Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Keith stared at himself in the mirror, an expression of disbelief coming over his face as he took in his features. His scar had somehow become more noticeable overnight, not that it had been invisible before, but where a faded pink on his cheek used to be, was now a prominent purple. Purple! Not only that, but his eyes. The red paladin would swear on his life that his eyes have always been gray, but now layers of purple shone through from underneath, and even the whites of his eyes were tinted with a dash of yellow. Had something about him changed last night, or had a certain someone on the team snuck in and played a prank on him last night without him realizing?

Turning his head, the paladin tousled his hair, the way he did every morning, eyes narrowing when it landed on his exposed ear, or rather, a newly elongated ear that had replaced his. Long and elongated, as though someone had taken a clay mold of an ear and stretched it, that ear was anything but human. If anything, it reminded him a bit of Allura’s ears, though while the princess’ ears were more cupped and eleven in nature, his were almost bat-like, folded against the side of his head, stretching and threatening to stick out of his hair.

That was definitely new. He was definitely changing.

Keith shook his head, letting his hair hide the malformed ear once more and closed his eyes. A deep breath. Okay, time to think. Did anything out of the ordinary happen recently? Maybe on one of the team’s latest missions? Had he been bitten by something? Scratched? Had he ingested anything weird? No, all the recent quests that the team had gone on were either on planets that Allura and Coran had assured them were entirely safe, or missions so tame he wondered why Voltron had been called at all, so that was out of the question.

Opening his eyes again, Keith sighed in disappointment as he was greeted by a foreign reflection still. Funny how something he knew like the back of his hand could one day become nearly unrecognizable just because of such small differences.

Though the pale boy knew it ran deeper than that, his body felt different too. That’s not to say that the changes were making him worse. His body didn’t feel bad or wrong or any of the usual emotions that he probably should have felt with his body having changed as much as it did.

Rather, Keith felt fine. In fact, he felt great, strong even. Looking at his arms, Keith ran his fingers on the skin as he flexed, feeling out the toning and slight bulk it had gained since he last checked. It certainly hadn’t been long enough for him to have gained that much muscle mass, even if Voltron basically went up against the Galra every other day. But then again, everything he knew about his own body was thrown out the window the moment he’d gotten into that Blue Lion with Lance. Bodies probably just didn’t work the same way in space, right?

Right.

Backing away from the sink, Keith gave himself one last look over, making sure none of the deformities showed, at least, at first glance. He’d manage to catch onto the changes pretty quickly, but unless the others got up close and personal with him, he’d be in the clear.

And with that, Keith headed out to his room to get changed, determined to go on with his day as normal. Unless he started foaming from the mouth, or grew a tail or something unusual to that degree then this was probably harmless, right? Especially if it was making him stronger. It could even just be a result of being in space so long. The Voltron team often went from planet to planet, trying to recruit aliens to join their cause, ingesting different kinds of foods and being surrounded by different kinds of fauna. Yeah. This was probably just a side effect of something and would wear off before too long. Keith nodded to himself as he shrugged on his jacket, speed-walking his way to the dining hall. He woke up at this hour for a reason after all.

Breakfast had been called a few minutes ago, and the red paladin knew if he didn’t hurry to the dining hall, one of the others would be banging at his door soon. Hunk never let any of them eat until they all were seated at the table, dire or uncontrollable circumstances being the only exceptions. The cook found importance in communal eating, and though there was a time where eating around others felt like a painful memory, Keith found himself looking forward to it once more these past few years. It helped to ease the aching loneliness in his chest he felt whenever he ate a meal when he was living in the shack, and had only gotten worse at the Garrison.

It also helped to remind Keith why baba had been so insistent on making that a part of his life when he was young, the connection that came from sharing meals with one another just couldn’t be replaced by anything else. The paladins had raised an eyebrow at the whole ‘nobody eats until everyone is here’ rule at first, but after they’d been ripped away from each other by the wormhole, all the paladins stopped complaining about making sure everyone was present each day, even if a few years had passed at this point, and they were no closer to making it home than when they’d started.

Keith’s brisk pace had been rewarded with the usual scene of his teammates bickering amongst themselves, with Pidge and Allura at the forefront of it today. Over what Keith made no effort to understand, knowing there was no point in even trying. Besides, every day, the paladins would somehow find something new to bicker over even as they were stuck in space. Taking his seat, the red paladin waited politely for him to be noticed, the sound of the argument dying down eventually as Hunk started to hand out breakfast. Pidge’s eyes found his eventually, their eyes lighting up as they realized they now had an ally.

“Keith, listen to this,” Pidge scooted their chair closer to him, their face focused on the holographic device in hand, “These people wants us to do a mission for them just to even consider joining up for our cause,” Looking up, Keith saw an exasperated expression on Pidge's face, “But honestly, it sounds like they’re just messing with us, there’s no guarantee of them joining up with us, and they’re sending us into a Galran outpost of all places. It’s basically a suicide mission for whoever goes!”

Keith raised a brow as Pidge held out their device to him, scanning the words as he went, eyebrows shooting up in surprise, “They’re sending us into an outpost with basically no information, just to retrieve an artifact for preservation purposes?” The red paladin scoffed, crossing arms across his chest, “We’ve been way too focused on diplomacy missions lately, Allura. If we want any chance of getting back to the fight, we need to track down Ulaz.”

Pidge, Allura and Coran had been trying desperately to fix the wormhole generator for years now, ever since the corrupted wormhole jump, the dark energy somehow having corrupted the generator as well. The only hope they had now was tracking down Ulaz and hoping the Blade of Mamora had someone who understood Galran technology well enough to fix their ship.

Kieth continued, his voice gentle, “And yes, I know preserving history is important.” He understood that better than any of the paladins, considering where he had come from and how much of their history had been forcibly taken from them by foreigners, artifacts still displayed across the globe as though they hadn’t been stolen, “But unless this artifact is going to change the tide of the war once it’s been returned to their museum, I don’t see how this should take precedence over any other group asking for help with non-war related matters, or hell, maybe even the missions we might want to go on.”

Him and Pidge shared a look, two unspoken names passing between their glances. Though Keith was quickly reminded of the blade he’d stowed away in his room, its engraving is an identical crest to that described by Shiro about Ulaz’s own, “We can’t waste time helping everybody, Allura, at some point, we need to start prioritizing the war again. And even if we do diplomatic missions, we probably shouldn’t do one that has all the signs of a trap.”

Pidge nodded in agreement, pulling their device away, “Apparently it’s vital for us to have them as an ally,” A side eye went towards Allura, “But, and I say this in the most respectful way possible, it’s a stupid ass idea.”

Clang!

Pidge barely avoided a spoon thrown at their head, “Hey! I said it respectfully!”

Keith gave Pidge a look, and tried to focus back onto his food, having already said his piece. But as he thought about Pidge’s words, the whole situation did feel unusual, to say the least. Allura typically rarely entertained cultural ambassador missions in the past few months, wanting to focus on the war effort and getting their ship up and running instead, not to mention how little information they’d be given at all. But, the red paladin knew better than to speak so rashly against Allura. While the princess gave the impression of being graceful and delightfully charming, just your standard, everyday princess, living with her had long since disillusioned that idea amongst team Voltron.

“How about we leave the mission talk for after breakfast, hm?” Shiro piped up, who was happily digging into his breakfast when Keith entered, but was now frowning at both Pidge and Allura. Both crewmembers in question huffed, but reluctantly turned their focus to their food, which seemed good enough to Shiro since the captain soon resumed shoveling bite after bite. Keith started on his own plate, grimacing at first at the taste, much too familiar . But after a few more bites, he decided it wasn’t tired enough to abandon completely, seeing as none of the others had complained yet either. Hunk was a great cook, but even he could only do so much with the limited ingredients that were provided by the castle kitchen, with the rare additions of whatever was found in the local food markets wherever they landed.

-

As everyone finished up, the team made sure to thank Hunk before taking their plates to the kitchen. Keith absent mindedly swiped at his teeth while cleaning the dish, only to freeze. He slowly and carefully felt out his teeth again, mapping every curve and groove, silently praying that what he felt earlier had merely been hallucinated.

But alas, it was not meant to be.

The paladin’s blood ran cold, hands nearly going slack before being reminded of the dish still in hand. He threw the plate down somewhere nearby, mind racing. Mirror. He needed a mirror. Why weren’t there mirrors in the kitchen? Keith switched directions, Instead making a beeline for the nearest window, pressing his face close enough so he’d be able to clearly see his reflection.

Keith nearly cursed as his suspicions were confirmed. How had he not noticed it earlier? His canines were longer and sharper, like that of a carnivore’s. While it wasn’t a drastic change, it was certainly still noticeable. How he hadn’t stabbed his own tongue while eating earlier was beyond the pale boy. Keith pushed his tongue against the canine, feeling its edges and tip in detail, offering his reflection a smile to get a better overall view of the new change.

“What are you doing?”

Keith nearly jumped at the intrusion and whipped his head around, only to find Lance looking at him, confused, seasonings in the blue pilot’s hands.

What was he doing? Just trying to see if he became a carnivore overnight. Everyday occurrences.

“Looking at the stars.”

Keith knew that he hadn’t needed to lie to Lance. It wasn’t like he’d been caught doing anything weird, but it was better than explaining what had happened since the morning and alerting Lance to his changes. The last thing the red paladin needed was everyone worrying about him, or worse, running tests on him to figure out what was going on. It perhaps could’ve been helpful, to see if science and technology was able to give him a logical answer for those changes, but the irritation and annoyance brought forth by the thought of someone poking and prodding him made Keith reject that idea almost instantly.

“Didn’t take you as a stargazer,” Lance walked further into the kitchen, placing the seasonings into a cabinet. “But I get it, it’s pretty cool to look out to see stars and constellations you haven’t before.” Soon though, Lance stood next to Keith as he peered out the window, “Almost makes you feel like you discovered something new.”

“Yeah,” Keith nodded, “Out in the desert, I saw the stars almost every night. But at the end of the day, I guess, they were always the same ones.” Now he was just talking, wanting desperately for Lance to focus on anything but his appearance. Out of the corner of his eye he watched the brunette’s movements closely, making sure Lance didn’t glance towards his ears.

Keith slowly backed away towards the sink, picking up the dish he had left balanced precariously on a table nearby, completing the task before someone accused him of not cleaning up properly. No need to draw unnecessary attention to himself.

The red paladin nervously shot what he hoped was an inconspicuous glance towards Lance, raising an eyebrow at the lean figure seemingly lost to the cosmos. Were they really that fascinating to look at? Sure, it was cool that they had access to stars whenever, but after being in space for so long it had gradually become a constant reminder that there was no escaping from space wherever they went, that they were trapped within the void rather than having chosen to be in it. Keith himself preferred, though not by much, to observe his crewmates instead, but to each their own, he supposed.

He made it about halfway down the hallway when he heard footsteps running after him. Suppressing a sigh, Keith raised a brow at Lance jogging towards him, the blue pilot slowing the pace after catching up. A moment passed, and Lance responded to the silent question with a toothy grin, hands now secured in their pockets.

“What are you doing?” Keith asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Following you.”

“I can see that, why?”

Lance shrugged, “Everyone else is busy, and you don’t seem that busy, so why not?”

 “And what if I said I was busy?”

“Busy doing what? Brooding?”

Keith scoffed and picked up the pace. He already had too much on his plate today to have the energy for dealing with Lance, even if the pilot seemed determined to stay by him.

“Hey, man! I’m just kidding,” a concession, hm. That was unlike Lance. “But, seriously, are you busy?”

“Yes.”

“Doing what?”

“Training.”

Lance groaned, throwing his head back dramatically, “You’re always training, you gotta find a new hobby, man.” Keith would have glared, but when it came to Lance, subtlety fell on deaf ears… or was it blind eyes in this case?

“What if we played a game or something? Pidge has an old console in their room, and they found a couple new games for it on the last planet we went shopping on.” Lance nudged, but that only caused the red paladin to move away. Lance pouted, “Is that a no?”

Keith stayed silent, and Lance’s pout deepened.

“How about… I join you for training?”

“You couldn’t keep up.” Keith finally responded, tone plain and simple.

“You don’t know that!”

“I do.”

It was Lance’s turn to scoff, and the tan boy turned his head away from Keith, sticking nose up slightly, “I beat you’re just afraid that I’ll beat your ass.”

That had caught Keith’s attention. The taller boy whipped his head around to face Lance, fire blazing in his eyes, only to be met with a mischievous grin.

Damn it. The blue paladin knew how to push his buttons a little too well.

“Fine, but don’t go crying to the others when I make you land on your ass.”

Lance whooped, pumping his hand in the air as the tan boy followed him to the training room. Keith pulled out a hair tie from his jacket, biting down on it while his hands combed and gathered his hair, being mindful to make sure it wrapped around the newly formed tips of the ears. The red paladin pretended not to notice Lance’s intense gaze as his arms stretched to secure the ponytail, but as Keith went to slip out of his jacket, Lance’s voice interrupted his plans which was certainly not to show off his muscles, if only to upstage the cocky bastard a little.

“That, has got to be the messiest ponytail I have ever seen.”

Keith froze, feeling his cheeks redden for just a second, but quickly shot a glare at Lance, who remained unfazed.

“Come here,” Lance curled his finger, “I’ll show you what a real ponytail is.”

“How would you know how to do a ponytail? Your hair is short.”

“I’ve got sisters.” Lance extended his whole hand out to Keith now, inviting the red paladin in. “Come on, it won’t be fair if I beat you when your hair is covering like 95% of your vision.” Keith sighed, but resignedly took out his hair tie and shrugged his jacket back on before sitting in front of the tan boy, knowing that Lance would annoy him to no end if he didn’t comply.

Although Lance had mentioned having sisters, Keith was surprised by just how gently the blue pilot gathered up all of his hair, fingers gentle and never pullin on the roots. Despite Lance’s close proximity, as Keith took a deep breath, he noticed how his body couldn’t help but lean ever so slightly into the touch as Lance combed through his hair. Strange, he hadn’t even shed his jacket and Lance hadn’t touched his clothes at all, yet Keith felt as though he was being undressed by the tan boy. If only halfway through, Lance’s motions hadn’t stopped. And Keith had to blink a few times before his stomach dropped, remembering exactly why he hadn’t wanted to be around any of the crew today.

A sharp intake of breath, the stiffening of muscles tensing. The only exit to the training room was to his left, about a few feet away. Keith knew that he was quicker than Lance, faster too, if he just-

Keith expected yelling, expected screaming, expected needing to jump up and stop Lance before the blue pilot reached the exit. A million different strategies to make sure Lance’s lips would stay sealed about his condition, but when the body heat gently pressed against his deformity, all rational thought flew out the window. His mind no longer focused on the fleeting thoughts of anxiety, not when shivers going down his spine left behind goosebumps, blooming and taking on a life of their own as they trailed down his skin. Keith thought he knew how to breathe, but when he sucked in a breath right there and then, sweet oxygen rushing into his lungs, filling inch and gap, the red paladin couldn’t help but wonder if he had only truly understood how to breathe when Lance’s skin brushed against his.

He could feel Lance’s thumb pushed against his ear, massaging it gently, and he was damn near melting. Every nerve sparking and being tamed at the same time, the tension in his shoulders that had been a staple since his teen years finally melting away. His breath was light and gentle, lost in a little trance, floating contentedly.

Lance didn’t know what to think. One minute he was offering to do his rival’s ponytail, the next his fingers were experimenting with a part of Keith that the raven-haired man most assuredly did not have yesterday, Not that he paid significant amounts of attention to his rival’s appearance much, of course. The ear had been elongated, re-sculpted into perfection by some higher being. The newer parts still felt like cartilage, pliant under the pressure of his fingers but firm and never breaking. Lance was certain that Keith did not have Allura-esque ears before, but then again, he was usually too busy studying Keith’s facial expression to see what made the pale boy tick. Though he was sure he’d still be able to tell if Keith had so much as gotten a stud in the ear, and certainly if it had been altered to this degree. Maybe, despite how stoic Keith usually was, the red paladin had finally decided to loosen up and play a prank on him somehow, to try and unbalance him, and that was the truth that Lance desperately tried to convince himself of.

He really should have asked Keith the questions on the tip of his tongue, because as far as he knew there was no reason other than cosmetic surgery which gave explanation to the shape of Keith’s ear. But when Lance felt Keith’s breathing slow and leaned into his touch, Lance couldn’t quite remember the last time his mind had been this quiet. And in doing so allowed the brunette to simply focus on his rival in front of him, seeing silver eyes flutter close as they both indulged in this moment of rare intimacy.

*CLANG!*

A noise rang throughout the castle. Lance jumped away, and Keith straightened his back, the two paladins immediately going into high alert. Had something happened? Were they under attack?

“Sorry!” came Pidge’s voice from somewhere down the hall, “Everything’s fine! Just dropped something.”

Both boys let out a sigh of relief. Loud, random noises were basically an hourly occurrence on the castle, afterall. Peace was never an option with the whole crew living together, all of them were too active for that. Neither Keith nor Lance would have been as startled if it hadn’t been for…

Keith suddenly found himself unable to look at Lance. What had he been thinking, relaxing in a situation like that? Lance could have run off and told the crew, had him subjected to a million different tests and questions, or even just freaked out right there and then. The (quite literal) red paladin tried to ignore the heat crawling up the sides of his face as he cleared his throat, “So, uh, about that ponytail?”

Lance spun to face him so fast Keith only had enough time to blink, and he thought privately that this might be the only chance that he’d ever get to catch a glimpse of the brunette looking like a deer in headlights. A smile tugged on his lips at the realization, before the red paladin quickly regained his composure.

Lance blinked owlishly at Keith, before shaking his head and replacing his shock with cocky confidence.

“Ready for the most amazing ponytail ever?"

“Don't get so ahead of yourself, I've still yet to see it."

“Oh ho, just you wait, you’ll bow down to my ponytail superiority in no time.”

 The blue pilot’s hands moved quickly and smoothly this time, no longer hesitating on the tips of Keith’s ears, and there was almost a flash of disappointment behind those silver eyes.

“Ta da!” Lance moved to take in the masterpiece he’d made out of Keith, hands on his hips as he smiled at the man sitting in front of him, “Now you’ll be able to see!”

Lance had removed the bulk of fringe from the front, leaving just enough strands to frame his face. He’d left the majority of hair alone, or at least, anything below his ears were left alone, since they could be tucked in anyways. The brunette had only tied the top half of the paladin’s hair, the part which most often got in the way. And Keith wondered exactly how seriously Lance treated their rivalry if the pilot knew what parts of his hair annoyed him the most. The pale boy gently felt around his head, hair tightly secured without pulling on his scalp, though he did raise an eyebrow as he failed to find any sort of tail from the knot.

“I thought you said you would show me what a ponytail is?”

Lance’s face flushed, but he still managed to come up with a retort, “It wouldn’t have looked as good. Plus, you still get to move without your hair flying all over the place!”

Keith smirked, leave it to Lance to always defend his own ego.

“Thanks.” Keith spoke as he walked past to get in position, barely able to suppress the laugh when he spotted Lance mouthing hanging open.

“Did you just thank me?”

“Yeah, it’s called being polite,” Unlike your mouth, Keith thought, “Now come on, you were the one who wanted to train with me, right?” Lance seemed to snap back into focus, finally moving, though the majority of his attention was trained on his rival.

Keith tugged on the sleeves of his jacket, pulling it off. He’d been surprised at first at the jacket’s resistance to coming off, but when his eyes landed on the bicep which it had caught onto, the pale boy suddenly became painfully aware of the bulk he suddenly gained in the morning. Keith threw his jacket to the wayside, lifting and stretching his arms to prepare for sparring. And as he lifted his arms over his shoulders, he heard Lance’s sharp intake of air, but most certainly did not preen when he realized that the boy’s gaze was practically locked onto him.

Lance was frozen for a moment or so, before Keith heard the familiar ruffling of fabric as Lance took his own jacket off. The paladin couldn’t help but compare Lance’s arms to his. Even before his changes, Keith had always been slightly bulkier than Lance, not that it diminished Lance’s own physique in any way. The pilot’s muscles were lean rather than bulky, and as they stretched and flexed, it was plain for anyone to see that Lance had plenty of strength hidden underneath.

It spoke to Lance as an opportunistic fighter, preferring dual pistols in a fight, wanting to take the time to line up for the perfect shot even in battle over quick-fire shots, always aiming for quality over quantity. It lined up well from what Keith had observed of the pilot’s reactions in close-quarter combat, mostly consisting of dodging an opponent long enough that either Shiro or he could swoop in, or baiting the opponent into making a mistake that could be turned against them.

It was a contrast to Keith’s own style, which he’d developed with the help of his baba at first, and his mentors later on in life. Ba had taught him the basics of Shaolin Kung Fu, which focused on delivering quick, powerful strikes intertwined with acrobatics, allowing him to dart between enemies during a fight, getting to his goal with brutal efficiency. While he did receive hand-to-hand combat training during the Garrison, the red paladin found that his instincts always defaulted back to his baba’s methods, even when James tried tirelessly to get him in trouble for not following the mixed combat techniques that the Garrison promoted. And while the Garrison did their best to ignore the undertones of James’ actions, Keith felt more and more pressured to make a choice between the two styles, the one which his baba taught him, and one of his few connections he had left to his past, and the “superior style” (as James called it) that the Garrison promoted.

It wasn’t until he stumbled upon a philosophy book written by a past Hong Kong martial artist actor he and his bab watched growing up, that Keith had managed to develop his own fighting style. A quote had been stuck with Keith ever since he read the book, “Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. Be water, my friend.” He started to use his roots in kung fu as an anchoring point to absorb as much knowledge and experience of other fighting styles as humanly possible, then utilized the teachings of the book to craft the perfect response both for him and the situations at hand. This translated over to how he fought as the red paladin as well, his bayard taking obvious inspiration from the dragon sword baba had given him once he started training with weapons.

Though he was hardly about to teach all that to Lance, they were almost entirely opposite as fighters afterall. Plus, between fighting the Galra, as well as him and Lance’s inability to hold a conversation without bickering meant that him trying to teach everything he knew to Lance was practically impossible. A plan of attack for Lance quickly formed in Keith’s mind as he approached the center of the training room.

“How much hand-to-hand combat training do you have?”

“Um..” Lance pursed his lips as he thought, “Not much, just what Allura and Coran offered us since we first got to the castle, and the few months of it after I got promoted to fighter pilot.”

“So basically nothing.” Keith bent his knees slightly and set his feet apart comfortably, watching as Lance copied his stance, trying to mimic every little movement he did without much thought. It was amusing to watch, to say the least, Lance being out of his comfort zone meant his attempts at learning on the fly were clumsy at best.

Though Keith did frown as the tan boy put up his fists, “I’m not saying we are actually going to be punching each other, but if you do manage to land a shot make sure you keep your thumbs outside of your fists. If you put them on the inside, your thumb will end up cushioning your punch and break.” Lance nodded, again, changing his stance with no further remarks.

Keith circled around the blue pilot, using his foot to kick one of his legs further in, “Feet shoulder-width apart and bent. They’re meant to provide you with stability as much as they do maneuverability. Knees bent so that you can dodge and weave, feet apart so that you won’t lose balance. Alternate your center of balance between the front and back at first, and when you punch, let it move from the back to the front, let your hand be the guide.” Keith repeated the words that baba had once said to him.

It was odd, in a way, hearing those words repeated in his voice and directed at someone else.

Keith sighed inwardly, knowing that they had a lot of work ahead. While Lance was able to stand his ground during most fights, it never hurt to start from the basics, especially when the pilot barely understood the principles of the basic stance. Still, Lance adjusted without complaint, allowing Keith to make minor adjustments here and there until he was satisfied. The pale boy finally huffed, satisfied, and got into position opposite the pilot, “We’ll start with the basics, rookie.”

“Going easy on me?”

“Yes,” Keith said, matter of fact, “I’ve had combat training for years. I’m not saying you’re gonna be terrible, but you haven’t had proper training, and everyone starts at the bottom.” He waited for a snarky response, but none came, and the red paladin tried not to think about that.

“Alright, let’s start.” And that was all the warning Lance got before he saw Keith’s fist propelling towards him. He threw himself to one side, narrowly dodging Keith’s first punch but barely avoiding falling on his face.

“Looks like you already know how to dodge, that’s good.”

Lance barely had time to think if that was sarcasm in the red paladin’s voice as Keith went for a combo this time, forcing him to dodge the punch thrown. This time, Keith threw a hook as well to cut short Lance’s escape. Spotting the incoming hook out the corner of his eye, Lance brought the paladin’s momentum to a halt by catching it, though not without a hiss of pain.

“Yeah, no. Not your best idea unless you want to fracture or break your wrist. You have no way of gauging your enemy’s true strength.”

Lance nodded, loosening his hand before shaking it out, trying to hide the wince of pain as he did.

“Jeez if that was you going easy, I don’t want to know what happens to all the punching bags you train with.”

“Do you want me to go easier on you?” 

Was that a hint of concern in Keith’s voice?

Lance fell silent for a moment, thinking, before shaking his head, “Nah, I only stand to lose if I tell you to go easy on me.”

Lance glanced towards Keith, really taking his opponent in this time, letting his gaze wander and take in all the potential weaknesses of Keith’s he’d learned over the years. Okay. He could do this. Lance wasn’t the same clueless cadet at the Garrison anymore, and had at least a good bit of fighting experience under his belt. If he just trusted his instinct, he’d at least be able to get some sort of advantage on Keith, right? Lance went over the plan in his mind once more, and got into his stance again, fists out in front of him, “Again.”

Keith came at him barely seconds after he uttered the last syllable, using the same move. But Lance was prepared this time, moving out the way of Keith’s attack, launching his palm against the paladin’s unguarded shoulder, and swept his foot under the supporting leg, knocking the red paladin off balance and to the ground. “Ha!”

Keith huffed and glanced up, smirking at the blue pilot’s triumphant expression, knowing that it would be replaced with something far more interesting soon. His leg shot out instinctually, hooking it under Lance’s calf and giving a mighty kick, using the pilot’s own move against him.

 “Ow! Shit, dude!” Lance was unceremoniously knocked onto his ass, head nearly hitting the hard floor.

Knowing that Lance was subdued for now, Keith let his smirk bloom into a smile, “Just because your opponent is down doesn’t mean they’re finished, maybe save the gloating until after their defeat.”

Lance scowled as he got back onto his feet, “Again.”

Keith would be lying if he said he wasn’t surprised by Lance’s sudden determination, nor could he deny that a part of him was truly impressed. Lance was a known goofball in the crew, making it very clear to the crew what he was and wasn’t interested in improving. And when Lance’s bayard had turned into the now signature rifle, somewhere in the back of Keith’s mind, he had sighed and resigned himself to keeping a close eye on the sharpshooter’s back. Well, that was on him for judging Lance’s book by the cover.

Keith wasted little time though in getting back up, the smile still lingering on his face. They clashed once more, though for much longer this time, as Keith had a different goal in mind. Now that Lance recognised what he was lacking in terms of foundation, it was time to hone in the natural instincts the pilot had in fights, and Keith knew just where to guide the blue pilot. Taking advantage of his speed and agility, Keith went on the offense, using his attacks to guide Lance’s instincts, forcing the tan boy to learn how to use defense as a way of offense. Missing the pilot by a matter of millimeters when there were openings, reducing the speed of attacks to expose his own. Lance, being as lanky as he was, had little chance of being able to physically overpower the enemies Voltron faced. But Lance didn’t need to, not when his own fighting instincts had already been formed, all Keith needed to do was make Lance understand how to take advantage of the mistakes the tan boy liked to draw out.

Punch after punch, kick after kick, Lance frowned as he felt Keith slowly gain momentum, trying to push himself further as well.

A thud sounded out from the training room, and Keith found himself on the ground once more, Lance towering and pinning his hands in place only seconds after. And the only thing the red paladin wanted to do in that moment was burn Lance’s brilliant smile into his memories.

Lance panted, slowly trying to even his breathing as he restrained Keith underneath him in a mount, “Do you yield?”

Ha.

Please.

“Never.”

Keith burst into action, shooting his hands upwards and bucking his hips so Lance fell forward, trapped an arm and leg of Lance’s before rolling both of them over. Lance still had much to learn, afterall, and Keith wasn’t about to let the brunette walk away from this session thinking he could be beaten so easily. From there, it had been easy for Keith to make sure the same technique couldn’t be used against himself, having made it so that Lance’s body trapped one hand, and he could trap the other, and a knee pressed into Lance’s chest secured the pale boy’s win.

Keith and Lance were both out of breath at this point, Lance more so than Keith, who just had the wind knocked out of him. Keith sucked in a breath, indulging in the endorphins that followed as adrenaline retreated.

It was strange, the red paladin noted in the back of his mind, he’d bested plenty of equals in combat, and more who he had previously thought were untouchable. But none of those victories had felt quite as satisfying as this, having Lance exactly where he wanted him, writhing and begging underneath him. 

“Well, sharpshooter?” Keith leaned down, breath tickling Lance’s cheek as the low voice spoke, “Do you yield?”

Keith must’ve put more strength into flipping Lance than he realized, with the way his head seemed to be filling with cotton, heart beating so loudly the tan boy was sure that Pidge was able to hear it just as clearly in the next room. His thoughts focused on nothing but the way Keith caged him in, their scent and sweat and the way it mingled in the air, the heavy breathing dispersing on his skin. The red paladin’s hair band must’ve broken during the flip, black hair falling perfectly to the sides of his face, a curtain quietly trying to hide away this moment from the rest of the world, one memory that would remain forever theirs. The wisps brushed ever so lightly against Lance’s cheek a little, a sensation he would’ve picked up on, if he weren’t so focused on the way a certain paladin’s pupils were dilated, like a cat seeing their favorite prey. Those steely eyes slowly gave way to color as violet formed a thin ring around the pupils, dulled by the natural gray but no less stunning.

Keith couldn’t remember the last time he’d been able to observe someone so closely. The way Lance’s eyes seemed to dart nervously between areas of his face, trying but failing to escape looking into his eyes, slowly being lured in by a siren song, drowning in the inky depths of his pupils. Though truly, if one of them were secretly a siren, it had to be Lance. For Keith couldn’t look away if he wanted to, eyes tracing every little detail on Lance’s face the way he’d always wanted to. The corners of the mouth that always seemed to threaten revealing a smile, the crinkling on its edges from which a grin would tug. The red paladin was even able to map out where Lance’s dimples appeared from whenever the pilot lost himself to laughter.

…

“Yes.” Lance answered after an age, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

Keith’s grin widened, and the Cheshire cat smile made Lance’s hard skip a beat, “Hm? What was that, sharpshooter?”

Lance tried to breathe, anything to get air into his lungs and brain, but the air was thick with something that he couldn’t name, and he found himself breathless still.

“I yie-”

“Oh my- get a room you damn lovebirds!”

Why did Pidge sound so much closer than she was?

By the time Lance’s brain caught up, Keith had already rolled off of him, and his mind was commanding his nose to greedily breathe in the fresh air it had so dearly been missing. And though air rushed into fill the empty spaces of his lungs, no amount of it seemed to ease the aching emptiness that slowly ate away at him. The pilot tried not to pay too much mind to it, though, what did matter was making sure Pidge would stay quiet about whatever the hell it was that he and Keith just experienced and Pidge had witnessed.

Keith glared daggers at Pidge, quietly cursing that for all the ways Pidge had changed from when they were kids, she hadn’t grown out of the habit of showing up in places at the worst possible times. How he dearly wished that there was some robot or contraption right now that would catch Pidge’s attention, preferably on the other side of the galaxy. Though he wasn’t entirely sure why. The red paladin felt like he’d been on the edge of discovering… something , teeth almost having pierced the skin of the forbidden fruit, so to speak, when Pidge had walked in on them. He felt the familiar prick of annoyance rise within him, his demeanor quickly shifting back.

Pidge’s eyes darted between the both of them, a mischievous smile creeping up her face, her brown eyes gleaming as she saw an opportunity. "Well isn't this a precarious situation," Keith's body grew tense as he saw her take a step back, "It would be a real shame if the rest of the crew found out about you two getting cozy."

Keith almost on his feet as Pidge took her second step backwards, his eyes wild with the spark of a challenge and something Lance couldn’t quite place. The tinkerer’s grin widened as they darted away, dashing down the hall she'd come from with Keith hot on her heels.

“Okay, Pidge, GET BACK HERE! DON’T MAKE ME GET SHIRO!”

Lance watched wordlessly as both of them disappeared from his view, listening to Keith’s yells and Pidge's cackling. He was happy to let Keith deal with Pidge for now, his head already spinning from whatever the hell it was Pidge stopped them from doing.

The pilot groaned, burying his head in his hands as he lay back down on the floor. Now that Lance was alone, there was no denying, and at the very least, what he felt both when he had Keith pinned and vice versa. He was no stranger to intimacy, emotional or otherwise. Hell, he regularly put his heart on the line for whichever beau happened to catch his eye wherever Voltron went, so much so that it had practically become a running joke amongst the crew at this point.

But he’d never felt quite so… exposed before, not even when he was laying his heart bare to the women he had met along their journeys.

Though that was not to say Lance didn’t enjoy it. In a way, the tan boy knew that Keith had been equally vulnerable in front of him, if not more considering how guarded the red paladin usually was. And while the moment had been unexpected, it hadn’t been unwelcome. (Though if Lance were to set his ego aside entirely, he would almost say that he… enjoyed the strange moment between him and his rival)

Lance’s entire being in many ways felt so similar, yet so different from when he had shared these moments with Keith before, back when he had been determined to bury any memories of positive interactions between them to keep the rivalry in his head alive. But Lance could only hide from the truth for so long, his body was buzzing, his heart rate higher than it had ever been before. Even while drunk off the cocktail of emotions he’d savoured earlier, Lance still recognized the beginnings of his attraction to Keith.

And yet, he still hesitated to put a label onto things. The pilot was no stranger to identifying the beginnings of a crush within himself, given the company Voltron kept. Sure, there had been women who could make his heart flutter, but he knew as well as they did that the infatuation hardly went deeper than skin, an attraction to them that was born out of admiration and appreciation. Even with Allura, the initial attraction he’d felt for the princess had long since faded with the passage of time. Yet this felt… different. Like recognizing whatever it was that was blooming inside him was going to cause a cosmic shift within Lance. Like acknowledging it, acting on it, was going to change him in a fundamental sense.

And in some ways, that was inevitable. For that decision was one that would leave Lance with more questions than answers. Had he always felt this way about Keith? Did he manage to lie and deceive himself so convincingly all those years ago that his feelings gave way to a rivalry? Or had it merely been a product of their sparring, the delicious cocktail of adrenaline and hormones tangled up in close proximity with another person? And why was it that the more he thought about that question, the more he felt like he was closer to finding a real purpose?

Lance found purpose in many things, fighting the Galra, protecting his friends and family, living life to the fullest, but never once had the pilot felt that there was a greater purpose to it all, something that made him understand why his heart beat. And yet now, he was on the edge of its discovery. The true meaning behind his creation. 

Lance picked himself up, his movements echoing in the empty training room. His mind was going through thoughts at a breakneck pace, and if he didn’t do something soon, it was about to start spiralling. His eyes scanned the room, landing on the Gladiator. Well, his body was buzzing with energy anyways, and he’d just gotten into the rhythm of a fight. He might as well distract his mind with the closest things available.

Moments later, Lance grinned as a shield formed in front of him, blood pumping through his body as he heard the familiar whirr of the Gladiator. Seems Keith had managed to get him hooked on training afterall.

Chapter Text

Shiro watched Pidge from the doorway to the Bridge, lips pursed as he thought of the best way to approach the green paladin. Things had gotten pretty heated during breakfast this morning, and Shiro knew better than anyone that if he broached the subject the wrong way, any chance of reconciliation between Pidge and Allura would be drastically reduced.

"If you stare at me anymore you're gonna burn a hole in the back of my head."

A sigh left Shiro, "How'd you know I was here?"

"You're not as quiet as you think you are." Pidge looked over their shoulder, frowning, "If you’re here to lecture me, I’m not apologizing. I said nothing wrong."

"You were kind of rude to Allura, though."

"Isn't it kind of rude to send your teammates on a suicide mission when you’ll be safe and sound in the castle the whole time?" She turned their gaze back onto their laptop, "If anything, Allura was the rude one."

Well, this was a great start to the conversation. Time to try a different tactic. Walking over to Pidge, he peeked over the tinkerer’s seat, "Whatcha working on?"

"Nun ya."

"Pidge," He warned.

"My mom has a better scary voice than you, do better."

“Oh god don’t remind me.” He and Adam went over to dinner at the Holts’ every so often, once dragging an angsty Keith with them who hadn’t wanted to go out of teenage spite and who he’d been forced to reprimand after the teen kicked up a fuss at the table. After the dinner, he’d received a few choice words from the matriarch of the Holt family, and was (deservedly) given a stern talking to for the way he approached the whole affair, and how it would only serve to make the fragile relationship between him and Keith at the time worse. Thankfully, he’d gotten some very useful advice from Mrs. Holt after the scolding was over.

Honestly, now that that memory had made itself known again, he was just grateful that Pidge was willing to listen to his warnings up until this point.

“Are you… you know, doing okay?”

“Well geez, I don’t know. Let’s recount. I just got told that me and my friends are getting sent on a suicide mission in space. I still have no clue where any of my family is after four years of being in space. And Allura doesn’t even think looking for my family would be worth Voltron’s time. How do you think I’m doing, Shiro?”

“Pidge…”

“And you won’t even try to fight Allura on that topic. That I could forgive you for. Allura knows the stakes of this war a lot better than any of us and I mostly trust her to make the right call for Voltron as a whole.

But you, do you even think about them anymore, Shiro? They were your friends. And when we had the chance of finding out exactly where they were on the Galra ship that crashed on Arus, you pulled away before I was done downloading the files. The trail from that has gone cold as well and every fucking year I’m losing hope that I’ll find either my dad or brother alive.”

Pidge choked down the lump in their throat, knowing that if she didn’t say what she needed to say now, they’d likely start bottling everything up again and shut their team out, “And you know damn well that my family is going to be able to help Voltron more than those crafters could do, Shiro. For Christ’s sake, you worked with my father and my brother on the Kerberos mission. You know the value they can bring to Voltron. So why am I the only one fighting for them, still?”

Shiro wasn't sure what to say at first, everything that Pidge said made sense and would make anything he said seem like an excuse.

But the silence demanded he speak, and Pidge deserved an explanation for his behavior.

"Pidge, have you ever thought about what happens when you do find out what happened to Matt and Mr. Holt?"

Shiro paused, taking a deep breath, “Because I want to believe that we’ll find them alive, Pidge. You know the lengths I went to to keep Matt safe in the arena. But… but what if the answer isn’t what we want it to be?”

“You can’t be sayi-”

“Of course not,” Shiro snapped at Pidge before they could finish their sentence, “But you’ve seen what the Galra are capable of, Pidge. I barely survived myself. And not to say anything of your father and brother, but they didn’t manage to get out the same time I did, and have probably gone through a lot more than I ever did at this point. What if… what if they’re not the same person any more? What if they’re not even…” Shiro choked up, unable to continue the line of thought and taking a seat on the ground beside Pidge.

Pidge looked at Shiro, really, looked at him. While it was easy to see the head of Voltron as the fearless leader whose soldiers fell in line for, the unwitting father figure the rest of them relied on in space, it was hard sometimes to remember that Shiro was just a young man underneath it all.

“So… you’re scared.” Pidge said quietly.

“Of course I’m scared, Pidge. I’m fucking terrified.” Shiro no longer kept up the pretense of being the leader of Voltron. Hell, he couldn’t, not with Pidge. Because the right call for the paladin of the Black Lion was to divert resources to go and find Pidge’s family, to save his friends whom he knew would be of great help to them in the war. But where did that leave him? Where did it leave the man who had to carry with him the consequences of Voltron’s every decision?

“When I signed up for the Kerberos mission, I thought that it was going to be my last one.” Shiro flexed the fingers of his mechanical arm, a reminder of why he and Adam had been separated from each other on bad, maybe even terrible terms. Shiro wasn’t sure if he’d even have a fiance to get back to after all of this. “But when I saw you kids wanting to fight, that Earth was in danger and we were its only line of defense. I couldn’t leave, I couldn’t just go back to Earth and just pretend nothing had ever happened. So, I became the paladin of the Black Lion.

But it doesn’t change the fact that I am constantly terrified, Pidge. I’m scared of making the wrong call on the battlefield, and I’ll lose one of you guys, and have to be the one to deliver the news to your parents. To tell them my decisions led to the death of their child. To look your mom in the eyes and tell her that I sentenced her kid to death. I’m scared that the next battle will be the one that’s too much for you guys, the one that breaks you like so many have tried to break me and nearly broke Adam. And every night when I go to bed, I pray and I beg that you guys won’t wake up the next morning, and realize that I am the man who stole away your childhoods for the sake of the greater good, that I led children onto the battlefield and made you guys face enemies you have no business fighting, in a war you have no reason to be caught up in.

And if it were up to just me, I don’t know if I would ever have the courage to look for Matt and Mr. Holt.” Not after what he’d been through at the hands of the Galra, which left him with night terrors worse than any war had left him before. And it had been the first time in forever he’d had to deal with those without Adam by his side, “Because what if everything I did, everything we’ve done together as Voltron so far wasn’t enough to save them, Pidge? What if we’re still too late and they’ve been gone for a while and we’re just running on fumes?

What if everything we have done didn’t matter, and Zarkon still manages to reach Earth, and take away the one thing from us we’ve been fighting for this whole time?”

Shiro buried his head in his hands, knowing exactly which memory was about to come crawling out from the depths of his memories to haunt him.

Don’t expect me to be here when you come back.

His fiancé's eyes were so cold, so full of fury. Yet Shiro could only look away in shame, praying that he would have time to fix everything still after he got back.

Pidge sat there, silent. She couldn’t recall the last time they had seen Shiro as who he was. Shiro hadn’t been much older than she was when he’d gone on the Kerberos mission. If it hadn’t been for Lance, and Hunk, if it hadn’t been for Voltron, Pidge couldn’t say for certain that she would’ve made the same choices Shiro had. Knowing her track record, even if they became the paladin of the Black Lion by some miracle, they probably would’ve left Voltron behind, galaxy be damned, in pursuit of their family.

The paladins, as the two Alteans knew them, trained for their whole lives to become paladins, to be prepared to take on the mantle. But all of them, Pidge, Shiro, Hunk, Lance, Keith, had had the title of paladin thrust onto them before immediately being thrown into the heat of battle, proclaimed the defenders of the universe, and now expected to live up to the same standards of the previous paladins.

And while her and Lance and Hunk and Keith still had the luxury of being children, of having their own selfish desires, it was only because Shiro was sacrificing so much to let them stay that way during the time of war, where they’d essentially been turned into child soldiers.

Shiro felt a hand covering his own, Pidge glancing at him with an expression of sympathy. And in that moment, Shiro knew that Pidge really was Katie Holt.

Because Pidge was the only person at that the Holts’ barbecue night to notice that he was slowly succumbing to an attack, the world slowly fading away into nothing but flashbacks to the war in his mind, and had done her best to calm him down by covering his own hand with theirs, with that same look on their face, and feeling the crinkle of candy wrapper against his fingers.

“I seem to recall the last time you did this, you tried sneaking candy over to me.”

“Huh?”

Shiro smiled, “You must’ve been about eight at the time. Your parents invited me and Adam over to a barbecue, and after your parents set off some fireworks, I was having a flashback on the patio. You came up to me at that point, and put your hand on top of mine, exactly like that. I thought you might’ve been trying to comfort me at first, but then you looked like you were concentrating really hard on something, and I realized you were trying to sneak me a piece of toffee.”

Pidge snickered, “Yeah, no, that sounds like me. I probably did realize that you were spiraling at the time, but also really needed to get rid of that toffee in case Adam found me with it while I was on that sugar ban.”

Shiro smiled, young Pidge had always looked up to Adam quite a bit, even when his fiance helped to enforce punishments that the Holts had put in place, “You can’t blame them, the first time you guys met, you’d just eaten one too many s’mores, and went a little overboard with the experiments you wanted to run on Keith.” Though with that said, Keith had a lot more guts than Shiro would’ve given him credit for as a twelve year old.

“It’s not my fault that his test results came back all weird. Who’s natural body temperature is 38°C?” Pidge grumbled.

“And that explains why you chased him around the garden trying to get him to agree and only gave up when he climbed a tree because…”

“Research purposes.” The tinkerer responded, deadpan, despite having no memory of the event. But she couldn’t really blame Keith, if their hazy memory of the tests they’d wanted to run on Keith were correct, it was probably for the best that Keith climbed up a tree for them so that they would give up their scholarly pursuits.

Shiro glanced at Pidge, glad that their mood had lightened quite a bit.

“Speaking of that, actually, I wanted to ask. Why Pidge?”

Pidge groaned and buried her head in her hands, “God. Don’t ask me. All I can say is, the nickname stuck.” When they had been coming up with a fake name for themselves, her mind had drifted back to the one name other than her own that they’d responded to all their life. Keith had given them the nickname ‘Pidge’, short for pidgeon, for the way that she was constantly following the pale boy, partially out of academic pursuits, partially out of gender envy, mostly because he was the cooler older brother they wanted to hang around and imitate. They had come so close to dying their hair black when they were twelve.

Shiro chuckled, “I did wonder. I’m more surprised that Keith didn’t say anything in front of the others.”

She cringed, “He figured it out the second I introduced myself as Pidge, but just didn’t want to out me in front of the guys.” They still remembered the talking to they had gotten after coming out to the rest of the crew.

They stood in place nervously, shifting their weight from foot to foot under the weight of Keith’s stare.

“Look, Keith, I- OW! Did you seriously flick my forehead? What are you, twelve?”

Keith stared at her, unimpressed, “Pidge Gunderson? Really? You couldn’t sound more like a spy if you wanted. I’m surprised Iverson didn’t call you out on the spot.”

“You try infiltrating the Garrison.” They grumbled.

Keith gave them a look, and Pidge flushed. Right, they were all in the mess thanks to an infiltration Keith planned.

“I figured I’d be fine. You had gone off the grid by then and you were the only one besides Matt to call me Pidge.”

Keith scoffed, “You’re assuming I would’ve turned you in.”

“Exactly. I would’ve been fine even if you were there.”

“Plus, you were the only other person who could’ve exposed me and considering I went to your funeral, I didn’t think it would be an issue.”

“What?” Shiro furrowed his brows.

“Don’t worry about it, old man.”

“I’m like nine years older than you.”

“Exactly, old.”

“You calling your brother old?”

“He is my old…er brother.”

Pidge continued, “Speaking of old people things, I’ve started journaling recently. In my own way, of course, not the way you mothballs did it.”

Shiro sighed, there was no use in trying to fight with Pidge about this. Though, now that Pidge was in a better state of mind, he tried addressing the topic of Pidge and her family once more.

“Look, about your family, you and I both know that Allura’s not gonna budge about finding your family even if I start asking about it. She’ll just find more ways to say that there’s other species that may take priority.” Allura did her best to hide it, but it was a bit undeniable that the Alteans often treated the humans as though they were some primitive or foreign species, that aliens that the Alteans were aware of would always be superior to humans in some way. Pidge grumbled, but ultimately agreed. Shiro continued, “So, what if we see if we can find a chance to prove to Allura that she’s wrong, that we as humans are able to understand and manipulate alien tech just as well as they can?”

“How, Shiro? We barely get a chance to study whatever tech we get our hands on before Allura takes it away to either study or disassemble.” PIdge was almost sure the only reason she’d been allowed to keep Rover was because they were still at the early days of being a paladin at the time, and Allura hadn’t wanted to discourage their interests.

“Patience, Pidge,” Shiro found himself saying that to the younger members of the crew more and more these days, “I have a feeling something will come our way soon.” He wanted, no, needed to find the Holt family. It was the least he could do after all they had done to help him. He just needed a little time to make sure he was able to handle the outcome.

Pidge looked up to the sky, hoping, praying that whatever deity up there was listening, that they would show some mercy, and throw them a bone soon. Otherwise, Pidge really felt like she would reach her breaking point soon.

Chapter Text

Dinner wasn’t much different from breakfast, Allura and Pidge continued arguing about the mission, Shiro resigned to letting the argument happen, seemingly happy to be in his own world as he munched away at the food in front of him. Keith made the very smart choice of not butting in, having nothing useful to add anyways. Besides, even if he did, jumping in at this point would likely result in physical injury from either Pidge or Allura.

As he chewed on his own food, Keith’s thoughts wandered back to the training room. He’d always hated whenever another person got too close to him, with very limited exceptions, and Lance was certainly not one of them. At least, not until today. He’d lost count of the number of times he had to cringe away from the tan boy for being a little too close other than when they were literally butting heads during an argument. The red paladin was hardly unaware that he acted differently around Lance, their personalities were hardly compatible after all, and around the blue pilot Keith was just a little more tense, a little more combative, and a little more on edge. But while he might act differently around Lance, this had been the first time that his body had reacted so strangely around the tan boy.

Lance seemed to invade his thoughts now, just as bold and brash as the pilot would his personal space. Completely unaware of any other train of thoughts that Keith might’ve been following, the image of him front and center in the pale boy’s mind. And not even the red paladin was blind to the way his heart rate picked up, and stomach did somersaults thinking about the man seated across the table. He’d only ever felt that way once upon a dream, never before and never since.

How strange.

Then Pidge happened. It hadn’t been hard for him to chase the tinkerer down, he’d always been quicker than Pidge whenever they raced each other even as kids. Keith counted his lucky stars that he still remembered what had happened when he first introduced Pidge to BABYMETAL as a way of easing them into the music he listened to, only for a horrified ten year-old Pidge to put together a crucifix and held it up to his face any time the pale boy tried approaching Pidge again. He had been ‘banished’ from the Holt household for a month by the young child, only let back in again after he discovered Pidge listening to the band from underneath the blankets when he attempted to sneak over some cookies to her on her sugar ban.

It had been out of character, the way Keith had reacted when he registered Pidge’s presence then. He’d been on the receiving end of far too many of the green paladin’s good-natured teasing to really pay it any mind, and the paladins often ended up in situations, which put them too close for comfort with each other, more than any of them would like to admit, whether it be during a spar or fight, so why had he felt the need to defend that moment so fiercely? Why was it that the fight earlier had changed so much about him?

Keith wondered if Lance would be up for doing it again sometime, to see if they could recreate the moment and why it had happened. Maybe he could convince Hunk or Pidge if Lance wasn’t available, or Shiro, even, who was the paladin’s most frequent sparring opponent, but strangely, he saw no appeal in trying to recreate the moment with them.

Keith’s gaze shifted over to Lance, who seemed to also be half-paying attention to the debate but was happy to keep quiet for now. Water clung to strands of brown hair still, its usual spiky-ness weighed down by moisture. This made the red paladin tilt his head slightly, how long had their little sparring session been, that Lance had only just showered? His neck was paler than usual, veins a little more obvious, and Keith shivered thinking how cold the shower afterwards must’ve been.

“Staring, Lai?” A cocky voice cut through his thoughts, and Keith’s gray snapped up to meet Lance’s blue. He hadn’t even noticed his eyes lowering that much, “Taking more notes about me?”

“No.”

The answer came a little too quick.

“I- maybe?” Keith sputtered, “Did you just take a shower? How long did you wait?” He didn’t know what was getting into him, why he’d become so curious about Lance’s hygiene all of a sudden. But the pale boy brushed it off as his neat freak tendencies, there were a specific few people who refused to shower after a training session at the Garrison, and he hated being around them as the smell was often too overwhelming for him.

Lance had to cover his mouth as laughter bubbled up, “Suuure buddy… Since you’re so curious, I took a shower right before dinner.” Swallowing his food, he continued to speak, “I kept training after you left. I never thought I’d admit this, but training is actually kind of fun, pretty nice for clearing your head.”

Clear his head? Clear it of what? Of what had happened earlier?

“I’m glad to hear it.” Keith spoke, trying to ignore the way his heart fluttered at the idea that Lance was genuinely interested in something he’d introduced to the tan boy. Instead, he did his best to return his focus onto the food, despite Allura and Pidge’s increasingly loud attempts at turning the dining hall into a debate chamber.

Though, as he lifted the spoon to his mouth, Keith couldn’t help but notice an oddly sweet smell to it. The paladin pulled his head back in confusion, was his sense of smell broken? There didn’t seem to be any ingredients on the plate that would suggest this level of sweetness, at least, not the tropical one that he was smelling now. Bringing the spoon back to his nose… Nope, it definitely wasn’t the food. Keith sniffed into the air, trying to find the source of the scent. Did Hunk have something baking in the oven? Had Allura found a new perfume?

Keith followed the scent and found his eyes traced once again back on Lance. Ah.

It wasn’t often that Keith was around as Lance was fresh out of the shower, so it explained why he’d picked up on it so clearly. It was a nice scent. Very nice. Comforting, even. He should ask Lance where he got that soap, Keith would have to get some for himself.

“Lai, seriously, if I got sauce on my face again, just give it to me straight, please?”

Give what to him?

Keith swore his brain lagged behind a full minute before it finally caught up, and the pale boy felt his cheeks flush. He must’ve been staring quite intently if it was enough for Lance’s attention to be drawn away from the food. The blue pilot usually had little awareness in safe environments, and Keith had definitely gotten away with observing Lance for much longer than that before. He raised a hand up to hide the crimson permeating his face, and shook his head.

“Then why are you staring at me like that?”

“Your soap.”

“My.. soap?”

“Yeah, your soap.”

Well this hadn’t been the answer Lance was accepting. He had assumed that maybe Keith had finally noticed his devilishly good looks and was gawking.

“What about my soap?”

Keith took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, but coconut only invaded his senses once more, “Nothing much, I noticed a sweet smell just now that I didn’t before, and just realized it led back to you. You smell… good.”

Lance’s eyes widened, pupils expanding which diminished the cerulean that Keith had been admiring, and his face reddened. Lance blushed quite differently from himself, Keith noted. Blushing for the red paladin usually meant a dusting of pink across his cheeks and nose, even some in his neck if it was really intense. Whereas for Lance, blushing meant the apples of his cheek ripening, matching the tint on the tips of his ears.

Both boys suddenly found themselves unable to look at each other, Keith closely observing the view out the window which peaked out over Lance’s shoulder, and Lance suddenly finding a dent on the dining table that had gone unnoticed by Shiro’s eagle eyes.

Lance felt Hunk snickering quietly beside him, but a quick elbow solved that issue.

“That, uhh… that’s a pretty weird thing to notice, man.”

Was it? Keith was honestly more surprised that none of the others had commented on the smell, considering how overpowering it was. It consumed and cocooned him all at once, like the embrace in a long forgotten memory resurfacing, cradling him in its arms, promises of peace and tranquility whispered in his ears.

“But, thanks.” Lance mumbled, his voice low and quiet. It was like a bubble had formed between him and his rival, a slight reprieve from the chaos that was the current dining room, where they could just be themselves.

Keith noted that the pilot’s body had curled in on itself slightly, and he fought the urge to do the same, feeling like he’d been laid bare in front of Lance.

“You’re welcome.” Keith tried not to read too much into it, a person’s smell was something deeply personal afterall, and having it commented on would make anyone self-conscious.

Now, if only he could explain why he felt the same as well.

Keith fought the urge to smile as he looked back down at his food, though suddenly hearing Pidge’s voice in full clarity nearly made him flinch and fling away his spoon.

“Well if you decide to do it, you can count me out!” And just like that, the bubble had popped, and Keith found himself no longer able to ignore the fight. Pidge had slammed their hands on the table as they stood up, leaning in towards Allura. A fire burned behind the slender frames, “I barely wanna fight in this war I didn’t even sign up to in the first place. If you think I’m gonna risk my life so this one group of crafters can join our cause when you won’t even consider looking for my family, you are out of your mind.”

Pidge had clearly gotten to Allura, the princess’ brows were furrowed and fists clenched. She leaned in across the table as well, refusing to give up an inch of space. “This is an important mission for the paladins to go on, Pidge. Not only are the-”

“You keep repeating that like it’s going to change my mind. You can either give us more information about this whole mission, or you can count me out.”

“You are a paladin of Voltron, Pidge. You can’t just opt out of missions when we go through with this.”

“You can’t tell me what to do.”

It was becoming more and more clear that neither Allura nor Pidge were willing to budge, what had started as a simple disagreement turned into a fight as the atmosphere of the dinner table quickly soured. Keith glanced towards Shiro, whose lips were beginning to thin into a tight line as the situation devolved. The leader usually had no issue with getting in between anybody’s fights, which made his hesitance even more pronounced, the only action being taken was his eyes darting between the speakers. Hunk seemed barely interested in his food, opting instead to push it around with his spoon, the dejected expression a far cry from the hearty smile the chef usually wore.

This was bad. Hunk never turned down a full plate of food.

Though Pidge and Allura’s arguing had grated on Keith throughout dinner, seeing his crewmates’ indifference and inaction was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Slamming his plate on the table, Keith stood, relishing in precious silence, making sure that all eyes were on him.

“Both of you are being childish,” he spat. Grabbing his plate, Keith turned on his heel and walked off, cutting off any objections Pidge or Allura might’ve had, “I’m going to my room.”

He ignored Shiro calling for him as he left, breathing in a sigh of relief when the noise of the dining room at last faded away, a rare moment of calm in the castle.

If only it lasted.

“Keith!” A quick pitter-patter of footsteps followed. While he hadn’t wanted to acknowledge the brunette, Keith found himself slowing down to allow Lance to catch up.

“Hey, man, are you okay?” Lance held his own plate, no food having fallen out by some miracle, even as his eyes were trained on Keith. “You kinda blew up back there.” The red paladin huffed, tearing his eyes away from Lance and sped up. “Wha- hey!”

The blue pilot easily caught up to him in a few strides. “I’m not trying to start a fight, I’m just observing. You haven’t blown up like that in like… a good while.” Come to think of it, it had been ages since Keith had even blown up like that at Lance.

The knuckles of his fingers turned white. “How could I not?” Even now Keith could taste the bitterness in his tone, “Meals aren’t just for eating. It’s… it’s family, it’s connection,” he hesitated before his next words, “it’s showing that you care for one another.” The number of times he and Baba, or even he, Adam and Shiro had silently apologized to each other by picking up food and placing it directly into the other’s bowl… having dinner together communally with the paladins probably meant as much as it did to him as it did Hunk, if not more so.

Keith jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder, quickly shooting a warning glare at Lance. The tan boy pulled it and held it up, a mumbled sorry leaving his lips.

Sighing again, Keith forced himself to relax a bit, while he wasn’t fond of being touched, he knew that Lance had good intentions, and was likely just trying to calm him down. So he tried to make conversation, “What are you doing, anyways? Going to eat in your room too?”

“Yeah,” Lance’s voice was uncharacteristically glum, “My appetite was getting ruined.”

The rest of the walk was spent in a comfortable silence (Lance? Comfortable? With Silence?) until the two paladins got to their rooms. Keith glanced at Lance, who seemed perfectly content to wait next to him, making no move to head towards his own room across the hall. He hummed, “Well, enjoy your food.” Placing a hand on the lock, his door whirred to life, sliding open.

Lance’s voice cut through the air as Keith stepped through his doorway, “How about we eat together?”

“Look-” The rejection had been right on the tip of his tongue as Keith turned around, but died in his throat the second he locked eyes with Lance. Those big, blue eyes in that moment reminded him of the space mice, specifically whenever they, usually Platt and Chulatt, wanted food. Their eyes bright and round, delicate stained glass, a single rejection enough force for it to shatter, watery and on the verge of tears.

Keith groaned inwardly, resisting the urge to throw his head back, a trait he’d likely picked up from Lance. He should be better than this, stronger than this, he was a first line fighter against the Galra afterall, a threat as weak as tears should be no reason for him to budge. He entered his room without saying another word, as he practically heard Lance deflate, resisting the urge to look back into those sapphire eyes.

Keith sighed.

“Are you coming in or not?”

Lance perked up immediately, hurriedly stepping inside, which was a smart move because Keith had been seconds from closing the door in his face. But as the door slid close, the room suddenly felt so much smaller, so close.

Keith, who usually found his room a comfortable size, felt that it was far too cramped and claustrophobic now. Lance was close, far too close. He could smell that damn coconut soap along with notes of cardamom and smokiness. Blood was roaring in his eardrums and all his senses were tingling, the tell-tale signs of someone being far too close to him. The only difference now was he didn’t have the urge to hiss and swipe at Lance to get away from him.

The red paladin glanced over at Lance, and it seemed as though he wasn’t alone in his sudden onset of claustrophobia. The blue pilot was usually a ball of energy, vibrant and expressive and arms flailing all over the place. So it was a rare sight to see Lance subdued, hands tightly gripping his plate, standing deathly still while trying not to be obvious that his eyes were darting around and taking in every detail of the room.

Keith sighed, he seemed to do that quite a lot now around Lance, “Stop looking like I forced you to come in here, jeez.”

Lance jumped, Keith’s voice snapping him out of whatever trance he had been in, Lance stared confusedly at Keith’s annoyed expression, and the pale boy rolled his eyes.

“Weren’t you the one who asked to come in here?”

“Sit,” Keith’s voice left no room for debate, but he could feel Lance glancing towards him again, waiting for him to take back his order like it was all one big, cruel joke, to kick the tan boy out of his space as he so often did. Keith pretended that his heart hadn’t squeezed at the realization, and sat down on his chair. Wait, no, that wasn’t quite right. He got back up again and instead chose to sit on his bed, inviting Lance to sit where he was just a moment ago. It was only right, he only had one chair in his room, entirely unprepared for guests, and he could hardly ask Lance to sit on his bed. As the pale boy settled the plate onto his lap, he watched out of the corner of the eye as Lance carefully took a seat.

…

Keith was already regretting that decision. For the room that once felt too small to house the both of them was now too big, putting far too much distance between him and Lance. The pale boy frowned, when was the last time he even thought that there was enough distance between him and another person?

He shook his head, now was not the time to be dwelling on questions like that, he had a guest to entertain, afterall, and the pale boy would be damned if his hospitality was anything but superb.

.

..

…

He should speak, so that the room was filled with sounds other than the both of them chewing.

“Why’d you wanna eat together?” That was the first question that had come to mind, a reasonable one, too. Keith was under no illusion, his and Lance’s relationship was cordial at best, though still a big improvement over the antagonistic one they’d had at the start. The pair had only recently warmed to each other after he’d saved the pilot after the fight with Sendak, and the sparring match earlier was the closest they’d ever been physically.

“It’ll sound silly.”

“Just answer the question.”

“I..” Lance paused for a moment, and looking over he was met with Keith’s curious gaze, “I’m used to eating with my family, I can’t remember a single moment I wasn’t sitting with at least one person when eating a meal. Nothing as deep as what you said, eating alone just feels… strange. Unnatural, in a way.” Lance held Keith’s gaze, and he could feel his body becoming tense. He was shielding himself, the same way he did when he knew that he couldn’t dodge an enemy’s blow, head subtly turning away from Keith like not seeing who dealt the blow would ease the pain.

Since when did he care so much about how Keith judged him? But Lance knew better than to question his instincts, it had never steered him wrong, afterall. A part of Lance begged, prayed for Keith to make fun of him, almost preferring that as an answer to anything else.

“That makes sense,” Keith hummed, he remembered how lonely it had been at the Garrison. Even though Keith being a loner by nature, he despised having meal times alone as well. Even when he was back home, schools took it upon themselves to make it so that every meal was communal. It hadn’t been until the Garrison that he was suddenly making and eating meals by himself even though there were other people around, and it had made his isolation within the Garrison that much more apparent to him. 

“Eating alone for me is…” cold, meaningless, reminded Keith too much of the shack and the Garrison, “unpleasant. I don’t know if I would’ve sought you out if you hadn’t said anything but, this… this is nice.” Rambling, he was rambling too much. The red paladin forced himself to take a bite, to slow down and tried to breathe deeper to get rid of the heat rising up his neck.

A silent question presented itself to Lance as his heart leapt for joy because of Keith’s understanding. Though he rarely turned to Keith for approval, just how much of what he did as the pilot and paladin of the Blue Lion was precisely because he was seeking that acceptance?

Though that joy only lasted until Keith opened his big, dumb mouth again.

“But why didn’t you ask Hunk to eat with you? Aren’t you guys, you know, actually friends?”

Keith had to watch as Lance’s bubble popped this time, wishing so badly that he could rewind time, to stop himself from saying whatever idiotic thing it had been which made Lance’s face fall. He silently looked down at his plate, avoiding the blue pilot’s gaze on him.

“I asked,” Lance clarified “but he said he wanted to stay at the table.” Lance wasn’t blind to Keith’s sudden anxiousness, but the weight on his heart made him want to be selfish, to make Keith’s heart hurt the same way as his own. He was being petty, sure, but the way his heart squeezed at losing this chance to be close to Keith was too painful to ignore. Lance spoke again, gently, almost timid compared to his usual brashness, “Are we not friends?”

Keith almost choked on his food, turning his face to hide the fact. Where did that come from? Were they friends now? Is this what being friends with a guy meant? No, that couldn’t be right. Keith was sure that he was reading their relationship correctly. He offered a hesitant reply of his own. “Are we?”

Shit. Shit. Shit. He blamed it on the smell of Lance’s soap, making his head all fuzzy and confused, seeing Lance’s face fall further wouldn’t have been such a gut-punch otherwise.

Say something, anything damn it! You idiot!

“What I meant was, I didn’t think we were. We don’t do,” he gestured vaguely, “normal friend things like you do with Hunk or Pidge. We fight every time we talk or we’re just at each other's throats in general. And didn’t you say yourself that we’re rivals? You’ve been telling the others that I’m your rival since, like, day one.” He made an attempt at a joke, “You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck.”

Lance gave him a shaky smile, “I didn’t realize you remembered that.”

“Kind of hard not to, you’ve got a loud voice.” That and he had been glad to finally place a name on the face that he couldn’t help but be drawn to back at the Garrison. Turns out, the reason for that was he was born to bicker with Lance.

Lai Yin Kam, would you shut up for one second and stop thinking about that. This is what got you into trouble in the first place. Keith shoved food in his mouth, forcing himself to quiet.

Though Lance seemed to have lost his appetite, a sigh left the pilot as he placed his plate next to him. “I guess I get how that could be confusing,” Lance opted to play with his fingers, giving himself something to focus on other than Keith’s nerves. “But.. you’re not that bad. And I’ve realized, we haven’t been fighting nearly as much since that explosion.”

Hadn’t they? Keith thought back on their recent interactions. While their interactions hadn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, nor did they get along like a house on fire as some of the others on the crew seemed to have clicked, they hadn’t been nearly as hostile with each other as they'd been when they were first stuck together. On some occasions they’d even stood side by side against the team, defending whatever topic the other had come up that day. Huh.

“So I thought that we were friends now, sorry to assume.”

Guilt twisted in Keith’s gut. A knife might’ve hurt less than listening to what Lance just said. Groaning, the pale boy set down his plate and moved closer to Lance. “We’re friends,” he croaked out. The words sounded awkward coming out of his mouth, foreign. The only friend he’d had up until now was Pidge, and that was because the child had been a force of nature and wormed their way into his life somehow. Keith was a loner, through and through. It was easier to keep people out than letting them in only to repair the holes they’d made in his walls when they left eventually. He didn’t reach out to people, didn’t form friendships, not the way people usually did. To his classmates, he’d been the prickly kid who was more likely to answer your questions with his fists. But that had been fine with Keith. He didn’t want or need their companionship anyways.

“We’re friends,” Keith repeated for himself. Friends, what a strange word, that left an even stranger taste in his mouth as he said it, as though it didn’t quite fit. “I don’t know exactly when that happened, but it did. So you didn’t assume wrongly.” His gaze focused on a spot on his bed he didn’t realize had wrinkled, “I just didn’t notice it had happened."

Lance had perked up quickly at that, and Keith shuffled uncomfortably under the pilot’s intense gaze. Talking to Lance made Keith feel like he was on a rollercoaster ride, never able to predict where the conversation would be headed next. The pale boy ran his fingers through his hair, hoping to hide the creeping blush and how nervous he actually felt having Lance stare at him like that for so long.

Silence descended upon the two boys yet again.

Keith chanced a glance towards Lance, though the pale boy’s eyes darted away when Lance caught him staring back, as though their gaze were playing a game of hide and seek, but Keith did his best to try and return the eye contact. The blue pilot’s skin had ripened further, his blush deeper and more widespread than it had been at dinner, though eyes were trained on him. Lance was looking at him with such… openness, and Keith suddenly found that he didn’t know what to do with his hands.

“Stop looking at me like that.” Keith mumbled, though secretly he hoped Lance would never stop.

Lance was conflicted. The moment that Keith had declared them as friends, he had regretted his decision to push the red paladin further on the subject. It wasn’t like he didn’t see Keith as his friend, given how hurt he’d felt realizing the paladin hadn’t noticed the change in their dynamic at all. But then, why was it that when he heard Keith himself say that they were friends, his heart felt like it was on Cloud Nine yet dipped in an icy river at the same time? He didn’t know what he had expected to come out of the conversation, but a part of him was almost in disbelief that all Keith said was that they were friends.

Friends? Just friends? Nothing more, nothing less?

Still, Lance understood that getting the paladin to admit they were friends was a big step forward in their relationship, if his flaming cheeks held any say in the matter, that was. If someone had told Lance while he was still at the Garrison that one day, he, Lance McClain would be friends with Keith Lai, the tan boy likely would’ve laughed in their face. But ever since joining Voltron, it had been inevitable that the pilot finally admitted to the fact that he and Keith were an excellent team together.

Keith was an excellent fighter, and very few people stood a chance against him when it came to close quarters combat, though that came at the price of being relatively helpless against a long-distance fighter, especially if the paladin had no way of getting up to where the enemy might be. Lance, on the other hand, well, the pilot hadn’t earned the nickname “sharpshooter” for nothing. But in a close quarter fight, Lance often needed to be bailed out if an enemy got too close, and thus mostly took a support role alongside Hunk during fights, picking off anyone that might’ve broken through their first line of defense, or making sure that he was on the lookout for any enemies that were about to take advantage of the gaps in the frontliners’ defences.

Where Keith was quiet, Lance was brash, and where the red paladin was hot-headed, the blue pilot was the voice of reason. Maybe it was because they had been opposites from the start, or they were far too similar to each other, but wherever they were, Keith and Lance never failed to find each other in a crowded room, their eyes always drawn to each other so long as they shared a space. If Lance had to point to some proof of existence of a higher power (he never really agreed with the church’s philosophy that God was all around him), it had to be him and Keith, for there was no explanation otherwise as to why he found Keith both infuriatingly attractive and attractively infuriating.

Lance kept his eyes locked on Keith, feeling the air leave his lungs as the red paladin dragged his hand across his face, unable to stop his wandering eye from landing on Keith’s muscular arm. Hell, had Keith always been so bulky? When Lance found himself pinned to the floor of the training room earlier, he’d been much too focused on his nemesis’ face and the feeling of pressure that left him breathless, his brain screaming: closer, closer!

But the voice was silent now, and Lance felt his eyes scanning over every little detail of Keith’s arm. The toned lines of the biceps, green veins which made for a striking contrast against pale skin, pushing against the thin layer of skin that enveloped it. Fingers that belonged to a pianist, long and slender, but even they held the promise of power beneath its skin. Lance had been on the receiving end of his punches enough times to know. Calluses covered his fingertips, the tell-tale signs of a swordsman’s training, and Lance wondered quietly what it would feel like against his skin, if the thickened pads of Keith’s fingers felt as rough as they looked.

His gaze, finally, drifted over to the red paladin’s ears. Under the cover of hair, the ears didn’t appear out of place, perhaps a little more elongated than one would expect. But he knew that hidden behind that mop of hair, those ears were anything but normal. Lance leaned in and reached out to brush Keith’s hair back before he could fully process the thought, and though the red paladin’s breath hitched, the rejection that he had been expecting never came. Instead, Lance watched, fascinated, as goosebumps formed against pale skin, pink blush deepening to coral, hints of it appearing on the neck. His thumb brushed over the ridge of the ear, along the line of where the ear folded in on itself, tracing it to the tip. Keith almost seemed to shudder as he did, and Lance couldn’t help but teasingly apply a bit more pressure on it, his eyes entranced by Keith’s response to his touch.

The red paladin’s eyes seemed to have glazed over, gray irises reduced to a rim as the pupils expanded, and Lance saw nothing but himself in its reflection. He adjusted his hand, tucking the rest of his fingers behind the curve, his thumb continuing to stroke the tip of the ear. Keith’s eyelids drooped as the paladin pressed his head against Lance’s hand, silently communicating the want for more. Lance could hear his own heartbeat, and the pilot dared not to breathe too deeply in case it broke whatever delicate spell they had both been placed under.

How curious. He’d been close with members of the fairer sex before, closer still with those of the same sex, as Hunk had been an excellent snuggle buddy during their days in the Garrison. And yet none of those experiences, even when Lance had been skin-to-skin with another person, did he feel so close yet so far with someone right in front of him.

Keith felt drunk, and dizzy, and like he was so nervous he was about to throw up, and yet the feeling was what made him crave the gentle touch bestowed upon him. Had it been anybody else, any other time, any other day, the pale boy was sure that he would’ve made sure a person paid for being so close to him. And yet as Lance inched closer, dragged closer his chair, a hand reaching out, so close that he could feel the blue pilot’s feather-light breaths on his skin, there was still too much distance between them. Something in the back of his mind urged him to go closer, to be closer, to let Lance’s presence consume him entirely.

It felt as though time itself had stopped, the only reminder of the passage of time was each painfully hard squeeze of his heart. His lips suddenly felt dry, drier than when he’d traversed the desert, and his tongue darted out to add some moisture. Lance’s blue eyes darted to his lips immediately, and Keith wondered if that had been the wrong move as the pilot’s gaze darkened, though he was sorely tempted to do that again, to see how Lance would react.

Silences between him and Lance were few and far between, and moments like this Keith had only experienced twice before, once in the training room, and once upon a dream. His eyes drank in Lance’s face, bronze skin, cerulean blue eyes that reminded him of a nebula they’d passed by a cycle ago, and lips that taunted him as much as they did encourage him. Keith knew that the pilot was open with his affection, the pilot unapologetically demonstrated to everyone around them with his love for close proximity and physical touch. But the boy couldn’t help but wonder if there had been anyone Lance had felt this with before, if this was something that only existed between them.

Lance felt like his brain was in overdrive, he was close enough to Keith to get a whiff of his scent for god’s sake, woodsy and citrusy. And when the paladin’s tongue darted out to lick those pink lips, Lance had had to restrain himself from acting on the urge to taste them for himself. He knew that Keith avoided skin contact like the plague, but the pilot couldn’t help but be tempted to take things just a little further, to push just a little closer, to see how much he could take before Keith was no longer willing to give.

Tell me I’m not insane, that I’m not the only one feeling this. I want, no, I need to fall for you. Hold you and kiss you and love you.

So…

Please.

…

Wait, what?

Lance’s whole body tensed as he felt his brain finally coming back to life at that final train of thought, his breath quickened as he felt his anxiety grow.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh no.

He was in so much deeper than he realized.

This was very, very bad.

Lance forced his hand away from Keith’s ear, swiftly turning around to grab his plate off the table and avoid seeing the look on the pale boy’s face as the spell was broken. “Well, heh, would you look at the time?” He was speaking fast, too fast, “I- I wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome, I guess.” God could he be any more awkward? “I should get going.” His eyes betrayed his own wishes as they darted over to Keith, and he gulped at the paladin’s confused expression, like a puppy who didn’t understand why it had just been kicked.

No, he had to get out of here, now. He was thankful for the automatic detection of the doors on the ship, nearly forgetting to open the door before he escaped back to his room.

Keith watched as Lance made his sudden retreat, not understanding why a knife had just been plunged into his heart. The brunette’s disappearance left a pit in his stomach, and a small part of his mind howled at the loss.

Loss? What loss?

He was glad for Lance’s friendship, but he hadn’t needed companionship in a long time. And he certainly wasn’t planning on building a dependence on it, not now when he had his own secrets to uncover. Keith glanced towards his plate, but his appetite was long gone, and the food had cooled completely sometime after when he set down the plate. Sighing, he relocated the plate onto his desk, and fell back onto his bed, letting his thoughts run free.

Well, that might’ve been one of the strangest meals he'd ever had in his life. But even with that in mind, the red paladin found himself wanting to bottle the memory to store deep in his mind.

Shaking his head, Keith decided to just get some sleep and try to process the events of the day. Between his transformation, the spar earlier today and the meal just now, today had been… a lot. His emotions threatened to overwhelm him if he didn’t take time to ground himself soon. Putting on a looser shirt, Keith slid under the covers and let out a sigh.

He could only pray that everything would go a lot smoother tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Keith groaned as he failed yet again to fall asleep, being bored out of his mind counting sheep, and his usual tricks weren’t working either. Not when the memory of what happened during the day replayed themselves over and over and over again in Keith’s head, like a movie that played wherever his eyes looked, his breath being stolen still in those wordless moments. When Lance’s face had been right in front of his, except now his eyes were free to dart to those darkened lips beckoning him to come closer, the feeling of a body pressed against his own never having been so prominent. It was distracting, to say the least, not least of all because him and Lance were supposed to be friends, and the fact that Lance of all people was at the forefront of his mind still in the middle of the night. Keith just wanted to sleep. Tapping lightly on the display above his bed, the pale boy sighed as he read the words on the display. 2am. It’s been a while since he woke up in the middle of the night like this.

Hopefully, a tall glass of water would be enough to calm his mind. Keith got to his feet as he trudged out his room, making his way towards the kitchen. Though to his surprise, the kitchen light stood out against the rest of the dimly lit hallways of the castle, and the pale boy could hear muttering and clinking from inside the room. Keith raised an eyebrow.

Who else would be up at this hour?

Rounding the corner, the pale boy was met with the sight of Hunk bustling about the kitchen, countertops a mess, bowls of batter and dough and pastries strewn everywhere, and one more bowl in Hunk’s hand as the chef whisked away, filling the silence with his murmuring.

"Hunk?"

The Samoan man jumped at the voice, whirling around, whisk in hand as an improvised weapon, only to find Keith in the doorway, looking a little flushed and surprised.

"Oh, Keith!" Hunk offered the red paladin a strained smile, "Sorry, was I being too loud?"

Keith shook his head as he rubbed the sleep away in his eyes, "No, my room’s way too far to hear even if you set fire to the kitchen somehow," he headed over to the cabinet where he kept his mug, "I woke up cuz I had a headache."

"Right," Hunk slowly started whisking again, the ingredients swirling into a uniform color, "How are you feeling?"

It took Keith a moment to register what Hunk had asked, "Fine, why?"

The cook shrugged, "You just seemed a little off at dinner," Keith’s little moment with Lance aside, it had been a long while since the red paladin had blown up like that in front of everyone, he had really calmed down a lot over the years, and Hunk felt the need to check in, especially because he missed the chance to when Keith stormed out afterwards. A groan escaped Hunk as he realized that not only had he forgotten to add an extract to flavor this batter, but that he’d also run out after the last batch of pastries. The batter would have deflated by the time he made a new batch, so he was going to have to find a substitute, and quick. Though not before finishing addressing Keith "But I'm glad you're feeling okay."

Keith sent a quick smile at Hunk to ease the cook, seeing that was about as much as he could come up with in his sleep-deprived state, anyways. His hand reached for the kettle on instinct, grateful that Shiro had found one while they were out shopping once, even if it was slightly oddly shaped. Neither of them picked up the habit of drinking straight from the tap even after their time in America, and it had allowed them to finally brew tea themselves again, after Coran’s numerous disastrous attempts, with the fresh tea leaves thanks to the castle’s greenhouse. A sigh of relief left the pale boy’s lips as his thirst was finally quenched.

"What are you making?" Keith could've questioned Hunk on what the cook was doing up so late, but one fact that the pale boy had gotten to know very well was that Hunk was a stress cooker by day, and stress baker by night, questioning on why the baking was happening in the first place would only lead to more pastries. Not that the pale boy complained, really, the paladins needed a lot of fuel to keep their bodies in top shape, but ultimately, just eating the food Hunk produced took care of the symptom, but not the cause. "Are we stocking up to feed starving orphans or…?"

Hunk snorted in amusement, "Too much?"

"No," Keith shook his head, "I'm sure the others will be thrilled with how much you made, I'd be surprised if this all made it to the end of the week."

"They like my baking that much?"

"No," Keith shook his head, "The others will be thrilled by how much you made, I'd be more surprised if we have any leftovers by the end of the week."

"Well, yeah," The praise seemed to startle Hunk a little, but a glance at the red paladin’s genuine smile made him relax soon after, "No offense, but even if the castle switches up the food goo flavors every meal, it starts to get boring quick. And Altean desserts just don’t scratch the same itch.” Not to mention, it was nowhere near enough for his sweet tooth.

"Does it ever," Hunk groaned, "I'm wasting my talent being stuck here." He joked, and motioned to the small, but growing mountain of pastries on the counter, "Feel free to grab ‘em fresh out the oven, just don't burn your mouth."

Setting his mug down, Keith surveyed his options carefully. Mm, brownies, kladdkaka, croissants… his hand was reaching out towards a particularly fudgy looking piece of brownie when he caught a familiar shade of yellow out the corner of his eye, and it wasn’t Hunk’s apron.

“Holy crap, you know how to make egg tarts?” Keith lunged after one of the eggy treats, shoving it in his mouth. And his taste buds relished the comforting contrast of the smooth custard against the flaky crust of the pastry, the sweetness cutting through the butter, mixing with a little bit of what felt like sea salt sprinkled on the custard. The pale boy’s brain was fully alert now, savoring the very flavors that he thought he’d have to go back to Earth to taste again.

“Pastel de natas, yeah.” Hunk mumbled, taken aback by Keith’s enthusiasm. Huh, he knew that Keith had a preference for slightly heartier foods like stews and such, but thinking back on it, the pale boy always finished any egg-based foods the cook made as well, he’d have to add that to his mental list of Keith’s flavor profile.

“Ah right,” Keith swallowed, not wanting to accidentally spew out pastry flakes as he spoke, “pastry tarts are the Portuguese ones, I forgot.”

Hunk raised an eyebrow, “The Portuguese ones?”

Keith nodded, indulging himself by grabbing one more, “There were two different versions growing up at home, The recipe for the pastel de natas,” he gestured vaguely at the tarts, “got brought over thanks to Macau being a Portuguese colony, and since Hong Kong is only an hour away by boat, like with a lot of ‘colonizer’ food, a localized version popped up eventually. So we separate the two by calling them Portuguese tarts and egg tarts.”

Hunk hummed thoughtfully, setting aside his batter and producing a pencil and notepad from seemingly nowhere as he walked over to the pale boy, “What’s the difference?”

“It’s mostly in the tart,” Keith continued to speak, Hunk kept his surprise hidden as the boy’s eyes lit up, “Portuguese ones use a pastry tart, and are usually baked a little longer to caramelize some of the top of the custard, kinda like they do with crème Brulé effect, but it forms more of a skin on top because it’s baked rather than torched.

Egg tarts, on the other hand, have a cookie base, like you’d use for other desert tarts or bases of cheesecakes, and it’s not baked as long to keep the jiggly-ness of the custard, so it still has a little bounce to it, almost.” While Keith had picked up on some cooking skills growing up, he wasn’t nearly as good at adapting the ingredients Hunk was, and so mostly kept away from the kitchen unless he was craving a particular food. Though it did mean that the paladins didn’t often get to eat food that the pale boy had growing up.

Hunk tapped his pencil against the paper as he thought, “A digestive cookie base, hm? I think I could do that.”

Not that Keith ever questioned Hunk’s ability to adapt the esoteric ingredients they found on their journeys, but knowing baking was more of a science compared to the art that was cooking, the red paladin couldn’t help but wonder, “Really? How?”

Hunk laughed as he got up, wrapping his arm around on Keith’s  shoulders without much thought, "I'd tell you, but some of the ingredients' names might make you  regret asking at all." He squeezed lightly, giving him a side hug, "But I'm glad you like them, I didn’t realize you had a sweet tooth."

Hunk had expected to hear Keith’s slightly defensive voice saying ‘well you never asked’, but when the snark never came, it quickly hit him that Keith had frozen underneath him, and once he did the engineer scrambled back, "Sorry!" Hunk rubbed at the back of his head, "I'm so used to being touchy with Lance and Pidge I totally forgot that not everybody is cool with it." He quickly grabbed a peace offering, cookies baked according to his latest (and hopefully final) attempt at making a recipe with space stuff, "Want one?"

Keith pursed his lips. While it was true that he was probably the most touch-averse person on the team, thanks to both his personality and upbringing, seeing Hunk jump away from him like that made his mood sour for some reason. Keith chewed on his lower lip, was he so averse to it that it necessitated Hunk to leap backwards when it happened?

"Hunk," Keith called out, uncertainty and anxiety only growing as the yellow paladin stiffened, "It's… it's fine."

Hunk blinked, "Huh?"

"It's fine," Keith repeated, "I don't care that you touched me, it was just kinda… I don’t know, unexpected, I guess? I didn't think we were that close."

Hunk set down the plate, frowning, "Not close?" The engineer came closer, leaving a small but comfortable distance between him and Keith, and leaned against the counter, "What are you talking about? We're totally close."

Confusion overtook Keith’s futures. Since when had he been this bad at gauging whether someone was close or not? First Lance and now Hunk? He’d have to question Shiro on this, "How? We never hang out outside of training, forming Voltron, or as a group. And even then we don't talk much. We know enough about each other to fight together as Voltron, but for as much as Coran insists that’s the closest bond there is, we don’t really know each other beyond that."

"Oh," Hunk hummed, going quiet for a moment as he thought, "I guess you're right."

Keith looked awkwardly off to the side, knowing that he had ruined the mood again by being too much of a stickler to his knowledge of how relationships worked, even if it was a lot more comfortable to do so, “I’m sor-“

"But!" Hunk clapped his hands together, offering Keith an apologetic smile when he jumped, "That doesn't mean things can't change! I mean, look at us right now, talking one on one," the cook motioned between them, "Doesn’t quite measure up to the bonding moment with Lance when you cradled him in your arms,” Hunk didn’t miss the blush Keith swiftly tried to hide by turning away, “but it’s a start."

Keith felt a warmth blooming in his chest, not unlike the one he’d felt around Lance earlier, and he sent Hunk a smile, "Yeah," he mumbled, "It's a start."

Hunk nudged the pale boy gently, "That also just means I gotta put more effort in hanging out with you, and you me, this isn't gonna be a one sided friendship!" Hunk placed a hand over his heart, feigning sorrow on his face, My poor heart couldn’t take it."

Keith stfiled his laugh, doing his best to maintain a dead serious expression, "I solemnly swear not to break your heart, Hunk."

Hunk came a close second to being the most animated person in Voltron, as Keith watched as Hunk placed his hands on his face and giggled, this time Keith stopped holding in his laughter, "What are you doing?"

"What?" Hunk peeked an eye at Keith, "How else am I supposed to act when you say something so sweet?" He leaned towards Keith, batting his eyelashes, "It's enough to make a grown man swoon, Keith."

Keith could barely breathe laughing so hard, and struggled pushing Hunk away gently by his face, "You and Lance are definitely friends."

"And so are we," the goofy expression melted off Hunk's face, revealing a warm smile, "We're friends, Keith."

Keith felt a warm glow emanate from within him at the words. Friends. Two friends in one day. And he made them all by himself. Before he could stop himself, the red paladin stepped forward, sticking his hand out, "Friends."

Hunk snorted in response, before holding out his arms, waiting until Keith nodded before wrapping them around the smaller boy, a bright smile, and so much pride and joy rushed through his body when he felt Keith's arms wrap around him in return, "I hope you know this means I'm dragging you to friends night with me, Lance, and Pidge."

"Mm," Keith hummed as he melted into the body heat, like a cat stretching out on a sun-warmed patch, "Okay."

"You don’t have a- wait did you just agree?”

“Yeah?” Keith tilted his chin upwards to meet Hunk’s confused gaze, “I mean, I’m assuming it’s basically game night knowing Pidge-“

Hunk looked shocked, and maybe even a little scandalized, “How do you know it’s game night?”

Keith shrugged, “I mean, growing up Pidge and I had a game night every month-“

Hunk’s eyes bulged out its sockets in shock, “You and Pidge grew up together!?”

Chapter Text

It seemed Keith’s prayers were destined to go unheard, however, as his day seemed to start off with one fumble after another. First, he’d put on too much of the concealer that Lance had so kindly ‘borrowed’ from Pidge, though he doubted the tan boy asked his sister for permission at all, and the concealer looked so pale on his skin the pale boy thought he had vitiligo for a second. Then another argument had broken out again during breakfast, and though Hunk looked noticeably less tense than the night before, it was clear that the cook was still quite affected by the fight, and Shiro hadn’t even bothered stepping in this time, instead looking just looking resigned and shooting Pidge a warning look whenever they went too far, since the tinkerer had a tendency to go for the other person’s jugular during a heated fight. And while that was what the Holt patriarch did whenever the members of the family had a fight as well, it had made breakfast yet another incredibly tense affair.

On the upside, him and Hunk did noticeably interact with each other a lot more than usual during the meal, having a silent conversation with their eyes when the argument had broken out again, whenever he wasn’t preoccupied with the all the ways Lance had come a little too close to making skin contact with him, today was a bad day for the pale boy to have worn shorts over his usual jeans.

And Lance, oh Lance.

Keith had never known just why or how Lance had always managed to be the center of his own attentions whenever the blue paladin wished for it to be so. Even during their days in the Garrison, when he had been known as the standoffish transfer student despite it just having been his social awkwardness, he had been drawn in by Lance’s magnetism and wished quietly, desperately, to be the tan boy’s friend in the first few months, before he’d been deemed Lance’s rival by, well, Lance.

If Keith didn’t know any better, he would’ve said that Lance seemed almost… envious of the silent exchanges that were happening between him and Hunk, having seemingly made it a point to interrupt the conversation whenever it was happening by brushing a knee against Keith’s, making his heart jump start every time it happened.

And yet other than that, Lance acted no different than usual, still mildly mentally disengaged with the meal once the argument started, as if their conversation yesterday hadn’t happened at all. Like the fact that they were friends hadn’t changed much of how Keith thought about their interactions, like Lance hadn’t kept him up until the twilight hours of the night last night, like he hadn’t lost sleep thinking about someone for the first time in his life.

Though much of what had kept him up was just how much Lance lived rent free in his mind, something he had known since the first day they’d met in the Garrison but hadn’t realized just how much space Lance took up. Not until last night, at least, when memories of their every interaction forced themselves to the front of his mind, and Keith felt the memories rewrite themselves, his heart soaring every time Lance’s face was shoved right into his, even if they were bickering, and the desperate need to get physically closer to Lance in every memory despite their relationship at the time. After having had the chat with Hunk last night, his mind had finally stopped hyperfocusing on every little detail he’d picked up about Lance over the years, and (Keith never thought he’d say this) sent him on his way to Sandman after it tired itself out imagining how things could’ve turned out differently if him and Lance would’ve been friends from the start.

Seeing Lance now be so nonchalant after their conversation, combined with the fact that so much had gone wrong in the morning had made for a very bad start to the day for Keith, and a very grumpy Keith for the rest of Voltron.

So how exactly did Keith find himself in high spirits in the castle’s game room with the blue pilot?

It all started that morning.

Or more specifically, it started with Lance.

Lance had woken up that morning with a plan in mind. He knew that Keith had gotten away with the others asking questions about his new “scar” yesterday thanks to the arguments, the pale boy might now be able to do that today. So he had dropped by Pidge’s room under the guise of borrowing a few games, and swiped a bottle of concealer when the tinkerer had been distracted.

After breakfast, he had sought out Hunk, desperately needing to talk to someone before he lost his damn mind now that the floodgates were open. And for as much as Lance might’ve complained about a certain gray eyed individual living rent free in his head back at the Garrison, it had at least doubled in frequency since yesterday. Every room was a memory, every object a reminder, and every thought was how he could have spent the last eight years differently. He thought that he had finally managed to stop obsessing over Keith to that degree after that fight with Sendak , when Lance had thrown himself into paladin duties in an attempt to focus his brain on something other than love. But these feelings, crush, infatuation, whatever it was, was hitting him harder than any of the instantaneous crushes he’d developed on pretty women over the course of their adventures, and yet this was the one he could be the least vocal about, not unless he wanted to draw Keith’s ire and risk the half the paladins hunting him down with pitchforks for making Keith mad. Pidge and Shiro were scarily protective over the boy.

Lance was thankful that he found Hunk alone in the living room. He hadn’t forgotten about Hunk at all. If anything, he had so many more questions for the engineer after today’s breakfast, where his friend and Keith had suddenly developed a silent connection they’d never had the past four years. He was glad to see Keith making friends, of course, not to mention that him and Hunk had joked about marrying each other if they were both single when they were in their 30s, but a part of him couldn’t help wanting to steal Keith away from the rest of the paladins, carve out a piece out the vastness of space to belong only to them. Hunk, however, seemed to have been anticipating him, as the cook held out his arms to signal a cuddle the moment he stepped in the living room, an invitation he gladly accepted.

So a few minutes later, they were relaxing on the couch, cuddling and silently comforting each other, a habit they’d gotten into when the Garrison proved too stressful. Pidge often found them in the dorms like this, and teased them initially for it at first, but caved and joined in near the end of the year, especially around exams. It was a good stress reliever, and while there was some study that the brainiacs on Voltron could probably quote to prove it, Lance just figured it was because they both enjoyed physical contact as well as the company.

Neither of them said anything at first, Lance because there was simply too many thoughts running around in his mind, and Hunk because the cook needed to recuperate after hearing Allura and Pidge argue, again, during breakfast. The late night baking last night had taken Hunk’s mind off things somewhat, so though he didn’t need a cuddle session right away, the engineer had known Lance long enough to realize when the tan boy needed stress relief.

Hunk relaxing his body allowed Lance to stretch out and bask in the bigger man’s heat. There was just something about curling up next to a warm body that made the tan boy’s brain go fuzzy, any and all thoughts cleared away so Lance could float in his own mind. Even the earthly concerns were dead set on weighing him down.

“Feeling better?” Lance asked, an effort to take his mind off of his own woes. He might’ve just been avoiding his own problems for now, but the blue pilot did care and wanted to care for his friend as well.

Hunk sighed contentedly, the arm around Lance’s shoulder shifting to get more comfortable. That was always a good sign. While Hunk, with his Samoan heritage, was easily the most physically intimidating paladin in Voltron at first glance, the engineer was also the most sensitive soul out of all of them despite the sarcasm, often taking on the emotional burden of other crewmates as his own, and was quick to place blame on himself whenever an argument broke out.

And while cuddling didn’t help with the root cause of the issue, it did give Hunk a chance to focus on something other than his negative emotions, and gave the cook a chance to create some distance between his mind and the troubles he felt responsible for.

“Mhmm,” Hunk spoke quietly, “You seem tense.”

“How could I not be? It feels like Pidge and Allura are right back to bickering the way they did when we first started as paladins.” Lance still hadn’t forgotten Pidge having been the first one to start that food fight.

Hunk shot Lance a look. The pilot sighed.

“Okay, fine. So there might be a situation.”

“So the usual then?”

“Hey! I take offense to that!” Lance grabbed a pillow and smacked it onto Hunk, which only made the larger man laugh.

“When is it not a situation with you? Especially when you’ve got that look.”

“I do not have a look.”

“Yes you do.”

“No I don’t!”

“Explain to me then how everybody in the Garrison knew when you had a crush on Jenny.”

“I flirt very openly!”

“Your pupils basically turn into hearts.”

“Wait- I do?” Oh no. Oh no no no no no. If Keith could tell that Lance had a crush on him the brunette was never setting foot in that infamous personal bubble of his again.

“Yes, you do. Now come on, spit it out. Is it Allura again?”

Oh thank goodness, at least they couldn’t tell who it was that he had a crush on just yet. “Allura? No, that was ages ago.”

“Huh. Well, I mean, we haven’t landed on a planet in a while, so you can’t blame me.”

“Seriously? Can’t a guy just have a crush in peace?”

“Not when you were asking about her every chance you got.” Hunk smirked at the memories, “Seriously, even Keith got fed up with you at some point.”

Wait, Keith did? What if Lance had annoyed the red paladin into thinking he still had a crush on Allura? Wait. No. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was that he had one on Keith at all!

Lance groaned, and threw his head back, willing for the voices in his head to stop. The tan boy knew that he was hardly the most subtle when it came to his infatuations, and he wasn’t so dense enough as to not realize that that brashness was what turned others away from him, or saw it as an opportunity to take advantage. While it usually didn’t bother him, Lance’s philosophy being that if his partner couldn’t handle him as a sign of them not being the one, the brunette found himself wanting the exact opposite with Keith.

It had taken so long just for the pale boy to even accept Lance being at literal arm’s length, and the pilot had a feeling that acting just as audaciously around Keith would result in physical injury. Or worse, being placed firmly outside the bubble again.

It was new to Lance, for the first time in his life, he was at a loss as to how to act around someone he had feelings for. A part of him wanted to be even more brazen in his affections, to shout from the rooftops just how much he wanted the pale boy to be a part of his life now just for the chance to see Keith blush because of him.

But a different part of him wanted to cherish what he and Keith had. Keith… he was beautiful and gorgeous and different, like the breath-taking stained glass windows in the churches back home. Needed to be loved with quiet worship and murmured words of affection in the early hours of the morning.

“Shit, Lance, you’ve got it bad this time, huh.” Hunk spoke after a moment.

Hunk fell quiet as he observed his friend, realizing just how serious this was for Lance. considering the tan boy actually went quiet at the thought of whoever he was smitten with at the moment. Hunk had half-expected Lance to be spilling the beans by now, fawning over some new beau the pilot had encountered, or fangirling and reading too much into what Allura had done.

But Hunk knew Lance better than that.

While it was no secret that Lance fell head over heels for every pretty girl since they’d joined Voltron, Lance was only ever quiet about his affections if he was genuinely caught feelings, or in other words, when the attraction was no attraction at all, but was instead the seeds of love.

Lance nodded, not trusting himself to speak. What he and Keith had, it felt too delicate, too strange to put into words, and for as much of a loudmouth as he was usually, the tan boy found himself speechless for once, the way Keith always seemed to leave him.

“Do I know her?” Hunk asked carefully, curiosity and concern warring within the engineer’s mind.

Lance nodded again. It would be impossible not to know Keith, who had become such an integral part of all of their lives, even with the loner persona that the pale boy tended to put on. Not only was Keith a brilliant strategist and fighter, an invaluable asset to Voltron, the red paladin had evidently managed to worm his way into even Lance’s life. Seeing as how the pilot hadn’t stopped thinking about him since the training room, and especially before he went to bed last night. Not that that differed too much from his days in the Garrison, though now he was thinking of Keith in a whole different context.

Hunk breathed a sigh of relief. Well, at least it wasn’t someone who was unknown to them. It wouldn’t be the first time that Lance got taken advantage of, though the company they kept was hardly inclined to do so.

“You wanna tell me who it is?” Hunk had a few guesses as to who the lucky (or unlucky, depending on how Lance decided to go about things) person was, but he would wait if Lance didn’t want to reveal who it was just yet.

Lance paused, and shook his head. Keith was a private person, and it would be hard to explain everything to Hunk without revealing who it was. And even if it wasn’t for that, this crush was too fresh, too intense. Lance wanted to just enjoy the moments as they came for now.

Hunk shifted, still keeping him and his friend in a cuddle, but made it so they were facing each other now. Lance had been there for him this morning when he desperately needed comfort, it was only right that the cook returned the favor.

“So what’s on your mind?”

“How do I like him?”

Hunk looked entirely caught off guard as he chose the wrong moment to swallow, spit ending up down his windpipe instead, making him choke and cough for a few seconds before he was back to breathing normally again. While Hunk had noticed Lance shooting a few flirty looks at men that passed by throughout the years, the two had never directly addressed it, so it was a complete surprise to hear Lance suddenly talking about, well, like a guy in that way.

At least it narrowed down the list of suspects.

Wait- what had Lance asked again?

“Uh, I’m pretty sure you just y’know, have feelings or butterflies or whatever. Also seriously? Coran? I mean I won’t kink shame but isn’t he a little old?”

“No. Respectfully, ew, and no. And I mean- how do I like him without annoying him?”

Welp, that narrowed it down from a list to about one person, “Change your whole personality?”

Lance groaned, “Not helpful, Hunk.”

“I mean, annoyance is subjective at best. When a person likes you, anything you do is gonna get their heart pumping, and when a person doesn’t like you, even just breathing is a crime.”

“Soooooooo, what does that mean, exactly?”

“It means, you gotta find out if they like you back. Before you get stabbed by his bayard for being too annoying.”

Lance took a moment to process that statement, before he stared at Hunk, eyes squinting, “How long have you known?”

“About fifteen seconds ago, but if we’re getting technical, about eight years.” Hunk spoke casually, “Have you seen the way you stared at your ‘rival’?”

“No?”

“Nevermind the fact that I barely recognized it was Keith with Pidge’s binoculars, I know for a fact you didn’t catch a clear glimpse of him cuz the focus settings were all off.”

“Shut up.” Lance blushed, and buried himself in Hunk, sinking into the body heat.

Hunk snickered as he saw the tips of Lance’s ears turn red. That’s what the tan boy got for giving him that much grief about Shay. But the engineer didn’t push it too far, knowing that Lance was likely processing the fact that he liked Keith as much as the fact that he liked guys.

A moment passed, before Hunk asked the very important question.

“Does your family know?”

Lance froze. He hadn’t had much of a chance to spend time with his family since getting into the Garrison, obviously not since he’d gotten sucked onto this crazy journey. But he had been old enough when he left to remember Sunday church, the sermons that the pastor would give on those “homosexual sinners”, his siblings’ looks of vague discomfort and his parents’ disinterested faces.

“My siblings would probably be fine? I’m pretty sure Veronica is as well, to some extent,” While his older siblings tried to include him in their lives, considering the age difference between them, he couldn’t exactly be brought to the same social gatherings they went to, “My parents… I don’t know.”

“Well, you got one person in your corner at least, right? And you know you got me and Pidge as well.”

“Oh god no, please don’t tell Pidge,” Lance buried his head in his hands at the thought of Pidge connecting all the dots, “I’m never gonna hear the end of it from them.”

The two boys laughed, feeling the mood lighten a bit. That was the nice thing about hanging out with Hunk for Lance, they had the same sense of humor, and the engineer was always sure to take him down a peg whenever the pilot’s head got too big for its own good.

“So you gonna try to find out?”

“I’m pretty sure if I try any of my usual methods, I’m gonna get murdered the second I step out this room. And no one will ever find my body”

“Mm, I don’t know, Keith isn’t the most perceptive in that regard.” That boy had been the catalyst of way too many people’s awakenings at the Garrison. But if the rumours were correct about who Keith had dated during the time, the supposed heartthrob had been oblivious to it all.

“So, damned if I do, damned if I don’t, huh?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Motherfucker.”

“Mhmm.”

“Whyyyyyyyyyy?” Lance groaned at no one in particular.

“I don’t know, man. I don’t know.”

“God, does love have to be this difficult? Is everything about it this difficult?”

Hunk smiled. It was oddly gratifying to see Lance struggle with his feelings for once, oh he was so going to tell his siblings about this, and Shay too, “Pretty much, yeah. You gotta just try.”

“Nooooo. I don’t wanna.” Lance whined.

Hunk laughed out loud this time, not bothering to hide it. Trust Lance to pick the most difficult person in Voltron to have a crush on.

“You gotta at least try, just, you know, try hanging out with him more, you know? Get to know him through not obsessively observing his every move.”

“I do no-” Yes he did, “nope, wait, yeah, I do.”

Lance went quiet for a moment, the gears turning in his head, before breaking away from the cuddle and standing up to stretch.

“Do you think we’re too old to play truth or dare yet?”

-

“Come on, man! How are you so good at this? How do you fit gaming into your schedule?” Lance huffed, leaning forward as though being close to the screen was going to help him. Keith tried not to tense at the sudden proximity, the memory of last night still fresh in his mind.

The pale boy had been taking a walk in the halls after lunch. The noise in the dining room hadn’t helped his headache, and it wasn’t as if he could confide in anyone about what happened last night. What if that fuzzy feeling that he got around Lance was part of the transformation? He certainly hadn’t noticed it when they’d interacted before.

But, speak of the devil and he shall appear. As right at that moment, Lance decided to ambush Keith during his walk, grabbing onto the paladin’s wrist before dragging him towards the game room. A huge grin had been on the pilot’s face as he triumphantly displayed a few gaming disks. Keith fought the urge to laugh then, thinking that Lance looked very much like an animal who’d caught some prey, then bringing it to their owner so they might be praised.

Apparently, Lance had managed to convince Pidge to let him borrow a few games, as well as the console, and likely decided to drag Keith along on a whim when the pale boy had been caught wandering the halls. And for as much as Lance usually got on his nerves, Keith couldn’t deny that his mood had improved significantly once the brunette appeared in his sight.

And that was how Keith found himself being dragged to the game room by Lance, quite literally by the wrist, now sitting side by side with the pilot as they progressed through each battle. He huffed amusedly, his eyes flicking towards Lance for a moment before focusing again on the screen.

“Would it make you more upset if I told you this was my first time playing fighting games?” Growing up with Pidge meant that his introduction to video games had been inevitable, but his introduction had started in the form of RPGs or whatever ridiculous multiplayer games the Holt siblings got their hands on. There may or may not be a permanent dent in the Holt family living room from when they had played Human: Fall Flat.

Though Keith had only really fallen in love with gaming when Matt had introduced him to management sims and strategy games, some favourites of his being StarCraft and Lobotomy Corporation. Though the IEYTD series held a special place in his heart as well.

A choked noise came from his right, snapping Keith out of his train of thought, and he could feel Lance’s eyes boring into the side of his face. The game wasn’t particularly difficult by any means, main mechanics derived from pvp with some platforming challenges, and the occasional item drop from the sky. Keith felt that he had made the smarter choice between the two, sticking to one character and trying to perfect the moveset, as opposed to Lance’s constant switching of characters in response to him.

“How are you winning with Daisy!?” Lance exclaimed.

Keith smirked, “How are you losing with Bayonetta?”

“I picked her cuz she’s OP and she’s hot. Shut up.”

The concept of the game itself hadn’t been hard to wrap his head around, and with a limited number of combos, Keith truly wondered how Lance thought he wouldn’t be able to at least get a good grasp of his character, considering they’d been playing a few hours now. The red paladin struggled to suppress the smile that was tugged at the corner of his lips.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me, dude.” Lance huffed.

Keith let the silence answer for him, before Lance groaned as he once again lost. Tossing the controller onto the couch, the tan boy pouted, before falling back onto the comfortable sofa and crossing his arms. “I don’t know if I wanna play with you anymore.”

Keith grinned, “I didn’t take you for a sore loser, Lance.”

“You grow up in a family with as many siblings as mine, you become one.” Lance closed his eyes, lips raising into a smile as the memories surfaced, “My siblings are kind of ruthless, if you lose they’ll make sure you know it. It’s one of the reasons why I avoid competitive activities.”

Sighing, Lance threw his head back, “I don’t think I’ve got another one in me, man. If I play anymore, I think my blood pressure’s gonna shoot through the roof.” A deep, muffled, chuckle sounded to the left of him, and Lance’s eyes shot open.

No. Way.

Keith watched as Lance’s head swerved to lock eyes with him, expression quickly changing from shock to excitement, a growing twinkle in the brunette’s eyes. The pale boy wondered what had made Lance make that expression, and if only it was something he knew. For if Keith did, he’d gladly do it a thousand times over again just to see that twinkle come to life again in Lance’s eyes. Though outwardly, he quickly turned his head away to hide an oncoming blush, “What?”

Lance leaned in closer, “Was that a laugh? I don’t think I’ve heard a genuine laugh from you before.”

The pale boy raised an eyebrow, he wasn’t that stoic around the others, was he? “I do laugh.”

“Well, it’s the first time I’ve heard it.”

“That can’t be right, considering most of the time the reason I’m laughing is you.”

Keith had expected a retort right away, but all that followed was a pregnant pause.

After a few moments, his curiosity drove him to shoot a glance at the blue pilot beside him, though Keith immediately came to regret that decision. Lance’s eyes somehow shone ever brighter than before, and he’d somehow gotten close, much too close all of a sudden. The red paladin ignored the instinct to stiffen, though not the one which made him frown, “What?”

“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” Lance teased.

Keith hummed as the corner of his lips tugged into a smirk, raising a brow at the brunette, “If that’s the nicest thing I’ve ever said to you, then that’s kind of sad.” He could feel his breath bouncing off of Lance.

Too close, too close, too similar to last night. Keith tried to ignore the way his heart felt like it had been jump started as Lance leaned in even closer. The coconut scent he had just gotten used to establishing a presence in his mind again, tempting Keith to come even closer to figure out just where it was coming from. He just got anxious when people got too close to him. Obviously. Extending an arm, Keith’s hand landed on Lance’s shoulder and pushed him gently, “Get out of my bubble.”

Keith’s body was definitely not tingling when it felt Lance’s temperature envelop his hand, finger to hand, the tan boy’s hand lifting his own off the shoulder. The air suddenly felt too thin, and all he could focus on was his hand in another’s. If he stretched his fingers a little, let them brush against Lance’s face, would the brunette feel the same way he did?

“If you really cared about me being in your bubble, you would’ve pushed me a little harder than that.” Lance spoke quietly.

You didn’t push me away last night either.

I didn’t want to.

A breath caught in Keith’s throat, Lance knew him a little too well.

Lance forced himself to move past the sudden nervousness that came from Keith, not wanting to push further, “But yeah, that was a really nice thing for you to say to me.” The tan boy gently lowered both their hands, but still didn’t pull away. Rather, he chose to rest his hand on top of Keith's, a silent question, fighting the urge to have them intertwined instead. He couldn’t go too fast, be too obvious, otherwise Lance had a feeling he would be right back where he started, “With how your expressions looked I thought my jokes and stuff really annoyed you.”

It would be a lie if Keith didn’t want to focus on the feeling of his hand in Lance’s, on how natural and right it felt, but if he didn’t force himself to focus on the conversation, the paladin wasn’t sure he would’ve heard Lance at all. “I mean, sometimes it does, you can go a little overboard with some jokes, but you’ve got a pretty decent sense of humor.”

Keith gave up the fight, and let his blush consume him. Why was he reacting this way? This differed so much from what he had expected a friendship with Lance to be like, but the paladin also knew that every relationship was different from each other. He was likely reading too much into things anyways, and knew logically that whatever shyness there was in the relationship was purely one-sided on his part. Besides, with how varied human relationships were, he was sure there was an entirely platonic explanation for why he was blushing so much around his friend.

Yet still, Keith’s fingers seemed to have a mind of their own, the pinky slowly reaching out and dragging his hand closer to the other, desperately clinging to Lance’s cool touch.

Lance struggled to remain impassive, his face that one of barely maintained neutrality. If gaming with Keith hadn’t already sent his blood pressure through the roof, then the way his heart was racing now would certainly finish the job. The pale boy had responded well to his touch, but that hadn’t eased Lance’s worries at all. Was this what he thought it was? Or was Keith so desperately touch-starved, so now that Lance had finally broken down his barriers, the paladin just… wasn’t running away anymore?

Maybe, maybe he just needed to push a little more, so Keith would reject him, so he could stop with the boyish fantasies, or the delusions, some might say.

“Well, what’s your plans for the rest of the evening?”

Keith felt his mind slowly calm as his skin soaked in the heat transferred from Lance’s fingers, forcing himself to appear nonchalant as he leaned back onto the couch, “I honestly was thinking about getting into bed and reading my book.”

“What?!”

Keith winced at the volume, shooting a quick glare at Lance, though the brunette continued speaking at the same volume, even if he did lean back, “You read?”

“Yeah, of course I read, I learned it in like, what, second grade?”

Aaaaand just as Lance thought they were having a bonding moment. Dios mío, this man was going to be the death of him.

Lance rolled his eyes, “No I mean, you like to read?” The brunette leaned in closer once again, “I didn’t take you for a book lover. I thought you’d be more of a movie watcher.”

Again, Keith found himself questioning how much time did Lance spend on observing him to realize all these little details about him? But he didn’t have a chance to dwell on the thought as the tan boy continued to speak, “Not that I think about things that you like all the time, but whenever we have movie nights with the team you seem really engrossed in the movies.”

The pale boy sighed as he spoke, “Because I haven’t seen them before, or a lot of movies, really.” Movie nights were a weekly occasion at the Holt household, but Adam and Shiro liked to spend time in their home and with family during the same nights, and so he grew up playing board games and watching nature documentaries more than most kids at school when he was younger, “Even if they’re kind of bad, movies are interesting in their own way, it’s fun to see how differently people treat the medium, be it for better or for worse. Or even how the same story, same premise, can evolve in so many different ways in order to tell the specific movie.”

Keith straightened his back, his heart no longer trying to burst out of his ribcage as it slowly got used to Lance’s proximity. Damn, the soap or shampoo or whatever the hell it was that smelled like coconut must be something else if it was messing with his body’s usual rhythm like this. His mind spurring him on to talk more and more till Lance was satisfied with the answer he gave, “But I do enjoy books more. The freedom to create the scenarios myself, to try and construct the characters’ faces based off of nothing but paper and ink, to solve the puzzles and mysteries before it’s revealed.” The pale boy brought his legs up onto the sofa, criss-crossing them under himself, “You can’t really do all of that while watching a movie.”

Keith glanced shyly over at Lance, putting the tan boy in his vision rather than just in his periphery, only to be met with Lance’s bright and unblinking eyes, the brunette’s usually fractured attention clearly having been diverted to focus on him. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the pale boy even felt the urge to puff out his chest a little, his breath catching as he felt callouses shift against his hand. Keith felt awkward at the best of times when someone other than baba or Shiro, or really, anyone outside of his immediate circle gave him their undivided attention. Though the awkwardness never came as he realized that he held Lance’s attention, instead he was… oddly pleased to have held it at all.

Clearing his throat, Keith lowered his eyes, opting to focus on his socks instead, “What about you? What are you gonna do for the rest of the evening?”

Lance hummed in thought, “I didn’t really think that far.” He looked around the room for a moment, then his eyes lit up as inspiration struck.

“Do you think I could borrow one of your books?”

Keith shrugged, “Sure, but I don’t really have that many, so there isn’t a huge selection of genres to pick from.” Well, that wasn’t the entire truth. Given the amount of battles the castle went through, he wasn’t willing to spend that much on a bookshelf only to realize it couldn’t withstand battle, nor stack the books on the floor of his room, only to come back after a mission and realize his carefully organized stacks were entirely disrupted. Thus, he’d been limited to the modest collection he kept on the shelf above his bed and the storage box all the paladins had been given.

Lance tried to push down the giddiness that bubbled up inside him. Being allowed into Keith’s room for two days in a row? That had to be a new record. “That’s fine, just pick one you think I’d like.”

What Lance would like? Keith tried to compile everything he knew about Lance in his mind, surprising even himself with the amount of information that was already there. Something with a little spice, copious amounts of romance, and a handful of pining… hm… After a few seconds of careful consideration, Keith knew exactly which book to give Lance.

“Follow me.” He got up before Lance could respond, his fingers wrapping around the tan boy’s wrist as he headed out of the living room and towards his room.

Lance stumbled for a moment, not having expected the sudden momentum, but being a soldier left him with quick reflexes, and he was back on his feet before his rival crush friend noticed anything.

Once they got to Keith’s room, Keith darted excitedly to his pile of books, too caught up in his excitement to notice Lance rubbing where their hands had connected, a forlorn expression on his face. The pale boy’s eyes skimmed his collection of books, fingers dancing along until he got to the one.

White text swirled against a sea green background, Won’t You Stay With Me?

“Ha, gotcha!” Holding the book up triumphantly, Keith spun around and presented it proudly to Lance, putting on an announcer’s voice, “Action, angst, romance, and-” The boy’s voice caught in his throat as he realized the word he’d been about to say. Shit. Keith really needed to think things through when he was around Lance.

Keith shuffled closer toward the blue pilot and lowered his voice, as though someone had been camped outside his door, waiting to expose his secret, “Wait, Lance, I need you to promise me something.”

He watched as Lance’s outstretched hand tensed, expression suddenly nervous. Good. Lance should be cautious, “don’t tell anyone about this book, please. It’s…” Keith did his best not to cringe as he spoke the word, “mature.”

Confusion appeared on Lance’s face. Keith sighed, he really didn’t want to elaborate any further, “It’s meant for adults.”

Nope, not a single hint of recognition on the pilot’s face. Groaning, Keith turned his head away as he shoved the book into Lance’s hands, feeling warmth flood to his cheeks, “It has sex in it.”

The laugh that erupted from Lance just made the pink on Keith’s cheeks turn crimson, and he buried his head in his hands. God, he really couldn’t look Lance in the face right now.

“Woah! Hey, man!” Keith heard Lance speak, then a gentle tug on his forearm, urging him to stop hiding. He opted to open a gap between his fingers instead. Stormy clouds met sky blue eyes, “I’m not laughing at you, I swear! I’m just surprised!” Yeah right, maybe he’d believe Lance if the brunette hadn’t been wearing the smugest grin he’d ever seen. Lance leaned in, seeming braver now that Keith had covered most of his face with his hands, “Your secret is safe with me.”

Keith found himself praying, for the second day in a row, that the floor of the castle would open up a hole and swallow him. He’d just told the loudmouth of Voltron one of the few things he never wanted anyone to learn about him, and the red paladin gave it a week before everyone on the ship knew what his book collection truly entailed. Lance tugged his arm once more, and Keith reluctantly gave in, putting one arm away to look at the tan boy, finding it in himself to listen as Lance gave him a soft look, “Though I don’t think anyone would even really care, you’re an adult after all, reading books with sex in them isn’t really taboo.”

Keith needed Lance to shut up and stop talking about it, that mouth of Lance’s was going to be the death of him, “Just take the damn book and go,” Keith grumbled, punching Lance in the arm. He might believe in the existence of a god, any god, if the castle could get on with swallowing him whole. Yes, he was an adult. Yes, he could read a book with sex in it if he wanted. But talking about it with Lance felt like crossing a line.

Lance smirked at Keith’s reaction, the way crimson spread onto the pale boy’s neck enticed him to keep pushing just a little further, “Seriously? You’re going to make me go read this on my own? At least let me sit dow-”

“5, 4, 3…”

Oops, he might’ve pushed too far, Lance now had exactly five seconds before he’d be punched, “Thanks for the book, I’ll make sure to take real good care of it until I’m done with it.” The blue pilot winked at Keith before making his hasty exit, evidently the correct decision as the second he stepped out the room, Lance heard a ‘thump’ against the wall where his head would have been.

-

Keith felt himself more on edge than ever the next few days, always subtly checking in with Lance to gauge the tan boy’s reactions, trying to see if he could spot the book in Lance’s possession whenever they bumped into each other in the hallway. It wasn’t like him to be so caught up in what someone might think of him, but he supposed that he’d always acted differently around Lance.

Though it must’ve been severe enough for Shiro to take note as well, seeing how one morning, the black paladin must’ve had enough of Keith’s anxiousness, dragging him out of the break room where Lance just so happened to be and into the training room.

“Hey what the heck?” Keith exclaimed indignantly as they entered the training room.

“Shut up.” Shiro warned, his voice full of danger. Both his body and mind were on edge thanks to the nightmare he’d just had earlier in the morning, and he needed an outlet. He tossed over Keith’s boxing gloves before putting on his own, “Spar. Now.”

Keith shut up quickly after that, and thanked his reflexes for being on high alert still as Shiro practically launched himself at the pale boy seconds after he’d gotten all the training gear in place.

A familiar rhythm of punches, kicks, blocks sounded out, the role of the conductor switching back and forth from Keith to Shiro, neither being able to gain a true advantage over the other. But considering how long the pair had known each other for, anyone would be hard pressed to find a spar in which one of them had a distinct advantage over the other. At least not without it being from the early days of the unspoken apprenticeship between them.

Shiro had been instrumental to helping Keith grow, both as a person and as a fighter. The older man had found him right as young Keith had been about to give up on himself, and frankly the pale boy still thought it was a miracle that Shiro had taken his younger self under the wing after he’d nearly made off with a spaceship of all things. And though the two had had a rough start, rougher still when taking into account the first few months when he had moved in with Shiro and Adam, when Keith had accepted Shiro wholeheartedly as a friend and father-figure in his life, the black paladin had then reshaped Keith from a frightened cat showing its claws into the sword he had been at the Garrison, waiting to be sharpened and honed.

It was during that time they had spent together, that Keith had discovered Shiro’s own fighting style was almost bloodthirsty compared to how the older man usually acted. With a calm demeanor and seemingly infinite patience for his teenage rebellion antics, Keith had initially expected Shiro’s fighting style to be refined, and almost artistic in a sense, like those martial arts spars he’d seen that felt like an intricate dance rather than a fight, but from the first strike, the scrappy teen knew that he had misjudged the man entirely. While Shiro’s fighting moves had been similar to those martial artists, with much of it focused on kicks and footwork. But instead of an opponent whose strikes were perfectly and strategically placed, Keith found himself fighting against an opponent who almost threatened to overwhelm with bursts of punches and kicks, leaving no room for hesitation and exposed too many flaws in the teen’s own fighting skills. Keith remembered feeling humiliated the first time he’d been beaten by Shiro, the fight having lasted an embarrassingly short amount of time, if it counted as a fight at all. But a deep-seated respect for Shiro had bloomed in him from that moment on, something no one had been able to garner from Keith since his father.

Now, however, both Shiro and Keith were hardly the same people as when Shiro had taken him to America so Keith could enlist. Shiro’s offense had only gotten more powerful and deadly since then, but Keith had also gotten much better at his defense, able to neutralize the attacks which Shiro threw at him, blocking and trapping them, as well as having an easier time finding gaps between frenzied attacks to counter or take the initiative for himself. Shiro’s fighting style might have been more similar to Keith’s than Lance’s, both focusing on efficiency and agility, but it also meant that they pushed the other further anytime one improved. Though of course, being roughly on the same level also helped in that regard.

Either Shiro was really worked up today, or Keith was really feeling off, or both. The red paladin found himself being overwhelmed more than usual by Shiro’s barrage of grapples and punches. And after he was pinned down by the leader a second time within the hour, Keith was no longer in the mood to spar.

“Fuck, I yield, I yield!” Keith growled as pain shot up from where Shiro put pressure on his arm, knowing that there wasn’t a way of getting out of the hold. They untangled themselves, and Keith pretended not to notice the worried look on Shiro’s face as he tore off his training gear, frustrated with… well, with everything, really. Something inside him had been restless since the day he and Lance had sparred, an incessant voice in his head that kept making demands, and plaguing him with headaches when the paladin couldn’t decipher what it was. Adding the fact that he couldn’t even seem to get in the mood to fight today was enough to make him want to storm off and go back to his room, if only to be away from everyone for a while.

Shiro mercifully kept silent, only watching as Keith threw his gloves to the side and slumped down onto the bench, willing the voice in his head to shut up, however unsuccessfully, to the red paladin’s dismay. He kept his head in his hands still as Shiro sat down next to him, but didn’t move to get away, a silent acceptance of the attempt at comfort.

“Is everything okay?” Shiro asked, worry clear in his voice, “You seem irritated, more so than usual, I mean.”

Keith paused, but then chose to shake his head. There was no point in pretending, Shiro knew him too well and at this point, the red paladin was long past wanting to keep up the façade of being fine.

“Have you ever had this voice that won’t shut up in your head?”

“If only it was in my head,” Shiro joked, “sadly the voices sound like the rest of the crew.”

Keith stifled a laugh, under normal circumstances, he would’ve agreed with Shiro. The crew was a lively bunch, and while that came as a comfort to both of them at times, both men needing the chatter to remind their bodies that they were no longer in battle, it also had the unfortunate side effect of being overwhelming at times, not so much that it’d send them running for the hills, but enough to grate on their nerves.

The double-edged sword of living with a group of people much more extroverted than themselves, Keith supposed.

“No, though I wish it was those voices that’s got me irritated right now.” Keith relaxed his posture, no longer tense from the spar, “seriously, Shiro, you don’t know how good you have it right now, at least those guys know when to shut up.”

“Is it telling you to do anything?” The paladin could hear the hesitation in Shiro’s voice. Keith understood where Shiro was coming from, of course, too many creatures in space had the nasty tendency to leave parasites that slowly took over a person, willing its host to do anything from drinking more water to going on a murder spree. And though the transformations scared him, Keith was still fairly certain he was sane enough to recognize that murdering his crewmates would not be in his best interest, or in the interest of anyone who didn’t wish to live under the Galran tyranny. But that did remind him that he needed to snag some psych evaluation forms from the castle’s infirmary to make sure that that wouldn’t happen.

“Not… exactly? I’m not having blackouts or acting differently, I just keep having this urge to go… somewhere, and if I don’t, there’s just this emptiness in my chest.” He’d thought it was the urge to follow and go wherever the coconut scent was, and he had tried a few times to head to the common showers at the training grounds when the tugging made itself known, where Lance kept a bottle of soap in his cubicle. But not only did it fail to ease the tugging in his chest, it had only worsened it, the red paladin had been forced to conclude then that the smell was not what the voice in his mind was looking for.

Keith was chasing a ghost, a shadow of a figure that lingered at the corners of his vision, taunting and haunting him in his dreams as he tried to chase it down. But all he ever saw was the faintest outline of a person.

“Is that why you keep hanging around Lance lately?”

“I what?” Keith turned his head to look at Shiro, eyes blinking owlishly, confusion clear in his features. If he’d been spending more time around Lance, that was certainly news to the paladin, though the thought of others taking notice of that fact made Keith strangely… proud? Okay, clearly he needed those evaluation forms in the infirmary. the idea of willingly spending time with others, especially with Lance of all people, and even doing it so much so that others took notice, would never have happened if he was sane.

Shiro caught the look of disgust flash across Keith’s face for a moment, making him bark out a laugh, “Considering you missed a sparring session of ours one time because you were hanging out with him, I thought you were at least aware of it,” He cut off Keith’s apology, showing the younger boy a genuine smile, “No, don’t apologize. I’m glad that you’re trying to make friends with the others, you’ve been so cut off from everything since we left Earth, it’s a relief to see you finally coming out of your shell.”

Keith felt his cheeks burn as his mind drifted back towards the conversation that night. That’s right. Him and Lance were friends. And so were him and Hunk. The reality of the situation hadn’t sunk in for the paladin yet, he could count on one hand the number of friends he’d had growing up. Suddenly gaining two felt, well, Keith didn’t really know how he felt about the whole thing. Thinking of Hunk made him feel snug, the way he did when the engineer enveloped them all in a bear hug, though his ribs still ached from the last attempt. But thinking of Lance, all he could focus on was the immediate warm and bubbly feeling that overflowed, the same way he did whenever he heard the blue paladin being a fool, intentional or not. But there was also a sense of melancholy, a yearning for something more. But more? With Lance? How?

“Hello?” Shiro’s voice cut through Keith’s train of thought, who had fallen unusually silent, a faraway look in the paladin’s eyes and lips on the verge of grinning, “Black Lion to Red? You still here with me Keith?”

Keith rolled his eyes, swatting away Shiro’s hand that waved in front of his face, raising an eyebrow at the shit-eating grin on the older man’s face.

“Mmm, I know that smile~”

Keith stiffened. A smile? That was… unusual. He was a lot less guarded with his emotions around Shiro, but to do so without having tasted victory or heard a joke? Though gaining a friend did count as a victory in and of itself, and two? Well that certainly worth a smile.

That line of thought might’ve convinced Shiro if he ignored the bright red blush that was making its way down Keith’s neck.

“Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“Is there anything you want to tell me?”

“No?” Keith didn’t think he had anything to say, at least. More often than not, the leader of the group read him like a book, and knew what words were trying to form in his mind before even he himself did.

“You sure? You know you can tell me anything.”

Keith froze. Had the marks become more apparent? Did Shiro figure out that he was changing?

Shiro raised an eyebrow. He didn’t think what he asked had been such a loaded question. Keith was an intelligent child, he’d known that since he made eye contact with the scrawny kid in the back of the classroom where he was once again spewed the same propaganda for the Garrison. But it had also been the same circumstances which stunted much of the pale boy’s growth emotionally. Though considering how well the last time Shiro tried to have “the talk” with the boy, the older man wondered if Keith knew what was going on in his mind at all.

“Hey, Keith, listen. It’s alright.”

No, no it really wasn’t.

“Your body goes through a lot during puberty, and even if you’re a late bloomer, you might be now experiencing some new and unexpected feelings-”

Huh?

“Shiro?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut the hell up.”

Shiro burst into laughter, no longer able to keep up the serious pretense. And Keith smiled. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Keith wondered if any of their ancestors would be rolling in their graves at the sight of the two getting along so well.

But his brother really knew him well, seeing as Keith’s mind was finally able to focus on the here and now, rather than whatever the hell his body was going through.

When Shiro finally stopped laughing, he stood up and offered a hand to Keith, “Come on, we should hit the showers if we don’t want the others annoyed at us for missing ‘Earth Time’.”

-

"Truth or dare?"

"What are we, middle schoolers?" Lance shot Pidge a glare for shooting down his suggestion, but she simply held his gaze, playfully glaring right back. Though the tinkerer eventually conceded, putting their hands up in the air and shrugging, "If you wanna play it we can, it's not a bad idea, I just haven't thought about it since middle school, that's all."

Lance huffed but toned down the glare, looking around the circle the paladins had created to gauge their reactions. No one seemed openly opposed to the idea, though no one was over the moon about it either. He could work with that. "Alright, since everyone seems on the fence about it, I'll start." He let out a hum as he looked around the group again, tapping his chin like he was deep in thought about the decision. But Keith hadn’t left the sharpshooter’s mind since the idea came to him earlier while hanging out with Hunk, and with the way Lance had been silently tracking Keith’s every move, it left the other paladins with no questions as to who Lance would choose, "Keith."

The pale boy grew rigid as his name left Lance’s lips out of instinct, his mind stuttering for a second before realizing Lance had no intention of continuing. "Lance?" He heard Pidge snicker after he spoke, making him flush and break the accidental staring contest with Lance. Right, truth or dare. "So I'm your first, huh?"

"You wish, Keith, you wish.”

Pidge snickered louder this time, reminding the two that they were still very much in a room full of other people, “Should we play the game or do you guys need a moment to flirt first?”

“Hush, Pidge, and watch a master at work,” Lance let a wicked grin spread across his face, and Keith ignored the way it sent goosebumps down his spine, “And speaking of firsts, Keith, when was your first kiss?”

“I thought the point of the game was to ask if someone wanted to do a truth or a dare," Keith's voice was filled with mirth, "But uh, in the Garrison, I think I was about seventeen at the time?” He’d been dating a girl in his year at the Garrison for a few months by then, and the girl must’ve gotten frustrated with the lack of general affection. One night after walking her to her dorm, she kissed him. Having been a prolific reader since he was young, the red paladin had expected fireworks or goosebumps or, well, something. But Keith had felt nothing at the time but the slight disgust of the feeling of another person’s lips pressed against his. The relationship had soon fizzled out after.

"But I might’ve had one before then? I’m not really sure, it almost feels like a dream." Though his initial answer had been plenty, no one stopped chimed in as Keith continued to speak, "It was at the Garrison as well, my first few days there, actually, with a boy whose face I can't really remember.” The memory was fuzzy, he’d been pressured into trying alcohol for the first time that night, and it was late by the time things started, “I just remember getting pulled into a game, probably spinning the bottle or something at a party, and the next thing I know I’m kissing someone." The red paladin leaned against the mini mountain of pillows behind him, "It was nice, I think. That's the only time I felt something when kissing someone."

"That's… kind of sad." Keith bristled a bit at Pidge's words, though he was used to Pidge’s bluntness by now, and mercifully decided to let Pidge continue since she held their hands up defensively, "Let me explain. You've kissed people since that dream, regardless if it was real or not. But that was the only time you felt something? If you really think about it, it says a lot about you."

"Pidge…" Hunk’s soft voice was contrasted with its warning. The tinkerer glanced between Hunk and Keith a few times before sighing and leaning back into her own mountain of pillows. The cook looked back to Keith with a smile, "It's your turn, Keith."

Keith raised an eyebrow at Hunk and Pidge’s interaction, but acquiesced, nodding slowly, before looking around the group, eyes eventually landing on the white-haired woman sat across from him. "Allura, truth or dare?"

Allura felt a rush of giddiness rush through her, clapping her hands together as she leaned forward. Earthling culture had changed so much since she’d woken up, and while the paladins had tried explaining to her where possible, much of it had been theoretical to her until the Altean started being invited to the little “earth time”, as they called it. Party games, in particular, had intrigued her the most, almost alien compared to the games she’d played at soirées with friends or galas she’d attended. She’d been dying to try one out for herself, and now, the perfect opportunity had just presented itself!

"Dare!"

Keith was taken aback, not having expected Allura’s enthusiasm for her first turn, "Oh, uh, okay.. I dare you to.." Aaaand this was the exact reason he'd played this game once in the Garrison and never again, he wasn't the best at coming up with dares on the spot. But with how eager Allura looked to participate, the paladin knew he couldn't just back out, disappointing her in her first ever game of truth or dare. He looked at who was sitting next to Allura, Shiro and Hunk, trying to think of something that would challenge all of them. "I dare you to switch clothes with either of the people next to you."

Shiro and Hunk seemed to choke on air simultaneously before gawking at Keith, but before they could say anything, Allura squealed excitedly and turned to Shiro, "Shiro! Switch clothes with me!"

"As much as I'd love to follow the rules of the game, princess, I don't think your dress is going to fit me, even if Altean clothes can stretch to fit, and I'd hate to rip it." Shiro still had questions about how Hunk had fit into the paladin armour in the first place, given all the paladin armours were the same size to begin with, and his fit him like a glove.

Allura waved his words away, "Altean clothes are malleable," Her eyes twinkled with amusement at Shiro's confusion, before she bounced up to her feet, "Watch!"

Allura grew about two feet taller right in front of all the paladins’ eyes, the dress seeming to grow with her. "See? Altean clothing is malleable so we can shift without fear of our clothes being torn, it's also very helpful when Altean children are going through growth spurts." After preening for a second at the gawks she received, Allura gave a twirl, and reverted back to her actual height to pull on Shiro's arm, yanking the older man to his feet. "Come! We must switch our clothes!"

No one had been able to hide the smiles on their faces as the two walked back into the living room: Shiro looking thoroughly defeated in Allura’s perfectly fitting dress, and Allura looking giddy still in Shiro’s casual clothes, though it still looked slightly too big on the princess’ elongated but slender frame.

"Looking good, Shiro," Pidge snickered as Keith jokingly wolf whistled, the tinkerer even sneaking in a couple of pictures for ‘research purposes’, both earning a glare from the black paladin.

"Princess," Shiro cleared his throat and focused his attention on Allura, who was happily admiring her new attire, "It's your turn."

"Oh! Right!" She hummed as she looked at her options, and like a message from the stars above her eyes focused on a familiar man who just walked into the room, "Coran!" Rushing up she was at his side in seconds, linking her arm with his and pulling him towards the group. "We are playing an earth game called Truth or Dare, would you like to participate?" She comfortably rested her head against the man's arm, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes.

Coran could only let out a laugh as he gently patted Allura's arm, "I would be delighted to join the game, princess! But I should let you know, I've got quite the competitive streak!"

After quickly explaining the concept of the game, and that it wasn't really a competitive type of game, Coran sat down in the circle that the paladins had created, making sure to eye up each of his competitors. Allura returned to her spot between Shiro and Hunk, before motioning to Coran, "Coran! Truth or dare?"

Playing with his mustache absentmindedly, Coran weighed the options in his mind, "I'll choose dare, princess."

"I dare you to try and lick your elbow."

Everyone watched in amusement as Coran began his attempt without hesitation, trying to bend his arm in unrealistic ways so that his tongue would reach his elbow. Pidge had gotten her own camera out and started taking pictures as Allura hid her laugh behind her hand, the rest of the crew just watching, enjoying the lighthearted moment. Though Coran got close, the advisor eventually had to accept defeat, slumping down and resting his hands in his lap, "I've been bested." Allura offered some words of comfort, before prompting Coran to pick someone himself. As the Altean man looked throughout the group, his eyes landed on the mischievous Pidge and he confidently pointed at them. "Number Five! Truth or dare?"

"Dare, mama didn’t raise no bitch."

"Pidge," Shiro scolded.

"Sorry," clearing her throat, Pidge nodded, "Dare."

"Excellent choice, Number Five! Okay! I dare you to allow one person in the group unsupervised access to your device for ten minutes!" Pidge just about choked on air and was about to protest, but knowing the challenge they set out, she bit her tongue and just nodded, grabbing her device from beside her and holding it out to whoever wanted to look first.

The group seemed to hesitate, out of apprehension or fear, Keith couldn’t really tell, nor could he care less. Rolling his eyes, the red paladin grabbed Pidge's device from her hand, "It can't be that bad." A familiar icon caught his eye, one which Pidge had introduced to him years ago when he had complained about being dissatisfied with the stories in the games he’d played. Somewhere in the background, Keith heard Pidge choosing Shiro to be the next sacrifice as he opened up the story repository, wanting to see if anything Pidge read would catch his attention.

Though his eyes nearly fell out as he skimmed over the tinkerer’s writer profile, her latest work being tagged: Omegaverse, Alpha/Omega, a/b/o dynamics… just what the fuck was Pidge writing? His eyes drifted to the title. “Home is where the heart is”? Keith held back a snort at the cheesy title. Trust Pidge to come up with a Hallmark movie title. He quickly clicked away, skimming her recently read titles instead, and silently noted down a few that piqued his interest. Though as he looked up he was met once again with Pidge’s gaze, and he exchanged a knowing look with his childhood friend while handing back their device. Whatever Pidge was into was her own business and did not warrant any judgment from him. Though he will judge the fact that they were now an omegaverse writer and didn’t think it necessary to tell him.

"...wolfboy for about a month." Keith's attention suddenly returned at full force onto the game as he heard Shiro talking. Eyes panicked, the pale boy grew paler as he heard Shiro continue, "Thankfully he didn't do too much at school, I only got a couple of calls about him growling at other students, but at home he would practice running on all fours. Adam and I weren't sure how to show our support, so we kind of just nodded and smiled whenever he had ‘animal time’. I will say though, both of us had the honor of being part of Keith’s pack." Shiro was smiling fondly at what Keith very quickly realized was an all too familiar memory from his childhood, as it often taunted him before sleep. Oh no. Fuck. "I wasn't sure how long it was going to last, but it ended about halfway through his last year of middle school."

All eyes were on Keith in shock, other than Pidge, whose brows were furrowed together in concentration, “Was he? I’m pretty sure I would’ve remembered…”

Oh no, Pidge was not about to get away scot free, not when she started this mess.

“Really now? Because I remember a certain white fur purple-eyed wolf chosen by the Moon goddess following me and Matt around.” Keith smirked. He hadn’t forgotten about Pidge’s secret art account, and he wasn’t about to let her forget it either.

"I thought it was cool," Pidge mumbled, head buried in her hands, "Can we please just move on?"

Nobody seemed keen to dwell on the subject at all after seeing Pidge’s embarrassment, though Allura and Coran did seem disappointed to have been the last to know that Pidge had been close friends with Keith and Shiro before the Garrison. Keith’s own embarrassment overcame him soon after, but before he could hide away the pale boy felt something nudge his side, and his eyes looked up to catch Lance with a playful glint in his eyes. The red paladin’s mind was quick to start thinking of ways to ensure Lance’s silence, or he’d finish what the man started in that training room, but he wasn’t quick enough before Lance leaned in to whisper, “No wonder why you like my smell so much.”

Keith felt blood rush to his face as he punched Lance’s shoulder, smiling and rolling his eyes when the blue paladin made an expression of mock pain. Thankfully, no one seemed to have noticed the interaction much, most of the focus being on who Shiro would choose to wreak revenge upon.

The older man eventually chose Hunk, to which the paladin chose truth as well, having been frightened by the evil grin on Shiro’s face. Thankfully, the cook had not wronged Shiro recently, so he instead asked, "What's one dish that you wanna recreate the most?"

"Mm, probably Pani Popo. It was always made as a treat in my house growing up, they look kinda like cinnamon rolls. It’s basically these golden brown bread rolls baked in sweet coconut milk." Hunk was practically drooling as he spoke, "It was always a great day when me and my brothers walked in from school and smelled our mom baking them in the kitchen."

Allura's eyes sparkled at Hunk's words, "Oh I do hope we’re able to find ingredients on our next planet! They sound absolutely delicious!"

"I'd be happy to make them for you," Hunk looked between Pidge and Lance, "And I know Pidge and Lance would probably love to taste them again, my mom used to send me some while I was at the Garrison, and I made them once or twice myself."

"They're the best," Pidge chimed in, "They melt on your tongue."

"Welp, I guess it's my turn now." Without a second of hesitation he turned to Keith, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Keith, my buddy, my guy, truth or dare?"

Keith looked at him suspiciously, eyes narrowed, "Dare?"

Mischief spread all throughout Hunk's face, a large grin appearing. Taking a moment to compose himself, Hunk took a deep breath, looking deadly serious as he spoke, "Keith, before I issue this dare, I need you to promise me that you're not going to throw a boot blade at me or something."

"Are you going to say something that would make me want to throw my boot blade at you?"

Hunk paled slightly at Keith’s confirmation of a boot blade, but soldiered on. For love, for friendship, "Maybe."

"Then no promises."

Hunk seemed to think it through for all of three seconds before shrugging, "Worth it." Clearing his throat, the serious expression melted off his face as Hunk offered Keith a warm smile, though the mischievous glint in the cook’s eyes never dulled. As quickly as he could, Hunk blurted out, "Keith, I dare you to kiss Lance." then threw himself to the ground like the floor was his only chance of survival.

Pidge’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, catching on, and quickly interjected, “Only if you’re comfortable of course, I get it if you don’t wanna kiss Lance, I wouldn’t either.”

Lance scoffed, offended, “Hey, what the heck! I’ll have you know I am an amazing catch. Keith is lucky to have this privilege.”

Keith rolled his eyes, "Oh, yes, of course my liege. I’m so honoured to have this opportunity I’m practically salivating,” Lance made a look of mock offense at Keith’s sarcasm, opening his mouth to retort, but not before Keith continued, “But I think he's pretty much the only one on the team I would kiss anyways, other than Hunk." Pidge and Allura were out the question for him entirely, similarly with Coran. Shiro was his brother/father and he wasn’t into incest.

"Thank you, Keith, I would kiss you too."

"Hey! Hey! This is about Keith kissing me! Me! Stay on track!" Lance shouted.

Keith rolled his eyes at Lance’s desperate attempt to be the center of attention again, and mumbled, “Well, if you want it so bad," Keith surged forward without warning, stopping only inches from Lance's face. He stared into Lance's eyes, looking for any kind of hesitation or uncertainty, only to find Lance dazed, and hidden beneath those waves of sapphire was a spark of… anticipation?

Keith’s smirk curled into a Cheshire cat smile, as he whispered two words softly for only him and Lance to hear, “my liege.”

Moving ever so slightly forward, Keith felt Lance’s lips press into his own. All at once, Keith felt something fall into place in his mind, every moment that passed was a moment he felt more parched than he’d ever been in his life, and those soft lips were his only oasis.

The whole room fell silent, and Lance froze, mind still reeling from his sudden inability to speak, but very quickly closed his eyes and returned the kiss. Who was he to complain, especially when Keith’s fingers reached up to pull him closer? A brilliant array of fireworks went off at the back of his mind, a new burst every time they seemed to meld even further into each other.

Lance had only ever felt this way once before, and the realization of who it had been with would’ve stolen his breath away if Keith hadn’t done so already.

Keith, on the other hand, hasn’t felt his mind be so quiet in weeks, that nagging urge finally subsiding as his whole body focused on the sensation of Lance against his skin, fingers quietly pulling Lance closer, deeper into this kiss. And finally, finally, he felt the fireworks that he’d read so much about. All in the world felt right, and his heart was about to burst from happiness and contentment as the world became that much more vibrant. A swipe of tongue against Keith’s own lips finally snapped him back into reality, however, and his body stiffened, unused to the sensation.

Lance pulled away immediately, not even in the haze did he miss the way Keith had hesitated when he tried to take things further, though before guilt and concern could consume him, he was interrupted by a cushion making contact with his face, and it was only then that the rest of the room came back into focus.

Keith swiveled around, eyes immediately tracking where the flying object had come from, only to be met with a smirk from Shiro. He was about to open his mouth to question the older man, when he was interrupted by Pidge’s wail.

“Damn it Hunk! They were supposed to keep the tension building for another four and a half chapters!” The green paladin shot a vicious glare at Hunk, and even Keith felt a chill down his spine at the iciness in Pidge’s stare, “You ruined it!”

The room dissolved into a fit of laughter as Pidge began to wrestle with Hunk, with a mumble from Coran stating, “I didn’t realize just how serious three and four took truth and dare,” sending everyone into another bout of laughter.

Keith buried his face between his knees to hide away from the world, though it meant he just missed the way Lance stared at him, dazed, and mumbling, “Neither did I, Coran, neither did I.”

Chapter Text

"Remind me to never draw straws for a mission again," Keith grumbled into his communicator as he trudged through the endless snow, a shiver making its way down his body despite the heat his suit and armor provided. The red paladin squinted his eyes, trying to decipher any distinct markers amidst the frozen tundra, but it proved to be a fruitless endeavor. The reflection of the sun combined with the windstorm made it impossible for him to see more than a few feet in front of him without being blinded immediately after. A huff sounded to his left, making Keith glance over, watching as Pidge struggled next to him. The tinker’s small and slender frame made it more difficult for her to keep their balance between the gusts of winds that threatened to knock her down. On the right, Shiro grimaced as he kept a hand on his shoulder, rubbing at the border where metal met flesh, as frost threatened to climb onto skin.

"Since Allura was so stubborn about us going on this mission, she could’ve at least come with us," Pidge huffed, wrapping her arms around themself in an attempt to preserve the warmth. Keith shuffled closer to Shiro, and gestured for Pidge to do the same, as the captain was a small radiator of heat.

“I can see why there would be a Galran outpost here at least,” Keith ignored Pidge's annoyance, though he didn't disagree with her words. “Those bastards’ defenses are probably those fur coats of theirs.” When the red paladin wasn’t reading in his room or sparring or following Lance around like a lost puppy, he liked to spend his time in the castle library researching information about different types of aliens, especially the Galra. And though the castle didn't hold vast amounts of knowledge on the race, he had learned more than his initial guess, as one of the books must’ve been the equivalent of basic biology for the Galrans, ones given to children when they asked more questions than the parent was prepared to answer. The first thing he'd realized was that the Galrans were divided into several subspecies, the most prominent of which had a similar physiology to cats. Characterized by their ability to see flawlessly in dark environments, heightened senses, agility and jumping capability, the feline Galrans were also able to grow fur, ranging from a light summer coat to that comparable of an arctic animal’s, depending on their environment and genetics, alongside cat-like ears and tail. There was also a section on their mating sequences and behaviors, but he’d skipped past that part, as if any of them would want to mate with a Galran.

"Keith, Pidge," Shiro called out a few minutes later, as the younger crewmembers turned their attention, tired but still curious. They followed Shiro's outstretched arm until they saw what the leader had been pointing at, and relief began to flood through them. Shiro continued once the younger paladins spotted the same thing he did, "Allura and Coran said that this outpost was on the smaller side compared to the ones we've seen before. One of the few that were built partially underground, which is probably how they've managed to stave off the cold."

He remembered Allura mentioning something similar, but he'd been too distracted by other things at that time. Since he'd first smelled Lance's soap, it was like the smell was following him, invading and overwhelming his nose every time he was anywhere remotely close to the blue pilot, wrapping itself around his brain and making it feel fuzzy. And with Lance having stood next to him during Allura’s briefing, Keith had barely been able to hear the Altean princess, the voice so distant it might very well had been on the other side of the castle. Even now he could smell the faint, but lingering scent of coconut, threatening to dismantle his focus. It was only when Pidge started waving her hand in front of his face that he’d realized his thoughts had wandered, blinking the fogginess away and tilting his head down to meet Pidge’s gaze.

The tinkerer was clearly annoyed, their brows scrunched as she looked up at Keith, voice filled with barely-concealed irritation, "Do we need to switch you out?" Seeing the red paladin’s confused expression, Pidge rolled their eyes, "You spaced out the entire time Shiro was talking."

Surprise overtook Keith’s features, Shiro had been talking? He looked to the older paladin, but the captain’s gaze was focused on the outpost, thinking so loud that the gears being turned were practically audible. Glancing back down at the Pidge he shook his head.

"Then keep your head in the game, or I'm telling Shiro that we need to head back." The green paladin huffed, setting her sights back on the outpost as she grudgingly pulled up a scanner from her arm.

Though Pidge's words seemed harsh, Keith knew that her anger was not directed at himself. Pidge had been more than vocal about their disagreement with Allura’s insistence on taking the mission, and the red swore that he’d heard their voices alongside the familiar clang of weapons coming from the training from at one point. The mission they were on almost certainly got on the tinkerer’s nerves, combining that with the freezing winds, equated to Pidge becoming a ticking time bomb the moment they stepped off of the Lions. Though Keith supposed it was better that Pidge blew up here, well within reason since he was lost in his own head, rather than at a critical point inside the outpost. The paladin took a deep breath, and pushed past the fuzzy feeling in mind, joining the other pilots and taking his place next to Pidge. Her screen slowly filled with a map, a layout of the outpost. It was one of the few pieces of information they’d been provided about the outpost, seeing as the Galra took over a previously populated building. And so with a little digging around, the team had been overjoyed when Pidge provided them with the blueprints, even if none of them had been able to make heads or tails of it.

"There's only one entrance into the outpost, but once we get inside it'll be a maze," Pidge said as she moved her finger along the screen, "So, we have the option of sticking together, which will decrease the chances of the Galrans getting the jump on us, or we can split up and cover as much ground as possible." The tinkerer glanced up at Shiro, who was studying at the map. "It's your call."

The leader looked up from the map, meeting Pidge's gaze as the frown from earlier deepened. "It's not ideal, but I think we should split up." Shiro held his hand up, already having predicted harmonious groans that came from the younger paladins. “We have a better chance of finding the relic, and I trust that both of you can hold your own. Besides, there’s really only two options, though you’re free to try and suggest a third." Shiro let a playful expression overtake his features as he issued the challenge, and Pidge glared at the older man, even if she knew that the leader was right as always. After a moment of silence, Shiro resumed his serious demeanor and issued his orders, "Send me and Keith a copy of the layout, and if there's any trouble make sure to communicate it."

Pidge silently complied, and Shiro shifted his gaze on Keith, "And please, I know you have a 'swing first, ask questions later' mindset while on missions, but this a stealth mission, so try to stay out of trouble. Remember, patience yields focus." Shiro felt every bit like the broken record he knew he sounded like, but if this was the one time that Keith would try not to turn this into a heist mission upon hearing his words, the leader needed to make it known. The red paladin’s only response was a glare, which eventually gave way into a sigh and a nod as Shiro’s demeanor hardened. Hardly a response, but he knew better than anyone how bull-headed that boy could be, and so the leader nodded in return, “Good. Now remember, we don’t know if connection to the castle is going to be cut off once we go in, so make sure to check in at regular intervals." Both of the younger paladins nodded before turning back to gaze at the outpost.

Keith decided to ignore the tug on his chest that blossomed the longer he looked at the outpost. Despite this mission being rather risky, he knew that there shouldn't be any major issues. They just needed to get in and out, easy. Right?

-

Keith.

There it was again, that voice, calling him, a haunting melody that tugged at his heartstrings. All logic told him that this was a bad idea, that hearing anything say your name without being able to see its presence could never be benevolent, but if that were true, why did following it seem like the only right thing to do?

Yurak.

That name. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard it, not since entering the outpost anyways. And though the name had felt foreign to him initially, only figuring out that it was Galran in origin, some part of the red paladin had recognised that word, at the very least on a primal level. The same part of him that felt drawn to Lance, that noticed that stupid soap and only ever seemed to want to get closer to Lance until they would never part again. His ears rang, his legs hurt, and he was sure that he must’ve passed by at least four sets guards now, walking as quickly as he did since the Galrans made no effort in stopping his progress. Maybe it was because he had been roaming these halls too long, his mind already having memorized the majority of the details of the identical sections, but the paladin swore that he was picking up on more details as he went. The last hallway he’d passed he noticed the stains of some sort of adhesive on the wall, a poster had likely been there at some point. This hallway smelled faintly of food goo they’d sometimes find in the canteens of Galran outposts like this, and quietly Keith wondered to himself what it was that the next hallway might hold. He relied on instinct over everything else at this point, not that he didn’t normally, considering the nature of his Lion, but it was rare, unheard of even, for the paladin to fully rely on his instincts to navigate.

His body must’ve been getting used to the temperature as well, that or Keith had gone further underground than he’d realized. The cold had become much more bearable since they entered the outposts, and a few hallways back he could barely feel the cold anymore, despite the disagreements of Shiro and Pidge, and now the warmth his suit provided felt overkill, seeing as a small sheen of sweat had started to form on his face. The red paladin knew that this was a bad idea, that this had to be a trap somehow, and he was due for another long talk with Shiro about jeopardizing the mission, but the red paladin couldn’t find it in himself to care. So what if he was lectured again by Shiro, if he was the scapegoat they’d all point their fingers to? Pidge was right, this was a suicide mission. The outpost had been way more guarded than any of the team could have predicted. Its guards were more trained than usual as well, which was something they were wholly unprepared for, if Shiro and Pidge’s radio silence was anything to go by. Hell, if this was the last mission he’d ever go on, he might as well go out on his own terms. The paladin worried for his crewmates, of course, and the thought of anything happening to Shiro was a growing anxiety in the back of his mind, but he was in far too deep now. By some miracle he’d managed to evade the notice of the Galran guards entirely, and the deeper he went, the more sure he was that the Galrans were straight up unable to sense him at this point. He’d grab the artifact first, and then see about tracking down the leader and the tinkerer of Voltron.

Keith…

You know you want to know more.

…

Keith had lost track of how many hallways, how many rooms he’d passed now, the only constant being the ever growing voice calling to him. He felt an itch underneath his skin, and while it frustrated him to no end that he hadn’t been able to reach it with the armor in the way, he wasn’t about to risk taking off his armor so that he could see what was going on, unlike another impulsive idiot he knew.

Lance.

Keith was no longer surprised by his heart picking up when his thoughts drifted towards the brunette. The past few days had been trying, for him and Lance both, since that stupid game of truth or dare. Far too many touches, brushes of skin, too many glances shared that held too many words. The red paladin couldn’t deny that Lance hadn’t left his mind ever since he’d lent the blue pilot the book, anxious to know Lance’s reaction to the book and overthinking about what the pilot thought of the red paladin thought about the Lance saying that that had been the perfect book for him. Truth or dare only compounded his confusion and anxiety, especially when the kiss felt so familiar, like a feeling he’d had before but just couldn’t quite name. But for whatever reason, his mind felt so much more anxious about the choice of book he’d presented to Lance.

What if Lance did find it weird that he’d recommended a book containing adult themes? What if Lance’s kinks didn’t line up with what was presented in the book, or that he’d given one to the blue pilot with too many references about a topic only those well-versed in adult novels would understand? What if Lance hated the book and thought the red paladin was a degenerate because of it? Or worse, what if Lance grew to like it? Would he ask for more? Which books in his collection did Keith have that suited Lance’s personality and quirks without coming off as depraved? The questions swirled around his head, and in the moment Keith actually found himself craving the fuzziness Lance’s soap had brought him. Even if the effects of the soap left him with more questions than answers, the exotic scent undeniably had a calming effect on him, something he hadn’t noticed with coconuts before. The simplest of urges seemed to overtake him whenever the paladin did smell it, any thoughts more complex than a single word pushed to the outer edges of his mind, the only directive being to give in to the base urges. Keith absent-mindedly connected his communicator to a line he had directly to the red lion, wanting someone, needing something to distract himself before his thoughts drove him insane. As expected, he heard nothing but the sound of his own breathing on the line, but if he focused hard enough the paladin could pretend that his breaths were Lance’s, small puffs of air tickling his face, the way it did that night when they’d shared dinner together, when his instincts no longer screamed at him to get closer to the paladin.

Keith.

He was almost there, maybe a hallway or two away from the artifact. Keith didn’t know how he knew, or why he knew, but none of that mattered. He was here now, and the paladin was determined to get some answers after the voice had tormented him for so long. It was only a couple of minutes later when he stopped in front of a large metallic door. Keith stared the door down with his determination, even as his limbs refused to move. Apprehension took the place of a well-justified and healthy fear, the tug in his chest now pulling so much harder, as though it could burst through his body any minute. Taking a deep breath, Keith pressed both his hands flat against the door, and slowly, pushed. Despite it being made of metal, he was surprised by how light the door felt, a strong gust of wind could easily have blown this door wide open. Regardless, the paladin closed the door carefully after slipping inside, surveying the room first for any exits before finally taking in the room as a whole. The surrounding room was ground, lush velvet curtains draped in front of a half circle wall of mirrors, and Keith could feel the plush softness of the fur-like carpet underneath his boots. A small chandelier of candlelight hung soft and low in the center of the mirror’s reflections, the rest of the room shrouded in shadows from the lack of windows, the chill from outside muffled but still crept into the room. At the center of the room there stood a pedestal, and on top of it pulsed a light, an all-too-familiar cyan. Cautiously taking a few steps forward, the paladin paused, the pulses of the glow strengthening the closer he got, the soft hum of quintessence slowly filling his ears. If he didn’t know any better, Keith would almost say that the hum had a melody to it, one terrifyingly familiar.

The hairs on his skin raised as Keith eyed the pedestal, the glow spilling over and overshadowed any features of the object. The nagging voice in the back of his mind that reminded him this was a terrible idea had long since been thrown to the winds, as the red paladin strode forward, knowing that he was alone in the room. It only took him a few steps before Keith finally saw the object for what it was, his eyes having now adjusted to the dim lighting of the room. His feet felt as though they were moving through sand as the paladin leaned forward to get a closer look. This was the relic that Allura was so determined to recover? It looked like nothing except a blob of glowing cyan, reminding Keith of ferrofluid as little pulses rippled out from its core, causing spikes to form where the vibrations escaped. It seemed to react to the paladin’s presence, slowly but surely the vibrations pointed towards himself, moving the blob along.

Paladin.

Keith’s hands reacted before he did, reaching out to grasp onto the amorphous blob, but was met with an invisible force pushing back against him, almost as if the light it emitted created a tangible force field around it. This made him hesitate. Should he really be reaching out and trying to grab an object which posed an unknown amount of danger, and resisted his touch? But the tug on his chest resonated with the object, silently urging the paladin to try again. After a moment’s hesitation, Keith’s hand reached out again, this time forcing his hand past the initial barrier. It hadn’t taken a lot of force to cut through, but the closer his fingers got, the more a numbness crept up his arm, following and spreading in his veins at a terrifying speed. The paladin’s breath became unsteady, unused to the oppressive feeling of the object on his chest, as though he was slowly being crushed by a slab of stone. The pressure seemed never-ending, at least it did until his fingers brushed past one of the artifact’s spikes.

That’s when numbness turned to pain.

And Keith screamed.

White-hot knives stabbed into his skin, and feeling as though his whole nervous system was alight with fire. He’d never felt this much pain before, not even when he’d been training with the troops every day. He couldn’t move a muscle, though not for the lack of effort, but instead because the knives dug ever so slightly deeper every time a muscle even tensed. He wanted to scream, to relieve some of this pain somehow, but his throat felt clogged, like someone had shoved a whole jar of cotton balls down his mouth. He was almost paralyzed, unable to move a muscle in case the pain got worse, his muscles twitching as lightning coursed through his veins.

Yurak.

That damned voice could go and shove a bayard through it, the red paladin thought. What happened to the sense of correctness, that this was meant for him to find? Had he triggered a trick set by the Galra somehow? A trap for those who weren’t authorized to touch the artifact? He really wish he knew, and maybe the paladin would’ve figured it out if his brain didn’t feel like mush. The paladin felt as though every cell in his being was being torn apart, the terrifyingly familiar feeling of flesh detaching from flesh spread all throughout his body, as if he was being rebuilt entirely, starting with every molecule that made up who Keith was and the man he’d become.

After what felt like an eternity, the pain released its grip on him, and Keith damn near collapsed onto the floor as he tried to catch his breath. What the hell had just happened? Allura hadn’t mentioned anything like this, as far as the paladin recalled, there had been no mentions of the sensation of a million needles stabbing into them all at once anywhere in the briefing. Was this something that Allura hadn’t known about then? A side effect brought on because of his changes? Keith didn’t know if his brain stopped working after the torture he’d just gone through, or if the answer terrified him too much.

Slowly but surely, Keith pulled himself back up to his feet. No, answers weren’t important now, he could save the questions for when he arrived back to the castle, and let the now familiar scent of coconut numb his brain enough until the paladin was coherent enough to raise questions. His priority right now needed to be locating the rest of his team that had gone radio silence around twenty minutes after they’d started to explore the building. Keith kneeled down to grab onto the glowing artifact once again, he plopped it into one of the storage containers in his suit, not wanting to have to deal with holding what felt like jello in his hand as he ran through the Galran outpost’s halls. Though just as he started to turn around, the metallic door groaned open, as though someone who was just barely strong enough to budge the door was now forcing it open.

Keith’s bayard sprung to life, having triggered it on instinct. He must’ve missed an alarm, one which he’d set off once he touched the artifact, which sent out a silent signal to the Galrans that someone had breached their defenses. The red paladin ducked behind the pedestal, taking cover, as he watched as the door struggled open. Strange, he noted, as the door weighed almost nothing to him. Out the corner of his eye, Keith spotted movement by the door, and his breath hitched, not wanting breathing to be the reason that he was given away. Though evidently none of it mattered, as the boy spotted his fellow paladins flying through it, frantic gazes widening as the pair spotted him.

"Keith!" Pidge sprinted towards him, wrapping her arms around him in an unexpected hug, "Shit, dude, we thought they'd gotten you."

Keith tensed, his body almost immediately rejecting Pidge’s close proximity, though he swallowed down the instinct to push the tinkerer away, knowing that they needed the reassurance that the red paladin was unharmed. His arm awkwardly wrapped around Pidge, as the other patted their head hesitantly. The tinkerer jumped back, suddenly remembering how much her and Keith both despised having their personal space invaded.

Pidge gestured towards Shiro, who was looking slightly battered, "He kinda ran headfirst into a couple of guards and knocked them out on instinct, so now we have a bunch more around the entire outpost looking for us. We gotta go, now." The red paladin glanced at his leader in surprise. Though he doubted that talking would have gotten Shiro out of that situation, Keith hadn't expected the black paladin to react exactly how he himself was told not to. Assuming that they were able to make their way back to the castle, this was very good material for teasing and blackmailing later.

Keith popped the artifact out of its storage container, entirely unsurprised as Pidge immediately reached for it. He reacted immediately, the warning right on the tip of his tongue as the tinkerer made contact with the artifact. But Pidge didn’t even flinch as they held the artifact in her hand. Maybe the defenses only acted against the first person to touch it? "I was just about to find you guys anyway, I've got the relic." The tinkerer poked and prodded the object, almost exactly how the paladin feared she would do once they discovered his changes. As expected, the green paladin’s natural curiosity overshadowed the situation they were in.

"Are you sure this is the relic and not some weird goo you found on the way here? It’s not exactly… relic-y."

Keith opened his mouth to argue, but Shiro’s voice sounded first, having stopped behind them without either of them noticing, a fact which made the red paladin nearly jump, "Any questions can wait until we're back to our lions."

Both of the younger paladins nodded in unison, and Keith popped the artifact back into its storage unit as Pidge tossed it back towards him. But as luck would have it, the three paladins wouldn’t get further than a couple steps out the metallic door before they were met by a group of Galran guards, clearly having anticipated the trio. The red paladin sighed internally, time to turn this into a bust-out.

Weapons drawn, the paladins responded to the guards’ aggression with their own. Though Keith couldn’t help but flash a glance at his allies, eyebrows furrowing as he took in the hesitance in Pidge’s stance. It was hardly surprising, however. While Pidge was a paladin and joined the rest of them in weapons training, the tinkerer was not suited for the front lines in a battle, and often left the heavy hitting to the others. The red paladin took a step forward to shield Pidge, half hiding her away from the direct line of attack. Though the green paladin was an impressive duelist in their own right, their reluctance towards fighting would only serve to hinder the rest of the paladins here, and Keith was leaving no man behind.

"Paladins," the captain of the troupe had a velvety voice, reminding Keith of the voice of those hypnotists in the horror movies Lance showed him often used, "You have something of ours, pointless bloodshed can be avoided if you simply return it." The captain took a deep breath, paused, sniffed the air a few more times, before his eyes narrowed onto Keith, a snarl ripping from his throat, "Traitor."

Traitor?

Keith’s mind swirled with questions, though it seemed that he wouldn’t get the chance to form them as the guards began to charge towards them. The red paladin’s grip on his sword tightened, his mind already pointing out any environmental advantage he could get.

"You shall not pass."

The captain declared it loudly, as though victory would manifest if it was simply spoken with enough volume and conviction. He swung at Keith first, clearly incensed by the idea that the boy had turned tail. The red paladin dodged the attack, which felt as though it had come towards him at light speed, the only evidence being the disturbance of air as the blade narrowly missed. Keith launched his attack. A swing from him, and a clang as swords collided. Shiro rushed past the paladin, the blades of the leader’s chained sword wrapping around and digging into the captain’s flesh. Though not even the throes of battle could make Shiro forget his responsibility, as he turned back to yell at the two younger paladins frozen behind him.

"Run!"

Right. Hand on Pidge’s wrist, sword doubling as a shield, Keith ran, his body obeying Shiro’s orders without struggle. Pidge’s body lurched at first, her mind unable to keep up with the rhythm of the battle, but soon the two paladins were bolting it as fast as they could down the cold, never-ending corridors of the outpost.

An alarm blared throughout the hallways, signaling to all the guards and everyone in its vicinity of the paladins’ intrusion. Keith cursed as a series of doors slowly started closing right before their eyes, knowing it would be too low to duck under by the time the two paladins reached it. His body reacting on instinct, yanking Pidge’s body towards himself to scoop her up and sped up, almost as though he was about to run straight through the door. He could feel the green paladin wincing and burying their face into him, bracing for the impact. Pidge really should have put more trust into the red paladin. Seconds before the duo ran into the wall, Keith dropped, tucking a leg under himself as he allowed the momentum from his run to carry him forwards and underneath the doors, his helmet frantically beeping at the last door missed them by mere millimeters. Grinning, the paladin’s leg pushed against the ground, allowing him to continue the sprint with Pidge in his arms.

"Turn right!" Keith followed Pidge’s instruction, his legs skidding as he changed orientation, only to be met with another group of Galran guards waiting for them. The paladin angled his body, shielding Pidge’s from the impact as he prepared to crash through their barricade. The paladin’s shield was mere seconds away from going up before he heard the voice again.

Jump.

"Keith!" Pidge’s scream was barely audible as Keith’s heart pounded against his rib cage, a wild grin appearing on his face as wind rushed past his ears. This, this is what he lived for. Landing on his feet, the boy shoved the green paladin behind him, using the momentum and fist to knock out the first guard with a satisfying ‘crunch!’ against their nose. A war cry sounded, and Keith turned to trade blows with the second guard. Whistling steel flew through the air.

Clash! Keith and the Galran continued trading blow for blow. Neither yielded, never slowing. That was, until the red paladin spotted an opening. Wait for it… and kick! Keith watched as the guard toppled over, almost comically so, frozen hands cupping the crotch. He almost felt bad for the guard, if only the last thing he ever wanted was to think about how that’d affect the bastards’ mating. Though the pause gave enough time for the first guard to be up on their feet, the tip of a spear split second away from his neck by the time he’d noticed it.

BZZZT!

A loud buzz filled the air, and Keith could only watch as the guard spasmed for a second, before hitting the ground with a thud, his body completely stiff. A glance upward showed Pidge’s angry glare at the guard, their bayard alive with electricity. The tinkerer took a deep breath before meeting his eyes, "If we take a left after three sections, it'll be a straight shot to the entrance."

Keith’s eyes shone with approval at the green paladin before he took off running, silently challenging Pidge to a race they gladly accepted, counting the sections as the two sprinted along. The exit was almost in sight, but the red paladin’s heart sped up for an entirely different reason as the thumping of footsteps was almost upon them. Diving behind Pidge, Keith turned and held firm his bayard’s shield, only to hear four continuous thuds a little too far for him to have hit. A confused glance. Ah, he really should stop counting Shiro out of these things.

The team’s leader stood over the knocked out bodies before rushing after the two paladins, catching up within seconds, "Don't use up all your stamina with flashy moves."

Keith rolled his eyes, but let out an amused huff at the older man’s teasing tone. Leave it to Shiro to lecture him in the middle of a fight. The group’s ticket to freedom stood still a few strides away, and a quick sweep confirmed that the area was devoid of guards, most having abandoned the exit once the word of intruders spread through the fortress like wildfire. The red paladin thanked whatever lucky star it was that looked over them, for making it so that the guards were still searching for them inside the outpost as the trio stepped outside. Once they were out of immediate danger, Keith shot an apologetic look at Pidge, who was rubbing their wrists tenderly from where the paladin’s fingers had grabbed on, "Sorry, I didn’t mean to drag you so hard. You feeling okay?”

Pidge nodded, "It worked out, that's all that matters." The trio had switched to using the jetpacks, not wanting to give the guards any physical clues of where the castle was, though the wind now threatened to knock the small tinkerer off course, even with Keith and Shiro flying close, acting as shields. They’d hopefully be long gone once the Galra had worked out that the three had managed to escape the outpost, "You owe me a lesson on some of those moves when we get back to the castle though. They were cool as fuck."

Once they were a comfortable distance away, the paladins stopped their flight, making it impossible to be tracked through the air. They trudged through the snow, the wind now having calmed, which allowed Pidge a much easier time prancing through the snow, though their lions hadn’t been too far. Keith thought back to the relic he kept near his chest, grateful that it didn’t slip away during the fight. All of this over a blob of quintessence? Keith knew that the artifact was valuable, but what kind of importance did it hold? And why had Keith's body reacted to it that way? The paladin hoped that his questions would be answered once they got back to the castle, it's the least Allura owed them for insisting they undergo this mission.

Chapter Text

They had reached the castle a few short while later, Shiro not having landed it as the castle was quite a large landmark and would likely have given away their positions immediately. As Keith stepped off the red Lion, his eyes darted to meet Lance’s ones full of relief, and the paladin fought the urge to head towards the blue pilot, to give physical proof that he’d survived the suicide mission. Instead, the red paladin forced himself to take a seat near the castle’s wall, slowly trying to ground himself as adrenaline still coursed through his body. The trio was immediately bombarded with questions, the group’s curiosity only growing as Keith pulled out the artifact. Though one member stood out from the crowd. Allura stood with her advisor next to her, her lips pursed together tightly, and the paladin thought he saw a flash of rage overtake the Atlean princess for just a second as her glare pierced through the gelatinous blob.

"I'm glad the mission was a success," Allura’s gaze leveled to meet Keith, though it hadn’t escaped him that the princess’ body language showed tell-tale signs of forced calmness, "We began to worry when we failed to re-establish a connection."

They must have cut out any unapproved communication lines," Shiro stepped next to Keith, helmet coming off with a ‘hiss’ and nestled against his side. "Because I tried to contact you guys a couple times, but I didn't get a response."

Pidge stepped up next to Keith as well, her stance a challenge to Allura’s hostility as she mimicked Shiro in taking off his helmet, "We couldn't communicate with each other either. Once me and Shiro found each other, it took us a while to track down Keith, at one point we thought he got snagged by the guards or something." The fear that suddenly shot through Lance did not escape the red paladin’s keen eye.

Allura stepped forward, perhaps willfully unaware of the trio’s protective stance, both hands outstretched in an attempt to appease the sudden tension, "Well I'm glad it all seemed to go well and that you were able to recover the relic," the princess’ arm shifted to move in front of Keith, as she waited expectantly for Keith to hand over the relic, the stiff smile never wavering. But the paladin only flinched, his hand immediately withdrawing to put distance between Allura and the relic.

No. Not hers.

His mind screamed at him. And as much as Keith knew it was a bad idea he took a step back, shielding the relic from Allura's gaze with his body. The stiffening smile the princess gaze froze, her eyes narrowed in on the paladin, irritation plain on her features. "Keith, give me the relic."

"Not until you explain why we risked our lives to get it."

“Number Four, you will hand over the artifact to the princess now!”

"I can explain once you give it to me." Her and Coran’s response only made Keith take another step back, further shielding the relic with his body.

But Shiro interrupted his plans, stepping in and taking the relic out of his hand to place into Allura’s, though not before placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder to ground him, "Sorry, we were ambushed on our way out, so we're a little on edge. You know how Keith is usually after missions."

Allura huffed, but ultimately acquiesced, facial expression truly relaxing this time, blooming into the relaxed smile she usually carried, "Of course, no harm done." She held out the artifact in her left hand, swirling her right around the artifact before the goop slowly floated to the air.

“This was an artifact created by a race of crafters long ago. Back when m-” A lump formed in Allura’s throat, though she pushed through it anyways, “back when father was on the throne, he had heard whispers of an artifact that was meant to be able to strengthen a paladin’s potential, remake a person from their very core into the strongest version of themselves so that they could be at their full potential.” She eyed the blob carefully, though it seemed to show no reaction towards her words, just peacefully floating in the air. She sighed, it seemed its secrets would have to be coaxed out instead.

“He had looked into it a lot in his final days, though before his passing, he only ever managed to uncover which race had made it, and that they were extremely tight-lipped about the purpose of its existence. In exchange for not tying their name into its creation, they gave information to my father of its location, so long as it would never be revealed to anyone. Not even his family.” Allura looked up as she felt a hand on her shoulder, and gave a grateful smile to Coran.

“When the crafters contacted me, they still didn’t reveal its purpose to me, only that they would join our side of the war. I only accepted the request because we were in the area searching for Ulaz as well, and they understand that it will not be returned to them until that search is complete. In the meantime, I hope to decipher its secrets and why my father thought it would help to enhance a paladin’s potential.”

“So when aliens ask us to go on a mission because they’re inventors, you accept. But when I ask to go on a mission to find inventors, I’m always shot down. Why is that, Allura?” Pidge glared, ignoring the indignant squawk from Coran for daring to question the princess’ authority.

Allura sighed, and signaled for Coran to back down, “Pidge, please. I’ve explained to you multiple times why that isn’t a priority on our agenda so far.” While she did sympathize with Pidge, knowing too well the pain of losing family and the terrible grief that came with holding a candle for the thought they might still be alive. Allura didn’t exactly see the value in trying to find Pidge’s family for Voltron, the earthlings had limited knowledge of the way technology had progressed in space, and the chances that Pidge’s family was still alive were slim, especially when they’d been captured by the Galra.

Pidge looked as though she was ready to fight Allura, but suddenly, the fight left the young teen’s body entirely, as Pidge uncharacteristically backed down from the fight, sulking, “Forget it.”

Allura frowned, but then turned towards Coran, sharing a knowing nod with him, before hastily saying some parting words, ducking into their own area.

Keith just huffed and turned, eyes automatically searching for Lance, only to be met with Shiro's when he turned his head. The older man’s gaze held frustration, concern and questions, ones the red paladin found himself unable to answer.

"Are you feeling alright?" Shiro asked, though it was only the first of the thousand questions Keith knew awaited him, so he opted to shrug instead.

"Keith," A warning tone, and the paladin sighed, relaxing his shoulders and nodded.

"Well it doesn't seem like it, why did you go at Allura like that? The whole point of this mission was to get the relic to her." Keith tensed, bracing for Shiro’s scolding. Shiro held nothing back when it came to helping the red paladin, which, perhaps fortunately for him, included both sparring and disciplining. Though he'd gotten used to it over the years, what with Shiro having been with the red paladin through his troubled years, sometimes literally, Keith still winced at the tone the leader had used.

"I just wanted to know what the relic was about, we barely made it out back there for what basically amounted to food goo. Like Pidge said, it doesn’t even look relic-y."

It was Shiro's turn to sigh as he pinched his nose, "Allura has said enough to let us know at least why it’s significant to the war effort, all that matters is that it's something that she deems important."

Keith felt defeat seep into his bones, shoulders falling as his muscles released its tension. Shiro was right. This war had been going on for 10000 years, and though Allura had been frozen in time for its majority, the princess’ own knowledge of the war alone far outweighed all of the paladins’ combined. Under normal circumstances, there’s no one Keith would trust more to evaluate what this relic was, and try to see if it could be used to Voltron’s advantage.

Shiro gave a relieved smile as the fight in Keith fizzled out, the boy really did push himself in battle too often, and usually needed external reminders of when it was safe. Placing a hand on Keith's shoulder, Shiro gently pushed the paladin forward, "Go unwind in your room, take a shower or something. Get some rest before dinner, and you can ask Allura after dinner."

Keith kept silent, his head nodding stiffly, simply a soldier receiving an order from the commander, as he allowed his mind to shut down, emptying his head of all but the order, or tried to, at least. Walking past Lance, the paladin felt his finger reach out, wanting to be held, but his body was well-trained for taking orders now, and though Hunk and Lance still had a thousand questions for him, he marched on to his room.

Rest, right, all he needed was to clean up and rest. The tugging in his chest would fade away the less he minded it.

-

Keith stood in the middle of his room, his mind torn in multiple directions still after twenty minutes. The call of the relic had not eased, not even after using any and all logic in his brain to reason the want away. The argument always came back to: but it is mine. The Voltron team encountered Galran artifacts on their missions often, so other than the raised stakes, this infiltration shouldn’t have been any different than any others. Why was the damned goop so important? Why hadn’t Allura explained, well, anything before the mission? And why had it called out to him, not just by his title, but by his name? Why had it urged him not to surrender it to the princess? Keith growled, irritation and annoyance threatening to overtake him. But he was quicker, pressing the button and hearing his helmet release with a familiar ‘hiss’.

Keith breathed deeply, letting the fresh air of the castle fill his lungs, before allowing it to drag the tension out of his body. Pale hand running through black hair, a familiar motion. Five. Astragalus, apricot bonsai, star chart, jacket, and the book he’d read so many times the spine needed to be redone. Four. Leathery gloves, starchy bedsheets, soft fuzz on the collar of his jacket, and cooled metal of the castle. Three. Low humming as the castle’s engine came to life, footsteps on the hard floor as he paced around, and scratching from the pin of Shiro’s record player. Two. Aroma from the coffee he’d brought into the room from breakfast, beginnings of blossoms from the osmanthus flowers he’d planted a month ago. And, Keith licked at his lips, the sugary sweetness of Lance’s tea he’d stolen a sip of when the blue pilot wasn’t paying attention during breakfast.

The paladin’s eyes fluttered closed as he felt his brain reboot. Right, a shower and sleep. His chance for questions would come later, but for now he needed to stand down.

Keith stripped out his armor and suit, throwing it carelessly on the floor somewhere, for right now there were more important things than making sure his suit hung just right on the door. The paladin dragged his body into the bathroom, performing a now regular assessment in the mirror. His eyes were tired, making Keith wonder if he’d picked up a disease that affected humans a few planets ago, the whites of his eyes now beige, and the usual grays in his pupil now a silvery mauve. The tips of his ears poked out despite his mop of hair, but the red paladin dared not investigate closer.

Wait, had he gotten hit? Peering closer into the mirror, Keith’s face paled immediately as he found something that was mirroring his scar on the right. A sickeningly familiar triangle in purple. Though pressing his fingers against it, the mimic felt no different than normal skin, if a little smoother, and tracing it with his fingers the paladin came quickly to the realization that the imposter crept down his neck, dipping into his back. The purple was barely darker than that of his pale skin, making it seem as though his skin had only been tinted purple in certain areas, a cool shade of lavender wrapping around his skin. But whatever the mimic was, it was no scar. Keith blinked, shook his head and stared into the mirror once more. Was he hallucinating now? Surely the mission hadn't affected him that much, and Keith didn’t remember getting hit with any hallucinogens or strange gasses.

Keith sighed, there was no point in dwelling on these things. Shaking his head, the pale boy pulled away from the mirror, turning on his shower. Though the pressure had made him jump a little at first, it felt amazing to be under the warmth of running water. Keith stood under the showerhead, letting water rain on him and seep into his skin, bringing with it cleanliness and purity. It was only a few minutes later that the paladin finally started to clean up, lathering soap onto his body, but hands freezing once eyes focused on his chest. Well, that definitely wasn't a hallucination.

Tendrils traced the bones of his ribcage, having emanated from his back. Smaller yet were the ends of the tendrils, joined together in a spidery tangle, intertwined and intermingled as they raced down his sternum, branching off on his stomach, starts of branches that followed his nerves, outlining the nervous system below his skin. Shaky hands pressed against purple, desperately searching for a different pulse, a hope that this was some foreign creature having latched onto him, that he was being manipulated rather than transformed. But hope was a fickle maiden, and it had deserted him today, as even in the thickest parts of the purple on his chest Keith could only feel the pulse that matched his own, frantic, beating heart.

Keith was grateful for the privacy the shower curtains provided him, a refuge between him and the rest of the world. Angling his body, the red (purple?) paladin risked a glance towards the mirror, trying to inspect his back. Curiosity killed the cat, and though Keith usually scoffed at the statement, inserting a snarky remark about its missing second passage, the old saying proved through this time. The marking on his cheek broadened as it reached his back, nearly covering his shoulder blades. It seemed his front had only been the tip of the iceberg when it came to the paladin’s markings, as his back was now nearly engulfed in purple. Most of it had followed the lines and contours of his muscles, but occasionally some allowed a strip of normal skin to cut through them, as though he’d be torn apart alive, and the shreds of skin were where he’d been barely sewn back together, held together by literal threads. It didn’t take much for the paladin to connect the dots. The swathes of purple had matched where he had been torn apart, seam from seam at the hands of the relic, proof that he hadn’t dreamt the pain afterall.

But if it had been the relic, why didn’t his clothes retain any evidence of what had happened? Was it going to wear off? And how in the world was a tiny, glowing blob at the center of all this?

As much as Keith knew and acknowledged that it was the right decision, he couldn’t stop the flash of irritation in his mind against Shiro. If only his brother hadn’t stopped him from asking questions, from getting desperately needed answers, maybe now he’d have less questions for Allura.

Shower now finished, Keith changed into a set of long-sleeved clothing he kept around for when the castle mimicked winter, feeling much more secure now that the bulk of the changes were no longer visible to the wandering eye. The rest he could try to hide with his hair or by avoiding eye contact. It was certainly a better alternative than allowing Pidge’s poking and prodding for an answer he knew didn’t exist, or at least, didn’t exist if neither Allura nor Coran offered it. The red paladin knew avoidance was by no means a long-term solution, but it could at least buy him enough time to until he was ready to share it with the rest of the group, answers in hand.

Sinking into his bed, Keith tried to let the fatigue overtake him, hoping that sleep would provide some clarity to his situation, and ignored his brain screaming at him to make sure the room was entirely secure before shutting his eyes.

It couldn’t have been more than thirty seconds after he’d laid down that the familiar scent of coconut invaded his nose, causing him to sit up quickly and stare at the door. But not a sound came from the other side, and Keith knew not even a soul could have escaped his detection being so near the door. Had he imagined it then? Or had the person only entered a room nearby, causing his sense to go into overdrive, the way it so often did the past few days. A light knock sounded from his door, shaking the red paladin out of his thoughts. And rather than tensing as his body so often did whenever one of the crew dropped by his room, Keith found himself perking up at the thought of the person behind the door, for there really only could be one outcome.

His mind wanted to open the door immediately, craving proximity to Lance. But the boy hesitated as his arms got ready to push off the bed, doubting if he should open the door or not. He'd been able to cover most of the markings on his body, but the ones on the face were clear as day for anyone who’s known him for more than a day.

But then again, Lance had had first hand experience when it came to his transformation. And whether it had been out of the awkwardness of mentioning the incidents to other people, or because the blue pilot knew that Keith wasn’t yet ready to talk about it, Lance had mercifully kept quiet about all his changes. Swinging his legs onto the floor, the paladin took a deep breath.

Maybe it wouldn't be the worst idea to let Lance in, to have a shoulder he could rely on, even if the shoulder hardly matched his intelligence and fighting prowess. Keith pushed himself to his feet, then froze.

The knocking had ceased. Panic raced through his body, had Lance left? Without thinking he rushed to the door, adding speed once he’d heard it slide open to catch up with the blue pilot, only to crash straight into a body. Keith acted on instinct, arms tightening around the body that smelled so heavily of coconut, that had cushioned him during the fall, and now he laid upon as an arm snaked around his waist.

"Uh, hi?" Lance spoke, struggling not to pull Keith closer to his chest, to calm the anxieties that had been bubbling since the red paladin first left for the suicide mission. He’d been caught by surprise, thinking that Keith must’ve wanted personal space after such an intense mission. The blue pilot had followed after the paladin when Shiro had ordered a break, even if Lance knew better than anyone how much Keith despised people not respecting the need for personal space. Though when he'd gotten to the red paladin’s room, he froze after knocking on the door, metal ringing out in the empty hallway. Why would he be the exception when Keith clearly needed to be alone? So when the door nearly flew open and the paladin crashed into Lance head-first, he was surprised, to say the least. Though his body hadn’t, clearly, arms opening to catch Keith and letting his body cushion the fall as if it was a most natural occurrence. The pilot gently applied pressure as his arms hugged onto Keith, wanting, needing the reminder that his friend had made it back safely from the mission.

"Are you okay?" Keith rarely wore his heart on his sleeve, but Lance could practically taste the unease and panic that came off in droves from the red paladin. The blue pilot had thought that his heart rate had already reached its peak when he’d almost lost control of himself and kissed Keith, but Lance clearly underestimated his heart, the beating having far surpassed that limit long ago as he realized Keith’s face was rubbing his… neck? Holy shit Keith was hugging and nuzzling into him. Color spread across his face, painting the tips of his ears as he tried to fight the dumb grin that threatened to make its way onto his lips. Had Keith hit his head during the mission? Had the Keith he knew been switched out for a clone somehow? That was the only reason why Keith, Keith, whose love of personal space was well-documented, perhaps even more so than anything else in the world, was nuzzling into him. But even as the possibility of an imposter flashed through his mind, the pilot held onto Keith tighter, if only to keep the warmth of the embrace a little longer, let the fantasy linger a little more.

"Lance," Keith pressed his nose against the part of Lance’s neck where the scent was strongest, rubbing against it so the sweetness might drown out all his fears and anxieties. It was only once he was hugging Lance that the red paladin felt his mind and body truly relax, the final bits of tension from the battle finally releasing, his brain no longer working in overdrive and constantly analyzing every corner of the room. Keith closed his eyes, greedily breathing in the scent he'd come to enjoy and letting the coolness of Lance’s body wrap around him. He felt the pilot’s chest rumble as words floated into the air, but that only made the red paladin sigh, pulling himself closer. One of Lance’s hands cupped the back of Keith’s head, and the paladin pushed as much as he against the cool hand without moving away from the pilot’s neck, the fuzz deepening in his brain. Lance must’ve lifted both of them off the floor at some point as Keith heard the door slide shut, somewhere in the back of his mind registering the ‘click!’ of the lock activating, but in the moment the paladin couldn’t have cared less if the whole team gawked from beyond his door, so long as the distance between him and Lance never changed. Keith felt himself being lifted, before being carefully placed on his bed.

Lance was struggling to keep his cool, Keith was pushed up against him the same way all his fantasies started, though the reality had a lot more affection and a lot less knives. The blue pilot stared into Keith’s eyes, as their faces separated slightly while he had placed Keith onto the bed. Fuck. Half-lidded eyes stared back into him, pupils the size of a moon and perfectly plump lips proffered for being plucked by his own. The paladin looked like a work of art, and if he didn’t know any better, Lance would say that this was Keith trying to proposition him. The swordsman’s face was illuminated by the warm glow on the cheeks, pink against black. A contrast too intense for many but Lance wasn’t the type to back down from a challenge. Black tufts of hair framed the sharp jawline and sharp cheekbones the pilot dreamt of kissing to state his claim, along the markings on his face- wait. Markings? Blinking a couple of times, Lance leaned in to investigate, not noticing the way Keith mirrored his movement, leaving their faces but a breath’s width apart. "Keith.." he reached out without thinking, gently brushing his fingers against the one of the markings on Keith's cheeks, "What happened to your face?"

Keith only hummed in response, nuzzling his face into Lance’s hand on his face, pressing his lips against the racing pulse on the blue pilot’s wrist. More, his mind demanded, but Keith hesitated. More? How? He was about as close as he could be to Lance without pressing his face against- Ohhhhhhhhhhh.

Keith pressed his face forward without a second thought, wanting to close the gap as soon as possible, but Lance’s hand stopped him, “Wait, Keith-” The paladin surged forward again, needing his face to make contact with the pilot’s, “Keith-” Stopped again. And Keith whined, not understanding why he was being stopped.

Keith had to be trying to kill him.

That was the only explanation to why the paladin had whined, whined when Lance refused to let him close the distance. It didn’t help that blood in his body wasn’t exactly in his brain at the moment, and he was this close to just saying ‘fuck it’ to his own morals so that he could think with his lower half instead. But Keith was clearly not in the right state of mind. The paladin had been too tense for his own good after the mission, and now with the markings on his face? Keith had clearly been hit by something unknown during the mission, which was the only obvious reason that the paladin was acting this way. Clearly, the two were long overdue for a talk, if only Keith did want to talk at this point instead being a pliant body underneath him. Fuck.

“Keith, look at me.” Lance held Keith’s face in his hands, feeling as though he was holding his whole world, his whole reason for being. The paladin had responded to his voice, glazed eyes slowly drifting up to meet ones clouded with barely any less lust. Wait. Since when did Keith’s eyes have purple in them? The paladin’s eyes have always been his favorite shade of silver since they met, a fact that annoyed the pilot to no end, especially during their school days.

The blood slowly returned to Lance’s brain, though it clearly didn’t for Keith, the paladin writhing and trying to get closer to him constantly. Lance knew that the raven-haired man in front of him was not going to settle down until they got what they wanted, a fact that made the pilot almost smile despite the situation. Even drugged, Keith was persistent as ever, even if it proved to be a pain in Lance’s ass right now, as it did most days.

Screw it. In moments like this it was easier to give Keith what he wanted rather than trying to reason with him.

Lance took a deep breath, and pressed his face against Keith, lips ghosting the corner of his mouth. It was the closest he allowed himself to get to an actual kiss, at least until the paladin recovered from whatever the hell was causing this sudden surge of affection. The blue pilot’s heart was about to burst out of his chest, not moving his lips millimeters in order to meet Keith’s was taking everything in him, and for once he was glad for the exercises he’d done recently to control his impulses, especially around the paladin. He could feel the way Keith tensed under him, and for a moment Lance wondered if he’d read the situation completely wrong, if Keith had needed something else from him instead, until the paladin had relaxed and pressed his own lips back against Lance’s face. The pilot breathed out a silent sigh of relief, and forced himself to pull back.

This kiss seemed to have snapped Keith out of whatever haze he was in, as the paladin blinked away the glaze in those silvery eyes, now having deepened into an amethyst.

Keith took a deep breath, feeling the fog in his mind clear, and nearly jumping when he saw Lance mere inches away from his face, “Lance!?”

The concern in the blue pilot’s eyes gave way to panic as Lance backed away immediately. Keith’s body tensed, curling his fingers into a fist to refrain from stopping the frantic scramble of escape Lance was doing to get away from him and pulling the blue pilot closer, much closer than they’d been previously. He looked around, surprised to find himself on the bed again, the same position he had been in when he’d hesitated on whether or not to open the door for the pilot. What exactly had happened after that moment?

“Lance?” Keith called out again, his voice scared and hesitant. Lance’s heart sank. He knew it. He fucking knew that Keith had been under the influence of something and he had still gotten his hopes up. What had he expected when he kissed Keith, exactly? That the paladin would’ve snapped out of it, but returned his kiss still? Like he had during truth or dare? Keith’s body language told the pilot everything he needed to know. He’d been shut out once more.

No, this was not the moment to mope. The whole reason that he’d kissed Keith was to get answers out of him. Lance had kept quiet about the changes to the paladin’s ear, knowing how much Keith valued privacy and hated needless poking and prodding. But it hadn’t stopped the pilot from worrying once he’d gotten a chance to clear his head since the training room. A thousand different possibilities rushed into his mind. Had Keith gotten sick somehow? A type of disease that affected a person’s muscle development maybe, especially if the sudden muscle growth on the palain’s arm was taken into account. Maybe he’d gotten bit somehow, and had been transforming into an Altean. What would the changes mean for him and his rivalry? The pilot could hardly sustain the hatred for his nemesis if the man was quarantined away on some planet, every inch on the body to be analyzed by scientists. As scary as the answer may be, it was clear that the duo were overdue for a talk.

“What’s happening to you?”

Please. Tell me. Tell me anything, a lie, a truth, a tale. Tell me something so I can stop driving myself insane thinking that you’ll suddenly die somewhere I’ll never run fast enough to reach.

He noticed.

A breath caught in Keith’s throat, and he forced away the urge to run, to disappear somewhere in the vast cosmos and avoid answering that question. How could he possibly give an answer? I’m turning into a monster, he wanted to say. I’m turning into something unrecognizable and that terrifies me. I’m turning into a freak of both science and nature, and the worst part is that I don’t even know how any of this started. How would Lance react? Would he recoil in fear, the way Keith now did whenever he caught a glimpse of himself in reflections? Would he run for the hills, the way he should have when he had discovered the paladin’s malformed ears? Or would he scream, because his crewmate, his friend, was turning into an unspeakable horror that neither of them were able to comprehend?

Sometimes, silence was a better answer than any truth.

"What are you doing here, Lance?"

Leave, Keith’s mind screamed at Lance, leave and run as far as you can before I lose control, leave me behind on the frozen planet so I may freeze and die painlessly, for the small chance the hallucinations I’ll get from the hypothermia can be a final comfort.

No, you have no right. You have no right to let me into your arms, to intrude my mind so callously and now refuse to take responsibility.

Lance’s mind screamed a thousand different suggestions, but they might as well have been murmurs when the only thing the blue pilot felt was the way his heart was being hollowed out piece by piece. No air reached his lungs once more in Keith’s room, only this time there was no euphoria, no fluttering of butterflies in his stomach, only cold, frozen rejection.

Not for the first time around Keith, Lance found himself at a loss for words. What could he say? He’d come here thinking that perhaps Keith would make an exception for him when the paladin needed to be shut off from the world, and though he’d brushed off the doubts initially, Lance had ultimately been right. No matter what his relationship was to Keith, he would never be an exception.

"I- I don’t know,” Maybe the truth was the solution here, some honesty from one in return for authenticity from another. "You seemed, off, when you got back."

"I'm fine." Keith snapped, though he’d winced immediately after. Lance was hardly to blame for the current situation the paladin found himself in. The pilot hadn’t told Keith to put his hands on the artifact, to start transforming into some unspeakable horror. The paladin didn’t know what to do. He needed Lance gone, as far away as possible, so that he’d never have to explain why a purple corruption was spreading on his skin. He needed Lance, close, much closer than when he’d woken up from the haze, to soothe the aches that plagued him ever since that morning when he stared into the mirror and found flecks of gold in his eye. He- he didn’t know what he needed, but it was certainly not this. He had to, had to push Lance away the only way Keith knew how, had to watch the all-too-familiar mask of indifference sliding over the pilot’s face like it did whenever Lance needed to distance himself from the world. What more could he do? No one had ever taught him how to react in a situation like this, how to handle someone whose scent made his instincts go feral, his mind into mush and the only thing he wanted to do around the person was be so close to them that separation was a thing of fiction, "It's like Shiro said, we got ambushed on a suicide mission, so excuse me if I'm a little on edge."

Bull-fucking-shit, Lance nearly yelled, if you were really ambushed you’d have thrown me out or thrown a weapon at me the moment I came near your door. It’s not like you’ve not done it before. It wasn’t the first time that Lance had followed after Keith after a particularly tense mission, but it certainly was the first time he’d been able to reach the door, and the first time Keith had come to him for affection, even if it was under some sort of influence. The blue pilot hadn’t been blind to the way the red paladin had flinched after snapping words at him, however. Keith had always needed down time after missions, especially after tense ones, and maybe that was for the best, considering where trying to change the habit had gotten him. Lance turned around dejectedly, thinking that perhaps it was for the best that Keith was left alone after missions, that he shouldn’t have come here at all.

Though it took him a second, Keith counted his lucky stars that he hadn’t been brooding after his blunder, or he wouldn’t have caught onto Lance’s body language signaling that the pilot was about to walk out.

NO!

The paladin’s hand reacted before he did, shooting out to grasp onto Lance’s wrist, clinging on to the only source of comfort he’d had the past weeks.

“Wait!” Words fell out of his lips before Keith had a chance to process them, “Stay.” Wait, was that too demanding? He was in no position to demand anything from Lance after what he’d just said, “Please.”

Lance’s eyes widened only for a second, before narrowing in on the paladin. And he looked away guiltily, knowing he was to blame. Keith heard the pilot sigh, “Give me a reason, Lai. Give me a reason why I shouldn’t walk out right now.”

The red paladin flinched. Okay, he’d deserved that. Even Keith himself barely understood why he was being so indecisive about whether he wanted Lance there or not. But if the truth was the price he had to pay for Lance to stay, it was a toll he’d pay without a second thought. Though only if the pilot stayed. “You have to promise not to freak out.”

Lance stared long and hard at Keith, trying to discern the truth in the paladin’s words. If the request had been entirely unreasonable, the pilot had no qualms about shaking off Keith’s grip. But something in the paladin’s voice told him that that was the truth, that whatever was happening to Keith terrified the raven-haired man.

“Show me.”

Kieth’s hand pulled off his shirt without a second thought, clenching his eyes closed as the paladin awaited inevitable rejection.

This was… Lance truly had no words on how to describe the visage in front of him. Keith’s body was bathed in purple, stripes highlighting the contours of his chest well-enough that Lance had to tear his gaze away, and the ends of which started to flower into its own complex webbing, giving the areas it covered the appearance of a newlywed bride in lace. The blue pilot held his breath as he circled around Keith, eyes never once leaving his body. The paladin’s back was even more of a sight to behold. It was almost entirely dominated by the purple, which clung to the grooves and curves of the back muscles, and Lance found it hard not to be jealous of Keith’s physique. The pilot could swear that he worked out just as much as the paladin, so why didn’t his back look like that? Keith’s usual pale skin was a rare sight, instead playing contrast to the lavender that painted onto his body, twisting and turning through the contours of the mans’ body, reminding Lance of a tree branch that slowly gained more and more off-shoots, the marker of organic and human life. His feet circled Lance back in front of Keith, his expression softening as he saw the way the paladin braced for rejection. How could he ever, when Keith looked like he’d been carved from marble, no, some otherworldly stone sent by the divines at the hands of the artists of the old world.

Keith felt a gentle touch on his arm, and the paladin’s glance shot upward, searching but never finding even a hint of disgust on Lance’s face, only… admiration? Keith shook his head, now was not the time to judge the blue pilot’s reactions to him, Lance had been promised answers, and Keith would be damned if he didn’t fulfill it. “The artifact,” he croaked, voice tense, “it must’ve sped up… whatever else was going on in my body.”

“Do you know what it is at least?”

Keith shook his head.

Lance let out a sigh of frustration. Well, at least they knew this was related to the transformations that had started nearly a month ago now, and even if it seemed to have been sped up by the artifact, it at least wasn’t immediately life threatening. Keith showed no signs of his health deteriorating, in fact quite the opposite, as the pilot knew that the red paladin’s training routine had doubled in duration and intensity since the transformations started. Lance met Keith’s eyes, “Promise me you’ll get it looked at soon.” The paladin showed hesitation, and the brunette’s lips pursed, though added, “once you’re comfortable telling the rest of them.”

Keith accepted the compromise and nodded, suddenly noticing the fatigue that now felt much stronger than it had moments ago, before he’d opened the door for Lance. The paladin tried to stifle it, but he must’ve been exhausted if the yawn that spread through his entire body was any sort of sign at all. Amethyst met sapphire, now crinkled with amusement, and Keith could feel warmth spreading across his face.

“You should get some rest.”

“I know.” Blue eyes glanced down at where their hands joined.

“You should let me go?”

A growl sounded from Keith, surprising the both of them. The red paladin’s face turned crimson, but Lance only responded with laughter, the tension from their spat earlier leaving the blue pilot’s body as laughter, genuine laughter, echoed in the room. Keith’s eyes were unable to meet Lance’s still, but his fingers tightened around the arm it held on to.

Lance finally managed to stop laughing for a moment, sapphire met amethyst, and flushed, “I- uh, I’ll go get my book.”

Keith suppressed the noise that threatened to escape from the back of his throat as Lance darted out of the room, but the blue pilot held true to his word, neither’s gaze meeting each other as Lance returned, looking around awkwardly for a moment before settling at the foot of Keith’s bed, legs pressed up against each other through the thin barrier of the blanket. The paladin laid back onto his bed, his eyes locked onto the pilot searching for hesitation or rejection, but Lance showed none. Apparently, that was all Keith needed, as sleep came to him easily once his eyes fluttered shut, Lance’s gentle smile burned into his mind.

And Lance? Well, the blue pilot wished he’d been able to focus on the book, but its contents, added with the feeling of Keith's leg pressing his own, offered no help in calming the pilot’s imagination. And Lance sighed, knowing this was going to be a long evening for the both of them.

-

Keith shot up as a hand lay on him in his sleep, his body working on auto-pilot. It wasn’t until he blinked the bleariness in his eyes away that they refocused in front of him, revealing Lance’s shocked expression at the speed with which the soldier had woken up. Keith took a deep breath, allowing the coconut scent to melt away the tension in his body, as a way to let himself relax and as a reminder that he was no longer in the garrison, that the same threats were no longer present. His eyes refocused onto the blue pilot’s face, and let out a smile despite himself. Yes, he was safe. As long as he had his friend, no harm could come to him.

On the other hand, Keith had nearly made Lance drop his book when the paladin shot up with no warning after the blue pilot had wanted to head to dinner. His eyes dropped down to what the blanket revealed, with Keith having gone to sleep before putting a shirt on, and Lance was reminded of exactly why he was so shy about staring at Keith’s body. Truly, the pilot wondered if Keith had made a deal with the old gods to be designed by their hands, for the paladin had toned muscles without being overly muscular, evidence of a rigorous training regiment and years of having kept it up. Lance’s eyes trailed upwards, his breath catching and ears reaching a fever pitch as the purple seemed to have spread, and where the discolouration had been only a burgeoning start of some lacework before, it now seemed downright erotic, reminding Lance of a set of bridal lingerie he’d seen once while jokingly perusing the adult sections of the market with Hunk when they’d both been merely boys. The pilot hadn’t seen the appeal in the complicated lace and criss-crossing of fabric at that moment in time, but Lance only thought that it was a mark of his youth as now he couldn’t seem to stop imagining Keith in that particular set. The pilot felt his Adam’s apple bob in his throat as he swallowed, making a noise with his throat and forced himself to look away, knowing how self-conscious it made him whenever people stared like that.

Though truth be told, Keith hadn’t noticed where Lance’s gaze had gone, too busy taking a quiet moment to observe the pilot’s own body. The red paladin found some freckling on Lance’s neck he hadn’t noticed before, and privately wondered if the pilot had been spending more time out in the sun, as the skin seemed darker than what he last remembered. Dragging his gaze upward, Keith instead focused on the way Lance’s cheeks was slowly being colored with wine, and reminding the paladin of the leaves on a maple tree the team had spotted on a planet one day whilst flying around, landing to see the phenomenon since the ecosystem on earth had been out of balance by the time even the oldest of the paladins was born. It wasn’t until Lance had cleared his throat that Keith realized what had made the pilot turn away so suddenly.

The corruption had spread, the claws which gripped his ribs thickened, and its tendrils spread further. Keith gasped, and scrambled to get away from Lance, afraid that the wickedness would also take root in his friend if they strayed too close. What had made the purple grow? It had started a month ago, after he’d woken up from an entirely normal day for the Voltron crew, no different from the ones they had every other day while drifting in the vastness of space. The morning after he’d woken up, Allura had ruffled some feathers by suggesting the mission to the crew, but that was hardly out of the ordinary. The princess and her butler often things that were illogical to the rest of the crew, habits or knowledge that only existed 10,000 years ago resurfacing, but for as esoteric the bits of knowledge were, most of the time it served to further their purpose in regards to the war. After that, when had things progress after that? Keith shook his head, suddenly becoming very aware of how close Lance was to himself, and scrambled to put on a shirt and not be half naked in front of the blue pilot. Though a part of his mind piped up that if the red paladin’s body wasn’t as disfigured as it was, maybe it’d be a good thing to stay half-naked around Lance. Nope. Not going down that route. Keith blinked, attempting to drive the thoughts from his mind, and spoke, “Uh, so, what did you wake me up for?”

Holy hell how can a person’s voice after having just woken up be the hottest fucking thing I’ve heard. Lance barely processed Keith’s lips moving and asking him a question, afterall, blood being in his brain hadn’t been a priority for his body since the red paladin shot awake. His mind didn’t process the words, but apparently it did process everything else about the question as he now couldn’t help but imagine it saying the filthiest things and moaning under him-

“Huh?” Great, really smart commentary, totally not obvious at all what you were thinking Lance.

“What did you wake me up for?” Keith had finally managed to chase away the anxieties clouding his mind, resolving to find answers soon, but not right now. Only then did he notice the dumb expression on Lance’s face. The red paladin smiled freely, glad about his spirits finally lifting, and waved a hand in front of the blue pilot’s face, “Uh, hello? Keith to Lance? Anyone in there?”

That seemed to do the trick, as Lance’s brain finally rebooted, and the brunette finally came back from wherever his thoughts had drifted off to. Lance’s eyes met Keith’s, still unused to the purple he was met with instead of the usual silver, but soldiered on, determined to not let his thoughts linger on Keith anymore, “Uh, yeah. Dinner just got called.”

“Shit.” This was bad. If anyone saw him in this state now Keith just knew he’d be subjected to a million questions, and those would only be from Pidge. Shiro, Hunk, Allura and Coran would have another million combined after that.

“Yeah, shit.” Lance’s expression grew dark at the thought of others seeing Keith like this. They’d be in a hurry to go and make sure the red paladin was okay, probably quarantine him for at least a week to make sure there were no other symptoms, somewhere where the blue pilot was unable to have any semblance of privacy if he wanted to be around Keith. Lance looked over the black-haired boy in front of him, careful to not let his thoughts drift too far from the current concern. With a shirt on, the majority of Keith’s changes were hidden away. The purple mercifully hadn’t made its way onto the paladin’s arms yet, but the markings over where the scar had been were much too obvious for either of their liking. Keith because it was a constant reminder that he could no longer hide the fact that his body was changing, and Lance because it was practically asking for the others to investigate it, which would mean Keith had to get shirtless in front of the crew, and show others something meant for his eyes only.

Christ, he really needed to get his act together. Lance had just gotten to a spicy section of the book, and adding the kiss only he would remember sharing with Keith pointed to him needing to excuse himself soon if he didn’t want the rest of Voltron speculating exactly what had gotten him so riled up. But not right now, Keith still needed him, especially since panic seemed to slowly be building behind those purple eyes.

“Keith? Breathe with me here bud, you’ve got this.” Lance’s voice sounded out.

Keith took a deep breath, using the moment to gather his thoughts.

“What if- What if I didn’t turn up, at least not yet?” It wasn’t unheard of for the red paladin to not want to eat with the rest of the crew a few days after missions, afterall. Keith often needed time away from the rest of the group to calm his body down, a compromise he’d struck with Shiro after Lance was threatened with a steak knife one too many times.

“That’s not a terrible idea,” Lance responded, “I should be able to grab some food for you.” He wondered if Hunk would let him get away with eating dinner with Keith again. “We can buy some time for you as well.”

“How long would we be able to hide it? The concealer you grabbed me can only do so much.” While Pidge’s concealer had undoubtedly good coverage, the skin tone was just a smidge off from Keith’s own, and with the marks darkening, there was only so much even the strongest concealer could do.

Lance glanced around the room, eyes eventually landing on the plants that Keith had so meticulously cared for, a lightbulb going off in his head.

“Oh I have an idea.”

Chapter Text

“Dude, what part of testing the waters with Keith did you not understand? Cause the last time I checked, pranking him is a great way of getting him to think you’re annoying!” Hunk exclaimed, exasperated at his friend’s incomprehensible decision, “After all I did to get you two to kiss this is what you do? You're like that boy in elementary school pulling on the pigtails of the girl you like because you don't know how to use your words!"

"Hunk, dude, it's fine," Lance motioned with his hands for Hunk to calm down, "If Keith really was upset do you really think I'd be walking and talking in front of you right now?" Technically he had been this close from spending at least a week in the healing pods when he’d suggested to Keith that they use his plants as a dye, pretending to the rest of the crew that it had been a prank gone wrong. It wasn’t until he had reassured Keith multiple times that the red paladin’s plants would not be harmed in any way that he had the slightest glimmer of hope of walking out of that room with both his legs intact.

Hunk let out a sigh, rubbing at his face, "But, still, wouldn't it have just been easier to have a talk with Keith after the kiss? When you chased after Keith post-mission, like a sad little puppy, I thought you two would have a big talk and figure things out, especially considering how long you guys were in there for. Maybe come out with a few bruises or something that I need to remind you to cover up. What I wasn't expecting to tell you to cover up was a temporary tattoo."

Lance's face flushed for a moment at Hunk's words, if that's what Hunk had thought, what had been going through the others minds? But, well, at least Hunk wasn’t entirely wrong, they did have a talk, just that neither of them could possibly have predicted the direction it took in the end, "Hey, first off, you know that he only kissed me cuz he’s a competitive asshole that’s always trying to one-up me. Plus, at least he's symmetrical now, right?"

Hunk dragged his hand up his face and through his hair, "Say what you will Lance, but I don't think any of us expected you guys to basically make out in front of all of us. It looked like you guys have been dying to suck each other’s faces off in a crowded room multiple times now."

"Well, maybe not multiple, but at least one other time. Remember that party at the Garrison when I kissed a guy?"

The way Hunk went rigid and slowly turned to face Lance had the blue paladin scooting away a little bit. Hunk spoke, his voice low and dangerous, "Excuse me?"

The cook grabbed at Lance's shoulders and pulled him close, so close that their foreheads touched and Hunk was staring directly into the smaller man’s eyes, "Do you know how long I had to suffer in that memory alone?" He shook Lance gently with every syllable, driving the point home, "For years I had to pretend that you didn’t have a three hour breakdown when we got back to our dorm and watch you deny it ever happening. And now you're telling me that you do, in fact, remember kissing the man you then proceeded to declare as your rival for years?" Hunk's eyes squinted as he leaned in more, causing Lance's back to bend so Hunk was just slightly above him, "Do you understand how hard it has been to keep this inside me and now you’re telling me you knew the whole time!?”

“I’m sorry!” Lance laughed, equal parts amused at his friend’s very justified anger and embarrassed as he remembered the freak out he’d had after having his first kiss, with a boy no less, and liking it.

“In my defense, that night might as well have been a dream for me too, I only remember that they were a boy, had black hair and the prettiest eyes I’d ever seen.” Lance flushed, who knew that the statement would still hold true so many years later? The mullet that drove him insane because how the hell did Keith fight so well with hair in his eyes basically the whole time, and the prettiest shade of gray that had been a staple in dreams since he hit puberty and understood what desire was.

His memory of that night wasn’t much better than Keith’s, much of the night already having passed in a blur as he made his rounds to flirt with the girls at the party to make an attempt at popularity. He remembered joining the game of spin the bottle started by one of the hosts, a strange sense of anticipation in his stomach as he spotted a gorgeous raven haired boy in the circle as well, praying when it came to his turn that any latent telekinetic abilities to manifest now so that the bottle would land on the boy he knew would haunt his thoughts for years to come. When the boy’s eyes widened as they looked up, pretty rings of silver illuminated by the dim lights of the party, regardless of how young he’d been, Lance knew even then that he’d never be able to forget those eyes.

He was sure that in the moment, the party goers had exploded in chatters, a boy kissing a boy? Even if the game was spin the bottle, it was almost unheard of that guys would go through with it, much less so if they were essentially strangers with each other. But honestly, Lance couldn’t recall anything specific that the people around him had said, because his mind and heart had already been stolen away by the mysterious boys that sat near him, eyes bright but confused. He didn’t remember who made the first move, only that the two boys were suddenly kissing after a short exchange of hellos.

He remembered the world bursting into color, and thinking to himself that he finally understood why grown ups kissed all the time if this is what kissing felt like. The cheek kisses he’d shared with family and a select few friends had nothing on the way his heart overfilled with joy, like his string of fate had been intertwined with Keith’s by whatever cosmic powers that answered Lance’s earlier prayers right then and there.

This kiss had been short lived, after all, it was both of their first kiss, and neither of them knew remotely enough about kissing to understand what was happening, only the longing gazes they’d shared after pulling apart. Lance doesn’t remember much of what happened directly after, only that after the euphoria had faded, reality had stepped in. Sentences spoken during the pastors’ sermons, of the neighbors’ looks of disapproval when rumor spread about Veronica having kissed a girl, the fear he’d always felt looking up at the stained glass of Virgin Mary like it’d come to life and smite him for having stepped foot in the church. Which in turn had led to the three hour freak out in their dorm once he and Hunk had gotten back from the party, which was him trying to rationalize what just happened as a one off incident and trying not to admit out loud just how good and right and perfect his first kiss had been.

“Uh, hello? Lover boy?” Speaking of Hunk, the yellow paladin was waving his hand in front of the brunette’s face, “Seriously, will you stop zoning out on me every time we talk about Keith? It’s like you go into a flashback sequence or something I swear.”

“Uh, excuse you, those are clearly called character development moments, because I’m clearly the awesome main character that everyone knows everything about cuz I’m the center of the show.”

“You sure you’re not the comic relief character based on how Keith is making you act like a total FOOL.”

“Ohhhhhh nice one Hunk!” Pidge popped in suddenly, causing Lance to nearly jump out his skin.

“Jesus Pidge, where did you come from?” He questioned. Seriously, how did Pidge keep sneaking up on him so much? And why was it whenever Keith was involved?

“Dude, I’ve been here since you zoned out.” Pidge vaulted over the sofa, landing comfortably between the two boys, “You’re just dumb whenever Keith is involved.”

“Am not!”

“Then explain why the purple marks I found on Keith are on his face as stripes instead of his neck?”

“Okay, okay. Can we stop talking about Keith for a second? Jeez. I wanted to hang out with you guys, and as much as I would love to talk about me the whole time,” Lance held back a snort at Hunk and Pidge’s expressions of annoyance and disbelief, “I wanna know about how you guys are doing as well.”

“I mean, I’ve pretty much been the same. I’ve been bugging Shiro and asking Allura if we could maybe go to a planet that’s dedicated to trading food sources and what not. I think it’s time we had a switch up in the menu.”

“Ooh! I’ll have to nag Shiro about that then, if that’s the case.” Pidge’s eyes brightened at the thought of new food from Hunk, and Lance found himself agreeing, “Seriously, ever since you mentioned Pani Popo during truth or dare I’ve been having a craving.”

Hunk blushed, and scratched the back of his head, “Well I don’t know about that. The ingredients for the bread are easy enough to find, but it’s not like we could just buy a cow in space.”

“Eh, who knows?” Lance chimed in, “We managed to find mermaids of all things, who’s to say there isn’t like a space mall or something we can go to find raw ingredients?”

“Well, if there is one, Allura and Coran will figure it out, however outdated their information might be,” Hunk grumbled at the end, remembering the times the Altean pair swore that there were traders and markets on a planet, only for them to realize it had either been taken over or developed in a different direction completely.

“If we do manage to find a space mall, I might see if I can find the materials to build a tracker.” Pidge added quietly, and the two boys fell silent.

They hadn’t forgotten why Pidge had risked her life to sneak into the Garrison in the first place, why Pidge had been made to conceal their identity for a good chunk of the first years the group spent together. But between the Galra and the corrupted wormhole jump and everything that came with getting thrown into space, the mission of finding Pidge’s family had been getting pushed further and further back in time. Lance took a glance at Pidge, who was looking at him and Hunk defensively, as if she’d expected pushback on the comment. The blue pilot tried not to let guilt consume him. Just how many times had they dismissed Pidge’s concerns, their efforts to go find their family, in the name of a mission that was more important? How many times did they simply accept the fact that finding Pidge’s family couldn’t possibly fit into their list of priority missions, that not even a single morning could be dedicated to it? He could barely lie to himself to say that it had been done in the name of “the greater good” when Pidge was so clearly affected by it, and from the stories she’d shared, their family would be a great asset to the team. He wrapped an arm around Pidge, pulling the young teen into a hug, and rubbed his hand reassuringly on their arm. His heart squeezed as he felt Pidge curl into him.

“We’ll find them, I promise.”

Pidge sniffled, though still refusing to cy, “When?” They’d had enough of false hope and promises. The only reason why she’d gone on this dumb adventure in the first place was to see if she could find any traces of Matt and Dad. They had promised her, over and over again, that they would get to finding her dad and brother, once a mission had been dealt with. But years had passed at this point, the hope of finding their family again was slowly beginning to dwindle, “When, Lance? When will there not be another mission that’s more important? When will it be ‘a priority on our agenda’?”

Lance was speechless, and glanced at Hunk, who was much the same. None of them had even tried to speak up for Pidge when Allura shot them down once again after the mission, even when Pidge raised a very valid point. And neither of them were close enough to Shiro or Coran or Allura to be able to sway them into making their next mission tracking down Pidge’s brother, especially when trying to track down the slippery bastard that was Ulaz took up the majority of their time.

Maybe, honesty was the best policy here.

“I don’t know,” Lance spoke softly, shifting to accommodate Hunk who wanted to get in on the hug as well, “I don’t know, Pidge. I’m sorry.”

Hunk wrapped his arms around both of them, his body easily engulfing Lance and Pidge in his warmth, “But you have us for now.”

And Pidge cried.

Cried because Voltron was useless, their Lion being of no help to their efforts. Because Shiro and Allura and Coran all refused to do anything. Because Lance and Hunk couldn’t change anything. Cried because she was scared, she was so scared, that she she would be too late, always one step behind Matt until she caught up only because he no longer ran, that they would head back to Earth and be alone, having abandoned her grieving mother to chase after the ghosts of her father and brother, that she would have to watch on in the distance as Lance and Hunk and Shiro reunite with their families.

-

Shiro was attempting to bond with the Black Lion, hoping to clear his mind in the process. Something had been making Shiro be on edge recently, at least, more so than usual. The leader of Voltron, who was usually so calm and collected, found himself fairly jumpy these past few days, especially since having come back from the mission, where he’d had the misfortune of hearing the voices of one of the guards from the days he’d been captured by the Galra. He’d brushed it off as just it being a bad week though, it wasn’t as if anything on the ship was a known trigger for him. He was just on edge because of the mission. Yeah.

Taking a deep breath, Shiro closed his eyes once more, attempting to clear his mind as he sat in the cockpit of the Black Lion, hoping that being at the one place he’d be able to defend himself no matter what would be able to calm his nerves.

Breathe, Shiro.

You’re okay. You’re safe here, with me.

Adam’s familiar words rang through his mind, as Shiro attempted to relax and focus on the present. The leather of the pilot’s chair, the faint purr of the Black Lion in the background, the blue tinted light which filtered in from the Lion’s eyes. His fiance’s words were a comfort to him in times like this, where he could pretend that he hadn’t gotten stuck on the other side of the galaxy without having made up with the love of his life, that he’d open his eyes and be back home, in their bed, Adam’s unfocused eyes before him as his lover looked for his glasses, though not before a morning kiss.

The echo of footsteps which walked out of sync with the rhythm Shiro heard in his mind roused the pilot from his daydream, and he sighed, knowing that one of the team had likely come to find him again. He loved those kids to death, he really did, but Shiro swore sometimes that they’d manage to find a way to either bicker so much so that Voltron fell apart, or let their own worries and anxieties fester until it became a ticking time bomb instead, and the responsibility of picking up the pieces ultimately landed on him. Hearing the ‘hiss’ of the cockpit, Shiro climbed out the Black Lion and turned around to greet whichever one of the paladins needed his guidance this time.

Only, he froze.

Galran.

How had a Galran gotten onto the ship without any of them noticing? Was the rest of the crew okay? Had they been completely infiltrated? Maybe they managed to find a way around the castle’s defenses somehow and-

“Shiro?”

Keith. Keith? Why did Keith sound scared? Had the Galra gotten to him someh-

Oh.

Oh.

Keith was terrified as Shiro’s eyes refocused onto him. Why had Shiro frozen up? Did he know something about the transformations? Was he truly turning into such a monster that even his own brother was terrified of him? Maybe it was a bad idea to come to Shiro. The red paladin had been two seconds away from turning around and running away, when he finally heard Shiro speak.

“Keith.” Shiro’s voice was strong and steady, only the slightest tiredness betrayed the warzone that had been the older man’s mind earlier. Keith let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. He hadn’t scared Shiro, instead likely just surprised the older man just now, which was what triggered the thousand yard stare. While Shiro and Adam had tried to shield him from the worst of it, having lived under their care for as long as he did, Keith had come to understand the consequences of war much earlier than the rest of his classmates at the Garrison did. A slightly raised tone, an accidental drop of cutlery, or even just a small misstep in conversation had been enough to send Shiro and Adam into a spiral at times. The pale boy had a vivid memory of when he’d accidentally dropped a plate and cut himself when he was younger once, and had tried to ignore the pain at first, but eventually burst out crying as the china digging into his palm hurt with every slight movement he’d made with his hand. Adam had rushed to come look for him then, but he had caught a glimpse of Shiro standing frozen in the middle of the living room, trying to calm down from what the traumatized brain had thought was a frag grenade going off.

At least, that’s why Shiro had frozen up, right?

“Keith,” Shiro’s voice sounded once more, now much calmer than it had been earlier, and Keith looked up at his brother, who greeted him with open arms, “Come here kid.”

Keith rushed forward without another moment of doubt, burying himself into the larger man’s hug and clinging on tightly. Afterall, given the rate at which his transformation was progressing, who knew if he’d even have the chance to hug Shiro again?

Shiro gave a wry smile as he felt the younger boy practically crash into him, knowing and heart aching at the thought of Keith thinking that he would be met with anything but absolute love and warmth. Hell, his baby brother could turn out to be a descendant of a space worm, but so long as Keith remained true to who he was, Shiro would always love and be there for him. The older man tightened his arms around the boy he’d come to treasure as so much, despite the rocky start to their relationship. He was proud, immensely so, that Keith had sought him out at all. When they’d first gotten stuck on this whirlwind space adventure, Shiro often had to go and find Keith in order to pry out whatever teenage angst Keith was going through. And while it wasn’t the first time, it had certainly been a while since the red paladin sought him out for comfort first.

Shiro pressed Keith in closer, feeling the boy’s unease, and asked, “You know I’ll love you no matter what, yeah?”

Will you? When I transform into stuff you’ve only seen in nightmares, when I sprout scales and a tail, when my hunger becomes insatiable. Would you love me then? Deep down, Keith knew the answer. But wasn’t it so much easier to pretend that Shiro would hate him? That he could turn away from his brother so that Shiro wouldn’t have to suffer the stares of those who couldn’t accept him?

“Gross, Shiro.” Though Keith didn’t pull away.

Shrio sighed, he didn’t know what was happening to Keith exactly, but given his own experiences with the Galra and the red paladin’s past, the older man had a good enough idea of why the boy’s face had been so shaken at his episode even after so many times of seeing Adam and himself have them when Keith lived with them. His mother was a mystery afterall, and while Earth had been light years away from its closest sentient species, the possibility of her having been an alien wasn’t something Shiro discounted.

And in terms of the paladin’s physical transformation? Well, the Galra had little qualms about making disparaging comments about ‘half breeds’ in front of prisoners, and in his boredom, he’d gathered together enough information about the unique traits of half Galrans. Sometimes, if the Galran parent had dominant genes, the half-Galran would be born already displaying traits of their heritage, though that was quite rare, the only evidence of which was someone within the royal line. Some, whose parent didn’t have any particularly special genes, would show signs of being Galran from birth, and would have the traits developed more and more as they grew. The last type of half-Galran were ones whose parent had much more recessive genes, and could potentially go their whole lives without realizing their heritage unless they came into contact with Galran technology. But sometimes, the originally dormant traits would resurface, causing the child to undergo a physical transformation, in which all the Galran traits would manifest themselves, leading to the often unexpected discovery of their true heritage.

Now the real question was, what had made Keith’s heritage pop up? As there were a few scenarios that he knew of and could prepare for, and one where he prayed there would be enough common sense left in Keith’s head to use protection. Wait. Did Keith know what was happening to him?

“Not that I didn’t expect the two of you to do ahem certain activities after the boy chased you down post-mission, but I will say that you getting pranked was pretty low on that list.” Shiro spoke, finally.

Keith was going to kill Lance.

As if the thought of the blue paladin having gotten the jump on him hadn’t been embarrassing enough, whenever Keith walked around the castle, he was greeted with smiles from those who thought they knew what had actually gone down in that room, when reality couldn’t have been further from the truth. Hell, he’d even responded with “if only” to Pidge outright asking him at first.

“Ew,” Was the only thing Keith could come up with. Him? And Lance? No, friends wouldn’t do those things with each other, though to be fair, the red paladin had never found the idea of doing that particularly appealing. But even if he did, it wasn’t as if the two paladins were ever meant to be. Maybe he wasn’t meant to notice it, but the way Lance had avoided any sort of physical intimacy with him was so obvious it would’ve taken for Keith to be both blind and deaf not to have noticed it. The pale boy didn’t understand. Had something gone wrong that night? Had they crossed a line somehow that Keith didn’t realize? Did he come on too strongly and now he was about to lose one of the first friendships he’d made himself? Lance wasn’t helping with how contradicting he was acting. If Keith happened to walk into the room before Lance noticed, he was able to maneuver himself practically right next to Lance before the tan boy noticed, a sign that Lance was at least still subconsciously comfortable with his presence. But the second he revealed himself, Lance practically scrambled to get away from him, though the brunette’s cheeks were flushed whenever that happened. Keith tried not to take it personally, honestly, but he was starting to wonder if he’d done something unintentionally that greatly offended his friend.

“Seriously? You guys basically made out in the living room the other day, and if I remember you were the one who started it as well.”

“That-” Keith’s face burned as the memories of that god forsaken truth-or-dare game came rushing back. He didn’t know what had gotten into him at the time, only that he was suddenly seized with the urge to prove to Lance that he was more than willing to kiss, if only the blue paladin would stop being a dense fucker and realize. And for once the voice in his head had gone and stayed mercifully silent the next few days, only coming back full force during the mission. “That was a spur of the moment thing, everyone was having fun and like Pidge said, I wasn’t about to let everyone think you raised a bitch.”

Shiro laughed, “Well thank you, but I think my reputation would’ve stayed intact even if you hadn’t kissed him.” Speaking of that, there was something else that Shiro needed to ask.

“Did you… you know, feel anything?”

Keith fell silent. Yes. A lot. Too little. Too much. It was exactly like how the books described it and nothing like how they said it would be at the same time. Like it was something so mundane and normal it already should have been part of my everyday life from when I first met him, but also entirely too magical to put into words because what I felt weren’t fireworks, they were explosions, a supernova exploding and creating a whole galaxy alongside it.

“I know you don’t typically feel much when you’re in a relationship with someone. And like we talked about, it’s completely fine, so long as you’re honest with your partner about it,” Shiro had had the unfortunate privilege of being around when Keith first entered puberty, and though they’d never officially had ‘the Talk’, Shiro knew enough about his little brother to know that the boy hadn’t experienced the awakening most kids had at that age, the one which was the reason why the Garrison had strictly enforced a no mixed dorm policy. Neither him nor Adam knew if the boy was just a late bloomer or wasn’t going to have that revelation at all, but either way, they were happy so long as Keith was, “You could probably talk to Pidge about it, I think they mentioned something similar once.”

“Mm,” Keith hummed, content to just stay in his brother’s arms for now. It had been so long since he’d sought out affection from the older man, and being embraced by him now made Keith realize just how much he’d missed just being physically affectionate with Shiro. The pale boy had been a lot clingier when he was younger, especially for a period of time after he’d first been taken in by him and his partner and had gotten to trust them, a few months before puberty hit which made the idea of affection with his parental figures felt icky. While hugging Shiro didn’t make his head fuzzy the same way it did with Lance, there was something that made the older man’s arms feel like home.

“Going back to what we were talking about earlier, do you have any idea how to get that tattoo off your face?”

A loaded question.

Keith tensed up for a second, but then slowly shook his head.

So he doesn’t know. Shiro didn’t know if he should be relieved or not at the boy’s ignorance of his heritage, but he didn’t know if it was his place to say anything either. Even for as close as their relationship was, Shiro had to imagine it would be awkward for any parental figure to ask hey have you ever wondered if one of your parents was an alien? No, it was better for Keith to approach him with the idea, though he could always point the boy in the right direction, especially since Keith knew so much about the Galra already. Afterall, it would probably be better and smoother for things to be figured out on its own.

“Really? I thought you’d be knees deep in books by now trying to figure it out.”

Keith had. Since the corruption first started, he’d been spending much of his time that hadn't already been allocated to training or down time at the library. He’d scoured over dozens, if not hundreds, of books, looking over information about illnesses or parasites that might cause physical transformations, perhaps another species’ strange means of reproduction through replication, or even just the effects of the human body having been stuck in space for too long. But no luck. Ignoring the fact that the castle library was large enough for someone to dedicate their whole life to maintaining it and still being a never-ending job, there were far too many potential ways for a person to be transformed in space, yet almost none that described his exact symptoms.

“I did, but Lance got the idea from a plant he’d seen once on a random planet he can’t remember the name of, so I have no idea where to even begin. There’s nothing on… plants that are strong enough to be used as stain like this.”

“Maybe you’re looking at it from the wrong angle? Rather than looking for dyes that might produce this shade or color, try looking for something innate about the plant which would cause this reaction in someone?”

Keith froze. Innate? Would that mean that the monster had been a part of him all along, lying in wait for the perfect time to reveal itself? No, it couldn’t be. Shiro’s idea had some merit, but the thought of the reason behind it all being himself. Maybe if he ran out of options.

“Maybe.” Keith spoke, hesitation evident.

Well, Shiro did what he could. As long as Keith kept his mind open to the possibility, he knew that it wouldn’t be long until the red paladin found the answer. He stepped away from the hug.

“Alright, get outta here. And make sure the others don’t interrupt me. I’m trying to bond with the Black Lion to see if I can find any other way of getting us back on track.”

“Maybe you could try the recovery pod again? You did stumble out of it last time. Maybe it was just an unfinished memory?”

Huh, now that was an idea. Though Shiro would prefer meditating in the Black Lion first, he’d need a stronger connection with it first anyhow.

“I’ll give that a shot later. Now, scram,” Shiro joked before shooing Keith away.

“Oh before I go,” Keith suddenly remembered the task that Lance had finally stopped avoiding him to speak about, “After we track down Ulaz, could we maybe see if we can fit finding Pidge’s family into the schedule? She did save our asses after… you know.”

Shiro froze, not having been expected to be reminded about the crew he’d been sent to Kerberos with. He did owe Pidge a lot of things, her family being at the top of that list. “I’ll see what I can do. You’re right, we shouldn’t spend all our resources on trying to track down a ghost.”

“And Shiro?”

“Yeah kid?”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Keith rolled his eyes as Shiro laughed, before heading out. He needed to talk to Lance.

-

“I swear, Keith is going to pay one day for how insane he makes me.”

Lance felt like his sanity had slowly started to deteriorate ever since he’d met Keith, and now it had reached its lowest point of all, barely hanging on within an inch of its life. Keith had him going to the castle’s library, THE LIBRARY, of all places, on his behalf. He should’ve known when he saw those silver eyes that they would one day drive him insane. He’d never hated the library or anything, but it always reminded him of those sleepless nights cramming for exams and being reminded that he’d never have become a fighter pilot if Keith hadn’t been kicked out of the Garrison. But no, one look from those stupidly adorable puppy eyes, from the very same man who he’d been made to feel inferior to all his school life, and he was abandoning all his morals to fulfill the pale boy’s wishes.

“Why’s Number Four driving you insane, Number Three?” an all-too-familiar voice popped up from behind Lance, though mercifully he’d been trying to find Coran this time, and hadn’t been too caught off guard.

“Coran, why does it seem like everyone’s trying to sneak up on me these days?”

“Well, I would hope the others, like myself, are trying to train up your situational awareness. And frankly, if I’d’ve wanted to attack you, I could’ve grabbed your shoulder like this, pushed you down like that, and then hyah! Kicked you like that, and it would be good night to you, Number Three!”

Lance felt himself smile at Coran’s antics. Yeah, this was exactly what he needed after trying to figure out Keith’s whole situation. And luckily for him, he’d actually managed to pick up a few tricks since their first training session together.

“Oh yeah? That’s assuming you can dodge me when I go hup! Hwah! And once you come in? HI-YAH!” Lance finished his moveset off with a powerful side-kick, one he’d developed himself and definitely hadn’t stolen from Keith, thank you very much.

“Oh, very creative Number Three, but it won’t save you when I do this! FIRE IN THE HOLE!”

“Did- did you just mime throwing a grenade at me, Coran?”

“As a paladin, you should always expect the unexpected Number Three, you never know what weapons enemy combatants might have on hand, just as the Baku didn’t realize you had a sonic cannon on hand!”

“To be fair, I didn’t know the Blue Lion had that either.”

“Exactly! Let nobody know what you’re about to do next, not even yourself! That way, not even mind readers will be able to predict your next move.”

“...sure Coran.”

“Anyways, I heard you were looking for me Number Three, any reason in particular? Other than learning from the commander and flight master extraordinaire?”

“I was hoping you could point me in the direction of things that might make a person transform.”

“Transformations, huh? What type of transformation? Magical? Biological? External? Internal?”

“Let’s say a type that causes a person to start transforming out of nowhere for now.”

“Hm, are they getting weaker or stronger?”

“Stronger. Definitely stronger.” He hadn’t missed the way Keith filled out those ridiculously small shirts of his even more now. Seriously, they had started to become a little tighter on Keith since even before the changes happened. And now? Let’s just say Lance was very glad he was subtle at avoiding physical touch with people, otherwise he would’ve started feeling up Keith whenever the two of them were in the same room together.

“Well,” Coran’s words were slower this time around, rather than the usual rapid-fire way the man usually spoke, “Excluding any parasites or illnesses, there’s Altean alchemy of course though that’s pretty much a folklore at this point, the last practitioner was King Alfor, and even he had struggled to find information on it.”

Well that didn’t sound like good news.

“There’s the Olkarians, inhabitants of Olkarion, a proud class of engineers, builders of vast cities that could change the shape at the whim of their creators. They could’ve created something that made it seem like a person’s transforming when it’s actually just mechanical tech.”

“Alternatively, if the transformation feels more in line with nature, or the elements, there’s also the Articulatians, the crafters who hail from Glacialionis. Little buggers loved making all sorts of things that could turn into something else. They used to send out galactic ambassadors looking to trade for food or knowledge, and once those guys came into contact with the Olkarians, there was no turning back. Suddenly, you had Articulatian bracelets that could turn into swords, hair clips that turned into bow and arrows everywhere! And the worst part was, both variations looked gorgeous! I myself managed to acquire a gorgeous cufflink that turned into a dagger that looked like it was made out of ice. It took King Alfor about six months before he’d been able to pass any sort of regulations on them.”

That didn’t sound like what Keith was dealing with, though if the Articulatians were that great at making jewelry, maybe he could look into getting some for Kei- Lance for the love of all that is holy, can you stop thinking about that stupid, emo man and how much you wanna spend the rest of your life with him for two seconds.

“Then, of course, you have your standard fair of mixed species children. Depending on who their parents are, sometimes the children don’t show any signs of one species until they hit puberty, or until a certain age when suddenly all the traits kick in and manifest.”

That… didn’t sound unlike what Keith was going through? Maybe that could be a new starting point for their research. Lance hadn’t heard much about Keith’s family, though the few times that the red paladin had brought it up, he’d only ever heard stories about Keith’s father. And even then, considering the history of Okinawa, Keith’s heritage was mixed at best. Maybe it wasn’t so far out to consider that maybe someone on his family tree would be an alien.

“With that said, those transformations are pretty obvious considering the mental changes as well. The Galra in particular had quite the nasty habit of having all their traits heightened during a certain period every year. Why, there was this one time when an ambassador from Zarkon-” Coran’s eyes suddenly went wide, his voice trailing off, lost in his own memory, a hint of wistfulness in his eyes. All things Lance would’ve noticed had his blood not frozen once Coran mentioned a particular word.

Galra.

It couldn’t possibly be.

Lance wracked his brain to try and remember the faces of Galrans that Voltron had faced over the past few years, trying to remember the specific markings on their faces. The Galran came in many different shapes and sizes, sure. But there were a few things that were present in every Galran regardless of their physical appearance. First, shades of blue to purple on either their skin, scales or fur.

He’d seen that exact shade of purple on a Galran general he’d fought.

Second, darker shades of the same color that worked as markings.

There was hardly a way of denying the marks that had shown up on Keith’s face.

Third, Lance took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart, glowing, yellow eyes.

Keith hadn’t noticed it yet, but his eyes were getting more luminescent by the day.

All the signs pointed in the same direction, and yet…

Keith? A Galran?

The idea of that seemed almost as ludicrous to him as mermaids being real, and yet ever since Lance had made it to space, the universe seemed determined to prove him wrong at every turn.

Maybe, just maybe, there was some merit to the idea. He didn’t have to mention it to Keith, afterall, the idea of him being of mixed species was enough for them to know where to start looking next. But there wasn't any harm in researching the Galra, right? Afterall, to know thyself is to know the enemy or something, and if the clues continued to point in that direction, well he had plenty of time to have the conversation with Keith then.

“Thanks Coran, you’ve given me a lot to think about.”

“No worries, Number Three. Now just remember, if you’re hoping to transform yourself, don’t hold out hope for the mixed species transformations alright? The children who don’t know who their parents are in those scenarios are rare enough, and even rarer if they don’t show any signs of it from birth.”

Even then, if there was even a chance of it being the explanation of what the hell was happening to Keith, surely it was a lead worth pursuing, especially when so many of the clues pointed in that direction.

-

The next day, Lance had headed to breakfast as usual, then blinked, and suddenly found himself in the library.

Though truth be told Lance doesn’t remember much after Keith had appeared suddenly in the dining room when he’d been having a conversation with Allura, grabbed him by his hand and dragged him away.

“Seriously Keith? We went through all that effort of convincing everyone you needed to calm down so that you wouldn’t bump into Coran or Allura, and you just burst into the living room? Do you know how much effort I went through to convince Hunk that you weren’t feeling up for breakfast?”

Keith flushed, he hadn’t planned on revealing himself the way he did earlier in the morning. He’d meant to catch Lance on the way out the living room, and the plan being to convince the blue pilot to head to the library with him. He had thought about doing it by himself, the way he’d dealt with any problems he encountered that way all his life, but these days the idea of spending time alone when he could be doing it with his friend instead seemed absurd. But when he’d heard Lance speaking with Allura, all he could think of were all the times Lance either outright flirted with Allura or when Shiro had stopped the brunette in time before he said something that would get him (rightfully) punched in the face. And Allura’s punches hurt. He’d felt a sudden surge of anger at that point, though this one had pushed him to take a step towards Lance, rather than pushing the tan boy away, and the next thing he knew, Lance’s hand was in his and they were on their way to the library, a strange sense of contentment in the red paladin’s chest.

Having Lance next to him just felt… right. Keith knew how absurd that statement sounded, and yet he couldn’t argue with it at the same time. Even when his relationship with Lance hadn’t been the greatest, being by the blue pilot’s side had just felt something so natural he should’ve been doing it his whole life, regardless of when they were bickering, which their interactions either started or ended that way, or the rare moments when they’d actually gotten along or agreed with each other. Even then, whenever Lance had put on his ‘womanizer’ persona in front of the women they’d met on their journeys, there was a strange tightness in Keith’s chest if he happened to be within earshot of it happening. And the urge he’d had to interrupt Lance then to make the blue pilot’s focus back on him had just been replaced with the urge to have skin-to-skin contact with him, to be somewhere where Lance could clearly see him and he could feel the tan boy watching him. Keith had talked about it with Shiro at some point, but they’d been stuck on that god forsaken frozen planet, with him being more panicked about not being able to contact the rest of the team and Shiro’s wound from Haggar growing worse by the minute.

“Well maybe if you hadn’t been so busy with other people we could’ve figured out what was happening to me by now.”

“What, are you jealous?” The words left Lance’s mouth before it registered in his mind what Keith had just said. Wait, was this Keith being jealous?

Lance glanced at the pale boy in front of him, who had gone oddly silent and searching through the bookshelves with a renewed sense of vigor. He smirked, oh this was just too good not to tease Keith about it.

“Keith?”

“What, Lance?” Keith snapped back at the boy, his mind so busy trying to sort through the dizzying number of books on the shelves of the castle’s library that he’d missed the sound of footsteps behind him.

Lance stuck out his hands, trapping Keith between himself and the bookshelves, the paladin in question spinning around eyes wide, clearly having been caught off guard. Lance’s smirk widened. God Keith was as adorable as he was oblivious. He pushed his luck a little further today, and leaned in, lips brushing Keith’s ear as he spoke.

“You know you can always just tell me, right?”

Lance watched with half-lidded eyes as Keith’s cheeks colored, fawn skin gaining a pink, almost reddish tint, the kind artists dusted across the cheeks of porcelain dolls.

This man was definitely going to be the death of him.

Hell, they hadn’t even kissed yet, but being so close to Keith did unspeakable things to Lance’s mind. The culmination of the backlog of fantasies since his blue eyes first met silver, the sleepless nights where he had declared Keith as his in his mind, and the daydreams where Keith would look up grinning like the devil at him. They were so close, if Lance tilted his head even a little bit, their lips would touch. But he wasn’t blind to the hesitation in Keith’s eyes, and instead decided to let the blushing boy decide their next move.

Keith couldn’t breathe. Not when Lance was so close to his face he felt like he’d explode if their lips didn’t touch in the next second. When he’d first seen Lance smile at him at the Garrison he should’ve known that was where trouble began. That smile. That damned, teasing smile that was taunting him with the lack of distance from his own lips that parted just enough so he could breathe through his mouth, his brain needing much more oxygen and more importantly Lance’s scent, breath, just everything about Lance.

No. Not now. Not when he hadn’t figured out what was happening yet.

Keith gulped, mustered up his courage and gently pushed Lance off of himself, turning his face to hide the fact that his blush had deepened just from making contact with the cocky man still smirking at him.

“We uh, we should split up. Make things more efficient. I’m gonna go look up the history of- of… of something.”

Lance struggled to hold back a laugh as Keith nearly stumbled on his way to the next aisle. A part of him had been disappointed that the pale boy hadn’t chosen to kiss him, but if he had, Keith wouldn’t be Keith at all. Besides, he had had the front row seat to the familiar struggle of want and need behind those amethyst eyes. Even if Keith didn’t return his feelings just yet, as long as he didn’t push too hard, the boy wouldn’t reject his advances. A surge of giddiness rushed through Lance, feeling as though he’d finally found some sort of evidence that Keith didn’t hate the idea of them together romantically. As fun as it was to tease Keith, who usually reacted to his teasing like a cat who’d been spooked and was now all puffed up and hissing, he finally felt as though he’d found his limit as to how far he could push Keith without risking a punch to the face.

Though his mind finally reminded him of why he’d been dragged into the library in the first place. Lance sighed, and let his eyes scan over the shelf that Keith had previously been standing in front of.

The Simple Biology of Arusians? As hilarious as it would be, definitely not. Though it might’ve explained Keith’s initial aggression towards the peanut sized warrior. He might pick that up just to tease the pale boy a little more. The Science behind the Exoskeletons of Krellians, exoskeleton? No. Keith had bulked up, but Lance would’ve noticed if he started developing bug features. No, he was changing into something humanoid, especially if the ears had been any indication. Lance wondered quietly if Allura would think that Keith’s ears were acceptable now, given what the princess had commented about Lance’s own when she first woke up and realized they weren’t elongated like hers. The History of the Mer People of the Frozen Planet. That… could potentially explain Keith’s changes as well, Lance thought as he picked up the book, thinking back to his own interactions with the Mer. They were certainly much more humanoid than the rest of the species in this particular biology section, and it would explain the ears as well as color changes to Keith’s skin. Hm. He’d have to see how the pale boy reacted to water the next time they landed on either a beach or water planet. His eyes continued scanning the shelves, until one title made him stop dead in his tracks.

An Ambassador’s Guide to Galrans, Half-Galrans, and Everything in Between.

It couldn’t hurt to just take a look, right?

-

Lance had settled in to read his books by the time Keith came back, having calmed himself down and found a few books which he thought could explain what was happening to him. Though the pale boys still blushed whenever he made eye contact with the tan boy sat across from him.

The peace lasted an hour. Honestly, a new record for both of them.

“Lance, you’re taking up way too much space.”

“Me? Look at your mountain of books! I only have three!”

“At least mine are all stacked into a pile, yours are spread out across the table! And I’m not an Arusian!”

“You tried to fight them even though he was the size of a peanut!”

“He was their bravest warrior!” Christ, he was never going to live that down with Lance, was he? Keith quickly contemplated the consequences of murdering Lance so the memory could die with him, but swiftly discarded the idea, “Plus, you’ve already made fun of me for that.”

“I have?” Lance raised an eyebrow, a teasing grin still hung on his lips, “Man, I’m so proud of myself.”

“Number Three, Number Four! Please! This is the royal library. If you keep bickering like this, I’ll have no choice but to throw you out.” Coran’s voice cut through their conversation, making both boys jump as Coran gave them the familiar look of a haughty librarian.

“Sorry Coran,” They both said sheepishly, watching as Coran gave a mighty huff, before disappearing into the shelves somewhere. As their eyes met again, the two boys burst into quiet laughter.

“Does he remind you of-”

“The librarian at the Garrison? Oh absolutely.”

That sent the boys into another bout of laughter, though eventually they calmed down.

“What are you reading anyways?” Keith asked, curious as to what Lance thought about his condition.

Lance tried not to show his panic, and suddenly found himself praying that Keith couldn’t read upside down. He had chosen to delve into the book about Galran physiology first, figuring that he might as well rule out his own suspicions so his mind wouldn’t keep dwelling on the possibility.

“Uh- nothing special. Just checking to see if you’re a mermaid.” Lance nearly smacked himself in the head when he realized The History of Mer People was sticking out from underneath the book about Arusians. Please don’t notice, please don’t notice.

“Well, I guess you’d have first hand experience on that,” Keith tried not to think about why Lance had defaulted to researching the last alien species they had encountered, feeling his anger surge again out of nowhere, “Think I should go take a dip in the pool? I’m pretty sure Allura said something about one in the castle.”

“What if you start turning into a mermaid though? How are we gonna explain that?”

“Pretty sure if I transformed from touching water you’d have found me floppin in the bathroom after the mission.”

Lance suddenly got a wicked grin, and Keith had a very bad feeling in his gut.

“Lance, no.” He tried to put his foot down, but Lance’s grin only grew wider, “We’re gonna get kicked out by Coran.” That only made the blue pilot smile more, and Keith groaned, knowing whatever Lance was planning was inevitable.

“Keith, the bathroom’s free!” Lance was barely holding back laughter at this point, and Keith was grinning despite himself, as he realized what Lance was up to. He reached out his hand, teasingly tracing Lance’s jaw with his finger, then quickly recoiled as though he was in pain.

“Oh naur! The conden-say-tion! Lance!”

“Oh naur! Keith!” Lance reached out a hand, grabbing onto Keith’s own.

“Lance!” Keith mimed flopping about on his chair, trying but failing to call out to Lance in his best Australian accent. The two boys dissolved into laughter soon after, though this time trying to cover their mouths with their hands so as to not alert the Altean who had granted himself the title of librarian. Lance started miming slapping the table at some point, making Keith laugh even harder.

“Oh, my god,” Lance spoke eventually, trying to catch his breath, “We’re hopeless.”

“You realize that now? I’ve been terrified for Earth’s safety since you were at the helm.”

“Man, do you really think so little of me? I did get at least some fighter pilot training.”

“You crashed into a desert.”

“So did you!”

“Only because you were egging me on!”

“So I make you flustered huh?”

Keith blushed, his eyes reading the book in front of him again with renewed interest, mumbling, “Shut up, McClain.”

Lance smirked, though didn’t continue the conversation further. He’d been at an interesting part of the book anyways, but a part of him just couldn’t resist teasing Keith no matter their relationship.

For mammalian Galrans and half-Galrans alike, as their respective heat or rut approaches, their Galran attributes will become much more prominent than usual. The signs of which include elevated levels of aggression and possessiveness, increased need for scenting of or from their partners as well as physical affection, increased metabolism and hunger as the body prepares for the week-long mating endeavor.

Lance’s eyes widened, thinking back to when he’d tracked down Keith after the mission, how the pale boy practically fell into his arms, purring and nuzzling into him. It had to be a coincidence, right? Lots of alien species had heats.

For full-blooded Galrans, this phase may last anywhere from two weeks to a month before the official start of the heat, during which omega Galrans may experience increased sensitivity, and alpha Galrans may find themselves a lot more possessive and protective of their partner.

That ruled out Keith as a full Galran at least, so his father was likely from Earth.

For half-Galrans, their pre-heat periods differ depending on the genetics of the Galran parent. Half-Galrans who are visibly Galran from birth, or who undergo the transformation as they age have a slightly prolonged pre-heat period, usually lasting up to a month. All recorded cases of such Galrans have already undergone the full transformation by their first heat, and there is no evidence to believe that the first heat may present itself before a Galran’s body is fully prepared.

For half-Galrans who do not show any signs of Galran heritage at birth, nor develop any Galran traits as they grow, research suggests that heats are quite drastically different. First of all, pre-heat periods last anywhere from one and a half to two months, depending on how accepting the individual is of their Galran heritage.

The transformations had started a little over a month ago now.

Secondly, the previously recessive traits of Galran heritage will begin to manifest on the individual’s body, these may include facial markings, fur growth, as well as development of existing and extra appendages, such as a tail or ears indicating their subspecies.

Lance’s heart raced. Had he been correct?

Lastly, a half-Galrans heat will not manifest until their mind deems that there is a suitable mate nearby. As a first heat without a partner is extremely painful, we suspect that this was developed as a preventative mechanism for the body. A half-Galran’s need for affection will also be greatly increased during this time. Individuals may find themselves needing or giving much more physical affection than usual, as well as needing their potential mates nearby at all times.

Research suggests that there are also artifacts which can speed along or heighten the sensations of a half-Glara’s heat to that of a full Galra’s-

“Lance?”

“Shiro!” Lance yelled a little too loudly as he realized that the leader of Voltron had suddenly appeared right behind him, causing the two men to give him a weird look. The tan boy blushed, and coughed, attempting to cover up his awkwardness, “I mean, Shiro! Great to see you.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow, though dismissed Lance’s oddness. If Lance had come to the same realization he did reading that book, the blue pilot had very good reason to be jumpy.

“I need to have a talk with you.”

“What? Okay, sure, uh-” Lance scrambled to find some way of hiding the book from Keith’s sight, though Shiro caught his hand.

“Bring the book.”

Lance gulped, “Yes, sir.” Damn Garrison habits. He’d been a part of Voltron with Shiro for years now, why now was he getting starstruck? He glanced at Keith, who was watching the two interact curiously.

“See you in a bit?”

Keith laughed, “Sure.”

Why did Lance have a bad feeling?

His nerves hadn’t been helped as Shiro led him out of the castle library in total silence. Was this it? Had Shiro finally realized that he wasn’t good enough to be a paladin? That he had been the weak link of Voltron all along, that the only reason why he had managed to shoot Sendak’s arm off was out of sheer luck? That his confidence was basically all an act of bravado and he was terrified shitless at the idea of being stuck out in space forever?

“Show me the book you were reading.”

What?

Lance held out the book dumbly, not understanding Shiro’s motivations. Though as Shiro took a look at the title of the book, Lance’s face turned into one of understanding.

“What is Keith?” Shiro asked directly, knowing that there was no need to talk in circles around Lance since the tan boy had already figured everything out.

“Half human and half Galran.”

Shiro sighed, “So you know.”

“I put together the pieces about a minute ago, yeah.”

“Keith isn’t going to take this well, you know.”

“He hasn’t been taking it well since the beginning.”

“No, Lance, you don’t understand,” Shiro’s expression grew serious as he locked eyes with Lance, “I know my brother. Keith isn’t going to take this well. And when he does, you need to be prepared.”

Him? Why would it need to be him? It was hardly a secret amongst the crew that Shiro had practically raised Keith, “Why can’t you-?”

“He’s going to need you.” Shiro cut him off, fingers swiftly flipping through the pages of the book and pointing out a section to Lance.

As heat draws nearer, Galrans will slowly refuse interactions with most individuals besides their chosen partner. Any and all interactions will feel like an attempt to drive them and their partner apart. In particular, omega Galrans will likely only listen to their chosen partner or Alpha when it comes to matters of the self. If a Galran does not have a known or previous chosen partner, the following are signs which one has been chosen by a Galran to be their partner. (The following information is highly sensitive, and only collected so that the incident of the 20th Altea-Galra Celebration Ball will not reoccur)

The Galran may find themselves drawn to spending most of their waking hours with their chosen partner.
The chosen partner will have a unique scent only detectable by the Galran.
The Galran will be very possessive of the chosen individual, usually lashing out if they see the individual communicating with anyone they deem as a threat to their relationship.
The Galran will attempt to mark their chosen partner through scent, through physical contact with the individual’s scent glands, so that they may be marked by their partner’s scent and vice versa.

An important note: A Galran’s chosen partner is not chosen randomly. The partner is someone with whom the Galran has a strong bond with or are physically compatible. Research indicates that a partner cannot be artificially chosen, and that the crime of attempting to force a chosen bond with a Galran is punishable by death under both Galran and Altean rule.

That was… a lot to process, and only left Lance with more questions than answers, “Still, what do you mean by I need to be prepared?”

Shiro sighed. Honestly, he didn’t know if he felt worse for Keith or Lance. He loved his brother dearly, that much was clear to anyone who had ever seen them interact, but that didn’t mean that the older man was blind to the boy’s rougher edges. Having been abandoned by a parent would take its toll on any child, and the hurt would only be compounded upon when the other parent was taken away from the child far too soon.

“I’m sure you’ve witnessed this once or twice already, but when Keith gets scared, or worried, or anxious, he tends to… lash out,” Shiro winced, if Keith was good at anything, it was pouring salt on a person’s wounds. The boy was too observant for his own good, really, and while it had served Keith well in earlier days as a way to defend himself from anyone who sought to harm him and that he couldn’t overpower, it also meant that when Keith lashed out at someone, it hurt. “He doesn’t let people in easily, I’ve gone through this a few times myself. If you try to approach him before he’s ready, he is very good at burning, no, destroying any bridges you thought you had built with him.” Shiro didn’t know if he should be saying this to Lance. Keith himself barely realized just how badly in love he was with the blue pilot, and as far as he knew, the two hadn’t had the talk yet. But Shiro also wasn’t blind to how they interacted, and knew that the two finally confirming the relationship was only a matter of time.

“But that is also when you cannot walk away from him. Not that I would blame you if you did. Ultimately, he’s terrified at the thought of people leaving him because he messed up, and so he’ll try to push you away first. Both to protect himself, and also to see if you’ll actually leave.”

Shiro’s expression softened, “I don’t expect you to tolerate whatever bullshit he throws at you. You’re not the type to take it anyways. But when he throws your words back at you, when he seems like he’s armed to the teeth with weapons against you, know that everything he says is either exactly what he fears will happen, or there’s a second part to the sentence that he’s holding back that’s how he actually feels about you.”

“If it ever does get too much for you, do not feel obligated to stay. Seriously. While I really do hope that Keith never crosses that line, you shouldn’t choose to stay because you think you’re obligated to do so, or that you owe him anything. I would much rather have to pick up the pieces of a broken-hearted Keith than to see both of you destroy yourselves because of his fears.”

Shiro turned towards Lance suddenly, slamming the boy against the wall, “But if you ever hurt my baby brother, if you choose to stay and I find one day he’s in tears because of something that is very clearly your fault. I will make sure that you go through every single thing I went through under the hands of the Galra. Capisce?”

Lance gulped, this conversation hadn’t gone where he thought it would at all, and he was still processing what Shiro had just said and the sudden switch in the older man’s attitude, “Capisce.”

Shiro gave a satisfied smile, put Lance down and patted him on the head before walking away, “Take care of my brother.”

If the past hour or so proved anything, there were two universal truths in this world.

Lance had gotten into something way over his head by simply being in love with Keith Lai.
Despite it all, he had somehow fallen even deeper in love with the silver eyes he first laid eyes on when he was fourteen in the last hour.

But above all else?

Lance needed a nap.

-

Keith waited a while for Lance to come back, even having finished his own book. But as time passed and he saw no indication of the blue paladin’s return, Keith set down his book and stood from the table. Maybe Lance had needed a break? Or maybe Shiro had managed to lecture the boy to death somehow? His brother did seem pretty serious. But what could Lance have done to get Shiro so worked up? Keith let out a sigh as anxiety slowly seeped into his thoughts, and declared that it was time to take a break. A walk was what he needed, Keith decided. It would do him some good to stretch his legs after having been sat down for so long, so long as he didn’t run into either of the Alteans.

(Hm what would Keith be thinking about on his walk)

Keith found himself being led by his instincts to the living room, and as his brain caught up, it soon focused on a familiar mop of short, brown hair peeking over one of the couches. Walking up, he could see that the smallest paladin of them all were looking at pictures of… anthropomorphic bunny people? Keith shook his head, then leaned in to take a closer look, "You seem pretty focused on something."

"HOLY SHIT!" Pidge nearly jumped off the couch, whipping their head around to glare at the red paladin, "Jesus we need to put a collar with a bell on you, how the fuck do you walk so quietly? You’re like a cat or something.”

Keith froze momentarily, but then dismissed the thought bubbling in the back of his mind. Returning his focus back to Pidge though, the pale boy raised an eyebrow, “Pidge, you’ve been living with me for at least like three years now. I’ve always been this quiet when I walk. You, on the other hand, don’t look up what looks like bunny furries every day.”

“Fur- I’m not looking up furries!”

Keith pointed to Pidge’s screen. Pidge smacked his finger away, and fixed her glasses before continuing.

“There are the Articulatians, for your information. Furries wished they looked like this.”

“Articu- who? And why are you looking them up?”

“Well, after a certain someone was being so cagey about the information,” Keith was quietly grateful for the censorship, the name being a touchy subject for both of them currently, “I decided to do some digging myself. Based on what she said about the artifact’s supposed purpose as well as its makers, I managed to narrow it down to two species. The Olkari and the Articulatians. The Olkari seemed like a good match, but their technology looks like, well, buggy, literally. Whereas the Articulatians’ tend to look more natural, like it just so happened to grow that way. Given how organic the artifact looked and felt like, I’m willing to bet that it was the Articulatians that made this.”

“It says here that they haven’t been sighted in the galaxy since basically the start of the war.”

“I know,” Pidge sighed, “But that doesn’t mean anything. Humans weren’t even recorded as a proper entry in the database until 1945, but it doesn’t mean that we didn’t exist then.”

“But why would a race that used to be basically everywhere in the galaxy suddenly just… not travel anymore?” Keith had a few explanations in his mind, none of which boded well for their poking and prodding.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out as well. But I have a feeling that if we can figure out why they made the artifact, it’ll explain everything. If what Allura said about them making the artifact is true, they basically stopped all intergalactic travel and exploration a year afterwards. I find it hard to believe that those two things aren’t connected.”

Keith had to agree as well. That was far too much of a coincidence, but, the war had started around the time that Allura was a teen, would the species still hold any answers for them, “But would any of the people who made the artifacts still be around? It has been 10,000 years after all, and everything I know about bunnies points to them not exactly having a long lifespan.”

“That’s actually one of the easier questions to answer,” Pidge’s fingers flew on their device as they typed something in, “So, you know how bunnies on earth spend the winter hibernating? This species does this too, and honestly they share a weird amount of resemblance to arctic rabbits back on earth. ANYWAYS, because they basically go into hibernation for half the year every year, plus also space time dilation and all that, their bodies age a lot slower compared to other species. Not to mention, give me a second,” Pidge’s brows furrowed as she searched for something in the texts that were flying by. A few seconds later, they had evidently found what they were looking for, and turned their screen so Keith could read properly, “they have this ritual for the tribe elders, where respected elders of the community will have their consciousness stored into this crystal before they pass. So not an exact copy of the elders, but we might have a chance to speak with the fragments of the village elder who decided to shut down space travel.”

“Honestly, this species is fascinating. It’s almost like an entirely separate species had an identical evolution to the bunnies of earth, were still the prey animals, and somehow survived long enough to start gaining consciousness as humans would define it. It’s like the perfect example of convergent evolution, where whatever species started on Glacialionis had the exact same evolution as arctic bunnies on earth and became the top of the food chain. They have the same behaviors, same base instincts, even nearly identical mating habits.”

Pidge cut herself off in the middle of her excited rant, their entire demeanor changing and a mischievous grin appearing on their face. "Sooo…" Her tone was nonchalant, but as their eyes slid over to meet Keith’s gaze, she didn't miss the way the red paladin stiffened, gaze wary. "How are things going?"

"I'm gonna need you to elaborate."

"With Lance," Pidge lowered their device and turned their full attention to the red paladin, "After the last *ahem* couple of weeks you guys have definitely progressed, right?"

"Progressed in… what?"

Pidge looked at the red paladin in disbelief, pinching the bridge of her nose under her glasses, "I had a feeling you were a bit dense when it came to this kind of topic, but the fact that I'm able to see it before you is amazing." Pulling up her device again she scrolled through a few things before showing her screen to the red paladin, "Does this ring any bells?"

Keith's face turned red at the video that played, the memories replaying in own head without the help from the video. Seeing him and Lance making out from an outside perspective made him realize just why Shiro had thrown that pillow at them. "Why do you have that?"

"For moments like this." Lowering her device again she raised a brow, "So, how much progress have you two made in the last couple of weeks?"

"Why are you so interested in that information?"

“For research purposes, obviously,” Pidge rolled her eyes, laughing at the incredulous look on Keith’s face, "Because if the sexual tension gets any more thick I'm gonna have to slice it with one of the castle's ceremonial swords."

Keith cleared his throat, moving to sit next to Pidge. "I don't know what you're expecting to hear, but you'll probably be disappointed." Leaning his head on the back of the couch he thought back on the last couple of days, "Truth or dare was the furthest we got, been squabbling like usual, and then took a nap together." He shrugged, "Nothing worth getting too excited for."

Pidge's mischievous demeanor basically deflated, a heavy sigh coming from her nose, "I don't know how much more of this slowburn I can take. It’s been four years, Christ, when’s this book gonna end?"

Keith couldn't help but laugh, covering his mouth in an attempt to suppress the sound, "What are we to you, one of your fanfictions?"

"Absolutely, this is one of the most entertaining things to happen in this castle in the past four-ish years." A frown settled on her features as she stared at Keith, "Are you okay talking about this? I don't want to push it too far."

"It's fine," While it was a bit odd to talk about his relationship with someone other than Shiro or Adam, he wasn't horribly uncomfortable, "But you seem to think something happened, why's that?"

"Umm.." Pidge averted her gaze, while she wanted to help Lance and Keith progress she was also aware where help could turn into hindrance, especially after Hunk had come after her for being a little too involved before. "I just picked up on things here or there, like the amount of cold water usage that’s skyrocketed recently." Tapping her fingers against her device she pursed her lips, “I think the better question is, how have you not pounced on each other yet?” Seriously, sometimes Keith would walk by fresh out the shower, and even Pidge was about to start blushing at the way Lance looked at the red paladin.

“Why would it culminate with us pouncing on each other?” That was the one part that he never fully understood with his romance books, that burning desire, that need to share their body with the person they loved. “Sex is just, y’know, an act. Not that much different from us making out, I don’t see how that would be the culmination of everything?”

Pidge’s eyes lit up with recognition, as she grabbed onto Keith’s wrist. He only managed to hear Pidge say three words,

“My room, now.”

And then the green paladin was dragging him through the halls of the castle at a speed he’d never seen Pidge run before.

Keith wished he could’ve spent a moment more to scan Pidge’s room before he was shoved onto the chair, Pidge standing before him, like he was about to be interrogated for information. He would’ve made a comment, but the serious expression on Pidge’s face made him hesitate.

“So, Keith Lai, tell me,” Pidge leaned in, their eyes full of skepticism, “so what do you mean by sex is just an act?”

Uh, this was a strange line of questioning, “I mean it how I said it. Sure, sex is a level of physical intimacy that you’d need to build up to, given how vulnerable you need to be, but that’s just it. I don’t see how it’s more of a milestone than a first kiss, or meeting their friends, or saying ‘I love you’s for the first time. I don’t see why it’s considered such a big step.”

Pidge’s grin widened as they stepped back, and Keith could practically see the way that their room was unveiled, like a switch had been flipped to activate a secret doorway. He recognized a few flags and symbols from the Pride events that Shiro and Adam had taken him, though couldn’t name all of them. Pidge turned around, back facing Keith, an evil villain unveiling their master plan, and asked him, “Have you ever heard of the term asexual?”

“A sexual? A sexual what?”

Pidge froze for a moment, before sighing, “You have much to learn, young padawan.”

“Could you at least tell me what’s going on here first?”

Pidge turned around to face him again, though this time with a much gentler expression, taking a seat on her bed as she did so, “Okay, so keep in mind, I’m doing this because I want to spare you the pain that I went through when I came to a certain conclusion about myself, yeah?”

“O…kay?”

Pidge took a deep breath, “So, there’s a lot of different types of attraction that you might experience towards another person. There’s aesthetic attraction, which is when you like someone because you think they’re handsome, pretty, etc. etc., like looking at a painting of a person and thinking that its subject is objectively an attractive person.”

Lance’s face an inch away from his, hand pushed up against the wall next to his face as he feels like they’re about to kiss.

“There’s romantic attraction, which is when you want to spend time with a person, like wanting to go on a date with them, holding hands with them, just generally wanting to spend time with them in a romantic context.”

Lance and him sparring. Trading blow for blow, seeing the triumphant smile on Lance’s face when he realized that he improved, and the shocked look that he has whenever Keith manages to subvert his expectations and win the spar anyways.

“And then there’s sexual attraction. Which is when you see a person, and your brain goes, I’d like to actively be having sex with that person.”

Keith’s mind blanked. He tried and tried, but some part of him knew that he wouldn’t be able to find an example of this. He wanted to spend time with Lance, and the thought of being physically close to him, to have skin to skin contact with him sounded heavenly. To be able to melt in his arms and become one sounded like heaven. But to actively want to be in a sexual act with Lance? Keith’s mind couldn’t conjure up the image. And he knew from his books that this wasn’t because of a lack of knowledge on the subject.

But as his mind drifted to Lance more and more, reminding himself of that coconut scent that drove him damn near insane, his mind warped, and understood. Though he hadn't grown up feeling much of the urge he knew the fundamental basics of it, as Shiro and Adam had attempted to give him 'the Talk' when he started at the Garrison. Though he hadn't felt anything at first, he couldn't ignore the fact that he'd begun to feel the base urges with Lance lately, though he never felt the need to act on them. Was that what Pidge was talking about?

Lance smiling and looking down at him, naked bodies making contact, him dragging Lance down for a kiss.

“When a person doesn’t experience sexual attraction, or only experiences it under certain or specific conditions, we say that that person is asexual, or ace. It’s a whole spectrum really, but ace covers most of the spectrum.”

Pidge watched him curiously, waiting to see the moment that everything clicked, and though it wasn't her area of expertise she would be there for him when his world started to turn upside down.

"Oh, so that's what it is."

Pidge was about three seconds from decking him. With gritted teeth, she spoke, "Care to repeat that bitch?"

"I never really realized that there was a term for it," Keith shrugged, "But it doesn't really change anything for me, it just lets me know that there's a community of people who experience things the same way I do."

Pidge had to take a deep breath to calm herself, “so, that’s it? You don’t feel the urge to freak out or suddenly realize why you’ve felt different from everyone your whole life?”

“Pidge, I was a wolf boy for a year. Granted, I thought it was cool, but the other kids did not share the correct opinion."

Pidge punched his shoulder and buried her head in her hands, “Dude, I was trying to have a bonding moment with you!”

Keith laughed, “Nope, sorry. I mean sure Shiro and I figured that I just never had the ‘sexual awakening’ teens apparently tend to have, or that I might be a very late bloomer.”

“Well good for you for not having to go through the pain of feeling like you were destined to be alone forever because you didn’t feel love the same way everyone did.”

Keith awkwardly stretched out his hand, and patted Pidge’s shoulder, unsure of what to do about that statement. Pidge laughed a little at his attempt at comfort.

“If it makes you feel any better, I think I’m attracted to Lance.”

“Uh, yeah? Don’t need to state the obvious.”

“What’s obvious?”

“Wait, hold the fuck up. Are you telling me that you didn’t realize that you’re attracted to Lance?”

“I just came to that conclusion myself, when did you come to that conclusion?”

“Uh… Honestly? How you guys interacted when we all were crammed into the Blue Lion and were escaping the Garrison.”

“Wasn’t that before we even met Allura?”

“Yeah, and?”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN I’VE BEEN ATTRACTED TO HIM THE WHOLE TIME!?”

“I’M SORRY I THOUGHT YOU KNEW!”

“Keep it down you two!” Shiro’s voice sounded from the hallway. “And Keith I realized when you were staring at Lance in that wooden conspiracy shack.”

“Is nothing sacred in this goddamn castle?” Keith yelled, feeling like every time he was close to or had had a revelation, someone had come along and interrupted it.

“Not when you’re yelling it halfway down the hall. Be glad Lance and Hunk are upstairs gaming right now.”

“Oh shit.”

“What?” Pidge asked.

“I like Lance, don’t I? Like, like like him.”

“Congratulations on being the last of the paladins to realize, except maybe Lance.” Pidge clapped sarcastically.

“Fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.” Keith groaned as he fell back onto his chair, hearing laughter from Pidge and Shiro.

Chapter Text

Shiro had come over to Pidge’s room after Keith’s exclamation, figuring the rest of the conversation was probably best held in a way the rest of the crew couldn’t overhear. Not that Keith or Pidge had been particularly quiet the whole time, he’d heard most of the conversation, and was relieved that Pidge had actually been able to help Keith find a label on himself. Even if the boy hadn’t cared much for it, Shiro had quietly been worried about it. Though he had long since accepted how Keith saw relationships, he’d been worried, especially now that Keith was thinking of getting into one, that he wouldn’t have the proper vocabulary to describe his thoughts to someone else.

But as always, Keith surprised him, having approached and however unwillingly opened up to Pidge. For as many regrets Shiro had of taking up the Kerberos mission, seeing Keith grow and develop didn’t make it worth it per se, but certainly eased the ache a lot more, and he felt like he could at least face Adam given how well space had been for Keith.

Shiro’s attention turned back to the conversation, which had shifted back to the artifact now, as Keith and PIdge traded ideas on its origins.

“I mean, if it’s meant to boost a paladin’s capabilities, why wouldn’t Allura just give it to us in the first place? Surely if anyone would be able to unlock its potential, it’s one of us right?”

“I might have an idea on that actually,” Keith scratched the back of his head, “I didn’t say anything at the time because the guards were on our tail, but the artifact kind of… shocked me when I first touched it”

Shiro’s eyes narrowed immediately, knowing Keith’s tendency to downplay situations and pain, “What do you mean, shocked you?”

Keith gulped. Well, if Lance wasn’t lectured to death by Shiro, he had a feeling he was about to be the moment he stepped out this room, “Like uh… electric shock? I dunno. There’s no skin burns or anything, I checked when I was in the shower.” Just streaks of purple skin where the electricity had spread, “there’s almost no indication that anything happened at all, except for my memory. I tried to warn you when you touched it, Pidge, but I was too late and you had no reaction to it at all.”

“Yeah, no, I definitely didn’t get shocked when I touched it.” Pidge was well aware that despite how small her frame was, their voice was anything but, “that only proves my point though. Allura isn’t a paladin, what use is she gonna get out of the artifact, if she’s even able to access it? Clearly, if anything, you’d probably get the most use out of it considering it’s already reacted to you.”

“I don’t know if I want it to, to be honest,” not if what the artifact did was further the corruption, the sickness spreading underneath his skin. Even if the artifact had recognised him and even called out his name, a part of him needed to understand why it had done so, but an even bigger part of him was apprehensive, “I mean, Quintessence is meant to bring out the best in people, it powers Voltron and our Lions, but you also see what happens with people who chase after and try to exploit the power boost it gives.”

Pidge deflated, and Keith gave a suggestion to try and cheer her up.

“You could ask Allura to see if you could get your hands on it after she’s done?”

Pidge shot him a look, Keith sighed.

“I’m just saying, I don’t see Allura giving up the artifact any time soon.”

The green paladin looked like a lightbulb had suddenly turned on in their mind, a smile appearing.

“Who says we need to go through Allura to get it?”

Keith raised an eyebrow, Pidge’s mischievous grin widened.

“How do you feel about asking Lance out on the perfect first date?”

“Ahem,” Shiro coughed, “As commanding officer here, I feel like I should point out that you guys should at least attempt going through the proper channels, but as myself? I also agree that it’d be a great first date.”

-

“Lance, how would you feel about going on a heist?”

“What?” For once, just for once, Lance wished that Keith had more normal conversation starters, like “how are you?” or “would you like to do something together?” instead of sentences that were going to make him have a heart attack before he turned 25.

“Explain?”

Keith’s head was a whirlwind of emotions, and he spoke quickly, needing to get all the words out of him and hear Lance say yes before his courage faded, “The artifact. It makes no sense for Allura to have it. If it’s something that’ll help the paladins, at the very least we should be the ones to investigate it. But also, Allura’s not gonna just hand it over to us. So, therefore, heist?”

“Woah, woah, woah, cool your jets, Keith. One thing at a time. Are you sure that you want to be up close and personal with the artifact again after…” Lance swallowed as his mind drifted to the purple that settled over Keith’s skin, contrasted by those amethyst eyes burning with hatred every time it caught sight of its body in the mirror, “after it sped up everything?”

Keith was scared, terrified, honestly. But he also couldn’t ignore the way that the artifact had called out to him, had called him by a name he didn’t even know he recognized. If curiosity killed the cat, then satisfaction brought it back. After Allura had taken the artifact away from him, he was going to steal it back.

“I- it reacted to me Lance.” Keith looked up at Lance, eyes wide and pleading, “it called out to me, responded to me in a way it didn’t for Pidge or Shiro or hell, even Allura. I can’t just ignore it.”

Lance sighed, “Well, then things might get a little hot, so you’re gonna need someone who can stay cool.” He eyed Keith. God, he really couldn’t say no to those puppy eyes, “Good thing you came to me.”

Keith couldn’t believe PIdge’s advice worked. He should talk to the green paladin more about how to deal with Lance. Seriously.

“We’ll need some time to stake out Allura and Coran, just to get a sense of their routine and when they’ll leave the artifact alone.”

“Maybe about a week or so? Those two don’t have the concept of weekends, so it’ll be a long enough time frame to establish patterns of behavior.”

“So long as you don’t shoot-first and ask-questions later?”

“Why would I shoot either of them? I don’t even have a gun.” He did, however, feel like activating his bayard whenever the princess got a little too close to Lance.

“I don’t know, I’m just making sure all my bases are covered.”

“It’s a date then?”

Lance froze. What did Keith just say? Quick, Lance, react before you take too long and it gets awkward.

“Yeah, make sure to wear your nice clothes, wouldn’t wanna go on this heist not looking good after all.”

Keith’s mind immediately went to his wardrobe. He might have a turtleneck sweater that could work well for this? Most of his clothing was black by nature anyways, so at least that wasn’t something he’d have to worry about. Maybe Pidge could give him some fashion advice. No, Shiro’s was probably better. Yeah, he’ll ask Shiro for some help.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, Why wasn’t Keith responding? Did he say the wrong thing? Lance slowly turned around and sneaked a glance at Keith’s face, only to see the man deep in thought and looking like he was considering something seriously, alternating between thinking and looking at… his own clothing?

Was Keith actually thinking about what he just said?

For not the first time in his life, Lance felt that he knew very well what the cause of his death would be. Keith. Except this time instead of his blood pressure having gone through the roof debating with the red paladin, it would be because his heart was about to burst from how full it felt seeing Keith being adorable.

Feeling brave, Lance leaned in, snuck a kiss on Keith’s cheek, before running out both to avoid the punch that he could feel coming, and to find Hunk for some fashion advice.

-

They’d met up again, a week later, a silent agreement as they both appeared in the emptied living room which was usually filled with chatter at this time of night. Keith made it a point in his mind to thank Shiro for that. And Lance made it a point to thank Hunk.

Lance’s eyes landed on Keith, who’s blush made it look as though he’d been wearing makeup, the thought making Lance’s heart skip a beat. Keith had chosen a tight-fitting black turtleneck which hugged his muscles, but its collar was loose enough that it could easily be fashioned into a cowl instead. Pragmatic as always for Keith, but it was clear he had put thought into the outfit and made an effort to dress nicer for tonight. The black tapered pants, on the other hand, must’ve been a wardrobe item that Keith very rarely wore, because Lance could feel himself drooling just looking at the way it hugged Keith’s waist and if Keith had worn that around the castle, maybe the blue pilot would’ve realized his crush a lot sooner. Though the boots were a familiar sight, a pair of worn-in combat boots that Keith wore mostly during their Garrison days, and Lance wondered if this was Keith’s own way of punishing him for not having made a move when they were both still in school.

And to be fair, Keith hadn’t been much better than Lance. His eyes hadn’t left Lance once since the tanned boy entered the room. Though much more subdued than his usual outfits, Keith chuckled quietly at Lance’s inability to wear all black, even if it was for a stealth mission. A black, patchwork jacket hung off of Lance’s slender frame, leaving so much yet so little to the imagination at the same time, especially when Keith took into the account what perhaps was the shortest, army green tank top that ever existed, covering just enough of Lance’s chest to be functional, but left the abdomen open to the elements. Something Keith would have complained about in the past but found himself actively quieting that part of his mind as the trade-off was that he got to ogle Lance’s body even just at a glance. Pale, high-waisted cargo pants came into view as Keith’s gaze trailed downwards, a surprisingly functional outfit piece considering the rest of Lance’s outfit, though its tight fit to the blue pilot’s legs made Keith question slightly how much mobility Lance truly had in them. Wait, was Lance taller than him now?

Lance was grateful they had both showed up slightly earlier than when Allura did her nightly round to the kitchen, knowing that the minute or so they had spent eye-fucking each other would have delayed them otherwise.

“Lance, are those high-heeled boots?” Keith spoke eventually, his head turned away so Lance couldn’t see the blush which had spread down into his neck. No wonder why Shiro had suggested a turtleneck.

Lance couldn’t quite meet Keith’s gaze. God, he knew he should’ve just told Hunk what was going on instead of being vague. He was glad that he’d had the jacket lying around, otherwise even he himself was beginning to question just how practical this outfit was for a heist. “I- I couldn’t tell Hunk the whole truth about what was going on.”

So Hunk had thought he was dressing Lance for a date? Keith’s heart sank suddenly, did that mean that this was the way Lance typically dressed for those things? That others had seen Lance dressed the same way in a romantic context? Was the outfit not because they were about to go on a date/heist?

Lance saw the way Keith’s face fell, and felt his heart leap to his throat. “What’s wrong?” He brushed a strand of hair that had fallen from its place behind Keith’s ear. Was it just him or did Keith’s ear feel slightly fuzzy? Jeez, focus, Lance, focus.

“I- I don’t know.” Keith felt strange, stranger still thinking that others might’ve seen Lance like this, even if he could tell damn well that the outfit hadn’t been used much, hadn’t seen the wear and tear that came with having been used multiple times.

Lance furrowed his brows, but saw the way Keith still seemed to be evaluating his outfit, though not the person that was wearing it. While a part of him was mildly offended and was tempted to joke that Keith’s eyes should’ve been on the person wearing the clothes instead of the clothing itself, he saw the conflict behind the pale boy’s eyes.

“To be fair, this is the first time I’ve even gone to Hunk for advice when it came to what to wear.” Lance was experimental with his fashion, more so than other members on Voltron, Allura excluded but she grew up in space. He was typically the one that Hunk had come to when it came to fashion choices for the occasional dates that the larger man had been on. Though for whatever reason, a part of him wanted every part of this date to go perfectly, and not even picking his own clothes felt like it was good enough, which was when he had turned to Hunk for advice.

“And for what it’s worth, I’m totally stealing your outfit if we ever need to infiltrate a goth concert for Voltron, even though I have to admit you’re pulling it off better than me.”

Keith’s smile had brightened then, and those eyes of pure joy that reflected nothing but his reflection had Lance’s heart racing, and his arm slid down Keith’s frame, finding and grabbing onto the pale boy’s hand as its destination. “Come on, we should get going. Allura’s probably almost in her room by now.”

Right, the heist. The heist for the artifact, the heist specifically suggested to be at the center of this date, the date’s heist. That heist.

-

Lance slunk along the wall down the hallway, whispering a tune to himself as he followed after Keith. His tune came to a halt when Keith looked over his shoulder, looking at the blue paladin like he had just gone insane.

“Why are you sneaking around like that?”

“What, you didn’t have the pink panther theme song playing in your head?”

“The pink panther theme song?”

“Keith, you have so much to learn about pop culture.”

"You should know by now that I lived in a shack basically all my life."

By some miracle, the two hadn’t gotten caught on their way to the castle’s lower levels despite their bickering, where Allura typically brought the artifact after a day of experimenting with it. Honestly, it was a blessing that Allura and Coran’s bedrooms were fairly high up in the castle, and that the others were at least somewhat aware of what was going on. They never would’ve made it to the mysterious room that Allura disappeared to store the artifact otherwise.

"Did you know there was a vault in the castle?"

"Lance, if I knew there was a vault I would've told you..”

"So how are we gonna get inside? Think we can guess the code?" Lance walked towards the vault, inspecting it for any kind of keypad but to no avail.

"Wait," a brilliant idea suddenly came to Lance’s mind. Rubbing his hands together, he blew on his hands before facing them towards the vault, channeling his will for the door to open through the palms of his hand,

"Open sesame!"

After a few seconds, nothing. The door didn’t react at all. Lance shrugged, "Well I did all I could do."

If this was the paladin of the Blue Lion, wisest of all the paladins, the universe was doomed.

Keith rolled his eyes, but caught himself smiling at the brunette’s antics, "You're an idiot."

“You love me for it.” Lance reached out his hand, feeling around for a pad or knob or something to open the door. However, when something did ‘click!’, Lance got a very bad feeling in his gut.

“Keith?”

“What.”

“We may have around five seconds before Coran comes running.” Right on time, a set of very hurried footsteps echoed through the castle’s empty halls, definitely getting closer and closer. Both of their eyes widened as panic started to set in.

How were they going to explain what they were doing in the lower levels of the castle at this time of night? A place very much off limits to the paladins? Not to mention, so close to a vault that very clearly wasn't meant to be interacted with by just anyone?

They only had seconds before Coran was upon them, so Keith, as always, acted on instinct.

"Play along, loverboy."

That was all Lance heard before he felt Keith grab his arm, being spun around, and shoved against a wall.

"Keith, wha-" And suddenly his brain was mush.

Keith was kissing him.

Keith Lai.

Was.

Kissing him.

Keith pressed his lips against Lance’s, acting on the instinct that had been nagging at him since they met up, a certain kind of desperation intertwined on his lips so intense that the pale boy couldn't tell if it was from adrenaline or excitement or something else. Anything that Lance had wanted to say died on his tongue, as Keith felt cold hands wrap around him, drawing him in closer as his body pressed against Lance’s which had melted into a puddle.

Even as he heard Coran’s panting coming nearer, Keith didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. Didn’t want to stop. If anything, it only made Keith bolder, swiping his tongue against Lance’s lips the same way Lance had done to him during truth or dare. The same way he’d longed for Lance to do back at the library. Only this time, neither of them stiffened, only leaning into the kiss more as the rest of the world faded away. Desperate. Needy. Needing to consume and be consumed.

Coran skidded to stop as he finally reached the vault, only to realize he would’ve stopped dead in his tracks anyways at the scene in front of him. Was that… Number Three and Number Four? Huh. Well. That solved the mystery of why the alarm had been tripped. He was about to clear his throat, when a tiny tug on his trousers stopped him. Was that the mice? Yep, it was definitely the mice trying to pull him away. Maybe the mice had a point.

Yep. Just back away slowly Coran, back away.

On his way back towards his room however, he caught sight of Two and Five wandering the halls. Huh. Must’ve been a sleepless night for damn near all of the paladins. He approached the two, thinking that maybe a talk or some warm milk in the kitchen would help them, as that usually did the trick for the princess. Coran’s sneaking skills must’ve improved, though, seeing as Two and Five jumped when he approached even without him consciously sneaking up on the two.

“Number Two, Number Five. What a pleasant surprise. What can good ol’ Coran do to help you?”

“Coran!” Pidge squeaked, realizing the direction which Coran had come from. She swore, if those two idiots fucked up the mission because they were bickering the universe would have two less paladins to defend them against the Galra. “What were you doing downstairs?”

“Well, I thought someone had tripped the alarm on the vaults, but, instead it was… uh…” Coran blushed, feeling uncomfortable, “let’s just say I don’t think they meant to trip the alarm, or be near the vault. At all. Must’ve missed the floor the bedrooms are on.”

Pidge was going to kill Lance and Keith.

Well, only if they didn’t get the artifact.

She might, however, kill them in a different way if they ruined her slowburn. Seriously, the two weren’t supposed to jump each other’s bones for another two chapters and there was still so much potential for angst within the story.

“Huh, I didn’t think the date would progress that fast.” said Hunk, “I thought for sure Lance was going to wine and dine Keith first, honestly, I’m a little disappointed in Lance. I thought he was better than this.”

“Ah, well, Number Two, young love is… unpredictable and passionate. Let’s just leave it at that, yes?” He really needed to stop speaking about this subject, “Good night, Number Two, Number Five.”

“Night, Coran.” The two sounded. Right, he still needed to report back to the princess about what had happened.

Downstairs, Keith was this close to ripping off the tank top that now seemed to be in the way of him and Lance.

It took Coran about another five minutes or so before he’d finally made it back to the princess’ rooms. He understood why the royalty chose to have their rooms far above the ground, as a symbol of superiority and for practical reasons, but crikey, it really did a number on his knees.

He knocked, before opening the door to reveal the princess anxiously pacing around, muttering to herself. Once she heard the door open, however, the anxious energy was immediately directed towards him.

“Coran! Is everything alright? Is everyone okay? Was it the paladins? Did anyone get near the artifact? We still haven’t figured out its purpose and I know that the paladins are getting more anxious by the day and the Articulatians won’t tellmeanythingand-”

“Princess, breathe.” Coran spoke calmly, doing his best to soothe her highness’ anxieties, “It seems that, Number Three and Number Four’s relationship have taken an entirely different turn as to where we thought it would’ve.”

“Keith and Lance? But, what other reason would they have to avoid each other? They’ve been fighting since the start of Voltron, and I’ve always worried that if Voltron would fail to form one day, it would be because of them.”

Coran cleared his throat, “Voltron will be fine, princess. In fact, Voltron will likely be stronger than ever, though maybe at the slight expense of the other paladins. This I can guarantee with my life.”

The space mice had finally arrived at this point, coming to Coran’s rescue, and Chuchule quickly scurried up to whisper in Allura’s ear.

“Oh. Oh! Oh. Really! Oh my. How scandalous.” Allura giggled, “I see. Well, Coran, it seems you were right. We have nothing to worry about after all.”

Coran breathed a sigh of relief, happy to hopefully never speak of that subject with the princess again, “Yes, princess. Now, you should retire. Will you require a cup of tea before bed?”

“No, I think I’ve had quite enough excitement for today.” Allura cradled her friends gently in her hands, “I’m sure everybody will have plenty of stories to tell tonight, yes?”

The mice squeaked excitedly in agreement. Yes, they had a lot to report back to the princess about.

Coran smiled as he quietly exited the room. Yes, all was well in the Castle of Lions.

Chapter Text

Keith’s mind was growing hazier by the second as Lance’s wandering hands traveled underneath his sweater, that sweet scent of coconut invading his mind and urging him to do more, more. He needed so much more of Lance.

His mind had dimly registered Coran’s retreat at some point, and when he had slowed down even slightly just to try to confirm his suspicions, Lance had flipped the both of them around, so now Keith was the one against the wall as Lance continued kissing. The blue paladin’s jacket had long been discarded in a corner somewhere, and the hand that had done so was holding tightly onto short brunette hair, pressing Lance closer to himself as they sucked on a spot on his neck. There had been a slight prick at first, almost ticklish where Lance nipped him, but he had damn near moaned as soft lips pressed against the spot, the slight stubble only adding to the sensation, and the smell of the tanned boy’s aftershave invaded his nostrils. God, he could live in this moment forever. Pushed up against the wall, small, heedy noises leaving his mouth as Lance marked him all over.

It was as though something had flipped a switch in him once he had set his mind to kissing Lance, something primal, something feral wanted, no, needed Lance as much as he needed air. Maybe more so, even, given how many times he’d had to break away from kissing Lance’s lips and focus elsewhere just so he wouldn’t suffocate from having the boy’s tongue shoved down his throat for too long, a death he would have happily died if it hadn’t meant never having a chance to kiss like this again.

A small, but growing presence had been in the back of his mind at this point, and while Keith had ignored it at first, wanting to focus on finding new ways to merge himself with the man in front of him, it had melded with his mind at some point, trying to figure out his intentions. And now, it seemed that it had finally found its answer.

Paladin! Keith could feel the joy and relief in its voice.

That was all the warning Keith got before the door behind him swung open, sending both of them tumbling down to the floor given that Keith’s knees had gone weak the moment Lance flipped both of them over.

His arm, however, had wrapped tightly around Lance the second he’d realized he was falling, wanting to stop the blue pilot from moving and injuring himself too. The one in Lance’s hair wrapped around the head protectively, the other around the waist which was far too exposed and not exposed enough in Keith’s opinion. And he braced himself.

Though the only impact that came was on the arm that wrapped around Lance’s head.

Huh?

Keith opened his eyes. Wait. Why was Lance beside him instead of on top of him? He glanced down at the way that their legs had intertwined, and snorted as blush spread across his face. They must’ve both tried to take the impact of the fall from each other, and rather than one of them succeeding and taking its full impact, they had twisted themselves so that both of them took the impact of the fall instead. Maybe Pidge wasn’t overreacting when they had freaked out upon realizing he only came to the conclusion that he liked Lance just last week.

He coughed awkwardly, having to tear his own eyes away from Lance’s heated gaze, almost being able to predict whatever teasing line was about to come from those swollen lips. Instead, he reached out a hand stiffly, and patted Lance on the shoulder, “Uh, good acting Lance.”

Lance’s gaze was still admiring his handiwork on Keith’s neck when his mind registered what the boy had said. Acting? Oh please. Nevermind the fact that he was in theater back in middle school, and part of the small student-led troupe back at the Garrison, and had gotten plenty of roles which involved stage kissing, Lance didn’t think he’d been kissed like that ever in his life.

But he kept silent, knowing now was not the time to bicker, especially when Coran had damn near caught them once. Quietly however, he wondered if he could have another make out session like that with Keith if he tripped another alarm, or if Pidge would find and throttle him first.

"But," Keith mumbled as he spoke, slowly untangling their limbs, "You're right, I do love that about you." He avoided Lance's shocked gaze, trying to act nonchalant even while the tan boy’s mouth was agape as his hand curled around another’s, his fingers catching on the fishnet Lance wore under his top. Seriously, he needed to have a talk with Lance to try and figure out what the blue pilot thought was appropriate heist gear. Though he certainly wasn’t complaining with it as Lance’s date outfit.

Lance cleared his throat, and took in the room around him. Why was he in a vault again? A mission. A mission? A mission. Oh, right, yes, a mission. For a vault, there really wasn’t much left in the castle’s reserves. A few pieces of expensive looking furniture that might’ve been part of the diplomats’ rooms at some point, and a few jewels that seemed to have been dropped and forgotten rather than left. And finally, there was the relic. Displayed proudly in the center of the room atop a podium that reminded Lance of those Greek columns on Earth. It sat in a little container atop a cushion, and given how amorphous the relic was the container was likely there just to make sure it didn’t leak or something. Pidge was right after all, the relic didn’t exactly look relic-y.

"Well, this was easier than I thought it'd be," Lance said as he made a move to grab the relic.

This man was going to give him a heart attack, and Keith would have face palmed himself if he hadn’t had milliseconds to pull Lance back and away from the relic. One would think, hope even, that after four years in space, Lance would’ve learned if not by knowledge then through experience that one should never, EVER just reach out and grab an item that’s meant to be heavily guarded. He at least had the excuse of being the paladin of instinct, but the paladin of wisdom really should start taking a page out of Shiro’s book and start thinking with his head instead of his hands.

Lance frowned at Keith, "Hey, what did you do that for? We can just grab it and go."

"When I first touched the relic, I may or may not have gotten electrocuted," Keith looked away as he answered, knowing that hiding the truth from Lance would only urge the blue paladin follow through on the instinct to grab the relic, out of defiance if nothing else, "It… it wasn’t like any pain I’d ever felt before, and worse than getting shocked by Pidge’s bayard at full charge. Like instead of being electrocuted, I was getting torn to pieces and forced back together all at once. I still don’t know how I was able to fight my way out afterwards," he gave Lance's hand a gentle squeeze as he finally looked at the tan boy again, "The last thing I want is for you to go through it as well. I’ve at least done it once before, so I know what to expect."

Lance’s gaze shifted, and remained uncharacteristically quiet as he looked at Keith, though only for a minute or so, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Keith would’ve blushed at the intensity of Lance’s gaze, if not for the serious atmosphere right now, "Because you've already been worrying way more than I'd ever expect of you, what good would come from worrying you more?"

"You've always gotta sweet talk your way out of my anger, don't ya?"

Keith just rolled his eyes, amused, before refocusing his gaze on the relic. His body was hesitant to reach out, not wanting to experience that pain again, but at the thought of Lance experiencing that pain in his place made the paladin’s arm shoot out almost immediately, his body tense and bracing for the pain as his fingers brushed against the relic.

Though instead of pain this time, Keith instead felt his mind hurl forwards for just a second, and just like that the red paladin was suddenly falling through the air.

“Lance!” Keith called out, panicked. But no one responded, only the wind whistling past his ears, and grass on the ground which was approaching him far too quickly. His body braced for impact, something he’d done too many times on his adventures, only, pain never came. Instead, his descent came to a screeching halt seconds before he became paladin pancake, whatever force that slowed him letting him hover above the grass for a few seconds, before being unceremoniously dumped onto the grass.

“Where am I?” Keith jumped a little as he heard his thoughts vocalized, scanning his environment for any immediate threats.

It seemed the relic was not about to inflict pain on him this time, at least. He’d been transported to a misty lake, surrounded by high mountains. Not a landscape that he was familiar with, though it did remind him of pictures he’d seen of Sweden, at least, travel posters of which advertised how serene its mountains were.

Had this been Keith who was at the start his journey through space, perhaps he would’ve been more wary. But at this point, it had been years since he’d seen earth, and even Keith found himself wanting to go home. For the first time after walking into what was clearly a trap, Keith allowed himself to relax slightly. If this was a trick, or an illusion to get his guard down, he might as well make the most of it while he could.

The mist over the lake started to swirl in front of Keith, slowly coalescing into a female figure in front of him. As the figure took shape, he’d almost called out instinctually, only, his throat made no sound as he could give no title to this stranger, though a part of his mind desperately wanted to. Short, spiky hair that mirrored his own, cat-like ears that blended in with her hair, two strands of hair hanging down and reached her chest. Was… was the artifact trying to create a version of him? If it was, it had gotten a few key features of his wrong, his gender being first and foremost. But though he had tried to deny it, something in his heart knew that that wasn’t the answer. Besides, if the artifact was trying to create a version of him, why would it make him Galran?

“Who are you?” Keith’s thoughts vocalized, his body reaching out a hand, desperate to feel any sort of contact from the figure.

Vapour dispersed as his hand passed through the figure.

The figure turned to look at him, almost as if she’d reacted to his touch somehow. Her face was foggy, almost indecipherable, but her markings stood sharp and clear. Keith’s blood ran cold as he recognized them, how could he not? He saw them every day in the mirror.

Why do you feel familiar to me? Why do I know you? Why are you whom the artifact chose to show me?

A million questions ran through Keith’s mind, but only one mattered.

“Who are you?”

Yurak.

The voice took shape now, one distinctly female, one that tugged on his heartstrings as tears threatened to overwhelm him. Who was she?

“Stop… stop calling me by that name. That’s not my name.”

“You shall be called… Yurak.”

“My name is Keith.” Keith gritted his teeth, who did this woman think she was?

The woman's face looked surprised at first before melting into a soft smile, "So I see he won with your name, silly man." Her words were gentle and warm, expressing a kind of affection that Keith wasn't expecting to hear.

But he decided not to focus on that right now, right now he had to figure out what was going on.

“Why did you bring me here?”

The figure gestured towards the lake, and Keith’s gaze followed.

Lance?

No, Lance wasn’t here. But instead, memories of their moments together flashed before him instead.

“Uh, the name’s Lance.”

“I’m not sure, but I bet it’s Keith’s fault.”

“I’LL STICK YOU IN A WORMHOLE!”

“You still going Keith?”

“I… actually don’t hate you right now.”

“You were right, we do make a good team.”

“Sounds like the mice did more than you though.”

“How about… I train with you?”

“Do you yield?”

“So I thought we were friends now, sorry to assume.”

“No wonder why you like my smell so much.”

“What’s happening to you?”

“You love me for it.”

Keith blushed. So, the fact that he was in love with Lance might have been more obvious than he’d realized. All the times that his heart had leapt to his throat that he’d dismissed as adrenaline, or simply the excitement of finally having and seeing his friend.

Just how long had he been in love with Lance McClain?

“Is this him?”

Oh, right. The figure. He raised an eyebrow at the woman.

“Do you choose to share this power with him, to defend and to protect, in peacetime and in battle, through hardship and strife, for better and for worse; will you share your lifeblood with him so long as you are paladin?”

Keith barely had to dwell on the answer at all.

Yes.

If he had to give his life for Lance, become a silent guardian that stood watch, if he had to watch the world burn so that Lance would live to see peacetime, if he had even the slightest chance of making a life with him after.

I do.

“Very well.”

The figure began to dissipate, and Keith reached out a hand, desperate to stop them from disappearing.

It reached out its own hand, cradling his face, and placed a kiss on his forehead.

“I will always love you, Keith.”

Flashes and visions of memories rushed through Keith, remembering them just as quickly as he forgot them. And even as his world faded away, knowing that he’d forget what the woman meant to him, he desperately needed her to know something.

“I love you, Mom.”

I don’t hate you, I don’t even resent you for leaving. I just want to know you.

-

Somewhere, light years away across the galaxy, Krolia panted after she shot upright, mind trying to hold onto the memories of the dream that had already begun slipping away.

-

“Keith? Keith~, hello?”

Lance waved his hand in front of Keith, who had been frozen since he made contact with the artifact. The blue pilot had been scared shitless at first, thinking that Keith was suffering silently once more, and he powerless to stop it. But when the pale boy’s expression had softened, Lance knew that he only had to wait a little longer before he had his lover back.

Wait, lover? Where did that come from?

Lance had no time to dwell on it, however, as Keith’s eyes finally came back into focus. Just in time for Lance to realize that from where their hands joined, lightning wracked his body.

Lance screamed.

Every particle, every molecule that made him who he was was being torn apart from him, replaced, injected with something new. He felt memories, knowledge, being shoved into his mind, his body warping into something bigger, something stronger, his muscles spasming as he began the slow and arduous process of being remade.

Keith’s eyes widened as he watched Lance suddenly pass out in front of him, his body barely having time to shoot out and catch the tan boy in his arms. His heart dropped. No, no, no, no, no. This was exactly what he was trying to prevent.

Damn it. Why hadn’t Lance let go of his hand? What happened after he touched the artifact? All he could remember was the vague feeling of serenity and a fuzzy figure whose features disappeared any time he tried to remember any sort of detail. Once he’d come back to the present, Lance had let out a pained gasp, tightened the grip on his hand, and before he could even say Lance’s name, the blue pilot had very quickly passed out.

Keith’s eyes scanned the room, and caught sight of a bed nearby as he let out a sigh of relief. He carried Lance in his arms, quietly noting how light the tan boy felt and made a note to himself to make sure that Hunk would feed Lance more, before gently laying him down on the bed. Though Lance’s body was limp, his eyes were frantic in its movements, darting everywhere, the kind someone did when they were having a nightmare.

Lance squeezed his hand once more, still passed out, and Keith looked down to where they were joined. Damn it. Damn it damn it damn it. Why did Lance have to be stubborn and not let go of his hand? Was that the reason why Lance was suffering now? Because he had taken the shock instead of Keith?

Guilt ate away at his mind, and Keith’s eyes scanned the room for any sort of clue as to what happened. When he tried to get up and go inspect where the artifact used to be however, he pulled himself back onto the bed immediately when he felt Lance’s grip on him tighten, not wanting to miss if anything happened. He still had Pidge and Hunk to answer to after all. Even if he managed to retrieve the artifact, Keith could already see the way that he was about to be tortured by the duo for letting Lance get hurt. Hell, Pidge had already given him ‘the shovel talk’, and if he was honest with himself, Keith was suddenly a lot more scared of Pidge than he used to be.

"Lance..?"

With his free hand, Keith reached out and gently caressed Lance's cheek, praying to every deity in the known or even unknown universe that he would get a response. And that seemed to do the trick. Lance's eyes slowed their frantic pace, and as his eyelids fluttered open, the tan boy’s gaze came to rest on Keith.

Keith' s heart finally calmed as he scanned Lance over, making sure that the blue pilot displayed no signs of pain. He had a million questions he wanted to ask, what Lance still hurt? Did he see anything? Did he talk to anyone? Though concern quickly overshadowed Keith’s budding curiosity, knowing that his priority right now was making sure that Lance was okay.

"Breathe, Lance." Keith’s voice was soft, repeating the words he so often heard Adam saying to Shiro, “You’re okay. You’re safe here, with me.” Those words were repeated out loud for his own sake too. Lance was back, next to him, safe and sound and no longer being tortured by lightning itself.

Lance almost smiled at the concerned look on Keith’s face, if only smiling didn’t hurt. But he did squeeze Keith's hand, a feeble attempt at reassuring the red paladin, though no words could come to his lips. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, he could barely even think.

Was this what Keith was talking about? Was this what he went through, in a fortress flooded with Galran guards, and having had to fight his way out afterwards?

A few minutes had passed before Lance could finally breathe again as he regained control over his body. "Keith.." his voice was hoarse, tired from all the screaming he’d just done. Relief coarse through his veins as he leaned into the warm hand pushed against his face. He was safe. Keith was safe. "I'm good, I just… give me a second, that was pretty intense."

He offered the red paladin a weak smile, though worry still swam in those eyes that had captured his heart all those years ago.

His body felt hot and heavy as he moved, warmer than anywhere the castle should have been, and certainly warmer than the vault had been before he’d passed out. Yep, now was as good a time as any to get out of here. His gaze drifted over to the door, only to freeze.

“Keith?”

“Yeah?” Keith’s voice was soft, full of concern, and Lance’s heart would’ve melted if it weren’t for a very urgent concern that needed to be addressed.

“The vault door.”

“Hm?” Keith’s head swiveled to see what Lance was talking about.

Shit.

When did the door close on them?

“Shit.”

“Shit.”

Keith rushed forward and put a foot against the vault door, hoping the leverage would be enough to pull the door open, but to no avail. He sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair. Somedays, it really did feel like the universe was conspiring against him somehow, and though everything did feel like it had a motive behind it to some extent, Keith just couldn’t understand why.

"Okay," Keith spoke slowly, a million different thoughts swirling around in his mind, "We're not totally screwed. Pidge and Shiro know where we are, they're bound to check on us eventually, let's just hope it's before Allura and Coran do." Turning back to Lance, he let out a breath of relief when he saw no resistance to the idea on Lance’s face, though the tan boy was still looking a little dazed. Keith returned to his spot by the bed, sitting down and leaning against the bed, "I gue-”

Keith was cut off when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him, before being lifted into the air placed firmly onto the bed and into the arms of Lance. What had initially been a quick breath out of shock was slowly turning into deep breathing as that damned coconut scent invaded his mind again, making Keith’s thoughts turn slow and fuzzy.

What just happened?

“Lance?”

“Yes?”

“What… what was that?”

“The floor is cold, and the bed is warm. And, you don’t have to sit on the floor, it’s not like we haven’t done this before.” Lance’s arms snaked around Keith’s waist, and the pale boy had a feeling he’d need to choose his next questions carefully so that he could get the most information out before his brain turned to mush.

"And you had to lift me up to make that point?"

"Are you really complaining right now?"

"No, just-"

“Ah, bupbupbupbupbup bup,” Lance placed a finger on his lips, effectively silencing Keith, “Shut up and cuddle with me.”

Keith grew rigid at the sudden command, and though a part of him wanted to at least bicker with Lance a little more before giving in, his body was much more honest as it quickly made itself comfortable, head tucked under Lance’s chin and leg hooked onto Lance’s leg on the opposite side of him.

"What’s up with the cuddle?"

"Chop it up to getting stuck in an alien vault and almost getting electrocuted to death, it's a pretty good motivator."

Lance tightened his arms around Keith lightly, letting the weight of Keith’s body against him to calm his frantic heart. Whatever he had just gone through had been absolutely horrible, and the least Keith could do for asking him to come on this heist in the first place was let him hold on and cuddle. "So…" Lance drew out the word, stalling for time as he tried to find the right words to ask the question that had been on his mind.

"Did you mean it? When you said this was a date?"

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't."

"Yeah, well, how was I supposed to know? Maybe you finally gained a sense of humor."

Keith’s expression turned deadpan, "Are you really saying that when no one else is around and no one’s gonna come look for us till the morning?"

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a warning."

"Geez, you really know nothing about date etiquette huh? It’s not exactly nice to threaten your date."

Keith rolled his eyes, burrowing his face into Lance so the grin forming on his face wouldn’t be seen. He'd missed moments like these, just bickering with Lance and pushing each other’s buttons. He was getting a little sick of all the dancing around each other. "You've literally said that you’re proud of yourself for making fun of me," he mumbled against Lance, "You can't expect me not to bite back."

"I was expecting claws, to be honest."

"That can be arranged."

Lance let out a laugh, and Keith's heart skipped a beat as he felt the vibrations on it through Lance’s chest. He pressed his face against it, wanting to memorize the rhythm of Lance’s body as the tan boy laughed. He could live off Lance’s warm laughter, his bright smile, the way he was so big and loud and encompassed his whole world.

“What, you gonna grow claws after you’re done with your ears?” Lance’s fingers brushed against the shell of Keith’s ear. Yep, he’d been right earlier, Keith’s ears were fuzzy now. "I think I'd be into that."

"Weirdo." Now it was Keith's turn to laugh, his hold on Lance tightening. He preened as Lance left gentle touches on his ears, his breathing deepening as the world slowly faded.

Lance let out a chuckle, it seemed that Keith was turning into a purr box. Well, it was a good thing he loved cats. Though he did privately wonder how Keith would react to himself turning into a cat when he had that whole wolf boy phase.

"Keith…?"

"Hm?" Keith hazily mumbled as he registered his name being called, mind too focused on the gentle pressure along the unfamiliar curves of his ears, and eyes mesmerized as he mapped out where the calluses were on Lance’s fingers, the evidence of the training the blue pilot had undergone to earn the nickname ‘sharpshooter’. Lance’s scent had long since permeated his being, filling him with the feeling of home. Something he hadn’t felt since before Shiro left for the Kerberos mission, and weekend trips back to Shiro and Adam’s place became tense. Somewhere along the line, having Lance next to him stopped being the reason he wanted to storm out of rooms and the reason he found excuses to stay and hang around instead. Though when Keith didn’t hear Lance respond, he pulled away slightly, glancing up at the blue pilot.

"Lance?"

Lance's face was beet red as he looked at Keith, his brain long since having malfunctioned at the combination of Keith’s purring, half-lidded eyes and a soft smile, like the pale boy was looking at his whole world. His hand brushed against Keith’s cheek, burning the image of the boy keening at his touch into his mind. Though his brain was officially fried when Keith leaned forward suddenly, and kissed the tip of his nose.

“N- no- nothing.”

"What's wrong, sharpshooter?" Keith's smile turned flirtatious, "Cat got your tongue?"

Was… was this Keith flirting? Keith was flirting, right? Since when did Keith flirt? Lance felt as though he’d lost his footing somehow, being caught off balance as his brain tried to process the thought that the pale boy might’ve been receptive to his flirting this whole time. Shit. How long had it been since Keith realized that he’d been trying to flirt up a storm every time he was around?

A part of Lance didn’t understand why he was so panicked that Keith was suddenly flirting back, but he had a feeling he did know what the reason was. When Lance realized that he’d been falling hard and falling fast for Keith Lai, he had almost immediately resignedly filed it away as a heavily one-sided crush, something that may never be reciprocated, which was why he’d asked Hunk how he could test the waters with Keith in the least intrusive way possible. But now that Keith was actually showing some interest and showed signs of reciprocating those feelings, the blue paladin’s mind couldn’t stop coming to the worst possible conclusions.

What if Keith was only flirting because that’s what he thought their new dynamic was? What if this was a one-off thing and Keith had just said a throwaway line? What if he was only flirting because his heat was approaching and Lance was his safe person and he thought flirting was the best way to make sure he’d best be taken care of during heat and that Lance wouldn’t get any funny ideas and take advantage of him and-

“Lance?” Keith called out, his voice hesitant. He’d enjoyed the way that Lance’s brain seemed to short-circuit from his comment, and finally understood why the blue pilot was so determined to keep making him do the same. But when the silence had stretched on, Keith could tell that though Lance’s synapses were firing again, the tan boy’s thinking had taken a turn for the worse. All the wind had been knocked out of Keith’s sail as he took in Lance’s negative reaction to him flirting, and he resisted the urge to run away, knowing that this was a conversation they’d need to have sooner or later.

“I-, this is okay, right? I didn’t push too far?”

Lance didn’t answer, only continued staring at him, apprehension evident in the blue pilot’s gaze.

“Lance? Say something. Please?”

Keith had fully snapped out of his haze by now, panic rising in his chest as Lance said nothing, and seeds of doubt planting themselves in his mind. Had he read the situation wrong again? Maybe Lance didn’t like him back after all? That the flirty comments were just that, flirty comments? The same way Lance did with so many others during their journeys, and that he wasn’t expecting for Keith to fall for him at all?

Keith swiftly untangled himself from Lance, getting ready to get off the bed when Lance finally snapped out of whatever spiral he was in, arms immediately hugging onto Keith again and trapped him right where he was, halfway off the bed.

“Woah, where are you going?”

“I- I don’t know, you stopped talking all of a sudden and I could tell you were spiraling and I thought it was my fault and that I did something wrong and maybe you don’t want this at all and I’m just another person you wanted to flirt with outta nowhere i’msosorryi-”

Lance put Keith’s anxieties to rest immediately, pulling him in for another kiss, wanting to reassure him and needing to reassure himself that they did, in fact, want one another, that whatever the atmosphere they were feeling wasn’t just something they made up in their minds.

Keith tried to pull away. No, now wasn’t the time for this. They really needed to talk about things.

“Lance-” Another kiss on his lips, and Keith could feel his resolve growing weaker.

“Lance, wait-”

Lance paused as he held Keith’s face in his hands, wanting to continue kissing Keith to reassure him but also unsure if he should continue.

Keith breathed a sigh of relief. God, it seemed he was impulsive as always around Lance. Something about the man made him want to follow all his worst instincts and blow up his own life just for a chance to be with him.

“Where did your mind go?” He asked, gently.

Lance stiffened. Seeing how anxious Keith was, the way that the pale boy hung on his every word, it made him feel as though his fears were almost comical. If Keith didn’t understand what was going on, if he was flirting for some ulterior motive, his expression revealing the war inside his mind was clear as day. Keith didn’t exactly wear his heart on his sleeve for just about everyone. Hell, it had taken him this long to get Keith to accept him in his personal bubble at all. But something still tugged at Lance inside his mind. How much of this was because of his heat? How much of this was because Keith had found his ‘safe person’ and wanted that feeling of security? What would happen after his heat? Would Keith find him too much again, and go back to the way things were before any of this had started? Would he become too much again, too loud, too bold, and push Keith away when he’d barely realized that he was so, so much deeper in love than he thought possible?

“I just… I worry that I’m too much, you know? All of this” he gestured vaguely around them, “has happened so quickly it almost feels like a dream. I- I didn’t even think you’d notice me flirting with you.”

Keith looked away. To be fair, he had missed most of the signs that he was in love with Lance for at least two, three years? And he probably would’ve stayed that way if it hadn’t been for Pidge and Shiro taking down the brick wall around him.

“I worry, Keith. You’re so different from me and I’m loud and want to be the life of the party in every room, while you stay in your bubble. What if, what if you think I’m too much, one day, if you decide that I’m way too loud for you, you know? I didn’t think I’d ever be in a situation where I was scared that someone would find me too loud, but with you I worry.

You’re just different, compared to anyone I’ve ever even liked, much less had a shot of maybe actually dating.” He sighed, letting all his fears bubble up to the surface, “I’ve never- I mean, I’ve been on dates before. But I’ve always been the one who asked the person out. It’s a lot easier to know what the person thinks about you the same way you do when you’re the first one to ask the question.”

Lance's throat stung as he swallowed the lump that had begun to form, pleading for the tears to stop. Crying was not the solution right now, because if he did he would never be able to say everything he needed to say. But what else was there to say? What more could be said to get his point across that didn't end him rambling on and on about his own insecurities that Keith had no part in creating?

“Whenever I’ve… uh, talked with other people,” it felt weird to address the fact that he had, in fact, flirted with a lot of different people up till this point, “I’ve never expected them to really reciprocate things. Hell, half the reason I’m as loud as I am is because I know that I’m not pushing things too far and I’m already bracing myself for them to reject me.”

But he’d never fallen as hard for someone as he did Keith. And suddenly all the walls he’d put up, all the methods he used to protect himself while still chasing after that gratification of seeing someone’s expression when he blatantly flirted with them now felt like failures on his part, reasons that would ultimately drive Keith away from him.

Keith felt his heart squeeze as he wiped the tears from Lance’s eyes, gently guiding the brunette to look in his eyes, hoping this time when he spoke, there’d be no room for miscommunication.

“I’ve never minded how loud you were,” he loved it, in fact, and could never take his eyes off of Lance whenever they were both in the same room, “You’ve been like this ever since the Garrison-”

“Wait, the Garrison? I didn’t think you even knew I existed back then. You didn’t even know my name when I was saving Shiro.”

Keith chuckled, “First of all, you wouldn’t have even gotten close to saving Shiro if it weren’t for me. You guys definitely snuck in after I set off those explosives. And second, I, uh, might’ve zoned out after you introduced yourself because that was the first time I’ve heard anyone say your name and I was kind of freaking out about why you were there.”

“YOU CALLED ME AN ENGINEER!”

“I”m sorry! That was all I knew about you back at the Garrison. Plus we didn’t exactly speak. How was I supposed to know you got promoted to fighter after I left?”

“You could’ve not left. Seriously, do you know how hard it is to find a nemesis that can actually not only keep up with me but actually beat me out several times in a row?”

Keith held up his hands, “Or you could’ve just approached me at some point. I didn’t even know you thought I was your nemesis, just that you kept staring at me and I for some reason kept looking for excuses to be in your line of sight. You’d think you’d’ve noticed that I tried to get to lunch early every day to get the best seat so that you’d always be in my line of sight.”

“I KNEW IT!” Lance didn’t mention that he thought it was because Keith wanted to watch him and make sure he wouldn’t do anything that would threaten the no. 1 spot at school. Hah, and Hunk thought he was delusional for thinking Keith was intentionally choosing to eat lunch where they could see each other.

The boys couldn’t help themselves anymore, and burst into laughter, the tension in the room having evaporated into thin air a while ago. Sure, they might not exactly have addressed the elephant in the room, but Lance felt that it was enough for now. It was clear at least to himself that he’d been letting the anxieties build up in his head for a little too long, and probably should have sought out Keith much, much sooner to talk through everything instead of shoving it down and pretending that everything was fine. Maybe another day, they would sit down and actually talk through what both of them had apparently been terrified of ever since this whole thing started. But if being stuck in space taught Lance anything, it’s that there was plenty of time for things to happen naturally. The more they spent time together, the more times topics like this would come up naturally.

Eventually, laughter subsided, leaving the two breathless boys staring at each other. Keith fought the urge to look away, for once forcing himself to not hide from the fact that Lance was looking at him with so much love in his eyes he was about to drown. He was slowly having more and more mixed feelings about the fact that Pidge had been right.

“For what it’s worth, I am sorry.” He spoke.

“What for?”

Keith took a deep breath, “For making you think that I didn’t… you know, like you.

It’s just… it’s hard for me to wear my heart on my sleeve the same way you do. You’re so, big and loud and obvious with how you’re feeling, and I haven’t been able to do that for… a long time now.

My mom, she was the first person to ever leave me. I don’t even have any memories of her, but all I’ve known since I was a kid is that she left behind this void that nothing I did seemed to fill. Then it was dad, then Shiro, and even with Shiro, between the war and just being in space in general, I still have no guarantee that I won’t lose him.” He remembered vividly how panicked he had been when the team had been separated, with no way of communicating with each other. He hadn’t wanted to admit it then, but he was terrified that he had just lost Lance and the little family he’d found himself with.

“The point is, everyone I’ve gotten close to has left me, one way or the other. At some point, it just got easier to close myself off from everyone, to stop trying to care.” Maybe if he didn’t care, then they wouldn’t leave, and he could satisfy his need of just needing to be around someone by being, in a literal sense, around people, “Because it can’t hurt if we were never close to begin with.”

He liked Lance. Loved Lance, even. And for as much as he had been trying to reach out and get the message across to the most stubborn man he’d ever met in his life, allowing himself to be so open, so vulnerable, was terrifying.

“It sounds kind of sad to say it, but I’m pretty sure the only person that’s never left was the guy I think I had my first kiss with, and I’m ninety percent sure it’s only because he was imaginary.” That memory would likely haunt him till the end of days. Those soft lips against his own, both of them hesitant, yet some parts of their minds needing more of each other, only breaking apart because they needed air, and the reality of the situation had crashed onto Keith almost immediately after, feeling the eyes of the partygoers all on him, silently judging. He had been the one to run out afterwards, hoping to spare himself the memory of seeing the boy leave.

Lance almost made an indignant noise, about to protest about how he was most certainly not ‘imaginary’, thank you very much. But he pushed it down. A part of him felt a little satisfied doing so, like he was getting back at Keith for all the panic and grief the pale boy had caused him after giving him his first kiss, a kiss that he’d never stop comparing to the ones that he would later receive. Plus, it would probably be better to let Keith work that one out on his own.

Lance drew Keith into a hug once more, hoping to let his body language do the talking instead of himself this time, knowing that that was the way Keith preferred to communicate. His heart squeezed as he felt the boy cling on to him. In this moment, they were no longer paladins of Voltron, no longer defenders of the universe, just simply two boys who desperately needed the comfort of each other. He held Keith, and tried to remind himself that yes, while Keith acted cold and standoffish, having very much earned the title of loner during their days at the Garrison, he’d also seen many a times where the pale boy had very much been vulnerable with him, even before all of this started.

He’d always had Lance’s back, even as they were fighting and bickering together. Hell, in that strange trust exercise that Coran had put them through at the start before they’d been able to form Voltron regularly, Keith had defended him until a drone had shot at Lance, making him panic and allowing it to hit Keith. He had taken on Sendak and lasted the longest in a fight against him, all to keep the captain from threatening Lance again. Keith Lai had fought and argued with Lance every step of the way since they’d met again on that rescue mission for Shiro, but the boy had undoubtedly trusted him, and even if it did take him going into heat for their relationship to turn romantic, even Lance hadn’t been blind to the way that he’d caught Keith looking at him a few times throughout the years. The look of relief on the pale boy’s face after he’d awoken from the coma was something no actor could recreate.

He was terrified of Keith thinking that he was too big, too bold, too loud, but it had stemmed from his own fears, his own loneliness and the fact that Keith Lai felt like nobody he’d ever met before. The fear of not being at the helm of their relationship, the anxiety that came from never really having been in a relationship where he cared so much about what the other person thought of him was getting to him. Keith hadn’t done anything other than react exactly how anyone in his situation would have.

He pressed a kiss to the side of Keith’s head, feeling a quiet rumbling against his chest as he ran his hand through the pale boy’s hair as he did so. It was surprisingly silky given how little effort Keith put into caring for it, something Lance found himself actually a little annoyed at. One of the major reasons why he’d kept his hair as short as it was now, was because hair care products were practically non-existent in space, which was surprising when you took into account just how many species there were with fur. But of course, Keith of all people had perfectly maintained hair even without any sort of product. He frowned a little at the way it seemed to almost glisten in the moonlight.

“Keith?”

“Yeah?” Keith mumbled back, a combination of the tension from earlier as well as how late it was had left his body with barely any energy left now, and he could feel his eyes struggling to stay open even more as he indulged in Lance’s warmth. His mind had shut up about its fears when he was able to tighten his arms around Lance, reminding his body was right here in front of him and wouldn’t be going anywhere.

“I’m stealing your shampoo.”

Keith snickered, “I just poured my heart out to you, and you’re focused on my shampoo?” He pressed his body against Lance a little more, forcing the tan boy to focus on him.

“Wha- says the one who was purring louder than the Lions just now.”

“I do not purr.”

“Whatever you say, pretty boy.”

Keith felt fire spread across his cheeks. Damn Lance and his ability to keep making Keith flustered. He pulled away from the hug, and snuggled into Lance’s chest instead.

“Shut up and go to sleep, Lance,” he grumbled.

Lance chuckled at Keith’s response, doing a little victory dance in his head as he finally found a nickname for Keith, but didn’t argue. He let out a yawn, stretching his arms and placing it so that Keith couldn’t get away from him in the middle of the night, and felt his eyelids flutter shut.

Though as the two boys drifted off, they failed to notice the relic softly glowing, before suddenly disappearing, and a pair of earrings appearing on their ears respectively.