#obey me kosmo

[kosmoriri]

the coolest couple in devildom ♡♡♡

[waloeders]

kissing someone after renouncing ur god by urself bestie? not anymore. ahsbdjdkkss whatever first kiss fic :3333 <- kickin my legs squealing, blushing, the whole thing

ship: bar.nabas tha.rmr/kosmos (ryder) {implied/future} slei.pnir harba.rd/kosmos {they're poly ok, they all date each other}

words count? yeah i count words! idk

warnings: ff16 spoilers, a lil suggestive, they're making out basically, some religious talk (not any real world religions, but that kind of talk)

notes: ok so this. actually happens quite a bit into them knowing each other and is after an entire sequence of events that is too long to recall right here (but ill post later). oh ryder/kosmos uses he/they so its intermixed in there. yippee!

"kosmos is the anti-thesis of ultima. his enemy lost to time, to distances beyond man. a callous, capricious, volatile being that cares not for the ascension of man - for the new world and the salvation that He shall bring upon us." barnabas' grip on his chin tightened, forcing him to maintain eye contact. behind the abyss of the kings' deep blue eyes, something twisted and swirled, an emotion lost to him- some tempest unknown.

"yet. you are none of these."

his grip fell away, moving to run his fingers along their jaw, eyes following; caressing and memorising each minute detail, as if seeing him for the first time.

"where you should be callous, you have been..kind. to myself, to my lord commander. where you should have been capricious, you have been steadfast - stubborn. and volatile?" he titled his head and chuckled, the sound resonating through his chest in a pleasant manner, "you are certainly that. though perhaps not as my Lord would have us believe."

"barnabas i-" ryder stumbled out, cheeks flushed and eyes wide, fixated on the man before him.

"perhaps my Lord has been wrong." the king interrupted, now with one hand gripping the back of their neck and the other reaching up to cusp his cheek, running a thumb along their lips, "perhaps..."

the tension in his shoulders fell away, leaning into the warmth of his hand, closing their eyes to savour the feeling. barnabas always seemed to run hotter than everyone else, even the eikons of fire they surrounded themselves with; yet they could feel the aged callouses on his thumb, from years of wielding a sword, as it continued its path.

they glanced back up at the man stood before him, towering over him as he sat, cross-legged on the bed. he had almost forgotten how the conversation had even begun, how his head had ached and drawled in pain and even that sleipnir stood, a mere few feet away, silently watching.

for a moment, his eyes flicked to where the other man had stood - still stood - one hand on his hip, the other rubbing his chin as a smirk gripped him - and something... some emotion sat in the blue of his eyes, waiting to pounce, like a ravenous couerl.

"look at me." the king demanded and he obeyed instantly, barely remembering to breathe again.

barnabas' movements paused, finally, seemingly content with his memorisation.

"where my lord has forsook me, you have not. where he would see me dead, you would not." his eyebrow raised an inch, barely passing the casual stoicism he maintained, "you saved my life, kosmos. that is not a debt i take lightly. tell me why."

"i don't want you to die." it was all that came to mind.

"why?"

"i..." ryder shrunk under his gaze, words escaping him and he forced himself to maintain eye contact, "i want you to live. without ultima. freely. just... you."

he earned a hum in response - the same kind barnabas' always did whenever he expected more words from him, more of an answer, a story- anything that he could say, he expected it.

"and it's not fair." ryder mumbled, "it's not fair that you dedicated your life to ultima and he just, threw you away. he never cared. he just wanted to use you, use your powers - just to make clive stronger. that's cruel, callous, capricious. he doesn't get to call himself a god, the god, not when he does stuff like that. that's not what gods should be."

it was as if a small shockwave had hit barnabas, the effect leaving a frown scattered across his face and something angry- no, hurt had settled in the deep oceanic corners of his eyes. his head tilted once more, a strange feeling fleetingly passing over him- then it was gone.

the hand in their hair tightened its grip ever so slightly, then softened and kosmos resisted the urge to close his eyes at the feeling, instead slowly blinking.

an arduous moment of silence, stretched out by only the sound of them breathing - with ryder pointedly ignoring the way their eyes (when not staring up into the kings') were eye-level with his chest and could see, almost feel, his breathing too.

finally, barnabas' hand fell away from his cheek, instead tugging the bottom of their chin, teasingly. a small grin began to pull through his stoic mask and the sight pulled an odd string in their chest.

"i see."

he leant his head down, closer now than ever, voice barely above a whisper.

"and how ought i to thank you? -my life, after all, is owed to you."

"oh. yo- you don't owe me anything. not your life, that's yours." they leaned back slightly, into the hand still entangled in his black hair, and held back a gasp, "i don't, i don't want or-or need anything from you."

"oh?" barnabas huffed, grin settling into a smirk, "i was not aware the king of waloed needed permission to give you a gift."

"well, no, i- i only meant that-"

he laughed at that, a high-pitched giggle that found its root in his chest, and pressed his forehead against ryders', eyes slipping closed.

a shudder ran through them at the contact and slowly, they reached a hand up to cup his cheek, noting the way he suppressed a flinch. he was warm, still, and the thin strands of his beard were coarse against their fingers, softly bitter to the touch.

ryders' blue eyes flicked back to his, and he was staring again - the same intensity as always, but much, much closer. his eyes flicked downwards and they took that as a sign; they were definitely understanding the situation correctly.

he pushed forward, lips connecting intently, and barnabas responded in kind, nipping his bottom lip. the hand holding his chin dropped to grasp at his neck, cupping the underside of their jaw, and they could feel the other tugging at his hair, keeping him upright.

not content with this, kosmos reached up to tangle their hands into the scruffy black hair of his, pulling it a little too hard, and earning an almost inaudible moan from the king.

he pulled away from the kiss, panting and watching as barnabas' followed him for a moment, then paused, resting his forehead against theirs once more. his eyes half-closed, but following their movement intensely.

"did- did i pull your hair too hard? i didn't mean to." ryder breathed out, resisting the urge to dive back into another kiss.

that drew another laugh from the king and he leaned down, placing a kiss upon their neck, then their jaw, their cheek and finally, a peck upon their lips. this time, leaving them reaching after him, a bright red flush colouring them.

"i have felt chocoboros with more pull, my kosmos." he placed another kiss on their nose, a smirk pulling at him when it scrunched up, "do you still believe my life not to be yours?"

"that's not- that's... you know, we'll...work on that."

[gainprincess]

"Designation: Kosmos Obey Strategic Multiple Operating Systems. In short: I am KOS-MOS. Please order me around as you see fit, Master."

Wobble. Wobble.

"Query: 'Why are you obese?' Response: Do not worry about it, Master."

[mammoneythegreat]

MY FAV BOYS AND THEIR ANIMALSSS I LOVE THEM ALL SM

mammons art! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/hanymelon/633059574896787456?source=share

[ghostgetter]

hehehe more wip from the klance fic I’m writing:

Lance fluffs out a gigantic blue comforter with flowers decorating the front. He folds it carefully, sticking his tongue out with expert, sharpshooting precision, before gently placing it on the ground next to the guest bed.

“Here ya go, Kosmo,” he pats the blanket repeatedly and the wolf obeys. He noses Lance’s hand and snuggles into the soft, make-shift bed. “Fit for a king.” He pets his fur for extra measure, smiling gently down at him.

“A king?” Keith crosses his arms, unable to control the soft smile gracing his features. Lance is unable to see how soft he looks, how content and happy he appears with his space wolf.

“More than any of us will ever dream of being,” Lance answers with an affirmed nod.

“Kosmo loves the attention,” Keith says, noting how comfortable his wolf appears under Lance’s hand. He’s a bit envious, which is stupid. Because he’s not a dog. And Keith doesn’t get “pet.”

Lance chuckles, rising up to his full height. “Yeah, well one of you has to.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” It comes out more defensively than he had intended, because really he’s just confused. Where’d that come from? The soft, domestic mood is suddenly squandered.

Lance mirrors his crossed arms, but in more of an annoyed posture. Like what he’s stating is obvious and Keith’s just an idiot, which Keith never stands for. “Uh, dude? We barely tolerated one another in Voltron. It’s only recently that you’ve even started staying over. I know my main default setting is to bother you still.”

“You don’t bother me,” Keith responds immediately, like a reflex. Like Lance’s words are an annoying house fly and Keith is the swatter.

“Huh?”

“You don’t bother me,” Keith repeats. The opposite, in fact. But he keeps that to himself.

“No, I heard you. I’m just confused.”

“About what? You don’t. You haven’t since way before the war ended. I dunno why you think otherwise,” Keith ensures.

Lance rolls his eyes and opens his dumb mouth, but Keith still wants to speak, so he does. He wants to make sure Lance gets how much he cares about him, even if he isn’t ready to say all that yet.

“I like being here. I like staying here with you. You’re fun and caring and my friend, my close friend, and I like staying with you when you let me,” Keith picks at the skin of his upper arm as he manages to keep a straight face. Somehow, potentially through the constant meetings with the Blade, he’s able to look at Lance as he speaks, unravels, throws up, whatever. But Lance...

Lance’s bemused face is dropping into silent shock. Why is this so surprising to him? Why is he so against this idea of them...them...

“I like being around your family. Your mom is kind and a good cook, and your brothers and sisters are fun. Veronica’s a great pilot and always tries to talk to me about stuff. You spoil Kosmo. You’re great, Lance. I dunno why you still think....you bother me.”

It’s silent for a bit, and Keith sees the rose grow on Lance’s cheeks under the green facemask, and part of him wants to step closer and graze them with his fingertips. Even at the expense of covering his hands in chalky goo. Even if Lance yells at him about hand oils. He watches Lance blink once, twice, thrice -

“Oh.”

Oh.

Oh, Keith feels like a moron now. His heart sinks and...he doesn’t normally unload that many emotional admissions in one sitting, and the build up is congesting his mouth. Suddenly everything he said feels like too much. Lance looks... flabbergasted? More confused? Shit.

“Okay, well...thank you,” and only because Keith’s observational skills have been drilled into him so fully, he sees Lance’s eyes shift to whatever is behind him. The awkward is worse than when Krolia forced him to speak in front of those Puigans a month ago and he forgot the name of their leader. Lance’s face, the red and the adverted eyes, is why he took so long to open up to people. “If you need anything, you know where I am. Right down the hall.”

“Right.” The awkward tension gets thicker as Keith forces a swallow. Now even he can’t look at Lance. He really shoulda just kept his mouth shut.

“Right. Well,” and now the classic neck rub. Fantastic. He’s fucked up to that level, apparently. Kill him slowly. “G’night.”

Once Lance swiftly escapes the guest room, Keith drags his hands down his face, like ripping off the embarrassment from his skin can ease beating heart. A long, loud exhale. Is this what it’s come to now? Realization of crushing on Lance - Lance, of all people, and now he throws up emotions all over the floorboards? Lance could barely look at him.

Things were so much easier when he was just reassuring Lance about his role with Voltron. Blissful and ignorant while Lance swooned over Allura.

He glares at Kosmo, snuggling into his comforter as he eyes his owner. Must be nice.

His heart is still pounding. Escaping under the covers of his bed is the only logical option at this point, so he dives in after turning the lamp on the nightstand off. Kosmo huffs in the dark, relaxing further, while Keith just turns and stares up at the ceiling fan.

He likes Lance. He really, truly, irrevocably likes Lance.

Lance, his used-to-be righthand man. Lance, who buys Kosmo toys and beds. Lance, who still wants to stay on the farm and refuses to get involved with anything space-related. Lance, who makes jokes about their rivalry still but actually believes Keith doesn’t consider him a close friend. Lance, who’s still grieving after 2 years without Allura.

He turns to face the door and burrows himself into the pillow.

Lance is in love with someone else, and she isn’t even here anymore.

If at all possible, his heart sinks even further.

He struggles to sleep; he always does in times of anxiety and restlessness, but this is different. His heart aches in ways he’s never felt before, because he’s never felt this way before about anyone. These feelings are new and unwanted, even though the one he carries them for is warm and inviting and a dream he wants to live by. Lance, of all people, the reciprocate of Keith’s newfound desires. How ironic.

Not for the first time, he dreams of deep blue that night.

[enlacinglineswrites]

A drabble for day 15′s Julance prompt that became Klancey. I just can’t resist making them happy together. 

Hope you enjoy!

————————– Lance takes his cat for walks. 

It started off as a joke by his sister. Red is beauty incarnate…in Lance’s eyes. He does understand why others struggle to see it. When he was seventeen, he’d heard crying from an alleyway on his way home from school, only to find a starving, mangy cat scrabbling against the lid of a dustbin. Immediately, he fished her out, unperturbed by the scratches he received in return. 

His arms were red with the raised welts for days. Hence her name. 

He’d thought at first when he’d taken her to the vet, she was an old cat; on her last legs and abandoned. But after an examination, the vet informed them she was only around a year old, but a year of living off scraps without care had made her seem far older. 

Lance loved her before they even left the vet’s office, probably loved her from the moment she stared up at him with her bright yellow eyes from the bottom of the bin. So when no owner could be found, his mother relented and allowed him to keep her. 

Even after all the love and care he and his family could muster, Red still didn’t ever quite stop looking like a stray. Her fur grew in patches, a scar over her left eye making it difficult for it to open fully. Added to her tendency to sit underneath cars and get covered in grease, she seemed to be permanently dirty. 

(On meeting her for the first time, Pidge had asked with delight why he had the cat from Pet Sematary. Red seemed to have taken that as a compliment, for despite Lance’s protests, she loved Pidge more than any of his friends). 

Five years later and Red is now queen of his small apartment, surveying all beneath with a pleased glance. Therein lies the problem, though. Unlike when he lived with his parents, there isn’t much space for a cat to roam outside, his apartment situated on a main road. Red tends to only leave to do what’s necessary, but otherwise just stares at Lance as if to say ‘do you seriously want me to go out in this?’

Unfortunately, it’s causing her health issues. And while to Lance she is always his beautiful Princess, the vet seems to think otherwise. So when Veronica jokingly said he should take her out on a lead, Lance thought he’d give it a try. And only partly to annoy his sister. 

Weirdly though, Red loves it. He assumed she would be offended by his attaching the lead to her collar, but she doesn’t seem to mind; happy to stroll where he guides and glare at passing people, cars and runners. He secretly thinks she feels she’s taking him for a walk, or at least allowing him the pleasure of her company. She does look regal every time they stop, Lance having to document each and every trip out. 

His instagram is basically a dedicated page to Red at this point. He thinks she’d probably say ‘as it should be.’ 

It’s while they are strolling through a park that the dog appears. Well, it can barely be called a dog, it’s huge. Lance is pretty certain wolves aren’t allowed in parks, but as that thought occurs, the dog-wolf notices them. Or more specifically, Red. It’s ears perk up and it runs straight for them, Lance grimacing at the speed. 

He tugs on Red’s lead, hoping to spur them away long enough for it’s owner to find the dog-wolf and take it away. Assuming it has an owner, it did materialise as if from nowhere, and it’s size is so vast it could be wild for all Lance knows about dogs. 

Red responds to Lance’s tug by sitting down. 

“Red, noo don’t be stubborn come on,” he hisses, trying again as the dog nears. 

He’s a second away from scooping up his cat, scratches be damned, when the dog slows down. He blinks as it changes seamlessly from a bounding gallop to a trot as it reaches them. Then, it sits down opposite Red, before lowering itself into its front paws, almost as if it’s bowing. Red stays exactly where she is, staring at the dog. 

“What the hell?” Lance says to himself. 

Has his cat hypnotised a dog? Enchanted it into obeying her? Does he now by proxy, own a wolf? Just as he’s marvelling at what’s occured, a shout reaches his ears. 

“Kosmo! I’m so sorry, he broke his lead it’s-”

The person trails off and Lance just stares. For this dog-wolf apparently does have an owner. A cute owner. Dark unruly hair in a hasty ponytail; probably asque from running after ‘Kosmo,’ pieces slipping away to fall into his face. He’s dressed in a bright red hoodie with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and dark jeans, a brightly coloured lead with hippos all over it clutched in his hand. His nails are painted a dark mauve colour, and he’s biting his lip in concern as he approaches. 

Lance swallows, the way the man worries at his lip far too distracting, and stares at him, who in turn stares at the scene before him. Then, he looks up, and Lance has to force himself to not make any sort of unexpected noise at the intense purple-grey eyes that meet his own. 

“Are you walking a cat?” the stranger says, looking entirely confused. 

“Are you walking a wolf?” Lance counters, wondering why he’s suddenly trying to match this stranger word for word. 

However, the man just smiles, and it’s a good look on him; lightening his whole face and makes Lance want to step closer, see that smile in minute detail. 

“He’s part wolf and…yeah. But he likes to break free,” he says, holding up the snapped lead. 

“Want some help fixing it?” Lance offers, although he has no idea how he’ll be of any use. 

But his words cause the man to flush ever so slightly, a tiny pinking to his cheeks as he nods. 

Lance grins. “I’m Lance, and this is Red,” he says, gesturing to his cat who still sits primly, staring up at them. 

The man smiles at nods at Red, who blinks once in reply. Lance is certain it’s on purpose. 

“I’m Keith, and this is Kosmo,” he says, then steps closer to his dog, showing Lance the break they need to fix. 

And as Lance bends down to take a look, he sees Red pointedly tip her head at him; definitely her version of ‘you’re welcome.’

——————–

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[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Caramel Skin under A Purple rain prt 20 full draft

Things had gone to hell. Things had gone to hell and it’d been all his fault. Keith was dying, and it was his fault. His whole team... it was all his fault. If only he hadn’t gone after Kosmo. If only he’d woken Keith up when their fur son failed to come at his call. Now Keith could be dying, but now one had come to tell him what was going on. He’d been shunned. Forgotten... Unwanted... Abandoned. * Waking in pitch darkness, Lance hadn’t been able to do anything. His fall twisting his knee in a way he was sure his knee wasn’t to go. Gingerly, he felt at the spot, crying out in pain as his fingers brushed his hotly swollen knee. His sweats torn from his slide down on his arse. That couldn’t be good... That couldn’t be good at all. Calling for Kosmo was all he could do. He couldn’t get himself out, because he couldn’t see anything. Left calling for Kosmo, Kosmo finally came to him. Wrapping his arms around the cosmic wolf, he buried his face in Kosmo’s dirty fur. Without his comms, he couldn’t call for help. He couldn’t hear anything come from any of the others. Nuzzling against his shoulder, Lance held him tight as Kosmo licked at him, his full weight across Lance’s leg left “I’m sorry, boy. I can’t get us out of here... I’m so sorry. This is all my fault... I fucked up so badly. You’re so special to me... but... I messed up” Kosmo stayed with him, snuggled up and keeping him warm until the wolf was recovered enough to teleport him back to the ship in multiple bursts. His leg couldn’t bare his weight. His calls to Krolia wouldn’t connect... Pawing at him, Kosmo was begging him to go back for Keith. For his real father. Lance hadn’t intended to leave them. Not... not when... No. This was all his fault. He had to help Keith’s team... Kosmo first. Kosmo obeyed his command to sit still as Lance cleaned his wounds, then bandaged his torn up legs, and scraped nose. He’d pulled the splinters out that he could, but some of the deeper ones would most likely require surgery. The brambles like a cheese grater where Kosmo had stripped away his protective fur layer. Nothing seemed broken, not when it came to Kosmo. His knee was another story. Cutting away the remnants of his pants leg, his knee was three times it’s usual size. Ugly and pulsing with pain. Gritting his teeth, Lance had nothing to make a splint from, so bound his knee as firmly as he could. He probably lost the twins... He’d probably fucked up everything to the point it could never be fixed... He... He owed to Veronica to save Acxa. He owed it to Keith to save him... even with what he’d said... All he’d wanted to do was help Kosmo... maybe, just a tiny bit, prove to Keith that he could serious and competent when it counted. After all, he and Kosmo had boobytrapped half the forest in the third and fourt quadrants... Kosmo was smart, but he could be a dopey fool, especially when chasing prey... Returning to the cave in sight, Lance was constantly hitting his comm button, praying to anyone listening that someone would pick up. He’d tried Shiro. He’d tried Krolia. He’d tried his mother. They were the three contacts he kept dialling over and over as he went about setting up. The rain had finally come to a stop while he’d dressed Kosmo’s wounds, the eerie feeling of the forest remained, yet as he tied the rope he’d found around the base of the most stable looking tree in his work base, nothing naturey tried to kill him. The leaves over head rustled, but that was only due to the cold breeze in the air... The forest had fallen silent again. This was important. He wasn’t sure how it factored in, but he knew he absolutely had to remember this. He had to remember everything. Whatever had infected the team could still possibly infect him. Or perhaps he’d been infected already and didn’t know? Running the rope to the edge of the crumbly creator, he tied off the second piece of rope. He had his comms. His knee might have been too busted for him to be pulling this abseiling bullshit, but if his babies were gone, and his marriage was over, nothing matter anymore. Not his life. Not his health. Nothing. Reaching the bottom of the cave in, brambles lay broke across the muddy, leafy floor. Whistling to Kosmo, the space wolf teleported down to join him as Lance turned the light of his comms on. For some reason, everything from his and Keith’s camps was piled up in the ships cargo hold. Using Kosmo for support, he’d dragged his useless leg around as he’d gathered supplies. He wouldn’t be able to move everyone at once, yet if they got them out the hole then... then the hard part would be over... Get them up. Get them out. Get them back to the ship and take care of the wounds. He had protect them... He’d failed them... He’d... he’d go back to the outpost after this. He didn’t belong here. He wasn’t smart. He also wasn’t stupid... but he was. Working through the night and late into the following quintant, Kosmo helped him uncover the others. Keith, Nerlo, Melda and Acxa all had deep prickling from the brambles along their faces. Zethrid on her arms. Ezor had a nasty gash to forehead, and head... floppy thing? Krystaal had been buried alive with Legre, Legre trying to shield him in the fall. Regetta and Second Rachel were unconscious, but seemed relatively unharmed when compared to the others. Lance was on the verge of collapsing from the continuous teleporting back to the ship, followed by the walking back to the sink hole. Kosmo was in a rough shape, he wasn’t about to make hi-Keith’s precious puppy over exert himself any more than was necessary. Treating everyone’s wounds were overwhelming. His guilt felt as if it were physically eating him alive from the inside out. He couldn’t stop crying, and for the first time in his life, he’d... he’d had to preform an emergency tracheotomy. First then Keith’s lips turned blue from lack of oxygen due to an allergic reaction, then ticks later when Acxa had also taken a dramatic turn downwards. His stupid comms still wouldn’t connect with Krolia. Everything he was doing felt like stop gap measures. He’d isolated their clothes from that night... just the outer wear with bramble still caught in it... He might be married to man, yet he was still hopelessly bi-sexual. Acxa, Keith, Zethrid and Ezor knew as much. The last thing he wanted was to upset them further. The Cuban only removed what was absolutely necessary for treatment. He kept the bramble debris. He’d fallen into sobs when he’d pulled Keith’s boot off and found the bramble piece had gone right through and was caught in the tongue of his husband’s boots. For three quintants he barely slept. Unless he passed out. He barely ate. His knee was still completely useless. He didn’t want to give up... Everything hurt. Everything hurt and he just wanted to go home. He’d stopped calling Krolia. He’d stopped calling Shiro. All he could do was hit redial on repeat. He wanted to go home to his mother. He wanted to curl up in his bed, high enough that his stupid brain would shut up, but aware enough that he knew she was there. He was so tired. His eyes playing tricks on him. His heart was skip a beat thinking one of the squad were awake, only for it all to be in his mind. That’s how he nearly missed his chance for help. Calling home again, he’d lost count of the number of time’s he’d called. Sitting with Keith laying unconscious next to him, he’d dialled as he changed the cold compress on his husbands forehead. It was all he could do. Every day checked everyone’s wounds. He removed any particles of debris forced up during the bodies natural healing, then cleaned the wounds out, slathered them in antibacterial cream, and dressed them. Having run out of supplies the same day he’d finally been able to recover everyone, his gauze and bandages were made from butchered bedsheets. Gazing at Keith’s pained face, he would have given his heart and soul not to see the expression his husband wore. His black hair hung so limply. The bags under his eyes so deep and sunken that he couldn’t stare for more than a few ticks at a time. When his mother’s small voice came through the comms, the tears he’d thought he’d cried dry come flooding back with a crackling sob “Mami? “Mijo? Mijo, are you crying?!” “Mami, we need help. Our mission went wrong and everyone’s... everyone’s been hurt because of me” “What happened? Are you safe? Are you ok?” By now he felt so guilty, he couldn’t remember what it felt like not to feel that way. His mother’s innocent questions felt as if someone had dropped a cruiser worth of guilt right into the pit of his stomach “I can’t get through to Krolia! There’s some kind of contagion on the planet! They’re not waking up...! I... Mami... it’s all my fault. Keith’s... dying. Acxa’s dying... I ruin everything... I... can’t lose him... I can’t...” “Alright, Mijo. You’re alright. You stay strong. I’m going to call Krolia and tell her. I’m going to get you help. You’re so strong, my boy. So strong. You’re all strong” “He... might not ever wake up...” “Hush... He will. I know he will...” “He wants a divorce!” Wailing into his comms, his call cut out. His mother probably hadn’t heard him anyway. If Keith was awake, he’d tell him none of it was real. He’d tell him he was hallucinating... what he wouldn’t give for that... his husband was... his husband was so gorgeous. His goofy hair. His soft thin lips that were always warm as he spoilt him with love filled kisses. His soft milky white skin, that burnt far too easily in the sun. His hands... his hands were the hands of a man who could break him in half, yet they were the soft warm hands of the man he loved. The rise and fall of his chest as Lance lay with his head near Keith’s heart, letting the strong rhythm lull him to sleep as if it was the sweetest lullaby in the world. His quick temper. The way he pouted when he couldn’t figure something out. The way he pouted and scrunched his brow up in a huff over losing. The heat of Keith’s body as he slept in his arms... His husband was the single most precious gem in existence. Hundred’s would have damned their soul for a chance to tame Keith, yet Lance had. He’d shackled his husband and called him his. He’d done the impossible and found someone to love him... only, Keith didn’t. Not anymore. Soon those amethyst eyes would look to someone else. Those words of love they whispered, would be whispered to someone else between the sheets. All the expressions he’d memorised, wouldn’t be just for him anymore. He’d fumbled things so badly. The only course left to them was separation. He’d seen the signs coming. The hair flicks and causal shoulder bumps with Krystaal. The non-stop talking over the man when Keith came home. The fact Keith had felt the need to hide that Krystaal looked like a Galra god... and he was male. The way Keith lit up... like used to when it was just the two of them. Krystaal boosted Keith up, where Lance weighed him down. * Making himself scarce, help arrived the following quinant. The only thing strong enough to withstand the magnetic solar storm was a the triple reinforced shield of the new prototype cruisers the Galra were developing. Dressed in full Blade outfits, the reinforced waterproof fabric, and inbuilt filtration system prevented contamination or infection as one by one Keith’s team was recovered to the safety of the ship. The fighter jet they’d been leant, as well as Keith’s own ship, were quarantined in the abyss of the lower levels of the ship, Lance along with it. He’d handed every sample he’d collected over. Begged them to help Keith, Kosmo and Acxa, was forced to strip naked and be hosed down, before given a fresh set of clothes and let lose on the cruiser. They’d tactfully allowed him his privacy as he went through the procedure, or maybe they’d been so angry and disgusted with him that they’d hoped it would turn him to ashes as if he was a vampire in the sun. Lost, and lonely, he stayed near the entrance they’d taken to get onto the ship, curling up to hide in the stairwell closest to the main doors. It’d be a pain leaving everything behind, but the first chance he got, he’d be doing the only thing he’d ever done right in his life. Leaving. Leaving before he ruined things further. When the ship landed at the Palace, Lance slipped free. What he hadn’t accounted for in his brilliant plans was that his Mami and Veronica would both be waiting. Rushing to him, his mother pull him in tight. Lance’s good knee half giving out as he melted into his mother’s arms “Lance, what’s going on? What happened to Acxa?!” Wincing at his sister, he had no words for her “What went wrong!? She said it was simple training mission! What happened?!” Whimpering away from his sister, someone else must have appeared from the retrieval crew because Veronica was pushing off of them and running suddenly “Oh, my poor baby. What happened? Are you alright?” “No... Mami... I... everything’s a mess” Rubbing his back, his mother held him tighter “Whatever it is, we can work it out together” “I’m pregnant... and Keith wants a divorce... my knees ruined. I failed the mission. I failed Kosmo. Everyone got hurt because of me... I don’t... I don’t know what to do... I don’t know anything... I don’t want to be here... can you take me away?” “Lance, you’re not making any sense, Mijo” “I’m pr-pregnant... or I was... I’m so scared...” “Space has muddled you brain, sweet boy. You can’t babies...” “I can if my ex-girlfriends changed my body... please, Mami. I can’t face everyone... I don’t want them to know” Clinging to her blouse as tight as he could, Lance was so scared that she’d reject him on the spot. He didn’t know how he was going to tell her, yet now he had, he wanted to never let her go “Keith... he hates me so much... I was so stupid... of course he doesn’t want a freak like me... no one wants a freak like me...” “You stop that right now. Keith is crazy about you. He absolutely adores you, and don’t think for a single second that I doubt that. You’ve have a big scare. We need to get you to the hospital” “I don’t want to go” “Lance” “I deserve this. I’m a failure. I was so happy that I got to prove myself... I’m useless Mami... he said he understood why Allura killed herself to get away from me” His mother let out a mortified gasp “That can’t be. The Keith I know would never say that” “He’s right. I’m loud and always in the way. I’m stupid and self-centred, and I take up all his time... I thought we could make our marriage work, but he wants me gone” “I’m sure it must have been the pain. I’m sure that’s not how he feels” “Mami!” Yelling at his mother, Lance broke down into hard sobs. He didn’t want to be on Daibazaal. They were going to kick him off the planet the moment they heard how worthless he’d been “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Mijo. Here, come with me and we’ll get you some help” Shaking his head like a toddler, he’d already told his mother he didn’t deserve help “You’ve has a horrible shock. Please, Mijo” “I can’t...” “Lance” “I can’t... not here... they’re all going to hate me” “I’m sure that won’t be the case” “You weren’t there Mami. Keith’s team... it’s like their elite go to team and I hurt them all!” “Then come. Come home with me, Mijo. I don’t like you out here as it is. I worry for you so much. Come home to Earth” “I can’t” “Lance...” “I can’t! Keith wants to raise the twins there... but... I’m not ready...” With everything catching up to him, his mother waved over a medic. Strangers hands and strong arms helped him on to a gurney where he was blinded by a pen light. Pressing against his right knee, Lance shrieked in pain at the pressure he was being tortured with. By his side, his mother swayed on the spot as his leg was revealed. Most of his body now a massive bruise, given he’d taken two heavy falls in the space of 12 Vargas. Holding his hand, his Mami stayed with him the whole time. There to soothe him when he caught a glimpse of Keith being wheeled away from him. It’d taken four Galra to hold him down as he screamed for Keith. His hand reaching out, despite knowing he’d never make it to him. With a small pick to his arm, a sedative was introduced to his system, his body falling numb as the Galra released him, his mother’s soft voice near his head as he wheeled further from his... from Keith. Awake and lucid mentally during the examination of his leg, it wasn’t broke, only a bad sprain that would require him to be on crutches. Lance would have preferred they’d drugged him completely. Knocked him out so he wasn’t basking in the delicious feeling of nothingness that his body had taken on. They’d sedated him without his permission. He’d been so damn careful. He’d worked so hard not to fall back into the habit. His body had craved this feeling as if it was as important as drawing his next breath. Now it’d been forced upon him again... He didn’t deserve such a welcome release, not after he’d nearly gotten Keith’s team killed. Working himself to the bone to take care of the team was the least he could do. He deserves every single pained movement. He deserved every tweak and twinge that had him chewing up the inside of his mouth so as not to cry out in pain, out of fear of waking the others. He kept a full log of their temperatures, heart rate and recovery. None of it was enough though. He’d failed. Krolia would never let him out the in the field again. * Pain medication was glorious... But not as glorious as his Mami.... Maybe tied. She’d brought him clothes from home, that smelt like home. When they’d heard nothing from Veronica, Krolia, or any other number of Galra working in the hospital, she’d raised hell to get information for him. Keith and Acxa were both awake, but the whole team was quarantined until the contagion left their system. Due to her planet selection system being only mostly random, Krolia had been sending them to planets that hadn’t been visited by the Galra for some time. With no records, Krolia had no idea that both the rain and the organic matter on the planet triggered violent fits in Galra. Kolivan had been the one to make that discovery when presented with the analysis from the water, clothes, and plant samples Lance had bagged up. None of the team had been in control of their actions. The news should have been welcoming, yet it wasn’t. He wasn’t some kind of computer where he could flip a switch internally or click on a file, then delete all the bad shit. If every his brain injury needed to make him forget, it was not, yet the stupid traitor didn’t. His Mami was also glorious in the way she let him out of bed to shower, against doctors orders, then demanded the sheets changed while Lance was enjoying the sensation of mint in his mouth, and not being covered in mud and dirt. Making the mistake and catching himself in the mirror, anguish hit him all over again. He deeply regretted being the idiot he was. His body was heavily bruised, the only place semi healed was the bramble scratches on his hands. Now he was carrying twins, every ounce of energy went to them. His healing had slowed once getting off the drugs, though it was still faster than the average person. The third way that his mother was glorious was she sprung him from the hospital, and back to Altea. Krolia had barely left Keith’s side, sitting on the other side of the quarantine shield as she watched over him. Kosmo hadn’t left Keith’s side either. Too scared to face Keith, his mother scolded him gently for running, yet having been forced to accept that Lance may indeed be pregnant from his changing body, she arranged for him to receive medical care on Altea. Kolivan delivered them personally, which was weird and awkward. Perhaps the man had realised that Lance had been left nearly newsless for far too long, as he spoke in a rushed hushed tone. Zethrid, Keith and Acxa were being monitored closely, breathing tubes removed and Keith was a shit mood. Ezor was driving everyone crazy. They were administering care to each other so no one else would be contaminated, yet Lance was lucky. Under normal circumstances, the anger was infinitely more violent. If the group hadn’t been rendered unconscious, they all would have turned in each other. Essentially everything they did and said was the direct opposite of their usual thoughts and actions. Kolivan used far too many words to spell out the same thing Lance could sum up in three. Mission doomed from start. Sure. It was four words when he said it out loud, but if he’d talked at the same speed as Kolivan, it would have been one word garble. Nothing but stubborn, he refused to allow himself to sit during the quick flight over. His arm was looped over his Mami’s shoulders, and in his head he was already making a dash for freedom. Barely two vargas later, Lance was remembering why never told his mother anything. Not about his body at any rate. She’d kept his secret on Daibazaal, yet when sitting next to him as his belly was ultra sounded, she was demanding answers. So many answers to so many questions he didn’t have the answers for. She was furious with him for hiding that Allura had changed his body. Confused that her son. Her biologically externally male son, was carrying her grandchildren. And furious all over again that his marriage with Keith had hit the skids when they had two innocent children coming. She knew Keith wanted a divorce. He’d sobbed it into her shoulder so many times that he’d sounded like a broken record. She’d witnessed him having his first seizure when everything had hit him between doses of sedatives and realising he cared more about the drugs than he did Keith’s twins... Yeah. He wasn’t winning any “Son of the Year” awards any time soon. If anything she was madder than ever since meeting her future grandchildren... But that was more at him keeping his mouth shut after being exposed to the contagion, as both the twins vitals had been a little lower than expected, and he was now trapped in hospital on Altea, with sensors stuck to his belly and his leg propped up so high that his muscles were cramping. He didn’t need the extra pillow beneath his knee... One had been plenty. Two had been a “fussing mother”. Three constituted revenge on her behalf. Laying on the slim bed, Lance watched as injection after injection was pushed into his IV line. Saying no to anyone earned him a scowling from his mother, then she’d apologise to the nurse and explain it all away as “He’s just come back from a traumatic mission and doesn’t know what he’s saying”. He knew exactly what he was saying. Keith was going to be so mad at him for letting himself take the painkillers. She just didn’t get it and he couldn’t explain it. Dissolving into an argument, he’d very nearly told her “to fuck off back to Daibazaal and Veronica”, when Coran came rushing in... His mother throwing up her hands in defeat and storming out the hospital room, leaving with the parting comment of “Maybe he’ll listen to you, because he refused to see reason from me” Left alone with Coran was infinitely better than being with his cranky Mami. With Coran he could ask for what he needed, and he did “Coran, you can you please take the IV out... Mami won’t listen... I don’t want the drugs... please...” “My poor boy, you’re bruised from head to toe. Are you sure? Krolia filled me in on what happened” “Please... I can’t go back there” He meant he couldn’t go back to being an addict. Though he probably couldn’t go back to Daibazaal. Walking around to the left side of the bed, Coran nimbly slid the cannula from him the crease of his elbow, moving Lance’s right hand from his stomach to apply pressure where the needle had just slid free. Fiddling with the cord, he looped it up out of the way, before sitting on the edge bed “Thank you... Mami doesn’t... she doesn’t know... and I want it so bad...” Reaching out a kind hand, Coran wiped at his tears with a soft smile “I’m sure she was only doing what she thought was for the best. I see you’ve been hiding something from me” Biting his bottom lip, that same guilt he’d harboured for quintants flipped his stomach “Don’t worry, my boy. I’m sure it came as a tremendous shock to you and Keith” “I’m sorry... I wasn’t ready... I’m not ready” “Shhh... I’m not mad. I’m worried though. Krolia said the mission went wrong. Keith’s been restless since he woke, he didn’t take you leaving Daibazaal well” “He wants a divorce... He doesn’t love me anymore... He always has to take care of me and he’s done. He can’t do it anymore. Mami won’t listen... To anything. We haven’t... planned for the twins. I lied to her. I don’t want people knowing I’m pregnant... so many things could go wrong so we weren’t telling anyone... but Shiro... now she knows and she’s going to tell everyone and I can’t... they...” Leaning down, Coran drew him into a firm hug. Lance moving to hug him back “You don’t have to tell anyone you don’t want to. Have you talked to Keith at all? Or Shiro?” “N-no... Kolivan filled me in... but Krolia didn’t come see me... Veronica yelled at me... and Coran, it felt so good to feel numb... I nearly killed them all... but all I can think about is getting high” “My dear boy, no. If that’s all you could think about, you wouldn’t be so upset over Keith. You do know that the toxin you were all exposed to...” “I know. Logically I know... but they all came looking for me. And I got them all hurt... They were right. I’m useless... I’m useless. I talk to much. I’m always being taken care of... It was like I was hearing every one of Keith’s thoughts” “Keith loves you” “But he’s always forced to take care of me. No one even offered to let me see him... They only told me anything because Mami made them... How am I supposed to face Krolia. I’m knocked up with her grandkids when she’s busy with her own pregnancy. No wonder she doesn’t want me near Keith” “That’s not true at all. She was quite upset you were transferring here. Keith’s been asking for you, but he’s been in and out of fits of anger. He was quite distressed to hear you’d left Altea” “It’s probably just the toxin...” “Krolia assured me it wasn’t. He remembers everything that happened...” That only made Lance feel infinitely worse. It would have been better had he not remembered at all. Yes. He was being selfish... but it’s far easier to pretend nothing had happened if he was the only one who remembered. “... he said he really wanted to see you and really wanted to thank you for helping Kosmo” Not for keeping them alive. Not for changing the cold compressed. Not for picking every piece of bramble free that he could. Not for nearly vomiting at the sight of the thick bramble through Keith’s foot, or the red tendrils radiating out from the stinking oozing wound. No. Because he’d caused it all “I can’t... You don’t know... it was all my fault” “I’m sure it isn’t... Why don’t you tell me how it happened?” “I quiznakked up” Coran released him from his hug, moving his hands to hold Lance’s face as he leaned back to break the hold “Lance, you have always tried your hardest. You’ve always done what you thought was right” “I’ve been a hormonal bitch” “You are most certainly not a female dog from your planet” Coran gave a weak chuckle at his own joke. Such a “Space Uncle” thing to do “A hormonal horrible human than. I worked really hard to make up the training exercises fun. Keith was teasing me and I snapped at him... I snapped at him when all he was doing was being himself. I’m a horrible husband” “Stop that right now. Your body is flooded with hormones. You’re stressed. Tired. Injured. Hurt by the words of the others. Though they did not need it. Covered head to toe in bruising. And blaming yourself for natural planet conditions. You can’t control the weather, Lance. Not that I know of... though there was the one time you zapped Keith... No. I’m sorry for digressing. Please tell me what happened” Explaining what happened to Coran, Coran listened to all his stupidness with the same gentle consideration that he always showed him. Talking to Coran was completely different from talking to his Mami. He could talk to him about the cravings he’d been having, despite the shame he felt. He could talk about falling out the tree the night before, without being made to feel quiznakking stupider. Humming and “ahing” when appropriate, Coran let him talk... though Lance wasn’t entirely honest with him. He neglected to tell the Altean about the photos, he’d seen the photo of him with Klearo, but not the multiples on the now broken holopad. He couldn’t tell him. Keith thought him crazy over it. Shiro listened. But trying to talk to Keith over talking to Shiro... he’d smelt Keith’s jealousy. No matter what happened, he wasn’t getting between the two brothers. “I think you should return to Daibazaal to talk to him” Lance felt somewhat blindsided. Coran was supposed to be on his side. Not agreeing with his Mami “Before you say no, I believe that if you do not talk to him, Keith will track you down himself” “I can’t talk to him” “You can. He’ll listen” “I can’t!” “If you see him, I’m sure you’ll...” “He’s in the same room as the others... We can’t talk alone” “Ah... Ah! You could send messages via your comms! No one would see” “Keith hurt his arm...” “Uh uh uh. You’re making excuses. He only needs one hands to use him comms. I’m certain he’s as deeply distressed as you are” “It’s not just me to think about...” Snowballing wasn’t working. Playing the pregnant card wasn’t working either “Precisely why you should reach a decision and resolution sooner rather than later. If you and Keith do divorce, know that you’re always be welcome here” “I... don’t know what to do without him. I guess I’ll go back to the outpost and try not to die before Mami meets her grand kids” “And what about you?” “I don’t know how I feel about it” Coran got that misty look in his eyes that he always got before launching into a story of the past “I remember that feeling all too well. You should have seen Alfor when learned his wife was with child. He was sure he’d drop her. Forget her. Or harm her with his strength. The day Allura was born, was the proudest day of his life. He was prouder of her than anything he ever created, including Voltron. All new parents have the same fears. It’s natural to be afraid” “Our marriage... is barely a marriage. I didn’t want to leave the outpost, but I thought... I wanted to be with him, Coran. I was so sick of not seeing him. He was always training. Always working. I’d rather he dump me properly then feel like I’m still being strung along” “All you’re giving me is reasons why you should see Keith. I can come with you, if you want?” Knowing he should go see Keith, and having the courage to follow through, were completely different reasons. There were... He was with... Things would be different if Keith were alone. If they could speak in privacy... He was still too much of a coward to see him... but if Mami was there... she might be able... She adored Keith. Everyone adored Keith. Keith was adorable. He was rugged. Manly. Grizzled. He oozed the kind of raw sex appeal that left Lance so far in the shadows he wasn’t even an after thought. He was smart. Passionate. Dependable... Wonderful and so incredibly giving... He loved with a fierceness that scorched the senses. Standing beside him in battle... His supple body. The way he danced and moved. At one with his weapon in its entirety. He loved his husband ridiculously. And now he was seeing how right he’d been about not letting him in. Not letting his walls crumble. Because the weight of the pressure on his chest felt like an impossible burden to carry. His precious husband had been hurt because of him. His husband who’d spent countless nights soothing him back to sleep. Who’d held him through bouts of nightmares. Nuzzled and kissed his nightmares away. Who’d made love to his body until he felt infused to Keith with his very soul. Keith who he still fought with, but now had learned how to say sorry. He was still terrible with his words, but not with him. Not with Lance... because Lance understood mostly what his husband truly wanted to say. Hearing “I love you” from Keith was like walking on clouds. The worlds rolled off his lover’s gifted tongue and swept away his worries as if he were a summers breeze. If he didn’t face Keith, then this dream wouldn’t end. But if he didn’t face Keith, and Keith took a turn for the worst... His barely contained hysteric would burst forth, robbing him of his sanity and reason as it did. “I’ll... I’ll return... Mami will want to still be there for Veronica” Lance’s voice was low. His head felt as if it was beating in time with his heart. He’d cried so much that his throat was wrecked, yet being drugged up erased the pain, leaving behind the effects without the punishment. He knew he was in for a world of hurt when the medication left his system. The medication leaving him flying high like Icarus, yet knowing he would be falling at any moment “You’re scheduled for an overnight stay. I’ll see to it that you have a decent meal, and one sent for Miriam” “I don’t know what to tell her...” Gesturing to the IV stand, Coran gave a nod “Let me handle this one” “No offence, but you’re awful at lying. No matter what I say, she’s going to insist I don’t know what I’m doing. That stupid needle is going to have to go back into my arm... I...” “I’ve changed many an IV bag before. Let me swap the line out for fluids instead” Lance gaped. He didn’t mean to gape. He seriously didn’t “Just a little switcheroo between friends. If you’re on pain medication, they’re likely to swap to oral delivery upon discharge” Tablets... The arch-nemesis of his throat. Simply feeling a tablet in his mouth had him violently gagging. Maybe his body would be happy to swallow down pills on the provision he could finally feel that high again? “Do you... Do you have time to do it, before Mami comes back?” “Of course. Now let me get you all settled. You’ll feel right as rain after you’ve had a nap” A healing pod would have fixed up any deep tissue damage, yet they couldn’t be sure it wouldn’t risk the twins or how his body would flush any remaining toxin. With the twins the most thing going for him at the moment, he’d refused pod treatment. Knowing that the pain he felt was only going to grow “You... you won’t tell Mami... will you? She has so much to worry about back on Earth as it is...” “You’re safe with me, number three. Let me just pop that new IV bag in, then I’ll get her for you” Lance nodded as he sniffled “Thank you, Coran. I’m... sorry I didn’t... Thank you for listening to me” “Any time”

[sasuhinasno1fan]

You’ve got my heart and my back

This is a squeal to this story. Camp Half-Blood

Lance was angry. He refused to look at the man standing in front of him. he was sure if Keith was around, he’d be frowning at Lance for the abundance of emotions he was giving off.

“I need you to do this for me.”

Lance glared up at the man. His dad. Hades. He never wanted anything to do with him. anytime spent down at in the Underworld was spent with the only person there he liked, Persephone and his personal hellhound Kosmo. His life had been turned upside down when he found out Hades was his dad. Any friends he made at Camp Half-Blood turned their back on him. Keith was his only friend right now, and granted he only started talking to him because Lance’s bad emotions started messing with him. he was lucky he stuck around after that, but still. Hades had been nothing but trouble so when he appeared on the one night Keith convinced him to stay for the bonfire, Lance’s mood crashed.

“I don’t need to do shit for you. If you’ve got a few loose hellhounds, how is that my problem. Obviously, you can’t do your job properly.”

Hades’ narrowed his eyes at his son. “How dare you.”

“Fuck off and leave me alone.” Not able to take anymore, Lance got up and stormed out of Coran’s office, his mind only on getting back to his cabin.

Waiting by the door with Kosmo was Keith, who met Lance halfway.

“I’m sorry.” Lance said.

“What for?”

“My emotions.”

“Lance, that’s the last thing on my mind right now. Your dad showed up out of nowhere, I get why your emotions are a mess right now. What did he want?”

“Some of his hellhounds got loose and he wants me to go get them. I’m not his errand boy and if he can’t control them it’s not my problem.” Lance said, going and opening the door to his cabin. He shuffled to his bed and flopped on it, listening to Keith come closer.

“How did they get loose? I thought they generally stayed in the Underworld.”

“Apparently Demeter came to see Persephone and they got into their usual argument about her marriage to Hades but it got out of hand and they took off.”

“Um, Lance?” he pulled up his face to see Keith look concerned. “Aren’t hellhounds usually bad to be around, like they might go and attack people.”

“Uhh, maybe? They like me.”

“Ok look, I get that you don’t want to give into your dad, but a lot of half-bloods are scared of hellhounds. And if I know anything about dogs, they attack if they smell fear.” Keith pointed out.

“Ugg, and if they hurt half-bloods, I’ll get blamed for it.”

“Oh, yeah and that. I know this is something he should take care of, but if you take care of it, you can hold it over his head. And besides, if you accept the quest, you can take those you feel is worthy.”

“Is that your way of offering to come with me?” Lance asked, with a smirk.

“Hey, you can take care of the hellhounds and I can get info from anyone if needed. Besides, someone needs to watch your back.” Keith said, sharing a smile with Lance.

“Fine. I guess I should go tell him I’ll do it. Thank you for offering to come with me.”

“Of course. Do you want me to come with you?”

Lance shook his head, “It won’t take long. Besides, I need to go see the Oracle after anyway.”

“Alright, I’ll be here then.”

Lance left the cabin, his mood lighter. Keith had a way of doing that. He remembered when Keith came to talk to him the first time. He’d been very clear on why he was there but he still stuck around after. He was always ready to fight anyone that gave him a bad look and he made Lance feel normal. Part of him knew that he had gained feelings for Keith but he didn’t want to go and push at it in case it turned out badly. He didn’t want to lose Keith in his life.

He found his father ready to storm out of the Big House when he stopped at the sight of his son. “I’ll do, only because you can’t control your pets and it’ll just be bad for the rest of us.” With that, he walked past his father and went of the stairs to the attic, where the current host of the Oracle was already waiting for him. their eyes turned white and they spoke.

“You will go to a doorway hidden in trees. Avoid the claws of the beast. When all is returned, an answer to a question shall be earned. To not take this opportunity will result in a lost chance. The one important will never give you a glance. Protect him from the beast and return the luckiest.”

Lance watched their head fall forward and blink past the mist. Lance was confused because he was sure that he was also given him relationship advice?

“Is it time for dinner?” the Oracle host asked, seeming tired.

“You missed it but I’ll tell Coran to get you something. Get some rest.”

“Tell him to let Adam know I’ll be asleep up here.” They said, getting off their stool and dropping down onto a nearby blanket covered mattress.

Lance left them to get rest while he went over the prophecy over in his head. Doorway hidden in the trees was obviously the Doorway of Orpheus, a way the man known as Orpheus took when he went to bring his wife back. That meant they had to go to New York, Central Park to be more exact. Avoid the claws of the beast, meaning the hellhounds won’t go back easily. An answer to a question shall be earned? To not take the opportunity would mean the important one wouldn’t give him a glance? Did that mean, if Lance didn’t take the opportunity to tell Keith how he felt, he’d lose him in the end? Great, no pressure. He knew that prophecies had double meanings but this one seemed pretty straight forward.

He met Keith on his way back to his cabin.

“It’s really late and I need to pack for tomorrow. When are we leaving?”

“Early, sooner we can round them up, the better. It’s gonna be a hard.”

“Right, I’ll be by your cabin in the morning.”

“Okay.” Lance didn’t know how he was going to do this.

“Oh what a cute puppy! What’s his name?”

Ok, so originally, they were going to go to New York after breakfast but Keith had gotten into an argument with his siblings over him going with Lance on the quest so Keith came early and Lance decided they should at least get a head start. So using his shadow travel, he got them as close to Central Park but was stopped by his own growling stomach. Hence why he, Keith and Kosmo, who now looked like a poodle of all things to those affected by the Mist.

“Kosmo.”

“Oh he’s so cute. We have pupchinos if you want to get him one.”

“Um, sure. But can it be in the biggest cup you have, he’ll have trouble getting it out.”

“Of course. Be right back pupper.”

When the waitress left, Keith couldn’t help but laugh. “Pupper? Kosmo is anything but.” Kosmo glance up at Keith for the remark but Lance could disagree with that.

“Alright, after we eat, we’ll walk over the Doorway of Orpheus. That’s where the Oracle said they’d be. They also said it would be dangerous but they’re hellhounds so not that surprising.”

“What else did they say?” Keith asked, picking up his panini.

Lance was going to start on his French toast but stopped when he remembered the rest of the prophecy. He had to tell Keith how he felt or risk losing him forever. He wanted to say that Keith wouldn’t leave him but he didn’t know if that was true. What if he didn’t take the chance and then something happened that made Keith see him differently? It was nerve-wracking to even think about. Not the kind of thoughts he needed before going to try and corral a small group of hellhounds.

“That was it.”

“Really? Last time I went on a quest my prophecy was at least 5 sentences long.”

“Different for everyone I guess.”

They finished their food, where Keith used his allure like charmspeak to get the food for free.

“You scare me sometimes.”

Once they were near the entrance closest to where the Doorway was, Lance put his palm on the grass and focused. As a child of Hades, he could sense death and hellhounds carried around a particular feeling of death. “Not counting Kosmo, there are 6 of them. They’re all by the Doorway thankfully but we wait any longer they can go out and search for prey.”

“How do we get them back to the Underworld.”

“Hellhounds can shadow travel so I have to open a separate door to the Underworld. I’ll be really drained by the end of the fight so I trust you to have my back ok?”

“Got it. Let’s go.”

When they got near the Doorway, Kosmo started to growl low in his throat.

“Be ready.” Lance said.

Keith pulled a dagger from his belt, that grew to a sword while Lance summoned his own sword from his shadow. They slowly walked forward when three figures burst out from tree shadows. Kosmo went a took one of the hellhounds down, while Lance and Keith got the attention of their own. Keith kept the hellhound away from him with his sword. When it jumped out at him, he let his finger brush over the dove engraving on the hilt, letting the blade glow pink before hitting the hellhound in the face. It shook its head, still growling at Keith when he ordered it to lay down and it obeyed. Aphrodite might not have been happy her son liked to fight but at least she made sure he was protected. The dove released a magic similar to charmspeak.

Lance used his shadow to create a shield to block his own hellhound and summoned an opening to the Underworld to swallow Keith’s hellhound and his struggling own. Kosmo had pinned down his own opponent, letting Lance pull it down to the Underworld as well.

“That wasn’t too hard.” Keith pointed out, watching Lance take deep breaths. He could already feel the effects of summoning 3 openings one right after the other.

He slowly got to his feet, taking slow breaths. “We still have the other ones to worry about. We should let our guard down.”

“Right. Will you be ok?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. let’s go.”

They reached where the Doorway sat and saw the other hellhounds surrounding the door. They looked like they were in a less good mood than the others.

“They’re gonna catch our scent. Be ready.” Lance instructed.

Sure enough, the hellhounds started growling when they realised they had company. Lance used the shadows to create another shield and once they were stopped, Keith attacked with his sword. One swiped at Keith, Lance pulling him out of the way. He heard Keith let out a pained cry as he put his palm to the ground and summoned another opening, pulling the last of them back to the Underworld. When they were gone, he felt his whole world tilt as it started going dark around the edges.

“Lance!” Lance blinked slowly, seeing Keith lean over him. he didn’t even realise he’d collapsed on the floor. He felt so weak. “Lance, answer me. Are you ok?”

“Tired.”

He felt Keith pull him up and whistle for Kosmo. He felt Kosmo’s fur under his hands as Keith got him on his back and felt himself lean back, leaning on what he could assume was Keith’s chest.

“Kosmo, get us back to Camp Half-Blood.” Keith ordered the hellhound.

Lance felt Kosmo moving and then the familiar feeling of shadow travelling before the sounds of New York were replaced with the quietness of Camp Half-Blood. He let Keith pull him off Kosmo’s back and then stumble to his cabin. Even the fairylights in his cabin felt to bright to his eyes as he finally collapsed on the bed. He heard Keith rummaging and the light dimmed behind Lance’s closed eyes.

“I turned off the lights, are you ok?”

Lance opened his eyes and looked at Keith, the blue fire from the fireplace allowing Lance to look at him.

“I’m dizzy, my head hurts and I feel really weak.”

“Does this always happen?”

“When I overuse my powers. Are you ok?”

“Just a minor scratch, you pulled me away in time.”

Lance could just make out the scratches on his arm. They were thin and seemed to of stopped bleeding but they were long. Disregarding how weak he felt, he put his hand on the wound and allowed himself to heal it.

“Wait, Lance stop!” Keith pulled his arm away and Lance could see it was mostly healed. “You just opened 4 portals to the Underworld, don’t waste more energy trying to heal me. I’ll be fine. everything’s ok now.”

Lance slowly blinked at Keith. Things were ok now, which meant…

When all is returned, an answer to a question shall be earned.

Lance had to tell Keith how he felt or he could lose him forever. He didn’t want to lose Keith.

“We should tell Hades his hellhounds are returned. Do you have a fountain or something so we can Iris call him?”

“You can’t Iris call in the Underworld.” Lance pointed out, smiling to himself that Keith didn’t realise that.

“Because there’s no sun in the Underworld for rainbows to appear. Ok fine. you get some rest and on my way to the infirmary, I’ll go tell Coran we succeeded ok?” Keith said, about to get up when Lance stopped him.

“I need to tell you something. It can’t wait.”

“Lance, you look like your about to pass out.”

“I know, but I have to. It’s part of the prophecy.”

Keith looked confused. “I thought you said that the prophecy was only 2 lines.”

“I lied. Trust me, if you heard the whole thing you’d understand. But I don’t want to lose you.”

“You’re not going to lose me. What is it?”

“I like you. Like really like you. But I couldn’t say anything because I didn’t want to lose you but they said I would if I didn’t say anything.”

Lance felt himself get even more sleepy as he watched a smile come on Keith’s face. He felt a soft hand brush at his hair.

“Hey, I’m not going anywhere. I’m not sure if you’ll remember this when you wake up, but I like you too.”

“Oh, ok.” Lance felt happy at that admition but his tiredness was winning out.

“Go to sleep Lance. I’ll be here when you wake up. I promise.”

Lance let his eyes slid shut as he heard Keith get up. He stopped not long after.

“The flower crown, you kept it?”

“Persephone kept it alive for me.” Was all Lance said before he drifted off.

[greenteafiend]

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

@badthingshappenbingo​

(Crosses are done)

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

(Read it on Ao3 here if you prefer)

Lance was surprised when Krolia pulled him aside. Alone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Krolia nodded stoically, accepting his words.

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

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

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

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

“Keith nearly died,” she said gravely.

“Keith nearly what?!”

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

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

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

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

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

Lance understood immediately.

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

That… that hurt Lance to know.   

“He has nightmares about it,” Krolia repeated.

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

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

“I-I won’t, it’s just…”

He didn’t say anything.

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

“Why me?” asked Lance, mouth dry.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“-doing,” he wheezed.

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

Lance let out an involuntary giggle, it tickled.

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

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

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

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

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

Wait, bringing him?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Excuse me?”

Grimacing, Keith pressed on.

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

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

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

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

“I’m fine,” said Lance shortly.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Ages ago?” he echoed faintly.

“Yeah, it’s not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal?!”

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

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

“If it weren’t for Lotor–”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lance sighed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That was when Lance noticed that Keith was shaking.  

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

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

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

“Can I hug you?” he asked.

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

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

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

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

Lance opened up his arms in wordless invitation.

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

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

Fragile.

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

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

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

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

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

“About Naxela?” That earned him another nod.

“Do you wanna tell me about it?”

Keith shrugged.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Along with hugs?”asked Keith.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keith shrugged.

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

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

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

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

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

“Tell you what?”

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

“And that helped?”

Keith nodded, shamefaced.

Lance’s answering smile was fond and indulgent.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh.

Kosmos was nowhere to be seen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

[lexiholic826]

Big mood

But anyway hi I'm back and I finished it lol

Plance Fanfiction: Anything For You

Pidge trotted over to the gates to the annual Fall Fair. She was excited since her team finally had a break after defeating Zarkon and Lotor. To celebrate, they got tickets to the fair in Ohio. It was a beautiful, clear evening, perfect for going out. The entire team was split into separate groups to explore other parts faster. Allura and Coran we're together, Keith, Krolia, Kosmo, and Shiro were paired together, and Romelle, Hunk, and Matt were in a group. Lance and Pidge were with each other, jumping up and down from excitement.

The main attraction was the Ferris wheel, and one of Lance and Pidge's favorites. Luckily it wasn't far from the entrance, so everyone went to the ginormous wheel first.

Since only two people were allowed in the seat, the groups had to split up even more. Now it was Allura and Krolia, Keith and Shiro, Coran and Romelle, Hunk and Matt, and Lance and Pidge.

Soon they were up in the air, and Pidge was hopping with joy.

"Woohoo!" She shouted. "This is amazing!"

Lance just stared softly at Pidge, happy that she was having a good time.

Later on, after they split up again, they found a small tent in the middle of some stands. Curious, Pidge and Lance decided to enter, and once they did they stared in awe. On the floor were two pillows and a short table. Behind the table, an older woman was sat there. On the table was some sort of glowing orb.

"Hello!" The woman smiled warmly. "I can tell you your future for a mere fifteen GAC."

"Sure, why not?" Lance smirked, tossing some coins on the table. The woman smiled and took them, then motioned for the two to sit down. Obeying, the Voltron members sat and waited. Suddenly, the orb flared up as if it were alive. Both heroes jumped in shock.

"Oh, yes, I see now." The old woman murmured. "You will always be by each other's sides no matter what. You both will fall in love."

Blushing, Pidge jumped up, shouted a quick "thank you" and rushed out. The orb's light faded away.

"Sorry about that, I have no idea what's wrong with her." Lance apologized, standing up.

"No need to apologize, dear boy," The woman murmured. "If anything, you'll be thanking me later."

When Lance exited the tent, he was surprised to find Pidge at a stand nearby eating strawberries. Walking up, he touched her shoulder, wanting to get her attention.

"Ah!" Pidge shouted, whipping around. Her Bayard was out and aimed at Lance.

"Whoa, calm down, it's just me!" Lance yelped. Sighing, Pidge lowered her weapon and put it away, turning back around only to eat more strawberries.

"Are these free?" Lance asked. The man behind the stand nodded and smiled.

"All is free here! I serve to make customers happy!"

"Um, okay." Lance shrugged, eating a strawberry. "Oh, hey, Pidge, let's head back to the group meetup spot, so we can go on that last ride!"

By the time Pidge and Lance returned to the front of the fairgrounds, they were soaked. It was pouring down rain and the fair was forcibly cancelled.

"What the quiznak?" Lance exclaimed. "Why can't we just enjoy ourselves? We've earned it!"

"We has fun today though, right?" Shiro smiled. "Besides, it was a great way for us to spend some time together."

"Shiro's right." Keith stepped forward. Surprisingly, he was grinning. "I had a lot of fun today. Let's not let a little rain stop us now."

"Let us go back home." Allura said, already walking away with Coran.

"Wait!" Pidge squeaked. "It's a long way back to the cars. I brought some umbrellas." She handed one to each Paladin, watching as they opened them. "Pretty, right?"

"It's pink." Keith blandly stated.

"Oh, that one's for Allura. Hunk's is yellow, Shiro's is black, yours is red, and Lance's is blue! I've got the green one." The brunette smiled proudly. "Coran, here's an orange one, and a purple one for Krolia." She tossed the umbrellas to the remaining team members and grinned. Together, they all began walking to the cars they came in. Pidge and Lance strayed behind them.

"So..." Pidge cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses. "I had a lot of fun with you today."

"Me too." Lance smiled sweetly, making Pidge blush.

"Maybe we can do this again some time?" The small woman suggested. Lance nodded, smiling when Pidge's expression lightened up. "Awesome! Let's go to the mall next!"

"The mall?" Lance questioned.

"Yeah! They have a bunch of nerd stuff." She winked at him, making him blush a bit.

"Anything for you, Pidge."

I thought a Fair idea was cute lol so I went with that.

Requests

Hey guys!

So, kinda rare that I do these things, but I have literally no fanfic ideas and I’m in desperate need to write something. So if y'all want a fanfiction done (one shots only for now; no chapter fanfics) then just message me or reblog with your idea!

Plus, hey, free fanfictions of your choice!

Just let me know which fandom it’s in and we can work something out ^.^

[kosmoriri]