#tired coran

[seldomscilence16]

Whumptober Day 10;

Blow To the Head

Slurred words | Passing out from pain | “I can’t think straight.”

Fandom: Voltron

(I couldnt not after seeing the quote)

...

…

The mission had gone wrong almost immediately in Lance’s opinion.

They let the planet leaders give the orders, that was their first mistake, and though Lance had gone to object- quietly, to the side- he had been shut down with a look before a word had even formed. Instead the team had agreed to whatever was said, like they hadn’t learned this lesson several times over, but then again, Allura and Coran hadn’t been present to head the diplomatic side of things- their second mistake. With Allura sick- some space, quintessence, something rather flu- and Coran tending to her and the castle, they’d gone ahead with the alliance meeting to keep themselves on track with whatever schedule it was they were trying to keep- they changed it so often Lance just referred to Pidge’s program rather than try and remember it.

Mistake number three, not telling the team exactly what they should be doing down here. Instead, the team seemed to have taken it as a challenge to land this planet all on their own. And while Lance loved these losers, he’s pretty sure the shared brain cell is sick with Allura.

Long story short, the team had been split up, the cliche ‘we must test you before we join your coalition’, each being sent to a different area to find something that the leaders wanted. They were assured that their own people did quests like this all the time, and that they were sure ‘The Great Defenders of the Universe would be able to pass them with ease, certainly?’ So of course Shiro and Keith were ready for the team to prove themselves, and Pidge didn’t like being looked down on. Lance hadn’t liked the look in the leaders’ eyes, like they knew something more, like this was going to simply be an entertaining little show. It had twisted his stomach with anxiety, and Hunk had been the only one even slightly on his page- though it had been more of an uneasiness of going alone than anything.

Lance had been sent to a mine of some kind, to find a ‘large gem of immense beauty’. Everything had sounded rather trivial in Lance’s opinion, he had hoped it would be easy and quick and they could just get out of here- even if he knew that wasn’t how it was going to go.

He had gotten to his location first, the others still trekking as complaints and comments were passed over the comms- the only thing keeping Lance's heart in his chest. He’d entered with caution, the lone winding path was rather strange for a mine, no branching passageways or alcoves to speak of, simply a long tunnel with only his own wrist light to guide him. The banter is pleasant background noise, a comfort in the otherwise uneasy situation, but his shoulders remain tense, and his bayard ready.

“Ugh, how far is this stupid swamp?” Pidge bemoans for the umpteenth time.

“The planet didn’t look this big from above.” Hunk agrees with a puff of exerted air.

“Just keep going guys, Lance hasn’t complained so you guys can stick it out.” Keith’s exasperated response has little bite, but perhaps Lance is only hearing as such because he’s so focused, usually this is where they argue and throw insults.

Lance doesn’t.

His eyes are on the glowing thing in front of him.

“Lance?” Shiro’s voice is concerned, but he barely registers it.

“S’not a gem.” He gets the statement out, but despite his raised blaster, the blow across the back of his skull is hard and quick.

His world goes dark to the shouts of teammates and the glowing eye the last thing he sees.

.

“..wear to Gods Lance, if you don’t respond-”

“..Don freatenme…” It sounds off to his own ears, past the ringing and aching pounding.

“Oh thank goodness, Lance, buddy, how you feeling?” Hunk's voice comes as if through water, but Lance would know that anxious lilt anywhere.

“M’fine…” He pushes himself onto his elbows slowly, head swimming- ha, that's where the water came from… wait, there's no water…

“Lance, focus on our voices kiddo, what happened?”

“Nottaflippingem.” The mumble turns into a groan as he fully sits up, trying to focus his eyes enough to see.

“He’s not thinking straight, I can’t understand a thing.”

“Ayenever thhhink ssstraight.” Lance tries to sound proud, but at this point he sounds ridiculous to his own ears.

The silence lingers past the buzzing, his eyes slowly taking in the dark walls around him, thankfully sans a glowing eye. He brings a hand to the back of his head, feels the tacky wetness and cringes. Coran would probably insist on a pod… ugh.

“Lance, Hermano, now's probably not the time you should have come out.”

“Yeeer prbably rrright…. H’ve to gettoutta the darrk closset firssst…”

Lance scrunches his lips upwards, wasn’t his best analogy, but he thinks he has a pretty good excuse.

“You’re still in the mine then?” Shiro brings them back to topic, a breathless quality to his voice like he’d been running.

Lance examines the rock closest to him, finding the same drury and rough surface he’d been surrounded in since he’d begun the journey.

“Prbably.” He pushes back against the wall, getting slightly trembling legs to cooperate and push himself upwards. “Crrful uf the eyye… i’sss mean.” He groans as his head spins, “Stoopid plan… buut nnoonnee lissstens to Laannnce…” He mumbles grouchily under his breath, swaying a bit before he raises his wrist to try the light.

Spots dance in his vision at the sudden brightness, but he supposed there wasn’t much to see anyway. Rocks and rocks and rocks and darkness… he swallows thickly, looking up slowly like every horror movie ever told him not to, finding a hole in the ceiling but no movement. Great.

“Are you saying you’re not alone down there Lance?” Pidge’s voice comes through for the first time, breaking the silence that had befallen them again. Lance didn’t typically like silence, but he was having a hard time noticing it right now.

“Thaa gem, wassn’t a gem.” He declares again, a little annoyed at having to repeat himself so often. “Waas an eeyyye.”

“We’re almost there Lance, can you find your way out of there?”

Lance has been sluggishly making his way down the passage, having picked a direction with disturbance on the ground as his sign of his previous whereabouts, but as the path splits into four, he wonders if he’s been turned around.

“Harrderrr th’n aye th’ght…”

“It's a little glitchy, but I have you on my map.” Pidge starts, a grunt interrupting her that has Lance’s brow furrowing, “I can use it to feel our way to you, but there's no actual mapping lines on it, the mines aren’t showing up properly.”

Figures… He hears something shift behind him and tenses up.

“M’ght wanna hurrry…” He mumbles, as something wraps around his ankle and he’s sweeped off his feet.

The small passageway leaves little room to go anywhere, the long vine-like thing swinging him around and slamming him from one rocky surface to the next. From his peripheral he spots the gem like glowing eye, he reaches for his storage compartment, willing his bayard to his hand. The light glows for only a moment, a small handheld gun not unlike a pistol, a familiar weight in his hand. Despite how he's thrashed around, how his head rings and his vision spots, he takes aim as best he can.

The shot goes off, there's an ear piercing screech, Lance goes flying.

The air is knocked from his lungs, no sound reaches his ears as pain burns in raging waves, he impacts with the floor, struggling to inhale. As spots dance in his vision once again, and twitching limbs only worsen his ailments, his last thought is only of the team.

…

“You sent us on fools errands!” Keith seethes.

“Paladins, we were only testing-”

“This was no test! If we were to make it to our own destinations, danger would have been waiting for us too! Were you trying to kill us, or did you have some other sick motive?” Pidge spits the accusations, her scanner bleeping its warnings from her scans of their intended destinations.

“How insulting! If this is how you act-”

“This is how we respond, to one of our teammates being sent towards their death. You’d do well not to anger us further.” Allura glides into the room, skin still paler than usual, but a regal anger about her as she passes the Paladins, eyes set only on the Leaders of the planet.

“Y-your Majesty!”

“This transgression will be reported to the coalition, everyone will know how you treat potential allies and guests. We will be taking our leave now.” The promise is said with a snarl on her lips, already turning to leave.

“Wait! Please! We-”

“Paladins.” Her eyes are still set straight ahead, a cold shoulder if they’d ever seen one, but they know better than to bring it up after this end note.

“Yes Princess.”

They turn as one, glares still set in hard lines on their faces, the fumbling leaders of the planet pleading futilely. The ride to the Castle is silent, Allura fuming at the wheel, not sparing the team a glance. They share uneasy looks, and wisely choose to keep their mouths shut.

When they land in the hangar, the Princess stalks from the ship without a word, the team following with faltering steps of unease. It's only when they reach the infirmary and she sees Lance’s pod that she falters, slumping heavily into the nearest chair. Coran titters about the room, quickly checking Alluras temperature and placing a cooling cloth around her neck before moving back to the pod to check the readings again.

The tension in the room is thick, Allura leaning her head into her hands as she lets a sigh pass her lips.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, so I will ask for an explanation, despite my own hunch. One of you will speak, lest my headache worsens further.” Each word is picked carefully, said distinctly, they wonder if it's part of royal training to sound so in control despite being ill.

The team looks at Shiro, and his shoulders sag with the weight leadership has burdened him with.

“The leaders were welcoming enough, but they insisted on testing us- which wasn’t out of the ordinary- and it seemed like trivial enough tasks… so I agreed. It sounded like an easy enough challenge for us to complete-”

“Mistake number one.” Allura stops him, rubbing at her brow, “Did you ask your team if they agreed to the challenge and get a consensus from everyone, Black Paladin?”

“Well…” Shiro really thinks about it and frowns, “I… might have shut down Lance when it looked like he was going to interrupt the discussions…”

“And throughout the tests, did you notice anything odd?”

“Lance was… quiet… Until he was attacked.”

“Then I suppose one mistake may have been mine.” She says with another weary sigh.

“What do you mean?” Pidge asks with furrowed brows.

“Apparently unbeknownst to you all, Lance has been taking diplomacy lessons from Coran and myself, though he was quite adept before that. I made the mistake of assuming his team would listen to him should he have concerns about a mission that was already tremulous as it was. Lance likely was going to bring up how splitting up on a foreign planet at the behest of its suspicious leaders was unwise. Instead he was shut down and followed his orders, and look where it got him.”

Their eyes can’t help but drift towards the pod, where Corans exhausted face is creased further in worry as he stares at it,

“He is not a fan of the pods…” The advisor mumbles dishearteningly.

“He will make a recovery from his physical injuries.” Allura turns her glare on the group once more, “I expect a team effort in healing the rest of him.”

“Yes Princess.”

[goth1c-pinki3-pi3]

right now, the nickname honey bunny hasn't left my mind and I've been calling all my friends that in my head for the past couple hours, so heres another thought i had. Keith with an absurdly thick accent. Like, he spend a year (maybe??) in the desert all by himself, and was raised for like, the first 8 years by his dad in the desert with no one else, so just like. Keith has a thick accent that died down when his dad died but came back after he was kicked out of the garrison because he didn't have to make his accent more "normal" for other people.

[bleh1bleh2]

I'm thinking about VLD Art School AU and I think their majors would be

Keith: Painting

Lance: Film

Allura: Illustration or Fiber

Pidge: Animation or Graphic Design (Sound minor)

Hunk: Ceramics

Shiro: Art History/Ceramics (double major)

Coran: Printmaking

[destinyrose]

Out of morbid curiousity, has anyone written a lion shifter Voltron au? Because I think that’d be really fun. Like, imagine this:

Instead of a whole universe of planets and galaxies and whatnot, it’s just a singular planet, with towns/cities/countries and whatnot instead. Our dear Garrison trio are studying something military related (maybe) when Shiro, who had previously gone missing in the big mysterious forest near the village (Kerberos Forest? Still brainstorming), suddenly returns rambling something about magic and lions and catpeople. Cue a similar rescue to show with Keith showing up and being a badass to rescue them and they all escape to his cabin by the woods.

There they find out that Shiro was part of a team sent in to investigate this weird temple in the forest and his team, Pidge’s family, were taken by the temple monks(?) or something and Shiro got concussed on his way out and suddenly had a bunch of weird scars on his arm. In the obvious course of action, our team decides to go investigate and when they get to the temple, they find it relatively abandoned, and so off they go to explore. Then, Lance discovers a weird magic circle on the ground and, not knowing what it is, sits in it and is suddenly granted the ability to transform into The Blue Lion, an old lion god that protected the people with the rest of the Voltron Pantheon.

They discover him, transformed as The Blue Lion, kinda just messing around with stuff because why not, and then the rest of them are like, “we should probably go figure out why he’s like this and discover more about this Voltron Pantheon thing,” so they do. Letting Lance take the lead and listen to the voice of god in his head to direct them to the Voltron Temple, where they meet the Keepers of the Temple, Allura and Coran, who tell them that the rest of the team are also the Chosen Ones of the other Lion Gods.

I could go on for longer about this but I am tired and mostly incoherent. I am plenty willing to expand on this if I have the time, but I rewatched Voltron and saw the lions acting like real lions in that one scene where they meet Lotor for the first time and was struck with inspiration.

Have a good day/night

[tarantula-hawk-wasp]

These results sooooo true. Last week I would have said I’m a combo of Shiro and Hunk (anxiety, leadership, cooking/baking, etc) but some of you said Coran and immediately I realize that is also very correct. Thank you for voting

Sigh, kin assign me a Voltron character

[gaykeithbilance]

pidge wouldn't care that much about lance and keith's love lives but she does like to tease them about it

hunk is enjoying the drama but lance has been ranting to him about keith for years now so he would appreciate it if they hurried up and kissed already

allura says she just wants them to be happy but secretly she is very invested in the drama. at first she only hears about it from the mice but eventually she becomes the person hunk goes to when lance's ranting becomes too much and he needs to complain

shiro is tired

coran has assumed they were dating for ages

[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.

[alienboy51]

coran is ATTRACTIVE and i'm TIRED of pretending he's not

[autisticlancemcclain]

Keith thinks he might actually sink into his bed, that’s how goddamn tired he is.

It’s just been — such a long day. Painfully long. Keith thought dragging his brother out of Black’s astral plane would make things less stressful, but nooooo. Of course not. That would be too easy. Of course Shiro decides he doesn’t want the Black Paladin title back, and that, actually, he’d like to retire. Of course Keith can in no way find it within himself to force his brother, who only ever wanted to explore, back into the crushing expectations of the leader of the universe’s strongest weapon.

So. It’s just — a lot.

There weren’t even any missions today. Honestly, Keith prefers mission days — they’re a one-and-done kind of deal. You fly into battle, you think you’re gonna die, you panic about your friends dying, usually no one dies, you either complete the mission or you don’t, you go home. Of course there’s the soul crushing terror and overuse of energy that comes at the price of actual genuine years off his life, but that’s so clearly a Future Keith problem. Once Keith parks Black into the hangar he can Stop Thinking About it, except of course for the horrifying and endless nightmares.

But all this planning shit is horrendous.

First of all, Keith is an action guy. An investigation guy too, sometimes, if there is conspiracy involved (and/or some fuckass has challenged him in any way no matter how minuscule), but what he is not is a tactician guy. A planning guy. That kind of shit is for people who have crippling anxiety and are plagued with constant thoughts about how everything can and will go wrong. That’s why it’s a job for Lance. And Allura. And Hunk. And Shiro.

But not Keith. Keith prefers to walk blindly into dangerous situations and deal with whatever is thrown at him after. Black Paladin Keith, however, motherfucker that he is, has to sit down in meetings for a thousand hours and listen to people argue and try not to wish death and curses upon a myriad of irritating Coalition leaders and allies.

Keith needs a goddamn nap.

Not even bothering to take off his boots, and ignoring the Lance-shaped voice in his head squawking about how disgusting that is, Keith stuffs his face into his pillow, reaching blindly for a blanket and yanking it up to his ears. He is going to Sleep, goddamnit. He is going to keep his comm where it is, stuffed under his mattress, and pass the hell out, to be woken only by some terrible and glorious act of God herself. The universe and all its associates can take an hour to kindly piss the hell off and leave Keith alone.

A knock sounds on his door.

Keith screams. Loudly.

“Keith?” calls a voice, muffled through the doorway, and of course it is the one person in the entire world who Keith has never and will never be able to say no to.

“Hnnnnnngh,” Keith responds. He actually tears up, a little.

The door slides open. Hunk pokes his head in, smile sweet and guilty and hopeful.

“I’m going to swallow engine oil,” Keith anguishes.

“Maybe don’t,” Hunk suggests lightly.

Keith groans again, shoving his head back into the pillow. Hunk patiently waits for Keith to get his shit together enough to lift his head again. Probably because he knows he’s more effective if he can manipulate Keith via facial expressions. Ugh. Keith should ask if he can return his friends. Get store credit, maybe. It’s not worth it.

Hunk smiles sunnily when Keith manages to pull away from his pillow, proving his point. Keith scowls extra hard at him.

“I am busy, Hunk.”

“I need parts,” he pleads, hands pressed together and under his chin. “Pretty pretty please.”

“You have a lion that you can pilot yourself!”

“I need the parts for the lion. Duh.”

Keith groans again. He should say no. He probably can say no. If it was urgent, Coran would be flying the castle for the parts. Hunk is coming to Keith because he knows damn well that Keith is a sucker with a saviour complex. Keith is not going to give in this time.

…Except he is so. Because he is a sucker with a fucking saviour complex.

Fuck.

“You’re bumped down to third favourite,” Keith grouches, rolling off the bed and allowing himself three seconds to sprawl on the floor.

“Yeah, right,” Hunk snorts.

Keith growls. Hunk, wisely, chooses against anymore teasing or commentary, deciding instead to quickly back away and head back down to his workshop.

“Okay thanks Keith bye! Love you bunches!”

Keith rolls his eyes, fighting off the smile that traitorously wants to fight it’s way across his lips, and reaches for his comm to get the details of Hunk’s errand.

“I am going to fucking bite him,” he says, carefully controlled, as he reads the message.

MISSION SHOULD YOU ACCEPT: get parts for hunk because you love him so

OBJECTIVE: obtain 174g of Noxalian black ore (pure as possible)

PEOPLE NECESSARY: two so you should take lance probably ;)

LOCATION: Noxalia-1242

DANGER LEVEL: like -2 but you’re so whipped for lance that it probably brings it up to like a 12 lol. loser

He’s red in the ears and it’s goddamn annoying, is what it is, because these are official mission documents, Hunk, which means they are technically public Coalition information once the mission has been completed. Public.

Hunk is the worst out of all of them for that. He actually had the highest record of diplomatic incidents caused, because he is actually physically incapable of keeping his comments to himself and this can, as one might anticipate, offend a large number of people.

But since he is a good fucking friend (the best, maybe) especially because his friends are class four menaces who do not deserve it in the slightest, Keith drags himself away from his bedroom and towards the materials room, where he knows Lance is.

He makes his frustration known.

Despite the fact that he was stomping like a petulant child and Lance has ears akin to the sonar receptors of a Navy submarine, Lance doesn’t react when he comes into the room, hunched as he is over a project of his.

Keith stops short. He grins wickedly, mood suddenly shifted.

Oh ho.

Oh ho ho.

Quieter, now, although he knows it doesn’t matter, Keith creeps towards the Red Paladin. He makes sure his footfalls are soundless and soft, just like he was taught by the Blades, and his body is directly behind Lance, in the blind spot of his peripheral vision. He focuses on the chair Lance is sitting on rather than his actual person so as to not envoy the feeling of being stared at. And quietly, quietly, he sneaks up behind him.

“RAH!” he shouts, seizing Lance’s shoulders and shaking them. Lance shrieks at the top of his lungs, jumping twelve cubic meters into the air, flailing wildly and sending his sketchbook flying at Keith’s face. Lance’s aim, as it always is, rings true, and the spine of the heavy book nails Keith directly on the bridge of his nose.

“Ow!” Keith yells, pain made worse by the heaving gasps of his laughter.

“¡Chingada madre de cráneo grueso!” Lance screams, hand pressed to his chest, and then, for Keith’s benefit, continues: “You mother fucker! You backwards, tumbleweed-guzzling, sand-eating, cow-fucking son of a minotaur! I’ll fucking get you! I’ll fucking — crush you to death! Come closer, Kogane, I swear to God I’ll wreck your shit —”

Breathless, weak, and wheezing, there’s nothing Keith can do to avoid Lance’s menacing advancing. He can’t even summon the strength to lift his arms to defend himself from Lance’s smacking. He just sits there, taking it, laughing harder every time he remembers just how fucking high Lance had jumped.

“You fucking — stop fucking laughing! Asshole!”

Lance’s expression is only growing more murderous. His mouth is pulled back in a snarl and he sure are shit isn’t pulling his punches. The only thing assuring Keith that he’s not genuinely about to die, curled on the floor, completely devoid of dignity, is the ever-present warmth in Lance’s brown eyes, even as they’re narrowed in fury.

“I — I’m sorry,” Keith wheezes, loosely wrapping his hands around Lance’s ankle as he kicks him. “Please. Oh my God. Stop. I cant breathe.”

“I hope you suffocate!” Lance shrieks.

“Lance, please,” Keith begs. With more strength than he knew he had, Keith heaves a giant, calming breath, shoving the image of Lance’s face as he’d practically flipped off the chair far into the recesses of his mind. Fuck. “I’m sorry. You were so focused. I couldn’t resist.”

Lance huffs. He kicks Keith one last time for prosperity before plopping on the floor next to him, scowl still affixed to his face, but lips twitching with a clear attempt to keep it there.

“I’m allowing your amusement because I laughed today when Senator Grmsx called you a toad. But watch your back.”

“Noted,” Keith says with amusement. He sighs, breath shuddering with the last of his laughter, and stretches out, sliding his feet under Lance’s thighs and resting the back of his skull on the floor. He stares at the ceiling until his vision gets unfocused and blurry, making the glowing blue streaks warp and swirl. He smiles slightly when he feels Lance’s arm hook around his bent knees.

“I got conned,” he laments, flipping his arms behind his head.

Lance hums. “Hunk?”

“Yep.”

“Capitalised on your intense need to do things for your friends to send you on errands?”

“Mhm.”

“Sucks to suck.”

Keith tucks his folded hands under his head and looks up at Lance, smiling in a mirror to Hunk, earlier, sweet and guilty and hopeful. “Well…”

Lance pulls away, waving his hands. “Nuh-uh. No way. You’re not dragging me into your shit, Superman. You want to help everyone around you like the tryhard golden retriever you are, that’s a you problem. I’m a bitch on purpose so I can be errand-free.”

“Please?” Keith tries, batting his eyelashes. The thirteen year old version of himself in his head is dying of embarrassment. (Good. He can suffer for a bit. He used to insist on sleeping on the floor because sleeping on a bed was ‘too mainstream’.)

Lance glares at him. Keith can actually physically see his resolve breaking. He’s very smug about it.

“Ugh,” Lance says.

“Thank you,” Keith says, smirking.

“Ugh,” Lance says again, much more pointed. “Where are we even going?”

Keith climbs to his feet, offering a hand to pull Lance up, too. He stretches and shifts his shoulders, leading them both out of the material room and down to the hangars.

“Noxalia-1242. Hunk needs some kind of ore.”

Lance gasps, dropping Keith’s hand. It is then that Keith realises that they were holding hands, and chokes on his own spit.

“Noxalia-1242? You sure?”

“Yes,” Keith rasps, still dying. Lance doesn’t notice, beaming so wide his eyes are nearly forced shut. He lets out this shout of excitement and wiggles, a little, like he can’t contain himself, and it’s so fucking cute that Keith somehow chokes again, which he didn’t think was possible. There’s a genuine concern that he may pass away.

“You should’ve led with that! Let’s go let’s go let’s go!”

He sprints the rest of the way to Black’s hangar, dragging Keith along. Keith tries desperately to get ahold of himself. It works about 27%, which is way more than he was expecting.

Lance is practically bouncing in glee the entire trip, scrambling out of his seatbelt and twirling around the cabin the second they breach the castle’s orbit. He’s actually humming to himself. Keith’s grinning so wide it hurts, and he doesn’t even know why they’re excited. Lance is just — infectious, as he always is; bright and all-encompassing and sparkling.

It’s a struggle and a half to land, and not just because Lance is being distracting. (Or, well, that Keith is distracted by him. It’s not really Lance’s fault. Keith was once distracted by Lance yawning, for reasons he’s too embarrassed to admit even to himself.) The surface of the planet is slate grey and thick with swirling, furious clouds, and it’s a testament to Black’s power that they manage to stay mostly steady, because Keith is a good pilot but he well and truly can’t see shit. The landing is rough.

“C’mon, c’mon!” Lance urges, out of his seatbelt faster than Keith can blink and rushing him to get out of his. “Let’s go!”

“I’m coming, Jesus,” Keith mumbles, finally releasing that damn buckle. He has to sprint to keep up with Lance, following him to the slowly opening hatch.

When they get to the open door, Keith is assaulted with a gust of frigid air and a spray of water. He curses, ducking to the side, hiking his collar over his head so he doesn’t get too soaked. He wishes he’d known to bring his armour.

“Fuck, it’s — pouring!”

Lance laughs, delighted, and before Keith can even think to stop him he sprints down the ramp, into the rain, soaked to the bone immediately.

“Lance! Lance — come back here! What are you doing?!”

But Lance only laughs again, and Keith can’t hear it because of a roar of thunder but he can see it in the giant grin on Lance’s face, open-mouthed, and the way he squeezes his eyes shut and tips his head back and opens his arms to the skies like he’s worried the rain isn’t soaking enough of him.

“You’re going to get pneumonia, you anaemic dumbass!” Keith shouts.

“Come join me!” Lance shouts back.

The worst part is that Keith doesn’t even think.

He stumbles down the ramp without even a second of hesitation, before he’d even realized he’d moved, cursing the whole time, shocked with the sudden onslaught of cold and windy and wet. There’s something about the way Lance said it, not come out here not it’s just rain, dorkus not come get wet!, but come join me. Like it’s not about the rain but about the rain with Lance.

The very iron in Keith’s blood is pulled to him like the world’s strongest magnet.

“If I wanted to get soaked for no reason I’d jump in the pool fully clothed,” Keith grumbles, but there’s a breathless quality to his voice that cannot he muffled.

For the first time since he sprinted out of Black like a madman, Lance tears his face away from the heavens, looking at Keith with eyes that seem impossibly dark with from the reflection of the clouds, almost black as the storm.

“You hate the rain?”

“Yes!” Keith says emphatically, but he hears his own voice like a distant echo, far away. Lance’s laughter is bright and feels louder than the thunder, like clinking gold bangles. Keith’s heart drops to his stomach and his eyes go wider than planets.

Lance turns, slowly, hands still spread wide, face easy and open and peaceful in a way Keith has never seen on him, turned back up the the pelting rain, every droplet doing something to him that makes him glow.

“How could anyone hate the rain?”

Suddenly, wholly, breathlessly, Keith doesn’t. His collar slides from his slackened fingers and flops back over his neck, soaked through. His hair plasters to his forehead and it’s wet and cold and water drips directly into his eyes but suddenly he is warmed from the very centre of himself, ricocheting outwards.

“It’s breathtaking,” Keith finally admits, and he is, this son of the skies, this boy of the rain. He is the most breathtaking thing Keith has ever seen in his life.

He swallows, tilts his head up to the sky, and smiles.

———

based on this post

[vee-is-a-clown]

Ok you know what makes me angry? Why is Allura so mature and humble? She's a daddy's girl only child princess who was set to inherit a flourishing kingdom. Sure, she's well educated and probably elegant and graceful and tactful because that's how she was raised to act for diplomatic reasons but she was also probably spoiled throughout her adolescence. She probably got whatever she wanted whenever she wanted because her family had the resources to give it to her. Who's to say she isn't a spoiled brat who can otherwise act kind and approachable? Even if she isn't a brat, she was still handed her life on a silver platter. She has to learn how to operate and be self sufficient.

When she gets out of that pod, she should be scared. She should be angry. And she deserves to be so. Her father that she relied on for just about everything shoved her into a sleeping pod and suddenly she's awoken by someone who isn't him. Logically, that means he lost. She should be kicking and screaming. She should be having the worst panic attack ever. She should be mourning everyone and everything she's ever known. She should be mourning the status quo that will never again be maintained. She should be mourning the future that can never come to fruition.

She has to figure out life without any system or technology that she's ever relied on. Coran doesn't know how to fix and maintain everything. She's like one of those people that wake up from 10+ year comas and don't understand modern technology. She is my dad who has had the same flip phone since forever and now must figure out how to use a phone with a touch screen.

Every luxury she had as a princess is gone. The castle chef who knew exactly how she liked her food. Her mother's ladies in waiting who told her the castle gossip. Her own ladies in waiting who'd sneak out to festivals and other trivial things with her. The cleaners that arranged her room exactly as she liked it. HER MOM. I don't care if she was a daddy's girl, she still has got to miss her mom.

I feel like she should've had more outbursts. Seeing Keith in the red paladin armor should've made her cry. In fact, all of them should have. The new paladins in their armor is a symbol of a new era- an era without the people she loves. She deserves to scream at the top of her lungs and lock herself in her room and trash something. She should be yelling that life isn't fair. She should be angry. She should be so angry.

I don't care if she's trying to hold it together for the paladins in the show. She's holding together too well. She needs more moments of instability. She needs to grieve. She needs to be tired. She needs to be imperfect.

[cozycringe]

Been developing my Voltron/Wings of Fire AU some more and finally came up with some more designs

Started getting lazy after Allura, but I managed to fit most the characters I wanted to design before my hand got tired.

Since the paladins are phyrrian dragons, it made sense for the aliens to be pantalan dragons to me because they’re on a different continent n stuff.

Allura and Coran are both silkwings and also the supposed last of their kind

Zarkon is a beetlewing, they’re canonically extinct but he’s like a gajillion years old so I think him being an extinct dragon race is pretty fitting. Haggar is a silkwing but it’s not very apparent with her hood, so most dragons assume she’s a hivewing (the galra are hivewings in this AU). Lotor is a hive and or beetle/silk hybrid, he’s just a silly guy fr.

[kismetconstellations]

Shiro from Voltron for the character ask game

To spare my poor followers' dashboards a massive wall of text, my answers will be found behind the cut. Let's regroup there, shall we?

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I love Shiro because he demonstrates so perfectly that a person's trauma does not have to define them. No matter what kind of Hell they've been subjected to, they always have the option to remain gentle, compassionate, and kind. Even when they're afraid. Even when they believe themselves to be "broken", or monstrous because of what they had to do to survive.

One can rise above attempts to break them, and be so much more than the people who mistreated them tried to force them to be.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

His personality. Even when he isn't being everything that epitomizes a true hero- brave, selfless, strong-willed, empathetic, always looking after others and willing to risk his life for them at the drop of a hat- he's so much fun to watch. From his moments of tired, resigned irritation and bemusement with others' antics,

to his quiet fascination with Altean technology and concepts, like water pouches and their time measurement system,

to the moments where he's just a great big dorky sweetheart.

People who think he's "boring" because he's a workaholic soldier who isn't as inclined to shenanigans and over the top reactions as his younger comrades aren't paying attention. He's an extremely dynamic, multi-faceted character just begging to be explored by someone who loves him and all of his depth and multitudes.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

How he's handled by the team of inept showrunners who helmed this messy disaster of a cartoon.

He has no real support system, something I can only imagine is due to him being the commanding officer to a group of teenagers he can't truly confide in, and the intention to have him fill a Doomed Mentor role, despite him being inadvertently written as The Chosen One. His biological family is virtually non-existent. The only other proper adult he could look to for advice is the designated comic relief. There were opportunities for him to be taken in by the Holts, given their mutual fondness for each other, or even Allura and Coran. Allura and Shiro seemed to have developed an even stronger bond (offscreen, of course) after she saved his life.

(I have a theory that Allura's quintessence alchemy altered Shiro's DNA, which is why his new arm could only be safely powered by the Balmeran crystal from Allura's tiara, and the Atlas, similarly powered by Altean magic, responds to Shiro and Shiro alone, establishing a mental link with him the same way Allura had with the Castle of Lions. But, that's for another unhinged essay.)

And, when Coran confronts Iverson about strapping Shiro to a table in the pilot, he refers to Shiro as "our Shiro".

But, neither of these avenues were ever explored, as Shiro was "retired" and relegated to side-character status, leaving him isolated from everyone, including his best friend who loves him.

The ableism surrounding his disability is disgusting. He's a forced amputee twice over. He spends most of an entire season standing mute on the sidelines without a right arm, and there's absolutely no acknowledgement of his missing limb, that his best friend is the reason why it's gone, or inquiries into how being rendered effectively "useless" after coming back from the dead is affecting Shiro's already poor mental health.

(Does Shiro sleep? Does he have pajamas he can even change into, or is he supposed to wear the Black Paladin armor the entire trip back to Earth? Is he able to shower with that stump, or does it pose an electrocution hazard if it comes into contact with water? Is there anything available for him to do so he isn't standing silently around, losing his mind?)

His best friend's mother tells him to stay out of a fight, and he meekly accepts the order, never making another attempt to be anything other than a helpless bystander until he's been outfitted with a new arm that he, once again, has no say in the design of. An arm that is bulky and over-sized, impractical, likely extremely uncomfortable, and sickeningly mirrors his abuser's.

The same abuser who filled his head with taunts about his previous prosthetic being the "strongest part" of him, and the same abuser who tortured him and is implied to have raped him.

An ally tells him that he would be stronger with "two robotic arms", almost mocking the fact that Shiro's right arm was deliberately taken from him to be replaced by a weapon. And, this is never called out or questioned.

A punch that he lands on his abuser with his organic fist only incites a mocking sneer before Shiro is flung across the body of the ship that they're fighting on like a ragdoll.

After being made to feel washed-up and old at twenty-six, Shiro participates in an arm-wrestling tournament that he wins-- using the ill-proportioned prosthetic modeled after his abuser's.

I don't know if there was no one on the staff who was aware of the vile implications in this handling of a disabled character, but when one considers the similar grotesque handling of intense trauma and passive suicidal ideation... It doesn't exactly paint a pretty picture of the ideas and beliefs that went into the writing on this show.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

This is so silly and indulgent, but... What immediately comes to mind is, instead of him dying in the second season's finale and spending four entire seasons helplessly roaming and languishing on the Astral Plane, I would have him magically transported to the beach episode of a slice of life anime.

He would get to play volleyball with and be fawned over by a bunch of pretty, shirtless men with glistening, sun-kissed skin. As he deserves. ( ᵘ ᵕ ᵘ ⁎)

5. What’s the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

"Lazarus Drug", by Meg Washington. Longtime followers of my silly little blog might be aware of my love for Bluey, which is how I was introduced to this gorgeous piece of music. It was used to masterful effect in the twenty-eight minute special episode, The Sign.

When I was struggling to come up with a title for my Shiro-centric character study/fix-it fic, "Lazarus Drug" proved to be a lifesaver.

"And when I hear you calling, Like you were always there, I rise until I'm hanging in the Middle of the air

And when I hear you calling, I split like I'm a snake With golden light like fingers And, then I start to break

Into a billion pieces Oh, I shatter into constellations Like I've never been more here Like I completely disappear

I'm nothingness, but shining And everywhere at once I'm everything and everyone Who is or ever was."

6. What’s something you have in common with this character?

Less than stellar mental health as a result of trauma.

7. What’s something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

There are so many jaw-droppingly stunning and breathtaking pieces of Shiro fan art out there. I also greatly appreciate fanfics, meta, and analyses that take all of his trauma and his disability, and how they would realistically impact his daily life, into account.

Christening him "The Unkillable Gay", and "Gay God", is also pretty darned fantastic.

8. What’s something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Dark Shiro, Shiro-bashing (usually in tandem with Allura-bashing), sidelining him due to ageism, ignoring his canon sexuality to give Keith reason to angst over Shiro not accepting him in K/L fics, minimizing Shiro's role in Keith's life to focus on their preferred ship, having Shiro adopt or be biologically related to Keith, especially if Adam is co-parenting and Keith has more of a bond with him than Shiro (it's pretty obvious why certain shippers do this), depicting him as high-libido and sexually aggressive/an Alpha/dominant/top, even more so when he gets off on being called "daddy", expressing a belief that he should have stayed dead in service of Keith's character, treating him and his clone as the same person... Just to name a few.

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

I don't see why not.

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

I'd love to think that I could be. But, realistically, I'd be too nervous to ever approach him and strike up a conversation. >////<'

11. Would you date this character?

Though he is undeniably gorgeous, we are romantically incompatible, I'm afraid.

12. What’s a headcanon you have for this character?

Shiro moved to the United States with his grandfather in late childhood, between the ages of eight and ten. That's why he speaks perfect English with no trace of an accent.

13. What’s an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

☆

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

Classic Hollywood pilot aesthetic; aviation jacket with (faux) fur lining, patches on the sleeve, and a tight t-shirt or tank top underneath, sometimes with aviator sunglasses folded over the collar or worn over his eyes, military dog tags around his neck, the sort of clingy, curve-flattering pants that he canonically favors, and knee-high combat boots. Scarf is optional.

I also love a soft formal look on him. Crisp dress shirt and tie with a vest over top, perfectly tailored slacks, and shiny black loafers.

15. What’s your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn’t matter if it’s canon or not.)

I'm going to go with Shiro/Keith, though I very much have a fondness for Shiro/Hunk, as well.

Keith's devotion to Shiro is exactly the level of devotion that Shiro deserves, though Keith could stand to tone the intensity of it down just a tad. His willingness to throw his life away for Shiro would be a massive source of anxiety for Shiro, and something they'd have to discuss, among many other topics, before entering a serious romantic relationship.

And, Hunk is such a sweetheart, he'd spoil and pamper Shiro in all of the best ways. When he's of legal consenting age, of course.

(I also may or may not crack-ship him with Sven.)

16. What’s your least favorite ship for this character?

Romantic Shiro/Pidge, and Shiro/Sendak. An adult gay man and a female child, and a trauma survivor and his personal tormentor is a great big "no thanks" for me.

17. What’s a ship for this character you don’t hate but it’s not your favorite that you’re fine with?

Shiro/Lance, and Shiro/Matt. I prefer Shiro and Matt as friends, and overexposure to Lance thanks to a hyper-zealous fanbase has done a fairly good job of putting me off of him. Which sucks, because I genuinely like him just fine in the show, itself. I don't mind either ship, and have read fic for them. They're just not prospects for Shiro that I ever seriously entertain.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

I love Shiro and Pidge's relationship in the early episodes. The way he is so gentle, encouraging, and protective with her, basically becoming a second older brother, and how she comes to trust and rely on him as a confidante, enough that she personally seeks him out to tell him that she plans to leave the team to search for her father and brother, knowing he will understand, stole my heart almost immediately, and stole it hard.

It's incredibly disheartening that, after his resurrection, we only get tidbits and table scraps of that relationship.

Why did Shiro start riding with her in the Green Lion on the journey back to Earth? Who knows? The writers certainly weren't going to tell us, because Shiro was so thoroughly a side-character, by that point, he and Pidge- if I'm recalling correctly- only talked to each other onscreen one time.

Never forget what they took from us.

(Also ignore that they forgot to draw Shiro's scar.)

19. How about a relationship they have in canon that you don’t like?

No offense to Mr. Set-Dressing, but there is nothing that points to these characters having any sort of even platonic relationship, let alone the kind of chemistry that would lead to a marriage a few years down the line. They never address each other by name, or at all, when they're not exchanging commands in the heat of battle. "Curtis" has more personal interaction with Acxa. And, I swear Shiro only looks away from the console on the Atlas's bridge to physically acknowledge this man once.

The animators certainly did poor "Curtis" no favors, either, by making him look like a sad, pathetic older man who couldn't lift or dip his strapping younger groom on their wedding day.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn’t matter?

I adore the idea of Shiro and Allura as best friends, and would have loved to have seen some genuine interaction between the Real Shiro and Matt, after Shiro attacked Matt to save his life. Alas...

21. If you’re a fic writer and have written for this character, what’s your favorite thing to do when you’re writing for this character? What’s something you don’t like?

I've only very recently started writing for Shiro, and don't see myself doing much more than the aforementioned character study/fix-it fic. That said, I love getting into his head to really flesh him out, his psychology, his illness, his failed relationship, his experience in captivity, and using the members of his found family as conduits for him to realize just how special and good to his core he truly is. Like what should have happened in canon.

I don't like writing about him suffering, but part of recovering from trauma is processing it. And, processing often involves reliving the traumatic event as you walk a trusted friend, loved one, or mental health professional through it in the hopes that they will then offer you the greatly needed comfort and support and skills to cope that you didn't have, at the time it occurred.

22. If you’re a fic reader, what’s something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don’t like?

I love in-character portrayals of Shiro in Hurt/Comfort settings that address the sheer magnitude of his trauma, and emphasize how unfailingly brave, strong, compassionate, and altruistic in spite of it all that he has always been and always will be.

I'm not a fan of him being treated like he's "oblivious", or "emotionally constipated" for not immediately acting on an Anguished Declaration of Love that Keith gave to "Kuron", and prefaced with, "You're my brother".

And, I've covered before, in detail, how much it irks and baffles me when Lance fans give Lance traits distinct and exclusive to Shiro in an effort to try to turn him into Shiro, instead of accepting him as he is.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

Tough call, since there are so many, but, I do think this one is the winner:

I love that, despite his strong jaw, his features are so gentle and soft, and the silver hair truly lends him an ethereal quality. That arm is ghastly, but it doesn't detract from just how pretty Shiro is, and how much that Admiral coat flatters him.

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

I don't participate in the fandom at all, but I've carried a torch for Leonardo from the 2003 incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles since the show was still actively airing and in production. There are so many similarities between Shiro and 2003 Leo that one could almost say there's a specific type of character that I'm drawn to like gravity hurtling a ship into a planet with a crash-landing imminent and the projected number of casualties astronomical.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

My first impression of Shiro, when I watched the pilot and second episode back in 2016, was that he was my favorite character of the lot. I was drawn to him for all of the reasons stated above. But, once I became aware of the online fandom drama, I backed off, only watching three more episodes (A Little Adventure and Lions' Pride I and II) in 2018 for Shiro/Keith shipping reasons before becoming a lurker on the peripheral, exploring fanmade content without engaging with the show, itself. It wasn't until earlier this year that I finally grit my teeth, braced myself, and committed to watching at least the seasons where the Real Shiro is featured in full.

I both immensely regret that decision for the sheer levels of frustration, fury, and deeply-rooted sadness at all of the wasted potential that I opened myself up to, and don't regret it at all. Because, I sincerely love Shiro and wish with all of my heart that he, and especially Allura and Coran and even Hunk, were handled by infinitely better writers in an infinitely better show.

----

Thank you so very, very much for asking! ❤

[thingsjusthappensometimes]

Tired Ineffable Parents. — Got hyperfixated on this, and cranked it out in two days. If I’m not a sucker for “dangerously soft*”, I don’t know what I am. *credit to Coran on the DIWS Discord. —

Reference Image Here

[veryace-ficrecs]

looking for voltron (legendary defenders) found family or klance, i love some good banter. i’m also always up for some good angst but no pressure there

I can sure do that for you!

Voltron Fic Recs

This Is The Part Of Me (That You're Never Gonna Ever Take Away) by negativefouriq - Rated T

Lance finishes reading the file, then turns to face Shiro. Shiro braces himself for an onslaught of questions, and readies himself to message Coran — “Is this your way of quietly kicking me off Voltron?” — and freezes. Huh? “Pardon?” Lance swallows roughly, eyes trained on his fidgety hands. “Um, I asked if this is your way of kicking me off the team,” Lance repeats. Shiro has never felt more like his brain was completely empty, because he has no fucking clue what to say. --- OR: Shiro and Lance have a misunderstanding. But Shiro wants nothing except for his kids to be happy, so he clears things up as quickly as possible.

Singularity by this_book_has_been_loved - Rated T

AU where instead of landing in the trash nebula, Pidge finds herself on the same planet as a certain Galra prison camp

The Lost Paladin by dinosuns - Rated T

If he doesn’t leave, all of him will be reduced to cinders. But if he leaves, all of him will be undone. A course that he will choose to chart, no matter how it breaks his heart. It’s a battle that cannot be won. - Their names burn inside him, seared onto his soul. Black coal sits in the centre of his chest, fuelling a fire that was soon to be smothered by the very people that set it ablaze.

Bad Diagnosis by ElfGrove - Rated T

Pidge has been having bad headaches for nearly a week straight, so she decides to see if the infirmary has some sort of Altean Advil. The actual news is not so great.

Tag in, tag out by Rangergirl3 - Rated T

When a teammate is in danger, Keith doesn't stand by when there is something he can do to help - even if it might cost him his life.

Family Can Be 2 Aliens and 5 Ex-Paladins by Lilacs_and_the_sea - Rated G

The war is over, and everyone's back home with their family. Everyone except Keith.

i'm family? by seph_bites - Rated T

“You were right when you said I shouldn’t be leader. All of you were right and Shiro was wrong. I can’t be what you guys need,” he said quietly. “No,” Hunk said defiantly. “You’re the one who’s wrong. Because you’ve been there for us. You didn’t want to be the leader of Voltron but you did it anyway. For us.” “And I almost got all of you killed in the process! Look, once Shiro can pilot Black again, what would I stay for?” “Us! You’re supposed to say us, you asshole!”

A Family By Any Other Name by Calacious - Rated T

Lance and Keith discover a lone survivor on a planet whose inhabitants have been wiped out by a virus brought to them by a visitor from another universe.

the perfect pair by polypinneaple - Rated T

“Don’t– you know it’s not different Shiro, Pidge and I work just as much if not more and what, they can just skip practice today because they’re homesick, or what, tired? This is a war!” “If they can’t pull their weight then maybe they shouldn’t be here. No! I don’t want to hear it, I’m going to go train.” ••• Hunk wasn’t an angry guy, he wasn’t short tempered or easily poked. But something about the way Keith spoke about Lance made him furious, he didn’t care what these people thought about him, but his Lance? Hunk would go to war and die fighting if it meant Lance was happy. AKA Lance and Hunk deal with feeling like outsiders to Team Voltron during their first few weeks in, it doesn't go well.

It's Okay by TerrificTea - Not Rated

It was supposed to be a simple intel mission. In and out. Simple right? But this is Voltron, and now Lance and Pidge are trapped after an explosion, leaving Pidge concussed, confused and with a rapidly growing concern for her teammate.

Voltron Means Family, And Family Means No One Gets Left Behind by Spazzcat - Rated G

Five times the merchant vessel Castle of Lions gained a new crew member, and one time they all refused to leave.

Family, Then and Now by NightPurity - Rated G

Hunk likes to bake, but sometimes, his thoughts get a tight hook into him and start to pull him down. Coran, he happens to stumble upon a hurting Hunk. Sometimes, it hurts thinking about those you've lost, but also, it helps to talk about it. Of course, hope can help keep you afloat.

[ria-777]

There is not enough letters in the alphabet for me to tell you how much I love you

A - Affection

It was so unexpected.

Maybe it wouldn't have been if he questioned himself sooner, but feelings were never his field of expertise.

One morning, like any others, she sat down next to him for breakfast, like she did for every meal of the day and greeted him with a simple, "Good morning Keith," accompanied by a gentle and tired smile.

He always thought it was pretty cute, but she probably wouldn't appreciate the comment. He responded kindly.

Like usual.

Nothing less. Nothing more.

So why the heck did his heart skip a beat like that? Sure, sometimes he worried his cheeks might turn red, but today, it was like a truck hit him and then reversed to be positive he was as crushed as an ant.

Since he was young, Keith always doubted that one day, he'd find his person and instantly know it. There wouldn't be fireworks all around them while the world disappeared and everything became blurred except for them. Careless whispers wouldn't start playing out of nowhere. No one would be able to see his heart beat fast, as if it was trying to pierce through the skin of his chest in a comic way, making a loud sound. His pupils wouldn't take the form of hearts as he stared lovingly at this amazing girl while hers did the same.

That was ridiculous.

She just began eating what Hunk cooked, for once choosing to participate in the conversation while he panicked inside, hoping it wasn't showing too much. That would be embarrassing and the boy wasn't sure he could play it off at the moment.

What were you supposed to do in those kinds of situations?

Act like everything was normal? It sounded nearly impossible, coming from one of the guys who fights aliens every day and had been on the verge of death more than once.

Be nicer than usual? How did he typically behave? Why couldn't he remember their past interactions without noticing how pretty she always looked? Too many questions.

Grab her hand under the table? No way, he'd freak her out. That was like the opposite of acting casually.

Ask Shiro for advice? No, he wanted to figure this out on his own.

Prepare some kind of stunning declaration of his undying love? This was way out of character for him and not the type of things she seemed to be into.

No. No. No.

None of these were good enough ideas. Despite how hard the first one appeared unimaginable to accomplish, it was the best option. For now.

Keith had no idea if he could pretend he was careless of everything while Pidge sat next to him, unaware of the chaos she caused in his brain.

Where could that kind of affection have come from?

Of course he found himself fond of their other teammates for some time now, more than he thought possible when he first met them on that fateful night. Even if he still had some trouble voicing it out.

This was probably why the blue paladin liked to call him emotionally constipated.

Actions were how he did things, how he showed he cared.

Shiro had been his favorite person since the day they met, being the first to actually pay attention to him since his dad tragically passed away.

Hunk was a nice guy to talk to, understanding that it wasn't because the red paladin stayed mostly silent that the conversation didn't interest him. He liked their discussions, so much that just listening was honestly enjoyable and didn't make him uncomfortable in any way.

Even if Lance could still be obnoxious and get on his nerves from time to time, it was bearable, more than he was willing to admit. Some of his jokes were actually a bit funny too, a secret Keith was prepared to take to the grave, not even the Galra could force this kind of information out of him.

Allura, ever since finding out he was part Galra and had a pretty bad reaction to that news, they were getting along quite well. She was kinda like a big sister, caring, but knew how to be bossy and annoy him.

And then, there was Coran who was... well, Coran. There were honestly no better words to describe him. When they were back on earth, they should try making his name an adjective, or at least a type of person that fitted his... special character.

However, his feelings toward Pidge were way out of... of what?

What should be acceptable?

His competences? Hers? Theirs?

He wasn't about to give up because of something foreign to him. If he did so, God knows that being a paladin of Voltron, who consistently had to face new kinds of dangers and environment would be impossible.

Keith had realized some time ago that she had an effect on him, but only now, as she observed him waiting for an answer, all of their eyes were on him. Someone had probably asked a question while they were all still sitting around the table for breakfast. "Sorry, can you repeat, I wasn't paying attention?”

Was her face a bit red? "I was just wondering if you were okay. You barely said anything since you sat down and were just staring." Oh, had it been that long already Keith thought, realizing all of their plates were close to being empty. Maybe they were all just very hungry and ate in five ticks?

"I'm fine, just tired." She simply nodded, avoiding looking him directly in the eyes. "Suuuure, that's why you were gazing at Pidgeon there for the entire meal, 'cause you were exhausted, noooooo other reasons at all." That's why he refused to admit Lance didn't piss him off all the time. He still knew how to pull his strings and ruin the mood.

"Lance, leave him alone." Keith didn't have to look at Shiro to know he was thinking like the Cuban, his tone of voice said it all. Not like he cared right now.

All he could ponder about was how he was going to make Katie "Pidge" Holt his. One way or another. No matter the effort it would take.

(Posted on ao3 and wattpad)

[buggiewrites]

Homesickness

The projection of the far off blue planet flickered as Lance spoke, his voice tired and worn. “Homesickness' 'he says with a shrug, almost as if it's not that big of a deal.. Corans heart drops as soon as the paladin's simple one-word response sinks in. A pause. Coran studies his face and he looks lost in his thoughts. Memories.

Coran looks away, feeling as though he's prying. He lets his gaze drift to the earthlings planet. Fascinated with the way it's spinning on its axis virtually. His grandfather's creation never ceases to amaze him. The castle as a whole was so well thought out, even the subtle designs of the slick white walls had Coran taken aback.

Suddenly the silence is broken “Earth.” Lance continues sounding almost melancholy. “The green grass, the blue sky's…” with a huff “I miss it. We all do. It's our home.” He states it matter of factly. Hiccups a weak cry. “The water…That's my home.” He utters it almost under his breath. Then wipes a tear away with the back of his hand. Another sharp breath.

“The salty waves. The rain on my cheeks. I miss that too.” “Rain?” Coran asks. “It's water that falls from the sky” Lance replies sounding much more upbeat. Reminisce of the voice he uses to explain earthling customs to the princess seeping through.

“You know I was always swimming! My whole life. In fact, that's pretty normal on the part of the planet I come from. My whole family surfs!” Coran can feel the confusion setting on his face. The blue paladin seems to notice. Before Coran can even fully acknowledge it, Lance's body is chirping up. The whole mood shifted in a moment.

“It's a sport where you take a fiberglass cloth or foam like bord and ride a wave!” He explains it with hand movements forming what Coran assumes to be the “Bord” . Even with the visual demonstration he finds himself lost. He nods his head anyways. Sensing that Lance has more to say.At the end of the day Coran would rather have the paladins performing well mentally. So he listens as Lance continues.

“It's like a past time on Earth!” Full blown smile on his face. Coran shivers in response, sensing the facade. Making note of the way that Lance went from wiping away tears mere moments ago. Lance turns his attention back towards the rotating version of his home planet. “My dad is a sailor. He's been sailing his whole life…” He trails off looking strangely content.

The harsh blue cast of light from the castle's projection system makes it obvious that Lance has tears prickling at the corners of his eyes despite his look of contentment. “Before he met my mom before I was born… That was the way he would make money!” His smile seems more believable now Coran notices. “He would gather fish in big nets for people to eat. In fact, all of my aunts and uncles on that side of my family love boating!” With a snicker, he turns back to Coran and says “My Abuela always said that if I swim too much I'll become a fish.” His eyebrows shoot up. Arms simultaneously flailing out at that.

“A fish?” Coran is wildly aware of how bewildered he sounds. “Oh it's an aquatic animal that people eat ya know?!” Coran didn't know but he smiled regardless, nodded and tried to be patient with the blue paladin. He knew the feeling of homesickness and Lance needed his head to be clear in battle. So every few days or so they would swap stories of home. Something they both found therapeutic.

“I love fishing too. But surfing has my heart. I remember the first time I had a midnight surfing competition.” He's been competitive all his life. Coran thought. “My brother Marco woke me up and we snuck out and took our siblings surfboards out of the shed. My Ma always locks it but Macro swiped the key that night. We were hoping for good waves but the water was still. I didn't mind though. We swam out as far as we dared and just sat there on our boards quietly.” Silence followed. Not in an uncomfortable way. Coran can't quite recall the last time the quiet had been uncomfortable with the young paladin. Then with a quick sharp inhale Lance continued.

“I was staring at the stars in the water and I remember thinking that I could reach out and grab them. I was so close yet so far. The constellations over our beach were my home. It was like we were sailing in the night sky and I wanted to be closer.” A hiccupy sob escaped his mouth once again. “When we get back- if we get back. I don't think I can look at them the same.” Then he turned to Coran with this gut wrenching look. . Heartache. That, I am familiar with. Coran thought to himself.

“We will get you back to Earth. Me and Allura are not giving up on you earthlings! And hey! When we get there you can teach us to surf!"

 Teaching Allura to surf didn't sound so bad, Lance thought to himself. Coan mentioned something about her being afraid of water as a child. Lance imagend a young princess running up to the edge of the water as a wave creeps up. As she takes a sharp turn and runs back to her dad. Teaching her to surf was an amazing idea. 

They'd start slowly. He'd push the surfbord out onto the water and she´d slowly get on. He'd follow close behind and paddle them out far enough to get her a bit spooked. She would scoot back and get a bit closer. Her back on his front. Skin against skin. With nothing but the familiar itch of sand and salt in between them. 

He closed his eyes and imagined that feeling. The smell of salt water flooded his senses. He subconsciously hummed to himself. When he opened his eyes again- Coran was gazing up at the projection of constellations from the earthlings solar system. With a look in his eyes that only told Lance that he was trying to imagine something similar. Maybe he remembered something from his home. Maybe he was imagining what the earthlings' childhoods were like based on his knowledge of Lances. Lance smiled again. Slowly stood patted Coran on his shoulder as a silent thank you for the surfing suggestion. And walked away.