#adam: no that's- it's really cute how you always immediately have keith's back. but no i'm talking about supporting keith as he grows up | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

autisticlancemcclain · 11 months

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“You dragged us out of bed at eight thirty in the goddamn morning for what?”

“You remember how you got married on a random Thursday without telling anyone?” Hunk says, instead of answering the goddamn question. Keith and Lance both groan as loudly and obnoxiously as they can. Lance makes a point to yank their blankets over his head as he falls back onto the pillows.

“Just ignore them,” Keith whines, slinging an arm around Lance’s waist and pulling him back in. Lance goes willingly, inclined to follow those instructions.

“Nope. Nuh-uh.” Something soft and round pelts Lance on the shoulder, then the hip, then lands square on his head. “Up you get.”

“Fuck off,” Lance gripes again, peering over the covers to glare at Pidge, who is gleefully digging through their sock drawer to hand Hunk more ammo.

“Nope. Get up, losers.” Hunk huffs. “God, I don’t even understand why this is taking you so long. You went to bed at eight-thirty. That was twelve hours ago. There’s no possible way you’re still sleepy.”

Lance pauses. He glances over at his husband, who’s grinning just as wolfishly as he is.

God, Lance loves him so much. Verbal communication is for dweebs. They’ve got this shit in the bag.

“We went to bed at eight thirty,” Lance agrees, pretending to be nonchalant.

Keith hums, following along, leaning back with his arms folded behind his head like he’s the most unbothered bitch on the planet. “Right, right, we did.” He pauses for dramatic effect. (It will never cease to amaze Lance that people think the Black Paladin is some sort of stoic, serious asshole. How even he used to think that. Keith grew up with Shiro, for fuck’s sake. There’s not a bone in his body that isn’t at least a little melodramatic.) He glances over at Lance, finally giving the game away with a wide grin. “But I don’t remember us doing any sleeping.”

“Funnily enough, me either!”

It takes Pidge and Hunk a moment for the implication to sink in, and their identically disgusted faces when it does immediately make Keith and Lance burst out laughing.

“You two are nasty,” Pidge protests, throwing eight more sock pairs with increasing violence. Keith and Lance are too weak with laughter to stop her, barely holding their hands in front of them to stop the onslaught. “I hate you. Hunk, suffocate them.”

“I’m considering it,” Hunk mutters darkly. He shakes his head rapidly. “God, the imagery.”

The best part is that it isn’t even true. They walked up to their room at eight-thirty, got ready for bed, talked for maybe three minutes, and then fell asleep immediately like old people. It was excellent.

But fucking with his friends is always fun.

“Just be downstairs in twenty minutes,” Pidge says, aiming another ball of socks at Keith’s head. Keith manages to catch it, and Pidge scurries to hide behind Hunk before Keith can whip it back. “We’re going out.”

The two disappear before they can ask anymore questions, making a point of loudly stomping down the stairs and ignoring their questioning.

“We could just ignore them,” Keith suggests.

“That’s true,” Lance agrees. “We could even have sex for real? That would piss them off.”

For a second Keith looks like he’s really considering it. He gets that cute little furrow in his brow that he gets when he’s concentrating. It does wonderful things to Lance’s ego, that the thought of sleeping with him gets the same furrow of concentration that fighting a war does.

But eventually, as Lance knew he would, Keith sighs. “We should probably see what they have planned.”

Lance smiles. “Maybe.” He heaves himself up, offering a hand to Keith to pull him out of bed, too, then drags him to the bathroom. “Let’s get dressed.”

———

They make it downstairs twenty minutes later, dressed and ready to go. The kitchen is overcrowded, as it usually is, with Hunk and Adam cooking something delicious at the stove, Pidge standing guard over Shiro so he doesn’t curse the kitchen with his presence, and Veronica trying and failing to look cool for an earnestly oblivious Allura. The real grownups — Coran, Krolia, Miguel, Marcela, and Lisa — are chatting over some fresh fruit at the table, Luis trying and failing to convince the twins to eat their food instead of throwing it at each other. Marco is nowhere to be found, likely having escaped to the garage when the kitchen got too loud.

They’ve been home and settled for quite some time, now. But all his family safe and in one place still makes something fragile clink around in Lance’s chest.

“Well good afternoon, mijos,” Marcela teases.

“It’s barely nine, Mamá,” Lance says, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek before taking a seat. Keith hesitates a second, then Marcela taps her other cheek, so Keith follows Lance’s example and then kissing his own mother hello before sitting down next to Lance. His face is a little red by the end of it, still unused to the casual affection, but his smile is small, pleased.

“I never get any kisses hello,” Shiro grumbles into his coffee mug.

Keith doesn’t miss a beat. “That is because you are irritating.”

“Can it, boogerbrain.”

Adam slides a plate piled high with pancakes between them.

“Before you two kill each other,” he says drily. The fondness drips off of him, made even more evident by the way he pinches Keith’s cheek as he walks past, slides his hand down Shiro’s shoulder as he sits next to him. His diversion is successful, however, and both brothers call an unspoken truce in favour of stuffing their faces.

“So,” Pidge says, mouth full, several minutes later. “You guys got married on a whim.”

Keith glances at Marcela. “That is an exaggeration,” he says loudly, as if Lance’s mother isn’t well aware that her son is the type of dumbass to say yes to an impulsive wedding proposal.

“It’s really not,” Allura, Hunk, Shiro and Pidge say at the same time.

Keith scowls.

“Anyways,” Hunk continues, “since y’all didn’t actually let anyone know you were getting hitched, we never got to do fun wedding things. Like a bachelor party.”

“Or an actual wedding,” Allura points out, which is met with various snickers.

Lance leans back to exchange a contemplative glance with Keith. While he doesn’t and never will regret the way they got hitched, he supposes there are some things they missed. Having a dumb drunk party with their friends doesn’t sound bad at all, actually.

“Alright,” Lance says, nodding. “We’re down for that. What are we doing? Heading to the beach?”

“Oh, no,” Veronica says, grinning wildly. She pushes up her glasses as if she’s a dorky anime character. “Get ready for something way better.”

———

An arcade.

Their friends have dragged them to an arcade.

“I haven’t been to one of these in years,” Keith comments, taking in the bright lights, strange and minorly unpleasant smells, and sounds of screaming children.

Lance squeezes his hand. “Me either, but don’t worry. We’re going to crush it.”

“Hey, whoa, hold on,” Veronica says, making a T sign with her hands. “It’s a bachelor party.”

Keith and Lance blink at her.

“Yes,” Lance says, extra slow so she can understand. “For us. We got that.”

Veronica continues to look at them like they have a couple screws loose — which would normally be fine, because that’s a particularly favourite expression of hers to wear around Lance, only the rest of the team is looking at them funny, too.

“Since when do bachelor parties involve both parties?” Hunk clarifies. “Split up!”

“What? No way!” Keith protests. He pulls Lance closer to him. “I married him, so I get dibs!”

“Nope, no way,” Allura says. “I already called dibs on Lance. You get your own team to lose on. Good luck.”

Look.

Lance is loyal, okay? He made a vow. Keith is his number one. His ride or die. Blah blah blah.

However.

Before he fell in love, before Keith was the person he turned to, before Keith was his friend, even, Keith was his rival.

And rivalries don’t just die. They just get pushed aside, really. He lets go of Keith’s hand and sidesteps towards the Blue Paladin. Keith’s face of betrayal makes him smirk.

“What,” he taunts, leaning back all casual-like. “Afraid to lose, Kogane?”

Like clockwork, Keith’s face smooths into something cocky and testy and really, really hot.

“Like hell, Kogane,” he scoffs. “I’m going to grind you to dust.”

Hunk claps his hands. “Excellent. Keith, you stand by that plant, Lance stand across from him. It’s team picking time. Keith gets to pick first because Allura already threatened violence if she doesn’t get Lance’s team.”

Allura smiles primly, skipping over to stand with Lance. Her braids — courtesy of Lisa and Sylvio — swish cheerfully behind her, pink beads clinking. Lance high-fives her when she gets close.

“Ready to annihilate them?” Lance asks.

Allura grins. “We won’t even need anyone else.”

Blue’s presence roars in both of their head at the same time, proud and smug.

“Dibs on Hunk!” Keith shouts.

Lance gasps in betrayal. “What? No!” Keith only sticks his tongue out at him, and to Lance’s horror, even Hunk is grinning!

“Sorry, man,” he says, not sounding very sorry at all. He accepts Keith’s fist bump. “Keith is just the obvious winner, here. You know I pick the non-losing side.”

“I’m cutting you out of my will,” Lance informs him. He is, too. Hunk can have squat, since he’s a quisling.

“Just choose your next teammate, goober,” Hunk says.

Lance turns back to the pool of options, gaze critical. His initial strategy had been to choose people with opposite strengths to him — those better with luck games, or trivia. But if Keith’s strategy is to choose people that will cripple Lance, then he needs to adjust accordingly. If he loses this he’ll never forgive himself.

“Shiro,” he says definitively. Having Keith’s brother in his team will make Keith sloppier, because Keith physically cannot handle being on an opposite team of Shiro without the absolutely blinding urge to beat him. He’ll be so focused on one-upping Shiro that he’ll be less focused on doing games properly.

They spend the next ten minutes carefully choosing their teams and making faces at each other. In the end, Keith’s team is made up of Hunk, Adam, and Veronica. Lance’s team has Allura, Shiro, and Pidge (everyone else decided to step away from what they knew was a competition that was bound to get out of hand and stay home — which, fair). The second the teams are finalized, Lance pulls everyone away, guiding them to a little corner of the arcade so they can Strategise.

“Okay,” Lance starts, mentally planning a map of the arcade and its games. “We need to out-ticket them, so prioritize high-payout games first, skilled games second. Anything that’s a guaranteed thirty tickets is a game worth playing a few times. Anything you know you can demolish, hit hard.”

“Are we cheating?” Shiro asks.

“Foul play at least,” Lance confirms. “Pidge, feel free to accidentally make machines work better for you. Allura and Shiro, feel free to bat your eyelashes and weaken Veronica and Adam with your wiles.”

All three teammates nod seriously.

“Will do. And you, Lance?”

Lance grins, unbuttoning his blouse and stuffing it in his bag, leaving only his cropped red t-shirt that makes the brown of his eyes look darker. He clips on some sparkly earrings, then slathers on some lip gloss.

“I am going to make it impossible for Keith to focus. Let’s go!”

———

(Keith watches as his husband hunches know a huddle with his team, face drawn and serious as he explains his plans and ideas. Shiro, Pidge and Allura watch him with similar intent, splitting off after a couple minutes of discussion with the seriousness they once employed marching into battle.

“We’re going to lose, aren’t we,” he asks the group at large.

Hunk pats him heartily on the back. “Most definitely. Let’s go, team!”)

———

There is a lot of chaos, as one might expect.

The arcade is certainly not empty. Parents chase after unruly children, unruly children chase each other. Many young teens hog games in an attempt to turn a profit on their token investment. Hobbyists are worse. Regardless, competition sings in Lance’s veins. He spends inordinate amounts of time at the shooting games, knocking out shot after shot — in one game lasting so long that he amasses a crowd of awed spectators.

“Holy smokes!” one child yells. “He’s been here forever! He can’t lose!”

“You think he’s a super spy, or somethin’?” their friend whispers.

Lance smirks. Or something.

As the point counter in the top left corner of the game ticks higher and higher with every zombie he slays, he starts to imagine how he might gloat with his upcoming hoard of tickets. Drape them like a scarf, perhaps, and sashay past Veronica? Count them very slowly by Adam? Get Shiro’s help in forming them in an L shape and point them in Keith’s direction?

Before he can decide, there are several annoyed shouts in the small crowd behind him, and seconds later someone pops up next to him, filling his nose with the scent of pine and sandalwood. Keith plants himself behind where Lance is seated, arms on either side of him, and leans over so his head hangs upside down in front of Lance’s, blocking his vision.

“Hey,” he says, grinning.

Lance shoves his face away. “Buzz off! I’m trying to beat you!”

“You’re hogging the zombie game, is what you’re doing.”

“Duh!”

Lance shoves his face away again and this time he goes, which should make Lance suspicious, but his guard is down and his focus is elsewhere. After a moment, he hears his husband clear his throat three times, just like he does before he addresses a crowd of people as the Fearless Black Paladin.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“People of the arcade!” he shouts, and lord above Lance married a drama queen no matter what anybody says about it. “Are we going to let him hog the zombie game?”

A voice that is most definitely Lance’s irritating sister calls out: “No way!”

Another voice, Lance’s traitor best friend, calls out: “He’s had it for twenty minutes! I demand justice!”

The crowd, either bolstered to air their grievances due to other aforementioned complaints or just happy to be part of a mob, take up the chant: “Off the game! Off the game!”

“The people have spoken, sweetheart,” Keith says, smirking so wide his eyes scrunch up.

Lance rolls his eyes, but he’s annoyed to find that he can’t quite suppress his smile. “You’re a dick for brains.” He purposely misses his next shot, ending the game, and the crowd cheers. The screen flashes once, then a red number pops up in the middle: 456. Tickets begin to shoot out of the slot.

Lance turns towards his husband and chuckles evilly, taking great joy in his newfound scowl. “Try to keep up, baby.” He tears his last ticket from the slot, gathering them up and patting Keith on the chest as he walks by. Allura, Pidge and Shiro whoop and cheer for him, high fives and fist bumps all around as they all show each other how many tickets they’ve garnered so far — well over a thousand. They’re killing it.

They spend the next forty minutes flitting from game to game, winning forty tickets here and ninety there, even losing a game or two. They spend half their time actually playing and half their time messing with the rest of their friends, calling out confusing answers for trivia games or straight up poking and prodding at them to mess up any games of focus. It’s a miracle that any of them manage to win at all, really.

After a couple hours of play, the two teams have mostly evened out — Lance hasn’t been keeping exact count of his tickets, or anything, but his pile and Keith’s pile look about the same.

“I have an idea,” Allura shouts over the noise of the arcade. “A final win!” She tilts her head towards one of the larger games in the arcade, blasting pop music through the area and flashing bright lights.

DDR.

Lance grins at her. “‘Llura, you are a genius.”

She preens. “I know.”

“Shiro! Pidge! Cover for us!”

They nod, and Allura and Lance rush to the Dance Dance Revolution machine, quickly flipping through the options as they see Keith and Veronica booking it through the crowd through the corners of their eyes. Finally they land on the best option for them, and Lance slams the start button just as Shiro tackles his brother to the ground. Synth beats blast through the speakers, and Aqua’s Barbie Girl starts to play — game on.

“Fuck!” Adam shouts, knowing they’re about to lose.

Lance cackles. If there’s one thing he and Allura can do, it’s absolutely crush this game.

And they do — the hit every beat, perfectly, not even one misstep. Every stomp is in unison, every pop of their hips coordinated. (They had weeks and weeks on the space road trip. They know what to do.)

By the time the song ends and Allura and Lance step off the machine, tickets flying through the slot, Keith’s team has accepted their defeat with hanged heads.

“Hand over half your tickets as a losing tax and bow before your queens,” Lance says smugly, as he and his teams twist their tickets into ugly crowns, wearing identical smirks.

“All hail the winners of pressing little buttons on dinky arcade games,” Veronica drawls because she is a sore loser.

Allura winks at her. “Thank you for your concession, insect,” she teases.

Veronica goes bright red. Lance snickers.

They make their way to the prize booth, handing over their absurd number of tickets. Pidge uses hers to buy a ridiculous amount of candy. Allura goes ham buying a bunch of Earth trinkets to bring back to Coran. Shiro sees a dookie little toaster from the seventies that is devoted entirely to cooking hot dog buns, laughs himself to tears, and buys it immediately. Lance buys himself a giant stuffed lion that happens to be blue, because once he sees it it’s impossible not to. The four of them goad their gifts to the losing team as they trade for their own shit, much to the annoyance of the grouchy employee.

It’s stupid. It’s juvenile. Every single one of the prizes is cheap.

It’s so, so much fun.

On the walk back to the house, Keith falls into step with Lance, pulling him back slightly from the rest of the group. They all shoot knowing smiles in their direction, for once not feeling teasing, and jog ahead to give them space.

“Got something for you,” Keith says casually, looking straight ahead.

“A consolation prize?” Lance jokes.

Keith grins. “Something like that.” He digs around in his pocket, closing something in his fist and holding it out in front of him. He makes no move to open his hand or offer the thing to Lance, walking on casually. Lance is burning with curiosity.

“You remember when I first asked you to marry me?”

Lance snorts. “Out of the blue, on a random Monday, in the common room? Yes, I remember the day my life changed forever.”

Keith’s smile gets softer. He reaches over with his free hand and links it with Lance’s.

“You told me I needed a ring to ask you.”

“Mhm. And we got one later.”

“That’s the thing.” He stops them, turning to face Lance head on, indigo eyes bright and sparkling. “I got us wedding rings. But never used one to pop the question.”

He takes a tiny step back, and then sinks to one knee, holding up a cheap diamond ring from the prize booth. Lance laughs out loud, and then gets choked up by the emotions that flare up at the sight of his husband on one knee, and tears build in his eyes.

“Lance Kogane,” Keith says dramatically, but there’s a look of real seriousness in his eyes, a stubborn streak of love. “I kind of botched the asking, my first time, so I’m going it again: will you marry me?”

“Yes, dorkbrain,” Lance chokes out. “Of course.” He holds out his left hand, and Keith slides the dinky little ring onto his forth finger, resting it above his real wedding ring. He stands up and wraps his hands around Lance’s face, leaning in and kissing him softly.

“Just checking,” he whispers.

Lance smiles, leaning their foreheads together.

Fitting, he thinks, deciding to stay right where he is for a while, that they’d do everything backwards.

How lucky he is.

———

parts 1-5

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

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Blood Red Heat prt 40

For the last night planet side, the pack had piled into Green for a sleep over. Krolia, Allura, Romelle, and Coran, all invited, even if they didn’t feel what their pack felt. Sitting between Hunk’s legs, Hunk was helping Lance keep up with the weird card game he and Pidge had tried to invent that was somewhere between poker and uno. Coupled with Pidge, the three of them had crushed Keith and Shiro, who didn’t actually know the rules of the game. Keith’s alpha struggling seeing Lance seated between Hunk’s legs, but he’d managed to keep his temper with how happy Lance seemed to be. They’d all noticed it now, the pauses and the weakness. Coran had suggested a group walk out to where they’d found a wide piece of stream that was better for water collection that further down and closer to camp, Lance stubbornly tried to keep up the “relaxed pace” Coran had set, his hand on Kosmo for support . When Lance had stumbled, Hunk had thrown himself down dramatically with an exaggerated sigh and demanded a time out from training. Pidge caught on quick, their gremlin also asking for a break.

Upon seeing so much water, Lance had wanted to go swimming. Coran having to be the one to break it to him that swimming wasn’t advisable as they had to boil the water for drinking due to some potential parasite. Sitting on the bank of the stream, Lance had told him all about growing up surfing. Keith had never been surfing. Living in a land locked state would do that to you. Lance promised to teach him when they finally got back home, explaining how his next oldest brother was totally a grommet... whatever that was. Keith was simply happy to hear Lance talk so enthusiastically about something he clearly loved. It was then that Lance decided to also tell him about his older sister Veronica who worked at the Galaxy Garrison. Lance might love his siblings, yet the way he talked about Veronica, it was clear she was the one he was closest to out of the brood...

The alpha feeling semi-bad that he couldn’t recall Lance’s family from all their forced upon mind melding. He wished he could keep up with it all. Lance taking his silence the wrong way, apologising for “rubbing his family in his face”. Maybe he had, but Keith wanted to know. He wanted to make sure he didn’t make a fool of himself when he finally told Lance’s family that he had the honour of courting him.

Scrunching his face as up as he went cross eyed at his cards Lance was being cute again, Keith ducked his head to cover the slight blush setting in. Not missing anything, Shiro nudged him with his elbow, whispering in his ear

“Quick, Lance breathed, you better blush”

His brother could go jump

“Fuck off. Like you and Adam were any better”

“Hey, we raised a kid together, we were allowed to be gross. We needed each other with how often you got in trouble”

“It wasn’t always my fault, you know”

“I do. He seems happy”

Throwing a card down, Lance craned his neck to look back at Hunk who nodded supportively

“He is. He still has his moments, but the game really did knock out the hardest part of the apology”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who apologised as much as him. Is there any way to get him to stop?”

Keith snorted, if Lance praised him any more, or apologised for something not his fault one more time, his brain might just short circuit

“Try dating him... You love to apologise for everything, don’t you, babe?”

Lance wasn’t listening until he heard “babe”, worry coming to his face as he tilted his head

“Hmm?”

“I said you love to apologise”

Lance seemed unsure, hesitantly nodding, but trusting Keith

“I’m not going to apologise for kicking your butt”

“You’re not going to show me any mercy, are you?”

“Nope... not even if you’re my alpha”

Shooting Lance finger guns, Keith grinned stupidly thinking himself smart

“That’s my omega”

Lance groaning as he blushed. Pidge and Hunk both shocked he’d ever shoot anyone finger guns

“Babe, nooooo”

“I think you mean, “Babe, yessss””

Pidge rolled her eyes at them, surprisingly she was still quiet quite with her teasing, sometimes it took her a moment or two to reword what she was going to say, this time she was straight to the point

“Let Lance keep his finger guns... It doesn’t look right when you do it”

Keith pouted, huffing

“There’s nothing wrong with my fingers”

Lance choked on thin air. Keith blushing hard as he tried to fix what he said

“I didn’t mean it like it! I mean they work and they do their job! Babe, help!”

Shiro patted him on the shoulder

“Keith, kiddo, brother of mine, please just stop”

“I’m... you guys suck”

Continuing their game a little longer, Lance dropped his cards as he rubbed at his head. Hunk casting a worried look to Keith, who placed his cards down and crawled over to his omega. Krolia and Coran both on edge in case there was something wrong. Allura and Romelle stopping their gossip session of how Altea of the old had been. Feeling Lance’s forehead, Hunk gave a small shake of his head, Lance not feverish

“Babe, you okay?”

“Red says it’s time I was asleep... I dun wanna sleep. I think I’m finally getting this”

“Wanna come give me a cuddle for bit then? Maybe you can teach me how to play?”

Lance reached for him, the pack adjusting around them so Lance could sit in his lap and still be included in what was happening. Thinking he was whispering, his boyfriend failed hard

“I don’t think Pidge and Hunk know how to play... I’m so confused”

Hunk and Pidge both groaned. Hunk, shaking his head

“Honestly I think I’ve had enough. Do you want to try fish instead? We all know Pidge cheats at poker”

“It’s not my fault I’m graceful and charming”

When no one immediately agreed, Pidge kicked Keith in the ankle, Shiro chuckling

“She is style. She is grace...”

Lance adding on, as if this “song” was a “well known thing”

“But mess with her and it’s a foot to the face, or her little gremlin fangs in your ankle”

Pidge smiled proudly at Lance, wiping a fake tear from her eye

“Awww, dude, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said”

“I do try to be nice”

Shiro reached over to ruffle Lance’s hair. This was what pack nights had been like before he’d left, only now he had Lance and it seemed a thousand times better for it

“We know, kiddo. You going to play, or do you want to watch?”

“I wanna watch... You guys should teach Coran”

Introducing Coran to “fish”, Coran started explaining the aquatic animals that’d called Altea home. He wasn’t sure why humans called it “fish”, and seemed to think they should all have tiny little rods for picking up the cards. Too preoccupied teaching Coran, Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro, failed to notice as Keith slowly drew out of playing to watch with Lance. Hands holding each other’s, as his omega started to doze off in his arms. The game would have continued if Lance hadn’t accidentally kicked his leg out, knocking the pile of cards over as he sighed in his sleep. Lance had always been a heavy sleeper, once he got to sleep, Keith content as a human pillow as Pidge collected up the cards. Shiro being the responsible “Space Dad”

“We really should call it a night”

Hunk smiled at his best friend, probably happy to be free from Coran’s story

“I’m pretty tired, I think Lance has the right idea”

Pidge nodded her agreement, ignoring Coran’s pouting at the game coming to an end

“Mhmm... I could sleep. It’s been ages since we did anything like this as a pack”

Between their night under the stars and the day spent triple checking everyone had everything and rations were fairly divided, Keith felt it too

“It’s nice. You guys got all your bedding?”

Pidge answered for all of them

“Yep. We made sure we had everything before we started playing cards. We even set you and Lance up with your own bed”

There was mischief in Pidge’s tone, Keith not surprised at all

“Thanks for that... but we’re probably going to crash right here. He’s already completely zonked out”

“Fiiiiine, put all our hard work to shame. I dibs sleeping closest to Lance”

Hunk immediately spluttered

“I’m his best friend”

“You got to cuddle him all night. We all need pack time, Hunk”

Hunk sighed

“Fine. Next time I’m sleeping next to him”

“We’ll see. Shiro, you good?”

“I’m going to use the bathroom before everyone else. Keith, you need a hand?”

“Nah. I’ve got him. I’ll save brushing my teeth for the morning”

Pidge wrinkled her nose up

“I swear I’ll shoot you if you come at me with your morning breath”

“I’ll save it just for you, Pidgeon”

Their bantering continued as everyone got ready around him and Lance. The floor of Green not the best bed, but he did have the best cuddle mate in the pack. For Romelle and Krolia this was new experience, Coran had taken to watching over the pack when they’d had their sleep overs, falling asleep upright on the castle sofa as the rest of them slept close. Now Coran was sleeping near Allura and Romelle, with Krolia the one choosing to take the position of silent guardian. His mother really didn’t get how pack dynamics worked, but she was prepared to accept that this was what they all needed right now. His mother so thoroughly his mother that as she watching, she was oiling her blade. As everyone settled in, Green’s lighting switched to emergency lighting, filling the space with a soft glow. Hunk mumbling

“Pidge, I need the light on”

“Don’t look at me, that was all Green. I think Green agrees with Red that it’s past our bed time”

Black nudged into Keith’s mind, his own lion also in agreement. It’d be hard having to pilot Black away from Lance, but Krolia, Romelle, Allura, and Coran all agreed they were happy to swap having shifts in Red so Lance and Kalternecker would never be left alone

“Yeah, Black’s telling me we should be sleeping. What about Blue and Yellow?”

Allura giggled happily

“Yes, I do believe our lions have all ganged up against us”

“Maybe there as anxious as we are to get back out there?”

A pillow flew over Keith’s head, hitting Shiro, as Pidge grumped

“Personally, I could sleep for a month and that still wouldn’t be enough”

Keith snorted. Pidge was forgetting the one thing that made her more excited than anything else

“Now, now Pidge. Your dad probably has all sorts of new tech waiting for you”

Pidge spluttered, still thinking of her witty reply as Lance snuggled closer to Keith, letting out a loud rumbling content purr that they all heard. Hunk asking

“Dude, was that Lance?”

“Yeah. He’s got a good purr on him”

“I’ve never heard him purr like that before”

Pidge’s pillow was lobbed back over his head, Keith assuming she’d caught it as she didn’t complain about being hit. Closing his eyes, Keith buried his face against Lance’s back. Lance liked being the big spoon, yet seeing he was sleeping, Keith got to be big spoon, which the alpha preferred seeing it didn’t end up with Lance having a face full of his hair

“That’s because he’s all snuggled up with Keith. Don’t you two do anything gross in Green or I’ll kick you both out”

“Shut up. We’re not that gross”

“I’m just saying, we’re already hunting for a sun and if I see something I don’t want to, I might just yeet myself into it”

As Keith mentally sighed, Coran seemed to think now was the time to join in

“Not in Green you won’t. She’s a fine lion who deserves more than that. I’m sorry, Pidge, but I must insist you not do this “yeeting” of which you speak”

Pidge huffed, though her scent showed no trace of actual annoyance

“Look, now you made Coran cranky”

Keith trying to sound as deadpan as possible

“Oh no. Whatever shall we do?”

“Kosmo will teleport me over at the first sign of a potential yeet. You kids need your sleep”

There was a choruses of “Yes, Mum”, Krolia probably hadn’t expected to suddenly be called “mum” by all of them. She didn’t have a smart reply to that. Still, it was nice. To have his whole pack there, and for them to accept his mother, and his mother to accept Lance... all of it so damn nice that he could cry... but he wouldn’t. He loved his pack, for all its weirdness. They really were, and would forever be, his family.

** Three Years Later**

Lance had stood by Keith’s side for all of it. From coming back to Earth, to kicking the Galra off their home planet, to showing up wearing what seemed to be a full set of saucepans because Coran had been talking to him about Altean courting customs, Keith helping his omega unpan himself as they’d watched the sunset sitting atop black. Things hadn’t been easy. Lance nearly dropping when his second heat had come, due to the trauma before his first heat.

When Altea and Diabazaal had come back into existence, and with Honerva and Sendak both finally as dead as they deserved, slowly their pack dynamic had changed as they all sought their own paths. For Lance and Keith it’d been time on Earth, helping Lance’s family reestablish their farm in Cuba. Keith really didn’t like the first time he’d been invited to dinner by Lance’s Mami Miriam. The woman quick to share so many embarrassing stories about his omega. Lance shaken, but bold enough to stand up for himself and ask her to stop. His boyfriend talking him out to see Plant City, as most of the refugee families had been there at the time. Their time on Earth feeling like one big arse term at the Garrison. Keith finding himself “the future” as Lance had called him. Being the first Human-Galra, and the Black Paladin of Voltron, Keith found himself thrust into the spotlight that he’d never wanted.

For a time Lance worked with the Blades to help rebuild Diabazaal, as well as working as Earth’s ambassador to Altea. Coran refused to have it any other way. Lance was there for all of them. When Shiro had learned about the loss of Adam, it was Lance who kidnapped the pair of them from the awkward wake held for all the heroes lost when the Galra attacked. They wound up on some shitty beach in the middle of nowhere, but somehow that was everything Shiro needed. It was also Lance who helped to encourage Shiro to find happiness with his new boyfriend Curtis. Slowly as things had settled, Lance picked up teaching on Altea. His omega such a natural with the children that “laughed at his funny ears”.

Getting a call out of the blue from Coran, Keith broke every rule regarding wormholing off of Diabazaal. The stupid Blades had needed him for some stupid stealth mission. Keith well and truly over pockets of resistance that kept popping up trying to bring back Zarkon’s legacy. As far as Keith knew, Lance was on Earth. One of the perks of Pidge working at the Galaxy Garrison was the new gun tech coming out of the place. Lance had only been joking about being her official tester, yet almost every time Pidge upgraded some kind of gun, Lance would be the first one she’d call to her lab, even when the damn thing didn’t work, and the facility went onto lockdown because they’d tripped the fire alarms... He was supposed to be on Earth, with Pidge, and Pidge’s somewhat scary mother Colleen, planting a new crop of something or other resistant... Honestly, he still didn’t get farming talk, but Lance was meant to be in Cuba and now he was on Altea on that wasn’t okay, especially not when Coran had told him to come straight to main medical centre.

Landing on Altea, Keith flicked off the engines of his pod, out the thing before it’d finished spooling down, still in his Blade stealth suit, or his “onesie of justice” as Lance called it, as he bolted for the medical centre. Alarmed Alteans had no clue what was going, Keith nearly smacked into the glass doors, narrowly barrelling through the with only catching his shoulder instead of taking out the door frame. Hitting the admin desk, the Altea behind gave a small squeak as she rolled back

“Where’s Coran?!”

Timidly the woman pointed him down the hall to the left, Keith taking off jogging. Instinctively he wanted to keep running, yet Lance would smack him for running in a hospital.

Finally finding Coran, the alpha grabbed Coran by the shoulders. He wanted to shake an explanation out of him, but first he had to catch his breath

“Keith, my boy!? What a pleasure to see you again...”

“Lance... where’s Lance...”

“Uh, yes! Now...”

“Coran, don’t tease him! Keith, I’m okay”

Coran was kind of shoved slightly backwards as Keith tore away from the Altean, darting into the room he’d been standing in front of. Sitting on the bed, his omega looked exhausted as Keith rushed over to him. Wrapping his arms around Lance, the alpha let out a shaky breath. Yeah. He’d gotten a bit better with his rashness and impulse control, but that always went out the window when it came to Lance. Scrambling to tear his mask off with one hand, he didn’t want to let his omega go

“Babe... thank fuck...”

Chuckling softly, Lance smiled at him as Keith forced himself back to see his omega’s face

“Are you okay? I thought you were in Cuba. Coran messaged me that you were here...”

“And you came running... Babe, I’m okay. Something Coran should have told you”

Scrunching his brow, Lance being “okay” only made him confused

“I... if you’re okay, what are you doing here?”

“I... uh, started feeling ill. So I came for a check up... and hold on, let me show you...”

Pouting at Lance letting him go, his omega fished something out his pocket, Keith had no idea what the hell it was... until he was passed it

“You might want to be careful, I pissed on it”

Pee... on a stick... oh... oh... OH! What... how...

“Babe...?”

Lance snorted, then kind of sobered. His omega had to be terrified. Even with all the tech they had, he’d still had so many issues with everything growing and settling. Lance’s chances of contraception raising, but severely damaged by his red heat

“Don’t worry, I have a stack of them at home... I wanted to get it confirmed. Coran wasn’t supposed to freak you out”

Stabbing Lance less than romantically in the eye as he took his omega’s face in his hands, Keith’s heart was racing

“And... are... you...?”

“Yeah. We haven’t done an ultrasound, but... blood test and a quick examination confirmed it. I put off coming when I first started feeling sick... but today I started throwing up and it... yeah. I must have brought every test in the shop... I know... we didn’t think and... I’m sorry...”

No fucking way was Lance apologising for this. This was best news he’d had since Shiro and Curtis got engaged. Kissing his omega happily, Lance relaxed into the kiss, stick still right up against his eye.

Behind Keith, there was the sound of a party popper, confetti falling over their heads. For a moment Keith panicked, Bob and his fucking game show haunted him for a long time, so, for an instant, he thought he was back there. Instead, as he whipped his head around around and moved to protect Lance, Coran was beaming at the pair of them. Incriminating party popper remains still in hand

“Oh, I’m so proud of you, my boys!”

Knowing the cause of his distress, Lance tugged on his arm until Keith turned back to him

“You know he’s been addicted to them since Shiro first told him how to use one. I’m okay, tired, kind of nauseous, but I’m okay. Are you?”

Relaxing under his omega’s calming scent, Keith was very very okay...ish. God. He was nervous more than anything... The way Lance stared at him... even after three years, his omega sent his heart all funny

“Yeah. Yeah, babe... a pup... we’re having a pup of our own”

“We are... I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but... fuck... I said I wouldn’t cry...”

“Sweetheart, I think I’m crying too...”

Yeah. No. He definitely was... This was actually happening... This was finally happening for them, not that they had been trying, but they hadn’t exactly not been either. Shiro knew all about from making the mistake of walking in on them after one particular tedious briefing. Shyly, his omega asked

“So... you’re... this is... okay?”

“Oh, I’m very okay”

“Good, because this baby and me, we’re both gonna need our big strong alpha”

Inside his alpha was screaming with pride. He was going to be a dad. Lance was going to be a dad. They were going to be dads...

“You and our pup... you’re going to be so loved you won’t know what to do”

Both of them were messes, the pregnancy stick finally dropped as they nuzzled into each other until it was impossible to tell who’s tears were who’s. Lance letting out a barked laugh at the state of them. They might have grown plenty, but no matter how many years had passed, you only had to put them together and they turned into emotional idiots

“Now, yes, well, Lance came for a scan today, perhaps you’d be so kind as to let me patient lay down?”

Giddy, Lance giggled. Both their scents were kind of making Keith giddy too

“Coran begged me to let him do the scan. I think our Space Uncle is excited for us. He probably now knows more about my condition than anyone...”

“If you trust him, you know I trust him...”

“I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t. You’re the second to know... well, third. The man at the store probably suspected with all the tests I bought...”

“When do we tell the others?”

“When we know both me and this little one are going to be okay... which we won’t know until Coran does the scan”

“Oh, I guess I better let you lay down”

“Yep... you have no idea how much water I had to drink for this scan, you better not keep me waiting any longer”

That didn’t sound fun... Everything anything to do with birth, and male omega’s, came out of Lance’s various appointments and therapy sessions... however, he didn’t need a fancy education to know having to pee sucked

“I promise I’ll never keep you waiting again”

Humming sweetly, Lance would never not be the most amazing and sweetest omega he’d ever met. A pup with his big blue eyes... His heart was melting at the thought of them

“Mmm. I might just have to hold you to that, but first, let’s meet our baby...”

He was never going to tire of hearing that. Their baby. Theirs... made by them...

“Our baby...”

The novelty never had worn off, no matter how many times he told everyone and anyone repeatedly. No matter how many times Lance teased him about all their friends knowing. Keith was proud as quiznak right up to the birth, and prouder even still when he finally got to hold their first pup in his arms.

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loveafterthefact · 4 years

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Love After the Fact Chapter 9: In the Vernacular, Please be my Friend?

Lance and Keith exasperate themselves and each other, but they’re still trying to find common ground to stand on.

First Previous Next

Keith didn’t leave their quarters hardly at all for a movement after they were married. With the exceptions of the incident with Iverson and a minor confrontation with the still-angry seamsmaster (they still hadn’t gotten over the gloves debacle), Keith sequestered himself to their rooms. It seemed the alienating dining room and relatively unfriendly, unhelpful guards and courtiers made him feel unwelcome. Who could have guessed?

Despite the pointed comments from his parents, Lance did not press the issue. Adam brought him food, or Lance, when he wasn’t busy. Keith had seemed faintly surprised that Lance had bothered to do it himself. Like the idea of Lance doing something for him just because was an alien concept.

Over time, giving in to the pressure from the kings, he began to acquaint himself with the dining hall, where the royal family immediately began to invite some gaggle of courtiers or another, the library, which stored the entire civilization’s collected knowledge, and the grounds, where he occasionally absconded with some small plant he thought no one would miss.

Lance was alerted to this habit after one of the gardeners caught Keith stealing a golden regent orchid from a greenhouse. Unfortunately for the distressed gardener, the extremely rare and delicate flower was quite happy in their little garden, and thus Lance declared it would stay.

He’d watched Keith spend several vargas lying on the moss, gazing at the shimmering golden petals. He’d fallen asleep with his tail curled around the stem. Lance had made a note about the Galra kit’s curiosity, speaking to Pidge about ways to keep him busy while he eased his way into royal responsibilities.

At any rate, Keith grew somewhat accustomed to living at the Castle of Lions. By the end of the movement, Keith was starting to venture out for more than meals and stealing from the gardens. He’d even attended court with Lance, sitting on his right, holding his hand on the joined arms of their thrones. At one point, Lord Lanval had come forward to publicly apologize for his slight against the princes at their wedding banquet. Keith had graciously accepted, despite knowing the apology was a show.

In spite of all of this, Lance knows Keith wasn’t happy, and he isn’t exactly happy either. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything he can do.

Lance throws himself into his increasing duties, burying himself in the multitude of smaller concerns that his parents don’t have the time or energy for in the current political climate. Rumors ripple through the royal court and eventually the commonwealth about Crown Prince Lancel and the new practices he’s implementing, including adjusting how taxes are set.

Now, thanks to him, taxes are decided based on income against estimated needed expense. Said expense is not being estimated by courtiers, but by newly hired tax collectors, and based on specific criteria set by Lance, Adam, and Pidge. Keith had suggested that the tax collectors be required to wear pocketless uniforms while collecting, to which Lance had agreed.

“Lancel, everyone is charged the same amount on their taxes. It’s equality.”

“Yes, and farmers scrape by poaching the wilds while Lord Lanval hands us the top off his spare change at the end of the decaphob. This is better than equality, Father. This is equity .”

The appraising look he’d received from Alfor and the collection of small gifts from the agrarian population have been worth the hours-long-winded explanation he’d owed his fathers. The detail he’d had to go into had been excruciating. Coran had done his very best to speed things up, but had hindered more than helped. Lance loves him for his efforts.

Needless to say, he’s tired when he returns to their room much later with Keith’s dinner, finding him and Shiro sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace. They’re talking softly in Galran. Lance pretends not to understand as he sets Keith’s food on the end table.

“No, he didn’t,” Keith whispers, moving a piece on the board game he’d found in his upstairs loft. Lance has taken to leaving games and puzzles in places where Keith could find them. And any pretty trinkets he thinks the Galra might like. Keith doesn’t seem sure what to make of it, and frankly Lance isn’t sure he knows where the objects are even coming from. Perhaps they're more interesting to Keith as a mystery.

“Truly? That is how Alteans consummate their unions. He should have.” Keith shakes his head, and Shiro’s eyes slide to Lance. “Interesting.”

“He is interesting. I don’t hate him, I think.” Well that’s... marginally gratifying. “You don’t hate the attendant. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you like him.”

“You- You shut up!”

“I bet you just wanna eat him up, don’t you? All little and cute like he is.” Lance smiles at Adam as he prances in with the usual sigh and a swing of his hips. Shiro blusters.

“So. Are your fathers, Ancients bless them, stupid?”

“No, they’re just old. The tax system hasn’t been changed since my great-grandfather Mahi was king and it's always been enough to fund the Crown so if it’s not visibly broken, why fix it?” Lance explains. “I think Dad was on board from the beginning. And Father just wants to give me a hard time every now and then. Payback, I guess.”

Adam sighs, datapad clutched in one hand. He pushes his glasses up his nose with the other. “No, he doesn’t. He just…”

“Thinks I’m an idiot?” Lance offers. Out of the corner of his eye, Keith keeps playing with Shiro’s visibly perked ears. They bend back with Keith’s manhandling, only to bounce right back into place. Keith seems to find it very funny, snickering each time they spring forward.

“Lance, you’ve done your best to convince them both that you’re an idiot. Where does this tablet go?”

“It was swiped from the library. Just put it on the nightstand. No, no. The other nightstand. On Keith’s side.” Lance lifts yesterday’s vest from the floor. “I find it interesting that Father buys it, and Dad does not.”

“But not surprising?” Keith asks, briefly glancing at Lance, tugging on Shiro’s ear. The adult Galra seems content with the manhandling. Lance wonders if it's normal to let kits maul you.

“Oh Ancients, no. Dad’s a terrible judge of character, but he knows me too well to be fooled.”

“So King Alfor is a terrible father who doesn’t know his own son?” Shiro asks, swatting playfully at his brother’s hand.

“No, he was just on his own for a long time. After Melinor died, he had Altea, Daibazaal, me and Allura, Coran, and, well. You can guess what happened-”

Keith laughs from where he’s still seated on the floor with his brother.

Lance frowns, turning to watch them. He notices Shiro’s still-perked ears and attentive eyes, fixed on Adam as the attendant begins picking up the trail of misplaced items Lance constantly leaves in his wake. There aren’t that many.

Shiro’s ears are so expressive, their movements as important as his smile.

But Keith... Keith’s ears are mostly stationary, no matter what. They rotate when he hears a noise and they wilt or twitch sometimes, but mostly when he is unsure of himself. Otherwise, they’re just kind of there, like he’s not entirely sure how to move them. That, combined with his generally reserved demeanor, suggests to Lance that Keith doesn’t know how to express himself.

The longer Lance spends with Keith, which admittedly isn’t much, the more he suspects that Keith spent most of his life alone.

It breaks his heart, really. Keith’s actually kind of sweet. He strikes Lance as a gentle soul, and a warm one, when he’s allowed to be. His fond teasing of Shiro regarding his apparent infatuation with Adam stands as a testament to that.

“You should just talk to him.”

“Shut up.”

“He’s stopped looking like he’ll run away if you try.”

“Wait, what? He’s scared of me?”

Keith falters, tries his best to backtrack. “Oh, no, Shiro. Of course not. I’m sure he was just stressed. He’s not scared of you.”

Adam’s absolutely intimidated by the enormous Galra soldier, but Lance isn’t. The man’s adorable.

“Hey Shiro, got any hobbies?” Lance asks. Keith leans over and whispers something that set his brother’s ears aflurry.

“Oh. Um. Well, actually, I like gardening.” Out of the corner of his eye, Lance sees Adam pause before going back to fiddling with the bed canopy.

“When he retires, he wants to open an apothecary,” Keith supplies.

“Really? Well that’s very interesting,” Lance says. “Adam here has quite the interest in botany himself, don’t you? Quite the physik, actually.”

Adam smooths over a pillowcase unnecessarily. “Yes.”

“Perhaps you can exchange comunique codes and compare notes. You leave tomorrow night, don’t you Shiro?”

“Huh? Oh! Yes I do, I’m afraid. Royal Advisor Krolia has been doing both her job and mine, so I really can’t stay longer.”

“I see.” Lance notices how Keith’s mood drops drastically with the turn of conversation. “Well please come back and visit when you can. You are family now, and always welcome. Just let us know before you arrive so I can make sure you won’t starve.”

Shiro smiles with gratitude. “Thank you, Lance.” The man rises to his towering height. “I’d best begin packing my things. Keith, you stay here and at least try to be friends with your husband.”

“Shiro-”

“No, Keith.” Shiro lays a hand on Keith’s head. “It will get easier. I promise. But you need to try, too. He is.”

Keith nods, studying the half-finished board game in front of him, now devoid of an opponent. Lance turns to Adam, addressing him in Altean. “Can you give us a minute? It’s tricky to get him to talk, and he won’t if you’re here.”

Adam abandons his fiddling. “I’d best go speak to Pidge if I’m to get that comms code set up. It’ll be valuable to have another source inside the Galra fold. Perhaps the captain will be useful.”

Lance heaves a sigh, sitting down where Shiro had been before. “Hey-”

“Did you know I can speak Altean?” Keith murmurs, studying the game board. Quiznak.

“Did you know I speak Galran?” The two stare at each other for a moment. Then sigh, shoulders drooping. “We have to stop doing this. We have to stop trying to get one over on each other,” Lance says. “We’re the only people we know we can trust-”

“I don’t know if I can trust you.”

Lance bites his lip. “I trust you. I don’t think you would hurt me. Not at all.”

“Lance, I’ve been trained specially to kill you.”

“And?” Lance shrugs. “I’ve been trained how to kill you . That’s how it is... You know, we could have met in battle. We could have fought each other. One of us could have killed the other. Been celebrated for it. Rewarded.” Keith’s ears wilt. He doesn’t seem to like that idea any more than Lance does.

“What do you want, Lance?” Lance moves one of Shiro’s pieces and hands Keith the twenty-sided die. Keith tosses the die, moves a piece, and on it goes.

“Shiro leaves tomorrow,” Lance observes. The ears droop further, tail limp against the floor. “I wanted to see how you’re doing. See if there’s anything I can do.”

Keith’s quiet for a long time, amethyst eyes dull and downcast. Lance sighs, assumes he’s not going to make any progress today.

“Okay, Keith. That’s alright-”

“My brother is leaving, and I will be alone here. I miss my mother.” Of course. Of course he does. “It- It hurts.” Of course it hurts. Keith’s still a kit. He still has that powerful kit’s bond with his mother, with his pack. “There’s not a whole lot to be done.” Keith pulls out his datapad and dims the lights to nothing. It’s just the fire, no moon to shine through the domed glass roof of the tower above. “It’ll get better, the longer we’re separated.”

“I can get you a comms code-”

“No. Thank you, but that will make it worse. In a few movements, maybe a phoeb, I’d like that, but for now, this is best.”

It’s only later, when they’re in bed, that Lance realizes exactly what’s happening to Keith. Parent-child bonds are powerful things for Galra. Keith’s have remained even as his mother served in battles during the second war. Normally, such a bond fades during a Galra’s final growth.

Now, that bond is being forced apart before its time. Again.

Lance can only imagine what all of Keith’s loss and moving around and such has done to him. He notices the Galra trying to massage his own ears, self-soothing, hears a tiny, smothered chirp. Distressed. He scoots closer, reaches out, replaces Keith’s fingers with his own.

"It's alright, Keith. I've got you."

The Galra tenses for a moment, relaxes. Lance can hear him purring as he settles. He is this kit’s primary pack-member now. He’ll take good care of him. He trusts Keith to return the favor if he gets a chance.

“Keith?” A hum of acknowledgement. “I’m sorry this happened to you. I’m sorry that you’re still a kit and I’m sorry about your family and I’m sorry that you’re here.”

“If you’re sorry, then help me do better. Make sure it doesn’t have to happen to our children.”

“I swear it. On my life.”

#LoveAftertheFact #LAtF #klance #galtean au #altean lance #galra keith #adashi #altean adam #galra shiro #voltron legendary defender #vld

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moonguilt · 4 years

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molten gold

(written for a zine application, but I decided I would post it here and on ao3. it’s short but i had fun with it :) happy holidays, enjoy!)

Pairing: Keith/Lance

Wordcount: 1852

Read on my AO3 here!

--------------

“God, I’m so boooored.” Lance’s aggravated face popped up on the Black Lion’s main cockpit window, casting a faint red glow over Keith’s dashboard. Keith couldn’t exactly blame him; this so-called “space road trip” to Earth was taking much longer than they’d hoped, and inhabitable planets where they could take pit stops were few and far between.

A yellow glow appeared soon thereafter. “It feels like we’ve been flying for quintants,” Hunk groaned in agreement, his body half-way sunken into his chair. “Have we been flying for quintants? I definitely think we have. I pee approximately every five vargas, and since we left Iyethos, I think I’ve peed like...” He lifted a hand and started counting on his fingers, then sprung up in his seat, eyes wide. “Ohh, my God, I’m measuring time in intervals of pee. My sanity has reached a critical low.”

“Good Groggery, do humans really urinate so frequently?” Blue light entered the mix as Coran’s excited face materialized far too close to the screen, his body gracelessly crammed into the space between the control panel and the chair. Allura was leaning as far away as she could, her expression torn between annoyance and exhaustion.

Keith heard footsteps behind him, and a moment later Shiro’s robotic hand settled on the chair’s backrest. “Well, it depends on the—”

“Alright, no, we’re not having this conversation,” Keith interrupted immediately, already feeling the first pricks of a headache. “I know we’re all bored out of our minds, but I’m not gonna sit through you guys having some kind of pseudo-scientific discussion about the human bladder.” He dragged a gloved hand down his face. “There has got to be something better for you guys to entertain yourselves with.”

Finally, a green-tinted video feed flickered to life on his screen. “Say no more,” Pidge declared, smirking and cockily kicking her legs up onto the dashboard, only to find that she was a bit too short to maintain the position comfortably. She struggled for a moment before admitting defeat and sitting upright again. “Guess who just finished installing the latest Monsters and Mana data into our Lions’ shared network? As well as…” She adjusted her glasses. “... a dice bot?”

Lance was the first to react. “For real?!” he exclaimed, perking up in a way that Keith, at this point, could admit to himself was cute. “I mean—if you guys wanna play it, you know, I’ll tag along I guess.” He schooled his expression back into one of neutrality, pretending to examine his fingernails before realizing that he was, in fact, wearing gloves.

Pidge raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Oh, you mean you’ll lower yourself to play a nerd game with us humble nerds, huh?”

“I am feeling charitable today, Pidgey.”

Coran was leaping in too close to the screen again before anyone else could get a word out. “Well what are we waiting for? I’ve been wanting to try out my newest campaign for longer than a Yarupian Velrod’s first—”

“Hey, hang on, Coran.” Lance held his hands together in a T shape. “Keith doesn’t have a character yet.” He paused, then jolted in his seat a bit. “Or, uh, Krolia, or Romelle, or Shiro technically since, uh, you know, the last one wasn’t really his…” The faintest color started to rise to his cheeks, barely visible in the red glow of his lion’s cockpit.

Pretty, Keith’s mind informed him helpfully.

“... Anyway, plus they probably don’t even know how to play—”

“Of course I know how to play!” Romelle interjected, looking affronted as she squeezed past Coran and into the frame. “I used to play this all the time!”

“It is a highly popular Altean pastime,” Allura admitted. Only the top of her head was visible over her fellow Alteans. It seemed she had managed to squeeze far enough away in her seat to give their unpredictable limb movements a wide berth.

“And I do have my… ah… the clone’s memories,” Shiro added, his words coming out somewhat choppy and uncomfortable, “so… I know how it works. I think.”

“I will admit I am familiar with the game as well.” Keith nearly jumped out of his skin as his mother’s voice spoke over his shoulder. When did she get there? Wasn’t she sleeping? God, she was silent as the grave. “It is an excellent way during free time for Blade members to train their strategic skills and team working abilities through intricate problem-solving simulations.”

“... Yeah that sounds fun,” Lance commented in a flat tone, then waved emphatically at Keith. “Well still, Keith’s got no idea—”

Keith could hear the obnoxious grin on Shiro’s face as he inhaled. “Well, actually—”

“Shiro, no.”

“Keith’s not really as inexperienced as you might think—”

“Do not.”

“See, the thing about him and Matt and Adam is—”

Keith didn’t even allow himself a moment of pity over the slight hesitation in Shiro’s voice when mentioning Adam. He was too busy jumping up and clambering over his seat to tackle his adoptive brother. Try as he might, though, he wasn’t strong enough to get a hand over Shiro’s laughing mouth before—

“—they were total Dungeons and Dragons dorks.”

Keith let out a garbled noise, somewhere between a growl and a wail, and slumped back into his seat, letting his messy hair fall into his face. He could have sworn he heard a hum of amusement from Krolia’s direction.

He was allowed a moment of silent wallowing, and then:

“WHAT? Are you serious?!”

“Incredible! Why, Keith, if you were already fighting dragons at that age—”

“Shiro, my dude, I love and trust you, but you are definitely lying right now—”

“He’s not.”

All attention turned to Pidge, who was now fixing Keith with a knowing look that he did not like one bit.

“Pidge…” he grumbled in warning. She merely winked in his direction.

“It’s all true. Matt would come home and ramble about all the wacky quests he would send you guys on. He always took it easy on you, though, because you were a wittle baby,” she crooned, sticking out her lower lip. “Keith was like… thirteen, max, when they started. And he always played an edgy self-insert barbarian named—”

Keith’s irritation turned to absolute dread; a veritable wave of ice rushed down his spine. He didn’t even have time to protest.

“—Thunderstorm Darkness.”

You could hear a pin drop in the split second silence that followed.

“... No way,” Lance whispered, and like that, the dam broke.

Howling laughter from all around met Keith’s ears. He hunched down in his chair and shot both Pidge and Shiro absolute death glares as his teammates laughed so hard they cried. Shiro had the decency to look at least a little apologetic, but Pidge only fell into even louder hysterics.

“What?” Keith demanded hotly, his burning shame urging him to defend himself. Kosmo wandered over and began snuffling at Keith’s legs, as if sensing his distress. “I was a kid! And it’s not even that bad, you guys are overreacting—”

“THUNDERSTORM DARK—PFFFFTTT—” Lance’s laughing face was beautiful, even when he was laughing at Keith’s expense. Stupid beautiful Lance.

Keith couldn’t even find it in himself to stay mad when Lance’s bright laughter echoed around the cockpit. He was really starting to regret this whole “falling in love” thing. It definitely gave Lance way too much power over him.

Ah, did he say love? He meant crush. Stupid little crush. Keith was just very gay, and Lance was just very handsome. And nice. And smart. And funny. And heroic. And—

“Alright, everybody, that’s enough,” Shiro’s voice cut through his spiralling thoughts. “Why don’t we give everyone a minute to figure out their characters’ attributes and statistics? I’d like to make a new one too, personally.”

Everyone calmed down a bit after that; it was valid for Shiro to want to create a new character, after all. It was his own way of moving forward, in a sense. Starting fresh.

The team rambled about their past Monsters and Mana adventures while Keith, Shiro, Krolia, and Romelle listened quietly and designed their characters. Krolia’s choice of a basic fighter class was no surprise; neither was Romelle’s choice of druid, given her love of cute little animals.

When Shiro was finished, he cleared his throat and announced with great gusto:

“My character will be named Kiro. I want him to be a paladin.”

Hunk let out a defeated sigh, but everyone smartly kept their mouths shut.

Lance leaned forward then, his pretty blue eyes on full display. It took a moment for Keith to realize that his lips were moving too. Huh, that’s nice. Keith liked it when Lance’s lips moved. Oh, but they were frowning now. Wait, why were they frowning?

“Uh—what?” Keith stammered belatedly, willing his face to remain neutral. “I… zoned out.” He could feel his ears burning and quickly adjusted his hair to cover them.

Lance rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Dude, you were looking right at me while I was speaking to you, I don’t know how you managed to ‘zone out.’ Unless...” Something else must have occurred to him then, because his brows furrowed, and concern washed over his expression.

Oh no. No no no—

“Are you alright, man? You been getting enough sleep?” Lance’s gaze swept over Keith’s body, which nearly shivered under the attention. Keith thanked whatever deity out there that he still had some semblance of self control. “We don’t have to do this right now if you’re not up for it. You gotta take care of yourself, Keith,” he concluded, his tone far gentler than it had been just moments earlier.

Oh.

Something twisted in Keith’s chest at the way his name sounded coming from Lance’s lips, soft with worry. It churned and coiled around his sternum for a moment before melting into his very core, creating a hot gooey feeling that climbed to his shoulders and pooled in his stomach simultaneously. Lance may as well have poured molten gold into his veins, for all the warmth and all the worth with which it filled him.

“... I’m okay,” Keith managed eventually, dragging himself out of his reverie, only to find the rest of the team dead silent and watching him with amused expressions. “So. Um. What were we talking about?” He was so ready for this conversation to move on to safer territory.

Lance did not seem to catch Keith’s little moment of weakness, if his cheerful demeanor was any indication. “I was asking what your character is,” he clarified, leaning forward with another one of those devilish grins that drove Keith crazy in the best way. “Come on, mullet, lay it on us.”

That was enough to draw a hefty sigh from Keith, but he cleared his throat and answered anyway:

“He’s a barbarian, and his name is Thunderstorm Darkness.”

And, sure, Keith knew his teammates’ teasing would be endless. But it was a necessary sacrifice. One that paid off, he thought to himself, reveling in the fresh bout of laughter that shook Lance’s form, and the knowledge that he was responsible for it.

#its getting close to dinner time over in the states i think ish #so merry christmas eve to those of u who celebrate #and to everybody else happy holidays #this is probably a bad night to post this tbh but im impatient so here it is #here you can read this if ur antisocial and u dont wanna interact with ur family tonight #bc. mood #klance #monsters and mana #fanfic #lavender letters #i need to learn how to format fanfics nicely so they look good on my tumblr. hm #... some day

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cyncity2000 · 4 years

Text

73 questions tag! tysm @goodlesson , can’t say i’ve ever had anything like this before but hey it’s not like I have anything better to do rn 😅

answers under the cut! i tag @rene-royale @teenager-confused-tired @sawafilmtoday @onedoesnotsimplystormthebastille if you feel like it, but no pressure bc this is a LOT and took me a couple days to finish lol

on a scale of 1-10, how excited are you about life right now? um. could be worse, could be better?? so 5.

describe yourself in a hashtag? no. twitter and all its shitty hashtags can go to hell.

if you could do a love scene with anyone, who would it be? weird question. nobody?? i wouldn’t want to??

if your life was a musical, what would the marquee say? not to be all dan smith on main but like...’come to this please’

what’s one thing people don’t know about you? uhhhh idk. i’m very open about most aspects of my personality i’d say

what’s your wake up ritual? stay in bed as long as possible and then YEET at maximum speed so i don’t waste the day

what’s your go to bed ritual? tell myself i should go to bed. pick up my phone instead. regret it in the morning.

what’s your favorite time of day? 2pm or 9-10pm

your go to for having a good laugh? macdoesit or drawfee videos on youtube. truly the best.

dream country to visit? i wanna go back to england and france, also i’d love to visit literally anywhere i could

what’s the biggest surprise you’ve ever had? falling in love with my college roommate probably,, didn’t see THAT coming

heels or flats/sneakers? bitch i’m 5′10″ with size 12.5 feet. converse.

vintage or new? vintage looks cool. i am not cool. so new.

who do you want to write your obituary? idk man i don’t wanna think about that now???

style icon? if you knew me irl you’d know style is not a word in my vocabulary

what are three things you cannot live without? my cat, my friends/gf, and my cd collection

what’s one ingredient you put in everything? i do not bake or cook, the real world is going to kill me immediately

what 3 people living or dead would you want to make dinner for? i’d be too stressed to make food for people but i’d love to like. go OUT for dinner with...dodie, dallon weekes, and pj liguori. they’re all just cool people i follow and i wanna know what they’re LIKE.

what’s your biggest fear in life? failure due to lack of confidence, motivation and direction in life :)))

window or aisle seat? i’d say window but i am long boi so aisle is usually nicer unless i trip someone by accident

what’s your current tv obsession? still supernatural, also brooklyn 99

favorite app? tumblr :D

secret talent? despite my crippling procrastination issues i’ve almost always been a straight-A student 🤷‍♀️

most adventurous thing you’ve ever done in your life? drove myself two hours to a concert in february, or maybe the time i did a really hard ropes course or went to the badlands?

how would you define yourself in three words? introverted, distracted, nerdy

favorite piece of clothing you own? maybe my waterparks sweatshirt bc i had a dream last night that i donated it and then went back to the store to buy it back lmao so subconsciously i must really like it

a must have clothing item that everyone should have? you gotta have that one pair of black jeans that goes with anything imo

a superpower you would want? flying. it’s the only recurring dream i’ve ever had and it’s my only answer ever

what’s inspiring you in life right now? all the people doing big or little things to help. the ones doing instagram lives or sending money or supplies to people in need or just giving me more faith in humanity

best piece of advice you’ve received? can’t remember any. why doesn’t anyone give me good advice

best advice you’d give your teenage self? do your laundry on time. don’t wear...whatever that was to school. just wash ur fuckin clothes. also don’t let it bother you that you’re single the whole time. you’ll get there.

a book everyone should read? they both die at the end by adam silvera. you WILL cry. but you will love it.

what would you like to be remembered for? i have no idea. being a non-shitty person at least.

how do you define beauty? happiness.

what do you love most about your body? idk being tall is kinda nice

best way to take a rest/decompress? get a blanket. comfy clothes. my cat. put headphones on. put some music on or watch youtube.

favorite place to view art? on tumblr and instagram! i follow soo many wonderful artists it’s great

if your life was a song, what would the title be? Oh No (What Is She Doing Now?)

if you could master one instrument, what would it be? piano or guitar. i suck at both and if i could be good at ONE i’d be happy

if you had a tattoo, where would it be? been thinking about this tbh. somewhere on my arm definitely but idk where D:

dolphins or koalas? dolphins!!

what’s your spirit animal? a cat?

best gift you’ve ever received? for christmas my sister bought me a cute lil box meant for displaying concert tickets and it was the most thoughtful thing ever. also the AMAZING studio headphones i’m currently using that my mom got me like three years ago for christmas

best gift you’ve given? probably when i bought me and my best friend tickets to see the Sherlock S4 finale in a movie theater

what’s your favorite board game? cards against humanity, one night ultimate werewolf/alien, settlers of catan

what’s your favorite color? porpleee 💜

least favorite color? hmm they’re all valid except for like. puke green.

diamond or pearls? neither lol

drugstore makeup or designer? neither 😜

blow-dry or air-dry? blow-dry but i never do bc it takes y e a r s

pilates or yoga? yoga!

coffee or tea? both but only hot tea or frozen coffee

what’s the weirdest word in the english language? thanks to tumblr the word ‘defenestrate’ has entered my vocabulary and I do not regret it

dark chocolate or milk chocolate? either. chocolate is chocolate 🍫

stairs or elevators? tbh stairs, i’m just a lazy bitch

summer or winter? winter. cold > hot

you are stuck on an island, you can pick one food to eat forever without getting tired of it, what would you eat? i’d still get tired of it :( i need that variety!!

a dessert you don’t like? none. dessert is dessert and it is all valid if i can eat it

a skill you’re working on mastering? writing, working from home, playing the guitar

best thing to happen to you today? currently watching mike gross play old brobecks tunes :’) he also just saw my comment yay

worst thing to happen to you today? i had cheesecake for lunch. sounds good but it’s the only thing i’ve had today besides a piece of chocolate and my body is Not Happy

best compliment you’ve ever received? someone on fanfiction dot net once left me a comment saying they’d almost cried at my story and called me “a true writer” and it’s honestly one of the only thing that keeps me writing...i’m still mad they weren’t signed in so I’ll never be able to thank them for it.

favorite smell? lemon, cookies, fresh-cut grass

hugs or kisses? hugs!!

if you made a documentary, would it be about? somethin gay probably

last piece of content you consumed that made you cry? honestly...probably “who the fuck is keith” fjadskljfd

lipstick or lipgloss? like peyton said chapstick is the only valid answer

sweet or savory? depends how i’m feelin, love both

girl crush? besides the obvious one (my girlfriend), honestly not many? there’s this one girl i follow on insta who’s big in the panic! fandom and jESUS SHE’S SO PRETTY. also the girl who plays kaia in supernatural is CUUUTE

how do you know you’re in love? has only happened to me once but for me...i already loved her platonically for months and then suddenly one day i was like oh. why am i getting the urge to kiss you rn. oh no.

a song you can listen to on repeat? anything by idkhow or bastille. never gets old.

if you could switch lives with someone for a day, who would it be? not to copy peyton but i would love to know what goes on inside my cat’s head

what are you most excited for about this time in your life? next semester of college!! i got into a super-competitive dorm and i’m gonna have my own room and live with nine other people and gahh i’m just so excited to be chaotic with all my friends again and meet new people :’)

#tag games #this was fun!!#many interesting q's here

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madeofstardust17 · 5 years

Text

Whumptober prompt 15. Scars

Rating: G

Tw: none

Keith & krolia, shiro/curtis, Lance & Mrs. McClain, Katie Holt & Colleen Holt

...

Mrs. McClain first saw Lance’s scars when her family decided to enjoy an afternoon in their house’s swimming pool.

Sylvio and Nadia kept pushing Lance towards the pool

“C’mon uncle Lance! It’s been forever since you’ve played with us”

He laughed, letting the children drag him towards the pool.

“I play with you guys every day” he said. The two children ignored him.

Lance sighed dramatically but took his shirt off nonetheless, wearing nothing but his swimming shorts.

All conversation stopped as his siblings and parents stared at him with poorly concealed sadness.

He looked down.

Oh.

None of them had ever seen Lance’s scars, the painful reminder of where he had been, what he had done.

He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck self consciously as the silence stretched on.

Sylvio and Nadia looked around, confused.

And then the tension broke when Rachel shouted

“Looking good Lance!”

Marco followed

“Damn, little brother, what did they feed you up there?”

Lance blushed even harder as Veronica whistled.

The scars weren’t the only thing that had changed. His shoulders were broader, his muscles more defined.

“Shut up” he grumbled

“Uncle Laaaaaance”

“I’m going, I’m going”

He scooped up the two kids effortlessly, jumping into the pool with them on his arms.

His nephew and niece squealed with laughter as they tried to get away from their uncle.

The rest watched, a little sadly, as they scanned the scars that littered Lance’s back and chest.

Lance spent half an hour with the children until he passed babysitting duty to Luis, and went to check on his mom.

He hadn’t missed the tears that had sprung to her eyes when she’d seen.

“Hey mamá” he said softly, kissing her forehead.

She smiled at him, but the smiled disappeared as she traced a white line that went from Lance’s clavicle to the middle of his chest. He grabbed her hand, preventing her from tracing any other of the lines that whispered a story about pain.

“I’m fine, mamá”

She nodded, taking a deep breath.

She grabbed his cheeks and kissed his forehead.

“I’m so proud of you, mijo”

Lance smiled sadly “I know”

The lay down in the beach chairs, Mrs. McClain grabbing his son’s hand and rubbing his knuckles with her thumb.

Yes, he would be just fine.

Pidge had missed her mom so much these past two years.

She had missed their movie nights, her laughter, her hugs…

But the thing was, she had somehow forgotten just how stubborn her mother was, just like her.

“I’m not doing it!”

“It won’t kill you to wear a dress, Katie” her mother snapped impatiently “you used to wear them all the time”

“Okay, first of all, it’s been three years since I wore a dress because I enjoyed it, second, it’s not wearing dresses I don’t enjoy, it’s this particular dress”

The dress they were arguing about was laying innocently on Pidge’s bed. It was a pretty green cocktail dress, with no sleeves and with the back exposed.

That was the problem.

“Well I don’t get it” Colleen said, crossing her arms “I think it’s cute”

Pidge laughed, but there was no humor in her voice

“It is cute mom, I really like it. But I can’t wear it”

“Well why not?”

Pidge scoffed. Colleen swore he had seen frustrated tears on her daughter's eyes before she turned around and took of her shirt.

Colleen immediately cursed herself. Of course.

The upper side of Pidge’s back was covered in scars.

She had always had freckles on her arms and torso, but now these were covered by white lines, some thin, some looking like burns. They weren’t pretty, that was for sure, but they could be worse. So much worse. Thank god God for those cryopods Katie had told her about.

I should have realized, she thought, scolding herself.

“Oh sweetie” she whispered.

Pidge put on her shirt again, looking embarrassed but her eyes were dry.

“I’m not ashamed” she said quickly “I just-“

“It’s been a hard few years, huh?”

Katie finally looked up, looking shocked for a moment. Then, biting her lip, she nodded.

Colleen grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her close, kissing her head. Katie held on just as tightly.

After a minute, Colleen pulled away.

“Okay then, you can wear the tux if you prefer it, but” she looked at her daughter in the eyes “you should now, Katie, you don’t have to hide them. Those scars are proof of what you’ve done for the universe, and you should be proud”

Pidge nodded, staying silent for a few moments, pondering.

“I think… I’ll wear the tux for Shiro’s wedding” she smiled weakly at her mom. She smiled

“That’s fine, sweetheart”

She beamed.

Krolia swallowed thickly when she first saw Keith’s scars.

The worst ones where long and wide, particularly the one on his right shoulder and one across his back.

The ones that scared her the most were the ones that looked old, too old to come from his adventures as a paladin or a blade.

That night, as they both sat against the wall of their cave, Keith dropped his head onto her shoulders, exhausted by that day’s training.

Krolia felt him go limp bit by bit, until she was sure she had fallen asleep.

She kissed his forehead, thinking about the flash of the future they had seen that day, and the scar that the future Keith had had on his cheek.

She rubbed her thumb over that spot softly, promising herself that she would do all she could to prepare him for the fight that was inevitable to come.

Shiro loved Curtis.

He realized this one day, as the man laughed at something Lance had said, his cheeks flushed as he looked at Shiro, still smiling.

It made him happy.

It made him feel guilty.

He knew it wasn’t logical, Adam would want him to move on, to live a happy life, but it still felt like he was betraying his late love.

He supposed the reason he had been attracted to Curtis in the first place was because he was new.

He hadn’t known Shiro before Kerberos, so he could be sure that he loved Shiro for the man he was now, not the Garrison’s perfect boy.

The first time Curtis had seen the scars that covered his entire body, speaking of horrors he couldn’t even remember, he hadn’t said anything. He also hadn’t looked at Shiro with pity, or sadness, and Shiro loved him for it.

Instead, he had kissed the scar on Shiro’s nose, and the proceeded to kiss ever other scar on his body.

They had both turned late for work that day.

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emmetthimbo · 5 years

Note

OooOooOo could you do 10. With Robin please? 😊

Coming right up

(Also I’m assuming this is for the kisses list but if not god said Adam and Eve so I’ll do both if u ask)

Also I’m doing Henderson!Reader for this because it gives me Life

10. A hello/good-bye kiss that is given without thinking - where neither person thinks twice about it.

Turns out Dustin and Robin have very similar taste in T.V. That’s why whenever Dustin comes home from his adventures, he always ends up sat on the floor, discussing the shows with robin where you’re both cuddled on the couch.

There is one small problem with this arrangement. You hadn’t exactly... told Dustin you were dating robin. Not that you didn’t think he’d accept you or whatever, but he’d make it a thing and get all weird about it, and you really don’t need him all up in your business. So you and robin kept it on the down low, and just assumed that he would think you’re just really really close friends who hold hands and cuddle on the couch and kiss each other on the cheek all the time.

This is all going swimmingly well, until Friday. Friday, friday, friday; why did it always have to be friday? You just wanted to kick back with robin, maybe makeout, maybe get a little handsy under the blanket, but no, your mom was out at book club until late, and you were left on Dustin duty.

Fridays were also the days when robin would come around later than usual, after picking up a closing shift at the end of the week. This meant she was exhausted by the time she got to your house, and would always fall asleep within ten minutes of hitting the cushions.

You sat and waited on your sofa, reading a book about some kind of dragon that ate babies, when Dustin strolled in.

“Oh no, not tonight buddy, stay in your room, do whatever you want, burn the house down for all I care, but you’re not coming in here tonight,” you said, exasperated as you stood up to push him out of the room.

“But-,”

“Nope-,”

“why?”

“Because.”

“I’ll tell mom that you let me go into a Russian bunker,” he said, proud of himself.

“She’ll never believe you,” you retorted, but his threat was enough to take a step back.

“She’s seen the news, she knows there was one. And she knows that the mall had some kids in it, so...” you’re frowning at him, before going to sit on the couch.

“You say anything stupid, or embarrass me in any way, you’re dead,” you say, looking at the screen.

“As I easily could have been under your care in a Russian base,” he said, smiling before taking a seat on the armchair.

About ten minutes later, the doorbell rings, and you get up to answer it. It’s robin. She looks exhausted, but still cute in her little video store jacket.

“Oh my god,” she says, still stood outside.

“Another day in paradise?” You say, taking her hand and dragging her inside.

“I have one word for you - Kieth,” she said, slipping her shoes and jacket off before wandering into your bedroom.

“What’d he do this time?” You ask, walking to the kitchen to get drinks. She walks back out of your room, wearing one of your hoodies and some old sweatpants, her feet bare.

“He made me and Steve stack a whole shelf, and then told us it was the wrong way round? How can the alphabet be the wrong way round?” She sighs, rubbing her eyes. “And then, he made us clean the windows? A window cleaner costs literally about five dollars,” she said, leaning on the counter. You hand her a glass of water and she downs about half of it.

“All I can say is classic Keith to be honest,” you say.

“Is Dustin here?” She asks, padding into the sitting room.

“He is,” says Dustin, smiling to greet her.

“Don’t you have like, friends?” She asks him.

“Max and Lucas are doing some kind of date night, and mike is using cerebro, therefore I thought I’d grace you with my presence,” he says, grinning and motioning to himself.

“Gee, aren’t we lucky,” you say, entering the room and flopping onto the couch next to robin. She immediately cuddles up to your side, spreading her legs over the rest of the couch.

“What are we watching?” Robin asks.

“I taped last nights cheers,” you say.

“God, that show is so trash,” mocks dustin.

“If you don’t want to watch, the rest of the house is yours,” you say, stern.

“Didn’t say I wouldn’t watch it,” he mutters, and robin laughs lightly.

“Cheers is good,” robin sighs, before breathing a long exhale. Your fingers comb through her hair, and you can feel her falling asleep already. Her head is now on your lap, one arm around your back under your shirt, the other on your thigh, scratching slow circles into your leg.

You put the show on, and within 5 minutes robins very light snore can be heard from your lap. Dustin looks over at you both.

“You guys are cute,” he says, before looking back at the tv.

“Thanks,” You say, quiet.

“Why don’t you ask her out?” He whispers. His eyes don’t move from the TV. You stifle a laugh. Oh if only you knew, you thought to yourself.

“We’re just friends, Dustin. Just because I like girls doesn’t mean I have to date any girl I know,” you tell him.

“Yeah but Robin is super cool,” he says.

“I know, that’s why we’re friends,” you say, before laughing a cold laugh.

“Ok then,” he says, and he doesn’t say anything again.

Robin stirs about an hour later, sitting up and yawning.

“I need to pee,” she says, before standing up, kissing your lips and walking to the bathroom. Your eyes widen as Dustin meets your gaze, his mouth agape in shock.

“Was that-,”

“No,”

“Yes it-,”

“Dustin!”

“I knew it!” He says, far too loud. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He says, mock hurt on his face.

“Because you’d make it a huge thing-,”

“Well it is a huge thing!” He says. You hear the toilet flush.

“Just. Be cool ok?” You say, smiling at him.

“Yeah, ok, yeah I can be cool,” he mumbles, more to himself than you.

“What did I miss?” Asks robin, as she enters the room.

“Nothing,” You say.

“You and my sister are dating,” blurts Dustin.

“... are we?” She says, eyeing you.

“Guess we are,” you say, grinning at her.

“Wait...” She says, piecing together her previous exit, “that’s on me,” she sighs.

“Yep,” You say, and she falls into your arms.

“Honestly guys, this is the best news,” says Dustin, and he starts babbling on to himself about double dates and how now you can tell steve you got dates before him and how he has to talk to steve about this.

You and robin just share a glance, and you kiss her again, and Dustin doesn’t even notice.

An- I know this is long but like ... I’m vibing with Henderson reader so much today omg

#stranger things #robin buckley #robin buckley x reader #st robin x reader #fics

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justheretobreakthings · 5 years

Text

Baring Our Souls

Written for @gentronlegendaryfriendships Day 3 Prompt: Soulmate AU | Hand-Holding Word Count: 6,732 Characters: Keith & Pidge

Read on AO3

Keith was two and a half years old when his soulmark first appeared on his skin, too young for him to ever remember not having it. It was on his back, a narrow mark stretching between his shoulders: a deep green double helix that looked as if it were made of two criss-crossing vine, with wisps of red flame bordering it, smooth and shiny and almost golden when they reflected the light.

He had spent a lot of time in his early years on a stepstool at the bathroom counter with his dad’s shaving mirror in hand so he could look at the mark’s reflection. It was pretty, he had decided. And it was cooler than his dad’s, that pale purple gem that gleamed on his forearm.

He told him so over breakfast on morning when he was five, happily digging into his oatmeal as he explained his reasoning to his father. “Mine’s got fire on it,” he said between bites. “That makes me go fast. Yours doesn’t.”

“Your soulmark makes you go fast?” his dad said, raising a brow.

“Yeah. Like those cars that have fire on the side of them. They go faster than normal cars. That’s why I run so fast, ‘cause I’ve got a fast soulmark.”

His dad chuckled. “Well, who am I to argue with science like that? Come here, your soulmark’s making you eat so fast, you’re spilling.” Keith squirmed as he picked up a washcloth to wipe away the oatmeal that had dribbled onto his chin. “Still,” he continued, “Your mother thinks my soulmark is very cool. And that’s all that matters to me.”

“What kind of soulmark did Mom have?” Keith asked as his dad went back to his own seat.

“Hm? Keith, she has the same soulmark as I do.”

“Whoa,” Keith said. He paused to think that over, then asked, “Did she copy yours?”

His dad laughed again. “Keith, do you understand what a soulmark is?”

“Yeah,” said Keith. “It’s like a tattoo.”

“Well, okay, but do you know what soulmarks mean?”

Keith wrinkled his brow to think, then slowly shook his head.

“Huh,” said his dad. “Could’ve swarn I had explained it to you at some point. Ah, well. You see, Keith, soulmarks are used to show people who their soulmate is. If someone is your soulmate, they’ll have the same soulmark as you do.”

“What’s a soulmate?” Keith asked.

“A soulmate is… well, sort of like the love of your life. Someone who is perfect for you to form a lifelong bond with, so perfect for you that the universe makes sure that the two of you can find each other. Someone who – who’s a match for your heart. Who feels like home…”

His dad’s gaze had drifted over to the window to look up at the sky, and Keith turned in his chair to see what he was looking at, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He turned back around, thinking nothing further of it. After all, his dad tended to stare at the sky a lot. “So Mom was your soulmate?” he asked.

“Yes,” his dad said with a nod. “She was. I guess you could call it love at first sight for us. From the moment we first met, we fell for – ”

“Ew,” Keith groaned, digging his spoon back into his oatmeal. “Dad, you better not talk about you and Mom being all kissy and gross.”

“It’s not gross,” his dad said, putting a hand over his heart in mock offense. “It’s being in love.”

“It’s all mushy,” Keith said. “I don’t wanna be in love.”

His dad smirked. “I think a lot of kids feel that way at your age. Once you grow up and meet your soulmate, I think you’ll find yourself thinking a little differently.”

“Not me,” Keith said firmly. “I’m never falling in love.”

His dad stood to pick up their now empty bowls. “Whatever you say, bud,” he said, winking at Keith before ruffling his hair and heading into the kitchen.

--------------------------------------------

That was the first that Keith had learned of the concept of soulmates as couples, and less than a year later, when he was enrolled in kindergarten and thus surrounded by a lot more people than he ever had been, he found it amazing that he hadn’t figured that out beforehand. He hadn’t paid much attention to soulmarks before, but when he actually focused on them, he could see them on couples everywhere, on parents who came together to pick up their kids, on pairs in the diner where his dad would take him to eat lunch on Fridays to celebrate a completed week, a matched set on the music teacher and one of the cafeteria workers.

And as he grew older, the soulmark pairs stopped being limited to the adults around him. When he was nine, a boy his own age was placed in the same group home as himself and discovered that the boy he was sharing a bunkbed with had the same lightning design on his hand as he did. The two of them immediately took to holding hands everywhere they went. ‘Puppy love’, the supervisor called it. And in fourth grade, a girl in his class showed up one morning squealing to her friends and anyone else who would listen about how she had met her penpal in person for the first time, and discovered that the pattern around her eye, the one that looked like a mosaic of a sun, was a perfect match for his.

The young matchups were rare, but it seemed that by middle school, pretty much everyone was clamoring to find their soulmates. His classmates were constantly imagining and discussing traits they wanted their soulmate to have, celebrities they hoped their soulmate would look like. People began pairing off into couples, dating each other as ‘practice’ for when they met their soulmate.

And through it all, Keith watched on, feeling more and more like a spectator of a strange sport. Perhaps it was just because he was too focused on other things, in life, he figured. Or maybe he just hadn’t had his romantic awakening yet. A good number of his classmates had only really taken an interest in dating once puberty hit, and sure, he had reached that stage too, but maybe there was just some sort of delay. Maybe the health teacher who had given them a crash course on sex was right, and one day he would start looking at the people around him in a brand new light, have feelings toward them that he’d never experienced before. Maybe he just had to wait it out.

So he waited. And waited. And waited.

The change didn’t come. And he became increasingly nervous, watching and listening to people pair up and fantasize about falling head over heels for their soulmate. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want the things that everyone else anticipated so eagerly. But it seemed like an inevitability, that once you meet your soulmate, you’re on the fast track to love and romance and marriage. That’s what people wanted. The dating they did in the meantime was just a temporary fix until they could get the real thing.

The first exception he could remember seeing was after he had become a student at the Galaxy Garrison. It was also the first time he saw Shiro’s fiance Adam in a short-sleeve shirt instead of his usual Garrison uniform, and noticed the lack of the cloud of purple and silver stars that spread across his right bicep.

“People don’t have to marry their soulmate,” Shiro explained when Keith asked about it, blurted out the question in a lull during a study session at the kitchen counter in Shiro’s apartment. “Soulmates don’t always have to be romantic.”

“They don’t?” Keith asked.

“Nah. Sometimes a soulmate is more like… like a best friend.”

“I’ve never seen that before.”

“Well… I guess people do tend to, ah, develop romantic feelings for their soulmate. It’s only natural, I suppose. If someone’s the one that you have a destined bond to be close to for your whole lives - it’s a pretty romantic concept, really.”

Keith chewed his lip, frowning as he thought it over. “... Shiro?” he said softly.

“Mm-hm?”

“I don’t want to marry my soulmate.”

Shiro let out a little chuckle. “Ah, I see. You’ve got your eye on someone else, huh? Is it that girl in your flight class you were working on that paper with last week, the one with the freckles? She seemed cute, I can see why - ”

“No!” Keith snapped, feeling his face heat up. “No, god, Shiro! That’s not it! I haven’t - it’s not like that, I don’t like someone else, I - it isn’t just that I don’t want to marry my soulmate. I don’t want to marry anyone.”

Again Shiro smiled. “Keith, you don’t need to feel like that. Just because you haven’t met someone so far who you’d want to marry doesn’t mean that you can’t still meet the right - ”

“That’s not the problem!” Keith all but yelled. Immediately Shiro’s smile fell, and Keith’s eyes widened. He leaned away from Shiro. “I - I’m - I’m sorry,” he stammered. “I didn’t mean to - didn’t mean to shout at you, I - I swear, I just - I just - I’m just frustrated and - and - I’m sorry, Shiro, I’m - ”

“Whoa, whoa, hey.” Shiro lifted his hand, and Keith flinched away, before realizing that all he was doing was laying the hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right, kiddo, deep breaths.” Keith obediently took the deep breaths, trying to calm down, to relax, to rein in his temper like he was supposed to. “Can you explain why you’re frustrated? What is the problem?”

Keith took another deep breath. “It’s - it’s just - ” He fumbled for words, trying to find the right ones to explain, but that wasn’t easy when he still didn’t quite understand it himself. “I don’t - I don’t get it. The whole thing - the whole appeal behind all the - the dating and marriage and romance and stuff. You and Adam, and, and people in class who are dating each other, and just - just couples, couples as a whole, you all have this - these sort of rules that you follow, like, there’s a way you talk to each other and act around each other and look at each other, and, I mean, you know, things you do with each other that - that people say, you know, you want to be this way with the person you love. And it seems like it’s so natural to everyone, but - but it just seems - to me it just seems like - like it’d be so exhausting, and awkward, and - and contrived, and I feel like if I tried to be that way with someone, even if - even if they’re my soulmate… it would be like putting on a show. A really weird, intimate play where the dialogue’s all in a language I don’t speak.”

He cleared his throat and crossed his arms tightly over his chest, eyes on his feet as they dangled from the stool. “It - it all just feels weird,” he finished softly, weakly. “I don’t want it. I don’t… I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but… there it is.”

There was silence between them for a long moment before he felt a hand on Shiro’s shoulder, and he looked up to see the older boy’s expression serious and sympathetic. “There isn’t anything wrong with you, Keith,” he said.

“But – ”

“No, no, let me finish,” Shiro said, holding up his other hand. “I shouldn’t have started teasing you about this. It’s okay to not want this sort of thing, and it’s not something you have to worry about. Because your soulmate will understand.”

Keith was skeptical, and it must have shown on his face, because Shiro sighed. “Look, Keith, like I said, a soulmate doesn’t have to be romantic. I’m betting that my soulmate isn’t going to be a romantic one, and that’s okay. I want to marry Adam, even though we’re not soulmates. So maybe my soulmate is going to be someone who’s like a brother to me, or a really close friend, or, I dunno, a partner in crime.” He grinned at Keith, but when Keith didn’t return the grin, he became serious again. “This isn’t something you need to worry about, Keith. The universe – it knows what it’s doing. It wouldn’t match you with a soulmate who’s not perfectly okay with finding sex and romance elsewhere if they need it.”

“Yeah. I guess,” Keith said, although he wasn’t sure that this actually made him feel better. It was a bit of a relief to know that he wouldn’t have to marry his soulmate, but the thought of his hypothetical soulmate needing someone else to fill a gap that Keith left… well, it didn’t feel great.

And when Shiro and Adam’s relationship hit a snag it couldn’t overcome and they broke off their engagement, it just felt even worse. Because here was his proof that it wouldn’t work out. That people who weren’t soulmates just couldn’t make it work. That his soulmate was going to be stuck with him.

He felt guilty. He was keeping someone from getting to have these things that everyone seemed to find so special and vital. Some soulmate he was.

--------------------------------------------

If there was one positive to all the tragedy that came out of the Kerberos disaster and his expulsion from the Garrison, it was that Keith finally got removed enough from people that unhappy thoughts about his soulmate didn’t weigh him down. He gave little thought to his soulmark during the year he spent in the desert. It was easier to forget about the whole soulmate problem when he was on his own, just him and the desert, no couples around and no soulmarks in his vision save for the few he’d see when he made his occasional supply runs to town.

It was a nice change of pace, on the one hand, getting away from all of that.

But, admittedly, it was a lonely life too.

Oh well. If his only two options were a life of loneliness and a life of romance, the former seemed the more tolerable of the two.

But after the whirlwind during which Shiro had crashed back to Earth and he’d gone on the lam with a group of barely-familiar Garrison students and gotten shot out into the far reaches of outer space by a giant blue robotic lion and they began their new lives as intergalactic warriors aboard an alien castle, the topic arrived in his life once again.

Thinking about it was pretty much unavoidable right from the moment they had entered the castle ship and met the Alteans, where they found that Allura, the princess, had a chain of tiny, pale blue flowers stretching over the bridge of her nose and across her cheeks, a precise match to the one on the face of Lance, one of the students who had become a paladin alongside him.

In the beginning, of course, they had been mostly focused on their own soulmark situation, Lance being utterly delighted at having found his soulmate and Allura being more or less mystified by the universe’s selection. After a few days on the castle, though, it was natural that there would be curiosity. Allura was the one who brought it up over dinner.

“Lance’s is the only soulmark I’ve seen out of the paladins so far,” she pointed out. “I know some people prefer to keep theirs private, of course, but I couldn’t help but wonder, if you don’t think it too forward of me…”

“It’s not too forward, don’t worry,” Shiro said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “In my case, it’s not that I want to keep it hidden or anything. It’s just that, well - ” He sighed and gestured to his prosthetic arm with a wave of his human hand. “I don’t really have mine anymore.”

Allura stammered out a stunned apology over Shiro’s assurances that it was perfectly all right, and Keith kept his attention on his plate all the while. He couldn’t help but feel an inkling of guilt somewhere in his gut; here he was hating his own soulmark and dreading what it meant for him and hiding it away, while Shiro, who had always seemed rather proud of his own soulmark, didn’t even have one anymore thanks to the Galra. Old echoes from homes of the past - scolding him for being ungrateful and insensitive and selfish - wormed their way into his ears.

Hunk was the one to save the mood. “Well, mine’s still around. Just kind of in an inconvenient spot, I guess.” He hefted his right foot onto the chair next to him, removed his boot and rolled up his pant leg, and lifted his leg to show the gold and white that spiraled around the lower half of his ankle like a sandstorm. “Can’t see it when I’m wearing long pants or boots, but those are more comfortable, so, well.” He shrugged. “That’s mine, anyway.”

“I always liked yours, it suits you,” Lance remarked as Hunk lowered his leg and started putting his boot back on. “Never saw yours, though, Pidge. Is yours in a weird spot too?”

“Yep,” Pidge said flatly before scooping a sporkful of food goo into her mouth.

“Where is it?”

Pidge took a moment to chew and swallow before answering, “On my ass.”

“Oh, come on, no it’s not,” Lance said, rolling his eyes. “Seriously, where’s your soulmark?”

“Lance, if she doesn’t want to share, she doesn’t have to,” Keith said, finally joining in on the conversation. He had wanted to stay out of it, to make sure the focus of the conversation never shifted toward him, but he knew that having to share a soulmark could be uncomfortable, and Pidge’s expression did seem grateful after he spoke up.

“Well, what’s your soulmark, Mullet?” said Lance. “Notice you haven’t shared yet either.”

“It’s – um – ” he stammered.

“You can only see Keith’s in an x-ray,” Pidge said. “It’s carved into one of his ribs instead of his skin. It’s a picture of a giant lion taking a dump on Lance’s head.”

“You guys suck,” Lance groaned as Keith snorted.

--------------------------------------------

“Hey, Pidge?” Keith said, knocking on the doorframe of Pidge’s open door. “Can, uh, can we… can we talk about – ?”

“Yeah,” Pidge interrupted him, not looking up from her laptop, the only light in her otherwise darkened room. “Come on in, don’t step on anything important.”

Keith nodded and entered, sidestepping the laundry and computer equipment scattered across the floor – it was amazing how Pidge had made her room so messy in such a short amount of time – to set down on the bed next to her. He hesitated, not sure how to start talking. This was… awkward. Things had been awkward for the last couple of days, ever since Keith had blown up at her when she was planning to leave Voltron in order to search for her family.

The guilt had been eating away at him. He hadn’t really gotten close yet to any of his teammates besides Shiro, but out of all of him, Pidge was probably the one he got along with the easiest. Hunk was sweet, but very talkative and somewhat boisterous and constantly tense, which made him tiring to spend a lot of time with, while Lance was… Lance. Pidge, though, was the more introverted of the lot, could be as reckless in battles or training as Keith was, and had a smart, dry sense of humor that Keith appreciated. He didn’t mind being around her, even kind of enjoyed it. And the last thing he wanted to do was let his hotheadedness ruin that.

“Listen, I, um,” he started. “I – I wanted to apologize. To say sorry for – for the things I – like, it wasn’t selfish for you to want to find your family, that was – ”

“Keith,” Pidge cut him off, finally turning away from her laptop screen to look at him. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay, I was totally – ”

“Yeah, you were totally being an ass about the whole thing, but, you know.” She shrugged. “I forgive you. Like, I get where you were coming from. I hadn’t thought it through as thoroughly as I pretended, and I guess – I guess I hadn’t thought that, well, we’re a team, and that’s supposed to be, like…”

She sighed and rested her chin on her hand. “Hey, Keith, you know, I’ve – I’ve talked to Shiro a lot, lately. Because he knows Matt and Dad real well. But we don’t always talk just about them. We talk about – we talk about lots of stuff, and, uh, he’s actually told me a bit about you.”

Keith’s brows shot up. “About me?”

“Yeah. Nothing bad, and nothing too personal,” she added. “Just, like, how you guys met, and why he took you under his wing.”

“…Oh.”

“And, um.” Pidge cleared her throat. “Anyway, I get why you were – it seemed that Shiro had really put a lot of effort into trying to teach you that it’s okay to get attached to people, and so for a teammate to up and try to leave, well… I can get why that kinda riled you up.”

Keith said nothing, just nodded dumbly, watching Pidge’s face. She seemed perfectly genuine, which came as a surprise. He was the one who had blown up, and he was trying to take responsibility for that. Pidge being so accomodating wasn’t in the plan. “Well, uh, still,” he said. “I really am – ”

“You’re sorry. I know.” Pidge gave him a small smile. “Tell you what. On the next chore rotation where I’m assigned bathroom duty, you swap with me, okay? We’ll call it even.”

Keith couldn’t help but let out a breath of laughter. “All right, deal.” He stretched out his arms. “Sorry if I interrupted anything. I can head out.”

“Nah, you’re fine,” Pidge said. “It’s compiling right now, so I’m just sitting around waiting. If you’ve got any way to keep me entertained, go for it.”

“Keep you entertained?”

“Yeah, sure. Go on, tell me a joke.”

“Um… Knock knock.”

“…On second thought, maybe you’re better as quiet company.”

“Sorry,” Keith said.

“’S’alright,” Pidge grunted. “Here, lemme – one sec – ” She scooted over so that she was in Keith’s lap, then sank down and nestled up against him. “Matt sometimes does this when I just… want someone around, but don’t wanna talk. He’s a pretty good pillow, and you’re pretty close to his size… This okay?”

“Yeah,” Keith said, resting his chin on top of Pidge’s head. “This is okay.”

--------------------------------------------

Their introverted bonding time slowly became a regular thing. Neither of them was really conscious of it happening. They didn’t mean to go out of their way to spend time with each other. It was just easy, when they needed quiet company, to seek each other out, with a book or tablet or computer or snack, and be in the same space. Sometimes they chatted; they had a lot in common, it turned out, aside from having both lost their older brothers in Kerberos. They discovered that they both were dog people, they both liked card games, they both thought that Lance’s jokes were terrible, they both hated haircuts and clothes shopping, neither of them could roll their tongue. Keith couldn’t even remember how those topics came up.

Other times, they just sat in silence together, occasionally for hours at a time, only interrupted by the sounds of Keith adjusting his posture or Pidge’s fingers clacking against her keyboard. It was pleasant, peaceful, and Keith even found himself looking forward to those times.

And they kept them going until the day of the Trial of Marmora.

Keith had let Shiro be the one to explain the news of his heritage to the rest of the team, partly because he was just too exhausted and sore, partly because he didn’t think he would be able to find the right words even if he wasn’t. And as the team was gathered for a strategy meeting after the revelation, Keith was barely holding himself together, and looked it too, at least enough for Shiro to take notice.

“Keith?” Shiro said, giving him a gentle nudge with his elbow. “You holding up okay?”

Keith nodded with a soft, “Yeah,” right before his legs gave out under him and he collapsed against Shiro. Through a wave of dizziness Keith heard Shiro urgently call his name and hasten to grip him and hold him up. His human arm jostled the injured shoulder, causing Keith to grimace and let out an involuntary groan.

Allura stopped in the middle of whatever she was saying at the noise to shoot him a glare for interrupting. “What’s going on with him?”

Shiro cast Keith a worried look that was blurring in Keith’s vision before turning back to the princess. “I think we need to take Keith to the med bay,” he said.

“Can it not wait until we’re finished with our discussion?” Allura asked sharply. “He’s been holding up fine up until this moment.”

Shiro met her glare evenly. “No, it can’t wait. Really, we should’ve gotten him first aid the moment we got back to the castle. We’ve already waited long enough.”

Allura sighed. “Fine. Coran, get a pod set up for him. Shiro, go ahead and get him set up for the cryopod, but come right back here once he’s readied, got it?”

Coran hurried on ahead, and Shiro nodded as he adjusted his grip on Keith so that his arm went around his back to support him. “Can you walk okay?”

“I, uh…” Keith said. He tested with one wobbly step, and found himself immediately off-balance, leaning out away from Shiro so that the latter had to hastily grab him at his waist to keep him upright, agitating the bruises there.

“Here, I can help.” Suddenly he was being supported on that side to, Pidge’s much smaller figure having slipped around to help balance him. The height disparity between her and Shiro meant that Keith was distinctly lopsided, but it was serviceable for just walking to the med bay.

“Wait,” Keith said, pulling away from Coran’s hand. “I really don’t - ”

“Don’t worry, Keith, you won’t be in there long,” Coran said. “Nasty looking cut you’ve got there, but we’ll make quick work of it. You’ll be in and out in a jiffy.”

“You don’t need to look at my shoulder, though. The pod will do all the work.”

Coran barked out a laugh, more out of surprise than humor. “I need to get a good look at the wound so I can input it into the cryopod. Fully autonomous artificial intelligence medical work is still just a bit beyond our reach, even for Alteans.” He snapped his fingers impatiently at Keith. “Come now, lad, now’s not the time to be stubborn.”

“Need me to hold him down while you strip him, Coran?” Pidge asked, and Keith lurched away from her, aghast.

“No one is stripping anybody,” Shiro said.

“Quite right,” Coran said with a nod. “We just need to examine the shoulder, Keith, then you can change into the cryosuit in privacy.”

“But - ”

“Keith,” Shiro cut him off, voice not angry, but stern.

Keith turned desperately toward him, brow raised as he flicked his eyes toward his back and then to Shiro again. Shiro in his turn let his face soften, apologetic, but still lifted his shoulders in resignation.

Keith bit back a sigh. Their silent conversations were clear enough to him. Yes, Shiro understood why Keith didn’t want his shoulderblade exposed, but he wasn’t letting Keith off the hook for this. He was going to have show it.

Slumping in defeat, he slowly reached his good arm to his back to pull down the zipper of his flight suit. He shrugged the material off so that the top half of his torso was exposed and glanced toward the shoulder now laid bare. He grimaced. The cut looked deeper than he had expected, and the sight of the dark red pooling in the cut and smudged across his shoulder had renewed the pain of the injury; he had to fight not to groan against the ache that flared up.

“You’re about the same size and weight as Lance,” Coran said, “So we can use his settings as a baseline, but of course I’ll have to make some adjustments; the pod shouldn’t be giving you precisely the same dosages and treatments, since you’re, ah - a different - a different, er - ”

“Right,” Keith cut off his stammering. The settings for him would be different because he was a different species. Because he was Galra. They didn’t have to say it out loud.

At least Coran’s reaction to the news was, as far as Keith could tell, merely awkwardness, rather than the cold hostility he had seen grow on Allura’s face as his experience in the Trials of Marmora was explained. And Shiro was still there, at his side, supporting him despite everything. As for the others, well, they had simply seemed stunned. He would probably have to wait for the news to sink in for everyone before he could gauge how they all felt about him.

He couldn’t help but glance toward Pidge, though. She had helped him down to the med room; surely she wasn’t too angry with him, right?

His heart and hopes sank when he really looked at her face for the first time since returning to the castle.

Pidge had backed away, and was staring at him, her eyes wide as scaultrite lenses, her face pale, and Keith knew it was too much to hope that Pidge would be okay with this. Coran bringing up how his Galra side would affect him in the pods must have somehow been what really made it sink in for Pidge: that Keith, the teammate she had come to call a friend, was part of the empire they were at war with, was a part of the people who had captured and imprisoned her brother and father.

Keith wasn’t the one who had taken Pidge’s family from her, but he still felt like he had a part in the responsibility. And Pidge must have felt the same.

Which is why he didn’t hold it against her when, without another word to Keith, she turned and fled from the med bay.

--------------------------------------------

Keith missed spending time with Pidge, but he didn’t blame her. He liked to think that if the roles were reversed, if she were the one who was Galra, he wouldn’t have reacted this way. He wouldn’t have suddenly started keeping his distance from Pidge, wouldn’t have taken pains to avoid being alone in the same room with her, wouldn’t have constantly avoided eye contact with her. Wouldn’t have done the things that Pidge did in the following days.

But the roles were not reversed, so he supposed he couldn’t say for sure. In any case, there was nothing he could do but suck it up and move on. The way he always did.

The tension and silence between them stayed until the night they were expected to spend a formal dinner with the royal family from a planet that Voltron had recently saved from a Galra raid, and it was a rare occasion where their paladin armor wouldn’t cut it. Instead, they wound up decked out in Altean evening wear, Keith and the other male paladins in bizarre suits and capes that made Keith feel like he had been given the costumes for characters from three different films, all set in wildly different time periods and at least one which was being particularly experimental with color, all combined into a single outfit.

Allura was in one of her more elaborate dresses, puffy and featuring several layers of skirts, and had given Pidge an old dress of hers that she had since outgrown to wear. They were getting ready with plenty of time to spare before the dinner, so Coran could make adjustments to the outfits and fix everyone’s hair (or, almost everyone; Keith wouldn’t let him anywhere near his head with that smelly styling goop of his), so there was a lot of waiting around idly to do. And that’s what Keith was doing when Pidge emerged on the bridge in Allura’s dress, wobbling in her formal shoes and looking utterly miserable.

“Pidge, what is that you’re wearing?” Allura said, dropping Hunk’s cuff that she’d been helping to button in order to go to her.

“The dress you gave me.”

Allura huffed. “Yes, I know that. I meant the shawl.”

Pidge reached a hand up to the thick length of fabric she had wrapped over her shoulders. “Oh, that. Well, uh, you know. This dress is strapless, and I get chilly, so, wanted to have something to cover up. It was in your closet. A shawl can still be formal, right?”

“That’s not the problem. That color does not match the dress at all.”

“Oh.” Pidge frowned down at the shawl. “You sure? Looks fine to me.”

Allura sighed. “I’m sure. You can still wear a shawl, Pidge, but let me get one that actually matches. Here give that one back.”

“No, Allura, wait!” Pidge said, stepping back, but Allura was too quick, grabbing the end of the shawl and whipping it off of Pidge’s shoulders in a single swift motion. Pidge turned around hastily, turning her back away from Keith’s line of sight, but it was too late.

He had already seen it.

A glimpse of the back of her shoulder, where two green vines intertwined, bordered by ruby red flame.

Her soulmark.

His soulmark.

Any other chatter on the bridge became white noise, all turning to static in Keith’s head as he felt his blood race in his veins. His knees suddenly felt weak, like his body had become too heavy for them to support, and his vision was beginning to blur.

He needed to lie down. He needed to get a hold of himself.

Without another thought he hurried out of the bridge. He was pretty sure someone called his name and asked where he was going, but he ignored them and simply let his feet take him to his room on autopilot. Once there, he collapsed against the door that closed behind him, shaking.

He didn’t have much time to collect himself before a knock came at the door against his breath.

With a deep breath, he opened it, and just as expected, Pidge was the one standing outside it, fist raised and poised to knock again, looking as uncomfortable as he had ever seen her. For several seconds they just stared at each other, then they both spoke at once.

“Listen - ” he said at the same time that Pidge said, “We need to talk.”

Keith closed his mouth and nodded toward the bed, where Pidge took a seat. She was careful in the borrowed dress, and Keith found himself leaning forward, angling himself so he wouldn’t accidentally catch a glimpse of those shining red leaves or dark vines. Her soulmark. His soulmark.

“Look, Keith, I - ” Pidge started, then hesitated. Her mouth kept moving a bit for a moment, trying to form new words, but when none came out, she sighed and dropped her head.

So Keith started the conversation for her. “Is this why you’ve been avoiding me?” he asked. “Because of the mark?”

Pidge nodded slowly. “When your shoulder got injured after that Trial of Marmora thing. First time I saw it.”

Keith wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but he certainly didn’t feel great. On the one hand, of course, it meant that his initial assumption had been wrong. Pidge didn’t hate him for his blood. She hadn’t distanced herself from him because he was Galra, and she wasn’t upset with him about belonging to the same alien race that had taken her father and brother from her.

On the other hand, though, this was one of his worst fears realized. That someone would find out that they were stuck with him as a soulmate, and wouldn’t want him. That horrified look on Pidge’s face that day in the med bay, the way she had been distancing herself from him ever since seeing his soulmark.

He couldn’t blame her for it. He wasn’t exactly soulmate material, and Pidge didn’t even know yet about the things that Keith couldn’t give her. And now the bond they’d been growing - that comfort in Pidge’s presence, the feeling that she could practically be his sister - it was dashed to pieces.

All because of that stupid, stupid mark.

His stomach roiled as he looked down at his feet. “I – I get it,” he muttered. “I get why you’re upset. You deserve a soulmate who – who isn’t – who can – ”

Pidge cut him off, not with words, but by placing her hand on his knee, and he fell quiet as he stared down at it. “No, Keith, it’s not you,” she said. “There’s nothing – it’s not like – ” She sighed. “It’s not you, it’s me. And I know that’s, like, a total cliché sort of break-up line, but, um, see, it’s just – ”

She took a deep breath. “Suppose I’ll just come right out and say it. I’m aroace.”

Keith blinked up at her, baffled, so she went on. “I’m – it’s short for ‘aromantic asexual’, and it means that I don’t, um, I don’t experience attraction to other people. At least not romantic or sexual attraction. And for the most part, you know, that’s not a problem, but with the whole soulmark thing, I – I, um – I always knew that there would be someone out there who felt that way about me, and I knew that I wouldn’t – I wouldn’t be able to feel it back.

“And I know, I know I should have come to you when I saw your soulmark and explained, but – but that wouldn’t be – it isn’t fair to you.” Her voice crackled and her chin began to wobble. “And I liked the way we were, before. It was kind of like – like having a brother around again. And I didn’t want to ruin that. And if you found out that you and I had the same soulmark, it would be ruined, so – so I just kind of… I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I know that this means you kind of got a shitty deal when it comes to soulmates, and you, uh, you can do what you want with this information, but I can’t – I can’t feel that way toward you. I can’t see you that way. I’ve been trying, the last couple of days, to think things over, try to… try to think… but I… can’t. Like I said, it’s not you.” She let out a little hiccough and wiped at her eyes.

For several seconds that seemed to drag on for hours, Keith simply stared at her, dumbfounded. He could feel the cogs in his brain smoke from the friction as they worked overtime to fully comprehend what she had just told him.

Then, as much to his own surprise as it was to hers, he started to laugh.

It wasn’t his normal laugh, the somewhat throaty chuckle he broke out on special occasions. It was higher, wilder. Hysterical. All this time, all this time he had spent so worried about his soulmate, worried that he wouldn’t be enough, that they would be looking for different things, that fate had made a mistake with him or that he was broken or that his soulmate would resent him for how he felt and how he loved. And all this time, he needn’t have worried.

He had never been so happy to be so wrong.

“Keith?” Pidge said. “What are you – ?”

Before he could stop himself, he was pulling her into a hug, letting his tears of laughter fall onto her shoulder as she awkwardly returned it.

“Me too,” he said.

Perhaps the universe knew what it was doing after all.

#gentronweek #keith #pidge #platonic kidge #aroace keith #aroace pidge #my writing #fic: baring our souls

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theoreticalmindgames · 5 years

Text

puppies & questions - a klance oneshot

klance buzzfeed puppy interview AU :)

So a @lancemcclain wrote this AU and I just kinda took it and ran so thanks for the cute idea and enjoy!

Keith usually didn’t do filming stuff. He was used to sitting at his desk and editing all day. Meeting with different video groups. Editing some more per their wishes and requests. But Shiro asked him for some help with filming a puppy interview, and even though Keith never really liked it when Shiro asked him favors because there was usually a ‘but’ or a ‘and also’ attached to it later-he wasn’t immune to the charm and adorableness of puppies.

So Keith sat behind the camera on a very comfy stool while Shiro chatted with the human shelter volunteers. A playpen had been set up in the corner, the pee pad all crumpled from the puppies frolicking throughout the pen, trying to say hi to everyone walking by.

“So who’s coming in today?”

Shiro had walked over, now holding a coffee and a bagel from Adam who stopped by during his lunch break at the nearby university.

“Oh, It’s Lance McClain.” He said nonchalantly as if he was not one of the most popular celebrities at the current moment. As if he wasn’t seriously attractive. As if Keith didn’t have a mild crush on said celebrity.

“Oh, okay.” Was all he could manage, as he turned back to the camera and began to fiddle with the settings, only to have Shiro fix it right after him with a quiet huff.

A few minutes later the door opened and a tall woman with her hair drawn back in a large white ponytail glided in, followed by a casual looking Lance McClain. Keith swallowed, and stood up, then sat back down because was he supposed to say hi? Or just sit there?

Shiro walked up and gave him a handshake, Lance McClain smiling back with an impossibly bright smile with impossibly straight teeth. They exchanged words but Keith was too busy staring at the way his bomber jacket stretched across his shoulder. But then Shiro was walking towards him gesturing and talking and then Keith was looking Lance McClain in the eye probably looking like a doe-eyed idiot.

“Hi, I’m Lance,” He said, extending a hand which Keith took. It was strange hearing him say his own name. Like they could have been meeting at a coffee shop.

Keith’s vision came out of tunnel mode when he heard Shiro.

“-eah so Keith is gonna be doing most of the interview stuff, and I’m just here to make sure no one dies.”

“What?” Keith looked at Shiro, who gave him a grin. A grin that said “have fun with this really attractive celebrity play with puppies while you get to sit there and watch.”

Lance laughed at Shiro’s comment. “I am very ready to cuddle every puppy in this place so let’s bring it on.” He flashed that perfect smile again, and Keith noticed a dimple form in the left corner of his lips.

Keith resituated himself behind the camera and turned on the camera. “Um, you can just sit on the green ex on the ground.” Keith pointed, and Lance smiled at him, lingering, before going to sit. The volunteers brought over the puppies and Lance’s grin grew as they attacked him in a playful herd.

One immediately went for the jar of questions and began to eat the small slips of paper.

“Oh geez,” Lance giggled, pulling the puppy away, and Keith swore his heart imploded from the sound of Lance giggling.

“Okay-” Keith cleared his throat, as a very fluffy puppy settled itself in Lance's criss-crossed legs and fell asleep. “So um, just choose questions from the jar- oh gosh-”

The same culprit had found his way back to the jar and was batting it around.

Lance laughed again, scooping up the puppy in his arms. “Maybe this will work better if you ask the questions. I think I’d like that better. Interviewing myself is kinda weird anyway.”

Keith blinked at him, before getting up and crouching to grab the jar, which was slightly wet from slobber. “Uh, yeah, that works. Yeah.”

“Sweet.” Lance smiled at his quick before his attention was taken by two puppies starting up a tussle on his legs.

“Okay, so the first question-”

“Wait, I- Sorry, I can’t see you behind that huge camera.” Lance chuckled, peering to the side, the two fighting puppies now hoisted under his armpits.

He wanted to see Keith? As in look at him? Oh god he just realized that he was literally wearing joggers and a t-shirt from his dirty laundry bin. Okay, no time to panic now just do the damn interview and this will all be finished soon. So Keith scooted the stool to the side, the jar of questions sitting in his lap, and his shoulders hunched.

“Much better.” Lance nodded in approval, a smirk threatening to appear.

Keith nodded back, trying to not look Lance in the eye because wow they were really nice and blue. “Okay, first question. If you could go back in time and play any role in any movie, who would you play.”

Lance gave one of the puppies a quick kiss on the head before answering. “Okay, this is easy- definitely Jack from Titanic.”

Keith hated that he smiled. “Okay, next-who has been one of your favorite costars to work with?”

Lance pondered for a moment, drumming his fingers on one of the puppies’ back, while another knawed on his wrist. “Probably Gina Rodriguez- she is just super fun and lighthearted and we have the same like, goofy sense of humor which was super cool.”

Keith nodded, listening intently because here he was, just chatting with Lance McClain.

“So you’ve been in a mix of lighthearted and serious films- which genre do you prefer to act in?”

Lance looked at Keith as he asked him the question, before scooping up a runaway pup, and holding her close. “Um, well the comedies I’ve been in are always super fun and I think that’s the most like, enjoyable? But I also like the chance to kind of switch roles and play some more serious parts- and it’s the serious movies that get to tell deeper and more personal stories, which I really like as well. So both.” He smiled like he had broken the rules and Keith found in unfairly cute. “Are you a comedy movie kinda person?”

Keith almost missed the question that was fired back at him because- well this wasn’t how it was supposed to go, right? He figured it wouldn't hurt to answer it real quick though. He didn’t want to be rude or anything.

“Um, not really? I mean I like some comedy shows but not really movies.”

“Nice,” Lance nodded, holding a puppy up to his face and letting it lick his nose.

Keith continued with the questions, and almost every time, Lance would ask him one in return. And it wasn’t like- it wasn’t like he was just doing it to maintain some kind of image. He seemed genuinely interested, which is what threw Keith off the most.

“Ghosts are not real,” Keith scoffed. The jar of questions had been finished and they had just been going back and forth for the past ten minutes asking each other things. Their conversation flowed easily and Keith felt like he could talk to Lance for hours without getting tired.

“Um, ghosts are too real and I’ve seen one.” Lance puffed his chest out, holding a puppy protectively like Keith had offended the dog as well.

“You’ve seen a ghost?”

“Yes! At my grandmother's house. Her house is like a million years olf so it had like a hundred ghosts in it.”

Keith snickered at his exaggerations and covered his mouth when a tiny snort escaped. “Oh my god.” He breathed.

Lance laughed loudly, his body tipping from front to back with laughter. “You-you have a cute laugh.” He said as his giggles calmed down.

Keith shook his head, feeling his cheeks get warm. “Anyone who snorts does not have a cute laugh.” But all Keith could hear in his head was cute cute cute cute cute he called me cute.

“Well I like your laugh,” Lance said quietly, looking at Keith through his lashes like some kind of- well some kind heartthrob movie star.

The sound of clicking heels interrupted the moment as Lance’s manager walked over with Shiro.

“Alright Lance, we’ve got to head out soon if we’re gonna make it to your next interview.”

Lance pouted, his lip jutting out as he gave each of the puppies a kiss and a hug before letting the volunteers take them away.

Keith turned off the camera, glaring at Shiro's shit-eating grin as he took over packing up the camera gear. Lance stood up and straightened out his clothes and walked up to Keith who was lingering near the set.

“Thanks for the interview, it was really fun.” Lance smiled warmly, stepping close to Keith. He could smell his cologne, fresh and beachy.

“Yeah, it was - it was nice.” Keith smiled, shoving his hands in his pocket.

“Um, I was wondering- well I don’t know um-”

Lance fidgeted with his hands, and Keith smiled at the nervous boy in front of him.

“Yeah?” Keith urged him on.

“Um, well I wanted to exchange numbers and see if we could hang out. Sometime. Whenever.”

Keith let out a breath, and he was pretty sure Lance could hear it, but he didn’t care as he slipped his phone from his pocket- unlocking it and handing it to Lance.

“I like your lockscreen,” Lance said as he handed Keith his phone back. “I like space too.”

“Yeah, yeah it’s cool.” Keith bit his lip, peeking down at his galaxy background, still having a hard time believing that Lance had just put his phone number in his phone.

“So, text me and we’ll grab coffee or lunch or something.” Lance looked at him with those bright eyes and that bright smile and Keith, for a moment was convinced that this wasn’t a real thing. But then Lance was coming in a for a hug and Keith leaned in with a little more force then he meant. But Lance delivered with a similar enthusiasm and his hands spanned across his back, and Keith got an even better whiff of whatever kind of scent Lance was wearing and it was so clean and calming Keith felt like he could fall asleep right here.

When they pulled away, Lance’s cheeks were pink and Keith was pretty sure his were as well.

“I’ll text you,” Keith said.

Lance's face broke open into a grin. “Okay. Okay cool.”

Keith clutched his phone to his chest and let out a sigh, just to make sure he was still breathing.

Lance texted like a maniac and Keith kinda loved it.

OH MY GOSH KEITH

I just saw the ugliest bigfoot statue

It kinda looked like you

Just kiddingggg

But you would have loved it

Keith snickered as his Mac pinged with every text.

Lance i’m trying to work here

I know which is why I’m giving you a much deserved break

But if i’m bothering you i can scooch outta here

You’re fine Lance

Thank you for the entertainment

Okay sweet :))))))

They got coffee at a place tucked away in the city, and only two people came up to ask for a picture. They talked for three hours, both ordering seconds, and then thirds of their respective drinks. Lance, a medium latte with vanilla and cinnamon. Keith, a London Fog. With every new topic they discussed, every giggle Lance let out, Keith liked him even more. He saw how human and how real and raw Lance was. He made Keith feel comfortable and welcome and valued. He would listen and respond with intent and it made Keith feel things that he wasn’t sure what they were.

At the end of their coffee date- “Can I call it a date?” Lance had asked and Keith had said yes- they walked out of the building and Lance whisked Keith into a nearby alcove to kiss him gently. It was so soft and delicate that Keith was pretty sure he was gonna melt on the spot and disappear into the drain. But he let himself indulge and wrapped his arms around Lance’s back, while long brown fingers cradled his jaw.

When they pulled away Keith was breathing heavy, despite the lack of tongue. Oh god, did he want to know what that felt like.

“I’ll text you.” Lance said, pressing a last quick kiss to Keith’s cheek before getting into the black SUV across the street.

Five seconds later his phone buzzed.

U are very cute and i wanna kiss you a lot now so when can i see you next ?

Keith rolled his eyes and bit his rising grin as he opened up his calendar app.

the end :)

#klance fic #jay's fics #klance #klance oneshot #klance au #klance buzzfeed au #puppies & questions #buzzfeed au #celebrity lance #camera man keith

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just-another-voltron-account · 5 years

Text

PRIDE MONTH? TIME FOR SOME PRIDE HEADCANONS

I'll be posting a different Pride headcanon of Voltron characters everyday (or as often as I can), and today I'm going to start off with the one that nobody can argue with me because it's canon: Shiro!

Shiro knew he wasn't straight since forever.

He didn't realise the norm was liking girls, he always preferred guys, but never thought much about it.

Of course, until he met Adam.

He was a great pilot and pretty cute, causing Shiro to become a blushing mess.

He knew what was happening right away, but that didn't make it any easier.

He'd keep failing practice simulations because he was distracted by Adam (because of course the garrison decided that they should be on a team together).

Adam was pretty pissed but didn't really show it, until one crash on a day he was already stressed.

"What the FUCK is wrong with you?!"

Shiro was stunned for a moment, guilt immediately overtaking him, and he had to hold back tears. He couldn't show weakness, he shouldn't have weaknesses while protecting the earth.

But here's Adam, messing up everything.

"I'm sorry."

Adam was exasperated.

"No, thank you, but that's not what I'm talking about. You're top of the class, and were a legend in the simulator for practically never crashing, but I come in and-wow. You're trying to make me fail, aren't you?"

Shiro was absolutely stunned.

"No, that's-no. Not what is happening."

"Then what is?"

"Uh...well, you see..."

Adam stared at him, unimpressed.

Shiro turned and looked at the opposite direction of Adam.

"I'm really gay and you're really cute."

Adam's silence afterward made Shiro turn around, apologies already on his tongue, until he saw a tomato where Adam had been. Wait, no, Adam was a tomato.

"...what?"

"I like you, okay? I'm sorry. I've never liked anyone before and you're so cute and I can't take my eyes off you-"

Adam interupted him by pressing his lips to his.

And that's how the garrison found out Shiro and Adam liked guys, and how they became the famed space couple.

As you all may know, I am a multi shipper, and I wouldn't mind writing shatt or shurtis. Or a poly relationship. Just let me know and that may end up as one of these pride month posts! Also, I refuse to differ with sexualities that are declared or writing a straight relationship for Keith. It just... feels wrong. But yeah, hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you tomorrow!

#anothervoltronaccount post #voltron #shiro #adam #voltron shiro #voltron adam #gay shiro #pride month #lgbtq+#lgbtq+ pride #AnotherVoltronPrideMonth #that's the tag that all of the pride month posts will be under #adashi #shadam

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ebhenah · 5 years

Text

KLANCE: snippet of random thoughts to fight writer’s block....

Pidge’s 21st birthday ends with her, Hunk, Lance and Keith sitting around on a hotel room floor sharing a bottle of champagne and talking. Keith and Lance have been a couple for years now and old arguments have faded into gentle teasing. The four have been friends so long and been through so much together that there are few secrets left, but they always manage to dredge up one of two on nights of drunken reminiscence like this. Tonight, it had been the revelation that of all of them, Hunk had been the youngest to have sex for the first time, and that Shiro (who is not even present) was the eldest. That led to a discussion about fixing perpetually single Shiro up with someone. Pidge pulls out her phone and passes the bottle to Lance. “I’ve been putting some thought into this,” she explains, “based on comments by Matt, my own observations, and a deep dive into Shiro’s dating history- I have complied...no...compleed? No. COM-PILE-ED this list. Input?”

Hunk leans over her shoulder, “ooooh- the second guy looks promising! He runs a pet store! How cute is that!?!?”

Keith glances over and shakes his head, “nope.”

Lance finishes his swig and hands off the bottle, “Keith IS the resident Shiro expert.”

Pidge sighs, conceding to his point and turns the phone fully to Keith, “anybody on this list look good?”

Keith hums to himself as he scrolls, “nope. Sorry. None of them are his type.”

“Ugh. Fine. Moving on... okay.. umm... Weirdest non-sexual, LEGAL thing your parents ever walked in on you doing... and go!”

“Using medical tape to make my sister’s wedding dress fit better in the... uhhh... chesticle area,” Lance says immediately and everyone just looks at him.

“Pretty sure it doesn’t top... whatever the hell THAT was...” Hunk shakes his head, “but probably making a coconut bra.”

“Why does everyone’s answer have to do with boobs?” Pidge muses, “mine is stuffing my bra for Halloween.”

“Well, I don’t remember anything like that from when I was a kid, so I guess... trying to hijack the blades comms system so I could have a private conversation with my boyfriend? They thought they were being hacked.”

Lance doubles over in laughter, “I remember that! Krolia just.... hung around the whole time we were talking. That was... awkward.”

“IS that legal, though?” ponders Hunk. “The Blades were like 100% illegal as far as the Empire was concerned, right? So, like anything to do with them would be illegal, too.”

“Then, can I count Shiro and Adam? They weren’t my parents, but they acted like they were half the time...”

“Sure- you can count Space Dad,” Pidge laughs, “I mean, we call him Space Dad for fuck’s sake.”

“Then it’s selling condoms out of my locker.”

“WHAT?!?” they chorus.

“Babe... I love you and all.... but... holy crow... what the hell??”

“I needed cash,” Keith answers with a shrug, “and they had this like FISHBOWL of condoms in their bathroom and every time I was over one of them would be like ‘you know we never count those... we have no idea how many are in there’- like they were trying to be the cool moms or something. So, this one time, I grabbed like... I dunno, a couple dozen and then I sold them at school for like five bucks for two. Easy money.”

“Jesus- I wonder what the hell they thought you needed that many condoms for!” Hunk shakes his head, laughing softly.

“They thought I was selling them out of my locker. Which I was. And then they caught me red handed selling them out of my locker. But they couldn’t get mad at me about it, really, because... you know... I was making it easier for my classmates to get condoms... they were very pro-condoms.”

“What did you need cash for?” Pidge grabs the bottle back.

“I have no idea now. Clothes? Food? Movies? It felt important at the time.”

“Well, Iiiiii had no idea my man was so enterprising in school,” Lance coos, curling into Keith’s side. Keith drapes his arm around Lance’s shoulder and kisses the top of his head.

“Oh! I’ve got one! Most awkward crush!” Hunk grins. “I’ll start- my older sister’s boyfriend. He was a life guard and I wasn’t out yet.”

“My best friend in sixth grade. They were sooooo cute,” moans Pidge, “oh my crow, I was a tongue tied mess!”

“You,” Lance answers, tipping his head up to kiss Keith’s cheek. “The whole rivalry thing was... yikes.”

“Can I skip this one?”

“Sure,” laughs Hunk, “it’s pretty obvious anyway. It was Lance.”

“No way- definitely Shiro,” counters Pidge. “That’s way more awkward than Lance! If it was Lance he’d just say so... right?”

“I never had a crush on Shiro,” Keith insists.

“Babe- it’s sweet that you say that to protect my pride and all, but... I mean... come on...”

“I’m serious,” Keith laughs, “I’ve never had a crush on Shiro. He’s not my type! Too...uh... SHIRO-ISH- that’s not a word, but you know- he’s too much of a Space Dad.”

“Even before? I mean, I hear these stories about you guys before Kerderos, and he seems pretty different...”

“Kerderos? Lance, my man, you are drunnnnk.”

“We’re ALL drunk, Hunky.”

“Before Kerberos he was... too ‘cool mom’... and too serious about school and shit... and sure, he’s handsome, but... meh...”

“Did you just ‘meh’ SHIRO THE HERO?” Pidge laughs so hard she falls over.

“Then who was it?” Hunk asks, “s’pretty clear we don’t really care- was years ago, right?”

“Fine,” Keith sighs, “it was Adam... and it was mortifying.”

“Adam? Like ‘Shiro and Adam’? THAT Adam?? BABE!”

Keith nods, “there. I answered. Moving on.”

“Waaaaait,” Pidge leans over, studying Keith’s face, “is that why you rejected my whole entire list? Because YOU didn’t think any of them were hot?”

He nods again, “we have the same taste. He used to try to play match maker for me. It was... weird.”

“Alright! In THAT case... here,” Pidge thrusts her phone out again, “this is my database- parse it down to acceptable options and we’ll try again.”

“You have a database?” Keith blinks blearily at her, “this is color-coded! How much time have you put into this??”

“I can’t believe my boyfriend had a crush on Shiro’s boyfriend,” Lance mutters to Hunk, “I think that means he wins for most awkward crush, right?”

“Yeah, buddy, I think so,” Hunk nods, “unless... you know... it works both ways...”

“Huh?”

“The same taste thing...”

“Hey Hunk,” Keith interrupts, “pass over the booze, I gotta pick out a dating list I guess!”

Things shift gears as they sift through the disturbingly detailed bios that Pidge has put together in a file entitled ‘Mission: GSMO’ (Get Shiro Married Off). Eventually, they have it narrowed down to five guys, and Pidge kicks everyone out so she can crash.

It’s not until later, when Keith is snoring beside him and Lance is about to pass out himself that Hunk’s comment comes back to him ‘unless it works both ways...’ He snorts to himself and smiles, then bolts upright in bed, sending his head into Olympic-Ice-Dancing levels of spins. “Keith! Keith! You and Shiro have the same taste! And you’re with ME! Oh my GOD! Does Shiro think I’m hot??? Keith! Keith! KEEEEEEEITH!!!” But, it’s no use, Keith is out like a light, and when Lance pries himself back to the waking world in the morning, he can’t remember anything that happened after they left the bar.

#Klance #keith #lance #pidge #hunk #this is just random stream of consciousness silliness #I have writer's block and deadlines #nonsense helps

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laallomri · 6 years

Text

[fic for keithtober, from these prompts]

[day 2: black paladin. keith and lance talk on the control deck at night a few days after he becomes bp]

It’s four days after the Thayserix incident, four days after Keith almost got everyone killed. The memory of it eats at him, pricks at the back of his mind and the center of his chest and the pit of his stomach, waits until he’s alone, until it can spread over the rest of him, like a thundercloud over a blue sky, and whisper failure failure failure.

It makes any alone time almost unbearable, but nighttime is the worst, when everything is dark and quiet and the whispers become shouts. Tonight is so bad he can’t sleep at all; after an hour of tossing and turning, he finally concedes defeat and gets out of bed. It gets cold in the castle ship’s hallways sometimes, so he pulls on a sweater that he got at a planet that Voltron visited last month. He doesn’t feel like putting on his boots, so he just puts on his thickest pair of socks he can find in his closet.

He wanders around the castle ship for a while, though in the end his feet take him where they always do when he can’t sleep: the control room. It’s dark, the only illumination coming from the stars and the colorful lights along the paladin chairs and Allura’s pedestal.

Keith goes to the front of the room, where the window curves. He leans in the curve, arms crossed and head resting against the window, and looks out at the stars. He wonders if Shiro is doing the same, wherever he is; wonders if he can send him a message, if he tries hard enough.

He squeezes his eyes shut. Hello, he says. This is your brother speaking. I hope you are okay. I’m going to keep looking for you.

(it’s dumb, the kind of thing he would have done when he was little and used to climb up to the roof with his dad and point out made-up constellations because he couldn’t remember the names of the real ones. it’s dumb, but it makes him feel a little better, makes him feel a little less like he can’t breathe, so he lets himself do it anyway)

I hope you’re someplace nice, he thinks next. Maybe a beach somewhere. An alien resort. With tacky floral-print shirts and overpriced sodas.

He opens his eyes and shifts to sit with his knees drawn up to his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs. He likes the idea of Shiro on vacation somewhere, of him smiling and laughing and being nothing but happy. Shiro tries hard to act normal, but Keith can feel the heaviness around him sometimes. He hates it, hates that he can’t do anything about it. Big brothers usually take care of you; what do you do when the person who takes care of you needs to be taken care of?

Keith squeezes his eyes shut again.

Pidge and Hunk said they’re working on a way to communicate with earth, he says. If we don’t find you by then, I’ll say hello to your mom and to Adam for you. And I’ll record what they say back so you can hear it, too.

He starts to say more, but right then he hears the door whoosh open. He stiffens, then opens his eyes and turns. Lance is standing in the doorway, wearing his pajamas and robe and looking as surprised as Keith feels.

“Hi,” he says. He shoves his hands in his pockets. “Is it okay if I come in?”

“Sure,” Keith says.

Lance hovers by the door for a moment longer, then comes over to where Keith is sitting and plops down beside him, cross-legged.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he says. “I accidentally fell asleep after training earlier and didn’t wake up until dinner, so now I’m wide awake.”

A pause. Keith realizes, belatedly, that he’s probably supposed to respond with his own reason for still being awake. But the silence has gone on too long, and he doesn’t really feel like explaining anything right now, so he just tightens his arms around his legs and tucks his chin against his knees.

A few minutes pass.

“Hey,” Lance says suddenly. He points to a cluster of stars directly ahead. “That looks like a face.”

Keith squints at the stars. It just looks like every other collection of stars. “What?”

Lance traces his finger in the air. “Look, you can see the hair, and the eyes, and kind of a round nose…”

“Oh.” Keith lifts his head. The stars do look like a face, though a weirdly-shaped one, like in those wacky paintings Shiro’s mother has hanging on the walls of her apartment. “Yeah, I see it. Sort of.”

“And those over there”—Lance points left—“look like a shoe. Maybe the face stars lost it.”

Keith frowns. “How do you lose your shoe?” he asks.

“One of my baby cousins does it all the time,” Lance says. He shifts, stretching his legs out in front of him and leaning back on his palms. “Pretty much every time I take her to the park. She wanders around and then one of her shoes falls off and she just. Keeps walking. As if nothing ever happened. She literally never notices.”

Keith laughs, though it’s quiet, more of a huff than an actual sound. “That’s kinda cute.”

“Excuse you,” Lance says, indignant. “That’s not kinda cute. That’s fucking adorable. She’s the cutest toddler in the entire universe.” He pauses. “Well, tied with my other baby cousins. And my niece and nephew. And Hunk’s nieces.”

“Heavy competition,” Keith says.

“Competition is good,” Lance says. “It keeps you on your toes.”

He taps his toes together as he says it. He’s wearing the lion slippers, so it looks like the lions are bumping foreheads.

“Stop making your lions fight,” Keith says.

Lance blinks at him, then at his slippers. It’s a stupid joke, and Keith expects him to ignore it, or to make fun of him, but he just grins, wide and bright. The sight of makes Keith’s heart skip a beat.

“Hey, that was a joke!” Lance says, delighted. “Hunk was right, Galra Keith is funnier than regular Keith.”

The comment is offhand, the comment doesn’t mean anything, but still, it sticks in Keith’s head—

(Galra Keith, his mind whispers. Galra Keith piloting an Altean lion, Galra Keith leading the team, Galra Keith fighting the Galra when he doesn’t even know what side of the war his Galra family is on)

Keith breathes, in and out. He tucks his chin against his knees again. For a while he thought he was okay with being part Galra, but now—now it feels weird again, like the first time he learned it. Every time he sits in Black, he thinks of the last time a Galra sat in them, thinks of how horribly Black was treated. Doesn’t it bother Black, that a Galra pilots them again? Doesn’t it hurt them to have to bond with a Galra again, to listen to a Galra’s commands?

Keith knows he’s not like Zarkon, that he would never ever ever be like Zarkon, that even if he found out that his Galra family supports the Empire, he would still side with Voltron. But just because he knows this doesn’t mean that the Black Lion knows; how can they trust him so readily when the Galra have only ever hurt them, and used them, and took away the paladin they accepted after ten thousand years of rejecting every effort to bond with them?

He exhales slowly, trying to calm his twisting stomach. It makes him feel sick to think about this, but he can’t not think about this, either.

“Are you okay?” Lance asks.

Keith comes back to the present with a jolt. “What?”

“You’re really quiet,” Lance explains. “Well, you’re quiet a lot, but I meant—” He breaks off, uncertain. “I didn’t offend you or anything, did I? I won’t make Galra Keith jokes if it bothers you.”

Keith shakes his head. He shrinks into himself, a question on the tip of his tongue. It feels almost physically painful to ask, but he needs to ask someone, so he pushes past his discomfort and says, all in a rush, “Do you think the Black Lion hates that a Galra is piloting it again?”

For a long moment Lance doesn’t say anything. Keith stares at the stars, too nervous to look at him.

“I think,” Lance says finally, “that the Black Lion hates you referring to them as an ‘it.’”

Keith huffs. “I—I don’t usually—it was a mistake, in my head I—”

“It’s okay,” Lance interrupts. Keith is still too nervous to look at him, but he thinks he can hear a smile in his voice. “I know you didn’t mean to be rude.”

Another pause. Lance shifts again. Keith can’t resist a peek, and sees out of the corner of his eye that Lance is sitting cross-legged once more.

“Black chose you,” Lance says. “They wouldn’t have done that if they hated you. People don’t hang out with people they hate.”

(you hang out with me, Keith’s mind whispers, and you hate me)

(does he, though? says another part, the part that’s dumb, and stupid, and ridiculous, the part that makes him have to catch his breath whenever he looks at Lance. he must like you at least a little, right?)

(wrong¸ says the first part, wrong, wrong, he only puts up with you because of the team, because he has to—)

(but Lance sits by him at every meal, and nudges him whenever Coran says something ridiculous, and shrugs at him whenever Pidge goes on one of her scientific rants)

(but Lance stands by him at coalition meetings, and grins at him whenever Allura puts a pretentious diplomat in their place, and laughs with him when Hunk accidentally makes a robot that chases them around the castle ship)

(but Lance tells him it’s okay to miss Shiro, it’s okay to keep moving, that he can lead Voltron without leaving anyone behind, that he can lead Voltron without feeling like the responsibility will drown him, because Lance will always pull him out of the water before he sinks)

(how could he hate you? whispers the dumb, stupid, ridiculous part of his mind. how could that be right?)

For once he wants to listen to that dumb, stupid, ridiculous part, but he wants to be sure, so he lifts his head, and looks at Lance, and says, quick so he won’t chicken out, “Are we friends?”

“Of course,” Lance says, and it’s so immediate, and certain, and Keith’s heart feels it might explode out of his chest. “Did you”—he laughs, the short, uncomfortable laugh of someone who is suddenly very nervous—“did you think we weren’t?”

“I wasn’t sure,” Keith says honestly. “You’re my friend but I didn’t know if I’m your friend.”

“Oh,” Lance says. Something strange passes over his expression, too fast for Keith to read. “Well, you are. I’m your friend and you’re my friend.”

“We’re friends,” Keith says.

“Yes,” Lance confirms. “We’re friends. Buddies. Pals.” He winks and clicks his tongue, shooting a finger gun at Keith. “Compatriots. Chums. Accomplices.”

Keith laughs, properly this time. “Accomplices?” he repeats. “Are we committing a crime?”

“If you want,” Lance says. “That’s what friends are for! Late night talks, and goofing off, and doing what the other person wants.” He puts a hand on Keith’s shoulder and looks directly at him, his expression very serious. “If you want to do a crime, I will do it, too. Ride or die, my friend.”

Keith wants to answer, wants to say that based on the Shiro model of friendship, friends are supposed to prevent you from doing crimes, not help you do them—but it’s kind of hard to think, because Lance’s hand is warm and heavy on his shoulder, and he’s looking right at Keith, and his eyes are always pretty but here, in this dark room with the stars in front them, they’re practically glowing, sparkling bright and brown.

So Keith just swallows, and clears his throat, and says, “I think we should avoid crime.”

“Suit yourself,” Lance says, shrugging. He rubs Keith’s shoulder and Keith’s stomach flips. “This sweater is really soft.”

“You can borrow it sometime if you want,” Keith says, as if the sight of Lance in his sweater wouldn’t make him combust on the spot.

“Thanks, man, maybe I will,” Lance says. His hand drops from Keith’s shoulder. He yawns. “I’m gonna turn in now. I think after talking to you I can actually fall asleep.”

Keith’s mouth twitches. “Are you saying that I’m boring?”

Lance blinks at him, then grins.

“Another joke!” he says, pumping his fist triumphantly. “Galra Keith is a comedian.” He gets to his feet. “You gonna come, too? Do you think you can sleep now?”

Keith thinks of his room, dark and quiet; thinks of the whispers in the back of his head, waiting for him to be alone so they can shout failure at him again. He thinks of Lance, smiling at his bad jokes; of Lance, saying I’m your friend and you’re my friend; of Lance, who finds him when he’s drowning, and pulls him out of the water before he sinks.

He looks up at Lance and smiles.

“Yes,” he says, and gets to his feet. “I think I’ll be okay.”

#voltron #keithtober #keithtober2018 #lance mcclain #keith kogane #klance #my fics #my post #long post #100

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keijiwrites · 5 years

Text

merry little christmas

Pairing: klance

Rating: General

Word count: 1,396

Synopsis: Lance and Keith have been tiptoeing around each other for a long time. They have been friends since forever and don't want to ruin their years of friendship because they both think their crushes are fleeting.

Little do they know, their crush isn’t unrequited.

Team Voltron is celebrating an early Christmas in Adam and Shiro’s home. It’s been seven years since they saved Earth from the Galra. They had all graduated from the Garrison and had full time jobs. They always celebrated holidays together a few days before the actual holiday. They all would go home for a few days with their individual families, so planning festivities ahead of time was a good way to work around that and still spend time together.

Lance knocked on the front door, rum cake made by his mom in his free hand. It was what he always brought and everyone loved it. He really wanted to master it like his mom.

Adam opened the door with a grin on his face and ushered Lance inside, as it had just started to snow. Once inside, Lance took in the decorations with an impressed whistle. Adam and Shiro always went all out when it came to Christmas and this time wasn’t any exception.

Lance immediately noticed all of the mistletoe hung around. “That’s a lot of mistletoe.” He commented as he shrugged off his coat.

Adam chuckled. “We wanted to spice things up this year.”

Lance raised an eyebrow but ignored the strange glint in Adam’s eyes as he slipped on the blue lion slippers he kept at the Shirogane household. He walked towards the living room where Keith, Hunk, and Pidge were.

“Fashionably late as always.” Keith grinned as Lance made his presence known.

“The best for last, my man.” Lance shot him a quick grin as he ruffled Pidge’s hair, followed by a fist bump from Hunk.

Keith rolled his eyes but bumped his fist anyways. Lance walked to the kitchen where Romelle was curiously watching Shiro make miso soup. Allura was chatting away with Coran about the new planet that had joined the alliance as Adam placed the cake on the table.

“Number three!” Coran exclaimed and wrapped him in a hug. Lance chuckled as he hugged back.

Lance hugged the other three and asked if anyone needed help. Shiro shooed him out of the kitchen and told him to go sit in the living room. So Lance did. He plopped down on an armchair close to the fireplace, sweater paws on display.

The youngest of the four, Pidge, talked about their week at work. Keith told them about the work he’d been doing with the Blade.

“More Galras have been joining.” He said as he stretched his arms. He almost looked cat like. “They have nowhere to go so they’re joining up with us.”

Romelle and Allura joined them, handing all of them mugs of hot chocolate. Lance watched as the two girls sat oddly close on a loveseat. He always thought there was something more than platonic going on there but nothing confirmed it yet.

Everyone perked up when they heard a loud groan coming from the hallway. Pidge stomped their way to the living room, mistletoe in hand. “Mistletoe. On the toilet seat. What the fuck, guys?”

“Language.” Shiro chastised.

“I’m 22!”

Lance snickered as Pidge stomped off back to the bathroom before turning to Adam and Shiro who were sitting on the floor, giggling to themselves like teenagers. “What’s the deal with all the mistletoe. Like, I get fun, but on the toilet lid?”

“I found one inside the fridge.” Keith rolled his eyes, but Lance knew it wasn’t out of annoyment.

Hunk squinted at the couple. “Will I find one inside the food? Because I wouldn’t be surprised.”

The two men looked appalled.

“I found one in my cup earlier.” Coran commented and everyone - but Shiro and Adam - groaned.

As the get together went on, Lance was actively avoiding crossing paths with Keith near a mistletoe. He was fine with anyone else. A quick forehead or cheek kiss would solve it, but with Keith? Lance had no idea what to do, so avoiding him was easier.

He was currently in the kitchen, grabbing a drink before they opened presents. He had dropped them off earlier in the day, not wanting to accidentally forget them like the previous year.

Lance gets his drink and walks to the living room (where they're going to be opening the presents). He doesn’t make it there. Keith bumps into him in the hallway, literally, and accidentally spills eggnog all over Lance’s shirt. Keith stared at Lance’s shirt with wide eyes, apologizing so quickly it gave Lance whiplash.

“Dude, it’s fine.” Lance chuckles. “It’s just a shirt.”

“Stay here.” Keith instructs and goes upstairs.

Lance, not really listening to Keith, went to grab a wash rag to clean the spilt eggnog off of himself. He felt his heart jump in his chest a little because Keith looked adorable stuttering. It should be illegal for a man to look cute or adorable at the age of 26. Just as he finished cleaning up the eggnog, Keith walked into the kitchen with a shirt in hand.

Lance grinned at how Keith basically thrusted his shirt into Lance’s hands, ears red in embarrassment. Lance changed quickly, stuffing his shirt in a plastic bag, not wanting to get eggnog on anything else. They walked to the living room and as they reached the archway, everyone turned to look at them.

They looked at them confused until they looked up.

Mistletoe.

Keith’s face turned a bright pink, while Lance’s heart was going a thousand miles a second. He felt like it was going to pop out of his rib cage.

They were stuttering messes, telling the others they would not be kissing anyone under the mistletoe.

“Guess we aren’t opening presents then.” Shiro sighed.

“What?!”

“That’s not fair!”

“What the hell, Shiro?!”

Lance eyed Keith from the corner of his eye, the black paladin looking like he wanted to curl into himself.

“Keith, we don’t-“

Lance wasn’t able to finish his sentence. Keith had grabbed the collar of his - Keith’s - shirt and pulled him forward. This kiss was a little wonky, their noses accidentally bumping together. Lance’s eyes shot wide, arms heavy on his sides.

His mind was going a mile a minute. He felt Keith start to pull away and that’s when his whole body started to work. He held Keith in place by the waist as he finally kissed back, ignoring the dumb cheers from everyone else.

Lance was the first to pull away, eyes wide because what the fuck? Did Keith really kiss him first? He chuckled as Keith hid his face in Lance’s neck after hearing the other’s wolf whistles.

“Can I choke?” Keith grumbled.

Lance snorted, lacing their fingers together. “Come on, you big baby.” He pulled Keith to the couch where he felt his cheeks heat up as Keith curled himself against Lance.

“Great.” Pidge grumbled. “They’re going to be gross now.”

“Let them be, number five. I remember the courtings happening back in the day at the castle.” Coran sighed wistfully.

Lance eyed Allura who only shrugged, but the look in her eyes was the same as Coran’s.

“Presents time!” Hunk exclaimed giddily.

They all exchanged gifts, the Alteans still looking surprised by the tradition. Lance thought it was great. After the exchange, they had dinner and a few drinks. Lance and Keith cuddled on the couch for most of the night, not wanting to be apart from each other. It wasn’t until after midnight that Lance and Keith found themselves alone.

They were the only ones that were up, so Lance stood from the couch and connected his phone to the speakers, turning on classical Christmas music. “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” by Judy Garland started to play. Lance extended his hand towards Keith, his expression soft. Keith took Lance’s hand in his own, standing up from the couch. They stood close together, arms around each other, and swayed softly to the music. Lance pressed their foreheads together, eyes closed and enjoying the moment.

He slowly ran his fingers along Keith’s back, feeling the muscle under his shirt from the training and fighting over the years. Lance didn’t want to admit it, but Keith had gotten buff, AKA, hotter, in his book.

“You’re beautiful, Keith.” He whispered, thumb rubbing Keith’s cheek softly. Keith smiled softly and rested his head on Lance’s shoulder, eyes shut happily because he was finally with the guy he was in love with for years.

#klance #klance post s8 #klance drabble #vld klance #lance voltron #keith voltron #keith vld #lance vld #lance x keith #vld #voltron

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loveafterthefact · 4 years

Text

Love After the Fact Chapter 7: A Spark of Electricity

Keith makes a new friend and discovers he’s been committing tax fraud his entire life completely unknowing 🤣

First Previous Next

Keith stirs. It hadn’t occurred to him that sharing a bed with Lance might be to his benefit, but he finds it better than being alone. He’s spent a few decaphoebs of his childhood alone already.

Being alone as a kit does a lot of damage. It can make the kit skittish and paranoid. It impedes their ability to express themselves, both verbally and through body language. Especially body language. It leads to depression and antisocial behavior.

And it makes sleeping difficult. Kits are instinctively driven only to sleep when their older littermates or parents are around. It keeps them safe. As such, having a full-grown, larger Altean sleeping only a few dashes away does a lot for him.

It can’t repair what was done to him as a small kit crying on a cliff’s edge for his father to get up and climb back up to find him, but it helps.

Except now he's alone, curled up by himself beneath the warm blankets. Or is he alone? There's a static sound, a flash behind his eyelids, a curse. Keith opens his eyes.

A small girl, an Olkari, is fussing with a panel in the wall. Much like himself, Keith can't imagine that she's an adult. But when she turns around, she wasn’t exactly a child, either. More adolescent. But extremely small.

“Oh, great, you’re awake! Keith, right? That’s what Lance said you like to be called.” Seemingly benign.

“Who are you?” Keith asks, blinking sleep and tangled hair from his eyes.

“Pidge. I’m the resident tech expert around here. I’m modifying the lighting system so that you can adjust it from your datapad. There was a glitch, unfortunately, which Lance picked up earlier when he went to adjust it for you before he left. My fault. Happens to the best of us. I’d fix it the ‘normal’ way, but the Castle isn’t Olkari tech, so old-fashioned way it is! Besides, I don't mind it. I actually like doing it this way.”

Normal way? This is the normal way! Keith sits up. “I don’t have a datapad.”

Pidge holds up a piece of glass with a white border around it. “Now you do.” She tosses it onto the bed. “I’m almost done with this. Just give me a second. Then I’ll help you set it up. Can you read Altean?”

“No.” He can, but the girl doesn’t need to know that. Keith busies himself with tracing the embroidery on the duvet cover.

“You're a terrible liar, but that's your business. That’s fine. I can program the pad to translate everything into Galran for you. We can even go old school and use a handprint scanner to unlock it, if you want. Only you and Lance would be able to get into it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Lance said that Hunk and I are to make you as happy and welcome as possible and since we’re friends, I’m happy to oblige.”

“We’re friends? Who’s Hunk?”

“Lance, Hunk, and I are friends.” Pidge pressed the sparking tool back to a wire. “You are... a potential friend. Lance says you seem alright.”

“I’m flattered,” Keith deadpans. Pidge laughs. She’s not... so bad. Nothing here, minus the people Lance calls ‘courtiers’, are too terrible. And the Altean food. That’s terrible too. Also the clothes.

There's a lot that's terrible.

“Be nice, and maybe I’ll make you a body modification so you can taste sweet things?”

“You can do that?” Pidge nods, replacing a panel in the wall, work seemingly complete. “But you’re... just a girl? Like, a very young girl.”

“Nonbinary, actually. But yes, I am quite young.” Pidge smiles, removing the magnifying lenses from their eyes.

“Oh. Sorry. I-” Keith had assumed that most species followed the laws of the Alteans. he'd assumed his species was unusual.

“No worries. Just try to remember for the future and we're all good.” Pidge gets up from the floor, coming to sit on the bed like it's their own. “So, you wanna turn that datapad on?” Keith sucks on his lip, ears wilting as he inspects the datapad for a button. “Here. Gimme.”

Keith hands the datapad to Pidge, blushing beneath his short facial fur. The Olkari shows him a small button on the side, turning it on and handing it back to him. They spend the next varga showing him how to use it, how to translate texts, how to access the castle’s documents. They even show him how to tap into video feeds they’ve set up to spy on the kings in Alfor’s laboratory, though they warn him that not everything that happens in there is alchemy. At least not in the traditional sense.

Apparently Coran likes to visit. Also? Gross.

After all of that, Keith finds himself just... chatting with the young Olkari. They poke him and prod him and shine a flashlight in his ears. They ask probing questions about his personal biology and what purpose such trimorphism might serve.

“Well, it used to be that child-bearing and care was more of a... communal thing? We didn’t always form the strong bonds with our mates that we do now. But since our trimorphism doesn’t hold any disadvantage, our biology hasn’t changed.”

“That. Is so cool.” Pidge fiddles with another panel in another wall while Keith makes note of which foods he likes from the sampler he’s just received for breakfast. “Keith?”

“Hm?” Keith looks up from a small bowl of deep green beans, licking the corner of his mouth. Pidge turns, absently playing with the end of his tail. They’re a cute little thing, Keith decides. Inquisitive. Benign. A kit, like himself.

“How old are you?”

“Just nineteen decaphobes. Turned nineteen a few movements ago.”

“So you’re just a pup. Like me.” Keith nods, gesturing for them to continue. “Why would Zarkon marry you off, then?”

“Didn’t like my dad. Different perspectives, I guess? My father wanted to focus more on internal growth; Zarkon wanted to focus on expansion. They had a falling out.” Keith twitches his tail, watching the inquisitive Olkari chase it with their honey-colored eyes. “It happens sometimes. Anyway, I think he wanted me gone. Bring back sad memories, I guess.”

“How did you end up with him anyway?”

Keith’s ear wilt, tail stilling. “My father... died. Zarkon sent me to live with a friend, Takashi. He's basically my littermate.”

There was so much more to it than that, but Keith didn’t want to talk about it. Pidge narrowed their eyes at him, and Keith knew they could tell he was hiding things. Finally, they nod.

“Well, at least Zarkon didn’t hold your father against you.”

“No, he didn’t. He hoped I would be happy here, I think. He worries about me.” Keith tucks his legs up to his chest. Pidge hums, reaching out to touch a tangled lock of Keith’s hair. They begin working the knots out of it.

“I’d worry too, if my child nephew was married off to the likes of Crown Prince Lancel. He’s got quite the reputation. Or did. Adam says everyone was astounded when he showed up to hold court today. Especially King Coran. King Alfor's heart probably stopped when he heard about it.”

“What does Lance normally do?” Keith latches onto the change of topic.

“Hm. Runs all over. Flirts. Goofs off. Goes hunting. Flirts some more. The people like him as a person, but they don’t care for him as their crown prince. Y’know, because a crown prince becomes a king, and a king needs to like, do stuff. Other than the local prostitutes.”

Keith grins just in time for the door to open for Lance himself, followed by Adam toting a stack of tablets.

“Okay... question one,” Lance mutters, nose stuck in his own datapad. “What the quiznak are taxes?” Adam sighs, exasperated.

Pidge gives Keith a significant look. “Do you want to laugh or shall I?”

“As his spouse, I claim that right.” Keith dissolves into quiet laughter, the Olkari following suit.

“Oh, great!” Lance vaults over the back of the couch with a comb. “You two are getting along. Pidge, Keith. Keith, Pidge-”

“We’ve already done that,” Pidge informs him.

“Excellent! Anyhoo, Keith, your hair is a mess. Come here.” Lance doesn’t wait for a response, instead taking one lock of Keith’s hair at a time, starting at the ends and working his way up.

"...Thanks. I'll- I'll get it cut. It's inconvenient like this."

"No, don't you dare. I need you to keep it." Adam looks like he might throttle Keith. "Do you have any idea how difficult it will be to endear you to these fops? The cuter and more harmless you look, the better."

"Gee, thanks," Keith grumbles. Pidge snickers, going through the pockets of Lance's... what is it with Altean clothes? Lance has pants, but then a skirt in the back? What's even the point of that? He also had a cape? Nevermind. Pidge searches in the pockets of his pants.

Keith allows Lance to do as he likes since the comb doesn't hurt. He occupies himself chatting amicably with Pidge, taking comfort in the blunt openness and bright enthusiasm that they exude. Lance joins in, braiding a red-and-gold ribbon into Keith’s hair. The seamsmaster has assigned Keith an aesthetic and run with it. But the braid looks pretty, so whatever.

If only the matching wardrobe were more comfortable.

Hair done, Keith climbs up into the loft, watching from above as Adam and Pidge team up to teach Lance about taxes. He likes Pidge. Likes how sweet Lance is with them, giving them bits of junk he’s found lying about, letting them sit in his lap and scan the soft scales on his face with some device. He yelps when they try to stroke them against the grain. Pidge, unaware that it would hurt, apologizes immediately. Lance just waves it off, the same way Pidge waved off Keith's misgendering earlier.

These people. They're so easy-going. Adam is a tight-ass, but he's definitely overworked and probably overtired. Lance and Pidge seem to take offense to little, brushing off accidental hurts like one might brush off a drop of rain. Keith likes them well enough, but he's content to do so from his loft, where he can't be disappointed if they don't like him back.

Instead, he listens. And learns. Apparently, taxes are an allotment of money taken from the citizens to fund the crown. Who knew?

Living in the woods like a wild animal is not taxable. Keith smirks, realizing that he's technically a life-long criminal.

Wait until Lance finds out.

#LoveAftertheFact #LAtF #klance #galtean au #altean lance #galra keith #adashi #altean adam #galra shiro #voltron legendary defender #vld

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cclaudias · 6 years

Text

desi adam hcs

his name’s adam because he’s an nri(non residential indian) and all nris are big white weebs, so his parents thought it would be “good for him“ if he had a white name that whites could pronounce.

he’s bengali but he doesnt know bengali at all. the only word he knows is mach, which means fish, and its hindi word is machli so...

also, you’re literally not bengali unless you can recognize the word fish in at least 20 different languages.

adam’s watched every single khan movie from the 2000s, like every other indian kid and when his 15 yo cringy romcom loving ass watched dilwale dulhania le jayenge he cried and obviously knew every song by heart.

adam in class, singing softly: ~Tujhe dekha toh yeh jaana sanam || Pyaar hota hai deewana sanam || Ab yaha se kaha jaye, hum || Teri bahon mein mar jaye hum~

shiro, who has a huge crush on adam and just needs an excuse to talk to him: that sounds nice. you have a really nice voice.

adam, blushing:

shiro, also blushing:

shiro, trying to make his pining ass less obvious: btw, what does it mean?

adam:

shiro:

adam: haha it’s in punjabi. i don’t know.

its in basic elementary hindi btw and its one of the sappiest most romantic songs ever.

when he first takes shiro and keith to india the first time its wild (its also their last time, Shiro's to terrified to go there again).

on their first day, everyone adam knew in india was there to greet them. his extended family, his relatives, his neighbors, his long lost family members. their house was so full people barely had place to move.

it didnt help that shiro was famous. he was the face of the garrison and all the children knew him. he had children attached to his arms for days. the smallest of them all, a 1 yo named aliya, gets oddly attached to keith. the baby’s adorable, but keith doesn’t know what to do with it.

aliya: *comes and stands in front of keith*

keith: *awkwardly smiles at her*

aliya: *bursts out crying and runs away*

keith: ????

aliya: *comes up to keith and stands in front of him again*

adam: i think she wants to to carry her.

keith, scrunching his face up in confusion: but why is she crying?

adam: you smiled at her.

keith: so?

adam, not having the heart to tell keith his forced smile looks hideous: maybe try smiling at her more - naturally.

keith: what do you mean?

adam: i mean stop acting so fucking emo all the time, your act’s frightening a baby.

keith, deadpanning with narrowed eyes: what act?

he eventually gives up and picks her up. she’s quiet at first but then she slaps him. he stares at her with his eyes wide open and she giggles and slaps him again.

keith: adam, she’s hitting me!

adam: i told you to smile at her properly, stop glaring at her.

keith, whining: but she’s laughing!

keith turns back to her and glares at her. she stares back at him, her thumb in her mouth. when keith opens his mouth to speak, she pulls her thumb out of her mouth stabs her drool-covered thumb in his eyes.

keith, dropping her immediately, with tears in his eyes: THIS IS WHY I DON’T LIKE BABIES!

adam watched keith avoid each of his cousins narrowly and decides that since this kid's his now, he'll have to face this family one day or another.

adam: keith, will you come with me for a minute? I need to talk to you about something.

keith and his naive non-indian ass, thinking: oh thank god he's getting me out of his family mess.

adam, leading keith to a room full of indian adults ready to smooch and hug him: oh hey guys, this is shiro's little brother keith.

every single auntie in the room, rushing to keith to pull his cheeks, smooch him and laugh: he’s so cute! omg his cheeks are so chubby!!! oof you’re so fair!! my god this boy’s so shy!

keith's never followed adam anywhere since.

shiro: keith, they were just being nice.

keith, on the verge of crying. again.: one of them slapped my BUTT shiro!

when they’ve settled in a few days later and met every single human being in kolkata they need to, adam takes shiro out to the marketplace. he’s not going to go to the mall and sacrifice his bengali pride even for his bf, so now their just walking along a really crowded street with millions of stalls put up all around them.

adam’s here to buy apples and chikoos but he wants to treat shiro to things he’s been longing to eat since his last visit to india.

they first drink daab (coconut water) and then then adam drags shiro to the sweets shop.

adam: this is where you’ll get the best things you’ll ever eat. we’re eating jalebis first because the rasgullas are sweet and it’ll lessen the jalebi’s sweetness.

shiro, surprised to see his bf so excited about sweets: i thought you didnt like sweet food.

adam: these are JALEBIS, takashi!!

when shiro bit into the jalebi, he knew why his bf loved it so much.

on their way out, shiro asks adam if they can have one of the food stuffs being sold at the stalls.

shiro: adam, we didnt to any food stall. they're literally the most populated stalls here.

adam, following his gaze to find a pani puri stall: takashi. babe. those are foods that can only be digested by indian stomachs.

shiro, completely confused, but now more curious: i wanna try some.

adam: im telling you. its a bad idea.

shiro, rolling his eyes: sure, sure. i think my stomach can handle this.

adam: takashi. remember when we were taught about avoiding street vendors in second grade.

shiro:

adam: it was made specifically for these.

shiro finally manages to drag adam to the stall.

adam: are you sure you want this?

shiro: why are you being so dramatic about this?! Yes.

adam to the vendor: bhaiya doh plate golgappe dena. (he asked for two plates of pani puri)

adam eats only one, but they’re fucking delicious and he’s never had them before so shiro ends up eating six. he keeps trying to feed adam who just shakes his head.

when they’re sitting in the auto rickshaw, shiro asks adam why he was so insistent on not eating those. adam just leans back and lays his head on shiro’s shoulder

adam: you’ll see.

and shiro did.

he had diarrhea for three nights.

shiro, just coming from the washroom and realizing he needs to go back in: why is it only at nights, though???!

adam, shaking his head: you’re in india, takashi.

when they’re in the airport (shiro: finally 😩), keith’s jumping around because he really needs to pee.

adam: can’t you hold it till the flight?

keith: i’ve been holding it the whole way!! i can’t!

adam, sighing: fine. the washroom’s that way.

keith comes back, more still than he should be after relieving himself, his eyes a bit wide.

keith:

shiro: what’s wrong? are you okay?

keith: the washroom...

adam, shaking his head: be grateful you’re at the airport. at least the washroom’s decent.

both shiro and keith looking at adam:

adam: what?! i told you to hold it till the flight.

shiro: what’s wrong with the washroom?

keith: it’s... not. very sanitary.

adam: *snorts on the water he just drank*

shiro and adam’s favorite date nights are at home (and its not because of adam’s stingy indian ass). they both make one indian and one japanese dish and adam loves this because it’s domestic and economical (he can’t help it. he’s indian. stinginess runs in his blood. its painful to use a dollor he knows may save him someday.) (he also knows there’s going to be no such day but its always good to stay safe).

on some nights when they’re feeling particularly romantic, adam will play some romantic hindi song and they’ll dance to it. now that shiro understands hindi, he’s almost spooked at how romantic these songs are.

they’re dancing to tum se hi one night and shiro has his arms wrapped around adam, whose hands are on shiro’s shoulder. adam then leans against shiro and rests his head on shiro’s shoulder, in response to which the other man presses a kiss against adam’s temple.

moments like these work as a stark reminder for adam. its in these moments knows he wants to spend the rest of his life with shiro. waking up for work with him in the mornings and spending the weekends watching crappy romcoms and slow dancing would just be a part of his everyday routine and there’s nothing he wants more.

when shiro pulls away, he’s a bit startled.

adam: is everything okay?

shiro, looking ready to shit: ah yea. just um, wow, we’ve been together for so long.

adam: *quietly raising his eyebrows at his bf*

the song ends then and adam’s surprised to hear the next song. his eyes widen as he turns to shiro.

adam: is that...?

shiro, nodding and laughing quietly: you lied to me. it wasn’t in punjabi.

adam, who was staring and the speakers connected to shiro’s phone, now whips his head back to shiro who bends down on one knee: shiro. what are you doing?

but he already knows what shiro is doing. and his heart’s racing and he somehow has tears in his eyes as tujhe dekha toh plays in the background.

shiro, pulling out a ring with shaky hands: adam, i’ve known and loved you for eight years now-

adam: you’re seriously proposing to me with thiS SONG??!!

adam doesn’t realize that his statement made shiro panic because he’s in the midst of asking god how he managed to find a man who thought any song from dilwale dulhania le jayenge would ever possibly make a good proposal song. once his holy conversation with god is over, he turns back to shiro, smiling and takes his hand to tug him up then proceeding to kiss him hard till they’re both out of breath.

adam: i’ll marry you but promise me to never choose a hindi song for the wedding. my cousins will be there.

#i have more but this is it for now ig #vld #adashi #adam #shiro #keith #adashi hcs #voltron #whatthehellmyra #for people who aren't desi #its ok to rb #myheadcanons

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