#but he always is right there acting like he wants to seduce keith with his harp

[nightkarmaqueen]

Unlocked : Her Inner Beast - Ikemen Prince

----- Unlocked : Her Inner Beast || Ikemen Prince x Reader (Mostly Leon x Reader)

Summary :  Remember when Sariel chose you to become a Belle because of your superb slap? Perhaps, when you stay with eight princes with eight different personalities for too long, you slowly become part of the Noble Beast itself. But whatever it is, if someone threatens the safety of the princes, you will have no mercy. So, congratulations! You have unlocked your inner beast to protect them no matter what!

WC : 3584 Words (longer than how much I intend to write)

Warning : Grammar errors, Spoiler for Chapter 33-34 of I Became the Tryrant’s Secretary.

Story Notes : I’m using the name Emelda for the villain (?) here, but please noted it that I just chose a random name that will match to Jade (Nation)

A/N : So, I was reading this Manhwa/Manhua (?) called I Became the Tryrant’s Secretary. When I saw Rosaline (the actual female lead) slapped the de facto female lead, that’s kinda reminded me of us as Belle. So here we go, an AU or crossover between Ikemen Prince and IBTTS. Enjoy. And by the way, here. Please read it legally. I just put this link for the example.

     NOT only in charge of choosing a king for Rhodolite, a Belle will always be busy with other palace tasks. Clause 99 is no longer valid, but with that you still have to obey the rest of the 98 Clauses.

     Delivered documents, letters, and various information to each prince, met with many nobles from Rhodolite and other countries, and much more. Not only that, as a Belle you have to maintain your formality during work and in public.

     “Here is the file you asked for, Your Highness,” you said politely as you handed him the document.

     Chevalier put down his teacup and accepted the file. He read it carefully in silence.

     Knowing Chevalier can’t be bothered while he was focused on his work, you looked at Clavis who was standing by the second prince’s side. “By the way, who is the maiden who came to the palace this morning? I heard she came for a tea party with the Dompteur Family. However, Leon and his faction will only be returning this afternoon.”

     "Oh, that woman? She is Lady Emelda, daughter of Duke Uaithne. Or of I must say, she is a distant relative of Prince Keith," Clavis answered.

     "Keith Howell of Jade?" confirming your question, Clavis nodded.

     “She is so pretty and charming. Too bad they forbid me to seduce her,” Nokto followed the conversation.

     “Isn't she already unattached to him? You can play with her now," continued Clavis.

     Their bad habit of pretending you weren't there is back. You just stood there, standing in confusion. What do Nokto and Clavis mean? Why Nokto couldn’t seduce her?

     A split second later, all of you fell silent as Chevalier sighed. He puts the document you gave him earlier. “I see that none of you really intend to tell this stray dog-like Belle about that Jade woman.”

     If it weren't for the fact that he was a prince, you might have smacked his nose right then and there. Nokto chuckled. "How about you? Are you sure you want to tell her and hurt our beloved Belle’s feeling?”

     “If she does, it's none of my business. But wouldn't it be better to know the truth, than know nothing?" Chevalier who continued his work replied.

     “W-what do you ever mean? Is there something I shouldn't know?" you asked, confused.

     “That woman you were talking about earlier.” Chevalier looked at you coldly. “He is one of our fiancées.”

     "Eh?!" your heart is like being stabbed, but on the other hand you are also confused. "One of your fiancées?"

     “When one of us becomes the King of Rhodolite, he will sbe one of our wives. Do you know what it's for, [Y/N]?” Nokto asked.

     “Political marriage?”

     "You’re right! Because Jade act neutral toward Rhodolite, the marriage between both kings’ bloodline became one of the guarantees of peace between the two kingdoms. Actually, it doesn't have to be a king, he can still marry any one of us who doesn't become king," Nokto closed his explanation.

     "But she's having a tea party with only the Dompteurs, so you know who that woman is after, no?"

     Chevalier's question made you flinch. “Chev, you scared our Belle.” Clavis nagged.

     "I told you, it's none of my business!" Chevalier sneered. "And if it’s true, I expect you can still work with a broken heart like that."

     You gasped and returned to your professional mode. You patted your dress and combed your hair with your fingers before returning to your feet very straight. "Of course. Your orders, Your Highness?”

∘◦ ✂ ————–✂ ◦∘

     The scent of roses tickled Leon and his faction's senses of smell as soon as they entered the palace gates. They had just returned from an inspect of their respective territories and happened to be able to return at the same time.

     “There is nothing wrong with my territory. However, they suggest me to lowering taxes a bit this season. They should focus on funding their farm,” Jin reported to Leon.

     “When it comes to food supplies, lowering taxes isn't going to have a big impact on Rhodolite. I will ask Sariel to write an official letter regarding this tax reduction,” Leon replied.

     "Your Highnesses," but then, a woman's gentle and melodic voice made the four princes turn their heads. "I see you guys are back?"

     "Who... is she?" Yves asked blantly.

     “I think she's the woman Sariel tried to introduce a few months ago,” Licht replied.

     “Lady Emelda, if I’m not wrong?” Leon asked.

     Lady Emelda nodded. “As we had planned, I came here to have a tea party with you and the rest of the Dompteur Family. But if you feel tired after the inspection, I will let you rest a bit. Let me ask the maids to prepare our tea.”

     "Yes, I'm a little bit tired, but perhaps one cup of tea won't kill me," Leon replied. A triumphant yet sweet smile touched Lady Emelda's lips. However, that smile didn't last long. “But you don't have to bother asking the maids. Once I rest for a bit, I'll ask [Y/N] to prepare the tea. You must taste the rose tea made by our Belle. I have to say proudly that her tea is the best in Rhodolite.”

     Of course, that took Lady Emelda by surprise. Her body trembled with anger and her mouth kept mumbling, cursing you like “[Y/N] this, [Y/N] that, who did she think she was to be able to wrap the princes in her fingers?!”

     "Then, if you’ll excuse me for a while," Leon excused himself.

     Not wanting to just let Leon go, Lady Emelda turned around. “[Y/N], you are special because you are a Belle and always by the side of the princes!” she grumbled silently. "Just stay there and see, Leon! I will kill that Belle you love and steal her place by your side!” Lady Emelda swore in her heart.

     War, betrayal, and many other conflicts make Leon have a very strong instinct against someone's negative aura. As soon as he sensed Lady Emelda's ominous aura, Leon drew his sword.

     "AH—?!" Lady Emelda's body was instantly ponned into the ground. Her body froze, not daring to move when the tip of Leon's sword was already pressed against her neck. The kind and warm smile that had previously painted on Leon's face suddenly disappeared.

     Seeing the

threatened expression of their faction leader that he had to draw his weapon, the other three princes also drew their swords and pointed the tips of it at Lady Emelda. Licht, Yves, and Jin stood there, confining her from all directions.

     “AHHH!!!” Lady Emelda screamed in horror.

     "Leon, you okay?!" Licht asked seriously, his blood-colored eyes on the maiden menacingly.

     “What did this woman do to you?!” now it was Yves' turn to ask. He was seriously as Licht.

     “Y-Y-Your Highness?” Lady Emelda who was shaking in fear under her four pairs of intimidating eyes stood there in confuse. "Why?"

     “Say, what exactly are you planning on us?” Leon asked. His voice could make anyone run away in fright.

     “W-what do you mean, Your Highness?!” Lady Emelda panicked.

     “I feel such an aura from within you. Once again, say! What exactly are you planning on us?!” Leon asked very firmly and clearly.

     "No! I-I could never did such things like that!” Lady Emelda defended herself.

     “Leon, what will you do? She's a Maiden of Jade but she can be a threat to us. Should I call Sariel?” Jin asked.

     "No," Leon answered instantly. “I know what Sariel will decide if he sees this,” he continued. After thinking for a while, Leon nodded and called out to one of his men. "But maybe [Y/N] knows what we have to do."

∘◦ ✂ ————–✂ ◦∘

     "In conclusion, Benitoite is willing to give us ten percent of their marine wealth and grant ownership status to an area five miles off their coast on our behalf if we are willing to send Rhodolite Garnet supplies at the same percentage," you are still locked in the Chevalier’s Faction room, reporting documents, which you previously brought.

     “Isn't that a little unbalanced? Benitoite suddenly gave us a territory but asked a little for the exchange?” Clavis asked.

     Chevalier sighed, not feeling strange about it at all. “We can send additional gifts if you feel it's not an unbalanced exchange system. What do you think, Belle?” getting used to working with his Belle, Chevalier asks for your opinion.

     You nodded. “I think what Prince Chevalier said is true. We can send some bags of gold and the most expensive rose tea in Rhodolite to balance it out.”

     Chevalier’s brows knitted. "Tea?" he asked, confused.

     Surprised by your own answer, you realized what you just said. “A-ah, I deeply apologize, Your Highness. I mean the most expensive... tourmaline! Right, crimson tourmaline.”

     “Still thinking about Lady Emelda aiming for Leon?” Clavis asked.

     "It's not like that," you whispered softly. Without even needing to be told, Chevalier, Clavis, and Nokto knew that you were lying.

     "Hm?" something suddenly caught Nokto's attention beyond the window before he smirked. "I'm surprised you can't smell it, King Highness," Nokto chuckled to Chevalier.

     "You're wrong. I've smelled that scent minutes time ago," Chevalier argued.

     "What scent?" you were confused again.

     “The scent of swords bathed in sunlight,” the second prince answered. His cold pretty eyes stared deep at yours. "And the scent of a frightened woman."

     "Eh?! Wait a moment! It's not like when I first met you, is it, Your Highness? Because I don't feel any fear now!” you' tried to confirm what they said.

     Nokto chuckled. "Fear not, Belle. That's not your scent. Besides, your scent is sweeter than this."

     “Your Highness, please! This isn’t a joke!”

     Nokto laughed softly. “I'm sorry, really! However," he averted his gaze from the window at you. His cold crimson eyes suddenly gave you chills. “Just now he came back, Leon and his faction had already drawn their swords.”

     "What?!" of course, you were very surprised. “In the palace?!”

     "And the scent of the frightened woman I smelled earlier was the scent of the woman we were just talking about," the King Highness added.

     “Lady Emelda?! What's with her?!” chills ran down to your spine. “Wait, does that mean Leon and his faction are pointing their swords at Lady Emelda?!”

     Instead of answering, Clavis who was already staring out the window laughed. “This will entertain me so much.”

     "You may excuse yourself," Chevalier dismissed you. "I know you won't be able to relax if you continue to work like that."

     Having such permission, you immediately bowed to excuse yourself and rushed to the garden closest to the palace gate.

     Is Leon in danger? Did Lady Emelda do something to threaten Leon and the other princes? Are you going to lose Leon because of that political marriage and never get to see him again? So many questions haunt your mind, accompanying your every step through the palace halls.

     When Leon who was pointing his sword at Lady Emelda entered your view, you smiled in relief. You're so grateful he's okay. "Leon!" you called for him, raising your voice a little.

     “[Y/N]?”

     “Ah—“

     Seeing you tripping while running, Leon immediately dropped his weapon to catch you. Thanks to him, you fell into his arms.

     “L-Leon…a-are you alright?” you asked, not letting your lungs take in a bit of air after you've run long enough.

     "I'm always alright, [Y/N]. But please, match your breath with mine and relax,” Leon pleaded, realizing you were still panting for air from running.

     You gripped the front of Leon’s clothes, trying to do what he asked. "Good, just like that," he complimented you as he smoothed your sweat-drenched hair. “More importantly, why do you have teary eyes like you want to cry? Did Sariel give you too many tasks? Chevalier scolded you? Clavis bullied you? Nokto flirted with you again? Or Luke pranked you?”

     "A-ah, I-I'm fine!" You rubbed your eyes. “I was just worried when I heard you drew your sword inside the palace gates,” you said honestly.

     Hearing your confession, Leon chuckled. "[Y/N], I'm okay, really."

     "Oh, thanks goodness," you muttered. You turned your gaze to Jin, Yves, and Litch who were still keeping Lady Emelda in her place. "How about you guys? Are you guys all right?”

     “I’m all fine!”

     "Who do you think I am that you should worry about?"

     “I’m alright.”

     Jin, Yves, and Licht answered in turn. You can finally sighed in relief again.

     "What are you guys doing here?" you all immediately turned your gaze towards the sound.

     "Luke?" you looked at him in confuse.

     "Oh? You’ve arrested that woman? I thought I would be bothered to catch the her. I guess, I have to thank you guys?” Luke

continued, getting off his horse.

     "What do you mean?" Licht asked.

     “Chevalier sent me to the border to confirm something. And what Chevalier was worried about did happen.” Luke looked at Lady Emelda. “Lady Emelda came here and held this tea party without Prince Keith's approval and Sariel did not receive any letter from His Highness regarding this event. Shouldn't that be illegal?" Luke asked.

     "Well, that’s true. I only received a letter from you two days ago,” Leon muttered. “I don't remember Sariel telling me about this schedule.”

     “Wait, Your Highness! I thought my father had sent you the permit. How did all this happen?" Lady Emelda panicked.

     "Oh? With Prince Keith's permission I was able to speak to Duke Uaithne, your father and His Grace looks confused. Is it true that you didn't run away just for a cup of tea with Leon?” Luke asked her again.

     "Wait a moment! I am your fiancée, I should be able to walk around in this palace that will soon be my home!” Lady Emelda

defended herself.

     "You're not just my fiancée," Leon replied. “You are _our _future wife. That means you don't have to marry me. You can marry any of my other seven brothers.”

     Lady Emelda froze, losing from Leon. She couldn't say anything else.

     Hearing that, you were obviously very surprised—and furious. You looked at Leon seriously. “So, she infiltrated this palace?! Leon, did Lady Emelda do anything wrong to you? Did she do anything suspicious?”

     “Watch this,” Jin whispered to Yves and Licht. "[Y/N]," he called you.

     “Yes?”

     “She tried to kill Leon.”

     “Wha—?!” you were immediately surprised and snapped. "Jin?!" Leon was probably more surprised than you.

     “T-that's not true, Your Highness! How could I dare do such things. It's not like that," Lady Emelda's voice began to waver because she was getting scared.

     Your pretty eyes instantly darkens and you start to growl. But innocently, you looked at Leon. “Lady Emelda tried to kill you?!” your innocent look didn’t match the question.

     “A-ah,” Leon had a hard time answering.

     "You don't want to answer?!" you're already upset so there's nothing the princes can do to calm you down. “Fine, the others might be able to answer it honestly. Prince Jin," you called, looking at the eldest prince.

     “Yes?”

     “Lady Emelda tried to kill Leon?”

     Seeing how furious you were, Jin smiled in satisfaction. He nodded at you. "That's what I said."

     You huffed and walked with very clear footsteps, approaching the Maiden of Jade. "[Y/N]?" Leon stood there in confusion.

     Meanwhile, Jin proudly lowered his sword. Yves and Licht also lowered their weapon.

     You stopped in front of Lady Emelda and took a deep breath to speak. “Lady Emelda, from the information I got, I believe you are the future wife of one of these princes. At the very least, I thought you respected and cared for His Highnesses,” you glared at the poor woman.

     “Lady Belle, this is a misunderstanding!” Lady Emelda tried to defend herself. “I've never wanted to harm Prince Leon—”

     SLAP!!!

     All pairs of eyes widened and their jaws dropped, unable to believe what they had just seen. Even to Nokto and Clavis watching from a distance—behind the window of their faction room, they were just as shocked as the others at the garden. Silence engulfed them for a moment, not even the wind dared to disturb them.

     “Ouch,” Lady Emelda moaned in pain as she felt a burning and stinging sensation on her cheeks.

     “Why can I feel that slap?” Licht asked quietly as he looked away.

     “I didn't think I could see the superb slap that Sariel told us. Now I know why she became a Belle just because a single slap. It was an amazing slap.” Yves muttered.

     "That's our Belle," Jin and Luke proudly have a hgh-five.

     "Huh?! N-no, she's mine!" Leon who had just woken up from his daze snapped.

     “[Y/N] is yours, Leon, but Belle is ours. Don’t be such a greedy prince!” Jin let out a heartful laugh.

     “So what if you were their fiancee?” your question to Lady Emelda brought all back to focus on you. "I am their Belle, so I will decide whether the woman is worthy to stand by the princes or not!"

     THUD! You pushed Lady Emelda until she fell backwards. You looked at her coldly—like what Chevalier used to do, thanks to him. “You are a disgrace to Jade now. Such a shame, you are so unfit to stand by one of the Rhodolite Princes!” you snarled.

     “And I'm sure you'll have a lot to say to His Grace, your father and His Highness Prince Keith. I’m wishing you a good luck to you and your family," you continued closing your epic sneer—with the intention of protecting your princes.

    The princes who witnessed and listened to your badass and epic lines screamed loudly inside their hearts. They couldn't really scream at having to keep their image as princes. But for sure, you made them jump in joy when they heard your growls.

     "I apologize for showing something unpleasant, Your Highnesses," you bowed in curtsey respectfully to Leon and the other princes.

     “Ah, i-it's okay,” Leon pulled your waist against him and wiped the sweat that was dripping down your forehead from anger earlier with his sleeve. “Most importantly, what should we do with Lady Emelda?”

     “I will report this to Prince Chevalier. I believe it's the best to let the Foreign Affair Faction handle her. Knowing how Prince Chevalier is, he will make Lady Emelda pay for every crime with the proper punishment. More than that, I'm sure Prince Nokto can also negotiate a little with Prince Keith on this matter," you explained very clearly and completely.

     “Our Belle gave too many surprises today, I'm a bit dizzy yet proud at the same time,” Licht said honestly, voiced his opinion.

     "She's changed a lot from when she first came here," Yves continued.

     You just smile hearing every comment and compliment from them. However, you saw Leon's exhausted face. You released yourself from Leon's embrace and smiled sweetly and politely at the princes.

     “However, since Prince Leon's Faction just returned from their inspection, I will prioritize their rest first. I will prepare the rose tea for you. I hope it can relieve you a bit from your tiredness,” you smiled. “Prince Luke too. You just came back from the border, didn't you? I'm sure honey-rose tea will suit your taste."

     “[Y/N], you’re the best!” Luke’s smile beamed as he heard your honey-rose tea.

     "That's a good idea," Leon who was already exhausted

muttered. After sheathing their swords, Leon and the other princes turned to head for the palace.

     “W-wait, Prince Leon!” Lady Emelda who was still sitting on the ground tried to reach Leon. “H-how about our—”

     You who intend to follow the princes turned back to Lady Emelda. "Stop," you sneered. All the princes stopped and looked back at you and Lady Emelda from their backs.

     “I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a noble woman. If anybody harms His Highnesses, even if it’s a noble, I will never forgive them! I will show no mercy for the people who threaten the princes’ safety!”

     "[Y/N], that's enough." Leon reminded you, stopping you from overdoing everything and hurting yourself instead. He held out his hand to you. "That's enough for today, okay?"

     The innocent and sweet smile returned to your lips. “A moment, Your Highness!” you smirked at Lady Emelda before turning around and holding Leon's hand.

     After returning to his arms, Leon kissed your temple and looked at Lady Emelda sharply, making Lady Emelda fell silent in fear again. You and the princes returned to the palace.

     “Jin, you unlocked her beast,” Licht commented.

     "Am I too harsh earlier?" Jin asked, laughing with satisfaction instead.

     Leon just smiled, proud of you in silence. “You really look like a noble beast now,” Leon commented. “It seems like Sariel and Chevalier were giving you too much influence.”

     You just giggled sweetly. "Is that true? I'm pleased to hear it!"

BONUS : 

     “Lady Belle, this is a misunderstanding!” Lady Emelda tried to defend herself. “I've never wanted to harm Prince Leon—”

    SLAP!!!

     "Ow!" Nokto and Clavis who saw it from behind the window of their faction's room were also amazed by your superb slap.

     Nokto even touched his cheek and wondered. “Ah, I want to feel that amazing slap too,” he chuckled.

     "You heard that, Chev?" Clavis asked Chevalier who was still sitting at his desk.

     “Hm,” Chevalier replied shortly. But what surprised Nokto and Clavis more was how Chevalier hid his proud smile behind his folded hands. “As expected, Belle,” he praised you quietly.

Have a great day/night. See you in the next work!

#ikemen series #ikemen prince #ikepri #cybird #ikepri x reader #ikemen prince x reader #ikemen prince fluff #ikepri fluff #leon x reader #leon dompteur x reader #ikepri leon x reader #jin grandet #ikepri jin #chevalier michel #ikepri chevalier #clavis lelouch #ikepri clavis #leon dompteur #ikepri leon #yves kloss #ikepri yves #licht klein #ikepri licht #nokto klein #ikepri nokto #luke randolph #ikepri luke #otome games #nkq_works

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

One nation under influence

Chico News Review     By Evan Tuchinsky    October 16, 2020    

Chico State Professor Emerita of Sociology, and cult expert, Janja Lalich

Since teaching her last class at Chico State in June 2018, Janja Lalich—professor emerita of sociology and a preeminent expert on cults—has not eased her way into retirement.

...

Her work getting the most attention now: two documentaries on NXIVM (pronounced NEX-ee-um)—an ostensible self-help organization that masked the sex-slave group DOS at its core. The Vow wraps with its ninth episode Sunday (Oct. 18) on HBO (though it has a greenlight for a second season), and Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult debuts the same night on Starz with the first of four episodes.

Producers of both projects consulted Lalich. She attended the last two weeks of the trial where, in June 2019, cult head Keith Raniere was convicted on seven criminal counts including racketeering and sex trafficking. Members of his inner circle, including actress Allison Mack of Smallville fame and Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman, pled guilty and also face jail time.

...

Are you watching The Vow now, or did you already see it during the editing or production phase? No, I didn’t see any of it before, because they’re in New York and I’m obviously out in California—so I’ve only been watching it like everybody else.

What’s been your reaction? The two documentaries are really quite different and complement each other. What’s most amazing to me in the The Vow is the amount of real-time footage that they have of things inside the group: of Keith Raniere speaking, of people being inside various workshops. So you’re kind of following the stories of [whistleblower couples] Mark [Vicente] and Bonnie [Piesse] and Sarah [Edmondson] and Nippy [Ames]; also you really see the manipulative dynamic that goes on because they have so much original footage. …

The one coming out this week focuses more on Catherine trying to get her daughter out, everything she did, and India actually coming out of the group and talking about her experience. It’s really quite moving.

They’re very different in their technique and their approaches, and they’re both very powerful. I think it’s so great that these documentaries are coming out now to help educate the public about these groups.

What do you hope people take away from watching these documentaries? Several things. I’m hoping that, for one, viewers will begin to have a better understanding of who joins these groups. I think there’s always been a feeling that Oh, it’s just “stupid people,” “crazy people” or “weak people” who get into these groups. You can see from these documentaries—and many of the others that have come out recently—that’s not who cults recruit. Cults recruit smart people, A-type personalities; they want people who can run their businesses and keep the thing going and recruit and bring in celebrities and bring legitimacy to the group. I hope the public will see these are decent, good people who join these groups, and if there’s any common denominator, it’s idealism: people who want to create a better world or do something better for their families. That’s what cults prey on.

Then, I also hope people will see how easy it is to get manipulated, to have this kind of gaslighting happen, where in many ways you’re very subtly coerced into joining and doing things you wouldn’t normally do. Membership in these groups tends to change your moral compass and your value structure—that takes determination on the part of the cult, and it takes indoctrination. I’m hoping these two documentaries will help the public understand how easily that happens and how deeply it harms people, how deeply it affects victims of that kind of cult regime.

We hear about gaslighting with how the public is being manipulated by politicians, and terms like Trump Derangement Syndrome and the Trump Cult. Are there parallels you see to your work? At least from my point of view, Trump has really done an excellent job of turning people away from reality. And he’s created his own version of reality. This whole focus on not believing in science, resisting that there’s any kind of climate change, insisting that “oh, the coronavirus really isn’t all that bad”—all these things over the last four years have appealed to certain people who have then become this frenzied 40 percent as they’ve become referred to, “the 40 percent,” who will, as we’ve seen, even put their lives at risk to attend these Trump rallies.

For me, what I feel I’m witnessing is the same close-mindedness that I see when I study cults: that the members are kind of shut into this bubble world and they’re very hard to speak to rationally and they don’t want to entertain any ideas that conflict with what they believe in. I think we’re seeing that a lot right now. And also with the QAnon movement that’s become so popular, we’re seeing families that have been completely disrupted by people who have become so closed in their thinking.

The dangers I see, especially with QAnon and even some of the things Trump has said, is violence that can so easily erupt among that population. To me, that’s what’s troubling. Most cults are insular and do harm among their members, but most cults don’t act outward. Surely some cults have, like Charlie Manson, over the years, but most cults don’t do that. What’s different now with QAnon and some of the white supremacist groups and some of that extremism is the acting out: walking around with guns, threatening to kidnap governors. That has been given license by some of the rhetoric from the administration.

Is there any antidote? We can never give up hope. There certainly is no magic bullet; with every individual and family situation, it’s going to be different. But I think some of the actions that are happening now with Facebook and Twitter, some of these social media outlets that are shutting down some of the disinformation that QAnon has been putting out, hopefully dampens some of the enthusiasm and it won’t be available to so many people to latch onto.

It’s difficult, because our country is in a very unsettling time right now. People don’t know what’s going on. Sometimes it feels like everything’s coming apart, right? Sometimes I even feel that way! When societies are in that unsettling kind of environment, that’s when cults can recruit; that’s when people tend to grasp at things that offer them some framework, offer them some answers, provide them some calm, some way to understand what’s going on. Until we can settle out the environment in America, we’re going to see a lot of this happening. Perhaps with a change in administration, we can begin to settle some of these crisis areas.

extracted from:

https://chico.newsreview.com/2020/10/16/one-nation-under-influence/

______________________________________________

The forgotten figure who explains how Trump got almost 74 million votes

Why do so many evangelicals continue to deny that Biden won the election?

#Janja Lalich #cults #QAnon #Keith Raniere #racketeering #sex trafficking

[draconida]

Shance Fic Recs

Well, while I was in my AO3 profile, I realized how many bookmarks I have! So I've decided to make fic recommendation lists.   [This list will have other parts, and I include fics with Kuro and Sven]

1- Black to Blue by PuppetMaster55

Lance, the undisputed (no longer, since he finally got the team to stop questioning his position like a month ago) leader of Voltron finds himself in the absolute strangest scenario: being the Blue Paladin.

Lance, still finding his place on team Voltron, wakes up to the weirdest world: one where he's the Black Paladin.

OR, I take a universe where Lance was always the Black Paladin and have him swap bodies with canon Lance, throwing both sets of teams for a trip.

[This fic is the beginning of a series in process, super recommended]

2- Black & Blue by starboyshiro (this author writes a lot of love to Shiro)

“Something wrong, babe? Did you have a bad day or something?” Shiro asks, plopping down on the couch next to Lance.

“Nothing happened, I'm just looking at all of these cute cats thinking about how much I want one, but can't have one.” Lance frowns, resting his head on Shiro's shoulder as he continues to scroll through Instagram.

Shiro can't stand to see his boyfriend upset. That's been a proven fact since Day One of their relationship. It's only natural that when Lance mentions his disappointment at never owning a cat, Shiro goes above and beyond to cheer him up…

3- I Fold by starboyshiro [Explicit]

“Do you even know who I am?”

“Am I supposed to?”

“Most people around here do.”

An intense poker game turns into a rather steamy night. Can this scrawny grad student handle the force of the famous journalist Takashi Shirogane?

4- Is That A Bowl Of Popcorn In Your Lap Or Are You Just Happy To See Me? by munchiesafterdark [Explicit]

“How many bags should I do?” Shiro called, waving the four unopened packs in his hand at Lance questioningly.

“I think two should be fine,” Lance shrugged. “We can always pop more if… we…” He trailed off, train of thought vacating the station as Shiro turned his back to him to put the remaining packs of popcorn into the cabinets. His hips swayed to an unheard rhythm, defined muscles flexing as he reached up and slid the popcorn into place on the top shelf. Lance’s eyes trailed down to the V of his back, the sweats hanging low enough for him to spot the curve of his round ass. Yet another anomaly of those pants was the manner in which they accentuated his bottom while still remaining baggy around his legs.

The obnoxious ding of the microwave nearly startled Lance out of his skin. His shift on the couch must have been audible, Shiro raised a brow at him over his shoulder, a cocky smirk crossing his lips as he leaned over to retrieve the finished bag of popcorn.

Fuck, he was toying with him! Well, two could play that game!

5- Nasty Smoothie by strawberrylovely

Lance works in a smoothie shop. Twice a week, a certain customer comes in and orders a nasty smoothie. Lance is head over heels.

6- A Hit and A Miss (tletoe) by strawberrylovely

Basically, Lance goes to a party with Hunk and blows his friend a kiss. However, he wasn’t expecting the cute stranger standing in front of Hunk to think the kiss was for him.

7- you should let me (love you) by godsensei

There’s something in the bathtub. Suddenly, Lance is pissed at his past self for watching so many horror movies with creepy shower scenes. He’s certainly too young and beautiful to die like this, right?

Right, totally.

He hesitates, but creeps forward, peeking slowly behind the curtain.

Hm. There’s a hot guy in there.

8- just call me daddy by proletaricat [Explicit and omegaverse]

It's the typical a/b/o story - someone's off their suppressants, surprise heats, bam sex! Except this time Lance escapes capture with the help of Hunk and Shiro has to apologize for his behavior later, interrupting Lance in the middle of his Altean telenovela. Then they bang. It's... it's basically just a PWP with daddy kink and knotting.

9- Sometimes Playing Around with the Occult Can Turn Out Well (Like... REALLY well) by gorgawesome [Explicit]

Lance had the best costume prepared for this Halloween Party. He was totally gonna slay and finally get laid for the first time in MONTHS!

Except it's Halloween Night and he's stuck looking after the family bookstore, because local robberies or something. Honestly? He was too busy pouting to be listening.

Can an awful, boring night turn for the better? Yes. Yes, it can.

10- I found religion between your thighs by KillTheDirector [in process]

He had been topside for over four decades, enjoying the freedom he never had down in the pit. Routines were established then broken then reestablished, but Shiro abided by them because that’s what kept him alive.

Then he met a witch that was more suited to being an incubus than him.

11- One Symbol Off by Silas_Writes [Explicit]

anonymous whispered: Incubus/succubus shiro and witch lance use summoning circles and potions inappropriately

12- To Seduce the Seducer by singtolife [Explicit]

At a college party, Shiro meets Lance, and they hit it off immediately. Only to find out after they have sex that this amazingly sexy guy was a little too good to be true.

13- Blue Skies in Stockholm by Shanced [Explicit, non-con and Kuro]

Lance gets captured by Shiro (who was fused with Kuro by Haggar) and the rest is self indulgent kinky sex. Lance gets raped and wrecked by Shiro and develops Stockholm syndrome, or the likes of it, Shiro can apparently unfuse with Kuro and they have a really good time.

14- Treadmill by kitausu

At 2 minutes of torture in, Lance heard the buzz/click noise of someone’s electronic key activating and opening the door to the gym. And of course, because this was Lance’s life, Hunk had pushed him onto a treadmill with a mirror right in front, affording him an absolutely stunning view of the man walking through the door.

Had Lance loved till now? He was pretty sure that he had never even felt an emotion before seeing the beautiful male specimen reflected beside his face in the mirror.

or, Lance waxes poetic about Shiro's everything, and Hunk set it all up in the first place.

15- Black & Blue & Red All Over by thesynapticsnap

When Lance shows up to the gym with a limp and covered in bruises, Shiro assumes the worst (spoiler: It’s nothing bad! Nor anything kinky, surprisingly).

16- Car Door Blues by ShiekahKami

Shiro never would have expected that accidentally knocking that cute guy out could change his life for the better.

17- Give It a Shance by YonaDawn [in process]

The domestic life of Shance. At least until they become Twitter and Youtube famous. Then it's a wild domestic life.

18- Bowling for Balls? by EllaAniMine

They were just supposed to be bowling... It was harmless fun, or it was supposed to be.

Lance thought he was being funny, but a message that was supposed to be a joke was sent, and now Lance isn't laughing.

19- llévame si quieres by kalakauuas

Shiro takes his dogs to the park and meets the world’s cutest uncle and his niece.

"Lance and his little niece, petting Shiro’s dog, looking soft and serene; it’s like nothing could ever be truly wrong in the world if this is able to happen. What Shiro wouldn’t give to have this sight in front of him over and over again. He scratches Sirius behind the ears, and gets a reassuring lick in return as an act of solidarity. You’ve got this. Man’s best friend, for real."

20- (Mg,Fe2+)2(Mg,Fe2+)5Si8O22(OH)2 by starboyshiro

Lance and Shiro decided to expand their little family and adopt a dog. What they name him is rather questionable.

21- You're Worth More by AbandonedLibrary

Lance wanted to prove his pod his worth after that jackass rolo came in with black pearls in hand.

As the pearl expert in the group he needed to keep his name sake.

Though... Lance learned there are things worth more than pretty pearls.

22- Curiosity Caught a Cat by c0cunt

Shiro has been distancing himself from his friends and family for a long time. All he really has now is Matt's cat, Zekrom. At least, until a man crashes into his balcony to pet his cat.

23- Head Over Heels by saecchii [Kemonomimi and Explicit]

Shiro gains a new roommate, who he is absolutely smitten with.

24- Stray Cats by kitausu

Lance is really enamored with the cute guy who keeps coming into his pet store and buying WAY too much cat food.

or, Shiro moves into a new apartment and sees how many strays there are in the parking lot and just HAS to feed them.

25- Kiss the Bees by kitausu

Lance is smitten with the beekeeper next door.

26- BlueVoice by kitausu [Explicit]

Lance runs a relatively popular voice RP blog and one day hears his own voice coming out of the headphones of the really hot guy next to him at the gym.

27- Change of Plans by kitausu

When Shiro is left at the alter, he decides to go on his honeymoon alone. Enter Lance, the man Shiro had hired to take him and his would-be bride on a month long tour of Europe.

28- To The Grooms by AChapterCanBeABook

There is no better way to celebrate the best day of your life than reminiscing with the people who you love the most and who have been with you through nearly every step in your life. Let's not forget a little bit of embarrassment which goes along with best men speeches, especially if your best man is your brother and the other best man is his accomplice in this whole thing. nevertheless, it doesn't fail in livening up a wedding as well as making in just that much more sentimental.

29- Tell the Truth by thesynapticsnap

Lance is bitten by a 'love bug', turning him into a blushing, stammering mess around his crush- Shiro. Shiro helps him deal with the negative side effects, learning more about Lance's crush and considering his own feelings as they talk.

30- Guess Again by thesynapticsnap

Keith confronts Lance about something he witnessed during a team mind-melding exercise…too bad he’s got the wrong culprit.

31- Smooth by thesynapticsnap

Lance’s first meeting with Shiro doesn’t go as planned – it turns out so much better than he expected.

32- Blind Date by kitausu

“What’s the crisis? I thought you had a blind date? Didn’t go well?”

Lance wailed, collapsing into the couch with a dramatic sigh.

“Yesss, Hunk. He’s too handsome. He’s just so hot. You would not believe what he did to me. I still can’t believe it.”

or, Lance goes on a blind date and can't handle how hot Shiro is.

33- SandMan by Might_suck_but_thats_ok

Shiro goes on a blind date with Lance.

34- Lucky by zombiegardener

Shiro accidentally tells Keith that he's dating one of his frenemies from high school over a Saturday morning phone call, because how is this his life?

35- Boundaries by zombiegardener

It's really hard to keep a relationship secret when you're making out in the middle of a hallway.

36- beauty queen on the silver screen (living life like i'm in a dream) by heavenlyrare

What do you give to someone who already holds the world in their palms?

OR

The sweaters Shiro’s mom knits him every Christmas actually serves a greater purpose for once.

37- Text Me by strawberrylovely

Shiro, trying to get away from two girls who won't stop flirting with him, sits down next to a stranger who he pretends is his boyfriend. The stranger, who has pretty blue eyes, goes along with it.

38- Undateable by strawberrylovely

Lance just wishes someone would date him. Shiro offers to do just that.

39- Black Friday by strawberrylovely

Lance is gonna get that stand mixer. Unless of course a handsome stranger gets to it first.

40- Midnight Tradition by strawberrylovely

Lance goes to a New Years party and meets a guy named Shiro. They may be strangers, but they kiss at midnight anyway. After the party, Lance doesn’t think he’ll ever see Shiro again. That is until the next New Years party when the two meet again and a tradition starts.

Parts 1 / 2 / 3

#vld #voltron #shance #fic rec #lance mcclain #takashi shirogane #shiro/lance #vld kuron #vld kuro

[haruka-hagaren]

Thoughts about the finale

Adv: My english might be pretty bad so sorry if you don’t understad. Is my opinion, if you want to correct me please do it nicely and I will answer in the same way. 

I watch the season in one night because I want to run away from the spoilers. My first thoughs were: “this is like a roller coaster”.Big things happen so fast between chapters that I felt lost (maybe due the lack of sleep). I flet that this recent seasons feel a little bit rushed (?), like some things could be have a better explanation or a few more chapters. But, since I have a bad memorie and I can pass some important things, then I’ll go by parts: 

1 Allurance 

Omg, I love this couple with all my heart. Maybe you feel that this shipp doesn’t have moments or is forced, but oh boy, this ship have a lot of develomenpt, is very slow so maybe you preffer to see another couples. Lance had to grown and understand that Allura is not only a “chick” that he can seduce and then do it with another with no problem. He fell in love and learn to love her, not only for her beauty, he love her for what she is. 

The problem, again, is the time. Like I said is a little slow. When Lotor show up and then Allura learn the bad things that he has done. She should have a moment to herself, to think about their future and Lance could help her without inner intentions. The things could be better if Allura take a moment to think if she wants a relationship, acept the confession from Lance but take it slowly, don’t star to be so lovey-dovey so fast; after all, she has a lot of preasure and think about a relationship is only a weight more to this. 

If they have more time to do it properly, maybe fans would not be so angry. The creators always hint that this will be the endgame, other thing is that you don’t want to listen. 

If you don’t like the ship, is okay, maybe is not your cup of tea, but try to no see Allura like a witch. 

2 Shiro

Shiro is someone that deserves a really happy ending. But, this season he feels so odd...Idk, since season 7 he feels a little apart, but I get it, he only return from the astral plane. The problem is that in season 8 he already has organized his thoughts, and want to be participe of this, so he should be more than Captain of Atlas. Where is the Shiro that is like a older brother from the group? Where is the Shiro that always have been see talking to someone who has a problem? Where is that Shiro that would be anything to save a frind? Where is the Shiro that could tell when things went wrong with Keith? 

And don’t tell me that this is because he is don’t part of Voltron anymore. He is still a big part in Voltron, even at the final chapter Atlas and Voltron became one representing the force of the union, or even the expected white paladin. 

And, I feel that a lot of lines from Keith sounds like things that Shiro would say on those situations. 

3 The end 

This is the thing that most people will complain about, so do I. 

For this, I will not say that Voltron is a bad show, the contrary, I love it, is one of the best things that happen to me. I love Pidge because I can feel so identify with her (a female that doesn’t have problems with acting like a boy, or doesn’t care about gender at all). It has great things. But the preassure of this only has done that this show more vulnerable about the critics. 

I want to Allura have a proper goodbye with Korann, he was like a second father for her, is one of the most important people, and I would cry if I see them saying their goodbyes because of the link they have. 

Allura was so angry when she sees Zarkon, but with Honerva she is so compasitive, is like seeing to different persons, I thing is a good thing to have this growth, but when it happens in a little bit of time it feels wrong somehow. We could see more of Honerva, she denying everything but she changes her opinions when she sees her husband and son on the other side, not because Allura gave her the answer. 

What happen to Krolia and Kolivan? I always think that they are very important people to Keith, but this season we only see them a few seconds like a secondary characters with no importance. 

Shiro marry someone we don’t even know, yes because, if weren’t for this site I wouldn’t even know the name of his husband or realizes in wich scenes he appears. You could say this a great representation, and I accept it: It is. Showing a lovely kiss between to mens is wonderful and a great advance for the comunity...but, as a person, I don’t feel right, is like dreamworks want to give us something after Adams death, it’s when you give a child a candy so they can shut up, but, is the best way to keep it quiet? Even my gay friend told me that this doesn’t feel right, is not about the sexuality of the person, instead is the developing of a relationship. If this was a hetero ship, maybe some of you wouldn’t feel so happy. 

Yes, I know Shiro found happiness, and you can say “we don’t know what happen in that year”, exactly, we don’t know anything so if feels strange to me. It could be great if Curtis marry someone else and Shiro only is there to show support, I think that it could be feel perfect. For now, I feel happy for Shiro but it’s like I don’t know him anymore...He just has been potraying like a extra that only have the leadership of Atlas. 

#voltron #voltron discourse #takashi shirogane #allura #allurance #lance mcclain #voltron lance #i want to know what the creators thing of this end #for now #voltron is over for me #but sheith no #it will always live in my heart

[phaltu]

psst hey, here’s a fun idea,, college au pals, going out for a Christmas karaoke party that they always do and made the mistake of lance choosing costumes, anyways Keith is late and gets the last costume and everyone makes him wear it (mean girls Christmas dance costumes if yk What I mean) and shiro is Santa and long story short, Keith sings Santa baby to shiro in his lap and everyone’s like ‘ok woaH calm down there pals’

Okay this is a really cute sexy Christmas prompt but I am the worst and my day has been 30 hours long so here’s a little ficlet:

(RATED G or T or S for Stupid)

please click the links to find out what the gang’s wearing

Keith is absolutely ready to protest with his entire heart and soul. He’s ready to say that he shouldn’t be punished for showing up half an hour late for karaoke, that having a meeting with a professor should be a valid excuse. He’s ready to challenge Lance in hand-to-hand combat so he can wrestle his Rudolph costume off of him.

But: his friends are all giving him shit-eating grins, except for Shiro. This is partly due to Shiro’s face being obscured by a fluffy white beard, so for all Keith knows, he could (wrongly) think this entire situation is hilarious and embarrassing for Keith.

They all think they’re so smart.

“Yeah of course,” He says with an even tone as he picks up the slick red fabric, and he can see Lance’s face slip a little. “Where’s the bathroom?”

The dress has the same weird shine that all Party City specials do. It’s on the looser side, and Keith has a faint feeling that Lance has worn this before. He probably hasn’t washed it either, because it smells like it was drenched in Axe, shoved into the bottom of a closet, and hasn’t seen the light of day till today.

Every big holiday, his friends like to get together at a karaoke bar. Lance brings his plethora of costumes; they all dress up like the world’s ugliest cabaret troupe and proceed to bray along to whatever song Pidge picks out, because she has a knack for picking things that suit nobody’s vocal capabilities.

Keith always vocalizes his hate for the tradition, and always shows up regardless of whatever else he’s got going on. Right now, there’s a paper with an extended deadline that he’d rather die than write.

Keith would also rather die than get naked in a grody bar bathroom. He pulls at the waist of the dress, noting how it stretches in his hands. It’s short and sleeveless with a white fake fur trim. The black belt around the waist is frayed, and the golden belt buckle is chipped. Keith gets an idea.

“Nice,” Hunk’s the first one to comment, and Pidge snorts. They’re both dressed like elves, but Pidge has the same matching red sponge nose as Lance.

Allura tips her mistletoe-wrapped felt fedora at Keith, and Shiro pulls down his Santa beard before giving a wink. Lance groans.

“This is maybe the ugliest thing I have ever seen,” Lance says flatly as Keith approaches their booth. “My eyes are literally burning.”

“Good,” Keith says, plopping down in the empty space beside Shiro.

“I think it looks nice,” Shiro says and Lance scoffs.

“You’re ugly too,” He turns to informs Shiro, and Keith laughs as he adjusts himself over the dress. 

He’s kept his jeans and his black shirt on underneath the dress, similar to how Allura used to wear her spaghetti straps in the fifth grade. The dress sits weird on him, the top half of it sliding down, and Shiro leans in to adjust it for Keith by one of the padded insets. 

“Thanks,” He says and Shiro smiles. Lance throws a fry at them.

“I’ll buy you a shot if you do this solo,” Allura suggests as the song title splashes across the screen.

“No,” Keith responds. It’s not that he has any reservations; he’s had a few shots and a bottle and half of rice wine to himself and he’s definitely loose enough to deliver a rendition of “Santa Baby” to his best, drunken capabilities. It’s more to do with the fact that if Keith plays the card of the grumpy reluctant friend well enough, he’ll be able to glean more free drinks out of his friends.

“I’ll do it too,” Hunk chimes in and Pidge adds a “Me too!”.

Lance gives a world-weary sigh like he’s not offered more to Keith before to do something stupid, and throws his hat in with the rest of them.

“Do what you want,” Shiro says from beside Keith because Shiro likes to act Good and Pure at all times. It’s a poor way to disguise the fact that he really just wants to absolve himself of all responsibility.

Keith decides Shiro’s going to be his victim.

The instrumental starts tinkling in, and Keith starts having second thoughts. He’s drunk, having been provided the shots before the song, and suddenly singing to the best friend that he’s had a Blatant Crush™ for the better part of a year doesn’t seem as hilarious an idea as he previously thought. 

“You’re missing your lines,” Shiro calls out and Keith snaps his attention back to the screen. Right. 

Santa baby…

Keith pivots on his heel as he starts to sing, and wonders if he should have eaten a little before he got up to sing. His wooziness is a little evident in his voice, but he saunters over to where Shiro’s sitting. His friends ooh as Keith bends down at his hips to sing off-key directly in Shiro’s face.

Shiro raises his eyebrows and grins a little, cheeks flushed from the alcohol. Keith feels a little emboldened, so he gives him a horrible ugly wink with both his eyes.

He wraps up the first chorus, and it all goes good and well till Shiro leans back against the cushion of their booth. He spreads both his arms on the headrest, and his legs splay apart a little and Keith hates that his brain starts immediately thinking SEXY SANTA SEXY SANTA SEXY SANTA-

 “You’re missing your lines again,” Shiro says easily, and Keith can’t even hear what Lance quips in because he’s suddenly got the world’s worst drunken tunnel vision.

The pull is almost magnetic, and Keith can’t help but stalk closer towards Shiro.

Keith has this fantasy where when he eventually seduces Shiro, he’s lithe and strong and moves in a way that screams primal appeal. This is his opening.

Keith clumsily lands into Shiro’s lap while practically yelling out the lines to the song, drowning out Shiro’s oof! when he catches Keith’s weight. To be fair, wearing a sexy christmas outfit over a three day old shirt and stained jeans is not the epitome of attraction but Keith works with what he has.

“Hey Shiro,” Pidge pipes up from the corner. “Did you bring enough bills for this, or should I lend you some?”

Shiro’s turning steadily redder as Keith continues to drape himself across Shiro’s lap and sing what is possibly the ugliest rendition of Santa Baby ever. His friends are equal parts cheering and telling them to stop embarrassing them, that they need to get a room.

The song wraps up, and Keith’s prepared to roll of Shiro’s lap and onto the floor, and preferably out of the bar completely and back to his dorm where he can proceed to sober up and then die once his drunken antics finally register in his brain. 

However, just as Keith’s about to launch off, a strong arm wraps around his waist, bunching up the cheap fabric underneath.

Shiro’s still red, but there’s a glint in his eyes as he tugs Keith closer.

“I’ll buy you a shot if you do another song,” He says, grin lopsided and tipsy and Keith’s so sorely tempted.

#sheith #my fic #altin-s #answer #sheith fic #happy friday y'all #i'm not a christmas person but i am most definitely a karaoke person

[sp4c3-0ddity]

The Art of Seduction

For @pidgeshipweek, Day 6:  Intimacy

Pairing:  Pidge/Lance

Summary:   Pidge's method in convincing Lance to confide in her is...unconventional. (Rated T, just to be safe)

Also cross-posted to Ao3

Sometime after Shiro disappeared, Coran suggested they develop their teamwork anew by using the mind-sharing headsets.

"Nope, not doing that," Lance declined quickly, immediately arousing Pidge's suspicions.

"Why not?" she quipped, smirking at him. "Got anything to hide?"

"Me?" Lance said in that faux nonchalant voice he did too well. He pressed his hand to his chest, eyes wide in indignation. "No, I'm an open book, Pidge. I'm just worried about you."

"...me?" Pidge said. That was not at all the answer she expected, whether or not it was true.

"Yeah," Lance said, nodding. "Remember what you were hiding last time we used the headsets? I wonder what else you could be hiding." Now he was the one that smirked, and continued sagely, "For all we know, you can reveal you're a shape-shifting slug."

"Shape-shifting...slug," Pidge said lamely, stunned by Lance's imagination...or lack thereof.

"Lance," Keith pointed out from his spot down the table, "it took Pidge telling us she was a girl for you to figure that out."

Lance scowled at him, blushing while Pidge snickered. "Maybe I'll be watching out for other secrets this time!" he retorted, pointing his spork at Keith.

Keith raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him, then turned to her. "So, Pidge, are you a shape-shifting slug? It sure would be nice to have another half-human alien on the Castle."

Pidge grinned at him, surprised by the joke; Keith hadn't joked much to begin with, but his humor dried up even more since Shiro's disappearance. "Sorry to disappoint you, Keith, but I am not."

"Too bad," Keith said.

Pidge then glanced sideways at Lance, who still looked troubled, though he hid it well. He laughed at something Hunk said, but he had a faraway expression on his face as he played with his food rather than ate it.

Pidge sighed. If Lance had something to hide, she could easily find out what it was; she just had to do it in the hour or so before they did Coran's suggested exercise.

She decided her best bet would be to seduce Lance.

Pidge nearly choked on her goo as soon as the idea crossed her mind. Hunk helpfully slapped her back when she coughed, but she was too stunned by her own thought process to thank him.

Pidge? Seduce Lance?

She blushed furiously and hid her face in her hands before anyone else noticed.

"Pidge?" said Allura. "Are you all right?"

"Perfect," Pidge gritted out.

"You sure?" Hunk asked. "Your face is really red."

Which meant there was no point in hiding it. She looked up to see the rest of the table's occupants staring at her. "I'm fine," she lied. Then, she decided now or never, pushed her chair back, and stood. "Hey, Lance, can I talk to you outside?"

Lance dropped his spork into his plate, splashing goo onto the table. "What? Why?"

"It's important." He sat on Hunk's other side, so it was simply a matter of grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him out of the dining room.

He came easily enough, though when she looked over her shoulder he was utterly bewildered, his jaw slack with surprise, his eyebrows furrowed with confusion. And when Pidge opened a closet door and shoved him inside, following him a second later, he looked even more confused.

The space was so small, and they were so crowded into it, that Pidge felt his warm breath on her face when he said, "Pidge, I would love to talk to you, but why--"

Pidge grabbed him by the collar and jerked him down to kiss him.

She'd never kissed anyone before, and though deep in her heart of hearts she'd wanted to kiss Lance in particular for months now, she never thought she would get this far.

Oh, God, she thought, shoving him away from her, suddenly nervous and ashamed. "I'm sorry," she said as Lance straightened, rubbing his lip where she accidentally bit him. "I shouldn't have done that."

"No kidding," said Lance, looking down at her. "At least give me a little warning next time, won't you?"

That was not at all what she expected. "What?"

"Look, I know I'm irresistable, Pidge," Lance said, rubbing the back of his neck, "but if you want me that badly, at least tell me."

"I want to slap you," Pidge said, annoyed.

"I'm not really into that," Lance said nonchalantly. "But I could be for you."

Pidge blushed lividly. He was joking about her wanting him, and then he had the audacity to tease her like this? She crossed her arms, suddenly hating the crowded space. Why the hell had she thought this was a good idea? She should've known Lance wouldn't be seduced out of his secrets.

She decided to try for a blunter approach.

"What are you hiding, Lance?"

"W-what?" Lance backed away from her as far as he could in the tiny space. "N-nothing!"

"Yes, you are!" Pidge pointed at his face. "And whatever it is, it's bothering you and affecting your well-being, so either 'fess up or I'm going to dig in your head later whether you like it or not."

Lance snorted. "We're not that intimate," he said.

Pidge stood on her toes, holding onto his arm for balance as she tried to put her face as close to his as possible. "Lance, we regularly merge our brains to operate a giant sword-wielding weapon of mass destruction," she reminded him. "That's as intimate as it gets."

Lance stared down at her, eyes wide and frowning. He pinched his eyes shut then and mumbled, "This is a weird way for you to show you care."

"What?" Pidge said. "Of course I care! You're one of my best friends, and I just kissed you!" She hated that she blushed as she said it and was glad it was dark enough he probably wouldn't notice.

"Right," Lance said sarcastically, "because I remember you saying at the Garrison that you weren't there to make friends."

"That was then!" Pidge said, frantic. Had he really misunderstood her that much for this long? "Everything is different now!"

"Oh yeah?" Lance said, skeptical. "Then explain why you keep belittling me."

Pidge, floored, slumped, dropping his arm and stumbling away from him - which wasn't very far - until her back touched the wall. "I don't...I'm..." She rubbed her face; was she really that awful to him?

Yes, a small voice that sounded like a strange combination of Matt's and Shiro's voices chimed in her mind.

Lance wasn't Pidge's first crush, but the way she behaved towards him only proved that she didn't always handle her emotions well. "I'm sorry," she said, quietly. "You're right; I'm an asshole."

"Hey," said Lance, just as softly. He touched her elbow. "I wouldn't go that far. But I do accept the apology. And we are friends, you know; I don't dive for coins in a fountain for anyone."

Pidge looked up to see him smiling at her, and she cautiously returned it.

"And!" Lance said, looking uncomfortable all over again. "I wouldn't say no to kissing you."

Pidge narrowed her eyes at him. He wasn't acting suave (or how he thought suave should act); in fact, he looked...embarrassed, and a touch hopeful. "Why?" she wondered suspiciously.

"Because I like you?" Lance said, shrugging.

"Why?"

"Because you're..." Lance waved his hands, a rare moment of him being lost for words. "You're you, and--"

"No, I mean, since when?" Lance had given no indication that he might feel the same way about her.

"Since..." Lance shrugged. "I honestly have no idea."

Pidge was reluctant to just accept that; she needed a timeline, she needed to know why Lance, who fancied himself a ladykiller, liked her, a girl that he definitely mistook for a boy for the better part of a year.

"Is it...just me?" she asked.

"Oh, what do you take me for, Pidge?" Lance demanded, crossing his arms. "I'm not that big of an asshole."

Relieved, Pidge took the two steps separating them. "Okay, just making sure." She wound her arms around his neck and stood up on her toes, leaning her weight against him as she kissed him again, this time gentler and without an ulterior motive.

He made a funny surprised sound, one that made Pidge's face heat up all over again, but he held onto her waist and kissed her back enthusiastically. And as they kissed, Pidge couldn't help but muse that she never once imagined that her first - and second - kiss would be in deep space, stuffed in a three-foot-by-three-foot supply closet, and that it would be with the bane of her existence from the Garrison.

Oddly enough, that made the experience more intimate.

---

"Where are Lance and Pidge?" Allura asked once the rest of them were assembled in the common room for their telepathic linking. She looked at Keith, who frowned and shrugged, then at Hunk.

"The last time we saw them Pidge took Lance aside to talk to him," Hunk remembered. It had scarcely been an hour ago too.

Allura sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"They must've been distracted by something," Hunk defended them loyally.

"Yeah, you know how Pidge is, Princess," said Keith, smiling a bit. "And Lance."

"<And> it's a lot worse when they're together," Hunk added.

Allura, apparently deciding to take their word for it, frowned. "I suppose you're right," she said, "but they should've been keeping track of time."

"We'll find them," Keith suggested. "Split up?"

"I'll check their rooms," Allura said.

"I'll go down to the Green Lion's hangar," said Keith.

Hunk shrugged. "I'll go back to the kitchen and dining room and check that they didn't go back after we left." When Allura shot him a skeptical look, he said, "Don't worry, I ate enough earlier."

Keith laughed, but then he left for his desintation without another word. Allura followed him out, and then Hunk ventured down the hall to the kitchen.

They weren't there, but Hunk couldn't say he was surprised. And they weren't in the nearby dining room either. "I didn't find them," he admitted, activating the intercom in his helmet.

"I didn't either," Allura said. "Neither of them is in their room."

"Pidge is never there even when she's asleep," Keith pointed out. "Also they're not in the Green Lion's hangar."

Hunk sighed. He was starting to get worried. As he walked back into the hall, Allura mentioned checking the bridge, and his helmet fed her voice directly into his ears, so he almost missed a muffled sound coming from a nearby supply closet.

The mice? he wondered, reaching for the panel to open the door.

Lance tumbled out backwards, landing with a groan with Pidge falling on top of him. Hunk, stunned, watched her slump into him, her face pressed into his shoulder.

"Uh..." Hunk said eloquently, gaping at them.

At the sound of his voice, Pidge shot straight to her feet, face as red as the Red Lion. Lance, whose face was just as red if not redder, stood up slower.

Hunk took in the details:  their flushed faces, Pidge's askew glasses, Lance's missing jacket, their hair in disarray... "I knew it!" he said, pointing between the two of them and grinning triumphantly.

"Knew what?" Keith asked at the same time as Allura wondered, "Did you find them?"

Pidge's eyes widened with realization, likely because she heard their voices from his helmet's speakers. "Don't tell them!" she said quickly.

Lance, by contrast, wore a goofy smile and seemed too happy to understand what was going on. "Tell who what?" he said, looking at Pidge.

Hunk might have been more embarrassed at interrupting their makeout if he didn't feel so smug, which was why he told Keith and Allura, "I found them in the supply closet near the dining room."

Pidge groaned, hiding her face in her hands while the situation finally dawned on Lance, a comic look of shock crossing his face. "Oh, no," he said.

Allura, the closest, arrived first and immediately demanded, "Did you forget we had training? Why aren't you wearing your armor? What were you doing in a supply closet?"

Keith appeared before either of them could answer, his eyes widening as he took in Pidge's and Lance's appearance. "Do I want to know?" he asked.

"Probably not," Pidge offered, her blush fading.

"Yes," Hunk said, grinning.

Lance only hid his face in his elbow.

#pidge ship week #plance #pidgance #flirtyrobot #and this is my final contribution for the week #it's been fun #but take this weird borderline crack mess lmao #but hey i finally made them kiss #no seriously i wrote this based entirely around the fact that i wanted them to kiss #voltron #anyway don't take the title too seriously lmao #i cannot smut to save my life #nor would i want to to be honest #reem writes fic

[ilikemanythingsespeciallyyou]

Klance Selection AU

wordcount: 16851

summary: It’s going pretty well in Illea. The caste system has been dissolved almost entirely and the country loves the current royalty. Technically there doesn’t really need to be a selection, but Lance insisted on hosting one. Being surrounded by 35 girls who all wanted him to fall for them. That was what his dreams consisted off since he was twelve. The only problem is the ‘Partnership’ with Altea. Because Illea and Altea are practically the same country now, the Alteans will want to watch as well. This wouldn’t be an issue, Lance loves attention, if it weren’t for the ambassador they’d send: Keith. Keith had been showing up as diplomat since his brother had married the princess of Altea. Lance loathed Keith. Mostly because Keith wasn’t Allura, who used to be the ambassador, but she has queen duties now or something. AKA royal bachelor AU no one asked for but I'm giving it anyway. Please be warned, this will include many many many cliché's and overused tropes. Why? because I like them. p.s. There will be lots of clichés in this because I'm weak and cheesy.

ao3 link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9400814/chapters/21281969 

35 girls all competing for Lance’s attention. A dream come true. He had been counting down the days for his selection to start since he was twelve. He had watched every single Selection at least four times. His favourite one was the one which lasted one day. The prince had looked every contestant in the eyes and immediately knew who was the one he would want to spend the rest of his life with. Lance didn’t really expect his selection to go that way. Mostly because he has been told that he has a terrible judge of character, especially when it comes to pretty girls. If he would use the same strategy he would probably end up keeping all the girls in the palace. The hardest part would be sending them away.

Apart from the excitement he felt that thousands of girls had submitted their pictures because they were interested in dating Lance, he also felt terrified. He would have to cause disappointment. He would have to tell 34 girls they aren’t the one, and watch as their smiles would fall. 34 families would not become the next royal family. He was also scared that his Selection wouldn’t be as entertaining as the others. That his love life would bore people to death. Fortunately, or unfortunately depends from which side you look at it, the Selection was still a week away. Preparations were being done and agreements made. At the moment Lance was looking at the pictures of the selected girls. He was laying down on his huge bed, which would probably be advertised as emperor-sized, as he was trying to link personalities to the photos.

Until he came to the conclusion that he couldn’t judge them based on a picture, and that all the fictional personalities boiled down to the same two qualities; strong and funny. A future queen should be able to handle herself. She should be independent and resolute. Obviously she should also be able to put up with Lance’s obnoxious behaviour. Lance had always appreciated a good sense of humour. If his wife can make him laugh, she can make him happy. That’s what he’s always thought. Dad makes mom laugh, and he’s a great husband. Thinking of the Selection always makes him think about his parents. His mother had skipped it. She wasn’t the first to do so. It had become some kind of memory from the past, but Lance had been completely willing to resurrect the old tradition.

Suddenly he heard someone knock on his door. “Come in.”

The door opened slowly. The head maid was standing in the doorway hesitantly. She wore the kind of smile she wears when the castle kitchen has run out of eggs, so he won’t get pancakes for breakfast. Indicating that she was here to announce a minor inconvenience.

“Hello dear, are you busy?” She asked with her honeysweet voice.

“No, I’m not mrs. Garret. Is there anything wrong?” Lance responded.

“Nothing important, but I just need you to come to the dining room. There have been made slight altercations to the planning.” Lance started to get a bit concerned now. He hoped whatever was wrong had already been fixed and they just needed to inform him of the changes, so the opening ceremony would proceed smoothly.

He stood up and looked at the mirror if he was presentable. Which he was. As if Lance flawless appearance would ever fail him.

He followed mrs. Garret to the dining hall. When the great doors opened in front of him he felt extremely important and powerful. There would be people waiting for him at the other side of the doors, they were his parents, but still.

Since he was a little kid he loved to pretend to be his mother, the most adored person in the country, as he would stride into the dining room. He felt majestic. He was just short of a cape flowing behind him to make his entrance perfect. Though he would imagine this scenario this every time he entered the hall, the feeling of greatness never wore off.

Until he saw who was sitting at the dining table next to his parents: Keith.

His mood dropped, steps faltered and his mouth fell open. What was he doing here? These couple of weeks/months would be Lance centric. Is he just here to steal his moment of fame?

“Uuuhmmm, explain please?” Lance demanded.

The apologetic look his dad send him told him enough. Keith was here to stay. The last bit of hope Lance had that he was here for a couple of days, after which he would leave to do his own prince stuff had been crushed.

“Well…” Lance mother started. “Illea and Altea are two very close countries. You know that. The citizens of Altea adore you and would love to see you fall in love. That’s why the Selection will be broadcasted there as well.”

“I was aware of that. So?” Lance was more than aware of it. He felt waves of pride whenever it was mentioned that the Altean citizens loved him, so he had been bragging about his Selection being the first international one to his friends.

“So, we thought they might like to see some of their own royal family in the background as well. They don’t want to be a passive part of the Selection, but actually have something to do with it.” She answered like it justified everything.

“They want to meddle in our politics.” Lance stated.

“Your superficial wife hunt has nothing to do with politics.” Keith noted factually. “And besides, like your mother just noted, I will just act as an advisor. I will be just as much or little a part in the process as you want.”

“Then leave.” Lance responded stubbornly,

“I don’t want to be here either so if you could just realize that I’m just going to stand in the background as some kind of Easter egg for the Altean viewers to see. I won’t influence anything.”

Lance huffed. “Sure you won’t.” He walked to the doors and slammed them for dramatic effect.

He was on his way to his room, though he wasn’t sure what he would do when he’d arrive. Probably just wallow in self-pity. Unfortunately he didn’t get that far.

“Hey, buddy! Where are you going?” Lance was not paying attention to his steps so he ran face first into his best friend Hunk.

“Hunk. Good to see you, but I gotta go.” He tried to shove past him, but Hunk had noticed Lance was upset about something and took his arm and turned him around.

“Is this about Keith?” He asked. He wore a concerned look on his face.

“You knew about that?” Did everybody in the castle agree on this except Lance?

“Uhm.” Hunk hesitated. “We were afraid you’d try to stop it. So we waited for the last possible moment.” Lance was offended. How could they assume he’d try to boycott Keith’s arrival? He most likely would

have done exactly that, but didn’t anyone in the castle trust him?

“Couldn’t anyone have asked for my opinion?”

“We already knew what your opinion was, and nobody agreed with it. Keith is a good guy. If you would just get past the fact that he’s not Allura even you would see it.”

“I don’t want to have this conversation right now. I’m going to my room.” Lance managed to move past Hunk and sprinted to his room.

Why did Keith have to ruin everything? First he takes Allura’s place as Royal Ambassador of Altea, so Lance sees her less. Then when Lance decided to give him a chance he forgets his name. Who forgets the name of a prince. Who does that? And in addition to that he wants to ruin the thing Lance has been looking forward to since his twelfth birthday. He may say that Lance won’t notice he’s there, but the girls definitely will. What if every single girls falls in love with the mysterious Altean prince, instead of him. What kind of sad story would that be? “Upon arrival every Selected immediately fell for brooding ambassador of Altea instead of the Prince they should be trying to seduce” It was technically forbidden, but Lance wouldn’t punish them for something Keith did.

Suddenly Lance was remembering every single girl’s face and imagining them telling him they’ve fallen in love with Keith. He tried to shake off the feeling, but it stung. It stung even more to know that Keith would do it unconsciously. He wouldn’t even notice every single girl eyeing him.

He must leave. As soon as possible.

Lance was bouncing through the castle halls. He was that excited. Only one day until the Selection would start. Only one day until he would meet the love of his life, hopefully.

Lance had been getting more anxious by the day. What if none of the girls are the one? That would be embarrassing, they would have to recast, everything would be twice as expensive. All the girls would be disappointed.

No. He would marry one of the 35 who would show up tomorrow. One of them is the one.

He practically knew all of them personally already by now. He had received their files two weeks ago and had studied them thoroughly. He knew their full name, birthplace, favourite colour, food, and everything else that defines them as a person. There was just one person who played a significant part of his Selection that he couldn’t figure out. Although Keith hadn’t really been very present the last couple of days, Lance knew he was up to something. It was suspicious that Keith was so hell-bound on staying. Lance had presented Keith with numerous excuses to leave and Keith hadn’t taken advantage of any of them, though he had insisted he didn’t want to be at the Selection either.

Lance was convinced he had ulterior motives. Who stays at a palace when the host “accidentally” ordered staff to fill your bed with glitter? Maybe it wasn’t fair of Lance to try to sabotage Keith into leaving, but it wasn’t fair to Lance that Keith was there at all.

While Lance was planning his next attack on the prince of bad haircuts he opened the door to the Report studio. His evil scheming would have to wait. The crew had already set up their equipment. Tonight would be another broadcast, to tell the people about the preparations and to give them a general update. Lance was used to the cameras, but to be on the news every single day of the week was something new. They’d only skip the next two days, because we want the guests to feel comfortable before we drag them in front of the cameras. He wasn’t sure if he’d like the lack of privacy, but he loved the attention.

The rest of his family and the ambassadors were already there. Just a couple of minutes left until they’d air. Lance was always fashionably late, but on time enough to not be of any trouble.

Someone else thought differently of that. Keith rolled his eyes in a gesture clearly meaning “Can’t you be on time for once, not the entire world revolves around you.” Which was extremely rude, not only because it does, but also because you don’t insult a future king. The problem with these small movements was that Lance couldn’t exactly complain about them without sounding like an exaggerating overdramatic brat. Keith always did these things that were not important enough to actually be offensive, but offensive enough to be important to Lance.

He sat down next to his parents and started bouncing his legs. Though Lance was a natural in front of the camera he couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous every time. The entire country would be watching him.

Not just the entire country was watching him. A certain prince was also sneaking glances, thinking Lance wouldn’t notice. He did. He caught Keith staring and he quickly looked down at his hands. He didn’t appear to be mad anymore. Instead his face wore a different kind of expression. Lance wasn’t sure how to describe it. Maybe a mix of sadness and jealousy. He wasn’t sure. It confused Lance. Usually he was great at reading people’s expressions, but Keith made it difficult for him.

Lance still had to wait a couple of minutes until they’d go live, so he recapped what he’d say today: He was excited to meet the girls, he loved the presence of the Altean royalty and he looked forward to the upcoming festivities.

Just as he was finished deciding how to phrase everything, he heard the host announce the start of the program.

“Good evening everybody! Welcome to the last Report before our precious prince Lance has met his future wife!” Lance smiled at that thought. Only one night.

“Today we will discuss all of the ladies one last time and ask our royal guest what he thinks of his stay in the castle.” Though everyone inside the castle walls knew Lance and Keith could rip each other’s throats out, the people couldn’t know that. They must think that Lance and Keith were the bestest buds and that Keith was playing a major part in the Selection. Not that Lance refused to let Keith be involved in the Selection whatsoever.

To keep their illusion up, Keith talked about how welcome he felt in the castle and how well he was treated. In addition to that, Lance said that they had developed a friendship that would last a lifetime.

The Report was over before Lance realized it. Everything and everyone had been discussed, so he could go to bed now. It felt surreal. Tomorrow he’d meet his soulmate. At least he hoped so.

Lance usually woke up at eleven a.m., but today he was so excited that he had been wake since 6 o’clock. Which isn’t very early compared to the sleeping habits of other staff members, but to Lance it felt like he hadn’t slept at all. Yet he couldn’t keep his thoughts in check to fall asleep again. He had given up after lying in bed for over an hour.

He had been helping his servants with the last minute preparations because he couldn’t sit still for more than three seconds. These couple of hours had been the longest of his life, but they seemed to be close to their end.

A half hour before the arrival of the participants Hunk had brought him to his room. He had let his servants take care of him. He trusted them enough to make him look his best.

Lance was so focused on waiting for the clock to hit twelve, that he had forgotten that the girls would first have to be introduced to etiquette; they’d get a tour and then they’d meet their maids. That would take forever. Even if they’d enter the castle at precisely twelve o’clock, he still wouldn’t see them for hours.

Keith would probably see them earlier. What if he was the one to give the tour? No, he can’t, he gets lost in the castle hallways all the time. Lance has spotted him near his room repeatedly, while his room is at the opposite side of the wing. Not that Lance corrected him. He didn’t want Keith to think that Lance pitied him. Which he didn’t.

After his servants were done dressing him up, Lance continued to stare at his own reflection for a while. After even that started to bore him (can you imagine), he decided to do some work. He still had to write a couple of letters to some countries he had never been to and choose the music for the feast. He had told everyone he had already done that and that he wanted it to be a surprise, but in reality he had been too distracted to concentrate on classical music. You may think “Just choose a couple no one will care!”, but it’s not that simple. Certain songs have undertones with hidden meanings some people will take to offense. One time Lance had accidentally almost declared war on Swendway. Luckily his servants had corrected his mistake before the song got played, but it was close.

He still had to choose around ten songs for an evening full of incredibly sleep-inducing music when his servant came to get him. When he heard the knock on his door he practically sprinted towards it.

Once they had finally arrived at the dining room Lance was shaking. He was rambling to the servant about things he wouldn’t remember later that evening. But he reassured Lance that everything would be fine and opened the door. The moment itself it was terrifying, having no time to mentally prepare, but he knew that if he had had more time to think, he would have just been more worried.

When he saw the full dining room he took a deep breath and put on his brightest smile. He walked inside with an air of confidence and pride. “Hello ladies, I hope you have had a wonderful day at the palace and that the food will be to your liking.” They all answered something positive and nodded. He strode to his seat and sat down.

Apparently everyone had been waiting for a while, because the second he touched his seat everyone attacked their plate. Everyone except Keith and one of the girls who he was in a very interesting conversation with. She had short hair and round glasses. Pidge, if Lance remembered correctly. Which he did. He remembered why he chose her. Her letter. It was short, but had a very clear message. She wasn’t interested in Lance, but she had a bet with her dad. He said that if she could get him some of the castle's peas that he would buy her a new computer. Lance had not been able to stop laughing for hours after reading the letter. Who would put so much effort into getting a computer? He had to meet her.

Though he knew Pidge wouldn’t like him, he still didn’t like Keith talking to her. He was laughing at something she said and Lance felt his blood start to boil. How dare he do that. Lance wasn’t sure what he was mad at, but it definitely had something to do with Keith.

Lance realized he had been staring at Keith with a death glare when Hunk nudged his shoulder. “Dude, looking at him like he just murdered your firstborn can cause suspicion among the girls. You know that right? Or do you want them to know how you feel about him?” He whispered.

“No, I don’t. He just. Annoys me.” Lance answered. He looked around the table and realized that he knew all of the names and gave himself a pat on the back. He won’t embarrass himself by forgetting their names. That would be so awkward. He’d probably send himself away if that happened. Obviously that wasn’t the only thing that could go wrong. But it was a good sign that he remembered the names.

He smiled to himself. He had been looking forward to this for so long, and now it was happening. With minimum chance of name-forgetting. Nothing could be better. Except for Keith. He looked at him again. Keith had stopped talking with Pidge was now pushing his food around his plate. Then he looked up and caught Lance staring, but quickly averted his gaze like he was the one caught. He didn’t look very well. He should probably go to sleep or something. Not that Lance cared or anything. He didn’t want Keith to puke on any of his guests, that’s all.

Lance had decided he would first have a speed-date with all of the contestants and then send a couple of them home. That way everyone would have a chance, but he wouldn’t leave anyone hanging though he knew they weren’t the one anyway.

He had just finished his date with an incredibly intriguing girl called Nyma. He had returned to his room to put on a different shirt, as he had spilled some food on his previous one.

He was almost finished with the dates when he saw the name Pidge on his list. Lance considered skipping her, because he knew he wouldn’t send her away before she’d won the bet. On the other hand, he really wanted to get to know her.

It was getting late, and he wanted to finish the dates today. So, he could sleep on it and announce who would have to leave tomorrow. He called his servant and arranged that he would sit next to Pidge with dinner. He was content with his solution, and read the next name on the list: Plaxum.

Her room was just like the others on the other side of the palace. He was almost there when he saw, you guess who, Keith. What was he doing at the women’s wing? When Keith saw Lance he quickly ducked into a different corridor. No, he wasn’t getting away that easily.

“Get over here, Keith! Where did you just come from?” Lance yelled. “No need to hide it if it wasn’t illegal.”

Keith didn’t know the castle as well as Lance did, so he had walked into a dead end. Idiot. He had his back to Lance and looked at the wall. Eventually, after he had realized his mistake, he turned around.

“Nowhere, just lost,” he said innocently. Like he had practiced it. “Could you help out a pal and tell me where the woman’s wing is?”

That bastard. Lance wanted to hit the smirk right off his face. How dare he ask that? He felt his blood boil and balled his fist. But when he was about to swing Keith smiled at him. A genuine smile. Lance was thrown off by this. Why would he do that? They were in the middle of a fight. There was no one around to fake it for, so it was completely illogical.

“Don’t get too worked up. I’m just kidding. I went to see Pidge, she told me about her bet. No need to get jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” Lance growled through gritted teeth. “It’s not like any of the girls would like you anyway,” Lance snapped, but Keith didn’t look very effected by his comment.

“You were about to hit me for asking where the girls are, so don’t pretend you’re not jealous. It’s cute. How protective you are, I mean. So, don’t be embarrassed.”

Keith was complimenting him, but it felt like he was being made fun off. Stupid Keith and his stupid compliments.

“I’m not cute,” Lance responded. He was hot, funny, intimidating, but not cute.

Keith stopped smiling and walked past Lance. His previous giddy mood gone.

“See you at dinner. Uhhm. Good luck with your date.”

And he was gone.

Well that was weird. He had never seen Keith like that. Lance himself had never acted like that before. He wasn’t a violent person, and yet he was moments away from breaking Keith’s nose. Though he didn’t like to admit it, Keith was right. He was jealous. Very Jealous. He had made this Selection his life, his dream. Now that it was happening he could only imagine the ways it would fail miraculously.

He hadn’t realized that he was still staring in the direction Keith left in. He took a deep breath and set off to his next date.

Lance was pushing around the food on his plate. Why was this so difficult. He thought that by having these dates he could send a couple of the girls home, but no such luck. All of them were incredibly sweet and funny and perfect. He needed to talk to someone about it. Unfortunately for Pidge, she sat closest to him.

“Hey, Pidge. If you were me, how would you choose?” he asked. It kind of came out of the blue. They had been talking before this, but they weren’t best friends or anything. To immediately ask advice on his love life from her was a bit weird, but desperate times ask for desperate measures.

“I don’t know.” She answered helpfully. When Lance looked at her bluntly, she added; “She’s gonna be queen, right? I’d probably first look if any of the candidates don’t see fit for that job.”

Though Lance didn’t really like that she said it like being Lance’s wife was a job they were applying for, she did have a point. Anyone who’s not fit to run a country, probably isn’t capable of handling being Lance’s wife either.

When dinner was finished, he went to his room and stared at his ceiling. He had mentally prepared himself for the choosing to be this difficult, but that didn’t make it any easier.

Even though it took him three hours and seventeen minutes, eventually he had written down the names of two girls he was sure of couldn’t lead a country. Both of them could barely make eye contact with Lance, let alone appear on the television of every person in Illea and Altea combined. He’d be doing them a favour.

The next hour he decided who he just couldn’t imagine being his partner. Apart from Pidge, he came up with three other names. One of which was Haggar. During their date, she was constantly mumbling about how to destroy Illea, so Lance would be sending her straight to the prisons, instead of her house. He started imagining how her house would look. Probably made of the bones of small infants. Why he had ever chosen her was a mystery to him in hindsight. She had probably cursed him or something.

Finally satisfied with his list, he went to Hunk. Maybe he still had some advice left. He walked into the kitchen and sat down on the counter next to where Hunk was chopping up vegetables.

“Hi, Hunk. How are you doing?” he asked.

“It’s been very busy, because we need to prepare thrice as much food as usual, but besides that I’m doing great. You?” Hunk wasn’t paying much attention to Lance, not taking his eyes off his task in front of him.

“I’m fine, but if you don’t have time to talk right now, I completely understand.”

“No, no, I’ve got all the time for my best bud. Also, my shift ends in 15 minutes, so if you want my undivided attention, you can wait for a bit. But by all means, start rambling right now.” Hunk was the best person Lance knew. You could always talk with the guy. Lance once stormed into his room at 3 a.m. to complain about his crush on Allura.

“Thanks, bro. Well, you see. I’ve made this list with the first you know, ones I want to send home. I just wanted to ask you, if, you know, you have anything to say about it,” Lance had indeed started rambling. He was nervous, who could blame him?

“It’s your life, your choices,” he answered. Just as unhelpful as Pidge had been.

“Come on, there has to be one girl you don’t like. One you feel is not right for me. It is your duty as my best friend to make sure nobody breaks my heart,” Lance was being dramatic, but this was important to him, so it could be excused.

Hunk had to think about it for a while, at least, he was thoughtfully stirring his soup, which Lance interpreted as such.

“Haggar’s already on the list. As for Nyma, she’s very nice, but I’ll look out.”

“As if you would pay attention to anything once a cute girl is involved,” he mocked. Lance pushed him softly. “I am a master of deduction, excuse me.”

That made Hunk laugh even harder. “You’re so oblivious, you couldn’t solve a murder if the murderer was holding a bloody knife over a corpse.”

“What makes you think that?” Lance almost felt offended.

“Keith told me you almost hit him, because he hung out with Pidge. Like he would ever try to take her from you.” Obviously, Keith would go to Hunk to make Lance look bad.

“Did he tell you about the part where he asked for directions to the girl’s wing?” He was getting mad. How dare he tell Hunk that.

“He did, Lance. He was just kidding. Where on earth did you get the idea that he would try to sabotage you? Have you seen the guy?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he wouldn’t do it on purpose. Maybe girls would just immediately fall in love with him if they saw him. He’s the walking stereotype of tall, dark and handsome.”

Hunk examined Lance for a minute. “Are you telling me you think Keith is attractive?” He was getting on Lance’s nerves.

“No, I don’t think that, you’re twisting my words.” Lance stood up from the counter. “Thanks, for the advice, but I’m leaving.” Lance almost sprinted to his room, he wasn’t sure why, but he wanted to cuddle up in his blankets. Alone.

What he didn’t know was that Hunk was cooking with a huge grin on his face. Once his shift was done, he called Pidge on her handmade phone. “Pidge, you won’t believe what just happened.”

Today was the day of the feast. Though Lance felt bad for sending people home the day of a festivity, he couldn’t feel comfortable in the castle with Haggar around. He also didn’t want to lead the girls on. So he went to the rooms of the girls on the list and apologised sincerely that he didn’t feel a connection with them. He added that they were welcome to stay until tomorrow morning if they wanted to attend the party. Except Haggar, to whom he sent a guard to drag her off the castle grounds.

Almost all the preparations were finished so all he could do was sit back and relax. He trusted his staff with his life and believed there was nothing that could go wrong tonight. So he decided to take a walk when he encountered Plaxum. She talked about her hometown and how she misses her family. Which reminded Lance of his siblings, travelling and discovering the world while he was busy learning the country’s laws. It was a nice talk and at the end of their walk she kissed him on his cheek. Still, he felt like there was something missing. Sure she was beautiful, funny, intelligent, and attractive, but it didn’t feel quite right yet. Maybe if they get to know each other better something could bloom, but for now their relationship felt strictly platonic.

As he walked to his room he saw Pidge talking to Hunk and joined their conversation. They were talking about something scientific regarding the castle map, but Lance didn’t bother to understand. They talked in code anyway. Once they noticed Lance they changed the subject.

“How’s the food for tonight doing?” Pidge asked.

“It’s gonna be great, just you wait and see.” Hunk grinned.

“The music will be incredibly boring as always. I swear, it’s impossible to find a song which sounds nice and isn’t highly offensive to at least three countries,” Lance contradicted.

“Well, at least you tried,” Hunk said.

“How many songs will you be able to slow dance to?” Pidge asked. Hunk nudged her shoulder, as if to say “don’t”, though Lance couldn’t recognize the problem with the question.

“All of them, obviously. It’s a romantic ball,” he answered.

“Romantic it will be,” Pidge said. She turned around and left without another word.

“What the hell was that about?”

“Nothing, she’s just excited,” Hunk said. Lance didn’t truly believe him, but knew he wouldn’t give away anything.

Lance was wrong. There were a lot of things that can go wrong in one night. Just as the ball had begun, the light and heating shut off. Which was kind of a big deal because it was the middle of winter.

The girls were all wearing beautiful gowns which would be great if they weren’t extremely cold. So they decided to all huddle together with Lance in the middle. Of course, he didn’t mind that.

Pidge felt she was above that nonsense and conversed with Hunk and Keith. It was obvious she was uncomfortable in the dress, but hers had sleeves at least.

Keith was listening to Hunk attentively, but his expression grew more annoyed the more time passed. How dare he be annoyed at Hunk, a guy with only the best intentions. That was the moment Lance noticed something else about him: he was blushing. Their conversation didn’t look like it was about something embarrassing Keith had done, which could only mean one thing- he was crushing on someone. Though this conclusion may be a bit paranoid, especially taking the amount of alcohol consumed into account, it made a lot of sense at that moment.

Though Lance was hardly in a position to leave, with all of the girls surrounding him, he excused himself anyway. He gracefully stalked over to Keith’s small ensemble of people trying to look patient, yet failing completely.

“What’s up?” Lance asked. He tried not to pry, but failed miserably.

“This party sucks,” Keith answered. Not exactly the answer he expected, but he could work with it.

“Jealous that all the girls are dancing with me?” That would show him. None of the girls were interested in him. He could have a crush on one of them all he wanted, but they liked Lance.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Keith scoffed. “I just meant it’s cold. The food’s great though. Compliments to the chef.”

“Thanks, Keith. That’s very kind of you.”

Lance could see his father in the corner of his eye. He stopped the band and not much later his voice echoed through the ballroom.

“I’m sure you are all aware of our technical problems. I hope you can forgive us for this inconvenient situation. Due to the cold weather, some people will have to share a room tonight. Our staff has tried to make the arrangements as pleasant as possible for everyone involved. Everyone will be made aware of their roommate before the end of the feast. There are still a couple of songs left, so enjoy the rest of the evening.”

Lance hadn’t thought of that. Not all of the rooms had a fireplace, which would mean the people sleeping in it could freeze to death. He didn’t know who he wanted to be his roommate. He didn’t really mind sleeping with any of the candidates. In the innocent sense of the word.

Lance had forgotten to pray against one certain outcome. He should have known. His father didn’t want to show any favouritism to any of the girls and Hunk’s room had a fireplace.

Keith’s didn’t.

Apparently his father wanted them to bond or something, so he made them share a room. Lance couldn’t complain, because that would make him seem like an asshole and even though he didn’t like the guy, letting him freeze to death seemed a bit harsh. That’s why when Keith knocked on his door he just rolled his eyes and showed Keith the couch.

Keith didn’t feel any better about the situation. He fiddled with his shirt, but he eventually sat down on the couch.

“This sucks,” he concluded.

“No shit.”

“We could just ignore each other,” Keith proposed. Lance nodded in his direction and walked to the bathroom to brush his teeth and begin his skincare routine.

A few minutes later Keith pushed the door open. He jumped once he saw Lance’s face covered in a selection of creams and potions. “What’s that on your face? You look like a monster!” Lance realized that he could either mope all night or he could try to be civil. That’s why he laughed at Keith’s reaction.

“It’s called a facemask. You should try it sometime. Maybe it would clear up that disaster of a skin you got.”

Keith mumbled something to himself, which Lance decided was probably demeaning in some shape or form, so he smeared the leftover cream on his fingers on Keith’s nose.

“Tomorrow you’ll see how much better your nose will look. Trust me.”

“Doesn’t that stuff make your skin glow? Will I have a glowing nose tomorrow?” he said and tried to rub it off.

“So you have been paying attention to my rants? How sweet of you.”

That comment made Keith blush a bit. Which confused Lance. What was so embarrassing about it?

“I’m gonna head to bed. Or couch, or whatever,” he said and abruptly left the bathroom. He hadn’t even brushed his teeth yet.

Lance eventually finished his routine and walked out too. When he saw Keith curled up on the couch, limbs sticking out from his blanket, he felt kind of bad. Though they had agreed to ignore each other, he still was Lance’s guest.

“Are you comfortable? Because if you aren’t you can sleep in my bed,” Lance asked.

Keith looked at him confused but finally replied; “Nah, I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“My bed’s definitely large enough for the both of us, if that’s what you mean. I can stay on one side and you on the other. Be honest, you’re not going to sleep on that couch. It’s impossible.”

“Well, if you insist. Who am I to decline such a wonderful offer?” He was clearly mocking Lance, but he was too tired to care.

Keith walked over to the bed and slid under the covers. After a couple of minutes of awkward silence Keith shifted suddenly and kicked Lance to the ground. Lance was too confused to register anything else than Keith’s almost maniacal laughter.

“Ha ha. Very funny.” He had to admit; he hadn’t expected Keith to do that and it had made the situation less uncomfortable. “I could have you executed for that. You know that, right?”

The grin on Keith’s face didn’t falter. “Yeah, right. Like you really didn’t just invite me into your bed, because you thought I was mildly discomforted. I can see right through you, Lance.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Lance scoffed.

“You’re weak. You feel lonely and want a friend,” he said.

“I have many friends,” Lance replied.

“How many of those aren’t paid?” None of them. That stung. None of them were here for him.

“Like you are mister popular,” Lance spat back.

“I never said I was.” Sadness seeped through his voice, but only ever so slightly.

It was silent again. It wasn’t uncomfortable this time. It was heavy with unspoken words. Eventually Keith broke it.

“Do you hate me or not?” Just moments before Keith had claimed to know every single one of Lance’s secrets and yet he was stupid enough to actually think he hated him.

“I don’t. You’re just not Allura and I guess it took a while for me to get used to that.”

“You’d rather be sharing a bed with her?” he mused.

“Firstly, she is married. To your brother for fuck’s sake. And secondly, you’re making this much more awkward than it needs to be.”

“You’d rather be sharing a bed with my brother then?” he teased. Lance threw his pillow at him and hit him right in the face. “Well, now I have two pillows. This only gets better,” Keith said before throwing the pillow back and missing by a humongous amount.

Lance looked at him and they both burst out in laughter. This wasn’t as bad as Lance thought it would be.

After a while they both fell asleep.

Keith was a very restless sleeper and a blanket hog. He twisted and turned and eventually he had tangled himself in the sheets and Lance’s limbs. He woke up in the middle of the night, too afraid to move. He could wake Lance up after all. That was definitely the only reason he didn’t move. Not that his body was warm or that he felt the slight thudding of Lance’s heart or his hair that smelt like a summer breeze or the soft snores he let out and absolutely not because Lance was just as entangled in his limbs.

This could get him in so much trouble, but he decided that trouble could wait for the morning. He reminded himself he should thank Pidge for meddling with the heating system.

Well, that’s awkward.  Keith’s arms were wrapped around Lance’s waist like he was the last thing tying him to this earth. Lance’s heart was beating hard in his chest. Because of embarrassment he figured. He cleared his throat and Keith startled awake. Making sense of the situation he tried to apologize, but it evolved into aimless rambling.

“It’s okay. It was cold and I am hot, you were probably just subconsciously drawn to my hotness. No big deal.” Keith rolled his eyes at that, though a slight blush appeared on his cheeks. Interesting.

“I’m going to shower.” Keith stood up and walked to the bathroom.

After that they pretended it hadn’t happened at all.

Lance had decided that he would send a couple of girls home every week. He hoped it would become easier every week, but the opposite happened. Less girls meant more disappointment. It wouldn’t be so difficult if he was falling in love with one specific girl. That didn’t appear to be the case though. He was either falling for all of them, or none of them. It had been seven days since the last party and therefore seven days since he had sent people home.

The girls were playing some sort of sport together in the gardens. He could see them from his bedroom window. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. Some of them had become good friends with each other, others could rip each other’s throats out. It was hard not to let this influence his decision. He wanted all the girls to be friends and to never leave each other behind.

He finally made his decision and started to prepare today’s speech for the Report. Giving the same speech everyday was tiring. Especially when you needed to rewrite it every time. The things he needed to talk about were, the girls are all lovely, the choice is difficult, and something positive about Altea.

Altea. Hearing that word used to make him think about Allura. It doesn’t anymore. It makes him think of Keith. About how he isn’t really that bad. They seem to have made a peace treaty since last week. At least, Keith hasn’t talked to Lance in a week and is avoiding eye contact. Which could be read as avoiding him in general. That’s not the case though. He greets him in the hallway, he’s just always looking at his own feet when he does. Lance isn’t sure if he likes this treaty much. He thinks he’s supposed to.

He finished up his speech, practiced a couple of times, and headed downstairs to the studio. He was early for a change. Keith was early too. He looked bored. His eyes flickered to Lance for a moment, but it was so short Lance swore he imagined it. Lance sat down next to him.

“How are you doing?” he asked. Keith turned his head and smiled briefly. “I’m good. You?” It was awkward and Lance decided he didn’t like their treaty.

“Great, I just feel a bit guilty that I have to send some girls home today.” Lance wanted to make the conversation more personal, but this was probably not the way to go, because Keith gaze flicked away.

“You don’t have to send them home if you’re not sure,” Keith said.

“But I do. I can’t have them here forever. I can’t lead them on forever.” “So you’re sure that you’re making the right decision. Then there’s nothing to feel guilty about.” Lance huffed at that. “You don’t get it, Keith. You never will.” Keith looked away. They didn’t talk after that. At least their treaty had come to an end.

After he had personally told several girls they weren’t the one, Lance went to sulk in his room. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get that far before Hunk stopped him.

“Hey, how’s the dating going?” he asked. “Badly, I just send a couple of them home.” “That’s good right? You’re getting closer to finding the love of your life.” He tried to cheer Lance up, he knew that, but it just wasn’t working. “Why does everyone say that? I feel like I’m just getting further away at having a chance at anything. Like I might be sending the love of my life back to the other side of the country, because I didn’t give them a chance.” Hunk gave Lance a hug. “Do you mean you don’t feel anything for any of the girls?” “No, I do. I like going on dates and spending time with them, I like kissing them, I do, but I don’t really want to spend the rest of my life with them you know what I mean,” Lance replied. “I get it. Maybe you’re just not looking in the right direction.” What on Earth was that supposed to mean? There were only so many directions you could look in. “What do you mean? Where do you think I should be looking?” Hunk let him go and smiled at him. “I think you have to figure that out for yourself. I have to get some plates from the east wing. Wanna come with?” That was helpful. “Yeah, sure.”

The party was great. Lance drank, flirted, and drank some more. The evening was at its prime and Pidge was explaining how a sound system would improve the party experience while Lance argued that it wouldn’t be the same as a live band. Pidge turned around and asked Keith’s opinion. With Pidge it had been a pleasant exchange of viewpoints, but Lance was ready to fight about it with Keith. He was surprised when Keith agreed with him on it, though he had different reasons. Why would he agree? Was this some conspiracy? Hadn’t they gone back to hating each other again? Eventually Pidge gave up and left them alone.

“So, bands. Am I right?” Keith said. There it was. It was awkward again. Lance braced himself. In unison they began; “I’m sorry-“. They chuckled. “I'll begin,” Lance said. “I’m sorry for lashing out at you. It’s not your fault.” “Apology accepted. Now my turn. I’m sorry for making this harder for you by being here. I’ll leave if you want me to.” Something crawled into Lance’s gut and started twisting his organs. He didn’t know why. “No, of course I don’t want that.” He said it before he thought about it. “I like it that you’re here. You’re just a pain in the ass sometimes, by being perfect and smart and you’d probably be better at this entire thing than I am. Even though I always thought this would be my thing.” The drinks were getting to him. “So, yeah. I lied. I do hate you a bit. Because you’re better than me at everything.”

He should probably stop talking now. But he didn’t and Keith didn’t either. They talked, and drank, and talked some more. He should spend time with the girls. He should, but he didn’t want to. He thought it could be the thing he wanted the least in the entire world. He should probably stop drinking now, he was starting to lose his sense of balance and his sense of boundaries.

“You should get to bed, Lance. You’re too drunk to stay,” Keith told him. Lance couldn’t argue, he was right. He let Keith lead him to his room. “You smell nice," he said into his shoulder, as he was leaning on him. Wow he was strong. Lance was taller than him and he was carrying most of his weight. Especially when you take into account that he wasn’t sober either. “Thank you. You smell nice too.” Lance chuckled.

They arrived at his door. Lance should probably open the door now. But he didn’t. Keith could do it. That wasn’t true. Lance was blocking it. “You should get in,” Keith said. “Yeah,” Lance said. “I should.” He didn’t move. Keith didn’t either. “You have pretty eyes.” Keith smiled. “You have a pretty smile as well,” Lance added. He chuckled. “This is why I hate you.” Keith didn’t stop smiling. “I hate you too.” “I know.”

Lance cupped his cheek and leaned in. Keith kissed back. Lance didn’t know how long they’d been kissing, but he wanted to keep doing it for the rest of his life. Forever and ever. But Keith pulled away.

���Isn’t this treason?” he asked. Lance was worried he would stop, until he saw Keith was grinning. He was just joking. “It’s only treason if you kiss one of the girls,” Lance replied. He wanted to kiss him again, but Keith stopped him. “I mean, aren’t you committing treason.” “To who? Myself?” Lance laughed. “So when the girls kiss me it’s treason, but when you do it, it isn’t?” “Exactly, when I do it, it is, it is..” Lance couldn’t come up with the word. He didn’t want to talk about the girls anymore, he wanted to kiss him again, so he just said, “Practice.”

That hadn’t been the right word. Keith removed himself entirely from Lance. He looked ashamed. “You need to sleep.” He opened the door and helped Lance get ready for bed.

“Stay, please,” Lance murmured, but Keith shut the door behind him. He didn’t understand what had gone wrong so quickly. The last thing he thought about before drifting off was that he didn’t want this to make things awkward between them again. Good thing he wouldn’t remember anything the next day, anyway.

Lance woke up with an incredible headache and spent the first hour of his day puking, which was inconvenient because he had to be at the Report at 10 a.m. He looked like a corpse. He hoped make-up could fix it, but he doubted it.

He picked one of his nicest suits- maybe it would compensate for the bags under his eye- and headed out. Just as he turned around the corner he saw Pidge. He wasn’t up for a conversation right now.

“Wow, you look bad.” She said. He really wasn’t up for a conversation. “Yeah, I drank a bit too much nunville yesterday.” “So I’ve heard,” she replied. “I didn’t do anything too embarrassing right? I can’t remember much.” “What’s the last thing you can remember?” He had to think for a bit. “I think talking to you and Keith.” “Do you remember that I left?” she asked. “You mean you left me and Keith alone?” Shit. “Yeah.” “And he talked to me?” “Yeah.” She could probably read my worried expression because then she added, “You just talked for a while, but you got too drunk so he escorted you to you room. Nice guy that Keith.” Did she know we weren’t friends? Probably. So he just asked her, “Why would he do that?” She smirked. “I thought you were buddies?” Oops. “Yeah, but we were having a disagreement earlier. Apparently we’ve resolved it.” “Don’t lie to me. I know you’re not the close friends they make you out to be.” “Yeah… we weren’t but then we kind of worked it out and then I screwed up again and now we’ve made up again and I can’t remember,” Lance said. Pidge’s expression changed. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that. After you left Hunk and I saw Keith in the hallway. I think he was crying, but he didn’t want to talk about it.” Shit. “I can’t believe I made up with the guy and screwed up again. And I can’t even remember! He’s gonna be mad at me for something I didn’t know I did.” Pidge put her hand on Lance’s shoulder “Don’t worry about it too much. It’s going to be okay. You have different problems, like the menu of the feast tomorrow.” Lance had totally forgotten about that. Tomorrow it’s Illea’s national holiday. He had been so stuck in the rhythm of one party every week and had been busy with the Selection he had disregarded the additional parties. “I completely forgot that.” “Yeah, we figured. Hunk got the food. It’s gonna be good. I did the decorations and music,” she assured. “You don’t know anything about flowers or foreign customs.” “I’m offended. I know many things about flowers and I got a database with all the information someone might need. Did you know that in Altea pink stands for fallen warriors and orange for ‘stop washing my cat with nunville’?” Lance felt more calm now that she had stated those meanings, though for him this information wasn’t new, he knew most people wouldn’t know this. “Thank you so much. Where would I be without you?” He hugged her tight. Then he looked at the clock and saw that they only had fifteen minutes left, so they headed to the studio.

Several girls glared at Pidge when they walked in. Hilarious. He took his place next to Keith and Pidge winked at him and put on the most flirtatious voice she could when saying goodbye, just to piss off the rest. Lance took note of the ones with the most vicious looks. Nobody looks at his friend like that.

Lance shifted in his seat. Trying to find the words. How could he apologize for something he can’t remember. It was Keith who broke the silence. “Stop moving like that. It’s making me nervous.” “Sorry,” Lance replied. “I just- I don’t know. I can’t remember anything from yesterday.” Keith let out a sigh. He almost sounded relieved. “Pidge just told me that you brought me to my room, thanks for that, but she said you looked upset afterwards. I don’t know what I did, but I’m sorry if I hurt you.” He tensed again. Lance was pretty sure he heard Keith cuss Pidge under his breath. “It was nothing.” “Well if you start crying in a hallway it’s clearly something. What did I do?” “Pidge exaggerates everything, and it wasn’t about you anyway.” He didn’t outright say it, but the message was loud and clear: drop it. “So… Are we cool again? Or not?” Lance asked. Keith looked at him. There was no sign of any emotion on his face. “Yeah, sure.” They weren’t cool again.

The cameras started rolling and they put on their best smiles. Lance hoped the tension wasn’t visible. One time he snuck a glance at Pidge and he knew it was.

Hunk had reassured him that he had everything under control and that Lance could take a day off. He liked it. He didn’t have to spend his day pondering over flowers, instead he spend it on pondering over girls. There were still so many, and still no face came up when he thought of the future queen. Though Lance had gotten rid of the thought of Keith trying to seduce the girls he had decided to daydream about, it had been replaced by a brooding Keith, always lurking in the shadows. Lance knew he did something, but he didn’t want to push Keith and he was also pretty sure what he did was really bad.

After he had completed this week’s list of girls, mostly consisting of the jealous girls, he got ready for the feast. Nice suit, nice hair, nice make-up. Ready to go.

When he arrived at the ballroom, the staff was busy with decorations. He helped a bit, until the girls arrived and talked to them. He was enjoying himself. He danced with a couple of girls, Ezor and Nyma are remarkable dancers. Still he couldn’t shake off the feeling he was being watched. Well, he knew he was being watched, but apart from the cameras which were on him at all times another certain black-haired specimen was keeping an eye on him wherever he went. So he had given up on ignoring him.

He was getting a bit tired of Keith so he went up to him. He set out to ask him if he had a problem, instead he asked, “Are you enjoying yourself?” The lighting was pretty bad, but Lance swore he could see him blushing. “I’m good,” he answered. “All here by yourself?” “I’m not by myself.” Smartass “You know what I mean.” It was silent after that for a bit. Not necessarily awkward, just silent. The people around them were laughing and dancing. They just stood there. Even though Lance always wanted something to do, he felt perfectly content just standing there. With Keith. Weird. Keith interrupted the silence. “You look good.” He said it softly, only audible to Lance. “I am good. Really enjoying myself.” Then it hit him. “Oh. Thanks. You look good too.” Now it was awkward. It didn’t last long, though. Because just then the windows shattered.

Chaos. Bullets flying. Lance had no idea what was going on. He knew everyone was on the floor trying to hide under tables. He knew he was supposed to find a guard and be led to the underground chambers. He was looking around, no guard in sight. He nudged Keith. “Can you see a guard?” Lance whispered. Keith felt tense, which made sense, they were being attacked. What didn’t make sense was his expression. Not shock, nor fear was written on his face, but guilt. “These are patriots.” Lance hadn’t notice the Illean emblem on their suits yet, but he was right. What were the patriots doing here? They usually supported their rule.

Their apparent leader spoke up, “This has gone on for too long. We cannot let it go on any further.” Wow, this guy should be a politician, no one had a clue what he was talking about. “The Selection is an Illean tradition. We cannot let it be compromised by Altea.” Aaahh. Patriots did hate Altea. A lot. Lance’s father stood up. He admired him for that. He was protected by a dozen guards, but it still takes courage to talk to a man holding a gun. “What are you talking about? We’re just trying to find a suitable wife for my son, none of the candidates are Altean. Please put down your weapon.” “We are not talking about the candidates.” Keith curled into himself. Lance tried to calm him down, so they could move towards one of the tables and hide there. “We, and many other Illeans, feel the ambassador of Altea has too much influence in the process.” Keith swallowed. Hard.

Lance’s father spoke up again, “Of course he has influence, he and the prince are close friends. This has nothing to do with politics.”. Lance looked at Keith and laid his hands on his shoulders to make them stop shaking. “Nothing is gonna happen to you. We’re gonna get you out of here.” There was no way to get to a guard, so they had to go to the chambers on their own. He looked back and nodded. Lance explained how he could get to the closest entrance. “Why can’t I just follow you?” he asked. “Because, you need to wait for my distraction and crawl there on your own.” Keith eyes widened. “What are you doing?” Lance grinned at him and winked. “Trust me.”

Lance stood up and walked to where his father was standing. Once he noticed that Lance was there his expression changed from annoyed to angered. “My father is right. I’m just trying to find true love. I have to admit that I don’t have a great judgement of character, so I asked my friends to help me. Just because he happens to be Altean, doesn’t mean there is an entire political scheme in play. This is an ancient Illean tradition and you’re disrespecting it.” The rest of the guests also started to understand that the patriots would never hurt them and stood up to support Lance. This was Keith’s chance. The speaker scoffed, “Really? Everyone who has been paying the slightest bit of attention knows you two don’t like each other at all.” Had it been that obvious. “What are you talking about? Just because you watch the Report, doesn’t mean you know exactly who I am.” “Stop joking around and tell us where he is. Nobody will get hurt if you hand him over.” Lance had no idea they had been this serious about it. He thought they just wanted to make a statement. Fortunately, Keith was already safe in the chambers. “Good luck finding him,” he grinned. “You think I care more about you than I care about my country? You’re naïve.”

He raised his gun and shot. All hell broke loose. Seconds after the first gunshot, blood shot out of the speaker’s chest. Lance was carried away. He felt a sharp pain in his leg. Though the pain was excruciating he was relieved it was just his leg.

In a couple of moments, he was laid upon a bed in the underground infirmary. In no-time his leg was bound and the doctors left him alone. He felt numb from the painkillers, so it took him a while before he noticed Keith sitting next to his bed. He looked extremely worried. “I may have miscalculated something,” Lance joked, but Keith didn’t laugh. “I’m so sorry. They’re right. I should go back to Altea.” “Yes, you should,” Lance replied. “But you’re not going to.”

“Lance-“ “Do you want to go back?” Lance interrupted. Keith considered for a while, “I’d like not to get kidnapped or shot.” “I’m sure they’re going to improve the security after this incident.” Keith was silent after that.

“Could you go check on the girls for me?” Lance asked. “Sure,” Keith said, but Lance couldn’t quite read his face. He stood up and left.

Not long after that Hunk entered. He was holding a tray with about twenty cupcakes. “Oh my god, I was so worried.” He put the tray on the nightstand and hugged him tight. “I’m fine. Do you know where my parents are?” “It’s still chaos out there, they’re trying to calm it down.” Lance felt a bit disappointed that they hadn’t come yet, but he was sure they were busy. “It’s crazy they actually shot you.”

“I think it was just meant to be a warning, but he hadn’t thought about the guards, otherwise he wouldn’t have shot my leg,” Lance said.

“Still, to shoot a member of the royal family, that’s too far.” It was. It was too far to infiltrate the castle. It was too far to threaten Keith. Then Keith walked in. He took a spot next to Hunk, but Hunk stood up and gave some lame excuse for leaving including words Lance didn’t know. “So?” Lance asked. “They’re fine.” Classic Keith. “Could you elaborate on that?” “Well, I think they’re fine. They got kind of mad at me when I walked in. Saying it’s my fault you got hurt. Nothing special.”

“Nothing special? They’ve always been treating you like that?” Lance was flabbergasted.

“Yeah, they think everything’s my fault. What are you so mad about? You used to think that as well.” He didn’t look fazed at all. This was normal to him. “But I never showed that, except to you. It was mutual.” Keith snickered. “The girls can’t do that to you. It’s not diplomatic.” “Calm down. It’s not even all of them.” Why did Keith let them walk over him? Was this Lance’s fault? Because he had done it before and now he was used to it. “Who is it then?” “I don’t know their names. Just let it go, Lance. I shouldn’t be involved in your choice in the first place.” Oh.

Lance considered that for a bit. Then he exclaimed, “I, Lance McClain Prince of Illea, appoint you as my high advisor. I shall trust you with my greatest dilemmas and troubles.” After finishing he added, “Now you should be involved in making this decision with me. So, describe the contesters who have accused you of causing my injuries.” Keith looked confused and a bit angry at the same time. “That’s the opposite of diplomatic, Lance. The patriots will be furious.” “They patriots think they deserve to have more influence in my life than my friends do. I don’t care what they think. The rest of the country loves you, they’ll be thrilled to hear.” “Friend?” Keith’s eyes were big and doe-like. That was the first time Lance had called him a friend. Lance smiled goofily, “Yeah, friend.”

Telling his parents about Keith’s new title went exactly the way Lance had expected it to go. His mother was proud that they had solved their feud and his father laughed. “That’s bold son, but I do think it would be good to show that you won’t bow down to a bit of violence.” Perfect. It went Perfect.

It would be announced the next Report. There was still a bit of time before that. The doctors had Lance go back to his room and he was looking through the files of the remaining girls. He held one up. “Was it this one?” he asked Keith. “It could be. Like I said, they all look the same to me and I wasn’t paying attention. I don’t want you to accidentally send the wrong girl home.”  “Are you saying I have a type?” Keith smiled shyly. “I guess.” “Well, we need to get to the bottom of this. Why don’t you go in again, now that you now their names,” Lance gave him a look. “and see who reacts the same way.” Keith shifted in his seat. “I don’t know, Lance. Wouldn’t it be weird for me to show up again when you’re fine?”  “They don’t know that, do they?” “You’re too focused on this. Maybe you should stop looking for the perfect queen and start looking for a girl you want to lead the country with for the rest of your life. You can teach someone to be a good leader, you can’t teach yourself to fall in love with one.” How dare he question my methods. Who does he think he is? My highest advisor? “I feel like I could fall in love with any of these girls, Keith. It would just need time. There are still so many I can’t really focus my feelings on any single one of them. That’s why we need to select the ones who are actually good people.” He rolled his eyes at me and said “Fine, I’ll go.” After a couple of minutes Hunk opened the door. “Hey, I heard you had been cleared. You good?”  “Yeah, I’m good. I can already walk four feet without crutches.” “Then why are you lying in bed all day? Why don’t you go see a movie with one of the girls? I thought you really liked Ezor, but you haven’t spent any alone time with her yet.” “And miss out on this perfect excuse to lay in bed all day? I thought not.” Hunk laughed at that, but his smile disappeared soon after.  “You know that if you want to call the entire thing off, you can right? No one would blame you. The Selection is not that important anymore.” He said.  “Why would I want to call it off? I love it.”  “You don’t seem to take it very seriously, if I’m being honest. Pidge agrees. Your mind seems to be…” he paused. He scratched the back of his head. “…elsewhere. Maybe you shouldn’t lead them on like this.” He added.  “I’m just taking my time. There have been Selections that lasted for years. I just want to make sure I make the right decision. And for the record, I just send Keith to tell me which girls have been behaving unqueenlike. I’m putting in maximum effort.” Lance felt offended. He was trying, couldn’t Hunk see that? “I will be announcing the Elite tonight, so I won’t lead anyone on. Happy?”  Hunk sighed. “Not at all, that’s not really what I meant and don’t rush yourself. You’ll figure it out on you own.” He left the room, leaving Lance wondering what he had actually meant to say.

Not for long, though, because Keith walked in again. “Why did Hunk just smile at me like that?” “Like what?”  “Like you were just talking about me?”  “We weren’t. We kind of had a disagreement. I think he was just being nice.”  “Yeah, must be it.” Keith sat down on a chair opposite to Lance’s bed. It was quiet for a bit until Lance asked “So, who can pack their bags?”  Keith smiled that little smile of his. Very cute, very dimplely. “I don’t want to influence your choice too much.”  “Cut the crap, we’ve been over this.” Keith begrudgedly handed him a list. Quite a long list. Lance looked up. “All of these?” Keith nodded. Some names shocked him, some didn’t. Others didn’t as much shock him, as disappoint him. He had really hoped Nyma didn’t belong to this list. But here name stood there, crawled in Keith’s crowlike writing “Nijnna”. He tried. A plus of the list being so damn long, was that he could actually be true to his promise to Hunk. Without the girls on this list, only five were left, excluding Pidge. She has to leave sometime. Maybe now is the best.

Lance hadn’t noticed he was crying until Keith spoke up. “Do you want me to leave?” he asked. Lance wiped away his tears. “No. Come here.” Keith shifted uncomfortably, but stood up eventually to sit down next to Lance. “It’s almost over.” Lance said. Keith raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” “Tonight I’ll announce the elite. Then I’m going to have to make a decision. Everything is happening so fast. It’s just difficult.” Keith tried to comfort him by stroking his back, but it didn’t really work. It only made him feel more tense, more helpless. “I’m sorry, this really isn’t your problem.” Lance tried to stand up, but Keith grabbed his wrist. “It’s fine, really. Just calm down.” Lance pulled him up and into a hug. “You’re great friend you know.” Lance sobbed. “I try.” Keith replied with sadness in his voice, probably pity. God, Lance hated being pitied by Keith.

The next day the there is much more breakfast left than usual. They hadn’t expected Lance to cut that many girls in one day. The food would go to shelters, but it still looked odd. Croissants meant for girls who left. Lance let out a breath of air through his nose. Keith looked at him questioning. “Remind me to send a couple of scones to Pidge.” Lance whispered. He rolled his eyes. “I’m not your personal assistant.” He announced at full volume. “You technically are.” Lance defended. “If that’s part of the job I quit.” Two girls giggled. Mindless. They didn’t know what they were talking about. They couldn’t know if it was funny or not. He almost felt like sending them away. Only three left. Easy. But it wasn’t. What if the girls are just nervous that they’re part of the last five, that’s why they feel nervous around him. They want to make an impression. But they haven’t, if they had, Lance could think about them as separate people, not ‘the girls’, ‘them’ and an occasional trait he assigned to them. He was in deep trouble. One girl less and he could call his future a multiple-choice question. Lance suddenly lost his appetite. He excused himself and went to his room.

He took his agenda and planned as many dates as possible. He must find his soulmate with one of these girls. He must develop a bond with one of them. And soon. His entire schedule was filled. After the others finished breakfast he would immediately go to Ezor and go horse-riding, then at 11 he would swim with Plaxum, then a picknick with Narti, so on, so on.

Ezor is such a free spirit. Sometimes their personalities clash, but when they match, they’re always in for a great time. He does feel like she makes them match. She’s in a competition, he’s the prize. He has that feeling with every girl. They’re trying to accomplish something by being the cutest, kindest, funniest or most diplomatic. Nothing is spontaneous. Nothing is romantic. Nothing is love.

After a day of hard work he jumps onto his bed.(he shouldn’t have to think about it as work) He closes his eyes for a bit and lets his thoughts wander. He makes mental notes of each date, each girl, each laugh, each awkward silence that accompanied said laugh. Maybe the selection wasn’t for him after all. Maybe he couldn’t fall in love with any of the girls after all. Maybe he send his soulmate home the first time. Maybe he wasn’t meant for love. He didn’t understand how so many monarchs had found their spouse this way. None of their marriages had ended in divorce. They all had their happy ever after. Then he remembered the story of his great-great-grandmother. She had found her husband in the translator that travelled with one of the contestants. She had found love where she hadn’t expected it. Lance had never liked that story. She had broken the rules. Now he liked it even less. He didn’t have a girl lurking in the shadows to break the rules with.

He did have an advisor he could trouble with his problems. He called for him and a couple of minutes later Keith knocked on the door. “Come in.” he yelled. No one came in. Lance groaned and stood up. He opened his door and Keith was standing in front of him with his arms folded. Lance sighed. “What’s your deal?” His eyebrows quirked up. “I’m allowed to be in your presence today? I thought I had been fired.”  “What on earth led you to that conclusion?”  “Just the fact that you’ve been ignoring me all day”  “I was busy doing Selection stuff. I’m sorry okay, it’s just my future.” Keith’s jaw clenched. “Why are you in a rush so suddenly, just yesterday you wanted to drag it out.” “I need time to fall in love, but I do think I need to spend that time effectively.” He swallowed. “You’re right. It’s an important decision to make. I’m sorry.” He shifted around a bit and asked “What did you call me in for?” Lance stepped aside to let him in. “Just, I don’t know. I just wanted to hear what you thought about some things.” “Like what?”  Lance sat down at his desk. “I think I might have romanticized the Selection too much.” Lance looks down when he says this. “It’s so much work. To get to know all of these girls, establishing bonds. A lot of emotional energy goes into it you know.” Lance watched Keith in the mirror. Keith said nothing. He looked like he wanted to say something. Lance stared at him for a second before asking “Do you have any input? Comments? Something you want to get off your chest?” Keith shook his head. “Common, you want to say something.” Keith grinned. “Nope, nothing.” He said. “Please….”Lance whined. He leaned back in his chair so far and bend his neck that way he could see Keith upside down, sitting on his bed.  “Enlighten me with your ideas.” He smiled.  “Maybe if forming the relationship itself, even the friendship, takes so much effort, it’s not really worth it. That was what I was thinking, but I may be a bit biased.” He admitted.  Lance did not like that answer. He didn’t entirely understand what the last part meant, but he didn’t like the first part. Of course relationships take effort. You need to get to know someone before you can decide if you like them or not. Idiot. Their friendship had taken effort as well, Lance told himself. He temporarily forgot that the effort he was thinking about was pretending to hate him. If Lance hadn’t wanted to be friends he wouldn’t have been. He forgot that they had gradually become friends against his wishes. It hadn’t taken effort at all.  “I disagree.” Keith stopped smiling. “That’s because you’re still living in that delusional dream of yours that one day you’ll find the “One” and she’s coincidentally part of this incredibly small group of girls. That’s not how real life goes. If she was one of the five girls left. You would’ve known.”  “If that’s true how come all my ancestors managed to do it?” Lance was getting heated. Keith was prepared, though. He had put a lot of brainpower into the subject at hand. “You think they were all soulmates? You think they didn’t just put up with each other? They were probably all just friends who led a country together and were a bit attracted to each other, so they fucked a couple of times to get a heir to put into their own miserable shoes once their lights went out. You hear all these nice fairy tale stories about the Selection, but it’s all bullshit.” Lance was shocked. Keith had never acted like this before. “Calm down, I know you don’t get it. You didn’t grow up with-“ Before Lance could finish Keith interrupted. “I get it alright, I just wasn’t brainwashed into believing this was the only way to fall in love. Just pick one and be done with it. Please, just…” He took a deep breath and continued. “Please stop dragging me into it, okay? I’m done with it.” He stood up and left. He didn’t slam the door. He just left.

Lance had just lost his high advisor. He wondered if it meant he had also lost his friend. He felt like crying. Ugly crying. He realized why he had called for Keith. He wanted to talk to him. Just talk to him. He had missed him today. And he missed him again. He couldn’t call for him again. That would be pathetic.

Just pick one and be done with it. To him they’re all the same. He didn’t know their names until a few days ago. He doesn’t get it. He doesn’t get this is his only chance at love. He can just go to some obscure country and pick girls up. It’s not like they know the little brother of the king of Altea in Swendway. Lance is known everywhere. He will never know if girls just want him for the crown. Not even with the Selection.

He still has time to figure it out, he still has time.

Four days passed. Twelve awkward meals. Four tense Reports. Zero time alone. Everyone knew something was up. Even the citizens. They tried to stay friendly during the Reports, but it had still seemed fake. They were back where they started and everyone had noticed. Hunk had asked Lance what had happened multiple times. He couldn’t give an answer. He didn’t know.

Lance had gone on many dates since then. However he couldn’t keep his attention with the girls. It was fruitless. He was leading them on and he knew it. He was leading himself on as well. Keith was right. He should just pick one and get on with it. He had always prided himself on being a hopeless romantic, but right now he actually felt the irony of that. He was hopeless. He would never find romance here.

He didn’t know if his depressing thought were caused by Keith or by Keith’s absence. He did know that he missed him. He missed Keith’s shy smile and awkward posture. He even missed it that he wasn’t yelling at him every three seconds. They had just been avoiding each other. Lance had decided that this was ridiculous and walked to Keith’s chamber. He usually never went there, but he knew that Keith wouldn’t respond to him asking for him. He was taking longer than he would if he hadn’t been dreading the conversation they would have.

Eventually he got there anyway. Excitement bubbled in his chest. He remembered that it was five a.m. and that bothering Keith at this moment was maybe not the best idea, but the door opened at the exact moment he had decided that is was a viable excuse not to talk to him. Keith powerwalked right into him and Lance stumbled backward a bit. He didn’t fall though. Keith’s face was twisted in confusion. “What. The. fuck…” he paused. “are you doing here.” Lance hadn’t seen him like this in a long time. His sweatpants and t-shirt, ready to hit the gym. He had forgotten about his five a.m. workouts. It had only been four days and had already forgotten about those? His eyes were still sleepy and his voice rasp. “Lance? What’s wrong?” Lance snapped out of his thought process. “I…I... I’m” he stuttered. Keith raised his eyebrows. “You’re what?” Lance considered what he was going to say for a bit then concluded. “I miss you. I want my friend back.” Keith stared at him. Expecting him to say more. So he continued. “I know you hate the Selection, but it’s almost over and I don’t want you to leave when it ends. I hate this. I hate not being your friend. I miss you and I don’t want you to be mad at me. You know I wanted you to agree with my decision, and I still do.” He waited for a reaction. The only one he got was a stern look from Keith. “I think you were right. I’m sorry. I think I can’t fall in love with any of these girls. I just can become good friends with them. Love is fake as you’d say.” That made him crack a bit. A small smile tucked at his mouth. “I think I want Ezor to be my wife. And I want you to be okay with that.” His face dropped immediately. “That makes zero sense Lance. If you’ve realized that the Selection is a scam why on earth would you marry anyway?” What was wrong with this guy? Lance did exactly as he’d said and he was still mad. “Because I can’t just cancel it? I need a friend to lead the country with to marry and as advised me; ‘Just pick one and be done with it.’” Keith rolled his eyes. “I also told you to keep me out of it. Why aren’t you following that piece of advice?” “You’re my friend, duh. I want you to approve of my important life decisions.” Keith bit his lip and averted his eyes. “Then why can’t I be that friend?” “What do you mean? Which friend?” Keith sighed and looked straight at Lance. “You seem to be very hung up on my opinion on certain decisions you make.” A pause. “So why can’t I be the friend you lead the country with?” Lance brain short circuited. He didn’t mean? No he couldn’t. He started saying things he couldn’t recall later. Things about Keith being ridiculous, the cultural importance of the Selection and other general dumb shit. He did remember Keith’s face. The only thing he didn’t want to remember. He had tried to hide his emotions, but it had been clear he was heartbroken. He had meant it that way. He didn’t look surprised, just truly miserable. Every inch of hope squeezed out of him. That’s how Lance felt as well. Not because he was in love with Keith, obviously not, but because he had lost all hope of Keith staying after the Selection was done. Keith had excused himself to go to the gym and he wasn’t present at any of the meals or the Report. Lance reckoned it was better that way. It was a lot to process. Keith was in love with him. Keith was going to hate him forever. Lance was going to lose the only friend he had ever had, who wasn’t part of the staff. Lance was going to puke on National television if they wouldn’t wrap it up soon. He didn’t puke on National television. It was a close call, though. When he was back at his room, he collapsed in on himself. The maids tended to his every need as he lay in bed. He wondered if Keith would hear about this. He wondered what he would think. He decided that theorizing wouldn’t make a difference. Apparently he had been wrong about Keith all along. A thought popped up. ‘What if he hears this and thinks I’m disgusted by him?” He couldn’t think that. He asked one of the maids to get Keith. To make sure he comes and if they could get some privacy. The look of confusion was telling. She also noticed the cold shoulder Keith had been giving to Lance the last couple of days. He would love to see her reaction to Keith. Keith would not be very pleased with Lance’s request. That was for sure. A couple of minutes later the maid came back with Keith. She almost pushed him inside and closed the door. He wouldn’t make eye contact with him. “What do you want?” “I told you already.” Lance sat up. “To be you friend.” Keith winced. Actually winced at the word ‘friend’. “I was just worried that you’d think I’d fallen ill because of you. That’s not the case.” Keith snickered. “Fallen ill. You’re really talking like that again and try to convince me this hasn’t got anything to do with this morning? It’s also kind of funny that you think I knew you were sick. Not everything revolves around you in this palace.” “I’m aware of that Keith. I don’t know what it revolves around for you, but it’s not your duties, apparently.” Lance said. “I thought you’d appreciate my absence and I seem to be right, because you’ve fallen ill even without a homo in your presence.” “Don’t call yourself that. That’s not why I puked…” “You actually puked?” Keith interrupted. “Yes.” Lance sighed. “Yes. And yes, maybe part of it was because of what you said, but it was just all piling onto each other. I just felt sick thinking about my future. And part of what made it sickening was because you wouldn’t be in it.” Keith was still mad. “We can’t be friends. You know that. We’ve just been fighting the last couple of days. All we do is argue. It’s my fault, I know that. So I feel like I should leave. Let you be. This was never going to work.” Neither of them knew what he was referring to. Friendship or something else. Keith turned around and opened the door. When the maid asked if he was allowed to leave, Lance just nodded as a single tear ran down his cheek.

Lance had spent the rest of his day trying to come up with a plan that would make Keith stay a little longer. To make him think things through. His mind came up empty. Keith didn’t owe him anything. He should be spending his time coming up with reasons to give the Report to Keith’s sudden departure. That was even more difficult. He didn’t want to tell them the real reason, that would be cruel. He decided he would just wing the Report. Something would come to him on the spot. Right now he just wallowed in self-pity and another emotion he could not place.

He had asked Hunk to bring him as much cupcakes as he could and to send one to Keith as well with ‘please stay’ written on it. He didn’t think it would be effective, but Keith would have something sweet to remember him by.

When Hunk arrived at his room, Lance laid cuddled up in bed. “Are you all right?” He asked as he slowly opened the door and let some light in. “Do I look all right to you?” he shouldn’t be snapping at Hunk, he had no fault in this. Hunk sat on his bed and handed him a cupcake. It had blue sprinkles on it. His favourite. He a smile tugged at his lips. “Thank you. You’re the best.” Hunk chuckled. “I know.” Hunk studied him for a minute and then asked cautiously. “What did you do?” Lance heart ached and no cupcake could fill the emptiness in his stomach. His throat closed up and tears streamed down his cheeks. “Nothing. Not enough. I don’t know how to fix it.”

“Fix what?”

“Our friendship. He told me…” Lance hesitated for a bit, but when Hunk raised his eyebrows he gave in. “He told me he was in love with me and now he’s convinced that we can’t be friends anymore. I think he thinks I hate him. I don’t” Hunk rubbed his back. “I agree with him.” How could he agree? It’s totally insane. “I don’t hate him. Of course I don’t!”

“I meant that I think you can’t be friends. I know you don’t hate him. I know you love him.”

“Yes, exactly. I love him. As a friend. That’s why we need to be friends again. I know we can be friends again.”

“Do you really feel the same way about him as you feel about me or Pidge?”

No. The short answer was no. The long answer was ‘No, because you were forced to be my friend.’ The real answer was ‘No and I’m stupid.’ After a short silence and a shorter evaluation of his emotions he answered. “Just because they’re different emotions doesn’t mean I’m in love with him.” Hunk sighed. “Why are you so hung up on him leaving? You were never this bad when Allura left. You were never this bad when I or Pidge left. And don’t come with ‘That was only temporarily’ because Allura has been quite long and so will Pidge be.” Lance stayed silent. “Why is Keith’s opinion so important all the time? Why don’t you listen to the views of the girls? They’re very intelligent.” Lance had thought about all of these points and could explain all of them pretty well in regards to his platonic relationship with Keith. “And lastly,” Hunk added. “Why did you always talk about how pretty Keith is and how you’re afraid the girls will find him more attractive than you?”

“Because I was worrying about literally everything and I can think my friend is good-looking.” Hunk was starting to become inpatient. “Oh wait, I forgot one. Why did you make out with Keith when you were black-out drunk?” Lance’s brain short-circuited again. “I did what?”

“Remember when you puked for over an hour because you had drunk so much?” “No. You’re lying. You have to be. I would never do that!”

Hunk’s expression showed pity. A lot of it. “Do you really want to marry any of these girls?”

Lance felt confused. He didn’t not want to marry any of them. No. he wanted to marry someone he loved and he just had always expected that person to be one of the contestants. Not a guy. Not Keith.

“You really have to figure this out for yourself. I don’t know if you want me here, or if you want me to leave. So if you need me just call.” He stood up and left.

Lance didn’t know what he felt. He just knew that the thought of him kissing Keith didn’t disgust him. It just surprised him. He didn’t know what to think about it. How to feel about it. It did explain a bit of Keith’s behaviour though. Why he had been mad after the kiss had apparently happened was still vague to him. Why he never talked about it again as well. He must have blown him off. That was the first moment a clear emotion rose out of his chest. Anger. At himself, to be precise. The only way he could explain it was that he was angry at himself for hurting Keith. He knew that wasn’t true. He knew that he was angry, because he had forgotten his first kiss and that he hadn’t kissed him more times. His melting pot emotion suddenly had some clarity, like he had looked at a picture the wrong way and only now saw the message.

He wanted to kiss him again.

He wanted to sleep in the same bed with him again.

He wanted to giggle with him and ask for his advice again.

He wanted to go on a date with him.

He was in love with him.

It made him feel anxious. However, it made him feel calm as well. A paradox of emotions swirled around in his chest. He tried the phrase out. “I’m in love with Keith.” It didn’t sound foreign to him. It belonged to his voice.

Lance sat up and stormed out of his room. It had taken only half a minute to get from his room to Keith’s. He didn’t bother knocking, he opened the door and began to proclaim his true love for Keith.

After his first sentence, however. He noticed the room was empty. Safe for a letter on his bed.

“Dear Lance,

I expected you to come and try to change my mind with your endless charm. I’m only a man, I knew you would win. So I decided to leave right now. I’m sorry. We’ll see each other again. I’m sure of it. As diplomats. Maybe friends one day. Once I’ve figured everything out. I’ll miss you.

Love,

Keith”

Empty. His stomach, his heart, his head. After seconds that felt like hours one word bubbled up. “No.” He was too late. Instead of preventing him to leave, he had to get him back now. A whole different task that would be.

He went back to his room and tried to come up with a plan. A few steps had to be included.

1. Get Keith back

2. Make sure Keith doesn’t murder him when he’s back

3. Cancel the Selection so Keith doesn’t murder him

He reckoned step one and two shouldn’t have to be too difficult. He could just write him a letter. He did feel bad about step 3. He couldn’t lead them on, but if it wouldn’t work out between Keith and Lance he would die alone.

He thought it through for a bit and decided it would be worth it. He also knew that Keith, and the country for that matter, would appreciate a big gesture. So that’s what he would give them.

Notes:

Thanks for reading. I'm planning on finishing this before the end of the year, because then I can pretend i didn't spend an entire year on this thing. Tell me what you think.

Lance wasn’t entirely sure if Keith would watch the Report. He did know that his family always did, so he’d hear it anyways.

Lance had written a whole speech, even though he knew he would throw it away the moment they were on air.

It felt like the morning lasted a lifetime. He needed to get this out. He knew that he had only realized his feelings a couple of hours ago, but he couldn’t contain them.

After the longest minutes of his life he was finally called to the studio. He hadn’t told anyone about his plan, not even Hunk, because he knew how easy it was to talk him out of it.

When he arrived he froze for a millisecond. The chair next to his would be empty. No one to calm him down. He had no idea he would miss Keith’s mere presence so much. Him sitting there saying nothing felt like a dream compared what he would have to endure to get it back.

He sat down and waited for the Report to start. As usual they first talked about his family and the girls a bit. He didn’t know what to say about the girls. He decided that positive and friendly things that could be interpreted as platonic was the best way to go.

Then the question finally came. “So, I’m sure we’ve all been wondering, where has the prince of Altea gone?”

Lance gathered all of his courage and started with something he was never supposed to say. “We’ve had a bit of a falling out. The pressure has been high on me and my high advisor the last couple of weeks, especially because of the Selection.” His parents shot him deadly looks. The presenter wanted to ask an additional question, but Lance beat him to it. “I do take a lot of the blame on my own shoulders, though. I haven’t been completely honest with him, or myself for that matter.” Everyone in the audience looked confused, even his parents, especially Hunk. “So, Keith, if you’re watching, please come back.” He paused. He felt his heart beat in his chest. He felt like puking. “I love you.” He chuckled. “You’re the winner.” Before other people could start asking questions he stood up and walked away.

Lance didn’t know what he had expected. Maybe for Keith to call immediately after the Report. Maybe for Keith to storm into his room and kiss him. None of those things happened. When he heard a knock on his door he still felt a spark of hope, even though he knew it was ridiculous. Hunk opened the door slowly. “Hey, are you okay?” He asked.

“I think so, yeah.”

“Good, because that was idiotic.”

“I know.”

Hunk sat down next to him like the day before. “You’re not okay.” He said. “I want to see Keith, I don’t want to have embarrassed myself for no reason.”

“Yeah I get that.”

Hunk stayed the rest of the midday and they talked about things other than Keith and the Selection. Lance didn’t know how he had managed to make sure no one else would enter, in any case, he was grateful for it. No media for a while. It was nice. He knew that he was probably supposed to get down for dinner, but he wanted nothing less.

Dinnertime rolled around and Hunk offered to just get something. It was a tempting offer, however, he did feel like had a duty to show his face after ruining his and his family’s reputation.

Luckily, Keith was adored by most of the country. Most people would love the idea of the Altean and Illean royal families having actual ties, so he didn’t really worry about riots caused by the cancellation of the Selection. Obviously security would have to be improved to prevent another attack, but they would eventually stop once they realized how great Keith was.

Everyone was surprised when he walked in. A weird tension hung in the air, he wondered what it was, until he saw him.

He sat in Lance’s chair. Next to Lance’s father. Lance felt like running away. Usually he liked the attention, but he felt like people were cautious of him. He had to give it to them, he had given them quite the curveball. He really didn’t know what to do, fortunately, Keith stood up and walked over to him.

“Can I speak to you?”

Lance nodded and followed him out of the dining hall.

The silence was uncomfortable. Keith looked a tiny bit mad.

“Spill.” Lance took a moment to comprehend what he meant. His words stumbled out of his mouth.

“I’m so sorry that it took so long for me to realize my… um… feelings for you.” Keith’s expression changed from irritated to confused.

“You mean you actually meant that. It wasn’t just a trick to get me back.” How could he even think that?

“Of course not!” Lance took Keith’s hands. “I love you, I really do. My mind was occupied with convincing itself that I wasn’t. That one of the girls was supposed to be my true love, you were right, the Selection is fake. But love sure isn’t.” Keith smiled at that. “You’re an idiot.”

“Yeah, I deserve that title.”

Keith laughed. God, had Lance missed that laugh. Lance put a hand on Keith’s cheek and leaned forward. Their lips touched and Lance felt a rush of Déjà vu. Keith’s lips felt like home. This was the kiss he had always dreamt of as a kid. When they broke apart they both burst out in laughter. That had taken a while.

When both of them had recovered Lance took both of Keith’s hands and dropped onto one knee.

“Dear Keith, my highest advisor and friend, I love you with everything I am. I want to lead the country with you, and frankly, I don’t care what anyone else thinks about it. Do you want to marry me?”

Keith practically glowed and Lance’s insides glowed with him.

“Yes, yes I do.”

#klance #selection au #fluff #angst #pining #slowburn #rivals to lovers #bedsharing #voltron #keith #lance

[shenzuul]

For the Fifth There Was an Explosion

Pidge was alive, and her first coherent thought was, Lance is never going to shut up about the Birthday Curse now. She waited for the sound of cascading rubble to stop before trying to move the sheet of metal that had shielded her from the brunt of the explosion.  Her shoulder screamed when she raised her arms, but after some testing, Pidge decided it was only bruising and a pulled muscle. If Lance’s theory about her birthday held any truth, she’d gotten off light this year.

Shiro was going to be upset with her. His expression right before the charge had gone off… Well, she wasn’t very good at reading faces, but she assumed she was in for a Keith- or even a Lance-level lecture. Shoving that train of thought away—Shiro’s disappointment seemed about the worst birthday present imaginable—she threw her weight against the scrap of shuttle siding above her. It gave reluctantly, and deluged her in a shower of dust and debris when she managed to dislodge it. To her annoyance, she was forced to climb out of her makeshift foxhole, shoulder complaining the whole way.

As she teetered onto her feet at the summit of her little pile of destruction, she heard someone calling her name. Relief clenched her throat. She had been certain that the blast wouldn't reach him when she’d triggered it, but apparently she’d been anxious nonetheless. She had to pause and swallow before she could call out, “Shiro! I'm over here!”

He came running from behind a half-collapsed section of the ceiling, ducking under the wing of a fighter that had fallen from the hangar on the level above. Pidge pasted a lopsided grin on her face and half climbed, half slid down the hill of debris to meet him. He was fine; she hadn’t hurt him. “Got it,” she said as Shiro drew close. She raised her fist in triumph to show him the canister. Ignoring her prize, Shiro wrenched her into an embrace that nearly lifted her off her toes.

Pidge coughed, embarrassed. “I’m uh, I'm okay, Shiro.” She clutched the canister against her chest with one hand, clung to Shiro’s shirt for balance with the other. “I knew what I was doing.” His arms tightened around her before he drew back enough for Pidge to crane her head up and see his face. There was something terrible in his expression, something that stuttered her heartbeat and nearly made an I’m sorry tumble out of her. She bit the words back. She wasn’t going to apologize—what she had done was necessary.

Shiro raised a hand to brush soot away from a nick on her jaw. “May I kiss you?” he asked hoarsely.

Pidge froze.

“W-what?”

He let his forehead fall against hers. “May I,” he repeated quietly, “kiss you?” His voice was strangely heavy, exhausted and tender at the same time. Pidge didn’t know what to make of it.

“Sure?” she managed.

Shiro bent down. The kiss he pressed to her lips was warm and firm, and felt as though it was trying to hold her in place. Slowly, the tension bled from Shiro’s muscles; his death grip around Pidge’s arms softened into a gentler hold. He broke away to feather quick, light kisses on her mouth, until at last he sighed and rested his head at the crook of her neck.

Pidge gave Shiro a full minute to collect himself, forcing herself to breathe evenly as she waited. It had been almost two years since she’d admitted to Shiro that she was in love with him, and since he had turned her down with characteristic compassion and respect. In that time, the only change between them was that Pidge had grown used to living with her feelings; being in love with Shiro was an everyday inconvenience she’d learnt to deal with. Shiro had been her consistent ally, taking care to bar any ambiguity from their friendship. This, whatever it was, was a breach of their boundaries, and it filled Pidge with anxiety.

Her antsiness grew as Shiro continued to breathe against her collarbone with no sign he planned to move. “Shiro?” she said tentatively. He turned so that his nose nuzzled into her neck, but said nothing. “Shiro, um…” He began to layer slow kisses up her throat and under her ear. Pidge’s entire body went hot. “Shiro,” she deadpanned. “If you’re not trying to seduce me, you need to stop. Like, now. And we need to get this back to the castle.”

Shiro paused, mouth pressed up under Pidge’s jawline. “I’m seducing you,” he said. He sounded tired.

Pidge’s eyes snapped wide. She pushed Shiro back so that she could see his face. “Since when?” she demanded.

His gaze, his voice were inscrutable. “A few months, at least.”

Pidge sputtered. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Couldn't think of a way to bring it up.”

“How about, ‘Hey Pidge, I've got something serious to discuss with you, can we talk?’” Near verbatim what she'd said to him.

“I couldn't find the right time—”

“Oh yes, and this,” Pidge gestured at the gaping ceiling, the burnt out husk of a shuttle craft, “is great timing.”

Shiro swore under his breath. “I thought I had more time. I forgot about the blasted Birthday Curse.”

Pidge crossed her arms. “You don't believe in that nonsense.��

Shiro’s mouth twisted to the side. “Believe that you’ll throw yourself into danger, against my orders, when you’ve thought up something clever and don't think you have time to explain it to your so-very-slow teammates? Believe that you won't run a change in plans by your leader in advance? Believe that you’ll act even more rashly than usual  on days you particularly miss your family?”

Pidge flushed. “It was the only—”

Shiro’s hands twitched, as though he wanted to seize her again, but he restrained himself. “I know. I know, and it was smart and—and probably the right thing to do. I know you're not Keith, throwing yourself into things without thinking, and you're not Lance, seeing the risk and doing it anyway, but...damn it, Pidge, whenever you rush off without saying anything, I always wonder if this is going to be the time you calculated it and decided it was your turn to go in for the heroics. It scares me. It scares all of us.”

“I,” Pidge struggled for words. “I'm not going to stop.”

Shiro regarded her with a worn-out smile. “I know.”

“If I see it, I’m going to do something about it,” Pidge warned him. She stepped in towards him and let him wrap her into another hug.

“I know,” he said.

“And I’m not going to waste time explaining things if I need to move fast,” she mumbled into his chest.

“I know,” he said.

“And Keith is slow,” she said.

“Pidge.”

“And Hunk pretends to be slow if it looks dangerous to get involved.”

“Pidge.”

“Where’s your com, shouldn't we be telling them we didn't blow up?”

Keeping Pidge pinned to his side with one arm, Shiro reached down to fumble in his pocket. “Shouldn't you be telling me how you feel about all this?”

“I feel like I should make you work on your communication and try the whole thing all over again when we get back,” Pidge grumbled. “I thought you were trying to keep it friendly and platonic.”

“I’ll work on it,” Shiro promised, and he leaned down to kiss her hair before opening a line to the castle.

#voltron #vld #shidge #takashi shirogane #shiro #pidge #katie holt

[honeybearloco]

“...Says Hell Yes.” (M?)

Requested by an anon. (!) Warning: Suggestive|Almost a Smut But Not Really

The Hip Hop Couple of the new generation. THE BLACK LABEL Couple. The one sexy couple that is lowkey the cutest couple ever. Everyone adored your relationship. You were goals, no one could deny that.

You were a very popular underground rapper. You spoke about real problems. Your past, sexism, and other serious issues like that. Mostly your songs were to be taken seriously, so you weren’t an arrogant rapper. You were a skilled rapper. You’ve been rapping since your high school days.

You signed under THE BLACK LABEL before Zion. T, though you were under THE BLACK LABEL everyone under YG loved and adored you. Your name was out there, you were truly an amazing female rapper. And that’s what Bryan loved about you.

Your crew was often called a female version of The Cohort. But your crew had true meaning behind it. There was three members. You and two of your friends from high school. Your crew’s name was Deities. All of you represented a Roman Goddess. Chaeyoung represents Minerva. Hyerim represents Diana. And you, you represent Venus. (A/N: I had a phase where I was obessed with Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. Please don’t tell me I’m the only one. Venus/Aphordite was my favorite.)

You being Venus said a lot. Venus was the Goddess of love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, properity and victory. You loved to show off your body. You weren’t Korea’s idols. You weren’t a barbie doll. You were your own person and everyone loved you for being you. There were a few haters here and there but you didn’t care.

You met Bryan at a Cohort show. You were a dear friend of Keith. After the show you went up to Keith. “Y/N! What are you doing here?”

“I came to se the show, I could miss your show, especially since I had the day off.” You gave him a tight hug. When you let go, you could see Okasian and Bryan. “Jiyong, Bryan, you’ve met Y/N, right?” Keith asked.

“I’ve met her. I don’t think Bryan has.” Okasian answered. He nudged Bryan’s shoulder. Bryan looked up to see you. Though you were beautiful from head to toe, he found himself deeply in love with your eyes. They were soft. They made you seem innocent. “Dude, you’re drooling.” Okasian said nudging Bryan’s shoulder.

“Sorry, she’s just very beautiful.” Bryan complimented. You blushed at his compliment. For the next couple of hours, you were following Keith like a lost puppy for two reasons. One, he was the only person you knew personally. Two, you knew how Keith got when he got drunk, so you were there to help him out.

Bryan was jealous of how much attention you were giving his friend. “What does he have, that I don’t?” He asked aloud. “Uhm, dude are you still thirsting after Y/N?” Jiyong asked. “Is it that obvious?”

“Yeah. Even the bartender can tell you’re thirsting over her.” He exggarted. Bryan sighed.

“What’s the story about your friend Bryan?” You asked Keith.

“Why? You interested in him?”

“I might be coming around. And I can see him staring at me.”

He told you everything about Bryan, it made you more interested in him. You walked up to Bryan. “Hey.” You greeted. “Hi.” He said nervously. “I noticed your staring.”

His eyes widened. You giggled. “You’re cute. How about a drink?” He smiled. You sat at the bar and drank with him for an hour or so. You stopped drinking after your third beer, you had to because you were driving yourself home. You looked at your watch. 

It was two in the morning. “Oh my god! I lost track of time. I have to get going. Uhm, you have my number. Text me soon.” You stood up, kissed his cheek, and walked out of the bar.

You and two of you began texting and eventually he asked you out on a date. You of course accepted. After a couple of dates he asked you to be his girlfriend. And you said yes. After he signed to THE BLACK LABEL, you spent all your time together and announced your relationship. Everyone loved the two of you together.

You were in the studio working on a new album. The album progress wasn’t going that well, because Bryan was being annoying and irritating. Every couple of seconds he’d wrap his arms around you and give you kisses on your neck.

You needed to finish this album by a deadline. But he wasn’t helping at all. You were working on song lyrics. This was the last song going on the album. The song was done, you just needed the lyrics. You were sitting on the table and Bryan sat in the chair by the wall, to charge his phone. “Babe, what should the last song be about?” You asked. “Me.” He answered. You rolled your eyes. “There’s already song about you.”

“Write a sexy song about us.”

“This isn’t a sexy album.” You whined. “And? Make it a sexy album. Write a song about how I make you feel when I-”

“AHH! MY EARS!” You screamed putting your hands over your ears. “Stop acting like you’re innocent. You know you love when I-”

“CAUGHT IN A LIE!”

He stood up and walked over to you. He opened your legs and stood in between them. He kissed down your neck. “Babe, stop!” You secretly wanting him to continue. “Your mouth says no, but your body says hell yes.” He said in your neck.

You grabbed his face and smashed your lips on his. He reached from the hem of your shirt. You smacked his hand away and pulled back. He whined. “You take yours off first.”

In the speed of light, he basically ripped off his shirt. “Now?” You nodded. He quickly took off your shirt and stared at your bra. “White lace? Were you trying to seduce me?” He asked. “Maybe a little.” You answered. He connected his lips to yours again in a very passionate kiss. His left hand slowly made its way down your stomach to the yoga pants. (A/N: Don’t ask me why you’re wearing yoga pants. They make the booty look fat….)

He slowly slipped his hands in your yoga pants to rub you through your underwear. You moaned in the kiss. He pulled away. “Damn, we jsut started and you’re already so wet for me.” “Well can you stop teasing and actually do something?”

He chuckled and slipped his hand into your underwear and rubbed your clit in circles. You couldn’t control your moaning. You were always loud. Interrupting the two of you, his phone rang. He took his hand out underwear and went to grab his phone. You groaned. “BRYAN!” He grabbed his phone and pressed the answer button without seeing who it was.

“Yoboseyo?”

“Yo! Bryan, we’re working on a new track. We need you.” Keith’s voice sounded. “I’ll be right there.” He hung up.

“You’re going to leave me all hot for you?!”

“Think of it as your punishment for trying to tell me what to do.” He grabbed his shirt and slipped it on. He grabbed his phone and charger and walked out of the room. “BRYAN!” You shouted.

Have an amazing day/night. Love ya~! Thanks for reading. 

#bryan cha$e scenario #bryan cha$e imagine #bryan cha$e reaction #bryan cha$e request #khh scenarios #khh imagines #khh reactions #khh requests #khh smut #khiphop scenarios #khiphop imagine #khiphop reactions #khiphop request #khiphop smut #khh #Khiphop #bryan cha$e

[tazumihanako]

Out Of Line

 Third chapter is out for Out Of Line, and we got a slow burn klance. Oc and Keith at beginning, but as the story progresses it changes. Oc is planned to be Pidge’s alien gf. 

read it on Ao3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/10638642/chapters/23537223

           The next day everyone got a rude awakening when an alarm had sounded off through the castle. Everyone had jolted out of bed except for Lucy and Lance whom were in a very deep sleep.

 “Allura, what’s going on?” Keith was the first to enter, already in paladin gear. He didn’t know what to wear as armor goes so he grabbed his usual red armor.

 “Nothing, just testing out the system,” Allura smiled as she walked over to Keith. “Today is the day that we get Lucy prepared to take over the red lion, but also more team bonding so that we can get everyone to work like they use to with Shiro in charge.”

 “It’s not going to be the same.” Allura covered her mouth, she knew that the topic of Shiro was especially touchy for Keith and yet she had mentioned his name.

 “It will be if we try.” Allura understood what Keith was going through, she missed the black paladin as well.

 “Allura, what’s the emergency!” Pidge came sprinting in with Hunk in tow, both in their paladin gear as well.

 “No emergency, today is coronation day for our new team member.” Allura smiled happily as Pidge took a look around the room.

 “Speaking of where is Lucy?” Pidge questioned.

 “Someone else is missing too, but it doesn’t quite surprise me since this happened before.” Hunk laughed as he scratched the back of his head.

 “Time to wake them up then, can two of you go and retrieve the rest of the team.” Allura questioned as Keith and Pidge both volunteered to get their respective paladin.

 “It’s cool, I guess I’ll just wait here then.” Hunk sighed as Pidge grabbed his arm and dragged him along to retrieve Lance with Keith going to get Lucy.

 Lucy was tired from the night before, and also embarrassed. Ever since the third day of her adventure with mullet boy sent her spiraling down from her normally independent attitude. She was strong, and could normally handle herself, but her feelings were slowly changing for the team leader. She could remember every detail of that day, the moment they shared while getting water by the river, and the second time that he had saved her life. She knew she was falling hard for him, and she didn’t want to believe that she could fall for somebody this fast. She had already screwed up on team bonding night by trying to seduce him by climbing on top of his lap. She knew the dare required sexual appeal, but as soon as she had gone over to Keith she had realized her mistake and made up for it by going to every paladin as to not make it seem like her feelings existed. She had a crush, that was a definite. She just didn’t know how to react to these overflowing emotions, they were making her act strange. She never got easily embarrassed before, but suddenly she was blushing at every single thing involving Keith. She had to shake this before it got out of control and caused her to do something she’d regret. Lucy had been so lost in thought that she did not realize that her door had opened, and before she knew it her arms had shot out around the person who walked in and pulled them closer to her.

 “Um…Lucy?” The voice spoke as Lucy’s eyes fluttered open before realization struck. It had been Keith that she had latched onto, and without thinking she had pushed him away to where he had landed on the ground.

 “Keith, I’m sorry,” She said as her hands fell on top of her chest in order to calm her beating heart. “I…you startled me.”

 “I should be saying the same to you. Do you always hug people in your sleep?” Keith smirked as Lucy blushed, looking away from him with a pout.

 “No, I must have been super tired from the truth or dare game.” Lucy commented as Keith’s expression became serious.

 “I do have a question, well maybe two questions. First, it’s a bit strange that you knew how to play immediately without any explanation of the rules. Second, why did you dance like that yesterday…toward me?” Keith was genuinely curious and hoped he’d get an honest answer.

 “I’ve studied a lot of earth culture. There were a couple Altean’s that had left Altea, because they were scared of the Galra empire long before the galra had betrayed the Altean’s. These people found a new place to live, and stayed in hiding for years to come. A few of them would often make travels to Earth and study their culture and write it down in books for the others to read. It’s what got me so fascinated in Earth culture in the first place. As for the dance…thing, it was a part of the dare so I was just doing what I was told.” Lucy tried her best to look straight into Keith’s eyes as she talked, but it became increasingly hard. She noticed how beautiful his violet eyes truly were, and felt that she could get lost in them.

 “Lance didn’t exactly tell you to climb on my lap.” Keith answered smugly as Lucy glared at him.

 “I thought humans were supposed to show off sex appeal by sitting on someone’s lap.” Lucy answered honestly. She had read in one of the book’s that this was how sex appeal was shown for earthlings, but the book also stated to only do this with a lover which Keith was not in the slightest. She hoped to god that he would never read the book of the Alteans.

 “Not exactly, but I’m sure that we can show you what actually happens on earth,” Keith smiled as Lucy found her heart beating faster. “Anyway, suit up, you have a date with a lion.”

 “Hope the lion’s a gentleman.” Lucy commented as Keith chuckled slightly.

 “Red’s actually a girl.”

 Meanwhile, Pidge and Hunk had been talking to Lance as he was having a freak out session about his new discovery. He also wanted to fill Hunk in since they were bros for life, and there was no way he’s keep this big of a secret from Hunk.

 “So what do I do?” Lance questioned them.

 “Well, does Keith like you back?” Hunk questioned as Lance gaped at him.

 “No way, Keith is definitely straight.” Lance immediately dismissed the idea, and oh how wrong could he possibly be.

 “Lance, I don’t think Keith is straight,” Pidge answered as she took a glance at Hunk who nodded in agreement. “He didn’t react when you kissed him, and normally a straight guy would have totally freaked out afterward.”

 “I guess that’s true, but it seems like Lucy and him are super close.” Lance commented as Pidge frowned at this.

“Let’s just hope they don’t get together, and if they did then wouldn’t Keith be bi-sexual?” Pidge stated as Hunk pounded his fist into his palm.

 “Oh my god, yes that has to be it. Lance this means you’d still have a chance.” Hunk smiled at this as Pidge gently punched his shoulder.

 “Hunk’s right, but you’d have to act fast and actually try and win him over before they can become a thing.” Pidge explained as she thought of a few different scenarios in her head. She’d normally be ok if Lucy dated anybody, but it can’t be Keith. Lance and Keith belonged together, and Pidge was almost certain that it would work out.

 “I guess I could try, but what if he doesn’t like me?” Lance was nervous and he was starting to let his insecurities get the best of him.

 “Lance, the guy has a freaking mullet and you’re worried about him liking you?” Pidge questioned which led the three of them laughin.

 “You do have a point there, what was I thinking. Falling for a guy with a mullet.” Lance laughed as Pidge took a look at the time and gestured to Hunk to get moving. She left without a word as Lance just stared after her.

 “We got to go, today Lucy becomes the red paladin. The red lion needs to accept her first but hopefully it’ll work.” Hunk said placing a firm hand on Lance’s shoulder before exiting the room.

 “I don’t think I’m quite ready for this change, not yet.” Lance whispered to himself before chasing after the two.

 Lance looked around the hanger as he saw everyone gathered around the red lion like they were giving Lucy as a sacrifice. He had just arrived because he had to change into his paladin armor. He saw Pidge and Hunk in theirs and figured that it would be appropriate for the situation.

 “Lucy, the red lion is the most temperamental of all of the lions. It will not accept you so easily, we hope that if Keith talks to his lion that we may reach an understanding.” Allura explained as Keith walked up to the red lion only to be blocked out by a force field that had appeared around her.

 “I don’t think she feels like talking much.” Keith yelled in annoyance.

 “I don’t think I’d let you in either after you cheated on her with the black lion, just saying.” Hunk said as he watched the boy kick at the force field.

 “I didn’t cheat on her, I’m just following Shiro’s orders.” Keith sighed as he thought about his insecurities with being in the leadership position. He didn’t think Shiro made a good choice, and he had secretly hoped that the other paladin had been joking. Shiro was not much for saying things for the hell of it, and Keith knew that with Shiro, nothing he said was a joke.

 “Maybe, she needs to be shown that another paladin can take care of her till you return.” Pidge suggested as Keith nodded before walking over to Lucy to give her his Bayard. He didn’t need it anymore if he had his own Bayard has the new head of Voltron.

 “What’s this?” Lucy questioned.

 “It’s a bayard and a weapon of sorts, each paladin has one. You’ll be red’s paladin, so it’s now yours.” Keith replied as Lucy looked up at the lion in front of her.

 “How did red accept you the first time?” Lucy had been genuinely curious and had wondered for a long time. How did each lion choose their paladin?

 “I took out some galra soldiers by opening up an airlock. I got sucked out to space with it and red came out to get me.” Keith explained as Lucy tried thinking of a way for red to accept her.

 “Maybe we should stage a fight and prove that I’m capable of holding my own.” Lucy had suggested as Allura nodded in agreement. She found it to be a great idea and hoped that it would work. All of the paladins surrounded around Lucy as she prepared her fighting stance, but Allura stopped them for a moment before they decided to start.

 “Keith, it’s probably for the best if you don’t participate,” Allura explained. “The red lion has always been temperamental, but she seems to be quite protective of you and I’d rather the castle not get destroyed.”

 “Don’t worry mullet, we can have a sparring match another time perhaps.” Lucy had suggested as the paladins exchanged looks between each other. This was the second or third time that she had reminded them of Lance.

 “Maybe.” Keith walked over to stand by Allura and Coran as they watched the paladins from afar.

 Lance was normally better at long distance shots, being the team’s sharpshooter and all, so he stayed behind everyone else so that he had a better advantage. A part of him wanted to wipe the smile off Lucy’s face because of her relationship with Keith, but the other half hated himself for even thinking like that. Lance was not a black hearted person, he cared for everyone so much that it hurt. He loved making everyone laugh and hoped that it made the teams day. He was jealous of Lucy and that was no doubt but he couldn’t bring himself to hate her even if he kept thinking of ways to get rid of the blonde. He wanted to go back to when Shiro was still on the ship, maybe if he realized sooner he’d have a better chance. While Lance was lost in thought he had failed to see how Lucy had managed to take down Pidge and Hunk and was coming straight for him. She aimed her leg towards stomach as he blocked the blow with his arms.

 “Nice block.” Lucy complimented as she went in for another swing. Lucy was nice and was never mean to Lance, but he couldn’t help how the feeling of jealousy plagued his mind. He hated it.

 “Lance!” the leg had connected sending him backwards, his breath slipping away from him. He didn’t hear the voice that had yelled to him clearly as his vision went fuzzy. He didn’t realize how powerful and altean’s kick could be.

 “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Lucy cried in a panic as she backed away. Keith had run straight to Lance and cradled him in his arms. He was unconscious and Lucy felt guilty for what had happened.

 “Lance, can you hear me?” Keith questioned the boy as grabbed his wrist to check his pulse. The rate had slowed slightly but nothing serious, she had merely knocked the wind out of him. Keith sighed with relief as he smiled up at Lucy. She was already near tears from the shock, and it made Keith want to hug her so that she wouldn’t have to cry anymore.

 Pidge and Hunk walked over from the spots on the floor that they had been previously. She had knocked them down, but they figured if they pretended to be wounded that the red lion would see that Lucy was strong. They didn’t realize that she could have easily knocked them out if she had gone any further. Pidge looked up at the girl as she saw the tears in her eyes, and decided to comfort her by placing a hand on her shoulder. Lucy looked over at Pidge and immediately tossed her head in the crook of her neck. Pidge couldn’t help the blush that appeared on her face from the contact.

 “Whoa, my heads spinning. “Lance murmured as his eyes fluttered open to take in the view of Keith who was happy he was ok.

 “Lance, your ok!” Hunk exclaimed but Lance could only focus on one thing right now and that was the soft features that were present on Keith’s face in this moment. His face turned red as he noticed the close proximity that they were in as he gently pushed away from Keith out of embarrassment.

 “Glad your ok, Lucy see no worries.” Keith reassured as she peaked out from Pidge’s shoulder to see Lance wide awake.

 “Thank god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for that to happen. I’m sorry, Lance.” Her words didn’t seem to matter to Lance that much, his mind had already wandered off to a few minutes before when Keith had literally cradled him in his arms like he had done before with there bonding moment. Would this be another bonding moment for them, would he have to start picking out wedding bands. Lance chuckled to himself at the thought of that, but it confused the others as they wondered what was funny.

 “What’s so funny, Lance?” Pidge questioned him, avoiding eye contact with Lucy.

 “No…no..nothing.” Lance managed to get out with his cheeks tinted red.

 “Lance, I’m sorry for what happened.” Lucy apologized once more as Lance turned to her and gave her a thumbs up before ruffling her hair.

 “No worries, so stop apologizing ok?” Lance said his feelings on Lucy pushed aside for a brief moment.

 “I believe that should be enough for today, everybody get to the mind melding chamber.” Allura spoke up as the paladins nodded and walked toward the room. Three specific paladins, nervous that with this exercise, there feelings for a certain paladin would be discovered.  

 They all sat around the floor ready for the exercise as they placed on the head bands that would connect them. Lucy furrowed her eyebrows as she stared at the head band, but Keith had put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and all the nerves she was feeling went away in an instant.

 “This exercise is to help everyone get in tune with each other. Lucy is new, and we don’t want to risk not being able to form Voltron.” Allura spoke while Hunk and Pidge took a glance at each other.

 “Zarkon isn’t around anymore, so we might be ok without Voltron.” Hunk said as Allura snapped her head toward him.

 “We can’t risk that. I already lose someone I care about; I can’t lose anyone else.” All of the Paladin’s eyes widened as Allura straightened her posture before excusing herself out of the room.

 “What was that about?” Lance questioned as Pidge gave him a look that said ‘Really, Lance?’.

 “Allura is still hurting, we are the only family she has. All of the Altean’s were wiped out by the Galra.” Hunk mentioned as Lucy looked over at Hunk. She had only ever lived with her father and then the rest of her life with the galran empire. Only sharing some of her life with other altean’s, the only things she learned before going to the galran empire were all the books she about earth that the altean’s had collected. She didn’t think they were extinct but their whereabouts are unknown.

 “Lucy, you lived with altean’s for a bit, do you know if they are still out there?” Keith decided to ask as Lucy’s eyes had widened a fraction. She couldn’t help but smile a bit since Keith had actually listened to her story.

 “To be honest, I’m not quite sure.” Lucy decided to leave it at that, she didn’t know where to begin with the search. The others decided not to pry as they dropped the subject.  

 “Paladins get to your lions; we have been contacted to help this planet. The planet’s name is Fortes, and it’s falling a part, we need a rescue team to retrieve all and any survivors we can find. I found this distress call when I left, and we’ve got no time to lose. Lucy you are without a lion, so go with Keith since you may be more comfortable traveling with him. Keith you will take the red lion down, maybe if Keith is there the red lion might warm up to you, Lucy.” Allura came back in as she gestured to the door.

 “Come one, Lucy.” Keith said as he grabbed her wrist and led her to the door. Lucy tried her best to keep up with him as he dragged her along to red. Lance, Pidge and Hunk followed after, but Lance couldn’t help but wear a solemn expression as he saw Lucy and Keith’s interactions with each other.

 “Ok, team get to your lions, it’s-uh-time to save some aliens?” Keith spoke hesitantly as Lucy gave his hand a reassuring squeeze which eased his nerves. Keith didn’t know how to lead Voltron, but it was nice having Lucy there to calm him down.

 The paladins got into there lions as they landed on the planet. Red had surprisingly let Keith in this time, probably thinking that Keith wasn’t going to fly black like she thought. Lucy was wearing temporary paladin armor that Allura had lended her. Keith wore his usual red outfit as her’s was a purple color that looked perfect against her purple altean markings.

 When they landed everyone got out of there lions, they only had so much time before the planet started to collapse. Keith directed everyone to split into pairs, but figured Lucy should branch out and talk to the others as well. He didn’t want her to be dependent on him, and wanted her to become close with the others so that forming Voltron would be easier.

 “Ok, Lance and I will take the north. Hunk see if Coran would be able to go with you to scavenge the east and west of the planet and make sure you take your lion to cover more ground. Lucy and Pidge will take the South.” Keith spoke up hoping that he was doing a good job as leader. He didn’t want to let Shiro down, he believed he wasn’t the best choice for this but he believed he had done a decent job so far.

 “Really? Why me?” Lance whispered as he walked over to Keith as Lucy walked over to Pidge. Keith smiled, he had figured he’d pair her with someone she was at least somewhat familiar with. Lucy had talked to the others, but she had grown closer to Keith and he wanted her to get just as close to them as she was to him.

 “Pidge, let’s get out there shall we?” Lucy smiled as Pidge couldn’t help but blush at how cute she was. She was going to die from this trip, she could tell.

 “Let’s save some aliens.” Pidge and Lucy started to head out as Hunk went into his lion and took Keith’s advice and brought Coran with him to go and take care of his part of the mission. This left Lance and Keith alone.

 “I’m surprised you didn’t want to go with, Lucy.” Lance shrugged as he tried to start a conversation with mullet man. They had started to walk towards there destination, and he wasn’t going to just sit quietly.

 “Why’s that?” Keith was honestly confused; did he infer that Lucy was his favorite?

 “Well you guy’s seem really close after those couple day’s in the forest.” Lance scratched the back of his head as he took a glance at Keith.  

 “I mean we did, but I don’t completely trust her with everything if that’s what your getting at?” Keith turned to look at Lance who’s face was turning red. Lance had never noticed before how beautiful Keith’s eyes were.

 “D-Don’t worry about it.” Lance quickly looked down at his feet as they continued to walk, so far no aliens in sight. Keith was oblivious as usual to Lance’s behavior as he turned around to continue on their journey. Lance hoped that Pidge was having an easier time with Lucy.

 “Lucy, we haven’t seen any alien’s yet. Do you think we should head back?” Pidge questioned as Lucy looked around the barren land until she spotted a small cave.

 “Wait, maybe they went into hiding. Look over there.” Lucy pointed out as Pidge smiled and ran for the cave with Lucy calling after her.

 “Come on, what are you waiting for.” Pidge laughed until she came to a stop underneath the entrance to cave. She began to wave at Lucy but her expression changed when she saw Lucy charging at her with fearful eyes. She closed her eyes tight and shielded her self with her hands above her head as she felt a body come crashing into her. She slowly opened them but all she saw was the pitch blackness as she turned on a light from her suit. The rocks from on top of the cave had toppled down and were blocking their way out. She directed the light towards Lucy for a moment as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Lucy was knocked unconscious and she could see a small amount of blood coming from her hairline underneath her helmet. Pidge gently took it off as her hair fell to cascade around her face. Lucy had saved her life and now they were trapped in this cave and she was losing blood because of her decision.

 “Lucy, please wake up.” Pidge cried as she moved a strand of hair away from Lucy’s face. She tried her helmet, hoping she could get a signal out to someone.

 “K-Keith!” A voice crackled through the helmet as Keith answered back.

 “Pidge, what’s wrong?” Keith called back as Lance looked at him for a moment. 

 “L-Lucy, s-she’s unconscious and not moving. We need help please.” Pidge sounded desperate as Keith’s eyes widened a fraction.

 “Stay right there, we will come get you.” Lance watched as Keith turned to him, it looked as if he was ready to lose his composure.

 “We have no choice, the rocked tumbled over, we have no access to the outside world. We are sitting ducks, and the planet could collapse at any moment.” Pidge cried as she pulled Lucy closer to her.

 “Pidge, we’re coming.” 

#klance #pidgexOC #voltron #fanfiction outofline lucy klance keith lance tazumihanako #lucyisoc #lucyandkeithinbeginning #Ao3 #fanfiction

[hisirishsoufflegirl]

DESIRE PART 2

(warnings - slight smut. Nothing too wild, just ‘spice’, aha.)

“He has guards outside his house. Of course he has frigging guards.” Dean grumbled, hitting the steering wheel slightly.

You had managed to track down the Qareen’s heart to the local “rich man”, a Keith Knightly. With darkness as your cover, the boys had quietly parked the Impala down the road from the house.

“So what’s the plan?” Sam asked from the passenger seat.

Dean turned in his seat to look at you.

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion before realisation hit you. “Let me guess, you want to seduce my way in again?”

“Just act like you want to kiss them or something to get close enough to knock them out.”

Sam looked at his older brother. “Dean, no. She could get seriously hurt. She’d be outnumbered if they realise what’s happening.”

You shifted in the backseat, scoffing. “Excuse me Sammy, but I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself. Must I remind you of the countless number of times I’ve saved your ass?”

Dean tried to suppress his laughter. You turned to glare at him.

“Don’t even get me started on how many times I’ve saved your tush either, Deano.” Dean quickly shut up and you sighed. “Alright, I’ll do it. I’m perfectly capable of taking on two guys at once.”

Sam made a strangled noise in his throat and Dean’s eyebrows raised. “Not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter, boys.”

You opened the back door of the Impala, closing it gently behind you so you didn’t make a sound, and making your way over to duo of guards standing watch outside.

—————

You popped your head in the window of the Impala a few moments later. “Done. Didn’t even have to tease them or anything.” You gestured to the two men laying unconscious on the grass.

Dean chuckled. “Jesus, you are good at taking on two guys at once. Huh, Sam?” He clapped his little brother on the chest before swinging his door open. Sam rolled his eyes before following suit.

————–

~Sam~

“Okay, I think the best thing to do is to split up. There’s three floors so (Y/N) take this floor. Sam, first floor. I’ll take the top one. Alright, let’s go gank this bitch.”

I watched Dean walk off to find a staircase before turning to face (Y/N). “You remember what to do if you get anxious?” I was concerned. (Y/N) suffered from anxiety and although it didn’t make her any less of a great hunter, I hated to leave her on her own in case it suddenly hit her.

(Y/N) nodded. “Don’t worry, I do.” She turned on her heel, striding off in the opposite direction.

“I always worry about you.” I whispered, watching her walk away. I sighed before beginning to search the second floor.

——

~Sam~

So far, I couldn’t find anything. No trace of this thing’s heart. I ran a hand through my hair, exasperated. This case was going to be much harder than it looks.

I stiffened when I heard footsteps behind me. My hand instinctively reaching for my gun, I readied it at where the noise was coming from. My index finger resting on the trigger, the shadow came into the light and I let out a breath.

“(Y/N)? Jesus, don’t creep up like that. I almost shot you.” I ran a hand down my face.

“I’m sorry. There was nothing downstairs so I thought I’d come up here to you.” (Y/N) replied, making her way over to me and placing her hand on my shoulder. “You’re so tense, Christ.”

“Well, you did sneak up on me. There’s nothing up on this floor either so maybe we should go help Dean.”

“Dean can wait.”

“Why, what’s wrong (Y/N)?” I turned to make sure she was okay and that her anxiety hadn’t suddenly cropped up.

(Y/N)’s piercing (Y/E/C) eyes bore into mine before she grabbed a fistful of my shirt, pulling me closer to her. Her hand made its way to my neck, dragging my head down and making my lips meet hers.

I stiffened at first before melting into it. I would being lying if I said I hadn’t wanted to do this numerous times - I just didn’t want to risk our friendship.

I ran my tongue across her bottom lip ad she allowed me access. My tongue skillfully roaming her mouth, her subtle moans spurring me on, making me lose control. Kissing (Y/N) was so much better than I had ever imagined. She was like a drug and I couldn’t get enough.

My hands left their place at her waist to grip the back of her thighs, lifting her up and placing her on a nearby table. Her hands tangled themselves in my hair, tugging every so often. My own hands roamed every inch of (Y/N)’s body.

I tried to suppress a groan when I felt one of (Y/N)’s hands cup me through the thin fabric of my jeans. I swallowed hard when that hand continued to palm me through my jeans before slipping down the waistband. My head fell into the crook of her shoulder as she continued to massage my growing erection.

“That’s it, Sammy. Just let go.”

My eyebrows furrowed, half from pleasure half from confusion. (Y/N) only ever calls me Sammy when she’s annoyed at me. In my dazed state, I tried to remember what (Y/N) had said about Qareens.

‘They’re shapeshifters who take on the form of what you desire most.’

“Stop. Stop.” I untangled myself and backed up. “You’re not (Y/N).”

’(Y/N)’ smirked. “Really? What gave me away? You seemed pretty convinced up until now.”

“ 'Sammy’. (Y/N) only calls me Sammy when she’s angry because she knows I hate it.”

“You don’t have to stop, Sam. I may not be her but I feel real. I feel like her.” ’(Y/N)’ slipped her shirt over her head and guided my hand to one of her breasts. “See? Everything with me feels real.”

I swallowed and tried to look away. “Get out of my head. Get out of my head!” I shouted. ’(Y/N)’ disappeared in front of my eyes. I rested myself against the table as I tried to regain my breath.

—————-

~You~

Dean rounded the corner and Sam quickly marched over to him. “Where’d she go?”

“Where’d who go, man?”

“(Y/N).”

“I’m right here. Why?” You were pushed against the nearby wall, Sam’s face up in yours.

“How do I know if you’re the real (Y/N)?” Sam questioned you, his grip on you tight.

“ 'Real (Y/N)’? Sam, come on. Let her go. I said, let her go. We found the heart. We ganked the son of a bitch.” Dean exclaimed.

Sam glanced at his brother before loosening his grip on you, pulling you into a hug. “I’m so sorry, (Y/N). That thing got into my head. I just had to make sure.”

You pulled out of the hug to look up at your friend. “Why would it take my form, Sam?”

Sam sheepishly avoided your eyes. Suddenly, it clicked. All the lingering stares, the overprotectiveness, the teasing, the sometimes awkward moments. He liked you too. Sam Winchester actually liked you too.

“Come here, you big dork.” You pulled him into a kiss.

“Frigging finally. Cas owes me $50.”

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

(found this gif and couldn’t resist)

#sam winchester #sam winchester x reader #sam winchester x you #supernatural #imagine #supernatural imagine #dean winchester #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester x you #sam winchester imagine #jared padalecki #smut #supernatural smut #supernatural x reader #supernatural x you #requests are open #requests are welcome

[tally-my-words]

Friends Have Benefits

For @thesneakyhobo who got me to watch the new Voltron show. Watch out or I will give you crypto/xenobiology posts on possibly wonderful ideas for the Galrans.

This, however, is purely weird Klance fluff to the max.

Keith knows looking back how it all starts is his fault. Of course, he goes to Shiro. Shiro has always been his person, the safe crush, the big brother now that he’s growing past idealizing the older pilot. Shiro was his hero. Shiro then went and somehow became his friend. Before robot lions or aliens or traveling to Pluto’s moons, it was Shiro who got him into a space program and made sure he had a roof. Of course, he used to have a crush on Shiro. Of course, somehow, Shiro’s still the one he goes to when he needs perspective.

“You have to help me avoid Lance,” he informs the other paladin.

Shiro’s concern is immediate and professional. He’s obviously concerned for his team. “Why? What’s wrong?” he asks.

Keith standing in the hanger bay wonders what he’d fall through if he cut a hole through the floor, probably some mechanical crawl space. “Lance won’t leave me alone… I’ve got a crush on him and he won’t leave me alone.”

Shiro wishes he could be phased. He’s not surprised. Instead, he holds himself still, wills himself not to fall over laughing, because it’s a close thing. He shoots a look at Allura who’s standing to the side. He can tell she heard and he glares that she better not make light. Keith isn’t always comfortable with caring. He knows the Keith better than almost anyone, though, so he knows what to say. “I’m pretty sure you could tell Lance to his face and he wouldn’t notice.”

Keith rolls his eyes, trying not to chuckle himself. His humor is self-deprecating but better than his anxiety over how Lance would react. “Yeah, he’s too busy being straight,” the red lion’s paladin jokes.

Keith misses Coran’s entrance. The man should wear a bell. He realizes when he catches Allura shooing him. He’s not surprised

"You're right, Princess, if they realize their feelings for each other those two will be more insufferable than they already are!" Coran exclaims. Keith feels his face heat up as bright as his armor. Why must Coran blow everything out of proportion and constantly make excessively bold assumptions?!

Shiro and Allura’s expressions approach incredulous while Keith grows still brighter red. The paladin’s timing and fate couldn’t get worse.

Lance walks up like a minute later, studies the suddenly quiet group and ask,. "What are you talking about?"

Of course, Pidge practically falls out of an access panel to answer, "How silly it is that someone has a crush on you."

Lance’s excitement in the room is palpable. He practically dances on the balls of his feet in victory. “Someone has a crush on me?” he tries to verify.

Shiro and Allura wonder for a long moment how weirdly this will go.

Anytime four paladin’s of Voltron are in a single room, it’s invariable that the fifth will join and Hunk proves that when in enters the bay. "What's up?"

Coran has grown interested in something else by this point and Allura considers how much it will help to strike her forehead with her palm. She’s watched Shiro attempt the act multiple times and banging a palm to one’s face seems to calm the humans.

Keith cringes when Lance reiterates Pidge’s bold statement "Someone has a crush on me!"

"You're just realizing Keith likes you?" Hunk replies, curious how the blue paladin could be so oblivious.

Lance beams in reply, the mistake makes sense, but it’s obviously flawed. "Naw, Keith has a huge crush on Shiro. It's super flattering that you all think that, though!"

Keith’s face turns pink once more. He feels the need to qualify it. It’s not the first time he’s considered why he liked Shiro so much. “Anyone will have a crush on the person who taught them to fly - who found them a thing and got them a home... it was a phase." He turns and leaves, feigning exhaustion with the subject and their petty drama.

Lance follows him out, never thinking twice or considering that Keith could need or want privacy. "Shiro is pretty awesome, so I get that."

If Lance wasn't, somehow, his best friend, Keith would be irate at the question from his crush. It's so simple and genuine. There's no judgment from Lance's perspective - just that damn genuine curiosity.

"What's it like having a crush on someone you're friends with?" Lance asks, effortless and oblivious, but well meaning.

Keith is vaguely confused at first. "You're telling me you've never had a crush on a friend? You like Allura!"

Lance blushes lightly. "Of course I like Allura. She's beautiful, kind, and all … but sort of boring. She knows everything. It would be exhausting to always be wrong!"

"Oh, that would be so horrible!" Keith counters, rolling his eyes as he laughs at Lance. "What makes you think like that?"

"Well, you meet someone and you think they're pretty, you go on a few dates, and then if you're friends you consider making it more serious, right?"

"It a romantic movie from the last century!" Keith teases. "You sound like you've never met someone you'd fantasize about touching or imagine waking up with?"

"Not yet. No one gives me the chance to get there," Lance replies, half indignant.

"That's why it's got to be better liking people you already know!"

"It is absolutely not better! It's awkward and embarrassing and there's constant fear of rejection. It cranks anxiety through the roof," Keith counters. "So, hotshot, ever kiss a girl?"

"Several. Nothing made much of an impression? I figure it's overrated. Sell more mints or something," Lance replies easily. "I figure when I meet the right girl and it clicks maybe it will be different. Anything memorable?"

Keith preens like a peacock. "Yeah, a few, but not girls?" His tone changes and he goes blush.

"No sweat. Not everyone likes the same things," Lance adds effortlessly. Keith wonders if Lance realizes he's talking about his sexuality and not just discussing the weather. "Depending on what you like, it can be the best, but that sense of hope is pretty good, too. You get this sense that you have an ally. Like ... if it goes right, you're not alone and you won't be."

"Yeah, always figure if I keep trying I'll find something like that!" Lance replies, smile warm. "But we're never going to be alone. You've got a whole team and that's better!"

Keith tries not to blush. "It is, but it's different."

"It can't be that different," Lance argues.

"Then you'd take me snoring over a swimsuit model?" Keith teases. He's trying to distance Lance. He thinks maybe this asshole move will. 

"I totally am cool with your snoring! Makes sure I know you're still in bed and haven’t run off to go fight alien overlords on some obscure moon," Lance replies, not really thinking it through.

Keith almost doubles with laughter. The world is cruel.

"You would totally lead a guy on!" Keith teases. His heart needs Lance to do something, anything to spur him past this stupid crush so he can go back to not caring so much about the other defender. 

Lance rolls his eyes before announcing, "Sharing a bed isn't anything to make a big deal out of.” Keith wouldn't really know. “I get that maybe sex or something would make it better, but for the most part, you’re still sleeping.”

"You're still telling me you wouldn't arise to the occasion of a hot girl in your bed?" Keith knows he's trying too hard, knows he’s pushing for crass.

"Dude, I get sex is supposed to be this fascinating concept, but I haven't had it yet and I'm pretty cool with what I have? I miss my family like crazy, but that's the cost of saving the universe!" Lance counters. Keith thinks Lance wouldn’t trade being home for someone else being away.  

"I am so jealous," Keith admits, feeling defensive. "You have no clue what it is to want something in front of you and not be able to reach for it?" Keith asks.

A blush stretches across Lance cheeks. "So you still have a crush on Shiro?" he asks. He's full of second-hand embarrassment for his friend. Of course, Lance isn’t convinced despite Keith’s instance he’s over Shiro. Lance leans against Keith's arm. Why must Lance he be so damn supportive?

"No, over that," Keith admits softly admits. Lance stares forward.

"I was pretty flattered earlier when I thought someone had a crush on me,” Lance adds. Keith tries not to laugh.

"Naw, you're not cool enough for that!" Keith counters.

Lance chuckles, "I really don't get it. How are you supposed to go up, befriend a stranger you have nothing in common with, and like them enough to pursue a lifelong thing with?"

"Yet you totally have a life-long thing with us," Keith teases. "Now get off me so I can go to my room."

Lance doesn't know why, but he grips Keith's wrist for a moment. "Anyone tries to take you away from us and I'll kill them."

Keith is used to being the bold one. He's stunned. "What if this is my home?"

"Then you still need to meet my Mama when I introduce her to Blue!"

"She'll be real happy with the giant robots and a tag along alien orphan?" he ventures.

"Of course. You're the family I've made. She's got to respect that!" Lance proclaims.

"Even the giant robot lion?"

"Especially the giant robot lions," Lance insists.

"And what if I get a boyfriend?" Keith jokes. He's jealous that Lance would do so much as his friend. He so desperately wants any place he can get with his friends.

"Then I will be insanely jealous that I've been replaced," Lance jokes and, despite the humor, it's as genuine as when he asked Keith about what it’s like to feel that way for a friend.

Keith blushes. He knows Lance didn't mean it like that.

This time Lance sees it. His eyes go wide. "Well, and I doing this all backward? Isn’t someone supposed to bring the other one flowers or some shit? I don't think I did anything to seduce you... I'm not seduced?"

Keith's blush just goes redder. "I could try," he manages at barely a whisper.

Lance's darker cheeks change the slightest tone. He nods. "Not... a bad idea?"

Keith knows it's probably stupid, but he remembers being kissed breathless and just the smallest chance of something like that makes him bold. He intended a quick peck to let Lance process this.

He forgot about the height difference. He steps into Lance's personal space and leans up to press their lip in what he assumes will be an awkward kiss. Lance isn't really impressed by the kiss, though. However, it feels insanely warm and comfortable when he accidentally winds up with a badly balanced Keith against his chest. It's an amazing hug. A second kiss follows, attempting to get it right. It’s soft, dry lips and warm skin.

Lance flushes from head to toe when the feel of Keith's lips pulling away feels like loss. The red paladin laughs. "No bad?" Keith dares, trying to be funny as he considers how to sneak out of Lance's embrace and go die of embarrassment.

"I actually liked it," Lance admits, trying not to look scared at how intense that fact feels.

Keith can't manage avoidance. "Good.

#voltron #fanfiction #voltron fanfic #Lance x keith #Klance #demi lance #gay keith #voltron ficlet #ficlet #fluff #first kiss

[recentanimenews]

Catarina Is Changing up the Relationship Chart in My Next Life as a Villainess Episode 2 Recap

  Welcome back to another recap post of the wonderful My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! series. Let's refresh on what happened before the new episode airs tomorrow! In the last episode, Catarina discovered who she really was and the world she now has to survive in the place of the villainess of her favorite otome game, "Fortune Lover."

Doom flags are everywhere and Catarina has to do her best to avoid all of them so she can live a longer life this time around! Unfortunately for her, she's already engaged to Geordo and Keith arrived right on schedule, which follows the game's story. But it's no biggie. All she has to do is make sure things don't go sour with either relationship to avoid getting killed or exiled. Easy peasy, right? ... Right? Hmm ...

**SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 2 AHEAD**

    It's been several months since Catarina's memories from her past life came back to her, and ... she's still doing that garden thing to increase her Earth magic, huh? I'm 99 percent sure that method won't pan out for you, girl! Tragically, some of the veggies aren't growing. Geordo and Keith offer some assistance ...

  Oh my, it seems like they're both quite attached to Catarina! What does Catarina think of all this and how could their rivalry affect her as it intensifies?

    That's not it at all, Catarina! Open your EYES! How oblivious can you be?

    Being oblivious isn't the only glaring problem Catarina has. Her table manners are a total mess! She's been invited to a tea party ... how do you expect that she'll behave? I think she's just gonna gobble up all the food, after all, free food is best food, right?! Not to worry, dear reader, for Keith will be sent alongside Catarina so she doesn't misbehave. It's not a problem anymore! But wait, isn't she the older sister? What example are you setting here, Catarina?

    First impressions are important, right? Catarina managed to properly introduce herself to the folks responsible for the party. And without Keith's help, at that! We're so proud of you, Catarina! So far, so good. We also get a first glimpse of someone closer to Catarina's age.

    Mary is pretty shy compared to her sisters, who are way more outgoing. If you ask me, Mary's the cutest of them all!

    Catarina is the belle of the ball at the party. People just won't leave her alone! Between wanting to introduce themselves, trying to befriend her, and talking endlessly ... Catarina is quickly reaching her limit.

    I get it. Totally relatable!

    What's this? Everyone's too busy chatting it up and no one's eating that wonderful spread of sweets on the table. A true CRIME! I don't blame Catarina at all. I too would be hitting up all those delicious cakes on display! Hm, but wait, is this how a dignified daughter of the Claes family should act?

    Before Catarina is able to stow away the sweets to take home and gobble up later, Keith appears right on cue to remind her of her standing. She is the older sister, right? I'm beginning to wonder.

    The galaxy brain solution to this predicament? EAT ALL THE SWEETS NOW. If only Catarina's mother was here to see all of this unfold right before her very eyes!

  Of course, this comes back to bite Catarina (get it? bite?), because her stomach ain't having none of that! She makes a strategic retreat to "powder her nose." Brilliant!

    Phew, Catarina managed to save her dignity. (In more ways than one!) On her way back from ... uh ... freshening up, she encounters a gorgeous garden she hadn't seen before. Look at those beautiful flowers! The amazing fountain, too! And at the center of that garden is ...

    ... The shy and cute Mary! Why isn't she also gabbing it up like her sisters with all the other guests? Turns out events like parties with a big crowd aren't exactly her kind of thing. I'm sure many of us totally get where Mary is coming from here. 

  Of course, our Catarina thinks it's because of her villainous and evil face that Mary won't show up to the party. (That's not it at all!) She turns the conversation to the elegant garden and how skilled the gardener is to grow such beautiful flowers, only to discover it's Mary herself who tends to the garden. Amazing! 

    Catarina?! Down, girl! But she has to get the gardening deets from Mary, so she can level up her own gardening skills. She must do anything and everything to avoid those doom flags! Unfortunately for her, Mary doesn't have experience with growing veggies—but that's not enough to stop Catarina! If Mary could see the fields herself, maybe she can impart some of her gardening wisdom and tackle this problem together. Teamwork! (What's in it for Mary, though?!)

    Turns out Catarina wasn't giving her vegetable garden the right amount of nutrients to grow. They replant the veggies elsewhere to see how they do with this new insight. Thanks to Mary's help, the garden is looking healthier. Take that, doom flags!

    Catarina leaves Mary with the one line that changes her life forever, making Mary completely affectionate toward Catarina. Turns out what Mary gained was a new friend! According to Keith, Mary hasn't been having a good home life, since Mary's mom was Marquess Hunt's second wife, which the family wasn't exactly too pleased with. This caused Mary's older sisters to treat her like she's a thorn in their side (heh, thorn), verbally abusing her for most of her life. Geez, no wonder she didn't feel like hanging at the party! But thanks to Catarina, Mary now feels like she's not alone anymore. Yeah, friendship!!

  Keith also mentions that her engagement to Prince Alan is set to happen soon.

  Wait. Her engagement to Alan??

    ALERT! ALERT! A NEW DOOM FLAG HAS ARRIVED!

  Is it wise to befriend the girl who's going to marry the guy who is one of the conquerable routes in the game? Isn't that like saying "yes, I would like to have this doom flag, please"?! 

  In Alan's route, he has a huge inferiority complex toward Geordo. But when the heroine of the game appears, he softens and his relationship with his brother improves. A lovely story! Catarina barely appears in this story, so it should be okay, right? The rival for this route is Mary. So, does that mean she could either get exiled or die?

    Nope, only Catarina. What kind of cruel joke is this?! Well, Mary is a nice girl, after all. And in the game, Catarina constantly bullies the heroine. There's gotta be a way to turn this around. Let's think more on the way Alan's route is supposed to go ... Hey, wait a minute!

    Isn't this EXACTLY what Catarina said to Mary? She said Alan's line first before he even had the chance to?! How will this affect the outcome? Will Mary even fall in love with Alan now? We'll have to wait and see how this pans out.

  Things seem to be going smoothly. Does it even matter if Alan was able to comment on Mary's gardening skills?

    Mary reveals that Catarina told her she's special for her green thumb. Of course, he couldn't dare say the same thing now, could he? This couldn't cause a problem for their future relationship, could it?

    Of course, it would. Alan waltzes into the manor, demands to see Catarina and tells her to stop SEDUCING his fiancee! Apparently most of the time when he invites Mary over, she declines because she's at Catarina's place. And when Mary accepts his invitations, all she talks about is Catarina! Wow, she's totally smitten by Catarina.

    Instead of calmly talking and working things out, Catarina tells Alan he's full of it. Oh, and he's boring and has zero appeal. Real mature, Catarina! Alan takes this as a challenge and dares Catarina to a duel of her choosing! But ... what's Catarina good at again?

    Oh right, climbing trees. How could I forget? Look at her go! It's like someone pressed the Turbo button on a controller. Alan can't possibly win. He's unable to regain his dignity. And so he constantly visits Catarina to challenge her endlessly in tree climbing—and always loses. He doesn't want to give up though. He'll win no matter what!

    Of course, this had to stop at some point. Alan comes by on a day when Geordo is also there and the situation gets really tense. To ease things, Catarina offers a different challenge: a piano duel! It's probably best that way since her mother is bound to find out about the tree climbing sooner or later.

    To everyone's amazement, Catarina can hold her own in piano playing, but Alan is on a whole other level. He's exceptionally gifted at it, having everyone who's listening swooning over his beautiful music. But Alan won't take the positive attention lightly. His inferiority complex comes out in full display when Geordo compliments him. He feels as if Geordo is secretly mocking him. 

    Catarina, being the great pal that she is, chases after Alan to talk things out. Everyone has something they're good at and something they're lousy in—it's part of being human! Even the seemingly perfect Geordo has a weakness of his own.

    Snakes! Now that Catarina knows Geordo can't handle snakes she has something she can use to her advantage when things get hairy. What precious knowledge!

    But that would only work as long as Geordo thought it was a real snake and not one made out of paper. Whoops! 

    This situation is too hilarious for Alan to continue to be upset. Look at that smile! I'm sure in her own way Catarina is helping Alan come to terms with his inferiority complex.

  It seems like another doom flag was avoided, but when will the next one pop up? We'll find out tomorrow when the next episode of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! airs! See ya next time!

What's been your favorite part of the show so far? Isn't Catarina totally relatable? Let us know in the comments!

  Catch My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! every Saturday at 10:30am PST / 1:30pm EST on Crunchyroll!

  ----

Nicole is a frequent wordsmith for Crunchyroll. Known for punching dudes in Yakuza games on her Twitch channel while professing her love for Majima. She also has a blog, Figuratively Speaking. Follow her on Twitter: @ellyberries

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

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[drink-n-watch]

Boy that title is a mouthful. I was going to find a spiffy little post title but you know what, there’s enough going on there already. So instead, let’s get right into it. Oh and I made an executive decision to go bold this week even though I’m hosting. Why??? I forgot that host was plain and now the boldness has gone to my head – Mwahaha!!!

And I have to say, as the OP of Villainess started this week, I realized that I have been looking forward to this all week. I was actually actively waiting for 1:30 (which is when the episode comes out here). It’s just a little sunshine of a show that really hits the spot right now. Any thought before we start Crow?

  I was wondering how long it would be before the power went to your head! Now it’s only a matter of time before you begin your campaign to become Empress Irina the First. And may I be among the first to say I welcome our new anime-positive overlords…

Glad you’re bold from now on, though. Takes a lot of pressure off me! As far as thoughts go, I started checking about the same time, too. And Catarina’s voice actress Maaya Uchida? Absolutely nailed it again!

I don’t think we talked much about the OP last week. I really enjoy seeing all the characters all grown up for a second. I wonder if we’ll actually get to see it in the show. And I particularly love the fact that there seems to be quite a few lady characters and they might actually have a genuine role in the series. I really really want Catarina to find a great friendship. That’s something that’s sorely lacking in dating sims. I guess that’s not the point. We should have friendship sims… I’m not sure if what I just said is super sad or not but I would still play them…

It’s not sad! It’s super hopeful! For the generations that come after, anyway… We should move on…

Keith and Caterina seem to have settled into a very nice dynamic. They get along quite well. We didn’t get to see much of him this week but from what we did see, he has settled into his new house splendidly and is getting along great with his new family (not just his new sister). There was a little love triangle moment at the beginning but it was played for laughs rather than romance and Caterian is very determined to ignore it which I like.

In any case, I was just glad to see how relaxed and generally happy the young man seemed. And I was really happy that Catarina gets to have such a great brother sister relationship. Were you relieved that it’s working out so far?

Relieved and happy for them both! Now, she has a hope of going to a dinner party and not stuffing her face until she gets sick! Well, at least she has a chance of Keith reminding her what a bad idea it is. It was cool how he insistently told her not to disgrace the family and she slammed food into her mouth, and even when she ignored him, he didn’t wilt or get all mopey. He stuck with it! I think he’s someone she can depend on. I think she’ll need someone (or someones!) like that.

I loved watching Catarina stuff her face in the ballroom scene. I probably would do the same….

You know, right from the first conversation between Mary, I knew something was up. When we find out from the council scene that Mary is actually a main character in one of the routes, I immediately wrote down two things. 1) The routes in Fortune Lover sound super cliché and I love it, and 2) Mary is just gonna fall for Catarina instead….

I thought they would keep it super tongue in cheek, maybe some light shoujo-ai fanservice to convince the people that might have started the series thinking it’s a CGDCT to keep watching after they realize it’s a reverse harem. I did not expect to just lay it out there right away with Alan basically accusing Catarina of actively seducing his fiancée. It made me laugh! What did you think, Crow? Would you have reacted that way?

I think he should have read the room, realized that fate just dealt him a royal flush, and rolled with it. He’s a prince. His fiancée has fallen for another woman — think of the possibilities!

But he’s just a kid, and he probably has morals and stuff.

Backing away from the world of ecchi, I actually thought that the show was playing with my expectations in a frolicsome way. The fallout was fun to watch, too! Did you see how Catarina’s maid covered her face in her hands at how Catarina berated Alan? Then even Catalina covered her own mouth when she realized what she’d said.

So she’s not completely dense. Just a little slow in social situations. 

This said, I did end up feeling a little bad for Mary. After the first act, we really don’t see her anymore, and Alan is showing up every day and visibly warming up to Catarina. The poor shy girl who lost her mother and now feels bullied and left out by everyone has just been pushed aside by her new and possibly only friend AND her fiancée. And Mary is such a sweetheart. (That’s why her routes work out so much better for her). It’s going to be real though for the show to create a believable romance between Catarina and Alan without making them seem a bit callous.

They better not go that direction! Like you said, Mary is a sweetheart. She deserves to be happy!

I can’t believe I’m already so invested in a character I just met…

I think that says something about the show, though. The characters are just delightful. It’s like Catarina’s mere presence has begun to elevate them from NPCs to actual people. They’re growing away from their game roles to become individuals. I wonder if that’s intentional?

You know what I noticed about this series, two episodes in? Tree climbing comes up a lot! And there is some really beautiful scenery. It looks like rich saturated watercolours or watered down acrylics maybe. In any case, more than once the characters look like they’re walking through beautiful paintings. The clash between that and the simplistic but very cute character designs actually works really well. I’m sorry, I’m a bit all over the place. I’m actually referring back to Mary’s garden. Last week there were similarly gorgeous scenes when Catarina was showing Keith the garden. 

Um, maybe I pay attention to weird things.

I think your segue worked well. I mean, seeing Catarina shimmy straight up the tree was hilarious. The tree was way more detailed than she was! The flowers in Mary’s garden were absolutely beautiful. The details on Catalina’s eggplant (at least, that’s what I think it was) were impressive, too.

Even though I think Alan and Catarina’s friendship is potentially a bad idea, I also thought it was pretty cute to watch. When they switched their contest to piano, I first thought Catarina would not know how to play at all and that she just chose something random so that he could win. When it turned out that she was pretty good and it was Alan’s turne, I quickly switched my thinking and was rather convinced that he wouldn’t be able to play at all and that would solidify his admiration of Catarina while giving him an excuse to go all tsundere.

Basically I’m always wrong. 

The piece was actually quite lovely and I’m glad I got to hear it. I get why everyone was smitten. Music is sort of magic.

Did you see how proud Alan’s maid and butler were in the background? Even Catarina was amazed and impressed. I was a bit surprised that even Gerald praised his brother, though we know that Gerald’s black-hearted with the face of an angel — he might be faking it.

You bring up an interesting point, too. The show knows its tropes, and it’s dancing around them. I really like that!

All in all, it was another light hearted and sweet little episode. Nothing much to add as it really just kept right in line with the first episode and introduced us to new characters. I figure we have a few more of these episodes coming before we get into the action of the series, as we need to meet everyone we saw in the OP. I have to admit, I’m most curious about meeting the main character (Maria). I really wonder what type of person she will be. 

If they go by traditional otome tropes, she has to be the dullest, plainest and most obvious character ever. Basically an empty vessel for the players to self-insert as easily as possible. But this little series has so far proven a lot whittier and more full of heart than I expected so I have a feeling Maria will also surprise me. 

What did you think of this episode Crow? Are you looking forward to anything? Do you have something you hope to see?

Another enjoyable episode seeing Catarina’s hilarious combination of astuteness and actually being able to hear the “woosh!” as an act or concept flies over her head. I mean, she’ll say something like “Excuse me?! That’s a blatantly false accusation!” — then immediately repent when she realized she stepped way out of bounds. And deciding that if she can’t take all the desserts home that she’ll have to eat them instead? I’m looking forward to more Catarina. And you know, I think I would like to see the older versions of the characters. Kids are fun and all, but the really interesting character dynamics start at an older age. The potential for more humor will be immense!

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! ep 2 with Crow and Irina Boy that title is a mouthful. I was going to find a spiffy little post title but you know what, there’s enough going on there already.

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