#shklance end goal

[wetsockonyourfoot]

Starboy Lance

Aghhhhh my head’s in so many different places rn, just take this! :S

You know that feeling when you're only really kinda good at one thing, and pretty mediocre or bad at everything else? That feeling of knowing there are others with multitude of talents, and skills, yet you were given the short end of the stick and barely given a talent at all? That's the feeling Keith had felt every day of his life. Back at his old middle school he just passed his classes really. Never an over achiever. Never an underachiever. He was never insanely popular, never apart of the nerdy kids, jocks, drama, art, music, or geek clubs. He was sorta... just... there. And that's how it seemed to be in high school too, he just floated along till his senior year. Keith remembers his senior year almost perfectly. Why? Because of one person. Lance. Lance was an incoming junior when Keith was beginning his senior year, though he shared the same classes as Lance. Beautiful, smart, and wonderful Lance who always found the perfect pastel outfit to wear each day of one week, before he completely switched and was wearing goth black the next week. That was Lance's talent, to be so perfectly absorbed in his own style, his own personal club that no one could seem to follow or get into. Keith fell in love the moment he laid his eyes on Lance, and then he fell out of love immediately when Lance opened his mouth to speak. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but Lance's opening line of, "Dude I thought Mullet's were stuck in the 80s" was not exactly a charmer. Keith of course rolled his eyes and started to rethink the tan skinned beauty he now had a crush on, but Lance luckily saved the conversation. "Sorry, that was rude. And I can't exactly be one to talk now can I?" Lance asked gesturing towards his outfit of choice. Keith remembered it well. The first day of classes and Lance was simultaneously breaking every school dress code at once, well for girls anyway. Boys didn't have any dress codes except to wear pants essentially. Lance however was clad in probably the most pastel goth outfit Keith had ever seen. Purple galaxy tights with bright pink converse, a pair of blue shorts over his tights, and a yellow shirt with a classic little green alien plastered on the front that read 'Aliens?'. Bronze skin practically glowed in the sun as he adjusted the various clips and earrings in his ears, along with the bracelets and rings on his arms. It was a completely feminine look, yet here was a slightly lanky boy pulling it off perfectly. Keith thought that surely someone would harass him for wearing such an outfit, yet he knew that as long as Lance hung out with him, no one would dare to touch him. Keith Kogane didn't have many talents, he was an average student really. But god damn, he could punch, and he was know for it. Back during his freshmen year of high school, Keith had some rough encounters with the baseball jocks after they kicked out Takashi Shirogane from their team. Shiro, as Keith called him, was Keith's current boyfriend. Three year's his senior, he was a well rounded and absolutely perfect human being. Shiro however was involved in an accident when he was in 10th grade that cost him his arm, and he had been facing hardship against the baseball team every sense. He was allowed to play his 11th year with his new arm, but couldn't find the courage to actually get back onto the field. So his final year they officially kicked Shiro off the team, and Keith got a little more than pissed. It ended up with Keith getting two weeks suspension, and the head of the baseball team getting reconstructive surgery. Needless to say, no one picked fights with Keith. Lance hung around for a while longer, talking about how he just moved to the town with his mother after a rough divorce. Keith speaking about how he was an orphan that now lived with Shiro since he was technically a year behind in age and would be turning 19 that year. Keith had moved in during the summer and couldn't be happier to be out of the dingy foster home he was stuck in. They were nice people and all, but he was ready to get out and not have someone nagging him all the time. Lance, as it turned out, would be turning 18 that year, as he was a year ahead of his age. "Part of being born in the summer I suppose?" was all he commented about it. Conversation flowed through them casually, naturally as if they had been talking all their lives. He found out that most of his siblings were staying with his father back in Cuba, his mother and him having moved to the United States for a fresh start. They had been living there since last May, and Lance's English was so good that if he hadn't been told so Keith would have never guessed his first language was actually Spanish. All throughout the day Lance received looks, and sneers from peers though he seemed to ignore them all and instead focused on making a social group for him and Keith. It was hard to find the right people, or at least to find people that Lance considered good enough to keep. Though Lance also seemed to be a social media expert as he Chatted and Snapped, and Twittered his way through mobs of curious girls and boys alike. In the end, Keith would prefer to just have Lance to himself, but, that was a conversation for... well actually now seemed to be a good time to consider it, Keith thought. Lance seemed to be perfectly built for Keith, and sure as hell had a personality to match, but he already had Shiro. Why would he feel the need to have another boyfriend? Sure Keith had heard of poly amorous relationships before, but he never considered the thought too much. It never stuck out to him as something that needed to be thought about so seriously before. He didn't have a problem with it or anything, so long as the people involved knew about the other partners and were okay with it. However, Keith never considered him to be one to find himself in this position. Shiro had always provided him with everything he needed. Love, comfort, a source of relief after a hard day, hell he even helped Keith provide a house and food for them both. But Lance... Lance provided social interaction that he craved. The danger of being new, the intoxicating scent of something fresh that Keith wanted to stain and mark as his. Lance was a breathe of new air in Keith's slowly dulling life. Shiro provided him with stability, Lance with flexibility. Both were needed and in the right parts, but the hard part came as to when to get them together. Hell Keith was thinking to fast, he had to find out if Lance even liked him back first! Fantasizing could come later! And thus the day went on. Boring classes that Keith barely paid attention too, syllabus that he would have to sign later, and the sense of emotional exhaustion settling deep into his bones. Keith's day was far from over though, he had his shift down at a local bar still, hired as one of the bouncers since he knew the young faces of the town. So he trudged on. Dumping his bag in the back of the bar after a short walk to down town from school, still thinking about Lance all while he worked. The way the other's brown hair seemed to glow gold when caught right, lean muscles, bright blue eyes, and enthusiasm that made even a shy loner like Keith smile. Needless to say, Keith couldn't wait to get home and find out more about the teen. Heading back home around 1 AM, he was greeted to his usual sight of Shiro's attempt at cooking, failure from cooking, and resulting pizza box on the counter, along with the older passed out on the couch with the TV droning on. Shaking his head lovingly, Keith dropped his bags, grabbed some pizza and shoved it down quickly before nudging Shiro awake. Shiro half awake and half asleep will continue to be the best part of dating the taller male, he was like a child in this state, mumbling nonsense and stumbling around as Keith lead him to bed. The bedroom was a small thing, as their house was a simple one story affair, in a decently safe neighbor hood. Shiro's parents had helped put down the deposit, but Shiro and him kept on time with their own payments, giving it the sense of truly being theirs. Down the hall from the living room was their bedroom, where a giant bed took up almost all the space inside of it. Shiro insisted on getting the large mattress, as he rolled around a lot and was a fairly large man. Keith was thankful for it, as it meant fewer steps for the sleep drunken young adult to walk and get to bed. With Shiro tucked in soundly, Keith even gave him a kiss for good measure, he worked on getting ready for bed himself and found that only one thing was out of place. The neighbors light was still on, casting a fake yellow shadow across the spot where Keith was to rest his head. Grumbling annoyed by the lack of darkness in his spot, he tried to get the blinds to close further and failed horribly, somehow making them open wider instead of closing. Mentally cursing himself Keith tried to fix the matter before a figure appeared in the light of the opposite room. It was Lance. Keith felt his heart drop right then and there. Lance was almost completely exposed in his outfit. Only wearing a pair of panties, and a long sweater over his top half. That's not what made Keith's heart drop however. All across Lance's legs were scars and bandages. And all of them looked to be self inflicted.

[musicanddancingthroughlife]

Shklance - I Died

I feel like I basically dropped off the face of the planet, and for that I apologize. I have no excuses, except stress and mental health have been a huge problem lately and I’ve just been trying to find balance in my life. I can’t promise anything in the near future, with holidays coming up, and I have finals in like 3 weeks, and then my husband and I are moving at the end of the year, and then my little sister’s wedding is a few weeks after so I’m helping with that, and basically my life is just a mess right now, but I am still working on stuff, comments are always welcome and really do help to get me motivated, and hopefully I can get back into the groove of writing daily and posting weekly!

This story is probs gonna be a part 1 of 2. Hopefully. As is, I wanted it to be a stand alone, but I’ve been drafting it for almost a month now and I just want to throw it at you guys. So know I’m working on a part 2, where they talk about the whole thing and you see everyone’s reactions to what happened. This was actually a request someone made of me on my Ao3 account, but I’ve always loved reading stories dealing with everyone finding out about Lance dying. Just never thought I could do it justice haha. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

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

Lance knew that this was going to be an emotional day for all of them, but seriously, this was a little overkill. He knew he shouldn’t have gotten out of bed today.

Sure, it was the one-year anniversary of the day they all saved the universe, ended the war that had gone on for decades, blah blah blah, but getting up also meant that he was going to have to see everyone again.

Not that he wasn’t thrilled to see them! He and Hunk especially had been waiting for this day for months, and he couldn’t wait to see Pidge and Matt again, either. Last Lance had talked to them, they had been working on some seriously neat stuff. They were sure to be a lot of fun.

Hell, he had even been looking forward to seeing Allura again, even though things had never really been the same between them after Allura broke things off. Though, considering how hurt he was still feeling about their break up, it was probably a good thing she had canceled last minute. She’d said that she needed to focus on helping the universe heal. Lance had wanted to go with her, but she rejected him. He knew she was trying to be kind, telling him that he “deserved the time to rest” and that she “knew how much he’s been missing his home planet.” But really, all it had done was serve to remind him that he wasn’t actually necessary.

Not like Shiro and Keith were.

Allura hadn’t had any problems taking them with her, even though everyone else (even Keith) and agreed that if anyone deserved the down time, it was Shiro. Especially since Shiro had seemed a little weary when he accepted the invitation from Allura. Personally, Lance believed the only reason he agreed to go was because he knew that Keith wouldn’t be happy staying in one place anymore, and of course, there was no way they were going to allow themselves to be separated again, not after everything that had happened…

And Lance was even looking forward to seeing Keith and Shiro, since he had probably missed them the most. But he also knew that it was going to be hard. It was always hard seeing them together, but knowing that they’ve been doing so much good out in the universe, that they’ve gotten to see so much more of those worlds than he had… That was going to be hard.

Not to mention Lance still hadn’t managed to shake the crushes he’d had on them for so long now.

Or the fact that while everyone else was off changing the universe, traveling the galaxies, creating newer and better technology and inventions, Lance had done nothing? Okay, so farming wasn’t nothing. And no one could deny that Earth needed some TLC after the trauma of the war had nearly destroyed it. But as much as he enjoyed the simple hard work involved, that didn’t mean he didn’t understand it was stupid. It was pathetic. His friends were still fighting, in their own ways, and Lance felt as if he had simply given up. He couldn’t figure out what he wanted to spend his time doing, what felt most worthy of his time and attention, and so he had allowed himself to fall back on something easy.

And he wasn’t sure that he could face his friends while knowing the truth about himself, that he was a coward and had no mission or goals in life.

******

So, maybe Lance was a bit of a drama queen, because things had actually been going better than he expected. Everyone looked good, older and more experienced. Hunk had even grown out some facial hair, though it was a little sparse coming in. Lance knew that wouldn’t be the case for very long. The most shocking was Allura’s news about expecting a child (Keith and Shiro had passed it on in her absence). That hurt way more than Lance thought had a right to, but he tried hard to suppress that pain until he could process it in private. Possibly while crying over a tub of ice cream.

And as far as their actual dinner and celebration went, well… it really had been inevitable that their discussion would become heavier. And, as usual, Lance couldn’t keep his own mouth shut.

“We had some good times, though, right?” Lance laughed easily, trying to direct the conversation back to something lighter, something easier (at this point he’d had a couple decades to cement his masks, and he was good at pretending like nothing was wrong). “I mean, we might have been injured, and tortured—”

“Lance,” Hunk warned. He darted a quick, concerned look to Keith and Shiro, but thankfully neither of them looked too worried. Instead, they were staring at Lance with such sappy looks Hunk was irritated Lance wasn’t paying enough attention to notice on his own. A shared glance with Pidge told him that at least he wasn’t alone in his annoyance.

Lance continued thoughtlessly, “and I mean, maybe a couple of us died, but hey! In the end, it all turned out okay, and look at everyone, living their best lives!” (Lance was firmly ignoring the fact that he had spent most of his free time leading up to today pouting in bed. No one else knew, and therefore it didn’t count.)

Pidge opened her mouth, but Shiro spoke first. His brows were furrowed, and his nose had scrunched up a little. Lance wanted to melt at the cuteness of it. “Did someone else die? I thought I was the only one. Who else died?”

Lance’s jaw snapped shut. He couldn’t remember if it had even been brought up or not… It had to have, right? There’s no way his friends – his team – had just gone on for this long without knowing! He thought they were just ignoring it! Things had been crazy, and they’d never really gotten a chance to slow down and breathe, let alone discuss everything that had happened. And that was fine! That was to be expected! But now he was supposed to believe they just didn’t know??? Did that mean they didn’t care? That they didn’t notice all the nightmares that had become the norm after his death? The way he was jumpier for months after that battle? And if that were the case, then was it even worth bringing up now, so long after it had happened?

Lance’s face was burning, the warm flush traveling up to the tips of his ears, and possibly all the way down his neck. He could feel his eyes welling up, but he brushed it away, pretending his face palm in order to hide the movement. He glanced at his friends, unsurprised to find Hunk staring at him intently. Pidge was muttering to herself, obviously trying to determine what had happened on her own. Lance couldn’t even bear to drag his gaze to Keith or Shiro.

He tried to get out of answering Keith.

“Oops haha, must’ve miscounted, I meant to say that one of us had died,” Lance laughed again but unlike earlier, this one was decidedly uncomfortable. “Because. Obviously. One of us… did. Sorry, Shiro. But like, you died. That happened. And it was weird and we got a weird clone out of the deal, which was weird – did I say that already? – and like he wasn’t a great dude, so I’m glad you didn’t stay dead, you know? You’re much nicer than that clone was, he was kind of a jerk. No offense, Shiro. I mean, not that you’re the clone or anything, cause you’re Shiro, and that was Not-Shiro—”

Oh dear God why wouldn’t they shut him up? Lance was so busy panicking about what he was saying that he didn’t notice Shiro and Keith slowly standing, approaching him from each side. But Hunk and Pidge could almost see the concern rising off them.

“But he was mean, and he yelled at us a lot. Although I guess he really spent most of his time yelling at me, which really, makes sense, but again, not something you would’ve done, Shiro, so I’m glad you didn’t stay dead or anything, because Not-Shiro was a terrible replacement and—”

“Shiro yelled at you?” Keith had come close enough that he could lay a warm, gentle hand on Lance’s shoulder. Lance almost flinched at the contact, it had been so long since someone had touched him like that. Sure, he saw his family way more often than he had while they were fighting in space, but, come on. They were fighting in space. He never saw them back then! Anything was an improvement over that! Anyway, the point was, he knew he was lonely. He ignored it. It didn’t matter. His friends were happy, his family was safe.

“Weren’t you listening when I said it was Not-Shiro?” was all Lance could think to say. Keith rolled his eyes.

“Why did he yell at you?” Shiro asked. Lance shrugged.

“Lance had some good advice to share. Though honestly, I’m thinking that Lance’s plan just wouldn’t have suited the clone’s purposes and he wanted to make sure that Lance would stop pushing. So he yelled, knowing that would be enough to shut Lance down,” Hunk said. He shot Lance an apologetic look as he did so. Smart, because Lance was Not Happy with him. Now wasn’t the time to share petty hurts!

“Personally, I believe it was because if anyone was going to find out he wasn’t really Shiro, it would’ve been you,” Pidge shrugged. And really, et tu, Pidge? This wasn’t fair at all. Not to mention, now Lance could feel the now-familiar guilt from knowing he hadn’t been able to tell.

And that was what finally had Lance speaking up. “Oh come on, guys, that’s not even the worst any of us suffered out there! Lotor joined the team! I died! Shiro died! Keith left! We had bigger things to deal with!”

There was a brief silence following this, long enough for Lance to squeeze his eyes shut and briefly mutter “Fuck” to himself, and then—

“What do you mean, you died?”

Lance’s ability to make things worse every time he opens his mouth really should be considered a wonder of the world.

He opened his eyes hesitantly to find that everyone was watching him intently. Tears were welling in Hunk’s eyes, and Lance knew that if he paid too much attention to his friend, then he would break almost instantly. He avoided looking in that direction, lips pursed shut, determined to stay quiet now. But they were just as determined to make him talk.

“Lance, please, what happened?” and since when the hell does Pidge beg? That’s just wrong. But effective, because that wrongness made Lance jerk his head up, eyes accidentally locking with Shiro.

He looked so sad…

“It really wasn’t a huge deal, I was just saying that there was a lot happening. It was pretty much impossible for all of us to keep up with each other, what with Lotor and Allura, and Keith disappearing then coming back, and the search for Shiro… and Hunk, Pidge, you guys had a great team thing going on there. That was a lot of fun! And then remember Coran had us playing Monsters and Mana? Good times!”

“You played what?” Keith asked, confused. Then he shook his head. “Stop distracting us, Lance. Answer the questions.”

“Um. What questions?”

Keith’s face hardened, eyes doing that dangerous flinty thing that Lance had always loved to see when he got mad. But before he could say anything, Lance’s phone went off. He really did try to hide the relief on his face as he stood, but the way Shiro set his jaw made him think he was not successful.

Before Lance could answer the call, he felt his phone plucked from his fingers. He lunged for it, and Keith slipped it into his own back pocket, out of Lance’s reach. Even worse, his lunge for it brought their faces way too close. Lance jerked back, face flaming a bright red, but he felt himself crash back into Shiro’s firm, solid chest. He started to stammer apologies, but Keith’s hands settled on Lance’s shoulders, pulling him away, and then he and Shiro pushed him back down into his chair. As Shiro moved to kneel next to Lance’s chair, Keith held him there, grounding and sure. He leaned down, putting his mouth close to Lance’s ear and then murmured “Please. We need to know. We’re horrible friends for not already knowing, but we’re asking now and we need you to tell us. Let us help.” And Shiro gripped Lance’s arm, thumb smoothing against his darker skin, making it harder and harder for Lance to want to move.

Lance knew that they were blowing this out of proportion. But he still felt touched. He’d thought they were just ignoring his death because other things were happening at the same time, but maybe that wasn’t really the case. Maybe they truly hadn’t known. Maybe Allura had never said anything, and Lance, expecting Allura to say something, hadn’t said anything either, and so maybe they just didn’t know. Maybe sharing it now would be okay.

[seasonsofshklance]

FAQ

GENERAL

What is a zine?

- A zine is a compilation of fanworks by artists and/or writers formed to make one large book (zine) in a physical form and/or pdf format.

What is THIS zine about?

- This zine is focused on the ship of Shiro/Keith/Lance or Shklance from the Voltron: Legendary Defender fandom with the theme of the four seasons!

Are other ships allowed?

- As long as the MAIN focus and endgame of your piece (art or fic) is Shklance, other pairings may be included as background ships.

I like X/Y ship can I still join?

- As long as you like Shklance and are willing to draw/write it for this zine, please apply! We will not tolerate any anti type behavior.

Will there be NSFW in this zine?

- There is potentially going to be a side NSFW zine, but the main zine will be SFW only. 

* Please note that if a NSFW zine is made, all participants and potential buyers MUST be 18+

Will this zine be for profit or for charity?

- This is currently still being discussed, but this will be updated as soon as we decide!

Will there be stretch goals?

- We plan to have only one stretch goal. Stay tuned to find out what it is!

Is it allowed to have say Klance, Shance or Sheith with the third person only dating one person but not the other?

- For this zine, all three characters must be in a relationship. For writers, you can start your fic as Klance/Shance/Sheith, but the end result must be Shklance.

Is genderbend content allowed?

- Unfortunately for this zine we’ve decided not to allow genderbends.

Is trans content allowed?

- Yes! As long as all characters present as male!

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

APPLICATIONS

How old do I have to be to apply?

- For a moderator position you must be 18+, but for all other positions all are welcome to apply! However if a NSFW component is done, you MUST be 18+ to participate.

How many pieces do I need to send in?

- 3 minimum, 5 maximum (this applies for all positions). Of the 3-5, at least 2 should be VLD and at least one Shklance. If you are hoping to participate in the potential NSFW, if you have any NSFW samples, please include one as well. 

Approximately how many people are you looking for?

- We are looking for a production mod, 2-3 more writers, 2-3 merch artists, and 10-12 artists.

Is NSFW allowed in apps?

- Yes, just please make sure to label them as such and please have some SFW samples as well.

*Please note than anyone sending in NSFW content for apps must be 18+. Anyone under 18 sending NSFW content will automatically disqualified and banned from this project.

If I don’t have any Shklance content can I still apply?

- We prefer that you have something of the ship to present, but its ok if you don’t! However you MUST have something from the VLD fandom in your application.

Can I apply for more than one position?

- Yes just please be aware that if accepted, you will likely only be accepted for one.

Oh no! I forgot to put something in my application! Can I go back and edit?

- Unfortunately, Airtable does not allow edits, however, if you made a mistake or wish to add something feel free to shoot us a message and well add it to your application. Alternatively, you are welcome to submit a second application as long as you explain in the notes that it is a second application.

Have more questions? Feel free to send us an ask or message us directly!

[epiproctan]

New Year’s Fic Wrap-Up

it’s 2019 now but i’m so addicted to doing these so here’s 2018!! thanks so much for tagging me @letterblade <3 <3

Works in progress (all started this year):

i don’t have any wips that i’m currently posting :) 

Completed:

Signals (40.3k)

the thought that counts (5.4k)

Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place, collab with @curionabang (9.1k)

With Love, Lotor, collab with @curionabang @googlyeyeseyes123 and @superslimeys (37.3k)

a joy forever (5.6k)

aire soy (8.5k)

Tangled Up, collab with @curionabang (11.3k)

All Worked Up (10k)

fresh bro-ed coffee (4k)

my world is filled with cheer and you (11k)

Total Fics: 10 Total Words: 142,649

Ship/character breakdown…

Ship breakdown:

Sheith - 4 fics

Shklance - 3 fics

Keith/tentacles - 2 fics

Lancelot - 1 fic

Klance - 1 fic

Characters that had the main focus:

it was almost always keith...does that come as any surprise?

Specifics…

Best/worst title?

Best title:  "fresh bro-ed coffee” is so good. i’m forever in @superslimeys‘s debt for thinking of that one Worst title:  “Signals” has always sorta bothered me...

Best/worst first line?

all of my first lines suck is what i’ve learned while trying to answer this question haha

Best/worst last line?

i don’t have any particularly good ones of these either haha

Best last line: “But Shiro can’t really complain. Things might be hard, but he can’t say he really minds all that much. 

Not when the view’s this good.” (a joy forever)

the rest are all equally terrible lmao

General questions…

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

i always end up posting less than i expected, but i’m actually surprised by how high my wordcount is, even with gitdr deleted

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year? i can’t say i ever expected to write lancelot! that was a fun one. i had also sorta promised myself in 2017 never to write klance again but that’s just how strong my love for mai is What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

honestly “All Worked Up”?? it was so fun and i think i did a pretty good job with it

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

“All Worked Up”!  Story most underappreciated by the universe? “aire soy”, as i expected, got very little attention, which is fine! i didn’t write it for the masses Story that could have been better? “my world is filled with cheer and you” frustrates me a little bit because i think if i hadn’t been focusing on other things and on a time crunch the execution of my concept could’ve been a lot smoother Sexiest story?

i think “Tangled Up” is a pretty sexy one Saddest story? weirdly enough i didn’t really write a lot of angst this year? maybe “Signals” if that counts even though i wrote most of that in 2017 Most fun? “fresh bro-ed coffee” is a blast imo, but all of the sheith fics i wrote this year were super fun in their own ways Story with single sweetest moment? i love the scene in “a joy forever” where shiro and keith work through their misunderstanding

Hardest story to write?

as i’ve mentioned before elsewhere my deleted fic “glory in the desert rain” was by far the hardest thing i’ve ever written

Easiest/most fun story to write?

“All Worked Up” just poured out of me all at once

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

“glory in the desert rain” definitely did. “aire soy” was cool because i got to really dig into keith’s issues a little bit and it sorta shifted some of the ways i see those

Most overdue story?

i don’t have any in-progress fics so i think i’m good :) 

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

yes!! “glory in the desert rain” was such a huge risk and i really learned a lot about how to build a story properly from it. also less of a “risk” per se but i started doing collabs this year and i’ve learned so much from my fellow authors 

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

my big goal is to post at least 10k of fic every month! i write a lot of stuff that i never post so hopefully this will make me be better about publishing. i also desperately want to break into writing longfic, so i’m starting the year with a big multichapter project 

i tag uhhh @curionabang @superslimeys aaaand that’s it because i’m very sleepy and can’t think 

[sidewayspachinko]

New Year’s Wrap Up

Tagged by: @paladinpuppypile

Fics that you wrote in 2019:

One Last Spark (wip but I added chapters this year so it counts)

Coming Home

Midnight Munchies

Watch Me Unravel

Drop Spins and Dropped Tosses

Counterfeit Boyfriend

What We’ve Lived Through

Plus a shklance fic that’s been sitting in my google drive and a zine piece for Orion

Total Fics: 9

Total Words: 32,526 + however many of the 155,376 words of One Last Spark were written this year

Ship/Character Breakdown:

Sheith - 2 | Shance - 2 | Klance - 2 | Shklance - 3

Character Breakdown - Honestly, almost all of it is written in either a Lance, Keith, or Shiro focus

Characters with a main focus:

Lance, Keith, Shiro - in that order

Specifics:

Best/Worst Title?

I really like Watch Me Unravel and Counterfeit Boyfriend... but I had help with both of them lol. Worst title? Probably Coming Home

Best/Worst first line?

Worst - “A bell clanged as the store door opened, signaling their entrance.”

Best - “Lance shifted from one foot to the other, hands stuffed in his sweatshirt pockets and shoulders shifted inwards.”

General Questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

I definitely wrote less than I thought. I was hoping to have gotten One Last Spark finished by the end of the year, but because of a lot of circumstances, I’m still working on it now. I did get a long one shot done as well as a few shorter ones though, which has been nice to see my writing develop despite not finishing my long fic.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

I predicted all of these ships, but I didn’t expect to fall as hard into Sheith as I did. I’m currently planning out a Jaith fic though, and well... I couldn’t have expected to be writing that last year because James didn’t exist as a character yet lmao

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

I’m quite indecisive about my fics with these types of questions, but I really enjoyed writing Drop Spins and Dropped Tosses even if it’s one of my least popular. My marching band au has a special place in my heart and I wish I had more time to write it into a large fic.

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

lmao One Last Spark has beaten out every other story in popularity for 2 years in a row

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

Drop Spins and Dropped Tosses because I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who cares about marching band AUs

Story that could have been better?

Counterfeit Boyfriend by far. I had such a cute concept for the story and after a bunch of drama, I burned out on my motivation for it and it ended up nowhere near where I wanted it to be unfortunately.

Sexiest story?

lmao I don’t write nsfw but the closest thing to it was in Watch Me Unravel with the very vague scene between Keith and Shiro. That or Keith and Lance’s jokes recently in One Last Spark which have gotten more and more risque.

Saddest story?

One Last Spark still has people crying when they read, though I did get a comment on Watch Me Unravel where someone said Keith’s low self esteem had them crying for half the fic.

Most fun?

Midnight Munchies, it was fun to write some domestic fluff where Shklance gets to experience the grocery store at weird hours.

Story with single sweetest moment?

Hmmm... I’d say the new One Last Spark chapter (chapter 27) has a really sweet moment between Lance and Keith, but I won’t quote anything since it’s so far into the story and I don’t want to give anything away for people who haven’t read it yet.

Hardest story to write?

One Last Spark, in multiple ways. There’s a lot of heavy content in it, which takes its own toll when writing it. But, aside from that, it’s a very large fic with an extremely large universe behind it. If you asked me about any character I could tell you large sections of their life story because I worked out so many details to figure out how they fit into the universe. There’s also a ton of research, some that I still do even now, that goes into this fic due to the topics it handles.

Also... I don’t exactly have a tangible outline for it. It’s almost all from memory... but it’s so large I’m not sure where exactly to start with writing it all down anymore.

Easiest/most fun story to write?

Drop Spins and Dropped Tosses since a lot of it is inserting the characters into a lot of crazy marching band stories my friends and I have. The world building is pretty easy for me in that one since sometimes I joke about what instruments characters would play in different fandoms.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

Writing One Last Spark let me work through Lance and how his insecurities are a perception vs reality thing. He perceives his friends as rejecting him, but in reality they care about him very much. But, considering Lance has ADHD (in the fic), which comes with rejection sensitive dysphoria as a symptom, both real and perceived rejection get large reactions from him.

Watch Me Unravel gave me the chance to explore Keith’s self worth before his time int he quantum abyss, including how he feels as if Shiro is the only one willing to be there for him through everything, and also how he slowly lets others in.

Most overdue story?

One Last Spark lmao I wanted it done by now, but here I am, still writing it because I’m slow at getting these things done. Also the shklance commission I keep editing over and over, I gave the commissioner the link to the document but I never posted it because I keep tweaking it. I should also finish up my piece for Words Collide as well.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I started writing outside of the Lance POV, which was great because I found out how much I enjoy writing Keith too, which opened up my future writing to my Keith ships. I also learned how to write a better Shiro from writing some Shance that focused in on his view of events.

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

Goals... well as I said before One Last Spark I want to have finished by May at the latest. I also want to start working on a few more chapter fics including the Sheith Intern AU and my Jaith fic ideas as well as my Shklance idea. I’m very excited about those idea in particular, so stay tuned. I also want to make it into a few more zines during 2019 as well.

Tagging:

@camphalfgalra @babykeithsmullet @yuzuling @klanstability @ashessmashes @nyancittykat

[bosstoaster]

End of the Year Fic Meme

Stats:

List of Fics Posted:

Call it Magic (5856 words) (Gen - Hogwarts AU)

Infiltration (4898 words) (Gen)

Dark Necessities (9564 words) (Gen)

The Melting Milky Way (1827 words) (Gen)

Bet on It (4278 words) (NSFW - Shklance)

Bite of my Heart (12240 words) (NSFW - Shallura)

Giggle at a Funeral (2375 words) (Gen)

Want You to Remind Me (1834 words) (NSFW - Shiro Solo)

Just What You Want (10813 words) (Gen)

Trick and Spin It (7126 words) (NSFW - Shatt)

Days of Gladiator Love (3589 words) (NSFW-ish, Gen-ish)

A Smol Outtake (2546 words) (Gen)

Paint it Black (4001 words) (Sheith)

Turn the World to Gold (3211 words) (Shance)

Storm, Wait Outside (2423 words) (Shatt)

Shook the Bones of Me (2295 words) (Gen)

We're Onto Something (3269 words) (Hance)

Calling Me Home (2570 words)  (Shatt)

Blew Away my Storm (2815 words) (Heith)

May Tell You to Run (3784 words) (Nyma/Shay)

All About that Space (6434 words) (Shunk)

Wishes in the Dark (2696 words) (Uliro)

Gunna Go Far, Kid (3034 words) (Gen)

Come Back (as pure as gold) (3567 words) (Gen - Ten Years On)

Bridge This Gap (2287 words) (Gen)

This Paradox Place (30087 words) (Gen - Requests)

Far Above the Moon (4580 words) (Gen -Ten Years On)

Up All Night (1462 words) (Uliro)

Keep Your Head Down Low (3873 words) (Gen - AU)

Feel a Fever (2270 words) (Uliro)

You Give Me Fever (1426 words) (NSFW - Sheith - ABO)

For the World to See (10818 words) (Shance)

Pull Me Down Hard (20955 words) (Shatt)

Bedroom Hymns (32975 words) (NSFW, Shiro/Many)

Must Surely Be Learning (19317 words) (Gen)

Take Me to the Top (7415 words) (Shunk)

Teeth Ready for Sinking (13030 words) (Gen - Ten Years On)

Let the Choir Bells Sing (3327 words) (Uliro)

A Broken Hallelujah (16346 words) (Uliro)

Certain as the Sun (25281 words) (Uliro)

Hold Up Half the Sky (18430 words) (Many - Requests)

A Dream Away (22184 words) (Gen - Requests)

Spades to Start (1941 words) (Gen)

Touch Me More (6692 words) (Uliro)

We're Going Down (7677 words) (Shance)

Build A Home (4152 words) (Gen - Ten Years On)

Quit Playing Games (3116 words) (Gen)

All That Counts (1959 words) (Hance)

Singing in my Sleep (2524 words) (Sheith)

Blinded By the Sky (14598 words) (Shiro/Shay (Takashay)

Don't Take No Sorcery (7471 words) (Gen - Hogwarts AU)

Wanna Let Loose (1274 words) (Sheith)

All The World Will Be Your Enemy (35111 words) (Gen)

Over and Overture (14531 words) (Gen - Don’t Let’s Start)

Take These Broken Wings (27867 words) (Gen)

Unknown (17643 words) (Gen - Hogwats AU)

If I Can Live Through This (6804 words) (Gen - Spectrum)

Tail that Wags the Hound (5436 words) (Gen - Don’t Let’s Start)

Krypto the Voltron Dog (8380 words) (Gen)

The Worst Part (2550 words) (Gen - Don’t Let’s Start)

Discovery Channel (30356 words) (NSFW - Shiro/Multi)

Get What You Need (3114 words) (Gen)

Light it Up (13398 words) (Gen)

Light on the Dark Side of Me (26634 words) (Gen, Many - Requests)

High on Believing (6424 words) (NSFW - Sheith - ABO)

Pour Some Sugar on Me (36597 words) (NSFW - Shiro/Multi)

Wanna Dance with Somebody (2469 words) (Uliro)

A Sweet Escape (3618 words) (Shunk)

Kiss From a Rose (14176 words) (Gen)

Cancel Your Reservations (27970 words) (Shatt)

When You Are Alone (26355 words) (Gen - Don’t Let’s Start)

Need This Torture (7285 words) (Gen - Don’t Let’s Start)

Every Rose (3196 words) (NSFW - Shiro Solo)

A Taste of Honey (4048 words) (Shunkeith)

In My Eyes (5804 words) (Gen)

Break the Looking Glass (4586 words) (Gen - Hogwarts AU)

Empty Night (5250 words) (Gen - AU)

The Mane Event (7572 words) (Gen - Don’t Let’s Start)

Sharp Dressed Man (5358 words) (NSFW - Shatt)

King of Wishful Thinking (7126 words) (Gen - Requests)

Calls Me On and On (7614 words) (Gen)

Fear Itself (7277 words) (Gen - Don’t Let’s Start Verse)

Power and Control (7743 words) (NSFW- Shunk)

Rebuild all your Ruins (6074 words) (Gen - Dark)

Get Down with the Sickness (10856 words) (Gen)

Get Your Motor Running (2375 words) (Sheith)

Tickle my Fancy (4727 words) (Shatt)

Drift Away (2737 words) (Gen)

Gone with the Fallen Leaves (13382 words) (Shotor)

Save the Last Dance (2451 words) (Luron)

Words of Good Cheer (31364 words) (Gen and Others - Requests)

Feel Good Inc (8000 words) (NSFW - Shiro/Many)

There’s also my Writing Tag and my Meme Tag, which both contain more

Total number: 91 Total word count: 813,668 

Ship/character breakdown: Ship breakdown: 

Sheith - 12 Fics Shatt - 11 Fics Uliro - 11 Fics Shance - 8 Fics Shallura - 7 Fics Shunk - 6 Fics

There were also a few OT3 or multi.  Conclusion: I need to write more Shunk.

Character breakdown:

Look.  I think at least 87 of these were Shiro-focused, at least partially.  Let’s not do the numbers

Characters that had the main focus: 

Guess

Specifics:

Best/worst title? Best title:  All The World Will Be Your Enemy Worst title:  A Smol Outtake.  It’s not even a good joke

Best/worst first line?

I’m sorry, I can’t do this.  There are too many to go through.  Don’t make me look at the lines for every single fic.

Best/worst last line?

Ditto

General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted? I knew I wrote a lot, since I hit a million words in September.  I underestimated how much of it was just this year.  91 fics.  800k+ words.  Man.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year? Uliro didn’t even exist last year, so that What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest. All The World Will Be Your Enemy

It’s the strongest, it’s the only one in depth beta’s (thanks @butteredonions!), it’s different from my usual style, it’s a longer fic, and I love it.

Okay, NOW your most popular story. By Kudos, which I usually use as the best metric of popular, it’s Pull Me Down Hard for the year. Story most underappreciated by the universe? A Taste of Honey.  It’s a rare pair fic so I get it, but I think the universe is super cute and I wish it got more attention. Story that could have been better? Take These Broken Wings.  I really don’t like how it came out, but it was a Bang fic and that’s how it is some days. Sexiest story? Power and Control, I think?  Or else Discovery Channel Saddest story? Teeth Ready for Sinking is literally about grief, and how we deal with loss.  So probably that one. Most fun? Days of Gladiator’s Love, lol Story with single sweetest moment? The Mane Event, probably

Letting out a wild cackle, Allura wrapped her arm around Lance’s neck and curled her fingers like claws. The effect was somewhat ruined by the bright pink lion onesie she was wearing. “I have you now, paladin. I, the evil queen, can no longer be stopped!”

Lance gasped theatrically, swooning in her grip. “Oh no!” He stuck his leg up high in the air and artfully draped the back of his palm against his forehead. “The other paladins will save me, I know they will!”

“It’s too late!” Allura declared, tightening her grip (unnecessary) and tossing her hair dramatically. “No one could get through my meteor defenses! It would take the best pilot in the universe!”

“I can!”

Allura gasped, dropping Lance onto the floor (even more unnecessary) and holding up her hands. “Impossible!”

Hands on his hips in pure, open defiance, Shiro stuck out his little chest. “Not for me. I’m the best pilot in the whole ever!”

Behind him, a frown momentarily crossed Ryou’s face, pride stung. But he shook it off and extended his arms, showing off the plush claws. “And I’m the best fighter! We’ve come to save you, Lance!”

“I knew you’d come for me!” Lance cried, still swooning for all he was worth. Because, hey, if he was going to be the damsel in distress, he was going to milk it for every drop.

Hardest story to write? Take These Broken Wings.  Sigh.  The one that took the longest and received the most care was All The World Will Be Your Enemy, but that wasn’t hard to put words on paper.

Easiest/most fun story to write? Over and Overture spilled out of me in basically one go, which is always an experience.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters? Come Back (as pure as gold) gave me a very different Lance, which was interesting.  A Broken Hallelujah was a different look at Ulaz as well.  Otherwise, not particularly.

Most overdue story? ....Shook the Bones of Me Sequel.  It’s coming!

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? Yes.  At least one series was literally me planting my feet and yelling the entire fandom down about a character interpretation, one that I ended up being right about.  The entire Ten Years On series was a risk, too. And All The World Will Be Your Enemy was me doing my best to treat the fic like a novel.  Your milage may vary on it, especially with how it pushes Shiro into a very different mentality

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

More long fics for sure.  More plots that you see everything, rather than just series.  After that, we’ll see.

Tagging:

@eastofthemoon @demenior @realityisiron @lightshesaid @sednamode @@sleepyhunk @dragonescence @jamthedingus @paladinpuppypile 

[wrendeavor]

I just finished reading up to the latest chapter of Something Has Got To Give, and let me tell ya. I've been sobbing on the couch for the first five minutes surrounded by my roommate. This has literally killed me. THe flashbacks are so effective in showcasing the Shance relationship but Sheith is so soft, and it's all from understandable miscommunication. I don't know what you have in store for eventual shklance but i can't wait, even though you've ripped my heart out.

Aah “understandable communication” was my entire goal so I’m so so glad you empathize with all of the boys (I get a bit sad when some people end up singling one boy out as the “wrong” one because in this story I’m trying to show that all three of them are “wrong” but that there is still no one to blame). I hope the sobbing stopped and that you are rehydrated!!! Ily

[alexjohnd]

Two Fateful Nights (Shklance)

This story is the result of a small idea of mine and a lengthy and amazing conversation with a friend about Voltron, the adorable boys therein, and Keith in a variety of outfits. Thank you @farthestar, this story never would have been a reality without you!

Summary: When Keith and Lance fight things tend to have an odd way of working themselves out. In this case they both ended up at The Lion's Head Pub, albeit at different times. That poor bartender...

Also on AO3 and fanfiction.net (look for my same username)!

"Ugh, you are SO immature!" Keith yelled. His face was turning as red as his jacket, a thought that amused Lance for a moment, but he decided that if he valued his life he probably shouldn't make a crack about it at the present moment.

"I fail to see how I'm being immature," Lance retorted. "You're the one yelling."

"Well I'm not the one who spent $200 on an action figure!" Keith panted, trying to catch his breath between the yelling and the seething anger boiling up inside of him.

"It's mint in box! It's a collectable and it'll be worth a fortune one day!" Lance insisted, but Keith was still having none of it.

"Even if it will we don't have the money for it now! Don't you remember what happened last time you bought a 'collectable'? We almost got evicted when we missed the rent payment!"

"We'll be fine," Lance insisted, but Keith refused to listen. He shook his head in disgust.

"How do you know that?" Keith asked unnervingly calmly given his previous demeanour. "We don't even have steady jobs Lance. We can barely afford the rent as it is. If we don't get enough shifts next week, we'll miss the payment again. What if they kick us out?"

"They won't…" Lance started, but he didn't get to finish.

"YOU CAN'T KNOW THAT!" Keith yelled loud enough that Lance was sure the neighbours heard. Keith only yelled that loudly when he was really mad and Lance knew that.

"Keith…"

"Get out." Suddenly Keith's voice was calm and level once more. Lance was confused for just a split second, but then he caught on.

"Keith…"

"OUT!" Keith was back to yelling and Lance decided that if Keith didn't want to talk then there was no point in him trying. He grabbed his jacket and slammed the door behind him. He hoped this would give them both a chance to calm down.

As Lance reached the lobby of their building he pulled out his phone. He scrolled through the contacts until he reached Hunk. He pressed dial and put the phone against his ear as he pushed through the front doors of the building. The cool air chilled his bones and he instinctively held his jacket closed. As the phone rang he dipped behind a column to try and get out of the wind.

"Hello?"

"Hunk!" Lance smiled. "What are you up to?"

"On a date with Shay, why?"

"Oh, never mind," Lance responded. "Have fun."

"You sure?" Hunk asked, clearly not buying Lance's nonchalance.

"Yeah yeah, I'll talk to you later," Lance insisted before hanging up. He took a deep breath before looking back at his phone and once more scrolling through his contact list. Finding Pidge he pushed dial and returned the phone to his ear. It rang three times but ultimately led to voicemail.

Lance sighed and didn't leave a message. He pushed himself forward, deciding to instead take a walk around the area. He took turns at random, ending up in a part of town that he actually didn't recognize. He looked at the darkened store windows, closed due to the late hour but their wares still on display. It took him a full fifteen minutes to pass the first place that was open: The Lion's Head Bar.

Lance looked at the door handle for a solid minute before finally putting his hand on it. Keith may be worried about money, but he needed a drink. Besides, Rolo owed him a shift at work.

...

Shiro sighed as he looked around the empty bar. The whole night had been like this, the sound of the radio station he had on was his only company. It played a variety of music but after several hours of uninterrupted listening it was really starting to give Shiro a headache.

"Perhaps I should just close for the night," Shiro murmured to himself. He had already cleaned, stocked, and counted everything twice, and now he had no idea what to do. He had only opened the bar last weekend and this was his first truly dead evening.

Shiro stepped out from behind the bar and took a stroll around the empty space. It was a small bar but to him it was perfect. It was his slice of heaven. There were six high top tables in the middle and 3 booths on either side of the restaurant. If nothing else it was symmetrical.

The bar counter stretched across the back wall, and behind that was a colourful display of alcohol under the two large flat screen televisions that were set to the local news station. There was no game tonight and Shiro had no idea what else to put on. They were on mute now in favour of the music, considering he could only hear the same news story so many times before he got sick of it. He completed two circuits before returning to his station behind the bar and leaning on the hard faux stone countertop.

He had every type of alcohol he could think of on his shelves, and that alone was enough to make him smile. Few people knew about his creative side (heck few people knew more than just his name period), but Shiro loved to create and mix new cocktails. Cocktails no one had ever tried before. Before he had opened he had created a whole menu page of original drinks, a copy of which sat prominently on the bar top. Shiro didn't realize he was smiling, but he did jump when all of a sudden he heard the door open.

Shiro spun around to see a guy walk in and beeline for the bar. He had medium brown hair, deep blue eyes, and he appeared to be a university student from town. He was third year if Shiro had to guess, but quite possibly fourth. Shiro gave him the once over, noting just how easy he was on the eyes, before greeting him.

"Welcome. What can I get for you?" He asked as he placed his hands on the bar. He was promptly ignored, however, as the man sat down wordlessly and immediately began eyeing the wall of alcohol behind him. Shiro instinctively stepped to the side to let him look, wondering what exactly it was he was looking for. He supposed that he had found it when the customer's scowl turned into a smile.

"Havana Club. The three year," was all the stranger said.

"How do you want it?"

"Shot."

Shiro shrugged and did as requested. He placed the shot glass on the bar top in front of the customer and poured the clear liquid carefully into the glass. He filled it to the brim perfectly, not a drop falling over the edge. Then, as quickly as it was poured, it was gone and another was being requested.

"What's your name?" Shiro asked as he refilled the glass. If this was going to be his only customer all night then he wanted to at least be able to talk to the guy to help the time pass.

"Lance," was the answer as the second shot was consumed. Immediately a third was requested. Shiro hesitated, but he poured the shot. He saw Lance about to signal for a fourth, but he was relieved when he didn't. "Can you mix it with some Sprite this time?"

Shiro gladly poured him the mixed drink as well as a large glass of ice water. He was happy to see Lance take a sip of water before starting on the drink.

"Anything you want me to change the television to?" Shiro asked as Lance took his biggest gulp yet.

"Hm? No, it's fine. I won't pay attention to it anyway." With that he finished his drink and requested another.

"So what brings you in?" Lance wasn't sure what to say, but before he could stop himself he had already started speaking. He figured it must have been a mixture of the large, sudden alcohol intake and the lack of dinner.

"A fight. I spent some money on a collectable and now he's worried it might cost us the rent. But it's fine! And it'll be worth something eventually," Lance insisted.

"So, after a fight about money, you came to a bar to drink and spend more?" Shiro asked as he finished pouring the next drink.

"Yeah. I'm going to be picking up an extra shift this week anyway so it'll be fine."

"Alright then," Shiro said. A piece of him was relieved that he wouldn't have to worry about not getting the tab paid, but then he had to stop his mind from wandering in the direction of all the dirty ideas of how else Lance might be able to settle his tab. "So, you're a student at the university?" Shiro asked, trying to change his train of thought immediately (if not sooner). "Third year I'm guessing?"

"Fourth," Lance corrected. He was just finishing his second drink and decided that one more couldn't hurt.

"So you're near the end! That's great. I actually graduated from U of A four years ago. What are you studying?" Shiro asked as he poured the familiar cocktail.

"Aviation."

"That sounds cool. Aiming to be a pilot?"

"That's the end goal," Lance confirmed as he took his first sip of his refreshed cocktail. "Do you…what do you think I should do?"

"In aviation?" Shiro asked, confused.

"No, about the whole rent thing. I mean I think we'll be fine, but what do you think?" Shiro was taken aback by the sudden request for advice, but he was willing to oblige.

"I think you need to talk it over with your roommate. I don't know the details of all this, but you two do and need to work towards a solution if you want to stay friends."

Lance took a sip as Shiro responded. As soon as he swallowed he knew he'd messed up as the world started to slowly spin and his voice started to fail him.

"You know what? You're right," Lance said, slightly slurred, and not realizing that he hadn't corrected the bartender regarding his relationship status. Perhaps that was because he too was starting to forget. "You're amazing. Smart and hot. What's your secret?"

"S-Secret?" Shiro stuttered as a blush graced his cheeks. "Oh, no secret."

"To look that damn good and be able to give good advice, you-there must be," Lance insisted, his face holding a massive smile as he propped his chin on his palm and stared at Shiro.

"Nope, not really," Shiro said, but he did attempt to flex his biceps as nonchalantly as possible. This wasn't exactly how Shiro had expected this night to develop, however he also wasn't about to complain. Shiro immediately noticed Lance's eyes dart down to his arms before quickly returning to his face. He took Lance's now empty glass and, instead of pouring a new drink, pushed the water a little bit closer to Lance. "Perhaps it's just a natural talent."

"You know, I've got some 'natural talents'," Lance said with a wink and a seductive smile.

"Oh really?" Shiro smirked. "And what kind of 'natural talents' would those be, hm?"

"How about I show you? I could show you on this bar," Lance replied, his eyes sparkling with an infuriatingly perfect balance of both mischief and lust. It was killing Shiro, but there was no way he was taking advantage of a drunk customer regardless of how attractive they were.

"Maybe another time," Shiro said before quickly changing the subject. "Come on, perhaps you should head home. It's getting pretty late."

"Awww," Lance complained, but he accepted that he should head home. He stood up and immediately fell over from the dizziness. Shiro came running around the bar to find a laughing Lance on the floor clutching his sides.

"Come on, I guess I'm walking you," Shiro said, and that made Lance smile even more. Lance's arms found their way around Shiro's waist in a way that Shiro didn't entirely oppose, but he reminded himself that he would not take advantage of someone when they were drunk.

Lance gave directions as Shiro slowly led the drunken student home. Fortunately it wasn't too far of a walk and the elevator in the building whisked them directly to Lance's floor. As they made it to the door Lance released Shiro and started digging around in his pockets for his keys. When he found them he paused, looking directly at Shiro.

"Thanks for walking me home," Lance said as he ran a hand down Shiro's torso. His shirt was fairly tight and Lance enjoyed feeling the definition of the muscles underneath. He quickly wrapped his arms around Shiro's neck and went to pull him in for a kiss, but Shiro managed to turn it into a hug.

"Have a good night," Shiro said as he pulled away and made his way back to the elevator. He watched Lance open his door and head inside, then breathed a sigh of relief. While he would have loved to go forward with that kiss he knew it was wrong when Lance was so drunk. That didn't stop him from hoping Lance would return to his bar tomorrow though.

...

The first time Keith was awoken was when he suddenly felt something flop into the bed. Squinting he read 2:37 A.M. on his bedside clock and proceeded to roll his eyes. He could smell the alcohol from the opposite side of the bed and if he was going to talk to Lance, Lance had better be able to remember it.

The second time Keith was awoken was by the sun at about 9:45. He got out of bed, rustling the mattress just enough to be sure he would wake up Lance. Sure enough, as he stood up, he heard the tired groan coming from his boyfriend.

"Oh good, you're awake," Keith commented venomously.

"Mmmmmm," Lance complained, but he didn't take his face out of his pillow.

"You want to tell me where the hell you went last night?" Keith demanded. He crossed his arms even though he knew perfectly well that Lance wouldn't look up.

"Out," came Lance's muffled response.

"You know what I mean."

"I went to a bar and had a drink."

"From the smell of it you had more than one Lance! How can you afford this? How can WE afford this!? You've already spent most of our money on that stupid doll…"

"COLLECTABLE!" Lance insisted, now bothering to look up. His hand instinctively flew to his face to protect his eyes from the sunlight.

"Regardless, what are we supposed to do now!"

"Don't worry about it," was all Lance would say. As much as Keith could try he knew he wasn't going to get any further and so he left. If Lance wasn't going to be reasonable then he wasn't going to talk.

Keith looked around the living room for something to do, or at least something to distract himself. He saw a few dishes in the sink, some shelves that needed dusting, but then his eyes landed on the awaiting vacuum cleaner. A wicked smile slowly made its way onto his face and Keith wasted no time in plugging it in and turning it on. It took exactly three and a half seconds for Lance to come running out of the bedroom.

"Is that really necessary right now?" Lance asked, but Keith pretended like he couldn't hear him. As soon as he noticed Lance about to talk again, he turned off the vacuum.

"IS THAT REALLY NECESSARY RIGHT NOW?" Lance yelled, not realizing until too late that the vacuum had been turned off.

"Geez, there's no need to yell," Keith smirked, and he could practically feel the homicidal thoughts radiating from Lance. He didn't give Lance a chance to respond before he turned the vacuum back on.

Lance spun around and retreated back into the bedroom. Minutes later he returned, fully dressed, and wordlessly grabbed the grocery list on the fridge. He slammed the door behind him, and Keith couldn't help but smirk again.

Nearly ten hours later and Lance still hadn't returned. Keith would have been worried if Hunk hadn't messaged him that Lance was with him, but now that all of the housework was done (twice) he was bored. He paced the small living room for what felt like the hundredth time before reaching for his jacket and his keys. Tonight he was going for a walk.

...

Shiro had just handed the receipt to the last guy and watched them walk out when the new sole patron walked into the bar. Shiro was glad not to have an empty spell; it helped pass the time. He smiled as the stranger sat down at the bar but before he could speak the new customer opened his mouth.

"Milk."

Shiro opened his mouth, then immediately closed it. He had no idea how to respond to that, or even what to give the man. He rummaged through the fridge beneath the bar and found the carton of 2% milk that he used when customers ordered coffee. He liked that it was less wasteful than the mini packets and apparently it would come in handy for situations exactly like this. He poured the man a glass and placed it in front of him.

As soon as Shiro removed his hands from the glass Keith picked it up and chugged. He finished the glass in one go and slammed it back down, demanding another. He repeated this process twice, confusing Shiro more and more each time. What really confused Shiro, however, was when after the third glass he got up and sprinted to the restroom.

There was exactly a 2.5 second gap between when Shiro heard the door slam shut and when the very faint sound of heaving started. He was glad no one else was around to avoid the sick customer's and his own embarrassment. He started washing the glass to distract himself, waiting until the student returned from the restroom and sat back down at the bar.

"Water?" Shiro offered.

"Shiner Bock," Keith replied. Shiro pulled one out of the second fridge below the bar and popped it open.

"So, what's your name," Shiro asked as the man lifted the beer to his lips. He took a swig, clearly enjoying the taste, before answering.

"Keith. Yours?"

"Shiro. Are you doing ok?" Keith took another sip and sighed.

"I assume you're talking about what just happened. I'm fine. I'm just lactose intolerant."

"Then why would you order milk?" Shiro asked, concern and confusion crashing down on him simultaneously.

"I drink it when I'm mad and just want to get it out of my system."

"Literally," Shiro muttered, and Keith had to laugh at that. Luckily he didn't have too much beer in his mouth as his chuckle turned into full on laughter. It made Shiro smile and, in the back of his mind, he realized that he really liked the sound of Keith's laughter. It was genuine, contagious, and it made Shiro want to join. Shiro was so lost in Keith's laughter that he almost didn't hear Keith's question.

"So, you own the place or just work here?"

"Hm? Oh, I own it. Just opened a couple weeks ago. I went to university here and decided that this was the last place I truly felt home. So I came back."

"What did you study?"

"International Affairs."

"And you ended up owning a bar?"

"I should've picked a better degree," Shiro laughed.

"Or at least one with better job prospects," Keith retorted, emptying the beer and sliding the empty bottle back towards Shiro.

They kept talking over another two beers, Shiro even joining Keith for one. No one else had walked into the bar and he felt like he deserved it. Just as Shiro gave Keith his next beer, Keith got an idea.

"Hey, give me a shot of Jose Cuervo with this would you?"

"Really? Seems like an odd combination," Shiro commented, but he poured the shot nonetheless. Before he had the chance to offer salt and a lime, Keith responded.

"Not really. It's tex mex, bitch!" Keith then proceeded to mix the shot into his beer and chug the whole thing. Shiro couldn't help his outburst of laughter, barely recovering by the time Keith had finished his concoction. "You got a problem with that?"

"No, not at all. I can respect a man who will drink his IQ down 3 points." The pair then burst back into laughter, partially at the comment and partially at the sheer amount of sarcasm Shiro had managed to pack the sentence with. Regardless, Keith ordered the same combination once more. He drank slower this time and savoured the warm tingle of the tequila going down his throat and yet up to his brain at the same time. He smiled to himself as the world around him started to swim, the telltale sign that inebriation had been achieved.

"So, you working alone tonight?" Keith asked.

"Why, you getting bored with me? Need someone else?" Shiro smirked.

"Maybe I wanted to make sure no one would come out of the back room as I jump you," Keith said with a wink and a sip of his drink. He almost spat it out when he laughed at Shiro's tomato red face and he swore he could feel the heat radiating from him from across the bar counter. "Relax, I'm joking," Keith assured.

What Keith didn't realize was that Shiro, while blushing, had actually liked the comment. A piece of him, no matter how small or knowing that it wouldn't actually happen, was actually hoping that Keith would have done it. But then he knew he would never take advantage of someone who had been drinking. It just wouldn't be right.

As that thought passed through his brain a wave of déjà vu hit Shiro like a tidal wave. He knew that this scene seemed familiar and it only took him a moment to remember the guy in the green jacket the night before. Shiro couldn't believe his luck; two guys flirting with him in two nights? He didn't even have that kind of luck when he was a student! He was snapped back to reality when he realized Keith had stopped laughing and started speaking.

"I like your shirt," Keith commented. "Where did you get it?"

"This old thing? Honestly I don't remember. I've had it for years." Shiro looked down at his torso and fidgeted with the hem of his grey t-shirt, but he stopped when his hand was suddenly joined by another.

"It looks good on you," he heard Keith say as the hand moved its way slowly down his chest. The touch was soft and delicate, the slender fingers tracing the muscles before they pulled away half way down Shiro's abs.

'Crap,' Shiro thought to himself. Why was it that attractive people would always get drunk before flirting with him? He liked his moral compass, it was one of his better qualities, but sometimes it really tortured him. Still, it wouldn't be horrible of him to be a little flirty back though, right?

"Thanks, but I'm starting to worry it's a little small." Shiro gently flexed his pectorals to tighten the shirt even further, earning a smile from Keith.

"No no, it's perfect," Keith replied as he took another sip of his drink. "How often do you go to the gym?"

"Four or five times a week," Shiro replied. "It was hard at the beginning, but once you start seeing results it's way more motivating."

"I'd love to see some of those results up close and personal," Keith practically whispered. The way his voice changed to make his words sound airy drove Shiro crazy, but he knew that there was a line. The flirting was going a little too far at this point and his moral compass had once again started flashing at him.

"So, what brings you in?" Shiro quickly asked in order to change the subject as quickly as possible. "You said you drink milk when you're mad. What happened?"

"Fucking children's toy is going to cost us the rent. I'd rather not talk about it," Keith growled. Shiro could tell that there was no malice aimed at himself but he realized better than to push any further on the subject.

"I'm sure everything will be fine." Shiro poured a glass of water for Keith and handed it to him, but Keith just sort of looked at it and brushed it off.

Ignoring the water Keith had one more of his Tex Mex concoction before he decided it was probably best to head out. Plus he felt he might be slightly overstaying when Shiro started to turn off the televisions and put everything away. He started to get up from his stool but the head rush made him immediately sit back down.

"Whoa whoa," Shiro stopped him, "You're not going anywhere just yet. As soon as I'm done here I'll take you home."

"No no," Keith barely managed to mutter. "I'll be fine."

"No you won't," Shiro said as he put away the last glass and grabbed his jacket. As he walked around to the stool he added, "Come on, put your arm over my shoulder. We'll walk slow."

"I'm not drunk," Keith insisted. "I don't get fully drunk. I just have a headache."

"I insist." Keith decided that it wouldn't be best to argue, so he gave in.

Keith put his arm around Shiro's waist instead and he didn't bother to correct him. He decided to let himself have this one.

The air outside was crisp and the walk was slow. It was quiet as well, a silence settling between the pair. It wasn't awkward, but instead understanding. It was late, one was drunk, and the other was tired. Keith would mumble directions every now and again and Shiro would take the corners even slower for Keith.

It wasn't until they rounded the last corner that Shiro realized that this area looked familiar, and it wasn't until they entered the building that Shiro realized why. It was the same building that Shiro had dropped Lance off at the night before. He shrugged off the tidbit of information as irrelevant and forgot it as he thanked the man who held the front door open for them. It came right back when they got off the elevator on the same floor though.

Shiro looked around at all of the doors but they all looked the same. He couldn't remember exactly which one Lance's was. When Keith stopped Shiro almost stumbled as his attention snapped back to Keith. Keith released Shiro's waist and started searching for his keys before he groaned.

"Shit. I don't have my keys." Keith tried the handle and sure enough it was locked. Shiro didn't even have the chance to think of what he could do before Keith was suddenly banging on the door yelling, "HEY! WAKE UP AND LET ME IN!"

Normally Shiro would be worried that Keith would wake up the floor. Normally he would tell Keith to remember that other people would be sleeping. But this time, this time was different, and it wasn't just because he barely knew Keith. This time it was because everything suddenly fell into place in Shiro's head.

The same building. The same floor. The children's toy (collectable as Lance had called it) costing them the rent. It all suddenly made sense. Keith was knocking on Lance's door. They lived together. They were probably boyfriends. And Shiro had flirted with both of them. Cue panic attack. Shiro barely had the time to process anything before the door was flung open by none other than Lance.

"There you are! Where the hell have you...Shiro?"

"Uh, hi Lance," was what came out of Shiro's mouth, but his mind was thinking, 'Crap.'

"Wait, you two know each other?" Keith asked, suddenly sounding better than he had at the bar.

Shiro's thought process immediately changed to, 'CRAP CRAP CRAP.'

"Well, sorta. He walked me home from the bar yesterday. So I think I know where you were."

"Not now Lance, I have a headache." Unknowingly Keith's arm slipped back around Shiro's waist as he leaned for support.

"Oh no," Lance said. "We are talking about this right now." As Lance said that he grabbed Keith's other arm and pulled him inside. Shiro tried to use this chance to escape but Keith's grip was too strong and he was pulled inside. The sound of the door closing behind him sounded more like a jail cell slamming shut and Shiro had to brace himself for what was to come.

Shiro took a quick look around the space he was being dragged into. There was a galley style kitchen off to the left and two doors straight ahead, past the couch and coffee table. A decently sized television was mounted to the wall to the right. As he was looking around he suddenly lost balance, pushed onto the couch. It was soft, fortunately, as Shiro suspected it may be a little while before he would be going anywhere.

Shiro tried his hardest to focus on anything but the arguing. He knew that he should stay out of this as much as possible, and the awkwardness would probably only get worse if he attempted to interject. He twiddled with his thumbs, checked his phone twice, and basically did anything to help dispel the horrid awkwardness that was starting to form around him like a bubble. In the end that bubble was popped by Lance.

"And then you show up here with your arm around Shiro's waist!"

"He was supporting me! I was dizzy!"

"You sure seem fine now..."

"That's because now I am Lance! My headache would probably be gone too if you weren't yelling right now."

"Don't try and change the subject. You were probably flirting with him too! You know you get flirty when you drink!"

"In his defense you flirted with me too Lance," Shiro interrupted, immediately regretting it and questioning why he had opened his mouth. Both sets of eyes immediately snapped to him, then a split second later back to each other.

"You hypocrite," Keith smirked. "Everything you just said about me flirting with someone else and you did it too!"

"I was just being nice! Shiro started it," Lance defended, and Keith immediately looked to Shiro for confirmation.

"That's...not exactly how I remember it Lance," Shiro said. He only spoke up this time out of fear of Keith burning holes into his skull with his eyes. A wave of relief washed over him as Lance became the recipient of the look.

"Oh? And who started the flirting tonight Shiro?" Lance immediately asked.

"Keith."

"Look," Keith interjected with enough force to ensure both of the others were paying full attention to him. He looked at Lance as he spoke though, clearly indicating that he was the main target of this portion of the conversation. "Clearly we were both in the wrong here. This argument has turned into something way more than it had to and now we've dragged poor Shiro into the middle of this." Turning to Shiro he asked, "I'm sorry you got stuck in the middle of all this. Can I offer you a coffee? Tea?"

Shiro was caught so off guard by the sudden level-headedness of Keith and the kindness of his offer that he couldn't find it in him to refuse. "Tea please." Keith headed over to the kitchen and Lance took a seat on the couch next to Shiro.

"I'm sorry too Shiro," Lance added. "This was really inappropriate of us."

"It's fine," Shiro replied. "If I can ask though, what exactly was this 'collectable'?"

"Children's toy!" Keith called from the kitchen. Shiro bit his lip, hoping he hadn't just reignited the argument, but Lance actually laughed.

"It's a Voltron action figure signed by the voice actor. I've collected most of the characters, all of the lions and the full Voltron that can stand on its own. I am so close to finally completing the set!" Lance smiled. He seemed so excited about his collection and his smile was infectious.

"It's still an action figure and therefore a children's toy," Keith said as he placed the tray of beverages down on the coffee table before handing one to Shiro. Lance reached for his own as Keith grabbed his and sat down on the opposite side of Shiro.

"But seriously, Shiro, we're sorry for dragging you into all this. And for all the bad flirting. Especially Keith's," Lance joked just before taking a sip. He elected to ignore the action figure comment.

"Hey, it couldn't have been that bad if he flirted back!" Keith defended.

"You know Shiro," Lance started with a mischievous smirk, "As much as I hate to admit it, he has a point. You did flirt back. With both of us." Lance wiggled his eyebrows and Shiro just knew that his face was turning a bright red. He tried to stop it but it was a force to be reckoned with, starting in his neck and racing up past his cheeks to his forehead.

"I can't believe someone finally enjoyed Lance's flirting," Keith laughed, earning himself a dirty look from Lance. Lance leaned forward to swat the boy behind Shiro's back, and Shiro noted that when Lance pulled back his arm did not. It remained on the back of the couch, just barely not touching Shiro's back.

Looking back and forth he saw each of the boys looking somewhere different. Lance seemed fixated on Shiro's shoulder while Keith was looking more towards his lips. Shiro tried to convince himself that they were just tired, that they were zoning out and staring into space, but deep down he knew that he was wrong. He noticed when both boys looked up, rather than looking at Shiro again, they looked at each other. There were a series of nods, blinks, and eye movements that Shiro couldn't understand, but he knew that somehow they were talking without saying a word.

"So," Lance started when their conversation returned to the verbal realm. "Did you make the same mistake as us? Flirting with someone else even though you have someone at home? Or are you somehow this attractive and single?"

"You flatter me, but I'm not that attractive," Shiro laughed, a soft yet mildly embarrassed smile gracing his lips. He hadn't been called attractive in quite some time, and with his prosthetic arm sometimes he was challenged to find that attractiveness in himself. Nonetheless Shiro appreciated the complement.

"I think you're quite attractive," Lance offered coyly. "Keith?"

"I do have to agree with Lance."

"Tell me Shiro, do you find us attractive?" Lance had a hard time preventing his smile from turning smug, but somehow he managed to overcome his natural instinct by the skin of his teeth.

"Well if I didn't would I have flirted back with either of you?" Shiro reasoned, but he immediately regretted it. He lifted his mug to his lips as if he could literally swallow his words, however he knew it was too late. His response had been released to the universe and now it was free to wreak its havoc.

When Shiro looked back up he could almost see his words physically bouncing back and forth between the two. There were several expression changes so minute between the two that they were clearly having some type of private conversation, but while Shiro knew he would never be fully privy to it he got the gist.

"You know Shiro…" It was Lance who started the sentence, a suaveness and flirtatious undertone even stronger than before becoming apparent in his voice. The sentence was picked up by Keith who somehow managed to hold the exact same tone.

"We really appreciate you taking such good care of us at your bar the past couple of days."

"And we really want to show you our appreciation."

Shiro was so distracted by the words being thrown out and the tone with which they were being said that he hadn't even noticed that Lance and Keith had gotten up and were standing behind him, one by either shoulder. Unexpectedly Shiro suddenly felt two hands on his body, one running from his shoulder down to his chest and the other down his prosthetic arm. His breath hitched momentarily, not knowing if either of his hosts knew about his arm, but nothing was said about it. Just as quickly as they came the hands were gone, and the bodies had started to move away from him.

"So if you would like to receive some appreciation…"

"We'll be over here."

Keith and Lance had both been making their way over to what Shiro could only assume was the bedroom door, and as they disappeared behind the door frame his blush hit its peak. It felt like a pile of cement bricks had formed around his legs, keeping him glued to the couch. He felt paralyzed physically and conflicted emotionally. He knew that there were 2 attractive men waiting for him in the next room, but at the same time he didn't want to take advantage of them. He knew they weren't drunk, but…

Shiro realized he couldn't come up with a 'but' to end that thought. The boys had seemed so genuine in their invitation and definitely in agreement about what they wanted. The more Shiro thought about it the lighter the bricks around his legs became and the faster his autopilot engaged. Before he knew it he was standing in front of the doorframe to the bedroom, looking in with anticipation to see just what he might find on the other side.

...

When Shiro awoke the next morning it was quiet. He was in a strange bed and the smell of sex still lingered in the air. When he opened his eyes he was looking directly at the back of Keith's head, Keith himself being on Lance's chest. Lance was snoring softly, his chest moving Keith slightly with every slow movement. Shiro couldn't help but smile at how peaceful they looked.

He turned his head the other way and realized he was on the side of the bed closest to the door. His clothes were strewn near the exit, taken off by wanting hands and left haphazardly on the floor before those same hands had dragged him into the bed.

Shiro had never been in this scenario before. He didn't know what the etiquette was, but at the same time he was internally panicking. He had just slept with two complete strangers who may have been under some type of influence, even if they didn't appear so. Keith had insisted he was sober and didn't have any mannerisms of someone who was intoxicated, but still Shiro worried. He decided it would be best to just leave.

He moved out of the bed slowly to avoid jostling the other occupants. He tiptoed over to his clothes and grabbed them, holding them as he exited the bedroom. He changed rapidly just outside the bedroom door, listening carefully to the sounds emanating from the bedroom. He heard the consistency of Lance's snoring and the heavy breaths from Keith. They never wavered from their consistent rhythm, assuring Shiro that he had not disturbed their slumber.

When Shiro was fully dressed he departed. He opened and closed the front door slowly, but he bolted the minute it was shut with a soft click. What he didn't realize after his departure was that the soft click had been enough to wake Keith.

Keith was a soft sleeper. Normally, if anything happened in the house, he knew. When he heard the distinct click of the front door he was immediately awake and coherent, his senses scanning his surroundings. He saw Lance, sleeping like a log as he always did, but after a moment of thought he realized that he didn't see Shiro. He reluctantly pulled himself from the warmth Lance's body emanated and stood, realizing Shiro's clothes were gone as well. He walked into the living room and saw the door unlocked, and that was all he needed to connect the dots.

"Crap," Keith sighed, realizing what had happened. It wasn't that he thought Shiro would have taken anything from them, but he was worried what they may have done emotionally to Shiro. He had been so willing the night before, but that didn't mean that there wasn't something else going on. Keith knew that feeling all too well. The feeling of being excited but nervous, then panicking after it was too late. He looked at the coffee maker and turned it on. As he poured the grinds into the filter he looked at the clock on the machine and cursed. It was 2pm.

Lance emerged from the bedroom only a split second after the intoxicating and unmistakable aroma of coffee left the machine. He was smiling, knowing that his caffeine fix was near.

"Afternoon," Keith muttered as he grabbed two mugs from the cupboard. Lance had immediately been attracted to the coffee machine like a magnet to metal, watching as drop after infuriatingly slop drop dripped into the carafe below.

"Is it?" Lance asked, eyes not leaving the drop that was dangling tantalizingly from the top of the machine. Lance followed it as it dropped, seriously considering just pouring out the sip and a half that was already there just to get some caffeine in him.

"Soooo, do you notice anything missing? From last night specifically?" Keith asked, rolling his eyes at the fact that Lance hadn't caught on yet.

"Hm?" Lance hummed before he suddenly stood bolt upright, realization hitting him like a wave crashing against the shore. "Oh."

"Damn straight oh. What do we do now?" Keith questioned, not sure of the best course of action given the present circumstances. He knew they couldn't just do nothing, but at the same time he didn't know what they could do.

"First, coffee. Then do," was all Lance said.

...

Showered, dressed, and coffeed, the pair set out to hunt down the third participant of their recent tryst. They had no idea where he lived, so they started in the only place they could: the bar. It was just past dinner time and they hoped he would be there, open to whomever had finished dinner early and wanted a drink.

As they opened the door to the bar they were assaulted by the roar of dozens of voices, each trying to speak over the last to be heard. The bar was rammed, every table filled and several people standing. As they weaved their way through the crowd they found Shiro behind the bar, running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Several people were yelling drink orders at him and it was clear within a few seconds that he was struggling to keep up. Lance and Keith needed only a quick glance at each other before they knew what they had to do.

They both rushed behind the counter, quickly finding trays stored neatly on a shelf underneath. Keith grabbed one and started making rounds at the tables, cleaning up empty glasses and taking orders from patrons. Lance started taking orders from people at the bar, quickly using his bartending skills to whip them up. He purposely brushed against Shiro who, to this point, hadn't realized they had even arrived. He opened his mouth to question his presence and tell him that he had no time to talk, but then he noticed Keith in the crowd working and caught on. Lance was working on drinks and he smiled, appreciating the assistance for just a moment before he got back to the customer in front of him.

Shiro watched the boys for a few minutes out of the corner of his eye, but it didn't take him long to realize he had nothing to worry about. They worked the POS with ease, mixed drinks flawlessly, and either had great customer services skills or amazing acting skills. They had clearly waited before and Shiro was not about to complain about the sudden assistance.

"Thanks guys," Shiro said the next time the two of them both happened to all be within earshot. "I really appreciate your help. I was dying."

"Glad to help," Keith replied, his tone indicating that he was actually happy to be of assistance. "I've worked in a few bars before so tonight consider me your right hand man."

"Does that make me his left hand man?" Lance asked.

"No," Keith replied instantaneously. "You're more like a leg." Lance feigned insult at the quip, but immediately his mischievous smile returned and Keith had to brace himself for the inevitable scandalous comment that was obviously forthcoming.

"Hm, I can live with that. I learned last night that I like both of you above me." Lance ended the comment with an obnoxious wink that made Shiro immediately blush and turn away while Keith rolled his eyes.

The boys worked non-stop for the rest of the night. The crowds came and went, but their dedication remained consistent. As did their flirting. No matter how busy they were, no matter how fast they were running around, they always found the time to make a dirty pun or 'accidentally' brush up against Shiro. Shiro smiled and laughed, always enjoying the momentary distractions. Time flew past and before they knew it it was 2:00 in the morning and the final patrons were making their way out. Shiro locked the door behind them before rejoining Keith and Lance at the bar top.

"Guys, I can't thank you enough for tonight. You were lifesavers."

"Anytime," Lance replied with a wink. "I can already think of a few ways you can repay us."

"Mmmm, how about with a drink?" Shiro offered, causing Keith to laugh at Lance's momentary look of defeat. He reached onto the shelves, still in a state of disarray from the bottles being grabbed and hastily replaced that evening, and grabbed several ingredients. He mixed them together with a level of flare that he hadn't been able to show off due to the rush, but both Keith and Lance were entranced by his skill. Eventually he added just enough cola to turn the drink black and pushed the two glasses towards Lance and Keith, watching expectantly as they took sips. Shiro relaxed when he saw both of their faces light up.

"Wow this is amazing!" Keith complemented, and Lance nodded while he took another sip.

"Thanks. I call it the Black Lion. I invented it myself. I actually love making up drinks."

"Well clearly you are amazing at it," Lance interjected, half of his drink already gone.

"You guys want to give it a shot?"

"This comes as a shot!?"

"No no," Shiro laughed. "I meant do you want to try making your own drinks?"

"Definitely," Lance smiled, wasting no time rushing up to the shelf of ingredients and eyeing the bottles carefully. He immediately reached for the Cuban rum, and after a moment of thought he grabbed the blue curacao as well. Shiro had some pineapple juice in the fridge beneath the bar so he grabbed that too. Mixing them together he proudly placed the glass in front of them. "Voila, the Blue Lion."

"How original," Keith deadpanned. "I'm getting cavities just looking at this thing."

Lance and Shiro both took a sip and hummed approvingly, peer pressuring Keith into finally taking a sip. He forced himself to remain stoic, not telling Lance that it was actually good. It did ignite a flame within him, deep down his competitive nature coming to the forefront. He moved towards the bottles, painfully aware of the eyes watching him select his ingredients. He ended up selecting a cheap vodka and grenadine. As he mixed the ingredients he threw in a few cherries, then looked at the pop hose. It was here that he made his fastest decision: Dr Pepper.

Lance laughed at the face Shiro made as Keith poured the final ingredient. "Let it go Shiro, it's an addiction of his." He turned to Keith and added, "And you thought MINE would give you a cavity."

Keith brushed the comment off before sampling the drink. Satisfied he pushed it to Shiro and Lance, both of which seemed to enjoy the drink as well. While it was not a formal competition Keith decided to inwardly award himself the victory.

"So, what do you call this masterpiece?" Lance inquired. "A Red Lion?"

"Sure," Keith shrugged, too tired to come up with a name any more original. He stretched as he yawned, earning a similar reaction from the other two.

"So, Shiro," Lance started, and Shiro didn't need to hear any more to know what was coming. Lance's voice carried a flirty and suggestive tone, meaning he could only be about to propose one thing. "Would you mind walking us home? Since you know where we live anyway." Lance winked at the end of the sentence and even Keith was smiling coyly. When Shiro paused, Keith thought it necessary to jump in.

"We both had a lot of fun last night Shiro, and tonight as well. I hope we didn't scare you or force you into something you didn't want to do."

"No, it's fine," Shiro smiled. "I had a lot of fun too. It was just a bit awkward for me since it was the first time I've ever been in a scenario like that."

"Well, now that you have some experience, how about that walk home," Lance asked again.

"Very well," Shiro agreed as he grabbed his sweater. "But I'm not staying the night this time."

Shiro knew damn well he was staying the night.

END

[shadowedlove97]

You'r Shklance, GalraKeith, Prince Lotor fanfic??? When it's ready you will be uploading it on AO3 right??? TELL ME MORE...*clears throat* sorry just came back on this tag after a week...I hate the goddamn ship wars and stuff....>_>

Haha it’s fine. Yeah ship wars suck. Thankfully I’ve managed to block most of the people who are spamming tags. Makes the stragglers easier to deal with whenever I do venture in there.

Anyways yeah it’s gonna be uploaded onto AO3! I’ll also be uploading chapter links here as well since AO3′s notification system is super delayed and I know there’s some people who don’t have an account on there. I’m planning on it being a multi-chapter fanfic, probably at least 10 chapters? My goal is 20 though, a little longer but not enough that it drags and the updates shouldn’t be too long apart (once every two weeks I was thinking) since most of it will be pre-written by the time I start uploading. It’s going to be a slow-burn fic as well. That being said, they’ll definitely be Shklance moments throughout the fic as each part of the ship develops and things happen, but I’m planning to have Shklance officially get together closer to the end or at least the climax.

Now Prince Lotor specifically, well he’s going to be interesting to write. Probably a bit fun too. There are a few ideas that I have bouncing around for him that I hope to implement, but some of them I know I won’t be able to write. I might make a sort of “deleted scenes” or “what if” scene collection though w/ everything I decided against and post it separately, but only if I have motivation at that point and if I axe enough ideas that I genuinely liked. Who knows, maybe I’ll upload them anyways?

Outside of those two things; I do plan on creating character arcs for the rest of the team too. Allura’s I’m sure people can probably guess one part of her character arc will be, but outside of the Galra issue, there’s some more I want to touch upon. I also want to create one for Hunk as well (not specifically related to food) and Pidge too (and hopefully improve upon her reveal scene to make it more explicit that she’s a trans girl, although her character arc won’t just touch upon her gender identity).

Potential pairings outside of Shklance - well hm, Allura might be paired w/ an OC or Shay. There’s potential hints at past Alfor/Coran (and/or exes Alfor/Zarkon). Hunk might be paired w/ Shay if Allura is not and Pidge, well I hc her as ace/aro, and around 14/15 so it depends on there being characters around her age and even then it would be queerplatonic. We’ll have to see! The main focus is definitely going to stay around Shklance, so all of this will depend on if I’m able to develop them w/o it being rushed or implemented oddly.

One final thing that I can definitely say w/o spoiling anything really; it’s going to be a Canon - AU fic. So it takes place in the canon world, but the base concept is different enough that I can’t call it a Canon Divergence fic. Make of that what you will!

[musicanddancingthroughlife]

Shklance -- Soulmark AU, Part 1

This is late for a bunch of reasons. One is that my professors hate me and literally assigned 4 essays last week, and then I think I have 2 or 3 this week, I’m scared to check. The other reason is that I’m finally at the point in the semester where I’m getting essays back and realizing I truly suck as a writer, so I think I spent five days debating giving up on writing entirely because dang these professors are ruthless and I was not prepared to be ripped to shreds again. But there we have it. Plus, work has not been going so great, so I’ve been in a depressed mood for the last couple of weeks. But I needed a break from the essays, so here’s this. Other reasons could include stress in my marriage, a lack of sleep or free time, and the fact that everything I’m reading for class is intellectually stimulating, but emotionally and spiritually draining and I feel the joy being sucked out of my soul one story and novel at a time. (see again: depression)

ABOUT THE STORY: Apparently all I write now is soulmate aus. This one is a soulmark one, which I think is different from the other one I was working on that was doing super well, but honestly my brain can’t think of anything but Shakespeare and dystopian sadness right now. It is a separate series, but similar in characters and au genre. Hope you enjoy

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              Lance had a secret. And it was a secret that he was going to take to his grave. Hell, it was probably going to send him to the grave. He knew that it wasn’t healthy, it was just… Fuck, it was Shiro and Keith. They were so happy together, and Lance knew he couldn’t ruin that. Neither of them were interested before, so why should knowing he was their soulmate make a difference?

         Sure, they knew that they had a third piece to their relationship, after all, theirs was a very well-known polyamorous symbol, though it did have their own individual colors in order to make it more their own. And Lance could only wonder at what they thought the paw print in the background of the bobbu that was highlighted with red, blue, and black. Regardless, they didn’t necessarily know that it was Lance that was their third.

         And, as mentioned previously, Lance was determined as fuck to keep it that way.

         Which, of course, also meant keeping it a secret from Pidge and Hunk. No way would Pidge not use it as blackmail against him, and Lance knew that Hunk would either struggle to keep the secret, or he would also pressure Lance to tell Keith and Shiro, which. No. Just, no. Lance just wanted someone to love him for him, not because the universe (which by the way, has honestly done nothing but fuck them over consistently) decided it would be a good idea, for whatever reason.

         But that didn’t mean that Lance didn’t love them.

         In fact, for as long as he could remember, Lance had admired both of them. Shiro was his hero and his inspiration, his main reason for going to the Garrison and trying to follow him into the galaxy. And Keith was his further motivation, the one he thought of when he was trying to get pumped up and trying to push himself to improve, to be better, faster, smarter. They were both unattainable goals, symbols of just how much Lance was a screw-up and a failure.

         And neither of them were interested in him.

         And that was fine. Lance could handle that. It sucked, but it was fine. He was fine.

           Yeah, no, Lance lied, okay, he was not fine. If he had to watch Keith and Shiro be sappy and gross (and cuddly a fucking adorable) one more time, he was going to through himself out the airlock. And why did they have to constantly rub it in his face?

         And speaking of… They had all just finished another diplomatic meeting (and that had to be the worst part of the end of the war; 90% of their missions at this point were about diplomacy and meeting the inhabitants of other planets. Which, sure, it was cool but it was soooo boringggg.), but Keith was heading to their living quarters rather than the training deck. And Keith always went to the training deck after a slow and boring mission. He had rage to work out. Always. And even weirder was that Shiro was following, as if this was totally normal or something.

         They fell into step with Lance. Lance tried not to show how confused he was. Finally, Keith volunteered, “We’re going to go take a nap. Diplomacy is exhausting.” He looked mildly disgusted, as if it really was too much work to talk to people. Lance tried not to think about how Keith that was.

         “Okay…” he responded slowly.

         Shiro and Keith exchanged a look Lance couldn’t read. “We noticed you always seem much more… rested after you nap, so we thought we would try it out.” And really, Shiro’s explanation didn’t explain anything, but damn was he attractive, with that stupid little light in his eyes and that weird but hopeful smile on his stupidly hot face. And the soulmark on his wrist. Ugh.

         Lance shook his head. “Okay,” he repeated, then, deciding it would be more polite to actually try to have a normal conversation (even if doing so hurt like hell because it just showed him they would never be able to have a relationship beyond sometimes-pleasant chats) he continued, “but if you’re gonna do it right, cuddles have to be involved. It’s the real reason I feel great after a nap.”

         Shiro looked startled, which was new. Keith looked pissed, which was not new. He usually looked angry when talking to Lance. Which didn’t hurt at all, because Lance was used to that. He was annoying, he could understand that.

         “Who the hell cuddles with you?” Keith demanded. Lance tried not to flinch, but he also knew that he failed miserably, because he had to try really hard to disguise the hurt and pain in his response.

         “Hunk’s always down for cuddles. He’s awesome like that, and he’s great at it. Best bro any guy could ask for.” Was it just him, or did that sound super dull and dead? Dammit, he needed to work on masking him emotions again. He’d thought he could let the masks and walls down after everything that happened – Keith being their leader, and Shiro and his clone, but after the war, they decided to hook up and it just… Masks were easier than being honest with his pain at this point.

         Shiro sighed in… relief? Literally what the hell. Thank goodness they were near their rooms now. Lance was gonna bounce before his heart finally decided to attack him. But before he could duck into his own room, Keith’s arm shot out and grabbed him. “Well, you’re welcome to join us and show us how it’s done.” Lance was honestly kinda terrified by the serious, intense look on his face, even though the words sounded suspiciously like an invitation. But still, he was tempted. Damn, was he tempted. But he also knew he couldn’t ruin this for them. He could see Keith’s mark peeking out from behind his collar, and he just couldn’t.

         So of course, because he’s a human disaster, he squeaked and bolted for his room, all but diving through the door the minute it was open.

           Shiro and Keith stared after him morosely. After several minutes Shiro said, “So. You might have been right about him.”

         “He’s an idiot.” Keith breathed fervently.

[musicanddancingthroughlife]

Shklance -- Bruises Ch4

It’s been over a month since I posted something, I believe, and I hate myself very much for that, but turns out Thanksgiving and Christmas only become more busy after marriage, because you have to juggle 2 families, and unfortunately both sides of my husbands family live in the area, so we were juggled our two immediate families, and his two extended families, as well as work, class, and finals. Yep, finals were the two or so weeks before Christmas, immediately followed by Christmas, extra hours at work, family demands. Ugh. Way to make me hate a favored holiday. On the bright side, I had fun, I’ve literally read more books in the last two weeks than I have in the past 3 months, and I did way better in my classes than I though I did!

Since it’s been so long since I posted, I feel awful, so I have like three other stories I’m working on, and I’m hoping to post two or three a week for the next couple weeks or so before going back to my once-a-week schedule. Just if anyone cares haha because I really started this as a way for me to stay in practice, and to work on issues I have with writing, and I’m proud of how well I’ve kept with my goal of writing/posting once a week, because I did that for about a year, and then this happened XD

So here’s another chapter to this guy. One good thing to not having written anything in so long means that I don’t remember enough about the stuff I did write that I don’t get embarrassed reading it over, so I’m realizing there’s not many clear details about this story, such as whether they’re in high school or college, and certain threads I just didn’t do anything else with, so I have plans to actually edit and revise this once I’m done with the full story, and then I’ll probably post it again with all the parts. For now, send a message or something if you want the first three chapters and I’ll tag them here.

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              Lotor and his gang of goons were openly laughing now, intensifying the more Lotor challenges Lance, who for whatever reason is still stuck under Keith. “I knew you were taking it up the ass, but for some reason I didn’t think it would be with Shirogane and Kogane, of all people.” Lance tensed, hissing in pain when Keith reflexively tightened his grip on him again. Unfortunately, this didn’t escape Lotor’s attention. “How precious! Did you finally tell them you love them? Hmmm?” Shiro and Keith froze, and that’s when Acxa and Zethrid made their move, easily restraining the surprised couple and exposing Lance to Lotor’s view.

              Keith and Shiro snapped back to attention and tried to fight, but it was too late to rush back to Lance, who was still lying on the grass. The two soulmates felt ghost pains traveling through their chests, but they tried to ignore it, because Lance. Wasn’t. Moving.

              Lotor casually made his way around Lance’s prone form, occasionally stopping long enough to prod at him with a near-immaculate boot. At one point, Lotor must’ve poked at a particularly sore spot, because that’s what made Lance flinch, and even Keith found himself wincing as sympathy pains echoed in his own chest, and Shiro made an aborted motion towards his, too. Keith’s eyes narrowed. Wait… Lotor geared up and kicked harder at Lance’s ribs. Keith and Shiro groaned, but Lance yelped, curling up and groaning as this exacerbated other bruises. Lotor clapped his hands delightedly. “Don’t tell me the three of you are soulmates! That would just be too easy!”

              “What are you talking about?” Keith finally demanded. “How the hell would that be too easy you mother—” Keith broke off into a groan as Acxa squeezed him harder, cutting him off before he could spit out the rest of the insult.

              “Oh didn’t you know?” Lotor studied Lance, then carefully aimed a kick at his shoulder. Lance gasped wetly, and Keith heard Shiro swear. “Lance seems to consider himself a knight in shining armor. But you aren’t are you,” mock sympathy directed at Lance, who Keith and Shiro could see was now crying in pain, and they could feel anger and rage bubbling within them, threatening to spill over, “just an idiotic, worthless boy who got two soulmates who don’t need him. Don’t even want him. Why would they, when they’re just fine with each other? Oh, poor little Lance.” These words were punctuated with another kick, this one landing on his back. The force of it was so great, Lance lost the protection he’d gained from curling up to block his stomach, and Lotor took advantage of this.

              But finally, Shiro was able to throw Zethrid off of him, so distracted was she with the sight of Lance bruised and bloody on the ground, and quickly moved to defend Lance. Keith was able to squirm free seconds later, grateful that Acxa had been surprised enough by Shiro’s escape that she had loosened her grip enough for Keith to do the same. The fight that came next was quick and messy, brutal even, but in the end, Keith and Shiro were enough to drive Lotor and his gang away, and were then able to focus their attention on Lance. Who was still lying on the ground. Entirely too still.

              Keith panicked. “Shiro..?!” Shiro swore, kneeling to check for a pulse, unsure if he had somehow been hurt further during the skirmish, unsure if he had somehow gotten a head injury. But Lance seemed fine, especially when those beautiful blue eyes, filled with pain, yet still gorgeous, blinked up at Shiro. They were wet, red-rimmed, and when he coughed, Shiro could see that his lip was bloody, but he was still so beautiful. “He’s okay, Keith, let’s just take him to our apartment, take care of him there.”

              When Shiro eased Lance into his arms and then stood with him, Lance groaned, and Shiro was surprised to hear Keith rush to soothe him, whispering gentle words and sweet endearments while Lance fought back more tears. But Shiro was also grateful for it, because that meant that they’d be okay. They’d take care of Lance together, and then they would talk. And they would all be okay.