#you can BET THAT ANY SHIRO WOULD BE SO FREAKING HAPPY | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thorin-is-a-cuddler · 3 years ago

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Beach Rules

A/N: Paladins at the beach? Sure! Platonic everyone. This is Keith and Shiro centric. And there’s loads of tickling and simping, yay :D

„Is that…“

„No, it can’t be!!“

„Oh, but, but… guys, it’s…“

„A beach!“ Shiro stepped out of the castle, joining Pidge, Lance and Hunk on the surface of this vacation worthy planet with a disbelieving expression.

Allura followed, taking her helmet off and actually giving one of her rare honest smiles. „Yes, a beach. This is the planet of Basoria. 10 000 years ago, this planet has already been one of my favorite places to be. It seems incredible that the Galra haven’t taken over it. But since there are no intelligent beings on here, they probably didn’t see the point. It’s a save place. Coran and I wanted to offer you this. A day off at the beach. With everything you’ve already done, paladins, I am happy if I can give you something back.“

The three younger paladins shrieked happily, shouting their thanks as they took off running for the shore, shoes flying and jackets landing in the sand. Shiro turned his head to look at Allura with a smile. „This is amazing, Allura. I think you couldn’t have made them happier.“

Allura tilted her head and put a hand on Shiro’s left arm. „I was hoping you would enjoy this as well, Shiro. You have been working harder than anyone of us. You deserve a day’s rest.“

Shiro opened his mouth in surprise, a little overwhelmed by so much attention and a little lost for words. Fortunately Keith chose excatly this moment to step out between them, a grumpy expression on his face. „A beach?“ He asked with a raised eyebrow, obviously sceptical about something that involved such a big amount of fun.

Allura narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance, having hoped for a rather different reaction. „Yes, Keith. A beach. A place for relaxation and happiness. I’m glad to see that it disgusts you so much.“

Allura went to take off her armor inside the castle, mumbling intelligibly under her breath. Keith merely sniffed and shrugged as the princess moved away, crossing his arms over his chest and looking outside with a wary expression. Three cheerful paladins were splashing around in turquoise water. They were still dressed in t-shirts and pants, but didn’t seem to care a bit about the additional soaked weight. Keith had never seen them this outgoingly happy.

He felt a weight on his shoulder and saw that Shiro had put his hand on it, an encouraging smile on his face. „Go on, Keith. Don’t worry so much. I bet it’s fun out there. Give it a try.“

Keith tilted his head slightly and looked away, a little crease appearing between his eyebrows. „Hmmm. I don’t know, Shiro.“

The warm dark eyes of the older paladin changed, giving room for worry. This guy managed to catch up to everything. „What is it?“

Keith huffed and shook his head slightly, fond of Shiro being so perceptive, yet at the same time wishing he weren’t. „It’s just… I don’t know. I- I’ve never… well, I’ve never been to a beach before. My father and I never went on vacations, you know.“

Keith shuffled around slightly, trying to act as indifferent as he could, while he was actually dying from insecurity inside. He sent a tentative side glance in Shiro’s direction and saw the realization in his expression. Keith smiled and shielded his eyes against the sun.

„I think it’ll come naturally to you, Keith.“ Shiro said softly, making Keith look at him again in surprise. „All we have to do is go out there and… do the next best thing.“

Keith blinked at him, pretty unsure about this much spontaneousness. „And what would that be?“

Shiro put his finger on his lips thoughtfully, making Keith start to consider that maybe Shiro had just as little clue what to do at a beach as he had. His features softened a little at that impression. Where Shiro knew pretty much everything about him, there was little Keith knew about Shiro in connection to his past. Shiro kept most things locked away behind so many doors that walking through all of them could take years. Keith had barely managed to walk through the half of them.

He sighed deeply and slid out of his jacket, leaving it in the castle. „Let’s start by making ourselves more… beach ready.“ Keith made an awkward motion towards his t-shirt and then bent over to take off his shoes and roll up the legs of his pants.

Shiro smiled at that and copied Keith’s actions, stripping to his sleeveless muscle shirt and rolling his pants up as well. For a second he was insecure about the bulgy skin where his right shoulder merged into the metal arm. But then a sudden feeling took over him and made him forget about any insecurities. Was that… giddiness he felt in his stomach?

There suddenly was so much energy inside of him that he had to get rid off. He looked at Keith staggering around on one leg as he tried to keep the material of his pants rolled up on the other leg. And a grin spread out on his face.

He suddenly knew exactly what he had to do.

„Keith..“

Keith looked up in time to manage a very surprised yell, before a very strong arm wrapped around his middle and lifted him off the floor. „SHIRO WHAT ARE YOU-“

„I know what we have to do!“

Keith clawed his fingers into Shiro’s foreram, holding on to him tensely as the pilot started running with Keith dangling from his side, shaking him quite thoroughly. Despite that Keith almost sighed in relief as fresh air ruffled his hair and blew under his shirt, giving him goosebumps and drying his sweat. It felt like flying through the desert with Shiro all over again. The memory of their races untied a knot in Keith’s chest and he suddenly had to let out a laugh as Shiro readjusted his grip on him, lifting him even higher than he’d been before.

„Don’t drop me!!!“

Shiro’s smirk was audible in his words as he raised his voice as well. „Oh, I will drop you in a bit!“

Keith tensed up again and looked to where Shiro was headed. Pidge, Hunk and Lance in the water had noticed their approach by now, curious happy smiles on their faces as they got closer at a dizzying speed. The realization hit Keith and he started struggling, almost causing Shiro to drop him himself.

„NO YOU WILL NOT! DON’T YOU DARE! SHIRO!“

But Shiro wasn’t bothered by Keith’s defiance in the slightest. His soft laughter mixed with Keith’s gasps and yelps and put a warm feeling in his shaking stomach.

Keith’s struggles grew stronger the closer they got to the water, forcing Shiro to swing Keith’s in front of his chest to be able to hold him there with both his arms.

Keith’s fists drummed against Shiro’s forearms, as the pilot reached the shore and took a few steps into the water. How Shiro managed to stay strong enough to hold him like that with all his laughter was a freaking mystery to the paladin of the red lion. „Enough with the violence,“ Shiro chuckled, „Time to cool your head!“

Keith’s knees were pulled up to his chest and he was eagerly trying to keep himself in that pulled up position by wrapping his hands around Shiro’s head behind him and holding on. „I DON’T THINK SO!!“

„Oh, but you will let go,“ Shiro growled, a playful tone to his voice that made Keith’s stomach drop.

„YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!!“

„Ah, Keith, you really bring this upon yourself,“ Shiro chuckled and kept his metal arm wrapped around Keith’s middle, the other suddenly dangerously unoccupied and close to his side and ribs and this was when it clicked, but too late.

„SHIRO WAIT-“ Keith shouted out in panic, trying to pull himself up higher to get away, but it was to no use. Shiro’s fingers were already squeezing his side and making their way up and hell on earth, it tickled so much, Keith had never thought anything could tickle this much.

Any plans for holding back his giggles were diminished immediately, as he broke out into hysterical squeals and deep uncontrollable laughter, twitching around like a fish as Shiro’s fingers were crawling up his side, over his ribs and right in the center of his exposed armpit. He really meant to keep his hands behind Shiro’s head, pulling at his hair to keep from being dropped. But forget that, he couldn’t take this without fighting back. It felt like Shiro was tickling him with twenty fingers at least where he was only using five and it wasn’t fair and it led to Keith’s unavoidable fate.

„SHHIHIIHRO NOHOOO PLEEEHEHEHEASE!!“

„I won’t stop until you let go!!“

„BUT THEN YOU’LL DROOHOHOP MEE!!“

„Beach rules, Keith. You are obligated to have fun!“

One last arch in Shiro’s arm, then Keith couldn’t stand it anymore and he tore his arms down, trying to push Shiro’s assaulting hand as far away from his ticklish torso as possible, when it was already time for a dive in the waves of Basoria.

Keith shrieked, when Shiro’s arms suddenly stopped holding him, honest to God shrieked - as if he’d needed any more embarrassment in front of the others. The cold water caught him quite gently though. There were no burns at the impact of the water, there was no water shooting up his nose. There was just a nice feeling of floating around and having his hair fly around his head.

He welcomed the feeling happily. But only for a few seconds. Then his wish for revenge grew too strong and he speedily made his way back up to the surface. He managed to find a stand on the sandy underground, the water up to his chest where it had been up to Shiro’s waist.

Shiro. With narrowed eyes and wet hair clinging to his forehead he saw Shiro quickly making his way deeper into the water, looking over his shoulder, laughing breathlessly.

„OH YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!! JUST YOU WAIT TIL I GET YOU BACK!“

Shiro almost slipped from laughter at Keith’s bubbly attempts oto swim after him, completely out of breath, but fueled with the desire to give him a taste of his own medicine.

In the meantime Pidge was busy climbing on top of Hunk’s shoulders in her soaked shirt, where she held on to Hunk’s hair with one hand, pointing at Shiro with the other and letting out a war cry that would have scared away Galrans. „FUGITIVE ON THE RUN! GO GET HIM! AID OUR TORTURED FRIEND!!!“

Keith almost sunk under the surface from his surprised laughter. He hadn’t expected the others to come to help him. They liked to watch Shiro tickle him into madness during sparring matches rather comfortably. But this. Maybe this was also part of the beach rules. Everyone against the strongest one. It seemed like a good rule to Keith.

Shiro on the other hand was barely able to bring much more distance between himself and the others as panicked laughter started to slow him down. Lance was gaining on him, as Hunk grabbed Pidge from his shoulders and used all his strength to throw her in Shiro’s direction, getting her closer to him as well.

Shiro thought it clever apparently to change tactics and stopped swimming in the one direction to make his way in the other one now.

Keith had to chuckle as he heard Shiro’s breathless gasps for air get closer. Alright, if this was a fun time at the beach he was sold. Now they only had to catch him.

„YOU GUYS, THIS ISN’T FAIR!!“ Shiro shouted, smiling widely as Pidge and Lance were getting awfully close.

„BEACH RULES!!“ Keith yelled as he too was getting closer to Shiro who was trying to make his way to the shore to be able to run away. He’d be way too fast for the other paladins if he managed to reach it. They couldn’t let him get away.

„Oh no, you will NOT!!“ Lance exclaimed passionately as Shiro was stumbling to his feet in the ankle high water. The plue paladin took a large dive and actually managed to pull Shiro down with a splash. The two of them rolled over in the warm part of the water, Shiro breathless from laughter already while Lance was yelling almost as loud as Pidge had before.

„You did it, Lance!“ Keith cheered as he too got to his feet in the low water, throwing himself on top of the other two. Shiro groaned with laughter at the additional weight and tried to push the two of them off of him.

„Now, just wait a second, just wait…“ Another weight took away Shiro’s breath as Hunk dropped down on top of Keith, slowly but successfully building a sandwich.

„We have him! Do we have him?“ Hunk spluttered and looked at his two friends underneath himself. Keith held up a thumb, despite the lack of air.

„We’ve got him! You guys are the best!!“

Pidge arrived with a wide smile on her face and was a bit reluctant to putting herself on top of the three boys as well. She didn’t have to anyway. Instead she dropped down next to Shiro’s face and grinned at him evilly.

„Ha, you didn’t see that coming, did you?“

Shiro glared at her, still out of breath, but he just couldn’t keep it up and a soft, playful expression was back on his face again in no time. „I guess Voltron’s bond must be really strong already. Just don’t lose your head in the process…“

All four of them groaned inexplicably loud at this bad pun and Pidge felt no sympathy for him in the slightest as she told the other three to give him hell just for that. Even though he was pretty doomed in his current position. He couldn’t move out from underneath the three boys and all of them put their hands to good use some place on his tall upper body. Hunk was pinching his sides, as Keith worked his hands under his arms and Lance immediately used his position for good access to Shiro’s ribs.

Pidge was blessed with the picture of Shiro throwing his head back in ticklish agony, his eyes squeezed shut and his mouth opened in the brightest smile, as beautiful laughter was shooting out of him.

He couldn’t fight off six hands with just two and Keith enjoyed strongly making him laugh this hard, especially with the aid of his friends. He could tell that Shiro was very fine with them having their fun like this and it warmed Keith’s heart that Shiro was so selfless and soft in every situation. He looked at Shiro throwing his head from side to side, shaking with incessant giggles and trying to arch his back against the overwhelming sensations and he just knew that Shiro would never stop doing whatever it took to make him happy and have fun despite the times they were living in.

He knew that there was no „Voltron losing their head“. Shiro’s love was the starting point of all bonding among the paladins. He was the heart of the group.

Keith certainly knew that. And the others would at the very latest agree now that Shiro’s determination had managed to connect all paladins in having fun together.

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mckinlily · 3 years ago

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.the force

Summary: Learning the ways of the Force is not always an easy process. Sometimes lessons can take years, even lifetimes to master.

Sometimes your master seems to go out of his way to make it worse.

Shiro felt the chaotic stirrings in the Force just before Keith stormed into their shared quarters.

“You ASSHOLE!”

A faint warning had him snapping his hand up to catch—

A rock?

It was a decently pretty rock, with nice blue and green flecks scattered through it, but overall no more interesting than any other mid-sized pebble they might pick up on a mission.

Keith fumed at Shiro’s shoulder behind the couch, massive waves of fury and irritation flooding off him in Force. So far, all lessons on releasing emotions into the Force had only taught Keith to get better at projecting his feelings, rather than control them.

Ah, well. It was progress.

Maybe.

With deliberate casualness, Shiro put down the mission report he had been reviewing and turned to his padawan.

“Hello, Keith. I could have sworn that wasn’t the correct form of address on Coruscant. Or did I miss a memo?”

“Stop being an ass,” snapped Keith.

Shiro raised his eyebrows. Keith just glared back. So this was going to be one of those conversations. Shiro leaned back into the couch.

“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific, Keith. Precisely what part of my assery do you want me to stop?”

Then, recalling he was supposed to be a master and not a fellow padawan, he quickly added, “Ah, not that you should be using that kind of language anyway.”

Keith responded with several words under his breath that made it quite clear he was not taking Shiro’s advice.

Shiro sighed. “Keith. If you have something you want to talk about, I’m here. But for that to work, you’re going to have to actually, you know, talk.”

Keith gave an explosive exhale and flung himself over the back of the couch to land in a sulky sprawl next to Shiro.

Shiro bit back the urge to correct. He still wasn’t certain how to be a Master to a padawan learner—wasn’t even sure he knew how to be a Knight— and Kolivan’s old lectures echoed in his ears. Kolivan wouldn’t have let such impropriety slide. But what his master would have done and what Shiro’s instincts said were constantly at odds, and Shiro just didn’t know which one was right.

This time, his instincts won out. Shiro slumped against the side of the couch, and nudged Keith with the toe of his boot. “What is it.”

Keith shoved Shiro’s foot off the couch and scowled. He pointed at the object in Shiro’s hand. “That’s a rock.”

Shiro double checked that he was, in fact, still holding a rock. He looked back at Keith. “Yes?”

“It’s a kriffing rock!”

This time Shiro ignored the language. “Keith, you’re not giving me much to work with here.”

Keith flung in hands in the air. “It’s from Dazibalb! You said it was special!”

“I...did?”

Keith’s face was getting flushed as he waved his hands about. “Yes!”

“Um…” Shiro examined the innocuous stone in his hand, trying to see how it could be the source of the drama with his padawan.

“I spent a year—a kriffing year!—meditating and researching on it because my master—who is supposed to be TEACHING me—made it seem all important and special. And. It’s Just. A Fucking. ROCK!”

Shiro took a single breath in. Keith was clearly worked up. Shiro was a Jedi Knight and Keith’s master to boot. He needed to react calmly, rationally, with precision and compassion. He let out his breath—

And burst out laughing.

“Shiro!”

“I—aha!—I can’t—”

“Stop it!” Keith grabbed a pillow and started walloping Shiro with it. “It isn’t funny, Shiro!”

“Argh! Keith, get off me—a whole year—”

“Stop laughing, you asshat! I spent MONTHS on this! I went to Master Slav!”

Shiro lost the battle and dissolved into peals of laughter. He could barely breathe through his wheezes while tears gathered on his face.

“I can’t—I can’t—Slav?!”

“I didn’t want to fail!”

Keith’s voice—hardly reliable at the best of times, poor preteen—cracked on that, and Shiro, even crying with laughter, recognized it for what it was. He pushed himself upright, failing (though trying) to force down his laughter.

“I’m not laughing at you.”

Keith pulled back and folded his arms. “Yes, you are,” he sulked.

Shiro choked back another bout of inopportune laughter. “I’m not. It’s just—” A snort slipped out of him, his cheeks hurt—and, nope, he was laughing again. “It’s not you. But your face—”

“Really helping your case there, Shiro,” grumbled Keith, looking away, and damnit, Shiro really needed to pull himself together.

He couldn’t stop the snickering, but he could throw his arm around the younger boy’s shoulders and pull him close. “I adore you,” he promised into Keith’s hair.

Keith still grumbled. “You said—I asked if there was something special, and you said it held the secrets to the Force!”

“I was teasing,” said Shiro, slowly remembering a seemingly meaningless conversation from ages ago. He snorted. “I didn’t expect you to take it seriously.”

“How was I supposed to know that?!” snapped Keith. “You’re my master. You’re supposed to be teaching me, and half this Force stuff doesn’t make sense! You said and—I didn’t know!”

And that, Shiro realized, was the crux of it. The Council hadn’t been happy when Shiro took Keith on as a padawan, claiming he was too emotional and too old, and Keith knew it. He worked hard in his classes, but he was up against classmates who had been studying the Force and the way of the Jedi since they were in diapers. Shiro knew Keith worried. Nevermind that he was a prodigy, insanely powerful, and picked up new Force techniques faster than anyone Shiro had ever seen. Keith felt like he was constantly behind.

“Every padawan has fallen for something like this,” Shiro reassured, ruffling the kid’s hair. “Every. One. Someone started a rumor that the Force comes from little microbes in your body, and that rumor still circulates the creche to freak out Initiates all the time. It happens for everyone.”

Keith huffed. “You didn’t have to laugh at me.” He sounded annoyed, but hurt burnished his presence about the Force.

“I’m sorry,” said Shiro earnestly. Keith’s outrage was funny but not his hurt. “Keith, I would never intentionally make you feel or look stupid.”

Keith flung his arms out. “I don’t know anything! Everyone knows all this stuff, and I don’t know any of it! I’m supposed to be a padawan.”

“You are a padawan,” said Shiro, tugging on Keith’s padawan braid to emphasise the point. “It doesn’t matter what everyone else knows. You’re a padawan learner. The point is to learn, which you’re doing. Where everyone else is doesn’t matter.”

“Younglings know more than me,” grumbled Keith.

“What did I just say?”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Stupid Jedi crap. It’s easy to say when you’re not the one people are calling a non-sensitive in class.”

Shiro snorted. Hard.

“Not at you,” he said to Keith quickly, shaking his head and smashing down dangerous fury that threatened at the mistreatment of his padawan. He snorted again. “If your classmates can’t tell how strong you are in the Force, maybe they are the ones who are non-sensitive.”

Keith slumped, somewhat pacified but still unconvinced.

“You know, Master Yoda didn’t even talk until he was fifty years old. His species ages so slowly most of his clan had already become Masters before he even left the Creche.”

“But he’s Yoda,” protested Keith.

“And how do you know that in ten years, someone won’t be saying the same thing about you?” challenged Shiro. “You’re already one of the best pilots in the Order, and you’re not even a senior padawan yet. You might feel like you’re struggling to catch up now, but I guarantee that before long, all of us will be fighting to keep up with you.”

Keith snorted. “Sure, Shiro.”

“You’ll see,” said Shiro, his nose in the air. “I’m right.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” And Shiro let him have that. They wouldn’t break through all of Keith’s issues in a day. Instead, he changed the subject.

“Did you really spend months researching?”

Keith slumped into the couch. “I didn’t want you to think I failed you,” he muttered to the floor.

Shiro’s heart trembled and melted. It was deeply humbling to realize how seriously Keith had taken his offhand remark. And a little terrifying. His padawan trusted him so completely, and he—he wasn’t even sure he deserved his rank of Knight.

(How did one go about being a master? How did he be a master when he couldn’t even go to his own master for help? When he couldn’t be sure that he hadn’t been Knighted merely because no one had wanted to finish his own training?)

((No one had wanted to train Keith, either, he remembered. Shiro was determined to make sure his padawan never grew up with the same doubts.))

“Did you keep your research?”

Keith looked at him with narrow-eyed suspicion. “Why?”

“I figure if you put in all the work, you might as well get something out of it,” shrugged Shiro. “I bet we could put together a good case for an independent study. Free up your time for more advanced piloting classes.”

Keith’s eyes slowly lit up. “You mean it?”

“Of course, kiddo,” said Shiro. “I didn’t mean to send you on a wild goose chase.”

Keith huffed. Shiro squeezed his shoulders.

“I promise. I’ll be more careful about my teasing. And when I set you a task, I’ll make sure you know it’s an assignment. None of this vague hint stuff.”

Keith grumbled under his breath, but relief whafted off of him in the Force. Shiro really didn’t understand how so many in the Temple described his padawan as unreadable. Keith projected everything. Loudly. If only you took the time to listen.

Shiro tugged on Keith’s padawan braid again. “We good?”

Keith flopped grumpily against Shiro’s side. “You’re the worst,” he said, though the pulse he sent through their training bond didn’t back it up.

“I really am sorry,” said Shiro.

Keith squirmed against his side. “I just feel so dumb,” he admitted in a low mumble. “Anyone else would have known it was just a rock.”

“Well…” Shiro held up the rock, running his senses over it. It had certainly started as an ordinary rock, but things that were in close contact with the Jedi rarely stayed that way for long. Shiro could feel the vague impression of Keith in it, his loyalty and passion, all wrapped up in his fierce determination. Shiro concentrated on the rock as well, focusing on what he felt for Keith, his pride and joy in his padawan, and pushing that into the Force.

When he finished, the sense wasn’t as strong as he would have liked it—Shiro wasn’t very practiced in Force Impressions—but it was there.

“Here,” he said, passing the rock back to Keith. Keith took it somewhat suspiciously, and Shiro felt him prod hestistantly at it in the Force.

“Oh. Huh.” Keith looked up at Shiro, clearly looking for a confirmation that what he was feeling was real.

“Maybe it didn’t start out special,” said Shiro. “But it certainly is now.” He took a chance and ruffled Keith’s hair. “Just like you.”

“Argh!” Keith batted his hand away. “What are you so sappy?”

“Excuse you, I am genuine, charming, and eloquent.”

Keith frowned at him. Then, taking Shiro completely by surprise, he shoved him with the Force, knocking him off the couch and sending him sprawling on the floor.

“Ooof. This is how you repay me?” groaned Shiro from the ground.

“Yep.” Keith preened, unrepentant from his position on the couch. Shiro took a moment to appreciate how far he’d come from the bitter, scared slave he had been when they first met. Smug and triumphant was a good look on him.

“All right.” Shiro accepted defeat. “Pass me my datapad. I need to finish that mission report.”

“Your—What? You’re going to work from the floor?”

“Yep,” said Shiro, not even bothering to sit up.

“You are so weird,” concluded Keith, but a second later Shiro’s datapad was dropping onto his face and he snatched it out of the air.

“Thanks,” said Shiro. He started scrolling through his notes, trying to find where he left off.

“You’re the strangest master in the Order,” said Keith.

Shiro looked up from his datapad. “Would you rather the Council reassign you a different master?” he said hesitantly, trying to hide how the possibility cut him.

But Keith quickly shook his head. “No. I’ll stick with what I’ve got.”

“Me too,” said Shiro, quietly hiding his relief. “I wouldn’t trade you for any other padawan out there. Not for the entire galaxy.”

“Good,” said Keith.

But still, the bond between them seemed to hum just a little warmer and stronger after that.

#starganes #shiro #keith #star wars crossover #mckinlily writes: vld fic

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a-cat001 · 4 years ago

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Shy Love

“Yeah I can’t wait to see you again!”, “R-really?”, “Yeah Asterius i’ll be heading over to the mountains soon so we can hang out!”. Asterius had been wanting to meet up with you for weeks now but had only now been able to muster the courage to call you to visit his cabin in the mountains. “Oh, hey I almost forgot, I have a special something for you when I get there” You say, “S-something… special? He replies, “Yeah, I bet you’ll love it! Welp, I better start heading over before it starts getting too late”. After the call ends Asterius exhales and pauses for a moment before he suddenly freaks out, “AHHHH!! T-T-THEY”RE GETTING ME SOMETHING!!!”. Asterius is completely panicking at this point as he thinks to himself, “Should I get something for them too…. O-or would they even like something from a monster like me?”. He begins to look around the room to think about something he could possibly give to you, but there’s not much around that would give much of a hint, especially since he wouldn’t be able to go out and buy something before you arrived. He continues to look around until his eyes rest upon a vase with a branch poking out of it, staring at it for a moment before he gets an idea. Since spring had arrived the flowers on the mountain were in full bloom, so he headed out to the forests around the mountain to search for a flower to give. Asterius wonders for a few minutes, searching through many different flowers in order to find the one that he thinks will make you happy. He keeps searching, coming across many flowers but finding none of them good enough to give to you until he comes to a clearing in the forest, there he finds a flower with numerous petals in a rose like fashion, its petals are snow-white with flecks of yellow-gold in the center. The flower looked perfect so he rushes over to pick it, but as he tried to pull up the flower it resists, not budging as he keeps trying to pick it until he finally pulls hard enough and the flower relents. “MC should love this...a-at least I think they will”, as he turns to step away however tendrils suddenly shoot up from the ground and clamp tight around his ankles “Aaaah!”. Asterius barely maintains balance as the tendrils incircle his boots, pulling them together before they start to climb higher and tie his knees and thighs together. Asterius grunts and reaches down to pull on the tendrils so that they may release him but in the process he lets go of the flower which gets picked up on the breeze and flutters away. Asterius tries to grab for the flower but another tendril wraps around his wrist, pulling it back as more wrap around his arms and torso, the flower landing some distance away. He continued to struggle but as his legs were already wrapped together and the tendrils had made their way up and were binding his arms to his chest like a straightjacket before wrapping several times around his body. He considered possibly yelling for help but was quickly denied, “HEL-ack! MMMPH! MMMPH!”, tendrils had clamped his mouth shut and wrapped around several times. Suddenly the ground around him began to move as large petal-like appendages came up from the ground and began to converge on top of him. Asterius struggled to escape but the petals connected to each other and tightened, enveloping Asterius before he felt some kind of liquid rise up past his feet and continue to rise. Unable to move he began to think to himself, “I-is this how it ends?... It can’t be… I-i want to be with my friends.”. Suddenly visions of you began to flood his vision, memories of you two together, laughing, crying, smiling together- yes that smile that made his heart race. “No! It can’t end like this…. I-i want to see my friends again!.. T-that’s right I want to see MC!”. Suddenly static began to crackle around him, building up around him to a steady hum that grew louder and louder with each second until finally there was a flash of light.

You had already made your way to the mountain and were climbing your way up the path to Asterius’s cabin. “I hope Asterius is doing ok. I haven’t seen him in so long, I can’t wait to see his face when I give him this!”, In your hands you held a neatly wrapped gift. As you were walking up the path however you suddenly hear a loud boom and a flash off in the distance of the forest as if lightning had just struck. Curiosity piques your entrance and you venture off the path into the forest. You head through the brush for a while, heading towards the direction that the noise came from until you hear a familiar voice call out to you, “M-MC!”. You turn to see Asterius in the distance looking exhausted and covered in some kind of green slime, “Asterius, what happened to you!?”. Asterius looks down at himself as he approaches you “o-oh this?.... I-its nothing” he exclaims as he scratches his head, trying to avoid eye contact “H-here I thought you might...like this”, he pulls his arm from behind his back to reveal A beautiful flower with white petals and gold flecks. “Asterius it’s beautiful”, you take the flower in hand before you embrace Asterius, causing him to stiffen and blush red. After pulling away you smile but quickly ask if he was truly ok, “I-i just tripped and fell into some weird plant... T-that’s all” he says, “well make sure to be careful, the other day I had to save Volos after I found him tied up in some plant that he had found”. “Anyways, you don’t look so good, come on let's go get you cleaned up”, you grab Asterius’s hand and begin to lead him back to the cabin but as you are turned around you don’t notice Asterius’s gaze which was fixated on your hand which was now holding his, causing his heart to race.

Back at the cabin you run a warm bath as Asterius undresses, making sure to do it where you can’t see it. Given how big Asterius is you guess that it would be hard for him to bathe himself, “Why don’t you let me wash your back”, “W-what!?” he stammers. “This will make it easier for you since you might have trouble reaching your back”. You reply, “A-are you sure, you probably don’t want to put your hands on a monster like me”. You reach up and give his ear a little flick before speaking “Asterius you're not a monster, and yes, I’m sure”, Asterius tries to avoid eye contact as he blushes “O-ok”. As you wash Asterius you can feel him begin to relax, after you finish you help him dry and begin to brush his fur to which he exhales and lets out a low grumble of satisfaction, even flicking his tail back and forth. “I didn’t know you liked being brushed so much” you say, “W-w-whaa”, he looks behind him to see his tail swishing back and forth and quickly grabs it and covers it in embarrassment. Later as you move to the main room it’s already late and you decide to call Shiro to tell him you would be staying the night. You then turn to Asterius and hand him his gift which he opens tentatively, and pulls out a necklace with a golden pendant in the shape of a thunderbolt, to which you put around his neck and then pull out your own which has a cloud heart with the imprint of a thunderbolt down the middle. You then place the thunderbolt of Asterius’s necklace into the imprint to which it clicks into place, “ see, they go together”, Asterius face goes from normal to crimson in an instant as he turns around with his face in his hands to hide it. “A-AAAAHH! T-this is too beautiful for someone as hideous as me!”, you smile as you pat Asterius’s back to comfort him, it was going to be a long night but you wouldn’t have had it any other way.

#Housamo #Asterios #he needs a hug #Feel like Volos grows a lot of dangerous plants

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bakubabes-tatakae · 5 years ago

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The Demon’s Keeper (Part Six)

Author’s Note: If anyone wants to be added to the taglist for this feel free to let me know ! Happy to add anyone !

(Rin Okumura x Reader)

Summary: Rin Okumura is a hot headed demon who is hard to keep under control, only one person seems to be able to do it better than anyone, Y/N. For that, she’ll be known at the Demon’s Keeper, but what exactly does that entail for them?

AO3 Link

Part One, Part Two: *NSFW Ahead!*, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five

Part Six:

Word Count: 2219

As morning broke light it made its way through the cracks in the curtains and the sound of our alarm filled the room. Each beep from the alarm was like a jackhammer pounding in my head. This constant stress headache was going to be the death of me. Rin slowly started to stir, today was the day we left for True Cross University. He was nervous to say the least, but that was to be expected. I would have been worried if he wasn’t nervous. I felt Rin’s soft hand touch my arm. “Y/n, we have to get up. We’ve only got an hour before we have to leave. Mephesto will be here soon to get us.”

I grumbled and rolled over, grabbing the bottle of pain medicine off the nightstand along with the nearest water bottle. They went down with ease and Rin threw the blanket off of us. I cringed as the cold air hit my skin, almost hissing at him.

He ignored me and got up, throwing on the clothes that he had left out for himself before taking mine off the dresser and throwing them at me. As my clothes hit me he laughed, the look on my face anything but amused, making him laugh even more.

I grabbed the clothes from my lap and started dressing. I didn’t know what our new life would entail for us, but if I didn’t say I was as nervous as Rin was I would have been lying. “Rin,” He looked back at me with a goofy grin. “You should go check on Yukio and make sure he’s ready to go as well.”

“Yea.” He started for the door. “I’ll go see.”

He shut the door quietly behind him and I was left to my own devices. The sheer amount of emotions that I had been holding in lately wasn’t good for me, but my body didn’t want to seem weak. We had been through so much in such a short amount of time…

* * * * * *

I made my way downstairs and into the living room, the only light in the room came from the half open curtains in all the windows. Shiro had always been the one to make sure everything was bright and sunny when we had all woken up. Now that he was gone the darkness loomed over us. No one wanted to take on the roles that Shiro once held. Rin was standing in the kitchen, sipping on a cup of orange juice, leaning against the counter.

“Did you find Yukio?” I walked sluggishly over to the same counter, hopping up onto it. “We only have fifteen minutes before Mephesto is going to be here.”

Rin placed his empty glass into the sink and walked in front of me, placing his hands on my thighs. “From what the monks told me, they haven’t seen him all morning.”

“I bet he’s visiting Shiro. We’re talking about Yukio here, where else would he be?”

Rin placed his head on my collarbone and I placed my hands on his head, intertwining my fingers into his raven colored hair. “You’re right.” He looked up at me. “Want to just go wait outside? It’s pretty nice out”

I smiled. “Sure.” He helped me off the counter and grabbed our bags, following me out the front door.

The sunlight hit my face and the feeling was almost refreshing. It had been so long since Rin and I had just sat outside and taken in our surroundings. As we took in all the familiar sounds and sights we were interrupted by the sound of a car speeding our way. When we looked up we both thought our eyes had been deceiving us. A pink limo stood in front of the walkway and when the door opened and a person stepped out we realized we should have known who it was.

With the tip of his hate Mephesto Pheles stood before us, his white shoot shining brightly in the sun. “Well, well, well.” He smiled a tooth grin at the two of us sitting on the porch. “I see the sun's out. It’s a glorious say for new beginnings, wouldn’t you say?”

Rin stood up from the porch and took my hand, helping me up as well. He walked leisurely over to Mephesto. “You got a freaky car.”

I hooked my arm behind Rin’s back and glared at Mephesto. “How did you get us into True Cross University. I feel like we have a right to know what your connections are since we’re using them.”

He pointed his finger at us and spoke matter-of-factly. “I’m the director at True Cross University. That’s the official title anyway.”

Rin’s jaw dropped. “Huh?”

I took my hand under his chin and helped him shut it. Yukio’s voice jumped the both of us. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” He had a giant grin across his fast as he approached us. “I’m so glad this all worked out. Now the three of us can stay together.”

Mephesto turned away from the three of us and raised his voice, scaring some people walking by. “Come now my friends, True Cross University awaits!”

We all piled into the limo, the three of us keeping our distance from Mephesto. Yukio looked over to Rin. “What’s wrong?” If Rin thought he was hiding his annoyance it wasn’t working. Neither of us knew what could possibly have been wrong with him.

“Nothing.” Rin ignored the question and changed the subject. His favorite defense tactis. ‘Where were you this morning?”

“Visiting dad’s grave. Did you go?”

An upsetting noise came from Rin’s mouth as the realization hit him, it would probably be a while before he was able to visit him again. “No… I didn’t” He hung his head.

Mephesto broke the awkward silence now looming over the car. “Just a few minutes more and we’ll be in the center of True Cross University town.” We all stared out the window at the blossoming town before us. “Every learning facility under the sun can be found right here in University Town. Enjoy, dig in, and study until your heart’s content.”

We approached a giant building a couple minutes later and Mephesto looked at Rin and I. “Now then, we’ll step out, you two need to change into your uniforms.”

I could feel my face change to annoyance before I was able to stop it. “You couldn’t have told us to make sure we were in our uniforms before we got here?”

Mephesto ignored the question and Yukio and him stepped out, leaving us to change. As we stepped out of the limo the two of them waiting patiently on the sidewalk. Mephesto motioned toward him and spoke. “Come now, you have orientation to get to.” He led us to an auditorium full of students. “Find a seat, they’ll give you further instructions from there.”

As the speech from one of the teachers started the two of us zoned out. There was nothing worse than listening to someone talk at you about something you didn’t have any care for. The only thing that pulled our attention back was the words “And now, let’s hear from your freshman representation, Yukio Okumura.”

Rin’s jaw dropped once again, a look that wasn’t befitting for him. “Yukio?!”

I pushed his jaw up. “That shouldn’t surprise you Rin, Yukio’s always been a smart guy.”

Yukio stood from a couple rows in front of us. “Yes sir,” Girls around us were swooning over Yukio as he made his way to the podium on the stage below. “To be able to join you all here at True Cross, a school I’ve long admired, is something that is both thrilling and sobering.”

Rin placed his hand on my thigh. “The little crybaby that always got bullied,”

“I hope that I can live up to the standards of this place. I’m your freshman class rep, Yukio Okumura.”

Tours of the campus were starting so everyone from the auditorium made their way to the courtyard outside the building. The three of us stood together and more girls made their way to Yukio, still overcome with him, I had never seen so many girls throw themselves at him. Yukio’s face turned bright red as they all spoke to him. Rin watched him with concerned eyes. We both knew how little it took to embarrass Yukio.

As our tour began Rin couldn’t hold back his excitement. Every different area we saw he was dumbfounded. The entrance hall was the first stop, escalators that took you up to the next floor pushed Rin over the edge. “This is a school?!” That goofy grin spread from ear to ear and I couldn’t help but giggle as I watched him. The dining hall was stop two and it made his shock even more clear than the first stop. “Woah,” He grabbed my waist and squeezed me, pointing up. “Would you get a load of those chandeliers, it’s like a fancy shmancy restaurant.”

Students around us were watching, but the little raven haired boy didn’t seem to care. The tour took us to classrooms, Rin walked around, admiring every knock and cranny. “Damn, do you think they could have made this room any bigger?” He sat at a desk and his wide eyes expression made more people watch him. “Even these desks are bigger than the ones at the monastery.”

A group of girls off in the distance were speaking about him. “What’s with that guy over there, he’s freaking out.” Another girl spoke back. “I know, what’s a weirdo like that doing here?”

I started to step toward them, ready to give them a piece of mind when my jacket of my uniform was grabbed by Rin’s strong hands. “Leave it alone Y/n, they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

As we left the classroom and the tour concluded a man’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “That’s all for today, classes start next week so you should go back to your dorms and get settled in.” We made our way down the stairs and as we got to the bottom we realized that we didn’t even know where we were going. Rin threw his hands in the air. “Where the hell is the dorm, no one told us jack about that.”

I grabbed his arms and pulled them back down. “Relax Rin, we’ll figure it out. Let’s find Yukio, maybe he knows.” A strange sound, almost like a whimpering came from our feet and we looked down to see a small white dog with a pink bandanna around it’s neck. “Who let you in?”

The dog grabbed the ankle of Rin’s pants and started tugging at him, causing Rin to holler out and spin to try to get it off him. The dog let go and stared at us, slowly moving forward, clearly wanting us to follow. We followed as it ran further and further, when it was completely away from everyone at the school it climbed up onto a light pole and in a poof it was no longer a dog. Rin and I both threw ourselves backwards, basically tripping over each other. Mephesto sat before us. “Pardon me, but it would unseamly for the director of the university to be caught prowling around the halls during the day.”

Rin’s confusion was about to overtake him. “You shape shifted! Does that mean that exorcists can shape shift?!”

“God no.” Mephesto almost looked offended. “Although I am an exception.” He held up two keys, tossing them at Rin and I. We each caught one and stared between Mephesto and it. “That key grants you access to the cram school through any door at any time.”

“Cram school?”

“It’s where the two of you will train to become exorcists. Each day you’ll attend normal high school classes, but afterwards you’ll train at the cram school to become a page. While you study exorcism you’ll be considered an exorcist in training. Your high school classes don’t begin until next week, but cram school…” he stepped toward us. “That starts today.” He put his face inches from Rin’s. “I trust you’re ready to begin?”

“Never been more ready.” The corner of Rin’s mouth curled upwards as a smirk pulled at it.

“I have to warn you tho. It would be best if you kept the whole son of Satan thing confidential. Say what you want about your ear, fangs, and tail, but the flames are a no no.” Rin tensed. “Control yourself.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Fabulous.” Mephesto jumped on the concrete wall beside us. “Let’s get to it.” He jumped off the edge of the wall on the opposite side and we both ran for the edge, afraid that there was nothing there. Mephesto stood on the ground in front of a door on the opposite side. “Try using one of your keys I just gave you on this door.” We both hopped over the ledge and stood in front of the door. As Rin placed his key in the lock and the doors open we both stood with our mouth gaping open.

Even just the hallway was immaculate. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Mephesto started to corral the two of us. “Come on, your class is this way.”

Taglist 💕 @thebookwormfairy @psycho-emi @pnkcts @chenosaurr

Updated: 5/13/2020

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wayward-pendragon · 6 years ago

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Klance Rec Part 2

Hello and welcome back to another Klance rec! Since the last rec was a success I have decided to make another one. I just wanna say a huge thank you to everyone, you were all super sweet and enthusiastic about the last list :)))). For any newcomers, I will link the first rec list here. Without further adieu, lets begin!

Roommates by manamune

Summary: (13:24) Lance: Thank you!! Love you, Keith!!!

(13:55) Keith: I’m screenshotting that for the next time you deny it.

One of very first Klance fics!! Klance become roommates and they’re hella cute. Idk what else to say that’s really it.

Would You Like Fries With That? by DeerstalkerDeathFrisbee

Summary: “Hello, welcome to Burger King, can I take your order?” And that’s about when it all comes crashing down on him, and like a tidal wave of terrible, Lance realizes, on an emotional level, how truly awful his day was. For no good reason at all other than here’s a human voice – steeped in apathy perhaps, but not overtly antagonistic – and literally all he wants is a little human comfort… he starts sobbing in the Burger King drive-thru.

Keith is a junior in high school just trying to get through working the midnight shift at Burger King when Lance staggers into his life. The course of true love is a freaking disaster.

I laughed my ass off holy. I can picture this happening so vividly it was such a fun read. Plus, high school klance is fricken cute as hell so squishy and fluffy.

it had to be you by Redburn

Summary: Keith and Lance are both professors at Garrison University.

“... I remember Lisa saying it was when you ship two people together, romantically, for your own enjoyment. I’m sure…” Shiro trails off when he sees Keith’s eyes start to grow impossibly wide. “Uh, Keith?”“What the fuck?” Keith manages, his heart suddenly beating faster, his face warming up despite himself. “They ship Lance and me romantically?”

YOO. Basically all of Keith and Lance’s kids ship them and its a good time. I love oblivious Keith honestly, oblivious Keith is the best Keith.

Dorks by GriffinRose

Summary: Inspired by a post on Tumblr!

Lance is the only one listening to the current presentation, and oh boy is it something to listen to. The kid has been rambling on about aliens for ten minutes and he is trying so hard not to laugh. So hard. Turns out the kid didn't even think Lance was paying attention, so when he finds out Lance was he books it. Like, as fast it takes Lance to turn his head, that kid was gone.Keith wants to die. The Hot Guy in his bio class was actually listening to him talk about aliens. That's it. He's done. Kill him now. Poor Shiro is just trying to keep his little brother sane.

AGAIN YO. You know how I said oblivious Keith is the best? Whelp embarrassed Keith is also fuckin great. Honestly now that I’m in Uni I relate to this so hard, its really a fun read.

Hearts Don’t Break Around Here by klancekorner

Summary: Lance and Keith have been best friends since first grade. Lance’s brain is always on overdrive and Keith’s blunt, realistic ass can never keep up. They both come to realize that sometimes you can learn a lot about loving yourself by loving someone else.

So this is a longer one, its over 130K but don’t let that deter you please. This fic is so good and everything a friends to lovers klance AU should be. I cannot scream about this fic enough its like a young adult romance novel, honestly I’m shitting its so good.

Better than coffee by Anonymous

Summary: Lance can’t help but linger around a perpetually grumpy-looking employee who works at the nearby teahouse. Keith, despite all the Yelp reviews, turns out to be surprisingly kind. Lance starts coming every day—although he insists it’s only for the boba.And to complain about the customer service, of course.

Hehehehehe grumpy and soft Keith mixed with Lance being Lance. A shorter fic to last one on this list its really sweet and fluffy please enjoy.

Shut Up and Dance With Me by wittyy_name

Summary: Lance and his friends have been regulars at the Altea Dance Studio for years. Not just for classes, but to hang out, practice, and spend time with good people who love dancing. Every year, they audition to be one of the few representing Altea at the regional dance competition. Lance always auditions solo, but this year he misses out on auditions and blows his chance to participate. And so does his self-proclaimed rival, Keith. Luckily, Shiro comes up with a brilliant plan: convince Lance and Keith to audition as a duo. With a little convincing, and a lot of effort, these two might just be able to pull it off and go to regionals... or they might crash and burn.

This fic is the real deal holy crap. wittyy_name my god istg one of the best klance writers out there. The relationship built up from enemies to lovers and the sexual tension omg this fic is a masterpiece js. I cannot stress enough read anything klance by wittyy_name and you will be happy. This fic also has art!!!

CANON

All the Way Down by speaks

Summary: “You make it sound like we’re going into battle,” Hunk laughed worriedly on Lance’s other side. “I thought this was like, some kind of carnival.”A chortle bubbled of out Coran’s throat as he slapped his side in amusement. “Some kind of carnival, he says! What an understatement! Allura, I think it’s high time to show the paladins precisely how and where we’re going to be spending the next three days. After you, Princess.”A happy, childlike grin rapidly overtook Allura’s regal professionalism, and then a brilliant chink of light shone into the castle hall as she opened the front doors to the mountain they’d landed on twenty minutes ago.Lance went slack-jawed as his eyes adjusted to the white-blue light of Krossin’s distant neutron star, and he almost stumbled as he and the other paladins followed Allura and Coran out onto the grass to take in the view laid out before them. This place was a utopia.

This is a more recently written klance fic in comparison to some others on this list but oh man. Basically klance being all cute out on a date on an alien planet. The build up omg and fluffffff I was squealing.

Red is the Coldest Color by EnglishCivilWar

Summary: Keith’s startled look had quickly turned to one of annoyance. “You’re in my way,” he stated. Lance blinked uncomprehendingly. Keith let out a groan. “Lance, MOVE.”(In which Lance is an epic fail at flirting, Keith is an oblivious walnut, and the rest of the team collectively groans and sighs.)

Oblivious Keith is back kids!!

Love Bug by Cour104

Summary: While exploring an alien planet, Lance get's bit by a strange bug whose venom causes him to fall in love with the first person he sees. Of course that person had to be Keith. I've seen a lot of fics based the Love Bug AU where Keith is bitten by the bug and I thought: What if Lance is bitten?

Literally out of all of the fics I’ve read about klance and the lovebug AU this one wins. It’s almost always Keith that gets bitten but I really loved reading the story from a POV of Lance being bitten it was great.

Make Me Your Home by Reader115

Summary: “Oh my god, Keeeith,” Lance wheezed. “Keith you’re the best drunk space cadet I’ve ever seen.”“Space cadet,” Keith mumbled. He repeated the words again although his eyes had zeroed in on Lance’s hands and Lance offered no resistance when Keith picked one of them up and pulled it possessively towards his lap. He began to gently trace over Lance’s fingers, sending shivers up Lance’s arm and down his spine. “You have looong fingers,” Keith murmured after a few moments.Keith’s face perked up then, as if he’d just had a brilliant idea, and Lance could almost not wait to hear what new obscure thought had entered Keith’s pretty head. He was prepared to laugh, and instead found himself shivering again as Keith leaned far into his personal bubble, lips practically touching Lance’s ear when he spoke next.“I bet you could reach all kinds of things, Lance.”

Set in season 2. These boys crushin hard even if they don’t realize my god.

Your Love Has Shown Me Proof by freshia

Summary: “This situation is a bit more complicated than we initially realized.”Lance raises an eyebrow, but Pidge is the one to question that. “Define complicated.”Allura takes no more time beating around the bush, “Well, I received a transmission. Keith and Lance--from the future, that is--would like to have their daughter back."or: Lance and Keith deal with a walking spoiler, in the form of a little girl who just wants to get back to her own home.

Klance and a kid oh my god. Watching the teenage versions of klance deal with a child was so pure and their reaction to them being married in the future, priceless.

time out of mind by aknightley

Summary: Keith and Lance wake up married. In the future. He lays there a moment, processing the faint throbbing in his head, a strange bitter taste like lemons in his mouth. When he opens his eyes, the room spins wildly into a kaleidoscope of colors, so he closes them again, breathing in and out until he feels less like he might throw up. He suddenly registers a warm weight over his waist, and lifts his head to see a brown arm thrown over him. It looks startlingly familiar, but different, bigger than he remembers, more toned. Keith turns all the way around and comes face to face with Lance sleepily blinking his own eyes open.

Another future marriage fic. These awkward little beans omg its really cute.

Cheeky by rideahorse

Summary: Keith pinches his eyes shut, slamming the book down again and swiveling to face Lance. “Oh my god,” he groans, standing up and crossing the two feet between them before Lance can get out a word. He grabs Lance’s face between his hands (perhaps a bit rougher than needed, but hey, he’s always wanted to slap Lance’s stupid face) and the last thing he sees is an expression of pure surprise before he leans down and presses his lips against Lance's.It’s a peck, and it lasts a second, and then it’s over. Keith leans back, releasing Lance’s face, and hisses, “There.”

Cute and short fic basically just klance kissing with some feelings involved. The summary really says it all.

Well, we’ve made it to the end of this rec list. As always, please rec me fics I love getting recommendations. I loved reading all of your comments from the last list so please keep them coming, I love to hear from all of you, so feel free to message or ask a question. Hope you’re all doing well, until next time :)

#voltron #klance #klance fic #klance fic rec #vld #Voltron legendary defender #vld keith #vld lance #lance mcclain #keith kogane #shiro #Allura #Pidge #hunk #coran #vld season 8

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grimmtnykan · 4 years ago

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The Nykan Situation: Episode 1

"Hurry up, Grimm!"

"Ugh...Five more minutes."

"Do you want to go out and play today, or not?"

Grimm opened his eyes to see his older brother, Jacob, looking down on him. School was cancelled due to the heavy snowfall. Jacob made a promise to Grimm that they would play in the snow if they had a snow day, and what better day than today? Little Grimm shot out of bed and scurried to his closet to retrieve his winter attire. He made sure he was bundled up to go play out in the cold, wrapped up in a scarf and other necessary clothing items for the cold. Jacob was wearing his signature black trench coat and could see the excitement through his brother's bright blue eyes. The two ventured off into the snow and ran across the street, laughing on the way, the snow falling upon their pink and chubby faces.

"Wow, it kinda looks dead in the park today. I figured more people would be here." Jacob said as he put his hands into his pockets. Grimm couldn't contain his happiness any longer and just dashed for the park. Grimm was a very happy kid and always found energy inside of him to play with his brother. Jacob was sixteen and spent most of his time in Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Grimm would be going into said school in the next upcoming year. Not only would he get to spend more time with his brother, but he would learn how to harness the powers within magic and go on his own mystical path. Life was good for both of them.

"Well, if it isn't Jacob Nykan. The freak on the block." said a nearby voice. Jacob and Grimm looked up from playing in the snow to see three people. Jacob's had problems with them before. When he attended a muggle school in his hometown, these three people would always bully him. Jacob wasn't exactly a very extroverted person; in fact, he didn't like human contact at all. Unless it regarded family, he could care less about making friends or even holding a stable relationship. Being introverted in their small town wasn't seen as "normal."

"Aw, look! He's with his little brother. Just look at how scared he looks!" cackled one of the other boys. The group walked closer to the two siblings and Jacob stepped in front of Grimm. Grimm wasn't very great at handling confrontation. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was afraid of what their intentions consisted of. Would they hurt him or Jacob? Would they harass them? What did these three want?

"What do you want, Kai? I told you to stay away from me." Jacob said in a stern tone.

"You got another thing coming if you think I'd obey someone like you. I take orders from no one, Nykan!" said Kai, a silver headed boy. He rubbed his hands together as he looked at Grimm. "That's a nice, red scarf you got there. Red is my favorite color." he spat.

"Bet it's pretty valuable." snickered Everett, the tallest one in the group. Jacob tried to shove Grimm behind him, but Everett stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.

"Be a nice thing to have, ain't it?" said Darren, an orange headed, dark skinned boy. He looked at Kai as he cracked his knuckles. Darren and Everett grabbed Jacob and held him back. Kai, on the other hand, grabbed Grimm by his scarf. Grimm could feel himself choking and tried slapping at Kai's hand to make him stop. Tears flooded his eyes and he gasped for air, panicking. Jacob thrashed all around with Darren and Everett.

"Y-You can't have it! My mom made it for me and it's mine to keep!" squealed Grimm. He tried to stand his ground. He thought that perhaps they'd leave them alone if he showed any sign of courage. Kai cackled as he slowly lifted Grimm off the ground, tightening the scarf around his neck. Jacob loosened the grip that Darren and Everett had against him and he launched himself at Kai. The two wrestled with each other, Jacob's clothes being ripped in the process. Grimm got up from the snow and ran behind a tree, hiding. His legs felt weak, his mind raced, and his heart was beating right out of his chest. Grimm peeked his head from behind the tree. Jacob laid on the ground, not moving. The three bullies kicked and cursed at him. They saw Grimm and began to make their way towards him.

"Don't go near him..." Jacob said under his breath. The three bullies stopped in their tracks and began to panic when they felt their bodies being lifted in the air. Jacob was raising his arm up in the air as he got up and struggled to stand. Grimm stared in shock. What was going on? Jacob's eyes began to glow eerie green.

"You can bother me as much as you want...Yet, when you mess with my family, that is where I draw the line!" Jacob spat. He clasped his hand into a fist and the three bullies howled in pain. Green swirls of light wrapped around their bodies slowly, and as the light reached higher, their bodies would disappear. They were being vaporized. Eventually, the light secluded their screams and person. Everything fell silent, Grimm feeling confused and scared. He wondered what he had just witnessed. Jacob walked towards him and got on one knee.

"J-Jacob...What did you do?!" he whimpered.

"I did what I had to do in order to protect you. Listen, Grimm...We are both destined for greatness, and with people like in our way, we need to take them down. Let's keep today between us. Do you understand?" Grimm stared at his brother. He didn't understand what was going on at all, but he trusted Jacob.

"...I understand." the two made their way back home in silence. They had enough playing in the snow today.

----------

Grimm opened his deep, blue eyes to only see a clear sky and shade from the tree he lay under, blocking out the sun. The two strands of hair slightly blew in the wind to give him a better view of his sights. The young man sat up and scratched his head. Grimm was in average shape for a boy his age, seventeen. His hair was a light shade of brown, buzzed all around each side, with a couple bothersome strands resting over his forehead. He had a light stubble across his jawline and chin. He spoke with a southern accent that originated from the depths of Tennessee in the states, but faded slightly over time due to being in a different environment for so long. Of course, he would go back home every summer to his caretaker, Duke Kelling. Duke was a family friend of Grimm's parents who passed away in a house fire when he was eleven, which was the same night Jacob disappeared.

"I fell asleep again, damn. Madam Hooch'll want an explanation." he said to himself. He got up and dusted himself off and walked up the trail that led to the training grounds. He was lucky, he got to his class just in time. As we walked over to the rack of brooms to grab one, he felt a presence developing towards him.

"Hey Grimm!" said a familiar voice. Cesily Eurodite. Cesily is a Norwegian sixth year Gryffindor with hair red as a brick and thick as a shrub. She fixed her glasses as she smiled upon her friend. "How are you? You look dead."

"I actually just woke up. I skipped potions class last period because I honestly just hate that class. Professor Snape is really a pain. Same for that student teacher, Shiro." Grimm replied to Cesily's remark, grabbing a broom and patting Grimm on the back.

"Well, year six is almost over. It's been exhausting and trust me, as soon as this year is over, we'll go to Hogsmeade and drink ourselves silly with butter beer and do...I dunno, maybe watch Full House on repeat."

"We do that everyday already, Cy."

"And we'll do it again!" she chuckled. Grimm used to hate the idea of summer. Not only because it can be ridiculously hot, but because of how he would leave hearing the rumors about him from the past. When word got around about his well known brother disappearing and his family dying, people suspected Grimm to be behind it.

"He is working with he who must not be named!"

"He died discovering a cursed vault!"

"He is on the run from The Ministry of Magic!"

People to this day still speak about it. It doesn't help that Grimm brought attention upon himself after discovering an ice knight in a cursed vault and slaying it, helping organize campaigns and activities for the school, excelling in courageous based classes, and the constant rivalry he causes between Gryffindor and Slytherin. He has done and accomplished a lot in the past years he has been at Hogwarts, yet he felt there was so much more he could do and discover, such as finding Jacob. There is still so much to do, yet so little time.

"Hopefully this summer won't be a pain." said Grimm as he hopped on his broom.

--------

Evelyn, Seraphina, and Tay were hanging out in Hogsmeade. The three of them didn't have class for the rest of the day, so they decided to head to town and screw around. They were currently at The Three Broomsticks enjoying a hot meal and butter beer. Evelyn was dazed, staring out the window and thinking.

"What're you thinking about?" Tay asked. Tay Guinvere is a sixth year Ravenclaw who was quite determined for high marks and obsessed with tea. Her hair was a dark brown and fluffy as can be, though being short to her shoulders. "You look bored."

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Seraphina asked. Seraphina Steinhaur is a Gryffindor in her sixth year. Her skin is pale like her white, snowy hair. Her eyes, amber like peanut brittle. Unlike her two friends, she was more outspoken and loud.

"Oh nothing. I'm just thinking of something that happened yesterday. It isn't important" Evelyn replied. Evelyn Fawley is a Hufflepuff in her sixth year. She has woven blonde hair with emerald green eyes. Freckles danced upon her rosy nose and cheeks. She was quite popular, and not just because she is a part of the sacred pureblood family but because of her charisma and charm. People often labeled her as nice and outgoing, but she wasn't so sure if she could identify with that statement.

"I bet it's boys." Seraphina teased.

"Too bad we can't do that because we're le--" Tay was cut off.

"It's not about that, stop trying to expose me." Evelyn took a sip of her butterbeer. "I said something to Grimm and I think he hates me now."

"You told him that he looks like a wannabe trucker?" Tay chuckled as she chugged her butterbeer.

"No. Not yet anyway. We have to save that for another time." replied Evelyn.

"Well then what's the big deal? You're not exactly a mean person. You're a Hufflepuff! There's no way you could be mean." said Seraphina. Tay looked at her and for a moment and then back at her butterbeer.

"Well...I said something to him a few days ago and I think he's mad at me." Evelyn admitted. "We were both looking through the journal we found in Filch's office that belonged to Jacob, trying to decipher what it said. It was written in this...weird language of some sort. No one we knew could translate it and the library had absolutely nothing to help us. Things got tense later that night."

----------

Grimm groaned loudly and threw the journal down. Inside of it appeared to be scribbles and exotic shapes combined together. That was the only thing in the notebook, this foreign writing. He began to grow frustrated.

"What the hell does this say?! Why would he write his journal in such an awkward manner?" Grimm picked the journal back up and began to study the board he put up in Jacob's room, full of notes and other items that included information about their evidence.

"Grimm, can I say something?" Evelyn said as she put down a book. He looked over at her. "Isn't it possible that perhaps, he doesn't want to be found?" Grimm stared at her.

"And why would he want that?"

"I don't know. Maybe something serious did happen and it caused him to go into hiding. I just know that sometimes, people just want to be left alone." Evelyn replied. Grimm looked over at the door.

"So far we've hardly gotten anywhere with this investigation. We are lucky to even have a ghost or centaur mention him to us, and we're in year six! We've been looking for him since year one. I'll help you in any way I can, but...I think we're getting nowhere once again--"

Before Evelyn could finish, Grimm turned around and stormed out of his room and into the night. He didn't come back for a couple of days. He hasn't even spoken to Evelyn since then. Nor looked at her. Let alone anyone in all of Hogwarts.

----------

"That wasn't cool." Tay blurted out. "I understand he cares for his brother, but he doesn't have to treat you like that."

"I can somewhat understand his reaction. If my only form of close family went missing with no explanation, I'd be concerned and worried too. I'd try to find them. We all have found evidence regarding Jacob's disappearance. Maybe he feels that he's too close to the matter." Seraphina pitched in.

"I don't care how close we are, I just...want him to stop being mad at me. What should I do?" Evelyn asked.

"Apologize?" Seraphina suggested. "Perhaps you could give him some sort of treat."

"Nah, that's lame." blurted Tay.

"You have a better idea?" Seraphina barked.

"No, but it sounds corny." replied Tay.

"It's better than nothing. Maybe it will bring us both some closure." said Evelyn.

"I'm sure it will, even if you bring him a food based treat. You can stab him to death and offer him a sweet roll as an apology and he'd forgive you." said Tay. The three girls laughed and joked for the rest of their visit at The Three Broomsticks. An hour had gone by and Evelyn noticed Grimm sitting in the courtyard reading a book. She approached him with careful steps, hoping to not distract him too obnoxiously.

"Hey Grimm!" said Evelyn cheerfully as she walked up to him. Grimm lifted his head up.

"Oh, hey. What're you doing here?"

"I just wanted to ask you if you could maybe hang out tonight? I don't have any plans and I was hoping you didn't either." replied Evelyn.

"Tsk, well you kinda came at the wrong time. It's Friday and every Friday, Cesily and I binge Full House Well, technically she makes me binge it with her, but it's better than studying." said Grimm. Evelyn's expression went blank for a minute. Was he just saying this because he was upset with her?

"Oh, okay. Maybe another time then." she said before she could turn to walk away.

"Hey, maybe you could join us?" said Grimm.

"Grimm." she clasped her hands. "I am a Hufflepuff. I cannot just enter the Gryffindor common room."

"...I never said it was in the common room." said Grimm as he smiled.

"Oh. Then where are you watching the movie?" Evelyn asked.

"I can't say. Just meet me on the training grounds around 7:00 pm." Grimm closed his book. "I need to get to transfiguration class. I'll see you around?"

"S-Sure! See you until then." Evelyn said as he walked away. She wanted to apologize and say something else to him then and there, but words refused to climb up her vocals and escape. As of lately, it nearly felt impossible to speak to Grimm. Was it because he was disassociating himself from everyone, or was it her own fault for feeling that she was at fault for the little things she has said, done, and thought? Either way, she felt trapped in this communication based wall. She sat down on the same bench he was once sitting at, and just began to think, and imagine herself in a more confident aura. Later that night, Evelyn dressed out of her robes and wore only a casual outfit. She sat outside in the cool breeze as the sun began to sun. It looked as if the fallen wizards and witches were painting the sky. Oranges, yellows, pinks, and even blues flooded the sky like a hurricane. It was absolutely mesmerizing. The freckled blonde wished she could enjoy this sight for all of eternity. Scotland certainly did have a wondrous atmosphere, and golden hour was its peak.

"Hey." said a familiar voice. It was Grimm. Evelyn turned her head around and stood up from the soft, green grass and greeted him.

"Follow me." he said with a blank stare.

She followed close behind him, occasionally looking at the horizon. Grimm only wore a black shirt, cargo shorts, and black tennis shoes. Why was he wearing black on such a warm day? That's a fashion curse, Evelyn thought. His face was unreadable. She stopped eyeing him for a minute only to see they were headed into a small patch of woods. Ahead of them was a short, but thick tree with what appeared to be a tree house at the top. Grimm grabbed the latter and began to climb up on it to enter the small home. Evelyn climbed up after him and viewed the room. There were bean bag chairs, rugs, curtains over windows, cans and bottles of soda and water, some clothes laying about, blankets, and a television with a DVD player.

"Wow, full on man cave, huh?" said Evelyn, jokingly.

"Yeah. We built it a while back. The second years and above were being rude to us as first years, so we first year Gryffindor's built this with the help of Hagrid. We come here when we need to." Grimm said with a smile. "There wasn't a lot of us. So it was just me, Ben, Rowan, Cesily, and Seraphina. But... Now it's just the girls and I."

Evelyn eyed at him with a sombering look. She sympathized with him. During the first half of sixth year, Rowan Khanna had died by the hands of Patricia Rakepick. Grimm, Merula Snyde, and Ben Copper were battling the traitorous witch in the forbidden forest and she had casted one of the unforgivable curses at Ben. The killing curse, Avada Kedavra. But Rowan had followed them in a desperate attempt to protect them, to which he did. But he ended up dying as a sacrifice, pushing Ben out of the way before he could be struck by the evil curse. It put a massive effect on Grimm and everyone around Hogwarts. Due to the massive wave of sheer anger and melancholy, Grimm and Ben had a falling out. They haven't spoken since Rowan's death. Evelyn lifted her head and changed the subject to a more happy matter.

"Wait, there are no outlets. How does the TV work?" Evelyn asked.

"We use Accio. Electricity is expensive. Good thing we can use magic. It's not like we'll get in trouble either since we're still on the campus." Grimm said.

"Smart. So, where is everyone?" asked Evelyn.

"They'll be here later. They went to fetch some snacks for tonight." Grimm answered. He sat down in a red bean bag chair.

"Hey, there's something I wanted to talk to you about." Evelyn said as she sat down on one of the rugs. Grimm looked over at her.

"I...I'm sorry for what I said a few days ago. I know how this investigation means to you. I hope I didn't make you too angry." she stated in a sad tone. Evelyn looked up at him. "You looked pretty upset when you stormed off." Grimm sighed and looked at her.

"I'll be honest, I wanted to protest, but I heard something. I heard a familiar voice, it felt haunting, yet calming. I ran out to investigate it and was frustrated when I couldn't see or find anything." Grimm explained.

"Whose voice was it?" Evelyn asked. Grimm looked down and choked on his words, wiping his forehead.

"It was Jacob's."

BREAK

"What?" Evelyn asked, wide eyed.

"I heard Jacob calling my name. It became more intense, more profound. Each minute I got closer, he got louder. That's why I haven't spoken to you or hardly anyone. It's... All I can think about. It gives me chills." Grimm's voice grew shaky and quiet. "I'm not mad at you. I'm just--" Before Grimm could finish, the trap door opened and up came Cesily, Tay, and Seraphina.

"Oops, did we interrupt something?" Taryn teased. Cesily and Seraphina followed up with a chuckle.

"Uh, no. Then again, a notice would've been nice." Grimm sneered.

"Yeah, yeah. So Evelyn, you're joining us for binge night?" Cesily asked.

"I suppose so. I've never done anything like this before. Or at least it has been a very long time since I have. I also had no idea Tay and Sera would be joining us." Evelyn stated as she glared at the two. They just smiled at her and stuck their tongues out.

"Well, why are we still chatting? Let's start the show already before I fall asleep." Seraphina said impatiently. Cesily used Accio to start the television. It has been almost an hour since they watched the first season. Grimm noticed how everyone except for him seemed to be so in depth with the show. It was as if they were hypnotized. Why wasn't he the same way? He had been waiting for tonight all week; but, when he finally got the chance, it felt less exciting. As he thought to himself, he began to wonder if he would feel the same way if he would ever discover the whereabouts of his brother. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light.

"What was that?" Tay asked in a worried tone.

"Was it lightning?" Seraphina said as she sat up and looked around.

Evelyn sat up and poked her head out of the window to see a bright light hanging in the sky, directly above Hogwarts. It got brighter and bigger, combusting and causing the Earth to quake terribly. The group hollered and began to panic. Grimm fell out of the window and landed on his side. He croaked in pain, his vision growing blurry. He could have sworn his ribs were broken. All he could hear the faint voices of his peers call his name as his hearing went from clear and precise to silent and dead. He closed his eyes and he saw nothing but darkness.

"Grimm... Grimm..." said a quiet voice. Grimm couldn't answer. He could hear and see in this vision, but he couldn't speak. It was as if he was in some sort of paralysis. "I've risen, Grimm. The time is now!" the voice roared.

"GRIMM!"

Grimm's eyes shot open and he saw the four girls beside him, helping him up. The earthquake turned into a chaotic storm. Rain poured down immensely. Thunder and lightning cracked and ran throughout the sky like it was a horse race. Wind pushed down on everyone, like a pressure weight.

"Protego!" Cesily yelled as she waved her wand. A large shield of blue grew around the group and they made their way back to Hogwarts. It only took a few minutes, but they eventually made it back in time before the storm worsened. Students gathered around in the main hall. Some students were conversing with each other; other students were in a panic about the situation.

"What's going on?" Seraphina asked.

"It appears as if there is some sort of birthday party going on, Miss Steinhauer." said professor Snape. "There's a storm happening and it's causing destruction and chaos. What else could it be?"

"Guys, please put me down..." Grimm said meekly. He felt his legs fall beneath him and he fell onto his dirty palms, suddenly dry heaving. His eyes were bloodshot as he turned on his back, shaking. He felt hot, boiling, and his skin was flaring a red tint. Grimm's fingers dug into the cement floor.

"Grimm!" Evelyn exclaimed as he fell.

"GUUUUUUUUUURRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHAHAAAAAAAAHHAGGGGHHH!" Grimm howled in pain. His body twisted and turned awkwardly, crunching and popping being heard all throughout his body. Wizards and witches turned their heads to the commotion and rushed over, only to be forced back by the staff.

"What in the world is going on here?!" shouted one of the professors as they made their way through the crowd to get to the scene.

"It's Nykan!" replied professor Hooch.

The Professors that were there at the scene, which consisted of Flitwick, McGonagall, and Hooch. They gathered around to calm down Grimm.

"Don't touch him." boomed a voice as it approached the scene in purple and golden robes.

"STOP THE P A I N!" Grimm screamed. His voice sounded deep and ragged. His ears grew to a pointed arrow head-like shape. His deep blue ocean eyes transitioned into a cyan blue full of electricity, with his pupils turning into slits. He arched his back in pain, immediately punching the ground as an instant reaction. His fist slamming into the ground, causing it to crack and creating a pothole. His clothes began to shred as his body began to stretch, growing from a scrawny teenage boy, to the body of a boulder.. His muscles grew and his veins popped out. This made Grimm begin to cry in anguish. The pain was so surreal. It felt as if he was being impaled by his own spine. To him, this sensation felt as if rocks, pins, and needles were having a race in his body. In the middle of his chest, a bright blue X began to appear. As soon as the light disappeared, the symbol looked like nothing more than a large scar. Grimm stopped freaking out almost immediately and just relaxed onto the floor, panting heavily. The young boy's face was drenched in sweat, tears, mucus, and saliva. Everyone stared at the restless student, jaws dropped at this extraordinary change.

"The race of Apoth." mumbled the once booming voice. It belonged to the one and only, headmaster Dumbledore.

"Sir?" Hooch asked.

"The birth of a lost race. Apothians." Albus Dumbledore stepped closer and got onto one knee, cleaning Grimm's face with a handkerchief and sitting him up.

"The race of Apoth is a long lost collective race of mortals who would be granted powers from higher deities, particularly Norse gods. The race disappeared mysteriously over 5 centuries ago. Not much is known of their race, except the formation of their symbol that is upon their chest. It forms when they have officially been gifted the powers from the deities. That is, if they are seen as worthy." said Dumbledore.

"But why Grimm? What is even going on?" Cesily asked. Truly, no one had any idea what was going on. Their classmate had just gone through what seemed like an ultimately traumatizing event and for what reason? And what was with the mention of gods? Hardly no one in the wizarding world believed in such a concept.

"The Savior's weren't the ones to give him this beauty." said a voice from outside of the grand window. Everyone turned their heads to see the windows suddenly shatter. A bright light poured in, and appeared a tall, fit man. He had coal black hair, pale skin, and wore a jeweled, black robe. He lifted his head to reveal his bright green eyes, and wore half of a white masquerade mask that rested upon the right side of his face.

"I did." said Jacob Harlis Nykan.

"Jacob?" mumbled Grimm. His eyes widened as he wheezed. Dumbledore patted his back to relax him.

"Hello, Grimm. I hear you've been searching for me." Jacob said as he walked towards his younger brother.

"Only for six years." Grimm replied as he attempted to stand up, but McGonagall and Flitwick stopped him.

"How did you get here? Zoro banished you!" Dumbledore stated.

"I figured you'd know that question already, professor." Jacob replied sternly. "I've come for you, Grimm. I've gifted you with 10% of the power the Lost have given me. Eventually, you can become immortal like me, and we'll become gods. We can rule the world! We can avenge our parents. We can have what we have ever wanted! It's your destiny, Grimm! Remember when we were young and I said this to you on the playground? You and I can be one, once again!" said Jacob, as he reached out his hand. Grimm stared at him, confused. Why was Jacob going on about world domination? He had so many questions, but he didn't know where to start.

"W-wait... You disappear for six years, and ask me to help you rule the world? You've been here for hardly a minute! You could have at least bought me dinner first!" Grimm said as he struggled to stand.

"All I ever wanted was to see us become a family again. That's all I ever wanted... even ma and pa." Grimm said, his voice cracking.

"We can, Grimm. Yet, you'd have to agree to rule beside me and bring this cruel world to its knees! We need to show this godforsaken planet that the respect for the gods has been lost, and we as new gods deserve to be worshipped. We deserve the happiness and glory we dreamt about as children." Jacob said.

"I don't want that! That would require me harming those for something I want, and that's not how I roll. You can do what you want, but I won't participate in any of it. Just listen to yourself, Jacob!"

Everyone silenced.

"Stand down, and come home with us. With me, brother." Grimm said as he slowly approached his sibling.

"It seems I've made a mistake. I expected better of you, Grimm. You've disappointed me." Jacob snarled. "You really are pathetic!"

Jacob yelled as he raised his arm and swung it to the side, casting a large wave of green energy to hit Grimm with. Grimm gasped and jumped towards the side. The blast of energy destroyed the main hall's entrance, causing it to explode and create an immaculate hole in its presence. Grimm staggered upward and looked at his brother. Before the professors could cast their wands, Jacob jumped towards Grimm and grabbed him by his throat, punching him in the air and straight through the roof. Jacob launched himself after him, opening his hands and spewing what appeared to be like green lightning from them. He eventually reached up to Grimm before he could fall back down. Jacob grabbed what remained of his shirt and turned him over, back facing the ground.

"Elektrisk slag!" Jacob shouted before the blasts of electricity pushed Grimm down into the ground, creating an impact crater. Grimm could feel himself fading in and out of consciousness, his breath becoming short and rapid. Jacob flew down to face him.

"Tragic. Here you are, a part of a long lost race, and you don't even know how to use your powers. You don't even know how to summon your own våpen. That is something every Apoth knows instantly after transformation. Your instincts should have blocked my attacks." Jacob spat as he kicked Grimm in the face.

"You always were weak, Grimm. I can remember the first time you dealt with that group of bullies. I had to deal with them for you. In the end I ended up killing them. I turned their bodies into dust. And you know what you did? Cry, like a pathetic waste of space!" He shouted as he slammed his foot into Grimm's gut. Grimm cried in pain, too weak to move.

"You are nothing but shit. I don't see how we could ever be in relation. You are not worthy of being my brother or a god. You are my enemy, and I must kill my enemies before they get in my way!" Jacob said before lifting his leg to kick him again. Grimm grabbed his foot and held it, refusing to let Jacob harm him once more. His new biceps and triceps flexed intensely, veins popping slightly.

"I...I AM NOT PATHETIC!" Grimm screamed as he suddenly lifted himself up. The two were suddenly surrounded by blue flames. Grimm pushed Jacob in the air and flew after him, trails of blue flame following behind him. He balled his fist up, reaching it back and nailing him in the face. This force of strength caused Jacob to fly across the sky, creating a sonic boom wave. Jacob used his mass to stop himself from flying any further. He felt at the right side of his face, feeling a thin crack in the center of his mask.

"You'll pay for that." Jacob sneered. "Fare!"

Jacob raised his arm and a long horizontal line of vivid light appeared. What was revealed before Grimm was a long, curved tip sword. Along the blade was glowing green Norwegian lettering that spelled out Fare. The handle had a spike attached to it at the end. Around the saber, waves of green energy produced amongst it. Its power was pressuring Grimm.

"I won't use all of Fare's power on you since there's no point. As soon as this blade touches you, you'll die. After all, it's what you deserve for betraying your only family." said Jacob as he swung his arm to the side, unleashing a blast of energy at Grimm. The energy broke into many parts, spreading like arrow heads. Grimm dove down, but was struck by one of the arrows. It went through his arm and blood began to cascade down his bicep to his finger tips like a river. The new born Apothian cursed and held his arm as he shot his head up to eye his brother. His eyes flashed, glowing furiously. Grimm screamed Jacob's name as he flew towards him. An aura of white formed around him as he aimed his attacks towards his older brother. Grimm punched as fast and as hard as he could, but Jacob dodged every attack. He raised his sword to slice at Grimm, but was stunned to see Grimm grab it. He tried to remove the sword from his grasp, but Grimm held tightly. The saber cut into his skin but he refused to let go.

"What?!" Jacob exclaimed confusingly. Grimm threw his sword to the side, causing Jacob to go flying with it. Grimm didn't throw as far as he anticipated, however. He could feel his body becoming weaker and more exhausted. Jacob turned to laugh at the boy's poor attempts to fight. "It appears your energy is draining, Grimm. It's just as I expected."

"W-What do you mean?" asked Grimm.

"Apothians can only use their max power gifted by the Saviors if they have at least 10,000% of energy. Right now, your energy is only at a measly 10%. My energy is at least a little bit over 9,000%. That's why I haven't even broken a sweat since this battle. I estimate that in about 15 minutes or less, you'll fall right down to the ground and either die or be close to dying." said Jacob. Grimm met his piercing green eyes with hurt and frustration.

"Face it, you won't defeat me in time before you die. I honestly expected a more... exciting fight." said Jacob. "No matter. At least this battle is done and over with. I have more important things to do. But first... "

Jacob turned to shoot a beam of energy from his hand towards the school.

"NOOOOO!" Grimm screamed as he flew in front of the beam. He began to think of his friends and peers, the many lives that could be injured, or even lost, at this beloved school. He pressed his back against the front of the beam, feeling the energy sting and burn his body. He didn't exactly know what he was doing, but whatever it was, it seemed to work. Grimm looked to his side to see Jacob gone. That bastard, he thought. He turned around and used all of his might to turn the beam the opposite way from the school. Grimm shoved his fist through the beam of energy, burning his hand, and threw it like an Olympian would with a spear. It landed in a patch of woods and exploded, causing another crater in the ground. A huge gust of wind blew as an effect. Grimm turned to the school and flew back towards it, becoming weaker as he got lower. He laid himself in front of the main gates to Hogwarts. As soon as he landed, many professors ran to help him.

"Madam Pomfrey, get him in the hospital wing!" ordered Headmaster Dumbledore.

Many professors crowded him, picking him up and carrying him to the wing. It had been several hours since the incident. Everyone was talking about it. Evelyn, Tay, Seraphina, and Cesily sat outside of the hospital wing, waiting for news about Grimm's health.

"So, are we not going to discuss what just happened?" Tay asked.

"What can we talk about? I'm still confused about the whole thing." stated Cesily.

"That battle was... Intense. I feel really worried, guys." said Evelyn, tapping her foot repeatedly.

"Look at this mess! If Nykan had never come here, then none of this would have happened." said a sharp voice, t'was Danie Lopez, a well known Slytherin. She was popular within her house, but still rather very cruel to others. She and Merula Snyde had a lot in common, but even Merula knew when to stop. Danie is a latina girl with skin of a chestnut. Her hair was short, but curly. Glasses rested upon her face, sitting in front of her dark and sharp eyes.

"He's probably dying, or something." said Ismelda Murk, another well known Slytherin. The girl has greasy black hair and a pale freckled face. Bags under her eyes were very existent due to the lack of sleep.

"If he was dying, then it's well deserved. Now, let's head back to our common room. We have work to do for the ball committee." said Danie.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go. If I don't, my inner zen will disappear." Evelyn sighed. "Will you guys let me know about Grimm's health if you hear anything?"

"Yeah, totally." replied Seraphina. The rest ended up going back to their common rooms. Meanwhile, Dumbledore stood at the window inside his office, staring at the moon.

"Headmaster?" said a low voice.

"Come in, Professor Snape." replied Dumbledore.

"I think we should make arrangements to speak about the incident tomorrow morning." Snape stated. "The student body will want some questions answered. As well as our newfound student teacher."

"Perhaps. I will look into it. I am more worried about Jacob Nykan's arrival. We banished him to the spirit realm. How could he have possibly found his way out?" asked Dumbledore.

"It may have to do with the tranquility and overall status of his abilities. Or as what students say these days," Snape raised his hands to move his fingers up and down to form quotation marks, "Who knows."

Dumbledore walked over to his desk and opened up a safe, which contained a journal full of notes inside. He opened it and began to look over a few things held within the book.

"We banished him to keep him safe from destruction. If he was even captured by the Ministry of Magic, then he would have eventually found a way out. Due to his immaculate prowess, I doubt we will be able to do such a thing again." Dumbledore stated.

"What do you suggest we do?" Snape asked. Dumbledore raised his head slowly and closed his eyes.

"Jacob Nykan has strayed too far from the path of holiness, gratitude, and peace. There is only one thing we may be able to do, but it'll be a lot of work." Dumbledore said as he closed his book.

"And what is that?" Snape asked.

"We need to contact Zoro again. Jacob Nykan needs to die." Dumbledore answered.

END OF EPISODE 1

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sideofwritingsandramblings · 5 years ago

Text

Day 6: I’m Drunk on You

For @sheithmonth prev / on ao3 / next July 6th - Business

Keith shifted in his lap and Shiro tried not to groan out loud. Instead he closed his eyes and prayed to whatever god that might listen that no one would notice his… predicament. Especially not Keith.

The employees of Altea Corporation were currently celebrating their CEO’s engagement to her fiance. President Allura and her lover Lance had been dating for the better part of 2 years, so no one was surprised when the announcement came that morning in the office. Hunk had then suggested that everyone hit up a bar after work that day to celebrate the couple.

However, the short notice meant cramming dozens of employees into an unsuspecting bar that had Allura apologizing profusely and offering extra cash to the owner. The bar they had ended up at was called Little Root Tavern, and was actually owned by Shiro’s friend Matt Holt, who was more than happy to host the party. But as the name suggests, Little Root was not a very large establishment, forcing everyone to pack in like sardines.

The only spot that would fit them was one long table in the center of the room where they could sit on the floor. Shiro slipped his way to a spot where he could sit cross legged and lean against the wall, and Keith had taken his usual space beside him. As many people as possible crammed around that table and as the alcohol was served, Shiro found himself getting squished from both sides. What Shiro hadn’t expected was a very tipsy Keith to climb into his lap halfway through the night, grumbling about how crowded it was. Shiro knew his face had gone red and he avoided making eye contact with Lance who was smirking at them.

Now Shiro was trying to keep calm as his best friend (and longtime crush) sat firmly in his lap, every so often shifting in an attempt to get comfortable. Moving in ways that almost had Shiro choking on his alcohol.

“Anything else I can get for you all?” Matt asked the party, making eye contact with Shiro and raising an eyebrow at Shiro’s situation.

People called out more orders, and Shiro reached around Keith to pass his empty glass to Matt.

Don’t ask, Shiro mouthed to him, and Matt smirked.

“How about another round of shots?” Matt announced to the table, “This round on the house for the happy couple!”

The party cheered, raising their glasses to Allura and Lance, but Shiro glared at Matt, who had been pointedly looking at him and Keith when he’d said it. Shiro suddenly regretted ever telling Matt about his feelings for Keith.

“Shiro? I’m sorry, I’m probably heavy aren’t I?” Keith asked, twisting to catch Shiro’s eye.

“N-No you’re fine!”

“Okay,” Keith smiled and turned back to his drink, while Shiro internally cursed himself.

That was probably the only chance he’d get to get Keith off of him. Keith really wasn’t heavy but Shiro’s own problem wasn’t getting any better. He kept finding himself watching Keith, the way he’d laugh at something Allura or Pidge had said. The way his cheeks flushed from the alcohol and how sometimes he’d lean back against Shiro’s chest before realizing what he’d done and leaned forward again. Shiro hated that distance and he desperately wanted to wrap his arms around Keith’s waist and pull him back again.

But that would be crossing a line that Shiro wouldn’t risk crossing.

Not when the past two years have been some of the best of his life. When he’d first met Keith at Altea Corp they’d hit it off immediately. Keith had gone from the new employee Shiro mentored to best friend in a ridiculously short amount of time. Being with Keith was easy and fun and exhilarating. After long days at the office it was common for Shiro to find himself on the back of Keith’s motorcycle, riding up through the forest to find someplace to watch the stars. Or to a shitty diner where they’d talk over fries and shakes. Or even to Shiro’s apartment where they’d watch and laugh at the new season of Boltron: Legendary Attacker and it’s bad writing.

No matter what they did Shiro felt happy. And he wouldn’t give it up for the world. Even if every time they hung out it felt like a date and Shiro wanted nothing more then to swoop down and kiss Keith absolutely senseless. How Keith would probably be just as forward and aggressive with his kisses as he was on the training mat when they sparred at the gym. God, did Keith look good when he was on the mat…

And this is not what he should be thinking about when Keith is in his lap.

“Well, I think it’s about time we head out,” Allura announced, which was immediately met by complaints from the party, “Oh please. Unlike some of you who get weekends off with the company, the CEO’s job is never done.”

“You heard the lady,” Lance said, grabbing Allura’s coat from the floor and helping her pull it on, “You all can stay and continue to toast to our well-being. We’ll let you know when the wedding will be.”

And with that (and a few finger guns from Lance), Allura and her fiance left the party.

“I bet that’s nice,” Keith mumbled, suddenly leaning back and resting his head on Shiro’s shoulder with his face turned slightly towards Shiro’s own.

Shiro could smell the alcohol on his breath, “What?”

“You know,” Keith paused and Shiro’s heart skipped a beat when Keith looked down at Shiro’s lip’s, “Being in a relationship.”

Keith looked back up at Shiro’s eyes and for a split second Shiro was certain Keith was going to kiss him. But Keith sat back up and finally stood from Shiro’s lap.

“I’ll be right back,” Keith said and Shiro watched him walk towards the bathrooms.

Shiro let out a breath, and scooted forward so that his lap was directly under the table. He tried to think about anything besides Keith or otherwise he wouldn’t be able to walk out of this bar without people noticing he was half hard.

“Fuck,” he whispered.

“What’s that Shiro?” Pidge’s voice came from across the table, “Don’t tell me having your crush in your lap all night has been a problem for you?”

“Pidge,” he hissed out, eyes darting about to the remaining employees around the table.

“Oh come on Shiro,” Pidge continued, ignoring his complaint, “Everyone knows how you feel. Honestly, we’re all just surprised it hasn’t happened yet.”

“I should have never told Matt,” Shiro lamented, to which Pidge laughed.

“Oh please, Matt didn’t need to tell me. You’re obvious.”

Hunk nodded beside Pidge, “Yeah I mean even Lance has you figured out, and it took him months to figure out Shay and I were dating. We weren’t even trying to hide it! It took me kissing Shay right in front of him!”

Shiro sighed again as the others continued their discussion about Shiro’s love life. Eventually he took a peek at his watch and looked over towards the bathroom again. Keith was taking a while.

“Plus, Keith is totally into yo-” Pidge started.

“I’ll be right back,” Shiro interrupted, pushing himself up off the ground.

He felt a bit dizzy from the quick change of elevation but at least he wasn’t drunk. He made his way over to the bathroom door and pushed his way inside. His eyes immediately locked on to Keith, who stood at the bathroom mirror, hands braced on the sink and head down.

“Keith? Are you okay?”

Keith jumped, apparently not having heard him enter and turned to face him, “Yeah I’m fine, just a little queasy. I had a little too much.”

“Do you want me to call you a cab?”

Keith paused, seeming to take a moment to just look at him. Shiro tried not to let it affect him, but Keith looked like he was searching for something. There was a heat in Keith’s eyes that Shiro wasn’t used to. Eventually Keith looked away, turning back to the mirror.

“Yeah,” he finally said, “I should probably go home.”

Keith pushed away from the mirror and Shiro followed him out of the bathroom. They said their goodbyes to their friends and made their way outside. They stood on the street corner in front of the bar. It was quieter outside, the only noises were the muffled sounds of merriment behind the bar’s door and the cars passing them by.

“Sorry about in there,” Keith suddenly said.

“What about?”

“I-I shouldn’t have, you know, gotten into your space like that. I know I was in the way.”

“No Keith, it was fine. Honest,” Shiro replied easily, because it was the truth. It was fine, Shiro was the one who made it weird.

“Oh, that’s good,” Keith seemed to visibly relax beside him, “So, just curious, was I imagining you having a hard on in there?”

Shiro felt his stomach drop and he had the sudden desire to get swallowed up by the ground beneath his feet. He continued to stare ahead, feeling Keith’s eyes on him, and he felt his face heat considerably.

“Shiro you don’t have to freak out, it’s fine,” Keith laughed, and then shuffled his feet, “I was actually kind of hoping you’d kiss me in there.”

Shiro’s head whipped towards him but now it was Keith’s turn to look away with a blush dusting his cheeks. Shiro watched him for a few moments and then made up his mind.

“Well… can I kiss you now instead?”

Keith turned back, “Please.”

Shiro stepped closer into Keith’s space and Keith immediately wrapped his arms around Shiro’s shoulders. There was one more moment of hesitation as they stared at one another, and then Keith was pushing up on his toes to meet Shiro halfway.

It was like a spark between them and Shiro immediately wanted more. He pushed Keith back against the concrete wall of Little Root, and Keith hugged him even tighter as he was pinned. He felt Keith bite and suck at his bottom lip and he groaned, his hands coming up to Keith’s face to hold him still as they kissed deeper.

At least until he heard the bell above the tavern door ring as the door swung open. Shiro pulled back just in time to see Pidge and Matt walk out of the building.

Pidge saw them first.

“Finally!”

Shiro felt his ears burn but he wasn’t sure if it was from being caught or from Keith whispering in his ear.

Come home with me.

#sheithmonth #sheithmonth2019 #sheith #fanfic #voltron #my fics

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 5 years ago

Text

CSUAPR PRT 17 START.. middle... nearly end?

"Get up!"

Waking with something rudely smacking into his face, Keith groaned miserably as he peeled his sleepy dust riddled eyes open and glared at the offending object that had hit him in the face. Pants... Why in quiznak's name was he being hit in the face by a pair of pants, when his head was throbbing like a base drum and some kind of alien fur creature had set up residence in his mouth? Blinking himself to full consciousness as he yawned, Keith had no idea why he was in the bathtub, or how he'd ended up being filled with the desire to burrow back down into the bath and try for another several vargas worth of sleep. Not when the tub was so damn uncomfortable

"What happened?"

Trying to gather spit in his mouth, all he seemed to do was make the taste lingering there worse. His stomach was making rumbling noises, yet the mere thought of food was enough to drain the colour from your face

"I'm not surprised you don't remember. You got yourself wasted doing shots with Krystaal, before sending Lance into a panic attack. He's fine, thanks for asking. Already up and at the festival with Coran. We have a Paladin panel in 15 doboshes, so time to shower and get your shit together"

Groaning, Keith closed his eyes and let his head drop back against the rim of the bathtub

"I'm allowed to have a drink or two"

"Tell that to your pregnant husband"

Now, he may just be remembering things wrong, but Lance was the one who told him to go

"I'm not having this fight with you. I feel like shit"

"Good. I wanted to take him out and cheer him up. Instead he ended up going to bed alone"

The coldness coming from Shiro wasn't entirely unexpected. Maybe he had over indulged. It certainly felt like he had

"Don't throw that back at me. You're not his husband"

"No. I'm not. He was in a vulnerable..."

"He's always in a vulnerable state. He had a damn nightmare and ended up in the air vents yesterday..."

Hurled up out of the bathtub suddenly, Shiro dropped him. Keith barely keeping from falling over backwards

"What the fuck!?"

"Lance is your husband. The man you spent years in love with. The man who is absolutely crazy about you"

"I know that!"

"Then why aren't you getting your shit together!? You're going to be a father!"

"I know!..."

Screaming at Shiro, Keith's world swam. Sinking on to the edge of the bath, he buried his face in his hands

"... I know. But I don't know how to be a father. I don't know how to be a father, Shiro. I don't know how to care for a baby. I don't know how to change a nappy. I don't know what to do for a fever. I don't know... I don't know what to do!"

Shiro's sighed heavily as he sat down next to him

"Is that what this about? You're scared about being a dad?"

"Wouldn't you be? I'm a mess. I'm turning 26 and my life is a mess. My husband won't take his medication. He keeps having panic attacks. He keeps testing me without me knowing it's a goddamn test until I fail... and... Shit, Shiro. I don't know what I'm doing. We can't even make a marriage work. How do we make a marriage and kids work? What does that even look like? He lives for his job. It's more important to him than the health and safety of our babies. Maybe he was right about having an abortion? He's not well. He's not mentally well. He's not physically well. He's hallucinating or his nightmares are out of control. He's got it in his head that the same people who raped him are back. What the quiznak am I supposed to do with that? And mum... God... She made it seem like having kids was awful. Really awful. Vomiting. Fevers. Teething. Sleepless nights. Shit storms... I can't take twins on missions. I don't know how to sit still. I don't think we're ready for this. I don't think I'm ready for this... it's such a big thing. These two tiny lives are going to be dependent on us. An ex-junky as he calls himself, and a Blade member. When things get hard... Lance doesn't have that drug crutch anymore... I don't know what to do if he won't listen to the doctors. If he's not going to try. Why am I going to try?"

A very long and pregnant silence hung in the air when he was finished. With each passing tick it was like Shiro was readying himself to explode, then his voice came out dead level, not relieving Keith of his anxieties

"Have you tried talking to Lance?"

"He doesn't want to listen. He thinks he got this letter yesterday. He thinks we're all in danger and he got mad at me for saying it was probably a nightmare. It was right after Curtis left. He was freaking out because Curtis being cautious on the other side of the door scared him. You know how he gets. You know he gets paranoid. There was no evidence of anything like that..."

"It's not paranoia if someone is actually out to get you... You raised the same issue with something happening at the awards ceremony. Now that it has happened, you're rejecting it because you can't control it"

"I can't control anything... I don't know what I'm doing and talking to mum only made it worse. I love him, but she... She made me see how... How far I have to go"

"Rather than getting drunk with Krystaal, yes, you got drunk with Krystaal as in shot for shot, you should talk to your husband. Lance is feeling all these same anxieties. He loves you, but you're running from him. Talk to him. He might not have been up for talking yesterday, but try. Try until he doesn't have any other option but to answer. I was scared when I took you on, but we turned out alright, didn't we?"

He'd gone drinking with Krystaal? Keith could very very vaguely kind of remember running into him... He'd been feeling bad about leaving Lance, but he was sure that Lance had imagined the whole thing. His husband was mad at him, and he was mad at him for being mad at him. He'd been so happy to see the twins, and now he was terrified. Absolutely and completely terrified... He didn't Lance being danger from someone new and unknown. He also didn't want their lives together to suddenly be upheaved. The twins would change everything. The twins would change everything and he didn't know how to have a family. Shiro was right, they'd done alright, but Shiro hadn't needed to wipe his arse or had to go through hours of potentially life threatening labour...

"I don't want to hurt him"

"You already are, by running"

"Running is all I know how to do... Running after him. Running into battle. Running after you"

"It take two to make a baby, or twins in this case. There are thousands and thousands of people out there who can never have what you two are going through. Don't take any of it for granted. If you're scared, or if you don't want this, you need to talk to him. You need to let him know where you stand. And you need a shower. You reek like you bathed in that stuff you were shooting. We've probably got about 5 doboshes to be there. Best get a move on"

Running to make the panel on time, Keith and Shiro we're both confused by the sight before them. There were five chairs, for five Paladins, except... in the place of Allura a photo of her sat, occupying one of those spaces. Behind the chairs was a series of banners featuring the faces of the Paladins framed by a thick band of colour responding to the lion they flew. Black for Shiro. Black and Red for Keith. Yellow for Hunk, then Green for Pidge. Allura was in the place of the Blue Paladin... and no signage for Lance. None... It wasn't Voltron without Lance. Lance was the heart and soul of Voltron. They'd never come together if not for him.

Joining Hunk, Pidge and Lance, Coran was a few feet away yelling at some event coordinator who'd failed their job over the lack of Lance's presence. At least that was what Keith thought at the time. Opening his mouth to greet his husband, Lance seemed to have prempted the move as he'd disappeared over to Coran's side silently. Elbowing him, Pidge had mischief in her eyes

"I hear someone got drunk yesterday"

"Shut it, Pidge"

"Oooh. Touchy. Yelling about how you and Lance were married... Galactic social media is buzzing with it"

Keith frowned at Pidge. If he was yelling how much he loved Lance, or was married to him, then why was he so mad at him

"I did what?"

"Yep. Right in the middle of your drinking match. You lost me GAC. I expect you to pay up"

"You were betting on me?"

"I would have put all my GAC on Lance, but he wasn't there to bet on"

"Whoa! Hold up. You would have bet on Lance? I'm so confused right now"

Pidge rolled her eyes at him with enough sass that the eyeroll didn't seem limited to her eyes alone

"Lance works in bar! How many times do you think his customers challenged him to drinks!? How many times has he partied himself to sleep? You can't work in a bar and be a light weight!"

"I tried to tell her that Lance doesn't drink that much anymore, but Lance sided with her. Are you ok, man?"

Joining in on their conversations, Hunk ignored Pidge nodding enthusiastically, most probably because Lance had agreed, or so he gathered by her gesturing to Lance

"I'm fine. I have no idea what we were drinking, but it wasn't that all pleasant to wake up to. Why is there no place for Lance?"

Hunk sighed

"Lance said that Allura should be on the panel, as it was her sacrifice that saved us all. He said he didn't need a place, but Coran wouldn't let him back down from this. Now they're trying to make a spot for him, despite the fact he doesn't want to be here"

Playing it cool, Keith raised his eyebrow, hoping to make the action seem natural

"Did he say that?"

"Not in so many words... I thought he liked his time being a Paladin..."

"That's stupid. He's obviously having too much fun being a bounty hunter. Plus, he's probably struggling with this whole situation. I mean, this is a festival to celebrate his dead girlfriend"

Hunk gaped at Pidge, his face loosing some of its colours as his cheeks turned a faint pink

"Pidge! You can't say that in front of Keith, he's his husband"

Shrugging, Pidge wasn't fazed

"Minor detail"

"No. No. No. Major detail!"

"Keith isn't complaining"

"Because Keith loves him. Right, buddy?"

"Yeah..."

Keith didn't want to be roped into this argument. Pidge started laughing, the noise grating on his throbbing head, her arms wrapped around her waist as she struggled out

"You could sound more enthused! What? Trouble in paradise? Are you in the doghouse for getting drunk without him?!"

"Ok, guys. That's enough..."

By standing behind him, and placing his hands on Keith's shoulders, Shiro drew their attention

"We're here to be Paladins, which means putting our game faces on. Do we have any details of what were actually doing? Coran forgot to fill us all in..."

Pidge pulled herself together, sounding almost disinterested as she related

"He forgot to tell all of this. They ran a "question" box for us the past couple of days. We're going to be given a tablet with questions for each of us on it. We don't have to answer all the questions, buuuuut it's going to be broadcast live across the universe. I've got Matt filming it. I can't wait to see how Keith acts with all this attention"

Crossing his arms, Keith scowled at Pidge

"I know how to do my job"

"Just because you know how to, doesn't mean you won't be awkward as hell..."

"Pidge, why do I feel like you've bet GAC on my performance"

"Because I have. Ooooh, look. It's Lance and Coran. What a convenient excuse not to continue this conversation"

"Pidge!"

Pidge was the picture of innocence as Coran and Lance joined them. Lance standing half behind Hunk, refusing to meet Keith's eyes, as Coran filled them in on what was happening. Space had been made for Lance, by squashing them all slightly. The table was made for 5, not for 6. Lance wouldn't hear of Shiro not being on the panel, despite the fact that Keith had ultimately spent more time as the Black Paladin than Shiro had. Before he was ready, Keith was falling into line with the others, a holopad pushed into his shaky hands then the next thing he knew he was walking on to the stage where camera flashes blinded him.

Panels were horrible. Panels were horrible enough when sober, doubly so when hung over, and triply so when your husband was sitting beneath a photo of his dead ex-girlfriend, at the opposite end of the panel where he had no chance of talking to him. They were married. They were married and the whole quiznakking universe knew it... So why weren't the happily married couple together? Lance didn't seem to mind. All of their group were already laughing and deep in a four way conversation that had gone right over his head. Keith was out his depth completely. He had no idea that their questions were being screened behind them as they answered, he had no idea that the question time had hit him, and he had no idea of the words on his holopad were actually English because his eyes felt ready to fall out his head. In his own way, Keith was developing a new appreciation for functioning alcoholics.

Keith was in trouble. With the eyes of thousands staring in the direction of his husband, several long ticks had passed since Keith's holopad had started to glow around the sides. Sitting in front of a crowd and answering questions was not how Lance planned his day going. He wanted to sit down and discuss what had happened the previous day with his husband. That was the only way he was going to find some form of mental relief from his racing mind. Despite feeling angry each time his gaze moved to his husband, Lance cleared his throat

"Sorry, guys! My husband isn't great with crowds, but that's just something else about him that I love. Now, his question is..."

Craning his head back to read the question he made a goofy show of it. It was probably for the best Keith wasn't on the ball

"What was the worst part of being a Paladin?"

Moving his right thumb and pointer to his chin as if stroking an imaginary beard, Lance hummed. He loathed this attention. He loathed playing at niceties, but knew he had a job to do. He Lance playing Leandro, who was playing Lance. It was the only way he could cope with the public spotlight

"The worst thing... Oh, boy! Coran's cooking... the first time he cooked for is... I thought he was trying to kill me! Then there's the time in the middle of the night when Allura would run practice emergency drills... I guess the worst thing of all is that despite Allura's sacrifice, the fact that if she hadn't given her life none of us would be here right now... The worst thing is that we're still fighting while we're trying to recover. And all the little people we couldn't reach in time... but when living on the Castle, it was definitely the time Coran tried to cook for us. I'm sorry Coran! You're our awesome adopted Uncle, but us humans have a weird diet... I think we all would have gone crazy if it wasn't for Hunk's culinary prowess"

Flashing the crowd his best smile and finger guns, Lance hoped he'd done enough. Pidge was agreeing now, Keith's holopad was no longer glowing, Shiro leaned back to give him an approving nod, and Hunk was blushing. Reminding himself that each question moved them closer to the end, he looked down to his own holopad.

After half a varga, they were all sweating. Pidge was being an angry little gremlin, at the point of threatening to murder the sun because she was done with this heat. Everyone knew the best way to store their little anger muffin was to sit her in a cool dark corner with her tech. Lance was feeling it too. His head felt sinus headache gross, his body suit might keep him cool for the most part, but worked best when his mask was up, which it wasn't, so the rest of him wasn't feeling that great either. No matter how much water he'd drank down, he only felt more and more dehydrated. Feeling his holopad grow warmer as it started to glow, he nearly dropped the device on the table as he vomiting into his mouth. His question being "How did it feel to work for Ambassador Klearo? What do you do now?". It was a simple question. Any number of fans would have seen the broadcasts of him standing behind the man. It didn't mean that he wasn't panicking. It didn't mean simply seeing the image of the man didn't bring all the memories flying back. Lance couldn't do this... Leandro... Channel Leandro

"Well..."

God. His heart was hammering so fast it felt as if it was going to flying out his mouth

"I own a club now, out on Erathus. It's pretty nice there, and safe. The place is called "The Gilded Cage"... We wanted to create a safe place for travellers in the area. My friend Th'al runs it... Um... other than that... I'm Keith's husband and it's pretty much a full time job keeping up with him... it's simple and nice"

That funny feeling was spreading through him. His holopad cooled as the colour left. Thumbing through the message list, every message submitted was listed, then chosen at random. That one message soon turned to half a dozen... of Klearo... and the look on Lance's face as the abuse had begun. The fear in his eyes. The disgust. The loathing of every piece of bullshit sprouted from the piece of shits mouth. Then blank emptiness. The change in his expression was almost haunting. It was as if you could see the time it crossed the line. When his whole being had shattered beneath the man, and the men who'd sexually abused him. As he scrolled up, in the hopes of finding evidence that he was being targeted, blood dripped onto the screen. Wiping at it, a second drip landed on his finger. Raising his hand to his nose, drops of blood rolled down his fingers. The holopad falling from his fingers to land on the table, the screen glitching before turning black.

"Lan..."

Starting to say his name, Pidge realised his nose was bleeding. The woman fishing out a handkerchief from nowhere and pushing it up against his nose so hard Lance was actually pained by the action. Sitting next to him, it was only natural she'd notice. She'd no doubt been caught in a cloud of his stenched up emotional scent, causing her to be more focused on her surrounds

"Sorry folks! Even us Paladins are only human! How about this heat!?"

Covering for him, Lance was immediately grateful to Pidge, she didn't need to whisper to him to get out of there as she put herself out her comfort zone, it went unsaid like a silent agreement, Lance hightailing it off stage and straight into Coran's waiting embrace.

Led away from the stage, and into the background work space where the transmission was being monitored, Coran sat him down on a flimsy fold out chair, forcing his head down between his knees as his nose bleed steadily worsened

"One tick my boy. I do believe you're the one who taught me that trick with the cold compress"

Lance didn't think that placing a cold compress on the back of the neck was much of a trick, but with how overheated he felt, he'd take a cool anything right now. It was strange how he'd longed to feel something more than cold all the time, his condition had forced him to pay constant attention to his body. Knowing that even if he couldn't feel the effects of the heat internally, the rest of him could. It was like his soul had been frozen, then disconnected from his body, causing a strange disharmony between the pair. It was another reason he'd found himself wondering, more than once, if he was a clone. Returning with a cold bottle of water, Coran held it against his nape. Lance shuddering as his body rejected the cool relief it offered

"How's that?"

Lying smoothly, Lance nodded

"Better..."

"Ah... We'll give it a tick to kick in. I'm sorry about what happened out there, my boy. We left the questions open..."

"Coran..."

There was a gentle plea in his voice

"You're right. Perhaps now isn't the time"

Now wasn't the time. Never was the time. Those memories were fucking with his head enough. What he saw as clear evidence between the photos he was sent, and the messages on the holopad, he feared bringing up with anyone. As he'd reasoned, the others would too. A fan could have meant no offence, though a fan wouldn't have sent as many messages as they'd had. Hopefully when he had the holopad back in his hands, he could prove to his husband he hadn't been lying... Not that he should have to... No. No. He wasn't going there. He'd briefly bumped into Krolia who'd apologised for Keith's drunken behaviour, explaining how she and Keith had had the "baby talk", and explaining how Keith felt displaced by her coming child. Lance didn't need the talk to know that. It was hard for Keith. Keith didn't know what or how to deal with it. Still. He knew from personal experience that alcohol wasn't the answer. Not that he would turn down a stiff drink, or a dozen right about now.

Opening his mouth to reply to Coran, Lance was on the ground before he knew what happened. One tick he was there, feeling quiznak, the next Coran's face was peering into his and Lance felt as if something had zapped every ounce of energy from his body. Neither of them had thought about the sudden and drastic change in body temperature triggering a seizure. Tasting vomit and blood, he wished that was the end when it came to bodily fluids, only... down his legs was wet and cool. His suit catching the mess he'd made, while he'd been out of it long enough for his piss to cool. Blinking sleepily at Coran, Coran smiled softly at him as he tucked a stray hair back from Lance's face. This wasn't the first, second or third time he'd thrown up. The first and second because of his pregnancy, the third because he'd worked himself up simply opening his medication bottle

"Seizure?"

Slurring heavily, Lance's voice failed to reach his own ears

"Yes, my boy. A little over 45 ticks... Keith will be here soon"

Coran sounded like he was speaking through fog. He was kind of blurry. His neat orange hair blurred like a fire on his head

"Sorry..."

"Enough of that... rest..."

He didn't want to rest. He was ashamed of his body betraying him in a tent full of strangers. It didn't matter that they were towards the back, mostly out of the way. He was supposed to be a Paladin, which meant staying stronger and never letting the public see your weak side. His mind might have felt like a sludge sundae, but his thoughts had to get that final blow in.

"What kind of an idiot puts something ice cold against their skin when they overheat! You're lucky your heart didn't stop!"

Cleaned up by Shiro and Keith, mostly Keith with Shiro's support, Pidge was the first to scold him as she and Hunk joined them in his and Keith's room. Laying with a cold towel folded over his forehead, Lance had agreed he was an idiot in a series of "mhmm" and "uh huh" until she finally ran out of appropriate questions. Shiro stopped her when she started to tease he and Keith, and given he was tired and somewhat sooky, he didn't feel like admitting how nice it felt to have Keith holding his hand. Having spent the last half varga chilling, Lance was ready for a nap, but Pidge and Hunk had decided that hanging around and scolding him needed to morph into a group hang. So Lance contented himself holding Keith's hand, and feeling Shiro's solid presence on the other side of him. There was a feeling that he'd forgotten something, but for now he was happish... or okish... scared, yet safe. Everyone in the room with him knew he was deeply scared by Klearo, each of them in their own trying to be there for him without making it too obvious.

When Kosmo teleported into their room with a bark, his fur son decided that the best way to greet them all was to let out the most horrendous silent fart, that sent Pidge and Hunk scrambling off the bed as they gagged. Pulling the wet towel over his face did very little to diminish the stink as Keith echoed the others movements and deserted him. The loss of his hand felt immediately. Whimpering at the connection between him and husband being broken, Shiro stuck his hand under the towel and pinched his nose as if Lance wasn't perfectly capable of doing so himself. Dimly he could hear Keith scolding Kosmo, Pidge laughing and Hunk still gagging. Yet they all felt so far away from him that he and Shiro may as well have been stranded on an island. Kosmo, immune to his own stench, laid happily over Lance's legs. His tail thumping in time with the throbbing of Lance'd head. Unable to stank the stink, Pidge and Hunk only lasted a few moments before opting to bail, Lance deaf to their leaving as he was hyperfixating on the feeling of Shiro's hand against his nose. His trauma well aware that a hand to the nose meant soon water would be poured down his throat until he nearly drowned, or did and they were forced to revive him. He was starting to panic, his body too sleepy and leaden to fight off the man's hand, his hands weakly gripping at the sheets beneath him. Gasping like a reeled in fish, his body finally decided it had reached its limit, allowing him to pass out.

The moment Lance's gasping met Keith's ears, the half-Galra was abandoning his futile attempts to scold Kosmo over the fart bomb he'd dropped, and rushing to pull the towel from Lance's face. Who needed Lions or Bayards, when your cosmic wolf could clear a room with just a simple fart. As Shiro released Lance's nose, Lance lay deathly still, his chest barely rising as Keith held his hand above Lance mouth to check his husband was still breathing

"Keith?"

"Shut up..."

With a gentle exhale, an inhale didn't follow. Keith placing his head against Lance's chest to find it wasn't rising

"Fuck! Don't you dare, you stubborn arsehole"

Lance was vulnerable. He was vulnerable and Keith hadn't thought that Shiro's touch would send his husband into a panic. Not with the way Shiro was sitting right next to him as if he rightfully belonged there. Not with the way Shiro had supported Lance's weight while Keith peeled off the layer of his husband's clothes then wrestled him out his stupid body suit. Lance was so out of it, he wasn't sure that Lance had any physical strength to protect himself, and usually when in that state would only allow him to touch him, yet his husband didn't seem to care he was naked in front of Shiro. He didn't shy away from Shiro's supportive hand on his hip. No. His husband had leaned into Shiro's touch, sending bitter jealously blooming. He was the only one who was allowed to touch Lance's body. Him. Lance had said so. And despite Shiro being happily in love with Curtis, Keith couldn't barely keep down his instincts. He could barely keep himself from taking a swing at his own brother. Lance had ignored him all morning, then Coran had sent some aid rushing to tell him that Lance had had a seizure. By the time he'd gotten off the stage, and down to communications tent, his husband was slurring as Coran reassured him. Blood and vomit were across Lance's fair and hair. His eyes glassy and unfocused. Pidge being the genius she was, had been the one to realise it was the temperature change that had triggered it, yet they all know seeing Klearo again had hit Lance hard. Each of them hated him in varying degrees, but none as much as him. He'd been all for it when Pidge angrily grumbled about hacking the holopad Lance had been using to find out who had sent that photo in, only when the holopad had been retrieved, it'd fallen wrong against the table and fried the memory chip in it. Ropeable, and concerned for Lance, they'd all kind of felt like being there by his side, even if he was sleeping off the effects of his seizure.

Interlacing his fingers, Keith pumped down on Lance's chest, Shiro springing into action when he realised Lance wasn't breathing, moving to give Keith the space to work. Keith gave a dozen panic driven pushes before Lance sucked in a breath, his back arching as his marks glowed brightly. Gasping and coughing, Shiro helped Keith sit Lance up, Lance shaking as Keith grabbed him by the chin

"Lance?!"

"Mnmm?"

"Keith, maybe you should give him some space to breathe?"

"Don't tell me how to handle my husband!"

Snapping at Shiro caused Lance to whine. Keith feeling like a dick for it the moment the words came out his mouth. But... quiznak!

"Sorry. Sorry... something scared him so badly he couldn't breathe..."

"It must have been my hand over his face... when Kosmo farted"

Shiro looked exactly as Keith felt. His face devoid of colour, and clouded with guilt. Guiding Lance into his lap, Shiro helped getting Lance straddled with his nose against Keith's neck. His favourite secure position

"That with having Klearo shoved in his face... Shiro, was I wrong? Did someone send him those photos? someone actually after him again?"

"I don't know. I know he was scared and hurt that you didn't believe him"

"We keep... not connecting..."

"Getting drunk and bottling it up like an idiot will do that. When he comes too properly, talk it out. Or if you still need time to think things out, we can watch him again..."

"I don't know... I don't know how to be a dad. I though we'd have more time"

"No one's ready to be a parent. And it's not as if these are usual circumstances. He'll listen"

"I know he will... that's the problem isn't it. If I repeated anything I said this morning, he's going to bolt"

"At least he wouldn't be stuck wondering about how you feel and if you still want this marriage"

Keith held his tongue. He still loved Lance. Lance was the air to his lungs... but Lance, kids, and work... He didn't know how to juggle it all.

Getting a few vargas sleep with Lance still in his lap, Keith woke with a start. His thoughts spilling into his dream, his mind tormenting him over everything he stood to lose. Starving and thirsty, Keith was surprised to find Lance awake as he carefully untangled his husband's hold on him. The moment their eyes met, things felt all that more awkward between them

"I'm... I'm going to get us something to eat, and a drink. Then I think we need to talk"

Climbing out his lap, Lance nodded. Settling himself into a ball on Keith's side of the bed, his husband rested his chin on his knees, his voice soft

"I'm leaving"

Opening his mouth, Keith closed it just as quickly before giving a half shake of his head. Lance wanted to leave? Walk out on their chance to talk? Or... was there something more to this?

"Stay here for a tick"

To Keith it felt as if Lance was watching his every move as he grabbed up a couple of ration bars, and two glasses of water. Returning to their bed, Lance was at least willing to take the ration bars from him. His glass of balanced near his bare feet. Opening the ration bar, Lance tore off the end with his teeth, eating quietly and ignoring the way Keith watched him. Sighing to himself, Keith did the same, forcing himself to eat half the tasteless bar. They weren't that great, but it wasn't goo

"I think we need time apart to think"

Dropping those words with dead calm, Lance stole his breath

"I think there's some things you need to work out, and I don't want to be on Altea anymore. I talked a little with Krolia. I wish it'd been you who'd explained to me what happened between you and her. Kids. Hey. I get it. It's a huge thing. I can't concentrate on them, me, and walk on nails around our friends. I'm tired of yoyoing more than I was when I was alone. I'm going to ask Krolia to lend me a ship and head to the next training planet"

"I know we haven't been connecting... but we just haven't had the chance. You spent most of yesterday sleeping!"

Quiznak. He sounded far more accusatory than he meant to

"And you spent it getting drunk..."

"Only because you were testing me! I don't know how it turned so shit so fast!"

"I wasn't trying to test you. I reached out and you made me feel stupid. I'm going to give you a chance to think. About what you absolutely truly want. Me. Me and the twins. If you want to take the out. My head is a mess. I don't want to be here. You're still wanted here. You still have things to work out. You should take the time to think it through"

"Don't I get a say? You had a seizure, then a panic attack so severe you stopped breathing. I have to pump your chest until you finally took a breath... We've only been here a few days. You're not taking your medication..."

"No. I've been forcing myself to drink enough water that I go to sleep needing to pee and wake up nearly wetting myself. I've been scoffing down these bars because they're like the only thing I don't throw up. So don't say I'm not trying. You knew I messed up, you told me I could trust you. You made me trust you. And I thought you actually saw me. Now I don't want to fight. I want to think. You don't think I'm scared? I know all the risks with pregnancies because I come from a huge family. It doesn't get that big without things happening... I'll keep your twins safe until you make a choice. I don't know how to be a dad. A little brother and an uncle. A drunk and druggie. I've got that covered. A dad. A mother. I don't know what to call myself other a freak. You make the choice. I can't trust myself anymore, apparently"

The last part was definitely a jab at him. It was the only part where Lance's voice had held any emotion. His husband sounded like Leandro. Leandro when they'd first crossed paths again

"That's not what I want"

"Then what do you want?"

"I don't know"

Lance sighed

"Exactly. We have all this festival stuff happening while trying to fix this mess of a marriage. I hate being in the crowds. I hated being on the panel. I..."

Lance frowned as his sentence stopped abruptly

"You, what?"

"I... no. It's better I talk to Shiro. You should enjoy the festival"

"What can you say to Shiro, that you can't say to me!?"

"I don't know what I can say to you anymore. I love you. I love you more than anything, but that doesn't fix our marriage. I know you're stuck lying to everyone because of me again... I don't want to be a burden on you... but I'm scared. Everything that makes us "us", is going to change. I'm scared. I don't want a life of just... just sex... sleep... eating... and what? I don't know how to settle down anymore. I thought... I thought us having our own home would... we would have... That we'd be together more than we were. I don't know where we're going to live... I'm such a fucking screw up... I can't even keep my husband happy... I was proud... maybe that was it. I was proud of our room and our space. I tried my hardest to make it as relaxing as I could for you. I wanted you to feel at home, but you don't"

Lance wiped at his face, Keith biting the insides of his cheeks. It was his fault. He hadn't spoken up to his mother. He'd thought himself capable of handling everything. He'd thought himself agitated and annoyed, yet he hadn't sought his mother out sooner. He hadn't sat down with her and asked his hours to be cut or to be rotated off the training roster. Even when he thought about it, or grumbled, he hadn't sat down with Krolia and said it sooner. Maybe that had been his pride? Krolia kept giving him work because she was proud of him. It seemed to him that their combined pride had led to things winding up as they had.

"Let me come with you. We can go ahead. We can figure out how we're going to conduct our training exercise. Krolia doesn't really tell us about the planet... so we could think up something before the others come?"

Lance sighed at him

"That's not going to work"

"Why not?! Things only became complicated because of the others. We didn't see them the day of our date... and I thought we had good time?"

"You were practically high on seeing your twins for the first time. Being responsible for these two lives hadn't sunk in... I think it was... it was the best day of my life. You're so quiznakking sweet to me. You treat me amazingly... then... you get stuck in your own head. It wasn't my... I was not trying to test, or you drive you to drink with Krystaal. I wanted to cuddle without talking seriously... I wanted you to tell me how things went with Krolia... I want you to be able to rely on me, Keith. I know my seizures have been hitting frequently, but... sometimes they don't hit for weeks..."

Of course he was high on seeing their twins. Their tiny little noses. Their tiny hands. Their tiny bodies. Their children. Half him. Half Lance... They were barely more than a bunch of cells caused by their lack of sense with contraceptives. But... would they even survive if Lance kept having seizures?

"The pills would help with that"

"I can't, ok! I know they're not the same, but thinking about them... I can't! I'm eating these bars. I'm forcing myself to keep eating!"

Holding his hands up in surrender, Keith knew he should have expected the backlash

"Right. Fine. I'm sorry for worrying. Did you at least eat last night? How did you know I was drinking?"

"Shiro, Curtis, and I had a pizza and beer night. Shiro was trying to make me happy, so we were going out for drinks. He wanted to invite both of us to celebrate his win, but couldn't find you. He made me get dressed up. Anyway, Curtis was waiting outside the tent you were drinking in. I had a panic attack, then begged Curtis to go grab beer and pizza, we came back to their room and watched his win while you slept in their bathtub"

"I don't remember that"

Opening his second ration bar, Lance nodded

"I'm not surprised. You were going shot for shot with Krystaal. I don't know what you were drinking, but when you saw me you started yelling about me being your husband, then got kind of mad... not mad, annoyed? when I was panicking... This is why... This is why I think we should take a few days apart. That way you can get your thinking straight"

Now they were back on that... He didn't want to leave Lance alone. He only needed... a few vargas...

"I know I quiznakked up... but... we're supposed to be talking this out!"

Lance wasn't one to talk with a mouthful, yet the way he was tearing into the ration bar, his husband had seemingly forgotten swallowing and chewing was a thing

"Keith, I can smell the confusion on you! You smelt of fucking rejection yesterday. I've already got a plan for the next planet. Krolia will ok it once we talk it out. I'll be there for like 4 quintants..."

"You'll be alone! I get that you don't want to be a... that you don't want an easy life or whatever, but what if... What if you get so scared that you stop being again? Then what? No. You're not going alone"

2 notes · View notes

sol1056 · 6 years ago

Text

let’s just leave this here

so let’s see how quickly I can get through a bunch of these, just so they don’t languish for the next month... here we go. behind the cut: why the opening never changed, why DW is deploying Josh again, a few about Iverson & Hedrick, is a reboot possible, staying in fandom vs leaving... and some others in the same vein.

why did they keep the same opening for all of vld seasons, considering the line-up was never supposed to come back to the original from s3?

Every indication is that originally, the team would return to the original lineup. Keeping the opening was probably meant to remind audiences of that inevitability. Or you could believe LM, who said the opening cost 20K to make, and thus was too expensive to do more than once. She’d rather spend that money on a vacation.

So I've heard that Josh Keaton is doing damage control for S8. Do you think Dreamworks sent him in because they know that he's the one guy that no one can get mad at? After what some of the fans have done to him this past year [...] I’m amazed that he's willing to stick around and try to make his fans happy for as long as he can. I can see why people say "We don't deserve him."

Josh has somehow managed that sweet spot between charming the fandom and gaining its trust. Doesn’t hurt that he’s got the chops, voice-wise, to take written dross (no, really, some of those lines are horribly clunky) and spin it into gold. More than anything else, he comes across as genuine, and that adds a certain credibility to his words.

But... Josh doesn’t really have a choice. Playing Shiro is what catapulted Josh upwards, and the last thing he can afford to do is piss off DW by refusing to play ball. He’d only be damaging himself (and his reputation among potential employers) if he didn’t snap to attention when called. Plus, I think he really does sincerely love the character, but it’s got to be a tough spot for him right now.

When you get down to it, the only one on VLD’s (former) staff who seems to believe Shiro belongs in the story and should be respected as part of the story... is Josh. Who else can Shiro’s fans look to, if Josh stops speaking?

So, yeah, Josh is it. And I bet he knows that, and knows it’s just part of signing up for such a major role. This is part of his job.

So I came across a pic of Mitch Iverson from SDCC 2018 where he and Tim Hedrick weren't in the panel ... and [Iverson] was wearing a SHIRO BLACK PALADIN top ... while the EPs & Hamilton were in the panel promoting S7, Iverson supported Hedrick & his story, and Shiro.

Hedrick was actively involved in every script as the story editor, and reportedly conceived of Shiro as an astronaut returning after his capture by aliens. Iverson got his start thanks to Hedrick, thus it makes sense that Iverson would be simpatico with Hedrick’s vision of the story.

On top of that, by SDCC Iverson already had his next gig lined up. He continued to write for VLD, so he had to be subtle... but a t-shirt was a good way to make his sentiments clear. Can’t blame the guy, seeing he probably knew what was coming and chose a quiet protest of his own.

As an American, how would you take it if someone, that is, Iverson, called himself a redneck? From what I know thats derogatory term & for people not exactly inclusive & supportive of minorities. He also retweeted an art of Allura with a quote: ‘Laters’, which I found in really poor taste...

Redneck is another slur adopted by the in-group. My guess is that if you called Iverson a redneck to his face, he’d be offended. But if you introduced yourself as a redneck, and then called him one, it’d be different. And yes, as a term, redneck has a complex history, and it changes subtly in terms of how each generation defines/uses it.

As for retweeting things in poor taste... eh, most people don’t have any training in social media. Jokes are the hardest; it’s so easy for them to go so wrong. Until VLD, I’d bet Iverson was lucky to have a few hundred followers. How many follow him now? It takes time to find your footing in striking the right balance of humor and dignity.

Sometimes the best course is to ignore the stumble. They’ll either learn, or they won’t. Either way, it’s their problem, not ours.

Will Tim Hedrick be allowed to continue the voltron universe the way he planned it?

I doubt it. He’s got a new project. If you’re now an EP finally getting your name at the top, would you really want to go back and fix someone else’s story? Sometimes it’s just better to leave it behind, and make sure the next thing you do is something you can have pride in.

...why do you keep saying the last episode Tim Hedrick wrote was The Feud? A lot of people keep repeating it, like it was his last 'fuck you' to the showrunners. But official sources all say 'The Journey Within' was his last episode.

All we can say for certain was that tJW is the last Hedrick episode broadcast. That doesn’t mean it was the last one written.

Here’s why a lot of us peg tF as Hedrick’s last written episode: the story editor credit. Hedrick's the sole story editor on all his other episodes; tF is the only one in which both Hedrick and Hamilton share credit. The simplest explanation is this episode was edited in that window during which Hedrick had one foot out the door, and Hamilton had one foot in. iow, Hedrick put it into the queue, edited half, and moved on. Ergo, last written.

I can’t believe how they just managed to anger literally everyone no matter your favorite character or ship.

I recall a quote from early on, where LM said they had a feeling they couldn’t please everyone. The problem (which I noted at the time, and has remained true) is that the answer isn’t to just piss off everyone.

It’s to figure out who you want your audience to be, and to write the best damn story you can for that particular audience. If you end up with a story only old-timer DotU fans love, and kids are lukewarm about, fine. If the reverse is true, fine. You can’t please everyone, especially in a reboot/remake. So you pick your battles, and write your story accordingly.

Looking around social media, most people I'm seeing are either rightfully upset, or they're hyperfocusing on the one single scene they liked because they just don't have the energy to deal with the show's bullshit right now. How can they fuck up the last season so badly that it seems like the general reaction is disappointment and denial?

I think there’s a common cause for the fandom reactions: exhaustion.

In American broadcast television, a 26-episode season runs from September to May, then a summertime lull, during which people digest and discuss. Binge-watching is changing this, but it seems one thing hasn’t changed: no matter how fast we watch a show, we still require processing time.

What did we get? A half-season, two months’ break, another half-season, two months’ break, a full season, three months’ break, and a final full season. If every season had provoked a spike equal to S1/S2, we might’ve been begging DW by June to just freaking chill. Fandom had barely begun to process one season and a new one was already landing on our heads.

On top of that, S3-S6 weren’t exactly walks in the part, post-release. In terms of controversy, S7 dwarfed them all. That made an awful lot of people (across the entire spectrum, from almost every sub-group in the fandom) disengage. Those who remained dialed back on their expectations (”as long as X happens, that’s all that matters”), or they hung in there, insistent it would turn out alright.

So either you’re exhausted from not being able to fully disengage with the final season still in the wings, you’re exhausted from convincing yourself this one specific thing would be enough, or you’re exhausted from defending what turned out to be indefensible.

Frankly, disappointment and denial is a fairly soft landing, compared to what might’ve been. But any way you cut it, the fandom’s worn the hell out.

Do you think LM and JDS are gonna address this or are they just going to ignore the complaints, wash their hands and move on?

They don’t need to do anything. They don’t work for DW anymore. If someone has to address the complaints, it’d be DW or DW’s chosen spokesperson. I guess you could call that washing their hands, but the simple fact is they’re not on the payroll. They’re not responsible for VLD anymore.

do you think it's possible for dreamworks to rewrite season 8? i've never heard of a show doing that before and i'm afraid that we'll be stuck with what we got, but damn, i really hope that we will get to see the characters get the endings they deserve, if nothing else.

I’m not sure why anyone would bother. S7 was rife with problems; S3-S6 meandered back and forth. If I were to do a soft in-series reboot, I’d go back to the end of S2. That’s the clearest break, story-wise.

But if you’re going backwards 50+ episodes to the 26th, just keep going and start over. More to the point: not a lot of creators would sign on to inherit problems not of their own making. Same reason new directors on a property will want to rework the script in some way (if not start over from scratch).

Do you think this is truly the end of Voltron: Legendary Defender? I know that a lot of the cast and crew wanted to continue on with a sequel, and there's so many possibilities and things they can do in that universe, not to mention that Voltron is (or rather, was) a money bank...

Your guess is as good as mine, really. Hopefully we’ll get at least hints when the SACanime panel rolls around in early January.

There's a change petition for the "original s8" to be released ... [people] believe that LM and JDS are NOT the ones who ruined the last two seasons and that it was "exec meddling." Like, no, sorry, exec meddling appears to be what made it good in the beginning.

If we consider Yoo an exec by virtue of being CEO of Studio Mir, then I kinda wish he’d meddled a bit more.

...I'm wondering if the original version exists, completed. In one post, you said DW picked Tim over L/J so surely that got animated? What do you think? Be real. I don't want to get my hopes high thinking there's some buried treasure out there to find.

Ah, no, sorry, I wasn’t speaking in the sense of VLD but in the overall corporate sense. Here’s how the scenario often plays out: manager A and employee B do not get along. The longer they clash, the greater the chance A will find an excuse to fire B. The project is literally not big enough for the both of them.

B could resign, quit, or do a preemptive strike: go over A’s head and ask for help. If B leaves the company shortly after, it means the higher-up said: “I’ve heard A’s side, and I think A is right.” The exec might offer a good reference, or blame it on a no-fault bad fit. Doesn’t matter; the exec’s chosen A’s side.

Now, consider what actually happened: B gets transferred off the project, and gets a major promotion -- basically up to the same level as B’s former manager. Either B has some of the most amazing dirt ever, is phenomenally good at twisting reality to seem like the wronged party... or the higher-up reviewed the situation and decided that of the two, B was the one worth keeping.

Having decided that, the exec made an offer B couldn’t refuse, which would be to run a show that’s practically tailor-made to fit B’s dream job. That’s what I meant by losing the battle (how VLD would go) and winning the war (being the party seen as in the right, by the execs).

The only way for A to turn things around is to have a blisteringly successful final product. It could literally kill two careers with one stone: the (former) employee, B, who spun such a good story, and the exec(s) who believed B.

Given the numbers I’m seeing for S8... that exec did choose wisely.

ETA (sorry forgot this part): There might be pieces, but it really depends on what version control is in use (if any). For that matter, even if there were saved copies, who’s to say those didn’t get, whoops, deleted at some point? I’d put my bet on there being nothing, now, except what we got. Sorry.

I could understand if you never want to have anything to do with this show ever again.

Oh, jeez, I was here before VLD and I’ll be here after. Once we all get over our mutual exhaustion (and the holidays, bloody great timing, there), it’ll be time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Fandom’s got a lot to do, putting things back together in all the shapes that’ll make us happy. This is the best time to be in a fandom, if you ask me. Everything’s just getting started!

#vld #voltron #come for the sugar stay for the salt #wrapping up a bundle of asks #sol thinks about stuff

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darkspellmaster · 6 years ago

Text

All Anon Asks as of 10/29/2018 in my in box.

1. One thing to point out about these “leaks” as opposed to the two real leaks in the past, the new leaks are on purpose and posted with the intent to cause drama and hype. And as for DW not making a statement, why would they? They are getting free marketing and with such a huge gap between the last press event and the last season why not let it fester and create that hype, they know people will still watch. People are gonna want to tune in to find out the truth, DW knows that.

You know the saying about “No news is good news” well in regard to management in a lot of cases to draw in hype, and also to pretty much not have to deal with the legal nightmare of finding all the images and getting the fakes taken down they go with the idea of “Any publicity is good” because that means that they’re getting hype as you pointed out. As you said Anon, the point of these leaks is to cause drama and create issues between fans and then sit back and laugh at all the shocked kids that are freaking out. They probably are already planning round two or three of this.

2. Voltron is set in the super fancy future why would anything ever be sepia tone? Especially something that’s happening in a flash forward.

So the basics here is that it’s supposed to feel “Nostalgic”. Like “Oh look at that memory we shared together of a wonderful time.”

Again typically sepia is used to make things look or feel aged. Old photos, memories, etc. Sepia is not a color you use willy nilly because it doesn’t always look good on screen in large dosages in filter. The color brown in general is typically used, or at least that color, for sunset like moments to make the viewer feel melancholy that time is ending. You never use that color when you’re showing something triumphant. Also if you do use it for a happy occasion you tend to use it for a photo in a memory book.

Look at Coco, and the photos on the alter, you have several that are black and white and a few that are a brown color because they’re supposed to invoke a certain feeling in you. You want to feel warm and welcome and like everything is in the past and nostalgic. And the leakers got people to feel that way with the colors. And Flash forwards tend to be brighter and blurred in some cases with frosted edges. Or something to depict that it’s not in the present. And if it is just a time skip, there would be no need for the color change.

3. I think it’s weird that in the second wedding photo Shiro is leaning away from Roy as he leans in. Odd???

It’s something that normally happens in some anime. The less, shall we say dominating person leans back embarrassed by the attention and more aggressive actions by the more dominate person who is initiating the kiss. By the body language this means that Roy here is the more aggressive figure in their relationship going in for a kiss though still acting a bit shy about it, while Shiro is less aggressive and is being more shy and then decides to go with it. This sort of action usually happens with a girl in Shiro’s place, as in Japan the girl is seen as less aggressive a figure and why certain female characters over the years have been seen as very different than most of their counter parts.

4. Don’t know if it’s been pointed out yet but in the kiss pic Roy’s arm just randomly disappears through Shiros chest. That’s not how it works.

Correct Anon. The arm should be either around his waist or on his shoulder or chest. As per the kiss with Hikaru (Rick Hunter) and Misa (Lisa) from Macross. Roy’s arm is blending into Shiro’s side and that’s not a good thing. I know Mir makes some small mistakes here and there, but man this would have the art being sent right back to the studio if it was blurring that badly. Unlike Hasbro in the 1980s this sort of thing isn’t tolerated as much anymore because digital means it’s a quick fix rather than hours of reanimating the scene.

5. so, since you're the go to person regarding the legitimacy of the Voltron leaks, I just saw the [SPOILER] photo of the paladins grown up projected on a screen with people in front smiling [/SPOILER] the person that shared this with me said this is a photo of the french VA team finishing dubbing. Thoughts? Comments? Tumblr doesn't let me link the image, but if you're interested I can share it with you some other way.

Holy hell, um. Not sure what to think of that. But okay. XD Yeah I discuss that in the main blog post about it.

http://darkspellmaster.tumblr.com/post/179532344635/update-and-edit-and-master-post-to-the-fokker

So as I said before I think the photo of the cast is real, and more than likely taken on another date. The thing that jumps out to me about the photo after examining it more is where they are looking. Everyone is staring off to the center of the screen, but the camera that took the photo is off to the right. This means that this was probably a photo being taken because of the man in the center, who I’m betting is a famous and well known voice actor.

These sorts of pictures happen from time to time, even here in the states, when a cast gets someone that is famous and they want to take a photo with them. Remember actors are fan boys and girl’s too.

When I went to Anime Midwest a few years ago Sonny Straight (Lupin the 3rd, Krillen, a number of characters in anime) mentioned how he was sitting next to the late VA of Speed Racer, Peter Fernandez, who was signing small cars of the Mach 5. He was talking to him, while geeking out in his mind, and Mr. Fernandez gave him a car with his autograph on it. Sonny basically was playing with the car when Mr. Fernandez wasn’t looking making the noise of the Mach 5.

Nolan North just recently confessed to chasing down Sir. Anthony Hopkins on to an elevator and talking to him for a while, because he didn’t want to miss a shot to meet the famous actor who was recording lines on Retro Replay. (Also watch the show it’s funny.)

So more than likely the picture was being taken with a well-known French VA and that it was for posterity sake for the studio and the actors. Studios will sometimes do this if they have a named actor in the cast doing a voice.

6. I've gone back through Bexs likes and I don't see any of the leaks. What's the source on that claim?

I’ve only been told about this, I haven’t seen anything of it either. I do not have an Instagram so I can’t tell you about that stuff.

Either Bex liked something that was similar, or someone thought that they liked it, or something. I really can’t say for sure. But regardless, unless it’s in their contracts and the NDA states they can’t like fan art, actors typically do like art.

7. Watching your post about the whole studio thing I thought about something, I didn’t know about Ezor’s va leak but maybe when she did it she simply didn’t think the fandom would immediately jump on it and spread it, then is it possible that the french studio ‘leak’ is real too and that the same thing happened?

Most actor’s don’t think that what they say is important. I think in Kimiko’s case she really wanted to just give the fans the okay that Shiro was going to show up again because of all the freaking out on Social Media about it and trying to be a good person. Lionel (I think that’s how you spell his name) the French VA seems like he was thinking of just showing that they were recording the show again. Maybe getting people excited, since, most people that follow Voltron aren’t following the dub actors save for those that are following in France right now. And I don’t know how many know of the actor due to the fact that he’s more a live action actor like Steve is so this is his first dubbing job for a cartoon.

The thing is that the second picture was a personal one that was taken at some other point in time, because of the change that Lionel’s hair has gone through it seems. Also, as I said before this was taken from the side meaning that they’re looking at another camera, so it’s not a case of them taking a “Last hurray” photo, and more likely that they were taking a picture with a well-known actor that had visited the studio to do a voice.

The “leak” is real in that it is a legit photo of the cast, what’s fake is the stuff behind them.

8. I reported the violations to the French company but they haven’t got back to me :/ surely over something this serious they would?

I wouldn’t expect them to be getting back to you regarding this. The photo that was taken wasn’t their property in this case, it’s owned by whoever took it from the side of the editing booth. If it was a professional photo, then yeah they would want to know info. It could be that too, much like DW here in the state’s the legal department isn’t seeing anything huge to go after and would rather people just ignore it.

After all they have only a month and a few days here states side for it to come out, also in France too, so more than likely they are more worried about the promotional stuff they need to do after She-ra comes out.

You’re right, if it was serious we would see things about it all over the place, not just on Tumblr but on other sites that cover this sort of news. Like with the Mir incident. This is not serious to them and probably isn’t even registering yet for them.

9. One of the most glaring things for me is that Roy isn't even on the poster. Even the most minor characters are in it and yet you're going to tell me Shiro's future husband isn't? Yeah, no way. Also in your post debunking the leaks you forgot to mention how the background characters are weirdly static (especially Pidge) in the wedding edits, but Shiro and Roy are moving.

Yeah having Roy on the poster would be a legal nightmare waiting to happen, as rsasai said in one of their other posts, since the show is airing in Japan and Japan worships Roy and Macross, you would have to deal with Studio Nue, Tatsunoko and Big West for any rights to be used. Not to mention that fans of Macross would want to know what the hell was going on since Roy is a big deal. As I said above reminds me way to much of a Newtype magazine static illustration that was traced over.

10. I commend you on your impeccable taste in TV shows, my good comrade. Also, whomst else misses the 80s & 90s where people would just watch and enjoy the shows they watched, and didn’t ruin them or the experience for other fans? Ahhh the good old days!

Maybe I’ll list all my favorite shows. XD And thank you, I like to think I have good taste in shows. At least I hope I do.

Well it depened on who you watched the show with, but over all, for the most part, people genuinely weren’t as worked up over shows. Or at least I never noticed save for a Lisa is better, Lynn is better fight I once saw between two girls on the playground about Robotech, but other than that…it was mostly quiet. Not sure about at offices in the day though over shows like Dallas or Dynasty.

11. To the people who say “The staff having not said anything about the leaks yet means they are true!”. I am almost sure they didn’t say anything about the “Klance voiceline leaks” either, and it was fake.

O.O What? Wait…is that like a dialogue line that was said? OR are we talking about those old telephone call lines where you paid like 9.95 and a dollar or something every minute after a few minutes to talk to your favorite character? Because if it’s the latter, hell yes it would be fake since no one does that anymore. Well save Cdawg who does it for Black butler calls but those are free.

12. An anon sent to you said "maybe DW just doesn't care anymore since the show is almost over" but it's really not about VLD anymore. Like I said before in a previous ask, this sets a very bad precedent. DW is a business, which means they have to look to the future. By not taking this seriously, they're implying they won't take any of their other licensed shows/IPs seriously either. No company would want to damage their reputation so badly just because a contract is almost over.

But see, the thing is, it’s not that they don’t care it’s a question of how the legal wants them to handle it. If you kick up too much of a fuss, then it’s “Well they are real” if you don’t then you have people saying you’re not doing enough. Ultimately it’s not up to DW to chase things down since they are not the main license holder, that is WEP, and the other studios are not owned by DW or WEP they are only licensing the series to dub via Netflix. Then throw NBC Universal on this, and you have that factor in play here…you’d have a lot of people involved. Does it look bad, kinda. But most studios have the same response. It’s easier to let things die on their own than interviene as it becomes making a mountain out of a mole hill. Or to put it in a better way. Let’s take a real case that recently happened. There’s a famous artist that likes to take images and do a little change then say they are his own works of art. He’s been doing this for years and artists hate him because he’s taking their copyrighted works and screwing with them only a little and calling them his own. Recently, like a year or so ago, he went on Instagram, found cosplay and other pictures of female celebs and non celebs, commented on it. Took the photo and the comment, put it together as a larger picture and called it his own. This is considered art appropriation and can be seen as a legal way of doing art. Richard Prince, the artist in question, has been getting away with it for years. And someone who’s cagey enough probably could use that as a defense in a lawsuit. https://www.theverge.com/2015/5/30/8691257/richard-prince-instagram-photos-copyright-law-fair-use

13. in the french va video, who is the guy in the middle? the director?

That guy in the middle may be Patrick Borg. Reason the cast may be taking the picture with him is he’s the voice of Son Goku in Dragon Ball and has been since the start of Dragon ball Z, and is a well-known in VA in France. Or It’s Jerome Wiggins who does a main character on Zagtoonz Zak Storm. My guess though, it’s probably Patrick, and since the crew is pretty much younger actors who grew up around the hype of Dragon ball Z, wouldn’t surprise me if they were taking a picture with him because he was doing a voice for them.

14. No, it's the opposite now. All the evidence in the Universe prooves that the leaks are real but you all choose not to believe in it. And I'm okay with it and I'm more than okay If I'm wrong but if the leaks are real almost everyone who believes that the are fake would be greatly dissapointed and will feel betrayed

As I said before Anon, if you want to believe it, fine. That’s up to you. I have no horse in this race, I’m only presenting facts as I find them and having two graphic designers and other people look over the images and such, to them they seem doctored or created. I’d rather people make the call themselves, but as other’s have said well before me, it seems insane that two studios decided to risk their careers to leak this stuff. You do realize that in doing so they will have cost the trust of several other clients they have and it would probably put them out of business with Netflix, and cause BTI Studios to lose the deal with Altor and Shamrock that they recently made this past year, and for Netflix to pull out of it’s vendorship with VSI and probably make other networks, like CN, and Nick, pull out of the deal. No one, in their right mind, would put themselves or their careers in danger over a cartoon show. No one. It would cause them to be blacklisted and not have work in the VA community ever again. The sheer level of WTF that would have to run through someone’s minds to do this if they were a professional in this field would be astonishing. Honestly, no I wouldn’t feel betrayed or disappointed. I would be more worried for the studios and wonder if they would be able to continue to run as they are, or have to close due to the fact that most of their clients would bolt knowing their intellectual property wasn’t safe. Then there would be the lawsuits from WEP, NBC Universal and probably Mir for putting out copyrighted material that they don’t own. Would I be upset about the show, no, honestly I wouldn’t. Allura dying would be a mirror and parallel to Ryou dying and taking Lotor with him from Go lion, something Voltron the original didn’t do. Shiro being married, awesome. Roy Fokker getting his name out there and getting people to watch Macross to know who the hell this hottie is, okay in my book. The crew taking a picture together, nothing wrong there.

The only thing that could disappoint me is no ending or a cliff hanger, since, well I got that with Force from DiC and this would be the first show to have a real ending outside of the original.

I don’t get why people are worried about me or others feeling disappointed when there are four other variants of the show that exist that we can watch. That’s just silly. I’m more surprised that people don’t care about the well-being and lively hood and careers of the VAs internationally being wrecked by all of this. That’s where my concern lies. Shipping and all the other things, I don’t care about. My care was that the characters were happy and got along, and that the robot fights were cool.

15. You list Roy's arm/hand as vanishing on 13 but they're both still visible, I've redlined it for you: i(.)imgur(.)com/2UHctWY(.)png

Side note. you can’t send pictures that way. And if you mean where the arm seems to blend down around the waist area. I can’t tell for sure if that’s his right arm or his left. Also that would be a weird way to hold someone if you’re going to kiss them like that in genera.

#ask darkspellmaster #anon questions #voltron #vld #voltron legendary defender #voltron leaks #fake voltron leaks #fake leaks #false leakes #Chinkel studio cast #patrick borg #i've learned about some cool new vas #thanks leakers #roy fokker

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lordofthebigtimesupernatural · 6 years ago

Note

Prompt: Keith (either a senior at high school or a freshman at college) saves a younger kid from bullies. The kid begins to think of Keith as a role model & try to emulate him, from his look to his mannerisms. Keith eventually catches on & reassures the kid that they're wonderful just the way they are. Shiro is a proud dad 💖💖💖

Alright, maybe I’m on a roll! Two prompts in one day. This prompt was so freaking adorable! I just had to do this. Can you just imagine Keith being a mentor of sorts? This is so cute! So thank you nonny for the amazing prompt! This was wonderful and I hope you enjoy!

x.V.x

High school was not the greatest time of Keith’s life. At all. In fact, high school was probably near the bottom of that list. However, Keith was thankful that he had less than three months left of high school before graduation. Then by this time next year, he’ll be enlisted as a pilot for the military and (hopefully) flying. Soon enough he would be out of this hellhole.

Away from bullies.

Away from arrogant assholes.

Just away.

With Keith and Lance being the only ones left to graduate high school this year, Keith found himself having a lot more free time, especially since Hunk and Pidge had already started their first year of college. This meant that Keith could see his dad a lot more before he was shipped to boot camp, however, even his dad couldn’t always be around. Lance had practices on some days which left Keith alone for many days of the week.

Which was why he decided to volunteer for tutoring at the nearby elementary. He wasn’t as great in Math or science as Pidge and Hunk, however, despite his reputation at school, Keith was smart. Very smart.

Though he usually kept that to himself and instead focused his skills on helping the younger kids out in Math.

Recently Keith had been tutoring a young kid named Josh. Josh was a kid that Keith had spent a particularly long amount of time with due to Josh being dyslexic and nonverbal. The kid was brilliant once he was taught the material in a way that he could understand, but not many tutors or teachers could be as patient with him as Keith was. Maybe Keith was a bit biased, but he had a soft spot for the eleven-year-old, since he too could understand what it was like to have people in authoritative positions not understand him.

So he did his best to help Josh and teach him different ways to solve equations based on his needs, and it worked. With Keith’s help, Josh slowly began improving and he could begin to solve equations without any help from Keith at all. His math teacher had been in awe, along with the principle while Josh’s mothers had thanked him profusely for his help. Keith blushed and decided then to continue helping Josh for the rest of the year.

The best days were when Keith brought Red with him to tutoring sessions. Many of the kids were excited when they saw the happy dog and became more motivated to work if pets were a reward. Josh had been exceptionally happy the first time that Keith had brought Red along, flailing his arms and rocking in his chairs. The grin on his face left Keith feeling giddy for days.

On a random Tuesday afternoon, Keith was making his way with Red towards the classroom that he always met Josh in. Just before the two of them entered the room, Keith could hear voices talking - voices that weren’t Josh.

“Are you even doing the homework?” A nasally young girl practically sneered and Keith felt his blood boil.

“I bet you’re making the nice man with his doggy do it for you.” Another voice laughed. This one sounded like a boy.

“Yeah, because you’re too stupid!” A third voice chimed in and Keith’s jaw clenched tightly. Three against one?

Keith didn’t hear Josh say anything back, not that he expected him to. Which the kids probably knew already. He did hear the sounds of papers being ripped and a scuffle across the room.

“You shouldn’t waste the nice man’s time. You only want to pet the dog.” The girl laughed loudly, causing Keith to peek into the room. The sight before him made his blood boil to its limit.

Josh was sitting at his usual desk, but he was surrounded by three kids. All of his papers and pencils were scattered along the floor and two of the three kids had ripped sheets of paper in their hands. Sheets of paper that had Josh’s math homework on them.

“You’re too stupid so why are you even bothering?” One of the boys sneered before yanking the snapback hat off of Josh’s head. Josh made a distressed noise and he tried to grab the hat back only for the boy to laugh mockingly and put the hat on his own head.

Now Keith was going to intervene.

“What,” He said calmly, despite his anger, as he stepped into the room with Red. “Is going on here?” Even Red was tense at his side, no longer looking like the goofy dog that always came to visit.

The three bullies looked at Keith with looked frightful and nervous at Keith, finally realizing that Keith might have been there the whole time. Josh simply stared at Keith, wide-eyed and jaw slack.

“U-Um, we were, um…” The girl stammered nervously.

“Uh, we were just…we just…” The boy wearing Josh’s hat said.

“It looks like you guys weren’t being very respectful of Josh’s things,” Keith said slowly and crossed his arms over his chest. He pointedly looked to the ripped papers and then Josh’s hat. They are just children. You can’t flip out on children. “And it looks like you were bullying Josh.”

The three kids gasped and Josh’s eyes widened even further. Keith’s heart ached for the boy.

“No, we weren’t!” One of the boys suddenly cried.

“That’s not what Josh would think. Would you Josh?” Keith replied softly.

“He can’t answer you! He doesn’t know how to!” The girl huffed impatiently and Keith took a deep breath. Patience yields focus.

“Josh?” Keith ignored the girl and looked directly at his young charge. Josh was nervously tapping his fingers along his pants and staring at Keith occasionally. However, after a minute of silence, Josh nodded.

“See?” Keith smiled at Josh before looking at the three kids. Younger Keith might have thrown these kids to the floor. “Just because Josh doesn’t talk like you and me, doesn’t mean that he’s stupid or that he can’t. Everyone is different. Like, not everyone can roll their tongue together. Or like how not everyone has the same color of skin. Josh learns things differently than us, as do I. But he is incredibly smart.”

The three kids nervously glanced between Keith and Josh, but it looked like they were listening to Keith and Keith was thankful for that. He was hoping that he could get through to these kids while they were still young.

“Josh has been doing his homework all by himself for a long time now and it’s always correct,” Keith said proudly, causing Josh to make a noise of content. “He just needed to learn a different way to do math, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s okay to solve problems differently from what you’re taught as long as you still get the correct answer.”

“R-Really?” The girl timidly asked.

Keith smiled softly. “Yes. The same goes for anyone. There’s no bad way to solve a problem as long as you’re doing it correctly.”

“Whoa,” The boy still wearing Josh’s hat whispered.

“However, taunting Josh and ripping up his homework is inexcusable behavior.” Keith continued with a firm but soft voice. The three kids immediately slumped and Keith was happy to see that they actually looked guilty of their actions.

“Acting like that makes you bullies and bullies are terrible and mean people,” Keith reprimanded, causing the three kids to flinch. “You’re old enough that you should know better because bullying can really hurt people, especially people like me and Josh who can’t always say something back. Your actions have consequences and they can be very negative, especially when Josh has never once done anything wrong to any of you.”

“We’re sorry,” One of the boys whispered sadly.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.” Keith pointed out and then nodded to Josh. “And I believe that hat belongs to Josh.”

The boy with Josh’s hat scrambled to take the hat off before the three (ex)bullies turned back to Josh. Josh’s eyes were as wide as they could be and he flinched when they turned to him.

“We’re really sorry about being bullies to you Josh. That was wrong of us.” The three kids said quietly. Josh maintained eye contact with them for a few seconds before looking down after he shakily grabbed his hat from one of the boys.

“Does he forgive us?” The girl frowned.

“Josh doesn’t have to forgive you right away,” Keith reminded them softly. “However, maybe if you keep trying and you continue to be nice to Josh, he might. And maybe you guys could actually become really good friends.” Keith shrugged with a soft smile.

The kids nodded and Keith was pleased to see that none of them looked angry or upset by Keith’s words. Instead, they all had their own looks of determination on their faces, and it brought a smile to Keith’s face.

“Now, how about we have Josh show us this week’s homework…”

x.V.x

“I think you have an admirer.” Shiro grinned one day during conferences at the elementary. Keith had been invited to come so the parents could thank him in person for tutoring their kids. Keith had brought his dad along with the bribe of a free dinner afterward, but honestly, Shiro wanted to be smug and proud of his son all night long.

Look at how far Keith has come.

“Hm?” Keith frowned. Shiro simply nodded his head in the direction of where Josh and his mom were and Keith chuckled quietly.

He began noticing the subtle changes in Josh throughout the weeks but he decided to keep quiet. Although, now his changes were more apparent than usual.

It started off with a change of how Josh walked and presented himself around others. Instead of his shy, closed off posture, he was walking with his chest out and with a sharp glare in his eyes.

Then came the changes in Josh’s wardrobe. Starting with long boots similar to Keith’s own combat boots. Then came the darker jeans and shirts, and finally Josh began sporting a red jacket, that looked as if it had been cut in order to appear cropped.

Keith was almost expecting Josh to be sporting longer hair tonight but luckily hair did not grow that fast. While Keith was flattered, he knew he had to put a stop to this.

Josh deserved to be his own person. Not a replica of Keith.

“That’s Josh.”

“The boy you’ve been tutoring the past couple of months?” Shiro asked excitedly. “And those three kids with him?”

Keith grinned when he saw the girl and two boys running over to Josh and his mom to show Josh’s mom Josh’s latest science project. It seemed that the kids had actually taken Keith’s words to heart and were on their way to becoming friends with Josh. Josh was even smiling giddily when they came up to him and his mom. It warmed Keith’s heart and reminded him of his own group of friends.

“Come on, introduce me! I want to meet this prodigy of yours.” Shiro said as he began dragging his son over towards the small group. Keith playfully rolled his eyes but allowed himself to be dragged over. When Shiro began introducing himself to the group, the kids immediately latched onto him.

“Oh my god, Mr. Keith, this is your dad? He’s bigger than you!”

“How come your dad has a cooler arm than you?!”

“Are you sure that’s your dad, he looks a young as you!”

While the kids were reeling on Shiro, Keith turned to Josh and waved at the boy who immediately beamed with a flap of his hands. He then pointed to his jacket and boots and Keith laughed.

“Yes, I see! They’re just like mine, huh?” Keith asked and Josh nodded excitedly. “That’s so cool, do you like them?”

At this, Josh simply shrugged but he continued to smile and Keith sighed softly.

“Josh, you know that you don’t have to act like me, right?” Keith said gently and then he rubbed Josh’s shoulders. By then, Josh was fiddling with his fingers. “You’re perfect just the way you are, hat and all. You’re friends like you for you.” Keith nodded over towards the three kids who were still by his dad. The three happened to glance at Josh and waved eagerly at him, to which Josh shyly waved back.

“See kid, they like you,” Keith replied with a laugh before plopping Josh’s hat onto his head. “We’re all our own person and no two people are alike. It’s okay to be yourself.” His heart jumped when Josh looked up at him with such an open and earnest expression. Slowly he pointed at his hat and then his jacket with a shy smile.

“Yeah, I think you look great in the hat and jacket. Especially if you like it.” Keith winked, causing Josh to giggle before being swarmed by his friends. Keith watched them fondly until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, Keith saw Shiro grinning at him so brightly that it made his own face flush out of embarrassment.

“I’m so glad you’re my son.” Shiro laughed and Keith sighed.

“Of course. You’re lucky to have me.”

“I know. Who knew that my little spitfire baby boy would turn into such a fine, level-headed young man?”

“I take it back. Maybe Kuro can adopt me instead.”

“Noooo, Keith. Admit it, you’re adorable!”

“I am not!”

“My adorable little baby.”

“Dad.”

#single dad shiro #single dad Shiro Au #kiddie!AU #kiddie!paladins #voltron legendary defender #thanks nonny #this was so fluffy #keith is so protective of Josh

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ursae-minoris-world · 6 years ago

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I’m back ! :D

Hey everyone ! I’m back and I finally marathoned s7 ! What a ride !!!!

I loved it. We’re at that part of the story where we finally get answers to our questions, some that we’ve been having since sooo long. And it feels so good (even when the answers hurt ; still closure !).

I loved the development for the story, and for the characters, they all grew so much ?! Including side characters getting really cool arks ? There is such a HUGE cast now, and everyone is so interesting and gets their moments ?!

I was really on the edge of my sit the entire season. The stakes were really high, and it was also such an emotional roller-coaster omg.

For now, let me just go back to all my questions and hopes for this season !

Because so much were met, I’m so happy !!!

And... let’s put that under a read more, because it is LONG.

Here are just quotes from that post I made about what I was excited for in s7 (it was before SDCC and any trailer / articles etc, based on s6 only (and that one quote from Kimberley Brooks) :

So much has changed, with new members on the team (Krolia, Romelle), Keith back, Shiro back in his own way : everyone will have to reconnect a little / find their place.

They totally did, it was particularly explored in “The journey within” where they finally talked about and worked through a lot of stuff, but we saw it in the entire season ! I really like that they got to discuss some stuff like the impact of Keith leaving, and Keith questioning their friendship. Also, reconnecting / bonding with Galaxy Garrison characters as well ! And even bonding more with their lions !!!

Specially, what’s going to happen with Shiro ? We’ve had this thing with the White Lion, and Josh Keaton’s latest answer at Florida Supercon makes about Kuron and Shiro makes me really curious. And will Shiro get a new altean or olkari arm ?

Wow, I loved Shiro’s development, he was so amazing. I was right to trust the show writers when everyone was freaking out about him not piloting a lion anymore. And he did get an altean arm !!!

edit - OH ! I forgott to add him being canonically mlm and chronically ill ? Blew my mind ?! I loved it. It feels the SDCC was so long ago already, but it is, indeed, s7 content too !!!!

No Castle ship anymore, so the whole journey will have very different vibes I’m sure. Longer journey, less distractions, everyone in their respective lions… Kind of hoping for a bit of a roadmovie vibe maybe ?

Oh, absolutely. Loved the little slice of life moments. That part with “who goes in which lion and what do we do with the pets” was so cute lol.

Will the “long sleep” spoiler Kimberley let slip happen then ? Will they need to go in cryosleep for the journey ? Or is it something else entirely ?

Sooo... was it about the time skip between s6 and s7 ? It didn’t feel like them sleeping...

Going back to Earth, how will that turn out ? Will they have prepared for the wars thanks to Sam’s warning ? Will the Galaxy Garrison have attempted to silence Sam ? Is Colleen up to something ? How will Earth react to Voltron and the War in general ? Will Earth already be under attack or become under attack ? I suspect Sendak has that in mind or will think of it soon !

Weeeell. Yes they prepared, yes the Garrison attempted to silence Sam, yes Colleen absolutely got involved, yes Earth got under attack, and yes, it was Sendak’s doing !!!

And in what time frame will they come to Earth ? They have been travelling through space and we know time can do weird things. I didn’t think they would necessarily take it into account in VLD, but Keith’s and Krolia’s experience in the Quantum Abyss show they are not afraid to do it. I’m a bit worried they come home a long, long time after leaving, that could lead to some big angst for those with families back on Earth (*squints at the Garrison Trio*). But yeah big question about what Earth will be up to when they come back !

They totally did that... There was indeed a timeskip, even if it was about them being in the rift more than theory of relativity.

At least it wasn’t as bad as I feared - I was scared they would come centuries late and their families would be long gone. We still did some family angst for Hunk and it killed me. Loved the family reunions for Lance and Pidge though.

What will be going on with the Galra Empire ? They are without Emperor again. Will Haggar somehow take the lead ? What is Haggar up to after Oriande, regaining more and more of her memories… Will someone else step up ? Will Lotor be back sooner than expected ? (Come on, I don’t believe he’s dead).

Will we hear again about the other realities ? In s6 Lotor sounded a lot like those Alteans for the other reality, and he was in the Rift…

We don’t know anything yet, aside from the Galra Empire still being divided, but what we discovered at the very end is a big clue. That mecha could be either Lotor’s doing (either with the Colony or with the alternate reality Alteans), or Haggar’s (as she knows now about the Colony through Kuron). The robots attacks being reminiscent of the Komar, I think it might be Haggar’s doing.

I expect this to be a major plot point in s8.

Oh, and what will Lotor’s generals do NOW ? Poor girls are in quite a situation here.

Oh wow I SO loved their character development ? Ezor and Zethryd were total badasses. Also, is it just me or were there major hints at them being in a relationship ?! I know I ship it !

And Acxa ?! Totally getting a redemption ark ?! I was so happy to see her and Keith fight side by side and support each other ? I’m so proud of her. Apparently she does seem to have a crush on Keith, aww. I suspect it is unrequited but he does respect her. Well, the future will tell us.

(I did spent the rest of the season going “where is Acxa ?!” though. I guess this is for s8. I’m getting very curious, because if we didn’t get answers so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if something major is coming this way. Joining the Blades or the Rebels, maybe ?).

What were the Rebels and the Blades up to during S6 ? How did they react to Voltron siding with Lotor ?

Aaaaah ! ;___; I will come back to talk about this, but I knew the Blades and Rebels would be exposed. It still broke my heart to hear about it. And quiznack !!! Voltron writers, did you have to toy with my fear for Kolivan ?!!! I’ve been worried for him since s2. I really thought this was it for him. I’m so glad he survived !

(yeah this is what worried me. Same for the entire Coalition. I’ll come back about this).

OMG more specifically I’d die to see some kind of reunion between Kolivan, Krolia and Keith. My hopes aren’t too high but DAMN. Kolivan sent them on a mission and didn’t get news of them for who knows how long, I bet he’s super worried, if he doesn’t believe them to be dead.

THANK YOU VOLTRON WRITERS !!! ;____;

What about the altean colony ?! Of course Allura and Coran will want to visit. And Romelle has yet to tell them the horrible truth, hasn’t she ? And OMG as it was pointed out, Haggar knows about them now, oh I’m so worried…

Well, as I said above, this seems to be the next big thing in s8... I fear the worst.

Also, from this post about Hunk :

But when Allura introduced him to his lion, she said “As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together.” I kind of hoped… he would be more open to the others. I mean, he cares, no doubt about that ; it’s telling, how emotional he got when Keith left. But he doesn’t seem to spend time and talk with his teammates that aren’t Lance or Pidge. He even seem to have bonded more with Matt than with Shiro, Keith or Allura, despite knowing him for a considerably shorter time. Which, again, I get : they have a lot in common. But it’s kind of telling that he stays with people within his comfort zone, and doesn’t seem to reach out that much to others ?

We see Lance evolving and finding his place as emotional support for the team, but Hunk is a leg too and… I think he still has room to improve ? Maybe it’s something he still has to learn and that we will see in the future ? I’d like that.

He shone so bright in “The journey within” ?! ;___; I loved him calming everyone down. Even staying completely unfazed and positive when Keith snaps at him and calls him a coward. And when Keith attempted to leave and he just grabbed his ankle and went ��NO !”... I might have squeed a little. :3

Other stuff that I wished for and I got (even if I don’t necessarily made posts on it):

Keith and Shiro keeping saving each other and holding each other. More insight about their past ! Keith calling Krolia “mom” and them hugging ! Keith and Krolia mourning Keith’s father ! Romelle bonding with the team ! Positive interactions between Keith and Lance ! AND THAT KEITH & HUNK BONDING HAAAAA I wanted it since the Weblum episode and it was so good. Keith and Pidge teaming up. Getting to know Lance’s family ! (I so love Veronica !). Flashbacks for Hunk’s family !!! Cute Pidge and Lance interactions ! More space wolf shenanigans, and we get to know his name (it was so endearing that Keith just wanted to wait until he would tell him !). SHAY COMING BACK TO HUNK !!! I had given up hope on that one after so long. More allurance cute moments.

I’m probably forgetting some stuff but...yeah. What a good season.

I’ll come back yelling about a few things very soon ! :)

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squirenonny · 6 years ago

Note

I was wondering if you’re still accepting asks for the Turn Left meme. Was just re-reading Another Word For Never this afternoon and thought of asking how things would’ve changed if Matt had been able to hear Shiro and Keith’s conversation with Allura in Chapter 9 and recognize his boyfriend’s voice.

I’m always up for interesting Turn Left asks, and this one is definitely interesting! (And also one that I have a feeling everyone secretly wants to know the answer to, even if it was so long ago that they don’t immediately think about it.)

Anyway, real talk? This single change would throw off a hell of a lot. First of all? Plot. Shiro and Keith know that Zarkon is angling for Earth, so you can bet your ass the entire team turns around and heads back that way.

They still have to deal with the fallout of Sendak’s attack, so they still go to the Balmera and meet Shay, but that’s about as far as the plot continues in that direction. (Dual paladins don’t happen yet, either, if you were wondering. Allura steps back, and since there’s only been a couple of battles with her in Black, it’s much easier for her to convince the team that she’s not a paladin at all. And Keith and Matt are a little bit slower to connect, with Matt not yet familiar enough with Red to recognize that she’s chosen Keith.)

They don’t meet Rolo and Nyma in this AU, either, because even if they go to that moon, Lance is laser focused on the fact that Earth is in danger and Nyma never gets a chance to lure him away. They don’t go to Vel-17, they don’t meet Anamuri’s rebels, they don’t wind up on Berlou, Matt doesn’t find out about the crystals for a lot longer than in Duality proper. They probably eventually get to stuff like Olkarion that happened in SLH, but that’s all out of order, so who knows?

Right now, they’re headed back to Earth, less than a week after they disappeared. The Garrison hasn’t even finished the internal investigation, so while they’ve probably had memorials for Lance, Hunk, and Pidge, Mama Holt’s Army hasn’t even totally come together yet when the paladins arrive back home. Honestly? The story from there probably turns into fortifying Earth against the impending attack, with Voltron occasionally striking out in hopes of finding allies, but scared to leave for too long. The sheer scope of that change in plot is so staggering I can’t even begin to conceptualize how the story would go after the Battle for Earth.

One other thing to note, though, is that Shiro and Matt’s relationship noticeably suffers in this timeline. At the point in time where they’re reunited in this AU Matt is in a very bad place. He’s fresh from torture and imprisonment, barely coping with the fact that he’s now a paladin, and freaking out because he’s sort of responsible for the other humans by virtue of being older. He’s incredibly vulnerable, and he’s had only a couple of days to find his footing.

So Shiro shows up, and it’s Shiro, so of course he puts on a mask like he’s fine, he’s got it all together, and Matt falls for it. The first few months of their relationship are characterized by Shiro shutting down all of his own needs to try to take care of Matt, who becomes dangerously dependent on Shiro to keep him moving forward, and that just is not sustainable. At some point, Shiro just blows up, and Matt has a major panic attack over (in his mind) losing Shiro (who at this point is 90% of his coping skills).

They’d work it out eventually–honestly, that’s probably how Matt and Keith get close, because Keith is the only one with any clue what Shiro’s been going through, so Matt seeks him out to find out what went wrong. Shiro, meanwhile, probably gets pulled aside by Coran and/or Allura. The time apart is good for them both. They establish other supportive relationships on the team and define clearer boundaries in their own relationship, but it’s a slower, more painful process than it is in Duality canon, where Matt’s a little more grounded and better able to recognize Shiro’s needs from the start.

(…That probably wasn’t as happy as you were expecting… But I did also promise Orelia a reunion scene for this ask, and I’m never over Shatt reunions, so have some feels under the cut.)

Matt stopped at the door to the bridge, his stomach still tying itself in knots. He’d gotten Coran settled in the med bay and done what he could with his first aid training, but the plain fact was he didn’t know the first thing about taking care of Alteans. Which was why he’d left Pidge and Hunk to guard Coran, telling them to lock the doors and call him at the first sign of trouble, then come up here to switch places with Allura. Matt and Lance could deal with securing the castle… probably… while Allura did what she could for Coran. It only made sense.

He had to admit, he hadn’t expected to find Lance and Allura arguing with a faceless stranger over the comms.

“Why don’t you get off my space castle, jerkface,” Lance was saying, “before I decide to show you what happens when you mess with a paladin of Voltron?”

Allura pinched the bridge of her nose as the voice on the comms huffed out a, “Whatever.”

But it was the soft, barely-there laugh behind this voice that wiped Matt’s mind clean and left him shaking. He was imagining things. He had to be. There was no way–

“Thanks for your offer. Really. But we have things to take care of, as I’m sure you do. Maybe we’ll see each other again someday.”

Shiro.

It was Shiro, Matt was sure of it. They hadn’t seen each other in a year, but the day Shiro took his place in the Arena was still burned into his mind. He would never forget that voice.

“Yes,” Allura said. “I would like that. Farewell, and good luck.”

Matt’s brain kicked back into gear at that, panic spurring him into motion at the prospect of Shiro leaving. Matt was going to miss his chance if he didn’t say something right now.

“Wait!” he cried, stumbling forward. Everything ached, and he felt light-headed from some combination of stress, exertion, and raw, desperate hope. Silence filled the bridge as Matt grabbed onto Allura’s arm to hold himself upright. She and Lance were staring at him, and Matt automatically searched for a video feed of the people on the other end of the line–just to be sure. Just to know that he wasn’t going crazy. They hadn’t said anything, and for a moment Matt’s hopes came crashing down. Had they left already? Was he too late?

“Uh… Sorry,” Shiro said. “Were you talking to us?”

There was a tremor to his voice that said, maybe, he’d recognized Matt’s voice, too, and Matt struggled to get himself to speak around the lump in his throat.

“Shiro?” he asked. “Is that… Is that you?”

“Matt.”

The next few minutes were a blur as Shiro and his friend, Keith, boarded the castle-ship and Matt sprinted off to meet them. Lance and Allura gave chase, and Matt couldn’t even bring himself to care that they probably thought this was some sort of trap. He ran, hardly breathing, until his lungs burned, and then he turned a corner to see him. Older, scarred, with shadows under his eyes and a broad white streak in his hair.

Matt burst into tears at the sight of him and barely had the coordination to close the last few feet, but Shiro was running, too, now, his arms locking around Matt’s shoulders as Matt collapsed against him. He was wearing the armor of a Galra soldier, a Galra in an officer’s uniform standing just behind him, but Matt didn’t care about any of it.

Shiro was here.

Shiro was alive.

“Matt–”

Matt didn’t give him a chance to finish, just reached up to frame Shiro’s face between his hands and pulled him down into a kiss.

#dualityverse #ask meme #turn left meme #i know y'all hated me for this tease back when we were still in awfn #but believe me #it wouldn't have been without its fair share of angst #anon #answers

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mydearestreaderfanfics · 7 years ago

Text

6 Times You Didn’t Leave and The 1 Time You Did: Part 2 (Keith x Reader)

Warnings: Abandonment, death, loss of parent, grieving

Word Count: 2,818

Prompt/Request: N/A

Summary: As their friendship crumbles, the reader finds themself hoping for a way to talk to Keith again. That opportunity shows itself in a much more painful way than anybody expected. Warning: The ending is very dark and left unresolved. This is not the final installment of 6TYDL&1TYD, though.

Author: Mod Alex

Chpt. 1 Chpt. 3

Age 13: You and Keith remained as close as ever, if not more so, as you went through elementary school. Some of your fondest memories were of summers spent hanging out at the pool with Keith to beat the Texas heatwaves. It was only when the summer before your first year at middle school rolled around that things began to change. You and Keith had found out that aside from one measly history class and lunch, you had no chances of seeing each other during school hours. Needless to say, this was wildly different from your years in elementary school where you were together for all almost eight hours of the school day. The day before classes started, you and Keith went up to the park that you had spent most of your early childhood at.

“Do you think it’ll be fun at all?” You nudge a rock with your foot, stealing a glance at Keith. He stayed quiet and you sighed, his silence answered your question. “But hey, we gotta make the best of it right? We’ll still hang out all the time.” This prompts a small smile from your best friend. “Yeah, you’re right.” You bumped your side against his. “Don’t look so sad, we’ll figure it out. We can catch up on at lunch and then again in history.”

Middle school, despite being in separate classes, was off to a great start. You and Keith had made it a point to always eat lunch with each other and hang out after school. But slowly, as the homework and drama that came with being a preteen began to add up, you were no longer able to see each other as much. It was always “I’m sorry (y/n), but I was thinking about trying out for the soccer team, can we meet up tomorrow instead” or “I can’t meet for lunch, I’m really sorry Keith, but I did promise my mom I would study during lunch for the test in my math class”. Between your two conflicting schedules, it was a miracle you two still talked to each other at all. Even still, not having your other half by your side hurt. And the loneliness stung as if someone had stabbed an icicle into your chest. That’s why when the familiar face of Lance and his best friend Hunk had approached you in the hallway one day to ask if you wanted to hang out, because they thought that you seemed upset, you had immediately accepted the offer. It’s not like Keith would care, you had thought bitterly, he was always too busy for you anyway. As you befriended the duo, you found yourself laughing again; smiling without any strain behind it. As far as you could tell, Keith had done the same by befriending student council president, Shiro, who was a year above the both of you. While it stung to see yourself get replaced so easily, you were honestly happy for Keith. Everyone knew Shiro was the nicest person in the school, so it made you happy to know that Keith had extended his usually guarded heart to another person aside from you; even if deep down it twisted your gut uncomfortably for reasons you didn’t completely understand. You wrote it off to missing your oldest friend. The end of the year rounded the corner quickly after that, and you found yourself unable to focus on the way your stomach felt all in knots when you saw Keith due to being busy with final tests.

“Don’t you think I should, (n/n)? Uh, Earth to (n/n), is anyone there?” Lance waved his hand in front of your face, snapping you out of your thoughts. “Wuh- Oh, Lance, sorry.” “Hey, it’s no big deal, dude. But you should know, you were totally staring at mullet-head over there.” Despite yourself, you blushed. “Was not! Why would I? You know we don’t talk much anymore… Anyway, what were you saying?” Lance and Hunk exchange a knowing look before looking back at you. You give them a half-hearted glare in return. “I KNOW that look. It only ever leads to trouble. Whatever you’re thinking, you can forget it now. The last time you two had one of your ridiculous looks, we got detention for almost a week.” “I’m hurt. Your lack of faith, it wounds me really.” Lance placed a hand over his heart, feigning being in pain. “All we were thinking was that maybe you should go talk to him. Like you said, it’s been a while. Maybe you could rekindle that old friendship-” “Romance~,”Lance had butted in while Hunk was talking. You socked him in the shoulder. “Don’t be an idiot. But maybe you’re right Hunk. I barely saw him this summer and when I did, it was only because our parents are friends and he was forced to tag along, not because he actually wanted to be there. He was always too busy hanging with Shiro and Allura.” Allura was a transfer student in Siro’s year. Apparently, Shiro had met her during summer and they had become fast friends. Now she was practically a celebrity at your school. And more importantly, your friend Lance was ridiculously head over heels for her, so you hoped mentioning her would take the spotlight off of you. It did. “I bet they don’t even realize how lucky they are,” Lance grumbled as he looked up at the table where Allura sat with the rest of the Student Council and a handful of other students, Keith included. You stabbed into the “mashed potatoes” on your plate, nudging them around instead of actually eating them. “Hmm? Maybe you’re the one who should go talk.” You grin at him. “Yeah and embarrass myself? Maybe I can do something for Valentines Day. Oh, I can volunteer in that thing the student council is doing maybe that’ll grab her attention.” The rest of lunch was full of fun chatter and you and Hunk teasing Lance. Still, you couldn’t shake off what Lance had said. Why romance? You didn’t like Keith like that, did you?

It wasn’t long until your trio became a quad? Quartet? You weren’t sure what to call it, but nevertheless, you were grateful for the addition. She was a sixth grader, a year younger than you, but she was super smart and in several of your classes despite being younger. Her name was Katie, but after overhearing her brother who was in high school call her Pidge, you all lovingly started calling her Pidgeon. Initially it annoyed her, but she grew to be fond of the silly nickname. She also quickly adjusted to keeping up with the dynamics and talk of the group. The best thing, at least in your opinion, was that she was snarky enough to shock Lance into silence. Those few seconds of pure heaven were usually enough for you to recover from whatever teasing he had dished out your way. Pidge wasn’t the only surprise that came to you, though. Since you were a seventh grader, you were required to choose an elective. Without a second thought, you had chosen art. That had led to surprise two.

Keith Kogane. Your ex-best friend. The person who was basically the other half of you. The guy that your friends were sure you had a major crush on- was sitting in your art class on the first day. You almost freaked out before remembering that Keith did, in fact, go to the same school as you and was just as entitled to choose art for his elective as you were. Gulping silently, you made your way to a seat close to the paint, which just so happened to be on the opposite end of the classroom to where Keith was. Either he hadn’t noticed your entrance, which you highly doubted since he was always very observant, or he just didn’t care. The thought that the second option might be true sent an ache through your chest that you brushed off as nerves. When the teacher arrived, she explained that she would be placing everyone in groups of four every couple of weeks, so to not unpack yet. Much to your relief, you hadn’t been paired with Keith yet. You knew you wanted to talk to him again, but you wanted to on your terms not due to him being forced to interact with you. Besides if things went south when you talked to him, you’d rather not have to be working with him right afterward.

Seventh grade was shaping to be a much better year than the previous year had been. Your group of four were the best friends you could ask for and art class was easily shaping up to be your favorite class. However, you still haven't confronted Keith, and your friends were nowhere near letting you get away with not talking to him. It’s not that you didn’t want to, you did, it was just that you weren’t sure how to even bring it up with him. Your friends' suggestions didn’t really appeal to you; Lance wanted you to just walk up to him and call him out, Pidge said you should consider befriending his friends to get close to him again, and Hunk suggested you go to the soccer meets where Keith played. Despite this, you had begrudgingly agreed to try out Hunk’s idea first if you hadn’t already talked to Keith by the end of the week. Little did you know, you didn’t have to worry about trying Hunk’s idea out; you’d end up talking to Keith the first day of that week, long before your “agreement” would be up.

Art class on Monday was the one thing you were looking forward to. You had a bad case of the Mondays and needed some art to clear your mind. Thoughts of working on a new charcoal piece danced through your mind until you stepped foot into the classroom. There on the board was the new seating chart showing what you were dreading the most. You had to sit across from Keith in the four-seating table. He wasn’t here yet, though, much to your relief. Even as class started he hadn’t arrived. At first you were glad to not have to deal with speaking to Keith, although, that anxiety quickly melted to worry. He was never absent. It was something that you always found odd when you two were friends still. You had gotten sick every now and then and had to miss school, but Keith had always had perfect attendance. The entire period, you were barely able to focus on the assignment at hand, and instead you nervously wondered where Keith could possibly be and what had been bad enough to make him not come to class.

You got your answer on your way to lunch. Pidge and you were walking to the cafeteria when you heard sniffling. Being the gentle-hearted person you were, you told Pidge you’d catch up with her after you went to make sure whoever was crying was okay. What you found froze you in your tracks, shattering your heart into a thousand tiny pieces. There, by the dusty storage closet in a nearly abandoned part of the school was Keith, tears bubbling in his eyes and trickling down in streaming rivers as he hiccuped pitifully. “Keith..?” He looked up to the source of the voice, looking panic-stricken and rubbing his eyes frantically. “(y/n), wh- what are you doing here?” Your backpack clattered to the floor and you were by his side in an instant as if you two had always stayed friends. As if nothing had ever happened. “Keith, oh my gosh, what happened? Are you okay?” Your eyebrows knit together as you carefully inspected him for any wounds. “Like you care.” He grumbled, scooting away from you. A hurt look shot across your face. “What- what do you mean?” He glared at you as best he could with puffy bloodshot eyes. “You leave me for some people you’ve barely ever talked to before and now you come rushing to me acting like you care. I don’t need your sympathy! I don’t know how you heard but forget it. I don’t need your help just cause our parents were friends.” Were? They still were, weren’t they? “Keith, I’d never do that to you. I wasn’t trying to leave you. You did the same to me, anyhow. But- wait what do you mean? Hear what?” “Don’t play dumb! I know you know!” “No, I don’t!” You noticed how his hands were shaking and how he had clenched his jaw. He was trying not to cry. Whatever was going on, it was serious enough to cause Keith to break down. You took a breath, calming yourself, before trying again. “Keith, I honestly don’t know what’s going on. We may not have talked in a while, but that doesn’t mean that seeing you hurting doesn’t hurt me too. I just want to help, please.” He seemed to realize that you aren’t lying. “So you really don’t know?” You shake your head. “Dad- he,” he chokes back an oncoming sob and continues very strained, “there was an accident at his work.” A single tear trickles down his cheek before more follow suit. What he’s trying to say finally dawns on you and before either of you have a chance to fully realize what’s happening, you pull him into a hug. Your eyes, too, were filling with tears. “I’m so sorry. God, I am so sorry.” Keith hiccups, letting himself fall apart as you hold onto him, both of you sobbing openly now. You cling to each other as if you were at sea and you both would be swept away into the nothingness if you didn't hold on tight enough... In a way, you would. The man that was like an extension of your own family was gone. No warning. No goodbye. Just gone. You couldn’t even begin to imagine how Keith felt. Had he left that morning with a hug to his father, expecting to be picked up after school in his old beat up pick up? Did he even get to say I love you? You felt sick.

You two had skipped the rest of your classes, you didn’t have the energy to argue when Keith had tugged your hand to the fields in the back of the school. The tidal wave of anguish had given way to a hollowness for now. The two of you laid in a patch of grass outside the view of the school. There wasn’t anything either of you could say, not that either of you really felt up to talking. So instead, you laid there hoping that this was all some mistake. That some other Mr. Kogane had been in an accident, even if the thought was selfish. What would happen to Keith now, your mind asked. You didn’t know. His mom had left when he was younger. And now with his father gone, you weren't sure who would raise Keith. He didn’t have any grandparents, at least that you knew of. Subconsciously, your hand found his and you intertwined your fingers. He squeezed your hand slightly and you did the same to his. It wasn’t much, but it silenced your mind for a moment. You really hoped it did the same for him.

Your mother picked you both up. She looked the same way you both did. Nobody spoke on the car ride to your house. There wasn’t anything that could be said that would fix any of this, so no bothered trying to. At your house, your mother had to talk to people from the state while you and Keith went to your room. “They’re gonna take me to a foster home. I can hear them.” Keith was crying again, though it was more of a silent, steady kind of crying. You were sitting beside him, close enough that your shoulders were pressed against each other. “Maybe- maybe you can stay here? My mom has always loved you, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” He stayed quiet; you both knew the idea had no base in reality. The state wouldn’t allow that. It was a while until either of you spoke up again. “Hey, (y/n).” “Yeah?” “Can I ask you a favor?” “Anything.” “Can we keep talking. Even when I leave, I mean. Maybe we can e-mail or, or something. I just… Don’t want to be alone again. I can't handle losing someone else, not now. Please don’t leave me, not again.” “I promise you, Keith, you will never ever be alone again. Not as long as I’m still here.” You held out your pinky finger to him and you saw a ghost of a smile on Keith’s face for a split second as he hooked his pinky finger on yours.

#voltron #keith x reader #fanfictions #keith kogane #abandonment #death #loss of a parent #grieving #mod alex

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