#shiro might be the only other polite one of the team but look at them wrong and he’ll have fun taking the bones out of your body

[velkynkarma]

merry april fools day! what about a whump fic where Allura and Coran end up taking care of a bundle of sick humans in their paladins (plus whichever else of the humans are present on the Castle at the time)

You got it! This exists in a miraculous AU where Shiro didn’t die/disappear into the void, Keith still stays at the Castle, and the Castle still exists, because I Can. Also Kosmo is here for some reason, even though it doesn’t technically line up with any timeline. It’s silly sickfic, who cares about timelines, amirite?

———

Allura stares down at the box of recipe cards in her hands and wonders, not for the first time, how she got into this mess.

Well, she knows how, in the broad sense, at least. The team had liberated another planet to join the Voltron Coalition, and had taken part in a wonderful celebration the Kazenites had thrown in thanks. It had been a very nice party, actually. The food was positively divine, and the entertainment had been enjoyable. There had even been a parade, which had cheered Lance in particular immensely. Everyone had fun.

But the next day, everyone—well, almost everyone—had been bedridden, complaining of illness. And the symptoms were positively disgusting. Elevated temperature, mucus-filled noses that made breathing difficult, aches and soreness all over, harsh, wet coughs, and the...expunging of their innards. 

The discovery had been frankly revolting.

But Allura was fine. Even Coran, who was an older Altean gentleman, and more prone to some illnesses, remained equally unaffected. They aren’t sure what the cause is—food that humans couldn’t handle, or perhaps a local pathogen on Kazenar—but it seemed only those from Earth had been affected.

It at least meant they weren’t helpless. Allura could wormhole them away if they ran into significant Galra opposition, or handle a smaller force with Coran’s assistance, between the Castle and the Blue Lions. But it did leave the two of them with five humans to care for—a daunting prospect at the best of times.

“Chicken soup,” she murmurs, repeating the phrase Hunk had given her. “Chicken soup…” She frowns. “What exactly is a chicken, and why would one make soup out of it?” 

She wonders if it’s anything like the ‘cow,’ Kaltenecker. Perhaps they extract a liquid substance from these ‘chickens’ to consume as a health food.

The thought alone makes her feel sick to her stomach. She certainly hopes she won’t need to extract chicken-liquid. She will do it for her friends, if she absolutely must, but she does not look forward to the prospect. 

It truly is a pity that whatever this illness is, is resistant to both her healing abilities learned through alchemy, and the healing pods. Those were the first things they’d tried, when they’d realized the situation was serious. 

Unfortunately, the box of recipe cards Hunk had directed her to yields no answers. She had found the box in the kitchen easily enough. But the handwriting on each of the cards, presumably belonging to Hunk, is in a language she doesn’t recognize. She assumes this is some variant of Earthese, but she’s not familiar enough with the characters to be able to decode any of it.

She sighs in frustration, and sets the box on the counter, staring at the cards. Sadly, willing them to become legible doesn’t change anything.

“Why must it be chicken soup?” she mutters. “And why me?” 

Well...she knows the answers to those questions too, really. Coran had already tried to make a big batch of terskargal for the paladins, the moment he and Allura had discovered they were all sick. The scent brought back fond memories of old dinners, cozy mornings indoors during the cool season on Altea, and moments of comfort when she had been sick ten thousand years ago. 

Unfortunately, the humans had not taken to it so kindly. Shiro had reacted the most politely, in that he had simply said, “No thank you, really,” but his face had turned an interesting shade of green that Allura hadn’t thought non-camouflage based humans capable of. Lance and Pidge had been forced to suppress gags that had threatened to bring up whatever else might be in their stomachs. Hunk had thrown up, and asked why one would ever feed something that smelled so revolting to an ill person. Keith, by far the least affected of the group, had still threatened to throw his bowlful of terskargal out the nearest airlock. 

Needless to say, it had not gone over well for a number of reasons. Allura is a little offended that something so comforting to her and her culture could be rejected so blatantly out of hand. But then again, they do also drink cow secretion and think it is delicious. Human taste simply cannot be accounted for.

But it did mean the humans blatantly refused to eat anything prepared by Coran, and they did need nutrients while they were ill. Which meant Allura had been recruited for cooking some variant of human food, in addition to her other caretaking tasks. Coran had instead adjusted to laundering fresh bedding for the humans, and working in the infirmary to synthesize a medicinal cure their bodies could actually process safely.

There is just one problem: Allura is not a terribly skilled cook.

In her defense, cooking was never considered to be a necessary skill-set for an Altean princess. By her tutors’ own words, she had excelled in acceptable subjects—history, military tactics, diplomacy, dance, crystal engineering, etiquette, piloting, energy manipulation, and advanced weapons training in multiple disciplines. Cooking had never been one of those important duties. As a princess, she was expected to have cooks for that. 

Still, her friends are sickly, and she would like them to feel better. Sometimes, that means learning something new to heal, even if it is a monumental or difficult task. She will attempt to make this chicken soup, or die trying.

Even if it does mean milking a chicken. 

She shudders.

She’ll have to interpret the cards, though, before she can do anything. Pidge had a working knowledge of both the Earth language and Altean. But Pidge was also—if Plachu’s recent mental message was accurate—finally dozing after emptying the contents of her stomach into a bucket for the third time in the last varga. Allura doesn’t have the heart to wake her, not until she has some working chicken soup to offer. 

So she does the next best thing, and heads to the lounge to bother Keith instead.

Of the five humans, Keith’s illness is comparatively minor. Which is to say that he’s not throwing up as often as the others, and can maintain a coherent conversation without spinning off into delirious ramblings or passing out. Allura suspects his Galra heritage is giving him some degree of resistance to the illness, whatever it is. 

It means Keith has also been her and Coran’s on-call expert any time they need to ask a question about human physiology, or their requirements while ill. After the fifth time they’d knocked on his door to inquire about how much hydration was strictly necessary or which remedies were most common on Earth, he’d finally rolled out of bed and muttered, “I’m just gonna sleep on the couch in the lounge. Less walking for you.”

It had, admittedly, made things a little easier for her and Coran in the long run. So there was that.

Allura finds him in the same spot as before in the lounge, sprawled out lengthwise on one of the couches. Coran had supplied him with several extra pillows and blankets, along with the things they’d so far discovered were important for human health when ill: a pouch of water, and a metal basin for when they inevitably threw it up. Allura is thankful to see that the pouch of water is three-quarters gone, and the basin is completely empty. Cleaning those out is...not an entertaining process. 

It’s hard to tell if Keith is awake or not, as his head is currently sandwiched between two pillows. A light blanket covers him. So does Kosmo, who is sprawled out at full cosmic wolf length along the couch, wedged against the couch back and half on top of Keith. His long muzzle rests on Keith’s chest and his nose is buried in what is presumably a comforting fashion in the crook of Keith’s neck, just under the edge of the topmost pillow.

Allura can’t even begin to imagine how any of that is comfortable, but to each their own, she supposes.

Kosmo’s ears flick up as she approaches, and the wolf’s gleaming yellow eyes roll to the side to watch her enter the room. “Is he awake?” she whispers. 

Kosmo snuffs, and flicks one ear. 

She’s not really sure what she expected, really. They’ve had enough evidence to indicate the cosmic wolf is at least as intelligent as the average human being, but communication is not one of his strengths.

She sighs, but approaches slowly and gently nudges Keith’s shoulder. A congested, muffled snort sounds under the pillow, and then one of Keith’s arms slowly raises to peel it back. He stares blearily at Allura. “What’s wrong now?” he mutters, after a long moment.

“I’m sorry to wake you,” she apologizes. “However, Hunk has instructed me to make chicken soup. I’m not sure how to go about doing so, as the cards with the instructions aren’t in Altean.” And then, before she can lose the nerve to ask, “It won’t require me to milk a chicken, will it?”

Keith stares at her blankly for so long that Allura is afraid he’s grown as ill as the others. She’s been reliably informed that when human body temperature surpases a certain level of internal heat, human brain function can become unreliable. She’s already witnessed it in a few instances and can attest that it’s real. 

She’s about to feel Keith’s forehead—this is also, she’s been informed, a reliable way to measure human temperature without an instrument on hand—when he shakes his head. “No. No...milking chickens. Ew.”

That offers at least some relief. Allura lets out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. 

“Can you find the card for me?” Allura asks, offering him the box of recipe cards. “And translate it? I will do the rest.”

Keith grumbles under his breath, but dutifully starts to sit up after a moment. Kosmo helps by poofing off of his chest, and reappearing behind him, giving him a large cosmic wolf to help him sit upright against. “Alright. Fine.”

“Thank you,” Allura says gratefully. “I really did not wish to disturb your rest, but I did not see any other option.”

“S’fine,” Keith mutters, as he painstakingly opens the box of recipe cards, and starts flicking through them. It takes him longer than it should, which is a mark of the illness’ effect on him; Keith is normally quite dexterous and quick. The way he squints at each of the cards is certainly far from normal, too. “How’s everyone else doing?”

“Let me check.” Allura closes her eyes, and reaches out with her mental connection to her mice companions.

Keeping track of five human beings had proven a difficult task, especially with all of them ill to varying states, and with Allura and Coran required to perform multiple duties. To that end, Allura had come up with an alternative solution: assigning each of her mice friends to one of the paladins. With a mouse stationed in each room, the humans could be monitored consistently. If the mice thought there was a health concern, Allura could focus on that paladin immediately. 

Keith was the exception, stationed in the lounge. But he had Kosmo, and Allura figured the cosmic wolf would be intelligent enough to hunt her or Coran down in the event his master took a turn for the worse.

The check in with the mice yields results fairly quickly. Chuchule reports Shiro sleeping fitfully and waking repeatedly from bad dreams. They will need to find something to settle him so he can actually begin to rest and recover. 

Platt shares that Hunk is out of water again, which means Allura will need to stop by soon to replenish the fresh water packs. It is imperative the paladins stay as hydrated as possible or risk becoming sicker. 

Chulatt is of the opinion that Lance’s temperature has risen, which has been a problem with their sharpshooter all day. Allura will need to prepare another cold compress to try and help bring his temperature down again. 

Plachu reports no change from when Allura had checked in five doboshes ago. Pidge at least is thankfully still sleeping, although the basin she had been vomiting into will need to be cleaned out again. Allura can’t help but sigh.

Honestly. Human illness makes no sense. The slipperies make sense. Stomach parasites make sense. Quintessence weakness makes sense. Randomly becoming unable to breathe easily, overheating, and vomiting for this long, because of visiting a planet? Absurd. 

“The same as before,” Allura says, as Keith stops slowly flicking through the cards to give her his best attempt at an inquisitive look. “After you find the card and translate it for me, I will bring them new supplies, and then begin cooking.”

Keith nods slowly, and goes back to his task.

It takes him about five doboshes, but towards the back of the box he finally selects one card and tugs it out. “This one,” he says, and reads out loud, “ ‘Mama Hunk’s Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe, space-ified.’” 

“Excellent!” Allura claps her hands together once, and regrets it immediately when Keith winces at the noise. “I’m sorry, she says, contrite. “Please...just translate the instructions for me, and I will do the rest.”

She brings up a holographic screen linked to the Castle’s main database. Whatever she types up here she can easily reach back in the kitchen. She waits expectantly as Keith squints at the card, skimming it once. 

“Ingredients’re listed first,” he says finally. “One cup of rice or rice equivalent—”

Allura’s heart immediately sinks. “Wait. What?”

Keith blinks at her, then slowly looks back to the card. “One cup of rice or—”

“No, no, I heard you,” Allura says, a little helpless. “But...a cup? As in, a drinking cup, full of a food item? And what is rice?” 

Keith stares at her for a long moment. He blinks slowly, and Allura can almost hear his brain trying to process. Finally, he says, “This isn’t going to go as easy as you thought, huh.” 

Humans. She is great friends with them, she respects them for their adaptability and survival skills and potential to learn and create so much. 

But often, they simply make no sense. 

———-

Allura is forced to take a detour from that poor attempt at decoding chicken soup to deal with her patients.

She makes her rounds with the paladins, dragging a hovering tray with her piled with supplies. She plies them with fresh water and herbal teas and little crackers and cajoles them to at least try them, checks everyone’s temperatures (higher than they should be, but not too dangerous), and cleans out the basins. The last is a truly vile task, but a princess should never expect her people to do something she wouldn’t do herself, no matter how abhorrent. 

Some are better patients than others. Shiro wearily thanks her for her assistance and does his best to insist she doesn’t need to focus on him, which she politely disregards. Hunk is asleep by the time she arrives, somewhat thankfully, so he doesn’t have to hear what a debacle the chicken soup fiasco is. Pidge is mostly just happy to have the smell of her basin gone. Lance is possibly the worst; it takes Allura a full five doboshes to convince him to let her assist with a new cold compress and to measure his temperature, as he is, in his own words, “too ugly and gross to even look at right now.” 

By the time that exhausting task is done and she returns to the kitchen, Keith is there. 

He’s bundled up in one of his blankets and sitting haphazardly at one of the stools adjacent to the counter, with a pillow on said counter and his head flopped on the pillow. Kosmo sits dutifully by his side, attentive just in case his chosen human decides to pass out and collapse to the floor. 

“I can help you figure out the soup,” he mumbles into the pillow. He sounds half asleep, but his grayish eyes manage to meet Allura’s as she stares at him, bewildered. “Never made it, but I know what it’s supposed to look like. Kinda. It’ll...it’ll look different with space ingredients, but. Yeah.”

This is one of the most talkative moments she’s ever heard out of Keith, and yet simultaneously one of his more jumbled sentences. Still, Allura is impressed.

Impressed, but not so sure this is a good idea. “You should be resting,” she chastises.

“Shiro and the others need the soup,” Keith argues. It’s less heated than his usual arguments to search for or protect Shiro and the others, but this is probably due to the fatigue and the fact that his stuffed nose makes him sound a bit distorted. “It makes you feel better. And you don’t have medicine yet, so we need the soup.”

Allura sighs. “I would be grateful for your help,” she admits. “But if you strain yourself too much, I will forcibly drag you back to the couch, if need be.”

“I’ve got a teleporting wolf,” Keith argues, a little petulantly. That is highly unusual, but probably another sign of illness. “I can come back.”

By the way Kosmo flattens his ears and half closes his eyes—an approximate summation of an annoyed expression if Allura has ever seen one—she has a feeling Kosmo will not be compliant with that particular rebellious attempt. She smiles understandingly at him. 

“Alright,” Allura says. “Let’s try this again.”

Keith manages to explain, in between sniffles and coughs, that ‘cups’—along with ‘teaspoons’ and ‘tablespoons’—are a measurement system for dry and wet goods from one large country on Earth that Hunk hails from. Allura at least knows not to dump an entire drinking cup of food items into the pot she’s procured, but that doesn’t help her know what to actually measure.

Hunk has saved her in this regard, though. Keith produces a second card from the box. “Found this when I looked through again,” he mumbles. “S’got measurement translations. Like doboshes to minutes. But for food.” 

That does help. Allura learns very quickly that it’s two quarzaks to a cup, a tablespoon is three quarters of a sestent, and a teaspoon is half of a glurzark, and after that everything makes a lot more sense. She finds the measuring materials that Coran had pulled out for the terskargal earlier, and from there it’s mostly a matter of translating Hunk’s bizarre recipe into sensible measurements.

Knowing what foods to use is a little trickier. But Keith eventually spots a large piece of paper taped to the fridge, and when Allura brings it to him, it’s a list of food equivalents for easy reference. She now understands, for example, that ‘rice’ is an Earth food, but that Hunk has determined it’s comparable to boiled teslak grain. 

After that, it’s just a matter of properly parsing the ingredients, chopping them into smaller pieces, and carefully measuring. That part is simple by comparison. It’s a lot like rudimentary alchemy, and she had always enjoyed her father’s early alchemy books.

In the end, the pot on the stove bubbles merrily with some Earth concoction. It doesn’t smell as comforting as Coran’s terskargal, but it’s not unpleasant, and there was—thankfully—no need to milk any chickens, as Keith had promised. The chicken, as it turned out, was the shredded and boiled meat of the creature on their homeworld. Although it had been replaced with alkecha bird in this case, which Hunk had determined had a similar nutrition content. 

Kieth dozes against the counter, face mashed into his pillow, with Kosmo’s muzzle resting gently on his knee. He hasn’t been needed for the last half a varga, now that Allura has an understanding of what she’s doing, but now is the moment of truth. She ladles some of the soup into a bowl, and nudges Keith’s shoulder gently. “I believe it’s done. Would you give it a try?”

Keith blinks awake. Allura places the bowl and spoon on the table. Keith gives it an experimental stuffy sniff before scooping up some of the vegetables, broth, and shredded blue meat, blowing to cool it, and giving it a try. 

“Well?”

He considers. “Think it’s okay,” he says, after a moment. “Had to tell with my nose stuffed. It’s not that other stuff Coran tried to feed us, though—”

“—terskargal,” Allura supplies helpfully.

“—so I think the others could stomach it,” Keith finishes. 

It’s not exactly glowing praise, but Allura will take it. “Thank you for your help,” she says, smiling. “I’ll leave the bowl for you—please try to eat it, and then go lay down again. Kosmo—make sure he does both of those things. We want him to feel better, too.”

Kosmo takes his muzzle off of Keith’s knee and offers her a flick of the ears and an almost human nod. Keith mutters to himself tiredly, but pulls the bowl closer to eat.

Allura fills several more bowls and sets them on a hovering tray, along with more water and other supplies the team might need. The mice haven’t reported anything alarming, but it never hurts to be proactively prepared. She leaves one of the bowls on the floor for Kosmo, who gives her an appreciative wuff of thanks before sticking his nose in it, and then pulls the tray after her to the paladin’s quarters.

Hunk is the first stop, for the real test of her cooking capabilities. Allura knocks and lets herself in at Hunk’s weak acknowledgement, and smiles sympathetically at the human flopped uncomfortably in bed. “I used your recipe and created some of that chicken soup of yours,” Allura says. “Would you like to try it?”

Hunk’s eyes light up. “Do I!” he says. “Mama Hunk’s recipe is good for the stomach. Keeps you fed and from throwing it up again.” And based on how wan he looks, he certainly needs the nutrients. All of them do—they’ve been throwing up all quintent. Keeping down even a little bit will do them all wonders.

“It’s my first time cooking it,” Allura says, as she sets one of the bowls and a glass of water on a smaller floating tray. “You’ll have to let me know what you think.” 

She helps Hunk sit up, propping him with several pillows. Hunk is not at his strongest, but he does manage to take a spoonful of soup, blowing it on it carefully before trying. He swallows, considers, and finally says, “For your first time, it’s not too bad. Way better than that other stuff Coran gave us.”

That does seem to be the general opinion. Why, Allura will never understand. Terskargal has got to be better than this.

“I’m glad it is acceptable,” Allura says, smiling, and keeping her true thoughts to herself. “Will you be okay to eat while I deliver the rest to the others?” 

“Sure,” Hunk says. “They should definitely all get some.” He sniffles uncomfortably, but then helps himself to another spoonful of soup. “It’ll definitely help everyone feel better. Good healthy stuff in here.” 

“I’m glad to hear it,” Allura says. “I’ll be back to collect your dishes in a little bit.”

The next varga is a busy one, as Allura delivers the rest of the soup, helps everyone sit up and get acclimated, and supervises in the cases where her patients are a little too wobbly or disoriented to be left with a hot bowl of liquids alone. The mice, thank the ancients, are invaluable in monitoring the process, keeping her updated on everyone’s status as she rotates room to room. By the time she’s finished making sure everyone has eaten and hydrated, collected the dirty dishes, refilled on water, cleaned out basins again, and made a mental note of which paladins’ sweat-dampened sheets need to be changed by Coran (something that does make sense to her as an Altean), she’s exhausted. 

Keith, at least, is no trouble. She swings through the lounge to check on him, on her way back with the dirty dishes. He’s sound asleep again on the couch, with Kosmo once more stretched out atop him, nose snuggled into Keith’s neck. His empty bowl has been left neatly in the sink, and Kosmo’s is out of the way on the floor, licked clean.

Allura wearily collects the dishes and sets them into the automated cleaner. The rest of the soup is still kept warm on the stove, ready if anyone else needs it. She’ll need to check in soon with Coran on his progress, but for now, everyone is as cared for as can be, at least for the moment. 

Really, caretaking is so much work. Especially with five humans to look after. She has much more appreciation for her mother, and for Coran, and the servants of ten thousand years ago. But she’s proud of herself, too, for being able to handle it all. Who would have thought looking after five sick paladins would be more exhausting than an entire Voltron battle? 

At least she’d done it, and everyone had looked marginally better after the soup. No one can ever say she wouldn’t do anything for her friends. And she hadn’t even been required to milk a chicken.

Thank the ancients for small favors.

#Velkynkarma writes #Voltron #Allura #Keith #Hunk #Kosmo #space mice #the rest are there too but just kinda mentioned #sickfic #April Fools 2020 #Anonymous

[mckinlily]

shalluraweek day 2: wings/bloom

Summary: wings/bloom The war is over, the paladins are back on Earth, but Shiro and Allura find adjusting to peace might be harder than expected.

read on ao3 here

Truth was, it took way too long for Allura to notice. The war was over, Zarkon and Hagar were safely (finally) dead, and the Paladins of Voltron had returned to Earth. Even negotiations with the Galaxy Garrison and Earth’s other ruling parties had, at long last, come to an end. (Earth’s pollical system was surprising complicated and rigid compared to what Allura would have expected from knowing her paladins. When she had told Shiro that, he had just laughed and laughed.) With the politics and negotiations over, the paladins were finally able to go home.

Keith was in the desert, soaking up the Earth sun and the quiet.

Pidge had reunited her family and was making up for lost time.

Hunk traveled to his grandparents's ranch to finally meet two of his youngest nieces.

Lance had gotten absorbed into the mass of parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, distance relatives, and possibly nearby neighbors and outright strangers who just got caught up in the fuss, showing him in the praise and attention deserved.

And Shiro was back at the Garrison, sharing his experience and knowledge with faculty and cadets both. Allura thought he looked very handsome in the sharp cut of his grey uniform, regal and commanding like he always should be. He was back as a hero, and already very well on his way to becoming a beloved instructor. Which to Allura made perfect sense. He had already fought for, inspired, charmed, and occasionally strong-armed the rest of the universe; it was time he received the same kind of recognition on his home planet. He belonged here.

(Allura wasn’t sure she belonged anywhere. With the war over and on a strange planet where the inhabitants felt just enough like Alteans to be continually unnerving, she could feel herself crumpling, like her core was turning into dust.)

(They had finally disposed of Zarkon, and what was Allura besides another ten thousand year old relic? Perhaps it was time for her to fade away as well.)

So Allura told herself all was well. The paladins were safe and happy, and they no longer needed her. She was just stretching out the inevitable when the end was in sight.

It was this line of thinking that almost made her miss the problem with Shiro.

Almost. But, thankfully, not quite.

Allura was used to seeing Shiro with bags under his eyes and stress lines on his face—as much as she might not like it, it was an inevitable part of the war—and it took her way too long to realize that he shouldn’t look like that now. That wasn’t Shiro’s default state. Oh, one might think that was if they only saw Shiro in Black Paladin mode or operating in strict professionalism, but Allura had long since learned how to get past that veneer Shiro held up like a shield. The real Shiro, the true Shiro underneath the stress and the trauma and the responsibility he felt towards everyone, was a very different creature.

And once Allura pulled herself out of her moping enough to realize, it was all very clear.

She hadn’t seen Shiro tease or pull tricks or use that deadpan delivery of his dry morbid humor that left everyone who didn’t know him questioning whether or not he was joking. Not in months. Though he attended all the meetings asked of him, his eyes had lost the light that Allura and the rest of team Voltron had depended on so often in their darkest moments. His involvement in the Garrison seemed more dutiful than engaged, and despite nearly every cadet (and quite a few of the instructors) wanting to know about and know better the incredible Takashi Shirogane, Shiro seemed to be pulling into himself more and more. He wasn’t even excited about mentoring, which was especially surprising given how he had immediately latched on to the other paladins when they were younger. Oh, he tried his best with them—Shiro’s kindness, at least, hadn’t diminished—but it was clear his heart was somewhere far away.

At first, Allura was confused. He seemed to have a great job, a home, a planet—But then Allura thought of what she knew of Shiro, what had made him happiest when they worked side by side, and her heart fell.

Shiro had been grounded. It was so wrong Allura was astonished she hadn’t seen it out before. Mentor, teacher, commander—none of that mattered when it meant he was stuck on the ground. The wings of the great Black Paladin clipped, and oh, Allura hurt at the thought. Shiro had always been happiest the rare times where neither the war nor diplomatic negotiations where pressing on him and he got the opportunity to simply be on whatever planet they had landed on. To learn, explore, try new things. And the Garrison had cut Shiro off from all of it.

Allura’s decision was made before she even had to think about it. She caught Shiro’s hand before he turned in for bed and twined her fingers between his.

“Let’s go,” she said, and Shiro had been working with her too long to question what she meant.

Shiro’s stress lines were etched deep into his face, highlighting the redness also growing there. He held his tablet close to his chest, looking uncertain. “I should…”

Allura shook her head. “Should nothing. You don’t owe them.”

"There’s—there’s paperwork. And schedules—”

“And you’re the Black Paladin. No planetary government can tell you what to do.”

Shiro still hesitated a moment. Then he brought the tablet down. “I’ll get my things.”

As it turned out, Shiro didn’t bring much. Just a few sets of clothes and a personal device with a few memories. Allura took his hand again and led them to the Castle. The other Lions were scattered throughout Earth with their paladins, but the Black Lion was in its hangar. Allura spotted its eyes flash as they walked past and smiled to know it, too, was grateful the Black Paladin had come home.

“You never did fly the Castle, did you?” said Allura as they approached the bridge.

Shiro raised his eyebrows, and he eyes finally filled with a bit of that light he had been missing. “Are you offering to teach me?”

Allura let Shiro walk up to what had been her station and put his hands on the pedestals. She then wrapped her arms around him from the back and pressed her face between his shoulder blades. “Hmm...no. Figure it out.”

Allura felt his laugh more than she heard it. But Shiro didn’t hesitate. He had been living in the Castle for three years and was a fast learner. Figure it out he did, and soon they were breaking through Earth’s atmosphere.

“Where to, Princess?”

Allura smiled against his back. “I don’t care. I just want to be with you.”

It was one of those unspoken things they’d kept hidden, back when the war seemed determined to take everything they loved from them. Shiro took one hand off the pedestals and squeezed her fingers, an acknowledgement. Then he leaned forward.

“There are still a few planets I haven’t been to.”

“Be careful on the gravitational assists. The Castle has its own field.”

Allura could feel Shiro’s grin, even if she couldn’t see it.

“Sounds like a challenge.”

That was her Black Paladin. Her rock and her best friend. Her Shiro. Allura hugged him tight and only laughed when Shiro complained he couldn’t breathe.

By the time they reached the Kepler belt, the tension had leaked out of Shiro’s muscles. He twisted around. “What to take a closer look?”

“Black Lion?” Allura asked.

“Black Lion,” confirmed Shiro.

The Castle might be an incredible feat of engineering, capable of delicate movements that should be impossible for its size, but it had nothing one the agility of a Lion—especially not the way the Black Lion could dance under the direction of Shiro. Together, they soared, darting between frozen clumps of methane and ammonia, going faster—faster—faster! as Allura urged and Shiro laughed in delight until their rumbling stomachs called them home.

(Home, Allura remembered now, had stopped being a place and long since become a person.)

They docked in the Castle and made their way to the kitchen—only to find they weren’t alone.

“Hey, next time give us some warning before we take off, yeah?” said Lance, sprawled out with his feet up on the table.

“I was quite lucky Lance found me before leaving—otherwise I might have been stuck on Earth forever!” said Coran.

“You idiots,” said Keith, stepping forward to shake Shiro. “You thought we wouldn’t want to come with you, didn’t you?”

“Hope you don’t mind I brought my entire family,” said Pidge. “I figured there was room, and they wouldn’t let me leave without them. Also Matt said Shiro required ‘adult supervision.’”

“Hey, he’s only—!” Matt paused and made a face. “How old is Shiro now? Ugh, stupid time dilation.”

“Just because the war is over, doesn’t mean the universe doesn’t still need Voltron,” said Hunk. “There’s still a lot of good we can do, right?”

Shiro looked at Allura, a wry smile on his face. “So maybe we were a little bit dumb.”

Allura finds herself smiling in response. “Maybe a very little bit,” she concedes.

But their family is back together, the war is over, and she’s taking off for adventure again, this time with Shiro’s hand in hers.

From this point forward, Allura knows where she belongs.

#shallura #shalluraweek2020 #mckinlily writes: vld fic #whoops I accidentally added gen #but its still shallura promise

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt.71

It should be illegal to be this tired. Lance felt as if he could sleep for a year, yet sleep had come easy the last two nights. They’d finally had their team briefing, now everyone in their group was on the same page. Everyone other than was smartly tucked up in bed... but Lance and Keith were still sitting in the conference room, staring at the boards that seemed to be mocking them all. Keith was agitated, convinced Krolia was going to shop up ahead of time. But with tonight being Wednesday night, Krolia only had Thursday to be ahead of schedule. Having taken Lance to see his Mami, Miriam’s advice to Keith on the matter of his mother was to talk to her. Which was perfectly reasonable advice, seeing he’d suggested the same thing. The problem now lay with Keith who working himself up so much that every waking moment was devoted to these murders like he had something to prove.

For the last hour they’d say in silence. Keith sitting with his head in his hands, Lance watching over him because Keith knew he was being snappy and was upset over snapping at him multiple times. Lance’s opinion had kind of shifted. He’d shifted from someone trying to make these crimes look amateurish to someone who didn’t care about the bodies being found and was probably a hunter, possibly trained by the Blades or an ex-Blade member. He had mentioned the idea of it being a hunter to Coran who’d conceded he’d thought much the same after finding trace elements in the victims blood, but it wasn’t one of the ones working for him, so he couldn’t pursue that line. That’s why Lance didn’t see it coming.

Hearing footsteps, he’d looked from Keith to the door

“Babe?”

Keith didn’t acknowledge the pet name, so deep in thought he nearly fell off the chair when a knock came at the door, shooting Lance a glare for not warning him. Opening the door, Coran smiled softly at the pair of them, before setting his face and showing a ridiculously tall man into the room. Keith gaped at the stranger, Lance caught up in being confused before a wave of scent hit. Vampire... but not... but not the same kind of scented ego that’d sent him into heat

“Keith, I believe you know Kolivan. Lance, this is Kolivan. Kolivan caught sight of our murder investigation and has come forward to admit that it was Blade related”

Now Lance was nearly falling off his chair. Keith pushing his chair back in clear anger, slamming his hands down on the desk with enough force that Lance whined involuntarily. Quick to cover his mouth, he felt like he had whiplash

“What the fuck?”

Lance agreed. What the fuck indeed? Kolivan cleared his throat, eyes on Keith like Lance didn’t exist

“Keith...”

“Why are you here? Where’s Krolia?!”

Okay... not the angry line of questioning Lance expected. Coming into the room, Coran closed the door behind Kolivan. Softly he spoke as he moved from behind Kolivan to stand beside him

“You’ll have to excuse us. We’re all shocked that the Blades neglected to inform us of this investigation”

“At the time it wasn’t pertinent...”

Excuse him?!

“... However the situation has moved beyond our control”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“Perhaps we should sit? Discuss things like reasonable adults”

Coran was obviously pissed. He was always polite but this politeness carried an edge of barely curved anger.

Keith continued to stand as Kolivan and Coran sat. Lance went to reach for his boyfriend only to let his hand drop. Keith didn’t want to be touched. He could sense it. Almost as if telling Lance he wasn’t really welcome in the space anymore

“I can see from your... boards you made a few assumptions. Your assumptions over Honerva’s involvement are correct, however the murders were in fact performed by a Blade member, not by Lotor. We had an unfortunate incident, resulting in the death of one of our deep undercover agents in Platt”

Okay. Okay. Blade member death was not good. Shiro and Keith were Blade members... as was Krolia. Now was not the time to freak out over Keith’s safety. Nope. He wasn’t freaking out of it. Keith was right there... Nope... He wasn’t sitting there potentially pregnant with Keith’s kid freaking out, because he wasn’t pregnant. The condom just got stuck to his arse. Keith was fine. He was more than fine. He was damn fine. Oh fuck... He was internally panicking now.

“Perhaps you can tell us more about your investigation?”

Coran pried gently, Lance regretting not dragging Keith to bed earlier...

“Antok was acting under my orders. We believe Honerva has developed a blood powder that increases healing by overriding the bodies natural flow of quintessence. Normally not an issue. Unless you factor in that she has used fae blood. The side effects are unknown outside of a temporary lapse in sanity and a permanent darkening of ego. We believe Lotor knows of the distribution routes and came to redirect profit. Honerva has an interest in Platt given the harmony the city has seen between between your supernatural inhabitants and the people. My hand was forced today when I found two humans trailing both Keith and Lance’s movements. They were intercepted for interrogation. You’ll understand my shock at discovering they not only knew of werewolves, claiming to be the sister to a wolf, and friend to a vampire”

Oh, no.

“Um, Kolivan. What did you do with them?”

“They were clearly not hunters. After confiscating their devices and sedating them, they were brought here for Coran to deal with”

Coran fiddled with the end of his moustache. Lance felt his heart racing as fast as his thought. Pidge and Hunk were here. Pidge... Pidge who’s never be able to put her curiosity aside... was here. His Pidge. His Pidge that he’d missed like crazy. His hunk, who was still a golden ray of sunshine. Both of them here. Both of them here because they were snooping. Both of them were snooping because he’d scared Pidge. Here. They could be dead. How did they even know where they were? What we’re they doing following them? They hated him. He’d lied to their faces for years. Now they were here. Somewhere they didn’t know. Detained for simply being themselves. What did he say? How did he fit years of explanation into the 30 seconds of explanation time he’d get before Pidge demanded answers? They were so lucky they... what if Lotor knew about them now? Who had Pidge questioned? Had she used Keith’s name? Was Keith in trouble now because of him? He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t... catch his breath. A breathing vampire... he was ridiculous. He was barely a vampire outside of the teeth, and the blood, and he could turn into a bat, and feel death... and oh god, how did he apologise?

*

Keith was ready to kill Kolivan. It was always the same bullshit with the Blades. He was pissed. He was so fucking pissed. Kolivan walked in and pissed all over their hard work. He knew Antok. He’d run on missions with him back when he was a new Blade and Shiro had other messes to clean up. The fact that Shiro didn’t know about the mission showed someone out there no longer trusted him, or Keith, as agents. How the fuck... How the fuck did not cooperating with Coran help deal with this faster? This was bullshit. He’d worked himself to near death and they couldn’t fucking trust him with an important mission. Instead he’d been lied to. Told Lance was a threat and kicked to bumfuck nowhere on what was supposed to be his first leading kill.

Quietly shaking with apocalyptic rage, his eyes widened at Lance’s voice. So angry he didn’t think about who those humans would be, only cursing them for being stupid mentally. You didn’t tell people this shit. You didn’t trust them. Wrong the vampire or werewolf and you’d be dead. Fast or slow, that was personal preference, as long as the point was made. Pidge... they’d warned her. She must have started her own investigations. That was likely, but they’d slipped up. She had to have investigated Lance, but her thirst for understanding meant she would have started searching wider. Like in a Platt. Like in Platt where Antok was leaving a message to Honerva that her brand of crazy wasn’t welcome here.

Keith jumped as a thud came from beside him, Coran calling Lance’s name as he collapsed. Keith was ashamed it took a moment to move to his boyfriend’s side. Lance morphing from his human form to bat, yet completely limp as Keith lifted him from hunter his shirt and jacket. Normally Lance had a nice scent, like vanilla or whatever body wash he was using. It was weird to say, but what Keith thought he smelt was distress

“Let me see, Number two”

Having rushed around the table to Lance, Coran held his hands out, Keith forced to hand his boyfriend over to him. Closing his eyes for a moment, Coran let out a soft sign of relief

“He’s still dead”

What? Lance was going to magically wake up living? Of course Lance was still dead. It came from him being a vampire

“Is he okay?”

“I’d say he fainted over news of Miss Katie and Hunk. They’re perfectly okay. Mild sedative, and will be right as rain in a couple of hours”

Coran sounded too happy. Lance had agonised over his two best friends and Coran knew that

“You know what they mean to him. Pidge was fucking lucky Kolivan got her and not someone like Sendak”

“Ah. Yes. Well. Yes. Most lucky”

Coran valued lives but him being awkward about it wasn’t calming Keith down

“They’re our friends! They could have been killed!”

“I understand that. I ensure you that no harm will come to them. I’m actually relieved to finally have a chance to talk to both of them over that day. It has been weighing heavily on my mind”

Keith bit down snapping, instead his shock kind of slipped out

“It has?”

“It hurt both you and Lance. They are valuable friends and I was trying not to meddle in your affairs, but I know it hurt you both”

“It hurt him...”

It hurt Lance a thousand times more than it’s hurt Keith. And Matt...

“It hurt you too. Perhaps this is for the best, yes?”

“I don’t know. Lance fainted...”

“Might I interrupt? Who is this vampire?”

Coran passed Lance back to him. Keith cradling him up against his chest. Coran spoke proudly

“This is Lance. Model vampire citizen. Turned very young, has kept his mind remarkably well. Always cheerful and very helpful. Extremely trusting. Proof that vampires are able to lead a normal life with safe access to blood. Three identities and this is the first slip in 36 years. Very hard worker is our Lance”

“He’s... unusual. Is he the vampire you were sent to target?”

Kolivan was prying. Keith felt he had no right to pry. All the Blades could fuck themselves on their ways out

“All the best people are unusual, so I have found. Keith, perhaps you’d like to take Lance to my office to rest?”

“I’ve got him. He’ll be okay up here. And someone owes us some fucking answers. How could you not approach Coran? This is his city. He works his arse off here and I know we’re all about secrecy, but do you know how much time was wasted because you couldn’t approach us? We wasted hours. Hours that could have been spent tracing this tainted quintessence blood powder shit. Blocking us out this investigation isn’t okay!”

Coran stroked the top of Lance’s head gently

“Number two, I appreciate your candour. You warm this old fae’s heart. Now, I need to talk with Kolivan. For both your sakes, you should take a moment. Lance will be most upset over fainting”

Him being upset probably lead to him fainting

“He does cry a lot... He says feeling his emotions helps keep him human”

“A lesson we could learn from. Honesty is the best policy”

Keith could tell the second half of Coran’s words were directed at Kolivan. Now his anger was fading, he had to admit he was pretty tired. But he couldn’t rest with Pidge and Hunk being detained...

“Are you sure Pidge and Hunk will be okay? Should we get Matt to stay with them? Lance will want someone with them...”

“You seem to care about Lance. Is there something there that we should be made aware of? From what I understand he is still under a 4 month probationary period. Of course allowing humans to discover his identity may complicate things. I expected more”

Kolivan had no right trying to pry again

“The discovery was due to cleansing magic. Not intentional on his behalf and that you’re insinuating something else is completely unacceptable. You haven’t the right to be prying into the dating lives of my employees”

Keith’s stomach dropped like he’d missed the bottom step. Coran had dobbed them into Kolivan. Krolia was tight with Kolivan. They’re worked together for decades now... His mother had time for Kolivan, but not for him. Kolivan was a hard man to get a read on. He didn’t personally train recruits, instead leading his own small faction. Keith could count maybe 6 times he’d been in the same room as the man with less than a dozen people there also. He wasn’t quite the right fit for Kolivan’s group, not when he had issues and distrust anyone other than Shiro. Kolivan’s way of training was leave it all behind, including their lives if the hunt called for it. Shiro was worried Keith’s anger would lead to just that. He’d nearly got himself killed, and Shiro had flipped his lid over it.

“I see. Perhaps it is best Keith does leave us for now. The Blades will be handling matters related to Honerva and Zarkon”

“Frosting Coran out is like chopping off your own leg. Coran knows this city and not to use his knowledge is stupid. I’ll take my chances with him”

He’d never talked to Kolivan this way. Kolivan’s barely disguised chuckle made him feel like a dumb punk. Why was it no one took him seriously, apart from Lance and maybe Shiro when he wasn’t being overprotective. Storming out the conference room only solidified the feeling, but it wasn’t the first time he’d stormed off.

#once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #ashratherose

[arrowedavenger]

for the “Your muse finds mine after mine has cried themself to sleep. What does yours do?” meme - @palidinus

     Clint knew better than to intrude in someone’s private space, but he’d seen the look on Shiro’s face after the battle. He’d seen how shaken the other man looked, remembered how he’d frozen up during the fight, and the way his face had crumpled when he realized that Pidge was hurt. It had only been the warning hand on his shoulder from Kieth and tense head-shakes from the rest of the team that had kept him from going after him right away. Instead, he’d gone with them to help Pidge get patched up while Shiro had talked quietly with Allura and then vanished.

     Some people needed time to themselves to recover. He got that.

     But that didn’t stop the well of worry, and when Shiro didn’t turn up for food either, Clint excused himself to go look for him. He wasn’t in his rooms or in the training hall, there were no holograms running, and finally he found himself at the feet of the Black Lion, looking up at her. He smiled softly, sadly. 

     Do you know where he is? He asked her mentally. I’m... I don’t want him to be alone.

     There was a distinct sense in his mind that she objected to Shiro being called alone at the moment. Was he with someone? But then the hatch opened, and it clicked.

     I’m glad you’re here for him. May I see him, please?

     He was always unfailingly polite with the lions, respect and deference. He might get on anyone else’s nerves and defy ten kinds of authority, but when it come to these? He adored them beyond belief, and was grateful for them. Perhaps that’s why the staircase was lowered for him. Or perhaps she knew how much he loved Shiro as well.

     It was too soon to call it that, at least from a romantic standpoint, but there was respect and admiration and affection and the overriding instinctive feeling that Clint would take a bullet for him, and what was that if not love?

     He climbed the steps, trying to keep his tread even and light, and when he made it into the cockpit, Shiro was asleep in the chair. Clint’s brow furrowed, and then he couldn’t help the lip wobble from seeing the tear tracks down the man’s face. Did the rest of the team not know how hard Shiro had taken it? Or had they tried to keep it from him? Did they think poorly enough of him to think that he’d lose faith at the first sign of emotional upheaval?

     Clint was intruding, he knew, seeing something personal that shouldn’t have been allowed, no matter what Shiro’s lion thought. Still, he reached out with a trembling hand and very, very gently wiped the residual wetness away. His heart ached. He knew how hard it was to have battles go badly, to have people’s health and lives on one’s conscience. He knew even more how terrifying it was to lock up during a battle, to fight down panic and fear and try to stay one with the team. He knew that Shiro thought that this was his burden to bear alone.

     It was not.

     Clint would not wake him, not when he needed the rest, nor would he slip away like a thief in the night and then lose the gall to be honest with Shiro and what he’d seen and done. So he sat down with his back to Shiro’s chair, tipped his head against it, and closed his eyes. Whenever Shiro woke, he would be there for him. Whatever they would face, they could face together.

     It was not his right to do this, he knew, but it was all he could do.            His heart made demands, his soul was torn between righteous and restless.

                         He knew his place, for as long as it would be his.

#palidinus #meme reply; #sorta #drabble; #au: voltron; #got the MOST carried away #oof

[thespacenico]

to the future (2.2k word klance oneshot)

。·:*:·ﾟ★。·:*:·ﾟ☆

Socializing is hard.

This is one of the many reasons that Keith has never been a particularly big fan of social events, in any capacity. It’s one of a number of things he wishes he could change about himself sometimes.

Sometimes, he wishes that he were better with people, or at the very least that he enjoyed being around them in the first place. Maybe if he were more personable, they would enjoy being around him, too, but that’s never really been the case.

Connecting with people has never exactly been his strong suit, although there are the few people in his life now who make him think that it can be worth the effort. First it was Shiro, then Adam, then the entire team of Voltron—eventually his mom, even, although that’s a relationship they’re both still learning to navigate.

It’s not that he’s asocial, necessarily, but he truly doesn’t understand why anyone would want to constantly subject themselves to something that to him is so draining. There’s only so much he can take of polite smiles and obligatory handshakes and small talk with strangers he’ll probably never seen again and yet are scrutinizing his every move, as if they’re just waiting for him to mess up.

To think that there are some who voluntarily do things like this on a daily, weekly, or even a monthly basis and genuinely enjoy it is utterly bewildering to him.

This, being the post-saving the universe intergalactic diplomacy ball that he and the rest of the former paladins were invited to. And some, being Lance, who Keith has seen interact with more people tonight than Keith thinks he’s interacted with in his entire life.

He’s watched Lance bounce around from table to table, group to group, corner to corner all night, with no sign that he’ll be stopping anytime soon.

It’s admirable really, the way he so effortlessly moves throughout the room with so much grace, acting in all the right ways and saying all the right things. He’d be jealous if he weren’t so caught up in the frequent flash of Lance’s smile, and the sparkle in his eyes every time he cracks a joke, and the long column of his throat when he throws his head back to laugh along with whoever he happens to be talking to. Not to mention how the blue theme of the suit tailored just for him (they’d all received one) brings out the blue of his eyes infinitely more than usual.

Not that he’s been staring. Very openly. All night. For no reason whatsoever. He’s gotten enough grief from Shiro already.

Only there is a reason, because eventually it’s not enough to satisfy the tugging in his gut—the one that’s been bothering him for long enough that it’s begun to make him tired, and restless, yet he doesn’t have the courage to follow.

He slips away the first chance he gets, stepping out of the noise and the crowd of the ballroom and into the quiet of a small, secluded balcony outside, overlooking a vast expanse of the planet that’s essentially one enormous garden, he’s realized. The sounds of friendly chatter and upbeat music immediately dims once the doors are closed behind him, and he takes a moment to breathe before finding himself leaning against the delicately ornate banister, arms folded, staring out at the stars scattered across the darkening sky.

Time always seems to go by faster this way. It’s easy to get lost in his thoughts once they have his full attention, and he’s been alone with them long enough that he doesn’t mind it too much—except for times like now, when the topic of his thoughts are something that’s been bothering him long enough that he desperately wants to share them with someone. One person, in particular. That’s something else that sets him apart from everyone else, he thinks, although he doesn’t have much time to ponder that before he’s interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Thought I’d find you out here.” Keith starts slightly, glancing over his shoulder to see Lance carefully closing the balcony doors behind him. “Mind if I join you?”

He doesn’t really wait for Keith to answer before making his way over to stand beside him, but it’s not like Keith was about to turn him down, anyway. “Just needed some air,” he says by way of explanation, turning back to look out over the greenery and flowers and foliage below.

Lance hums, crossing his arms over the banister and leaning forward. They’re close enough that their shoulders brush, and usually Keith prefers to have his personal space, but he’s found that he never really minds when Lance is the one to invade it. He doesn’t mind a lot of things about Lance, actually.

But it strikes him then that Lance is out here, instead of in there, and he’s confused enough about the why that he glances over questioningly. “What about you?”

“Hm?”

“Why are you out here?”

“I noticed you were missing,” Lance answers easily, face still tilted up to the sky, and then continues before Keith can even consider the implications of that. “What are you thinking about?”

“You,” is what Keith might have answered, if he were braver. But he’s not, so he turns away and settles for something vague. “A lot of things.”

“What are you gonna do?”

Keith thinks he has whiplash from how quickly the conversation keeps changing directions. He doesn’t even register the question for a moment, blinking up at the stars before turning away again to find Lance peering curiously back at him. “What?”

“After all this,” Lance clarifies. “With the war being over, and the restoration efforts Allura’s putting into place, and everyone going back home—what are you gonna do?”

Keith stares at him, frozen and unresponsive under the intensity of Lance’s gaze. It’s something he’s thought about a lot, but never really spoken to anyone about. Now that he has the chance, the uncertainty of it all seems so much more palpable, somehow.

“Do you think you’ll go back to the Blade?” Lance prompts.

That snaps Keith out of his daze. “No,” he answers firmly. Then falters, shoulders slumping slightly as he looks away. “Maybe? I—I don’t know.” He shifts his weight from one side to the other, studying a small cut on his hand that he doesn’t remember the source of. “I kind of had something else in mind.”

“Like what?” Lance asks, and from anyone else it would sound prying, and intrusive, but from Lance it only sounds genuine.

Keith already feels like he’s said too much, but for some reason he’s not so afraid of that anymore. That doesn’t necessarily make it any easier, though. He bites his lip, fully aware of Lance’s gaze still on him as he considers what to say. “Do you remember… on our way back to Earth, we got stuck in that weird game show.”

“The one where I was almost burned alive?” Lance breathes out a slow, thoughtful sigh mixed with a laugh. “How could I forget?”

“I wasn’t exactly fair to you.”

Lance’s quiet laughter fades, and out of the corner of Keith’s eye he sees Lance turn to better face him. “What? It’s not like that was your fault—”

“Not that, I mean—” Keith huffs in frustration, and Lance immediately goes silent, brow furrowed as he waits for Keith to collect himself. “I mean at the end. When we were all forced to choose one person to leave and… I picked you.”

They both know exactly what he’s talking about without actually saying it, if the following quiet is anything to go by. “Oh,” Lance says softly.

Keith clenches and unclenches his fists against the banister, because he still can’t quite bring himself to look at Lance anymore. “What I said about you—I didn’t mean it, the way it sounded. And I’m sorry.”

“Keith,” Lance starts. “You don’t have to—”

But something has shifted in Keith’s chest, something heavy and all-encompassing, and he doesn’t want to let himself lose that momentum so he grips the railing and looks up to meet Lance’s gaze. “Do you remember what you said?” he interrupts, trying to ignore the nervous fluttering in his stomach. “About me?”

Lance’s eyes are searching, flicking back and forth between Keith’s as he gauges his response. “Why?”

The yes is implied. They both know this.

“Do you still want that?”

Something strange passes over Lance’s face then, something entirely unreadable and therefore terrifying. He slowly, deliberately pushes himself up and fully turns to face Keith properly, one arm still resting across the banister. “What do you mean?”

Keith feels out of breath, as if he’s just run an entire marathon instead of standing motionless in the exact same spot for the past fifteen minutes. “I mean—do you… is it too late?”

Lance’s expression is something careful and calculated, as if he understands entirely but is still afraid of being wrong. “Keith, what are you trying to say?”

It all comes pouring out at once, altogether exhilarating yet horrifying because it feels like his entire heart is on the line now, stripped bare just for Lance to see. “I want to be it,” he breathes, his voice remarkably steady despite the furious churning of his stomach and the desperate ache in his chest. “I wanna be the future you talked about. Or even just a part of it, if you’ll let me.”

The lengthy silence that follows is almost unbearable. Keith doesn’t even realize that he’s abandoned the railing in favor of standing almost pleadingly in front of Lance, who only has his hand laying across the railing now. His heart feels like it might burst out of his chest the longer that Lance keeps looking at him like that. Because Lance’s eyes are wide, his lips parted slightly, a small gust of wind ruffles his hair across his forehead, and it’s not fair because Keith wants to kiss him.

But he can’t, not until he knows for certain that he’s allowed to.

He doesn’t have to wait long before Lance makes the decision for him.

Lance’s hand disappears from the banister and finds the back of Keith’s neck instead, and before Keith even has the chance to speak, Lance swiftly closes the little space that remains between them and kisses Keith himself.

Keith forgets how to breathe. But the initial shock dissipates instantly and then he’s kissing back just as eagerly, eyes falling shut and one hand coming up to take a fistful of Lance’s suit, if nothing but to steady himself. Lance’s other hand slides around to the small of Keith’s back and presses him closer, tilting his head to deepen the kiss, and Keith lets him, following his every touch, his every movement.

Which is telling, he thinks absently, as Lance pushes and backs him up against the railing without ever breaking apart, and Keith’s lucky he has Lance to anchor him or he may have gone toppling over the side. Either way, he would follow Lance anywhere if he had the choice.

“Dude,” Lance pants, breathless, which is a strange thing to say just before he presses another kiss to Keith’s lips. “What took you so long?”

“I was scared,” Keith mumbles, distracted, as Lance begins to press more kisses to the corners of his mouth, his cheeks, underneath his eyes. “I didn’t know if you meant it the way I wanted you to.”

“You,” Lance murmurs, an answer to the unspoken question that still remains between them, Keith clinging to Lance’s waist as Lance kisses the underside of his jaw, and pulls back to look him in the eye. “You’re it for me.”

And he captures Keith’s mouth again with his own, and it takes everything in Keith’s power not to collapse against the banister behind him with how overwhelming all of this is, in the best kind of way he never knew there could be.

They never do go back inside to join the others for the rest of the night. Neither of them have to say anything to know that they don’t quite want to let go of this moment yet—new, unfamiliar, and maybe a little bit scary, but theirs, nonetheless. Even after they’ve broken apart they stick close to each other’s sides, speaking quietly or not at all, never not touching in one way or another.

The future is never certain, Keith decides. That’s been one of the few constants in his life, and he’s got a long list of things to prove it. He would say it’s scary if he hadn’t grown accustomed to it over time, although that doesn’t make it any less disheartening, or difficult to think about.

But it’s infinitely easier to take on, and infinitely more exciting to look forward to, when he has someone like Lance by his side. Keith has never been the most sentimental person, but Lance has always had a way of bringing out those parts of him.

To us, Keith thinks later, head resting on Lance’s shoulder, Lance’s thumb tracing lazy circles across the back of his hand as they stand together and watch the stars.

And to the future.

#klance #my writing #voltron #vld #keith #lance

[goldstonegolem64]

Book 1 Hope returns  Chapter 46 Vanguard By goldstonegolem64

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9HJV1Ben6k

Galra central command

It had been about  eight teen hours since Root rot was sent to conquer and Zarkon was starting to get frustrated  with how long it was taking. 

“ Any word from the weed or any of the ship captains that were sent with him?” Zarkon asked 

After a few second of wait one of the transition officers spoke”  No my lord We are getting nothing but static . But before he did go dark we did receive a message from Root Rot group saying that they had run in with the Valkyrie. “ .

‘ I know that but it was seventeen vs one how could one man take on so many at once or maybe Voltron and or that titan was there as well  “ Zarkon said as he got up from his throne 

“ Should we send the twin or Skyver to assisted Root Rot in his mission?”

“ No he either succeed or he dies. I would rather not send those three to their  deaths. We will deal with at in do time “   Zarkon said as he was leaving the room “ Recall any Sub-commanders and commander that nearest to us, call back the nearest mobile repair bay and tell every refinery to double their work load we are going to need as many mans on deck just in case we are attacked In the coming days” Zarkon left the control room and walked towards Haggar’s lab. As he moved he walked passed dozens of soldiers  each one moved out of his way as they could see he was visibly angered by the failure of his commanders for not capturing voltron, for not stomping out the rebel cells that had been cropping up recently after voltron showed back up.

But then again he had grown complacent over the centuries believing that no foe could stand up to him and the empires might . But that all came back to bite him for not handling this problem himself. But that what project Titan was for .Zarkon stopped in front of the door way to Haggar’s lad then entered the room. As he entered the room he found Haggar looking out of a window .

“So how is the constructs of the Titan project going “   Zarkon said as he walked over to look out the same window 

‘ We are putting on the finishing touches from the data we’ve collected from ever battle that both the Valkyrie and Voltron had been in the past two months and have made the proper adjustments to face both of them at once but there is a draw back  to this upgrade.” 

“ And what is that my dear  “

“  You will need a full on neural link for it to control so if titan is destroyed it will most likely kill you.”

“Well we have the Lazarus protocol . Now on the statue of Root Rot and his men ?”

“All but two are alive and counted for. K-38 and K-2″

“So Root Rot Is dead then”

“ No he is most likely still alive,recovering and adapting  from this defeat. Now should we send a recover team to collect him along with an invasion force to the planet ?” Haggar asked 

“ No We have lost already to many men and recourses on one world and if Voltron and The Valkyrie are there we will lose so many more and with the twins and Skyver mechs being rebuild and upgrade and the new batch of Kurons being grown  and trained we would most likely lost . Speaking of which how is batch two training coming along?”

“ Worst then the first . We tried to lean more into the silver paladins altean d.n.a But this as caused those to come out mindless.”  Haggar walked over to her desk and showed a video of a Kuron in its test tube it looked liked an Altean with tan skin, red cheek marks and pink hair in their mid teens . They were just floating there in it’s pod doing nothing but growing  then the monitor at the front of the pod started to glow red. Then the scientists  in the lab moved  toward the pod and tried to figure out what was going on. Then the Kuron inside started to violently  morphing from a normal body and into a  gray scaled beast. It then Burst through the pod’s glass and attacked the scientist and ripped then apart. It then let out a roar that caused the surrounding kuronsin there pods to start to change as well. They then burst out and started to rampage through out the lad ripping into each other.

“   It seems like they have reverted to a more primitive Mind set if you remove the human D.n.a and try to fill in the gapes with Altean or Galran D.n.a.” Haggar said as she stopped the video 

“ So the silver Paladin is human and Altean so there are other Alteans still alive on the planet Earth then “  Zarkon said as a smile came across his face

“ Yes and no. The Silver paladin dose share some D.n.a with the black paladin but there seems to be small changes to their d.n.a . Like how the Silver paladin heart pumps blood slower then the Black paladins that tends to happen a kid is born in zero or artificial gravity.”

“So he was born on another world then. But there was no other planets in that solar system that could host life.” 

“ Well the first humans we had captured were on the ninth planet of their system. So there ma be colonies on other worlds or moons.”  

“ Alright then we’ll send a scouting ship to find this colony. Now have you found the traitor in are midst yet

“No I haven’t. “

“But we have “ Another voice said 

Both Zarkon and Haggar turned to look at the voice and were supriesd by who they saw.

Else where in the universe

Jay was sitting in the Med bay playing a game of chess against Pidge 

“  Are you sure your ok jay “Pidge  asked as she moved one of her pawns 

“ I’m fine my suit took most of damage and I’ve been through worse “ Jay replied as he moved his knight

“Jay your skin is bright ready and your smoking still are you sure your fine” pidge said as she moved another pawn .

“  It’s fine I’ll just shed of the dead skin of next time I shower next “ 

“ Wait you shed like a lizard  “ Pidge had a strange image in her head of Jay shedding like a snake 

Jay looked up from the chess board and looked perplexed by pidge’s statement “ Yes like a lizard would. “  Then he remembered pidge was not from mars “Sometimes I forget we come from different planets. So something normal to me is weird to you  and Vic-versa”  

“ That is true but still are you going to be alright after all that happened yesterday “ 

“Pigeon I’ve been sitting in this room four hours . I think I’m good at this point. Also Checkmate “

“What. “ Pidge looked at the board and saw that jay had moved his  rook right in front of her king then notice that the queen was behind it and had the bishop that move on black spaces was also aimed toward the rook” Uh didn’t see that coming.Good game jay “ 

“Finally after six game I won once and now I retire on top” Jay said as he shot both his hands up in joy.

“ Alright then so what do we do now “

“ We will jst a bit more before the others show “

“And what do when they ask about the big one sitting just out side of the city’s limits “

“Will let the others deal with at when they get here “ Jay replied 

‘[Captain The castle of lions as entered the planet’s orbit and Allura wishes for both of you to meet them at the as soon as possible}

“ Speak of the devil i guess we should head out then” jay said as he got up from his seat . “Hey Val did you leave the speeder here or is it still in your chest “ his said in his minded 

“ I left it just out the Prometheus’s cargo by door.” Val said 

“ Thank you” Jay said as he and pidge walked out of the med bay 

“ Your welcome  ‘ Val replied  

“ So were taking the not the green lion. “ Pidge asked 

“ Pidge it’s “ looked at his phone” 5 in the morning and people are sleeping so the bikes will do for now” Jay said as he walked down the ramp and saw his silver speeder which he called quick Silver. As he sat down and wait for pidge he saw the castle of lions slowly starting to descend from the clouds  on the other side of the city. As he watched the castle. Pidge riding her speeder” Alright lets go” Jay said as he and pidge drive towards where the castle was landing.

As the castle landed both Jay and Pidge arrived

“ So how do you think the others are going to react to see the big one ‘ Jay asked still sitting as the castle landed a few feet away 

“Don’t know but it’s going to be fun when they learn what happened here. Also do you wonder what happened on their missions “ pidge said as the door they were in front of started to open

“ Why don’t we ask them are selves “ Jay replied as he walked into the castle of lions  followed by Pidge the two walked onto the kitchen first and Found most of the crew  which was Matt, Hunk , Nyma, Rolo , Keith and Shiro sitting  at the table eating the food goo” Sup Guys how did your missions 

Adam spoke first “ We had some trouble but it was a” Adam was cut off by  a blueish green furred ferreteped  as Jay called them suddenly appeared in front of him and grabbed him by the face which kind hurt do to the electrical burns he suffered from the fight 

“ Oh no we truly are in the worst possible reality to be in . Unless it the reality . . What is your name boy “ Slav asked

Jay with his cheeks being stretched out spoke “ Jay Sorin and I’m guesting your Slav ” he replied 

“ Yes .Also if our here now then this realty still has a chance “ Slav said then he was grabbed by the back of the collar by Shiro and was pulled away

“ Sorry Jay He’ s been raving about of end of the world ending conspiracy theory the moment We said anything about the Valkyrie.”  Shiro said as he put Slav down

“ It’s not a Conspiracy it’s a strong possibility” Slav Counters 

Shiro and Slav started to argue about this while Jay and Adam watch and laughed a bit  

“So Hunk Keith Rolo, Nyma how did your mission go?” Pidge asked

“ Keith made a friend with a GAlra pilot “Hunk said

“ They were no my friend I just helped them out see as the five of us were inside of a giant space worm.” Keith replied 

“ but they liked you the most “ Nyma said jokingly 

“ Maybe Galra just know when their in the presents of one any other “ Hunk said 

“ That is true but only for pure bloods seeing as they are all fucking purple “  Jay yelled

“ Thank Jay for the info “ Keith said 

“ So they just were being polite because Keith saved them ok if it comes back to bite us in the butt that’ s on Keith then agreed ” Hunk said 

“ Agreed”  Everyone said 

“ That’s fair .Now Pidge What did you and Jay do while we were away ?” Pidge asked

“ Fought some robeasts and the guy who took my leg nothing to big “Pidge said like it was no big deal 

Everyone was quite for a few seconds before Matt speaking up “  Are you alright did you have a panic attack . Jay where were you during all this”  Matt asked as he looked towards jay 

“ I was being electrocuted for info you shmuck. Also I to was having a panic attack but no one asked if I was ok “ Jay said and that was followed by everyone asking what happened, Why the empire was here did they find out about the plan. As Jay and Pidge were bombard with questions 

“ Ok well answer all this questions but first we need everyone here to fully explained what happened here “ Pidge said 

In the bridge of the castle of lions Allura and coran were talking 

“Princess I have sent a message to the blade and Asmo  telling them about are success on all three of are mission. Is there anything else you would like me to do”   Coran asked 

“  I would like to Have Pidge, Jay, Beau, La-sai ,N-7 and Ace here to get me their mission nreport Also I would like to Talk with Ryner and Isara seeing as she and the Queens Sayers are hear. But besides that I’m good”  Allura said 

Coran could tell something was up with her.” Allura what is wrong you seem off’

Allura bite her lower lip then spoke “ I’m just a little bit worried about the Mission coming up . Maybe we should wait a little bit longer and train more so we can truly be ready for it”

Coran knew that wasn’t the full truth ” I feel the same they have only been paladins for a few months now and they lack the train or at time maturity, Hundreds of years of experience of fighting massive battles. But  I have watched them be on the same level of the original Paladins and I believe that they could be better then them and lead the universe in to a better tomorrow “ Coran smiles thinking about it”  

“ You know just what to say to put me at ease Coran.”She smiled and looked up to coran “ But I’m still worried about the others their so young and I kind of fell like I forced them into this roles with out truly thinking this through. Each one of them nearly at less once on this journey and I’m sending them into a Fight that decide the fate of the universe. “

“I may not know much about humans but from what I’ve seen they have sir pasted all of my expectation and beat ever challenge that came to face them. An I will bet on my life that they will beat this next challenge with flying colors  “ Coran said as he pulled Allura into a huge

“ I hope your right Coran I hope your right.” Allura said 

As the two hugged The door to the bridge opened to revel  the rest of the crew with Pidge and Jay at the front 

“ Hi boss sorry to interrupted but we have something important  to tell you.” Jay said 

“ What is it  “Allura asked 

The team wait for the rest of the crew to join and when they did Jay and Pidge explained what had happened from when they arrived to the fight with Robeast and the squad of copy Valkyrie then the fight with the Thunder Bird and Dread wing. Then the Battle with Root Rot. Everyone stood there in shook as they listened to how Jay was for the second time was nearly killed by the plant man again.

“ So This IronWood guy Called you Dad ?” Lance said just a little weirded out 

“Yeah an the other guy black thorn said like me when I was a teenager witch confused me as well . If they were still alive we could have asked them about that but we still have one of those pilot’s still alive hows that memory collecting going anyway ?”   Jay asked Coran 

“ It’s been going fine and we will fine out soon what that pilot knows in about two more days .” Coran replied ]

‘Ok Is there any thing else you too want to tell Us “Allura asked as she looked at the both of them .

“ Oh that  Jay call Val “Pidge said 

“ On it “ Jay said before talking in his mind “Val It’s time” 

“ We are on are way” Val said This was followed by Music started to play over the comm and the world started to shake 

“ What is that “ Shiro asked

“ That would be are Ace in the hole “Pidge said as she walked up to the terminal punched in a location and a scan appeared showing the Vanguard walking from a massive crated that had something in it covered in Ice and Vines.”   Ladies and Gentlemen we give you the colossus Vanguard the unbreakable and Allura she would like to speak to you and Voltron I don’ t know what that means but I think Shiro might know” 

“ I Do Pidge. Paladin to your lion “ shiro said as he and the rest of the paladins left the bridge

Back a Galra central command 

Thace had decide to move the chip he place in the control room .As he walked to the control room  he felt for just a moment that someone was watching him again. HE looked behind him to see no one behind him. This sent a chill down his spine but he continued to walk towards the control room as he entered the control room. Some one tried to stab him. He quickly grabbed the wrist of his assailant and was about to punch them only to have his free hand grabbed  by someone else in the room followed by a knife stabbing into his leg. He fell to his knee and then was punched in the face. He looked to his right to see Harley smiling at him Then he looked to his left to see Quinn. Both were standing over him. Then they started to whale on him . Each punch  cracked against his face and he could fell his skull crack and his jaw being dislocated. after a few minutes of being beaten on. With his jaw busted he could only say one word “ Why?” 

Quinn moved in closer and whispered in Thace’s ear  “Sorry about this Thace but it’s the only way to make whatever your planning work in are favor “  

Then Harley leaned in “ Look around the room “ 

He looked up again to see serval things about the room. The first thing was that the cameras were destroyed and there was a body of a control room officer knocked out. Then he noticed that the console in the room had a familiar  looking blade in it. Then something clicked in his mind he remembered that there was two blade members that started a family they had kids twins. Both parents dead on a mission leaving the twin. The blade wanted to take the twins in but sadly they had disappeared before and could be found. “  You”

“ Yes we are but we aren’t going to join your little group we just want out of the empires control “Quinn whispered as she and her brother picked up and dragged him out of the room towards Lady Haggar’s lab 

Back with the Paladin

Voltron flow towards the Vanguard with the Valkyrie in toe

Allura stood in the cockpit of the black lion and started at the colossal purple Knight as it stopped and looked up towards the two mechs 

“Shiro before we talk to the Vanguard my I ask when pidge said  that the vanguard wanted to talk to Voltron and you knew what she meant. I just wonder how”

“ I though you knew about me seeing as you are bonded lion” Shiro replied

“ No I don’ t maybe your bond with the black lion is deeper then my own.”

“ Yes and no. You know how Val is Different from the Valkyrie.”  

“ Yes “ Allura replied as she started to see where this was going 

“ Well besides the lions that live in each part of Voltron I’m guessing he is the “

“ I am the Lions young Shiro “ Leonidas said out loud in all the lions  

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds before Hunk spoke up 

“ Who the heck was that?” Hunk asked 

“ I am Leonidas the prideful or as you all call me Voltron “ 

“ So You final decide to reveal yourself good I was tired of waiting “Val said

“ So this guy is the same as Val right . So dose that mean he can fight on his own when were not around to pilot the lions?” Lance asked 

“No I was not build that way.  Where The Valkyrie can pilot  herself do to the fact that she doesn't  have to split herself into five different pieces. But I make up for that by being more flexible with my pilots and each pilot will unlock different abilities. “  

“ But I can manipulate time and I can scan anything and turn it into a weapon. “ 

“ I can rip a hole in the fabric of reality “

Everyone could felt tension between the two that only sibling would have. It was a little awkward until the Vanguard spoke over the comms 

“ And I can open portals to any where I’ve been to which is all of what you called the know universe. Make barriers around me and I can came gravity balls that can pull in and destroy it. “ The vanguard sounded happy to be able to take to other of their kind and completely missed the tension between the Valkyrie and Voltron. “ Sorry if I interrupted what you were doing I’ m just happy to finally meet more of my own kind after being alone for so long a can’t wait to hear everything you’ve seem the past billion years “

“  Before we do that Lady Allura must ask you something” Val said 

“ Yes this is of most important that we know your awnser “ Leonidas said 

“ Oh ok” Vanguard replied 

“ Your up Princess” Shiro said as he turned on the Black lions Outer p.a System 

Allura then spoke “ Hello Vangaurd I am princess Allura of Altea and I request your in are battle against the Galra Empire You do now about the empire right?” Allura asked

“ Thank you for asking. They are current in control of 80 percent of the knew universe and have been draining world of their quintessence to furl their war machines and to keep their Leader and  his wife alive for the passed ten thousand years. And I would like to join you in stopping them. But I will save this I don’  t like fighting all that much. I only fight in self defends and to protect the animals that live inside of me . But what I can do is open wormhole that allow you and the rebels you work with to any place you want to go and any planet or place you want protected I can do that. But I will not put the creatures I care for in harms way but if yo are in dyer need of my help I will fight but only as a last resort  ”   Vanguard said 

“Well at least they know their boundaries . “ Lance said 

“ And where their loyalty lay “ Keith replied 

“ Ok as long as we can count on you when we need you must. That is fine by me “  Allura said 

“ Ok with that out of the way can I ask Both Val and Leonidas a few things ?”  Vangaurd asked 

“ I see no problem with That” Val said 

“ Neither do I”  Leonidas add 

“ Alright time to wait a the next few hours while this three talk “ Pidge said 

As The Vanguard , Val And Leonidas started Talk they switched to a Language that the universal translator couldn’t  understand. But that didn’t really matter to the paladins at the moment they were just happy to have the Vangaurd now truly on there side. But Allura still felt nervous about the battle to come.

Else where in the Crate the cyclone covered in ice and Vines lay there motionless but near the head there was the sounds slamming and sizzling as Root Rot started to break free of his frozen prison . As he burst free from the finally layer of ice. he let out a roar of anger and  as his body had turn from green to brown do to how cold it was. He started to pull  himself out of the exit hole he made and As he did his legs broke of as he continued to pull himself out and crawled to the edge of what remained of the Cyclones head and rolled himself of and ihit the ground hard shattering most of his body leaving only his left arm and head in tacked 

“Cold I H-h-hate the cold” He tried to regrow his missing limbs only for nothing to happen. His body was dying and he need to reset.So he unraveled himself and started digging into the soft earth that the rain and the melting ice had made for him .It would take a few years for him to heal completely  from this fight but it would be all worth it as while he rested he would adapted to the cold an along with that he would start to grow a new colony for his clan with the only thing fueling them is Revenge Bloodlust and a need for fresh meat 

#voltron #Allura #vld adam #takashi shirogane #adashi #kieth kogane #kidgance #kidge #plance #klance #au #OC #hunay #hunk garrett #vld coran #vld shay #RAX #NYMA #rolo #pidge gunderson #matt holt #CANON DIVERGENCE

[shaishinx]

Visions

The first time Keith sees it, it breaks his heart.

He's watching a familiar sun set along a familiar horizon and he's wearing a familiar uniform... For a moment he thinks maybe it's a vision of the past, but then he realizes he's sitting on top of the black lion, his new companion—the space wolf—by his side, and he feels a lump in his throat at the idea. He's home.

He's home and he doesn't look much older than he currently is.

Not much longer... Keith allows himself to hope.

From his current point of view, this ghost in memories yet to come—an outer body experience he’s learned to love and hate at the same time—present Keith watches himself stare out at the same desert he’d stared out at a thousand previous times, but now it held a completely new meaning. Future him looks content, and Keith wonders if they’d won the war against the Galra. If they’d done what they sought out to do and saved Earth. Is he working at the Garrison now?

He took a seat on the other side of the wolf, the side that Future Keith wasn’t occupying, and he thought for a moment that the pup had acknowledged him, but before his mind could linger on how that couldn’t have been possible he hears Lance’s voice. Lance.

Lance had showed up in a couple of the space-time visions so far. Small scenes of irrelevance.

The smug way Lance carried himself no longer irritated Keith like they seemed to do in these alien flashbacks. Keith was growing more and more fond of all of his teammates the longer he stayed on this space whale, but he had come to learn just how much Lance had left an impact. Keith knew that growing up, surviving had been less of a necessity and more of a ‘fuck you’ to all the people that wanted to see him fail. He hadn’t cared about school, or himself, or the people around him. It wasn’t until he met Shiro that those destructive thoughts really started to shift... but even then Keith wanted to be better for Shiro because the man deserved that. He wasn’t really doing it for himself. Finding his passion at the Garrison was just a bonus.

Lance, however, pushed him in ways that no one ever did before. He pushed and pushed and challenged and challenged, and before any one really knew what was happening, they were bettering each other. Out on the battlefield, Lance was the first person he could rely on. If not solely because the loud-mouthed teen wouldn’t have been able to live down failing to his “rival”, but because they’d tested each other so much that they knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses only too well. And now here the tall boy was... and he was wearing... wearing...

What the fuck is he wearing?

As soon as present him thought the words, future him took the liberty of voicing them aloud. It was... a date... Lance had said. A date with Allura.

Future Keith was unfazed by this information. He was too comfortable really, considering present him thought he could hear something cracking, thought he could feel a knife being plummeted into his chest. However, when he looked down and saw no injury, he became frustratingly too aware that the blade was metaphorical. And when he looked back up at Lance, their future conversation now muffled background noise to the deafening way his heart shattered, he realized that somewhere along this stupid, crazy journey, he had given Lance that weapon to destroy him.

—

Keith gasped for air, sitting up from his make shift bed on the cave ground.

Krolia wasn’t around, probably hunting for breakfast.

He rubbed at his chest and blinked at his lap, replaying the images and words in his mind over and over again.

He... liked Lance. Maybe, loved Lance? If the way he ached was any indication.

He’d never really given it thought before. It just wasn’t on his list of priorities with this war going on, but now... well, now it was all that he could think about. Did Lance and Allura get closer in his absence? What are they doing now? Was his found family moving on without him? Was this the price he was paying for leaving? It’s been seven months so far... maybe the team already won the war. Maybe they didn’t need him after all. Maybe Lance doesn’t need him after all.

When did he start needing Lance?

Keith’s face fell into his hands and he tried to quell his restless thoughts. He tried to stop all the hurting. Not just from Lance, but from everyone. He missed them. He missed them so much that he thought the flames of his regret and his yearning—this inner hell of turmoil he began to fall into—might actually burn him alive.

::

“I don’t regret being with her.” Lance started speaking in this next vision before Keith knew he was there. Future Keith’s hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, signifying time had passed in its length, and he had stopped washing the dishes to turn around and look at the blue eyed boy—no, man. He turned to look at the man sitting at the dining room table behind him.

Lance was holding a mug of something hot in his hands, but not drinking from it, as if soaking up the heat into his cold lifeless body. Because that’s what Lance looked like... devoid of his usual life. His eyes were less, his skin was less, he... was less.

Present Keith ignored, for now, the Altean marks under this Lance’s eyes to listen harder to the conversation. He must have been talking about Allura. Which means they had broken up some how, in some way. Is that what had made Lance less Lance? Is that why he looked as if pain was something foreign to him now, but “numb” was something he was all too fluent in? Both present and future Keith’s ached, but stayed silent as Lance continued his absentminded musings.

“I’m happy that I was able to be with her because I think I would have regretted not doing it. I would have regretted not asking her out, or not knowing... and I think that would have been worse... in the end.”

Future Keith sat in the empty chair besides this empty Lance.

“I think she loved me, and I know that I loved her, but I don’t think that it was the right kind of love.”

“Lance...” Future Keith began.

“I just mean,” Lance carried on, moving his gaze from the wall to his mug as if it had answers, “I couldn’t be what she needed.

“But you were what she needed,” Future Keith cut in. “Allura was so focused on everything else. She was focused on every one else besides herself. She didn’t give herself the chance to take a break or know what happiness even was, and she wouldn’t have if you hadn’t stepped in.” He laid his hand atop Lance’s urging him to stop fiddling his thumb against the mug’s ceramic. “I’m not saying that you guys would have worked out—“ Lance threw him a glare, “what?” Keith asked sheepishly.

Lance rolled his eyes before sighing, “No, you’re right. I don’t think we would have. But that’s what I mean. I couldn’t be what she needed. I’m no Lotor. I’m not this suave and collected, perfect specimen of a man...” Present Keith furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, clearly missing something. “...you know, despite all the evil shit he did. I’m not strong enough to rule a people like him, or her. I mean, look at me now, Keith. She wouldn’t have wanted this for herself, this farm.” Lance lifted an arm to gesture, almost violently, towards the window. Present Keith looked out at the view, feeling more and more confused the more the vision went on.

“First of all, you’ve been preaching suave and perfection since the moment I met you.” Future Keith said with a slight smile, a hint of joke under there somewhere.

“And she hated that.” Lance scoffed lightly.

“Second of all,” Keith ignored, “this farm was a good decision for you after everything that happened. No one blames you for wanting to take a step back from all of it. No one faults you for turning down the teaching offer at the Garrison. Everyone took a step back.”

“You didn’t.” Lance countered. His eyes were piercing. “You went straight into politics with the Galra, and aided in the relief effort.”

“Lance, you make it sound like you didn’t help me with all of that.” Keith pursed his lips. “You make it sound like you’re sitting here doing nothing while the rest of us are changing lives.”

“I’m running a farm, Keith.”

“A farm that supplied me with food to give to all of those families. A farm that supplies Hunk with fruits and vegetables that are normally grown in different parts of the universe, but with Pidge’s evil genius mind, was able to help you find a way to grow them right here. On your farm. You’ve given a lot of people who have lost their entire world some normalcy on Earth. You’ve given them familiarity on a planet that isn’t their own. That’s amazing. The Altean flowers you have blooming here have become a symbol of hope for every man, woman, and child. What you’re doing here is important. You are important and you have always been important, Lance. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

Lance offered a small smirk, “maybe a few times more.”

“I’m beginning to feel like you just like hearing me try to convince you.”

“It’s a good boost to my ego.”

They smiled at each other in the silence, and only then did Keith realize his hand was still on Lance’s. He moved it away slowly, hiding it in a stretch that he’d faked so as to not seem so obvious that his heart was now pounding in his ears. Present Keith could hear it though.

“I don’t regret being with her. “Lance started again, looking back through the window and reiterating his earlier point. “I don’t think know if we would have worked out now that I really think about it. I just wanted to be there for her and be what made her happy. I think you’re right that she would have carried on being angry and thinking that everything was on her shoulders and her shoulders alone. I’m happy that I was able to be there for her to lean on. I’m happy that I was able to give her something before she gave us everything. She only knew pain from the moment she woke up with us, you know? And I wanted to take that away from her. She was so strong, Keith. I wanted to be that strong. I wanted to be her strength.”

Lance took a sip from his mug as a brief pause of thought passed between them.

Present Keith thought the vision might end right there, but just as it began to blur out he heard his future self say, “You’re a lot stronger than you think you are.”

::

It’d been a while since he had any visions. The ones that really mattered to Keith any way. Keith didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing considering how many questions he now had that were killing him repeatedly day in and day out. He filled most of his days with training, which really wasn’t unusual for him, but even Krolia could see that he was working himself up too hard and too quickly. He’d pull a muscle before too long, or at least injure himself in some shape or form.

Every time the visions touched him they were small, to quick to really see anything. Some times they were things of the past, making him ache with guilt and self-pity. He should have said nicer things to Pidge when she wanted to leave and find her family that time back on Arus before Sendak fucked their shit up. He should have spoke more with Hunk, or learned more from Coran and Allura. He should have goaded Lance less and worried Shiro less. He should have done a lot of things and he hoped that he’d get off of this stupid whale any time soon and be able to do those things that he regretted now.

#klance #voltron #lance #keith #fics #visions #klangst #angst #text #shaishinx #wip

[toxxicsky]

Things must get done

very late fic for the Langst Exchange for https://quillium.tumblr.com/

________________________________________________________

After a long hunt for Shiro, finally finding him, and now he is working on being an ambassador instead of the black paladin. Everything started to go back to normal. Finally settling down.

The team was coming back from a political meeting on a far off planet with odd looking aliens. They knew they needed to strengthen the coalition and was happy that they found a strong alliance.

“That’s odd,” Allura announced from inside of Blue. "I thought this was where we were meeting the ship?”

“Maybe our fearless leader guided us to the wrong location.” Lance chimed with a chuckle.

“Well, just letting you know. This fearless leader of yours was following his bright eyed second in command. Because this leader was still in a meeting with the princess, and Shiro on the way back.” Keith spoke in his same monotoned way. But the team could hear the joking undertone that had come out.

“Oh, he got you!” Hunk and Pidge piped up laughing.

“Ah, huh! Found it!” The Princess said stopping the laughter. “Lance took us to the right spot. For once,” The princess joked causing more giggles to erupt. “that being said, the castle has been on the move. It's not going very fast. So we will make it there in no time. But it is odd.” She said then started to lead the group in the right direction.

The team finally made it to the castle. It was slowly moving as suspected. So it was easy for the team land in the castle, and everyone made their way out of their lions.

“What do you think is going on?” Hunk asked nervously.

“Coran probably just got busy. And turned the castle on autopilot is all.” Lance said walking through while waving his arm. “I’m going to go find him.“ Lance trotted off as the others did their normal things.

As soon as Lance got out of sight he made a mad dash to find Coran as fast as he could. He checked the medbay, but he wasn’t there.

Kitchen, no.

Bridge, not there either.

When he was starting to lose his breath from all the running, he made it to the engineering room. He could almost hear his feet skid to a stop.

“Coran!” He looks around then he saw a leg sticking out from behind an old terminal. “Coran!” Lance ran sliding to his knees. “Are you okay?” He asked while reaching up to shake him.

“Oh hey there, my boy.” Lance heard a raspy voice. It sounded horrible. “You wouldn’t mind helping this old man out of this room?” Lance finally realized the barely audible raspy voice was coming for Coran.

“What’s wrong Coran?” Lance dramatized while helping Coran out of the terminal. Lance then realized that Coran was burning up. “Are you sick?”

“Just a bit of the Oberfludiplop. Nothing to.” then he started to cough like he was drowning in fluids. “Okay maybe a little worse for wear.” he chuckled.

“Okay, let's get you to the medbay” Lance said as he started to drag him around.

“No, not to the medbay.” Coran stumbled with Lance in step. “Allura will worry. Just to my room if you may my boy.” Coran asked softly while he leaned heavily on Lance.

“Are you sure? You seem pretty sick.” Lance questioned while he did what he was told and heading to the Coran’s room. Lance is pretty sure he was the only one that knew where Coran's room was.

“Yeah, it will be fine. Just need a little of that old sleep to get these bones moving again.” He tried to joke but was stopped by a cough.

“Okay, time to get you in bed!” Lance smiled while finishing leading the ginger to his room. Then he started to lay the man down on his bed. ‘Is this my fault?’ Lance asked himself, knowing he was the one who asked Coran to do other things while they were at the meeting.

“I’ll just rest for a few hours. Then I’ll get back to take care of everything that needs to be done.” Coran said while his eyes started to close.

“It’s okay don’t worry about it. Just rest. I’ll just take care of things. Don’t overdo it.” Lance smiled as he got up then gently placed a wet cloth on Coran’s forehead. “I’ll go get you some medicine and soup.”

Coran let out a small chuckle. “Don’t overdo it, kid,” he said before slowly fell asleep wrapped in a bundle of blankets.

Lance let out a sigh. He should have known this was going to happen. Coran had been looking under the weather for a while. He could see this yet he didn't do anything. Now Coran is so sick he can't even move. Lance took in another breath. He wouldn't let Coran’s work go undone, so he marched out of the room.

When he was done going to the med bay, after spending twenty minutes looking for the medicine for Coran and making sure he took it, he finally made his way to the bridge.

"Thank you, Lance, for finally joining us. Did you ever find Coran?" Allura asked sweetly, but Lance knew his brain was making it sound condescending.

Lance took a deep breath. Never miss a beat, pulling on his biggest grin. "Oh yeah, he was working in one of the storage rooms. He wanted me to let you know that he was sorry for letting the ship get past where it was supposed to wait. I'll, um, let him know if there is anything you need from him. You know how busy he can get." Lance went on. He knew he was rambling, but he couldn't help it.

Allura gave him an odd look, "Okay… sure thing. Anyway. Where was I?" Then she went to the meeting.

Lance stood there fidgeting wanting to get started on the work that Coran was supposed to be doing. As soon as Allura called a break, Lance rushed out the door and went over his list of what needed to be done. He knew his first stop would the med bay. He needed to check if the pods were cleaned or if it needed to be done.

When he got there he was happy to see that no one was in there. Of course, he didn't expect anyone to be there but his luck never did turn outright. With a tug of his sleeves, he went to work. He was lucky he had learned a little Altean from Coran who had been kind enough to teach him. So he knew what setting to put the pods at, and what chemicals to use to clean them up. Making sure they were functioning properly was the harder part. He wasn't super tech savvy like Pidge and Hunk, but he watched Coran enough that he was pretty sure what it all was.

Next, he went to the laundry shoot. All the other Paladins should have showered and dropped their clothes off by now. So he went in, loaded them up added the "special Altean soup" as Caran called it, then start the machine and onto the next chore.

After all of this was done he went to the kitchen. First for a late snack, then to make sure all the dishes were done, and food was put up. Of course, tonight had to be a particularly messy night, Hunk probably got sidetracked by one of Pidges projects. So Lance set to work. He picked up all the dishes and washed them. Then swept and mopped the floor. He wondered how Coran was able to do all this in such a short time, but he was determined to get it finished at the same time.

When the kitchen was spotless, Lance was making his way back to Coran’s room. He was already feeling worn out. He wasn't even sure what time it was but he knew it was very late. While he was lost in his own thoughts he bumped into something solid.

"Slow down there. What are you doing up so late?" Lance knew that voice, as a metal arm wrapped around him to hold him steady.

"Hey Shiro, just getting something to drink. What about yourself?" Lance smiled brightly. That's right Lance forgot he needs to make his runs to the other Paladins rooms, mostly Pidge who has a hard time sleeping. He will have to do that when he finishes checking on Coran.

Shiro frowns lightly. "Lance you know you shouldn't be up at this hour."

Lance knows that look. "Couldn't sleep. Come let's get something to drink. Mi mommy made this wonderful spice milk. And Hunk just happened to find almost all the spices for it. Well, the ones that taste close to it. " Lance just grabbed Shiro's arm and started to pull.

"Sure whatever you say, man." Shiro laughed while following him back to the kitchen.

Lance pulled Shiro into the kitchen just hoping Coran could wait a little longer. Lance went to work on making Shiro the best spiced milk.

"So what really happened to Coran?" Shiro's voice cut through.

'Shit… ' Lance tripped for a moment but moved around to grab the cup to hide it. "Why do you ask?" Lance tried to be as calm as possible.

"Oh, no reason. Just no one has seen him all day since we got back. And you have been sparse all day. " Shiro said letting out a long yawn. Then he got up and grabbed the milk that Lance had made. "Just don't stay up too long. We have practice at six, and you have about three hours of sleep." Shiro waved his hands as he went back to bed.

Lance stood there for a moment feeling shocked and like Shiro might know more than he was letting on. He shook his head and wake his way back to Coran. He knocked lightly. Then opened the door slowly. "You awake?"

"Lance my boy," then a cough came after the voice."I’m feeling better already. But what are you doing up so late?" Coran smiled as Lance sat next to him.

"What's with everyone asking me about why I am up so late? It's no big deal, I'm fixing to head to bed. Nothing to worry about." Lance chuckled checking to see how Coran’s sickness was going. "It seems that you should be better by tomorrow afternoon if I'm reading contraption right." Lance set down the tablet.

"Yeah by the afternoon, your right. You are getting better at your Altean.” Coran then coughed and laid down slowly. “Are you sure you guys are holding up without me?” He asked while pulling his covers over his arms.

“Uh, yeah... We are doing fine. Anyway, I’m going to head out. You get some more sleep.” He smiled and did an exaggerated stretch, yawn, and got ready to leave.

Lance turned around to walk away. “Lance, don’t overwork yourself.” He turned around giving a big thumbs up and left.

Lance yawned making his way to his room and got ready for bed. He didn’t have time to do his beauty routine, so he just got dressed and went to bed. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Beep

Beep, beep.

Beep, beep, beep.

Lance's head was killing him and he was pretty sure he hadn't slept much at all, but he had to get up and ready for training. Before that, a quick maintenance check. So he put his armor on and went to the engine room to make sure everything was running smoothly.

Now that that was finished he drag himself to the training hall. Knowing it was going to be the last one there. He was preparing for hell.

"Look who finally decided to show up. Your beauty sleep isn't working Lance," Pidge piped as soon as Lance walked through the sliding door. "If you got up with everyone you would be more ready for the day." she finished.

'Pidge must be in a good mood today,' Lance waved his hand in dismissal. "You ready to rock this training!" He shouted instead and grabbed Hunks arm as they got to training.

When training was over he knew he was going to get an ear full. He had to go check on Coran and do other chores, so he slowly tried to sneak out of the training room, but as soon as he stepped one foot out of the door the question came.

"Where do you think you are going?" Shiro asked ain a condescending manner. Grabbing Lance by the collar. "We need to talk about the shooting of yours."

Lance took a deep breath and mentally preparing himself. Then Shiro was off, telling him about how bad the aim was, how he only hit about 50% of all his targets, and what would have happened if they were in a fight. Then Shiro started in on his sleeping habits. By the time it was all over it had been about a thirty minute lecture, Lance left feeling drained and worn out.

Making his way to Coran's room felt like a chore all on its own. His body ached and his eyes burned, but he placed the on the smile he always wears and walked in.

Coran was in the process of getting up but was having some weird kind of sneeze. And was about to fall over. Lance rushed over to grab him. " What are you doing up? You need to go back to bed." Lance walked Coran back to bed.

"Lance, my boy, it's nice to see you too. But I need to get up and take off everything in the castle." Coran said while trying to pull away from Lance.

"No, nope, not happening. You are staying right here. You don't need to overwork yourself. " Lance said and pulled the covers over Coran's body. Then handed him some soup. "Eat, I'll be back later tonight." Lance smiled trying to be encouraging.

Coran sighed. "Okay, my boy." Lance smiled brighter. He just wanted Coran to get better.

"Okay, yeah good. Get some rest, if you need anything just holler for me." He said leaving letting the automatic doors shut behind him.

The rest of the day followed like the one before. He tries to avoid the other paladins, check the med bay, do the laundry, check the maintenance on the ship, squeeze some workout in the middle of the day with the other paladins, going to the meetings, make an excuse on where Coran was and where Lance had been all day, and maybe something to eat, if he remembers. At the end of the day, he would check on Coran and tell him that everything was being taken care of, and there was nothing to worry about.

This repeated for a couple of days, causing Lance to get even less sleep. He was exhausted. His paladin work was getting sloppy. He even caught himself starting to doze off in meetings, he didn't know how much longer he could keep this up, but he didn't want to ask for help. This was his problem and he wanted to prove he could do it. He didn't want to look weak for asking for help, he was already weak enough to them.

On the fourth morning, he felt he was in such a haze. His body moved and swayed on its own. Coran was pretty much better but wanted to wait one more day to make sure. Lance made it to the training hall. They were doing gladiator fights. 'Great, another thing to get yelled at, and lectured for.' he mumbled to himself not realizing he said it out loud. He then got into position with the others.

The gladiator dropped and went straight for him. He wasn't fast enough at lifting his bayard. The gladiator swung its staff right at Lance's stomach. Hitting it with a loud sound. It sent his body flying upwards towards the wall slamming into it. He was pretty hurt he heard his head crack.

When his limp body hit the ground it made a thud. He could hear yelling and panicked sounds. But the world went dark, and he couldn't fight it anymore.

When he opened his eyes, he was in a white room. Laying on a bed that was slightly too stiff. He looked over to see the other Paladins sitting on the floor playing a card game. Then he was Coran sitting with them and shot up, but the world was spinning and he left out an involuntary moan.

"Easy boy! Don’t sit up too quickly. You hit that head of yours pretty bad." Coran came to his aid laying Lance dawn.

"What happened?" Lance forced out with his parched lips.

Hunk handed him water and spoke. "You were training and got hit by the gladiator.” Hunk waved his arms while he explained.

"Lance," Allura came over stroking his hair out of Lance's face. "We didn't know everything you have been doing. You should have asked for help. We would have been more than happy to help out. I could have probably helped Coran get better faster. You don't have to hold all this in. We are all here for you, just like you are here for everyone else." She smiled softly, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Sor… "

"Nothing to be sorry for you idiot," Keith spoke lightly hitting Lance's arm. Lance chuckled.

He knew it wouldn't be immediate, but he would work harder on asking for help and letting others be there for him. He couldn’t help smiling while explaining everything that had been going on and just enjoying his time with the others.

#Lance #coran #langstronexchange2k19 #voltron #sickfic #keith kogane #Allura #shiro #pidge gunderson #hunk garrett

[mazematrix]

I have not seen the new season but I have seen enough spoilers to know what’s going on and I have some headcannons about Curtis and Shiro even though there’s barely any content for them whatsoever in the show

Okay so I guess I’m really doing this huh? Lowkey I love them already but that’s just because I’ve been headcannoning them a lot with my girlfriend and they’re CUTE.

- Their ship name is Chiro. Like the food because they’re sweet.

- Curtis’ last name is Gale. That’s what I’m using until they give us an official last name. At least, before he was married to Shiro.

- Curtis is a nerd because we all know that’s Shiro’s type. He loves D&D and science and all that jazz.

- Curtis has two moms and two older sisters. He’s the youngest.

- Curtis will NOT let Shiro UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE join in on any war related things.

- “Honey please let me help Matt”

- “No. You’ve gone through enough turmoil, just relax. It’s our honeymoon. You’re not at war anymore.”

- Curtis is a generally happy person gets super excited when his friends achieve their goals. He’s a happy puppy boy!!!

- Curtis fell in love with Shiro for his bravery, yet staying true to himself and not letting the war get the best of him. He really admires this man.

- Shiro fell in love with Curtis because, look at him, he’s a puppy who needs love and affection. Plus he’s an encouraging person and pushes Shiro towards his dreams (as long as he doesn’t get involved in the war again) unlike Adam. (Yeah Adam was cool but Curtis, he’s the real guy for Shiro).

- They just clicked instantly. They had that chemistry like they’ve been talking for years before coming into the Atlas. Shiro’s never fallen harder for anyone. Same to Curtis.

- Curtis gives me bi vibes. Idk. Could be gay or bi to be honest.

- Curtis cooks for Shiro and eventually teaches the guy how to, but also slowly realizes the guy just cannot cook to save his life.

- Curtis tops, he made the first move on Shiro because Shiro was too shy to say anything because ‘who could love a broken war veteran’ (sorry I had to add some angst).

- I feel like Curtis would be a good communications officer which means he would be talking to the planets and back at home base while fighting in the atlas and giving Shiro intel that way.

- Curtis basically asked Shiro to show him around the atlas in private one day and they were being complete dorks when suddenly they turn towards each other and are face to face with one another. Shiro stands still, about to pull back but Curtis grabs his collar and kisses him.

- Curtis is a dog person, Shiro is a cat person, they end up having a dog and a cat.

- Curtis is more touchy than Shiro when they’re alone. Shiro likes PDA and Curtis often will playfully push him away if Shiro tries to kiss him in public.

- They host all the get togethers with the paladins and new defenders of the universe and everyone loves it.

- They both eventually adopt a baby girl because that would be really cute.

- Shiro is the type to not make a big deal at a restaurant if his food isn’t up to par because he doesn’t want to cause trouble but Curtis has no problem walking up to the manager and politely asking them to fix it.

- Lots of neck kisses to be honest.

- Shiro is actually SHYER than Curtis. Unbelievable. Our alpha boy has found someone to top him. Whoops did I say that Curtis tops already?

- Curtis doesn’t baby Shiro, but he watches him to make sure his PTSD isn’t acting up. He looks for all the signs. He checks if he has shaky hands, if he’s distant, if he has any discomfort. She generally really caring and understands that Shiro may have a lot of mental scars that might as well match how many scars he has on his body.

- Shiro actually...doesn’t mind this and thinks it’s super sweet As a result, Shiro is super open to Curtis about his mental stuff and Curtis listens to him. They’re really good at communicating.

- Shiro is older than Curtis by two years and that’ll make sense in the last headcannon.

- Last but not least, Curtis and Shiro actually knew each other back in the garrison. Curtis always looked up to Shiro and always seemed to be a fan of his. Curtis though has always had a major crush on Shiro. So when he learns he is going to work along side the returned golden boy, he is ESTATIC. Shiro remembers him and is like “oh yeah you’re that kid that always congratulated me after beating a new record or doing something. That was cute.” Curtis looses his mind but only in his head and plays it cool. He thinks that Shiro won’t really notice him much, like like the garrison days (the guy was always busy) but no actually, because they’re working alongside each other Shiro takes the time to actually get to know people on his team, including Curtis. That’s how they click and the rest is history.

Anyways these are some thoughts and headcannons. I love them already okay I just wanted Shiro to be happy and in a way I’m fulfilling the hole of them not having much content but yeah- hope you enjoy!

#voltron #voltron headcanons #voltron legendary defender #voltron season 8 #vld #shiro #takashi shirogane #vld shiro #vld curtis #shiro x curtis #vld season 8 #voltron season eight #vld season eight #chiro #syn’s writings

[tiny-opal-essence]

Pocket Paladin Chpt 3

Rescue

“Okay, any doubts on whether the Galra knew we were coming are gone.  Why did they have to know we were coming?” Hunk said as the team ducked behind some containers while the sentries shot at them.

“Hunk, we talked about this in the briefing,” Pidge said.  “They probably realized just what was in the data we got last time.  Because we’re acting so quickly, they weren’t able to transfer Shiro to another base, so it would make sense for them to amp up security.”

“That means the data is right,” Lance commented as he shot at the sentries before ducking back down.  “Who else would they be guarding this much besides Shiro?”

“Of course it’s right.  Are you doubting my computer skills, Lance?” Pidge glared out of the corner of her eyes at Lance.

“NO!” Lance exclaimed.  “I know better than to ever do that again.”

“Good.”

“We’ve got to get past these guards to get to Shiro.  What’s the plan, Keith?” Allura asked.

“We punch our way through.  We don’t need to beat them all to get to Shiro.  Coran and the Lions are keeping the fighter jets busy.  While they’re doing that, Lance and Hunk, you guys can draw their fire and cover me, Pidge, and Allura while we make our way through.”

The rest of the group murmured in agreement with the plan.  Hunk and Lance looked to see where they might be able to get the best angle with their weapons.

“Up there.” Hunk pointed to one of the structures behind them.  “Think that would work for a bird’s eye view?”

“Hunk, you’re a genius.” Lance and Hunk ran over to the structure while the rest of the team distracted the sentries.  Once they made their way up, Lance let out a breath as he got one of the robots in his scope.  “Ready for this?”

“Let's do it.”  

“It’s razzle-dazzle time.  (pause) HEY RO-BUTTS!”

The sentries turned to look up before the first of them started falling at the hands of Hunk and Lance.

“Alright team, let's move,”  Keith yelled as Allura, Pidge, and he burst out from behind the containers.  With Lance and Hunk distracting the sentries, it was easier for the members with close-ranged weapons to make their way through the crowd to the locked door that no doubt Shiro was behind.  Keith and Allura turned their shields towards the sentries as they took a protective stance around Pidge while she worked on hacking the door.

“Think you can get through?”  Allura asked.

“Long as I can borrow Keith’s hand for the scanner,” Pidge said as she grabbed Keith’s hand and placed it on the scanner.  “Thank you.”

“Might want to hurry up.  We can’t keep this up forever.”  Keith commented.

“Give me a minute.  Whoever set up this system is almost as smart as me.  (Pause) Almost.” Pidge smirked.

“You can be smug later.  We’ve got a leader to save.” Keith reminded the team.

“Just a few more seconds, and…we’re in!” Pidge exclaimed as the three of them rushed in, quickly closing the door behind them, cutting off the noise from outside the room.

The smell was the first thing that hit them.  The stench of something rotten in the air.  It took their eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dark.  Once they had, they could hardly believe what they saw.

There, hanging limply from the wall was a person.  This person was obviously malnourished due to their ribs being easy to make out.  Not only that, but they were covered in blood, most of it dry, but some looked like it was fresh.  Could this shadow of a person actually be Shiro?  One clue was that this person had a prosthetic right arm that had been powered down for quite some time, due to the rust that had accumulated in the joints.

“Shiro?” Allura hesitated for a moment before moving closer to the person.  “Is that you?”

“Ughh.” The person groaned weakly as he opened his eyes.  “Allura?”

“Yes.  It’s me.  We’re here to get you out.  Do you think you can stand once we get you out of these chains?” She nodded at Pidge and Keith to start cutting Shiro free from the chains.

“I…I don’t know.” Shiro croaked out.  “How long has it been?”

“Don’t worry about that now.  We’re going to get you out and to a healing pod.” Keith said as he cut Shiro’s left arm free.  It hung limply at Shiro’s side.  Shiro grimaced as all of his weight was now hanging from his other arm

“Hold on Shiro,” Pidge said as she finished cutting through the chain holding Shiro’s right arm.  He collapsed on his feet, but Allura caught him before he could hit the floor.

“Sorry, Allura.”

“No need to apologize.  You’ve been through so much.  Allow us to help you.”  Allura grabbed Shiro’s arm and put it around her shoulder as they began to make their way out.

As they exited the room, one remaining sentry started charging at them, but before they or it could attack, it was shot through the head from behind and fell in the pile of the others that had fallen before.

“Yeah!  I got him!  Did you guys see that?” Lance exclaimed as he and Hunk climbed down from their perch.

“Less gloating, more getting the heck out of here before something bad happens.”  Hunk and Lance ran over to meet the others.

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that, paladins.”

“Lotor,” Keith growled out.

“My my.  Such viciousness.  Is that any way to treat someone?”

“He’s treating you with all the respect you deserve,”  Allura answered.

“And here I thought that Voltron was above pettiness.”

“When it comes to you, we make an exception.” Pidge snarked with a glare on her face.

“How thoughtful of you.  Now, I’m going to give you one chance to leave here unscathed.  If you leave the experiment here, you have my word that no harm shall befall any of you as you leave.”

“Like hell we’re going to trust anything coming out of your mouth,” Pidge yelled.

“Yeah!  And Shiro’s not an experiment!” Lance exclaimed.

“Are you sure about that?  We tested his endurance and strength in the arena.  We gave him the latest prototype for his arm.  Everything that he has achieved thanks to us has been closely monitored and recorded.  Sounds like an experiment to me.”

“No.” Allura determinedly stated.  “He is the leader of Voltron.”

“He has been with us far longer than with you.  And my mother did devote so much time to this experiment.  It would be a shame for it to go to waste.”

“Your mother?  But I thought it was Haggar that took Shiro.” Hunk questioned.

“Precisely.” A wicked grin spread on Lotor’s face.

“Wait, then that means Zarkon and Haggar…aw gross!” Lance scrunched up his face in disgust.

“Not the time, Lance.” Keith

“Yeah, I think never is the right time for that.” Hunk

“I’ll say it once more.  Leave the experiment here and no harm shall befall you.”

“He’s our leader.  And we’re taking him with us.” Keith stated.

“I hope you understand I can’t let you leave with him.” Lotor pulled out his sword.

“And hopefully you understand that you can’t stop us.” Allura gently lowered Shiro to the ground so he could lean against the containers and grabbed her Bayard.

“We have you outnumbered,” Pidge stated as everyone else grabbed their bayards and formed a protective circle around Shiro.

“Oh don’t worry.  I came prepared.” And with that, Lotor’s four generals stepped into view.

“Hi everyone!  Remember us?” Ezor waved at the paladins before she jumped down in front of them with the grace of a trained gymnast alongside the rest of her teammates.

“Can’t we have one mission where there’s no surprises?  One mission.  That’s all I’m asking for.”

“Come on Hunk, where’s the fun in that?” Lance as he and the rest of the team aimed their bayards at Lotor and his generals, waiting to see who would make the first move.

They didn’t have to wait long.  “I’ve been looking forward to this for a while.” Zethrid charged at Allura, who was pushed back from the impact but held her ground.

Everyone else quickly paired off in the fight.  Pidge was struggling against Axha’s swords while Hunk was avoiding Narti’s tail.

“Can’t we just talk this out, creepy silent…oh, right, sorry.”

“Hunk!  Don’t apologize to the enemy!” Pidge was able to land a hit on Axha.

“I’m sorry, I can’t help it.  My mom taught me to always be polite, even if people don’t deserve it.”

Lance was struggling to get a shot at Ezor, but she had turned herself invisible and he could only see her through the thermal imaging in the scope of his gun.  As soon as she was in his sights, she would leap somewhere else.

“Stay still so I can shoot you!”

"Aww, but this is so much more fun!” Ezor exclaimed as she turned herself visible and once more landed a jab on Lance before turning invisible once more.

Keith and Lotor were locked in a fight as well.  “It seems you’ve learned from our last encounter.  The Galra genes are not completely wasted on you, though it is a shame that they didn’t manifest as more than the ears.  We could help train you to use them.  You would be a wonderful addition to our cause.”

“I would never join with the likes of you.”

“A pity.”  Lotor began forcing Keith back towards where Shiro lay against the containers.

“We can’t let them get Shiro!” Keith pushed back against Lotor.

“Don’t worry,” Allura said as she tossed Zethrid halfway across the room.  “We won’t even let them get close.”

The rest of the team chorused their agreement as they continued the fight.

Lance realized that he was getting nowhere trying to shoot Ezor.  It took too long for him to see where she was through the scope, so maybe it would be better to wait for her to get close and then hit her with the gun.

“Got you agai-ooof!” She fell to the ground unconscious, but it was not a gun that hit her, but the flat of a sword.  Lance’s Bayard had transformed into a sword.

Before he could stare too long in shock and awe at the sword in his hands, Lance saw that Lotor used a burst of magic to throw Keith near him.  

Of course, the evil prince also has magic.  Like mother like son.

Keith slowly stood up and was shaking his head, all while his back was facing Lotor, who seemed to be preparing to cast another spell.

“I believe it’s high time someone cut you down to size,” Lotor said as he gathered the quintessence for his next spell and shot it towards Keith.

Without even thinking, Lance dropped his Bayard and ran towards “Keith!” and pushed him out of the way.  He cried out as the spell hit him and he collapsed on the ground.

“Lance!” Keith ran over as Lotor looked on, pleased that his plan had been executed perfectly.

Lance’s face was scrunched up in pain as Keith knelt beside him.  Keith carefully rolled Lance onto his back in his arms, being mindful of his cuts and bruises.  A small amount of blood was dripping between Lance’s hands on his stomach.

Keith glared at Lotor and began to growl.  He started to get up to confront him, but Lance started coughing in his arms.

“Ugggh.” Lance groaned out.  “I don’t feel so good.”

“You don’t look so good either.  What were you thinking?!”

“You didn’t see it.  He would’ve hit you.”

In the background, the others kept fighting on.

“Look, we’re having another bonding moment.” Lance snickered a bit before wincing at the pain in his guts.

“Really, Lance?  That’s what you’re thinking about now?”  Keith blinked away a tear, “You’re such an idiot,” he said endearingly.

“heh, ‘m y’r idiot.” Lance smiled as his skin started looking paler and his eyes started closing.

“Hey!” Keith softly smacked Lance’s face, “Stay awake.”

"’m try’n”

The others saw what had happened.  Allura unleashed a spell of her own at Lotor, managing to knock him down.  The spell was stronger than she intended it to be and the floor began to crack under them, pieces falling into the canyon below.

Luckily for them, they saw their lions flying towards them, with red in the lead.

“You take yours and we’ll take ours,” Axha said as she wrapped Lotor’s arm around her shoulders and started to back away.  Narti also retreated while Zethrid grabbed Ezor and bridal carried her towards Lotor’s ship.

“Yeah, you better run!” Pidge taunted them.

Lotor lifted up his head with a cruel smile on it. “This isn’t over, paladins.  It’s an awfully big universe out there.  And it’s about to get a lot bigger, as he will soon discover.”  With that, Lotor’s group disappeared into their ship and flew off.

"Should we go after them?” Hunk asked.

“No.  We’re down two members right now, so we wouldn’t be able to form Voltron.  We’re too vulnerable right now.” Keith grabbed Lance and his Bayard and moved towards Red while the other lions approached.

“Keith, you should take Shiro and Lance in Red.  She’ll be able to get them to the castle-ship the fastest and she should still work for you since you were her paladin before.” Allura grabbed Shiro and started carrying him over to Red as the ground continued to crack from her earlier spell.

“Coran, we’re going to need two healing pods.” Hunk said through the comms as he got in Yellow.

“No problem, number two.  Did you find Shiro?”

“Yeah, we did, but Lance got hit in the cross-fire,” Pidge answered from Green’s cockpit.

“Oh dear.  Don’t you worry, we’ll have them both right as reigns in no time.  I’ll get the pods ready.”

Red raced towards the castleship as soon as Shiro and Lance were safely onboard.

“Thank you, Coran.”  Allura ran towards Blue, but the ground fell out from under her.  She quickly used her jetpack to hop towards Blue, who grabbed her effortlessly.  “Thank you as well, Blue.”

Blue and the rest of the lions flew after Red towards the castleship with everyone hoping their friends would be alright.

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

“Everything is falling into place.  I believe we can call today a victory.” Lotor declared.

“I can’t believe they actually thought I was unconscious,”  Ezor smirked.

“He didn’t hurt you did he?” Zethrid showed a rare soft side of herself.

“Nope.” Ezor emphasized the p, “It takes more than a bump on the head to knock me down.”

“Good.  Cause if he had, I would have torn him apart until there wasn’t anything left to bury.”

“I love it when you talk like that.” Ezor leapt up and wrapped her arms around Zethrid’s neck and kissed her.  Zethrid wrapped her arms around Ezor and deepened the kiss before Kova jumped onto her shoulder and *meowed* right in their faces.  

They broke off the kiss and Ezor pouted at Kova–“Narti, you’re no fun”–before leaning up and quickly kissing Zethrid once more.

“If the two of you are done, we need to plan our next move,” Axha said.  “It shouldn’t be too much longer until the effects of the spell kick in.”

“How did you know that he would jump in front of his teammate like that?  If he hadn’t, then the wrong person would have been hit.” Ezor asked.

“He’s the type to take a hit for his team,” Lotor stated, “And the spell wouldn’t have affected anyone with Galra blood, so if it had missed, it wouldn’t matter.”

“And now their team is going to be thinking that the black paladin was the intended target.” Zethrid realized.

“Precisely.  They’ll be wondering why he was the supposed intended target when they really should be worrying about the red paladin.”

“Should we keep following them?” Ezor asked.

“Yes.  We need to make sure they fall for the decoy.  It wouldn’t make sense to plant a tracker and not follow the signal, correct?” Lotor smirked at his crew.

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“Ughhh,” Lance said as he blinked open his eyes.  He saw a group of blurry figures through the pod.  There was a whoosh and the door to the healing pod disappeared, causing him to fall forward into someone’s arms.  He saw the red colored jacket and realized who had caught him.  “Nice catch, Mullet.”

“Really Lance?” Keith said, annoyed at Lance continuing to use that nickname.  “I could just drop you, you know.”

“Nah, I’m good,” Lance said as Keith helped him stand on his own.  “How long was I in there?”

“half a day,” Pidge answered.

“That long?  How come I still feel sore?  Aren’t these things supposed to fix everything?”

“Well, they are more designed to help with life-threatening conditions.  If you just have a paper cut, the healing pod would be a bit much.  It’s possible that your soreness is an after effect from being in there so long.” Coran suggested.

“I didn’t feel this sore the last time I was in a pod.  My head hurts and it feels like something’s squeezing me all over.” Lance said as he brought a hand up to his head.  “I think I need to sit down.”

Keith helped Lance over to one of the beds so he could sit down.

“Well, you were hit by Lotor’s spell.”  Pidge reminded him.

“If his magic is anything like his mother’s, this feeling could be a residual effect from it,” Allura commented.

“Maybe a kiss from a beautiful princess would make me feel better.”

“If you can say that, then I believe you’ll be alright.  I can still see if we have any pain-killers for you.” Allura said as she started looking through the cabinets in the med bay.

“I still can’t believe the space witch is Lotor’s mom.  Ugggh.” Lance shuddered. “I don’t even want to imagine how that happened.”

“Oh no no no no no, you are not putting that image in my head, Lance.” Hunk said.

“Sorry big guy.” Lance sheepishly responded.  “Hey, what’s that smell?”

“Oh, I tried to make those pastelitos that your mom sent that one time.  I know they’re your favorite.  I’m hoping these are a good substitute.”

“Dude!  I love pastelitos de guayaba y queso!  And if you’re the one that made them, they have to be good.” Lance said as he grabbed one of the puff pastries from the plate Hunk was holding.  He took a bite and the sweetness exploded in his mouth.  He almost felt like he was back home in Varadero.  “These are amazing!  They taste just like my mom’s.”

“Really?  Thanks.  I wasn’t sure if the ronthelgrap would be a good substitute for the guava.” Hunk sheepishly said.

“It works.  Trust me.” Lance responded.  “You guys have got to try these.  Hunk’s outdone himself and I can’t eat these all by myself.”

“Make sure to save some for Shiro,” Pidge said as she grabbed one.

“I can always make more when he’s out of the healing pod.  They’re better fresh anyway.”

“How much longer is he going to be in there?” Keith asked.

“About another quintant.  Give or take a few varga.”  Coran answered.

“I found some pain-killers, Lance.  Though, these ones will make you feel drowsy pretty quickly.”  Allura said as she handed him some pills which he popped in his mouth.

“How quickly we talk-(yawn)-ing here?” Lance said.

“Almost instantaneously.  It might be a good idea for you to stay here overnight.  Just to make sure there aren’t any other residual effects.”  Allura replied.

“No arguments here.” Lance yawned out.  “But if I’m sleeping and something happens, what then?”

“We could have someone stay with you,”  Pidge suggested.

“I’ll do it.” Keith volunteered.

“Aww, thanks, Keith.  Didn’t know you cared.” Lance said teasingly.

“You took the hit for me, so I owe you one.”

“I’m going to put the rest of these in the fridge for tomorrow.”  Hunk said as he grabbed the plate.  “Goodnight guys.”

“Night, Hunk,”  Pidge said.  “I think I’m going to go to bed too.”

“Pidge actually wanting to get some sleep?  Did I pass through into an alternate dimension?” Lance dramatically asked.

“Ha ha, very funny.  See you tomorrow.”

“Sleep sounds like an excellent idea.  I expect you all to be ready for training tomorrow.  Lance, if you still feel sore, you can come and observe.”

“We’ll be there, Allura,” Keith responded.

“If anything happens, don’t hesitate to let me know,” Coran said.

“We’ll keep you posted, or I guess Keith will.” Lance yawned once more.

“Goodnight paladins”

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

Lance had been sleeping soundly since everyone else left.  Keith would go between sitting and watching Lance to make sure he was ok and checking on Shiro in the healing pod.  Right now he was sitting next to Lance’s bed.  It was strange to see Lance so calm.  Usually, he was running around yelling in excitement about something.  Keith had never realized it was possible for Lance to look so peaceful.  The space mice had come in earlier to check on Lance, but they didn’t stay long since they had to go to Allura’s room.  Chulatt seemed to want to stay longer, but the others must have explained that they had to go.

It would be nice to be able to understand them.

Keith thought back on their visit.  He had felt awkward just sitting there.  He wasn’t the best with talking to people or charades, so it was harder for them to communicate with him.

Keith figured it was time to check on Shiro once more.  He got up and walked over to the healing pods.  Shiro looked a lot better than when he had first been put in.  He almost looked ready to come out, but Coran had said that it would be a while still until he was completely healed.  He wished he knew how to read the Altean numbers so he could see how much longer it was until Shiro would come out.

“I’m sorry it took so long for us to find you,”  Keith whispered so he wouldn’t wake up Lance.  “If we had been able to find you sooner, they wouldn’t have done this.  I feel like I let you down. You’ve always been there for me, but I couldn’t be there for you.  What kind of brother does that make me?”  Keith brushed away a tear and took a moment to collect his thoughts.  “Once you’re out of there, Pidge can reactivate your arm.  Knowing her, she’s probably got an upgrade for you.”  Keith paused for a moment.  “I should probably go check on Lance again.  See you later.”

Keith walked back over to the med bay area and was surprised at what he saw, or what he didn’t see.

Lance’s bed was empty and Lance was nowhere to be seen in the room.  The sheets on the bed hardly looked like they were disturbed.

That’s weird.  I would have heard the door open if he had left.

Keith walked towards the bed.

The sheets look more like someone made the bed than someone left.

Keith’s face suddenly got an annoyed look on it.  

This is probably some stupid prank of his.  He must have been pretending to sleep before hiding somewhere to pop out and scare me.

Keith then noticed a small lump moving under the sheets.  ‘Chulatt must have come back to check on Lance and gotten stuck under the covers.’

Keith grabbed the corner of the sheet and started pulling it back, “Come on, Chulatt.  You can help me find–” he dropped the sheet in shock at what he saw.  There, standing around 3 inches tall, was 

“–Lance?!”

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Previous          Next          Masterpost

#pocket paladin #voltron #vld #klance #g/t #giant/tiny #shrinking #shrunk

[angels17324]

The Violet Paladin (Keith x Reader) Ch 1

Summary: (Y/n) was just a normal girl with a normal life. She’s always been a dreamer looking to the stars and the future. When one fateful night changes her whole life what secrets lie beyond in the unknown?

[masterlist]

Word Count: 2447

It was just a normal day of classes at the garrison. I was standing in the back watching my best friend Katie and her teammates fly, unsuccessfully I might add... the simulator, which had resulted in a failure. I watched as Commander Iverson slammed open the pod door and yelled at the trio to get out. He used them as an example of a bad team. 

Comparing them to my own team I think they're better than us. I'm on the team of Ina and Jacob, I hardly knew either of them before getting teamed up and even still I don't know much other than the basics like their flying and comm skills. I'm the team's engineer, I hope after I graduate I'll be able to help build new ships with my idea's.

I had been so zoned out in my thought's that I hadn't realized it was finally my teams turn in the simulator. Unlike with Katie's team, we hadn't crashed or anything so the rest of the class was as uneventful as usual. Thinking about it, it wasn't always like this. It used to be kind of fun, though I never really got to see it being in the engineer's class I had always heard of these two boys, I only learned the name of one, which was Keith because we were in a class together but he got kicked out not long ago.

He used to be one of the perfect models for when I was drawing, having this look about him that made it seem like he was never really here. I probably have more drawings of him than I'm willing to admit but I could help it. I grabbed my backpack with my drawing pad, pencils, and some snacks to go meet Katie on the roof. It had become a nightly routine for us, ever since she sneaked in after her father and brother went missing. I would spend the time sitting next to her either sketching the sky or when I listened to her machine I'd try to sketch what I imagined the voices to look like.

Tonight wasn't going to be any different, I walked onto the roof seeing I was alone I plopped down dangling my feet over the edge and grabbed my sketch pad and a pencil. I began drawing as I heard footsteps behind me and a heavy backpack sat next to me.

I looked over to see Katie. She quickly set up her machine and plugged in the headphone to listen.

"I hope we find out what Voltron is." She said with her eyes closed. "Me too, If it's as dangerous as I think it is, I hope those people we hear never find it," I told her. I went back to sketching the stars again but was soon after interrupted.

"You know it's not polite to ignore your girlfriend." I heard the familiar voice speak from behind. I turned to see none other than Lance and Hunk. "Oh, Lance, Hunk..." It seemed like it took her a moment to register what he had said, "For the last time we're not dating!"

"We're just looking at the stars," I told the Cuban teen. He'd looked pasted Pidge and me to see her tech.

"Man where'd you get that stuff it doesn't look like garrison tech at all," Lance remarked.

"I built it," Pidge smirked.

"You built all this?" Hunk slowly approached her gear to touch it but was slapped away.

"With this puppy, I can scan all the way to the edge of our solar system," She proudly started.

"All the way to Kerberos?" Lance retorted, Pidge immediately shrunk at the mention of that. "You go ballistic anytime a teacher mentions it!" I turned to Lance, "There are just things you don't understand," I took the liberty to slap Hunk's hand away for the second time.

"Well Pidge, if we're gonna bond as a real team we can't have any secrets and it seems like you're most comfortable with (Y/n) so we can bring her along too," Lance gave me one of his looks like he was trying to flirt with me, I had only known the looks cause I've seen him use them on other girls in the garrison. "Fine..." Pidge sighed. "The world as you know it is about to change," She had a sad look in her eye.

"The Kerberos mission wasn't lost because of pilot error or otherwise-"

"STOP TOUCHING MY EQUIPMENT!" Pidge shouted angrily at Hunk. You took note of this to keep an extra close eye on your sketch pad. "Anyways," She said after calming down, "I've been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter," She turned to look at Lance.

"Woah! Wait, Alien?!" Hunk panicked.

"Okay, so you're both insane," Lance crossed his arms and glared at us. "We're serious," I matched his glare.

"They've just been repeating one thing, and that's Voltron, and from what I've heard tonight it's been going crazier than ever," Pidge informed them.

"How crazy?" Lance questioned. We were interrupted by Iverson over the P.A. system

"What's going on?" Hunk looked around. "Is that a meteorite?" He pointed out something in the sky.

"Can't be," I mumbled.

"It's a ship!" Pidge announced.

"Holy cow! I can't believe what I am seeing! It's not one of ours,"

"That's because it's one of theirs," I almost wanted to smirk.

"So wait there really are aliens out there?" Hunk began to freak out yet again. Pidge and I immediately packed up and started to leave.

"I've gotta see that ship!" She cheered.

"Hunk come on!" Lance called following us.

The four of you sat on rocks near the base they set up but far enough away that we wouldn't be caught. I watched as Pidge hacked their systems to get a look inside. We watched Shiro on the feed surrounded by men in hazard suits. We had all perked up at the mention of Voltron from Shiro.

"We need to get down there and save him," I said.

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news but weren't we watching on this because there's no way to get down there past those guards?" Hunk pleaded.

"That was before we were properly motivated. Now we just gotta think. Could we tunnel in?" Lance was talking to himself. We all bounced ideas of how to get in (Or to go back to the dorms in Hunk's case), before agreeing on needing a distraction. That's when you heard explosions in the distance.

"Like that!" Lance shouted. Hunk began to freak out thinking it was aliens.

"No, that was a distraction," You commented.

"Yeah, for him," Pidge pointed out someone approaching from opposite of where the garrison had left.

"Oh no way, that guy is always trying to one-up me!" Lance shouted looking through the binoculars.

"Who?" Hunk asked as Lance jumped down.

"Keith!" Lance shouted as Hunk followed him down.

"Who's Keith?" Pidge asked, then turned to me since I was the only one with her still.

"He got kicked out," I told her as we followed the boys. When we made it down everyone but Lance (who ran in) stayed by the entrance and watched the exchange between him and Keith.

Pidge, Hunk and I all kept watching for a minute while Lance and Keith carried Shiro back to Keith's hoverbike.

"Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?" Pidge asked.

"No," Keith replied. Lance handed Shiro over to Pidge and I as he sat on the wing. Keith quickly took off with the Garrison not far behind us. I helped Pidge keep Shiro on the bike as Keith was telling Hunk what to do to get the officers off our trail. So far it was successful except for one very persistent pursuer.

"Guys it that a cliff up ahead?" Hunk asked.

"Yup." Keith almost playfully said as he speeds up with us all screaming no.

"You're gonna get us all killed!" Lance shouted.

"Just trust me!" Keith said. How we survived that I may never know but we did.

Keith drove to a small shack in the middle of nowhere and parked, by this time it was almost morning and Shiro had woken up.

Everyone except Keith and Shiro was inside just kind of talking. "You realize how much trouble we will be in when we go back right?" I asked. We all remained silent for a moment that's when Keith and Shiro walked in.

Keith walked over to a board covered by a white sheet and ripped it off to reveal a bunch of pictures and diagrams.

"What is this?" Shiro asked.

"I don't really know, I've been working on it basically since I was booted from the Garrison, like some energy out here was telling me to search,"

"For what exactly?" I slightly zoned out from the conversation as I looked at the picture of the lion carvings. I only started paying attention again when I saw Shiro had turned to us.

"I guess I should thank you all, Lance right?" He shook Lance's hand. Then turned to Pidge, Hunk and I.

"(Y/n)," I shook his hand as well.

"The nervous guy is Hunk I'm Pidge," She introduced herself. "So did anyone else from your crew make it out?"

"I'm not sure. The last things I remember are the mission and when we got captured, other than that it's just bits and pieces,"

"Yeah sorry to interrupt but back to the aliens. Where exactly are they now?" Hunk began to panic yet again.

"I can't really put it together, I just remember "Voltron", Its some weapon they're searching for, but I think we need to find it before they do,"

"Well, last night I was rummaging through Pidge's stuff," As soon as I heard that come from Hunk's mouth I clutched mine tighter. "I found this picture, look it's his girlfriend," He chuckled a bit.

"Hey, give me that! Why were you in my stuff?" She asked him.

"I was looking for snacks."

"Did you go through mine?" I asked.

"No," He replied "Anyway's I found these series of number that looks like a Fraunhofer Line,"

"A what?" Keith asked.

"It's a number that describes the emission spectrum of an element, that is not found on earth, So it might be this Voltron and I can probably build a machine to look for it," Hunk quickly explained. "The wavelength looks like this," He pulled out a paper which Keith took and held to his board and it matched up with a series of rock formations.

After Hunk built his machine the six of us traveled out there and followed Hunk and Pidge to a cave with more drawings of the lions. I looked at each one, they were all fascinating. When they started to glow, I backed up a bit when the floor crumbled. We all screamed as we were on almost like a water slide and landed in a little pool of water at the bottom.

"Ow," I mumbled and looked up to see a lion.

"Is this it?" Pidge asked.

"It must be," Shiro said.

"This has got to be what's been causing all this crazy energy out here," Keith walked towards it.

"There's a force field around it." I said, "And probably for a good reason." I mumbled the last part, everyone had already started walking towards it I sighed and followed. Keith put his hands on the force field.

"I wonder how we get through?" He asked no one.

"Maybe we just have to knock?" Lance knocked and the Lion roared to life it seemed like we all had the same vision of six lions forming one giant mecha.

"Whoa," We all said.

"This is only one part of Voltron," Shiro said.

"I wonder where the rest are?" Pidge questioned. The lion lowered down and opened its mouth.

"Hey we probably shouldn't," I started but Lance already ran inside. "Touch anything..." as everyone else walked up.

"Come on (y/n)," Pidge said, I walked up behind her and into the head. The controls all powered on and were in a language we couldn't understand. I stood in the back between Keith and Shiro.

"Okay, guys, I feel like I need to point out just so we're all aware, we're in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now," Hunk said.

"Whoa did you guys just hear that?"

"What?" Keith asked.

"I think it's talking to me," Lance turned to look at the controls.

"Wait Lance don't touch anything," I said but too late he already started to push buttons.

"Don't worry I've got this," He said and blasted out of the cave and started flying crazily. I grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be Keith who was also holding onto something for dear life.

"You are the worst pilot ever!" Keith yelled.

"This is awesome!" Lance cheered.

"Make it stop!" Hunk pleaded.

"I'm not making it do anything,"

"Where are you going?" Keith asked as we took off towards space.

"I just said I'm not doing anything, it says there is an alien ship approaching Earth I think we're supposed to stop it," Lance said.

"What did it say exactly?" Pidge asked.

"It's not saying words just idea's... Kinda,"

"If that's them and this is what they're coming for maybe we should just give it to them," Hunk said.

"You don't understand, these monsters spread like a plague through the galaxy, giving them this won't stop them," We all glared at Hunk who shrunk back. As we turned back, we were face to face with a large Alien cruiser which began firing at us.

Lance avoided the blasts. "Okay, I think I know what to do,"

"Be careful man this isn't the simulator!" Pidge warned.

"Oh, good, cause I always crash those," Lance said. That didn't make any of us feel any better but Lance shot a beam from the lion and attacked it before flying us away from the planet and towards deep space. We passed Kerberos and we were all in shock, and a wormhole had opened in the distance. "Where does it go?" Pidge asked.

"I don't know, Shiro, you're the senior officer, what should we do?" We all turned to Shiro.

"I don't know what's happening but the lion seems to know more than we do, so, for now, we should trust it. However we're a team now, so we decide together," We were all silent but it seemed like we agreed to go through the wormhole was the best option.

[Next] Tag list~

@somebodytouchedmysaeran @ittie-bittie-tittie 

#keith kogane #the violet paladin #keith x reader #aliens #voltron #lance mcclain #vld #romance #takashi shirogane #hunk #katie holt #blue lion #red lion #yellow lion #green lion #black lion #violet lion #allura #coran #angels1732 #reader Insert

[braincoins]

After

@tybalt-tisk pointed out that the Shallura tag has been a bit empty of late and, being the treasure she is, took steps to rectify that. So this is for you, Tybbikins. (This is also before Allura knows about the Altean diaspora, when she thinks she and Coran and Haggar are the last.)

There was no real need to clean up after the Coalition ball. She just hadn’t wanted to leave yet, hadn’t wanted the evening to be over even though she was tired from dancing and diplomacy. Everyone was still getting used to each other, and she was helping to build those bridges. It was necessary work for the war effort, and also a nice break. She should have been exhausted, and she was, when she stopped to think about it. But she didn’t stop. Not yet. She lingered, finding excuses - like cleaning up, even though the Castle had systems and bots for that.

She lingered because Shiro was still here, because she’d hardly gotten to see or talk with him the whole evening. He’d walked in, and her breath had caught in her throat. All the paladins were wearing Altean dress uniforms in their appropriate colors, because it was what the Castle’s manufactor had on hand to make, because it was quickest and easiest. And Shiro had looked...

And then she had to get back to work. For the war effort. 

She’d danced with all the other paladins, even Pidge. She’d danced with Coran. She’d danced with any number of Coalition leaders. She’d spoken to them all, laughed politely at jokes, looked for opportunities to find and share similarities amongst them. She’d barely seen the Black Paladin the rest of the night. 

But he was here now, and so she was here now. She wasn’t sure why, or for what, only that she wanted a chance to at least talk with him a little. They’d started talking about the Coalition. He’d apparently spent the night doing the same thing she’d been doing: building bridges, finding common ground. With less dancing, though. 

“Thank you for your help,” she said.

“I’m glad to,” he replied. The uniform showed him off to advantage, accenting the broad shoulders, the trim waist. 

“You look very nice,” she told him, then hurried to add, “I didn’t get a chance to say so to you during the ball.” That made it sound more like an obligation, less like... well, like what? My opinion? It is, and what’s wrong with that?

He smiled at her. “Thank you, Princess. And I didn’t get the chance to say how radiant you looked as well. LOOK!” he corrected hastily, blush staining his cheeks. “You still look... not just...”

She laughed. “Thank you, Shiro. You know...” She waved up a screen. “We also didn’t get a chance to dance. I danced with everyone else. All the other paladins, anyway.” Her hand hovered in front of the music selection screen.

“Oh, uh... I’m not much of a dancer.”

“I find that hard to believe. I’ve seen you in the training sims; you’re very graceful.”

The dying blush surged. “Thank you, but combat isn’t the same as dancing. I can sort of fake my way through some Earth dancing, but...”

“Well then, let’s Earth dance. What sort of tempo do you need?”

He hesitated, and for a moment she was worried she’d pressed her luck, she’d pushed him too far. But then he said, “Slow, please.”

She selected a song and, when it started playing, looked back to him for confirmation.

He nodded. “This will do.”

She waved the screen away and took a single step toward him. “So, how do we ‘fake’ an Earth dance then?”

He chuckled as he closed the distance between them. “There’s touching involved. May I?”

“Of course. I trust you to be a gentleman.”

“Thank you.” His left hand reached for her right, enfolding it graciously and lifting it. “I’ll have to lead, if you don’t mind.”

“Why would I?”

“Well,” he said, and his right hand rested on her hip before sliding around to the small of her back, “you’re the one who leads. When we’re not dancing.”

“I don’t think that’s always true, and what do I do with my other hand?”

“Oh, rest it on my shoulder. Yes, like that.” He took a step forward and she, out of necessity, stepped back. “And of course it’s always true. You’re the princess.”

She shook her head, responding to his steps. “Sometimes I lead, sometimes you lead. Sometimes we lead together - like tonight. We didn’t even speak to each other beforehand, but we both wound up doing the same thing. We saw the same need and both took initiative to address it. We led together tonight. And...” She wasn’t sure how to say it, wasn’t sure it should be said. I’d rather just dance than talk about this. 

But he wasn’t the type to let things go. “And?” They were still just taking random steps, near as she could tell. Stepping and swaying faintly, with the soft, slow music floating around them.

She exhaled and tried to summon up the truth she’d been trying to deny for a long time now. It was hard to put words to it, to bring it out into the air and force herself to acknowledge it, but it was a little easier now, here, when it was just her and Shiro. He made everything a little easier. “I’m not really a princess. Not anymore.”

“You’re wrong,” he said immediately, almost sharply. She’d have taken it as a rebuke if he didn’t sound so concerned. 

“I’m not,” she pushed back gently. “I have no one to lead, no people or place left to me. The only thing that makes me a ‘princess’ is the happenstance of my birth.”

“No.” He shook his head. “No, there’s more to being a princess than who your parents are. It’s in your bearing, in your grace, in your tact and your brilliance, and the way you inspire people. And you do. Inspire us, that is. You lead us: the Coalition, the Alliance, the team.” He stopped stepping or swaying, but continued to hold her as he looked into her eyes. “I told you the first time we met: we’re with you, Princess. I meant it then, and I mean it now.”

Shiro’s dark eyes were warm, his gaze steady, and the music faded away leaving only his trust and his faith in her. This man had bonded with one of the most formidable weapons in the universe and he had pledged himself to her, again and again, in word and in deed. She was humbled, flattered, and a little overwhelmed. 

He was also holding her in his arms, looking into her eyes, and the very air shifted. She didn’t want to move, but at the same time she had to, like a compulsion, as if something in and around her just pushed and she was helpless to stop herself.

She pulled her hand away from his, raised them both to his face. She didn’t think about shifting, she just did, taller, rising up to meet his lips with her own. He combed his hand into her hair, just behind her ear. She slid her hands away from his face and looped her arms around his neck.

And he took just a moment to breathe her name - “Allura” - before kissing her again. She surrendered her mouth to his so she could taste more of him. 

When they broke again, their eyes caught each other’s. She was level with him now, gaze for gaze. In combat, she could tell an opponent’s next move by their eyes and the way they held themselves; she could figure out what she’d do to counter that move, then what they’d do. A few moments of the future, held in the eyes.

She could see the next few moments of this future. She could see that he could see it as well. Realization washed over them both, and then... Then something snapped.

They released each other, each taking a step back, both looking away.

“I should...” “Yes, so should I.” “We can finish this later.” “The Castle will finish up for us.” “Okay, great. I...” “Yes, me, too.” “Okay then.” “Yes.”

They didn’t even say goodnight, just fled in opposite directions. She was heading for her room, which was in the same direction as his. She’d lay a good stack of Altean crown bills that he was headed for his hangar, for the reassurance of a bond well-forged, not new and frightening.

She didn’t know if that was how he felt about it, but she was frightened. She was terrified. Because there, for just a moment, they had teetered on the precipice of losing control, of succumbing. And she wouldn’t just have given him her body and accepted his in return. She could have handled that. Part of her insisted she could have handled it very well and should have, in fact. But it was more than that.

He’d have taken her heart if she’d yielded. Taken hers and given his in exchange, and she’d accept it and then what? 

This war had taken everything from her: her planet, her people, her father, her family, her home. It had taken everything that she had once loved and shattered it, leaving her with only the grim purpose she now pursued.

She couldn’t love again. Not like that. Not now, when her heart was still a fragile thing held together by righteous anger and a quest for justice. She couldn’t love anyone, let alone someone who threw himself into danger time and again. Because if he went out there and didn’t come back... she might not recover. There might not be a way to piece her heart back together. 

“Allura” - his voice in her mind, in her very blood now. The memory of his kiss was still warm on her lips. She ached with fear and longing now as much as the weariness of long vargas dancing and chatting. She didn’t know if she could sleep, but she had to try. 

The evening was over. The war was not. 

And now there was a new battle to fight, on an unexpected front. But, as the door of her room shut behind her, she remembered his words about her. We’re with you, Princess.

She wasn’t alone. It’d be hard, to see him, to remember this night, to go on and not give in. But Shiro made everything easier. He had pledged himself and his team to her and to the battle to overthrow a tyrant who had ruled the better part of the universe for over ten thousand years. What was love, compared to that?

She moved to get ready for bed and tried not to acknowledge the new truth of things: that love was everything and that this battle, perhaps, was already decided.

#Shallura #Socks writes Voltron fanfic

[skaylanphear]

The Voltron Project

What is it? The Voltron Project is a retelling of the Voltron story following Season 6. Like many in the fandom, I was left dissatisfied with Season 7 for many reasons. The Voltron Project is a fan endeavor to give others feeling similarly the content that was lacking in Season 7. I won't rehash the discourse here, as this is meant to be a positive move forward, and while I think a lot was learned as a result of Season 7, I want to carve out a positive place for both myself and others should they so wish to partake.

I also want to make it clear that this is not a project resulting from spite or a desire to hurt the creators of Voltron. It is simply a fan (me) retelling the story in a way that I will find more satisfying. It is for that reason that I invite everyone to be involved and to have fun with it. You're not unwelcome if you enjoyed Season 7, but you're definitely going to get a lot of what was missing if you didn't. This project isn't meant to spur hate, but to simply take Voltron in a different direction. An AU, if you will, though it takes off following Season 6 of the canon.

I'd also like to add that this is not connected to the "Reboot" or the Leakira stuff going around. This is something entirely different. I am not involved in any of that.

With that out of the way, I can actually TELL YOU ABOUT THE PROJECT!

Details: The Voltron Project will be a novel length fic taking place following Season 6 of Voltron. It will be divided up episodically, meaning that there will be 13 chapters in total. It is meant to reflect the best of what we've seen of Voltron, while doing away with the worst. That means focusing on the main characters and their arcs, interactions, and development, as well as keeping alive the space epic atmosphere of the show. This is not a ship-spurred project, being that the goal is that anyone who enjoys the show or any of the characters in it will also enjoy. Fanfiction is a place for people to explore the character dynamics of those they love most, which means that most fics focus solely on only a few characters. Which is great! But the goal of The Voltron Project is to bring the team dynamic of the show to the page. Each character will get their story and their spotlight, and those that have fallen on the backburner will finally get their due (yes, this means hefty arcs for both Lance and Hunk that will actually be pertinent to the story and related to the plot, though these arcs will be spread over the "Season 7" rewrite as well as the newly written "Season 8" finale book that would be written if this project is a success). That isn't to say there won't be ships at all (because there will be), but this isn't a ship driven narrative.

It is a Voltron and character driven narrative.

So what does this mean? Well, I've outlined the story fully, so I can provide you with summaries of what would be to come. If only to get y'all interested, because it won't be worth me writing if people aren't interested in reading ;)

The Voltron Project: Season 7 - Summaries

Episode 1: Keith struggles to find his confidence as leader with Shiro back, leaving him to reflect on all the times Shiro was his guide growing up. Certainly it'd make more sense for Shiro to take over the team and get them through this difficult journey back to Earth? Meanwhile, Allura struggles to find her confidence and place on the team following Lotor's betrayal. Stranded on an unknown planet, she fails to find a peaceful resolution with the local population, leaving Hunk to step forward with a new perspective and perhaps a new way of looking at Voltron's previously tried and true methods of diplomacy.

Episode 2: Having set out on the long journey back to Earth, the paladins struggle with close-quarters as well as the fear that with their lions not fully charged, they may be unable to defend themselves should the situation turn dire. Luck is not on their side, as they encounter an invisible force that seems to enjoy toying with their insecurities. Left to soul-search their way to answers, each paladin must grapple with the fears holding them hostage in the hopes that they—and their lions—might come out stronger on the other side.

Episode 3: Discovering an old altean base from the days when Daibazaal and Altea were allies, the paladins make a pit-stop in the hopes of salvaging supplies for their trip. While Romelle and Coran indulge in Altean culture and history, Allura must face the heartbreak Lotor inflicted on her emotionally as well as how his actions shook her faith in the art of altean alchemy itself. But as Lance points out, Allura must shape her own story with her own actions, not reflect on the misguided deeds of others against her. Without her abilities, they may not escape the faulty altean base alive.

Episode 4: While the team attempts to get the archaic teleduv up and running, Lance is left to ponder his own relationships with the other paladins, as well as his many mistakes. But if there's anyone who understands interpersonal missteps, it's Shiro, who divulges the many regrets he's accumulated since he'd made the decision to go to space. But the team's ultimate goal is Olkari, as that may be as far as they can get with the questionable teleduv. Personal reflections may have to take a backseat to the bad news that awaits them. Meanwhile, Haggar and Sendak strike up an alliance.

Episode 5: Since Sam Holt's return, the Earth has been informed of the war beyond its solar system and prepped as best as possible for an inevitable attack. But Earth's technology is too far behind to catch up, and so the citizenry must hope for Voltron and the coalition when Galra ships appear on the horizon. Hopes that are devastated when news that Voltron was destroyed reaches Sam Holt via the Olkari. And without an altean, the coalition can't provide aid in time. Earth is, seemingly, on its own.

Episode 6: Back on Earth, the paladins are finally reunited with their loved ones. But things aren't the same as when they left and the paladins aren't the same people they were on that fateful day the blue lion carried them into space. Pressures are mounting and tough decisions must be made, many of the paladins having to face their positions in ways they hadn't considered before. Meanwhile, Shiro attempts to deal with the politics of Earth, Voltron, and the Coalition, all while trying to work around personal obstacles from before he'd left on the Kerberos Mission.

Episode 7: All the paladins need a break, so Lance invites them down to Varadero for a day out under the sun and on the water. After all, what better solution is there for stress and doubt than a relaxing day on the beach? Yet even as the team seems to be embracing Lance's idea and having a good time, he's eventually the one left floundering and uncertain. But none of that may matter soon. The notion of peace is fleeting and everyone knew the Galra would be back sooner rather than later. Even with Voltron and the Coalition, Earth may yet be in danger.

Episode 8: Everyone is scrambling to Earth's defenses, which are far from being prepared for another attack. Team Voltron is tested both together and apart by the combined forces of Sendak and Haggar's forces. With so much to defend and so little on their side, they may have no choice but to separate their priorities if only because so much has to be done and so little is possible. But Voltron is always stronger together and Haggar's new weapon may be the strongest foe the paladins have faced yet.

Episode 9: With their focus on Haggar's weapon, Voltron depends on the coalition and Earth's own forces to deal with the assault. But even their faith in the strength of Voltron may not be enough. There's tragedy waiting in Earth's devastation. The most personally weighted and important battle the paladins have ever faced may be one that's impossible to truly win.

Episode 10: Humanity will never be the same, nor will team Voltron. In the wake of the attack, Earth has been tested in ways never before seen, while the paladins must try and pick up the pieces of their own team. With a lion and a paladin captured and another paladin overwhelmed with grief, they must continue to push forward despite the giant fractures that threaten to crumble everything Voltron has worked so hard to achieve.

Episode 11: Having located the energy signature of the captured lion, the paladins and the coalition move in. But retrieving the missing lion—and hopefully the paladin that goes with it—will prove challenging without the ability to form Voltron, and that's if things go as planned. But knowing the Galra, things are bound to go wrong.

Episode 12: The paladins are working on borrowed time. Infiltrating the Galra ships proves perilous. While Allura is faced with Haggar—as well as the misdeeds of Lotor and their effects—the rest of the team searches for their missing comrade. But traversing Galra ships is challenging, especially when they've got so much riding on such a short time allotment. That some of the team's judgement is clouded in anger and grief does little to help the situation. In the end, the paladins are left rushing toward an end with no clear answers.

Episode 13: With one of the lions having vanished through Haggar's wormhole, it falls to Keith to do something, as his lion is the only one capable of bending space swiftly enough to catch up. Meanwhile, Sendak awaits, having used the paladins' weaknesses against them to the point that team Voltron may never recover if Keith, and the rest of the team, can't find him in time.

So those are the summaries for the entirety of "Season 7." I've tried to include enough to explain where the story is going while also leaving out as many spoilers as possible ;D

This is the fic I'd like to write, if enough people are interested in reading it. But a lot of my investment in it is dependent on readers' investment in it. I'll write with or without the help of others if enough people want to read it. And in the case that others want to be involved, I have a few propositions to be considered. Different potential "packages" of The Voltron Project, if you will:

Basic – I write the fic and upload it over the course of 13 days to AO3 for everyone to read, simple as that.

BigBang – The fic itself remains a digital interface, while artists that are interested in being involved treat it like a BigBang, as in, artists work on illustrations of each chapter like they would separate stories during a BigBang. These will be released during a thirteen day period, with appropriate credits being given. But this is only possible if at least 13 artists are interested. If there are more (which would be amazing), I would like the project to be as inclusive as possible, meaning that multiple artists would work on illustrations for one chapter, etc.

Zine – The ultimate goal, which I think is unlikely, but a dude can dream, yeah? In this case, the book will be released as a digital zine (which would be free) with options for different tiers following. For example:

Tier one: Free—get a digital copy! Awesome!

Tier two: Black and white softcover copy (text and illustrations would be in b&w) with all proceeds going to charity (what charity would be up for discussion at a later date).

Tier three: Color softcover copy! All proceeds would go to charity!

Tier four: Color hardcover copy! All proceeds would go to charity!

(This is only an example of potentially what could be done and could change later)

I also imagine that different tiers would offer different extras, like pins, bookmarks, etc… But again, this is the ultimate thing that could happen and I'm really not holding my breath for this being possible.

In any case, that is where I stand on The Voltron Project at the moment! I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say! 

And if y’all want this project to get off the ground, tell your friends, tell your fav artists, and, of course, REBLOG!

PS: Also, I'll need beta readers, so if people are into this idea, I'll open some kind of application for that as well, as would be done with artists ;D Just something to keep in mind!

PPS: THIS IS A HATE FREE PROJECT! ANY HATE BY ANYONE WANTING TO BE INVOLVED WILL NOT BE TOLERATED AND YOU WILL BE TAKEN OFF THE ROSTER POST-HASTE!

#The Voltron Project #Skaylanphear #voltron #vld #voltron legendary defender #klance #shadam #adashi #fanfiction #fanfic #my fics

[a-spoopy-bird]

Glowing Eyes

Sorry ubt immean take this langst as tribute for my absence!

We all are stranger creatures than when we all started out as kids. Culture forbid.

The paladins were going to stay on Earth for a while, learning about this new Altean. This gave time for them to chill. Sure, they’d train, and they would strengthen diplomatic connections, but it seems like the Galran threat was gone.

They mourned the lost, and honor ceremonies were given to them, awards and medals for their bravery. Lance let his little relatives put on the badges, laughing as they went around, pretending to use a blaster. He remembered being that young, only five or six, and he would also play games like that, his dad looking on and laughing. His grin widened. These guys were the best.

“Lance, what’s this?” Joseph asked, picking up Lance’s bayard. He hadn’t explained it yet, because, after all, there had been a lot going on with ceremonies and recovering.

“This, is my bayard.” Lance said with a flair of drama. “It’s my weapon. It’s different for everybody.”

“Cool! How does it work?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. Something about Altean alchemy. You’d have to ask Coran. It might take a few minutes to get an answer though.” Lance grinned.

“What does it do?” He asked, looking at it.

“It’s different for everyone. Some people, like me,” He grinned, “have several bayard forms. It doesn’t matter which bayard you use, it’ll take the same shape.”

“How do you know?”

“I originally piloted the Blue Lion. She’s pretty great, but Keith left Red to Black, so I got a promotion. Allura took Blue, so I passed on the bayard.” He explained.

“What are your bayards?” Marco asked.

Lance grinned. “I have a blaster, sniper rifle, and I got a sword.”

The was a chorus of woahs and wows. “Show us!”

“Maybe later. I don’t think the nurses would like it very much if I just started activating my bayard.”

They pouted, but then moved on. “Tell us space stories!”

Lance smiled. It was good to be home, however different it was.

We have romantic fantasies about what dying truly is. Fall off the grid.

“You died?” Veronica gasped. Lance was in the middle of telling her a story.

“Yeah, it’s nothing compared to what Shiro went through. He died, was cloned, then his soul was forced into his clone.” Lance said hotly.

“Now you’re just lying.”

“I am not! Anyway, Allura saved me with her crazy Altean magic.”

“A lot seems to happen with you and Allura.” Veronica said. Lance felt the nudge to open up.

“You’re getting sloppy, I felt that one a mile away.” He snorted.

Veronica shrugged. “Worth a shot. Are you two dating or…?”

Lance blushed instantly. “Wh- what, no, we’re just friends. Besides, she just got over Lotor.”

“Space prince?”

Lance’s shoulders tensed ever so slightly. “Yeah. He had us all. He was bad, being Zarkon’s son, then he was on our side, then he went insane from quintessence, like Haggar and Zarkon did. It was hard on Allura. She was in love with him, the version he told us.” Lance’s shoulders fell. “Honestly, I didn’t trust him, but I thought it was just my jealousy. He got so close to Allura so quickly, and I had been with her for several months and made less progress. But, my gut was right. He lied to us all, and that put the universe in jeopardy.” He shrugged. “We left him in the quintessence field.”

“That must’ve been rough.”

Lance laughed. “Understatement of the year.”

Veronica studied Lance, noticing how he didn’t laugh as long, he didn’t make as many jokes. He looked like the same Lance, but the Galra had hardened him into someone almost completely different.

We live for the night’s décor, it reveals what we dream of.

Lance missed looking up at a night sky. After so many nights and days of being in one, it looked so much better being on the ground. The stars, familiar constellations blinked down at him, a comfort from his childhood.

“Lance? Are you down there?” Keith’s voice floated over the little ledge that was washed out by the sea.

Slightly confused, Lance called back, “Yeah, there’s a slight lip.” He watched as Keith got down and sat beside him. “What’s up?”

“I needed to get away from the Garrison and Griffin. He’s such an asshole.”

Lance smirked. “Didn’t you guys fight all the time?”

“Still do.” Keith grunted, looking at the moonlight that bounced off the waves.

Lance looked up at the stars. “I wonder how many of these are planets we visited.” He wondered aloud.

Keith looked at Lance, then the sky. “I don’t know.”

Lance fell silent. He stared at the stars, expression content and a bit sad too. He thought of the countless battles, and of how often he wanted to come home, just too look at his stars again. Slowly, he relaxed, leaning into the embankment, letting out a soft sigh. This was his reward for making it through the war.

He didn’t notice Keith looking at him, wondering why Lance wasn’t trying to pick a fight.

I know there’s someone at the door. They come for help of this I’m sure.

“You wanna talk about it?” Lance heard Keith ask. He had fallen asleep at the embankment and had just jolted awake. He knew instinctively he was pale and clammy. It happened every time he had a nightmare.

The image of Galran sentries bearing down on him flashed through his mind. He suppressed a shudder. “No, it’s fine. I should get home. Don’t want them to think I disappeared again,” Lance joked, grin obviously forced.

Keith watched as Lance got up and left him alone under the stars on Veradero beach.

But do I want to say goodbye to all the glowing eyes?

Lance walked to his hiding spot. He wasn’t even sure if it was there anymore, but it remained intact. Just a tree with a platform in its branches. It was about fifteen feet up, but he had made a small ladder up.

Curling around his knees, he let out a quiet, dry sob. Was he ever going to be free from the Galra? He let the tension slowly leave his body. It’d be fine, he was finally home. He could chill sometimes, not fearing an attack any second.

I’m holding onto what I know, and what I know I must let go.

Having Keith back after a month of him being gone was weird. Lance didn’t really know what to do. Half of him wanted to fight with him, but the other half wanted to drop it. This resulted in some very mixed signals.

“Your hair needs cut,” Mrs. Holt said one day as they chilled in the Garrison lounge.

“I’ve been saying that for months.” Lance snorted.

Keith fingered his hair. “I don’t know, I kinda like it long.”

It doesn’t look half bad. Lance thought, but he didn’t know how to say that. “It’s more of a mullet this way. It’s better.”

Keith glared.

“But it’s so long, just a trim,” Mrs. Holt continued. “It’d be so much easier to manage.”

“Thanks for the offer, Mrs. Holt, but I think I’ll keep it for now.” Keith said politely but continued to glare at Lance.

But I would rather sing a song, for the eyes to sing along.

Lance was getting used to waking up in his own sweat, visions of towering sentries and cruisers and fighters burnt onto his eyelids. He would silently sneak out of his house, or the Garrison, or where ever he had fell asleep at, and go to his hideout, his guitar in a waterproof case. He’d pull it out and sing softly, relaxing into the music.

For now, he would be safe.

We all know somebody who knows somebody’s who’s doing great.

Lance sat politely as Hunk and Pidge talked about how good it was to be on Earth again, even if they didn’t have as advanced of technology. They compared notes as he sat in the background, half listening. They didn’t seem to be haunted by the war.

We all know people who know people who are flying straight.

“Paladins, we have to continue training with out lions.” Allura said. “We can’t let our bonds grow stale.”

Lance climbed into Red, feeling his impatient and violent nature, but also feeling his protectiveness and fierce love for the other paladins. Especially his paladin, Lance.

Lance missed Blue, for sure, but Red was also great. Red wasn’t as chill as Blue. Red wanted Lance to be the best he could be, and so did Blue, but Blue was more maternal about it. Red let Lance make mistakes. When it got out of hand he stepped in. Or fell onto.

They did drills for hours. Red responded well, even occasionally giving Lance tips about his flying form. Red was speedy, so Lance had to take it down a notch. But Red was also temperamental, so when the team got slightly heated at him, Red bristled. Lance soothed him. It was fine. He was fine.

He felt Red questioning how firm his belief was. He knew Red knew he was lying. Red had a direct link with his mind, of course he knew. He knew about the nightmares and the panic attacks and the absolutely, mind numbing, body freezing fear that took him over.

But I’ll kindly enter into rooms of depression, while ceiling fans and idle hands will take my life again.

By this time, Lance knew he should confide in someone besides his giant mechanical cat. It wasn’t getting better on its own, as Lance had hoped. He thought about Hunk or Pidge or Shiro, but none of them seemed right. He wanted to go to his family, but he’s been gone for so long and he didn’t know if they’d be awake right now. It was… three in the morning.

He huffed. This isn’t what he had planned for when they finally came home. Then again, he hadn’t planned on being in some sort of stasis for three years. He sighed, just staring at the ceiling. Shark stickers that glow in the dark dotted his ceiling. He remembered naming them when he got them, but by now he forgot the names. All he knew is that one was Hunk, for his best friend.

He heard a soft knock on his door. Who the hell was awake? He considered grabbing his bayard and snatched it from his dresser. He slowly opened the door, bayard up, but not activated.

“Jesus, Lance, I’m not here to kill you.” Veronica whispered, entering his room. “Why are you up?”

“I could ask the same thing,” he whispered back, putting down the weapon.

“I asked you first.” She said, falling into the familiar pattern of their talks.

“What is this, middle school?” Lance scoffed quietly. “I just couldn’t sleep.”

“Bullshit.” She answered. Lance looked up, ready to defend his claim. “You didn’t sleep at all last night either. When I came in to check, you weren’t even here.” She accused. It was true. He had snuck out to his hideout again.

“I don’t really want to talk about it.” He muttered, looking down. “You should get some rest.”

“I’m not going to bed until you tell me what’s up.”

Lance sat there tired and exasperated. Veronica knew he valued his family’s needs over his own personal ones. He also knew she had his best interest at heart. But he really, really didn’t want to talk about it.

“You know, you don’t have to be Red Paladin, you can just be Lance.” She said, her voice concerned and honest.

He felt his shoulders slump. Those words crashed down on him. He suspected Veronica saw through him, and maybe Keith. “Fine. It just seems silly to me. It just a few bad dreams.”

“Every night?”

“Most nights. So, I leave with my guitar and just softly play. It’s not really a big deal.”

Veronica wasn’t really convinced. “Okay. Try to get some sleep, okay?” Lance nodded, and she left.

Lance bit his lip. He wanted to tell Veronica everything, like they were kids again. Instead, he found himself texting Keith to meet him at the embankment. He snuck out his window, knowing Veronica wasn’t asleep yet, and crept off.

The tide was in, and the water was a few feet below Lance’s feet. He figured it would be a few hours until Keith showed up. After all, it was four in the morning.

We live for the night’s décor, it reveals what we dream of.

“Lance?” Keith called. Lance blinked and sat up. Keith jumped off the embankment and sat down. “It’s four in the morning, why are you up?” Lance felt Keith studying his reaction.

Lance chose his words very carefully. “I just- uh, I haven’t been sleeping well, and you’re the team leader, plus, Pidge and Hunk are busy with Garrison tech things, so I-” He broke off, knowing he had started to ramble.

“Nightmares?” Keith asked quietly.

Lance bit his lip and nodded. “How’d you know?”

“I had the same problem. When the Blade showed up and showed their symbol, I realized I might be part Galra, and I was terrified. I had nightmares about it. It made me moodier and more irritable.” Keith said.

Lance hung his head. “I don’t really hate your mullet.” He muttered.

Keith raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I don’t actually hate your mullet.” He said a little louder, head almost between his knees. He felt his face heat up. “I hated how you were better. I was kind of jealous. Griffin was your rival, not me.”

“I was always confused about why you’d make fun of my hair and purposely press my buttons.”

Lance looked up at the now waning moon. It was funny how the night air and sky seemed to strip you away until you were left naked, nothing left but your true self. “Yeah I was just extremely jealous. You could fly great, you never had to study, you picked fights when I probably would have cried.”

Keith looked at Lance, obviously confused as to why Lance was opening up to him.  “I didn’t like getting into fights. People just said the wrong stuff.” He paused. “Those people were assholes.” Keith didn’t like how sad it was getting. Lance was the happy-go-lucky guy on the team, being sad didn’t look right on him.

Lance laughed half-heartedly, then looked at Keith. “I want to show you something.” He decided, getting up. He went down the beach until he found his gnarled tree.

I know there’s someone at the door they come for help of this I’m sure.

But do I want to say goodbye to all the glowing eyes?

Lance heaved up onto the platform, waiting for Keith.

“What is this?”

“This,” Lance said with a flair of pride and drama, “is my Quiet Place. When I come here, I just chill. It’s not exactly a panic room, but it’s close.”

“Why are you showing me this?” Keith asked, looking at the carvings on the trunks and the floor.

“Well, you’re our leader, and there’s really no one else right now…” Lance bit his tongue. He wasn’t thinking when he brought Keith here.

I’m holding onto what I know and what I know I must let go.

But I would rather sing a song for the eyes to sing along.

“Lance?” Keith asked softly. “Do you- do you want to talk about it?”

Lance shrugged, rubbing his arm. He sat down, motioning for Keith to do the same. It was kind of cramped, but Lance got out his guitar. “So, when I come up here, I just sort of play until lyrics come to me.” He tuned it. “And since we’ve been home, I’ve written all of these.” Lance brought out a stack of sheet music. “This is seven songs, and it takes a few days, generally, to write one. They aren’t very good.” He added, watching Keith as he read them.

Lance started to play one of his favorites.

This room is far too dark for us to stay around.

Redemption’s not that far and darkness is going down.

Keith listened to the minor key cords and the lyrics that seemed to come effortlessly. The more he listened, the better he understood what Lance was going through. Almost impeccably, it molds into a different song. It was slightly more depressing, Lance strumming harder and more passionately. Keith listened, Lance’s singing just as soft as before, barely escalating over the guitar.

This room is far too dark for us to stay around.

Redemption’s not that far and darkness is going down.

Keith wanted to interrupt but wanted to hear the rest of the song.  Lance didn’t seem to remember Keith was there as he kept playing, getting louder and more passionate, until he stopped, with a slow, sad strum.

Lance didn’t look up.

“Lance, do you- you want to talk?” He asked softly.

Lance shook his head no. He slowly put the guitar away then hugged himself, refusing to look up. He took a shuddering breath. “I- I don’t understand,” He started, voice congested and full of sorrow. “I don’t understand why after- after everything we’ve done, I breakdown when we’re safe.”

“Lance-”

“And it’s not like I’m scared!” Lance said, voice stronger, fueled by anger at his own weakness. “I don’t understand it! I don’t feel scared, I know I’m safe, but there’s still this lingering paranoia and I’m just so, tired, of being afraid.” He ended it with a contained sob.

“After how long in space, it’s okay to feel like this.” Keith said without knowing what he was saying. “How many times were we woken up by the alarms blaring, or a rattling explosion when Coran forgot the proximity alarms? We’ve been through so much. You more. I spent two years on the back of a space whale bonding with my mom.” Keith knew Lance knew the stab at humor was weak. Lance hardly laughed. He just sort of jerked, a weak chuckle that sounded more like a sigh. “You aren’t going to be alright right away. Just give it time.”

“But- what if we don’t have time?” Lance chocked out. “There could be an attack from any of the Galra who are fighting for power.”

“If you keep focusing on the bad, you lose sight of the good.”

Lance’s head bobbed, but his lips quivered, holding back tears.

I’m holding onto what I know and what I know I must let go.

But I would rather sing a song for the eyes to sing along.

They sat in silence. Lance wished Keith would say something to get rid of the despair still welling up inside of him, but he knew that wouldn’t happen. He had to take action. But he was scared. What would happen? Would he start to sob? Get thrown into another panic attack? Even at the thought he felt his chest constricting. He didn’t want to vanish inside a panicked shell in front of Keith.

In front of anyone.

La di da da, la di da di da,

La di da da, la di da di da,

La di da da, la di da da, la di da da, la di da.

Time passes. It’s natural. But other things don’t. Lance didn’t recover. He just got better at hiding it. He got worse. Nothing was alright anymore. He just wanted to leave and never come back, or to be in Blue’s cockpit one last time. He missed her but respected her decision to block him out. She was, after all, a wise Lion of Voltron, and he was just a silly human trying to keep it together.

For the eyes to sing along.

“Lance!” They were calling out his name. He had vanished from the Garrison overnight, leaving a note.

Make them stop.

Lance quivered and shook in his tree house, too tired and panicked to play. He bit his lip so hard it bled. His hands were gripped in his hair, tugging at his scalp. They were too loud, they called so, so loud, he couldn’t ignore the truths.

Make them stop.

“Lance!” Hunk was near tears. Pidge was on his shoulders, hoping to see any sign of him. Keith had gone off on his own. Hunk had lost track of where Allura, Coran, and Veronica had gone. When had this happened? Hours ago? Hunk was going to breakdown.

Pidge realized that. She hopped down from his back. “Hunk look at me.” She said. He didn’t. “Hunk.” She said again, quieter. “We’re going to find him, okay?”

Hunk nodded. Still too close to tears for Pidge to feel safe on his shoulders.

Keith had stalked off on his own. He had a suspicion of where Lance was but didn’t want to tell the others. That was Lance’s call.

Still. Sneaking out at night, while he did it regularly, wasn’t good. He had left a note, which really wasn’t good. The shaky writing and the panicked message was hard to read, but they went out anyways.

Lance quivered. They had passed right in front of his tree. He felt like he was being chocked. He couldn’t breathe. He was sliding out of control. He couldn’t control his body, oh God, he was drowning. His hands were fists, but he couldn’t feel his fingers. He strangled out a gasp, desperate for air.

Make them stop.

Keith stood a bit away from the tree. He could hear Lance strangled breathing. He swallowed. He went forward cautiously.

“Lance?” Lance heard his name from far, far away. He couldn’t look up, he could feel his hand or feet, he was going to throw up, God, this isn’t good God, please-

Suddenly there was a hand on his back. He flinched. He felt someone wipe the tears off his face. The touch was so unexpected, Lance tried to scoot back, his brain yelling to stop but his body continuing.

His hand slid off the edge of the platform. He strangled a gasp, new, fresh fear washing through him. Arms were around him, keeping him on the platform. He struggled to leave. The arms held fast.

The arms of the enemy. He thought, lungs being crushed. He wasn’t getting enough air. He was going to die. He was going to vomit. He was going to die here in the arms of what he’s been running from with its smells of man shampoo and leather in his nose.

Men’s shampoo and leather? Lance took a shuddering sniff. And sweat? Who smelt like th-

Keith.

Lance froze. He couldn’t breathe for a different reason now.

Make them stop.

Keith locked his arms around Lance. If he wasn’t careful, Lance would end up taking both of them out of the tree. He made small shushing noises, no knowing what to do, or what was wrong. Lance kept pushing away, trying to escape, struggling for breath. He pulled him as close as possible, forming a cage with his arms.

Lance froze. Keith hesitantly released some of the tension in his arms. “Lance?”

Lance said something against his chest that Keith couldn’t hear. “What?”

“I’m sorry.” His voice was thick. Keith saw how pale he was. This wasn’t the Lance that he went up to space with. This was a scared teenager needing comfort.

“Why are you sorry?” Keith asked, shifted so that Lance could be in less danger of falling off.

“Because I’m weak, and pathetic, and I’m just-”

“You’re just brave, and funny, and a good friend.” Keith cut in.

“How can you say that? You hardly hang around me.” His voice was thick and muffled by his shirt, but Keith clearly heard the pain in it.

“Just because I don’t hang out with you doesn’t mean that stuff isn’t true.” Keith said, confused about where all this was coming from.  “Just look at you and Hunk. You guys are always there for each other.”

“Yeah, but he has Pidge now. They have technical junk to work on.” Lance sniffed. “I’d just be a third wheel.”

“Lance, they enjoy your company. Both of them are out trying to find you.”

“Oh, man, I just made them worry more, we should go.” Lance pulled back, wiping tears off his face.

“Slow down, don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine.” Keith said. He didn’t want Lance to get worked up. Keith could tell he was tired from the panic attack, and no doubt running from the Garrison base to the tree.

“Keith, just- please. I don’t want to talk about it.” Lance looked away. He could barely think straight. His gay panic and an actual panic attack hadn’t been good on his energy, which was already low form countless nights not sleeping. He just wanted to sleep until he didn’t like Keith.

Lance could feel Keith trying to sort out what to do. He almost heard the click of the last piece, the decision, falling into place.

“When I was with Krolia on the space whale, we had a big blow up.” Keith started. “We were getting a little stir crazy, and there was a really small thing that had escalated far too quickly. We both said some hurtful things. It ended with me yelling that I wished I hadn’t found her and storming off with Kosmo.” Lance looked at Keith. He was looking into his lap. “I could tell Kosmo didn’t like it. I didn’t even like it. But I was too stubborn to walk back to my mom and tell her I was sorry. I didn’t see the moment was right for me to apologize and did it far too late.” Keith looked up. The starts of tears were in his eyes. “I feel like you might be the same way. You apologize way too often, for stuff that isn’t even your fault.”

Lance shook his head. “Keith, I’m just- so, tired, please,” He looked up. It felt like his bones weighed too much for him to support. “I just want to sleep.”

Keith paused forever. Lance was terrified he was going to refuse. Then he nodded. “Where?”

The question caught him off guard. “What?”

“Where do you want to sleep? Here, the Garrison, your house?”

Lance was caught off guard by how considerate Keith was being. “I don’t want to move.” Lance said. “Is it okay if I just, sorta…” He trailed off, too tired to form the sentence. He leaned forward and practically collapsed onto Keith.

Keith rubbed Lance’s back, not knowing what to do. Lance sighed, relaxing until he was in the familiar space between awake and asleep. He was half aware of Keith humming, then singing.

“Make them stop.”

#long langst #langst #lance mcclain #hunk garret #pidge gunderson #post s7 #keith kogane #klance #takashi shirogane #veronica mcclain #voltron #vld #voltron legendary defender

[shastelly]

Distance - March Klance Prompts from MonthlyKlance - Day 14

Author’s note:  Sorry for falling behind, been fighting a stomach bug, my mom had knee surgery, kid had a class field trip, and honestly was feeling a bit overwhelmed and needed some sleep and a break.  Coming back to ya refreshed and ready to write :)

Three thousand five hundred and forty meters, that's how far away Lance was when the Galra soldier got the drop on me.  That's how far he was when his voice whispered through my com.

 "Don't move."

 My heart pounded and muscles tensed with the need to move, to defend myself and my team from the threat I could feel at my back, but then, even before I could finish that though a loud pop sounded and something heavy thudded on the ground behind me.  Over two miles and I turned around to see the Galra, wicked blade still in hand, with a perfect hole between his eyes.

 I look back in the direction I knew Lance was and whispered over the com, "Thanks."

 "Got your back, Samurai," echoed back to me.

 Pidge and Hunk were kneeling a few meters in front of me.  Allura was on the other side of the street.  We weren't even in place yet, there wasn't supposed to be any resistance yet, I had not expected Lance to make that kind of shot.  I guess, maybe I had underestimated his ability. He'd whined as much at the mission prep, but we'd dismissed him.  A kernel of guilt wormed its way in my gut.  He'd found a suitable spot for a sniper nest at about half that distance away from his drop off point from the one I’d picked.  The one he was headed to required he move a significant distance alone, but we hadn't expected resistance in that area, of course we hadn’t expected resistance in the area I was in either.  

 "Keep your eyes open, Sharpshooter, if we have unexpected company here, you could there."  I hissed in concern.

 "No worries, just using my ninja skills to bypass the unfriendlies." came the reply.

 Shit, bypass, meant leaving people at his back.

 "Impact on your escape route?" I snap.

 "Could be interesting?"  His nervousness edged into his attempt at humor.

 "Quiznak." Why couldn't anything go as planned?

 "I got this, I'm good."  Lance muttered.

 "I don't like it."  I really didn’t.

 "I know, but so far, there isn't anything here that says no go to me.  I got this."  He restated firmly.

 "Okay, but you let me know as soon as it changes, right?"  I asked just a touch desparate.  I trust Lance for a lot of things but telling me when he's in trouble isn't really one of them.

 "Would I risk this beautiful body?"  Lance asked mock indignation dripping through the com.

 "Yes!" I, Hunk, Pidge, and Allura all answered at nearly the same time.

 Lance made some sort of sound, but wisely chose not to comment further.

 I'd like to say the plan had been simple, but in truth it hadn't.  We had received word from the Blades that there was a high-ranking political prisoner on this world.  We have hopes that it could be one of the Holts or Shiro, but either way, high ranking prisoner seems worth extracting.  The prison, according to the intel, is in the basement of one of the bombed-out buildings in the center of this dead town, that sort of looked like Chicago, if the buildings in Chicago were green and Lake Michigan was yellow, oh and if it had been bombed and destroyed about a thousand years ago.  

 Due to the obscure location and top-secret nature of the facility, the guard was supposed to be relatively small, with very few patrols in the city surrounding, most concentrated in the two-block area surrounding the prison.  The plan then was for Lance to take up a cover position in a ten-story building about 1000 m from the prison.  It had a covered garden on the roof and Lance would be able to move all around the building without risk of being seen by anyone from the ground or the air.  Lance had originally picked a twenty-story building about 1600 m away where he had argued he could switch floors or sides of the building easily as it was all glass, but I had been concerned about the distance and him having to move so much. We had dropped him off at a site that provided a direct route to the building and then the rest of us were on the ground team, move in and take the prison and free the prisoner.  

 Except now we had met their third patrol since the one that got a drop on me. Lance had mentioned at least one as far out as he was.  Either their intel was bad, or something had changed.  I was getting a very bad feeling about the whole situation.

 Two thousand meters, the distance to the cloaked Green Lion on the shore of the weird yellow lake.  Hunk had pondered whether it was natural or pollution.  As he had said, it wasn't a very nice kind of yellow.  Pidge called it Piss lake, and I honestly couldn't argue with her, it smelled too.

 "I've reached the building.  Starting up. I won't have good eyes on you." Lance warned.

 I nodded to Allura who had point and she nodded back.  She had heard and understood.  I had asked the others to go radio silence as we made our way through the city and I would maintain contact with Lance to reduce chatter and our chance of discovery.  I was bringing up the rear, so in theory it meant I shouldn't risk discovery.  Of course, that hadn't played out exactly like that a few dobashes ago, but I stand by the theory.

 "Okay, Lance, let us know when you reach the top.  We are still two thousand meters out."  I returned.

 The rubble was thicker here and moving had to be slow or we would be causing a lot of noise and dust.  Given the patrols we'd observed, that didn't seem like a good idea.  Allura held up her hand and we all took cover.  Allura practically blending with the wall.  I think she may have actually used her shifting ability like a chameleon.  Pidge just disappeared and Hunk, well he found a door to duck into, subtlety and sneaking were not his things.  I crouched behind a large chunk of building as the patrol moved through the street. All droids, six of them.  The feeling of something being wrong was building. Droid patrols were hard to miss, even in this environment with the buildings.  They were too routine, timed - there was no reason this shouldn't have been included in the intel.  So again was it a change or bad intel and at this point bad intel pointed to betrayal.

 "Guys, I'm not liking this."  I muttered into the coms.  "The intel stinks, either they've been warned we are coming are this has been a set up all along."

 "I'm there."  Pidge whispered.

 "Me too."  Hunk chimed.

 "The problem is if it's just that they know we are coming, is the prisoner still real?"  Allura asked.

 And that was the real question at this point.  It was a trap, but what was the trap baited with?  Would I walk into a trap for Shiro?  Hell yes.  Would I lead the team into one for him?  I didn't want to have to answer that.

 "Keith, if we can get closer, I can scan for the prison.  I can get a good reading on the basements of these buildings and about four buildings ahead.  So, either I'll see it, or see where I'm being blocked, or I'll see nothing." Pidge offered.

 "Okay, move forward, eyes open."  I decided.  We needed more information I told myself.

 "Eyes in the sky."  Lance chuckled.  "The patrol is well past, you are clear to move."  He was more than a little winded and I wondered if he had run up the whole ten stories.

 One hundred meters to target we had run into three additional droid only patrols, and now we found our first actual soldiers.  

 "Patrol, and this one had two live ones in it."  Lance called.  We dove into hiding.

 "Hunk, I can see you man, try the doorway behind you and to your left." Lance advised the yellow paladin. I watched him scurry to the new location, hand tightened around my blade fearful of hearing the patrol coming.  

 "Further back, Hunk."  I heard Hunk sigh and movement.  "Okay, good, you're good Buddy."  Lance seemed relieved.  I felt my grip relax.  If Lance couldn't spot him, then he was safe.

 The patrol made its way slowly through the street and we managed to go undetected. The two live soldiers kept their eyes roaming but did not see us.  I let the rest of my body relax when they were a block past us.

 When they were three blocks and had turned the corner, Lance gave us the all clear to move.  This was about the point I had expected to run into patrols, but the feeling of wrongness wasn't leaving.  The guards were too alert.  They didn't look like guards assigned to patrol a prison that no one knew about. My skin crawled.

 "Pidge, before we move, can you run a scan here, just see if you can get a read on what's ahead?"  I asked quietly.

 "Yeah."  A few moments passed.  "The terrain matches the intel we received.  I picked up on at least six patrols moving in the about hundred-meter radius I can pick up their signatures.  That won't account for any patrols that might not have droids.  This isn't lightly guarded, this is locked up tight."  Pidge worried.  I knew she wanted this as bad as I did, probably worse as even if it wasn't Shiro it could be a family member.

 "Lance, what do you see?"  I asked.

 "Be still and I'll look around."  He ordered.  "Okay, confirm, five, no six patrols, all mixed droids and live.  They do seem to be circling a central point, that matches the intel…give me a dobash or two."  We could hear movement from Lance.  He must be changes angles for another view on the target. "Something's wrong."  He muttered.

 "What? What do you see?"  I whisper.

 "I can't put my finger on it.  I'm seeing it, but I just feel something wrong.  Sorry, I'll let you know if it comes to me.  I'm moving back.  Wait till I'm in place, okay?"  Lance moved again and after a dobash or two.  "Okay, you are clear to move.  Plan to stop at the next block to wait out the next patrol."

 Fifty meters to the target and the second patrol had passed.  Lance had shifted to his secondary location now and was covering our final approach.

 "Clear."  Lance called.

 At this point I could see the target.  The building was leveled.  There was a stairway behind about a two-foot wall, all that apparently remained of the previous building.  

 "Okay, how close for the scan, Pidge?"  

 "I can try here, but about ten more meters would be better."  She whispered back.

 "The building on the right, with the long windows."  Lance spoke through the coms.  "It is clear, and you could take some time to get the scans done and not worry about patrols."

 "What if someone goes in?"  Hunk murmured into the coms as they entered the building.

 No one answered him and Pidge began her work.

 "What if…"  Lance mumbled something.

 "I didn't copy Lance, what was that?"  I felt my gut churning at this point my instincts said run.

 "It's just what Hunk said, what is they go…Quiznak!  Get out of there.  It's a set up.  It has to be. That is what was bothering me.  No one has gone in or out of that quiznaking stairway!"  Lance snarled.

 Just as he said that Pidge echoed, "It's just a basement, just like all the others in this area, and it’s empty," concern coloring her tone.  

 "This is a trap, nothing more."  Allura stated flatly disappointment coloring her tone. "There was never anything here to find.  We need to pull out and contact the Blade.  Their agent has either gone to the other side or been discovered."

 I cringed. Blades didn't get turned, but they did get killed, far too frequently, "I'll send them a notice as soon as we reach Green."

 "Lance, you read, that's a fall back."  I turned as I spoke checking the door.  

 "Okay, you have a patrol, that needs to pass, and then…this is a really bad trap, I mean did they think we were stupid and would just come in guns blazing, where is the trap?"  Lance worried.  "Be still while that patrol passes, let me get a look around."

 We waited as the patrol outside went past - ten droids and two galra this time.  As soon as it was far enough past, I made my way over to Pidge.  

 "Anything change on the scan?"  

 "What, no the basement is still a…what…wait a minute?  That was the only patrol in my radius?"  Pidge looked up shocked.

 "Quiznak!"  Lance nearly yelled.

 "What?"

 "I found your patrols.  They are surrounding Green.  She has her particle shield up, but there are at least 100 droids and probably twenty flesh in blood soldiers around her."  Lance spat the words.  He knew they'd been played.  "I should have been watching where they went.  I'm sorry Keith."

 "Not your fault."  I reassured. The last thing I needed right now was him taking blame.  "Lance, I…have you checked your neighborhood?"  The bad feeling was starting to get a lot worse.

 "I…no."  A brief pause in which I really hoped he'd laugh and tell me I was wrong.  "Oh, fuck."  

 "Lance?" I breathed.

 "I'm surrounded."  He stuttered. "They have the building surrounded, probably twenty droids and five soldiers at least.  I'm going to have to move.  I've got incoming up the stairs.  I can't cover you."

 "The quiznak, Lance, get out of there, we will worry about us."  I snarled.

 "Yeah, I'm going to try some rooftop jumping with the jet pack, see if I can get clear of them and get down.  I don't know if I can get to you."  He sounded unsure, nervous.

 "The jet pack is a good idea."  I assured. "Don't worry about finding us. We'll get to you."

 "Pidge, can we contact the castle?"  Allura was asking in the background.

 "I can't get a signal out.  They must be blocking us."  Pidge snarled in frustration.

 "Okay, going."  Lance's voice called over the com.  "I've got company coming up the stairs."  I could hear the sound him running and breathing heavily, and the background of shots being fired.

 Fifty feet was approximately how far Lance had to jump between buildings.  The jet packs could do that no problem, I had jumped much further.  However, Lance was being shot at.

 "Ow." Lance whispered between breaths.  "Okay, made it to the next roof.  I need to keep going.  I'm going to try to get ahead of them enough to get to the ground and get better cover. I'm not enjoying target practice when I'm the clay pigeon."

 "Lance, are you hit?"  Somehow, I knew that answer before I even asked.

 "Armor caught most of it," he muttered.

 "And what it didn't catch?" I rolled my eyes at his avoidance.

 "Pretty good graze on my leg, not critical, but," he paused.

 "It's slowing you down."  I answered. "Look try to head toward us and we'll head to you.  Okay?"

 "Yeah. Got to make another jump."  I could hear him breathing harder and the tension in his voice was clear.  "Shit."

 "Lance?!"  Lance generally didn't swear much more than quiznak and if he did there was usually a good reason.

 "…dio…damage…d…" and static filled the com.  

 His radio is just damaged I told myself, he's fine, just damage to the radio in his helmet on his head, no need to be concerned.  I turned to the concerned eyes of the team.  

 "Okay, we're going for Lance first.  Pidge see if you can track him.  Sounds like his radio is out, so it would be good to have a way to pinpoint him. We'll want his help getting Green and getting out of here."  As I spoke, I could see them pulling themselves together, pushing their own fears and concerns to the side.  We would do this for Lance.  We only had approximately 1000 meters to go.

 TO BE CONTINUED

   This story will be continued in Day 16 Rivalry

#monthlyklance #monthlyklance march 2019 #klance #voltron fanfic

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

CSUAVS prt 44 start

Returning to Daibazaal was a shock to the system. Keith hadn't forgotten that 90 per cent of the planet was bathed in purple and grey hues, but having spent time on the "always sunny" New Altea, and his side adventures... The colours of his home planet of the past however many phoebs, only served to grate on his nerves. There was no reason everything had to be so damn purple... He was sick of purple, and even sicker of being back amongst the Blade members who never spoke. The moment his feet had touched the ground, he'd been summoned by Kolivan to give a full, and very detailed report, of everything that had happened at the outpost and then on board the Altean prison ship. Sans a few small details such as his falling behind Lance, and Lance having a few mental hiccups. They didn't need to know the things said between them in the few small moments they stole for themselves. For vargas he'd sat across from the stoney faced Kolivan, who gave nothing away as he filled him. No. Kolivan saved all his questions for after Keith was done, forcing him to practically repeat everything all over again. It wasn't like the man could just watch the debrief in his own time. Keith had had more important things to do, like returning to his old room and passing out until Lance next called him. That'd been one nice things about ignoring the outside world in favour of spending time with Lance, he'd been "allowed" to neglect his comms. Lance had said his works comms had blown up with calls and messages, once they'd cleared the wormhole and landed safely. Keith didn't like his lover turning his work comms back on. It'd been provided by Kre'el. It could be tracked by her people now that it was active again... Lance, on the other hand, insisted it was fine. The jury was still out on that one. The first movement apart from his boyfriend was the worst. With the time differences, Lance calling to say good morning was actually closer to mid-afternoon for Keith, meaning if he wanted to say goodnight, Keith would have to stay up until the middle of the night, something that was clashing with Kolivan working them all to the bone to make sure the influx of prisoners weren't being mistreated or suffering from being on the Galra home world. It felt to the half-Galra that his head would only just hit the pillow, then someone would be knocking on his door to inform him he needed to be off doing something or other. The second movement was only marginally better. But that was because Shiro... The Atlas would be arriving at the start of the following movement. Pidge had started a group call, where both he and Lance were yelled at for leaving her out the loop and for nearly dying, then not bothering to call. The angry little gremlin had held out longer than he'd expected when it came to the group call... but her ranting soon became too much for Lance, Lance politely excusing himself to deal with "funeral matters" and hanging up before Pidge could demand answers over that. Somehow Hunk had known about the death of the King, Keith more than happy to let him explain things to the "gossip deprived" woman. With how often she and Hunk still spoke, Keith wouldn't have used those words to describe her, yet she did. In the background of the conversation, Shiro was humming and making the necessary sounds to sound like he was listening, but Keith was sure he'd also lost interest in the conversation once Lance had hung up. His boyfriend hadn't said all that much, aware of how disregarded Lance had felt, Shiro had made an effort to try and wrangle Pidge in so he could explain what he was comfortable to explain. Before he really knew what was happening, the conversation had moved past the King and looped back onto Lance. Pidge seemed personally offended no one had told her that Lance had lost most of his little finger the moment it was discovered, she was also scheming on making him a replacement finger, which Keith wasn't sure would go over well. Lance was touchy about his hand. On the moments he forgot about it, he'd hold hands happily, but when he remembered... He'd stare at the stump for vargas if someone didn't stop him. With Pidge knowing, Keith wasn't sure how to ask her to act like she didn't. This was Lance's... it wasn't a problem, or an issue, yet he didn't have another word for it. It was something Lance needed to work out. And something Lance would talk about when he was ready. Aside from Lance's calls, Keith was also getting daily updates from Daehra. The Cuban had had three panic attacks, and a screaming nightmare that'd left him shaken and unable to climb out of bed for the rest of that quintant... When Keith had called that night, Lance had been sleepy and quite, leaving Keith to carry the conversation until Lance visibly relaxed and finally gave him the tiniest of smiles. Since returning to Daehra and Lucteal's home planet, Lance was keeping busy. Daehra said his emotions were more even when he was. She also informed him that Lance missed him so much that his emotions had started to affect Lucteal, who'd accidentally let slip that he "may also miss, Keith". Things had gotten a little shaky between him and Lance after Daehra unknowingly dobbed Lance in. His boyfriend, in all his infinite wisdom, had accepted a few small jobs for a couple of rebel groups, and planets needing trade moved between them... They hadn't talked for a whole quintant and a half. Keith doing everything he could to squash the urge to steal a ship, open a wormhole, then go shake Lance stupid. He would of if the arsehole hadn't called him a real and proper smile on his face. His stupid blue eyes shimmering with happiness, and his enthusiasm evident as he word vomited out how they'd just saved a whole planet from starving or something like that. Lance knew Keith was weak to that smile. He knew it and he turned it on him anyway... The wanker followed up his happy ramblings, by telling Keith they'd been staying on an extra movement, due to the fact they had to pick prisoners up. With the outpost gone, Erathus missing its chief of police and the Atlas's meddling, bounty hunters didn't know who'd honour bounties, or what to do with their catches. Most had seen Daibazaal as too far. They couldn't keep a prisoner indefinitely, but they didn't want to loose out on the cash for the catch. Lance had had them all take them to Erathus with promise of payment. Erathus had cracked the shits, trying to pass responsibility on to both Daibazaal and the Atlas... or anyone who wasn't them, and being the meddling idiot he was, his husband had decided Keith needed a vacation present of paperwork. Again, they didn't speak for a quintant and a half... until Keith caved and admitted it was better that they weren't out there causing trouble for the universe. In the end, the Atlas arrived a full movement before Lance and his team did. Shiro might have brought the larger number of prisoners, but Lance brought... a fucking headache and a half. Because it was Lance, and because the goddamn universe was a quiznakking quiznak, when the ramp to the Telula's cargo bay opened, and his boyfriend came jogging down to meet him, Keith wasn't met with a warm "hello". He wasn't met with a hug either. He was met with a black case roughly large enough to fit a small child in, a boyfriend with a half healed split lip, slightly black eye, and a yell of "get that somewhere safe, and away from me"... before Lance went jogging back up the ramp of his ship and promptly started bossing Galra soldiers around as the prisoner transfer began. Left standing there with the black case in his hands, Keith was still glaring at the Telula when Shiro finally decided to make his "not so grand arrival" by slipping up to Keith's side and acting like he'd been there the whole time "What's in the case?" "I have no fucking idea" No. Like an idiot he stood there. Lance busy being bossy, Shiro laughing, Kosmo ignoring him, and prisoner after prisoner being moved off the ship. Growing angrier and angrier over being ignored, Keith's temper got the better of him as he dropped to squat down with the case on the ground in front of him. Popping the lid clasps, he'd barely got the lid up when he set eyes on the first bag of bright pills. Near apocalyptic rage rose inside the half-Galra, a loud growl escaping him as he locked it tightly "Keith?" "I'm going to kill that little shit. He's such a fucking stubborn dick!" Rising to his feet, Keith wanted to smack Lance over the head with the case. Shiro sighed deeply, there was no need to ask who the "stubborn dick" was "What did he do?" "Oh, just fucking picked another fight with space pirates. Take this to... fuck. No. We can't fucking do that..." He couldn't simply give Shiro the case to give to his mother with instructions to have it destroyed. She'd snoop into it "Keith?" "Never mind. Make sure he doesn't escape" Keith had no idea what to do with a case full of drugs. This was Daibazaal. He had stuff all privacy here. Out of everything Lance could have brought along... it had to be drugs. How many pills had he popped since they parted?! How many times had he been high when they talked? Keith was beyond furious. Lance said he wanted to get clean, so why bring this shit all the fucking way to Daibazaal, then tell him to "keep it away"? Where was the logic in that? So angry at Lance that he wasn't watching where he was going, he walked straight into his mother, barely keeping his hold on the case as they bounced back from the impact "Keith! I'm sorry, I've been rushing thanks to Koli-... and you look angry. What happened? Where's Lance?" "Goddamn idiot..." His mother frowned at his choice of words "He's busy with the prisoner transfer" "And you're mad because he hasn't talked to you?" "What? No. As if... sorry, I've got to do something..." Yeah. There was that... but the black case was even more worrying than his boyfriend being weird. Lance was regularly weird... Maybe he was being weird because he was high? "Keith?" Blinking at his mother, Keith nodded before scurrying off as fast he could politely. He didn't know what to do with the damn case... His room. He'd have to stash it in his room. As long as Lance didn't know it was there, there wouldn't be a problem. Keith made it to his room with his heart racing. No one had questioned what was in the case, yet every time he passed someone, he was sure they would. Throwing open the door to the room, he was just as surprised by the occupants as they were of his arrival. Sitting on his bed, Kosmo was thumping his tail happily, while Daehra, Zak, Tobias, Lucteal and another unknown person were all looking like they were in the middle of a very heated discussion. The look of relief on Daehra's face, and Kosmo's proudly thumping tail should have clued him in much faster to what happened than it did "Keith! Thank the stars. Kosmo brought us here, but we have no idea where here is!" "Oh. Shit... Hang on..." This was awkward. Carrying the case over to his bed, he shoved the unwanted thing as far under as he could before reemerging, Kosmo practically leaping off the bed and onto him in the same heartbeat he mentally said "goodbye" to the case "You're a quiznakking menace. Sorry, he's used to teleporting me back to my room after a mission..." Starting to lick at his face, Keith was trapped under his dopey wolf, Kosmo had advanced to his whole body shaking with happiness, unsure where to place his big paws "Down! Off! You know better than this!" Kosmo might have known better, but he didn't let it show. Keith having to use more strength than normal to push him away. Climbing to his feet, he shot wiped his hands on his pants "This is your chambers?" "Yeah, sorry about this guys. I thought you'd all be on the ship" Daehra nodded "We did too. Was that an evidence case I saw you with?" "A what?" "An evidence case?" "Um, maybe? Why don't I show you guys back to the ship... and I should probably introduce myself to your friend?" The stranger in question turned to him "I can see why Leandro likes you. He is much cuter in person" Lucteal rolled his eyes "Keith, this is Th'al. She's a bounty hunter. She's supposed to be on Erathus, but Le-Lance dragged her along with us" Th'al... the name sounded familiar... "As nice is this is, may we please walk and talk? I was in the middle of something when Kosmo teleported us here" Keith gave a nod. Why was Th'al so familiar? And why did Lance have an evidence case full of drugs? "I'll give you the tour as we walk" * Standing under the hot water of the shower on board the Telula, Lance was trying to wash every trace of vomit from his skin. Keith had those weird Galra senses, and if his boyfriend smelt vomit on him, he'd probably jump to all the wrong conclusions. It was bad enough he'd sent him off with a case full of drugs that the Erathus police had dumped on him. There were also multiple cases of weapons... something Keith would be more accepting of. He could only pray that Keith hadn't opened the case yet, or didn't storm in on him until he'd had a chance to get clean. Throwing up down his front as the tried to reach the bathroom hadn't been on his to do list. The change in his "medication" hadn't gone over well with his body. He'd been sick as a dog for most of the second and third movements away from Keith, but stubbornly refused to tell him. Daehra was already keeping Keith in the loop on most things, and it hadn't been like he'd been in that bad of a situation away from his lover. He'd practically been an intergalactic delivery boy for the first movement, helping prepare for the funeral of the King, who'd died of an ordinary heart attack. So there'd been flying around and collecting supplies, dropping them off, and given he was already flying around out there, he picked up a few small jobs for rebels. It was his attempt to be the best commander he could be, and to also keep his mind as busy as he could so he could focus on something other than missing Keith. Which he did... more than words could admit. But at the same time, he'd missed his job. Going back out there and talking with everyone had reminded him that while Kre'el had set him up, they'd actually made their own connections and managed to help people, without it being some grand plan to ensnare him. It soothed something in him that he didn't think could ever be fixed. Plus, the missions had been so safe for the most part that Annla had come along to explore space with the rest of them. The pint sized princess tried her hardest not to let it all show, her lip would wobble, or she'd sniffle, so he'd really wanted to do something to help make her feel better. In the end, she broke down wailing while sitting in his lap on the bridge, Lance taking her down to his room where she cuddled into him and he sang to her in Spanish until she'd fallen asleep. It'd been the second movement that'd been all the drama. One of the king's "illegitimate" sons had tried to kill the queen. Naturally he had no chance of keeping those plans in check when he was an empath living on a planet of empaths. The idiot was one of the prisoners who was supposed to be on his ship. Instead, Lance had dropped on him on Erathus when he'd stopped by to confirm everything to do with the prisoners he'd be bringing him with today. It was a bitch of a trip, yet either because they were scared of the Atlas, or had realised how much of a colossal group of dick wads they were, they'd opened wormholes for them. Lance liked to think it was option two, but knew in his heart it was definitely option one. The presence of the Atlas had thrown the whole region of space into panic. People weren't happy at all that Earth was interfering. There was a way things ran out there, and it wasn't under the thumb of the law. It was also on Erathus that Lance made a snap decision he was sure Keith would be pretty angry over. Even if it was for Lance, and Lance thinking about his future. With everyone being arrested, people disappearing, a whole heap of relatively irate bounty hunters without any idea what to do... He'd made a side trip to The Gilded Cage. Yes. Keith would have killed him if he knew, but thankfully space time was slightly different so it didn't affect his schedule. He'd also... kind of... brought the club. As well as another property out towards Ghazex and Thatus. Since Kre'el had been taken into custody, the time dilation and pockets had decreased. Not everywhere, but enough for the residents to notice things didn't line up anymore. So the base he'd purchased was from a rebel faction relocating. Before that, it'd been a Galra outpost... but Lance had a small plan. He wanted to run The Gilded Cage much as it had been. A hot spot for busts, and where the prostitutes would still be protected. Naturally he was happy to help resettle them if they wanted to, but most actually enjoyed the line of work and made the choice for themselves. Leah had moved on, but a few of the others were still there and ecstatic he was taking ownership. The property was wildly expensive, yet with whispers of what the previous owners had been up to, they were having a hard time shifting it out of fear someone from Kre'el's group would turn up and cause trouble. The second property he'd brought was the one that had his heart racing with nerves. Lance loved the Telula. He would always love his girl. He'd love her until they both grew old and died together, but it wasn't the kind of place to have a heat on. It wasn't the kind of place that Keith and his team could swing by and stay on. And there wasn't grass or game for Kosmo... So... he'd kind of bought a house. A base of operations off the Telula, where they could rest and relax... and where maybe, Keith would want to live with him when they had down time. Somewhere that wasn't Daibazaal, and somewhere that wasn't Erathus. A kind of neutral ground with amazing shielding capabilities built in... He knew he was being stupid buying the place without asking Keith first, but the rebels needed out because the whole time issue was causing injuries, and he wanted somewhere to call home. Scrubbing at his hair, Lance triple checked every last bit of conditioner was rinsed free before turning the taps off. The floral scents bombarding his nose almost brought tears to his eyes with their potency. The change of medication may have caused the vomiting, but the real kicker at the moment was his nerves. Now that he'd stepped out the shower, he found himself stuck with fear. Galra had been on his ship. Galra he didn't know, had been walking all over his ship and leaving their scents behind. They were Krolia and Kolivan's men, but Lance didn't know them. He didn't know what was waiting for him once he opened the bathroom door. He didn't know if he was going to be attacked, or if he was going to be dragged along the hall to his room and... Lance's ears pricked up at the sound of heavy footsteps, snagging his towel off the counter, he rushed to kneel in front of the toilet, throwing up a weak and watery mouthful as he struggled for breath, his body to trying to vomit when there was nothing left to throw up. "Lance?" His name was called softly before there was a light knocking on the door. His heart still pounding, despite the knocking coming from Shiro. He didn't know how to look Shiro in the face. He'd basically forced the man into waiting while he was running around and trying out to settle as many things as he could before coming to Daibazaal given he had no idea how long he'd be here "Give me a dobosh! I just got out the shower!" "Ok. I just wanted to let you know the prisoners and crates have been removed" "Thanks! Wait, are you the only one here?" "Yeah... are you ok?" Was he ok? No. Not really... "Let me get dressed. Just wait there!" "Alright. Don't rush, I'm not going anywhere" He was such a coward. It took Shiro guarding his door for him to feel safe enough to detangle himself from the floor and dry off, before pulling on a new bodysuit and dressing over it. The last part of the outfit was a nice pair of gloves he'd picked on Erathus. They hid the fact he was missing a finger, and hid his mottled hand. Annla had been most distraught, wanting to know what happened to "pinky promises" when there was no pinky there. Reassuring her that they all transferred to his other pinky, she hadn't been sure. Hitting the panel for the door, he stayed a step back, in the safety of the bathroom until Shiro gave him a small smile "Everything alright?" "Do you want the honest answer?" "I can smell vomit in the air..." Swearing softly, he realised he forgot to flush... or brush his teeth "It's fine... kind of. Can you not leave just yet?" Moving to the bathroom counter, Lance grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste, squirting far too much onto the bent bristles, behind him, Shiro moved to the flush the toilet then leaned against the wall. Self conscious, he rushed through brushing the inside of his mouth, and rinsing, tasting blood as he did from how rough he'd been "Lance. You need to take a breath. What's going on? Keith said something about drugs?" Rinsing his mouth again, Lance realised this was why Shiro was lingering. He wanted to know if he'd been shooting up again, or swallowing down handfuls of pills to cope. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, he finally turned from the mirror "Police evidence. Erathus didn't want to deal with them. I would have turfed them out the airlocks, but I kind had all four filled with prisoners. Apparently the fear of being injected into space works better than asking them to behave alone. I take it Keith opened the case?" "He was mad at you for disappearing again. I think he was hoping for a touching reunion" Lance signed. He hadn't thought it appropriate in front of everyone "Great. Now he's going to jump to the wrong idea. I didn't want them. I haven't taken any of them..." Shiro raised an eyebrow, silently questioning why he'd been showering, and what had caused him to vomit "I swear. Daehra's helping me come off the red stuff... but the reduced doses have me throwing up" "You're coming off? That's... well done" A genuine smile formed on Shiro's lips "It was always the plan. We tried it before and I had a seizure or two... something like that... It's... not that easy to talk about..." "I didn't mean to push. I just wanted to know if you're ok. It smells pretty awful in here" "It does? Do I smell? Do I smell like vomit? I wanted to talk to Keith about it when... well... before anyone else. Properly... I... I can't tell, there's too many smells..." Raising a hand to his chest, he rubbed, trying to remove the tight feeling "Whoa. Calm down... How about we get some fresh air? I can't smell anything other than... kind of like a dead mouse? You're safe on the vomit part" At least Lady Luck had his back there... Shiro had no idea what he was talking about. He was probably blissfully living his life without his nose clogged by unknown Galra scent "Yeah... I'll need to air her out... Can we...?" "Sure" Staying close to Shiro, Lance held his breath for as long as he could. Gasping for breath once they were free of the source of the pungent scents that seemed to have followed them out. Leaning with his palms against his knees, the Cuban kept his head down as he tried not to throw to again "Lance, if you're not feeling well" "It's the smells" "Smells?" "It's a... its a thing now... Don't worry buddy, I'm not pregnant or anything" Shiro let out a laugh "That's one thing I don't need to worry about with you and Keith. But are you sure you're going to be alright to walk?" "Yeah. Let me get my mask on. It filters smells for me" Krolia's scent had been like Keith's. Acxa, Ezor, and Zethrid's individual scents weren't great, but he knew they were friendly. He knew most of Daibazaal was now that it'd been resurrected and freed from corruption. He hadn't wanted to resort to using his mask, but the scents were too much. Pulling his mask up to sit just under his eyes and light marks, he nodded at Shiro "So where's Keith?" And where's my team?" "I don't know. Keith told me not to let you escape" "That means he's going to come back, right?" "I would say so? I can call him?" "No. No. It's ok. He's probably going to yell at me as it is... How's the last movement been?" As Shiro moved to lean against the ramp of the Telula in the shade, Lance followed. The metal poking into his back felt like the only thing keeping him up "Busy. Mostly prisoner things. Kre'el refuses to talk. She will only talk to you, but her health has taken a downturn. She wasn't impressed I shot her" Lance cringed. Kre'el wasn't constructive to pulling himself out his mood "Sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up when you're obviously not feeling alright. How was the funeral?" He was anxious and on edge, but functional. That was the best he could do until his brain finally got the message that not all Galra scents were threatening "Simple. Nice. He was cremated, then one of his sons tried to kill the queen. So there was that. Plus, we had a metric ton on work to do. Things really went to quiznak without us out there. The police don't want to honour bounties. The bounty hunters just want to do their jobs. Annla didn't want me to leave, though she was cranky that Keith wasn't there. Kosmo was nearly cuddled to death by her... She said she was sad to see me leaving, but I think it was more Kosmo she was sad over... most of what happened I have to talk over with Keith... So like I said, I don't mind delaying the lecturing" "That bad? He said you got into a fight with space pirates?" "Yeah... but how did he know that?" "Oh, maybe your face?" Lance blushed, looking away and down to the ground "It wasn't space pirates" "What?" "My face. I had a dizzy spell and face planted in the bathroom. Got myself on the counter... Space pirates sounds cooler... let's just go with space pirates?" "I think Keith would be more relieved with the truth" "I think I've embarrassed myself in front of him too much as it is" "He missed you" "I know. I missed him too..." When Shiro didn't reply, things fell quiet. A good five doboshes passing before Keith returned with Lance's team in tow. Patting his shoulder, Shiro leaned down whisper "He won't be mad if you explain things to him" "I need him to calm down first..." "Why don't I take your team to get settled? Keith already said you'd be sharing his quarters with him" Lance had been hoping to stay on the Telula. Once the scent of other people finally quiznakked off "Of course he did..." "It'll be fine. He missed you like crazy. He loves you and you love him. Now go talk to him" Unprepared to be suddenly propelled, Lance folded like a cheap suit as he was pushed towards Keith, his boyfriend rushing over to his side "Babe? Are you ok?" "Yeah. Shiro pushed me too hard and I tripped. I see you kidnapped my team?" "Kosmo teleported them to my room... Why do you smell so upset? And why's your mask up?" Lance scrunched his brow, he still hadn't been able to meet Keith's gaze, despite feeling his fixed on his cheek "You're not mad? Why aren't you mad?" "Because you're not alright. Look, why don't we take a walk? Can you get up? We can head up to our quarters on the Telula?" "No! No... Can we go somewhere... where no one else is around" Yelling at his boyfriend after three long movements of separation was the last thing he wanted to do "It's ok. I get the feeling there's a lot we need to talk about" Oh dios... that didn't sound like it was going to be fun at all... Lance thought Keith would blow his lid before they'd even walked away from where the Telula was parked, but they'd barely made it out of sight before Keith pushed him up against the nearest available wall. Burying his face against Lance's covered neck, Keith let out a long breath "I'm mad at you. Mad at you for that case and mad at you for not looking happier to see me, but god. I missed you..." Moving to pull his mask down, Lance returned the embrace. Greedy as he breathed as much of Keith's scent as he could, letting it chase his fears away. Yes, he could smell Keith's anger, but he could also smell his love. Feeling him move, Keith raised his head, pressing his lips against Lance's in a fierce possessive kiss. Moaning slightly into the kiss, Lance's melted into him. His body chanting his lover's name. Breaking the kiss, Keith smiled "Don't dismiss me like that" "Noted... Sorry... you smell really good" Between his legs was wet, he could feel Keith half hard against him, but being the respectful boyfriend he was, he backed off. "You do too. I think I overreacted and I'm really hoping you can tell me what that case was about" Rolling his eyes at his accidental-husband, Lance then sighed when Keith didn't seen impressed "Erathus police said we needed to talk all the evidence. Shiro told me you looked. I haven't touched any of it. Not that I didn't have the cravings. Daehra's trying to lower that red stuff again, so I'm pretty nauseous thanks to the lower dose" Groaning, Keith covered half his face with his hand "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you. I saw your face..." "I promise no space pirates did this to my face... but some stuff has happened in the last few quintants that we should talk about" "Like why we can't go on the Telula?" Shifting at the uncomfortable wet feeling in his underwear it was getting worse than the uncomfortable feeling in his chest, Lance angled them so Keith was standing to his left, hiding who he was from anyone coming in their direction. He didn't want to be insulting the whole planet's population because he was messed up "Yeah... I've been doing what I can, but today was a bit much. So many scents... it sent me to a place I don't want to fall into again. I needed Shiro outside the door to even get out of the bathroom, and I was hoping to explain why I had a case full of drugs before you opened them. They're evidence, I promise" Nodding, Keith wrapped his arms around him like grabby imitation octopus he was