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alastheatlas · 6 years

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Why Klance/Laith Will Probably Go Down - Masterlist

I know how season 7 broke many of us. We had a lot of expectations and this season, while beautiful and otherwise good, certainly failed at some points.

However it isn’t the end yet. Hopefully season 8 will resolve at least some of our disappointments. But when it comes to klance/laith, I’m pretty sure we’re going to see something happen. Nothing has to happen however. But I’m just saying, based on all of the things listed, it just simply makes sense that it would.

This is just a show so whatever happens happens. But I'm just saying I'll have faith in laith until if the very last second of the show tells us any different. And here’s why.

Are you ready? [CONTAINS SEASON 7 SPOILERS!!]

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but first some lecturing lololol

WHATEVER HAPPENS AND WHICHEVER SHIP BLOWS OUT THE BIG CANON IN THE END IS FINE. IT'S JUST A SHOW. A SHOW THAT DOESN'T EVEN REVOLVE AROUND ROMANCE. If you can't handle that then you can go bite ass. Oh and also, Don’t spread around hate or threats or any shit like that. You should know better. Just enjoy the show as it is. And yes, this applies to if your ship becomes canon and if it doesn’t. Spreading hate and threats are never okay. Accept whatever the outcome of the show will be, and let people ship what they want. This isn’t your story and you shouldn’t become sour just because it doesn’t go the way you want it to go, and if it does go the way you want it to go, don’t rub it in the faces of those who wanted something different.

Just be mature and decent guys, it really ain’t that hard.

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ANYWAY here's my half-assed list of why I believe klance/laith will be endgame by the end of the series:

[I REPEAT THIS CONTAINS SOME S7 SPOILERS]

Let’s begin with some random stuff:

Lance’s one-sided rivalry with Keith seems to... have something a little extra about it.

The blue and the red star in the astral plane?? Do they hold a deeper meaning??

The bonding moment. It could be seen as platonic, but... The colours and the lightning y'all... Interesting choice. (Also... that a//urance parallel in season 6... Coincidence I think the heck not, purposeful I think the heck yes)

Keith being seemingly really impatient for Lance to come out of the healing pod after the bonding moment, and then appearing to actually sulk for having to wait just a small moment.

In one of the comic books Keith says that he’ll be training and suggests that maybe Lance should too, maybe or maybe not wanting to hang out with Lance and trying to create an opportunity, and then seems to become upset/disappointed when Lance rejects the idea.

Lance talking to the mice about his crush on Allura could honestly pass as him talking about Keith as well.

Honestly though was Lance flirting/trying to impress Keith as pointed out here x?

They really pulled the stuck in the elevator trope lmao.

This doesn’t actually have to do with anything but I still find it a funny parallel with Lance rejecting Keith by denying the bonding moment and Keith rejecting Lance and denying him a proper greeting and hug after returning. Are they even now? fuhidsdfu top 10 anime betrayals

The Feud episode (here are the s7 spoilers!!)

Lance chose Keith (read more here x). Look, listen. This was pretty gay. To put it briefly, Lance’s reasoning was kinda weak and he could’ve honestly as well have chosen Allura here. But... he didn’t. And then he seriously says that Keith is the future which is like honest foreshadowing (especially considering how unnecessary it was for him to say that part, at the very least in that way). And then to deliver the final blow he drops that soft smile (a la bonding moment) on us. I don’t care what happens in season 8, this moment was gay af. If I’m stretching a little bit this scene could be viewed a little bit like Lance choosing between Keith and Allura (looking to the side and then the other, pondering, choosing Keith).

Keith chose Lance (same read more link x). Again to put it briefly. We know Keith seems kinda grumpy here. You know what we also know? Keith doesn’t dislike Lance, and he cares about the fate of the universe, therefore invalidating his answer. His body language and expression alone said it all; he closed himself off. He wasn’t comfortable sharing the real reason why he chose Lance. Keith no doubt knows what Lance is capable of. He trusts Lance. Keith chose Lance for a reason (or several reasons), and him ‘not wanting to be stuck for eternity with him’ is definitely not the reason why Keith voted for Lance to escape. Worthy mention of Keith being the quickest here to choose and to finish.

Bii. Boh. Bi. Y’all. This shit. Call it a funny coincidence but the answer was��“bi” and the Bii-Boh-Bi kept gesturing towards Lance basically during the entire thing. Call it a stretch if you want, but I have no regrets reaching for this cup. And call it a crack theory at this point but Bob tells the Bii-Boh-Bi “Maybe you could help this dum-dum out”, so this drink tastes like whatever-this-episode-even-was wanted to give Lance a shake. The name game wasn’t even valid. You can be bad at names and bad at remembering faces and still be incredibly smart. None of the games showed Lance actually being unintelligent. And Lance actually did very well in the last game, and I can tell you that game was confusing af so I’m impressed. With this in mind my arm has personally elongated so far that maybe Bob calling Lance ‘dumb’ here wasn’t a jab at his intelligence. Ok hi my ankle is broken but it was worth it.

Interesting scenery colours and rainbows:

There are several cases of these, but they’re mostly subtle. I’ll leave some examples.

That one episode in season one (is it 06? or 07? you know the one) that is literally the bi flag. We have a lot of Lance in this ep.

In this ep we are also accompanied by at least two rainbows, one when Lance and Nyma fly across the water and another at the end when Keith teases Lance. (Honorable mention of Keith arguably checking Rolo out in this episode lol, we see u Keith x)

That episode when Lotor plays around with the paladins on that planet with the explosive gas, and when the team has split and Keith nears Lance with his lion and no kidding that's the bi flag as a background right there (upside down).

The very obvious, big ass, very not subtle rainbow that's seriously plastered on Keith in the season 7 trailer.

Random rainbow over Keith here as well

The scene where the paladins are in some galra place or something and Lance is sharpshooting and looking down at the others. Background + Lance’s suit + his gun = bi flag colours.

Funnily enough in this scene when Keith shows up and starts fighting the galra robots (or whatever those things are) and Lance goes ‘I had that guy!’ he looks wayy too long at Keith. Like. Way too long.

Ogling/gloating and jealousy?:

“I’d recognize that mullet anywhere” I’m sorry but if that doesn’t sound like someone has been ogling then I don’t know what.

Again I’m sorry but Lance’s reaction to Keith when he returned wasn’t of the straightest caliber.

Still, when Lance keeps looking at Keith fighting for several solid seconds when he’s supposed to be shooting down galra robots. Parallels a//urance in a way a little bit too when Lance looks at Allura fighting and goes ‘that was awesome!’

But Keith isn’t all that better, apparently

Keith. Out of all people. Stops mid-battle to smile at Lance when Lance shoots away a knife heading towards Keith. Not noticing Axca coming up behind him and then almost getting his ass kicked by Ezor.

After the bonding moment Keith arguably seems like he's jealous when Lance starts flirting.

(Here’s some more hehe x)

How Lance being jealous when Keith is involved could actually be interpreted as ambiguous. It is never actually clarified who he’s jealous over. why not both

Really though the "Jealousy, thy name is Keith" from the comic could possibly be more true than it lets on (though not as you think, Lance).

Honestly I’ll never get over these danking looks:

Lance you’re excused but Keith?? What?? Is that face?? The boy flirted with a girl and ran off and got his lion stolen and you had to get it back for him and you make THIS face?? (Also I think this is the same face 80′s voltron Keith did at Allura at one point?)

Lance you’re no longer excused. He seriously looks like he's daydreaming of prince charming coming and sweeping him off his feet. (Also remember the face he made when talking about Mrs. Blue Lion x?)

KEITH. HONESTLY. WHAT.

Legit there are no excuses for any of these expressions.

Now for some parallels, some weaker some stronger:

[x] (Krolia/Texas and l0tura parallels, with a dash of Zarkon/Honerva)

[x] (a//urance and l0tura parallels)

[x] (s7 spoiler!), Might and might not be a reach but a//urance parallel (same energy lol))

[x] This entire scene (they make a great/good team). Let’s not forget the little hand glasp Lance does.

[x] (tlok parallel)

[x] (atla parallel)

[x] (atla and tlok parallel) Insert Lance in this context lol

[x] (tlok parallel)

[x] (a//urance parallel)

There are so many parallels tbh I can’t

Allura honestly parallels Keith so much and she LITERALLY plays Keith in the coalition shows

[x] Lance talking about Mrs. Blue Lion vs talking about Keith

[x] (l0tura parallel)

A//lurance and klance/laith paralleling with how both Keith and Allura lectures Lance about the coalition shows not being about the show but about the people

Some romantic mood parallels:

The previous blue paladin with a (blushing) male galra

Now lets move on to some interesting stuff from interviews and the cast and producers (no sources or direct quotes because I’M LAZY:

We all know about the art Lauren drew with Lance and Shiro holding up the lgbt sign and the theory that goes with it.

Bex pretty much confirming that there'll be lgbtq rep in voltron through a sinister laugh in that vid (we know now this to be true bc of Shiro, but there might be more to come?.. or unfold hehe if you catch my drift). Voltron having lgbtq rep has also been brought up before at interviews. I THINK there’s been hinted that there’ll be a little something something between two characters? Not sure tho

Bex also either confirming or shooting down klance/laith during another vid BUT most probably confirming. You know that vid. Reasons to believe: 1. It was dubious, since we don't know which of the questions she shaked her head to. 2. High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco was playing in the background. 3. I don't think she would actually openly deny a ship when she could have just ignored the question, much less making it so dubious.

Kimberly: "Friendship" (may or may not actually imply something within the future of the show, or if it just was @ the thorsty klancers)

We know that Lance will have an endgame (and Keith happens to check all the points of what’s been said about that endgame)

Lance will end up somewhere different than he thought at the start (he wanted Allura at the start, and Keith certainly would be someone different than he'd thought).

What he wants isn't necessarily what he needs(/gets?? I don't remember lol) (and we know he wanted Allura. plus the lion exchange becomes a pretty interesting topic here, as further talked about here x).

What he needs/wants is someone who’s self-assured and who knows who they are (I think it was) and hey look Keith is back! (who just happens to fit these criterias more than ever).

The plain fact of how Keith and Lance's arcs actually just seem to intertwine so well.

Also adding that klance/laith interview lol. With the "natural progression" thing and that. And also when Lauren said the only incompatible thing about Lance and Keith is the shipname 'klance'.

Lance’s milkshake bringing everybody to the yard.

It’s been said that Lance remembers the bonding moment but wasn’t ‘emotionally ready’ for it, whatever that could possibly mean 👀

And apparently there’s more story to unfold...

Which may or may not be related but sure makes this a hella lot more interesting (I find this cup worth reaching for ok)

(lmao if you seriously think the folding thing was an accident)

I’m not saying that the pic necessarily implies klance/laith but it certainly implies something with them. Which will be. Interesting.

Some interesting theories:

[x] Regarding the “Red lion” and the “Blue lion”

[x] Keith’s vlog and some interesting tagging

[x] Some possible, interesting foreshadowing?

Highkey Lowkey scared this is actually foreshadowing (from a comic, Keith is the one saying ‘isn’t that love’, and Lance is the other one)

Also some reaches because we love long arms:

[x] Rivals to friends to lovers foreshadowing lol

[x] Interesting... Funny coincidence?

[x] I know I know but honestly you can’t deny his face here

[x] I’ll also add this while I’m at it because I can

(s7 spoiler ahead) Look this is just an interesting concept ok, but in episode 2 in s7 when they’re splitting up in that tunnel, Allura goes one way and Keith goes the other. We see Lance going last, slowing up and almost seeming to take a little time to choose, before going the way Keith went.

So uhh yeah here’s my grand, half-assed take on it. Season 7 can come bite my ass if it doesn’t happen, I’ll be on the lookout until the very last episode of season 8. Klance/laith may or may not happen. But I strongly believe it will and honestly that’s just what makes the most sense to me.

But yeah reminder that ships doesn’t have to be canon for you to ship them, and if your ship becomes canon you should not harass others about it and you shouldn’t harass others if your ship doesn’t become canon either. All in all NO HARASSING. NO HATE. NO SHADE. JUST. BE DECENT. This includes to the creators and other people in the fandom both.

Always be prepared for voltron to sock you in the stomach. Season 7 might very well do so. Season 8 might very well do so. Be prepared for your expectations and hopes and wishes to go completely out the window. But no matter how it goes, let’s just sit back and relax and enjoy the show as much as we can beyond our internal screaming.

In the end this is an intriguing story with aliens about family and being a team and it’s beautiful. So let’s just enjoy it, no matter what.

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 6 years

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WAD... I'm flinching writing this! Plez send the help

The next movement sucked. For Lance at least. He hated how his body looked and moved, his sexy curves now gone, replaced with jutting bones, and because of that he'd tried to spend as much time in the nursery with the boys as he could. He knew logically that no one would judge him for how he looked, but emotions are hardly logical, and he just couldn't face them. Sometimes he even had trouble facing Keith, his tongue refusing to work as he was reduced to nodding or shaking his head, while he mentally screamed the words he wanted to say. He'd tried to see to others, but it all proved to be soon. Like a fool, he'd gotten as far as the dining room door, before their smells got to much as he'd had to rush to the nearest bathroom. He was tired, his omega was on edge, and he was plagued with a never ending headache... not that he'd told the others or Keith about it. He was sure it had something to do with his time help prisoner, but his brain couldn't put two and two together to make four, let alone tell him where his missing time had gone. Honestly, he would have preferred to be back on Olkarion, recuperating in their house there, the lights always seemed too bright for his one eye to handle, and there seemed to be a persistent buzzing on the ship that never left. But, for the sake of their allies, they had to "patrol" the Coalition territory in fear of retaliation over the rescue of him and Toral, which had apparently been a complete quiznakking mess if Keith was to be believed. He felt so stupid over his own capture, but Keith wouldn't even tell him how she was, and given his mate was pretty much his only link with the outside world, he had way too much time with his own thoughts anxieties.

Tonight he was going try again. Because of how tired he got, they were having dinner early, so for everyone else it was more mid-afternoon, yet because it was his forth small meal of the day, he called it dinner. After dinner, he'd sleep for a couple of vargas, before forcing down another small meal, and falling back to sleep. He was so sick of sleeping, but it never seemed like he got enough. Probably because he was growing a whole other person inside of him again, a person he didn't even know what to do with. Keith had insisted it was his, but that seemed way too easy. To survive that crash and to survive whatever they went through... he couldn't possible have gotten that lucky. He knew Keith would go along with whatever he wanted, but how was he supposed to decide when it came to a pup his omega was completely in love with? Especially when he couldn't ask Coran about running more tests. Could they even do paternity tests? Was that a thing? So many things were happening around him that he wasn't part of, and it only left him feeling even more disconnected and isolated. Sometimes he had to pinch himself to double check he was actually awake...

It was exactly 4pm when Keith walked through the nursery door, his husband walking over to where he was laying on the floor with the boys, sinking down to his knees Keith kissed the top of his head

"How are you feeling?"

Didn't he ever get sick of asking the same question a hundred million times a day? Because he definitely got sick of hearing it

"Fine. The boys were good. Laneith managed to walk all the way down to the other side of the nursery, while Kelance tripped over their playmat and decided to stay there"

"Did they eat?"

"Considering you insisted on making their bottle and bringing down their food, yes, they ate"

"Did you?"

"I had lunch. But I threw most of it back up. I don't think this one likes the food goo"

"Baby"

"I know. Ok. I'm trying and I'm freaking out, so I don't need you pushing right now"

"It's going to be ok. Hunk has made enough food to feed an army, and it's not all just boiled vegetables. He's made some fruit purées and smoothies"

"You weren't supposed to tell him"

"Baby, he saw you. Everyone saw"

"That was movements ago. Ok. You could have lied. I don't want to talk about it and I just want to move on"

"I didn't mean to push. Let me get changed and we can head up. Do the boys need to be changed"

"They're not coming"

"I thought..."

"I can't. Ok. I can't calm my omega. My omega is telling me I need to protect you and I need to protect them. I can't protect all three of you, or this pup or myself all at once"

"Baby, you don't need to protect me. I'll hold the boys, we're having dinner in the lounge room, so they'll be happy and they'll be fine. You'll be fine"

"You're not listening to me"

"I am, but I think you'll feel better once you get there and you'll feel better knowing if you need an excuse to leave, you can take the boys"

"Yeah, well, I might be leaving in a hurry. I don't know if the smell of foods going to make me sick or not. They still don't know, do they?"

"I haven't said anything to anyone"

"Good. Ok. I'm sorry I'm so cranky"

"It's ok. I know you don't really mean it"

"No. I'm just really stressed out over this, and I'm taking it out on you. It isn't ok. You're trying your hardest for me, and I'm just being a quiznak"

"Baby, I would put up with you being a quiznak for the rest of your life if it meant I got to be with you"

"Lay off, Romeo. I'm not up to having sex"

"I know"

"Then you don't need to be so sweet"

"Maybe I've mellowed in my old age?"

"And maybe you're going senile?"

"Possibly. I pulled a grey hair out my fringe the other day"

"You did what?"

"Yep. I'm sorry to break it to you, but the mullet might be going grey"

"Is it Galra related?"

"Possibly. I don't know"

"Keith, if you're sick, you need to take a break"

"I'm not sick. It was just one grey hair. I wouldn't have told you if I thought you were going to turn it into a big deal"

Keith gave a sooky huff

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that's exactly why you told me, to distract me. I see what you did there"

"Did it work?"

"Maybe. Can you help me with the eyepatch Coran leant us?"

"I thought you hated it"

"I do. But not everyone is as understanding as you are about the whole eye thing"

"You don't need to be self conscious"

"You have like, met me, right?"

"Point taken. Right. I expect you waiting on the bed by the time I get out the bathroom"

"But it's soooo far"

If he reached out, he could just touch it with the tips of his fingers

"I know. However will you make it?"

"I don't know. Ugh. Help me up"

Keith blinked, but moved to do as he asked. Brushing past his alpha, Lance rushed to the bathroom sink, throwing up the pitiful amount of food goo that had somehow managed to stay in his belly

"Lance?"

Giving Keith a thumbs up, Lance waited a few moments before spitting

"Sorry. I can't do any more goop"

"Ok. You can try different things tonight, if we can find something that works, we can go about making it even better for you"

"Don't go ruining food with your science. I don't even feel like cookie dough and that was my go to last time around"

"What do you feel like then?"

"Belly rubs and blowing up the castle's supply of food goo?"

Keith smiled, walking over to him and wrapping his arms around his thin waist. Sliding his hands up his oversized shirt, Keith gently rubbed circles on his stomach, calming his nausea almost instantly

"Better?"

"Mmm, they like it"

"What do you think it is?"

"I don't know, what do you want it to be?"

"Happy and healthy"

"You said that last time"

"I know you wanted two boys and two girls, so maybe a girl?"

"It's stupid, but I think it's a girl. That's what my omega tells me"

"You knew you were having boys last time"

"I didn't know... it just... I don't know. I want it to be a girl"

"Our little girl with her big brothers to protect her"

"I like the sound of that. You should get changed, and I now need to brush my teeth"

"Just a little longer"

Keith had already grown attached to the pup, that was clear. He loved spending his time rubbing at the tiny swell, which made it even harder to talk to him about everything. Triply so given how nice it felt when his husband did pay attention to the swell. It calmed both him and his omega, and it also seemed to help ease the morning sickness he'd probably been experiencing for phoebes without knowing

"Hey, I love you"

"I... I love you too, Keith. It's just... hard"

"I know baby. And I know you're trying, now brush your teeth and I'll get ready"

Keith carried the boys up to the lounge room, while Lance half hid behind him, his words having already decided to abandon him, while Kelance was happily babbling "Mama" over and over as he grabbed for him. Coming back to find the boys talking had left him so confused. They'd been verging on eight and a bit? months, excluding pod time, and now it was closer to 10. They were so big, with wide curious eyes and constant cheeky smiles

"I think he wants you to take him"

Lance opened his mouth, knowing his tongue didn't want to work. Part of him was scared to take his innocent son into his arms, knowing he had no idea how he was going to react to so many people, even if they were his family

"Here, just hold him. It'll give you something to focus on"

Nodding mutely, Lance took Kelance, the boy giggling and cooing as he did

"See, he's happy now. They both really missed you"

Swatting his pups hand away from his face, he captured Kelance's hand and smiled softly as it gripped his back. He had to admit his son's warmth felt so nice, it seemed like unless Keith or the boys were holding him, he was always cold... which was just something else to add to the list of things he was hiding.

Pausing outside the lounge door, Keith looked him up and down

"Well, its now or never. Wait. That came out wrong"

Lance shook his head, he got it. Keith was just as nervous as he was

"You look fine, and honestly, everyone is just going to be happy to see you. If it gets too much, just shake your head at me and we can go. Ok"

This nodding thing was growing old, but at least they had a plan now. Taking a moment, Lance took a breath and nodded, hoping he wouldn't walk into the table or even the door, because this whole lack of depth perception sucked badly enough as it was. Opening the door, Keith then grabbed his hands, towing him into the lounge room where Hunk had totally outdone himself. Everything smelt amazing, from the rich meat dishes, to the fruit tarts nearly stacked on a tier thing that just looked so prim and proper, and far more than he deserved

"Lance!"

Pidge yelled his name happily, but Keith must have warned them not to coming rushing over as they rose, but stayed in their spots

"Hey buddy, its nice to see you up and about. We've really missed you"

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teddyylou · 7 years

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Klance: Fortress

Ao3 x

An idea from a while back with @katethesassycat

Summary: Keith is taking the discovery that Shiro isn't actually Shiro really badly. Lance is thinking of a career change from Space Pilot to interior designer.

Lance offers to find Keith when the sleep deprived team haven’t seen him in a few days. Lance and Keith had become much better friends over the last months and he wanted to do everything in his power to help the sad paladin and bring their leader home.

___________________

Lance walked timidly into the control room where the rest of the crew were already hard at work, careful not to disturb anyone. It was as if no one had slept a wink since the discovery that the Shiro that had been with them for weeks wasn’t actually their leader. Finding the real Shiro had been the team’s main priority as soon as they had found out, not even Lotor and his gang held a higher focus. Ever since they killed Zarkon, Shiro had been on their radar but it was always about saving the universe. It was something about getting Shiro back only to have him essentially ripped away from them again lit a fire underneath the whole team and no one had done much else since.

Pidge had the darkest circles that drooped out from underneath her glasses and Allura’s hair was an array of loose strands and lack of care instead of her usual tidy bun. Coran wasn’t even cracking optimistic lines of wisdom as he rubbed his temples with frustration. Hunk was sat on the floor surrounded by about six or seven screens, searching through data trying to find patterns or any possible link in the lions mechanics that could potentially lead to Shiro’s whereabouts or what had happened to him.

He had expressed late one night to Lance that he knew it was pointless, he had searched every bolt in the darn thing, but he would keep going dammit until he had searched every bolt again and every line of code until he had found his friend. And Keith, well, Keith had taken it the worst out of everyone. The training room had never been in such as state as he took out his anger, robot after robot. He had however, since then, tired this method and moved on to helping the team, working tirelessly to devise plans and make connections.

Lance wasn't even sure if he’d seen Keith take a single break. Not that anyone had taken many. He stopped talking to clone Shiro; not even acknowledging his existence. This Shiro hadn’t even done anything wrong, to him, he was the real Shiro. But to Keith, being created in itself was enough to despise the man/alien/robot.

Lance knew he was late today. He had fallen asleep in the shower while getting ready to continue the search, deciding that during his exhaustion he would take one as he didn’t really feel like eating; only to collapse under the pressure and warm sensation of the water.

He walked further into the room, Pidge was the first one to take any notice to him. Lance expected a snide remark about how he finally joined the team, and then Allura to scold her saying that they were all just tired. But nothing came. Just a blank expression and mindless stare before she returned to her laptop.

Lance looked at her small body in despair. She had lost so much, she didn’t deserve this, no one did. The blue paladin took his position in between Allura and Coran and resumed his task of scanning coordinate after coordinate until the whole universe had been checked.

They had originally agreed that it wouldn’t be the best use of their time, but they needed to do something to keep their hands busy as they racked their brains for an answer or game plan, and they were growing desperate.

No one really spoke as they worked, no one even lifted their gaze as hunk let out an exasperated sigh and left the room resting both hands on his head while shaking it out of disappointment and defeat. They were like zombies, typing and dragging and scanning, day after day. Lance new that this wasn’t good for them and that working like this was probably working backwards, in fact, in the early days of the mission, Lance would have forced everyone to sleep and recharge, but if he couldn’t even listen to his own words, why should anyone else.

After about twenty dobashes of nothing but the angry clicking of keyboards and hopeless sighs, Hunk returned carrying a tray of six plates with rich green altean goop piled high on top. He was always good at making sure the team ate. Hunk had quickly became the mum friend of the group and when he wasn’t tirelessly working he was covering people with blankets or getting water to keep them hydrated.

He went around the room placing a plate in front of each team member, he even went as far as to balance one on Pidges keyboard so that she would have no choice but to stop working. As he finished his lap of the group he placed one down on the table where he had been, only to notice that there was one plate remaining on the tray.

“Hey has anyone seen Keith, he needs his goop.” Announced Hunk, breaking the silence for the first time that morning.

Lance looked up then. Keith wasn’t anywhere in the room. How had he not noticed! Keith had barely left in the two weeks since Shiro had gone missing.

“No, I haven’t seen him in two Quintents. Maybe he went back to the training room.” Coran responded, finally looking up from his screen, blinking his sore eyes frantically. “Maybe he went to his room, he could have needed a sleep, he didn’t look well.” Contributed Allura.

While the team suggested potential places that the red paladin and new leader of Voltron could be Lance thought about something that Keith had once mentioned to him after he had first found out that he was part Galra. Keith had told him about the one place that he went to to recharge or think, maybe he could be there.

“I- I think I know.” Croaked Lance, clearing his voice that had been rusty from lack of use. “I’ll take his food to him.”

He pushed himself off of his stool and wobbled over to Hunk. He took the plate off the tray and observed it. When was the last time he had seen Keith eat?

“Ok buddy, see you in a bit.” Said Hunk, yawning.

“Thanks man,” replied Lance with a tired forced smile. It’s like he wasn’t even himself anymore. “Make sure you take a break eventually too.”

With that, Lance continued out of the room and began making his way to the hangars. If Keith was in a bad way, he knew he would go to Red for comfort, or Black, thought Lance.

The shorter teen had told him that he found comfort in opening up to her. Maybe he did the same with the Black lion, for bonding. Maybe he would be down with Red, trying to get her to listen again.

As soon as he approached the Black lion he knew that Keith was in there as Black’s eyes lit up and her shields went up in defense of her paladin.

“Come on Girl!” He yelled, pleading to her. “I’m not gonna hurt him, look I brought him food, I wanna help him.” Lance attempted a grin as he held the plate out to the giant robot.

The lion’s eyes glowed more intensely for a few seconds before they returned to their normal colour. It seemed as though she had made her decision as the shield dropped and Black bent down to let Lance inside.

“Thank You.” He yelled sweetly at the robot who closed her mouth and returned to a standing position as soon a Lance was inside.

Lance took quick and quiet steps up to the cockpit. He didn’t want to intrude on Keith or disturb any hard thinking that may be going on. He knew from experience that it wasn’t a good idea. But Lance knew that thinking was the last thing going on when he reached the large room, larger than any of the others by far.

The room was seemingly empty, the only sign that his friend was even in there was a small leg hanging off the pilot’s chair that was visible from where Lance was standing. It was only when Lance started to move slowly closer to the boy that he realised that Keith had fallen into a deep, blackout sleep, probably due to the lack of sleep that had been weighing on all of them for longer than anyone could recall.

Lance cringed at Keith’s positioning on the chair as he made his way around the room to place the goo on the control panel in front of them. He was curled in a small ball with the leg that wasn’t hanging off the seat, tightly tucked under his small, muscular frame. One arm was wrapped around his middle while the other was propped up on his bent leg, supporting his head. Lance didn’t even know that anyone's neck could bend like that but he did know that it probably definitely shouldn’t. Hid head was nestled right down in between his arm and chest, sporting more chins than humanly possible; then again Keith was not fully human either. His usually fluffy mullet was pulled back into a messy bun, although it had loosened substantially and his now greasy fringe was covering part of his face as he snored softly, like a low pur.

He must have moved like this in his sleep, decided Lance. Not even a cryptid like Keith would find that position natural or comfortable. And if Lance’s math was correct, Keith had been like that for hours and would be sure to wake up with the most horrible neck pain.

He decided not to wake the sleeping boy up. He would be cranky and moody, and Lance just didn’t want to deal with it. But he did still want to help his friend. He ran from the Black lion and back up through the castle. Never in the last week would he have thought he would contain this much energy but it was there and he was running, sprinting, he even felt his happy goofy side return in the form of thoughts in his head.

Boy was he gonna be the world’s best friend after this. Keith would have to stop being rude to him, he would be at his feet… Okay, maybe the thoughts were coming from a more delirious part of his mind now but he was still excited to see Keith’s face.

He went to his own room first, ripping the blanket from his bed and snatching up both of his pillows, one under each arm; he hadn’t been using them anyway. Next he went to Keith’s room and did the same. Lance stopped right before leaving the small dark bedroom, turning around and taking it all in. It looked untouched; nothing on the shelves, not even Keith’s blade that Lance had forgotten to watch out for while hastily grabbing keith’s bedding.

The room looked un lived in. It didn’t even smell like Keith, or like any of the other unoccupied guest rooms. It smelt like nothing, like people had forgotten it was there at all. How long had it even been again, wondered Lance. He thought he counted one week and three days, but who knows.

He stole a few pillows from other rooms in the castle that didn’t belong to any of the other team members. With a hefty stack that was hard to run with or see around, Lance made his way back to the hangars. He didn’t even need to ask the mighty black lion to let him in this time, as if she knew that his intention was to help the distressed boy inside, in fact she could probably feel all of Keith’s thoughts and emotions.

Lance ignored the quip in the back of his head joking about Keith not having emotions and focused on his plan; almost, he couldn’t stop the thought getting through about how throughout all of the moving up and down that Black’s head had been doing to let Lance inside, Keith hadn’t stirred once.

Lance didn’t really bother to sneak, per say, as he entered the cockpit again. He let all of his cargo fall to the floor in a heap as he scoped out the room. He noticed plenty of random hooks to hang up weapons and jutting out metal that had some alternative purpose; perfect. Making as little noise as possible lance hung his own blanket from three hooks, two of which were on one wall and one that was slightly lower on another, stretching it out to it’s full caliber and letting the last corner of the blue material hang freely to create a makeshift door.

He chucked all of the pillows underneath it making sure that they covered every bit of floor space except for one which he threw over next to the blanket from Keith’s room that he hadn’t used yet. He admired his work momentarily, taking the time to stretch his tired back. He had built close to a hundred if not more blanket forts in his life span, he would gladly say he had become a pro at it. Always a humble victor in his opinion when his one turned out superior to his siblings, but never opposed to helping them to build the ultimate McClain kid HQ.

He relished in the memories for a moment before bending down to collect the remaining materials into his arms, earning a loud crack from is spine as he did so. He paused, cringing at the sound. He waited in the proceeding silence to see if that had woken Keith, then again, if nothing else had managed to yet, nothing would. Lance pondered whether or not he should check if his friend was still breathing.

Lance took the blanket and ever so carefully coved the very much alive paladin with it. He tried to make it cover as much of the boy as he could without covering his head. This was easier said than done however due to Keith’s odd position. Lance cursed under his breath as he moved closer, leaning over the chair to move the blanket so it rested under his chin. Lance almost jumped back as Keith’s freezing cold skin came into contact with his warm, tan hands. Maybe he should check for a pulse.

Lance gritted his teeth, pulling a face to himself as he tiptoed away from the Pillot chair, assuring himself again that the red paladin was still sound asleep. Metal armour clinked on the ground, breaking the dead silence as he picked up the pillow. Okay that was the easy part. How much harder could this be. Lance’s goal was to get the fluffy object between his friends tucked up leg and his head. It would be a small improvement on Keith’s fated neck pain but anything would be more comfortable than his current situation. He would thank Lance later.

This was it. The boss level, the ultimate stealth test, a game of mind and body. Every video game tactic Lance had ver memorised was flooding his brain at this moment. This was it, this was what all of his training had lead up to, all his time at carnivals, paying dollar after dollar for goes at games to win the big prises. It was the ultimate test: Could he get the pillow under the head of the sleeping dragon without waking it and having it breath fire down upon him.

Lance moved over to the side of the chair closest to where Keith’s head was, leaning his head over the armrest ever so slightly for optimum mobility and vision. Slowly with one hand he moved the pillow over his head and began lowering it down towards Keith’s face. Lance had not taken a single breath since commencing this delicate operation. He gently moved his other hand over to Keith’s bare, pale cheek, not touching it out of fear, still deciding on the best way to do it. One after the other he let just the pad of his finders fall under Keith’s hairless chin, counting to tree first, then five then ten. He ever so slowly moved Keith’s head up off of his leg, so far so good, he thought, as Keith hadn’t even stirred once.

He had lifted the boy’s head up just enough now to place the pillow delicately down; amazed by his own abilities and how well this was going. He laid the pillow down, letting a breath out as the the air escaped out of it and it settled. Phase two complete. Lastly, Lance began to lower Keith’s head down again, wanting to laugh at how there was no way this was possible. He was so close to completing his task, only having to remove his fingers from the sleeping boy’s face. All was well.

Until in a flash, the whole operation went pear shaped and the red paladin’s violet eyes snapped open.

“Agghhhhhhh!” Keith’s loud scream bounced of every wall in the room, causing both of them to jump back, Lance sitting back onto his knees on the metal floor and Keith, impossibly squished up on the opposite side of his chair, blanket tangled around the lower half of his body. Keith had also reached behind himself, his hand finding the handle of his blade which was now pointed out to Lance’s throat.

“What the hell, Keith!” Lanced shouted back in fright at the purple weapon pressed to his neck.

“What do you mean, what the hell? What are you doing in here?” He was still clearly frightened from his rude awakening.

“Why do you sleep with that thing with you, you could have killed me.” Lance was no calmer.

“”Protecting myself from idiots like you clearly!” He yelled again. “Besides, you didn’t answer my first question.” He lowered his voice into a more bashful tone, pointing his head down towards his lap and looking up at Lance through his messy disarray of a fringe. His cheeks had gone slightly pink, which Lance guessed was just warmth from sleep.

“I was bringing you your goo, stupid. It wasn’t my fault you sleep like an extraterrestrial sloth.” lance remarked.

“I’m, I’m not hungry…” Keith spoke, lowering his voice yet again to just short of a whisper.

“Keith… buddy, I haven’t seen you eat in days, don’t give me that.” Lance said, relaxing completely and slouching his shoulders.

“I’ve been too busy looking for Shiro, just like everyone else okay.” He tried to explain, his tone suddenly really defensive.

“Then why don’t you do it with the rest of the team instead of cooped up in here?” Lance questioned genuinely, although it came out slightly more aggressive than he had intended.

“I don’t know, I don’t want every-” Keith went quiet, looking anywhere but Lance. “I’ve been, um, busy, yeah… conducting my own sort of search, kinda, I’m really getting somewhere, I think.” He tried to cover.

Lance wasn’t having any of it.

“Uh huh, now tell me what you were gonna say first.” Lance folded his arms, he had five siblings, three nieces, and two nephews, he could get anything out of anyone.

Keith looked him dead in the eye then. A non-trustworthy expression evident in his face. He chewed on his lip so hard that Lance thought he might draw blood, before sighing.

“You know better then anyone that I haven’t been taking this whole thing well. First leading Voltron, then this clone Shiro guy thinks he can just walk in and replace him. Does he think that Shiro means that little to us?” he was getting heated.

“Hey hey…” Lance attempted to sooth. “He didn’t know that he was a clone okay. But that isn’t important, what were you saying Keith.”

“It sounds dumb and I know you are gonna make fun of me for it, but… I didn’t want the team to see me break down, you know? Get angry, break shit… cry… It’s, not what they should be seeing from a leader. So I’ve been staying in here… Being in Black reminds me of Shiro, and what he stood for. Like if I think like him then maybe I could find him, Maybe Black will show me where his is… You probably think it’s dumb. I’m sorry.” He put his head in his hands.

Lance leaped to his feet and put his hand on Keith’s shoulder; he could feel him instantly tense at the interaction. Lance processed his friends words in his mind, trying to fathom a sentence that expressed what he wanted to say.

In actually truth of the matter, he understood every single word that Keith had said, he had almost lived it. He had tried it too. Going to the observation deck where he and Shiro used to have late night talks when they both couldn’t sleep. He even went and lied down on his leaders bed. It felt wrong, the smell was gone, just like in keith’s room. Maybe he had miscounted how long it had really been.

“I get it man, I do. I don’t know how to explain it, but I get it, you’re not weird or dumb at all.” He smiled at Keith, rubbing circles into his shoulder with his thumb.

“Really, um cool.” Keith struggled for words. Lance new that he was grateful, he just had his own way of showing it. Lance tried to help out again and put Keith’s thoughts into words.

“Like this situation is bad enough, feeling alienated from each other makes things so much worse. But just know the team wouldn’t judge you at all, they get it just as much as I do.” He beamed and assuring smile.

Keith just stared back, returning the gesture slightly only because he knew he probably should.

Lance waited for a formal response.

“That alien part… was that racist?” Ok maybe Lance had missed the mark a little bit.

“Oh my God Keith, here let me show you.” He grabbed Keith’s hand from his lap and pulled him up off the chair in one swift motion, sending the blanket and pillow tumbling to the ground.

“Lance what are you doing, I already said I don’t want to go out there-” Lance cut him off by grabbing his shoulders and spinning him around so that he could see the fort over the chair.

Keith stood speechless for a moment, which Lance guessed by his mouth that was hanging open just a bit, that it was a good kind of speechless.

“You did this? And for me?” He pointed to his chest

Lance stood behind him, his grin growing as he began nodding like a little kid, proud of his work, before realising that Keith couldn’t see him.

“Uh yeah, I thought that if you were gonna be staying here, you may as well be comfortable, right?” Lance shrugged yet again to himself as Keith continued to stare at the fort.

“I mean, if you don’t like it I can take everything down, I’ll put it back too, um-“

“No!” Keith stopped him. “I lo-like it, very much. Thank you Lance, really.” He finally turned to Lance, smiling up at him.

Lance would never admit outloud that he loved the height difference between them. And not in an advantage, one upping sort of way. He just thought that it made keith look adorable. In a friend way of course, yep, strictly platonic. He just liked that if he wanted to he could rest his chin on Keith head, if they were even ever that close, not that he would ever want to anyway. Lance wondered why he was even thinking about it before snapping back into reality to see Keith already in the fort, sunk into the pillows and looking at the blanket roof.

“I’ll leave you to it then.” Lance shot two finger guns in Keith’s direction. “Give us a shout if you want more goo, get some rest okay.” He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, deciding when the appropriate time to leave would be.

“Oh, are you leaving now, okay…” Keith said sheepishly, not even thinking that Lance would be leaving anytime soon.

“Uh yeah, unless of course you didn’t want me to, like if you need company or help.” Lance wasn’t expecting Keith to actually accept any of his offers, why would keith even what him there.

“It sounds fun.. I guess, we can go back to the team later, unless you wanted to spend time with Hunk or Allura instead.” Lance was to busy cursing both of their awkwardness to register the hint of jealousy in Keith’s voice as he sat comfortably, playing with a loose thread on the blanket roof.

“No, they would be to busy to notice anyway. Are you sure you want me to stay?” Lanced finally voiced his insecurity.

“Yeah I mean, you spent the time building it.”

“Well it wasn’t really that hard…”

“I mean it, come in here with me.”

“Um, okay” Lance got on all fours and climbed into the fort next to Keith, he crossed his legs and turned to face his friend who was already looking better than Lance had seen him in weeks.

“This is actually kinda fun… I never really got to do this as a kid, Shiro was sometimes up for it when he wasn’t at the garrison, but I didn’t really have anyone else around and it is kind of sad doing it alone.” Keith frowned at the floor. Lance had always been sad about his family after going into space, be had such good memories on Earth. Lance wondered whether Keith ever felt that; He was a lone wolf but still popular for being top of the class and a complete edgelord, but what if Keith was happier here, while Shiro was around.

“Wait! actually? This was a obligatory weekend activity at my house.” Lanced tried to cheer him up by sharing another happy memory of his own.

“Wow! What else did you do in your family?” Asked keith hopefully.

Lance went on and on for hours about things that he did with his family and friends in Cuba. He kept stopping to make sure that Keith was still listening or interested but everytime he looked over at the red paladin, he was wide eyed, eagerly listening. No one had ever found him interesting for this long. At some point Keith had even gotten up to get the blanket and pillow from the floor, wrapping the blanket around the both of them and continuing to listen. Lance guessed that all of the time Keith spent alone in the desert gave him the world’s longest attention span. Even he was tired of himself.

By what would have been around dinner time, both boys had grown tired and lied down next to each other under the blanket, Keith has brought up the fact that he hadn’t searched for Shrio today and he would have to start soon. Lance agreed solemnly. He wanted to tell Keith to rest, take a day off because he knew he needed it, but the exact same thought was nagging at the back of his head as well.

Neither of them made any actual attempt to move however as they enjoyed their last peaceful moments before they would inevitably succumb to their anxieties. Lance heard Keith’s stomach rumble and rolled to face him.

“I should go see what goo is left okay. You don’t have to leave, I’ll bring it up to you then go back to work.” He said, already standing up to exit the fort. Keith only hummed in response sadly, watching as Lance left the black lion.

Lance entered the control room to see everyone in basically the same spot, except everyone had resigned to the floor where they continued to work in different positions. Lance felt a pang of guilt in his stomach.

Hey everyone, are you guys hungry yet?” He asked the group. Allura was the first to raise her head in his direction.

“Oh Lance you’re back. Did you find Keith? You were gone for a while, what? two of your Earth hours?” She yawned.

“Allura?” Lance asked, very concerned for his princess. “I’ve been gone all day. Have you taken a break yet?

“Oh, really? Hmm, I guess time just slipped away from me while I searched these galaxies on the map.”

Lance looked around the room in horror. This was not a functional group of people. Hunk wasn’t even typing anymore, just staring at the screens that surrounded him. The mom friend was not in the right state of mind to look after his chickens anymore. Coran was moving in circles on the map, even though Lance assumed that he wasn’t aware. Pidge was awkwardly scrunched in a corner with her knees up, laptop at a forty five degree angle as it sat in her lap.

“You guys can’t work like this as much as you think you can. We can’t help Shiro if we can’t even help ourselves.” Lance was overrun with guilt. While he had been telling Keith about getting wasted at the drive-in, his team was practically killing themselves.

He rushed around the room, refilling everyone's glass of water, bringing them leftover goo, and helping them all to bed. He scraped what was left onto a plate for Keith, deciding that what he did today was bad enough and that he could go without dinner tonight.

He was doing his last rounds before bringing the plate back to Black, confiscating electronics, which was particularly difficult when it can to the actual gremlin that had become of Pidge, when he reached his last stop at Allura’s bedroom.

“Hey, Princess, are you doing okay?” He said as he sat up in her bed, tucking the mice in next to her.

“Ha ha very funny Lance. Now isn’t the time for your flirting.” She mindlessly responded, not hearing what he had said at all. Lance brushed it off.

“Hey Allura?” He began to ask, before stopping himself. He wanted to ask if he could go to the space mall. He would say that he was going to take a short break from the search, but he had taken a big enough break already. He felt so guilty, he would make up for it so much over the next few days. It could wait.

“Um, sleep well.” After making sure she was asleep, which didn’t take long after her head hit the pillow, he turned her lights out and headed back to Keith. The red paladin was already asleep in the fort when Lance got back. A little burrito wrapped up in the blanket. Lance internally awed at the sleeping boy, taking in how peaceful he looked, despite his bags and stress lines that should belong to no one their age.

He met his final destination in the control room, as his room was currently stripped of its blankets. At least here, he would be up early and ready to work. He would find Shiro and put everyone's minds at ease for once.

_________________

Lance cherished every single memory he had of Earth, good and bad, it was just as well the good times with his family and friends were like a ten ton truck compared to a feather of the bad ones.

And just as much as Lance loved his own stories and memories, he found out quickly that the one thing he loved even more was being a part of Keith’s life in space as he got the chance to create his own.

Like how in the next few days the team made a breakthrough that almost slipped past them in their deprivation. They found traces of Zarkons fleet in one of the newer, lesser chartered zones of the universe that gave off a type of quintessence that matched that of the clone Shiro DNA that Pidge had sampled from when he had cut his hair.

Keith had stayed in Black to work and Lance had essentially moved right in with him. They lived in the fort by night and shared the pilot chair by day. It was never a problem as the large chair had plenty of room for the both of them to sit and work at the same screen together. Keith had fallen back, head on Lance’s lap, laughing for joy when the computer light turned green to symbolise that their hard work and long nights had lead to some sort of success.

Lance had ended up taking that trip to the space mall. He was restocking the food and happened to find something akin to fairy lights in the Earth Store which he had hung up around the cockpit. Keith was entranced by them when he saw them, staring at them while Lance watched the tiny lights out of the reflection in Keith’s eyes. Keith recounted that he had seen girls at the Garrison with them in their dorms but never dared buy any for his own, besides, even if he could, with what money?

Then there was the time when a long night of tracing maps of the ships that they had comprised into a short list of potential holding places caused the two boys to grow numbingly tired. They had moved base from the chair to the floor and then lying next to each other in the fort. Lance held the maps up to the fairy lights so that they two boys could see the penciled in lines through the illuminated paper. He traced them with his finger until he felt an arm drape across his chest.

He turned his head, frightened, to see that Keith had fallen asleep and rolled over closer to him subconsciously. Lance was too afraid to move him so just let him be, listening to the beat of his heart as he slept. Lance lied awake for hours after abandoning the maps off to his side and stared at the lights above him. It was that night when he realised that he was in love with the small boy tangled up in his limbs and the blanket over them. Every day spent just the two of them had been full of bonding moments and evolving their friendship which subsequently had caused him to fall deeper and deeper as each makeshift night fell upon the castle.

Lance had woken before Keith the next morning to see that they were still in the same position. Lance could barely stay still at the sight of the gorgeous boy’s messy mop of hair pressed flat to his chest. He pretended to still be sleeping as he noticed the red paladin start to stir. Keith instantly grew tense at his own realisation but made no effort to move. He made the slightest move to look up at Lance, trying to decipher if he was awake. They both knew that he was.

After all of this time however, it became a natural thing, especially after they started putting all of their drawn up plans into action. Each goodbye was met with a long hug, and each reunion was held in their fortress in tangled limbs and silence. They had grown too close to question it, and no one else even batted an eye. It wasn’t even made vocal when Lance pressed a kiss to Keith’s head one morning before he left in Red to search an abandoned piece of the ship that they had previously blown up when the team had defeated Zarkon. It had felt like millenniums ago but seeing it again made the loss fresh in Lance’s mind once more.

Soon goodbye forehead kisses turned into hello cheek kisses, and then slowly into ‘I’m bored and tired’ pecks on the lips that lingered as neither paladin wanted it to end. It was never really discussed as it didn’t feel like it needed to be. Both of them being the pilot of the Red lion at some point meant that they relied on instinct, and both of their brains and gut feeling seemed to match, screaming at them to go ahead with it.

Lance was happy to be a part of Keith’s happy memories; and if every goodbye by kiss could turn out to be the last, Lance was happy to know that he got one and that the feeling was returned.

In every ‘I love you’ and ‘i missed you’; and every ‘idiot’ or ‘you bastard’ when things went wrong, a feeling of warmth spread in Lance’s chest, making him believe that this suicide mission of a war might not be so bad. Each new day bought Shiro closer and closer to the team and Keith and Lance closer to each other.

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