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voltronisanobsession · 1 year

Note

I know this has already been done but I want YOUR take on this…can I pretty plz get headcanons of the paladins (or just Keith Pidge and Lance) accidentally hurting their s/o bad enough to send them to the healing pods…? How would they spend their time while waiting for them to wake up? Angsty with a fluffy ending…? THANK YOU ILYSM 🥹❤️‍🔥

Paladins Accidentally Injuring Reader

STOP CUZ IM A SUCKER FOR ANGSTY STUFF LIKE THIS💀💀💀 I decided to do ALL of them cuz why not💯💯 also sorry for taking so long to answer, this was sitting in my drafts for awhile, procrastination is not fun😔🙏💔💔 another also, I didn’t proofread this yet but I promise I will💔

Keith

It all happened so quickly Keith had no idea what had happened

He remembered he was fighting one of Zarkon’s men, relentlessly attacking him with his sword when all of a sudden you came into the picture

While he was on overdrive, the Galra general had taken ahold of you when you tried attacking him from his side, swinging you in front of him

In front of Keith’s brutal attacks…

Using you as a human shield, Keith had no time to stop his sword from swinging down on you

While you did try to stop his attack with your dagger, his force was too strong, resulting in his sword slicing into your shoulder all the way down to your stomach

Keith could never forget the piercing scream you let out

Frozen is shock and horror, he was kicked backwards by the Galra, hearing his footsteps quickly fading from both of you

“Y/N!”

He is a MESS when he gets to you

His hands shake as he tries to apply pressure to your wound, but it’s just too large

His vision just zeros on your face as tears stain your cheeks. Despite whimpering in pain, you want to reassure him that you’re fine, but he doesn’t let you move an inch

By the time the rest of the group gets to him, Keith is too frantic and a bit unstable for him to think correctly

“GET AWAY!”

The group has no idea how to handle this situation as they watch him cradle your now passed-out body, his body shaking from the adrenaline of needing to protect you from anything else

“Keith, listen to me. We need to take Y/N to the castle now if we want them to survive. We can’t do that if you won’t let us help you.”

Shiro is literally the only person who can bring Keith back to earth, words hitting him like a train as he looks down at your body, watching as you take shallow breathes

Keith does not let anyone near you, not in your fragile state. He carries you all the to the castle, whispering apologies as your face twists in pain from every move

Once getting you to the pod room, he only allows Allura and Pidge in the room to help him set up your body and change you into a bodysuit

While you’re in the healing pod, he’s always sitting nearby, waiting in silence for you, hating himself for hurting you so badly

Despite you being out of commission, Voltron still needed to continue its mission

During this time, Keith pushes himself to the absolute MAX

Purposely puts himself in danger, not caring how hurt he gets because nothing can compare to what you had to go through

In a way, this is his own way of punishing himself for hurting the person he cared for

Keith won’t even listen to Shiro, brushing him off whenever the man offered to help patch him up after a more brutal mission

The team definitely gets worried when he begins straying from missions entirely, almost purposely trying to find danger at every corner

So once he finds out you’re out of the healing pod, he is extremely hesitant to see you

But he practically runs to you when Allura tells him you wanted to see him

Seeing him all bruised up upsets you once you find out what he’s been doing

He doesn’t care though, he’s immediately groveling at your feet, apologizing as his eyes slowly filled with unshed tears

“I’m sorry Y/N. I’m so sorry, I hurt you, worse than anyone else I-“

You pull him into a crushing hug, feeling him tense up but slowly relax in your embrace

“None of this was your fault, ok Keith? You may not forgive yourself but I never blamed you for anything.”

You need to comfort Keith so much because this boy almost lost the last familiar person he loved

It takes some time for him to feel secure with you again but the progress you make is enough to set him back in motion

Lots of physical contact occurs now since Keith needs to know that you’re actually with him

He is 100% more protective over you now, always keeping an eye on you when out on missions and protectively standing in front of you during battles

Lance

Lance felt like he was going to throw up

He watched as you quickly were thrown down to the ground, breath caught in his lungs as you laid there unmoving

He was trying to aim for one of the guards that was originally standing in your place, but they had moved last second once they saw him aiming at them

He had no idea that you were right behind the guard, so all he could do was watch in horror as his blast hit your chest, knocking you out in one swift moment

Oh,how he hoped it only knocked you out

Shiro had quickly ran over to your body, checking your neck for a pulse before he abruptly got up, attacking one of the sentries who was aiming at you

Lance was already running to you, sliding over and immediately clutching onto your body

His eyes watered, not able to focus on anything else except your short, shallow breaths

“LANCE YOU NEED TO TAKE THEM BACK TO THE CASTLE! QUICK, I’LL COVER YOU!”

Shiro’s voice brought him back to reality as he picked your body up bridal style and made a dash for his lion

Lance would be so worried over you once they put you in one of the healing pods

He would distance himself from the group immediately afterwards, almost running to his room to just let out the emotions

Oh god, he almost killed you

Lance would be inconsolable during all this, he wouldn’t eat any of Hunk’s food, ignore Keith’s comments that would normally set him over the end, and just not focus on Shiro’s attempts in comforting him

He would spend the days you spend in the pod wandering and moping around the halls of the castle, feeling absolutely terrible for what he did to you

He would sit quietly as your pod door opened, watching from afar as Pidge helped you from falling over

You would notice how everyone around you seemed relieve you see but the one person you really wanted to see stood by the entrance of the room

Lance would not be able to look you in the eyes

“Lance…”

Now he’s a crying mess💔💔

“Y/N! I’m-I’m sorry! If you had actually-“

He just feels awful for what he had done, accident or not

You would stumble over to him, hugging him and feeling as he clutched onto you

His sobs sound throughout the room, the group looking with remorseful eyes, seeing how much this had actually affected him

“You didn’t know Lance. No one could have known that would happen.”

Lance would not be able to leave your side for a few days afterwards

He would still be quiet, but he would slowly begin going back to his usual self

Though during the night, he would get nightmares on the event, only your sweet whisperings could lull him back to a peaceful sleep

After the near death experience, he feels much more aware of his surroundings and how he used his gun

He just cares so much for you, he doesn’t know what he would do if you got hurt like that again

Pidge

Things were going rough for the paladins during their mission, they were slowly losing control on the battle

Seeing an opportunity in front of her, Pidge noticed an electric column near her, already devising a plan

She would wrap her bayards cord around the column, making it an electric extension and have it thrown to their large enemy

It was perfect, until it wasn’t

Not getting the timing right, Pidge quickly threw her bayard to the column, watching the electricity travel through the cord and flying straight to the beast

Except you had jump in front of the beast, hoping to get a hit in, not even realizing the electric cord heading your way

All Pidge could do was yell out your name in horror

“Y/N NO!”

You quickly turned around, eyes wide when you saw what was heading towards you and unable to dodge the electrified weapon

The group could only watch with shocked faces as you screamed out in pain, watching the electricity course through your body

Being the one near a control panel, Keith slashed the entire system, hoping that would at least turn off the electricity

“TEAM FALL BACK!”

Shiro ran towards you, picking up your limp body from the ground and pushing Pidge to run out of the room and into their lions

Her hands shook with fear

She didn’t mean for this to happen. She thought she would be helping everyone. But all she could envision was your body twitching from the last of the electricity leaving your body

Tears formed in her eyes as she let out sobs, ignoring everything else around her, even the concerned words of her paladins

She would be the first one out of her lion, watching with puffy eyes as Shiro quickly took you to the healing pods, not bothering in changing you into a body suit

She would do anything Allura and him asked her to do regarding you

She would ask if there’s anything she can do

She just feels awful like this poor girl :(

Once hearing how long you’d have to stay in the healing pod, she definitely shuts down

It’s almost like she’s a robot, choosing to lock herself away in her room not wanting to see anyone

To distract herself from her guilt and remorse, she buries herself in any new and old projects

Despite clicking away at her laptop, she wouldn’t be able to stay away from you.

Sits out of your pod staring off into space

No matter how many times the group asks, she never tells them how she truly feels

No, they shouldn’t be asking her if she was ok

This was her fault. It was her fault that you had to stay in there, hopefully no longer in pain

Pidge would be the first to know that you’re out since she’s been waiting this entire time

Doesn’t speak a word to you as she helps you out and settles you on one of the stairs

Both of you would sit in silence before you decide to take her hand

“That wasn’t your fault Pidge. It was a smart idea, I was just there at the wrong time.”

Tears would down her face as she would lean her body against yours

“I’m sorry…”

Pidge would lose some confidence in herself, needing your help in building it back up

She would linger behind you now, not wanting to make the same mistakes

Would hold your hand to help her calm down, to know that you’re ok now

Give her lots of hugs man, she needs the support cuz her brain is not the best place to be when she still blames herself for hurting you :((((

Hunk

The Galra took the entire team by surprise while they were busy helping the residents of the planet they were on

Chaos fell throughout the area, the paladins rushing towards the lions to protect the innocent civilians

Despite you being sent to help shelter civilians, Hunk couldn’t help but worry over your safety

Normally you two would be hip to hip next to each other, so not having you near him really put him on edge

While attacking Galra fleets, the yellow paladin wouldn’t be conscious of the small figure running by a cliff nearby

It would be too late for Hunk to react to the rocks that were blasted by his lions beams as they came crashing down on you

His eyes widen in horror as he saw the pieces of rock fall around, watching as you held your shield up in a pathetic way of protecting yourself, only to lose sight of you when a particularly large rock fell over you

“NO!”

His panic would be through the roof as he would leave the rest of the paladins to fight off the galra

Shaky breaths from him are louder than the voices he hears from the comms of his helmet

“Hunk where are you going?!”

“Hunk we need you here now!”

“Guys I need some backup!”

This poor boy would be so overwhelmed with the others voices and trying to find you under all the rubble he unknowingly blasted on you

Yanking his helmet off and tossing it, he would instead focus on digging you out, sighing in relief once he finds you battered up, yet still breathing

Silent tears would travel his face as the yellow lion gently takes you in its mouth, making the difficult decision to leave behind his friends

He could only hope they would forgive him as he hears the panicked and furious yells coming from his helmet

Once at the castle, he would run through the halls to the healing pods, being careful to not hurt you any further

Hunk would fully blame himself

He just feels awful about the condition you’re in, babbling out what had happened as Coran propped you in a pod

“There was nothing you could have done, Hunk.” Coran’s reassuring hand on his shoulder wouldn’t help with his inner turmoil, especially once the rest of the team barges in

“Hunk! You just totally left us out there!” Lance hadn’t a clue what had happened

Overwhelmed, the team could only watch as tears and sniffles came from Hunk

After the event, Hunk would definitely be distant from the team

While the others would try to cheer him up, nothing could really bring him out of his head

The team would notice how he almost resembled a zombie during meetings and missions, on autopilot since that fateful day

In order to distract himself from his own feelings, Hunk would spend most of his free time cooking and baking

Though no matter how much dishes he cooks, everyone notices how each meal seems to be a bit off, never really tasting or looking right

He would also spend a lot of his time sitting in front of you, kinda having mini conversations with you (even though you can’t respond💔)

Hunk can’t sleep at night either since he gets waken up by his nightmares, constantly seeing your fragile body hiding underneath all the rubble in his dreams

I feel so bad for him because literally no one could have expected you to be caught in the crossfire of the battle

Shiro would try to talk to him, but his words would go in one ear and out the other, resulting in Hunk staring off into the distance with a reminiscent look im his eyes

One particular night though, his nightmare would scare him too much, not allowing him to go to sleep anymore

Rubbing his eyes in exhaustion, Hunk walks to the kitchen in the dead of night, needing to snack on something to distract himself from his pounding heart

Hearing footsteps, he would look over his shoulder from the fridge to see who else needed something to eat only to widen his eyes

“Y/N?”

Leaning on the entrance, your tired eyes met with his tired ones, and you would stumble towards him

Hunk puts down his food to quickly run over to you, helping you to a seat as his eyes shined with unshed tears

“What’s wrong Hunk? Did something happen?”

The way your hands rubbed under his eyes did not stop even when he closed his eyes, allowing his tears to finally fall

The room, lit only by the open fridge, filled with the sounds of Hunks sniffling as you drew him into a hug from your seat

“I thought that I had k-killed-“

“Hey. Don’t say that. I’m here, I’m alive, and that’s all that should matter.”

Taking a shaky breath, Hunk would pull away, bringing your hands back to his face as his head leaned into them

“I know. I’m just really, really sorry. I should have payed more attention.”

“It’s ok Hunk. If anything, I should be sorry, I shouldn’t have run into a clear danger zone.”

Hunk preps you a quick meal before taking you to bed, insisting you need as much rest as possible

He sleeps peacefully at last once he has you in his arms💔💔💔

Expect lots of hand-holding and hugs from this dude

He needs a lot of reassurance from you to remind him that you’re actually there next to him

Cooks you so much food, putting so much effort into each meals and making everything beyond your standards

(The team is definitely happy over this, now that they don’t have to eat any more space goo💀)

Would be protective of you the first few days since you’ve woken up, he’s just really paranoid of you getting injured like that again :(

Since that event, Hunk would be extremely cautious of his surroundings, making sure to avoid any more preventable injuries to those around him

Shiro

He has no idea what had happened

One minute he’s fighting alongside you against the sentries shooting at the two of you and the next he’s slammed you against a wall

He tries fighting himself from hurting you any further but the loud whisperings in his head seem to take control of his body

In that moment, you don’t recognize the man standing in front of you

Ducking and stumbling away, you quickly evade Shiro’s glowing hand, watching in horror as it goes through the wall

“SHIRO WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

His crazed eyes makes contact with yours, once again rushing towards you

In the corner of your eye you see a figure vanishing in thin air, realizing it might have been the witch Allura had told you all about

Distracted, Shiro manages to land a blow on your side causing you to grunt in pain and go tumbling towards the ground

You barely roll away before his fist meets the spot you once were at

“SHIRO PLEASE! THIS ISN’T YOU!”

You’re words don’t seem to have any affect on him as he’s up once again and heading straight towards you

As much as you hate the thought, you know you have to protect yourself from him as he’s too dangerous in the state he’s in

You’re dagger clashes against his metal arm, his strength slowly over powering you because of your injured arm

Kicking your side, Shiro’s narrowed eyes meet yours before he’s picking you up the ground

You grip his metal hand as it tightens around your neck, your breathing becoming shallow as he cuts off your airway

“Shiro… I forgive you…” You knew this wasn’t you’re Shiro, the man you knew coming out for a moment when you saw his eyes widen in surprise before going straight back to the dull black ones that stared straight through you

It was only when Lance began shooting at him out of no where did he throw you against a wall, officially knocking you out

Keith slammed his body against Shiro’s causing the two of them to crash on the ground, trying to over power the other

Then that’s when his head was finally able to clear up and stop fighting against Keith

“What’s going on? Why are we fighting?”

Everyone would stare in disbelief before quickly explaining what happened, Hunk already carrying your body towards the group, shielding you from the eyes of Shiro

He would stare in shock at the state of your body though, flashes of what might’ve happened going through his mind

Heading back to the castle, everyone would still be on edge around him

Seeing what he had done to you, this man does some serious evaluations on himself

How could he possibly hurt you, someone he cared for, this much?

Seeing the bruises forming on your neck scares him

If he did this to you, Shiro can’t imagine how far he would’ve gone if he wasn’t stopped in time

During your time in the healing pod, Shiro would distance himself from the team as he doesn’t fully trust himself enough around them, fearing he might hurt them all as well

He visits you daily, but once one of the other paladins enters the room he’s quickly excusing himself and walking away

He feels EXTREMELY guilty over what he did, going through many sleepless nights

He had almost killed you

He is harsher on the team during missions as well since he doesn’t want a repeat of what had happened with you

He is way harsher on himself too

Spends his time in the training room, tiring himself out with the gladiator, pushing his body past its limit

Still remembers what you said to him, so while you said you forgave him, I don’t think he would ever be able to forgive himself for hurting you

The team would notice the strain on them when Shiro began distancing himself from them

He was the one who put them all together so it really hurt them to see him struggle with the recent event

Once you finally awake from the pods, Shiro is the last one to greet you

You notice how he stands at a distance which causes you to narrow your eyes

“What’s wrong Shiro?”

The way you immediately notice his coldness causes his fake smile to strain

It never ceased to amaze him how you could see past him

He would explain his concerned to you once everyone decided to give you both privacy, how he was afraid of losing control again, how he had almost killed you

What had happened made him uncomfortable, knowing the power he held with his arm

You smile sadly as him reaching for his metal hand, faltering when he slightly moved it away from you

Sadness filled his eyes as he glanced to his arm before letting you take his hand

“I don’t blame you for anything Shiro. I know that wasn’t you, I know the real you. You would rather sacrifice your own life to save one of us, so please don’t be so harsh on yourself. You couldn’t control what happened.”

“Exactly. I couldn’t control what happened, I couldn’t control my own body.”

Your reunion was bittersweet to say the least

He is much more cautious around you

Keeps his distance for a few days before ultimately choosing to stay by your side

He wants to do anything to make up for your injuries

Much more softer around you and the others now that he knows you’re ok💔

Allura

“Allura what are you doing?!”

The mission the team was on was extremely crucial since, if successful, they would be able to retrieve valuable intel on Zarkons plans (ooo so original)

And it involved taking down his witch, Haggar

Allura was all for the plan and took it very serious

She believed this was one of their most important missions yet

So while it did surprise the group on how brutal the princess was in fighting her way to Haggar, no one really tried to stop her, knowing just how much it meant for them to get this information

Yet you could see the danger her aggressive behavior was dragging her in

You’d jump in front of her, trying to stop her from pushing herself too far

“Y/N what are you doing?! We must stop that witch from getting away!”

Allura was on a one track kind, take down Haggar and get any useful info from her, but you were making it extremely difficult to do so

Blinded by her own needs, she didn’t take into account of how hard she had thrown you to the ground away from her when she managed to wrap her bayard around you

Running from your injured self to Haggard, she was yanked to the ground

“Allura watch out!”

She could only watch in shock as you dashed in front of her from the ground to protect her from the blast Haggard sent

Her hands shook as she watched your body hit the ground

Haggar was getting ready to blast you both again, forcing Allura to attempt to drag you away before a searing pain filled her body, causing her to crumble down to the ground beside you

Tears filled her eyes as she watched in pain as your breathing became ragged

You both were in this situation because of her

Allura was forced to watch as the witch made her escape, the mission resulting in a failure

After getting help from the paladins and returning to the house of lions, Allura would immediately distance herself from everyone

She’s not only disappointed in herself for costing the team their mission, but she feels terrible for putting your life at such a high risk, all because she didn’t know when to stop

She would mostly lock herself up in her room while you spend your time in the healing pods

Whenever someone tried to approach her door, they would only be met with the sound of her soft sobs

When she isn’t in her room though, Allura is extremely harsh and temperamental with the others

She doesn’t know how to properly release her emotions which causes her to lash out often to those around her

She would be too afraid to visit you in the healing bay

She feels too ashamed to face you, even if you aren’t really conscious

I also think she would brush aside any concern the team may show for her, instead, trying to keep up her image as a strong leader

(Which isn’t working out, everyone can see she’s basically a ticking time bomb)

Allura pushes herself even harder now during missions and battles, which is lowkey kinda hypocritical of her since that’s what got her in that position in the first place

After briefly talking with Keith, Allura would find herself in the training deck, hoping to relieve some of her pent up emotions with the gladiator

Maxing out to the highest possible level, the princess managed to tire herself out, not having enough energy to beat the machine

Grunting in pain, she waited for the gladiator to land a hit on her before she heard the voice of the person she was dreading to see

“End training sequence!”

You would run to her and cradle her body, concern written all over your face

Despite putting you in danger and managing to hurt you in the process, you still cared for her well-being

Tears well up in the princesses eyes before she gave you a crushing hug

Feeling her body shake against yours, you gently wrap your arms around her, whispering soothing words

“I almost got you killed…”

“I’m still here, are’t I?”

Allura would definitely learn a lot through that experience

She would stop pushing herself so hard and begin relying on her team to assist her during missions

She would also linger around you more often than not

She still feels incredibly guilty for what she put you through, but doesn’t tell you (you know though💔)

I also think that she MIGHT be more open to physical affection in front of the others since she needs to confirm that you’re still alive and popping

Holding your hand is something that she does a lot now since it soothes her heart knowing you’re still with her

Expect her to be a little more protective of you though, she does not want you to be in such a critical state again

She doesn’t want to lose you too :(

1K notes · View notes

retvenkos · 1 year

Text

solar flares | k.k.

requested Voltron: Legendary Defender — Keith Kogane x Reader, angst, fluff

word count: 3.6k prompt: “things you always meant to say but never got the chance” A/N: hello hello hello, old friends. i am... perhaps back, perhaps just dropping something off before i disappear into the void once more. i want to get back onto tumblr but also i have the most anxiety over it so i’m kinda just,,,, vibing. it will work itself out in time <3. i’m kinda on the fence with the ending on this one but also i love keith kogane, and this is your daily reminder that he.

Summary: Time is cruel - it is it’s right. Here, in the Quantum Abyss, where time means everything and nothing, Keith has to reconcile with all that time means, now that it separates him from you.

In every solar flare - in every incandescent glimpse of his long-aching past - Keith saw you.

In the beginning, they were longer memories - moments recent and still fresh in his mind - arguments in the Castle of Lions, the words fierce and sharpened to an ever-stinging point. The apologies that always followed — the weight on his shoulders dragging him down, the pressure of the universe seated on his chest. You'd look at him with clouded eyes — like you knew you shouldn't believe him but wanted to nonetheless, and Keith wouldn't be able to shake it all night long.

Then, another memory: the moment of his departure — that longing in his bones he couldn't be rid of. There'd been something calling him — the promise of a mission grander than everything his fragile mortality had ever been, the guarantee of something more. It had been crushing. It had dragged him to the floor like lead.

He had somehow felt so alone in this great expanse of universe, but even then, there was you. Your eyes — filled with some kind of mourning — a smile on your face despite, and all the makings of a yearning farewell on your lips as you watched him go. Your jaw hadn’t trembled, and your shoulders hadn’t bowed; you'd been solid - the rock that always kept Keith grounded, even if he was halfway gone. He almost didn't know what to do and how to leave it all behind, but then you raced after him for a more private goodbye. Your voice had faltered as you held him tight and said you would miss him more dearly than sunlight on Earth.

"I trust you—" and there was something acerbic in the rawness of your truth "—so I won't tell you to be safe or to come back to me. I won't ask for things you can't guarantee. Just find what you're looking for, Keith… and if you ever do find your way back, bring me something good."

And in that moment, you looked so lovely, and Keith didn't know how to tell you that nothing would compare or ever be good enough for the brilliance of your being. What good could he possibly find, out there, when you were right here? What beauty could lay in store for him when he was leaving you behind?

It should have changed his mind, but it didn’t. The yearning he felt in his being then… It had been so strong and overwhelming - almost like it wasn't his at all but had fastened itself to his very bones for reasons he couldn't comprehend. The desire to follow where this new mystery led had been so fierce and untempered - a fire that reminded him of something he'd once been.

He had thought, then, that it threatened to eat him alive; it was nothing compared to the guilt that consumed him now.

But your eyes had shined like constellated skies, and a single tear fell down the curve of your cheek like a shooting star. Keith held you tighter, and for a breath that should have lasted an eternity, he couldn't pull away. There had been so much he wanted to say to you right then - so much he had mulled over and practiced for hours on end - but none of it came. All of his words caught themselves on the barbs of his ribcage, and all his farewells failed to assemble in his throat.

"Always," was all that made it past his lips. It wasn't nearly enough.

And for every moment thereafter - when he revisited this moment in his mind and drank it like a poison he couldn't be rid of - he had speeches and poetry to bare his soul. He had essays and dissertations to explain what lay amongst his tangled and frayed mind. Every moment remembered, after, was filled with the things he didn't say, but it was pointless, now, and that was a particular ache in his chest. You weren't here to listen, and the moment was already gone.

I love you. And I love you because my whole world is you, and it always has been. You constellate the galaxies, and you solve all my mysteries, and sometimes I fit in the palm of your hand.

The flare would pass. He'd no longer be blinded by the light. Keith's mind would clear, and that void named space would fill in around him once more.

But your ghost was tricky, and it liked to linger under his skin. Its favorite amusement was to swim in the deep wells of his thoughts — spiraling down, down, down - no matter how it tortured him, and no matter how it was an injustice to you.

But nevertheless, the flares would come, and so too, would your ghost.

Soon enough, the memories were less coherent. The solar flare would flash, the universe would still, and for a moment, Keith would see the curl of your grin or feel the pressure of your shoulder against his. Sometimes, they were just impressions - the knowledge that for those moments when his world went white, you were beside him, and he was home. Home - in that living room where the both of you had pieced together the mystery that started everything: the caves with the lion carvings, the desert with its secrets. Home - where all this nonsense began. It was like he could reach out, and his corkboard would be before him, and you would be flipping through miscellaneous books on his right. "Come look at this," he could hear you saying, "you'll never believe what I found."

Other times, it was only your voice - soft and low, the way it would be when you were serious and thinking, that Texas drawl still hanging onto every other word and coloring your speech like a fading memory. Like a secret the two of you kept; like the past you had once built together.

“Just find what you're looking for.”

But Keith didn’t know how to reconcile all that he left behind.

One time, the solar flare had been particularly bright, and Keith nearly thought he saw the future. But no - he was in deep bad enough already. Better to not confuse dreams with premonitions.

But your eyes had been shimmering with relief, and you ran into his arms without thinking, and when you crashed your lips against his, the world was like a mystery that fell into place.

But no - better to not breathe hope where all he had left was abandon.

“So…” and it was raining fairly heavily - or whatever constituted rain, on this strange creature, in this even stranger Quantum Abyss. The fire was crackling and hissing in the shelter Keith had assembled and expanded over the months, and on the other side of the flames, Krolia’s purple eyes danced. “Who’s (Y/n)?”

"How do you know that name?"

And Krolia seemed to like the defensive edge in her son's voice. Keith pretended not to notice the smile that spread across her face, the pride that had started to settle in her facial lines. "I see them, sometimes. The same way you see people I once knew."

The wolf stalked at the entrance of the shelter. He waited impatiently for the weather to turn, and he whined at the precipitation. He wanted to be away from the smoke and this pesky conversation. He longed to run free.

"It's not like I'm trying to, you know. With time collapsing here and us living in such tight quarters, there's no delineation between my memories and yours. You see my remembrances of your father, and I see yours with them."

And it wasn't even that he was ashamed or felt awkward talking about you. Keith just wasn't sure if he deserved to utter your name.

"Yeah, I know," Keith sighed and pushed his ever-growing hair off his brow. If time truly was different here, would he be older than you now? You had always liked your six-month seniority, and there had been a time when you playfully held it over his head. Part of him longed to joke that you couldn't boss him around anymore. But when he got back - if he made it home to you in one piece, with something good and apologetic in hand - would you be in a playful mood?

Krolia sat motionless - waiting for him to respond. Always so silent, always unmoving - it was as though every moment, she was drinking him in, trying to make up for all those lost years in the span of an instant. Always so patient - Krolia would wait forever for him to continue, and Keith knew she would never forget or let it go.

Would he look at you the same?

"(Y/n) and I..." and it was stupid and pointless that it was this hard for Keith to talk about you out loud. But where would he start? In the beginning, when you were little things that met before his world was taken from him? With your trip into space, him coaxing you the whole way there? With the moment he realized he loved you - inconsequential and insignificant, in a time that belonged to him no longer, on a planet he might never return to? Or should he begin with the loss of you? Should he start his tale moving backward and rip himself apart to decipher where it all went wrong?

Maybe he should just lie - make something beautiful and fleeting, tied with a silver bow.

He might never survive this mission, and anything he said here would be lost to the Abyss. He could claim whatever he wanted and leave out whatever he liked, and it might not matter, besides.

"I left them behind." And there it was, again. That inability to speak his mind — that barrier between his thoughts and his voice, where everything became bottlenecked, then fermented, and eventually died. Krolia was silent, still. "I brought (Y/n) out here to space when they didn't want to go, and I convinced them by saying we'd do it together."

The wolf was whimpering at the mouth of the shelter. He was pawing at what one might consider the dampness of the earth.

"But here I am."

"Yes," Krolia nodded, but her eyes were sparkling no longer. "Here you are."

And they were silent until the storm let up.

The vengeance of the solar flares never abandoned him. There was always you. Catching his eye from across the room and winking; taking your place on the Bridge with a clenched and determined jaw; drumming your fingers against the grip of your blade as you danced around him - playful yet focused before your strike. You never left him, and so the memory of you always ached. Deeper than this Quantum Abyss, more profound than any other memory beside. The sun would flash, and Keith would be suspended in memories that haunted him forever.

Perhaps it was all he deserved. Maybe this was some celestial form of penitence for how he left things and how he allowed them to degrade before he had vanished.

But if it were really you - the whole you and not just these fragments he was left with - he liked to think you wouldn't be so cruel. That at the very least (a least he didn't deserve, perhaps, but a mercy you'd allow him - if not for your love of him then some kind of sympathy beside), you would have let him sleep.

These days, he couldn't get much by way of shut-eye. Solar flares were tricky things - more vivid than dreams, so immersive they'd fool you into believing that moment and nothing else was real.

And sometimes, you would be laughing so hard the sound reverberated through his very being. And sometimes, you would hold him like he had never left.

There was no telling how deep this Abyss went, or what even lay in wait at the bottom. Perhaps it would take another two years more. Perhaps it would take decades and when he returned, you wouldn't recognize the person he'd become.

Keith kicked at a rock - or whatever resembled a rock, on this on this unbearable creature, in this near unendurable Quantum Abyss. It skid to a halt, the earth soft enough to absorb the impact. He sighed, kicking at another, and part of him was waiting for you to fill the blanks in between — "I know a broody sigh when I hear one. What's your trouble this time?"

And it would soothe all his woes, coaxing a smile to his face, despite. He'd turn to you haphazard, and the way you cocked your brow would be enough to pacify the worst of him. "And what if my trouble is you?"

You'd push him gently to sway. "An easy remedy, then. I'm always fixin' to change."

Was this what insanity felt like? For your mind to be trapped someplace where your body wasn't?

"I've left people behind too, you know." And Krolia was still there, beside him. Quiet, mostly, except for moments like these when she wasn't. They made quite the pair - this son who couldn't quench the fire that scorched him and his mother, who had long since been burned through - but that had taken time. Luckily for her, time was all they had, out here.

She looked at Keith with almost veiled sympathy. It crept up on her, occasionally, in the moments when there wasn't enough action for a sense of pride, and too much stillness to bear regret.

Keith didn't turn away from his mother, anymore. He just sat heavy with the knowledge of her and sometimes, together, their aches would ease. A breeze blew past them - sweetened from the grasses nearby, cold and everlasting. "We leave people behind sometimes." And Krolia turned her attention to the wolf in front of them, scratching his side, fingers deep in the soft, blue fur.

"Sometimes, there's nothing else we can do," she muttered. Almost apologetic, almost like she didn't wish to speak it at all. Sometimes, Krolia tettered on the edge like that. There was always something that itched at the depths of her throat - like she couldn't rid the thought without uttering it, condemned though it may be. Keith was used to it, now. It rolled over him easily without catching on all of his sharpened edges.

It was a strange sort of familiarity, to recognize yourself in another. It was a comfortable sort of loss, to discover who you took after years and calamities too late.

"We've left people, Keith. And sometimes, we don't know if it was the right choice." Krolia's head hung low, then - the usual glow of her irises cooled. His father. The little boy he'd once been. They were all ghosts swimming in her vision - guilt that couldn't be altered. "Sometimes we'll never know... but it doesn't always mean you made the wrong choice."

Keith scoffed.

What else could he do?

A solar flare passed not long after that - a searing white that coalesced in the image of something more, a promise he'd once avowed to keep, a fondness that was now consigned to ash - and Keith repented, once more.

But time passed, as it had no choice to. And solar flares accosted him, as was their right.

The Colony wasn’t what he expected - the discovery that followed somehow worse. Then the race against time, the battle against Shiro... the revelation that, at present, felt like an explosion - the debris of that blast all truths he'd have to swallow, craters the size of entire moons, the sum more vast that this known universe. It was as though two years' worth of heartache and sorrow unloaded at once, the fallout a reality he could never reconcile, the truth too terrible to name.

But still there, in the middle of it all was you - a breathless disbelief when he landed in the hangar, a flash of too-bright eyes, and an utterance of his name that felt like more of a homecoming than any celebration Lance might coax the others to throw, sometime later. There, amongst it all, was you - and all he seemed to bring back with him was discord and an infinitely deep sort of ache.

He yearned to fix it all then - to reach for you the way he knew he should and unload the thoughts that had haunted him longer than the restlessness within him. But he couldn't; there wasn't the time.

And so one longing in his chest only ever led to another and in the end, he was somehow incomplete.

But it was quiet now, on this strange planet that was so far from the Quantum Abyss and everything else Keith had once left for. The lions were recharging, Shiro was close to waking, and Keith had stepped out to give Allura some solitude and time.

He found you sitting in the shade of his mecha beast, its long shadow a respite from the bright stars above. You kicked at a stray rock and it tumbled, falling away from you, crashing into the earth further below. You shook your head, plucked the grass beside you.

"(Y/n)."

His mouth was dry, his voice more rasp than language.

And when you turned to him, the emotion in your gaze was too complex to name, and against his two-and-a-half years of longing, your handful months of separation rattled him anew.

Could you possibly miss him the way he had yearned for you?

"Keith," and you let his voice linger on your tongue - like the sound was something to savor, the idea something to hold - "you're always coming with a storm, aren't you?"

And his language was getting caught in his throat again, his words trapped in his mind, and all of that meaning snagging on the edges of his labyrinthine being—

You crashed into him with a force that sent him staggering backward. If it hadn't been for how you held him tightly, he would have hit the solid ground.

"I've missed your chaos more than I ever should," your voice was muffled, vibrating in the depths of his chest. And when you pulled away, half laughing, Keith swore you stole all the infinite beauty of the moon. "But never bring this like of storm again, I'm begging you."

And Keith barked a laugh. What else could he do?

"Alright." He tightened the hug for a moment before pulling reluctantly away. "I'll do my best, (Y/n), I will."

Who took the first step, he can't recall, but the two of you started on a walk to nowhere but familiarity, wandering away from the circle of lions but always staying in their view. He asked you to tell him something good, and you recounted some of the events he'd missed, being so far away. You pulled stories from him as well - the best that he could fashion, out of the heaviness he'd been doused in for so long. He apologized then, though for what, he was too vast in his meaning, yet too precise to be vague. It was enough, you assured him, but still too little to be sufficient.

"Oh!" And Keith patted for his pockets, then, searching for a promise he'd almost lost. He should still have it... if there was any mercy in this great expanse of space, it should still be intact...

"Romelle talks a lot — if you don't know that yet then you don't have to wait much longer to realize — and she uhh... she helped me find this." And he fished through the depths of him until he found what he was looking for and held it out.

A rock. No, more of a crystal. The kind encased in dull grey rock but shimmering on the inside, catching the light of a thousand stars and reflecting it back - a kaleidoscope of colors that Keith couldn't quite name. What did it remind him of? A geode, perhaps? No, something grander than that. Something otherwordly. Something that, when he saw it, reminded him of longing and love, and how those two were, in fact, the same though they settled differently in his chest.

Something that, despite his hesitance, was worthy of you.

Perhaps not anymore, though. It was split in two, cracked down an uneven center, and crumbling away at the jagged edges, but it was still beautiful, the same.

Keith couldn't meet your eyes. "She said they're rare on her home planet - a rock of some kind that comes from outside their atmosphere. The Alteans don't know what push them there, but I think I have some idea, after traveling through the abyss. It, uhh... it symbolizes something. I can't remember—"

You called his name.

Despite himself, Keith looked up.

"You brought it." And your voice was soft, but your eyes shimmered with all the intensity he could not bear. They were almost tears, but you refused to let them fall. Always so stubborn, you'd hold onto them and he'd be entranced with how they set your eyes to glisten.

"Something good... yeah."

You laughed, the sound incandescent.

And then you ran.

You ran into his arms without thinking, and when you crashed your lips against his, the geode fell to a softened grass-cushioned landing, but the rest of the universe came close, fitting itself into place - a mystery solved, an uncertainty no longer wavering but defined.

"I love you," and it spilled from his lips afterward, when he was gasping for breath, the words dislodged from the spines of his ribcage - desperate and bloody after clawing their way free. "I always have."

And you kissed him again to whisper it against his lips, soft and ever-present, a sigh that grounded him for the rest of eternity — "I love you too."