was nothing better than a good cup of tea... not copious amounts of alcohol.

There came a gradual shift in the mood of the party. It’d become less of a baby shower and more of a “We need to defeat the demon in Lance’s living room” kind of a deal. Curtis was subbed out, six shots his limit. Coran, on the other hand, didn’t get the game and questioned why his cups weren’t refilled. Matt happy to refill Coran’s cups, not mentioning the aim of the game was to make the loser empty all of theirs. After Curtis came Shiro, who already tipsy from the seems of things, was beaten easily as he failed almost every throw, Coran growing more talkative and prideful in defeating their friends one by one. Finishing the cups in front of him, Shiro flopped over backwards where he sat, Coran frowning at losing his opponent as he asked

“Now what happens?”

Rieva retrieved Shiro, dragging him over to prop him up against the chair near Krolia’s feet. Firmly she brought things to an end. Shiro looked absolutely wasted as he sat there with his eyes closed and a smile playing in his lips. He didn’t even seem to notice when Krolia stuck her bare foot under his nose

“That’s it. All the cups on this side are finished”

“That’s rather disappointing. I really quite like this game of yours. My cups are still quite full. Allura, perhaps you would fancy a game?”

Allura laughed politely. She’d been cheering on their friends, though she had no idea what to cheer over, she’d given it her best shot

“I think I’ve seen quite enough. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you consume so much alcohol”

“Nonsense. This is mere dishwater compared to the stuff we used to drink. Barely made a dent, if I do say so myself”

The man had single handedly taken out Pidge, Curtis and Shiro... and was still up for more? Keith could only shake his head at the thought of a drunk Coran being as rambling as a tired Lance

“Krolia, perhaps...?”

“Nope. I’m driving Curtis and Shiro home tonight. Keith’s got Lance to look after, Hunk has to drive Shay home”

“Then perhaps our Shay would care for a game?”

Shay shook her head

“I’m not going there. You’re a demon, what chance do I stand?”

Coran burst into tears. None of them expected it and no one quite knew what to do, apart from Allura who slipped off the sofa to wrap her arms around him to comfort the fae. They couldn’t help being humans

“There, there. They are human after all”

Coran shook his head, puffing his chest out

“Don’t you see, I won! This means I’m the winner! Oh, I can’t remember the last time I won at something so fun, and on my first try!”

A silent groan fill the room. They’d bowed out, and their plan to take Coran was ruined by the sheer amount of alcohol he could tolerate. Allura clearly forced a smile to her lips, Keith sympathetic as this would surely become another of his stories they’d all be stuck listening to

“Uh, yes. Yes, I suppose it does...”

“Wait! I can still drink!”

Waving her left arm, Pidge pushed herself up with her right hand, then flopped backwards against Krolia

“No I can’t! Where’s Lance?! He could do it!”

Patting her arm, Shay broke the bad news to Pidge

“Lance isn’t allowed to drink, it’s bad for the twins”

Pidge’s eyes narrowed, animatedly she yelled angrily

“That undead arsehole! Lance! You suck! Coran, I demand a rematch!”

Coran’s eyes filled with some kind of excitement. Drunk Pidge wasn’t someone to be messed with, heck, sober Pidge wasn’t someone to mess with but with her moral compass out the window anything was likely to happen

“What do you suggest?”

“Mario! You’re gonna lose so bad! That useless Peach is gonna wipe the floor with you! Hunk, we need Mario! I won’t be happy until he feels the devastation of rainbow bridge!”

Hunk pointed to himself, Pidge nodding, Keith wondered if he should say a prayer for Coran now or later on

“This rainbow bridge sounds most interesting. How do you play?”

Pidge wiggled her fingers at Coran as she laughed, failing at trying some kind of spooky accent

“Very very carefully. No one beats Pidge on the rainbow bridge! You hear me, Lance! I’m coming for you too!”

For all her yelling, a long groan of his name from upstairs told Keith that Lance had finally woken up due to their pint sized big mouth. His fiancé’s timing couldn’t have been better as he needed an excuse to flee the living area. Coran had no idea the fire he’d awoken in Pidge. A sober Pidge with a controller in her hands was bad enough, a drunk Pidge with a controller in her hands was near on demonic. With a healthy fear of what would happen should Pidge lose, Keith opted for the convenient excuse of Lance calling for him. Yeah. Whatever happened, the others would totally take care of it... he was not a coward at all.

Sitting on the edge of their bed, Lance had gotten himself tangled trying to take his shirt off. His fiancé’s expression filled with sadness as he softly asked

“Keith... help?”

“Oh, babe. I’ve got you”

Lance had gotten one arm out, and stuck in head hole bit, too sleepy to escape on his own. Walking over to his fiancé, he dropped a kiss on Lance’s head before taking over getting Lance free of his shirt

“I’m sorry...”

“It’s okay. Is there a reason you were getting naked?”

“Wanna take a shower... I made a mess”

As Lance started crying, Keith hushed him. His fiancé pretty much limp as he got his trapped arm free and then helped him out his shirt

“Okay, mister. Pants next”

“I made a mess”

Messes happened. Lance couldn’t help it

“That’s okay, these things happen. Let’s get you out your underwear. Up we go”

Swaying on his feet, Keith pulled down Lance’s underwear as Lance kept his balance with his hand on Keith’s shoulder. The mess wasn’t what Keith expected. Lance’s underwear sodden with cum, his lover half hard as Keith tried not to stare

“Don’t... look... it’s embarrassing”

“You had a wet dream, no big deal. Was it about me?”

“You’re the one who put sex in my head... I want to take a shower”

“Do you remember what happened?”

Downstairs no longer mattered. Keith’s ego elated that Lance had had a sexy sex dream about them

“Keeeeith... please...”

Taking Lance’s half hard erection, Lance groaned as Keith slowly began to jerk him off

“Tell me what happened in your dream”

“Babe... the party”

“Fuck the party... they can afford to miss us and we really don’t want to go back down there right away”

Shifting position, Keith wrapped his lips around the tip of Lance’s dick, sucking lightly as Lance’s hand flew to his hair

“Keeeith”

Letting his lips slide to meet where his hand was, Keith bobbed his head twice before pulling back

“I want to know what you were dreaming about”

“You...”

“What about me?”

Jerking Lance faster, his fiancé moaned. He knew teasing was bad, yet was too filled with elated ego not to. Letting himself feel pleasure rather than pressing need to shower and return to the party, Lance panted out his words between moans

“I... you... were riding... my dick... I was fucking you”

“Is that what you want to do? Do you want to fuck my mouth?”

“God, yes”

“Then you better do it like you mean it”

Holding Keith’s head to his groin, Lance slowly built up to fucking his mouth. His pregnant fiancé had urges, and it’d been a long while since they’d used the pocket pussy, as they usually couldn’t slow down and stop themselves long enough to think about anything other than getting off. Hallowing his cheeks, Keith had tears in his eyes, Lance filling his mouth perfectly, even if he seemed to be trying to ram his dick down Keith’s throat, despite how bad it’d initially made Keith gag

“Keith... I’m gonna come”

“Nghhffd...”

That was Keith speak for a yes, “while my fiancé’s fucking my face”, Lance easing back enough to give space to Keith as cum flooded his mouth, then dribbled down his chin as he tried to swallow as much as he could. The vampire coming with a low growl as his fingertips scratched Keith’s scalp.

As Lance’s knees gave out, Keith caught him by the hips, pushing him so “fell” sitting on their bed. His lover’s chest heaved, as he brought his breathing back under control, Keith wiping Lance off his face with the back of his hand

“You looked wrecked... and we didn’t even do the do”

He was horny, nearly coming in his pants from blowing Lance. Lance would fall back to sleep if they had sex now. Plus he’d be overly sensitive from coming twice

“You seemed pretty into it”

“I was very into it, now I’m very into going for a shower... want me to return the favour”

A million times yes!

“Nah, it’s fine. That was kind of hot”

“Your mouth was kind of hot... I did try to tell you I was coming”

“The meal was delicious. Am I as good as you dreamt?”

Bringing a hand up, Lance rubbed at his stomach. They’d made about as much mess as what Lance had woken up in... whoops

“Way better in real life... God, I feel fat. Help me up?”

“You’re not fat”

“Are you sure? I feel like I just ran a marathon”

“Babe, you’re in great shape. Round is a shape”

Lance kicked him lightly in the leg for his teasing

“I know how round I am, I don’t need a reminder”

“I’m just saying... You’re a very round little vampire. I wonder how chubby your bat form would be”

“Well don’t... I can’t believe I let you blow me when we should be downstairs entertaining our guests”

“Well I can’t believe it’s not butter”

His lame joke earned him a sigh from his fiancé

“That was terrible. You should feel bad”

“I do. I also feel like bending you over our bed and fucking you senseless, but you’re right, we have a party to get back to”

Lance opened and shut his mouth, cheeks flushed as he looked away from Keith

“I suppose a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt”

God. If only Lance knew how much he wanted to take him up on that offer. He probably should be putting himself in a horny mutt time out, but it’d been sooooo long since he’d had Lance beneath him. His dick was definitely up for it... Time to adult again

“It’s okay, babe, I’m joking. Besides, you’re going to need whatever energy you have left to keep the peace downstairs. Pidge challenged Coran to rainbow bridge”

“Damn. I go down for a nap and miss all the excitement...”

“He also got Shiro, Curtis and Pidge all like drunk by winning beer pong. So it’s drunk Pidge taking on Demon Coran”

Lance groaned

“My poor living room. It’ll never be the same again”

“Nope. Come on, you can lament the loss of your living room in the shower, then maybe we can wrap this party up and go to bed early”

Keith was weak and Lance’s arse was glorious. He’d been going to behave himself, he really had... then he’d been sidetracked. Sitting on the toilet, he told himself he making sure Lance didn’t slip... not ogling his gorgeous fiancé. One thing lead to another and then suddenly he had Lance bent over the bathroom counter, lasting all of a minute. It was quick quickie, even for them. Lance’s arse too cute not to touch, his lover’s opening soft and puffy beneath his fingers when he’d been supposed to help Lance dry off properly. Whoops... Keith tried to feel bad but the strength and warmth of their bond left him smiling like an idiot. He really did deserve a cone of shame around his neck, Lance’s boobs the perfect handful as he lost himself. Nobody pregnant had the right to be as perfect as his mate. His belly so gravid Lance looked as if he had a whole soccer team inside him. Keith definitely knew he had a kink for his very pregnant fiancé, he just didn’t know how to knock said kink on the head. Lance limping as he led him back into their room to get him dressed, Keith promising to clean their cum off the bathroom cabinet and floor before Lance realised he’d only cleaned him up.

Lance insisted on looking “presentable” as Keith helped him into his clothes. Keith annoyed at how many buttons there were that’d he have to undo later to get his vampire naked again. Wisely he kept this to himself. Lance would have smacked if he’d known his mind was still in the gutter after fucking his arse with as much force and need as Lance had fucked his mouth. Maybe he should try bottoming again? The weight of Lance’s stomach hanging low must have been uncomfortable as it’d taken a bit to bring Lance to orgasm, despite his hips having a life of their own. Stealing a few extra moments, Keith wrapped his arm around Lance, dropping kisses to the top of his head as Lance chuckled at him for it. He loved Lance. A good solid dose of cuddles from his fiancé was just the thing he needed before they headed back down to face their friends.

[loveafterthefact]

Love After the Fact Chapter 10: Time to Sharpen Up

Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits... because Lance is lousy with a sword.

First  Previous  Next

“Come on now, Lance. You’re better than this.” Alfor frowns, following his son's uncertain footwork.

“I’m really not.” The droid pulls on its whip, Lance’s broadsword tangled in the glowing cord. The Altean is panting, skin glistening.

Alfor presses his thumbs into his eyelids, though whether with disappointment or embarrassment, Lance can never tell.

He’s not a good warrior. Not with a sword.

Keith just watches, tail flicking back and forth, ears following Lance’s movements. Shiro stands on his right, visibly unimpressed, but trying to be polite.

Lance sighs. He’s just not very good at this. The droid charges, too fast. Lance has been distracted by his audience, hasn’t seen the advance. It’s a genuine mistake, this time.

“Lance!” Alfor yells, drawing his own weapon to protect his son while Coran tries to end the training sequence. The training sequence can’t end during an attack.

Too fast. Alfor won’t get there in time.

Lance throws a hand up, a flash of blinding blue light flaring from his palm.

Light threads through every crack and crevice in the charging droid, saturating its wires, melting, warping, disintegrating in the blinding light. It crumbles into nothing a mere spot from his outstretched palm.

He collapses to his knees. Too much. Too fast.

“Invalid technique. Victory forfeited,” rings out from the walls. Keith gapes, eyes wide. What a terrifying thing to be able to do to something. Lance could do that to him.

“End training sequence.” Alfor crouches beside him. “Son, are you alright?” Lance meets his father’s worried gaze with weary eyes. Alfor softens. Lance’s eyes find the floor.

“Don’t worry. You’ll get there.” Alfor gently helps him up. “If nothing else, you have plenty of untapped potential. And I know you’re capable.” The king looks his son over, anxiously checking for injuries. Lance nods, staring at the training room floor. “Look at me.”

Lance looks.

“I know you have it in you, son.” Alfor cards a gentle hand through Lance's hair. Lance nods, more for his father’s benefit than anything else.

He doesn’t feel much at all. The things Lance wishes he were good at are the things everyone knows he’s bad at and the things he’s actually good at, no one knows at all. It’s mostly intentional, but in this case, it’s reality. With his father, his spouse, and his spouse’s brother watching, it bites.

Everyone else disperses to return to whatever they were doing, leaving just himself and Keith. The Galra comes over, tail flicking like a pendulum. “I know you said you were lousy with a sword, but...”

“But quiznak am I lousy, huh?” Keith nods, sheepish. “We should go hunting soon. I can finally try out that bow Zarkon gave me for my birthday. You can see my actual skills then.”

“Sounds good.” Keith’s ears are wilted today. Lance knows why.

“We have a few vargas before it’s time to say goodbye.” Lance puts a hand on Keith’s arm. “Is there anything you’d like to do?”

“I think… I think I’d just like to go and… sit in the loft in our quarters, if that’s alright. I know we have work to do, but-”

“Go on. If anyone asks, I’ll say you’re helping the Captain get his affairs are in order and that you’re both working to ensure your safety after he’s gone. Commander Iverson is certain to be bitter about it, since he’s technically in charge of your safety, but I consider that a bonus, personally.” Lance grins, and Keith manages a small smile, despite both his aching hearts.

Lance only has one. How he gets enough oxygen with only one heart is beyond Keith’s capacity to understand. Perhaps that's why he's so bad with a sword.

Up in the loft, Keith finds himself looking out at the grounds. He can’t see beyond the castle walls. He’s never seen beyond the castle walls, not even when he got here. He’s never met the commonwealth, never seen any wilderness. If this past movement is any indication, the Alteans are perfectly content to restrict him to the castle walls and never give him the opportunity to leave. Keith is still staring out the window of the tower loft, half-extended claw dragging down the fine glass, when there’s a knock at the door. He turns away from the purpling sky to find Adam.

“Prince Yorak, Crown Prince Lancel has sent me to escort you to the launch.”

Keith sighs, nods, leaps down from the landing, not bothering with the ladder. “Will I ever be permitted to go somewhere alone?”

Adam sighs, holding the door open for him. Keith trusts this Altean more than the others, though still not much. “Likely not. You are not held in fond regard.”

“So we are still pretending this is for my benefit.”

“No. You are also under constant surveillance. One of the guards posted outside your door is a Listener, one who uses alchemy to enhance their hearing. You’ll be pleased to know that their only report thus far was that you have not yet consummated your union to Crown Prince Lancel. King Alfor is not pleased.”

Keith stops in his tracks. “My body is the only possession I have left.”

Adam turns to him, pushing up his glasses, ever-present datapad cradled in his arm the way one might cradle a baby to their hip. He looks… sad, but trying for indifferent. “That’s where you’re wrong, Prince Yorak. You swore fealty to your King. Everything that you are belongs to Altea, including your body. You have been contracted out to the Crown. That being said, I have instructed the Listener to wait a phoeb, then claim you have mated with the Crown Prince.” Keith frowns, trying to understand.

Adam smiles, lips curling. “Your reality is that you are a living possession. But reality can be manipulated with relative ease. I can make your perceived reality far, far different from what it is. I can make you charming, demure, innocent, beautiful, powerful, awe-inspiring, terrifying, loathsome, dangerous- whatever Crown Prince Lancel wants. That is what you are.”

Keith stares at the green-scaled Altean, eyes wide. The ruff of fur down his back rises with a sudden chill. “You- I’m beginning to think you are the most dangerous thing on Altea.”

“You may very well be correct. Shall we?” Adam turns, leading them down yet another hall.

“My brother sure knows how to pick ‘em,” Keith mutters, more to himself than anybody else.

Adam trips. “Excuse me?”

“Oh. You couldn’t tell?” Keith cocks his head. Adam blinks, hazel eyes wide. He shakes his head. “My brother is embarrassingly smitten with you. It’s really funny, actually.” Keith smiles. “It’s... nice, I guess. At home, he’s always so imposing. He’s imposing a lot here, too. It’s nice to see some other side of him working its way into the open. He normally saved that for when we were in our den, away from everyone else... I think he likes it here.”

“Everyone likes it here. Everyone except you, it seems.” Everyone else gets to go home. Adam turns before backing his way through the doors to the launch pad. “Though, as far as the commonwealth is concerned, you miss your homeland, but our beloved Crown Prince is the only thing you need to be happy.”

Adam grins as he holds the door open. Shiro tugs Keith out into the open before he can step past, pulling him into an all-encompassing embrace. Keith doesn’t even try to resist.

“I’m really gonna miss you,” Keith whispers, a slight whimper in his voice as he throws his arms around his brother.

“Aw, I’ll miss you too.” Shiro gives him a squeeze, eliciting a gentle purr from the young prince. “It won’t be so bad. Lance is a good man. He’ll be good to you.”

“He has been thus far.” Keith doesn’t enjoy the admission, but there it is. Not everything is terrible. “Even if he’s a terrible warrior.”

“True. He is. But he seems to like you well enough. And this place... I know you haven’t seen much of it yet, but it is beautiful here.”

“I know. And it’s nice. But it’s not home.”

Shiro smiles, one of his large hands rubbing the spots behind the younger Galra’s ears. “I’m proud of you for doing this. For not putting up fuss or fight. Sometimes, that’s the hardest thing you can do.”

“I know. I have no regrets. No matter what might happen.” Shiro steps back then, regarding him with that cool gaze. A soldier’s gaze. The captain nods, lays a fist over his breast. Keith returns the gesture. He’s a soldier. Not a pampered prince. A soldier.

Lance watches the farewell, not saying a word. He knows all of this already. His spouse is a warrior, not a lord or a prince. Lance needs to do better to support that lifestyle. Keith can’t be happy sitting around reading all day. In the meantime, he walks over and places his hand on the small of Keith’s back, trying to be supportive.

He wants Keith to know he's here for him.

Lance is surprised when the Galra’s ear turns toward him and his tail curls around his ankle. It’s the furthest Keith has chosen to acknowledge Lance’s presence in view of other people without it being for show. Adam has fallen to gossiping about how cripplingly shy the new prince is to save face.

Speaking of which... Shiro steps up to the Altean, leans down, whispers something in his ear. Adam’s face turns bright red, scales glittering brilliant green as the Galra draws back, grinning from ear to ear. Lance hears a snort as Keith tries not to laugh. He smiles. “I’m going to invite him back as soon as possible. Watching these two flirt is the most fun I’ve had in my life.”

“It’s hilarious,” Keith agrees, whispering in Lance’s ear.

“Reminds me of watching my fathers flirt, to be honest. It’s the only time I’ve ever seen Alfor undignified.” Lance grins. “I’ll tell you about it sometime, if you want.”

“I- I’d like that, actually.” Keith smiles an uncertain smile, willing but not hopeful.

The spouses stand side-by-side as the ship carrying Shiro departs for Daibazaal. A soft keen in Keith’s throat informs Lance the warrior prince wishes he could be on that ship too.

“It will be alright, Keith. You’ll see him again. I promise.”

[shastelly]

Memories - March Klance Prompts from Monthly Klance Day 11

This is me, a few days behind now :)

"Oh my…Pidge!  It should totally be illegal to be that cute!"  Hunk gushed as the image of Pidge as a toddler gnawing on a calculator played across their mind meld.  

 "I know."  Pidge grinned wickedly.  "That was Matt's calculator."

 "That was wonderful, now your turn Hunk."  Allura directed.  Replacing the little gremlin with giant eyes and plastic green glasses was a dark toned little man dressed in brightly floral swim trunks.

 "Awww!"  Lance cooed. "Hunk, it's so much better than your picture album."

 Hunk had sprained his ankle early in the training session.  He'd come down wrong dodging a hit from the gladiator.  Coran had put some cream on it, wrapped it in something that looked like seaweed and said that by tomorrow morning it would be fine, but that he should elevate it and stay off it as much as possible.  Shiro and Allura had decided that made for a perfect opportunity for some team bonding training.

 Lance had whined about how boring that was and Allura had snapped at him to come up with something better.  So, smiling like he'd planned it all along, he suggested that instead of forming Voltron in their minds over and over that they get to know each other better.  

 Shiro had nodded and told Allura he thought it was a good idea, that knowing more about each other would make them closer as a team.  Hunk had smiled, Pidge had groaned, and Keith had frowned and crossed his arms.  Allura had asked that since they were not forming Voltron, maybe she could join them for the exercise.  Shiro had readily agreed.  It was a great opportunity for Allura to understand more about her human paladins.

 Allura had suggested that they each have a turn to pick a topic and then each share something.  Shiro had let Lance go first since it was his idea.  Lance had chosen an easy topic of share a happy memory.

 Lance went first and they were immersed in the smells and sounds of his brother's wedding. There were so many people and tons of food and Lance was laughing and dancing and blushing from a kiss on the cheek from his new sister-in-law and then finally the memory faded with Lance dancing with his mother.  Hunk gushed and Pidge called him a big sap.

 Hunk had shown himself with his mom and aunt in the kitchen making dinner.  His aunt put flour in his mom's hair and batter on Hunk's nose.  Later Hunk had distracted his aunt while his mom snuck up and stuck an ice cube down her back.  There was a lot of laughing and it was clear how happy they all were.

 Pidge shared a family outing to a science museum.  Her and Matt climbing some kind of dinosaur thing, which may or may not have been allowed, her hair standing on end holding a static generator of some kind, her dad happily explaining why the explanation on one of the plaques was wrong, and her mom brushing her hair out of her face as she fell asleep almost as soon as she was buckled into the car.

 Keith had shared a memory of him and Shiro riding hover bikes across the desert. The wind whipping around them, both sailing off a cliff in perfect sync and jetting off across a plain as fast as they could go.  Then they were eating pizza in a little restaurant and laughing about the day. Shiro had looked so pleased to be a part of Keith's happy memory.

 Allura then shared on of her own.  She was at a dance of some sort and there were hundreds of people in the castle. She looked lovely as always.  She was walking around talking with people and smiling and seemed to be having a good time, when King Alfor surprised her and led her out on the dance floor, the memory faded with them spinning around dancing.

 Shiro's memory was next.  He was a small boy sitting on an older woman's lap.  She was working on repotting a little tree.  She guided Shiro's hands as they moved the tree and added handfuls of rich soil around it.  Then together patted around the tree securing it in the pot.  The smells of soil and the plants filled the memory.

 Pidge picked next saying that little boy Shiro was so cute they needed to do baby pictures, which is where they found themselves now.  

 Shiro's baby memory was an even younger version of himself wearing a stained white t-shirt and a diaper.  He was barefoot and toddling along behind a woman in a faded yellow dress.  

 "Shiro, is that your mom?"  Keith asked.

 "Yes, she loved to let me play outside.  She said the fresh air would make me grow faster."  He chuckled a little.  "I'm not sure that she ever got used to how dirty I managed to get though."

 "Eh, my mom said eating a little dirt never hurt anyone."  Lance offered.

 "Well, if you're the example we might have evidence to the contrary." Pidge teased.

 "Please, my mud pies were delicious."  Lance then shared his memory of himself covered head to toe in mud being dipped into a five-gallon bucket of water by his older sister.  

 Pidge about fell over laughing, "Of course, your first mud mask."  Lance elbowed her.  "Fine.  Allura show us you.  I bet you were a cuter baby than Lance."  She elbowed Lance back.

 "Oh, mabye not."  Allura grinned.  The image of a little girl covered in some sort of reddish-purple goo appeared.  You couldn't even tell what color her hair was, but she was laughing and had the jar of whatever in her hands licking it with her tongue and smiling.  "It took over a month for the berries to wash all the way out of my hair, it was stained pink.  Mother thought she was going to have to cut it, she was so mad at me."  

 "I stand corrected."  Pidge pushed her glasses up.

 "Keith?"  Shiro asked raising an eyebrow.  

 Keith blushed but the image came up anyway.  A tiny little boy in diapers with a plastic firefighter’s hat on.  His eyes were too big for his face and his skin was pale.  In short, he was adorable.

 "Oh, come on!  Seriously, Keith do you have to be the best at everything.  I mean, you just had to be the cutest baby."  Lance huffed gesturing broadly at the image.

 "I'm sorry?"  Keith looked confused and the rest of them laugh.

 "I'm not sure Keith can help this, Lance."  Hunk laughed.  

 Lance crossed his arms and pouted.  

 "Who's next?"  Shiro asked.

 "I can go."  Hunk offered. "How about favorite food?"

 He pictured his mom serving him what a roll from a pan fresh out of the oven, the smell of coconut wafted through them all as she flipped it over onto a plate revealing the white coconut milk sauce.

 "Panipopo," Hunk practically drooled.

 "Good choice,” Lance also looked longingly at the roll.  

 "Okay, I can get behind this."  Pidge grinned and showed her Dad pulling a pan of fresh peanut butter cookies out of the oven.  She'd grabbed one and tossed it from hand to hand until it cooled enough to hold and then had taken a bite, holding her mouth open as it was still warm enough to burn.

 Keith laughed, "If you want burn."  His memory showed a huge pot of chili on a stove.  There were several over men all getting bowlfuls.  Keith stood on a stool stirring the pot, a wicked grin on his face and a can of hot peppers behind his back.  At the first sound of distress he laughed and ran out of the door.  He sat by a large red firetruck and opened the jar of hot peppers, pulling an orange one out he happily put it in his mouth and chewed enjoying every minute of the burning feeling.

 "Keith, spicy is good, but it needs to have flavor too!"  Lance admonished.  His memory was of some kind of stew served from a large pot, he'd taken his bowl to a table and poured in almost half a bottle of Tabasco before taking a huge bite.

 "Lance, we've talked about your Tabasco problem."  Hunk shook his head sadly.  Lance laughed.

 "Shiro, what about you?  Spicy? Sweet?"  Lance asked.

 "Um, neither, I have more of a junk food problem."  Shiro's memory was a pizza parlor with a huge slice of pizza covered in more toppings than could be identified.  He got sauce all down the front of his shirt when he bit into it. The sound of someone laughing filled the background.

 "Okay, Allura, what's your favorite."  Shiro smiled at her.

 "Oh. Yembrem."  She concentrated and the image was of a bowl of purple blobs wiggling around in a bowl.

 "Are they moving?"  Lance asked in horror.

 "Oh yes, I loved the way they wiggled when you swallowed them."  Allura giggled.  "It tickles."  Hunk turned a slight shade of green.

 "Who's next?"  Allura asked. "And this time pick something more specific.  I want to see you work harder to pinpoint a memory with the devices."

 "Why don't you pick one, Allura?"  Shiro offered.

 "No, go ahead Shiro."  Allura offered.  "Do humans have holidays or celebrations?"

 "Sure, several, but we might not all celebrate the same ones."  Shiro answered.

 "We all have birthdays?"  Pidge offered.

 "Okay, a birthday."  Shiro said.

 "Make it more specific if you can?"  Allura requested.  "A specific year?"

 "OH, how about 10, I got a new chef's coat that year."  Hunk was saying as Shiro's eyes widened and he was shaking his head no, but it was too late.  They all felt the sorrow hit them like they'd been punched in the gut.  

 "Keith?"  Shiro asked concern pouring from his body.

 The red paladin sat with hands clenched into fists and his eyes tightly closed.  The image in their mind was of young Keith dressed in a black suit.  His face was pale, and his eyes were wide and filled with unshed tears.   People were walking by shaking his hand.  There were flowers in the background.  He was shaking.  He looked back over his shoulder at the casket laid under a bed of roses.  It was closed, but there was a large picture of his father in front of it.  Keith threw the headband across the floor and ran out of the room.

 "Fuck."  Pidge wiped a tear.

 "On his birthday?"  Hunk asked horror on his face.

 "The funeral was on his birthday; his father died a few days before." Shiro explained with a deep sigh.

 Lance stood and slipped his head set off before turning to leave.

 "Lance, where are you going?"  Allura frowned, this was not the time to pick at the red paladin and Lance and Keith only seemed to do that to each other.

 "This was my idea."  He shrugged. "I just…I'm going to go find him."  He walked away leaving Allura looking confused.  The other three exchanged a wondering glance, but let it go as soon as Allura turned their way.

 "Keith?"  Lance knocked at the door.  "Um, can I come in?"  The door slid open, so Lance took that as an invite.  Keith was sitting in the dark on his bed.  "I just wanted to say I was sorry; this whole memory thing was my idea."

 Keith didn't answer.  Lance shifted nervously, "I…um…I…"

 "Just sit down."  Keith gestured, his voice sounding rough.  "You're making me nervous standing there."

 "Oh, okay."  Lance sat next to Keith.

 "Why'd you follow me?"  Keith asked looking up finally.  Lance could see the red puffiness around his eyes and knew he'd been crying.

 "I felt bad and wanted to apologize."  Lance signed.  "I didn't mean for anyone to get upset or hurt."

 "It's not your fault.  It was an accident that it even came up."  Keith shrugged.  "And it's not like the memory isn't there anyway and that sure as hell isn't your fault."

 "I know. I guess, I just wanted to check on you?"  Lance offered.

 "I'm here."  Keith snarked.

 "Okay, well, just one more thing."  Lance turned and quickly wrapped his arms around Keith and pulled him into a hug.  "I'm really sorry that happened to you." He whispered into Keith's hair and then he was up and out the door before Keith could even react.

 Keith sat on the bed, his face flaming with a blush, feeling the warmth where Lance had been pressed against him and wondering what, if anything, that meant.