#got told this when I was younger and watched (the cursed) voltron

[kr-0ws]

Fandom: *has a lot of gay people in it who resonate with something in the characters and as such ship gay ships*

Certain straight people in the fandom: can’t have shit anymore :(((

#I have been told that I don’t respect female/female or male/male friendships so many times #LIKE WHAT it’s not like I ship everyone together #I also consume other media #and if anything it should seem like I don’t respect rivalries lmao #got told this when I was younger and watched (the cursed) voltron #tho Voltron had a reputation #but this was like season 1 #I only shipped klance lmao #but also this doesn’t go for every person because I know that the reverse of this is true for the mha fandom #not them as a whole but ya know #I feel like I was there for the making of every current cursed fandom a left right before it got a reputation

[blueplanettrash]

#Pride (Bi Lance Story)

This is for @phoenix-xox for completing my crossword puzzle second! Sorry for how long this took and I hope you like it! 💙

Ω

All his life, he knew he was “different”. He didn’t really feel things like other people did; sure he liked people, he liked a lot of people but he loved a lot of people too. Boys and girls. To many people that would be completely fine, who cares what gender he likes anyway? It’s none of their business.

Those are the people he liked, the ones that didn’t care about his love like, who he wanted to be with, etc.

It was the people who made it their business that pissed him off.

They all thought they were high and mighty, that just because he went to school with them, or that they even breathed the same air that they somehow had a right to judge him and who he finds attractive.

He’s glad now; years later that the thought of people hating him because of his sexuality angers him more than scares him.

But obviously, that wasn’t always the case. He was a kid once, just wanting to have his peers accept him for who he was. That his sexuality wasn’t something that anyone else could decide for him, and they weren’t allowed to tell him to just choose one.

As a kid, that’s daunting. Especially when you feel like you’re the only one in the world that feels that way. Then to have your classmates and friends start spouting bi-phobic bullshit without batting an eye really just struck home for him. Sometimes he would go home crying, sometimes he would go home a blank slate.

Thankfully, his family was very supportive. He would talk to his siblings, telling them all the things that he heard over the day. So many times, he had to tell them not to go to anybody about it. It was his problem and he wanted to deal with It on his own. He didn’t tell them that he just didn’t want everyone to know he was bi, at that time it was too much for him.

Going into space presented a whole other problem for him.

Number 1: The mind melds. They tried not to do to many of these activities after the first one. Yeah, they needed to learn to trust each other and although on Altea, it was a perfectly acceptable ice breaker; on Earth, it was a complete break of trust if someone wandered a bit too deep.

If they just happened to look into his mind and see his memories of school or talking to his family; he didn’t know what he’d do. Probably scream and tear off the headband and seclude himself for the rest of the day. Not very heroic for a paladin of Voltron, but whatever.

Number 2: They were beginning to encounter aliens, that looked far more human than the ones on Arus. He was pretty lucky that the mermaids he and Hunk had met were all girls, other wise it would have been awkward for him.

And finally, number 3: He wasn’t used to having such open friends before. Well, he didn’t know about other people but the people he became friends with before; they needed time to open up. It seemed like you needed to know someone for years before they would even tell him about who they’ve dated before. Like that was some huge scandalous secret.

Seriously Ryan, we were ten. Your mom is not gonna ground you because you held hands with Britany on the playground.

Either way, the point is that he didn’t have open friends before so when they all collapsed in the lounge after a rigorous training exercise and Shiro went:

“I miss my boyfriend,” he sighed, face smooshed into the lounge’s couch.

He was understandably in a state of shock.

“He’s not your boyfriend you know,” Keith smirked, dirt smeared across his face from when one of the gladiators tripped him and he fell on his face. “Besides, he wasn’t exactly supportive of your dreams before Kerberos,”

“Yeah, but still… I miss him,” Shiro lamented with a groan.

Lance was essentially stunned. He’d never even had a clue that Shiro was interested in relationships, let alone with another guy.

“What do you mean he wasn’t supportive?” Hunk asked and Lance’s head whipped over to Hunk. He wasn’t surprised? He glanced around the room and noticed that they weren’t shocked like he was, hell, Pidge wasn’t even looking up from her computer.

“Well, I had this whole “disease” thing going on,” Shiro said nonchalantly, turning over onto his back.

“Disease thing!? What are you talking about?” Hunk cried, suddenly panicked.

“Its like this degenerative disease, I’ve had it since I was a little kid, its not a big deal,”

“Is this real life?” Hunk asked, turning toward Keith.

“I know right? That was my reaction when he told me too,”

Lance felt like he was in a sort of limbo. Thankfully, no one really witnessed his inner dilemma and he was free to question everything. Shiro was so open with his sexuality and if he was being honest, he’d never seen someone be so blasé with their preferences. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to go:

“Hell yeah, I miss the earth bois too!”

But he was unsure. He knew Shiro and he knew his team. He knew that they wouldn’t judge him for anything but still, he had engrained in his mind that there were some people that you just can’t tell. Yeah, there were the people who believed that his sexuality didn’t exist and they were all over but, by far the worst people were the LGBT people that also said that he needed to choose one or the other. It never made sense to him, they knew what it felt like to beaten down and cursed at for their preferences. They fought tooth and nail to not be stigmatized yet, they would tear him down the first chance they got.

Thankfully, by going to the Garrison, he cut himself off from a lot of those people’s ideas and opinions of him. He went through his entire first year thinking the other shoe was gonna drop and someone from his hometown or old school was going to transfer over and start the whole process over again. It wouldn’t be that far off to say that he lived his school life in fear for a good part of his first year.

It was comforting to see that other people weren’t as backwards as he thought they were; or was lead to believe they were from growing up in his hometown.

Maybe he could speak up. But what if they think that he’d mocking Shiro or something? I mean, his blatant flirting with some of the alien girls would probably make them think that. He didn’t show any interest in any of the guys they’d come across so far, even though Rolo was a snack.

But, honey. That took effort on his part.

In the end, he decided to ignore the voice nagging in his head to say something and just laid back and enjoyed their night off.

Did he have a bit of a pit in his stomach the rest of the night? Yeah, he did.

Did he regret not saying anything? Not at all. He was uncomfortable and he did what he thought was right for him.

Did it feel good? Absolutely not.

Ω

He didn’t exactly know how they got on the topic of his sexuality. But suddenly he was just telling Shiro that he was bi. Maybe it was because he was sick of hiding it, maybe he felt like he was supposed to tell him. He honestly, didn’t know.

“Why didn’t you want to tell us?” Shiro asked with bewilderment. “I mean I kind of get not telling other people, but we’re pretty open here,”

“I mean we didn’t really have a heart to heart or anything like that,” he shrugged, while inside he was full on panicking.

“Oh, okay…” Shiro trailed off looking a little hurt.

“Look, it wasn’t you or anything… just, back home it wasn’t really “acceptable” to be bi? I guess?” Lance started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I just didn’t know if you would be the same or not,” he admitted, ashamed.

“Wha- but I’m gay Lance! I wouldn’t do that!” Shiro cried, disbelief shining in his eyes.

“I know you would never do that, but it’s happened before and I was scared!” Lance defended himself, the feelings inside finally reaching threshold. Shiro watched him with wide eyes, unused to this “unhinged” version of his friend and teammate.

“It’s happened before?” Shiro asked softly. “Oh, Lance. I’m so sorry,”

“It’s fine. It wasn’t like it was you or anything,” he sighed, curling into himself.

“Well, I get that but I kind of was that person before,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. Lance head whipped up to look at him in shock. “I guess that takes away from my point before,”

“What?”

“I know. I was young and dumb and didn’t care about other people’s feelings,” he said shaking his head. “So, I am sorry. I’m sorry for my actions before and I’m sorry that people like me made it hard for you to be yourself,”

Lance paused in shock for a while, just trying to comprehend what he’d just heard. Takashi Shirogane used to be one of the people that made him hate himself when he was younger. His hero, could have been someone to tear him down.

“What changed?” He asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

“Honestly, Matt,” he answered. “Or moving to the Garrison. Before I didn’t really have that person to tell me that what I was saying or doing was wrong but Matt laid into me the first time I said anything around him,”

“So the Garrison changed both of our perspectives, huh?” Lance grinned, uncurling slightly. “Or cut us off from other people’s ideas at least,”

“Yeah, guess so,” Shiro hummed, sitting down beside him. “I hope that you’ll be able to open up to us someday,”

“Yeah, me too. It’s just… hard sometimes,”

“Well, don’t rush yourself  or anything, you should be able to feel comfortable around us,”

And eventually he was. He let himself pace himself and decide when he was ready to tell his friends. Sometimes he wished that he was able to tell them sooner, or forced himself to tell them sooner. The battle with himself is half the journey though and now…

He can be who he truly is.

#langst #pride #bi pride #bisexual pride #lance #lance mcclain #shiro #takashi shirogane #vld #voltron #voltron legendary defender #bi lance #bisexual lance #gay shiro #discriminated lance #voltron fanfic #fanfic

[hailqiqi]

Can You Find a Fallen Star?

Healing broken bonds starts with confronting hard truths.

Ctd. from The Stars Aren’t the Same for You and I

I think I need to shoutout to @mistyhollowpro for helping me out with this, but honestly it’s been sitting at 95% for so long that I’ve totally forgotten if I owe anybody else shoutouts.

Words: 3,905

AO3 link in notes.

“Hi.”

The greeting was given with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk that immediately wiped half the tension from his shoulders.

“Hey, Veronica. Any chance you know what your little brother did to my little sister?”

“I love it how you cut to the chase,” she answered with a laugh, shaking her head ruefully as she opened the door to invite him in. “Why don’t you ask him yourself? I told him to quit moping and be useful, so he’s cleaning out the refrigerator in the kitchenette.”

Matt muttered a quiet thanks as he stepped inside. “He didn’t tell you?”

“Nope,” Veronica replied, shutting the door and gesturing for him to follow her, “and I suspect I don’t want to ask.”  She stopped part-way across the living room and pointed to an open doorway. “He’s in there. Don’t kill him, okay? We only just got him back.”

“I promise I won’t,” Matt answered solemnly, crossing his heart. “Scout’s hono— Hey!”

Veronica grinned as she released his ponytail. “I’m still not used to this.” She laughed. “Anyway. Enjoy, Holt.”

Grumbling, he flapped his arms at her and headed towards the small kitchen. This was not how he had wanted to spend his Sunday, but with Pidge acting like the world had ended what else was he supposed to do?

The kitchens in Garrison family quarters were small — more of a kitchenette, really, as Veronica had called it — with a counter for cooking/prep, an island for eating, and a wall of windows to let the light in (and get rid of smoke). The one in this particular family suite was no different, its only unique feature being the cluttered surfaces where every item in the fridge had seemingly been moved out and shoved aside.

Lance was nowhere to be seen, but from the clattering and muttered curses Matt supposed he was on the floor behind the island. He must not have heard him come in.

Excellent.

Moving quietly, he snuck up to the island and peered over. Yup, there he was — wearing shorts and a wife-beater, on his hands and knees with a bottle of spray in one hand and his head inside the empty refrigerator. The thoroughness with which he approached the task made Matt pause.

Whatever happened must have been bad; back before Kerberos, Veronica had always complained about how lazy her baby brother was when it came to chores. Then again, being a paladin had probably helped him grow up — Pidge was barely recognisable, sometimes.

And on that note…

“Lance!” he barked.

“Argh!”

A loud bang echoed as Lance hit his head on the shelf, dropping the spray when he tried to whip around to face the intruder. Matt bit back a laugh and quickly schooled his expression into one of stern bemusement, raising an eyebrow as he waited for him to turn and face him properly.

Lance’s expression fell the moment he set eyes on him. “Ah, shit. How did you even…?”

“One thing you might not know about me,” Matt said, pushing himself onto the barstool and aiming for ‘casually threatening, in the Kingsman style’. (Pidge had said he’d got ‘all buff and stuff’, so hopefully it was paying off now.) “I used to date your sister.”

“I — Wait — You what?!”

“I did. We parted on good terms, back when I left for the Kerberos mission?” He ignored Lance’s outburst in favour of picking up a bottle of juice from the counter and studying the label. “Pass me a glass, Lance.”

Lance stared at him incredulously, then moved to the cupboard, slapping his cleaning cloth down on the counter as he pulled out a glass. “Why are you telling me this?”

“No real reason.” Matt shrugged, accepting the offered glass with a cordial smile. “We still get on very well. I just think it’s nice to see how well she’s done for herself.” Lance was watching carefully, shoulders squared, and Matt ignored him in favour of pouring his juice. “We have a lot more in common nowadays, too, so we talk a lot. We’re both older siblings to a Paladin of Voltron, for one.”

He sipped his juice, eyeing Lance over the rim of the glass and inwardly laughing at how wide Lance’s eyes had grown as the implication sunk in. Less than a heartbeat later, though, his shoulders slumped and his gaze swung to the window, making him look more defeated than Matt had ever seen him look.

What the fuck had he done?

The juice was sweet, and still cold despite being left out on the counter. Matt took his time savouring it as he watched his quarry, hiding his frown behind the glass.

He had planned to wait him out, but Lance wasn’t offering any answers of his own volition — he stood on the other side of the island, eyes looking everywhere but Matt. He’d always seemed the type to fill the silence with random chatter, but right now he was more taciturn than Shiro.

With a mental sigh, Matt finished up his juice and placed the glass back on the counter. “So.”

“So?” Lance met his eyes briefly.

“I don’t suppose you have any idea why my sister is refusing to get out of bed?”

“I— Pidge is what?”

“She’s been lying face down on her bed for the past few hours, and whenever I try to talk to her all I get is ‘Allura hates me’, ‘none of my friends will ever talk to me again’ and ‘my life is over’,” Matt elaborated, raising an eyebrow as Lance shifted nervously. Honestly, the kid couldn’t look guiltier if he tried. “When I asked her who I needed to punch, she said you.”

“Oh.”

“And as fun as it is watching her channel a pre-teen drama queen, I’m sure you can understand why it’s a little concerning.“

"Fuck.” Lance ran a hand through his hair, then held his arms away from his body. "Go on then.”

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?”

"Yeah,” Lance said, swallowing. “I definitely deserve it, so…’’

They looked at each other for a moment, then Matt snorted. “I’m not gonna hit you, Lance.”

Lance looked away, then sagged against the counter behind him, his hand back in his hair. "I kissed her, Matt.”

Oh. Not exactly what Matt had been expecting, but close enough that he suspected he already knew the rest. To be fair, he found it somewhat impressive that six teenagers-to-young-adults had managed to survive drama-free on a spaceship for nearly three years. Something like this was more than a little overdue.

Especially with these particular players. Though it wasn’t like knowing Matt had always thought it was inevitable would help Pidge any now.

"Okay,” he said with a tired sigh. "So?”

"What do you mean, ‘so’?! I kissed your sister!”

I’ve done worse with yours, he wanted to say, but instead he bit his tongue and shrugged. "Okay, I get that. But what’s the problem?”

“I’m dating Allura and I kissed Pidge!”

“I doubt Pidge is upset about the ‘kiss’ part of that sentence.”

Lance stared at him incredulously, then let out a bitter laugh and looked away.  Matt reached for the juice bottle again and took his time pouring a glass, watching Lance carefully as he did. The younger man was yet to meet his eyes.

Matt considered his words carefully, then took a sip before saying, “If we’re being honest, I was really surprised when I found out you were dating the Princess. I always thought you and Katie had something going on and were just keeping it secret.”

Lance flinched but said nothing. Matt filed the data point away for future reference and asked, “How did it even happen?”

A slow exhale, then Lance finally turned to face him again. “Allura, or Pidge?”

Matt snorted. “Pidge.”

“We were dancing.”

“You were dancing,” he echoed, one eyebrow raised. “Weren’t you in a dance team before flight school? Did you end up kissing all your partners then, too?”

Lance groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Fuck.”

 —————

 Keeping the frustration out of his voice felt like an impossible task.

"You've missed half of your targets today."

Lance shifted uneasily, not meeting his gaze. Keith narrowed his eyes, then turned to Allura.

"You're moving like a robot." Her movements were normally fluid and graceful, a sight to behold, but today they’d been lacking...everything.

Allura snapped her eyes to his, ferocity in her gaze. "I'm tired after your 'dancing' outing last night."

"We're all tired," he retorted, pushing back an irrational wave of irritation when her jaw tightened. "We were all out late, and we all got at least a little tipsy. That doesn't mean you should be sloppy on the field."

"It's just the training deck, Keith, lighten up."

Keith turned his ire on Hunk at the provocation. "You were just as bad! I've told you before: you've gotta control your strength if you want your hits to count!"

Hunk sighed and flopped to the ground. "Look, I'm just so worried about Pidge because she hasn't come, and she seemed really upset last night and—"

Both Lance and Allura stiffened. Keith blinked, tuning out Hunk's rambling and taking a moment to observe them instead. There was a distance between them that hadn't been there yesterday, and — now that he thought about it — they'd barely spoken or even looked at each other except when necessary.

And now Pidge wasn't answering Hunk's calls and had skipped training.

Cold dread slipped down his spine and settled into his stomach. "Hunk?" he said, cutting him off, his tone carefully calm. "Why was Pidge upset last night?"

"Why—?" Hunk paused at the interruption, but Keith's attention was focused more on the way Allura was gritting her teeth, her eyes firmly on the floor, and Lance had almost shrunk into himself, everything about his posture screaming guilty. "I have no idea, man, just her and Allura asked me to take them home early and she was tearing up the whole way. I tried to ask but she..."

Hunk carried on, talking about their drive back and how Pidge had disappeared the moment they pulled up, but all Keith could think about was the way Lance had looked at her in that dress and how tight her fingers had been on his arm as she all but fled from his gaze.

"Lance."

His voice shook with barely contained fury, and it took all he had to remind himself that Lance would never hurt her. Lance met his gaze warily, and Keith's hands clenched into fists at his sides as he asked, "Lance, what did you do?"

Silence fell over the room. Lance visibly wavered. "I didn't—"

"Allura won't look at you. You won't look at Allura. Pidge has missed training and isn't answering any of our communications." Lance winced with each statement, as though they were a physical blow instead of words. "Lance, what did you do?!"

"Nothing unwelcome," Allura answered for him, a bitter edge in her voice. "Pidge is over-reacting."

Keith frowned. If Allura was telling the truth, then—

"Leave her alone," Lance said, his eyes narrowed. "Pidge didn't do anything. If you're gonna be mad at someone, be mad at me."

Allura raised an eyebrow. "I am angry with you," she said, coolly, "but that doesn't negate the fact that Pidge's reaction is completely inappropriate and out of proportion. The integrity of Voltron is at risk."

"Uh, guys—"

"Okay, fine, but because of my actions, not hers!" Lance ignored Hunk completely, his shoulders squaring up for an argument, and Keith suddenly realised that he had no desire to be a part of whatever was going on.

"Enough!"

The tension from the air vanished immediately as they both jumped and turned to face him.

"I don't care what happened. Allura's right, Voltron's at risk. If Haggar attacked today, we'd all die." He glared at all three of them, daring them to challenge him. When no-one did, he continued, "Fix it. One of you needs to talk to her."

"Lance needs to talk to her," Allura said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I want no part of it."

Lance's eyes flashed. "Don't you think I need to talk to you, first?"

"I will talk to you later. After you talk to Pidge."

It was only the fear of looking too much like Shiro that stopped Keith from pinching his nose as his blue and red paladins scowled at each other, locked in a Mexican stand-off over Hunk's head.

At least Hunk looked as lost as Keith felt.

When neither made to move he gave in to the urge, closing his eyes in exasperation as he massaged his sinuses before speaking. "Fine. Lance: go and talk to Pidge. Today." He glared at Lance, his tone brooking no argument, and Lance shrunk back before giving him a hesitant nod. Satisfied, he turned to the others. "Hunk, Allura, get some rest. Allura, make sure you sort out your issues with Lance by the end of the night. I want everybody ready to work as a team again in the morning."

Allura gave a curt nod, her cheeks pinched, before turning away and leaving without a word. Hunk sighed in visible relief and held his hand out for Lance to pull him up — "I don't know what you did, man, but even I kinda wanna punch you right now" — and Keith swallowed back a groan as he moved to pick up their training equipment.

Hopefully his mom had something to eat ready when he got back to their quarters. Maybe Shiro would even be there and he could try to convince him to swap commands.

A guy could dream.

 —————

 He’d stood in front of the mirror for an hour that afternoon, and he still had no idea what he wanted to say to her.

It was throwing him for a loop, because Pidge should have been easy. They’d been a team back on Earth and grown together as part of a better team up in space. Together they’d fought monsters, blown things up, laughed, cried… He’d held her when she broke down over her first kill; she’d sat up with him modifying the training deck so that he could hone his sniping skills. Somehow, being with Pidge made him feel like all the answers were in reach.

So why was this so difficult?

Allura had been the easy one. Allura, who he’d pined after for years, who made him want to change everything he was so that he could be better just so that she would look at him. She’d held his hand, kissed his lips, told him she was happy he was with her…but after seeing the hurt on her face last night, it was easy for Lance to say that she deserved more than him. He would give her a chance to dump him for his transgressions – as Rachel had put it – and if she didn’t, he was fully prepared to end things. He knew what he wanted to say to her, how he wanted things to go with her.

But Pidge? Pidge, he had no idea.

His phone flashed, and for a moment he didn’t want to check it. In the end, though, hiding in his bedroom wasn’t exactly becoming for a Paladin of Voltron so he grabbed his keycard and headed out.

Hopefully he’d figure it out on the way.

-----

 He did not figure it out on the way.

Pidge had let him in — reluctantly — when he told her Keith had ordered him there, and now they were sitting side by side against her headboard with as much space between them as they could manage on her narrow Garrison-standard bed and he still had no idea what he wanted to say to her.

It probably would have been easier if they weren't in her room, now he thought about it. It had been so long since he'd been in any kind of space that belonged to her that her scent was overwhelming. Coherent thoughts were few and far between when every inhale took him straight back to the night before and sent shocks of electricity through his very soul. Hot breath on his ear, laughter tickling the skin of throat… The glimmer in her eyes and the heat of her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as she'd kissed him back with a fiery passion he’d thought only existed in movies.

Kissing Pidge had felt like drowning, and he’d gladly succumbed to it. But now...

“I doubt Pidge is upset about the ‘kiss’ part of that sentence.”

Matt's words ran through his head for the hundredth time that day, and for the first time Lance let himself consider that there might be some truth to them. Though, if anything, that just made everything more confusing.

"So?" Pidge's harsh voice cut into his reverie and he glanced at her, startled. Her messy hair hid her face as she hunched over in the corner, leaning on both walls, one hand fiddling with a loose thread on her pyjama pants. When he didn't answer, she finally raised her head to look at him. "You came here to talk, right? Talk."

"I..." The words died on his lips and he swallowed, hyper-aware of the scant distance between them and how little effort it would be to lean down and taste her again. Shoving the thought aside, he closed his eyes and exhaled. "I don't know what to say."

Pidge scoffed. "Really? Not even a 'sorry'?"

Lance blinked. "Sorry for what?"

"Are you kidding me?" She whipped around to face him, her voice rising in both pitch and volume, and absurdly all he could think was 'Ah. There she is.' "How about 'sorry for kissing you'?!"

The fire in her eyes and the bare foot brushing his calf were distracting, but the ‘angry girl’ alarm in his brain was dinging and this, at least, Lance was familiar enough with that his mouth began to form words on auto-pilot. This was the part where he was meant to grovel, where he was supposed to say he was drunk and it was a mistake and he'd never do it again and then they could go back to being friends. Lance could start pretending her kiss hadn’t left a permanent brand on his being, and Pidge could go back to pretending to be busy whenever he called her.

He paused, a familiar bitterness curling in his gut.

"So?" she prompted. "Are you going to say sorry?"

Should he? His mind was buzzing with a million different replies, a confused jumble of scenarios all playing out at the same time as he tried to figure out which one would bridge the gap between them. That was all he was sure he wanted, really — for Pidge to stop avoiding him, for them to go back to that easy partnership they’d built so that he could stop feeling so lost.

Pidge tilted her head back against the wall, raising one eyebrow as she waited for him to speak and he shifted, moving to sit cross-legged and face her properly, ignoring the way it made him vulnerable to being shoved off.

A little vulnerability was probably in order here, anyway. Maybe it was what they needed — vulnerability...and honesty.

Pidge was looking at him expectantly.

Lance took a deep breath.

“No.”

"No?"

"No," he repeated, squaring his shoulders before plunging on ahead, deciding to just say whatever felt right and damn the consequences. Honesty, if the coarsest type. "I won't say sorry, Pidge, because I'm not. It wasn’t the first time I wanted to kiss you.”

Pidge inhaled sharply, and Lance felt his own eyes widen at the admission. It was true though, wasn’t it? He’d wanted to kiss her before, he’d felt that urge. Over and over again.

There had been a couple of times when he was cradling her in his arms as they slow danced in the Castle, then a million times when she looked up at him with a grin as they sat together playing games at quiznak-knows-o’clock. Once when they were baking cookies with Hunk and she’d gotten batter on her nose — that image and the pounding of his heart was still crystal clear in his memory. More than once when they’d come in from a stressful mission and she’d squeezed his hand to steady him at the debriefing. And then that time when she’d helped him tackle Coran on a pirate ship and he’d been so relieved that she was okay and still there.

He’d always put it down to hormones, but now...now he wasn’t so sure.

The silence fell heavily between them, tension thick in the air; in lieu of finding something else to say, he simply looked. Pidge was staring at him, expressive eyes blown wide, soft lips slightly parted with a pretty pink blush blooming across her cheeks; her soft hair (he still remembered that detail, even if he hadn’t mussed it in months) was a tousled mess, her pyjama top had slipped down to expose one smooth shoulder, and suddenly Lance couldn’t drag his eyes away.

She was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

He reached out, one hand gently cupping her face, and murmured, “I want to kiss you right now.”

“I—” Pidge leaned into the touch before screwing her eyes shut and pushing his hand away. “Lance, you have a girlfriend.”

“I know.” He rested his hand back on his knee with a shrug. “I won’t after tonight, though.”

Pidge scoffed. “Don’t expect me to take the position.”

“Would you want it?”

She snapped her gaze to his, a pain he couldn’t understand hiding behind her eyes, before looking away. “Whatever, Lance. Look, you’re my friend so—”

Her words made him frown. “Pidge, are we even friends?”

The question came out softer than he’d intended, but it seemed to startle her all the same. “What? I—Of course we’re friends! Why would you—”

“It’s just—” he cut her off— “you never have any time for me anymore.”

“I’m busy!”

“You were busy before, too, but we still hung out!”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Have you ever thought that maybe I’m more busy now?”

“That’s bullshit Pidge, and you know it,” he snapped, gesticulating between them as his hurt gave way to a steadily-rising anger.  “Look, let’s at least agree to be honest with each other, okay? It’s not like we’ve got a friendship to save here because our friendship was in the toilet anyway.”

“It was not!”

“Yeah, it was. When was the last time we hung out together? We used to hang out all the time on the castle! We even did movie nights over the comms on the way here but now every time I ask you it’s ‘I’m sorry, I can’t,’ and that’s if I even get a reply from you!”

She glared at him, her jaw set. “Did it ever cross your mind that maybe I just don’t wanna hang out with you?”

“But why?!” Lance asked, not even trying to hide the pain in his voice. “What did I do?! We hung out in the hospital but then you got out and you were helping with the tech stuff and I started dating Allura but I still—”

Pidge shifted her gaze to the side, and suddenly everything clicked into place.

#plance #pidgance #flirtyrobot #lidge #pance #my writing #listen i totally see matt/veronica #bisexual veronica is the best hc and that's it #als #boys doing chores should be listened under limes i swear #sorry for the cliffhanger i'll write a third part eventually

[yourockthebeatofmyheart]

Stupid With Love

Fandom: Voltron Legendary Defender Rating: K+ Word count: 2,329 (with “epilogue”) Characters/pairings: Shallura, Matt (only mentioned but still an important part of the story), Lance, Pidge, Keith, Hunk Summary: Okay but consider: “we’re best friends and I went with you to the hospital to support you during your surgery but when you woke up afterward you were still whacked out on anesthesia and you thought we were dating” AU

Allura would do anything for Shiro. As one of his Two Best Friends (Matt’s words, not hers), she felt it was her duty. So when he approached both of them to let them know he was having some minor surgery done in a few weeks and he would need a ride, she was happy to assist.

(Matt claimed he had a prior engagement that he couldn’t get out of, but something about the way he said it made Allura think he had something else in mind. He always had some ridiculous plan, however unsuccessful, to get the two of them together. It might have been endearing if it didn’t wear on her nerves so much.)

Two weeks later, on the day of Shiro’s surgery, Allura drove him to the hospital and sat patiently with him in his assigned room, talking with him about whatever mundane topics she could think of to keep him from stressing out. When the doctor came in to bring him to the operating room, they shared one last quick exchange (“You’ll be here when I get back?” he’d asked. “I’ll be the first person you see,” she’d promised.) before he was gone.

A few hours went by, during which she passed the time checking her phone or reading a book, until finally, Shiro returned. As the doctor left the room, Allura made sure to text Keith, Shiro’s younger brother, to let him know Shiro was out of surgery. He’d likely just gotten out of class and might want to stop by for a visit. Sure enough, he replied a few minutes later to let her know he was on his way.

Allura locked her phone and breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back in her chair. She would never admit it, but she’d actually been a little worried about today. Of course, he’d probably been much more anxious than her (although she doubted he would ever say as much either), and it was just a brief procedure, but… Shiro was a dear friend, and he meant the world to her, and if anything were to change that…

She didn’t know how long she’d been lost in her thoughts, but they were suddenly interrupted when the door creaked open. She rose to her feet to see Keith standing in the doorway. “There you are,” she smiled, stealing a glance at her phone. It had been nearly thirty minutes since she’d texted him. “What took you so long?”

Keith opened his mouth to respond when he was pushed aside by three other people entering the room. “Is he up yet? Did I miss anything?” his friend Lance asked loudly. Hunk followed after him, looking mildly amused. Last, and quietest, to enter was Pidge, who also happened to be Matt’s little sister.

Allura’s eyes widened at the crowd filling up the room, and she gave Keith a look of utter betrayal.

“…I tried to talk them out of it,” was all he said in a defeated tone.

Allura heaved a resigned sigh. Then she turned on her heel to face Lance —who seemed downright giddy at the idea of seeing Shiro’s reaction to anesthesia— pointed an index finger in his face, and said, with grave seriousness, “Listen to me. Shiro has been stressing about this all week. He’s going to be disoriented enough as it is when he wakes up. If you say anything to upset him, you are out of here. Do you understand me?”

Lance’s grin shrunk just a little and he nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

“So how’d it go?” Hunk asked, taking a seat on the other side of the room.

Allura silently thanked him for being so much more polite in this situation than Lance. “His doctor said everything went fine, and he should be fully recovered in a few days,” she answered as she went back to her own chair beside Shiro.

Pidge carefully leaned against the wall between Hunk and Keith. “Well, that’s good.”

“What was the surgery for, anyway?” asked Lance.

Before Allura could answer, a groggy voice to her left exclaimed, “Heeeeeyyy, everybody’s here!”

She instinctively jumped at the sound before turning to face her friend in his bed. “Shiro!” she smiled.

Keith pushed himself away from the wall and stepped forward. “How you feeling?” he asked.

Shiro didn’t answer for a few seconds. He blinked very slowly before coming up with a reply of, “…I don’t know.” Lance snickered in the corner, fumbling to take out his phone as though he couldn’t do it fast enough. “Hey, what happened?” Shiro went on, letting his head fall to one side so he was looking at Allura.

She gently touched his shoulder and reminded him, “You just got out of surgery.”

He tilted his head. “Have you been here the whole time?”

Allura nodded, trying her best to ignore Lance cursing off to the side that his phone had no room to take a video. (“How many pictures of the sunset do you need?” Pidge asked.)

Shiro let out an exaggerated sigh and gave Allura a soft, unfamiliar look. “You’re so good to me, babe.”

The room went alarmingly quiet.

Wha…

What did he just say?

Allura giggled in an attempt to hide her sudden discomfort. She’d likely just misheard him— he was delirious, he probably didn’t even know what he was saying.

Then Shiro reached for her hand. “I am ssso lucky to have a girlfriend like you,” he slurred.

Allura’s eyes widened.

“Oh my god,” wheezed Lance.

“U-um…” Allura tried to clear her throat. “Shiro, we’re… I’m not—“

She felt a hand on her shoulder. “Ah-ah-ah,” Lance cut in. “You don’t want to upset him.” Allura’s face felt hot. She would have liked nothing more at that moment than to smack that smug look off his face. (She could, too, and everyone in the room knew it.)

“Lance, c’mon,” urged Hunk, pulling his friend back.

“Yeah, back off!” Shiro added, which she would have appreciated literally any other time than this. “We’re on a date!”

“Shiro,” Keith spoke up. Allura could tell he was trying not to laugh, but she knew he meant well, which was more than she could say for a certain Cuban boy in the room. Keith went on, “You’re in the hospital.”

At this, Shiro did a double-take. Or, he got as close as he could for how spaced out he was. “Oh my god, what happened?!” he asked again, looking shocked.

Allura’s heartbeat quickened, and she shrugged Lance’s hand away. “N-nothing,” she stammered, heading for the door. “Excuse me.”

The room fell silent again as she left— that same humiliating, record-scratch type of silence as before. She leaned on the door as it closed and let out a shaky breath.

———

Pidge found her in the bathroom a few minutes later.

She took a quick peek at the bottoms of the stalls to make sure they were all empty as she approached Allura at the farthest sink from the door. “You okay?” she asked gently.

Allura nodded, taking a breath to compose herself. “Sorry for rushing out.”

Pidge shrugged. “If it makes you feel any better, he didn’t seem to notice.”

Honestly, it did make her feel just a little better to know that. Allura sighed softly. “How is he?”

“Well,” Pidge replied, “Hunk told him you guys aren’t actually dating and he started laughing like a maniac, so… I think he’ll be alright.”

Allura let out a small laugh. At least he wasn’t hurt by that shocking revelation.

“…Do you like him?”

Allura’s whole body tensed up, though she would have been lying if she said she hadn’t expected that question. She avoided Pidge’s curious gaze for as long as she could, but eventually that made her just as uncomfortable, so she finally gave a strained reply of, “…Maybe.” Almost immediately, she threw her head back and groaned. “But he’s my best friend! I don’t want to ruin that.”

For a moment, Pidge was quiet. Then she took a deep breath and, against her better judgement, told Allura, “Look, I’ve known Shiro since he and Matt were in tenth grade. He wouldn’t say something he didn’t mean just to see how someone would react.” Then, as a brief aside: “Even if he is out of his mind on painkillers.” Allura chuckled. Pidge went on, “Maybe you should just tell him and… see what happens. Once he’s lucid, anyway.” Again, the two of them were silent. A few seconds passed before Pidge shook her head dismissively. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything—“

“No,” Allura cut her off. “You’re right… Thank you, Pidge.” She gave a warm smile, and her friend’s sister sheepishly looked away. With a subtle sense of confidence, Allura put a hand on Pidge’s shoulder. “Let’s go back. I promised I’d be there for him, after all.”

———

When they returned to his room, Shiro was out cold.

“Is he okay?” Allura asked worriedly.

Hunk shrugged. “Yeah. I think he passed out from laughing too hard.”

In the corner, Lance broke off his conversation with Keith and walked up to Allura. “You got a second?” he asked. She gave a cautious nod, silently warning him to watch himself. Fortunately, he followed up with an earnest, “Sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

She smiled, relieved. “I know,” she assured him. “You only meant to embarrass Shiro.”

Lance smirked in reply, “I knew you’d understand,” which earned him a good-natured eyeroll from Allura.

Keith stepped forward, pocketing his phone. “Guys, we should head out,” he told his friends.

“Aw, come on!” Lance pouted, gesturing to Shiro. “What if he says something amazing?” Keith’s response was simply to grab the hood of Lance’s jacket and pull him toward the door. “You’ll keep me updated, right?” he asked Allura.

She stared at him in silence until he and Keith were in the hallway.

“…Is that a maybe?”

Hunk trailed after them, throwing her a quick wave as he left. When Pidge started to walk past, Allura put a hand on her shoulder. She gave the younger girl a smile and said sweetly, “Tell your brother to start running.”

Pidge grinned back, “Gladly,” before she made her way out.

The door clicked shut behind the four of them. Allura closed her eyes, letting herself get accustomed to the quiet once more, and exhaled contentedly. She moved back to sit beside Shiro again, propping up an elbow on her leg and resting her chin in her hand as she looked over at him. Without realizing it, she smiled affectionately— unconscious or not, it was the calmest she’d seen him in weeks. Maybe those drugs were good for something after all.

She chuckled at the thought, her gaze slowly falling to the floor.

“Maybe you should just tell him and… see what happens.”

She knew Pidge was right. Shiro was a good person: even if he didn’t return her feelings, Allura doubted that it would actually ruin their friendship… Still… the idea of doing so was more than a little frightening to her…

Again, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, giving an affirming nod for good measure. She would tell him— when the moment was right.

And she was absolutely not going to let Matt know.

She looked back at Shiro, and as if on cue, he woke up, almost immediately making eye contact with her. “You’re still here,” he smiled. He seemed a bit less disoriented than earlier, but definitely still not all there. (Needless to say, not the right moment.)

Allura returned his fond look. “Just like I said,” she reminded him.

Shiro slowly scanned the room. “Did everyone else leave?” Allura nodded. “Good,” he sighed. “They were cramping my style.”

Allura stifled a laugh. Maybe he was a little more disoriented than she thought. “Is that right?”

Shiro seemed to take offense at her reaction. “Why are you laughing at me? I just lost an arm!”

Okay, now he had to be messing with her. “Are you sure?” she asked, surprising herself with how reasonable she sounded.

With a curious look on his face, Shiro glanced down at his right arm and seemed to nearly jump out of bed when he saw it. “Oh my god!” he exclaimed, turning his hand over in awe. “They put my arm back on?!”

Allura was starting to realize why Lance had been so excited to visit. “The miracle of modern medicine,” she shrugged.

Shiro tilted his head back and exhaled loudly in amazement, “Wait until my girlfriend hears about this.” Allura barely had time to think, Does he still mean me?, before his eyes landed on her once more. “Oh, hey!” he beamed. “There you are!”

For a moment, Allura froze, considering her next move. But just as quickly, she smiled and took his hand in hers. “Here I am.”

#voltron #shallura #fic #mine: writing #there's a bit more to this one but no joke it wouldn't fit in this post #so i'll reblog this later with the actual ending #cool? cool #on another note #OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE I FINISHED THIS #i was determined to have it posted before s6 drops and i GODDAMN DID IT

[sol1056]

why do they hate having characters meet so much? do they think it's too awkward? do they think it's boring? did they just lose all their patience after season 1? because i swear if the pilot / rest of season 1 were written the way the writing is in the later seasons, i guarantee nobody would be watching this show, everyone would be too confused and frustrated to bother following it to season 2. unless i'm remembering season 1 incorrectly and it also had cracks but we all gave it a pass then.

“Stories may well be lies, but they are good lies that say true things.” – Neil Gaiman

Let me take my cynical pre-season hat off and answer this seriously, because it’s something I’ve seen when doing critiques for newer writers. 

It’s fear. 

Almost every writer at some point must deal with the voice that says, what will people think and mom’s gonna be so embarrassed and no one’ll ever invite me to another ice cream social. The censorship weasel dances in your brain, reminding you that these are your ideas, your words, from somewhere inside you. Unless you’ve mocked up a fake co-writer to blame all the gross (or steamy or violent) parts on, the weasel is terrified that people are gonna look at you and judge you for the world you created.

Next, add on genre insecurities. I know successful published writers who still get asked, “when will you write a real story?” as though a year of sweat and tears writing urban fantasy isn’t as ‘real’ as literary pap about a middle-aged professor lusting after a student. Or friends with amazing backlists in romance who’ve always written with a pseudonym, because romance is just fluff, what do you mean you do actual research, you can’t really take this stuff seriously. The vast majority of American animation (esp toy-pushing series meant for saturday morning) is another discredited genre. 

America is a cynical, corrupt, culture. You can see it all over our popular entertainment that treats sincerity as the kiss of death. So first you have to fight your way through the censorship weasels, and next grow the tough skin against the genre insults, and assuming you survive those, you’ve still got an uphill battle against a culture that will mock genuine feeling in anything it sees as less worthy: younger audiences, subaltern or marginalized voices, or pop-culture modes (comics, pulp fiction).   

That fear becomes justification. 

It’s just for kids, anyway. No one’s going to remember this in ten years. We’re not writing War and Peace here. Don’t put too much effort in, or people will think you take this seriously. Skip that scene, it’s too heavy. Just gloss over those parts, no one will care anyway. It’s just a story. It doesn’t matter. 

There is little more heartbreaking to me, as a writer, to read or watch someone’s story and catch the traces where they told themselves: it’s just a story, it doesn’t matter. And I often find myself infuriated on their behalf that they had no one – whether editor, or boss, or producer – to remind them that there is no such thing as ‘just a story’, that every story should matter, in its own way. 

There’s a quote from Tim Hedrick that gave me a pretty good idea that I’d be seeing those cracks, inevitably, in VLD:

I think that comedy does not undercut drama. I think it sets it up and makes things even more dramatic. When you’re doing a show like Voltron, on the face of it is just so ridiculous that you have five robot lions that create one giant robot and you’re fighting intergalactic forces. If you play that just straight it ends up being campy.

Except that comedy does undercut drama; as Carol Burnett put it, comedy is tragedy plus time. In other words, comedy distances you. It doesn’t heighten drama, it reduces it, like when it lets you laugh at what scared you. Sometimes it’s good to have a little humor to let out the air, but you have to use it wisely, and very sparingly.  

However, if you’re afraid of that drama, the justification in the quote above would sound awfully sweet. Plus it has the nice byproduct of winking at the audience: see, see, we’re not really taking this seriously. We know it’s ridiculous, don’t worry, we know this’ll never win a Nobel Prize in Literature. We know it’s cheesy, campy, trite, corny. 

Here’s the thing, though: so what? Some of the most amazing stories are, on their face, somewhat ridiculous and yet also incredibly moving. 

Two kids from an underground city find a drill that lets them control and combine robots to defend themselves against sentient beasts in huge mecha. A woman is the great-great-granddaughter of a famous gunslinger and must undo a curse on the family line. Two brothers try to get back their bodies in a world where transmutation is real and so are homunculus and human-animal chimeras. A kid is bitten by a radioactive spider and develops superpowers. Five pilots fly massive machines to attack earth and get caught in a multi-factional war they never expected to live long enough to see. A cheerleader is chosen as next in a long line of vampire slayers.  

Five lions that combine into one giant mecha are no more ridiculous than a single man shooting a single arrow through a dragon’s chest and taking it down. Or a kid groomed through violence and abuse into becoming a skilled killing-machine gamer. Hell, isn’t it just as ridiculous to have a character obsessed with some crazed whale? Or a girl who meets the mountain spirit near her new rural home? Or four siblings who go through a wardrobe and end up in fairytale land?

If you play it straight – as all of the above were – it doesn’t end up being campy. It ends up being earnest. It will be a story that refuses to bend a knee to the censorship weasels or the genre insults. But earnest is a step away from sincere, and that’s just shy of taking storytelling seriously, and hello, weasels. 

Fear tells the writer: don’t believe in the story’s world, or the characters, or the story itself. Safer to keep it at a distance, make it something to laugh at, rather than honest enough to be wept over. And when you listen to that fear, you skip those scenes that really matter, because it’s just a story, anyway. 

When the writer is so afraid of telling an honest story that they refuse to see its truths – let alone believe in such truths and accept they matter – what is there to entice a reader to believe, in the writers’ stead?

#voltron legendary defender #storytelling #writing #vld #voltron

[pinkstarbeam]

Sweet sixteen never been kissed (reupload)

Katie Holt was just like any other teenager girl, self conscious. Being a sophomore in high school wasn’t easy especially when you were friends with Allura Stardust, the most popular and drop dead gorgeous girl at Voltron High. Looking up at her reflection in her vanity mirror Katie winced at the sight of herself, messy natural wavy hair, freckles, and circular frames definitely weren’t what were desired at the moment. A straightened segment of hair here, a swipe of natural brown eyeshadow there and she had transformed into what society dictated as a pretty high school girl who could have any guy she wanted. “Pidge!” her older brother Matt called her nickname out from outside her door “Come on or you’re walking!” he warned before walking off.

Grabbing her purple backpack and phone she quickly headed out her door and downstairs where she told her parents their daily goodbye and I love you’s before heading out to Matt’s old beat up truck.

“You think you could have an uglier car?” Katie teased as she buckled in.

Matt shrugged “It was cheap and runs good so I have no complaints, a little rust never killed anyone.”.

Rolling her honey colored eyes the fifteen year old watched the scenery as they began their descent to Voltron High, the thought of people seeing her made her double check her appearance in the trucks small visor mirrors, after fixing a few strands of hair and applying a new coat of shimmery chapstick she felt more confident despite Matt’s annoyed sigh from the driver’s seat.

“Why do you do that every time we go somewhere?” Matt asked keeping his eyes on the road.

“Do what?” Katie asked although she knew the answer.

His eyes narrowed as he chanced a quick side glance at her “You know exactly what i’m talking about Katie. Even Allura herself has told you to not try so hard yet everyday you put yourself through the ringer just to appease people.”.

Katie knew Matt was right, she could say she did it for herself, but that would be a lie. The real reason she did it was out of fear of not being accepted for who she really was and that was a nerdy tech genius who wore thick circular frames to see when contacts weren’t in front her eyeballs, a girl who had a horizon of freckles across her nose and wavy hair that looked like a massive hair monster when brushed out, that was the real Katie Holt who would never be seen by anyone who wasn’t her family as far as she was concerned and planned to keep it that way until at least after college.

Looking down at her skirt she sighed “I do it because I want to okay?”.

She could feel Matt roll his eyes, but all that was left in the air was tense silence that couldn’t be cut with even the sharpest of knives. Shifting in her seat she turned towards the window and kept her eyes on the road up until she felt the truck park in it’s usual spot.

Getting out of the truck she quickly hurried away from Matt not wanting to deal with the tension anymore, but on her way into the school she ran smack into the back of someone which sent her tumbling back onto her butt.

She mentally cursed praying nobody had seen what just happened when a tanned hand came into view.

“Hey are you alright?” the voice belonging to the hand asked.

Glancing up her golden eyes met blue ones and she felt her heart skip a beat, the guy in front of her was drop dead handsome and she was fighting the urge for her jaw to just drop at the sight of him.

“Uh miss?” he asked snapping her out of her thoughts.

“S-Sorry!” Katie said as she quickly scrambled up to her feet embarrassed.

She heard him chuckle under his breath “No need to apologize I was blocking the door.”.

‘What the hell even his voice is attractive’ she thought.

“I’m Lance McClain by the way, I just moved here from Florida.” he smiled and Katie felt like she was gonna die if she kept restricting the warmth in her cheeks.

“I’m Katie Holt. You moved all the way across America just to live in Altea, California?” she asked desperate to try and distract herself.

He shrugged “My Papa got a job transfer so we all packed up and moved here.”.

“All?” she asked curiously.

He smiled that amazing smile again “I have two younger brothers and a little sister.”.

Katie’s eyes sparked, she had always wanted a little sibling “Lucky! I just have an older brother.”.

Lance felt his cheeks warm up a bit “Eh they can be a pain sometimes, but I love them.”.

Allura suddenly came into view as she walked out in search for Katie “There you are! Shay and me were worried.”.

Katie mentally cussed herself for making her friends worry “Sorry Allura, I was talking to the  new kid. Lance McClain meet Allura Stardust, the daughter Alfor Stardust, the mayor of Altea.”.

The male smiled and Katie wondered how Allura wasn’t melting “Nice to meet you Allura.” he said with a wink.

Allura rolled her eyes at the wink “You too Lance. Come on Katie.” she said grabbing the shorter females hand and dragging her off.

Katie wondered why she was being dragged off not having seem the male wink “What’s wrong?” she finally asked as they entered the cafeteria.

“That guy is bad news.” the blonde said taking her seat next to Shay.

“Who is bad news?” Shay asked looking at both of her friends.

Shay was one of the most popular girls in school like Allura except rather than her looks and power making her popular it was the sheer fact that she had the confidence of someone made of stone.

“New guy. Winked at me the minute he spoke to me.” Allura said taking a sip of her water.

Katie felt slightly hurt, had he really winked at Allura? Well it was no surprise, compared to Allura, Katie was just another girl trying to impress people. Pulling on her hair she glanced down at the white table top in front of her as self consciousness became her only thought.

“Are you okay Pidge?” a familiar voice asked.

Katie quickly looked up at the sound of her nickname to see Allura’s boyfriend Keith also known as her childhood best friend looking down at her in worry.

“I’m fine just thinking.” she said giving her best attempt at a smile.

He slid in next to Allura and pecked his girlfriend’s cheek before turning to Pidge again “Did you really just try to lie to me?”.

She glared at him “I don’t wanna talk about it.” she mumbled.

“Well you will later.” he warned seeing as he was her ride home while Matt had to stay at school for a debate team meeting.

Rolling her honey eyes Katie reached over and grabbed a piece of toast from Keith’s tray and nibbled on it as she waited for the first bell.

-

A few days had past since Katie’s new encounter and it was now the weekend and boy was she thankful to not have to put on her face today, getting to her feet she finally crawled out of bed around ten in the morning before heading downstairs for breakfast.

“Give it back mullet!” she heard a slightly familiar voice yell.

Katie groaned “it’s too early shut up!” she mumbles as she got to the kitchen and grabbed her a mug from the cabinet.

“Katie it’s ten in the morning.” her brothers boyfriend Shiro said from the living room.

“Fight me.” she said pouring coffee into her mug.

“Wait Katie?” the slightly familiar voice said again.

“You know her Lance?” Matt asked,

Katie felt like a bus of realization suddenly hit her as she was putting down the coffee pot, her flirtatious crush was in her house only mere feet from seeing her all natural. Before she could even try to make her way back to the stairs there stood Lance in the doorway.

“Whoa who are you and what have you done with Katie?” Lance joked.

Katie felt a tinge of annoyance “Your worst nightmare.” she countered too tired to filter what she was saying.

He smiled and his eyes lit up “Aye she has a personality!”.

She fought back a laugh “Oh shut up.” she said as small giggle creeped out after it.

Keith walked in and grabbed Katie’s mug of coffee “Thanks Pidge, black how I like it.”.

“Pidge?” Lance asked looking between the two.

“Her first words was pidgeon so everyone calls her Pidge.” the ebony haired teen said sipping his coffee.

“It fits.” the other male said still smiling.

Katie felt herself melting, but remembered Allura saying Lance was bad news so she stopped herself.

“I’m gonna go back upstairs.” Katie said going to make her way back to her room.

Keith caught her arm “Oh no you’re not, you are staying all natural and are gonna play video games with us or i’m taking your birthday present back.”.

Sighing the sandy haired brunette remembered overhearing Keith talking to Matt about the new telescope he had bought her for her sixteenth birthday

“Fine, but don’t complain when I beat you Kogane.” Katie said poking the ebony haired male’s chest.

Keith chuckled “Quaking in my boots Holt.”.

“Aren’t you dating Allura?” Lance asked as the three walked to the living room.

The other male nodded “Yeah? What about it?”.

“Well you’re pretty friendly with Katie.” the cuban said arching an eyebrow

As soon as the words left Lance’s mouth the other four inhabitants burst into a fit of laughter leaving him utterly confused.

“What did I say?” he asked looking between the four.

“Keith and Katie are childhood friends.” Matt said wiping a tear from his eyes “Shiro and I were best friends before we started dating so our little siblings naturally became best friends from being around each other all the time.”. Lance felt like an idiot as the palm of his hand met his forehead, but oddly enough the news of Keith and Katie not being romantically involved was a relief to him for some reason, one he couldn’t place.

“Are we gonna play or what you nerds?” Katie said picking up one of the four controllers.

-

The day was here, the day every teenager waited eagerly for and that day was Katie’s sixteenth birthday. Seeing as her birthday fell on a Monday this year she went through her usual routine, as she tightened her ponytail she caught her reflection in the corner of her eye and it finally hit her after all these years, why did she care what other people thought of her and especially on this day of all days, this was her day dammit! Grabbing a makeup wipe she look off her ‘face’ then out came the contacts leaving the real her to be the one looking back for the first time in a long time.

“What is-” Matt said as he walked in her room, but stopped at the sight of his sister still in her glasses “Why aren’t you ready?”.

“I am ready.” Katie replied getting to her feet and grabbing her bag as well as her phone.

The male smiled “Welcome back Katie.”

Returning the smile she punched her brother in the shoulder lightly “Come on or we’re gonna be late.”.

Once at the school Katie felt her once strong confidence falter at the sight of people, part of her wanted to beg Matt to take her home, but she knew she needed to do this, granted the makeup wasn’t what made her untrue to herself, but it was what she was using as her shield and now without it she is facing the world head on for the first time in years. Stepping out of the truck she felt like a million eyes were on her though she knew nobody probably even noticed her or cared about her sudden change of appearance.

“Katie?” a familiar voice asked.

Looking over she seen Allura and Shay approaching her, both of them wearing wide smiles.

“I haven’t seen your freckles in forever!” Allura said cupping the shorter females face “I forgot how cute they were!”.

Shay nodded “I forgot how cute you are in your glasses too!”

Katie felt her face heat up as her two friends complimented her “Th-Thanks!”.

Hunk, one of Katie’s friends and Shay’s boyfriend walked over to join them “Whoa! There’s the Katie we grew up with!” he joked.

Keith, Matt, and Shiro soon joined the group to which everyone kept complimenting Katie’s bravery as well as wishing her a happy birthday which was making her redder than the sunburns she usually got each summer.

Lance was the last to join them “Where’s the birthday girl at?” he asked not seeing Katie who was standing (hiding) behind shiro.

“Right here!” Shiro said pushing the sandy haired brunette forward,

Katie mentally cussed out Shiro as he had just thrusted her upon the one person she was most nervous to have see her.

“Happy birthday!” he said as he held out a small box.

Slightly taken back by the lack of comment Katie just stared at the box for a minute before opening it to find an alien pin for her bag, a alien phone charm, and even an alien keychain for her keys.

Lance rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly “Keith told me you liked aliens so I figured you’d like these.”.

“I love them! Thank you!” she smiled as she took out the alien pin and pinned it to her jacket before putting the box in her bag.

He felt a blush creep across his cheeks at the sight of Katie’s smile and looked away trying to hide it, but obviously not successfully when he heard their friend group all give a light laugh while Katie was distracted.

Throughout the day Katie got mainly good responses with the occasional snobs dissing her, but she didn’t care seeing as she was growing more and more confident the more she allowed herself to be in the public eye. Once school was out she made her way towards the parking lot to Keith’s usual parking spot to find he had already left without her which confused and slightly aggravated her until she heard someone call out her name.

“Hey!” Lance said having finally caught up to her “Damn you walk fast for someone so short.” he teased.

“Watch is McClain.” she warned.

He held up in hands in defense “Keith had an emergency and asked me to take you home today.”.

“Emergency?” she asked slightly suspicious.

“Yeah something about a cow getting out of the post? Never thought mullet was a country boy.” the cuban chuckled.

Thinking for a moment Katie remembered something similar happening a year or so ago “Alright well where is your car than?”.

“About that..” Lance said running a hand through his hair as he avoided her gaze before ushering her to follow him.

Following the tall male she found herself at the bike rack as he unlocked a blue mountain bike with pegs on the back causing her to feel like she had traveled back in time to her middle school days.

“You ride a bike to school?” Katie asked as she watched Lance climb onto the bike.

“It’s better for the environment!” Lance countered “Get on and grab my shoulders.”.

Thanking the heavens she had worn jeans today Katie carefully balanced herself on the pegs of Lance’s bike before wrapping her arms around his shoulders tightly before he took off down the sidewalk. As the gained speed Katie felt the wind hit her face and make her hair flow behind her, she let out a burst of laughter as she felt like a kid again, free of responsibilities with no want or need of acceptance.

“Having fun there Pidge?” Lance asked as they made their way to her house.

Katie nuzzled her face into his neck smiling as she took in his scent “Loads.”.

The male felt his cheeks heat up at the feeling of Katie’s nose brushing against his neck, butterflies filling his stomach as he finally realized how he truly felt about the girl who was holding onto him so tightly for the moment, he was in love with Katie Holt,.

Once they were at her house Katie hopped off the bike and gained her balance again before smoothing down a few stray hairs that had found their way out on the bike ride home.

“Wanna come in for some lemonade?” Katie asked walking towards her front door.

Lance smiled “Sure!”.

Katie opened the front door with her keys to find that all the lights inside were turned off which was odd since her Mom’s car had been in the driveway. Reaching over to the light switch she flipped it on.

“Surprise!” rang out a chorus of voices causing Katie to nearly jump out of her skin.

In front of her stood her parents and Matt along with her friend group who were either pulling party poppers or holding a giant sign that read ‘Happy sweet sixteen Katie!’. She felt happy tears well in her eyes as she ran to her parents hugging them tightly.

“Thank you so much!” Katie told her parents as she wiped her eyes.

Her Mom shook her head “This was actually your friend Lance’s idea.”.

Lance chuckled “What can I say i’m a man with a plan.” he said joining the group.

Throughout the next few hours the friend group indulged on birthday cake as well as playing a variation of party games and videogames and giving Katie their presents up until everyone had to start heading home for dinner. Lance was the last to leave seeing as he stayed to clean up feeling that if he didn’t his cuban Mother would never let him hear the end of it, but he also didn’t mind since the party was his idea.

“You know you didn’t have to do this.” Katie said as she slid the leftover cake into the refrigerator

“Of course I did! You were my first friend here in Altea!” Lance exclaimed as he put the newly clean dishes away “That and I wanted to do something nice for my crush.” he said in a lower voice so Katie couldn’t hear.

“What was that?” she asked turning to face him as she raised an eyebrow.

“Oh nothing.” he replied leaning against the counter.

The sandy haired brunette puffed out her cheeks “Tell me!” she whined.

The tall male chuckled “Why so eager to know?”.

“Can’t a girl be nosey?” she smirked.

Lance felt his heart skip a beat, this was so unfair! She was too cute for words to even express, especially when she acted cocky. Clearing his throat he ran a hand through his hair while his mind searched for his next response.

“You know when I first met you I was kinda lovestruck.” Katie laughed as she pulled herself up to sit on the counter “You really are a handsome guy.”.

Lance’s smile turn to smirk “Are you still lovestruck Pidge?”.

A light blush crossed her cheeks “Why so eager to know?”.

He leaned in placing his arms on either side of her “Can’t a guy be nosey?”.

Her breath caught in her throat as their noses brushed together, her light blush now turning into a full on cherry faced one.

“Tell me or i’ll kiss you.” Lance warned.

Katie tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out and before she knew it her lips were met by Lance’s in her first kiss. Closing her eyes she slowly let herself give into the kiss as her arms wrapped around his shoulders pulling him in closer, when neither of them could breath anymore they parted to reveal that they were both cherry faced now, but neither of them could stop smiling.

“I think you got you answer.” Katie said pushing a stray hair out of Lance’s eyes.

“Happy birthday Katie.”.

#pidgance #plance #happy birthday pidge

[san-bika]

The Good Night

Rating: General 

Pairings: Klance

Length: 2,208 words

Tags: S4 Continuation, pining!Keith, world-building, hurt-comfort, Langst, Cuban Christmas traditions, soulmates, soul marks

Notes: Merry Christmas @why-this10 @klance2017secretsanta !!! I had fun thinking up ways to meet your wishlist and put a fun Christmassy twist on it. In this universe, people have a naturally occurring tattoo that matches their soulmate and gives them some clue via a picture or text who it is. When you find your soulmate the marks become permanent and more intricate and colored in. But in this universe soul marks can fade over time, meaning the chances of finding your soulmate have gotten lower due to distance, death, missed opportunities, or mysterious circumstances. If your mark fades completely the odds of finding your soulmate are pretty low. Enjoy!

————-

Keith had passed enough time with the Blade that he felt distinctly awkward wandering the halls of the Castleship. He kept pausing as he assessed the creaks and rattles trying to figure out if he had found his target, hoping he didn’t look too creepy as he stood in the shadows in his Marmora uniform and mask.

You’re not creeping, you’re looking for something, he thought grumpily.

Not something… he thought in a snarky, familiar voice. Keith gritted his teeth and kept walking.

It would have been more awkward to admit that he was looking for someone. Or you could’ve just asked where Lance was at the beginning of the meeting, like any other person would’ve.

Lance being absent was strange and hadn’t been explained. If he had been injured Keith would’ve heard about it… right?

A nervous thrill shot through him as he crept along. He kept picturing Lance, trembling and bruised and voice weak as he clutched his hand ages ago. Maybe they won’t tell you what’s going on. Maybe that’s what happens when you resign from Voltron. You don’t need to know these things anymore.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he almost didn’t catch the squeak behind him and whirled around suddenly, hand reaching for his sword as he met Pidge’s thoroughly unimpressed gaze.

“Gee, I wonder who you could possibly be looking for?” She said in a deadpan tone, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.

Keith flushed before dissolving the faceplate of his Marmora helmet. "Why would you think that?” He said lamely, attempting a neutral expression.

Pidge’s lip curled up as she took him in and he knew she didn’t buy it. She groaned dragging her hand down her face. "Look, I’ll take pity on you but if I tell you where Lance is, you need to promise not to bother him.”

Keith bit his lip trying to fight off the concern that was wrinkling his face. He managed to offer a tight smile and hoped Pidge would believe it.

She had cast her gaze at the floor looking oddly somber. "Lance went on leave, kind of, he’ll be back later tonight if you wanted to wait up for him. That is if your team will let-”

“Leave? What for?” Keith would normally wait to learn more but it felt like he couldn’t control his mouth or his body as he rushed forward.

She peeked up from under her bangs and he couldn’t catch his breath. She looked so sad. “Look Shiro asked us to be discreet but I still think you’re part of the team and if anyone knows it should be you.”

Pidge straightened and Keith was surprised to see she’d grown a few inches since he’d left with the Blade.

Did you think time would just stand still after you left?

“Lance is on leave because of his soul mark… it started to fade-”

Keith was sprinting away before she could finish her sentence.

That didn’t stop her from shouting down the hall. “Dammit Keith, he just wants some space!!”

He jogged to the hangers and tried to find the little spark in his chest that he’d felt when he first connected with Red.

————

Keith was standing in front of Red watching Lance’s prone form draped over her paw. The other paladin hadn’t moved and clearly had no idea that he wasn’t alone.

All right maybe this is a little creepy.

Keith was big enough to admit that spying on a friend unawares on a uninhabitable moon might be considered extreme.

But even though Blade craft were designed to be nearly undetectable, Lance’s situational awareness was piss poor. He was doing him a favor.

Whatever helps you sleep at night Kogane.

He decided to break the silence by scaring the daylights out of the paladin.

“Hey cargo pilot!”

It was so satisfying to hear an ear-splitting shriek.

"Are you going to sit there moping or put your big boy pants on and deal with your problems?”

Lance sat up with a disgruntled expression, blue eyes cold. Even so Keith’s heart started to race.

"I’ll have you know sitting here with Red questioning my destiny is cathartic and not moping,” the paladin sniped as he jumped down and landed hard on his rear.

He muttered a low curse and sheepishly turned his head up to Keith. “I must’ve been gone a long time if they sent you after me. I’ll go back! I just needed a moment.”

Keith smiled before realizing all Lance could see was the cold Marmora mask.

“Pidge told me what was going on and I wanted to see how you’re doing. Let’s take this conversation inside Red so I can see the damage.”

Lance groaned, “Of course she did.” He made a big show of getting up and rubbing his back but Keith had caught the genuine sadness in his eyes.

Red lowered her jaw suddenly and her eyes flashed in approval. Keith knew she was missing him but there wasn’t much to do about it so he’d shuffled the guilt he’d been carrying to the back of his mind.

“You like that Red? It’s good to see you, girl. Has Lance been taking care of you?”

Red thrummed with delight as the two walked up.

——–

Keith was growing antsy, almost wishing he had his mask on to hide his nerves.

He’d never really relied on his soul mark. His dad hadn’t had one so when he got one he just shrugged it off. He didn’t like the idea of some unknown force telling him his fate.

And since his mark was on the back of his neck, out of sight and out of mind, he could just move through life by instinct without the weight of it influencing his decisions.

But here he stood trying to comfort someone he cared for about something he didn’t even believe in.

And he was failing pretty badly.

He and Lance had played catch-up and had talked about literally every angle of all of the intel the Blade and Voltron had.

What they hadn’t done was talk about Lance’s soul mark fading or why Keith of all people had shown up out of the blue.

He knew he was blowing it. They’d been there a while at this point and had fallen into an uneasy silence.

But he could tell Lance was freaking out. His gaze was stony even as he fake laughed and his shoulders were tight and high.

He turned to Lance and met his gaze straight on. He couldn’t really get enough of those cornflower blue eyes. But he ignored them and held out a hand.

“Show me your mark.”

Keith grimaced at his own stupidity.

Soul marks were generally a private matter. They weren’t usually shown unless to a family member. They had some special meaning or clue to help you figure out your soulmate but it was essentially like asking someone to take off their clothes.

Lance was stunned, mouth open and eyes the size of dinner plates. He gaped and kept trying to say something but gave up the attempt before shaking his head and taking off his helmet and upper body armor.

His voice squeaked before evening out.

“I mean, it’s not that big of a deal, I’ve heard of others who found their soulmates even after they lost their mark. It’s not unheard of…”

Keith interrupted with an eye roll.

“Yeah but for a big softie like you it is a big deal. You’re a romantic and you always have been.”

Keith had hoped to prod Lance into a better mood by playing around but instead the younger man seemed to deflate.

He started to unzip the back of his black suit and Keith’s pulse jumped. He turned away to hide his blush. “Uh it isn’t in like… a private area, is it?”

Finally Lance sneered at him with an annoyed glare. “Even if it was you were the one who asked to see it mullet. It’s on the back of my arm is all.”

Keith coughed feeling nervous and excited all at once.

Lance managed to roll the Altean fabric down and turned the inside of his bicep sheepishly outwards.

Two fairly large numerals, 24, in black ink curved perpendicular to his inner arm, dark lines stark against his golden skin.

Inside the numbers was a dark starscape with a nebula just like the one they had flown past to get to this moon. The lines looked faint around the edges, just as marks looked before disappearing.

It was beautiful still. Keith could barely speak, his heart was pounding so loudly.

Lance looked at the floor. “I mean this is everything you need to know about me. I always wanted to do something amazing, even as a dumb kid, but when this showed up on my 12th birthday I knew I had to go to space, I knew I’d find my soulmate there. So I worked really hard. And I made it here and now it’s fading so apparently,” his voice shook a little, “I did something wrong.”

Keith put his hand on the back of his neck, forcing himself to focus. His nerves were shot after seeing the mark.

“What does 24 mean? Is that the age you’re supposed to meet them? Is that their age?”

Lance sighed rubbing at his mark dejectedly.

“That’s what my sisters said. My mom. But I knew it was for Nochebuena, December 24.” At Keith’s questioning look Lance just sad, “Yes that’s today.”

"But growing up, that day is my family’s Christmas. It’s my favorite day. There’s like a hundred people at the house. My dad and Abuelo and his brothers roast an entire pig all day. My Mom and aunties and Abuela and us kids we just make dessert and food and eat. Then we played games and took pictures. We went to Mass at midnight and if you wanted your presents you had to stay awake until then. It’s a great day.”

He grew quiet for a minute, his face solemn and still. He looked as if he was wrestling with something.

Keith was scared he’d start crying and hovered his hand behind Lance’s back.

“I was so happy to see that number because it meant that my soulmate was someone who would… get me and my family. Someone who would join in those memories. And it meant my family would be a part of my future. I didn’t think I’d have to give it up to be a part of Voltron, that I would have to give up my future to save the universe.”

Lance’s voice broke with the strain of holding back tears. His fingers were shaking as he traced the fading edges.

Keith let out a sudden breath that sounded like a chuckle only to be met with Lance’s red-rimmed stare.

“Are you seriously laughing at me mullet as I’m pouring my heart out to you?”

Keith shook his head trying to find a way out of the hole he was rapidly digging.

“No I, I wanted to show you my soul mark but my hair is, uh, stuck. I need your help to get it off the uniform.”

Lance lifted his eyebrow and frowned but moved behind Keith to lift his hair. “Whatever man.”

Keith’s heart was beating far too fast to be healthy as he felt long fingers gently tugging and pulling his hair into a makeshift bun.

Lance had to see it. The 24 on the back of his neck. The nebula. The soul mark he’d neglected for as long as he could remember. The matching mark that linked them forever as soulmates.

Keith heard Lance gasp sharply as they both felt the mark seal and color itself on their skin. He felt a hot droplet hit his mark and the way Lance’s hands had started tremble. “Mullet” the red paladin managed in a watery voice as his fingers started to trace the mark. “What is this? Is this-?”

Keith swallowed nervously. “It is,” he said, “but I swear I didn’t know until I saw yours. I’ve never cared about it.. until now I mean.” The more Lance talked the less he could say in between muffled sobs. “Y-you mean you’re m-my, and, and I’m yours…”

Keith couldn’t stand it anymore and turned around pulling Lance tightly against him by his upper back and cradling his head against his shoulder. Lance collapsed into the hug, heart pounding rabbit-fast, crying openly and somehow laughing in between tears. “I thought I’d l-lost you.”

Keith caressed the tousled hair and rubbed Lance’s back. His voice was tight and choked with happiness. “Never.” I would never let you lose me, Lance.

They stayed wound around each other for a long while, Keith silent and thankful for the Christmas Eve luck. It really had been a good night. The best.

#klance2017secretsanta #klance fic #klance #soulmarks

[starryeyed-char]

Close Call ~PART 2

Read Part 1 First

Catch this fic on AO3

Guess who’s back with more angst! It’s me!

Essentially (if this comes up in your tags and you haven’t read the first part), Keith and Lance get captured and separated. It doesn’t work out too well for anyone. Go read that one first. This one is longer because the parts just get progressively longer okay let me live.

I’m gonna just @taylor-tut and @dogsahoy and @voltronpaella since I tagged you three blessings in the first part so I may as well tag you in this, too.

This part is what’s currently happening with our favorite blue paladin. Enjoy! or don’t enjoy because everything i write is sad af

“You're awake.”

The voice carried immeasurable relief, which Lance couldn't help but consider odd, seeing as he didn't recognize it.

He blinked, eyes adjusting blearily to the dim prison cell. Consciousness, unfortunately, brought the pain in his side with it. He shifted his gaze to the person leaning over him, who appeared to be pressing a cloth to the stab wound.

And Lance sucked in a breath. He knew those eyes. The color of the hair, the pale skin, even down to the small build. Lance recognized it all.

Despite never seeing the boy in person before, Lance knew without a shred of doubt that he was looking at none other than Matt Holt.

“I thought you were a goner for sure,” Matt muttered, more to himself than to Lance. “How the hell did the Galra capture another human? What're you doing in space?”

Ignoring the searing pain and blood that continued to stubbornly flow from his gash, Lance couldn't resist a smile. “You're Matt Holt, aren't you?”

Matt sat back, eyes wide with shock. “Yeah...?” he said carefully, watching as Lance moved to press the cloth to his own wound.

“Well, I'm Lance,” he stuck out a hand, before realizing it was covered in blood. He flashed Matt an apologetic smile, and returned to applying pressure. “I'm... sort of here to rescue you.”

Matt snorted. “Great job, on your part.”

“I'm just glad I found you,” Lance shrugged. “Keith and I would've scouted the whole base just to get to this one cell, but now he can just... oh, hey, you didn't happen to see another human here, did you?”

“Two humans?” Matt raised an eyebrow.

Lance nodded, pushing himself up along the wall. “Yeah. My... teammate Keith came here with me. He's wearing armor like mine, except his is red, and he's got really dark hair that's too long?”

Matt shook his head. “The only human I've ever seen here is you. Well, besides Takashi, but that was— never mind.”

“Hopefully that means he got out okay,” Lance mumbled. “But they could've put him in a different cell. Do you think they'd separate us, if he got captured, too?”

Matt winced. “Well, I think it's a good thing he's not in this cell.” At this, Lance only looked more confused, so Matt continued. “From what I understand, this is the cell where they put the... dying prisoners.”

Lance supposed that made sense. Why keep injured prisoners around? They wouldn't last in the terrible conditions, and probably wouldn't be able to endure the type of rough questioning he knew the Galra were fans of.

“That means that Keith isn't badly injured,” he breathed out in relief. “That is, if he even got caught. Knowing Keith, he probably destroyed the remaining sentries and didn't even notice I got taken.”

Or he's dead already, Lance's brain supplied helpfully.

“But... you're here,” Matt said slowly, as if he thought Lance might be delirious, and not fully understand the direness of his own situation.

“Yeah, yeah,” Lance dismissed the statement with a wave of one blood-coated hand. “So are you, but you seem fine to me.”

Matt sighed, and rolled up his pant leg. Lance resisted the impulse to gasp.

His leg had a long cut down it, painted in angry reds and yellows that stood out especially on his fair skin. “Old wound that got reopened during the fight,” he told Lance. “Guess it didn't completely heal right the first time. It's infected, and I can barely walk. The warden thought it'd be best to just throw me in here until I succumb to the fever.”

Lance took this time to look at Matt in more detail. Sure enough, his skin was paler than it probably should be, and his forehead shimmered with sweat. He hesitated, then reached out to place a palm on the other boy's head.

“Quiznak,” Lance cursed. “You are a little warm. We've got to get you out of here.”

“Get me out of here?!” Matt asked, incredulous. “You're the one bleeding out!”

“Maybe I am now, but my team will be here soon,” Lance said, assuring himself more than Matt. “They'll break us both out, and after an hour in the pods we'll be good as new.”

“Your team?” Matt asked, brows furrowed. “Pods?”

“Yeah, my team. You've been in space for a little over a year, right? Ever heard of Voltron?”

“Well, yeah,” Matt said slowly. “The Galra talked about it all the time. When the resistance broke me out, they finally explained what it was. Five robot lions that combine, right? Most powerful weapon in the universe?”

“That's us,” Lance grinned proudly. “As you could probably tell by the armor, I pilot the blue lion. So don't worry, getting us out of here will be a piece of cake for them. Actually, I don't know about the cake... there's no cake in space, I can tell you that much. Plenty of goop, though.”

“You pilot the blue lion?” Matt's doubt was obvious, and Lance felt his smile falter.

“Yeah?”

“But... you're just a kid!” Matt exclaimed.

“I'm nineteen!” Lance declared, outraged. “Besides, the pilot of the green lion is even younger than I— oh, shit! I can't believe I didn't mention Pidge! She's going to be so happy you're okay! Well, not exactly okay, but—”

“Who's... who's Pidge?”

Lance stared at him dumbly for a moment, before smacking a hand to his forehead. "Great, now I feel like a complete idiot. I know her as Pidge, but I guess you probably always called her Katie. You should get used to Pidge, though, or everyone on the castle's going to be really confused—”

“Katie,” Matt whispered. “Katie as in my little sister? My little sister is piloting the green lion, one of the five most powerful weapons in existence?”

“Yeah, and she's pretty good at it, too,” Lance informed him. “Not as good of a pilot as me, of course, but decent. She's definitely the smartest one of us, that's for sure. She's... she's been looking for you everywhere.”

Matt slumped against the wall, his expression of confused yet happy shock was so similar to Pidge that Lance felt his smile return full force.

“And you probably remember Shiro,” Lance continued. “He's the leader. Pilot of the black lion.”

Matt laughed. “Why am I not surprised?”

“We've... we've all been searching for you for a really long time. So, you understand why I can't exactly let you die yet.”

“You're in worse shape than I am,” Matt argued, fixing Lance with an unamused glare. “My reunion with Katie isn't about to be ruined by the death of one of her closest friends.”

“That's fair,” Lance agreed. “But I've survived literally being in the same room as a bomb that went off, thanks to Altean tech. Don't worry, we're gonna be okay. All we have to do is wait.”

Matt nodded, hopeful, and Lance smiled back.

But with the amount of blood Lance had already lost, he knew that his chances were slim. As much as he played the part of the idiot, Lance McClain wasn't stupid. And he knew Matt wasn't either.

He also knew that all things considered, Lance should be terrified. But he wasn't, which was the actual scary part.

Still, if his death got Pidge her brother back... would that really be such a bad way to go?

Part 3 Part 4

#oh boy here we go #klance #angst #lance mcclain #matt holt #keith kogane #klangst #langst kinda #injury #whump #fic #my writing #voltron #vld #voltron legendary defender #fanfic

[bleusarcelle]

Just Remember

Alright, so, this is probably going to be my last Fic post in THIS blog, it will still be active, it will still post Voltron stuff, I just start posting the fics from my WRITER Blog, so everything is orginized and stuff :D

Anyways, I was having a shitty morning with myself so, I wanted to scream but I couldn’t bc I was in traffic and like, so many people around so I did the best thing: I wrote. 

Langst but also happy langst. Even Lance have these moments guys, they are valid and okay. 

Ps. Hope it’s not too hard or stressful to read? 

Disclaimer: Voltron dosen’t belong to me. 

Shiro’s disappointed glare.

Lance punches the bag.

Pidge’s annoyed roll of eyes.

Another punch followed by a kick.

Keith’s exasperated scoff.

Kick, punch, shout.

Hunk’s exhausted sigh.

Punch, kick, punch, tears.

Coran’s shake of head.

Tears, punch, shout.

Allura’s skeptical frown.

Screams.

Lance screams and shouts and curses. He lets it all out. He lets his words and shouts echo around as he falls to his knees in the middle of the training room. He hiccups as sobs shake his body. He doesn't bother to wipe away his tears, he lets them fall to the ground and stain the mat below him.

He curses loudly and lividly for every part of him that makes him feel unworthy. He weakly punches the mat as he whimpers and his shoulders lose their strength.

Shiro’s disappointed glare turns into a concern one once he catches Lance’s weak whimpers as he cradles his own hand to his chest.

Frowning in worry, Shiro steps into the training room and takes a seat besides the brunet as Lance tries to hide his injured wrist.

“Lance, buddy, there’s no need to push yourself, I told you.” He reprimands gently, giving him a look when the brunet doesn’t allow him to get a better look of his wrist, “This training is new, you don’t need to be an expert the very same day you learn it.”

Lance sighs as he lets Shiro takes his wrist into his hands and the older teen inspects it carefully. and just hums dryly as an answer.

“Buddy, you’re already our sharpshooter, it’s okay to take your own pace as you learn to improve yourself.” Shiro says quietly after a few minutes in silence as he wraps Lance’s wrist in a white bandage, “You are getting used to the new form of your bayard, these things take time.”

“I know.” Lance answers softly, a small frown on his face, “But I feel like I’m letting you all down if I don’t learn to use it fast enough. What if we are in the battle field and because I still don’t know how to use or if I shot someone innocent or worse, one of you guys, by accident and -”

“Lance.” Shiro cuts off, not unkindly, “You’re our sharpshooter. The entire team and I have full faith in you.” He offers a proud smile at the brunet, “You would never miss a shot.”

Lance takes a deep breath as he let go of his abused lower lip. He sighs, wiping the thin line of blood coming from the corner of his mouth as he raises his head.

“It’s all in your mind.” Lance tells himself, placing a hand over his eyes to block out the light. “It’s all in your mind, it’s all in your mind. It’s okay. It’s valid. Just remember.”

The brunet takes a deep breath. “Just remember.”

He stays in silence for a little longer.

Pidge’s roll her eyes annoyed as Lance cheers in victory when the screen in the break room flashes the words of ‘Victory For Azul’ in big gold letters.

“Yeah, ok, you win this round, Mister.” Pidge says, shoving him by the arm, smirking when the brunet’s laughs, “I will win the next round, for sure.”

Lance chuckles as he raises his hand and ruffles Pidge’s wild bed hair. “We have been playing this game for like two hours, Pidge, aren't you tired of me already?”

Pidge scoffs as if the mere question offended her. “Pick up your controller, Mr. Spanish; I’m kicking your ass.” She declares as she presses a few buttons and the screen shows the announcement of Round 4.

Pidge wins until Round 10.

Lance’s mouth twitches as his brain keeps filling him with the missing scenes with his team.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

He falls back on the mat and lays down, closing his eyes as he repeats his breathing exercise.

“You’re okay.” He breathes out softly, “You’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay.”

Keith scoffs exasperated as he watches his boyfriend hog the entire blanket in their bed.

“Lance, no.” He whines, stomping his foot against the floor, “Stop hogging the blanket every time I go take a shower.”

“Nop.” Lance replies from the bottom of the mountain of blankets, “You’re the one who wants to train so late, bear the consequences, buddy.”

“Babe!” The black haired man shouts annoyed and Lance suppresses his snickers as Keith’s pouts.

“Nope.” He repeats gleefully before yelping in surprise when a body slams itself from above, successfully crushing him, “Keith!”

Keith laughs playfully as he lays above Lance comfortably on his stomach, meeting Lance’s bright blue eyes easily even in the darkness around them, “Hi there.”

Lance snorts before he smiles. “Hello, hello.” He answers softly, reaching towards his boyfriend and Keith quickly meets him halfway.

“You’re comfy.” Keith confesses quietly against his lips and Lance laughs.

“Oh, hush.” He says as he smiles and nuzzles his face against Keith lovingly.

Lance hums quietly under his breath as his breathing goes back to normal after a few minutes.

He taps the surface of the mat he’s lying in with the tip of his fingers, following the rhythm of the song he’s humming.

Hunk sighs exhausted as he takes in the sight of his best friend covered in food goo.

“Lance, buddy, what’cha doin’?” He asks, fighting back the grin that threatens to appear as the brunet blinks surprised.

“Uh…” He starts, voice trailing unsure, “The mice made me do it?”

Said group of mice squeak at the accusation before Hunk accepts his losing battle as he laughs.

“Let me guess?” Hunks say and Lance nods, waving his hand as permission, “You tried to make my goo cookies?”

A pause.

“No…?” Lance answers, smiling innocently as some goo falls from his hair and Hunk shakes his head.

“Dude, if you wanted some you could have just ask me.” He says, stepping into the kitchen and wiping some of the goo from his friend’s hair and then grabs a clean cloth from the counter.

Lance pouts as he accepts the cloth and wipes his face. “I didn’t want to bother you.” He confesses softly.

Hunk snort amusedly. “Buddy, baking, food and you will never be a bother for me.” He reassures, smiling big and bright at the sheepish brunet, “Now, come on! Let’s do some baking!”

“I heard baking!” Shiro’s shout echoes around them as the leader of Voltron slides into the kitchen with a bright smile, “I call dibs on Lance’s biscuits.”

“No, no, those are mine, Shiro!” Come Keith’s shout as the younger brother jumps on Shiro’s back to fight him.

Lance and Hunk start baking, ignoring the wrestling brothers on the floor.

The brunet takes his training gloves as he sighs calmly when the door of the training room opens and closes and steps makes their way towards him.

He doesn't need to open his eyes to acknowledge the warm body lying beside him.

He takes Keith’s hand into his own in silence.

Coran shakes his head and Lance’s face fall.

“Hey, come on, now.” Coran says as soon as he notices the brunet’s sad eyes, “You are doing great, Lance! You got 9 out of 12 correct!” He praises, smiling big and proud at the brunet sitting in front of him.

Lance pouts. “Well yeah, but still, I’m still nowhere good. I can barely understand it! I will be a miracle if I’m ever able to speak it with you guys.”

Coran’s face softens at the words. “Oh, Lance, the mere fact you want to learn Altean is enough. Allura and I are so grateful that you are giving us this small time of normality that allows us to remember our roots.”

He leans forward to ruffle Lance’s head. “You’re doing great, mikró ílio.”

Lance blinks before he beams. “Little sun.” He translates softly and Coran smiles back just as brightly, pride clear in his eyes.

He doesn’t know how long they have been lying there, but at some point, Lance’s humming had stopped but Keith’s voice had filled in the silence, singing softly and quietly under his breath,

Lance allows himself to smile.

Allura’s skeptical frown turns into a confused one as Lance points at the corner of the screen.

“Okay, I understand your point, but wouldn’t it be easier to create a distraction and then just take the quintessence?” She asks and Lance taps his chin in deep thought.

“Well,” He starts, “It’s an option, but remember that the quintessence is something real valuable to the Galra, specially to Lotor now that Zarkon is out of commission. Their guards have been doubled since out last attack.”

Tapping twice into the screen, the video of their last mission appears. “See? The room is filled with druids plus some Galra Soldiers and the occasional Supervisor making rounds. A direct attack would only put them in higher alert even when some of us are sneaking in.”

“So sneaking in from the start is the best option.” Allura muses and Lance shrugs.

“It’s our best shot.” Lance declares, smiling when Allura nods her head at him and smiles.

“Well, you’re our sharpshooter, there’s no way we’re missing this.”

“Thank you, amor.” Lance says softly, turning his head to meet Keith’s face and his heart flutters when Keith’s blue eyes meet his own.

Keith stops his singing to smile gently at his boyfriend, “You okay?” He asks quietly, reaching out to brush Lance’s bangs away from his face and his eyes turn tender when the brunet nuzzles his face against his hand.

“Nah, my mind is still being a bitch.” Lance confesses, turning slightly to drop a small kiss against Keith’s palm, “But you being here kicks its ass, so I will be.”

“And I will be here.” Keith says, leaning forward to drop his own his against the brunet’s forehead.

“Thank you, amor.”

#langst #langst fic #klance #klance fic #team bonding #team voltron bonding #voltron fic #vld fic #vld #vld lance #vld keith #shiro #hunk #lance mcclain #keith kogane #coran #allura #pidge #broganes #klance fluff #background klance #bleu writes #rea writes

[mischiefandspirits]

Hunters

Part of Voltron Dragons

Lance stumbles upon a pair of hooded figures and watches them from the shadows. And no, it’s not as creepy as it sounds, Pidge!

Also on: AO3 and Fanfiction

Lance yawned as he slipped out of the lake. He loved the mermaids, he really did, but they could be so catty sometimes when it came to the naiads. It didn't help that the mermaids refused to come to the surface while the naiads firmly believed they were in the right and therefore did not need the intervention of the dragons, which meant the only way to settle this was to go all the way down to the underwater caves at the bottom of the lake where the mermaids lived, which was an impossibility for Hunk, their usual negotiator who was completely useless in water, and near so for Pidge, who couldn’t breath underwater without aid. Which meant Lance had to solve the problem on his own. A bad idea, really. Lance could admit he had a tiny tendency to get a little distracted by the mermaids’ beauty.

Hey, he’s a healthy young dragon and there’s a reason sailors used to throw themselves overboard just to kiss a mermaid. What can you do?

As it was, it probably took three times longer for Lance to solve the situation than it would have Hunk. At least he could say he did a better job than Pidge likely would have. That girl really doesn’t understand the importance of beauty supplies.

The blue dragon shook himself off, then transformed in a swirl of mist. He pulled out his phone and facetimed Pidge.

“Hello?” the girl said with a distracted voice. Considering the sounds of video game violence echoing through the phone and the fact all Lance could see was the inside of Pidge’s ear, Lance could tell the girl had once again picked up without checking her phone. “Oh you fucking-! Hunk take my phone and see who it is! This dick needs some-”

“Come on, Pidge! My mom’s just upstairs,” came Hunk’s voice as the view switched to Hunk’s hand.

“Which one?”

“Lila.”

“Sorry, Mrs. Garrett!”

“Hunk?” Lance called out, trying to get one of their attentions.

“Lance?” Hunk asked and the view switched to the older boy’s face. “Oh hey Lance! How’d it go?”

“You done fixing the lipstick war yet?” Pidge asked before Lance could get a word in.

“I told you it wasn’t about lipstick, it was about a special plant they use to make facial wash! And for your information I prevented the war.”

An explosion sounded through the phone and Pidge cheered. “That’s right, fu- dirtbags!”

Hunk rolled his eyes and the camera shifted as he seemed to lean down.

The video game's sound cut out and Pidge yelled, “Hey! What are you doing?”

“It’s ten-thirty. I’m going to bed.”

“Boo!”

“Come on, Pidge. You don’t have to go to bed, but you can’t stay here. We have school tomorrow.”

“Double boo!” Lance agreed.

As Hunk and Pidge fell into an argument about Pidge’s unhealthy sleeping habits (or lack thereof) and Hunk’s unnecessary need to mother his cast-mates, Lance’s head perked up as he heard sounds coming from a clearing he was passing.

“Guys, sh. I think I hear something!”

“What is it?” Hunk asked, the view once more showing his face after it had fallen during the bickering.

“I think someone’s fighting.” Lance said creeping through the bushes. He dug out his headphones and plugged them in.

“It better not be the minotaurs again,” Pidge huffed. “Hold on. I’m looking up your location. We’ll meet you there. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Lance’s eyes widened as he peaked around a tree and he slammed his finger on the button to reverse the camera. “Holy crow, look at this!” he whispered, holding up the phone so the others could see.

In the clearing were two people in black and blue armor with glowing purple highlights. The taller -- and by taller, Lance meant they had to be a head taller than him -- had a mask on underneath their dark grey hood while the shorter only had a scarf pulled up over their nose. Each had a kopis, which was lit up with purple ruins. They spun and dove around one another, slashing out with their swords.

“Are those…” Hunk gasped.

“Huntsclan!” Pidge hissed. “Hold on, Lance. We’ll be there in, like, fifteen minutes.”

“Please just stay hidden!” Hunk added.

“I don’t know. I think I could take them.”

The smaller one slid underneath the taller’s swing and aimed at their back. The taller back-kicked them in the chest before they could land a hit, sending them flying back.

“Right,” Pidge snorted.

“Concentrate!” a masculine voice called from the clearing. Lance guessed it was the taller that spoke, considering the snarl that came soon after as the smaller rolled to their feet and charged their opponent. The two swords locked and the voice said, “You're letting your emotions get the best of you.”

The smaller dropped to the ground with a sweeping kick, but the taller flipped away before he could be knocked of his feet.

“What happened to using my anger to make myself stronger?” a new, younger male voice replied.

Lance frowned. Why did the voice sound familiar?

“Channeling your anger is one thing, Ha-neul,” the taller called back, regaining his footing just in time to block a blow from the smaller (Ha-neul?). “But if you let it consume you, then you become no better than the beasts we’re meant to hunt. Am I training a beast or a hunter?”

Ha-neul pulled back, then slashed at his opponent's chest. It was a feint though, and the taller caught it easily. He grabbed the fist aimed for his face and used it to flip Ha-neul to the ground.

“Yield,” the taller demanded, placing his sword at Ha-neul’s throat.

There was a tense moment, then the smaller dropped his sword, which shrunk to a dagger in a flash.

The taller released him and stepped back, his own sword shrinking as well. “That was better.”

“I lost,” Ha-neul snapped.

“You’ve got your mother’s temper to compete with,” the taller chuckled, tucking away his blade. “Even still, you’ve come far this past year. Bora would be proud.”

Ha-neul sighed and did the same. “Thank you, uncle.”

“How has your mission been going?” The taller asked, kneeling next to him.

“As well as it can considering I'm trapped for seven hours of the day and the other seventeen I'm being hovered over.”

“School is good for you, and you know he’s just worried about you.”

“I know, I just wish he'd focus on whatever we’re here for so I can get my own work done. Or at least let me in on the big secret.”

“He hasn't told you anything yet?”

“Does he ever?”

“It might be for the best right now. There are dragons here.”

Lance flinched as Pidge cursed in his ear and he moved closer to the tree.

“Really?”

“Supposedly. A pair of dragons were captured that were confirmed to have come from this area, but there’s no indication yet if there were more.”

“Do you have a name? I can do a little digging on the side.”

“They gave the name Gunderson, but we’re sure it's fake. They seemed too smart to give a real one. The Champion sure didn't and he was taken at the same time. Besides, you’re not far enough in your training to be getting involved with one dragon, let alone whatever could remain of a vengeful nest.”

“Do you think that’s why he's here? The dragons?”

“Perhaps. If it is, then it's none of your concern.”

“Alright, I get it. Leave the dragons alone and focus on the mission.”

“Your time will come, just be patient.”

“Patience yields focus.”

The taller laughed and stood. He held out his hand to help the smaller up as he said, “At least the Champion was useful for teaching you one thing.”

Ha-neul ignored the hand and got to his feet on his own. “Are you leaving?”

“I need to get back to my post before I'm missed and you have school in the morning.”

The two started towards the opposite side of the clearing as Lance and the sea dragon started fidgeting. He couldn't let them get away, but he couldn't follow them across the clearing or he'd risk getting caught in the open in human form. If he transformed, that could blow his cover and if he went around the clearing, they might hear him and, again, his cover would be blow. And there was no way he'd be able to take them both on (though he'd never admit it out loud. He had a reputation to protect, after all).

“How mad do you think he'd be if I ditched and he found out?”

“Do you want him hovering even more?”

“Good point.”

“How far out are you guys?” Lance whispered.

“Too far,” Pidge sighed, realizing what he was getting at.

Lance watched the two disappear into the trees and groaned. “If only I was tiny like you Pidge. I could have followed them.”

He heard Hunk chuckle as Pidge screeched, “I'm not tiny!”

All jokes aside, Lance felt useless. There had been two Huntsclan members right in front of him and he'd just let them walk away. He hoped Shiro didn't hear about this.

“You let them get away.”

Pidge and Lance each shot Hunk a glare and the boy ducked his head.

Shiro stood over the three and though the elder dragon’s voice and face seemed calm, dark clouds swirled agitatedly around his three flesh and blood paws.

“It's not like Lance could go after them alone,” Pidge pointed out.

“He shouldn't have been alone in the first place.” Lance opened his mouth to object, then snapped it shut when Shiro shot him a look. “It doesn't matter if a task only requires one of you. You are a cast. You need to stand by one another, to be close at hand in case a situation exactly like this arises where your help becomes a necessity. What would have happened if they’d been right outside the lake instead of back in the trees? Lance would have been caught unawares and then what?”

All three flinched at the implications.

“I could have just dove back into the lake.”

“And put the mermaids, naiads, and everyone else that lives there in jeopardy?”

“They wouldn't be able to take us all.”

“They could if they called in backup, which is exactly what you should have had. When I told you the Huntsclan was here last month, I did so because I expected you three would keep it in mind and look out for each other. Clearly I overestimated you all.” Shiro sighed as the three cowed under the chastisement and the clouds dissipated. “Look, I'm sorry. I'm not here to lecture or embarrass you, but I've dealt with the Huntsclan before. Not one of them has magic, and yet they are still renowned for being the best at killing dragons. They are not to be underestimated. You three need to be careful. Especially now that we know they are aware that at least one of your families are here.”

“You’re right. We’re sorry,” Hunk said and the others nodded.

“Good. Now I have to go, but please keep in mind, I'm here to help you, but I can only do that if you let me. Don't think there's ever a reason you can't call me if you need something.”

“Yessir,” the three agreed with varying levels of serious and Shiro snorted.

His muzzle pulled up into a smile as he said, “I guess that's probably the best I can expect.” The clouds reformed, white and calm, as he leapt into the air with a “Take care.”

The three watched him go before the younger two turned on Hunk.

The orange dragon gave a nervous smile. “What?”

Can you guess who the two mysterious figures are? Bonus points if you can guess who they're talking about.

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #american dragon #voltron dragons #lance mcclain #Lance is so hard for me to write for some reason #idky

[elfgrove]

Bad Diagnosis - Part 6/6

Rating: T - angst, facing mortality, friendship, lion-paladin bond Word Count: 2438 Characters: Katie “Pidge” Holt, Green Lion, Keith Kogane, Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane, Hunk Garrett, Lance McClain AO3: [link] < Prev

The next two months were different.

She was almost never alone.

She was never alone for a seizure outside of her Lion.

She swore they must have set up a schedule between them, to make sure someone was always nearby and trained themselves on how to handle seizures when they occurred. She didn’t ask. She wasn’t sure if confirmation of there being an actual schedule would feel more like kindness or like an admission that she was a burden on the team now. It was easier to let the feeling drift in uncertainty while the existence of a Watch Over Pidge schedule was theory instead of fact.

Keith remained much the same, spending more time with her, being supportive in his way. He seemed less stressed now that the secret was out. He still was open with her about his concerns. Still held her during the seizures he was present for to make sure she didn’t hurt herself. She was certain he was relieved to be able to confide his worries with someone other than the source of it.

Lance was surprisingly quiet and hands off about it. She would come out the other side of a seizure to find him ready with a water pouch and something to wipe away the sweat. He kept questions to a minimum, and would immediately resume whatever they’d been doing when the seizure had started. It made her feel almost normal.

Hunk was what she expected. He hovered. He asked questions until she got irritated and snapped at him. It clearly came from a place of love, so she was quick to apologize and steer him back to engineering discussions. He still asked her for details of what the seizures were like from her end, determined that he might be able to find a way to make it easier on her even if he couldn’t stop them. When he learned about the overpowering smell of cinnamon associated with so many of her attacks, he put together a small mulling bag full of herbs that made for an opposite scent from the cinnamon. It couldn’t do anything to stop the sensory hallucination of the scent during a seizure, but it helped her nose reset faster when she was coming down from one. It helped.

Shiro was touchier than she had ever expected him to be. He’d clearly learned from Keith how to handle her seizures, because he would hold her in the same way, giant hands cradling her head while monitoring her pulse and ready to hold her away from harm. He never asked questions. He would hand her water and wait until she voiced what she needed. More than once, she would open her eyes to see dried tear tracks and red rimmed eyes marking his face. He never spoke about it, and neither did she. Once, she come back to his body practically curled around hers, still crying into her hair. She brushed the tears away, but they never spoke about it.

There wasn’t much to say.

She would not stop piloting. There was nothing that even Altean tech could do for her mutinous brain. All that mattered was whatever she could do with the time she had left.

They were doing recon on a small planet with a Galran work camp. She was one of the pilots going in due to Green’s cloaking ability. Yellow came with due to her armor and raw strength. It doubled as a test run for her new add-ons, giving the other four Lions cloaking devices like Green’s. If it could be made to work for Yellow, one of the two largest and densest Lions, it could work for any of them. Shiro rode along in Green’s cockpit.

Her seizures had been getting consistently worse and more frequent. She didn’t have much more time to get it right.

On the surface, they split up to search the jungle for back entrances to the Galran mines, or for signs of the rebel population rumored to be operating from hiding on this side of the mountain range.

It had been vargas of searching in the uncomfortable heat and biting bugs with no results when the first warning hints of cinnamon started to edge in.

She grit her teeth as she stumbled and caught herself noisily against the trunk of a ridiculously large tree. She didn’t want to do this out in the open. In enemy territory.

As if she had a choice.

“Shiro?” She let herself slump against the tree, slowly sliding down to sit on a root almost as large as one of Green’s claws.

“Pidge? Find something?”

“Just jungle. I,” She swallowed heavily against a lump in her throat. “I think I need you here.”

“Headed towards your position now.” His voice radiated concern, “Are you okay?”

“One of those minor complications,” She admitted shakily. “It’s too hot. I’m taking off my helmet.”

“Pidge, keep talking to me—"

“Just get here.”

She pulled her helmet off, setting it between her feet before letting herself start wiping at the sweat. The cinnamon smell was getting stronger. She was going to be too out of it to do anything in a dobosh. Hopefully, Shiro would get here soon.

There was the sound of cracking branches and she turned towards it, hand already starting to shake as she tried to grip her Bayard. The greens of the jungle were starting to go fuzzy, and she narrowed her eyes at the form not more than twenty yards away and getting closer.

It was something alive. Bipedal. Too small to be either Shiro or Hunk. That was not good.

It got closer and she cursed her brain for being this broken. That wasn’t fair. Neurological treason. She’d given up on actually finding him herself.

Her new hallucination looked like Matt.

Matt in weird alien clothes, dirty, carrying a blaster, but still Matt.

Which was impossible.

“Dear brain,” She grumbled, probably too loudly, but she was already found out if the hallucination was a real person. “You quiznaking suck.”

“Katie...?”

The world faded to black, just as she heard Shiro’s voice coming close, “Pidge?!”

Right. Just taking off her helmet like that had probably scared the Planck’s Constant out of him. Whoops.

She woke in an unfamiliar place. She was on a soft bed. Not her bunk in the Castleship, but a ridiculously soft bed that she was actually sinking into the mattress of. In front of her face was a wooden wall. Wood. She was probably still on the alien planet.

There was no way to turn to look at the rest of the room without alerting anyone who might be watching her that she was conscious again. Low probability of surprising anyone if she was a captive.

Great.

First the tumor, then hallucinating her brother, now leaving her in a crappy position for assessing her current circumstances. Her brain was officially fired.

She took a deep breath in and out, preparing herself to turn and take stock of her situation.

She heard the scraping of wood against wood, as if someone had stood up from a chair too quickly.

Hah. At least I surprised someone.

The voice that followed the noise was shaky, uncertain... and speaking English, “Are you awake?”

She groaned. Apparently, her brain wasn’t done being terrible for the day. The speaker sounded like Matt.

“Please say something,” She heard the speaker step closer to the bed. “Katie?”

She turned, looking up to see her hallucination was still determined to look like Matt. Maybe it was some sort of alien camouflage or psychic trick? Neurological chemicals like pheromones to make you trust them? Her brain couldn’t be this thoroughly broken. He wore clothing nearly identical to the clothes they’d seen worn by the rebels that had freed him in the Galran prison video.

But it couldn’t be that easy, could it?

Not after all this time. Just stumbling across him? Statistically unlikely.

“My brain finally short circuited,” she growled irritably, sitting up in the bed, and finally seeing Shiro sitting on the end of the bed.

“Hey,” He spoke softly, well aware that sometimes her senses were often still a little over-sensitive after a seizure.

“You found me.”

“Always.” Shiro stood up, moving closer to brush her bangs back and press his forehead to hers, “We’ve got progress on the secondary mission when you’re feeling up to going downstairs.”

“Secondary mission?” Matt practically squawked. “She’s in no condition to—"

“I think you and Matt need to talk.”

She looked warily from Shiro to the impossible figure of her brother. He was thinner, his cheeks hollow, and thin scars she’d never seen before marred his complexion. She hadn’t hallucinated on this level before, and she wouldn’t have imagined Matt looking like this.

Maybe.

“It’s really you?”

“Of course it’s really me!” He looked at Shiro in alarm, “How bad is this brain tumor you were telling me about?!”

“Not THAT bad,” She drug a hand through her hair. “Give me a tick, I’m a little shocked here.”

“And stop yelling,” Shiro chastised.

“You don’t get to say that,” Matt growled, shaking a finger at him. “My sister shouldn’t be in the middle of an intergalactic war. She should be working on her doctorate, not piloting some mythical alien super weapon!”

“You shouldn’t be out here,” Katie responded venomously. “I’m supposed to be here. Voltron needs me.”

“You’re a kid!”

“I’m not even two years younger than you!”

“Shiro...!”

“Don’t drag him into this! I’m out here because of my own choices! Not because of anything he did! If anything, we dragged him back out here!”

“Katie...”

“I’ve been looking for you for two years,” She felt the exhaustion creeping in, and wiped an angry tear away. “Can’t you just give me a hug and say you’re happy to see me?”

Matt blinked at that, then immediately sank onto the bed dragging her into a tight hug, his fingers tangling in her hair and digging into her scalp, “Of course. I just... He told me about...”

“I caught that.” She hugged back, her voice muffled against her brother’s shoulder. Her brother. He was alive. And safe. “Looks like I took after Uncle Butch after all. It sucks, but I’m dealing.”

“Yeah,” He lifted his head as the door on a nearby wall swung shut. “Based on how Shiro’s been acting since you dropped in the jungle, I don’t think you’re dealing all that well.”

She looked up to see Shiro had left the room, “I was trying not to worry them.”

He gave a laugh that was half sob, “Since when has that ever worked out for you?”

“Smart ass.”

“Learned from the best.”

She surged forward, hugging him again, “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

“You too.”

They came downstairs eventually, to find Shiro and Hunk sitting at a long table with several aliens dressed similarly to Matt.

They all looked up as the two Holts came down.

“Welcome Green Paladin,” One of the aliens rose, surprisingly tall. “We understand you are in need of aid.”

She looked at Hunk and Shiro in confusion, then back to the alien, “We came to help you.”

Shiro stood, “Pidge, this is Kalon, the leader of the Krelshi people. Allura and Coran said that if any of them were left, they might know of a way to heal you.”

“What?”

Matt’s arm around her shoulder gripped her tighter, “Can you?”

“There is a slim possibility,” The alien hedged. “Our healing ceremony has rarely been performed on outsiders. It may not do anything.”

“But it might help,” Hunk sounded the most hopeful he had in a month. “Right?”

“We owe Voltron and the Altean Princess a great debt from long ago. We are willing to try.”

She woke again in the same soft bed. Matt’s room in the Krelshi rebellion.

She blinked up at the ceiling, trying to feel if her brain was any different.

She knew there really wasn’t a way to tell without a fresh scan in the Castleship med bay.

The healing ceremony was a blur of lights and chanting, and a strange smell similar to Hunk’s little herb packet.

She didn’t want to sit up and find her brain telling her it had failed. She wanted to lay here and revel in the maybe for as long as she could.

“Hey,” She didn’t even look over to confirm who was behind the soft greeting.

“Hey Shiro.”

“How are you feeling?”

He never asked. He always waited for her to tell him what she needed.

She wasn’t ready to leave the bubble of hope.

“Like I just want to lay here for a little bit and not think about it.”

“Okay.” The bed shifted, and she felt him scoot into the space between her and the wall.

“Shiro?”

“I just want to not think about it for a little bit too.”

“Sounds good.” She turned, letting herself rest her head on his outstretched arm and appreciate the warmth of not being alone for a little while. Being part of something bigger than herself. Something made of hope. She burrowed in until she could rest her head against his chest.

She was surprised when Keith came in. She didn’t know he’d come down planet side. He didn’t say a word, just climbed on top of the covers on the opposite side of Shiro, boxing her in and making her feel even safer.

Hunk came in next, and although the bed was full, he found a space too. She chuckled when he started to make noises asking if it was okay, and instead patted his hand, the easiest part of him to reach from her position at the center of a growing Paladin pile.

Lance was the last to join, funny since had been the first of them to bond with his Lion.

“Aww,” She could hear the big grin and pose with one hip jutted out without even looking at him. “Looks so warm and cuddly, like a pile of kittens.”

“Lions,” She corrected.

“Lions, of course.” He stepped closer, “Room for me?”

“Wouldn’t be complete without you,” She smiled, still half muffled against Shiro’s chest. “Get in here, Blue.”

He practically jumped onto them, climbing to Shiro’s other side, but once he nestled in, she found herself slowly drifting off to sleep.

Voltron was the hope of the entire universe.

The Paladins of Voltron were the hope that kept her going, no matter what the answer was. For as long as she could stand up and board Green, she was one of them. They were her strength.

[THE END]

#LION PALADIN BONDING #Pidge #Katie Holt #Keith #my VLD fic #fanfic #Voltron Legendary Defender #Voltron #art by elfgrove #Shiro #Takashi Shirogane #Hunk #Hunk Garrett #Lance #Lance McClain

[letterjaey]

Day 4: Orbit

Keith hated the county fair. The music was too loud, everything was overpriced, the rides were screaming metal death traps, there was always a funky smell in the air, and there were too many people. Not to mention, the county fair was placed in the middle of a field which meant pesky little insects which meant Keith would be itchy for days from bug bites. In fact, he could already see three forming on his arm as he cursed and pulled the sleeves of his hoodie down further. So what was Keith doing at the county fair, wearing his favorite red hoodie, what he thought was a sexy black v-neck, the jeans he thought made him look irresistible, his stylish tennis shoes, shivering in the cool autumn air in front of a questionable swing ride and scowling while a child sporting cinnamon sugar all over their face spilled soda all over his shoe? “Keith!”

Keith looked up, scowl completely gone at the sight of the most attractive teen he had ever seen jogging towards him. ”Shiro,” Keith said as the said teen stopped in front of him. Keith had a date with Shiro Tadashi, the hottest person in Galaxy Garrison High School, if not the hottest person in the whole school, at the county fair today.

Ok, so it wasn’t actually a date. Keith had ran into the older teen in the hallways, answering Shiro’s question of whether there was a county fair happening this weekend to which Keith had answered yes and offered to show him around if he wanted and had been told he would like that. Keith was too overwhelmed by the fact that he was conversing with Shiro to properly analyze what had just happened, if him standing stunned in the hallway with Shiro’s contact number entered into his phone so they could work out details after the older teen waved at him and promised he’d talk to him later was any indication of his bafflement.

The guy was a legend. Galaxy Garrison High was practically a shrine to Shiro, if the number of times Shiro’s name decorated the hallways were anything to go by. He had been the top student of his year and most accomplished person in all of the school’s history. Recognized as the top athlete of the school, voted most likely to succeed in life in the school yearbook, chosen as prom prince in his junior year and prom king his senior year, president of Altaen Adventurers, a club that helped and served several communities in need and had become a small non-profit organization that prospered with Shiro’s lead, Shiro had graduated with honors as valedictorian of his class. Shiro was currently a student of Galaxy Garrison University, the top university in the state, if not the country. The only reason Keith was even honored with his presence was because Shiro was a teacher’s aid for one of his classes.

Not to mention, Shiro had a heart of gold. Shiro’s reputation in the city included stories of him being a cross walk guard as a child, staying with lost kids until their parents came, helping kittens out of trees, and walking old ladies across the street. Shiro was better than sliced bread, as Keith’s classmate, Lance, so aptly put it.

So yeah, Keith was overwhelmed. Keith had a major crush on the guy the moment he saw him and he really wanted to impress Shiro. Sue him for pretending this was a date, this was probably the only chance he would have with the older teen anyway. Keith discretely shook his foot to rid it of the earlier soda spill, hoping Shiro wouldn’t notice. ”Thanks for waiting,” said Shiro. The older teen smiled and Keith felt his heart flip. “I’m glad you’re here.” “Of course,” said Keith. Like hell he would be anywhere else when this living Adonis was here. He took a cursory glance around the county fair. “Um, do you want to walk around and see everything first?”

Shiro smiled and nodded. “Sure,” he answered. Keith smiled in reply and begin to lead the way.

This was it. Keith’s date with Shiro was officially beginning and he was not going to be a nervous wreck. He was going to play it cool and impress Shiro so hard that he’d fall in love with him, get married, own a simple house together with a tire swing in the yard, become his trophy husband, watch their five cats play on the lawn, and grow old and wrinkly together. This was not a fantasy Keith played out in his head numerous times, do not be mistaken, it was a plan. A solid, well thought out plan. Keith took a deep breath, feeling butterflies in his stomach as he walked beside Shiro, living legend and teacher’s aid of his class. He could do this. --

He couldn’t do this. “Keith, it’s all right,” Shiro said between huffs of laughter. Keith whined in what he will later protest was a dignified manner because he would not have it any other way. “It’s not all right,” cried Keith in a muffled voice. He was currently crouched down with his hands in his face, completely mortified by the events that had just transpired. So Keith was a nervous wreck. That wasn’t a big deal. After walking around the fair grounds with Shiro, which proved to be not as horrible as he thought, the older teen offered to buy food since the smells had been tantalizing. Keith wasn’t going to deny the chance to have food with Shiro and so they went to the food area and perused the options. Shiro had settled on purchasing a tray of cheese fries for the two to share and Keith had been grateful. The butterflies in his stomach had decided to turn into a churning mass of nerves by this point. Food would probably help settle Keith’s stomach, of course. Keith had also figured it would be brilliant to buy a large milkshake since he didn’t want to be rude and eat all of Shiro’s fries. Completely stuffed by fair food to feel any anxiousness, Keith suggested to Shiro that they should go on the rides after they dumped their empty condiment containers in the trash. Rides were typically romantic and Keith was going to romance the heck out of Shiro. The two had purchased tickets which Shiro insisted on paying for. That’s when Shiro saw it, the Voltron Orbiter.

The Voltron Orbiter was a typical spinning ride but with the use of the late 80s show of Voltron as its theme. The center of the machine was built to look like the villain of the show, Zarkon, with the carts on each of the arms designed to look like each of the lions that formed the hero, Voltron. It was a pretty good approximation of what was on the show, not that Keith had spent a week last month marathoning the series because Shiro had mentioned it in passing. Keith had a life.

”Oh man, Voltron! I haven’t seen that show in ages,” Shiro said, face clearly reminiscing while Keith stared on in wonderment at how such a being like him could exist. Shiro turned to face Keith, startling the boy out of his admiration, and asked, “Can we go on that one?” ”Yeah, sure,” Keith answered automatically, watching the varying colors of the ride’s lions blur together at an alarming rate. He watched as what he recognized to be one of his classmates, Hunk, puked into the nearest trashcan immediately after exiting the ride. "We can go on that one.” Keith knew going on the ride was a bad idea the moment he got in line. However, Shiro convinced him otherwise. No, the older teen didn’t say anything, it was the look on his face as he talked about watching Voltron in his younger years that had Keith staying in line instead sprinting in the other direction. Keith would bet his life that Shiro’s happy face could bring world peace if it was broadcasted around the world. Of course, Shiro picked the Black Lion once they were allowed to board the ride. It suited him. Keith had a preference for the Red Lion but he wasn’t going to complain, especially when he was comfortably pressed up against Shiro’s side in the seat and could feel how wonderfully built the teen was.

“Do you want to pilot the lion?” Shiro asked, pointing to the joystick between the two of them that was used to control the height of the lion during the ride. Keith told the older teen that he could control it, knowing himself to probably be too distracted by their proximity to navigate the lion properly. Keith vaguely recalled hearing the safety instructions to keep all hands and personal in the ride at all times as an awfully cheery man with a bright orange mustache came around to test the safety bar that came down across their laps. Keith felt the jerk of the ride as it started, thinking it wasn’t as bad as he thought as the lions began to lift in the air and begin its rotations around Zarkon. Shiro was gently guiding the Black Lion up and down through the air, laughing while Keith had a death grip on the safety bar, his stomach doing flips from hearing Shiro’s laugh or from adrenaline. It was hard to tell. That’s when the lions lurched forward and Keith realized his mistake. The ride picked up incredible speed and along with Shiro’s expert navigation of rapidly raising and dropping the Black Lion, Keith realized very soon what was going to happen. Shiro had been whooping in mirth when he looked over at Keith, realizing his companion had gone completely quiet.

Shiro asked, “Keith, are you ok?” He watched Keith in concern and Keith was once again struck by wonderment at how Shiro was created by a series of random events that allowed him to be real in this moment. This was his chance, before everything was ruined by space lions hurtling around a demented alien, Keith should confess to Shiro. Keith opened his mouth. “I shouldn’t have had that milkshake,” Keith said before his body involuntarily rid the drink from his stomach all over his crush’s lap. Which brings us to now, with Keith trying to fold in on himself and disappear into a self-made black hole while he had waited for Shiro to clean himself in the bathroom, surprised to find that the other teen hadn’t climbed out the bathroom window and escaped into the night after being barfed all over. “I should have stopped you from getting that milkshake,” Shiro said, holding a hand out to Keith. “I knew that was a bad idea but I was distracted.” The younger teen peered up at the older teen, aware that his face was the same shade as his hoodie, and took the hand. He was helped up and stood in front of Shiro but refused to look his crush in the eyes.  “I should have known better,” Keith said. “Hey,” Shiro said gently. He had moved so he was within sight of Keith and Keith couldn’t help but look back at him. Shiro’s face was open and understanding and it was hard to ignore. Well, his face was always hard to ignore. It was practically sculpted by the masters if his handsome, chiseled features were anything to go by. “It’s ok. It happens.” “Yeah, but,” Keith started. Everything was ruined. He made a fool of himself and reduced his chances of any sort of relationship with Shiro to nothing. He had wanted to make the most of this opportunity. It was so frustrating to know he had messed up, all because he couldn’t control his nerves. Keith hated the county fair. “I hate the county fair,” Keith said bitterly. Shiro chuckled. “Hey, I had a good time,” Shiro said, squeezing Keith’s hand that he was still holding. “No,” Keith said, all of his emotions and disappointments boiling over, “I actually really hate the county fair. It’s too loud, everything is overpriced, the rides look like they’re being held together by duct tape, there’s always a weird smell, and there’s too many people. And look!” Keith held his wrist out to reveal two more itchy bug bites that had recently formed. “I hate this place,” Keith said. “Oh,” Shiro answered, sounding disappointed. “I didn’t know.” Keith grimaced. This sucked. But Keith had hoped he could impress Shiro and win him over. Or at least ask for a real date. Keith scoffed at himself. As if that was going to happen.

“But I thought-” Keith said, voice sounding small to his ears, the same way he felt now, standing in front of Shiro, “You wanted to know about it. And then you said you’d like me to show you around and I thought- I don’t know, I could impress you.” Keith looked up to find Shiro staring at him intently. He felt his cheeks warm and blurted out, “I just wanted you to like me.” Because I really like you. Keith felt his whole face flush a deeper red and looked down at his shoes, noticing the soda stain from earlier had set. “Ah,” Shiro said. Keith looked back up at the odd noise and found Shiro blushing, which Keith was certain could make an angel fall from heaven- wait. Why was he blushing? “Oh my god,” Keith said, feeling the color drain from his face as he realized what happened. He just made a fool of himself in front of his crush, Shiro Tadashi. “I said that out loud. Kill me now.” Shiro laughed, which only caused Keith to become flustered. “No,” Shiro said, grabbing Keith’s other hand with his. They were standing so close now and wow Shiro smelled nice. Keith had to make an effort to stay put despite wanting to flee into the fields and never return. “I’m glad you said that.” “Um, you’re welcome?” Keith said, mentally beating himself up for his response. He was unsure of what to do. Impressing people was so hard, he had no idea why he thought he could do it tonight of all nights. Shiro was still here so though so that must count as something, Keith thought hopefully. Shiro smiled at Keith fondly which did things to Keith.

“I really like you, too,” Shiro confessed. Oh. Oh, that did things to Keith as well. “Ok,” Keith said, marveling at his crush. “That’s nice.” Shiro laughed and next thing Keith knew, he was being pulled into a warm embrace. Keith may have teared up a little, overcome by the realization that he hadn’t screwed up and  that his crush actually liked him back. This was not how he planned on getting Shiro to fall for him, but this was still perfect. “How about I win you a prize, we ride the Ferris wheel, and then I make sure you get home safely?” Shiro said, releasing Keith from his arms and moved to hold Keith’s hand instead. “I promise not to go on the Voltron Orbiter again,” Shiro added in a teasing tone. “Ok,” Keith answered. Of all the things that happened today, Keith would have never expected this outcome. Going on rides with a full stomach? Keith had lost his mind. He thought about what Shiro was like throughout the night, a perfect companion, when another thought occurred to him. Was Shiro romancing him the whole time? Had he not noticed? He paused. “Does this mean this is a date?” Shiro laughed and leaned forward to place a kiss on Keith’s forehead. Shiro whispered against his head, his breath warm against Keith’s skin, “It’s a date.” Keith didn’t hate the county fair so much after that.

#sheithweekunlimited #day 4 #orbit #sheith #voltron legendary defender #listen #i would have done fanart #but I would be even more late #and i was so ready for this

[braincoins]

Title: Rebel Heart Fandom: “Voltron: Legendary Defender” Summary: Some rules are meant to be broken. Ships: Shallura, background Klance Warnings: Barely-edited Author’s Notes: For the Shallura Sundays prompt: Rebellion. As usual, barely edited. Also a bit rushed. I'm sorry for the cheesy title, I really am. (2,504 words - also on AO3)

           Allura had always been a stickler for the rules. Well, almost always; when she was younger, she hadn’t seen the need for them, and had flouted them routinely. But as she’d gotten older, she’d begun to understand that rules existed for a reason.

           And, ever since then, she’d behaved herself as a princess of Altea should behave. She followed the rules and she expected others to as well. The paladins had come to learn that about her quickly, with her insistence on training, surprise drills, and her constant reminders about the Paladin Code.

           With no father, no people, and precious little hope after ten thousand years of Zarkon running rampant, the rules were one of the few things she had left to depend on. She had the rules, and Coran, and the mice, and the Paladins of Voltron, as well as Voltron itself. And, she felt, they all depended on her in return, except for the rules. The rules simply were, and were not to be ignored or flouted.

           Of course, nothing was that simple. Because one of the rules of leadership was that fraternization was not allowed. A leader had to remain separate, above. She couldn’t afford the appearance of favoritism. Developing friendship and camaraderie with the paladins was one thing, but she knew the affection she had for Shiro was starting to edge past that. They’d have gone far, far past it by now if she hadn’t been reining her heart in.

          Her feelings for him were increasingly inappropriate, and it was all she could do to stem the tide and carry on as normal. When the universe was depending on her and on them, she could hardly afford to act like a moon-struck child. She swallowed down the flutters he gave her whenever he smiled or laughed and kept herself steady at the helm.

          She was conducting a test of the Castle’s comm systems, cycling through the channels. It stopped when it picked up a voice: Shiro’s. Her heart raced just hearing him speak.

           “…and none of that even matters.”

           Keith’s voice replied, “Of course it matters!” He sounded insistent and stubborn; no real surprise there.

           “It doesn’t. It’s not allowed,” Shiro maintained.

           Now she was very interested. What could they be talking about? She knew she shouldn’t be listening in, but she couldn’t help herself.

           “Not ‘allowed’,” Keith huffed. “Who cares about that? This isn’t the Garrison!”

           “I care about it. It’s… it’s not right.”

           “How does it get more right than that?” Keith challenged him. Allura waited for a response, but none seemed forthcoming. Finally, Keith spoke again. “You’re hiding behind rules and regulations that are meaningless out here.”

           That was what got Shiro to respond. “They’re not meaningless. If anything, they mean more than ever.”

           Keith huffed again, but Shiro didn’t let him say anything.

           “These aren’t just pointless rules or outdated traditions. This isn’t like ‘lights out at 9’ or something like that. This is important. It affects the entire team and how we work together. And we are the universe’s only hope. We have to maintain discipline.”

           Now she felt less guilty for eavesdropping. Something was going on that might impact the team’s discipline? She needed to know about it, and she was resolved to give Shiro a stern talking-to about his not bringing it up with her sooner. Her feelings for him didn’t preclude her lecturing him when it was called for.

           “Oh, it’s affecting the team alright,” Keith told him, “but not in the way you think. We can feel it, Shiro. Every time we form Voltron.”

           “…‘We’?” he asked. His worry was audible.

           “I can, anyway. And you know keeping secrets interferes with the bond.”

           “So, wait, is it a secret or isn’t it?” Shiro was starting to regain his confidence.

           “It’s annoying,” Keith declared. “You have to say something. You have to do something about it, and hiding behind ‘fraternization’ isn’t it.”

           Allura blinked at the word. It wasn’t a word she’d expected to hear from Keith. Not that she thought him dumb, but it was… so specific. It carried certain connotations… but maybe that’s just me. Maybe what it means to Earthlings is completely different.

           “I have to do exactly nothing about it,” Shiro shot back, sounding testy, “and you have to shut up about it.”

           Keith groaned. “TELL HER.”

           Allura stopped breathing.

           “I can’t. I cannot do that, Keith.”

           “Why. NOT?”

           “This isn’t like you and Lance.” That both worried and excited her. It was no secret the Red and Blue Paladins were dating, to use the Earth parlance. “You’re equals. She’s our leader.”

           Her eyes widened. She still couldn’t breathe.

           But Shiro was still talking. “She’s gorgeous and intelligent and brave. She’s from a civilization that was so advanced ten thousand years ago that we must look like… like cavemen to her! We’re these backwards hicks from some far-flung planet she’s never heard of, and she’s only putting up with us because she has to, because she has no choice. She’s lost everything and everyone she ever knew, and she’s dedicated to the fight to avenge that. There is No Chance In Hell that she would ever look at any of us that way.”

           You’re wrong. Oh stars, you are so, so wrong, Shiro. She exhaled out of necessity and resumed breathing, faster than she had been before. She wasn’t sure if it was just her body trying to catch up on its lost air or if it was something more than that.

           “You don’t know that,” Keith said. He sounded angry.

           “She’s too proper,” Shiro replied, sounding defeated. “She would never do anything like that.”

           “You. Don’t. Know That,” Keith insisted again. “And you won’t know it unless you talk to her!”

           “I can’t do that, Keith. And I won’t. I will not risk this team for my own selfish desires.”

           She turned and cursed under her breath. He was right, of course. It was the same problem she was struggling with. Whether he returned her feelings or not wasn’t the point. It was improper. It went against everything she’d been taught her whole life, and she couldn’t just throw all of that away. Especially not now that she knew Earth culture was the same.

           “What was that?” Allura blinked at hearing Keith’s question and realized that the comm system was two-way. She hastily shut it down and resumed running her tests, trying to ignore the heat in her face and her heart pounding in her chest. All she could hear was Shiro’s voice in her head: “She’s gorgeous and intelligent and brave,” and “…my own selfish desires.”

           She wanted to tell him. To put him out of his misery and as well as her own. Images danced in her head of fantasies she’d been having that were now teetering on the edge of becoming real.

           She heard the door to the bridge open behind her. She had a terrible, terrible feeling she knew who it was. She pretended to be caught up in her work and tried to get her color back to normal.

           He cleared his throat, and that was enough to confirm for her that it was Shiro. She closed her eyes and mentally begged him to go away. “Forgive me for intruding, Princess.”

           “Oh, Shiro,” she said, pleased at how surprised she sounded. She didn’t turn around, just kept adjusting screens. She couldn’t face him yet. “You’re not intruding. How can I help you?”

           He approached her, his boots tapping on the floor. “What are you up to?”

           “Just running some tests.”

           “On the comms systems?” he guessed.

           She cleared her throat but couldn’t think of an answer. She didn’t want to lie to him, but it was too shameful to admit she’d been caught listening in on a private conversation, nevermind the content of what she’d heard.

           Apparently, she didn’t need to answer. “I thought so. I… I don’t know how much you heard, but…”

           “I’m sorry,” she said immediately. She stopped messing with her screens and they dropped out of sight again as she clasped her hands and fidgeted. She couldn’t bear to look at him, and she was likely blushing again, or still. “I shouldn’t have. It was an accident, and I should’ve shut it off immediately.”

           “Yes, you should have.” He sounded angry, and she winced. “Why didn’t you?”

           “I should have,” she agreed, hoping that would placate him. It didn’t work.

           “Why did you eavesdrop on us? Is it that you don’t trust us?”

           “No, of course not!”

           “You think we’re plotting something?”

           “No, never.”

           “Then what?”

           “It’s… nothing.”

           “No, it’s not nothing. You had no right to listen to that.”

           “You’re correct. I am sorry.”

           “I can’t imagine why you would do something like this, is all.”

           It burst her way out of her throat. “It was your voice.” Shiro went silent and still, near as she could tell; she still couldn’t look in his direction. She watched her hands clasp and unclasp, over and over. “I… I like hearing your voice. And then you mentioned something affecting team discipline, and I was worried, and I was planning on lecturing you about keeping something like that a secret from me, but then there was… I’m sorry.”

           He exhaled hard. “I’m sorry about what you must’ve heard,” he said, voice taut despite the fact that he no longer sounded angry. “I never intended for you to find out, and certainly not like that.”

           “No, of course you didn’t. You’re a good man, Shiro. And you couldn’t have known I would do something like this. I… I never thought I would have, either.” She swallowed the lump in her throat, or tried to. It didn’t seem to help.

           The silence started to congeal around them, and she licked her lips. He was the one to speak up again. “I’m… I’m sorry if I embarrassed you,” he offered.

           “No, it’s not… you don’t have to apologize.” I owe him the truth. She sucked in a breath and raised her head, resolved that she would face this crisis head on, get it over with, and move ahead with fighting Zarkon and saving the universe, as she was supposed to do. She made herself face him. He was red-faced as well, and seemed surprised at her motion. “The truth is…” She had to take another deep breath to get it out. “The truth is I don’t think of you as a caveman. Any of you. Yes, you five are all we have, all the universe has. But I don’t think I could have asked for better. And I am determined to avenge my people, to free those under Zarkon’s iron-fisted rule, and to obtain peace and freedom for the all the universe. But I still have feelings. As inconvenient as it may be, I… I feel the same way about you, Shiro, as you seem to feel for me, if what I overheard is correct.”

           His face got redder. “Really?” She noticed he seemed to be breathing faster, too.

           She chewed her lower lip a little as she nodded, then made herself stop it. It was a leftover habit of her childhood, and not a very royal one at that. She squared her shoulders to try to regain some of her dignity. “And you’re right, of course. Fraternization would be highly improper.”

           “Oh.” He cleared his throat. “Of course.”

           “It would be wrong to…”

           “…to pursue any sort of…”

           “…romantic inclinations,” she finished.

           “Absolutely,” he agreed.

           She forced a smile through the ache in her heart. “We’re both strong enough people that we can admit these feelings and… and move on past them.”

           “Yes. In time.”

           “Of course, yes. In time. We don’t have to act on them.”

           “No.”

           “I’m so glad we agree.”

           “One hundred percent,” he told her. He licked his lips and she couldn’t help watching the action. She wrenched her gaze back to his eyes, dark as deep space and twice as easy to get lost in. She tried to form words, to say… anything to break this spell. No sound came out, even though she was mostly sure her lips moved.

           He cleared his throat. “But, uh… well, to be fair…”

           “Hm?” she managed, eyebrows rising. She hoped he had a change of topic, because she couldn’t stop staring at him.

           “You’ve heard some pretty damning things come out of my mouth. And it’s… y’know, a little uneven as it stands now…”

           She cocked her head in confusion, and he sucked in a breath and held it. She realized what he meant and blushed harder. “I… suppose that is true. I owe you that much. Things should absolutely be equal between us.” Of course, that just resurrected the memory of Shiro comparing Lance & Keith’s relationship “of equals” to his feelings for her. If we were equals, I’d be in your arms right now. I’d’ve kissed you ages ago. She cleared her own throat. “You… you’re handsome and strong, resourceful. A good leader; you know the talents of your team and put them to such good use, time and again. You inspire confidence in them, and in me. Whenever I feel weak, you give me strength.”

           “I have a hard time believing you could ever feel weak,” he admitted.

           “It happens more often than you think. Our task seems impossible sometimes; you give me hope that we can accomplish it.”

           He blushed more. “Thank you for that. I’m sorry if it was awkward.”

           “It was, but… you were right. It’s the least I could do after all of this. And, after all, we’re acknowledging our feelings for each other so that we can…”

           “…get over them.”

           “Right! Exactly. It… it doesn’t have to go any farther than this.”

           “Not at all.”

           “We don’t have to…”

           “…talk about it…”

           “…or hold one another…”

           “…or…” She knew exactly what word he was going to say. It was as if he had said it, and she could hear it hanging in the air. And she could feel herself crumbling. Right here, this was her moment of weakness. This was when she needed him to be strong for her. But even Shiro’s strength had its limits.

           She wasn’t aware of movement, of conscious decision. She didn’t have time to think of what she should or shouldn’t be doing. It was an eyeblink and she was looping her hands around his neck, his arms were sliding around her waist, and their lips were pressed together. Kissing Shiro was a relief, like cool balm on a sunburn.

           We shouldn’t… but the thought didn’t – couldn’t – complete because it felt so right, so good. And when they pulled away from each other to catch their breath, he rested his head against hers and she laughed softly and refused to let go.

           “We’re not very good at this,” he said softly.

           “Maybe we need to practice,” she suggested.

           “At what? Breaking the rules or sticking to them?”

           “Breaking the ones that need to be broken,” she told him.

#Socks writes Voltron fanfic #shallurasundays #Shallura Sundays #Shallura #Voltron #fic #writing #posted 2 minutes before season 2 dropped xD

[hailqiqi]

So I haven’t posted anything in a while and just wanted to post something?

I’m not sure if I’ll ever finish this, but this is the first scene from a possible continuation of The Stars Aren’t the Same for You and I.  I’ve been sitting on it for a couple of weeks and...I just like Matt & Lance interactions, ok?

1,303 words.

“Hi.”

The greeting was given with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk that immediately wiped half the tension from his shoulders.

“Hey, Veronica. Any chance you know what your little brother did to my little sister?”

“I love it how you cut to the chase,” she answered with a laugh, shaking her head ruefully as she opened the door to invite him in. “Why don’t you ask him yourself? I told him to quit moping and be useful, so he’s cleaning out the refrigerator in the kitchenette.”

Matt muttered a quiet thanks as he stepped inside. “He didn’t tell you?”

“Nope,” Veronica replied, shutting the door and gesturing for him to follow her. “And I suspect I don’t want to ask.”  She stopped part-way across the living room and pointed to an open doorway. “He’s in there. Don’t kill him, okay? We only just got him back.”

“I promise I won’t,” Matt answered solemnly, crossing his heart as he did. “Scout’s hono— Hey!”

Veronica grinned as she released his ponytail. “I’m still not used to this,” she laughed. “Anyway. Enjoy, Holt.”

Grumbling, he flapped his arms at her and headed towards the small kitchen. This was not how he had wanted to spend his Sunday, but with Pidge acting like the world had ended what else was he supposed to do?

The kitchens in Garrison family quarters were small — more of a kitchenette, really, as Veronica had called it — with a counter for cooking/preparing, an island for eating, and a wall of windows to let the light in (and get rid of smoke). The one in this particular family suite was no different, its only unique feature being the cluttered surfaces where every item in the fridge had seemingly been moved out and shoved aside.

Lance was nowhere to be seen, but from the clattering and muttered curses Matt supposed he was on the floor behind the island. He must not have heard him come in.

Excellent.

Moving quietly, he snuck up to the island and peered over. Yup, there he was — wearing shorts and a wife-beater, on his hands and knees with a bottle of spray in one hand and his head inside the empty refrigerator. The thoroughness with which he approached the task made Matt pause. Whatever happened must have been bad; back before Kerberos, Veronica had always complained about how lazy her baby brother was when it came to chores. Then again, being a paladin had probably helped him grow up — sometimes, he barely recognised Pidge.

And on that note…

“Lance!” he barked.

“Argh!”

A loud bang echoed as Lance hit his head on the shelf, dropping the spray when he tried to whip around to face the intruder. Matt bit back a laugh and quickly schooled his expression into one of stern bemusement, raising an eyebrow as he waited for him to turn and face him properly.

Lance’s expression fell the moment he set eyes on him. “Ah, shit. How did you even…?”

“One thing you might not know about me,” Matt said, pushing himself onto the barstool and aiming for ‘casually threatening, in the Kingsman style’. Pidge had said he’d got ‘all buff and stuff’, so he hoped it was paying off now. “I used to date your sister.”

“I — Wait — You what?!”

“I did. We parted on good terms, back when I left for the Kerberos mission?” He ignored Lance’s outburst in favour of picking up a bottle of juice from the counter and studying the label. “Pass me a glass, Lance.”

Lance stared at him incredulously, then moved to the cupboard, slapping his cleaning cloth down on the counter as he pulled out a glass. “Why are you telling me this?”

“No real reason.” Matt shrugged, accepting the offered glass with a small smile. “We still get on very well. I just think it’s nice to see how well she’s done for herself.” Lance watched him, shoulders squared, and Matt ignored him in favour of pouring his juice. “We have a lot more in common nowadays, too, so we talk a lot. We’re both older siblings to a Paladin of Voltron, for one.”

He sipped his juice, eyeing Lance over the rim of the glass and inwardly laughing at how wide Lance's eyes grew as the implication sunk in. A heartbeat later, though, his posture sagged, making him look more defeated than Matt had ever seen him look.

What the fuck had he done?

The juice was sweet, and still cold despite being left out on the counter. Matt took his time savouring it as he watched his quarry, hiding his frown with the glass.

He had planned to wait him out, but Lance wasn’t offering any answers of his own volition — he stood on the other side of the island, eyes looking everywhere but Matt. He’d always seemed the type to fill the silence with random chatter, but right now he was more taciturn than Shiro.

With a mental sigh, Matt finished up his juice and placed the glass back on the counter. “So.”

“So?” Lance met his eyes briefly.

“I don’t suppose you have any idea why my sister is refusing to get out bed?”

“I— Pidge is what?”

“She’s been lying face down on her bed for the past few hours, and whenever I try to talk to her all I get is ‘Allura hates me’, ‘none of my friends will ever talk to me again’ and ‘my life is over’,” Matt elaborated, raising an eyebrow as Lance shifted nervously. Honestly, the kid couldn’t look guiltier if he tried. “When I asked her who I needed to punch, she said you.”

“Oh.”

“And as fun as it is watching her channel a pre-teen drama queen, I'm sure you can understand why it's a little concerning."

"Fuck.” Lance ran a hand through his hair, then held his arms away from his body. "Go on then.”

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?”

"Yeah," Lance said, swallowing. “I definitely deserve it, so…’’

They looked at each other for a moment, then Matt snorted. "I'm not gonna hit you, Lance.”

Lance looked away, then sagged against the counter behind him, his hand back in his hair. "I kissed her, Matt.”

Oh. Not exactly what Matt had been expecting, but close enough that he suspected he already knew the rest. To be fair, he found it somewhat impressive that six teenagers-to-young-adults had managed to survive drama-free on a spaceship for three years. Something like this was more than a little overdue.

Especially with these particular players. Though it wasn't like knowing Matt had always thought it was inevitable would help Pidge any now.

"Okay,” he said with a tired sigh. "So?”

"What do you mean, ‘so’?! I kissed your sister!”

I've done worse with yours, he wanted to say, but instead he bit his tongue and shrugged. "Okay, I get that. But what's the problem?”

“I’m dating Allura and I kissed Pidge!”

“I doubt Pidge is upset about the ‘kiss’ part of that sentence.”

Lance stared at him incredulously, then let out a bitter laugh and looked away.  Matt reached for the juice bottle again and took his time pouring a glass, watching Lance carefully as he did. The younger man was yet to meet his eyes.

Matt considered his words carefully, then took a sip before saying, “If we’re being honest, I was really surprised when I found out you were dating the Princess. I always thought you and Katie had something going on and were just keeping it secret.”

Lance flinched but said nothing. Matt filed the data point away for future reference and asked, “How did it even happen?”

A slow exhale, then Lance finally turned to face him again. “Allura, or Pidge?”

Matt snorted. “Pidge.”

“We were dancing.”

“You were dancing,” he echoed, one eyebrow raised. “Weren’t you in a dance team before flight school? Did you end up kissing all your partners then, too?”

Lance groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Fuck.”

#my writing #plance #kinda? #lance #matt #voltron #fanfiction #i dunno guys I just wanted to join the 'hey i wrote this!' club today #also I enjoy matt being a little shit