#vld lance’s dad

[soadscrawl]

i feel very strongly about keiths music taste.

[mushed-kid]

voltron as textposts etc. 33

(featuring @gilyoungroach who also came up with the last one)

[autisticlancemcclain]

“Keith, I need a favour.”

Keith stops in his tracks. Slowly, he sets down the helmets he’s holding, freeing his hands, then holds the phone out in front of him. He ponders it carefully.

“I could throw you into the sea,” he says to it. He does some quick calculations. If he drives to the nearest seafront now, he will be approximately twenty-three hours late to his date with Lance by the time he gets back. However, if he skips the fanfare and drops his phone into the disgusting oil-filled puddle right next to him, he can proceed to his date on schedule.

“Decisions, decisions,” he muses. Fanfare is important. Dropping his phone into a puddle is whatever. It’s derivative. But dropping his phone into the North Atlantic…now that is revolutionary.

“Fucksake. Keith,” sighs the voice coming from the phone. “If you don’t answer me, I am going to change the Netflix password.”

Keith frowns. “Hey.”

“Thank you,” says Shiro emphatically, “you brat.”

“Netflix is sacred,” Keith protests. “You can’t joke about the Netflix. I am a delicate orphan, Shiro. What will happen to me if my primary care figure breaks his promises? I’ll regress and act out and end up in prison. Do you want me to end up in prison?”

“A little, honestly.”

“Gasp, Shiro. Gasp. How dare.”

“I think you should consider a degree in the dramatic arts.”

“I think you should eat my farts.” Keith snickers. “Hey, that rhymed.”

Shiro sighs, long and loud, and Keith can practically see the smile twitching on his face. “Where did I go wrong. Truly. To think I tried to raise an upstanding young man, respectful to his elders, happy to help when needed. Shame that you’re a gremlin and a changeling.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “Blah blah. Get to begging for my help. I have places to be, old man. A new jacket Adam bought me to wear in front of pretty people. Well, one pretty person. Anyways.”

“God, you’re whipped,” Shiro says, and Keith ignores that because if he doesn’t he’ll combust. “You and Lance going out?”

Keith tucks his phone between his ear and his shoulder, picking the helmets back up and continuing his walk to his bike. “Yep.”

“Where’re you going?”

“Dinner at Caribella. It’s an excuse for a ride, really. Maybe walk around downtown for a bit.”

“Sounds fun. How much more fun would it be with your little sister, huh?”

Keith stops for the second time. He can see Red maybe fifty metres away. He looks at her mournfully.

“So close,” he despairs quietly, then turns back to his phone. “Not super fun, Shiro. Since she’s, you know. A year old. And a date is something you traditionally do with your boyfriend. Alone.”

Shiro makes a weirdly strangled noise halfway between a laugh and a stressed croak. “Well! The thing is.”

Keith waits. No thing is listed.

“Shiro.”

“It’s no big deal! Really.”

“Oh? I guess I’ll just hang up, then —”

“It’s just that Adam and I are at his sister’s, right, and —”

“There we go.”

“And we have a sitter. Obviously. All is well. Except, you know. The storm forecast. And everything.”

“And you’re four hours away with a car that you haven’t put snow tires on yet,” Keith surmises. He looks forlornly at his bike, sitting all pretty in her parking spot, freshly polished red paint gleaming under the fluorescent lights of the parking garage. So, so close. “You dumbass.”

“The forecast was clear this morning!”

“You’re a dad! You’re supposed to know these things!”

“Well!”

“Can’t the sitter just — stay? Overnight, or something?”

He feels bad. Any other day, he’d be happy to have Hana over, or go stay over there. He does it all the time. Hana is the coolest. He has no idea how she’s the daughter of the two biggest goobers he knows. Hell, he’s already got plans to watch her this Thursday, so Adam and Shiro can go to their old person museum date thing.

But he has plans tonight.

Fuck.

“She’s sixteen, Keith,” Shiro explains, sighing. Keith envisions his brother slumped against a wall somewhere, rubbing over the scar on his nose. “She’s too young for that. She’s Adam’s friend’s daughter, and she’s a sweetheart, but she’s got school. She can’t be responsible for a baby overnight.”

“No, I — I figured.” He drags his free hand down his face. “You need me to go over there?”

“Yeah. Mara – the sitter – can’t drive yet. Her parents are coming to get her in an hour.”

Shiro’s voice is quiet, subdued. He sounds guilty. Keith hates when Shiro is guilty. He covers his hand over the phone so Shiro can’t hear, screams a little, breathes deeply, then forces a smile wide enough that it will bleed into his voice. Hopefully.

“It’s fine, Shiro. Seriously. Lance and I’ll reschedule, Hana and I will make sure to fuck up your Netflix profile. All is well.”

“Thank you, Keith. I owe you.”

It is a dire thing when Shiro doesn’t complain about Keith messing up his Netflix profile. Once, three years ago, Keith forgot to switch the TV in their living room and watched some Hallmark movie as he sketched, just to make noise in the background. Shiro made snide comments about his taste for three months, because he’s a pretentious indie loser who watches shit like Empire unironically.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll start a tab.”

That, thankfully, makes Shiro snort. “Brat.” He brightens. Keith can almost hear the ding of a lightbulb going off in his head. “Hey, I know it’s dorky, but maybe you and Lance can still go on your date! Me and Adam used to when you were little, in the old apartment.”

Keith furrows his brows. “What, like when you marathoned Lord of the Rings on the shitty futon and ordered the greasiest pizza known to man? That’s not a date.”

“Is so! We enjoyed it, you had pizza so you weren’t having a tantrum, what else could we need?”

“You guys have been weird old people your whole entire life. Did you know that?”

“Only because you aged me. You pain. Anyways. Go pick up my daughter, or you can stay at our place. Minivan keys are where they always are. I gotta go. Love you, kiddo.”

“Ugh. Love you too.” He hangs up, blowing a raspberry at the phone. “Minivan keys are where they always are, he says. What a soccer mom.”

He stares, hands on his hips, at his bike.

What to do, what to do.

He really doesn’t want to cancel on Lance. It’s been a couple days since they’ve seen each other, because Lance’s job hates him. Plus, Hana isn’t very fussy. It’s kind of dweeby and embarrassing, but. Well. Lance likes kids. So it could be fine, honestly.

“Hana first,” Keith decides, nodding to himself. He lifts the seat compartment under the bike and shoves the extra blue helmet in, strapping on his own and starting Red up. To bring Lance to Shiro’s for an embarrassing old person date, or to cancel. That is the question.

Eh. He’ll decide on the ride.

— — —

He does not decide on the ride.

“What do you think,” he asks his sister, lips pursed. She gurgles happily at him from her high chair, shaking her soggy-Cheerio-covered fist at him. “I mean, you go to bed in a couple hours. So it’s not like it’s pure babysitting.”

“Abdalalala,” she says, which Keith translates to mean actually, now that I know you want me to sleep, I will spend tonight completely resistant to sleep, as karma. Enjoy.

“That’s rude,” he informs her.

You’re batshit, says the Pidge that lives in his brain. Also, quit procrastinating.

“Ugh,” he says, out loud. He pulls out his phone and hesitates over Lance’s contact.

to: lance <3

hey you like kids right

from: lance <3

oh my god

from: lance <3

keith, are you…

from: lance <3

pregnant??????

Keith laughs.

to: lance <3

you are not funny

from: lance <3

i’m hilarious actually it’s a tragedy

from: lance <3

i carry the burden of knowing i am solely responsible for my friends’ good humour

from: lance <3

heavy is the head that wears the crown. pensive face emoji solidarity fist emoji broken heart emoji

Keith refuses to dignify that with an answer. Also, he has been informed by Lance’s best friend that if he ignores the emoji bit it will go away eventually. So far it’s been going strong for three months, though, so Keith’s not certain. He can only hope Hunk is correct.

from: lance <3

anyways yah i like kids why

to: lance <3

how much cooler and charming would i be if i picked you up in a minivan. with my sister

from: lance <3

aw, keith!

from: lance <3

to be coolER and MORE charming you have to be cool and charming to begin with :)

from: lance <3

and you are a dweeb 💖

from: lance <3

sounds good tho

from: lance <3

Bring Forth The Child

from: lance <3

oh also bring forth burritos on ur way over

from: lance <3

i’m hungry

Hana yells and bangs on her tray. When Keith looks up, she lobs a Cheerio at him. It hits him squarely between the eyes.

“You’re right,” he says sagely, peeling it off and flicking it back at her. She shrieks in joy. “I cannot let this shit slide. I cannot simply allow myself to be roasted, Hana. I must have self respect.”

She blows a raspberry at him and bangs harder on her tray. Baby conversations are, honestly, riveting.

“Exactly, squirt. You get it. Let’s get cleaned up and go, hm?”

— — —

He picks up burritos on the drive.

Hana laughs at him.

— — —

He’s hardly pulled up in front of Lance’s apartment building when a blur streaks across the front walkway, yanking open the van’s side door.

“Oh, hell-o, precious darling!” gasps Keith’s boyfriend, tumbling into the backseat and slamming my the door shut behind him. “Hi, Hana! Hi hi hi! Aren’t you the bestest ever? You are!”

Hana, evidently pleased with the attention, babbles something incomprehensible and pats Lance’s cheek. He melts, babbling something so quickly it’s equally incomprehensible and shaking her hand. Keith watches, torn between endeared and affronted.

“Hello, boyfriend I have not seen in days,” he deadpans. “Yes, I missed you also. No, I don’t mind at all that you leave me to wither away, alone, in the front seat. Excellent chat.”

“You have a very very grumpy brother, don’t you, Hana,” Lance coos. His shoulders shake with held back laughter.

“Lance, get your ass in the front.”

“But I’m meeting the baby!”

“She is not going anywhere! Meet her at home! You turd!”

“Name-calling is not very nice,” retorts Lance primly, crawling over the console and finally settling in the passenger seat. “What kind of example are you setting, huh?”

He leans over the armrest once he’s buckled in and kisses Keith gently, cradling his hand against his jaw and tilting their heads together. He smells, as he always does, of flowers and sunshine, and Keith sighs as he sinks into the softness of him, the curve of his smile and nip of his teeth.

“Hi,” Keith murmurs, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth, his chin, and then squarely on the mouth again.

“Hi,” Lance responds, a little breathless, grinning widely. His hair is damp and curling at the edges. He’s left out his contacts for the night and the gold lenses match the gold flecks in his brown eyes. Everything he’s wearing is stolen right from Keith’s closet, except his socks, which are bright purple and covered in obnoxiously orange weiner dogs. Keith is so in love with him that the intensity of it embarrasses him, and he pulls away, face red, very interested suddenly in adjusting is rearview mirror.

Lance, knowing, only smiles.

“These are for you,” he says gruffly, shoving the paper takeout bag at Lance’s chest. Lance wastes no time digging through and shoving half of one in his face.

“Aw, baby,” he says, mouth completely full. “You’re literally the best. Sweet, attentive, manipulable, obsessed with me. Everything I intended when I did the love spell on you.”

Keith eyes Lance from his peripherals. He’s digging through his patched backpack, face completely serene. Keith is reminded of the actual sigil he has tattooed on his ankle. (He’s very familiar with it. It’s often right at eye level. Hard to miss, really.)

“…You’re a strange, strange man.”

“Anyways!” Lance continues, visibly gleeful. Keith reminds himself to focus on the goddamn road and remember his sister is watching with her giant wide eyes in the backseat, probably committing all his embarrassing actions to memory to report to Adam the second she is capable of speech. “I brought lots of movies. Mostly Jurassic Park, but also some educational stuff for the baby. Ghostbusters, High School Musical, you know. All that good stuff. And I stashed popcorn behind your microwave last time I slept over so we’re set for snacks.”

“Oh, we’re going to my brother’s place, actually, ‘cause Hana’s more comf— wait, behind the microwave? Why behind?”

“Wait, wait, hold on. We’re not going to your place?”

“No,” Keith says carefully. “I have some baby stuff in my apartment, but not a lot. Plus, Shiro has a better T.V. and also Adam just bought Moose Tracks. So.” He slows to a stop at a red light, noting Lance’s odd expression. “That okay?”

Lance screws up his face for a second, thinking. “I’m pretty sure? As long as there’s an extra toothbrush there. I have one at your place so I didn’t bother bringing one. And I guess I can survive a night without my face serum, but if I get one single wrinkle we’re beefing.”

“You’re not gonna get a stupid wrinkle,” Keith grouches. “And why would you get pissy if you get a wrinkle? We’re gonna get them eventually, and you —”

“‘We’?” Lance teases. “You gonna grow old with me? Gonna marry me someday, Kogane?”

“—can even use Shiro’s face stuff, anyway, I’m sure it’s the same.” Keith clears his throat. “And plus —”

His voice cracks horribly. Lance makes a valiant effort to keep his giggles to himself, but as Keith face continues to get hotter and hotter he loses control and laughs, head thrown back, adam’s apple bobbing with every hitched breath. His laughter sets Hana off, too, both of them encouraging each other’s ridiculousness until they’re as red as Keith is, gasping for breath.

“I hate it here,” Keith mutters darkly. “I’m turning around and bringing you back. You’re the worst. Why do I go out with you.”

Lance, barely recovered, makes kissy faces at him. “Because you want to maaaarrryyyyy meeeee, you think I’m seeeeexxxyyyyy, you want to kiiiiisssss meeeee —”

He cuffs Lance in the back of his head, pretending to check his blindspot and ignoring Lance’s cries of spousal abuse. “I actually just want you to watch Miss Congeniality twelve percent less often. For your own mental health.”

“Lies and slander! Peddling of falsehoods! Perjury and defamation!”

“I’m burning your thesaurus.”

“And now threats! Hana, you shall be my witness! I will testify against you in court! You will be jailed! I will visit you twice monthly!”

“That’s the second person today who wants me in jail,” Keith comments, pulling into Shiro’s driveway. “You’d visit me even if you put me in there?”

“Well, duh. Have to make sure you don’t go around kissing cute criminal boys or I will become a cute criminal boy.”

“Right, of course. I should have known.”

“You should have, yes.” Lance leans over and kisses him on the forehead with an exaggerated ‘mwah’ noise. “But it’s okay, I like ‘em a little dumb.”

“Help me get the diaper bag, goober,” Keith snorts, shoving him away. “I want to get inside so I can have a burrito before you eat them all.”

———

Lance was not kidding about High School Musical.

Obviously.

“Do you want her to grow up with no understanding of community, Keith,” he scolds, and pays no mind when Keith replies, “Well, she has a family, dude, so I’m not worried.”

They watch the stupid musical.

Keith is horribly endeared by Lance’s extensive knowledge of the choreography. Lance is horribly appalled at Keith’s ignorance. Hana is intrigued, mind body and soul, by every scene with Sharpay Evans. Keith assumes this will be a problem for Adam in the near future, and resolves to make that problem worse.

All this to say he’s having a very embarrassing night, in terms of mushy thoughts and feelings.

“I can’t wait to have kids of my own someday,” Lance sighs, a very sleepy Hana tucked into the crook of his arm. He watches her, soft, and Keith pauses with a DVD held loose in his hand, enraptured, because there’s a curve to Lance’s smile that he’s never seen before, and suddenly his left hand looks bare. “I know it’s supposed to be stressful and everything, but I used to force Hunk to play house with me when we were kids. Literally every day. And when my neice and nephew were born I hogged them all the time, even when they were screaming. I dunno. Being a parent sounds awesome. You get to…like…grow a person. It’s like growing a plant but a bajillion times better, probably.”

“Yeah,” says Keith, softly, and without meaning to he’s thinking of Shiro’s tired smile and the gentle hand Adam lays on the back of his neck, of their door that was always open for Keith’s nightmares, of Shiro’s clothes ruffling as he slid to the floor and sat for hours as Keith screamed himself hoarse and cried for a mother who left. Of Adam’s boiling pots and gentle hands as he guided Keith around a chopping knife. Of both Shiro’s choked-off sobs and Adam’s right embrace as Keith came back, thirteen, in the middle of the night, scared and no longer angry, and their quiet I’m so glad you’re safe. Thank you for coming back. “Yeah, family is important.”

Lance hums. He’s quiet long enough that Keith looks up, realising for the first time his gaze has been locked, unseeing, on the pictures on the wall, of Shiro and Adam and the two of them together and with Keith and with Hana and with Keith and Hana. Lance is watching him, quiet, dark eyes knowing, Hana finally asleep in his arms, beautiful and strong and everything Keith has ever wanted, suddenly, at once.

“I love you,” he blurts.

Lance smiles. “I’ve noticed.”

“Oh, you dickhead.”

“I’m saying it back!” Lance says, snickering, free hand held up in surrender. Keith walks over and slots their fingers together, squeezing slightly, leaning in and holding, a second, a hair’s breadth away from Lance’s mouth, watching his lips part, feeling the heat of his breath. His words are breathless, near silent, mouthed as much as spoken. “You changed my life, you know. I made you chase me because I thought it was funny, but — I made Hunk get me your number from Pidge the night I left the bar. I was going to text you if your brother’s tweet didn’t go viral and cement your dorkiness for eternity.”

“That’s a lotta words to say ‘I love you’, dorkbrain.”

“I know. You make me nervous.”

“You never get nervous.”

“I do with you.”

“Yeah?”

They’re so close now that their lips brush with every word, and Lance is grinning, eyes crinkled and lashes fluttering against Keith’s cheeks, and Keith has a hand careful on Hana’s head so he doesn’t crush her and is smiling just as wide. Cheesy, dorky, corny, and everything Keith wished for after every romance novel he’d steal, fooling no one, from Adam’s shelf and read long after bedtime.

“Yeah. ‘Cause I love you. Even though you’re a dweebus and a simp.”

He is, really, because he lets Lance get away with that, kissing him to shut him up, to feel his laughter right up close. It’s sparks flying and warmth spreading and heart slowing, and in the gentle darkness of the night.

It’s the promise of more to come.

[puppiesandnightlock]

rest in peace voltron

[bluemantics]

lance: why do i have a crush on allura? well, let me tell you: she’s passionate and fiery, she could kick my ass in a fight, and she wants to save the universe despite losing her family after tragedy. she’s so badass.

pidge: i never realized how similar allura was to keith… i mean, they both have impressive hair too.

lance: how dare you insult the princess!! she’s nothing like hi—

allura, running in: HELLO, PALADINS! keith has just gifted me with a new knife! isn’t it glorious? *holds up knife proudly*

lance: omg.

[mothmanavenue]

boredom here’s an au where keith was actually just minding his business in his shack with his mum and dad when this dumb fucking punk looking ass boy shows up with two other dumbasses and a guy with one arm and just sighs because goddamit THIS is who Blues been looking for??? HES why we couldn’t leave earlier??? because Blue wanted this dumb fucker with bad hair??? really mum???

[soulreapin]

dog dad keith who has a big black golden retriever named kosmo and a little elderly shih tzu named venus

(he calls them “booger” and “princess” respectively)

keith carries venus like a princess and has one of them baby bjorns for her

and kosmo is just a fucker that likes to piss off keith by not listening to a word he says but when lance comes home he only has to tell kosmo to sit once before he does

theyre both lance’s dogs really keith is just the name on the certificate

(both of them sleep on the bed, lance and keith knotted in each other, kosmo wiggled between them, venus behind keith’s knees)

[alienboy51]

voltron sketches that i May finish Soon

[strawberijasper]

Paladin redesigns

So... my friend @adaphyl and I have been working on a Voltron rewrite because canon Voltron? Eughdghf god awful, we all know. But it's ok, it's not real it can't hurt us.

We've been working through the cast and redesigning characters. I'm posting the paladin redesigns first just because my Altean redesigns need a bit more explanation... there's a lot of lore and I just don't got it in me rn.

I say these are the paladin redesigns but I did also include Keith's dad for reasons, we called him Jim. Anyways here are my redesigns as well as some notes on our rewrites of the characters (I will go more into this at a later date, but for now just some important notes).

Keith:

He's trans ftm, wears a binder. He needs to be wrestled out of said binder because he will wear it for too long. He is on hrt but has been off of it for a while cause space.

Keith is itty bitty, we made him 5'5.

He has more non-human features, the stripes on his arms are Galran markings, as well as the "freckles" on his face. He does get more Galran features in the future (will be in a future post).

Shiro's son.

He's autistic because I say so (I'm projecting but also honestly none of them are neurotypical lets be real).

Lance:

Lance is amab and nonbinary, goes by he/they.

Fuckboy with a heart of gold but like... genuinely. He comes off as a fuckboy to many people but he truly is just a silly little guy. Canon Lance but far better.

He's average height, 5'10.

He wears friendship bracelets made by his nieces and nephews, and always has hair ties on him for anyone who needs one. The anklet is from his mother.

Shark tooth necklace is because it's his favorite animal (and because sharks are MY favorite and I'm projecting).

Pidge:

Transmasc genderfluid, uses they/them pronouns primarily but is fine with any.

Pidge is still the shortest, around 4'11 iirc.

Pidge is aroace because I say so, romance and sex repulsed they do not give a shit about any of it.

Their hoodie was originally Matt's, they stole it in order to sneak into the Garrison and decided to just keep it. Pidge misses their brother.

Pidge wears a binder and is very good about not wearing it for too long. They set a timer for how long they should wear it and will take it off as soon as they can, as well as set reminders for break days. They are on top of this shit.

Hunk:

Hunk has tattoos (not pictured, we're working on designing them). We wanted to really represent Hunk's culture and because he's Samoan we wanted to give him some traditional Samoan tattoos as a treat.

He's everyone's bestie/big brother actually and I love him can you tell I love him?

iirc he's around 6'0 tall.

Paints his nails the voltron colors, one finger for each member. His thumbs are painted yellow so he can point to himself.

Shiro:

Shiro is a trans man, he has had top surgery and is also on hrt.

Shiro is Keith's stepdad... kind of. Kind of stepdad kind of adopted dad. Simply dad.

Shiro is also around 6'0, shorter by Hunk by an inch.

Oh he also has a tongue piercing hehe haha.

Jim (Keith's bio dad):

Jim is Jim.

No but really, he was in fact a firefighter, we are keeping that. He dies in a fire and Keith now wears his dog tag.

He may have held hands with Shiro at some point :3c

There isn't much to say about him (I simply don't remember everything) but just know I love him.

[raddestrose]

WOOOOWIEEE LETS GOO

I started season five

oh nooo lava

bro

oh ho no they’re trapped

Oh i don’t think so

they arent no more

Oh they’re getting their stuff from him 😒

I still don’t trust this cat

but dang it he does have a point,both sides did have a hand in this

i still don’t trust him bro you literally killed one of your friends don’t go acting all high and mighty

a prison you say?

I love to see how Pidge and Matt act

its nice to see how happy they are

yesss they’re finding their dad

this is so niiiiceeee

yeass rescue missionnnn

oh no things just got dicey

the faces Matt makes he looks like this

I’m so serious

wait who was their before them?

who got there first?

bro where are all of these ships coming from??

the scary lady?

WHERE IS HIS DAD

THIS IS SO SAD

hes so sad i cant

Broooo Pidge nooo

ZARKON BROOOOOOOO

oh god no

YEESSS

One heck of a trade off i guess

OH MY GOD HE WAS A HOLOGRAM

I forgot about that that is sooooo foul

oh my god poor pidge poor matt poor everyone

I hate that Lotor was right

Lotor has a really cool sword ill give him that much

OH SHOOT THEYRE GONNA DUKE OT OUT

OH GOODMTHISNFIGHT OS HYPEEEE

NOW LOTOR THAT IS NO WAY TO TALK ABOUT YOUR MOTHER

DAAANNNNGGGG

I take it Lotor and Zarkon didn’t have too many father son days when he was younger

OH MYNGOSSDDDD EVERYONES FIGHTING

CORANNNNNN YEAASSSSSSHHHH

oh god did he just kill his dad

[chibi-pix]

Home sweet home. The team manages to return to their own reality, only for something unexpected to be waiting for them.

[kyoobie]

This is based on a tweet I made about single dad lance and teacher Keith that kinda blew up :)

[mushed-kid]

repost! voltron as textposts etc. 19

(reposted because the person who made one of the posts i used doesn’t want their posts to be reposted, which i totally get and respect, so thanks for letting me know! but it’s now dawning on me that i couldve just edit the post instead of deleting it…)

[autisticlancemcclain]

“C’mere, squirt.”

The great pine forests of East Texas have been, for the most part, miraculously spared of Empire destruction. The American Southwest was largely destroyed, along with countless other hugely important geographic landmarks on Earth, but East Texas — and all the memory it holds — seems to have fared just fine.

They will rebuild, anyways.

His son straightens immediately at Keith’s gentle beckoning and toddles over, climbing on top of his bent knee. He smiles softly, placing a balancing hand on his back — his palm spans the entirety of the kid’s back, holy shit, he’s so tiny, how was Keith ever placed in charge of something so tiny — and uses the other to point at a brown smudge high up in a Loblolly. Cory squints. Out of the corner of his eye, Keith sees Lance press his hands to his face and muffle a scream. Goober.

“That’s a red-tailed hawk,” he murmurs. “That’s the bird you hear in movies.”

Cory hums in understanding, although he probably doesn’t. They don’t watch a lot of movies. Keith once read about how detrimental screens are for developing children in one of Shiro’s many parenting books, so they don’t watch a lot of T.V. (Back when Cory wasn’t even with them yet, and Keith was panicking nightly. Lance had to fish all their devices from the garbage. It was a time.)

“Caw,” says Cory sagely. Keith snorts.

“Yes, buddy. Caw. If you sit real still, the bird might even move.” He hears the echo of his father’s voice, decades old, in the back of his mind; a memory, frayed at the edges, of Keith in this very forest, held in the same way he’s holding his own son, listening his Pa quietly name all the birds and rocks and trees. Hanging on his every word, even though he didn’t get it all. The smell of the pine trees, the rumble of Pa’s low voice. He swallows the lump in his throat, brushing a kiss into Cory’s hair. “That’d be cool, huh?”

Cory babbles something Keith can’t understand. A sticky hand comes up to pat Keith on the cheek, making him smile despite the sting of his eyes. “Daddy, caw. Birdie! Caw.”

Keith turns his head to press a kiss to Cory’s palm. He giggles. Keith wiggles his eyebrows, blowing a raspberry, just to make him laugh harder. The pain in his chest begins to loosen, ever so slightly.

He catches Lance’s gaze over Cory’s head, and takes the time to memorize his dark eyes all over again. Lance lets him. He always does, even though it makes him blush and fidget, lets Keith trace his thumb along his lash line and study the flecks of Earth brown and ash black in his eyes, of sun gold and deep amber; he likes Keith’s attention on him as much as he refuses to admit it.

That’s Lance, though. Tries with every inch of him to be cool and mysterious and suave and can’t manage to save his life. His twitchy enthusiasm sparks in everything he touches, no matter how hard he tries.

When he started digging through Keith’s collection of atlases and running around the house with stacks of blankets and sleeping bags and camping supplies, Keith had said, “Planning something, sweetheart?” and Lance had stuck out his tongue and responded, “Blah blah, nosy.” But Shiro had texted him to let him know that Lance had asked for Keith’s old photos, and one day Keith caught him with a bulletin board and dozens of pins of pictures of pine trees and booking receipts and dorky sticky notes until Lance screeched and kicked him out.

Lance is bad at secrets. And he is a dorky and kind weeper who loves to do anything but mind his own business and muddle things up.

And Keith knew that all when he married him, and loved him for it then, too.

“Hey, mijo,” Lance suggests, “how would you like to sit on daddy’s shoulders so you can see the birdies better?”

Cory gasps, looking rapidly between his parents. He bounces excitedly in Keith’s lap, attempting his own cawing noises, pointing up at the nest.

Keith smiles wider, quickly swiping under his eyes before straightening. He shifts his hold on Cory and winks at his husband, who rolls his eyes in fond understanding, and then his tilts the boy back until he’s giggling, leaning in close until their noses are brushing.

“Munchkin,” he says, playfully nipping the tip of his nose, “you know how you can get even closer to the birds?”

Cory gasps. “How, Daddy, how?”

Lance chuckles. When Keith glances over at him, his smile is so wide it forces his eyes near shut. Keith’s chest aches, it aches so good, and the little Keith that lives in his chest holding himself tightly and swallowing past the perpetual lump in his throat is soothed and comforted and held lovingly. Something cracks and heals in his heart.

“Like this!” Keith shouts through all the emotions bubbling up all over him, and tosses his son in the air, careful not to go too high out of his reach.

Cory shrieks with laughter, tiny fingers scrabbling for purchase on Keith’s jacket on his way down. Keith hardly lets him settle before he’s tossing him up again, higher this time, laughter louder and squealing. The bird has long since flown away, disturbed by the sound, and probably every other animal within a thirty foot radius. But Keith can’t bring himself to care. The bugs can’t move far, and no doubt Cory will want to dig around for worms with his Papa like always. (Keith knows for a fact that Lance has three spades in his backpack and several see-through containers.)

For now, he has time to toss his son in the air. He has time to lean into the hand his husband slides into his back pocket. He has time to smell the pine trees, to think of his father, to feel the bounce of packed Earth under his feet.

To the tiny him that lives buried in his chest, he whispers, we made it, ace.

———

keith and cory in the forest

[catsushinyakajima]

My first decent digital drawing that I’m proud of! I present to you, Keith!! I was trying to draw him as he is in the show but my dad and friends kept calling him a girl so I suppose it could be fem!keith too. Or gender neutral Keith. Keith transcends all gender ngl

Plz show some love as I don’t tend to draw, feel free to leave critique but be gentle about it bc I really don’t know what I’m doing!! Ty!!

[crimsonwolf715]

Overindulgence

{Things to note: Keith has a medical condition that affects his physical health (that is important for later). This is placed sometime before Shiro dies and gets replaced by his clone.}

Lance rushes into the bathroom and throws up. 

“You’ve always had a problem with eating too much food, Mijo.”  

Lance tries to shake his mother’s voice out of his head but just ends up throwing up again. 

“This is why restraint is important, Lance.” 

“I know, Mamá.” 

Seven year old Lance ate all of his Halloween candy in one night and then spent the rest of the night throwing up. His mother smiles at him and pats his head. 

“Things are teachers. Learn the lesson and you’ll be better off.” 

Lance nods. His mother kisses his forehead. 

Lance is pulled out of the thought by him throwing up again. 

If only you could be here, Mamá. I could use some motherly love right about now.  

Lance leans his head back and rests his head against the wall, taking slow breaths. 

Stupid Voltron. Stupid universe. I love my friends, but why did I have to sacrifice so much to make them? This is stupid. 

Lance stops himself. 

I don’t really mean that. Voltron is saving the universe, then I can go home knowing my family will be safe from the Galra.  

Lance sighs, then gags. He hears footsteps outside of the bathroom and silently hopes that nobody comes in. He didn’t lock the door, so anybody could come in. 

Please not Shiro. Or Keith. I don’t want to give them the satisfaction of being right.  

They had been at a celebration ceremony earlier in the day and there was this stuff that tasted just like pudding. Shiro and Keith both told him not to eat too much of it and he didn’t listen. Now he’s paying for it. 

Anybody but them, I’d take help from. Maybe Hunk will find me. 

Lance throws up again, then hears someone come in. 

“You okay?” The voice belongs to Keith. 

Great.  

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Lance throws up again. 

“You didn’t listen to me or Shiro and ate too much of that stuff, didn’t you?” 

“Of course I listened to Shiro, he’s our fearless leader.” 

“Lance.” 

Keith’s tone isn’t harsh, but still firm so Lance sighs. 

“Fine, yes. Is that what you wanted to hear, Keith?” Lance snaps at Keith, turning to face him. 

He then gags and covers his mouth so he doesn’t throw up. 

“No, but you being sick from eating too much is better than you being poisoned,” Keith mutters before adding in a louder voice, “Hold on.” Then he walks out. 

“Great, he’s gone,” Lance mutters, then gags again. 

For not wanting him to show up, I didn’t actually mind when he did. Friends are like that, I guess.  

After an unknown amount of time and throwing up again, Keith comes back. 

“Yay, you’re back,” Lance chokes out sarcastically. 

“Put this on your tongue and let it dissolve,” Keith instructs, handing Lance a white pill. 

Ooo, drugs.  

“What is this?” 

“It’s something to help with the nausea. Shiro and I use it.” 

“For what?” 

“Well Shiro mostly uses ‘em when we have a lot of turbulence while he’s trying to sleep. Something that happened at the Garrison, but I use ‘em for my condition.” 

“Oh, I suddenly feel like a dick.” 

“Surprised you don’t feel like that more often, but no need. Not like I exactly publicize my personal life and issues.” 

Lance puts it on his tongue and once it starts dissolving, gags. 

“Don’t you dare spit it out.” 

Lance nods. Once he swallows it, he feels a little better. 

“Let’s give it ten minutes, and then I’ll get you back to your room. This isn’t a fix-all, so you do have to be careful.” 

Lance nods again. “Thanks, Keith.” 

“No problem.” 

The two stay in silence until Keith claps his hands. Lance was starting to doze, so he ends up jumping at the loud noise. 

Jeez. 

“Give me your arm, I’m gonna pull you up slowly so hopefully you won’t puke all over the floor.” 

Lance offers Keith his arm and Keith takes it. He slowly pulls Lance to his feet and while Lance looks a little disoriented, he doesn’t throw up. 

“Alright,” Lance says. 

“Come on. We’ll walk slowly and just let me know if you need to stop at any point.” 

“I’m not sick, technically,” Lance replies. “No need to coddle me.” 

“You are so right. I shouldn’t coddle you after you blatantly ignored me, but I feel bad for you,” Keith replies. 

“Why?” 

“Because you mentioned how much you miss sweet stuff like that and it’s not like we have the stuff to make it at the Castle.” 

Lance sighs, then starts walking. Keith follows, matching Lance’s pace. 

“This sucks,” Lance mutters. 

“What does?” Keith asks. 

“Right now, this feeling. Most of the time, missing home.” 

Keith nods, though he seems hesitant. “Yeah, that does suck. You still nauseous?” 

“Kinda, but I think I don’t have anything else to throw up.” 

“Good and bad news, I guess.” 

The two make it to Lance’s room and Lance gets into bed. 

“Need me to stick around?” Keith asks, shuffling his feet awkwardly. 

Lance shakes his head. “Thanks, Keith.” 

“No problem. I’ll see ya later.” 

Lance gives him a thumbs up, then hears Keith leave the room. Lance buries his face in his pillow, trying not to cry. 

I just want to go home. Why can’t I just go see my mom? And my siblings? Fate is cruel like this. 

Lance wakes up feeling considerably better than when he went to sleep. He hears his door slide open and he sighs. He sits up and Shiro’s in the doorway. 

“You feeling any better?” Shiro asks. 

“I’m guessing Keith talked to you,” Lance replies. “Yeah, I’m fine.” 

“Actually, Pidge saw it on the security cameras after she found Keith asleep with Red.” 

“Oh, well that’s nice.” 

“Take the day off. Fully recover and then you can join back in on training.” 

“Pass. I’m fine,” Lance says stubbornly, sitting up. “It was just last night. I’m good to go.” 

“Lance…” 

“I’m fine, Shiro.” 

Shiro sighs, but nods. “Take it easy.” 

He heads out of the room and the door slides shut. Lance drags himself through his morning routine and then heads towards the training deck.