#starboy-shiro

[kllrciel]

Losing The Starboy

// VLD, Klance, angst, violence, blood, death, descriptions of panic attack like scenarios, strong language (reminder that this story was an older written one!)

7315 words

It was dark. It was really dark, he couldn’t see anything even with his paladin armor glowing the way it always does. He tried to summon his bayard but his hand was still empty. Nothing was working, he felt like he was suffocating, his body was heavy. He took a deep breath though he still felt like he could not get enough air in his lungs, he began to panic. “Keith?! Sh-shiro?!! Allura! Hunk! Anyone p-please!” Lance called, his voice echoing back in his ears. His head hurt, the echo of his own words became ringing in his ears. The Cuban winced in pain, falling to his knees as he clasped his hands over his ears. Tears welled in his eyes, threatening to spill down his face. He gasped for air again, squeezing his eyes shut as the salty tears fell down his cheeks and stained his face.

“Lance!!”

The male gasped, coughing as his eyes shot open. Frantically he looked around, seeing Keith on his digital screen in his corner. “Keith? Wh-what’s happening?” Lance asked, his voice strained as he wiped the tears from his face. “You tell me man, you weren’t responding. We’re supposed to be training, sharpshooter.” The taller said through the comms. “Oh..uh, sorry” He muttered in response, placing his hands back on his lion’s controls. “It’s alright Lance, just try to focus” Shiro’s voice sounded and Lance nodded. “Right, you got it team leader” the blue paladin forced a chuckle, putting on his usual facade.

No one asked any further questions for the rest of the training sessions, Lance was left to focus on the other’s voices calling out for backup or planning to take down the bots. After a varga or two, the paladins returned their lions to the hangars and sat at the table to eat what Hunk had made with the space goo. Lance hardly touched his food, even though it was incredibly tempting to eat and smelled absolutely delicious. “I’m going to go eat in my room” Lance said softly, lifting his plate and walking down the dimly lit hallway.

“Hang on, Lance,” Keith called after him, following him to the door of his room. Lance didn’t notice his presence though, nor did he hear the other’s voice. “Lance-” Keith said again, placing his hand on Lance’s shoulder to get his attention. It had the opposite effect though, as Lance fell back into the illusion of pure darkness. The plate of food fell from his grasp, splattering all over the floor as Lance backed himself up against the cold wall. His vision was gone, he couldn’t hear anything but his own voice and heavy breathing. He blinked a few times in an attempt to regain his sight, hoping to be back in the hallway in front of his room. “..Keith?” he muttered out, feeling a slight warmth against his arms. But he heard no response. Lance began to panic again, lifting his arms to feel in front of him. “K-Keith is that you?” he tried again, feeling the rough fabric that covered what felt like a toned chest. A few moments passed again before he finally could hear a faint voice.

“-’m here, I’m right here Lance..I got you” Keith said.

Lance let out a sigh of relief, but that was a mistake. Once again, just like the first time, he couldn’t breathe. It scared him how close the previous blackout was to this one. Was it a blackout? He didn’t know what else to call it. “Keith- h-help-” Lance managed out, gripping onto Keith’s shirt desperately. He didn’t know what to do, he was gasping for air as his body trembled. He couldn’t hear Keith anymore, his ears ringing like the last time as he leaned his weight against the wall. He felt like if he didn’t, he might fall. A sudden warmth enveloped him, the tingly feeling of hair against his neck. Keith must’ve hugged him or something..because that was definitely what it felt like. “..-nce, I got you. Breathe” he heard, Keith’s voice so low in a whisper. Lance took a deep breath and let his eyes close, doing his best to relax in Keith’s arms as he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes again, the lights so bright it caused his vision to blur. “I can see..” Lance muttered, but he didn’t pull away from Keith”s comforting embrace. “Thank you..” the boy said as Keith squeezed him tighter. “I’m just glad you’re okay,” the other admitted.

Keith was almost never vulnerable with Lance out in the open like this, but he could hear the raw truth in the taller man’s voice and it made Lance smile. Keith finally let go and stepped back, a squishing sound filled their ears as he did. “Wh..? Oh- Food goo” Keith groaned, “I almost forgot you dropped it.” he chuckled.

“Leave it for Coran?” Lance asked, a playful smile on his face knowing full and well that he would clean it up when Keith left. “Sure.” The red paladin shrugged, taking hold of Lance’s hand gently to pull him into the younger’s room. Lance laughed as he stumbled forward and spun to land on his back on the soft mattress. Keith took a seat next to him, looking down at him with a glint of something he’d never seen in Keith’s eyes. He looked so sweet, so kind, like he had a whole universe of one emotion on his face. “..Keith..?” Lance spoke cautiously, his voice soft and gentle as he sat up; leaning back on his hands to hold up his weight. “Yeah?” Keith responded, tilting his head slightly. His face was so close, it made Lance’s cheeks light up with a soft pink hue of blush. “Uh- N-nothing..” Lance shook his head, moving back slightly.

“Why did you leave dinner so suddenly?” Keith quizzed, turning his body to completely face the other paladin. “I felt uneasy,” Lance told him, it was all he could come up with. He really didn’t actually know why he left, his mind was blank when it happened he almost didn’t remember it. He just felt compelled, like he would suffocate if he didn’t leave the room of other paladins. “Lance.”

“What?”

“Why did you leave dinner?”

Lance sighed, Keith had a way that he spoke or looked at people that made Lance nervous. He always knew when the blue paladin was lying. It frustrated Lance, he couldn’t lie to Keith even if he just wanted to lie to protect him or so he wouldn’t worry. “I..don’t know. I felt like I had to, I guess..I don’t know how to explain it.” The shorter mumbled, glancing away from the other in an attempt to run from his gaze. “Is it because of the panic attacks you had earlier today?”

“They aren’t panic attacks..It’s something else, it’s different than a panic attack. It feels like there’s someone behind it, like someone is doing it to me on purpose.” Lance admitted. Keith raised a brow at him, “Like who? Who could do something like that?” he asked, placing a hand on Lance’s thigh. “I don’t know..Maybe the Galra? Some other kind of aliens?” the other shrugged.

“Whoever it is better stop messing with my favorite sharpshooter.” Keith scowled. “Keith, I’m the only sharpshooter.” Lance hummed, his playful tone returning slightly as he smirked just the slightest. “But, you’re still my favorite one” Keith argued, giving Lance a very light shove to the shoulder. “I’m glad you followed me back here, you always know how to make me feel safe..you make me feel better,” he smiled at him.

A few movements had passed now, and Lance had only had a few more of those “blackouts”, but Keith was always there to comfort him after it. They were all mostly the same; vision gone, breathing gets hard, he can’t hear, but he can still feel if someone touches him. Almost every time it happened, he fell to his knees crying and gasping for air, and then Keith would pull him back to reality with a hug or a squeeze of the hand. It had been about 3 quintants since his last one, it was short and didn’t affect him all too much compared to some of the other ones. Now, they were alone, just Keith and Lance, on the training deck doing the drone exercise.

“Keith, on your left!” Lance called to him, aiming his gun and shooting down the round drone. “Thanks starboy” Keith chuckled, slicing one drone in half when it was just about to shoot Lance. “No problem, Mullet. Thanks for the save too,” He smiled.

Just as he was about to shoot down another drone, his vision blurred. “Wait- K-Keith, cover me. I can’t see.” Lance spoke frantically, his gun turning back into just a bayard now. “Copy that.” Keith nodded, slicing down three more drones before pulling Lance against him in a side hug to protect him better. The warmth flooded Lance’s senses as he regained slight vision. “I need to take a break, like now-” The shorter breathed, leaning weakly against Keith. “End simulation.” Keith called, watching as the drones powered off in front of him and disappeared back where they had come from. The red paladin helped Lance over to the bench on the side of the training deck, Lance’s breathing rigid now as everything got dark. He could still faintly see, it just looked like a really dark filter was over his eyes.

“God I can’t believe how weak you are.”

The stern words coated in venom as he looked up at Keith, eyes wide. “What..?” Lance mumbled, shaking his head. Why would Keith say something like that? He and Lance were friends..and even then, he wasn’t weak, it was the creature seemingly controlling these blackouts. “I asked if you were okay” Keith repeated, a look of confusion on his face. “Uh- Yeah” Lance nodded, taking hold of Keith’s hand carefully. Keith sat down beside him now, the hand that wasn’t holding onto Lance’s was now placed around his shoulders. Lance leaned into him slowly, closing his eyes in attempt to rid himself of the invisible filter.

But unfortunately, it only made things worse. Everything now pitch black, his surroundings now gone only to be replaced by fake ones. Back out on the battlefield, sat inside his lion with his hands gripping the controls as the other lions and their paladins lay unconscious on the rough ground before him. They had visible damage done to them, dents in the sides of the lions or scratches along them. But the red lion..it was the worst of them, one leg gone as well as the tail detached and discarded several feet away. Lance got up quickly, hurrying out of his lion to check on Keith. “Please-!” he cried out, eyes landing on the open jaw of the ship. He made his way to the cockpit of the lion ship, looking around frantically for Keith. But it was empty. Lance panicked, rushing out of the lion again only to trip over his feet and fall to the ground. “Get up.”

Lance groaned in pain as he lifted himself on his arms, craning his neck to look up at the other paladin. “..Keith! You’re okay!” Lance sighed in relief, forcing himself up on his feet. Keith didn’t look happy to see him though, he looked mad, his eyes filled with hatred for Lance. “Keith?” he asked softly, reaching out for him. The taller batted his hand away, scowling at him. “You left us Lance! You betrayed us and for what?! Only to come back and kill the other paladins?!” He yelled, making Lance stumble back. “What..? K-kill..?” Tears welled in his eyes and he turned to run to the other lions to check on the others. They all sat limp against their chairs, their bodies cold by the time he reached them. “No..” Lance sobbed, pulling Hunk’s lifeless body to his chest.

“You did this to him. To all of them. Allura, Coran, Pidge, Shiro. You killed them without a second thought. Why did you attack them? What did they do? I thought we meant something to you..” Keith huffed, grabbing Lance by the shoulder. “And now you act all innocent. This is all your damn fault. At least own up to it you coward! You killed my friends!” Keith lifted Lance by the shirt, raising his free hand like he was going to punch him. “No. I should kill you like you killed them.” Keith scoffed, dropping the Cuban as his bayard materialized in his hand. He raised the weapon, Lance could feel the cold of the blade’s tip against his throat.

“Lance. Lance, can you hear me? Hey..hey buddy, welcome back.” Keith said softly as Lance opened his eyes, his cheeks stained by tears. His chest felt tight, like he couldn’t breathe again. He leaned further into Keith’s warmth, reminding himself that what he saw wasn’t real. “Lance?” Keith spoke softly, moving the hand around his shoulders to his hair. Lance still said nothing, he just pulled his hands away from Keith as he looked down at his shaky hands. His eyes went wide, the sight of Hunk’s blood still coating his palms and fingers making tears well in his eyes again. Keith followed his gaze down to his hands, only they seemed perfectly clean to him. “What’s wrong?” The taller asked, leaning forward slightly in an attempt to look at Lance’s face. “I..killed him..” Lance’s voice wavered, tears falling onto his hands to fade the color of the deep crimson color.

“What?” Keith furrowed his brows, making Lance look him in the eyes.

“Who? Who did you kill?”

“Hunk..Shiro, everyone..You told me that I was the one who..killed them..”

“What are you talking about Lance? Everyone is fine?” Keith shook his head, trying to understand what he meant. “Hunk was dead in my arms..” he said softly, clenching his fists as he roughly slammed them down against his thighs. “It wasn’t real Lance, Hunk is alive. Your hands are clean.” Keith reassured him, pulling the smaller back into a tight embrace. “Everything is okay.”

They stayed like that for a while, until the shaking of Lance’s body died down. When they finally pulled apart, Lance looked back down at his hands and they were, in fact, clean now. He could no longer see the blood, the dark filter was gone, he could breathe again. He could see Keith better, feel his warmth, smell his strong cologne..it was comforting, like it always was. He could never understand why these things made him feel so safe, only Keith had this effect on him.

“Let’s hit the showers, I feel gross from all that training,” Keith chuckled, standing up before stretching his arms. Lance stood after him, nodding as the two left the training deck together.

Lance sighed as the warm water rolled down his back, closing his eyes as he tilted his head back into the stream of water. He felt his body relax again, the way it always did when Keith held him. The warmth of the water on his skin soothed his bruises and sore muscles. He stepped forward after a few doboshes and turned the knob of the shower to make the water come to a stop. He got out of the shower, lazily drying himself off and putting on his everyday clothes before he left the washroom. He saw Keith walking a bit further down the hall, a towel around his neck and his t-shirt in his hand.

“Hey” Lance smiled, walking faster to catch up with the older boy. “Oh- Hey Lance” Keith hummed, “What’s up?”

“Nothing, I just saw you and thought we could walk to the sleep hall together,” Lance spoke, voice soft as if giving Keith the option to say no. “Alright, sure.” Keith smiled at him. The two made the quick walk together, playfully insulting each other and lightly shoving each other. “Your mullet looks terrible when it’s messy- I hope it dries like that” Lance laughed as Keith smacked his arm softly. “You’re one to talk! You look like you were caught in an explosion or something-” Keith huffed with a quiet chuckle. “No, I look like I just woke up. You look like you’re having a really bad hair day,” Lance said as he ran his fingers through Keith’s hair closest to his neck.

Keith flinched at the contact, and Lance immediately pulled his hand away. “Sorry-” Lance muttered, looking down. “It’s okay.” Keith shrugged, “I just wasn’t expecting it. People never really mess with my hair.” Keith explained to him. The shorter of the two nodded in understanding and turned to face his room door. “See you at dinner?” Keith quizzed, hoping that maybe Lance would actually come eat. He missed jokes at dinner, sometimes it broke into food fights or seeing who had the best insults or even just who was the funniest (spoiler: Lance had always won the title of funniest paladin). Keith missed that, even though he spent most of his time with Lance, he always missed seeing him at night.

He missed how after dinner, they would go to the control room to stargaze..or how they would race each other around the castleship or chase each other around for whatever reason. Those things could only happen after dinner. They never had time at all before everyone ate, but now they didn’t have time at all because of Lance hiding away in his room until everyone (even Keith) passed out. It made Keith kind of sad, that their only guaranteed alone time to goof off without anyone yelling at them, was being replaced by Lance’s own alone time. He understood that he needed time to himself with these blackouts constantly bugging him, but Keith thought that maybe returning to how they were before would help distract him and make him feel happier.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

And Keith looked up to see Lance smiling, he was smiling about having dinner with the others. “Stargazing after?” Keith asked, and Lance nodded. Keith was so happy that he pulled Lance into a hug before he disappeared down the hall to his room for a while. Lance’s face flushed a hue of light pink as he backed up into his room and shut the door. He spent the next varga or so to just look back at all the pictures and videos on his phone of himself and the other paladins, as well as the few physical photos he had on his dresser or on his walls. He missed that too, before everything got bad, before Zarkon gained more power..when they were just getting used to paladin stuff.

Lance kept his promise, he walked into the dining hall for dinner and took his seat beside the red paladin. “Lance?” Pidge questioned, and the boy in question looked up to see all the other paladins were surprised that he showed up. The only one who wasn’t in minor shock was Keith, a sweet smile painted his features and he reached over to grab hold of Lance’s hand under the table. “Thank you,” Keith whispered to him, and Lance only smiled at him as Hunk disappeared into the kitchen only to return with an extra plate of food for Lance.

Lance smiled and thanked him, quickly beginning to eat his food. He wasn’t really hungry, he hardly ever was, but he had to pretend for now so he could spend time with Keith in the control room. Keith hummed as he copied Lance, just not as quickly. When the two of them had both finished their food, Lance stood, hand still intertwined with Keith’s, and pulled him up as well. “C’mon!” Lance laughed softly as he dragged Keith behind him, Keith laughed as well as he followed close behind the shorter boy.

The stars shone bright through the glass of the castle’s windshield. Lance stopped as soon as the lights came into view. He wished he could say that they twinkle like they do on earth, but it’s just not true. In space, the stars never twinkle. It was times like these that he wished the castle of lions had an atmosphere like the earth did, he so badly craved the twinkling stars. A sigh escaped Lance’s lips as he let go of Keith’s hand and walked to sit in front of the glass. Keith sat beside him, looking up at the little dots of light.

“I wonder if all those planets have been taken over by the Galra..”

“Who knows..But look, right now let’s just enjoy the view okay? We can worry about them tomorrow morning, Lance” Keith told him, leaning back against the front of Coran’s control station. “Okay..” Lance nodded, laying down with his head in the older boy’s lap. Keith gently played with Lance’s hair, a smile on his face.

“Hey Lance?”

“Yeah..?”

Keith paused, hesitant to continue as the other paladin looked up at him expectantly. “I like spending time with you like this..It kind of feels like we’re a couple,” he muttered, looking away as the red hue dusted over his cheeks. A few ticks passed in silence before he heard Lance let out a quiet giggle.

“What? Why are you laughing?”

“You’re cute, mullet,” Lance hummed.

“Wha-?!” Keith blushed way more now, and when he looked back down at Lance the other could see just how flustered one little comment made him. That proved Lance’s point. “But yeah, we do feel like a couple sometimes. It’s nice,” Lance shrugged as he shifted to look better at the stars.

“Maybe..” Keith started, “We should be one.”

This caught Lance’s attention, it was his turn to be flustered now. He sat up and turned to face Keith. “We uh..we should.” Lance nodded, smiling at the other as they intertwined their hands

again. “Wait really?” Keith asked, eyes wide slightly as he looked at the boy in front of him. “Yeah,”

The two paladins looked at each other in silence for almost a full dobosh before Lance finally decided to lean in and kiss Keith. The action took the taller of the two by surprise, he took a few ticks to process what was happening before he kissed back, smiling against Lance’s lips.

Keith broke away first, though they were both smiling like idiots at each other. Lance moved forward to lean against Keith’s chest happily, looking back out at the stars.

“I don’t mean to interrupt the two of you, but Coran and I will be in here for a while..” Allura spoke, standing in her usual spot in the center of the room as Coran made his way to his control area as well. Lance frowned but he stood, taking hold of his boyfriend’s hand to lead him out of the room now. “Race you to the pool?” Lance asked with a huge grin. “You’re on.” Keith chuckled, and Lance took off running down the hall. Keith laughed and hurried down the hall after him, “Hey! You got a head start, you little cheater!” Keith huffed playfully. He knew he was faster than Lance and could easily catch up, but he didn’t.

Lance smiled as he got into the pool room before Keith did, looking up at the water. They couldn’t swim, obviously, but they could still look at the water or try to find rock shaped items to skip on the water. Keith walked into the room, hugging Lance from behind. “Boo.” The taller chuckled as Lance flinched, turning to give him a ‘really?’ look. The two let go of each other as Lance looked around the room for something to throw into the water.

With no luck, Lance turned to Keith with a small frown on his face. “There’s nothing to throw” he pouted, walking over to Keith for a hug. “I wanna shoot drones again,” he mumbled into Keith’s shoulder. Keith chuckled and nodded, “Race you there then?”

“Again?”

“If you want to”

“Mmh..Okay,”

“Be fair this time.”

Lance rolled his eyes playfully at that, “Never!” he shouted as he ran out the door. “Lance!” Keith shouted after him, quickly following him again. Only this time, Keith actually ran and caught up to Lance. He grabbed hold of him, effectively stopping both of them so he could lift Lance up into his arms. “Okay, let’s kill some bots.” Keith hummed happily as he carried Lance onto the training deck.

“Wait, we don’t have our suits and bayards” Lance realized, “We can try to focus on calling our bayards to us like our lions. I’ve done it once before.” Keith suggested with a shrug. “But what if we get hit by the drones or something?” Keith grabbed his face, “It’ll be fine sharpshooter. Just don’t let ‘em hit you.” he challenged. “I won’t. I’ll shoot all of them down.” Lance smiled.

They began the simulation once they got their bayards, standing back to back to protect each other. Lance hadn’t missed a single shot so far, and Keith had cut down every drone he saw in his peripheral vision. Lance was happy, he could actually focus for once and it was because Keith was the one beside him. Lance raised his gun again, shooting down one more drone.

“Tomorrow, we should mess with the settings. Make it harder,” Lance suggested, risking a glance back at Keith before focusing back on the drones that flew in his direction. He shot down three more before he finally heard Keith’s response. “Alright, sure-” The taller said as he stabbed one of the small drones. “This was getting kinda easy anyway.” Keith said softly as he stepped forward to cut two more drones in half. “Yeah,” Lance agreed.

Lance and Keith practiced for almost a varga before Lance got tired, going to sit down on the bench to rest while Keith kept training a little longer. Lance’s bayard de-materialized in his hand as he leaned back against the cold wall, watching his boyfriend destroy the drones. `

“How do you still have stamina? Damn-” Lance laughed, a little breathlessly. “Y’know what? Fuck you-” Keith rolled his eyes playfully. Lance gave him a look, a look like he was about to make another dumb joke, and Keith had to cut him off. “It’s because I train so much.” Keith told him, slicing down a few more drones as he turned away from Lance. The shorter watched happily from his spot on the bench, silently cheering on his lover.

“End simulation.” Keith breathed with a small smile, his bayard dematerializing as he walked over to greet the blue paladin with a kiss on the cheek. Lance chuckled, smiling up at him. “You’re hot when you train.” he hummed. “Only when I train? Wow Lance,” Keith teased as he sat beside him. “No! You’re hot all the time! Just especially when you train..” Lance complimented with a visible amount of blush on his face, intertwining his fingers with Keith’s. The other laughed at how defensive and flustered Lance got when he teased about anything.

“Lance,” Keith smiled, making the paladin in question look up at him. “Yeah?-” Lance was cut off by Keith’s soft lips connecting with his for a quick, gentle moment. The shorter was surprised by this action but he smiled once Keith pulled back. “Awe, you’re so cute..” Keith chuckled softly, getting up shortly after. “I’m going to shower,” He said before turning away, leaving Lance sitting there with a dumb, lovestruck smile.

“Paladins! Wake up, we need you out here.” Allura said through the comms of the castle, effectively waking the paladins. Lance stood from his spot on the floor, quickly putting on his armor before hurrying to meet Allura, Coran, and the others in the main control room. Lance took his usual spot, he and Shiro were the first there but Keith, Hunk, and Pidge hurried out a few ticks later. “We’ve encountered a Galra enslaved planet up ahead. Be prepared to get out there and fight. They do not seem friendly.” Allura informed the paladins, her hands over the pedestals to pilot the ship. The paladins stayed in their seats as Allura and Coran did most of the work checking the planet’s stats.

“Lance, Keith, you two are the fastest. Go down there and make sure no one is hurt, find out what’s going on.” Shiro commanded them, a stern look on his face. “On it.” Lance hummed, standing from his chair to make his way to the hangar without hesitation. Keith nodded in understanding and ran off towards the hangars as well. They made it to their lions and out of the hangars at roughly the same time, Lance opening up video comm to smile at Keith. “Don’t look so worried, cariño. We got this, we’re just scouting right now anyway.” The blue paladin assured him, blowing him an air kiss. “I know but..What if these soldiers are more dangerous than the others? We’re facing very fortified looking bases, and what looks like..advanced Galra tech. It looks like they’re making more and more progress here–”

Keith was cut off by a shot being fired towards the two lions, he pulled up and out of the way. He trained his gaze on the canon that the shots came from, focusing on dodging the shots. “I’m going in.” Lance said over the comms, and before Keith could object, the other paladin was fading away into the distance, his lion becoming smaller the further from Keith he got until he landed and Keith could no longer see him.

Lance hid his lion, carefully climbing out and sneaking around the corner to see a lot of Galra soldiers patrolling the area, there had to be hundreds of thousands of them. Lance furrowed his brows at the sight. His bayard materialized in his hands, prepared to go into battle if he were found out. The blue paladin pressed his back up against the cold metal of the wall to the base, watching as patrolling soldiers made their way past the small area Lance had been hiding in. “Lance, what’s it looking like in there?” Pidge asked over his helmet’s communication system. “It’s packed. Soldiers everywhere, security is tight. I’m willing to guess whatever it is that’s on this planet is really important.” Lance responded.

“My prince, the preparations are almost complete.” A calm voice spoke, like a woman’s voice. She sounded familiar, but he didn’t know from where. He risked a peak around the corner to see who it was, a tall half-Galra looking girl with short blue hair. And beside her, the “prince”..Lotor?

“We have an issue.” Lance whispered frantically into his helmet as he pulled back to hide again. “Lotor is here.” He elaborated, clutching his gun in his hands.

“You should get out of there. We need–” Shiro started, cut off by Lance speaking again. “I’m going to find out what it is they’re doing here.”

“Stop acting like me, you idiot! Get out of there.” Keith scolded. The younger froze for a second, thinking over his options. “Sorry love, I have to. This could determine our next move.” Lance sighed, tuning out the audio in his helmet as he waited for the two Galra to leave. He took that opportunity to sneak inside the heavily guarded alien base, looking around at his surroundings cautiously. Not once did Lance let down his guard, trying to be as quiet as he possibly could. He made sure to hide when soldiers came close, eventually knocking out one of the guards to take his uniform and mask, hiding his own paladin armor to come back for on his way out.

He was much less suspicious this way, not many soldiers even batted an eye in his direction as he made his way to the data center. He reached into his pocket to retrieve an empty hard drive he’d brought with him from his armor just in case, downloading the information off the computers for Pidge to look at later.

“Lieutenant?” a voice called, causing Lance to hesitantly turn and face the other soldier. He looked familiar, like they had met before. “Yes?” Lance quizzed, imitating a deeper voice. The soldier looked him up and down, as if reading him, but he didn’t ask any further questions. “You’re needed in the 3rd hall in 10 doboshes.” The soldier spoke, to which Lance nodded. The Galra soldier left the room after that and Lance finished his download, shoving it in his pocket before making his way out of the room. He definitely didn’t want to go to the 3rd hall (wherever that was), he could get found out if he went. So, he looked around a little longer just to have more intel for himself since he hadn’t looked at what was now on the hard drive.

He turned to leave, finding the spot he’d hid his armor and quickly changing out. He was in the clear, having only interacted with one enemy who didn’t seem to figure him out. Or at least he thought he was clear but..when he stood and faced towards his lion, he was face to face with the prince of the Galra, Lotor. “..Crap.” Lance sighed, holding his hand out at his side for his bayard. “Hello, paladin.” Lotor hummed, a creepy smile on his face. It made Lance feel uneasy, he needed to leave and he needed to do it soon. “Heyyy Lotor- I was actually just leaving!” Lance chuckled, trying to walk past the prince to his lion. A swift motion stopped the blue paladin in his tracks, sharp cold metal pressed lightly against his neck. “Oh, are you now? I thought you might want to stay for a snack. Or perhaps..forever?” The prince smirked.

Uh oh. If Lance moved an inch, Lotor would attack him. He was stuck here in a dark hallway lit by fuchsia lighting, with fucking Lotor. This had to be somewhere on the scale of hell for sure. “Uh- Sorry man, I got stuff to do haha-” Lance muttered, bringing up his hand to gently move the blade away after turning his comms back on. “I won’t even attack you, your highness. I just gotta—”

Lance was cut off by a sharp pain in his leg, the black fabric covering his thigh had been sliced open just as easily as the soft skin of his leg. Blood trickled down his thigh, wetting the fabric of his armor with the liquid. The paladin groaned in pain, leaning on his good leg in an attempt to take some pain away from the deep gash. “Whoops, Sorry” Lotor hummed, moving to slice the skin on Lance’s arm after cutting more of the thin black bodysuit under the heavy armor plates.

“Dammit-” Lance huffed, taking a step back as he raised his gun to shoot at Lotor’s chest. He missed due to the injuries on his arm and leg, and the gun was heavy for just one hand. He stumbled back with the force of the shot, and Lotor took that as an opportunity to strike again. The paladin was lucky to dodge it as his bayard changed from a heavy gun to an Altean master sword. It was easier to maneuver the light meatal, surging forward he swung the blue sword at the prince as hard as he could, effectively cutting through his chest plate but not harming him too much. Lance groaned again, this time in annoyance at the fact that it hardly did any real damage to Lotor himself.

“Lance, do you copy?” Keith’s voice sounded through the helmet’s communication system, and Lance immediately responded. “Your favorite paladin is alive but not so well. Could use some help down here- agh- I’m wounded and trying to fight against the prince with daddy issues.” he chuckled, stepping out of the way when Lotor swung again. “Watch your mouth, earthling. You aren’t in such a position to mock me.” The prince scowled. Lance rolled his eyes at that, going in for an attack. It hurt to move, his whole body felt like it might give out at any second but he couldn’t give up, he just needed to aim for the spot on Lotor’s chest where his armor was broken. “I’m on my way for you, Lance” Keith spoke, and the paladin let out a sigh of relief when he heard it. His moment of distraction was what allowed Lotor to strike him again and make his state worse. The action sent him into another blackout, he couldn’t see or hear anything anymore. Fear filled him as he frantically looked around. “Wha.. Keith? Lotor?!” he called, how could he go into another stupid blackout in the middle of a battle? When Lotor had just moved in to attack. The paladin armor covering his own chest cracked, having been pierced by the Galra prince’s sharp blade..but not only that, it pierced through Lance’s skin and left a deep stab wound.

Lotor drove the sword further into the human’s chest, causing him to cough out a large amount of blood. The crazed prince watched as the thick red trickled down Lance’s chin and dripped onto the floor as the blue paladin fell to his knees. Finally he snapped out of it, once again able to see and hear and feel more than just sharp pain. “Your comrades won’t be able to save you, Lance.” Lotor laughed, “You’ll die before they arrive.”

He didn’t want to believe that, he wanted to believe he could make it. He needed to believe that he could spend more time with his boyfriend after this. He can’t die here, he still had to marry Keith and save the universe! He can not afford to die now at the hands of some stupid banished prince. Lance tried his best to stay standing, but when Lotor pulled the sword out from the wound..he fell to his knees and coughed up more blood as it also gushed out of his wound.

“Should I behead you too?” Lotor mused, raising his sword to place it gently under Lance’s chin. “You don’t need that dumb helmet now,” He scoffed, walking forward to remove it from the paladin’s head. “Please..” Lance managed out just as the red lion came into view from above. “Pathetic. Human’s truly are such weak creatures.” He hummed, squatting down to the other’s level.

“Lance!!” Keith shouted as he hurried out of his lion, bayard in hand. The other paladins had made it into view as well now, but only Shiro landed to assist Keith and Lance. It was the black paladin who drew Lotor’s attention away from the lovers, so Keith could help Lance. But the sight of his boyfriend that way..Keith couldn’t bear it. He fell to his knees beside him, clutching Lance close to his chest. He could tell his lover was weak, he couldn’t survive all the way back to the castle of lions to get to a healing pod, he was close to death already. Keith did all he could to suppress the bleeding as tears welled in his eyes. He watched as tears pricked the corners of Lance’s eyes as well, and he tried to speak but the taller shushed him. “Save your energy baby..” Keith sniffled, cupping the Cuban’s face lovingly.

“Stay with me, okay? Stay awake.” He said softly, “You’ll..you’ll be okay.” he sobbed out.

“I love you..” Lance muttered out, weakly lifting his hand to place it over Keith’s hand holding his face. “I-I love you too, Lance. Don’t leave me..” He pleaded. Keith didn’t know what else to do now, other than lean down to kiss his partner in fear it would be their last. Keith’s tears fell onto Lance’s face as they hesitantly pulled back from each other briefly. Lance opened his eyes one last time to see his boyfriend’s beautiful face, smiling up at him weakly.

Keith hugged him close as the blue paladin took his final breath and went limp in the taller’s embrace, his hand falling to rest idly against the floor. Keith felt him go limp and immediately clutched him closer, clenching his jaw as he cried. “Dammit! Wake up Lance..Come back. You stupid..handsome man.. Come back to me, I need you.” Keith sobbed, his knuckles turning white with how strong his grip was. He couldn’t believe he was actually gone..Lance was gone forever, he couldn’t come back..

For a while, Keith struggled to get over Lance. He kept thinking about him, kept thinking he heard his voice or saw him but he knew it wasn’t true. Shiro helped him through the phoeb that he was struggling, even directed him to writing letters to Lance even though he would never read them. Keith kept a notebook of letters written to his deceased lover, and it weirdly did bring some sort of comfort.

And now, voltron had a new blue paladin, Princess Allura. Keith wasn’t too happy about the fact that they chose a new pilot so quickly, but they did need all five lions to form voltron so he couldn’t be too upset about it either. It was definitely quieter without Lance running up and down the halls, or training with Keith until midnight, or starting play fights, or playing video games with pidge. Everyone seemed to miss him a lot, the whole team’s spirits were dampened by his passing..but they seemed to all be doing better than Keith.

He stood in the middle of the training deck, bayard in hand, but no simulation going. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as he remembered the way he and Lance would stand back to back while they fought off Altean drones. He couldn’t go anywhere in the castle without being reminded of the Cuban boy. He let out a heavy sigh as he wiped his tears and started up the gladiator simulation. He gripped his sword tight in hand and swung harshly, nearly missing though he did manage to scratch the bot up a little. His training always started like that now, missing the first swing and coming back to take down the gladiator as quickly as he could. He hoped if Lance was anywhere, he could see him and be proud of him for not giving up on what made him happy and helped him focus.

Every time he was in here, he let himself forget about everything for a while. He let all his attention and focus be on the simulation. That’s how he kept going for vargas at a time, sometimes he went until breakfast time. He never just trained for a little while, it was always a bit too long for the other paladin’s liking. After he was done, he’d always go shower and then sit in the main control room to stargaze.

Shiro even came to join him this time, and he thanked him for being there. “Are you doing okay?” Shiro asked, placing a comforting hand on the other’s shoulder. “Yeah. I just miss him.” Keith responded with a small smile, both paladins looking back out at the stars. “He’s still with us, he’s really our star boy now.” Shiro chuckled softly. “Yeah, I guess so..” Keith nodded in agreement, “I’m sure he’d be very happy to know that.” he added. Shiro and Keith sat there for a few doboshes in silence, before the team leader finally stood up. “Let’s go get you something to eat,” Shiro offered his hand out to Keith, who took it with minor hesitance.

Everything would be okay.

He missed Lance, but it would all be okay.

[garoujo]

GOOD MORNING EMMIE AND CONGRATS ON THE JOB INTERVIEW 🥳🥳🥳

but i’m rereading bllk and i was wondering what are all your nicknames/pet names for nagi? and what are his for you?

-🐙

GOOD MORNING TO U MY LOVE!!! (˵´³`(˶ᵔ𖥦ᵔ˶)˚. wahhh fank u! i am nervous but i am just gonna talk my ass off + pray!! eeeeee i’d say i mostly refer to him as sei, maybe shiro too + sometimes just seishiro cause i think his name is super pretty anyway <3 sometimes i call him starboy cause he gets all flustered by it ueueue ò3ó i don’t think he uses too many petnames / nicknames but i def think he uses angel + pretty thing / girl or just pretty <333 he is soooooo!!! so babygirl!!!

[rigb0ner]

❀ ✿ ❁ SHANCE FIC RECS #2 ❀ ✿ ❁

“Home is Wherever I’m With You”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11293905/chapters/25267368 by @theunemployedrogue

“The Luxury of Lacking Confidence”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/12350799/chapters/28091832?show_comments=true&view_full_work=false#comment_130581624 by @oldmythos

“Just go with it”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11186997/chapters/24976905 by @strawberrylovely

“Raindrops on Roses”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/10075055/chapters/22449467 by @pitchgold

“Radio Altea”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12258099/chapters/27855678 by @arrynzek

“Everything (And Nothing, All in One)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11950683/chapters/27019026 by @svendidntdieforthis

“Mile High Club”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/13045776/chapters/29840580 by @muffarino

“I’ll be There”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12747117/chapters/29074875 by @starboy-shiro

[mychemicalklancex3]

I know that everyone says that Shiro’s white hair is like starlight, so I made these so his hair is literally starlight

If you want me to do this for the other paladins, please let me know!

[ataraxetta]

I went into Netflix and saw the current thumbnail for VLD and I have been a completely useless mess for the past 30 minutes. 

[wetsockonyourfoot]

Starboy Lance

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

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

[theolddarkmachine]

12 Days of ODM Extended Preview #5

Prompts coming to a blog near you starting 12/14!

[holygrailcosplay]

I’m a star boy~

[kristinkemper]

look what you’ve done

[absolutelynochillonlydeath]

Starboy

1

There were three months of silence and tension before he was found again. But he was not the same as when he was lost…

It had started out simply and as routine as their day could be. The team awoke, ate breakfast and put on their armor, ready for the Princess to call out their next mission. They had become professionals at this by now. It was a relatively peaceful planet from what they could tell just looking at it on a surface level, but also from the reports they had gathered from their allies, which was much more than could be said for any other planet they had been to where they had landed with only a fraction of the information that they would need to deal with it. The team cheered at the prospect of having an easy mission for once with their leader, Shiro, calling them back from their celebrating to focus them.

It was supposed to be simple. A diplomatic mission to form a new alliance and gain support and supplies, and it had started off well enough.

Black, red, green, yellow and blue streaked from the glistening castle and to the planet below, arcing gracefully in their descent. The Lions touched down and glinted proudly in the orange sunlight. They were met with enthusiasm from the tiny yellow race of the planet and were pulled along to their city, smiling and waving at the crowd that cheered and clapped exuberantly. The one in blue played his part, smiling and laughing as his heart told him, but feeling a deep-seated unease when looking too closely at the joyful faces before him. Something was wrong.

But would the others even believe him if he voiced his concerns?

They had dismissed his thoughts and opinions so many times before...

Resolutely, he kept his mouth shut and hung off his friend with a wide smile plastered on his face, chattering excitedly about how they finally had a parade to themselves, but still wanting a parade dedicated to him specifically. The one in yellow armor, Hunk, chuckled and nodded, patting his friends arm and continuing to walk forward, shy of the many eyes on him. Suspicious blue eyes swept of the crowd as they walked on, deeper and deeper into the throng of the crowd and closer towards a looming building that could only be their equivalent of a town hall. Blue hung back and watched the Team from behind, holding a device in his hand loosely so as not to attract attention, but firmly to set off should his feeling prove to be right.

They were.

His feelings of paranoia and anxiety proved to be all too right.

The minute they stepped into the building, chaos erupted. Waves of purple figures rose to meet them and the loud sounds of cheers changed to the loud sounds of gunfire and screams. Screams of terror, screams of fury, screams of command.

"Duck!"

"Get them!"

"We're trapped!"

"Open fire!"

"Call the Lions!"

"Don't let them escape!"

But he had already called and activated his mechanism. Fire and return fire. It felt like eternity had passed before the thunderous roars called out to their pilots and the building collapsed around them, crushing purple and sending clouds of dust around them.

Dread settled deeply into his gut as his ocean loved Lion let him in and they took off into the sky, circling around with their brethren to unleash hell into those that would dare hurt their precious people. Tender heart he may have, but he struggled to keep in mind the race still running and flailing below. They had willingly betrayed those that would help them to save their own skins. They had betrayed those he loved and held dear and it took everything in his heart not to unleash his hate on them. His attention was called away when something new and dangerous took his attention. A battleship. Massive and world destroying and coming right at them. And it seemed to him that it was equipped with a new weapon.

"Return to the Castle, immediately!" The princess called.

Immediately, all five flew back to regroup, but it seems the battleship had other thoughts and the sound of what he could only describe as a deafening roar of Hell sounded around them. It should have been impossible to capture the sound, flying through the stars, but it echoed and reverberated through their skin and bones and brought terror to their hearts. There, small enough to overlook, but big enough to end them was a black hole. It looked like a nightmare and he wanted nothing more than to fly away from it.

"They're firing again! Move it!"

And fire they did. The Lions dove and spun, firing upon the ship in an attempt to disable the weapon while the Castle did the same. It had an effect, but not the one they wanted.

"Little Paladins who think they can stop us! Let's see how you fare without four Lions!" a grating voice called out.

And soon the comforting cold of his Lion was replaced with the crushing cold of space with a crackle of lightning over his skin. Their Lions were still headed back to the Castle, seemingly unaware that their pilots were missing. But he was only allowed a moment to process this.

"Use your jetpacks! Head for the Castle! Stay as far away from those black holes as possible!" He heard from his com and he jettisoned into action, flying off as quick as he could towards their destination and feeling fear encompass him as he saw fighter ships launch from the battleship. By now, the Lions had noticed and had stopped to run back for their Paladins but he called out to his, pushing her away. Blue! No! Go back! You can't do anything like this! He plead with her and she roared in protest. She had to protect her Paladin! But he continued to urge her forward to the Castle.

He fled onwards, ducking and dodging the blasts from the ships. The bastards were toying with them! He had reached his friends, each doing the same and had raised their shields to attempt to block any incoming weapon fire.

"Since when could that witch do this?!" The small one in green, Pidge, yelled.

"Let's just hope she doesn't do it again!" Hunk yelped, narrowly missing a blast.

"Move it!" Fiery red yelled, Keith, and pushed them faster forwards. So close! Almost!

The Castle flew forward as best it could to meet them, caught in between so many black holes. But once again, the sound of Hell beaconed and blue eyes widened as he saw where it would eventually land. With what strength and rocket power he had, his Bayard changed, a mixture of a grappling hook and whip and he attached his jetpack to it, sending it forward.

"Grab it!" He yelled as it zoomed past the others.

Instinctively, they did as he said and it jerked them forward those final few meters until they landed into one of the hangers, it shutting closed behind them. He breathed a sigh of relief before horror took hold and a black hole formed in front of where his friends had just been. He hadn't even been able to let out a cry out when he was swallowed by the ever reaching nothing as it burned and froze and stabbed at his body, his last sight as he passed through the sight of the Castle warping away from danger.

At least his life hadn't been for nothing, right?

And the void tore every part of him to dust.

*

[astraea802]

IFD2021 Recs Pt 2/2

More Hidden Gems, this time for smaller works in larger fandoms.

Voltron

Static Starboy (Oneshot): Summer camp au with elemental powers! Shiro-centric and just so sweet and wholesome. Includes some nice fanart at the end too! Under 500 hits.

The Colour of Magic (Oneshot): AU where the paladins can see quintessence, even before Voltron. Includes some Shiro and Keith platonic bonding.

Also, Altean Pidge and Druid Shiro could use more love, I enjoy those plots quite a bit.

Big Hero 6

The Rubber Band Theory (12 chapters/32,624 words) (Complete, first in a series): Sort of a psychic/superpower AU where Hiro and Tadashi discover powers after Hiro saves Tadashi from the explosion. Compared to some similar fics of this type, I don't see as much hype for this one, and it's a lot of fun!

To the Fairies He Draws Near (8 chapters/ 34,097 words) (Complete): Fredashi modern with magic au where Fred discovers fairy Tadashi in the park. It's pretty fluffy and has some fun ideas for fantasy version of the characters. And Callahan doesn't go villain for once, which is always nice. Under 500 hits.

Miscellaneous

Bad Boys: Rockin' All Over the World (Doctor Who) (Multichapter, in progress): Graham and Ryan meet former companions of the Doctor and try to protect the earth in their own way. I just love the idea so much, especially Graham meeting our two other space grandpas (Wilfred Mott and Brian Williams), I want to see more fics in this vein!

just be friends on the way (Harry Potter) (Oneshot): Albus and Minerva friendship! Albus comforting Minerva after her childhood love got married! Albus talking about Grindelwald! Really highlights what good friends those two must have been, working together all those years.

Where There's Smoke (Sanders Sides)(Multichapter, in progress): I've been enjoying this Virgil/Logan modern with magic AU so far. They're very sweet and bushy with each other while respecting each others' boundaries, and Logan is hiding some secret magic dabbling, which I'm interested to learn the backstory for. Updates fairly regularly, which is always a plus. Only has under 1000 hits.

A Thousand Lifetimes (MCU/Captain America) (Oneshot): Steggy fantasy AU with some reincarnation and wingfic. Under 500 hits.

Faster Than a Telephone Booth (The Flash TV)(Oneshot): I actually found this fic through last year's IFD, and it's *still* underappreciated (under 500 hits). The dialogue is just so funny, and the original Team Flash friendship is so nice. My favorite bit: “You know what this means?” “You’re Danny Phantom,” Barry said. Cisco snapped his fingers and pointed at him. “I was gonna say a magical girl, but that’s even better.”

I also want to give a shoutout to poisonquiver, whose written some cool aus for a number of different fandoms, including Stranger Things and Avatar, that act as really interesting character studies, even in altered circumstances. Very nice prose, too!

Click for part 1: https://astraea802.tumblr.com/post/643170636388302848/ifd-2021-recs-pt-12

[softestallura-blog]

“Rest now, my paladin. Your body needs to recover-- We need to recover.”

so, please consider? shiro isnt Gone, just recovering in the not-battle-mode ‘astral plane’, guarded by the black lion herself. he’ll be fine! if a little sparkly.

[kooahh]

–who is he looking at?–

a drawing of lance by myself 

my art, please do not repost w/o permission!! show love

[wingsofvoltron]

Here’s part 2 to my astronomy Lance headcanon. Part 1 can be found here.

Blank. Lance’s mind was blank.

All he could do was stare. Stare and hope that his brain would catch up with reality.

Keith stared back, waiting. He didn’t look offended at Lance’s silence. But he’d always had a hard time reading Keith. So maybe he was.

And Lance didn’t know why but the thought of offending Keith made him sick. Made him want to backtrack, take the last minute of silence back.

But he couldn’t. And so instead he just opened and closed his mouth a few times, eyes wide.

Important

That’s the word Keith had used. Important.

Lance had always thought he knew what that word meant. His family was important. His friends were important. Saving the universe was important.

But all the definitions of important that Lance knew no longer fit. This was a different important. An important that he didn’t have a definition for.

And god did he love it.

He loved it because he was the important one. He couldn’t remember the last time that the label of ‘important’ had rested so gingerly on his shoulders.

Still, he stared. Stared because he didn’t know what to say.

“Don’t go quiet on me now, Starboy.”

If his face wasn’t red before, it was now. Since when was Keith into nicknames?

“I...uh…” Still Lance’s thoughts wouldn’t form words, much less sentences.

And then Keith laughed. Actually laughed. It was confident. Warm.

Home.

“Tell me about supernovas again, Starboy.”

And finally, Lance found his voice.

And so the questions ended and the “Tell me”s began.

They were different. More demanding. More random. While the questions had been asked in pockets of free time, in the calm portions of the storm Lance had been swept up in, the “Tell me”s were abrupt, popping up in all aspects of Lance’s life.

Sometimes they came at inopportune times

Lance was fighting the gladiator during training, breathing ragged and sweat dripping down his face. He was being pushed back, the gladiator deflecting every shot Lance sent it’s way.

He heard the intercom switch on, a voice speaking loud and clear. “Hey Starboy, tell me how stars are born.”

His response was automatic, his mind not even needing time to look for the answer. With each new sentence of information, Lance took a step towards the gladiator and by the end of the explanation, the gladiator had fallen.

Sometimes they came at quiet times.

Lance found himself on the bridge late one night, kept awake by thoughts of home. He stared up at the hologram of Earth, feeling so small.

He heard the door open but still he didn’t turn. He didn’t want to look away from home.

“Hey, Starboy.” Keith sat down next to him, voice barely a whisper. “Tell me about the formation of planets.”

Lance cleared his throat, leaned into Keith, head resting on his shoulder, and began to talk. He talked until his eyes grew drowsy and his words started to slur.

If Keith minded, he didn’t say anything. Just listened. Breathing soft and slow in Lance’s ear.

Lance’s days were dominated by fighting Galra and saving people and just trying to stay alive, but the “Tell me”s kept him grounded, stable. They were something to look forward to.

Until they stopped.

They stopped the day Shiro went missing.

Keith closed in on himself. He stopped talking to everyone. Even Lance. And as much as Lance tried to tell himself that he understood Keith’s pain, that Keith just needed time, it was hard to shake the feeling that he had ceased to be important.

And Lance hated that. He hated feeling so selfish. This should be about Keith, not himself.

But it had always been Keith that was there for him. He was at a loss as to what to do when the roles were reversed. The only thing Lance knew was space. And nothing that he had read or learned told him how to deal with a situation like this.

So in the end, Lance decided to stick with what he knew. It was all he could do.

Lance found Keith in the lounge, seated on the couch with his head in his hands. 

One breath. Two. Okay, go.

“Binary star systems are systems where two stars are orbiting each other instead of having one star at the center.”

He saw Keith look up, confusion masking the usual intensity of his eyes.

“What?”

Lance sits down next to him.

“Scientists once thought that binary star systems were super rare, but that was because it’s just really hard to tell the two stars apart from so far away. Actually, they are pretty common.”

Keith is silent, eyes not leaving Lance’s face.

Lance doesn’t know if that’s a good sign or a bad sign so he just keeps talking.

“The two stars orbit around this thing called the barycenter which is just a fancy word for the point in the middle of the two stars.”

There’s a pause as Lance collects his thoughts.

“And sometimes a binary star system falls apart. It loses its barycenter. And when that happens either the stars can form new systems and thrive...or sometimes the stars go supernova, destroying everything around it.”

Silence. So much silence.

Nerves dance in his stomach as he waits for Keith to say something.

“Why? Why are you telling me this?”

It was a simple question and Lance is almost surprised at how easy the answer is.

“Because it’s important to you.”

Lance smiles softly to Keith.

“And you’re important to me.”

Part 3 anybody? I still got more to share. 

[Part 1] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]

[blessed-by-africas-rains]

Voltron nicknames

Shiro: Dad

Daddy

Space dad

Shiro the hiro

Space Bucky

Allura:

Goddess

Space Angelica Schulyer

Mom

Space mom

Queen

Lance:

Twig boi

Twinky winky

Skinny hoe

Starboi

Keith:

Keef

Queef

Wannabe Gerard way

J D

Furry

Purple nurple

Pidge:

Hackerman

Pidgeon

Space birb

Gremlin

Coran:

Space uncle

Jesus

Squip

Jeremy but better

Slippy hoe

Hunk:

A living ray of sunshine

Gordon Ramsyeet

Best boi

Sunshine man

Smort boy

Matt:

Try hard meme lord

Mattito

Mattpat

Memethew

Matthew in the bathroom

Lotor:

Lotoreal

Space snek

Thomas Jefferson

Daddy issues

[theolddarkmachine]

Sheith Positivity Day Three

Share your favorite AU work you’ve made

Now, y’all probably think you know what I’m gonna say here. And tbh, it wouldn’t be wrong. But there is an AU that I love just a wee bit more than the rest, and that’s Starboy and Sugartits: A Love Story.

I literally thought of the idea on a 11 hour drive from Dallas back home after four straight days of partying with my best friend at Pride, and three Monsters. That next day I cranked out what was then my third ever Sheith offering for the archive and to this day it is still one of my favorites.

Is it the most realistic one shot? No. I realize you can’t see someone making eyes at your from across a darkened bar, and I know no one is really out here dropping that kinda money on tips. 

But it was one of the best times I have had writing anything, which is what makes it my favorite AU I’ve done!

You’re a fine specimen looking for a job, and we’re looking for a hot, flaming bartender. Honestly, Shiro, my man. You were born to work at Voltron.

Lance’s words echoed through Shiro’s mind as he stood in front of the bar in the middle of the afternoon, wondering if he might be able to back out of the interview his best friend had setup for him. Sorry, not just any bar. Garrison strip’s number one gay bar where you come for cheap booze and expensive entertainment, Lance’s voice annoyingly corrected him.

He’d known the lanky 20-something since he’d moved to the neighborhood when he was four and his mothers had setup a playdate with Shiro’s mom. The first meeting had ended with Lance crying after the then seven-year-old Shiro had clamped a hand over the boy’s mouth in an attempt to get him to stop talking.

Now that he thought about it, not much had changed aside from the fact that now Lance would just lick his hand in retaliation and continue on whatever verbal tirade he’d been on. Shiro sighed loudly as he scrubbed the metal of his prosthetic hand down his face, enjoying the way the coolness of it felt against his sun-kissed skin. He’d only been standing outside for about 15 minutes waiting for his best friend, but in the heat of the desert, 15 minutes felt like an eternity as sweat had blossomed at the back of his neck. With a quick glance at his watch, Shiro decided Lance had approximately five minutes to get there before he would head back to his loft, strip back down to his boxers and continue binging the Real World.

“Only grandpas still wear watches,” the snarking voice that haunted his dreams called from behind him as if the universe had summoned him merely for having the thought.

Universe- 1, Shiro- 0.

AO3 // TUMBLR