#so allura and coran just give him work to do

[discordiansamba]

Hunk, Romelle, and Keith all grew up on a space station managed by the Voltron Coalition. It's a diverse mixing pot of all kinds different alien races, located centrally in the alliance.

Keith's mother Krolia was a member of the Blade of Marmora, an elite peacekeeping force created after the end of the first Galactic War. Her work takes her away from home for months at a time.

After Heath died, Keith would often stay with either Hunk or Romelle's family when Krolia was away.

Romelle was the one who pitched the idea of being street performers to Hunk first, and he just kind of went along with it to make her happy. But then he saw that it could make other people happy, and well... that kind of sealed the deal for him.

Their unit name is Yellow Lion. Of course it is.

The success they've gotten is... kind of overwhelming for him at times. But between Romelle, Keith, Allura, and Coran, there's always someone around to help with his nerves.

(Coran and Allura understood from the start that Keith was sort of a package deal with them. Where they went, so did he.)

Shiro used to be Keith's mentor back at the flight academy he attended before he dropped out after Hunk and Romelle became more popular and he decided he'd take on the task to protect him. But just because he never graduated, doesn't mean his skills aren't top notch.

For years, the galaxy was embroiled in a massive war over quintessence before peace was finally established. It is a tentative thing, and there are factions that would like nothing more than to restart it.

Allura also quite enjoys singing, and has a lovely voice, but Coran has always tried to keep her out of the limelight for some reason...

Allura may or may not be the missing Altean princess who disappeared during the war. No use asking her, since she can't really recall much of her past.

There's a long-standing rumor that when the voices of three people chosen by the white lion combine on the right frequency, it can grant untold power. I'm sure that will in no way ever become relevant.

me, minding my own business:

my brain: idol duo Hunk and Romelle. and Keith is their bodyguard.

me: sure I'll rotate that for the rest of the evening

[foolinafable]

v. i miss you, i'm sorry

SYNOPSIS: He doesn’t know how to love. You know this and yet you would still give everything just to be with him- even for just a moment. Or the story of how you and Keith finally get together. PAIRING: Keith Kogane x Altean reader WORD COUNT: 5.4k TAGS: Slowburn, Angst, extreme cannon compliance, fighting SERIES LINK: a love as cold as ours

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NOTE: edited this tipsy and with Grammarly so don't mind mistakes!

You were focusing on trying to heal Shrio's new body in hopes it would encourage it to fully accept Shiros conscious using skills you had learned from the white lion on Oriande. Not daring to look up to face the eyes of the two galrans who both watched your every move with intrigue.

Allura was also helping, trying to take off as much of the burden as her powers would allow leaving you both exhausted as the hours ticked by.

You were sat by Shiro’s body hand held up eyes closed as you tried to focus on the feeling of Shiro’s consciousness within the body trying to pull it further inwards when Allura spoke

“I’m afraid the clone’s body is rejecting Shrio’s consciousness” 

“There must be some way you can help!” Keith pleaded and it hurt you for him to sound so distressed opening your eyes to see him staring right you in despair 

“I don’t think there's anything more we can do” you confessed “I can feel him slipping away” voice hoarse as you looked away from the black paladin unable to watch his heartbreak, jumping when he banged against the glass separating you from Shiro 

“Shiro please” he begged as he banged against the glass again “Please fight!” as he began to sob making your heart clench “You can’t do this to me again” he continued when a faint coughing was heard from inside the pod you all quickly looked up at Shiro as the encasing disappeared Keith called out to him quickly when he eyes opened 

“Keith- I was dreaming” he spoke delicately in between breaths “You saved me” he confessed looking at the boy as he hugged him 

“We saved each other” Keith corrected 

You simply looked to Allura and smiled tiredly but before anything else could be said the rest of the paladins along with Coran and Romelle finally returned all looking shocked as they saw Shiro up the three paladins running towards him in glee

“Shiro’s looking better! Alright!” Lance exclaimed 

“Where were you guys? We couldn't get a hold of you?” Keith asked 

“Well, we were shrunk by a magic skunk, but we ended up using that sparkly dust that makes electricity bigger or whatever” Lance tried to explain but the five of you just looked at him confused “So ready to charge up the lions?” Lance continued clearly unphased by your lack of understanding. Shiro simply sighed before laughing to himself

 “It’s good to be back.” 

── ✧

“Why are you tired” Lance probed as he walked towards you causing you to open your eyes to look at the Cuban boy from your position lying on Shiro's metal shoulder- the only part left of his mechanic arm

“I dunno maybe it’s from saving all your arses and transferring Shiro’s conscience into a new body?” you replied dryly as Shiro rubbed your shoulder with his working hand in thanks. At the same time, you gave Lance a pointed look with a small drowsy smile on your face that made him falter in his teasing realising that you were in fact not joking, still looking a little worse for wear even after you finally healed the large gnash on your forehead from Shiro's clone.

You closed your eyes again as you felt his violet ones staring you down clearly trying to get your attention but you ignored it- what more could he possibly have to say to you? More reasons why you aren't capable you nearly scoffed at the idea but simply pursed your lips trying to feign sleep when Shrio nudged you to open your eyes as Pidge approached, she sat on the other side of Shiro when the older man questioned

“Where you able to get into contact with Earth?”

“No luck,” the smaller girl replied glumly. “The low power levels are probably affecting our broadcast distance but I'll keep trying as we get closer to Earth.” 

“I can't believe we’re finally going home” Lance admits softly looking down at the ground almost in thought

“I’m going to hug my parents and never let go.” Hunk claims as he hugs himself imaging how it would go

“I can’t wait to see how dad integrated Altean and Earth technologies together” Pidge exclaimed seemingly in a better mood just thinking of going home. You smiled at her excitement but it didn't reach your eyes as it reminded you that your home was gone and after the war was over you didn’t have a family to come home to- rather Voltron was your family. Shiro seemed able to sense your thoughts looking to you with a sad smile as he once again rubbed your shoulder with his working arm in comfort.

“And my mom” Pidge continued before stopping to think her face suddenly becoming cloudy with apprehension “She is gonna be so mad I ran away, I hope I’m not grounded” 

“How long do you think it will take us to get home?” Keith finally tired of being ignored by you turned towards Coran who was seemingly already doing the numbers in his head

“I was just calculating that now” the altean admitted “Without the luxury of a wormhole and with diminished power cores, let me see-” he started mumbling to himself “if I carry the one” staring at his fingers as he did the maths “oh, it’s going to take us 150,000 earth years,” he replied nonchalantly you quickly sat up from your position on Shiro’s shoulder as everyone gasped in shock 

“One-hundred-and-fifty earth years?!” Keith exclaimed 

“Coran, I think your finger counting is a bit off” Pidge stated “It’s going to be 1.5 years” causing everyone to groan in annoyance 

“Oh right I didn’t carry the three” Coran realised 

“Well you never said you were good at finger counting” you replied to ease the annoyance he caused in the group

“And it’s not an exact science anyways” he defended and you swore it gave you deja vu

“It's going to be a very long and difficult voyage, but It’s our only chance at replacing the Castle of lions” Allura concluded  

“There were times where I thought I would never see Earth again” Shiro admitted “To be able to go back-” 

“Well, what are we waiting for guys!” Lance quickly interrupted, “Let's hit the space road!”

“I suppose we need to figure out who’s flying with whom,” Krolia announced and she was right.

You weren't really looking forward to it. You were already so exhausted you were unsure you would be able to handle certain people for the time being and hoped that whoever ended up with you would give you some peace to recharge. 

“And what about the animals?” Coran reminded you all

“What about them?” Pidge questioned

“Well the wolf can't go with Kaltenecker, wolves eat cows and the cow can’t be in the same area as the mice because aren't cows scared of mice?”

You nodded at his words they made complete sense to you 

“No, elephants are afraid of mice.” Lance corrected 

“Elephant?” you mumbled in tired confusion

“Yeah, They’re giant grey animals with long noses that grab things,” Lance exclaimed trying to show what an elephant looked like by pinching his nose and using his other hand to act as its snout 

“Giants with long, gabbing noses? Earth seems so strange” Allura echoed your thoughts out loud what a preposterous creature that must be. 

“The wolf is riding with me” Keith decided “That means Hunk will have to take the cow” as he had the second biggest cockpit so was able to fit the cow easily.

“Me with the cow? Not a good idea” Hunk protests 

“Hunks right” Lance decides “Keith, you're keeping the cow. Someone else is gonna have to take the wolf” Everyone looked to Pidge 

“Not me. I am allergic.” 

“I’ll take the mice” Allura exclaimed clearly not wanting to take the wolf

“How come you get the smallest passengers?” Keith questioned arms crossing over each other in annoyance to which Allura just pulled a face

“I say we go old school and draw straws” Hunk decided 

“Or I can just take the wolf” you commented breathlessly honestly just wanting to get into the sky, the quicker you get going the quicker you can be left alone. 

“But I am terrible at drawing” Allura sulks causing you to laugh as Coran agrees “She really is” 

“Guys you’re all overthinking this. I know exactly where everyone should go.” Lance decides and for some reason, maybe to stop the arguing, everyone lets him place them into the ships.

── ✧

This decidedly in your opinion was the worst idea ever, why did you let Lance decide who went whereas you were stuck for who knows how long in your lion with Keith's mother- Krolia.

To say it was awkward was an understatement but you guess you got what you wanted as it was quiet. But you could cut the tension with a knife.

Clearly the woman wished to speak with you but she didn’t say a word as if she wanted you to initiate conversation. But you have no idea what to say to her.

It’s not as if you can be honest ‘oh hi Keith’s mum yeah no I totally don't have a massive unrequited crush on your son who would probably rather be stuck by one of Haggar’s spells than even think of me that way’ and what if he told her about your argument during the kral vera so she knows you as the one who believes her son is according to your own heated words a ‘cold excuse of man.’

You shudder at the thought of the stoic woman hating you. The idea only makes you feel even more anxious being left in a ship with her for 1.5 earth years.

Luckily the other paladins don’t seem to be faring much better with Allura shouting at the wolf, Romelle trying to touch all the buttons on the spaceship leaving Lance annoyed, and Coran trying to teach Keith and Shiro the altean alphabet by singing a song that haunted your dreams as a little girl. 

“Keiths told me a lot about you during our time in the quantum abyss” Krolia commented clearly aware that she would get nowhere if she waited for you to start a conversation 

“I can only apologise for whatever you have heard from him, I assure you-” you began damage control only imagining the lovely choice of words he must have had to say about you, especially after your disagreement when she cut you off

“You are much more pretty than he described” was all she said causing a flush to creep up your cheeks as you turned away from her 

“Thank you” you whispered in confusion, eyebrows furrowed as she continued to speak 

“He seems to have underplayed a lot of things about you. But I am glad my son has found someone like you- you are quite similar to his father, willing to give everything to others” she spoke softly at the mention of her lover but you were sat shocked facing forwards, her words ruminating in your mind.

Clearly she liked you- approved of even which made no sense because why would she feel the need to approve of you- someone who isn't even really friends with her son. Not anymore. And with the mentioning of you being similar to his father- it didn’t make any sense!

Lance’s voice cut into the comms before you could think on her words further 

“Guys, I think I did a bad job choosing the passengers” only took him this long to notice. Why on earth would he split up Keith from his mother? Lance’s logic was beyond you and now clearly himself 

“I think he thought by choosing the pretty altean he could charm her and have an easy time” You voiced your thoughts to Kroila who was watching Lance through the comms link and she laughed slightly

“Clearly that is not the case” she agreed humorously and you simply smiled in reply as Keith turned on his comms so everyone could hear Coran’s rendition of the altean alphabet upon hearing it Romelle joined in which just as much enthusiasm causing you to chuckle as you sang along under your breath not noticing how a certain black paladin was watching your screen like a hawk having a not so nice hand gestures and eye conversation with his mother when she caught him staring at you with a soft smile at your antics.

Eventually the singing and not knowing what his mother was saying to you got too much for Keith. Her smirks at him made him extremely nervous as he screamed

“That’s it we are changing passengers!” to which Allura agreed quickly 

“I second that!” clearly fed up with the wolf drooling everywhere even though Keith told her he likes to drool several times.  

“Agreed” Lance called out trying to keep Romelle away from the buttons again

“Whatever you guys want” you called out trying not to seem rude towards the older woman 

“Hey guys, why haven't we heard from Pidge?” Hunk announced   

“Yeah. Wait, who’s in her lion again?” Lance questioned 

“No idea” is all you said

“Yeah Lance, you’re the one that came up with this grouping” Keith added to your point 

“Well, she must have– no, they're with Keith. And the wolf is with Allura and I have the mice” You suddenly laughed as you realised what's happened 

“She's all alone” you spoke laughing a hand covering your mouth as the others quickly realised that you were in fact correct.

 The team quickly used the wolf's transportation techniques to transfer all the passengers into Pidge's ship except for Shiro and Krolia who were now on Keith’s ship.

“Oh come on guys this isn't fair!” Pidge complained but you all simply ignored her amused by her suffering.  

── ✧

Krolias voice sounded out from the comms

“This is the Klii-Nyn System. There’s a Blade of Marmora rally point located on a moon here. We should check in with them and get an update on their operations.”

“Team, we're going to make a quick stop. Everyone follow me” Keith called out and you followed closely behind.

You all landed on the moon with Krolia unable to make any contact with the base so you all quickly got out of the lions to check it out as something clearly wasn't right.

Allura used her strength to open the door allowing Krolia to go in first as you hovered into the base. It looked completely empty, dark and decrepit with no sign of life at all within its walls.

“It doesn't look like anyone’s been here for years,” Keith commented while Pidge tried to press buttons on the control panel

“The system won’t boot. Looks like the power has been out for a while” She agreed with Keith's observation the place had already been deserted a long time ago. 

“If the Blade of Marmora abandoned this place, that means something really bad must have happened” Hunk theorised 

“That's impossible” Krolia admitted “This base was still fully operational during my last check-in with the Blades.”

“It doesn't make any sense even if they left within the last three days it wouldn't look like this” you exclaimed, twirling around and looking at the area it just looked old, not destroyed but before you could voice anything else a large explosion was heard from outside causing the area to shake.

“Enemy ship! Incoming!” Coran called out 

“Everyone back to the lions” Keith commanded as you all flew back towards the entrance you quickly came back to your lion and flew off with the rest of the team noticing the galran ships surrounding the area 

“It looks like a small fleet. Mostly Galra fighters” Keith commented 

“That's good. We should be able to take them out pretty easily” Lance responded

“Yeah, but remember, we’re not flying at full power” Pidge warned 

“Pidge is right” Keith announced “everyone stay sharp.”

You flew quickly trying to avoid the blasts

“Keep an eye out” Lance reminded you all “Where there are fighters there’s usually a cruiser nearby” 

“Some of these ships look like they belong to Lotor’s fleet” you heard Romelle shout out from Allura comms making you pull a puzzled face wasn't she in Pidge’s lion?

“How did you get in here?” Allura asked confused you were about to voice your own concerns when a blue light appeared behind you in the cockpit to reveal Keith's wolf who quickly bounded up next to you to give you some support 

“Thanks, buddy” you whispered nudging your head against the world slightly causing him to push back in happiness for some attention before you grunted as a beam nearly knocked you off your path sending the wolf down with you “Sorry, it’s not going to be an easy ride”

“We need to get out of here” Keith called out warningly as more and more fighters seemed to appear out of nowhere 

“We’re getting our quiznacks handed to us. We need to do something.” Lance complained “we need to form Voltron”

“Okay” Keith agreed “everyone in formation”

You tried to form Voltron but the depleted energy cores made it impossible.

You tried to escape but they backed you into a corner with the pirates behind you, crystals surrounding you and a cyclone at the exit. 

“We have no choice” Keith decided “Everyone into the cyclone”

After formatting a plan you quickly left the cyclone trying to take your way towards a nearby unstable ice planet in hopes it could grant you the upper hand.

You descended onto the planet with the fighter ships right on your tail using the landscape to the best of your abilities to lose the pirates, weaving around geysers, and flying through underground tunnels but it still wasn't enough as soon as you made it out the cave without any of fighters pilots following behind you were immediately captured by a large magnet pinning the lions to the floor- there was no escape.

── ✧

You were quickly taken into a holding cell, arms bound by handcuffs, you were sat next to Allura with Keith right above you, none of you saying a word as Lance pranced around the cell pulling faces.

“What are you doing?” Hunk asked annoyed

“I’m feeling for secret passages” Lance responded as if it was the most sane idea ever, you looked up at him incredulously- was he serious

“You’ve watched too many movies, Lance. There’s no secret passage.” Keith complained 

“And why on earth would they put one where they keep the prisoners” you questioned the Cuban boy still in disbelief that he wasn't joking 

“Oh really?” he questioned moving to the middle of the cell “Then how do you explain this?” he quickly hit the side of the cell with his foot before whimpering in pain- clearly not an area for a secret passage you simply rolled your eyes at him not failing to notice how Keith smirked at your reaction making your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as to why he seems to care so much about you now. 

“Will someone shut him up?” Krolia asked after Lance hit his other foot on another area that he thought would be a secret passage but wasn't now holding his foot for dear life as he tumbled around in pain.

“There's only one guard patrolling out there.” She observed “If we can get this door open, we can overpower him” 

“What happened to Coran?” Hunk questioned 

“He must of managed to hide when we were captured” Krolia guessed

“At least we have one ally out there still able to fight for us” Allura spoke relieved 

 “Are you saying our fate rests in Coran’s hands?” Pidge asked, causing you all to look down in worry.

“I will help you look for that passage” Pidge comments to Lance clearly believing his idea would have a better shot at getting them free than Coran ever could. 

Your head snapped up at the sound of the door opening when two very familiar faces appeared from behind their guards leaving you all shocked it was two of Lotor's generals

“Look who's here. It’s Voltron” Ezor mocked 

“We’re going to have a little talk” cackled Zethrid 

“Hey you’re the guys that Lotor shot into space” Lance stated the obvious clearly not reading the room

“And the ones that were trying to kill us” Pidge finished off for him

“Yeah sure, but we're all friends now right?” Hunk questioned and you started at him 

“I don’t think they would’ve captured and locked us up if we were friends Hunk” You tilted your head at him as he gawked in understanding 

“I’m glad one of you has a brain,” Ezor smirked. “Makes it so much more fun when we torture you!”

“Where have you been all this time? And what happened to Lotor?” Zethrid questioned 

“What are you talking about” Shiro responded cooly 

“We’re talking about your little disappearing act.” Ezor clarified 

“Disappearing act? We followed Lotor into the quintessence field and then came back out not long after” you replied confused “Not sure how that counts as disappearing” 

“Answer the question!” Zethrid seethed, clearly not impressed by your answer “How did you survive that explosion?” she continued 

“Don’t you know? You were there.” Hunk questioned cautiously 

“I think there’s a little confusion about how the ‘we ask questions, you give us answers scenario works.’” Ezor commented

“Enough of your games. Where is Lotor” Zethrid asked 

“Lotors dead. We left him in the Quintessence field” Keith answered

“Yeah that doesn't really add up. Why aren't you dead?” Ezor probed 

“Because of the power of teamwork?” Hunk responded unsure of himself 

“I’m going to ask you one more time,” Zethrid challenged “and then we are going to have to take a more extreme approach. What happened to Lotor and where have you been all this time?”

“How many times do we have to say it to get it through your thick skulls? We haven't been anywhere and Lotor is dead:” you shouted in annoyance.

“Fine” Ezor replied 

“You leave us no choice but to apply pressure” Zethrid commanded 

“Who is the first victim?” Ezor asked excited 

“How about the smart loudmouth witch Lotor was always telling us about, let's see if she is really worth all his praise,” Zethrid responded, clearly referring to you. Ezor started to make her way towards you when Lance tried to attack her from the side

“Don’t you touch them!” He shouted as he swung his joined together hands as Ezor who quickly dodged his attack sending him to the ground with a kick a guard with a gun was placed in front of him before he could make another move

“Your defence is adorable and so very misguided” Zethrid comments with a laugh 

“Leave us alone” Pidge shouted which resulted in Ezor slapping her with her hair and wrapped it around your hands dragging you to her Hunk called out your name in worry as Ezor’s hand went around your throat as you groaned and thrashed trying to get away 

“Let her go!” Keith commanded but was stopped by a soldier with a gun before he could try anything 

“Answers” Ezor commanded as she held you up against the wall a deadly tight grip on your throat barely leaving enough room for air 

“We told you, he’s–” Keith began to answer them his voice pleading when a large boom rattled the area and alarms started blaring making them all need to leave to check out the security breach.

Ezor quickly let go making you fall to the ground hard, you groaned in pain as you were held up leaning against Allura for support as the rest of the paladins watched her leave. Keith quickly helped you up, eyes looking alarmed as they assessed your neck clearly it looked as bad as it hurt but Krolia started talking before he could say anything much to your relief

“This is our chance, the next time that door opens, overwhelm the guard.” she strategies you'll quickly go on either side preparing yourselves but when the door opened no guard came in, you all looked to the door to see the mice who had taken down the guard 

“Hello little friends” Allura spoke crouching down to them they spoke to her and she gasped “Coran is trying to rescue us and he’s got help- Axca” She turned towards Keith whose eyes lit up with recognition 

“What” was all he could muster.

You all quickly ran to find Coran quickly finding him fighting this large soldier purple and barely conscious from his efforts Lance and Keith quickly grabbed him helping him move along as we made our way towards the hanger that our lions were kept in while Keith went after Axca.

Once you were all inside the lions Keith called out to shoot on his location which you all quickly did resulting in a massive explosion that Keith and Axca fled and ran into the black lion's cockpit then the team quickly made her get away following Axca directions to one of her safe houses. 

── ✧

You were all sitting in her cave, a fire brewing as she turned to speak to you “I don't know what Ezor and Zethrid were on about with Keith because you're my favourite paladin.” you smiled at her compliment 

“Well not that you are up against any tough competition but you always were my favourite of Lotors generals- the only level-headed one” you joked back hitting her with your shoulder as she laughed back

“You're not wrong there” you continued to banter with the galran when Hunk came back with more firewood causing you to halt the conversation but both of your eyes twinkled with the idea that you were far from done speaking.

“I just looked at the lions and they’re in worse shape than ever.” Hunk worries

“We should probably give them some time to recharge before we head back on our way” Shiro decides

“Wow a lot has changed over the past few weeks” Lance comments

“Weeks?” Axca questions “what are you talking about?” 

“The last time we saw you. You were fighting alongside Lotor” Allura responds confused 

“That was three deca-phoebs ago” Axca tells you “No-one has seen you since your fight with Lotor.” 

“That impossible” Kieth stated 

“It’s true” Axca declared “After Lotor jettisoned us, we managed to make it to cover a meteorite. There we saw both Voltron and Lotor disappear. Eventually, Voltron re-emerged… alone. But, then there was an explosion and after that… nothing. That was three deca-phoebe ago”

“So, as far as everyone else in the universe is concerned, Volron has been gone for three deca-phoebe?” Allura clarifies 

“That would explain the discrepancies in the star charts in our lions.” Pidge realised “I thought they were off because of our inter-dimensional jumping which I guess they were in a way- because if you think about it, that must have been the cause of the time slip between our experience and that of the rest of the universe.”

“So how did you end up here, helping us?” Keith questioned the girl 

“Zethrid, Ezor, and I were stationed on the meteoroid for days. Finally, a Galra ship came to investigate Lotor's last known whereabouts. We took it over. With Lotor gone, it was clear that there was a power vacuum in the Galra Empire. Zethrid and Ezor wanted to exploit that for their own gain but I knew I had to find my own path. And it led me to you.” she replied gesturing to the team 

“Thank you for saving us” Keith smiled 

“I hope that this makes up for some of the wrongs I’ve done.” she clarifies you grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze as you smiled

 “We understand” gesturing to you and Allura “How easy it is to believe in him” 

“I realise now that Lotor wasn't the man I thought he was. He preached unity, but in the end, he sought only power.” Axca continued “I’ll do everything I can out here to help the Voltron coalition.”

“Wow, so everyone that was helping is thinks we’re dead” Hunk thought aloud 

“Wait” Pidge called out in a panicked voice “I haven't been able to get ahold of my dad on Earth or Matt and the rebels. What's happened to them in the last three years?”

“And if Ezor and Zethrid became warlords in that time… what else has changed?” Allura questioned.

The revelation that you had been missing for three deca-pheobes settled deep within you all as you sat in silence trying to gather the courage to speak- worry clearly covering all of your faces.

You quickly stood up looking down at your feet as you left Axcas cave and made your way towards the lions sitting on the edge of the cliff they were stationed on trying to steady your breathing as you began to spiral at the idea of all the coalition being gone, all the people that Voltron had let down as you were presumed dead.

You could the lions humming in your brain quieter than last time thanks to their run-down state trying to ease your discomfort- it was still a new feeling every time you closed your eyes you could feel them- like your life force was now integrated with their own, your pain was there and their discomfort yours just as Alfor prophesied. You hoped he was proud- that it was all worth it.

The buzzing of the lions in your head was probably what made you unable to hear his footsteps as they approached you only noticed him when he came to sit next to you the lion’s voices leaving you alone when your eyes stared into his violet orbs echoing your pain of lost time a feeling your sure he is a lot more familiar with. You turn away from him after a moment eyes going to your feet as they dangle from the cliff 

“How do you do it” you mutter to him unsure of how to ask for comfort from him now, after everything

“Hm?” He prompted trying to seem as calm as you for the first time since the Kral Vera started a conversation with him sacred if he said too much it would send you further away than you already where

“Forgive yourself for not being there, for not being able to protect the people you promised I guess” you replied eyes welling up as your throat tightened 

“I think” he took a deep breath as you looked up at him “you just need to remember that there was nothing you could do that could’ve got yourself there, we can’t go back in time” he explained voice soft as he took in your features as you sat there staring at the boy in silence the guilt and remorse finally caught up with you at all the things you had said that day- none of it was true, not to you any way she wasn’t  a sorry excuse of a man rather he was everything you ever wanted and while he may have been cold at times he never was to you- the scene right now proving it, even more, he never turned you away as you did to him that day

“M-sorry” you muttered “for what happened during the Kral vera it wasn’t true- not to me” you began when he interrupted you similarly to how he did that day 

“It’s okay” he smiled a little “I mean you were right I was being overprotective and cold- I had a lot of time to think about it when I was stuck in the quantum abyss with my mom” 

“I don’t want to fight” is all you said, almost whispering 

“I know” he grabbed your hand as you both looked forwards “It’s okay” he repeated squeezing your hand “We’re okay” 

Maybe you were okay but your mind couldn't seem to stop thinking about his words ‘you were right’ a thought you also had these past few months but rather about what he had spoken about you.

You knew what you had said was wrong you even told him that but he hadn’t taken his words back. So that still must be how he thinks about you. Clearly you need to listen to what he said and then continue as you have been barely speaking- anything to avoid his ire and keep him as he is now- content.

[voltronisanobsession]

Heyyy can you please do Keith Kogane x a reader who is a space princess?? I love your work btw!!

Keith Falls for a Space Princess Headcanons

Thank you so much, I’m so happy you enjoy my writing!!! I hope you don’t mind that I did headcanons💔 I found this so cute bro I CANT 😭

Also I got another request similar to this one so I’ll debate if I’ll write a different scenario or not!!

Keith’s first impression of you wasn’t anything too extraordinary

Lowkey believed that you would just be another person they rescued from the Galra💀

But once finding out that you were a space princess like Allura, coming from a long line of ancient alchemists and sorcerers, it really peaks his interests

Depending on if you meet before he finds out he’s part Galra or after, that’ll start off the relationship

If we’re talking before, it would be a relatively chill introduction

Being a space princess often gathers you a lot of recognition but Keith captures your attention because of his lack of interest

While you’re used to many treating you with high respect, Keith just treats you normally, with the same tough attitude he has with everyone!

He basically treats you like a normal person, something you haven't felt in a loonnngg time💔

But if it's after he finds out he's part Galra and reveals it, then things would be REALLY tense, on your end at least...

The Galra have made you and countless others suffer for centuries, so knowing one of the paladins of Voltron, who are working to rid of the Galra Empire, is galran himself 😶

Yeah you're especially tense around Keith, untrusting toward him which bothers him for some reason

BUT MOVING ON

Of course, your own curiosity toward the boy ultimately leads you to spending more time with him

At first, he might find your lingering presence somewhat annoying since he isn't used to someone giving him all this extra attention

Always asking him questions during his training, sticking with him when out on missions

At one point, Keith gets used to your presence, a sense of normalcy falling between the two of you quickly as the weeks pass quickly

He opens himself up to you slowly, giving pieces of himself and his life to you while you do the same :D

He'll give you slivers of what his life was like on Earth while you share your own stories of life on your planet

He learns more about your culture, your duties as a princess, and even the history of your ancestors (something which you take pride in)

Because of the amount of time spent together, you guys grow close with every new mission and planet Voltron visits

And with this, this means that Keith begins to grow kinda protective of you?

LIKE LISTEN

He starts caring for you as time passes and he doesn't know exactly when things have been changing between the two of you??

He doesn't know when he began staring at you more often, he doesn't know when he began anticipating your arrival every morning, and he ESPECIALLY doesn't know when his heart began fluttering at the mere sight of you

Maybe it was the elegance that seemed to permanently stick to you after years of being in a royal court

Or maybe it was your constant nagging whenever he was around, sneaking past the walls he built around his heart

Or perhaps it was the caring hand you placed on his shoulder whenever his emotions got the best of him

He would totally go to Coran about possibly courting you because why not LMAO

Coran knows how princesses are supposed to be courted (hopefully), Keith just wants to impress you the best he can and fully believes only Coran holds the secret

So you’re just witnessing him falling over his own feet trying to approach you with uptight mannerisms while Coran watches his every move from afar

“For you my, uh, lady?” *holds out flower*

Cue Coran whispering loudly, “Good, good!”

Despite how endearing it is to see Keith try and keep up with the traditional courting, you have to reassure him that you don’t mind that he isn’t apart some royal family (he’s lowkey insecure that you might prefer someone with a similar background as you)💔💔

You like him for him, not caring for his status at all

With that, you both have a good flowing relationship, his intense personality softening with your own pleasant personality

He learns to control his emotions because of you while you learn to show more of your own because of him!!

You also show him the sort of sorcery you’re able to do, having learned from a young age to harness the power that resided into, which he finds SUPER cool and kinda confusing

He’s trying his best to understand😔

He still sometimes feels like he isn’t enough for you though so please PLEASE make sure to tell him other wise😭🙏🙏🙏

He holds you in a high regard because of your status as a princess, he makes sure to tell anyone he comes across that so they treat with respect😭😭

You’re lowkey embarrassed when he begins bragging about your heritage like bro stop😭

Yeah despite this, he still manages to not associate you with only being a space princess, but an honorary member of Voltron

He’s super soft for you I can’t😭😭

[me-elo1111]

Unfortunate Circumstances (Keith x GN reader)

A/N: judging by how well this post does I’ll try and write more, if you have requests send them in I’ll write for all characters 🤍 and ships (klance nation I see you dw please give me something to write with those two) my friend asked for an x reader so this is what we’re doing first. reader is gender neutral in this one because everyone should feel included ofc!

__________________

Needless to say… you were stuck. Not even just stuck you were trapped with someone you could never in a million years be compatible with.

Keith Kogane, paladin of the red lion.

And a deranged smartass who ALWAYS had to be right about something… no matter what situation, if you were with Keith, it was his word against yours. And being the leader of Voltron it was almost always his word. Funny thing about it though he’d never act so rude and stand off ish to anybody else in the group… it was just you…

On a normal day you could definitely conquer this man’s attitude but this was in fact not a normal day. You were supposed to be relaxing after weeks of fighting and working against the galra but the universe had different plans. Very different plans..

“It’s just a small mission, just gather some samples for Coran and then you’ll be out in a few moments.” You remember Allura reassured you, patting your shoulder.

You gave a very hesitant smile, and continued to stride forward to the red lions hanger. Better to get this done and over with.

How silly you were to have hope for once…

“It was one simple task! How did you mess up THAT bad!?” You yelled into Keith’s ear.

You were both sitting in the red lions cockpit, Keith in the main seat and you leaning against the inner console next to him.

“In my defense I didn’t SEE that ship there!” He groaned, head in his hands.

He felt embarrassed. Not about the fact that he messed up on a mission, but about the fact that he messed up on a mission in front of you. And looking at your tense figure with your arms crossed and a sour look on your face just made it so much worse.

You wouldn’t ever know in advance, but he held you in way high regards. So much so that he found himself not being able to even have a normal conversation with you. Not like communication was his strong suit anyways. But it was a lot more worse with someone like yourself. He never could key in on the moment he started having romantic feelings for you. Sure the thought would creep up into his brain but he would just shove it away to be unheard of again. Because why would someone like you like someone like him? It never made sense in his brain. So he made it his mission to drive you away so you wouldn’t notice how much of a mess he is… But in doing so it wounded you guys here. Red was down trying to charge itself, and here you were yelling at him while he wallowed in his own pity.

“Well Keith where do we go from here?” You asked the pilot, who looked at you with something similar to… shame? Embarrassment? Yeah, something like that…

“the team knows where we are, it’s only a matter of time before they come for us. But until then, I guess we just sit tight and wait..” he trailed off, trying his best to avoid unnecessary eye contact with you.

“Whatever. At least it was you messing up this time instead of me.” You shrugged.

“Now I won’t have to get yelled at more than I have to.”

He straightened in his seat. And looked over.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re excused.” You muttered.

“No what did you mean by that? Who yells at you?” You sat in disbelief before giving him a slight look.

He seemed to get the message pretty fast and quickly looked away from you.

“Look- I’m sorry.”

You looked at him… “go on.”

“I don’t mean to take it out on you I just uh.. I just worry about you… is all.” You could see his face turn slightly red as he shielded it from your vision while you stared at him.

KEITH worries about YOU.

Well this surely was not on your bingo card this year. In a way it makes you feel sort of light inside, since now you can push all those intrusive thoughts about him hating you away… but also- KEITH WORRIES ABOUT YOU- and you’re being a dick by yelling at him for getting you two into this mess. You sighed as you started to walk out of the cockpit to exit the lion. Seeing this Keith scrambled out of his chair, running after you with a slight bit of worry.

“Wait where are you going?” He asked as he caught up to you.

The hanger door opened and you both exited the lion, you paused for a moment as your nose inhaled a new scent. One that you were definitely not used to.

You looked at him as you both stepped out, the coolness in the wind hitting you like ice as it blows through your hair.

“We need to talk Keith…”

_______________________

A/N: I got mixed feelings about this. But I just wanted to Drabble before I got serious about writing this into a whole parted story💀 anyways let me know babes JEN JEN OUT 🫡

[nostalgicish]

My favorite tropes in klance fanfics that are never not funny (to me):

"Fighting" over little things

Lance: "I cannot believe you just said that......" Keith: "What?? I stand by what I said. Anchovies are objectively bad and are by far the worst pizza topping." Lance: "What! A pizza without anchovies is like— like a rose without petals! an ocean without waves! a night sky without stars! Keith: "Don't care. They're gross." Lance, theatrically: "You wound me!"

Then bringing the others into it

Lance: "Hunk, are you hearing this nonsense??" Hunk: "Nope, sorry bud, I'm with Keith on this one— anchovies are nasty." Lance: *clutches his chest like he's been fucking shot*

Keith getting confused by Lance's bad flirting but it ends up working on him anyways (i.e. wrong formula right answer)

Lance: "Holy shit, dude. Your hand looks super heavy. Do you want me to hold it for you? Keith, confused: "It's uh... I was— my hand? I— uhh...... yes...?"

Keith pretending he hates pet names/PDA

Lance, planting a wet kiss on Keith's cheek: "Anything for you, baby." Keith, trying really hard not to smile: "Oh my god you're so embarrassing."

Casual sibling-energy banter among the team

Lance: "Pidge is sooooo tiny. She's like. Three feet tall! So cute!" Pidge: "Lance, I swear to God. I will beat your ass." Lance: "Bring it, munchkin. We put out the mousetraps." Hunk: "Oohhh!" *high fives Lance* Pidge: "I am going to bash in your kneecaps." Keith, deadpan: "He'll just stand on the table then." Hunk: "OOHHHH" *high fives Keith* Pidge: *deep inhale* Pidge, eerily calm: "I'm gonna give you guys. a five-second head start... One..." Keith: "Uh... a head start for what?" Pidge: "Two..." Lance: "Wait, like five seconds each or...?" Pidge, gritting: "THREE..." Hunk: "Go go go gogogogogo—"

(unabashedly stole part of that from "Shut Up and Dance With Me" by wittyy_name on ao3)

Everyone knows they're in love EXCEPT them/the team placing bets on them (is it overdone? yes. is it still funny? to me?? also yes.)

Keith: "And uh... guys? There's... one more thing we need to tell you—" Lance, blurting: "WE'RE DATING." Everyone: "..." Pidge: "Fucking finally." Hunk: "Hah! Pay up, guys!" Shiro, pulling a $20 out of his wallet: "Seriously? You guys couldn't wait one more week?" Coran, whispering to Allura: "They weren't courting before??" Allura: "I'm just as confused as you are."

And like. a million other things! i love them!!

[autisticlancemcclain]

ask and you shall receive, @rottenseaweed my dear!!! julance drawing prompts for all my artist friends:

1. baby lance based on this image:

2. lance trying to do the cool wall lean and smirk to flirt with someone except he misses the wall and falls

3. lance and pidge furious and snarling at each other, fully ready to kill each other, so shiro separates them and starts giving them shit and they look at each other and start laughing bc they are asshole younger siblings who can’t take getting yelled at seriously

4. lance, leaning on hunk’s back as he rambles, and hunk completely focused on his work but reaching back to pat him on the head occasionally

5. coran fucking LAUNCHING lance into the pool

6. lance, visibly wearing something sparkly and pink that is Not His, terrorized expression on his face as he sprints away from allura who has murder written all over his face and is chasing him at top speeds

7. lance very carefully making charm bracelets for everyone

8. lance smiling softly as he pulls a blanket up over a couch-sleeping shiro

9. lance standing in front of like an easel or something with garbage memes on them, face very prim and instructional, holding a pointer and very clearly lecturing about meme culture to a wide-eyed, frantically note-taking allura

10. lance climbing kitchen cabinets to get something while hunk shouts at him in panic

11. lance absolutely kicking ass with a bow in this way from this video, if you’re into animation

12. lance standing with his hands on his hips, lecturing somebody about something, while hunk stands behind him with a photo of mrs mcclain whom he is imitating exactly without realising

13. lance braiding keith’s hair with like a million cutesy barrettes and charms and shit and just blabbing and keith is like fire truck red like truly glowing and lance is just completely overjoyed to be “fixing his mullet” and the rest of the team is losing their mind laughing at them

14. lance giving finger guns and winking at rebel matt who raises an eyebrow in amusement and pidge is mortified on his behalf

15. lance zooming around a moon, full armour and everything, picking up a thousand rocks and bringing them for shiro to hold bc they’re on a recon mission and shiro is watching this nerd boy in amusement (he is also geeking out about the rocks he’s just embarrassed about it)

16. veronica judo flipping lance upon their reunion on earth

17. lance, tongue out in concentration, knitting tiny little mouse sweaters

18. lance giving hunk a big ol’ cheek smooch bc he’s obnoxious (hunk pretends to be annoyed but is clearly holding back a smile)

18. coran and lance, faces both streaked with tears, hugging each other really tightly

19. keith really excitedly showing lance all the caves he explored when he was following blue’s trail and lance just staring at him, totally and completely whipped

20. pidge holding lance in a chokehold as he bites her. there are hearts around them bc they are both having literally so much fun even though they won’t admit it under pain of death

21. lance in daisy dukes and a cowboy hat, leaning against kaltenecker

22. lance, armour scuffed back from a rescue mission, teaching a bunch of scared alien children how to make friendship bracelets

23. lance and keith, on their honeymoon, faces half-obscured by the glare of the sun, grinning at the camera in front of the grand canyon (like this pic of my parents):

24. lance wearing a “i flexed so hard the sleeves ripped off” but the sleeves are very clearly still on. in fact the shirt is long-sleeved

25. preteen lance, beaming so wide his eyes squeeze shut, pink braces on his teeth

26. young lance, like maybe six or seven, missing four front teeth, giant satisfied smile on his face, at the beach (wearing shark swim trunks obviously) and holding a sea shell bigger than his entire head

27. tiny lance sitting on his brother’s shoulders, laughing, rest of his smiling family around him

28. a mirror of the food fight scene except it’s cake that the whole team (including the alteans!) are covered in, with a cake that says “happy birthday dorkbrain” absolutely destroyed with like clear imprints of people scooping up handfuls to throw

29. lance, in the backdrop of space, limp and unconscious, with both red and blue rushing towards him with protective snarls

30. lance hugging an alien scorpion the size of like a fucking horse, tears streaming down his face as if he’s looking at a particularly adorable kitten

31. the entire team except lance (he’s on a mission or smth) gathered in the common room, lounging on the couches. someone says “man i miss lance” and everyone is immediately like “oh my god me too i was waiting for someone to say it” “RIGHT ME TOO” “castle just isn’t the same without him” “seriously i’m so bored where is he when you need to bother him” etc etc

honestly i might do more of these dm me if u can come up with alliteration for a day of the week and i’ll post drawing prompts weekly

[kickis-conan-king]

So I’ve been seeing a lot of lady lance iterations lately and I just. Feel like people take lance as he is in his little baseball tee and just give him long hair for the lady version and just NO. Lance would be a GIRLIE girlie. He already participates in feminine associated activities canonically-face masks and stuff etc, we all know this. Raised on girlie gender juice and taught to embrace that stuff I can’t help but feel Lance would be the Y2K manifestation of Girl. Low rise jeans, denim miniskirts, a row of butterfly clips instead of a headband. Lance would work a job just so she could afford her blowout. She would have French tip nails and wear so much jewelry she clinked when she walked. She’d wear so much lipgloss her lips get that gloss glue line where they part and everything she drinks out of would get a glittery lip print. The only reason she would like her flat chest would be because she can wear those handkerchief tube tops. She can do cartwheels in heels. Still an athlete, maybe played basketball or ran track. Personality wise, Lance would still be a bisexual menace, and vain and loud and competitive everything that Lance already is. Imagine Lance delivering the particle barrier line to Allura with just as much gusto but dressed like a member of destiny’s child. Please get on board with this guys, fem!Lance as blue paladin, her baseball tee she wore to space is a blue baseball tee crop top with princess bedazzled on the front, confuses Coran. High ponytail whipping around??? Hello?? Allura and Lance absolute best friends, bond over #justgirlythings. You guys totally nail Keith tho, I get the feeling that no matter the gender that dude is going to be rocking a shaggy mullet, fingerless gloves, black skinny jeans, gogo boots. Lance is still appalled at Keith atrocious fashion sense and gets on her case but now Keith just looks at her and shrugs and goes “I’m a dyke?” And Lance turns completely red, covers her mouth with a perfectly manicured hand and backs away shaking and sweating (like tamaki at the end of ouran ep1) and thinks about that every single night for the foreseeable future for totally normal reasons, sure.

[akutagawamydear]

I’ve seen a lot of, Keith being angry about the whole Voltron mission thing– and I agree!! That he’s angry about it.. but let me give you

Angry LANCE!! Lance who, didn’t want to be on the mission in the first place and was just going with the flow so he could get home to his FAMILY faster, Lance who didn’t think the mission would take as long as it has, Lance who burns in hatred for Voltron and Allura/Coran and the Lions because. Why? They keep prolonging the mission to save the universe by making STUPID decisions one after another after another, Lance, who seethes inwardly everytime Lotor or another Galra rescue mission comes up, because these STUPID aliens who don’t know their place and should sit down back at their weak little planet are keeping him from his family. Lance, who misses his family so much, who worries and misses them as much as they do him, Lance who’s heart squeezes with a sickness and guilt when he thinks about his family not knowing where he went. Lance who, undoubtedly has Undealt with violent thoughts, Lance who wants to ram his gun into Lotor’s face and pull the trigger at LEAST, 7 times, who wants to wrap his hands around Allura’s neck as he spits insult after insult. Lance who feels an unexplainable itching in his hands to pull on the controls inside Blue (or any Lion) until they snap and the wires are exposed, so he can pull and cut and yank them until she hopefully shuts down (no matter if he gets electrocuted in the process). And, I dunno about ya’ll but, I headcanon that the Voltron mission caused Lance to miss one of his nephew’s birthdays (which he has NEVER done, always being early because he loves his family So so sososoSoSO much that he can’t help but follow them everywhere they go so h can shield them from the world and shower them with his overwhelming love), and that, that SINGLE fact, IRRITATES him to his CORE, because– some stupid mission, caused by some no-good, weak alien princess and her dumb mechanical lions kidnapped him and decided he, a cadet who wanted to fly CARGO ships, was a perfect candidate to SAVE THE FUCKING UNIVERSE, to “save” and avenge the princesses kingdom, which was GONE, is GONE, and will FOREVER *be* GONE, because why? Her and her weakass kingdom could protect themselves from the way life worked? A prince who’s dad and mom don’t care about him and could care less if he lived or died (only really caring because he’s the only kid they have) and he let his issues get to his head and convince him that he needs to use violence to feel powerful.

in conclusion. I want batshit angry Lance, I want Lance to go feral inwardly until it becomes too much for him to keep bottled up and he goes apeshit Outwardly

[crimsonwolf715]

Friendly Fire

“Everyone report to the training room,” Allura says over the loudspeaker. 

Lance gets up off the floor where he was assisting Pidge and Hunk with their projects. He stretches, then heads towards the training room with them. 

“Hey, Princess,” Lance says when he sees Allura in there. 

“Hello, Lance. Pidge and Hunk.” 

Pidge waves and Hunk gives her a pleasant sounding hello. Keith walks in without his jacket on, which Lance pegs as odd, but doesn’t comment on. 

“So, what’s the training exercise?” Lance asks. 

“I spoke with Shiro and he said that it is a common training exercise on Earth.” 

“I’m almost afraid to ask, but what is it?” Hunk asks. 

Shiro over with a gun. 

“Paintball,” Shiro says, holding up the gun. “It’s been modified to shoot their version of paint. I tested it out and it hurts about as much as it does to be shot with a paintball.” 

“You do remember that you have a higher pain tolerance now, right?” Keith asks. 

Shiro nods. “Yeah, I’m gauging it based on my old standards. I may be a little off, but it’s the same difference.” 

“Just making sure.” 

Shiro nods again. “You’re being split up into teams. First round is Keith and Lance versus Pidge and Hunk. You’ll swap partners until you’ve partnered up with everyone.” 

“What about you?” Lance asks. 

“Allura and I have a different objective. Coran’s watching to see who gets the most points.” 

“We also have a tracker for it,” Allura whispers. 

Lance laughs while everyone else seems grateful because Coran is not a great referee. 

After being armed with some protective gear and “paintball guns” they separate and the walls come up. The battle starts and Lance and Keith work together to get Pidge and Hunk. There are four times that Lance gets shot in the side and Lance thinks that Keith’s shooting him when he isn’t looking. Once the buzzer goes off, Coran informs Keith and Lance that they won by a small margin. Keith and Lance high five as the walls go away, then Shiro and Allura come over to the two groups. 

“What were you and Allura doing?” Lance asks. 

“Sneaking around and shooting you guys,” Shiro answers. “Every time we got a shot off on you guys, you lost points. It’s about being aware of the people around you because you’ll never know how many people you’re up against in a real fight.” 

“I knew that and avoided Shiro,” Keith replies. 

Shiro nods. 

“How?” Lance asks Keith. 

“I’m pretty attuned to Shiro’s presence, so I can normally tell when he’s around me,” Keith says with a shrug. “Shiro’s the same way with people.” 

Shiro nods again. “Mine took training. Keith just kinda picked it up.” 

“I’m pretty sure that Keith shot me while we were doing the exercise,” Lance says. 

“Didn’t happen.” 

A shot goes off and Lance gets hit with a paintball. 

“Stop shooting me, Keith!” Lance shouts. 

“I didn’t shoot you!” Keith replies, then proceeds to openly shoot Lance. 

“You just did it again!” 

“No I didn’t.” 

“You’re the worst, Keith!” 

“Nah, that’s for sure Zarkon.” 

Lance huffs, annoyed. Keith laughs, annoying Lance further. 

“Stop it, you two,” Shiro says. “Switch partners.” 

Alarms start going off. 

“There’s a distress beacon coming from one of the planets we’ve helped,” Allura says. 

Everyone runs to Command Center and Allura pulls the beacon’s signal up. 

“I’m setting up the wormhole now. All of you need to get to your lions,” Allura says. 

The paladins rush to the hangar and get ready, then hop into their lions. They fly out and Allura tells them over comms that the planet’s forces will come when they can but something’s wrong with their systems at the moment. The paladins originally don’t have an issue with splitting up and taking out the groups, but more keep coming out, making it difficult to stay separated. Lance is trying to keep up with the increase in enemies, but he’s not doing the greatest job. Neither is anyone else though. 

“We need to form Voltron!” Hunk shouts. 

“On my way!” Lance and Keith both shout at the same time. 

“Stop copying me, Keith!” 

“I’m not copying you.” 

Lance doesn’t hear the next part but Shiro immediately reprimanded Keith, which makes Lance think he called him something unkind. Lance goes to say something back to Keith when a shot goes off and Red goes falling towards the atmosphere. 

“One of the planet’s ships just shot Keith down!” Pidge shouts. 

“The planet’s army is coming. You guys assist however you can. I’m going after Keith,” Shiro says. 

“Don’t get shot too,” Lance says. 

“I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose,” Hunk replies. 

“Who cares if it was on purpose?” Lance asks. “They shot Keith out of the sky!” 

“Stop shouting, Lance,” Pidge says. “You’re undoubtedly bothering Hunk and you’re giving me a headache.” 

Shiro, not having the energy to stop them from arguing while worrying about Keith, flips his comm off. Shiro lands and quickly rushes over to Red. He goes in and Keith’s slumped over his console, a little blood coming from a cut on his forehead. 

“Keith!” Shiro shakes Keith and Keith picks his head up. 

“Shiro?” 

“Hey, are you okay?” Shiro asks. 

“Yeah, my head hurts though,” Keith answers.

The ground shudders, so Shiro flips his comm back on. “What’s going on?” 

“We beat the Galra force and the Castle landed close to you and Keith’s position,” Allura answers. “They’ve also asked to see the red paladin.” 

Shiro sighs. 

“I’m fine to go, Shiro,” Keith says, who’s listening to comms via Red. 

“Fine. We’ll meet you at the Castle,” Shiro says. “You sure you can walk, Otouto?” 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” 

Keith stands up and only wobbles a little. The two of them walk back to the Castle, Keith slightly leaning against Shiro. Shiro patches Keith’s head up, then Allura, Shiro, and Keith head to the planet’s castle. When they get there, Keith gets a lot of apologies from the king and queen, which Keith tells them that it was an accident and that it happens sometimes. Shiro smiles as Keith keeps his tone calm and steady. Once they’re heading back to the castle, Shiro lightly bumps Keith with his shoulder. 

“Very diplomatic of you,” he says with a smile. 

“Thanks,” Keith replies. “Let’s not have me do it again since my head hurts.” 

Shiro laughs. “Deal, you should get some rest.” 

“I haven’t been sleeping well lately.” 

“Well you can hang out with me for a bit and hopefully you’ll get tired.” 

Keith gives Shiro a confused look. “What do you plan on doing?” 

“Paperwork,” Shiro teases with a smile. 

“You’re right, that would put me right to sleep,” Keith says with a small smile. 

“It used to work when you were younger, so I was hoping it would still work.” 

Keith laughs, which makes Shiro smile again. They get back to the Castle and Keith spends a half-hour in the healing pod to deal with his minor concussion at Allura’s request. Once that’s done, Keith and Shiro head towards Shiro’s room. Lance is waiting by Keith’s door, so Shiro pushes Keith towards Lance. 

Keith walks over. “Hey.” 

“Hey, Allura told us that you’re fine.” 

“Yeah, I spent half of an hour in the pod because of a minor concussion. Such a pain.” 

“But you sure you’re alright, Keith?” Lance asks. 

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Keith answers. “Thanks for worrying though.” 

“I wasn’t worried.” 

“Okay, my bad then.” 

“See ya later, Keith.” 

“See ya.” 

Lance heads towards the hangar and Keith turns towards Shiro. 

“I think he was worried,” Shiro says. 

“That was literally never in question,” Keith replies. “Our friendship is weird.” 

“Yeah, reminds me of a friend I had one time. He was super weird about being friends too.” 

“Who? I don’t remember you ever making a reference to someone like that.” 

“Oh, it was while I was in the Garrison. We hadn’t talked since graduation due to busyness. A story for another time.” 

“Okay,” Keith says with a shrug. “Where’s the paperwork at?” 

Shiro laughs. “Come on.” 

They head to Shiro’s room and sit on the bed together. Shiro ends up reading aloud until Keith falls asleep leaning against Shiro.

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

ALLURA (VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER)

1.) Okay so, they really wanted Allura to be a #girlpower icon, but the way that came about is that they basically stripped her from having emotions. She only cries once in the whole show, and it was in the first season (when the show was actually good.) After her one cry she basically becomes a leader figure who doesn’t get to bond much with the other characters. They then decided to pass her around as a romantic interest to three different men. The first one was only set up, but she ends up dating two of them within the show’s short run. The second character they set her up with turns out to have enslaved her people. The third character they set her up with has been shown to be interested in her through the shows run. Despite Allura’s consistent lack of interest, she ends up being pressured into going on a date with him. Despite it being a terrible date (in my opinion) they decide to peruse a relationship. The relationship is terrible and they really only spend time together to rant about their problems. At the end of the season, the very same one where this relationship started, Allura sacrifices herself to save the universe. This stupid fucking decision not only came out of nowhere in terms of in-universe logic, but also that her death is treated as sad because the guy lost his girlfriend. Most of the other characters don’t really morn her, and the guy she was dating just becomes sadly obsessed with the idea of her for the rest of his life. Not really the nice send-off for the #girlboss.

2.) She was given plenty character, but not a lot of things to do narratively speaking.

She wanted to free the Galaxy from tyranny. She's the leader even though she doesn't pilot the black lion. She's can talk to mice. She's kind, and she's among the the last of her kind. Her home planet was destroyed. She kept going even when things looked horrendous. She had to wait 10,000 in stasis sleep before she could fight to protect others. Because her father wanted to protect her and made the wrong decision in not fighting the Galra with Voltron. She had to destroy the AI of her father when he was corrupted in season 1. She had to deal with her Dad dying twice.

She had cool powers like shapeshifting but didn't get to use them often. She starts piloting the blue lion, at season 3. Her father worked with the big bad Zarkon and she is portrayed just to hate him. When it was more like she was completely betrayed by him.

She didn't get alot of interactions with the other cool female characters. Even Pidge who was on her team, which can only form Voltron through teamwork. 8 seasons and they never talk about how how much they miss their families. Pidge's main motivation is finding her father and brother. It would have been perfect. The only time they hangout is to get Allura ready for a date.

She was distrusting of all Galra since there empire wiped out her kingdom. But when she got an arc about learning to not distrust all Galra. It functionally ended with Prince Lotor of the Galra making people batteries out of the survivor's of her kingdom.

Then she was basically relegated to her relationship with Lance's interaction wise. She didn't get many interactions with anyone else she was close to in the season she died. Not even with Coran, the guy put in stasis with her.

For the finale she dies sacrificing herself to restore all realites. She had to give up her new family and her people. She would do that, I just don't think the writers had earned doing that. She deserved a happy ending. She never gets to see that her sacrifice even brought back her planet.

3.) season 8. Season 8. SEASON 8. Allura deserved so much better than an out of nowhere romance arc with Lance and then dying without being able to say goodbye to Coran (her royal advisor, closest friend, and last remaining member of her family and her planet). AND they had her give Altean marks to Lance right before dying, leaving him with a constant reminder of her for the rest of his life!! Why!!!!!!!!! AND THEN THE LIONS FLY BACK INTO SPACE TOWARDS A NEBULA SHAPED LIKE HER, LIKE THE WHOLE FINALE WAS SATISFYING AND NOT A MASTERCLASS IN UNSATISFYING CHARACTER ENDINGS!!!!!! Allura you will always be the confident princess and leader of the rebellion in my heart i am so so sorry season 8 happened to you

MIKAELA BANES (TRANSFORMERS)

1.) mikaela's case is so egregious that i struggle to really properly word any propaganda beyond 'just look at the movie. look at it.' but congrats to mikaela banes for getting in! was thinking of submitting her along with my arcee but couldn't even like. begin to describe it. agh.

best i can really say for her right now is 'open her tfwiki article, open sam's, look at the pictures, compare how they frame the two, you will see what i mean then and there.' but i might do a rewatch of the bayverse transformers movies just to be able to get all my more complex thoughts in order to actually submit a breakdown of her. which is not something i want to do, but if anyone deserves it it's mikaela. she deserved so much better.

2.) She was the female character played by Megan Fox, and Michael Bay wanted to make sure everyone watching knew this was a woman played by megan fox. She is the quintessential "not like other girls" (in fact, this is the second sentence of her wikipedia page - "She is differentiated from "typical" women in her age group, having inherited mechanical skills from her father") who has guy interests, but is still hot and wears crop tops and jean shorts. I remember two things from that movie, Bumblebee and the scene where she is working on the car ~sexily~, which today genuinely seems like a parody, but was included entirely earnestly (I wasn't going to add a picture from this scene, but it was literally the first and third pictures that showed up when i googled her)

3.) Mikaela is so sexualized it's unreal. Like, I feel I really just need to submit this screenshot:

Look at the way she's posed, the way she's dressed, the fact her head isn't in the shot. It's pure objectification, like the kind that should be in textbooks as easy examples. The way it emphasizes both her butt and her boobs but also shows her stomach is just astonishing. God it doesn't even show her FACE. This shot really amazes me, just good god.

And then there's also this famous shot:

It's so aggressively sexy, so much a pose and not at all a way a real human would position themselves. The way her ass is popped out, the way her hair is flipped, jesus christ. Someone needs to put Michael Bay in misogyny jail.

[discordiansamba]

It becomes rapidly apparent to the Alteans that Keith is different from the other four humans brought to the Castle.

It's not simply that he's the only one among them who isn't a paladin. It has much more to do with how he carries himself. Both he and Shiro carry themselves like soldiers, but it's more readily apparent in Keith- as if he were born and bred into it in a way Shiro wasn't. His face is completely expressionless, but they can both sense the suspicion he regards them with nonetheless.

When they finally inquire as to the difference with Shiro, he heaves a long sigh and explains that Keith isn't fully human. They don't know what he's mixed with- his mother apparently left long before he would have been able to remember her, and his father never told him anything about her. He goes on to explain how the Galaxy Garrison- the space exploration program he worked for- became aware of the Galra Empire's presence at the fringes of their system years ago. That in their search for answers, they found Keith-

-and turned him into the equivalent of a living weapon.

Allura wants to be sick. Coran actually is sick. That is absolutely horrid. She has half a mind to take the Castle and storm into this Galaxy Garrison herself, and demand to speak with this Admiral Sanda. But she knows that would accomplish nothing, and Shiro has a point- maybe they can help Keith.

He asks them to keep this matter a secret from the paladins. He really wants to give them an opportunity to get to know Keith as a person, not as the weapon the Garrison made him into. It... does not seem to be going extremely well, if Allura is perfectly honest. It is clear that Lance resents Keith to a noteworthy degree. Hunk and Pidge don't necessarily follow along, but it's not exactly a warm, friendly atmosphere.

Allura decides to do what she can. She opens the Castle's clothing stores to Keith, so that he can take whatever he wishes from it. She attempts to engage him in conversation, though he mostly stone-walls her. Coran has him help around the ship, having a little more success in getting him to open up. She helps arrange exercises with Shiro that conveniently need a sixth person.

She's just... not sure if they're actually getting through to him.

[voltronisanobsession]

Platonic! Voltron x Tiktok Obsessed Reader

Just another silly headcanon I thought of, i kinda get lost in the sauce when I’m scrolling through tiktok so i was inspired to do this😍🙏 enjoy my guys xoxo💋

Let’s imagine that tiktok is still a relevant thing during this time since this show is set in the future😻

Even before leaving Earth, Reader was very obsessed with tiktok. Phone opened on the app already, you probably had like a couple hours stacked on it. It was the only thing that kept you from dying of boredom

So when leaving the planet, you were DEVASTATED to see that your phone was quite literally useless in space

No charger, no wifi, and no more silly videos to entertain you

The most you had was your camera but the battery was a major problem

The team notices your more dazed-off look during meetings and on missions, often seeing you fiddle with your phone and just swiping through all your apps

That's until you go to Pidge to see if she can work some magic which SHE IS ABLE TO DO (so slay of her tbh)

She explains that she was able to route the phones connection to the electric waves from nearby planets but you stopped listening at that point

You’re both amazed when you reboot the app to see it completely different, yet similar to what it was before, only now it was filled with many different kinds aliens and their own videos

You are able to see the different environments and types of aliens that are scattered across the universe which was super cool to you!!!!

Cue you literally recording EVERYTHING the team does, let it be missions, meetings, or even fights which starts pissing Keith off a bit (bro feels like you’re not taking the whole voltron thing seriously💀💀)

It doesn’t bother you though since now you’re able to drag Lance and Hunk to do different kinds of trends that are popular on the new app

You manage to build up a small fan base because of the videos on your account, many people loving seeing the life of a paladin of Voltron😻‼️‼️

At one point you manage to get all of the paladins and Coran to do mini “get to know the team” videos (which I imagine are like the short videos on YouTube if you know which ones I mean)

Keith thinks the readers whole tiktok account is dumb and ‘useless’ in his words but is completely in shock when you get recognized by many people when visiting new planets because of your popularity

Shiro I think might find the whole thing a bit strange but he definitely entertains your ideas and involves himself with your account. You make him feel young when you force him to do one of the trends that is popular during that time

Allura doesn’t fully understand what the app is used for and see no real use for it until she realizes that your spreading the word of Voltron around. Then she does start forcing herself into your videos, which you don’t really mind (she loves being in your videos but is really awkward💔)

Lance is the one who is with you in most of your videos, often doing dance trends or mini vlogs with you. He loves how people also know him and enjoys the popularity he has with your followers😜 Has stolen your phone just to have Lance one on ones with your followers

Hunk is another one who usually is dragged into any shenanigans you and Lance are up to, whether it’s pranking one of the paladins or teaching your followers how to cook meals (he loves the compliments people give him when they try his recipes out)

Pidge RARELY is in any of your videos, mostly because she doesn’t like having a camera shoved up her face randomly. But she sometimes does do one of your dumb videos when she’s bored and has nothing to do, which leads to you featuring her more often

Keith is a fan favorite honestly, the people love his sarcastic and brooding attitude, which he claims he doesn’t have. He doesn’t mind being in your videos but he’s most of the time standing like a wall not knowing what to do with himself💀💀 (he enjoys being included with you guys though💔)

Coran LOVES being in your videos since he feels like the main character in them! He’s actually stolen your phone multiple times just so he could post some videos of himself, he loves the attention he gets by being Voltrons secondhand man hehe

Overall, the team grew to enjoy your funny and inclusive videos, it helps them break out of the serious routine they’ve gotten used to while in space :D

[honeyflower-bellybower]

Coalition!Lance AU really saves my life everyday I think

Thinking about him taking over Allura's work and being insecure that he can do it at first but slowly settling into the role. He begins just as a helping hand but quickly becomes a point of reference for everyone (all the planets leaders and every Coalition member) because he may not realize it but he knows his stuff. He is battle smart and always thinks things through because he's so scared to mess up. Always puts others first. In a matter of months everyone's in silent agreement he is the leader.

He's very busy but happy. He gets to be both a hero and Allura's legacy. He gets to bring Voltron's goal forth and liberate all the people who are still under regime. He rarely gets out in the field himself, since he's always required in meetings and ceremonies, but his experience makes every mission successful.

Small detail, but very important: Coran is at his side, and notices all the similarities between Lance and Allura. His princess lives on in him. She would be proud. Coran surely is and often gets emotional when no one is looking.

With Lance as its leader, the Coalition also secures the best form of collaboration with the Blade of Marmora, thanks to his friendship with Keith.

Keith refused becoming the official leader of the blade, but of course he kind of became anyway. He's one of the best fighters and has vast battle experience, which quickly make him the center of every action. He's strongminded and capable of keeping a disperse amount of agents together. Plus, his personal relationship with the Coalition head makes him always involved in logistics, large scale strategy and decisions.

Gradually but in relatively short time, they become two of the most important figures in the liberation front. Their lives are full, always on the move, but rewarding. They are tired but content.

The only downside is they hardly get to see their friends and family. It's not like their first disappearence during the Voltron experience (they keep in touch with everyone) but it's sorta like being very important diplomats. It's hard to be home for the holidays and birthdays when the Universe is counting on you.

They share this fatigue. They share a lot, actually, both of them being the center of attention not because they wanted to but because they were needed. Their friendship somehow grows, even though they only see each other at official meetings and Keith hardly attends any. But they resonate.

They start keeping in touch mostly because it's handy. Why sending mountains of paperwork when you can videochat your buddy and explain? But it quickly becomes their way of letting steam off. They start calling each other every night. It's always super late when they both clear all of their full schedules, but they never miss a day.

It's not like they have anything to tell each other most times. They just, talk. For the sake of it. Tell each other their days or random stuff they think about. Often they're too tired to make sense of anything. Often Lance rambles about office gossip and Keith listens, or better, he listens to his voice, and if Lance's eyes weren't so bright and beautiful his own would drift closed. Often Kosmo is in the room with Keith and he pets him and Lance says he misses Kaltenecker, and Keith laughs because a cow isn't a wolf and you don't pet a cow. Lance pouts.

They feel warm, knowing they both just want to hear each other's voice and give the other some comforr from long, exausting days.

[kidgetrash]

Kidge One-Shot - Just The Way You Are

Character:  Keith Kogane, Pidge Gunderson/Katie Holt

Pairings:  Keith/Pidge

Warnings!:  None, really. Confused Pidge? That's unusual enough to warrant a warning, right?

Summary:  Pidge gets some misleading information which leads her to a complete conundrum!

A/N: this is what I was working on while I waited for the poll results! I can't remember the last time I was able to churn out this many one-shots!

‘What does that even mean?!’  Pidge paused the video yet again and referenced one of the many other tabs she had open.  She was a genius, she knew what she knew, but she was at a complete loss.  ‘Why can’t you all just get together and turn in some decent quiznaking research?!’

‘What are you looking at?’  Pidge turned as her boyfriend, Keith, came into her office, various shiny packages sitting around her desk that were, probably literally, alien to him, but he was used to that.

‘Nothing!’  She slammed the lid of her laptop closed, the floating screens disappearing a moment later.

‘Yeah, that’s totally not suspicious.’  He sat in the chair opposite her and gave her a lopsided smile.  ‘So…what are you stuck on?’

‘If I wanted to tell you I wouldn’t have freaked out when you walked in.’  She wrinkled her nose indignantly.  ‘Just leave me to it, okay?’

He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as his face slipped to one as serious as hers.  ‘It’s not often you’re stumped on…well, anything, if I’m completely honest.  Must be one doozy of a problem.’

‘Doozy?’  She looked up at him over her glasses.  ‘You’ve been hanging with Space Dad too often.  Or my dad.’  She started pulling the packages towards her.  ‘Anyway, this isn’t techy stuff it’s…personal stuff.  Techy stuff I can deal with.’

‘Now you’ve got me curious.  Personal stuff you can’t tell me about then.’  He sat back, knowing this wasn’t as imperative as he had first worried it may be, which meant he might yet be able to get it out of her with a little gentle coaxing.  ‘Is it a girl thing?’

She huffed out a sigh.  ‘Yes, and no.  I mean, yes it is a girl thing, but not a reproductive system thing.’  He chuckled to himself, making her frown again.  ‘What’s so funny?’

‘You aren’t normally shy about this kind of thing.  You’re practical, I love that about you.  I also love the fact you can shut Lance up and make him clear a room by simply bringing up the topic.  But, I don’t like when you have a personal issue that you don’t want to share because it means I can’t help you.’

She groaned and leant on her desk, giving him a serious look.  ‘Okay.  Do you know what a C12 eyelash is?’

He blinked twice.  ‘A what?’

‘A C12 eyelash.  Hard angled eyebrows?  Heavy upper lip?  Highlighting?  Double flick, slept-in smudge, or classic bar eyeliner?’  She tipped out the little packages on the desktop to reveal various packages of makeup.  ‘How about foundation shades?  What type of skin do I have?  Because I sweat a lot but does that mean my face is greasy?  Because I didn’t think I had greasy skin but now I’m questioning everything!’

Keith was silent for a moment, unsure exactly of what had brought this on but certain he was missing something.  ‘Why do you have so much makeup?’

‘Because we’re dating and Lance told me a girl should make an effort when she’s dating someone, and Allura agreed that appearance was important and that I should look after myself more and dress…better.  Then Coran told me I’d be undesirable by Altean standards because I looked too much like the gender I’m dating and then I thought maybe I need a makeover or a complete overhaul because I have no idea what I’m doing and…’

Keith had by now got up and come around the desk to her side, spinning the chair so she faced him as he crouched.  ‘Babe, slow down.  Why does it matter what everyone else said?’

She looked into his violet eyes as her breathing started to slow after her outburst.  ‘Because…because…’  She pulled a face.  ‘Because they know more than me about this stuff.  I don’t know about…relationships, or dating, or any of that stuff.’

Keith laughed softly as he reached up and caressed her cheek.  ‘Katie, I don’t want you to listen to a single word anyone else tells you about our relationship, because it’s just that; ours.  I don’t care if you’re wearing makeup, or fancy clothes, and I wouldn’t have asked you to be with me if I didn’t find you attractive, and I do.  You’re beautiful to me.  Just the way you are.’

Pidge closed her eyes and leaned into his hand.  She hadn’t realised that such simple words from the right person could mean so much or have such a positive effect on her.  She sighed heavily before raising her lids and looking at Keith once again.  ‘Thank you.’  She murmured.  ‘Because I could not guarantee what the hell I would have looked like for our date later if I’d been let loose on my face with this stuff.’

‘Speaking of the date,’ Keith gave her a raised eyebrow.  ‘How about we extend our date to more than dinner?’

She narrowed her eyes at him.  ‘What did you have in mind?’

‘Teaching Lance to keep his opinions to himself.  Once he’s asleep, I suggest we give him an impromptu makeover, Pidge and Keith style.’

Pidge’s face lit up in a grin before throwing her arms around him in a tight hug.  ‘This is going to be the best date ever!’

[erithel]

In you opinion who's the worst cook? For me it's obviously Shiro, Keith, and Allura

So I think everyone just kindof agreed that Shiro is a terrible cook. I think that may have come from something his VA said or posted?

But hm... let me actually expand on that idea based on the characters personalities.

Best if obviously Hunk.

I'd say Lance is second because he would have had to help around the house growing up. He would have had chores, and part of that would have been helping with meals, so he would have been taught how to make certain dishes.

Third would be Coran. In that he can put together a meal in the most technical sense possible. Like Coran maybe uses salt and pepper, but no other spices. It's still edible, but it's just edible.

Keith comes in 4th for me because I would think he would've had to get creative while he was on his own. And some of it was probably crap, but I'd also guess that he came up with some things that ended up being delicious just by throwing things together, and probably getting creative with spices, too. But none of these dishes would ever be able to be recreated because he wouldn't measure, or keep track of what he was doing.

Allura would have never had the need to cook. She was a princess and brought up in a castle that served food goo for sustenance. However, I think if she actually became interested in cooking, she would end up being very good at it because she is a very fast learner.

Pidge, on the other hand, just wouldn't give a shit. Pidge is the "pizza rolls in the microwave" type of cook. It's not that it's impossible, it's just that Pidge doesn't care. It's food for fuel. Or food because you haven't eaten in 12 hours and probably should.

Shiro is the worst. I would say that he tries - like, really tries - but things still end up burnt because it's just not something that works for him. Like something about cooking just does not compute in Shiro's brain, summed up perfectly in this (which I think fits very well for a conversation between Hunk and Shiro):

[imhereformysciencefriends]

@loturaweek2023 day 5: Runaways from Royal Nannies!

Melenor (named after her grandmother, in honor), Garrett (named by Coran, with a sadness Lotor now knew the man well enough to place), and Oria (a family name on Allura’s side) were supposed to be with their governess, right then.

As three small children ran giggling into Lotor’s legs, lifting his skirt cape around their shoulders so as to hide beneath it, he let out a huff of fond exasperation.

“And what, perchance, are you three doing here?” he asked them, the dignitary he stood speaking with giving an amused and knowing smile as he put their discussion of sewage on hold.

“Shhhshshsh!” Melenor urged, Garrett copying her and Oria copying them both with her chubby fingers.

“Oh?” Lotor arched his eyebrow. “What’s this? Are you hiding? Is that what you’re doing?”

The shushing redoubled, all three of them hissing at him louder than he’d spoken, and the dignitary lifted their pad to their lips to hide their smile.

A harried Altean woman with large muscles and hair pulled messily back in a bun rounded the corner, the sash at her hips fluttering with her rush. “Your Majesty,” she greeted, sounding somewhere between tired and defeated.

“Governess,” he returned politely. “I hope all is well, and the children are behaving themselves?”

More shushing from beneath his skirt cape, quieter now.

“About as well as they typically do, Your Majesty.”

“And where are my children, now?”

A tittering of giggles rose from beneath his skirt cape, all three pairs of tiny feet clearly visible, which the poor woman’s eyes landed on with something approaching exasperated fondness (heavier on exasperation, at that junction).

“I’m afraid I don’t know, my lord.”

“Unfortunate. But I’m sure they could not have gotten far. Perhaps they’ve gone to the kitchen again, I’ve heard there’s much to drink and snack on, there,” he gently prodded. He could look after the three of them for a bit. She looked like she could use a drink. And maybe a nunvill, but that wasn’t allowed while she was on the clock.

“A fine idea, Your Majesty, I’ll try there.”

She stalked off, swiping flyaways out of her face and leggings making a soft swishing sound as the legs brushed together, and Lotor waited until she was out of sight to lift his skirt cape to reveal the giggling children beneath it.

“You know, you really must stop causing her trouble,” he urged mildly, already fully aware that his children were unlikely to heed such words.

“We’re not!” Melenor insisted, “We just want to be with you!”

And quiznack it all if the little mite didn’t know she had her daddy wrapped around her finger. He sighed.

“I can’t imagine why. I’m not going to be very interesting, I have to talk about sewers, and pipes, and water decontamination, for hours. You’ll get bored.”

“Nuh uh!”

“Very well then, you may stay, but you must let me work,” he said firmly.

“Oh Lotor, you’re spoiling them again!”

Lotor and his children all looked up to see a miffed Allura approaching, and squeals of “Mama!” rang out as Lotor’s legs were swiftly abandoned for additional parental clinging.

“Me? My dear wife, never.”

“Always,” she accused, lifting Oria onto one hip and knocking a fist against the other. “You’re too indulgent.”

“But look at them,” he said, kneeling down and pulling Garrett and Melenor against his sides, squishing his face between theirs, “How can you say no to such faces, Allura?”

“Easily,” she said, giving him a flatly unimpressed look.

Lotor sighed. “Your mother is cruel, children. She is preparing you for the harshness of this world.”

“Where is your nanny?” she asked, ignoring his antics, and Lotor pouted.

“Papa sent her to the kitchen.”

“Then that is where we shall go. Come along, you three, your father has work to do right now,” she said pointedly, taking Garrett’s hand in the one not holding Oria and ushering Melenor forth.

He stooped to steal a kiss, which she indulged, and then continued herding them off while he stared after her fondly.

It was still such a joy, for him. To be a husband, a father, a caretaker. Someone whose children were not scared of him, not even at all. He would never have dreamed of running off from his Dayak and causing her the trouble these three caused their governess, and he would have never run to his father to hide from her. It felt good, that that was different for them. It felt right.

The dignitary cleared their throat and Lotor returned his attention to the subject at hand, putting thoughts of his children aside for the moment. He’d have plenty opportunity to indulge them all later.