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tiny-opal-essence · 4 years

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Pocket Paladin Chpt 12

Bumbling

Lance could hear his friends’ muffled voices as they walked through the space mall. Each step of Hunk’s shook the utility belt pocket that Lance had snuck into.

In hindsight, maybe I shouldn’t have done this. Why did I think this was a good idea? Wait, how did I get here anyway? Why are we at the space mall? Pidge and Hunk got everything they needed from the Olkari.

Another step and Lance was thrown into the side of the pocket once more, throwing him off that train of thought.

You’d think he would have noticed I’m in here.

It was dark in the pocket, which was causing Lance to become a bit panicky.

Ok. Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out.

The shaking came to a stop and Lance heard a new voice. It sounded like there was some sort of performance going on in the mall.

If I could just get the zipper open a little bit, I could watch the show too.

He tried to push the zipper, but it refused to budge.

Stupid zipper. Stupid pocket. Stupid me.

He fell over as the pocket suddenly moved once more.

Geeze, Hunk. Warn a guy next time.

The ride was rougher than before, causing Lance to bump into all the sides of the pocket. Lucky for him, the pocket was made of a soft material. Unluckily for him, it seemed he wasn’t going to slow down for a while. He could almost feel the fabric wrapping around him.

Wonder what happened that made everyone leave the performance so fast. Was it that bad? Hunk loves watching performances, even if they aren’t that good. He always says that he wants to support the performers, cause they put a lot of hard work into it. Maybe there was an emergency and they’re going to see if they can help?

After a few minutes of being jostled around, he came to a stop.

Finally!

The pocket was suddenly dropped on a hard surface.

Ow. What gives? Are we back on the castleship already?

Lance heard two unfamiliar voices talking.

“I see you’ve improved in your thievery.”

“It helps when there’s a distraction. The rest of the crew put on a good show if you’ll pardon the pun.”

“It might have been a bit on the nose having them perform Pirates of Peloponesia. There better be something good in here.”

Lance could hear things shifting around him as the two space pirates commented on what they found. He felt the pocket he was in lurch upwards and heard a zipper being pulled, but he was still in the dark.

“Nothing in this pocket. Check the other one.”

Quiznak. This does not bode well for Lancey-Lance.

Light suddenly burst into the pocket as the zipper was pulled open.

“Look what we have here.” The leader pirate quickly grabbed Lance. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anything quite like this before.”

“Let me go!” Lance tried to break his hold on him, but if anything, it only grew tighter.

“You’re quite the little fighter, aren’t you?”

“What a pretty little pet. You’ll be worth quite the pretty penny at the swap moon.” Her smile reminded Lance of a shark’s.

“Or, you could just bring me back to my friends? Maybe you’ve heard of them? Team Voltron?” Lance tried to hide the shakiness in his voice.

The two pirates burst into laughter.

“Now why would we do something like that when we can get so much more for you at the swap moon?” the leader said.

“I doubt Voltron would even know you. Why would they bother with something as insignificant as you?” the accomplice added on.

“Maybe because he’s our friend.” Hunk and the rest of team Voltron stood in the doorway in their paladin armor

How did they change into those so fast?

“What, this little pipsqueak?” Lance winced as the grip on him grew tighter. “I don’t think he’s worth it.”

“Give him back and we promise you’ll leave this place unharmed,” Shiro promised. “You have my word as the leader of Voltron.”

“Face it, you’re outnumbered.” Keith and the others took a step closer.

“You’re mistaken. You’re the ones who are outnumbered. I have a crew that will take you down.” The leader stated.

“Oh, you mean the crew that’s tied up in the main atrium of the mall? That crew?” Allura said with a smirk on her face.

“Tied up? You’re bluffing.” Doubt crept into the accomplice’s voice.

“Are we?” Keith asked as the team took another step closer to the pirates.

“Varkon was happy to help us stop some space pirates. Once we saw the security tapes, well, it was only too easy to track you down.” Pidge responded.

“Be smart about this. Surrender, and you’re free to go. You won’t get as nice an offer from Varkon.” Shiro once again offered.

The pirates took a moment to decide.

“You want your friend so badly? Fine, have him.” And with that, the hand that was holding Lance let go and he was in freefall.

Lance couldn’t even let out a scream. He closed his eyes and hoped it would be quick.

He didn’t hit the ground.

The surface beneath him was warm to the touch and gave a little when he pushed himself up to his hands and knees. He took deep breaths and saw a hint of red out of the corner of his eye.

Keith.

As he looked around, Lance realized just how close of a call it was.

Holy cheese. I almost…

“Are you ok?” Keith asked.

Lance nodded. “Yeah. Nice catch by the way.”

“Thanks.” Keith stood up, keeping a steady hand so Lance didn’t fall.

Lance could see that the others had tied up the pirates.

“We’ve got to get you out of here without anyone else seeing you. Are you ok going back in my jacket pocket?”

“Sure.”

Keith put him in the pocket. Lance could feel his eyelids growing heavy as the pocket rocked him.

Must be from all the excitement.

Slowly he began drifting…drifting…

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Keith woke up to a rustling sound coming from his nightstand. He looked over and saw that Lance was struggling with the bandana blanket and getting tangled up in it. As he reached over to try to help, Lance fearfully mumbled out.

“Let me go!”

Lance was writhing all over his bed. Keith was afraid that he might hurt himself since the bed was right on the edge of the dollhouse. That was the moment that Lance rolled too far in one direction and fell out of the bed and over the edge.

Keith hated to think of what might have happened if his reflexes weren’t so fast.

That was close.

“Lance,” Keith whispered. “Are you ok?”

Lance somehow had managed to sleep through all of that and even stopped fidgeting. His breathing relaxed as he curled up and nuzzled his face into Keith’s palm.

What do I do now? Every time I’ve tried to put him down while he’s asleep he wakes up. I don’t want to wake him up.

Keith looked over at the clock glowing on the wall.

It’s still another varga till breakfast. I can just wait for him to wake up.

Keith kept a steady hand as he lied back down, resting his hands on his chest. Lance didn’t even stir.

He must be tired. We were up pretty late playing Smash Bros. I’m still tired.

Keith fought the urge to yawn. A few minutes passed, and he started drifting off once more.

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Lance felt a lot warmer than he was used to. Whatever was over him felt heavier than the bandana he had been using as a blanket the past few days. He half-heartedly tried to push it away, but it didn’t budge. He could feel the ground rising and falling beneath him.

Last I checked, beds don’t do that. Where am I?

The *bu-bump* sound in his ear was a bit loud to hear first thing in the morning. He let out a slight *groan* as he started stretching as much as what was on top of him would let him. He heard a much louder *groan* somewhere above him as both what was holding him down and the ground itself began shifting.

“Whoa!”

Lance started rolling down the incline before he heard Keith exclaim, “Shit, Lance!”

That’s when Lance realized that the mysterious object that had been holding him down had been Keith’s hand.

Why was Keith holding me in his sleep? I mean, I’m not complaining, but it’s still a bit weird. Did he grab me in his sleep or something? He usually doesn’t move at all in his sleep. Wait, is it weird that I know that?

“Are you ok?” Keith had a slightly worried look on his face as he looked down at Lance sitting in his hands.

“Yeah, a bit disoriented though. I remember falling asleep in my bed, so why did I wake up…not in my bed?” Lance didn’t want to make Keith feel awkward, so he decided to indirectly refer to where he woke up.

“Um, well, that’s because you fell out of bed.”

“Wouldn’t I have just woken up on the floor then?”

“You fell out of bed and over the edge of the dollhouse.”

“Oh.”

“I caught you, and every other time I’ve tried putting you down, you’ve woken up and I didn’t want a repeat of that, so I thought I’d just lie down and wait for you to wake up since it was still a varga until breakfast. Guess I was still pretty tired.” Keith sheepishly responded. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“Nah, you’re good. I’m just a little shaken, but that’s my new normal, right?”

“It shouldn’t be.”

“Yeah, but there’s really nothing we can do until Allura’s learned enough to reverse the spell. She’s been working hard at it so you won’t have to worry about me rooming with you for too much longer.”

“I don’t mind. It’s not like you take up a lot of space.” Keith laughed nervously at his bad joke.

“*gasp* Keith, how could you say something like that? I thought we were friends.” Lance said overdramatically before laughing a bit.

“Sorry, that was bad.”

“No, it was actually pretty good. You’re funny, but in a Drax way.”

“Drax?”

“You know, Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy? He’s hilarious without ever trying to be, especially in the sequel. I wonder if Pidge has those on her laptop. We should watch them for our next movie night!”

“We’ll have to check with Pidge on that. In the meantime, it’s almost time for breakfast so we should get ready.” Keith brought Lance back over to the dollhouse so they both could do just that.

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“I still think you two cheated last night.” Pidge bitterly took a bite of her pancakes.

“You’re just jealous cause we got mad skills.” Lance taunted back.

“Come on, Pidge. We lost fair and square. There’s always next time.” Hunk stated.

“At least you beat Shiro and Allura,” Keith added.

“In my defense, it’s been a while since I played,” Shiro said.

“That’s hardly an excuse. You played Smash Bros. all the time with Matt.” Pidge responded.

“And he wiped the floor with me every time.”

“You two cleaned the floor when you were done?” Coran had a perplexed look on his face.

“It’s another Earth phrase. Wiping the floor with someone means that you beat them at something with little effort.” Hunk explained.

“Like how I beat all of you in training?” Allura said with a smile.

“Exactly,” Lance responded.

“Just you wait until training today. I’m going to wipe the floor with you this time.” Pidge confidently declared.

“I look forward to the challenge,” Allura responded.

“Could someone pass th-” Hunk started to say before an alert popped up on the screen.

*ALERT! INCOMING TRANSMISSION!*

Keith tried to silently apologize to Lance before quickly grabbing him and dropping him in his jacket pocket so he was out of sight.

Lance had barely managed to grasp what was happening before he got whisked away. He landed in a heap in the pocket, heart pounding as he tried to catch his breath.

Ok, that…that was terrifying. I think my stomach got left behind. Uggh, my head hurts.

‘That’s your brain trying to comprehend its own stupidity.’

Now’s not the time for quoting That 70s Show. I could have whiplash or maybe a concussion. You could at least show a little sympathy.

Lance focused on keeping still so attention wouldn’t be drawn to him in the pocket as he heard the message.

“Voltron, I am Commander Schurke.” The Galra on the screen said. “I cannot say that this is unexpected, but your arrival is most unwelcome. I will give you one chance to go back the way you came without a fight.”

“I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you,” Pidge responded.

“What happens if we do not agree with your request?” Allura stood up and faced the screen after giving a side eye to Pidge.

“If you refuse to cooperate, then you will be forced to leave. I have been given the order from Lotor himself to stop you from continuing your pursuit.”

“You must understand that is something we cannot allow.” Allura put her hands behind her back so the commander couldn’t see the signal she gave to Coran.

“My sentries are surrounding your ship as we speak. You do not have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” Shiro stated.

“Then you have chosen wrong, Champion. I hope they remember you, and how easily Voltron fell to the Galra Empire.” Schurke spoke before ending the transmission.

Coran pushed the button on the remote in his pocket and activated the particle barrier just a moment before the first shots hit it, reverberating through the castleship.

“Paladins to your stations!” Shiro commanded before grabbing Keith by the shoulder. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“No.”

“Lance should stay here on the castleship, where it’s safe. It would be too risky out there for him. Coran and the space mice can make sure he stays out of trouble while we’re gone.”

“Oh, right.” Keith had been so focused on the situation at hand, he had momentarily forgotten about Lance being in his pocket. He grabbed Lance and handed him to Coran.

“Good luck!” Lance called out as everyone ran to their zip lines to their lions. Lance’s face fell once the others were out of sight.

This is the first mission I’m not allowed to go on. I thought I would be fixed before that happened. I mean, I know there’s not much I can do like this, but I still want to help.

“Don’t worry, my boy. You can help me and the space mice with air support.”

“Thanks, Coran.”

“Let’s get to the bridge.” Coran brought Lance to the floating tray, where the space mice were already waiting for their ride.

“Coran, we need you to open the barrier for us to get out,” Allura said through the comms.

“One moment, Princess.” Coran pressed a different button on the remote.

“We’re out. Go ahead and close it.” Keith told Coran, who pressed the button once more.

“That’s pretty handy.” Lance flew the tray next to Coran as they raced towards the bridge.

“Yes, it is. Slav designed it after complaining about how the only place we could activate the particle barrier from was the bridge. It does help in situations like this. Plus it has the option of just opening a part of the barrier to let someone in or out without compromising the defenses everywhere.”

“Cool.”

“There’s a lot of these guys.” Hunk said.

“How much longer till we get air support?” Pidge asked.

“Hold on a tic. We’re almost there.” Coran responded through the comms as he ran towards the door to the bridge. It opened automatically and he and Lance rushed in. “Lance, bring the space mice over to the main console over there.” Coran pointed. “They know what to do.”

When Lance landed the floating tray, the four space mice all ran to different sections of the console and began pushing buttons and flipping switches. The area around them in space was filled with lasers.

“What should I do?”

“Help the space mice.”

Lance, take the controls. But does anyone ask if I know how?

‘Is now really the best time for Justice League references?’

Shut up. I’ll figure it out.

‘Don’t forget, lives are at stake here. One slip up, and they’re as good as dead.’

Not helping.

The space mice were all *squeaking* to each other and quickly going between different buttons and switches. Lance would try to approach one of them to ask what he could do to help, but he just seemed to be getting in their way. They would shoo him out of the way and before they had a chance to try and tell him what he could do, they were called away by one of the other space mice. This happened a few times with each of them.

I guess it makes sense that they’ve got this down. They’ve been doing this during all of our missions. And we’ve had a lot of missions. But there still has to be something that I can do. I just feel like I’m in the way here.

“Is there anything that I can do specifically?”

“Umm.” Coran looked over at the other console for a split second before looking back at his own. “You can flip the charge switch for the cannon.”

“Ok. What one is it?” Lance looked around at the vast assortment of switches.

“That one in the middle.” Coran pointed.

Lance saw two switches technically in the middle where Coran had pointed. They were labeled, but in Altean.

I knew I should have taken Allura up on her deal to learn more Altean. Should I ask someone to translate it? There’s not really time for that and I mean, if it’s the wrong one I’ll just do the other. What could go wrong?

Lance pulled the switch down. There was a low and drawn out *booooooooop* sound before everything went dark. The castleship was hit by one of the ion cannons after the particle barrier fell.

That’s not what’s supposed to happen.

Lance quickly pushed the switch back up and the lights came back on along with the particle barrier. He quickly flipped the correct switch.

“Sorry, Coran,” Lance called out.

“Coran, what happened?” Keith asked.

“Are you guys ok? The castle got hit when it went dark.” Hunk added.

“We’re all fine on this end. Uhhh, it seems that the upgrades to the particle barrier just temporarily overloaded the system, but it should be good now.” Coran covered for Lance. “How are things going on your end?”

“These guys just don’t know when to quit,” Shiro said.

“Well, neither do we.” Lance could hear the smirk in Pidge’s voice.

“Is there anything else I can do to help?” Lance asked Coran.

“Um, no. It might be best if you don’t do anything with the console since you’re not as familiar with it as the space mice and I are.” Coran hesitatingly responded. “Perhaps you could serve as a lookout and let us know if you see any targets we miss?”

“Yeah, I can do that.” Lance hopped back on the floating tray and flew it to a good viewpoint.

I don’t know what good it’ll do though. The targeting system’s automatic. There’s no way any of the shots would miss.

‘He just feels sorry for you. He’s putting you in a useless position because that’s what you are. Useless.’

Well, maybe something will go wrong and actually overload the system so it won’t automatically target and I’ll get to prove myself once again as the sharpshooter of the team.

‘You can’t even flip the right switch. What makes you think you would be able to do that?’

I just…I want to feel like I’m still able to do something for the team.

Lance was glad that with his new position the others couldn’t see his face fall.

“Where are all of these guys coming from? Every time we hit one down, two more take its place.” Pidge said over the comms.

“They seem to be coming from a nearby planet. Aha! Planet Stolpern, an uninhabited ball of ice.” Coran pulled up some information on the planet. “There must be a stronghold of sorts there.”

“That would explain the endless fighter jets.” Hunk commented.

“If we take down that stronghold, we should be able to defeat Schurke and continue tracking Lotor,” Shiro stated.

“Let’s go then.” Keith sounded all too eager to bring the fight to Schurke.

“Not so fast, Keith.” Coran cautioned. “Given how low the temperatures are planet-side, only the blue lion can go. The other lions would be frozen instantly.”

“Alright, the rest of us will provide a distraction so Allura can get closer and take down the stronghold.” Shiro declared.

“Sounds good.” Allura and the others voiced their agreement.

It’s nice having Shiro back in charge. Not saying that Keith didn’t do a good job, cause he did, but Shiro’s slightly better at coming up with plans.

Coran pulled up the video feed from the blue lion so they could see what Allura was seeing on Stolpern.

It looks like Hoth from Star Wars. Weird.

“I see the building. It looks pretty well fortified. Oh, Blue’s telling me something.” Allura commented.

Blue’s weapon made short work of the defenses of the stronghold.

How did Allura unlock that ability so soon? She’s only been doing this for 3 months. It took me almost 6 to unlock that!

‘Don’t you see how much stronger Allura’s connection is with Blue? She was always meant to be the blue paladin. You were just a placeholder. Blue never really cared about you.’

She does care about me!

‘She cut you off without a word. That’s not what someone who cares about you would do, though why would anyone care about you at all?’

Lance tried to ignore the thoughts swirling in his head. He saw that Allura had managed to singlehandedly destroy the stronghold and was flying back towards the rest of the team.

“Well done, Allura!” Coran praised her. “Alfor would be so proud of how far you’ve come as a paladin.”

“Thank you, Coran.”

“Alright team, let’s finish this. Form Voltron!” Shiro yelled.

Once Voltron was formed, they were able to take down the remaining sentries in the fighter jets before Commander Schurke escaped into deep space.

‘Look how much smoother everything is running without you. There wasn’t any hesitation in forming Voltron or finishing the fight. They’re better off without you.’

“Excellent work, paladins. Let’s get everyone back in the castleship and go finish up breakfast.” Coran turned off the particle barrier.

“I have to confer with Coran first, but I will see you all in the dining room shortly,” Allura said

“Last one there’s a rotten egg!” Pidge exclaimed through the comms.

“That’s not fair! You know my lion’s not as fast as yours.” Hunk responded.

Lance lowered the floating tray down so the space mice could climb on before zooming down the hall back to breakfast. When he got to the room, Keith and Shiro were already there. As he and the space mice took their seats, Pidge burst into the room, closely followed by Hunk.

“Haha! Beat ya!” Pidge yelled.

“I’m not the last one here, though. It’s going to be either Coran or Allura.” Hunk pointed out the two last members of the team. “I can warm up everyone’s food while we wait for them.”

“Sounds good,” Keith commented.

“Lance, where’s your helmet?” Shiro noticed that Lance didn’t have it with him.

“Oh! I must have left it on the bridge. I’ll be back in a few.”

Lance flew back down the hallway to the bridge before stopping outside the closed doors and listened in on Coran and Allura talking.

I don’t want to interrupt their conversation if it’s something important.

“Coran, why would you not say what really happened? I had to hear what Lance did from the space mice.” Allura said incredulously.

“Lance has been through enough as is. I didn’t want him to blame himself for this when it wasn’t entirely his fault. He reminds me so much of Roland sometimes that I forget he doesn’t know everything he did.”

Who’s Roland?

“*sigh* I know how hard it is to lose someone, but you still must allow Lance to learn from his mistakes. He put the entire team in jeopardy. What if the power hadn’t come back on at all? He could have killed us all.”

“I understand that. I can teach him more about the consoles so that this doesn’t happen again.”

“Good.”

I think I’ve heard enough. This is a good time to go in.

Lance pressed the button on the floating tray to open the door.

“Oh, Lance. What brings you back up here, my boy?”

“I think I left my helmet in here. Guess I was in such a hurry to beat the others to the dining room, I forgot it. Heh heh.” Lance said sheepishly.

“Lance, you know you’re supposed to keep your helmet with you when you’re on the floating tray.” Allura chided.

“I know. Won’t happen again, I promise.” He responded as he flew over to the console and retrieved his helmet. “What were you guys talking about anyway? More battle strategies?”

“Something like that,” Allura responded.

“Cool. See you guys in the dining room!”

Lance’s thoughts got the better of him as he flew back down the hall.

I’m glad Coran stood up for me, but I really wish the space mice hadn’t told Allura what actually happened. I didn’t mean to do anything wrong. It’s not my fault I don’t know Altean.

‘Except it kind of is.’

Yeah, well…Coran said it wasn’t entirely my fault, so there!

‘Not entirely means partially’

No one asked you! And Coran’s going to teach me more about the stuff so this won’t happen again.

‘And what’s to stop you from putting your friends in danger again?’

Well, there’s not really too much I can do in that department while I’m only 3 inches tall. At least the others don’t know the truth. I trust Allura and Coran to not tell anyone else and I can bribe the space mice with the treats I have in my room.

“Lance, you’re just in time.” Hunk said. “Your food’s ready.”

“Thanks, Hunk.” Lance hid his feelings behind a smile as he once again took his seat with the space mice.

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“Let’s grab him while they’re out of their ship!” Zethrid said.

“Not yet,” Lotor stated.

“Why not? Their team’s out of their ship, it’s the perfect opportunity.” Ezor questioned.

“But look at the video feed.” Axha pointed. “He’s still being closely monitored. We need to wait for him to be alone before we act.”

*meow* Kova was once again sitting on Narti’s shoulder as she pointed to another feed on the screen.

“Excellent point, Narti. There’s still the particle barrier to get through.” Lotor added.

“I could always sneak on their ship again and clone the source code on that remote the mustache man has,” Ezor mentioned.

“Could you steal some more of those treat things when you go, babe?” Zethrid asked.

“Anything for you.”

“I don’t believe that will be necessary,” Lotor stated. “If all goes according to plan, we’ll have them walking right into our trap in less than a movement. There are just a few other planets they’ll need to visit first. Is everything ready on Gefahr?”

“It should be within the next quintant,” Axha answered.

“Good. Let’s make sure Voltron gets the message.”

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“Thanks again for making these swords for us, Hunk.” Lance and the space mice held up their respective swords.

“Oh, it was nothing. I just figured that if you can make a knife out of a railroad tie in shop class, then why not make mini swords for you guys out of nails in the forge.”

“Hey, don’t sell yourself…short!” Lance did finger guns at Hunk.

“Oh my God, Lance. That was terrible. Why are we friends again?” Hunk said jokingly.

“Come on, Hunk. You know you love me.” Lance sing-songed.

“I don’t know, maybe I just need someone to be my taste tester.” Hunk continued to joke.

“Could we please focus back on the training session, you two?” Allura looked over at Hunk and Lance.

“Sorry, Allura.” They chorused.

With that, Hunk went back over with the others while Keith, Lance, and the space mice got back to work. Keith was the one in charge of teaching Lance and the space mice how to use their swords. They had only had the metal swords for a few sessions of training but had learned quickly.

“You’ve all improved a lot since the last session,” Keith observed.

“Well, we have a good teacher.” Lance complimented Keith.

Keith didn’t understand why Lance complimenting him made him feel so…weird inside. It was that good kind of weird again, but he still didn’t know what it meant.

“Uh, thanks.”

They continued training. Lance and the space mice fought one on one, with Lance winning the most rounds out of them.

“Woo hoo! I won again!”

“We need to figure out something that will give you more of a challenge,” Keith commented.

“A challenge you say?” Pidge appeared next to them with a glint in her eyes.

“Ahh! Where did you come from!” Lance exclaimed.

“Over there with the others. I couldn’t help but hear your predicament. Hunk and I have been working on something that might be able to help.”

“What is it?” Keith asked.

“You’ll see.” With that, Pidge ran out of the training deck.

“Any idea what it is?” Lance asked Keith.

“Nope. Keep practicing with each other. I have to talk to Shiro about something.” Keith walked over to the others while Lance and the space mice trained. Lance noticed that the others were all grouped together with their helmets on.

Wonder what they’re talking about. They’re being really secretive. Maybe they’re planning another surprise for me!

‘Doubt.’

A few minutes later, the conversation ended and Keith came back over.

“What was that about?” Lance asked.

“Nothing. Just…wondering what I would have to do to catch up on training with the others.”

That’s right. Keith having to train me is taking time out of his training. That’s not really fair to him.

‘Yes, how selfish you are. You’re just holding him back.’

Maybe there’s something I can do to help.

‘Again, doubt.’

Stop memeing!

Pidge burst back into the room with something clutched in her hand. “Got it!”

“Got what?” Lance asked as Pidge walked over to where he was.

“A challenger.” Pidge put what she was holding down on the platform in front of Lance. As she unwrapped her hand from around it, everyone saw what it was.

“A mini gladiator-bot?” Lance questioned.

“Mhmm.” Pidge nodded. “That way, you’ll be able to improve in your training while you’re like this.”

“But what about what happened with the gladiator last time?” Lance reminded the team.

“We thought of that.” Hunk said. “This one has a kill switch. Other than that and its height, it’s the same as the regular gladiator-bot.”

“The level of difficulty for this one can be changed using the same remote the kill switch is on, so whoever’s watching you can vary it during training.” Pidge pointed out on the remote.

So someone still has to be taken away from their training to babysit me.

“Thanks, guys. This is really going to help.” Lance said.

“No problem, Lance. We want to make sure that you’re prepared in case you actually have to use the sword.” Hunk responded.

“Plus, this helps you get ready for when you’re back to normal,” Shiro commented.

“Watch out, Keith. When I’m back to normal, I’m going to wipe the floor with you!” Lance exclaimed.

“Why wait till then?” Pidge said with a smirk. “We could do a contest between you two right now. The gladiator-bots are the same save for height and a kill switch. It would be an even playing field.”

“I don’t know…” Lance said hesitatingly.

“I’m in,” Keith responded.

Not wanting to look like a chicken in front of his crush, Lance changed his answer to “Me too.”

“Alright. Rules are simple. We’ll start the gladiator bots at the easiest level and gradually increase their difficulty over time. If their sword touches you, you’re out. Whoever lasts the longest wins.”

“What do they win?” Allura asked.

“You mean, what am I going to win, right?” Lance smugly responded.

“Whoever wins gets to make the loser do whatever they want,” Pidge answered.

“As long as it’s appropriate.” Shiro looked at Lance as he spoke.

“Why would you assume I would make Keith do something inappropriate?”

“Because we know you, Lance,” Hunk responded.

“Fine, I’ll keep it PG.”

Not gonna lie, little hurt they think I would do that. I would never make someone do anything they were uncomfortable with. I might push someone’s boundaries on occasion, but I won’t go past them. That’s just rude.

Keith and Lance got in position and waited for the countdown. Lance made sure that his stance, as well as his grip on the sword, were good. When the countdown ended, Lance launched himself at the mini gladiator. The *ding* of him and the mini gladiator clashing blades was drowned out by the *clang* of Keith and his respective gladiator doing the same. As the contest went on, Lance could feel the gladiator getting stronger, though it didn’t seem to be by much. After a few more minutes he looked over at Keith and saw that he was breathing heavily as he barely managed to push his gladiator away.

Wow, I’m actually doing better than Keith! He’s really going at it and I haven’t even broken a sweat!

‘Isn’t that a bit suspicious?’

Nope. I’m just that good. Maybe.

It wasn’t too long until a buzzer went off, meaning someone had been hit.

“Lance is the winner,” Coran said as Hunk hit the kill switch for the mini gladiator.

“Woo hoo! Take that, Keith!” Lance exclaimed.

“Yeah, yeah.” Keith panted out. “What are you going to make me do?”

“Remember, it has to be appropriate,” Shiro stated.

“I know, Shiro. I’m just gonna make Keith do a face mask.”

“That’s it?” Keith questioned.

“Yep. That’s it.” Lance replied. “Unless you’d rather do something else? I’ve got a few other ideas…”

“No. Face mask’s good.”

“Great! I’ll go get the stuff and bring it back here.” Lance climbed back on his floating tray and flew down the hallway.

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As Lance flew back down the hallway towards the training deck, he heard something that made him stop outside the door.

“Wait, so it wasn’t a power surge?” Pidge said incredulously.

“No, it wasn’t,” Allura confirmed.

“Princess, is this really necessary?” Coran wanted to keep what had happened under wraps to spare Lance’s feelings.

“They need to know. Lance’s actions could have had dire consequences.”

Wow. So much for them not telling.

‘What would you expect? You endangered your team.’

Well, at least Coran didn’t want to tell the truth. Wait. That makes it sound like a bad thing.

“Ok. How do we prevent that from happening again?” Shiro thought out loud. “I’d feel a bit mean saying that he’s not allowed to do anything, even if it is for the best.”

“I’m planning on teaching him some more of the controls on the console so that he won’t make the same mistake again,” Coran explained.

“Sounds good,” Keith commented.

“Why was there a switch that would shut off all the power anyway? That seems like a design flaw.” Hunk questioned.

“That’s why all of the switches are clearly labeled. If Lance would have just learned Altean, he wouldn’t have made that mistake.” Allura answered.

Ouch. Yeah, that’s kind of on me.

“He was very upset at making that mistake. I believe it would be in his best interest to not let him know that we all know. He’s had a rough day.” Coran added on.

“Is that the same reason we’re not going to tell him that the contest was rigged?” Pidge asked.

“I feel bad lying to him about that. He’s my best friend.” Hunk said.

“Lance really needed a win today,” Shiro responded. “Having him beat Keith was the best way to do that. Thanks for agreeing to do that, Keith.”

“No problem.”

“That was smart to only increase the difficulty of the mini gladiator by a little and the normal one by a lot.” Allura complimented Hunk and Pidge on their tech.

“Yeah, well, I think we all know Keith wouldn’t be able to actually throw the contest and have it be realistic, so we just put his on one of the higher difficulties,” Pidge explained their method.

“I wonder how far Lance would have actually gotten if we had made it an even playing field.” Hunk thought out loud.

“Probably not too far, since he’s still learning,” Pidge answered. The others murmured in agreement.

So none of them thought I could do it on my own? Do they really think so little of me that they had to cheat the system so I could win? I don’t want to win like that.

‘Of course they think little of you. That’s what you are. Little Lance. Not even able to beat the gladiator on your own.’

“Is it just me, or is Lance taking a long time?” Pidge said.

“Maybe he needs help grabbing some of the stuff.” Hunk suggested.

“I’ll go check.” Lance could hear Keith coming towards the door.

I’d better go in now so they don’t realize I was listening in.

Lance took a breath and put a smile on his face before he pressed the button to open the door.

“Hey guys! Sorry I took so long. These things aren’t as easy to grab when you’re 3 inches tall.” Lance gestured to the various trial size products on the tray.

“Lance, if you need help, you know you can just ask,” Shiro said.

“I know, Space Dad, but I can handle it. I mean, I beat Keith today, so I’m feeling pretty good.”

Gotta make sure they don’t know that I know that they rigged the contest.

“What even are all of these anyways?” Pidge asked as she looked at the variety of products Lance had brought.

“These are all of the things you need for a face mask. Each of them does something different to help your skin.” Lance went through all of the products and what they specifically did as he told Keith how to apply them. Lance also did a face mask himself. The others left to get ready for bed after a few minutes, but not before Pidge snapped a photo of Keith and Lance’s faces covered in goop.

“How much longer do I need to keep this stuff on?” Keith asked as he poked at his face mask.

“Just a few more minutes. And stop poking at it!”

“It feels weird.”

“That’s just cause your skin’s not used to it.”

“How do you do this every day? It just seems like a lot of work.”

“I don’t do this every day. It would dry out my skin.”

“But you always put something on your face at night?”

“Yeah, moisturizer. Not a face mask.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry,” Lance patted Keith’s much larger hand reassuringly, “you’ll learn.”

“What if I don’t want to learn?”

“Then I’ll just have to beat you again and make you do another face mask.” That got Lance thinking. “What would you have made me do if you’d won?”

I mean, he should have won. I’m curious to know. Please don’t let it be anything too bad.

“I don’t know.” Keith paused. “Maybe it’s a good thing you won. I’m not really good at thinking of things like that.”

“Come on, Keith. You’ve got to have some idea.”

“You being quiet for an hour? Or maybe doing more training?” Keith said uncertainly.

“That’s the best you can come up with?” Lance said with a small laugh.

“I told you I’m not good at this.” Keith poked at his face mask again. “Is it supposed to crack when you talk?”

“That means it’s time to take it off. Just wait till you feel how soft your skin is!”

Keith did just that and was amazed at the difference. “That’s amazing.”

“I know, right? Let me feel!”

Keith brought his face down close to Lance.

“How’s it feel?”

“Much improved. Your pores aren’t dying anymore.” Lance answered.

“Can I feel yours?”

“Sure, though I don’t think you’ll feel much since I’m, well, like this.” Lance gestured to himself.

Keith slowly brought his pointer finger to Lance’s cheek to feel for himself. Lance had to brace himself as he did that.

It’s just Keith. He’s not going to hurt you. You’re ok. It’s just a finger the size of you coming closer and closer. Nothing to worry about. You’re ok.

Keith noticed that Lance seemed to flinch slightly as his finger came closer to him but didn’t move away. He gently felt Lance’s cheek.

“I can actually feel a difference.”

“How?” Lance asked. “You don’t know what it felt like before.”

“Actually, I do. When you fell out of bed this morning, you kind of nuzzled your face into my hand.”

Oh my God.

‘How embarrassing.’

“I am so sorry. I’ll push my bed to the inside wall of the dollhouse so I won’t fall over the edge again.”

“That’s a good idea,” Keith commented. “And Lance? If you ever want to do another face mask with me, I’d be ok with it. They’re not that bad.”

“High praise coming from you. Maybe we could get everyone else to do one too. That’d be fun.”

*mhmm* Keith agreed. “Do you need any help cleaning this up?”

“Nah, I’ve got it. I’ll meet you in your room in a few minutes.”

“Alright. Night, Lance.”

“Night, Keith.”

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#pocket paladin #klance #g/t #g/t klance #g/t writing #stories #writing #Giant/tiny #voltron #vld #Shrinking #shrunk #keith #lance

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shima-draws · 6 years

Text

Best Place in the World

SO UHHH what with everyone being super jazzed about my Angelfall AU and wanting to write for it you guys inspired me to write a little drabble for it!! This way you get both a cute fluff fic and a little more background on the AU, a win-win!

Anyway, hope you enjoy!! Please be sure to give it a reblog and spread it around :’) (And there’s notes at the end yup yup)

Everyday used to run like clockwork.

The alarm would go off at seven and he’d roll out of bed, hair fluffed up and sticking up haphazardly until he tamed it with a brush. He’d throw on his clothes and shove all of his notes and technological devices into his bag before trudging downstairs into the flower shop to bid Matt a sleepy good morning, and then out the door he’d go. School was monotonous, work even more so, and by the time he’d fall asleep at three in the morning over piles of complex equations and biorhythms he was barely sure he could keep himself going.

Now? Now things are different.

Keith wakes up to a face full of feathers, softer than anything he’d ever touched before and equally as itchy. Twitching his nose, he draws away before he gets the urge to sneeze. With a slightly annoyed but mostly fond groan, he shoves the obtrusive object out of the way and nudges the body next to him with his foot.

“Lance,” he starts, exasperated. “I told you not to sleep with your wing out, didn’t I? Now I’ll be cleaning feathers out of my mattress for weeks.”

Abruptly the wing in front of his face withdraws, and Lance rolls over to come face to face with him, eyes golden in the morning light. His wing fluffs out and expands until it’s stretching towards the ceiling, and Keith takes a moment to admire how utterly ethereal it makes Lance look, along with the strange semi-halo glowing in a circle around the brunette’s head and tiny speckles in his hair.

Lance pouts, and Keith has to remind himself that yes, this beautiful and amazing creature who is sharing his bed is also extremely mischievous and a total brat. One hundred-percent.

“I feel cramped when I have to hide it,” he whines, rolling his shoulders. His back muscles ripple with the movement and no, Keith definitely isn’t staring, shut up.

“Yeah well, I feel cramped when I wake up to have it shoved in my face,” he snorts, moving to get up and stretch himself.

He hides a smile as Lance shoots up like a rocket, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. He’s always been a morning person, gathering energy from the sun’s warmth. That smile quickly melts into a sigh as feathers scatter everywhere, and Keith resorts to getting out the broom for the sixth time that week—and it’s only Tuesday.

“You like it!” Lance chirps, giving the raven a teasing grin, and bounces towards the edge of the bed. He’s already anticipating what’s to come, as something that’s solidified in their morning routine. Sure, Keith has to wake up an extra half-hour early, but seeing Lance’s smile is worth it, he thinks.

Keith returns to the bed and Lance blinks at him expectantly, shifting so that he’s once again greeted by a face full of feathers.

“Don’t make me put this away,” he threatens, and immediately Lance stills.

The teen smirks triumphantly before brandishing his brush, and slowly begins to comb through the knotted and tangled feathers of Lance’s wing. Morning grooming is one of Lance’s favorite parts of the day, because he’d always had a tough time keeping his wing properly groomed and cleaned, so having Keith do it for him is always nice.

Lance begins to hum softly, a melodical and gorgeous tune that Keith starts to unconsciously sway to. Whenever Lance sings it’s almost as if the heavens themselves part for his song—the whole world becomes brighter and more beautiful, the birds sing along and all of the colors turn more vibrant. Keith isn’t sure if it’s some strange illusion made up by his subconscious or the actual influence of an angel, but he’ll take whatever he gets out of it.

Keith’s eyes flicker over to the faded white scar on Lance’s back, where his other wing had been. Though the angel’s memories are slowly returning to him (brought along with painful headaches, which is always frightening), he still can’t remember how or why his other wing is gone. Was it an accident? Or was it torn off on purpose? Keith isn’t sure he wants to know, in the end—but he’s positive Shiro has some idea, seeing as he’s Lance’s closest friend and like a guardian. There’s definitely something he’s keeping secret behind those kind smiles and gentle gestures about Lance’s past, but whatever it is he refuses to share with them, and it’s frustrating. More frustrating for Lance, who barely remembers anything about his time in the heavens, and having his best friend so tight-lipped about how he’d fallen to earth in the first place must be aggravating to say the least.

“Keith.”

He is snapped out of his thoughts when fingers trace up his jaw to his ear, and he almost jumps out of his skin. Lance is suddenly close, very close, and when did he get that close?

“You stopped. Are you okay? You look like you’re troubled about something...”

Keith shakes it off and smiles, removing Lance’s hand from his cheek and stroking his feathers again. Lance’s back arches and he releases a pleased chirp. The human almost laughs at how he’s acting like a bird again.

“Lance,” he starts uncertainly, dragging the brush down in soft movements.

“Mhmm?”

“When you get your memories back...what...what are you going to do then?”

Lance straightens up, his previous sunny expression having darkened somewhat.

“...I’m not sure. Whatever Shiro’s hiding must be bad, otherwise I wouldn’t be here in this state,” he murmurs, the gold in his eyes flashing for a second. “But...I think, no matter what happened up there, I’m glad it did. Otherwise I would have never met you,” and he turns and smiles so brightly that Keith has to look away, a nervous flush settling over the bridge of his nose.

“Uhh, right.”

Lance’s smile melts into a smirk, his wing twitching amusedly. “Ohh, you’re blushing! That’s cute. Humans are so cute.”

Keith backs away and shakes his head. “Don’t—tease me! Jeez!”

“Jeez is short for Jesus, don’t you know?”

“Oh my god, shut up.”

“I’m your god now? Wow! I’m so honored!” He swoons, laughing heartedly at the extremely embarrassed expression on Keith’s face.

“I swear I will take this brush away from you! Do you want that?!”

Lance’s eyes light up in alarm and he retreats, biting down on his lip. “No! Nuh-uh! Finish my grooming session!”

“Fine,” Keith mutters, huffing when Lance turns his back to him again. But instead of offering up his wing for further brushing, he flops right into Keith’s lap, humming contentedly.

“Screw the Garden of Eden,” Lance whispers, smiling and nuzzling deeper into his hold. “I think the best place in the world to be is right here.”

Keith gapes at this, speechless. But he doesn’t need to say anything more because Lance already knows, and for the remainder of the morning they sit there, a heap of feathers and tangled limbs, and listen to the sounds of birdsong outside of Keith’s apartment window.

And there’s the end~

Some things, if you didn’t catch them:

Keith has his own apartment, and downstairs there’s a flower shop where Matt works! Keith and Matt are buddies in this AU. Once Lance’s angelic status is revealed to Matt (it was totally accidental), Matt loves having Lance grow flowers for him since he can do that. (“Make me some daisies!” “Yes, boss!” “And--and some sunflowers!” “Okie dokie!” “OOOH WAIT can you also make lilacs?!” “Yessir!!”) Matt fanboys over Lance and his powers a lot lol

Shiro is also an angel :’) And he knows the entire history of what happened to Lance, why he lost his wing and his memories, and why he was banished from the heavens. But, Shiro is also Lance’s closest friend and he knows that if he reveals his fate to him Lance will be really upset so Shiro holds back on telling him to protect him from the truth...

KEITH TOTALLY BRUSHES LANCE’S WING EVERY MORNING. Lance has always been a person to groom himself, in canon and in AUs, so yeah he’d definitely sweet talk Keith into brushing his wing every morning. Can you brush a wing? I don’t know, and I don’t care because Keith does it anyway fite me

Anyway yeah that’s all!! Writing this was fun hehe I like doing short ones like this it makes my life easier Hope you enjoyed it! As always, hmu with AU questions n stuff! :D

#Klance #Voltron #Keith Kogane #Lance Mcclain #VLD #Matt Holt #Angelfall AU #Takashi Shirogane #Angel!Lance #Shima's AUs #Shima's shitty fanfiction #Shima writes #My writing #drabble #Oneshot #//jazz hands #This is so silly and fluffy I hope you like it hhhhh #Long post #shima-draws

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bleusarcellewrites · 7 years

Note

um im not sure if we need a prompt number to ask for a fic maybe but ive been dying to read a shklance fanfic of someone saying to lance he doesnt deserve to be on the team and the team defending him and giving him reasons why he does and shiro and keith just shower him in love,gahhhh im rambling im sorry lol

THIS TOOK SO LONG AND IM SO SORRY!

*Clears throat* So yeah, hello!!! Without further a due, here you go! I hope that you like it and I did good! First time writing Shklance, it was a trip. Still gotta practice tho, to try and balance the characters.

Content: SHKLANCE and Mean Emperors.

A N Y W A Y S, here ya go!

Disclaimer: Voltron doesn’t belong to me.

Non number but who cares. “shklance fanfic of someone saying to lance hedoesn’t deserve to be on the team and the team defending him and giving himreasons why he does and shiro and keith just shower him in love” // Shklance.

“Your presence won’t be needed, Blue Paladin.”

Lance’s freezes at the words and raises his headslowly towards the voice, not even noticing how the entire team stop on theirtracks with him.

The Emperor of the planet they just saved stares downat Lance with their unblinking bored feline eyes, vague disgust on the back oftheir pupil.

“Excuse me?” Lance hears a second voice behind him,cold and sharp and Lance suppresses the shiver that runs down his back when herecognizes it as one of his boyfriend’s.

The Emperor shrugs their shoulders nonchalantly,turning slightly to meet Shiro’s gaze from behind Lance. “This is an importantmeeting. The entire council will be there and each of your team is required tocome with an agreement treaty because all of you have something to offer.”Their green feline eyes fall on Lance once again, expression bored andindifferent, “Except for the Blue Paladin, his…presence is not required.”

Lance’s smile wavers and he takes a shuddering breathin before he lets it out slowly, taking a step back.

“Ah, that’s alright, Your Highness.” Lance says,clearing the back of his throat subtly, “I will just – go back to the castleand stand guard, no problem.”

“Lance.” Keith says,scowling deeply at the brunet but Lance shrugs off his concerns.

“It’s okay. It’s fine.” He reassurance his boyfriendgently, spearing him a quick weak smile over his shoulder before turning to theEmperor.

“You Highness.”Lance says respectfully, doing a small bow at the royal before he stands up andturns around, heading towards the castle, ignoring Hunk’s soft calling of hisname and Pidge’s hand on his wrist.

It’s until Lance’s out of their sight when Keith turnsaround and snarls into the Emperor’s face.

“You have no right –!” He snaps but he’s cut off shortwhen Shiro’s places his Galra hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place.

“Your Highness,Lance’s a vital presence in every Voltron meeting we have; he’s our finest strategistand our sharpshooter. He deserves to be in the meeting, he –”

“No offense,Black Paladin.” The Emperor cuts off abruptly, waving their hand withoutinterest, “But what young Blue Paladin can or cannot do is not my concern.His…lack of talent and posture is something we cannot tolerate. I’m sure youhold a deep affection towards your teammate but he’s quite…useless, for thelack of a better word.”

He can feel anger rising from Keith’s shoulders as theblack haired man curls his hands into fists and Shiro can understand. His owngrip on Keith’s shoulder tightens at shallowed words and there’s this hot sharpfeeling inside his stomach that keeps urging him to make the Emperor regrettheir words.

The ice thin patience he had left is kept frombreaking when Allura steps forward, slow and graceful, her head held up high asshe stares straight into the Emperor’s eyes.

“Emperor Hekmarth,” She calls politely but everyonecan hear the icy tone behind the formal greeting, “I would like to remind youthat while Voltron’s duty is to save and defend every single life in theuniverse, risking their entire lives inthe process for the greater good, it is done not because of the sense of dutybut because of their pure and honest hearts that motivates them to serve.”

It doesn’t take a tick before Allura’s narrowing hereyes dangerously, staring coldly at the royal. “They deserve nothing less than yourrespect and gratitude and I will not stand by the side as you belittle one ofmy paladins in my presence.”

The Emperor shifts on their feet and takes a tick togather back their posture. “Your Majesty, I did not mean to –”

A hand stopshim short and Allura’s glare just cuts off any excuse they might have. “TheVoltron Alliance is based on trust, respect and honesty, Your Highness. MyFather taught me that and I live by his words. In honor of my Father, thismeeting shall continue as planned but I must say that if my Paladin, who youbrushed off easily and without remorse, doesn’t get a proper apology directlyfrom you, the alliance that could have been will be no more.”

She takes another step forward, chin up high, eyesglowing with serene power. “Have I made myself clear?”

This time, the Emperor visually shifts nervously underthe Princess’s glare and nods, doing a half bow at Allura before he mumbles asoft “Yes, Princess Allura.”

Allura’s stares down at him and watches him go beforeshe exhales and turns around, meeting the rest of the team’s eyes before restingon Shiro’s.

They don’t need words. Allura simply nods at himcalmly with a concern spark on her eyes and Shiro nods back stiffly, promisingto fill her up later.

“Hunk, Pidge, please wait for us outside.” She sayssoftly, watching as both Shiro and Keith follow the same direction Lance hadleft to before she turns around and heads towards the Emperor’s castle, “Coranand I will keep this meeting short.”

It’s the sound of something bouncing against the wallsthat tells them exactly where Lance is.

They follow the noise, not surprised in the least whenit leads them to their room and it’s Shiro who opens the door quickly beforedodging the incoming ball of food goo that was aimed to his face.

“Oh shit, sorry, Shiro.” Lance says, shouldersdropping in relief when he sees Keith’s hand catching the ball swiftly behindShiro. “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect anyone. I thought the meeting would belonger?”

Keith scoffs and Shiro limits himself to take a deepbreath.

“The meeting is still going.” Shiro confesses,stepping into the room and allowing Keith to close the door behind them.

Lance tilts his head to the side in confusion. “Thenwhy are you here?”

“We wanted to make sure you were okay.” Keith is theone who answers this time as he takes seat on Lance’s right on the flooragainst the wall.

“Of course I’m okay.” The brunet answers, a smallwobbly smile decorating his face, “I mean, sure, the words stung a little,whatever, but it wasn’t anything I didn’t know already, you know.”

Both men frown disapprovingly at the words.

“Lance.” Shiro calls from his side, leaning closer andpushing Lance’s chin up until he meet his eyes, “Please tell me that you don’tbelieve what the Emperor said.”

Lance opens his mouth to reply but no words come outand it’s then when Shiro knows his answer because Lance prefers staying silentthan lying.

Shiro purses his lips and sighs when Lance looks awayfrom him.

“Lance, please, look at me?” Shiro asks quietly,poking one of Lance’s cheeks playfully, “Come on, kitten, I wanna see thosebeautiful eyes.”

Lance breaths out a laugh when Shiro pokes him onceagain on the cheek. “Oh my gosh, Shiro, stop.” He says, halfheartedly pushinghis boyfriend’s hands away but the corner of his mouth twitches when the olderman doesn’t stop.

“Nope.” Shiro says, smiling when Lance’s shoulders getloose and his small smile turns a little more genuine, “I need your full attentionfor what I’m about to say.”

Lance puffs hischeeks with a pout but nods nonetheless, making Shiro’s heart overflown withwarm at the expression.

“You are important.” He declares firmly, cupping bothof Lance’s cheeks and rubbing his thumbs on the smooth skin fondly, “You’re soimportant and so damn loved. That dumb Emperor doesn’t know you but I do andyou wanna know what I think of you?”

Lance bites his lip to suppress the smile growing onit and he shrugs half nonchalantly as an answer.

Shiro takes it. “I think you are wonderful.” he says,leaning forwards and dropping a kiss against the brunet’s hairline, “Loyal to afault, beautiful inside and out.” He continues, his lips moving forwards allover Lance’s face.

“Amazing singer with heartwarming hugs, incrediblestrategist and the most selfless person ever.” Keith adds from behind, movingcloser and wrapping both of his arms around Lance’s middle, “Best at cuddlestoo.”

“That’s such a compliment coming from the guy who is bestat cradling.” Lance mumbles, leaning backwards and letting himself be held byhis boyfriends. He sighs contently when he feels Keith’s quiet laugh againsthis neck before Keith’s lips press themselves against his bare skin.

Shiro watches them, a fond smile gracing his facebefore he focus on Lance’s bright blue eyes once again.

“I know we can’treally change what your mind thinks sometimes.” Shiro says softly, a hint ofsadness on the back of his voice, “And that is alright because it’s part oflife and growing.”

“But,” Keith continues dropping his chin on Lance’sshoulder, “When that happens, remember our words, because ours speak the truthwhen your mind is playing games.”

“When the world seems so cruel, trust us and hold onto us.” Shiro smiles tenderly, catching the way Lance’s lower’s lip starts toquiver, “Because we will be there, by your side, until you are able to stand onyour own. We will be there.”

“Yesterday.”Keith says warmly.

“Today.” Lance mumbles, voice cracking in the slightestas he fights the lump on his throat.

“And always.” Shiro finishes, a radiant smilespreading through his lips when Lance sniffs and nods at him, smiling at bothof his boyfriends.

“Thank you.” He whispers, heart full and voice thickwith emotion and the arms around him only tighten, holding him close.

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