#❝ — peanut butter and tears ! ❞┊keith

[serxndipities]

#christian yu #christianyuedit #dpr ian #❝ — peanut butter and tears ! ❞┊keith #* keith〳visuals

[dumbslxtclub]

you’re on your own kid | e.m

eddie munson x pregnant!reader

summary: set after the events of season four, Steve has disappeared and is presumed dead in the upside down. broken and now left to deal with your pregnancy alone, Eddie takes it upon himself to support you to the best of his abilities in Steve’s absence.

content warnings: fem!reader, adult language, adult themes, unplanned pregnancy, pregnancy symptoms, angst, some canon divergence, mentions of death, reader is 19, slow burn

word count: 1.5K+

↳ one / two / three / four / five / six / seven / eight / nine / ten / eleven

Part One: Blood, Sweat and Tears

Gone. The word echoed through your head like a broken record as you sit motionless against the rusting fridge in your poor excuse for a kitchen. The moment you saw the crew walking back to you, sans Steve, with their heads hung low, you knew. Dustin's eyes met yours, heavy with emotion and you couldn’t contain it. He wasn’t coming back.

The last few hours have been a blur. Robin driving you home, offering to stay the night, pushing aside her own needs post Upside-Down to make sure yours were accommodated first. But all you wanted, needed, right now was to be alone. The second she shut the door to the trailer behind her, the silence filled the space and it all came crashing down.

He’s gone, and he didn’t even know.

From the get-go, you and Steve had never been anything serious. You had started out strictly friends-with-benefits, a name on one another’s rotating rosters. But as the year passed, you began spending time with his circle and cutting out the other men in your life. He introduced you to Robin, who you immediately clicked with and twisted Keith’s arm until he offered you a job at Family Video with the duo. You would accompany him on “babysitting” duties, as Dustin often insisted on your presence to keep Steve in line. Despite the casual nature of your relationship, you and Steve had grown closer by the day. You knew he was still seeing other girls, but that didn’t bother you. After all, that’s all this was meant to be: casual, detached.

And then that fucking test happened.

It started off as a slow Tuesday morning with Robin, the two of you using the front counter of Family Video as your personal breakfast bar. You unwrapped your monstrosity of a meal, a PBJ sandwich with pickles and Hot Cheetos on the side.

“Jesus Christ, did someone hold you hostage and force you to make that?” She gawked at your sandwich, inspecting the leftover half as you shoved the soft white bread into your mouth. You let out a dramatic hum as the salty yet sweet combination hit your tongue, quickly following it with the heat from the Cheetos to ensure maximum taste to texture impact.

“Shit, so good! Don’t knock it until you try it. It’s like sex in your mouth.” You replied, the thick peanut butter coating your teeth and muffling your words. Robin dropped the sandwich down on the counter, clearly not about to partake in your offer to share this morning.

“I’ll take your word for it. I’m happy with my choice, thank you very much.” She proudly unwraps her breakfast muffin. Thick orange American cheese hangs over the lip, nestled between fatty bacon and a sunny-side up egg. You wrinkle your nose in disgust, waving your hand in her direction.

“Oh god, get that away from me! The smell of the egg-” You shake your head, pacing a few steps backwards to get away from the stench of her unappetising breakfast choice. She quirks her brow at you, you can practically see the cogs turning in her brain.

“You love my Buckley McMuffins.”

“Not today, I don’t.” You can feel your stomach churning, and reach for your large cherry slushie, hoping the sugary-sweet drink will quell the storm brewing in your tummy.

Robin’s expression begins to morphe as she studies you intently, like a child fascinated by their favorite animal at the zoo. You, on the other hand, are not so impressed by her gawking.

“What?!” You snap, slightly irritated. Immediately, you feel a wash of guilt come over you, why did you just snap at her like that? “Sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“You and Steve are using protection, right?” You practically choke on your slushie at the candidness of her question so early in the morning.

“Robin!”

“I don’t need all the details of your sex life. I’m just wondering-”

“Of course we do! God, the last thing I need right now is a kid.” You shake the mere thought out of your head.

“Yeah, no totally. I mean, pregnancy alone is a lot to deal with, y’know, what with all the cravings and hormones making you snappy and irritable-”

“Robin.”

“- not to mention the nausea-”

“I had a bad fish taco last week! And I-”

“-Restlessness, acne, your boobs get massive-”

“Robin! I-” You shake your head at her insinuations. “Wait, do you think my boobs have gotten bigger?”

Her eyes widen as she nods her head. “Um, hello! You’re giving the Elvira cut-out a run for her money. We should take her down and just have you stand in the window.”

Oh, she’s serious. You let out an incredulous laugh.

“Absolutely not, like there’s no way! I mean, Steve and I are careful. Like, most of the time. And I would have noticed by now if something was off? Like, yeah, my period has been a bit all over the shop lately but that’s normal…” Robin squints slightly at you as she watches you subconsciously shift from trying to convince her to trying to convince yourself. The realization begins to wash over you, and you feel the pit of your stomach drop. “Oh, fuck.”

The two of you took an extended lunch break to take a trip to the store, and three tests later, your fears were confirmed. Your head began racing a million miles an hour, and thankfully Robin was happy to cover for you for the rest of the day. How were you going to tell Steve?

And then, suddenly, there was no time. Now, you’ll never have the chance to tell him.

A gutteral sob left your throat before you had the chance to register it, bringing you crashing down to reality. Sitting on the laminate floors of your cramped kitchen, the overhead fluorescent illuminating your shaking legs extended in front of you. Unable and unwilling to hold back your emotions any longer, you opened the floodgates and allowed tears to flow freely down your cheeks. The type of pain where it felt like your heart was being crushed in your chest, diaphragm spasming as it struggled to keep up with the pace of your sobs. You tucked your knees into your chest and hugged them tightly, as if willing to vanish from this world completely. You’re not sure how long you stay there for, time seemingly pausing for your pain. It’s not until you hear a sharp knock at the door that you’re snapped back to reality.

“Go away, Robin.” She really is a wonderful friend, but seeing her in this state is the absolute last thing you need right now.

Another knock.

You throw your head back against the cool surface of the fridge in defeat before getting to your feet. Wiping away the streaks of tears that now stain your puffy and pink cheeks, you make a miniscule effort to pull yourself together as you walk to the door, hoping to make this interaction brief.

“Robin, please, just go home-” You swing open the creaking door, running a hand over your face in exasperation. Instead of being greeted with Robin’s smaller frame, you’re instead confronted with a taller, darker frame. Despite being obscured by the dim night, the mess of hair crowning his head is unmistakable.

“Eddie?” As he takes a step closer to the door, you can now see he’s looking worse for wear, despite having cleaned up post Upside-Down. Fresh cuts mark his face, dirt under his fingernails indicate his attention wasn’t on the details of his appearance.

“Hey.” He quietly mumbles, staring down at his stained Reeboks. “I, um- I just wanted to see how you were going.”

You purse your lips together, trying to keep the floodgates closed until you are back in your bubble of solitude.

“Yeah. I’m- I’m here.” That’s the best you can do right now, here sums it up. You’re still here, unlike Steve…

You scrunch up your face into a forced smile, hoping that will satiate Eddie. He gives a solemn nod, clearing his throat as he contemplates his next words. He shifts his weight uncomfortably, and you can’t help but wonder if someone has sent him here to check up on you. Dustin, perhaps?

“Well, I’ll uh- leave you to it.” He chews nervously on his lower lip, sure to break one of the fresh scabs that has begun to crust over. “But um- y’know if you’re ever not okay or just like, need some help or company or whatever- you know where to find me.”

He gestures to the adjacent trailer, and you give a small but more genuine smile.

“Sure, Eddie. You too, okay?” He gives a nod and a small wave as he turns back to his home, and you close the door behind him.

You lean against the frame and pull up your oversized sweatshirt, pushing the thought of how it once belonged to Steve out of your mind. You peer down at your slightly swollen belly, a barely noticeable bump protruding but undetectable to anyone who was unaware. You take a deep inhale as you run your fingertips against the delicate skin.

It’s nice to know you’ll never be completely alone.

#eddie munson #eddie x reader #eddie x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson fic #dad!eddie #dad!eddie munson #eddie munson x fem!reader #pregnant!reader #stranger things fic #dumbslxtclub #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson angst

[pearlnareff]

For the character ask game: could I please have 2, 5, 12, 18, 24 about Nathan (Seymour, lol 😉)? 💖

AHHHH YES! Sorry I only teared up twice answering these. also take a shot every time I use the word "iconic" because seriously they absolutely are (also alternating between she and they pronouns because that is how she exists in my brain fja;owejf):

2. Favorite canon thing about this character? Yes. All of the above. OKAY as true as that is, really? The vibes are immaculate. The aesthetic, the attitude, the style, hell- even the Dominoes Sponsorship /j Everything about Nathan is just chef's kiss. I love how they are just unapologetically themselves. Like UEGH even in… the Rising movie when they're going through that dream/memory/nightmare sequence and then snap out of it at the end by like hugging that younger version of them. Like it legit makes me tear up cause I see it as… Nathan being the version of herself that she needed back then. To just show herself a little bit of self-love. And it's just beautiful to me! Nathan Seymour is beautiful inside and out for real.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about this character? SAME AS YURI I'M SO SORRY-- THE FIRST THOUGHT WAS "GIRL IS ON FIRE" I promise I understand fire motif characters have more depth and that I'm just a slut for Alicia Keys, but TBH it completely fits Nathan a whole lot better. "So bright, she can burn your eyes, better look the other way. You can try, but you'll never forget her name." Also "She got her head in the clouds, and she's not backing down." Like not to talk about Sky High but like! Sorry I'll just never get over her riding on Sky High's shoulders as he flies around okay.

12. What is a headcanon you have for this character? I'm not too sure how much of this is actually considered a headcanon but I definitely believe that Nathan and Kotetsu have had a fling before. Super casual, no hard feelings afterwards, just a super cute temporary fling. A flame, if you will xD Like, maybe they one of them needed a date for a wedding or a plus one to some fancy event and they just had a really really good time. It's silly but their friendship just means a lot to me yes.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire? What if I sat here and sobbed about Fire Emblem and Sky High for ten years? What if I laid on the ground and made you a sweater of my tears? Like not even just because FireSky is a top-tier ship for me romantically but like? Even just their partnership as buddy heroes is just so wonderful and wholesome like. I love that in their episode in season 2, their "conflict" is… Thinking the other one is too perfect. And too good. That's just? It's so sweet and I can't handle it. They're so different from each other but in the best way possible. Like peanut butter and jelly. Different but they go together so so so well. Nathan is sassy and fierce while Keith is golden retriever goober man. They compliment each other so so well. One day I will finally finish (start) the one shot idea I have for them but sadly I fail at completing things fjao;efi

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them? This is hard because Nathan is so freaking iconic but like…. if I had to pick one out….. Okay same as the last ask I'm having such a hard time but! If I had to shove them into another fandom that I love, I think they would fit So well into Ace Attorney (Imagining her as a witness or even a guest prosecutor would just be so much fun) or into Jojo's BIzarre Adventure, Part 6 Specifically (I would just love to see them interact with some of the Stone Ocean ladies.)

#thank you for the ask! #ahhh i love her so much okay #asks

[autisticlancemcclain]

I posted 1,392 times in 2022

That's 1,391 more posts than 2021!

625 posts created (45%)

767 posts reblogged (55%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@speakswords

@shatterinseconds

@awhoreintheory

@autisticlancemcclain

@one-and-lonely16

I tagged 1,009 of my posts in 2022

Only 28% of my posts had no tags

#voltron - 273 posts

#vld - 241 posts

#lance mcclain - 211 posts

#lance - 209 posts

#my writing - 200 posts

#klance - 183 posts

#keith - 156 posts

#keith kogane - 154 posts

#fic fragment - 128 posts

#hunk - 89 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#lance eating a spoonful of peanut butter bc he desperately wanted to try it and have very poor impulse control: bc i’m about to need it lol

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

lance is 100% the boyfriend who asks keith if he will still love him if he’s worm and cries when he says no

391 notes - Posted April 13, 2022

#4

“I cannot believe you did this to yourself.”

Lance is frosty. He is mad. He is glaring heavily at Keith’s bare torso, where he is gently — ever so gently — cleaning the large gash stretching across Keith’s ribs. His hands are steady, like they always are, but his teeth are chattering, even as he tries to clench them.

“Of all the gall-brained, idiotic things to do. Jesus fucking Christ. It’s worse because I know you’re smart, you fucking imbecile, so I don’t know why you tried to do that!”

Keith keeps his mouth shut. He lets Lance yell, lets him rant, although his hands remain steadfast and his touch never gets rough. Lance is right, this time, and also Keith feels bad. Keith knows he fucked up. He knows he pushed himself too far, he knows he didn’t think about consequences, knows he let his anger consume him.

Keith feels a droplet hit his skin, outside of the damp cloth dabbing at his wound. He blinks, finally lifting his head to look Lance in the face, and is more shocked than he has a right to be to see the steady tears dropping down the Cuban’s face.

“I just…”

For the first time, Lance’s hands tremble. He notices immediately, pulling away from Keith’s skin and busying himself with re-wetting the cloth.

“I don’t understand. Genuinely. Why would you do that to yourself? Don’t you…”

Keith never finds out what he does or does not do, because Lance’s breath hitches, and he chokes on a sob before he can finish his sentence. Keith rushes forward on instinct, trying to make pull Lance into a hug to rub his shoulder or anything, really, but the movement pulls on his torn skin and he yelps, collapsing right back to where he was.

“Don’t fucking move, you’ll only make it worse,” Lance snaps, glowering at him through red and puffy eyes. He twists out the cloth, draining the excess water. His hands have stopped shaking, but tears still leak heavily out of his eyes, and every other breath shudders.

The guilt churns in Keith’s stomach, forming a lump in his throat. He flinches Lance presses the cloth to his chest, even though he doesn’t press hard. Lance mutters an apology, loosening the pressure a little.

“I’m the one that’s sorry,” Keith whispers. “I really am, Lance. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking about how dangerous I was being.”

“Then what were you thinking about, Keith? Because when I walked in that room the only thing that I was thinking was that I was going to watch my best friend get killed right in front of me!”

Keith carefully reaches over and pries the cloth from Lance’s clenched hands, tossing it to the side. He slides his own hands in the space left behind, holding onto Lance just as tightly as he was gripping the cloth.

“Hey,” he says. “Lance. Look at me.”

It takes a few minutes, but eventually he does. Keith quirks a small, sad smile when he meets those dark brown irises, squeezing their hands together three times in quick succession.

“I’m okay. I’ll need a couple stitches, maybe an hour in the pod if you think that’s best, and then you can give me all the shit I deserve, okay? You can even tell Shiro and Allura so they can yell at me, too.”

Lance’s face crumples, and he lets out another sob. “It’s not about the fucking yelling, Keith, it’s just — I can’t lose you, Keith. I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t—”

Keith can’t watch Lance break down. He can’t watch Lance cry like this, he can’t watch the despair play through his face. The terror in his eyes when he first walked into Keith getting nearly slaughtered by the level-way-too-high training bots will already haunt him every night. So he does the only think he can think of.

He leans in quickly, careful of the pull on his skin, and presses his lips to Lance’s. He cradles his face in his hands, as gently as Lance was touching him earlier, using his thumbs to wipe the tears from Lance’s cheeks. He tilts their heads, trying to find the most comfortable angle.

Lance makes a sighing noise into his mouth. Keith doesn’t know if it’s a good sigh, not at first, but then Lance drags his hands halfway to Keith’s shoulders, mindful of his gash. His fingers flutter over Keith’s skin as his hands twitch, every time their mouths move. Keith moves one of his hands from Lance’s face to curl their fingers back together.

“You’re not forgiven just because you kissed me,” Lance mumbles between kisses.

“I know.”

“I’m still furious.”

“I know.”

“…I love you.”

“I know. I love you, too.”

“Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“I won’t.”

“Promise?”

See the full post

398 notes - Posted August 16, 2022

#3

Lance has a very embarrassing secret.

See, everyone thinks that if Lance went back in time and told his preteen self that he is completely and irrevocably in love with one Keith Kogane, Preteen Lance would be horrified. The truth is that Lance has had a big, fat, humiliating crush on Keith since they accidentally bumped into each other during the new student orientation day at the Garrison when they were eleven years old.

Lance has been gone on Keith’s ass for nine goddamned years. Seriously.

The whole thing is just humiliating. Not even Hunk knows. The only person who knows is Keith himself, and he knows because he is unfortunately very charming and Lance is very bad and keeping secrets from pretty people. (Also, somehow Keith suspected the horrible secret even though Lance is very subtle, and one day decided he was going to make Lance admit it and kissed it out of him. Lance is a little annoyed he caved so easily, but he would honestly challenge anyone to be pressed against a door and kissed so hard it’s almost bruising by Keith ‘Walking Sex Machine’ Kogane and not spill every single one of your life secrets. Keith is a very convincing individual, who is well aware of his pretty privilege and his no qualms against using it.)

“I love you and all your embarassing secrets,” Keith promises. Lance scowls, burrowing further into Keith’s chest and hiking their fluffy space blanket above his head.

“Shuddup.”

Keith’s chest shakes as he chuckles, and Lance pretends the sound doesn’t make him smile. It’s useless, because Keith knows him better than anyone, but whatever. He feels a pressure on his head as Keith presses a kiss there through the blanket, then wraps both arms — big, strong arms, that Lance admittedly gets distracted by often — around him and rolls them over so they’re both laying on their sides. He then gently tugs down Lance’s blanket burrow, so his face is visible.

“Is it really so bad that you’ve loved me for so long?”

“It’s not that,” Lance huffs, eyes crossing as he tries to look Keith in the face (they’re very close). “It’s the fact that I did the whole rivalry thing because I was too embarrassed to talk to you. That’s the horrible part.”

Keith laughs again, shifting down the kiss him properly. Lance allows it, even though he’s pretending to be grumpy, because he likes Keith kisses. They’re the best kind.

“I’ve got nothing for you there. That is embarrassing,” Keith says between kisses. He never goes far, which Lance appreciates and also knows it’s because Lance has him koalaed a little. Lance hums and decides he is done talking, wiggling closer into Keith’s space (so close there is no space where they aren’t touching, no space where they aren’t pressed close close closely together). He presses one more kiss to Keith’s mouth before sighing and resting his head back on top of Keith’s heart.

“I love you more than anything,” he whispers, because he does. He presses yet another kiss to Keith’s chest, because he’s sappy and because he can.

“You are the best thing that has every happened to me,” Keith responds, just as quiet. He runs his hands through Lance’s hair, scratching gently every fourth or so pass.

Lance smiles. Maybe his secret really isn’t so embarrassing, after all.

426 notes - Posted September 3, 2022

#2

Lance smiles self-deprecatingly. “Jack of all trades, master of none. You know how I am. I’m not really needed for anything.”

Keith could not believe what he was hearing. Lance thought he was unnecessary? Lance?

“Lance, what the fuck are you talking about?”

“Look, dude, I don’t need false reassurances. I know I don’t have any specific thing, I’m not like you guys. You guys all have your specialty. You’re important. My specialty is being a stand-in.”

Keith feels his jaw drop at the pure conviction in the Cuban’s voice. How does he not know?

“Lance,” Keith says again, “being the jack of all trades is your thing. There is nothing you can’t do, and I’m not saying that in a frilly, ‘if you just put your mind to it!’ sort-of way. If you choose to do something, genuinely, you can do it. It’s fascinating.”

Lance frowns. “Man, what are you talking about? I’ve never really excelled at anything. Nothing important, anyway. Like, look at you — you’re a master swordsman. You can beat anyone in a duel. It’s awesome. I can’t even come close to that!”

“But why do you have to? Lance, I can’t shoot for shit. On God, unless the target is right in front of me, I cannot hit them with any kind of projectile. But you can use a sword, dude. You might not be an expert, or whatever, but you can hold your own.”

“So what?”

“So that’s what I’m trying to explain! No matter what skill you decide to pick up, you figure it out eventually. You wanted to learn how to read Altean? You did it.”

“I can‘t even speak it!” Lance argues. “I can only read and understand it. I can’t, like, hold a conversation or anything. It’s embarrassing next to Allura or Coran.”

“You are missing the point. You can’t keep comparing yourself to every expert and hating yourself for falling short. Of course you’re not as good as Allura or Coran at Altean. They’re native speakers! How well do they speak Spanish?”

“…They don’t.”

“Exactly! And think of all the other things you were able to do after just, like, reading the instructions. You were able to work the healing pods after a week in space. You’re the only other person on the ship besides Hunk who can make food that Pidge will eat. You figured out how to sew because you were bored and you needed something to do. Hell, Lance, you’re the only one who’s evolved more than one bayard form! And you figured out how to pilot Blue faster than anyone else in their Lion! You don’t have a thing, Lance, and that’s exactly it — you can pick up everyone else’s thing with ease. You’re the most adaptable person I’ve ever met, Lance. Jack of all trades, master of none — but better than a master of one. You’re missing half of the quote.”

Lance is silent for a few minutes, contemplative. “I guess I never considered any of those things skills. They’re just things I can do. They aren’t hard.”

Keith smiles, fond and exasperated. “Not to you, man. No one else can just choose to learn a skill in an hour and do it. That’s a Lance thing. And if you ask me, well. I think you’re pretty wonderful.”

517 notes - Posted June 29, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

“Shiro. Shiro. Shiro. I have important information. Shiro. Shiro.”

“Yes, Keith. I’m listening.”

Shiro looks at his dumbass little brother patiently, setting down his knitting. Keith is staring at the space slightly to the left of where Shiro is sitting, eyes unfocused. Shiro lets him sit in the silence for a bit, knowing the meds made him a little slow and loopy. He’ll get there.

He can’t tamp down a fond grin. It happens so often it should be boring, now, but loopy Keith will always be funny. It was like every bit of jadedness he’d picked up over the years melted away, leaving only the awkward, loveable dork Shiro knew and loved.

“I have — I have important information,” Keith repeats haltingly.

“I got that, buddy,” Shiro encourages. “Want to share that info? I’m listening.”

Keith hums. He blinks a few times, gaze finally locking onto Shiro’s, who smiles at him.

“It’s — it’s about Lance.”

Shiro fights to keep his smile from getting mischievous, to keep his expression pleasantly neutral. Oh, this was going to be good.

“Yeah, bud? What about him?”

Keith blinks again, his expression grave. “His tongue peeks out a little when he smiles real big, Shiro. A real smile. The one he gets when he talks about his family.” Keith takes great care to enunciate every word, tone completely serious. “That’s — it’s Very Important, Shiro. Okay?”

Look, Shiro’s a disciplined guy. He has a lot of internal strength. Really. But keeping a straight face as his baby brother looks him dead in the face, eyes as serious as a heart attack, and starts talking smush about how much he loves his crush’s smile?

C’mon. Come on. Of course he laughs a little! It would be weird if he didn’t!

“Shiro!” Keith scolds. “I’m serious! It’s important! We have to make sure Lance smiles like that. He gets sad sometimes. We gotta remind him he’s important, so he smiles.”

“You’re so whipped,” Shiro says fondly.

Keith goes back to staring at the wall, just as serious as before.

Shiro wonders if he’s thinking about Lance’s eyes, this time.

It won’t be the first time Shiro heard about them, that’s for damn certain.

———

“I did what.”

Keith’s face is so red that it’s concerning. Or, well, Shiro would be concerned, if he wasn’t so busy losing his shit.

“‘We have to protect his smile, Shiro’,” he mocks between wheezes. Keith wacks him full-force with a pillow.

“Fuck off,” he says hotly. “There’s no way I said that.”

There’s a moment of pained, contemplated horror, before Keith looks at him aghast. “Did I?”

Shiro laughs so hard he goes silent. Keith hits him again, but it’s weaker.

“Oh my god, I did fucking say that. I fucking — oh my god. Oh my god!”

Keith collapses back on his bed. He puts his pillow-weapon over his face and screams. Shiro finally gets ahold of himself, forcing his laughter down. He pats Keith on the shoulder, trying very deeply to be supportive and understanding even though literally all he wants to do is laugh and laugh and laugh.

“There, there,” he says, voice shaking.

Keith removes his pillow just to glare at Shiro. “Fuck off,” he says again, but this time it sounds resolved. “God. Do I — do I like him?”

Shiro blinks. Is he — is he serious? “Are you being deadass with me right now?”

See the full post

570 notes - Posted October 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #this actually shocked me lowkey #im surprised i have more reblogs than original posts #huh #longpost #also my top post shocked me damn #like nearly 600 fucking notes?????? omg

[kidge-planet]

Pregnancies problems ; kidge one shot

Pidge and Keith were Married since a few years now ,and , since a month , they are aware that pidge was pregnant. That was an exciting news to the couple , but pregnancie is hard and Pidge's pregnancy wasn't easy. For exemple she got morning sickness for a few weeks . Keith had to wake up in the moment she ran to the toilet to help her a little .

He after that had to take her back to bed and to make sure she eats properly. Pidge had an hard time to eat, but she knew that she had to , for her own health and for the baby's health.

But one thing that she had been through was the quick changes of moods. That was actually something pretty funny to watch, especially the first time it happened :

Pidge and Keith were planing a movie night . Pidge settled in the couch has Keith was making snacks for the both of them .

-KEITHHHH !! Can you bring peanut butter cookies please ?? The ones Hunk backed for me?

Pidge yelled form the couch to Keith that was in the kitchen.

-sure , I'm making a plate for you right n-

Keith stoped .

- something wrong ?..

Pidge asked .

-yea , but I think that you ate the last cookie , Kat' . No peanut butter cookies for you tonight!

He chuckled.

-but I made popcorns and-

Keith walked into the living room where Pidge was sat in the couch . He looked at his wife and his grin quickly disappeared.

Pidge had teary eyes and was sobbing silently.

-babe ?.. hey , is everything ok honey?

He said softly and sat next to her has he wiped one of her tears .

-yea... I think it's the hormones...

-what do you mean ?..

-fuck Keith , I'm pregnant!

She yelled with the tears running down her face .

-sorry ...

She cryed even more now .

-shhh , hey , it's ok !... Is it because of the cookies?...

-I wanted some so bad ... I'm crying over cookies , what's wrong with me?......

Keith was caressing her cheeks .

-nothing is wrong with you kati-kat . Do you want me to ask hunk to do some cookies for you ?

-no.... it's ridiculous .

She kept on crying .

-Katie , sweat heart........

Keith hugged his wife gently and letted a kiss on her cheek .

-you need to calm down . Ok ?

-I... can't.

She sobbed.

Keith didn't knew what to do . After a few tics of thinking , he pulled her close to him and made her lean in his arms has he fell on the couch.

Pidge didn't reject the gesture and continued to sob on his chest . He pated her back and started muttering a lullaby . Pidge seemed to relax has the lullaby went by . Her husband's voice felt so relaxing.

After a few minutes , she was done crying and Keith saw it . He pulled her even closer and kissed her forehead.

-feelin' any better ?

He softly asked.

- I love you .

She answered.

He chuckled.

-I love you more . Wanna watch the movie ?

-yea ... By the way , sorry I ruined the mood ..

She mumbled with her face buried on his chest.

-You didn't, never feel sorry about that , ok ? It's not your fault.

They smiled gently at each other .

The rest of the night , they cuddled and Keith made sure his wife was feeling ok. ( He also made sure she'll get peanut butter cookies as quick as possible!)

Pidge felt lucky to have Keith in her life . She knew that she could trust him fully . Has for Keith , he loved his wife with all of his heart . He would never let her down . And now , he knew more or less how to react next time pidge will have a "jumpy mood" !

Heyy !! I'm very tired so sorry if I made mistakes! I wanted to write that real quick. Anyways, see you AND SHIP KIDGE !!! :)))

#kidge #keith and pidge #keith voltron #pidge #pidge and keith #voltron #voltron kidge #voltron legendary defender #voltron pidge #keith #oneshot #kidgeoneshot

[incorrect-kidge-quotes]

how do you think keith asked out pidge? like how did it go down and how did the people around them react ?

@lambwyboy Sorry it took so long to answer, but here you go!

I feel like Keith's dad raised him to be very old fashioned in the courting and love department. And what I mean by that is Keith probably would do small, genuine things.

He'd get her her favorite flower (making a special trip all the way to Olkari just to do so), he'd learn how to bake peanut butter cookies and hand deliver them, he'd ask her out to no less than three dinners before asking her to "go steady" (to which she would get a major kick out of).

Shiro, Matt, and Hunk would probably cry tears of joy (Matt and Hunk of course being far more exaggerated in their expressing), Lance would be the most joyful for the two, happy to see them come together and hoping them the best.

Out of the parents, Krolia would be surprisingly emotional, happy for her son to find his own happiness and tell him to not make her mistake and to always stay by her (Pidge's) side. Colleen would be happy that her baby girl found a nice, proper young man that genuinely cares for and respects her daughter. Sam would have the same reaction as Matt and Hunk, but of course will be sad for his baby girl growing up and no longer needing him, but he would feel there is no one better in the universe to be there for her than Keith.

___________________________________________________

Sorry I've been gone so long everyone! I plan on making a big come back soon, just been busy with life lately, but I'm sure y'all don't want the personal details lol

#pidge x keith #keith x pidge #keith #pidge #kidge #peith #incorrect quotes #incorrect kidge #vld #team forestfire #emobot

[yikesharringrove]

His Fault.

Thank you @thinger-strang for the commission! 💕

Read on Ao3

Steve took Max first, grabbing her around the knees and lifting.

He didn’t know which kid was which, just picked them up and shoved them through the hole in the ground.

No thoughts in his head besides getting the kids to safety.

He was still dizzy from the fight, from Max’s wild driving, from being thrown into low oxygen conditions.

He grabbed Dustin.

The last kid to get through.

There was a rumble.

The ground shook.

And Steve stared death right in its face.

A pack of demodogs, heading right for them.

He grabbed Dustin, thought maybe, maybe he could shield him.

If this kid dies, it’s all my fault.

But the ‘dogs passed them by.

On their way to protect from El.

Because their plan didn’t work. Their carefully crafted idea to help El was bullshit.

He pushed Dustin up to safety.

He had brought these kids down here for no reason.

They had all gotten hurt for no reason.

All because of him.

-

Steve’s knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel.

He was trying to get himself to get up, get out of the car.

Staring through the windshield at the small service.

Barb’s funeral.

The girl that died right outside his house. The girl who died in his pool.

The girl he killed.

By being too preoccupied with Nancy. By being too much of a stupid fucking jock.

It’s all his fault.

He got out of the car, stayed mostly to himself throughout the service.

He hugged Barb’s parents afterwards, offered his condolences.

He got the feeling that they never really liked him.

That’s okay. He doesn't really blame them.

And if they knew, if they knew what he did to their Barb-

They would do more than just not like him.

He spent the rest of the day in bed, thoughts of your fault your fault your fault whipping through his brain.

He killed Barb.

-

Steve was trying to think quickly.

It was a little tricky, what with the pounding in his head, the hits he was taking right to the gut.

He needed to somehow talk his way out of this.

Which sucked because talking has never been his strong point.

But he brought Robin into all of this. He had let Erica climb through those vents to get them into the elevator. He had helped Dustin suss out what the message meant.

Actually, he hadn’t.

He had been too fucking stupid to help with that.

No.

He had just encouraged the translation that was happening around him.

Had just walked three people right into the clutches of the Upside Down, and these violent goddamn Russians, and-

That one hurt.

He woke up sometime later to Robin yelling.

“Hey, will you stop yelling?”

“Steve! Oh my God! Steve!”

She sounded, actually relieved.

“Are you okay?”

-

“I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”

Robin was sitting next to him, both wrapped in thick blankets.

They had their own ambulance, Nancy and Jonathan in the one next door.

He had watched them take Billy off on a gurney, watched them slam a defibrillator to his body until his heart started beating again, watched them load him into the back of an ambulance, and take him off to the hospital.

The adrenaline, the heavy drugs, it was all out of his system.

And he was crashing.

“I shouldn’t have roped you into this. I shouldn’t have talked Dustin into translating the tape, I shouldn’t have-”

“Okay, Dingus. Let’s get some things straight. I’m pretty sure Dustin talked you into the translations. I don’t know if you’d be able to talk Dustin into anything. And you didn’t rope me into shit.”

“I mean, I mean with the Upside Down. This whole fucking conspiracy. You deserved to go your whole damn life without knowing any of this.”

“But Steve, I know about it now. The milk has been spilled. So stop crying.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Yes, it is.

-

“Hi, welcome to Family- Nancy?”

Nancy had stopped in the doorway, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

“Steve. I didn’t know you were working here.”

“Yeah. You know, with the mall being all, burnt down. And stuff.” She nodded slowly, stock still in the doorway. “Can I help you find something?”

“No. Thanks. I’m just browsing.”

“Well, uh, let me know if you need help. Or ask Robin, maybe. She’s better with the recommends.” Nancy seemed to startle, stepping into the store properly.

“Thanks, Steve.” He smiled tightly at her.

They really hadn’t talked since breaking up.

Of course, they’d spoken in the summer, but that was less exchanging pleasantries, more how do we stop the giant fleshy monster that’s trying to take over the whole world?

Which isn’t quite the same.

She browsed through the aisles, Steve doodling on the carbon pad next to the register.

She smiled tightly at him, a few tapes in hand.

“So, uh, how are you?” They hadn’t spoken since that night. Since he wandered over to her ambulance, checking in with her and Jonathan.

“I’m okay. Just working and stuff. Obviously.”

“And how’s Billy?”

“Managing. He’s in all kindsa therapy and stuff now.”

“That’s, that’s good.” She was all stiff as he handed her her change. “It’s good to see you, Steve.”

“Yeah, Nancy. Yeah, you too.”

He hated how shitty and awkward that had been.

Hated that she was the person he felt closest to for the better part of a year, and now they’re stuck with light conversation and forced smiles.

He pushed her so hard.

Always poking and poking.

Always too clingy, always too emotional, not emotional enough. Too insensitive, or just too much work.

He doesn’t know how anyone puts up with him.

-

“Hey,” Billy smiled softly at him. “How are you feeling?”

“Better, now that my little nurse is here.” Steve rolled his eyes, smiling back as he sat on the bed next to Billy.

He had brought him to his house from the military hospital.

Billy still had a long road of healing. His scars were pulled together, and the wounds were closed, but everything was still pretty rough.

“Can I get you anything?” Billy reached over for him.

His hands were scarred and rough, and he was still trying to regain feeling, the nerves having suffered far too much damage.

“Nah. Just sit with me.”

Steve took one of his hands, stretching his hand like the doctor had shown him.

“Have you eaten today?”

“Nah. My stomach’s all outta whack today. Don’t know if I could keep anything down.” Steve furrowed his brows.

“Are you, can I make you something? Soup?”

“Stevie, I’m okay. One day’s not gonna kill me.” It felt like the bottom dropped out of his stomach. Something must've shown on his face because Billy was trying to sit up. “Sorry, that was a shitty joke.”

“No, I just-”

“It’s okay. Sorry.” Steve tried to gather himself.

“Don’t like jokes about you dying. Thought you were dead for, for like a week, you know. Before they told us you were stable.”

“Baby, it’s alright. I know it was hard on you.” Steve blinked rapidly.

“But I mean, it’s like, youwere the one, the one in the hospital I shouldn’t,” he stood up, Billy wincing as the bed shifted. “I’m gonna make you something.”

He was holding back tears as he spread peanut butter and jelly onto saltine crackers.

Billy had the best luck keeping it down when he felt sick.

He felt like shit whenever he did that. Got all mopey on Billy.

Billy was the one trying not to die in a hospital bed. Steve was just, doing what Steve does.

Making everything about himself.

He brought Billy the plate, kneeling next to him in bed.

“You okay?” Steve just shook his head, plastering on a nice smile for Billy.

“I’m fine, Bill. Just try to eat? For me?”

Billy managed three of the crackers before he heaved into the garbage bin placed next to the bed.

Steve felt like shit.

Billy’s core muscles were still healing, and throwing up only made him sore, made him tired and in pain.

“Billy, I’m sorry.”

He shouldn’t have made Billy eat. Shouldn’t have tried to make himself feel better by force-feeding Billy while he felt bad.

When he finally stopped, Steve helped him to the bathroom to wash out his mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

“Steve, it’s not your fault.”

“But you said you didn’t feel good.”

“You’re just trying to take care of me.”

Keyword here being trying.

Trying and failing at taking care of Billy.

-

“Steve, are you busy tonight?” Dustin had thrown open the door to Family Video stomping inside.

“I mean, no but I thought, isn’t tonight your big tournament?”

Dustin sighed dramatically.

“The arcade is closed.”

Dustin had been saving up for months, using the end of the summer to mow neighbors’ lawns.

Steve had even paid him to mow his own lawn.

He and the gang were going to rage for hours, Dustin organizing a special secret prize for whoever got the highest cumulative score.

He had put so much thought into everything, had been so excited.

And the arcade was closed.

“Can I talk to Keith?”

“Be my guest.”

Dustin pushed into the backroom.

Steve could hear his voice, could hear him arguing with Keith.

He came back out, Keith following behind.

“Harrington, I told you, customers aren’t allowed in the back.” He pointed to the Employees Only sign on the door. “Can you even read?” Keith rolled his eyes. Steve studied his shoes.

“And Henderson, I told you, the arcade is closed for renovations. A pipe burst in the storeroom.” Dustin Huffed. “Just, rent a movie or something. But you know, don’t ask for Harrington’s recommendation.”

Keith laughed to himself as he retreated to the back.

“Like I would ask you for a recommendation. I know what kind of movies you like.” Steve forced a smile at him.

“Sorry about your game night.” Dustin shrugged.

“I thought it’d be fun. We haven’t played DnD since Will moved. It just feels wrong without him, I guess. I thought this could bring us back to the fun spirit.”

“It’s a good idea. I’m sorry you’re gonna have to postpone.”

Steve just kinda lived with a big ol’ bit in his stomach these days.

But every time something like this happened, something where his friend was sad, and Steve was completely useless to help him, the pit seemed to grow.

He wonders what happens when the pit gets too big.

-

Billy stretched his arms above his head, wincing slightly.

“You okay?”

Billy blew out a breath, rubbing his chest.

“Yeah. Just cold. It hurts.” They were standing outside, waiting for the kids to be finished with school.

Steve drove Dustin and Max home, usually brought Billy along with him.

Neil had been one of the flayed, the only casualty Billy said he didn’t feel bad for.

So Max had moved with her mom into a tiny two-bedroom house.

Billy was still staying with Steve for the time being.

“Oh! I got a sweater in my trunk.” Steve ran around to the back of the car, unlocking the trunk and digging through.

He kept his car pretty clean, just his bat, some jumper cables, and a go-bag.

So he should see the sweater right away.

But he didn’t.

He frantically shifted everything around.

“No, no.”

The sweater wasn’t there.

“Fuck are you, are you serious?”

He genuinely could cry.

Billy was blowing into his hands, rubbing them together when Steve slumped back over to him.

“Billy, I’m sorry. It’s not in there.” Billy squinted at him.

“That’s okay.”

“I thought it was, but I must’ve taken it out, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. Just, you know, come here and make it up to me.” He had a lazy smile on his face. “Come keep me warm.”

Steve wrapped himself around Billy, burying his face in his neck.

“I wish I could keep you warmer. I wish I had that sweater.”

“Baby, I’m okay. Just achy.”

Steve made sure to turn up the heat full blast when they got back in, the kids in the backseat.

-

“Fuck!”

The bottom of the box had given out, tapes crashing to the tiled floor.

He had been on his way to reshelve everything, after spending all day in the back rewinding.

But here he was, checking each plastic tape for cracks as he tried to find something else to put them in.

“Jesus Christ, Harrington.”

Ah, yes. That’s what he needs right now. Keith standing over him while he cleaned up the mess of tapes.

“What’d you do now?”

“The box, it just fell apart.”

“You know, Robin really went out on a limb to you to get this job.” Keith was standing over him, staring down at Steve sill kneeling on the ground. “Maybe I should just fire you both.”

“Wait, no!”

Steve’s heart was in his throat.

It felt like he was gonna choke on it.

“You, you can’t, I don’t care if you hate me, okay, just, just don’t fire Robin!”

Keith loved to do this. Dangle his measly power as manager over Steve.

Robin said it was some kind of revenge fantasy for how shitty Steve was to him in high school.

Steve just figures he deserves it.

Bottom of the food chain now. That’s where he is.

The guy that thought he was the hottest shit to walk the Earth. The guy that barely graduated. The guy that had to linger around his hometown. The guy has no life. The guy that has no future.

“Why not? She vouched for you.” Keith was eating a pack of M&Ms, crunching each one loudly between his teeth.

“Just, just don’t.” Steve felt like he could cry.

“Then get this cleaned up, and I’ll consider letting you both stay.”

Steve just nodded.

He didn’t think his voice would work without cracking all over the place.

He found a crate in the stockroom, stacking the tapes as quickly as he could.

He liked reshelving.

The organization system made sense, and he could do it easily without having to know anything about the movies, without having to know anything besides the alphabet, and the genre sticker each tape had.

Robin was better with customers.

Better at making change and recommending movies. Better at talking to people without sounding like an idiot.

But he finished reshelving, and had to retreat behind the counter.

“You’re being weird today.”

Steve had zoned out, staring through the front windows.

“Sorry.”

“Bad night?” he just nodded slowly. He didn’t want to tell her about Keith’s little threat. She would just go on a rampage. Probably yell at him a lot. And if Steve being a fuck up didn’t get her fired, defending him for sure would. Plus, it’s not like it’s a lie. Most nights are bad. “Steve, are you sure you’re okay? It feels like,” she glanced around. “It feels like you’re getting, like, worse.”

“Sorry.” She furrowed her brows.

“That’s not something you need to apologize for, you know that, right? I’m just worried about you.”

“Sorry.” Her face pinched up even more.

“Steve.”

“Yeah, I, just you know. Not sleeping much.”

“I could come over? You said it’s better when there’s sound in your house. I can stomp around for a while.” He huffed a laugh through his nose, giving her the biggest smile he could muster.

“That’s okay. I’m managing, Rob.” She raised one eyebrow. “And besides, I, uh, I won’t be home tonight.”

She made a face at him, pursing her lips so she didn’t smile.

Billy had gotten his own apartment with the money the government had given him, a little thank you for your discretion gift when he was released from the hospital.

He had spent nearly a month in a coma, a month in which Steve had only left his room a handful of times. After waking up, delirious, and in pain, he had spent the next six months in heavy rehabilitation, in daily therapy, both mental and physical, in which Steve practically lived at the hospital with him.

They had bonded more than Robin could ever know, both boys spilling everything to one another, every dark thought, every bad memory.

Long story short, they were inseparable.

“Then have a fun night. And talk to Billy. Tell him you’re struggling.”

“I’m not-”

She stomped her foot, giving him a stern look.

“Yeah, okay.”

-

“Shit.”

Steve knew he had a key to Billy’s apartment.

But it wasn’t on his key ring.

“Are you kidding me?” He knocked on the door.

It took Billy a few minutes to come get him.

“I’m sorry, I, I lost my key.” Billy looked tired . It was Thursday. Billy was a stockboy at Meldvald’s on Thursdays. His doctor said getting a job would be nice, that it would help him rejoin society, make him feel good to support himself, all this shit.

Mostly, it just made Billy’s sore.

“It’s okay.”

“No, but, it’s not on my ring! I don’t know where it fell off, it could be anywhere, you might have to change the locks or-”

“Steve! It’s fine. Just get in here.”

Steve snapped his jaw closed. Billy shuffled back to the couch, groaning as he sat down slowly.

“Can I get you something? Have you eaten? I can rub your back if-”

“Harrington, just come sit with me.” Billy was giving him a little half-smile.

Steve stumbled over to the couch, and tucked himself right under Billy’s arm.

“What are we watching?”

“Some soap. There’s been a marathon all evening. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen.” Steve leaned his head against Billy.

He had no clue what was going on. Had a question on the tip of his tongue, ready to ask about the plot points, the characters.

But he’s bothered Billy enough tonight, making him get up to open the door, always, always bothering-

“Hey, where’d you go?” Billy was stroking one rough hand through his hair.

“Nowhere.”

“Robin called me from the video store.” Steve sighed, burying his face into Billy’s neck. “We’re worried about you.”

“Don’t be. I’m okay.”

“Yeah, you’re always okay.” He said it like he was mad, like he was frustrated with Steve.

He pulled back, sliding to the other end of the couch.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m sorry.” Billy was staring blankly at him. “I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

“I’m not mad. What are you even-” he cut himself off. “Steve, talk to me. You’re getting, distant.”

“I’m-”

“Please stop apologizing.”

Steve swallowed thickly.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you. You’re slipping through my fingers, and I don’t know how to help you.”

“I-” Steve’s throat was closing up. “I don’t know what to do.”

Billy shifted stiffly, reaching out for Steve’s hand.

“Talk to me, Baby. You know I’ll listen.”

“I, uh, I just.” His jaw was moving, but he couldn’t form any words.

Billy took his hands, pulling him gently.

Steve let himself be tugged, let himself fall into Billy’s lap.

“It’s all my fault.”

“What’s your fault?”

“All of it.”

“Can you, maybe elaborate?”

“Everything. It’s all my fault.” His chest felt pulled tight, and he couldn’t fucking breathe. “Everything, everything. My fault.”

Billy had no fucking idea what to do.

Steve was breathing sharply, his eyes squeezed closed.

He had both hands in his hair, pulling roughly.

“Steve, hey.” He took his wrists, trying to stop him. “Steve, I need you to breathe, okay? Can you do that?” Steve shook his head.

“Just, just try to take as deep a breath as you can, okay?”

Billy was trying to remember what his shrink had told him, the tips for dealing with his own panic.

But watching Steve fall apart, well. It was hard for Billy to keep it together.

He sat with Steve, holding his hands until he opened his eyes, until he was breathing without Billy reminding him to do it.

“Steve. Sugar. Talk to me.”

Steve was still slumped over, still had his head in Billy’s lap.

He turned to bury his face in Billy’s thigh.

“Sometimes I feel like the world is crushing me. And I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Can you explain that to me? You said everything was your fault.”

“Like, like Barb. She, it was my fault she died, and my fault the kids almost got hurt in the tunnels, and my fault that Dustin and Robin and Erica got stuck in the lab, and, and, and I’m so bad at taking care of you. I can’t do anything right.”

Billy could feel his tears, wet patches soaking through his sweatpants.

“You do a lot of stuff right!”

“Keith told me he was gonna fire Robin today, because I messed up again.”

“Fuck Keith. No way that creep has firing power. And maybe you should talk to Robin. Or go to your boss about him. He just likes going on a power trip with you.

“And as for, well everything, Pretty Boy, none of that was your fault. Barb was killed by, by a monster-”

“At my house, at my party, in my pool.”

“Still not your fault.”

“I thought she had left, you know? I didn’t know she was out there.”

“That just proves my point! You didn’t know she was out there, you didn’t know what was going to happen. That whole event , it had nothing to do with you. And the kids like, fully kidnapped you to bring you to the tunnels. If anything, that’s my fault for, you know. Doing what I did.”

Billy took a deep breath.

“I know a lot about guilt. I know how it feels like you’re just, you’re drowning. And you’re never gonna get to the surface, but that, that stuff. People make their own choices. You can’t control what other people do, you can just control what you do. And you, you do nothing but good. You just love, and you love, and you love. You always do what you think is best, and that’s what matters.”

“I feel bad all that time. Like, like right now I feel bad because, because of course you feel guilty, and I’m saying shit that doesn’t matter, and my problems they don’t-”

“Don’t you dare say your problems don't matter.” Billy was tangling his fingers through Steve’s hair, playing with it gently. “Your problems matter . They matter to me. It hurts me that you're struggling. It hurts me that I didn’t notice.”

“Billy, it’s not your fault.”

“You say that like it’s so easy. You take my guilt and you ease it. And that’s what I want for you.” Steve wasn’t crying anymore, but he was still curled up on the couch, still had his face pressed against Billy’s leg.

“I don’t know how. I’ve been so thoroughly crushed under all this that I’m scared of what happens if I claw through it all.”

“Maybe you won’t feel like shit all the time.”

“Feeling like shit is the easy part. It’s predictable.”

“I know. It’s safe .”

“Yeah. What do people even think about if they aren’t thinking about all the problems of the people closest to them and finding ways to blame themselves?” Billy laughed at that. Steve could feel his belly moving next to him.

It was a nice moment.

“I don’t know. That’s what movies and books are for. When you’ve got shit else to think about because you’re not trapped under a mountain of guilt.”

“Probably why I’ve read so few books, then.”

“We need to start watching more movies.”

-

“We need to talk about Steve.”

“Hi, Robin. It’s great to see you. How’s your day?” Robin rolled her eyes. She was leaned over the counter at Family Video, flicking through a magazine.

“He had a break down last night.”

“Finally. He’s been hanging on by a thread for weeks,”

“Yeah, try years.” She looked up at him.

“What do you mean?”

“He like, unloaded fully. He still blames himself for the girl that got killed in his backyard.”

“Wait, he thinks that’s his fault?”

“Yeah, and the kids in the tunnels, and also you and Dustin and Erica being brought into the whole mess. And also that he’s bad at taking care of me? Which, don’t know how he got that one. He does a really fucking good job taking care of me.”

“Jesus. He’s like, stressed.”

“To put it lightly.”

“So, what’s up? Where do I come in?”

“I’m planning an evening. A We Love Steve Harrington party.”

“I can be snack duty.” He smiled at her, clapping her on the shoulder. “It just us?”

“Yeah. I figured to leave the kids out of this one.”

“Good choice.”

“Be over at seven.” She nodded once, giving him a two-finger salute.

-

Steve was curled up, Billy spooned up behind him when there was a knock on the door.

“Go get that, will you? I’m all stiff.” Steve turned around, looking at Billy all concerned. “Go on. I’m okay.”

Billy had to shove him away before he finally went to answer the door.

“Oh, Robin, uh, hey.” She pushed one of her shopping bags into his arms.

“I was invited for an evening of bolstering you up.”

Billy came lumbering in, throwing himself down on the couch.

“I, don’t get it.”

“Robin’s here because you need some lovin’.” Steve’s bottom lip wobbled.

“That’s really nice.”

“You deserve it.” Billy was looking at him seriously.

Steve tucked himself into Billy’s side, Robin shoving herself next to him on the little couch.

Billy had pulled out all his lumpy blankets, and they had already torn into a box of cookies.

Steve was all warm.

Curled up in the blankets, watching The Aristocats.

“Thank you, guys. For this. It means a lot.”

“Can it, Dingus. Thomas O’Malley’s gonna sing.”

#sorry if this looks like shit on mobile #yikes writes #steve harrington #billy hargrove #harringrove #robin buckley #fav platonic soulmates #Dustin Henderson #harringrove fic #commissions #fic commissions

[calligraphist-artemisia]

Instinct (Part 3 - End)

Summary:  In which the paladins are unprepared for the strength of Keith’s instincts and Pidge is taken off guard by her own feelings. Pairings: Keith/Pidge; background Shiro/Curtis

Also posted on AO3 under the username kishirokitsune.

-

Part 3

There was a strange feeling in the air when they arrived.

Lance could feel it as plainly as if it were static electricity crackling across his skin, raising the hair on his arms. He followed quietly next to Hunk, who was happily chatting away about nothing in particular as they walked through the Garrison hangar.

They had landed late in the evening, securing a last-minute spot for Hunk's ship thanks to Iverson's influence, which meant there wasn't a big crowd milling about. Lance was grateful for that. The atmosphere was tense enough without bumping against people as they walked.

“...think that's Keith's ship?” Hunk asked. “Oh, hey! There's your sister!”

Lance would have to be blind to not see Keith's ship. It was all sharp, sleek angles and crafted with black metals, just like every other Galra ship, and sharply contrasted against the gray and orange of the Galaxy Garrison.

Veronica was standing near the open ramp, waving to someone. She turned away with a smile on her face and froze in her tracks the moment she recognized them.

“Lance!”

He lifted his hand in greeting. “Hey.”

Veronica made her way over to them. “Is that the kind of greeting you give your favorite sister? I haven't seen you in months! 'Hey', he says.”

Hunk stifled his laughter behind his hands.

Her gaze softened as she looked them over. “It's good to see you both. Do you have a place to stay while you're here? We're a little tight on space, but I'm sure we can figure something out.”

“We're just going to stay on the Teuila,” Hunk told her. “Our rooms are actually pretty nice and I think everyone will be more comfortable that way.”

Veronica nodded in understanding. “Keith and his crew said the same thing, but I figured it would be best to offer. What about you, Lance? You can come room with me while you're here.”

The offer was tempting, but Lance was going to take advantage of having a room all to himself while he was away from the family farm. It was nice to relax without anyone barging in at all hours of the day.

“As much as I love your couch, I think I'll pass this time,” Lance said.

“I'm here if you change your mind. So, where are you two off to? Not getting into trouble already, are you?” Veronica asked teasingly.

“We're going to go visit Pidge and her family. We made better time than I expected, so we want to surprise her,” Hunk said.

“That might be a little difficult, since she's out with Keith right now,” Veronica said.

Lance and Hunk stared at her for a moment and then exchange a confused look before turning their attention back to Veronica and asking, in unison: “What?”

“What do you mean 'out with Keith'?” Lance continued, throwing air quotes around the last three words. “Since when is that a thing?”

Veronica shrugged. She wasn't remotely unnerved by their surprise. “Acxa says he's been spending time with Pidge since they arrived here and her exact words to me this evening were: 'Keith's taking Pidge out for a drive again'.”

“Again?!” A strangled sound gurgled up from Lance's throat.

Hunk glanced at his friend with concern as he took a moment to organize his own thoughts. “Okay, so that's something new. Unexpected, but not that weird. They've always gotten along pretty well.”

“Yeah, but it's Keith and Pidge! It's just... I dunno, it feels pretty weird to me. Since when have they been that close?” Lance asked, wracking his brain to try and think of anything. They worked together a lot as paladins, especially once Keith became their leader and she stepped forward to serve as the brain of the team even more than before, but that didn't explain how they were suddenly so close.

He frowned.

No, there were other things too. Things he brushed off because there was more important stuff to worry about.

But he was starting to over-analyze the past, which often led him to imagining things that hadn't really happened or reading too much into what he'd seen.

“Well, if Pidge is busy, we can stay on the ship for now and I'll send a message so she knows we're here. The plan was for all of us to get together tomorrow anyway,” Hunk said with an easy shrug. “Do you want to have a late meal with us, Veronica? Shay was making soup when we left. No cave bugs, I promise.”

Veronica made a face, but wisely didn't ask about the cave bugs. “I think I'll pass tonight, but I'll definitely take you up on that before you leave.”

Lance snapped out of his thoughts in time to say goodbye to Veronica. He and Hunk watched her as she walked away and then turned to make their way back to the Teuila.

“Are you really that weirded out by the thought of Pidge and Keith being a thing?” Hunk asked.

Lance made a frustrated noise. “I don't know. I mean, I'm not against it, I just didn't see it coming. He's always been the most protective of her, but I figured it was just because Pidge is the youngest of us. We were all watching out for her. Not that we needed to. She could probably still kick our butts.”

“I've rather not relive that,” Hunk said, shuddering at the memory of the Trial that Coran put them through. Being mind controlled by mushrooms was not his idea of a good time.

“Mostly I think I'm just annoyed she didn't say anything to us about it. Er, she didn't say anything to you, did she?” Lance asked.

Hunk shook his head. “The most she said about Keith was that he got in a few days ago. We've sent a few messages since then, but that was to coordinate the picnic and make sure the timing is right. Have you talked to her recently?”

Lance had not.

When was the last time he talked to her? Last week? No, longer than that.

“I'm the worst friend,” Lance grumbled.

“You're not,” Hunk said firmly.

“I can't even remember the last time I called either of you to talk!”

“Everyone gets busy. It's okay, Lance. We all talked three weeks ago,” Hunk reminded him.

Lance scowled. “Only because you started up a group call. And it's always you or Pidge who does it. I just...  I can't remember the last time I was the one to try and call you guys. Face it, Hunk. I'm a mess and a bad friend.”

Hunk sped up so he could stop in front of Lance and grip him by his shoulders. “You are my best friend, Lance McClain, and I'm not going to stand here and listen to you talk about yourself like this. We are going to go back to the Teuila and eat delicious soup, and talk about all of the ways you are an amazing friend. Everyone falls into a slump sometimes. We're going to figure out how to get you out of yours.”

Lance's vision wavered as tears filled his eyes. He ducked his head to quickly wipe them away. “Y-yeah. Sounds good.”

Hunk moved to his side, taking his hands away so he could drape one arm around Lance's shoulders instead. “Good.”

-

Shiro couldn't remember the last time he felt so confused, especially not in the comfort of his own kitchen.

Curtis sat next to him at the table, his head propped up by one hand as watched Keith bustle around the counter nearest the oven, preparing something in a mixing bowl. There was already a chocolate cake in the oven, making the whole apartment smell nice.

What was truly bewildering, beyond the fact that Keith was baking, was that his brother was also humming as he did so. It was inaudible whenever the handmixer was running, but the moment it stopped Shiro could clearly hear him.

Shiro didn't know what to think. While it was great to see Keith look so happy, it also struck Shiro as terribly out of character.

“Taste,” Keith demanded, holding out a spoon to them.

Curtis moved first, swiping his finger through the frosting and sticking it in his mouth without preamble. Shiro followed suit a little more cautiously, and the taste of peanut butter exploded across his tongue.

“How is it?” Keith asked, sounding worried.

“It's good, but why are you making peanut butter icing?” Shiro asked.

Keith looked visibly relieved. “It's for Pidge. I wanted to make her something she likes, and I remembered that she likes peanut butter.” He shrugged and set aside the spoon and bowl, where it would wait until the cake was out of the oven and cooled.

“I didn't know you liked baking,” Shiro remarked.

“I was thinking about what Hunk always said about food being a way to bring people together, so I made one for the crew a while back. When everyone seemed to like it, I kept making them. Not all the time, but as a special treat,” Keith said.

“Are you taking it to the picnic lunch you guys are doing?” Curtis asked.

Shiro glanced at the clock and noticed Keith doing the same. They still had an hour before they had to leave to meet up with the others down in the courtyard, but was that enough time? How long did it take for a cake to cool?

His fingers itched to text Hunk for the answer.

“It'll have to wait. If the cake doesn't cool, the icing melts off. I, uh, learned that the hard way,” Keith said with a wince. “I'll finish it once we get back and give it to her later.”

He walked over to the refrigerator and opened the door, shuffling a few things around to make room for the mixing bowl.

Shiro watched him clean up while he contemplated the best way to broach a new topic; one that had bothered him since their dinner with the Holts.

Curtis suddenly cleared his throat. “So, have you put in your request for ship maintenance yet? You only have a few days left of your vacation.”

“Not yet. I still have two days before I really need to.” Keith didn't sound worried at all.

“Even if you wait that long, they still might reject your request for Pidge to be the one to do it,” Shiro reminded him. “We should come up with a back-up plan.”

“We could try and bribe whoever is approving requests that day,” Curtis suggested. He grinned at their incredulous expressions. “Yeah, okay. That's probably a bad idea, but every good brainstorming session has a few bad ideas!”

Keith shook his head. “The less you're both involved, the better. I don't want either of you to get in trouble for helping me. Besides, I have a plan.”

The timing went off and Keith turned his back to them so he could take the cake out of the oven.

No matter how much Shiro and Curtis tried to convince him to let them help, Keith wouldn't budge. Nor would he tell him anything about his plan. Not even a hint.

“You two should get going soon if you don't want to be late,” Curtis said as the clock ticked over to twelve-thirty.

“You're not coming with us?” Keith asked, sounding surprised.

Curtis smiled at him. “Maybe I'll join you guys next time. I figured the five of you deserved some time to catch up and reminisce without me there as an awkward sixth wheel. I have a few things I need to get done anyway.”

“You wouldn't be a sixth wheel,” Shiro tried to tell him, but Curtis shook his head.

“I would be. Now go and have fun.”

Shiro sighed at the fact that he had two stubborn men in his life (completely ignoring his own brand of Pure Stubborn, of course) and gave up on convincing anyone of anything for the rest of the day.

He and Keith left, heading straight for the courtyard, which had been turned into an extension of the cafeteria with new tables and benches. Young trees were planted and mulched nicely, chosen for their ability to withstand the heat so long as they were watered on a regular basis.

Hunk was busy setting up at a large, round table when they arrived. He had a blue-and-white checkered tablecloth covering the top and a classic picnic basket that was overflowing with food, which he was staring to unload and arrange in the center.

He looked up at their approach. “Shiro! Keith!” He hurried around the table to properly greet each of them with a full body bear hug. “It's been so long!”

“It's good to see you too, Hunk,” Shiro said fondly.

Hunk let go of them and gestured for them to sit as he explained how Lance had gotten sidetracked on his way down, and once he finished talking to Veronica he would join them with the rest of the food.

“Curtis didn't want to come?” Hunk asked as they made themselves comfortable.

Shiro shook his head. “We invited him, but he declined this time. He did say that he'd like to before you have to go.”

Hunk accepted that and began talking about what he'd brought for them to eat, referencing a variety of planets that he'd visited in the past few weeks and his issues with allergic reactions to some of the food he'd accepted along the way. His gaze drifted to Keith now and then, as though he was searching for something and was trying not to make it obvious.

It wasn't long before Lance and Pidge hurried to the table, having met up at some point on their way outside. Lance passed a second basket to Hunk so he could finish setting up, while Pidge slid into the empty space on Keith's left and smiled up at him.

Shiro felt a moment of vindication as Lance raised an eyebrow at their closeness and Hunk fumbled with one of the plates. He wasn't just imagining things.

Lunch progressed without any of them mentioning it, although Lance looked as though he had to restrain himself from speaking each time one of them leaned in to talk to the other or Keith smiled at Pidge. Hunk did several double takes, but was subtle about it.

Not that Pidge or Keith noticed any of it.

The hours flew by, and it was only when Shiro's phone buzzed with a message that he realized how much time had passed. He glanced it over, wondering if he should be worried about Iverson's request for a meeting with him and Keith.

He wordlessly passed his phone to Keith and made excuses for them to leave, which also paved the way for Hunk to jump in and ask to see what Pidge was working on.

“I could use your advice on a few things,” Pidge mused, looking between Hunk and Lance. “Why don't you both come over? Mom made juniberry pie the other night and she'd love for you two to try a piece.”

And with that, the group of five cleaned up their mess and then split up.

-

“Okay, strange question, but why do you have a camera?” Lance asked, pointing to the very obvious device up on a wall near the bedroom door.

They arrived at the Holt residence nearly a half hour prior, and after they each got a slice of Colleen's delicious pie, retreated to Pidge's room. While she and Hunk immediately started talking about a camouflage device for Coran, Lance spent some time playing with the nebuloids and looking around.

“It's for security. Keith's been helping me with it,” Pidge told them.

Hunk frowned. “Are you worried that someone might break in?”

“Someone already has.”

Hunk and Lance stared at her, shocked.

“But who? How?” Lance asked.

“I don't know. That's why I have the camera set up. The door is the only way in or out, except for the vents, but even I can't fit through that,” Pidge said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Her friends only had more questions.

What did they take? Was anything taken?

Did they break in by hacking the locks or did they have the code?

How had no one else seen them? Weren't there cameras in the halls too, especially near Commander quarters?

Did Pidge suspect sabotage of some kind?

Pidge waited until they were calm enough for her to speak without getting interrupted. “No one's taken anything. Instead, whoever it is has been leaving me gifts. Hair pins first, then Balmera crystals-” (Hunk whistled appreciatively.) “-and most recently, a glass cosmolabe.”

Lance frowned. “Someone's breaking into your room to leave you presents? Bu why? And what does Keith think about some stranger giving you presents?”

“He's just as confused about it as I am, but we're sure the camera will work correctly this time,” Pidge said confidently. Ashe raised an eyebrow as Hunk and Lance exchanged significant looks. “What?”

“Keith isn't upset that some other guy is giving you stuff?” Lance tried again, phrasing his question differently.

Pidge cocked her head to the side. “We don't know it's a guy, and why would he be upset by that?”

“I'd be pretty mad if some guy was giving my girlfriend gifts,” Hunk said, going for the blunter approach.

Pidge stared at him and said nothing as her brain tried to compute what outlandish thing he was suggesting. “You – wait, what?” she asked, shaking her head. “What gave you the idea that Keith and I are dating?”

“Veronica told us when we got in last night. We were going to come by and see you, but she said you and Keith were going out!” Lance exclaimed, throwing up his hands.

“Yeah, going out, as in leaving Garrison grounds!” Pidge shot back.

Hunk groaned and buried his head in his hands, looking mortified. “Oh no. Pidge, I'm so sorry. We completely misunderstood.”

Pidge looked over at him. “You haven't told anyone else about this, have you?”

“No!” Hunk said quickly. “I don't even know if Veronica thinks that. Her wording was a bit ambiguous...”

Lance, however, was not so easily convinced. “Are you sure there's nothing going on between you? Since when does Keith willingly spend time with someone who isn't Shiro? And!” He held up one finger as though he had an especially important point to make. “You two looked really cozy over lunch. I even saw him smile at you!”

“Oh no. Keith smiled. It must be the end of the world,” Pidge said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She looked to Hunk for help, only to find him deep in thought and not at all exasperated by Lance.

“You really don't know who your gifts are from? There's no name?” he asked.

Pidge shook her head. “I really don't know. The only thing written on them is my name. Hang on, I still have the tags.” She turned to her desk and shuffled through a few things before she found them and handed them to Hunk.

He raised an eyebrow when he saw the handwriting. When Lance sidled over for a closer look, he turned the tags so he could see them as well.

“When did you get the first one?” Hunk asked.

“Five days ago?” Pidge responded, after taking a moment to think it over.

“And that was the hair pins? What about the second one? When did you get the Balmera crystals?” Hunk continued his round of questioning, which Pidge gladly answered in the hope it would lead her to the truth.

“The hair pins were first, and the crystals I got three days ago. The cosmolabe was the day after that, when I got back from dinner at Shiro's,” she said.

“Three times and no one saw anyone come in here?” Lance asked, sounding concerned. “Is it luck, or do you think someone's watching to make sure no one is here?”

Put like that, Pidge couldn't stop a shiver from running down her spine. “But who would go through all of that trouble just to give me a gift?”

“A creep,” Lance stated bluntly.

“No, I don't think so,” Hunk disagreed with a shake of his head. “When did Keith get here?”

Pidge shrugged, not sure what that had to do with the situation at hand. “I don't know. Four days ago? Maybe five, if he got in late in the night, but I didn't tell him what was going on until we came back to find the second gift on my desk.”

“And he sounded concerned?”

“Of course he did! He was the one who suggested the camera to watch the door,” Pidge said.

“Just the door? Not the whole room?” Hunk asked.

Pidge gave Hunk a frustrated look. “It's the only way in or out, remember? Unless you're suggesting that there's someone at the Garrison who can walk through solid walls.”

“Of course not, that's ridiculous,” Hunk said. “What I am suggesting, is that there is only one person who we know who has a cosmic wolf capable of teleporting into locked rooms.”

The room went so quiet that Pidge thought she could hear the ticking of the wall clock hanging in the kitchen. It was broken by Lance making a confused sound.

“I, uh, may have theory?” Hunk offered, sounding unsure.

“Okay, do you want to share this insane theory of yours, or am I going to have to start guessing?” Pidge asked irritably. She had a suspicion that she knew what he was about to suggest, and hoped that he would understand how crazy he sounded once he started to talk about it.

Hunk took a deep breath. “I don't know a lot about it, but I've picked up a few things from Sal and the other Galra I've spoken to. You'll want to talk to someone else to get all of the details.”

“Hunk.”

“Galra courtship,” he blurted out. “It's, um, oh man, I'm going to mess this up. So there's this whole gift-giving phase, where the interested party finds things they think you'll like and leaves them for you to find. That's what's happening to you right now, but on a faster schedule. Like the person leaving them doesn't have much time and wants to prove themselves while they're still here. And you've accepted each of them, which is basically giving them permission to continue. Normally, the next step is openly asking for a date – well, the Galra have a different word for it, but that's basically what it is. The thing is, I don't think he fully knows what he's doing and is just going by instinct.”

Pidge stared at Hunk.

That was... a lot.

Galra apparently had courtship rituals, which Hunk knew vague details about, and all of it could explain what was happening to her. Still, she couldn't believe it. What Hunk was suggesting was crazy! That was, if she was reading into the situation correctly.

Pidge swallowed. She needed to ask, just to be sure.

“So who is it?”

-

Pidge didn't sleep well that night, as Hunk's surprisingly assertive words ran racetracks through her brain. If he and Lance hadn't made such good points, she would have gone another few days before she put two-and-two together. After all, Keith only had a day left before he took off again and it would become glaringly obvious when she stopped receiving gifts at the same time.

Part of her still didn't believe that Keith was trying to court her, of all people. He turned heads wherever he went and could pick anyone he wanted, but only had eyes for her. According to Hunk and Lance, at least, who mentioned watching their interactions throughout lunch.

Which definitely wasn't creepy.

At all.

Somewhere in her disbelief, she felt flattered, and that was why she knew she needed to get to the bottom of things.

Hunk suggested that she ask a Galra for more details, and that was exactly what she was going to do. She had the perfect person in mind. A half-Galra like Keith, who traveled alongside of him bringing aid to war-torn planets, and would be familiar with what he was like.

It wasn't an easy task to sneak unnoticed into the hangar, especially when so many people knew her face and were aware that it was an area restricted to her. She narrowly avoided James Griffin and Ina Leifsdottir, and though she was sure the blonde saw her, Leifsdottir didn't say a word. (Pidge would have to find a way to thank her once she didn't have so much on her mind.)

That was her only close call, and it didn't take long before she was close enough to Keith's ship to see everyone who was coming or going. She just needed to wait for someone recognizable that she could talk to – preferably Axca, over Zethrid or Ezor. Those two still sent a chill down her spine.

Luckily, Acxa was the first one she saw. She was walking back to the ship with Veronica, her posture more relaxed than Pidge had ever seen.

She stepped out of hiding once they got close.

“Pidge?” Veronica questioned. “How did you get down here?”

“I need to talk to Acxa about something in private. You can come too,” Pidge added in hurriedly. The whole reason Hunk and Lance thought she was dating Keith was because of what Veronica said, so she figured she may as well correct any assumptions the woman might have.

Acxa's expression didn't change much as she invited them both into the ship. Pidge looked around in interest as she followed behind her to an empty room where they could talk in peace and privacy. There were a few comfortable chairs and small tables, marking the space as a relaxation room of some kind.

“I want to ask you about Galra courtship,” Pidge said the moment the door was firmly shut behind them.

If Acxa was surprised, she didn't show it. “I had wondered when Keith would finally admit he was the one leaving you gifts, but why isn't he the one explaining this to you?”

“Because he hasn't told me,” Pidge replied, crossing her arms over her chest. “Hunk and Lance came to the conclusion that we're already dating, and it wasn't until they asked me what Keith thought about a stranger giving me gifts that Hunk started to put things together.”

All at once, Acxa's words hit her.

It was Keith.

Keith liked her and he was the one leaving her presents.

Hearing it as a guess from Hunk was one thing, but from someone who knew it for certain? A warm, fluttery feeling filled her chest as the full weight of it overcame her.

Acxa took pity on her and helped her sit down before slowly explaining the basics of Galra courtship. Veronica sat on her other side, offering her silent support and voicing additional questions or comments to help the younger girl better understand.

The moment Acxa mentioned there were five steps, Pidge fumbled to get out her phone and take notes. She knew it would be useful to look at later, once her shock faded and she could think more clearly.

Pidge thanked both of them for their help before sneaking her way out of the hangar. Once she was back in more familiar halls, she took the time to review her notes.

Galra Courtship

A five-step process, based on common instinct across all Galra types.

Step 1 – Gifting

The first gift is always given in secret. It's to test the waters and find out if the recipient is interested in any courtship. If accepted, the second gift should bear the givers name, so the recipient can decide from there if they are still interested. If gift #2 is accepted, the process continues, with both sides exchanging gifts.

This is to show understanding by both parties; gifts are items the other will find useful or enjoyable.

Step 2 – Dating

Similar to human dating, it involves excursions or sharing activities. This step often crosses over with gifting, though by this point it slows down significantly. The purpose of this step is to bond.

Step 3 - Physical Compatability

Step 4 – Engagement

Informing family and friends of the intent to stay together.

Step 5 – Mateship

The Galra equivalent of marriage.

*Acxa notes that half-Galra have more muddled instinct and may not follow the steps exactly. It's all dependant on how dominant the non-Galra half is. In Keith's case, his human genes largely overrule his Galra half.

It really wasn't all that complicated. Even step one, which needed the most detail to explain, was simple when it came down to it and wasn't so different from human customs.

Pidge's biggest headache came from trying to decide what it was that she wanted.

She returned to her family's quarters to find it as empty as ever, which was a relief. She was in no mood to talk, not even to Matt, who often offered the best insight when she was feeling confused.

No, all she needed was a good project to take her mind off of things. Something easy. Something she could do in her sleep. Something she kept set aside for moments just like those, when she needed a distraction but couldn't put her full focus on one thing.

There only thing in her way was a brand new package wrapped in brown paper, sitting on her desk. She stopped when she saw it and knew that she had two choices. She could open it and see what it was, or she could hunt down Keith and return it, unopened.

The answer to that would be only be solved once she found an answer to a bigger question: How did she feel about Keith?

-

It was his last full day of vacation and Keith was feeling nervous. All of his planning, his meetings with Iverson, and video calls with Kolivan and Krolia would be for nothing if he couldn't find the courage to talk to Pidge.

He should have done it days ago. The moment she came to him, worried about someone breaking into her room, he should have confessed that it was him. Well, to be specific, it was Kosmo helping him by delivering the gifts and he hadn't actually stepped foot into her room until the day she invited him inside.

It started when Shiro mentioned in passing that Pidge was letting her hair grow out. Keith remembered her frustration with it when it was still short and how it sometimes obscured her vision while she was working, so he found some hair pins on his travels.

From there, it snowballed.

Every time he found something interesting, he thought of her. There was so much he had to stop himself from getting, and others he knew he couldn't pass up. The Balmera crystals he gathered during their stopovers on three different Balmera, checking in on the civilians there and making sure Restoration was going well. The cosmolabe was a unique find at a Bantherian swap market, where he traded old intel on a ship graveyard to a pair of scavengers.

As for the cake, it was meant to be an apology. He knew of her love of things flavored like peanut butter and thought it would be the best way to soothe her wrath once he revealed the truth, except he once again forgot to sign his name to it.

Keith had been puzzled by his own behavior for weeks leading up to their return to Earth, right up until Acxa sat him down and said: “Zethrid and Ezor have a bet on how long it will take you to realize you want to court Pidge.”

Denial was his first response.

Pidge was his friend, nothing more!

But the more Acxa explained, the more he started to see that she was right.

Somewhere along the way, he fell for Pidge. For her genius and wit. For her fiery spirit and fearless nature. For her compassion.

What began as a bond between two people searching for the truth, blossomed into a shared determination to protect those they loved, and then bloomed into something that was so much more. A genuine friendship, at least at first, until his feelings changed.

Keith stared at his reflection in the mirror. He knew Pidge didn't place strong value in appearance, but he wanted to make an effort to look nice for her. Maybe he could do something different with his hair?

Kosmo poofed into the room and padded over to him, pressing something against his hand.

Keith looked down at him. “What's this, buddy?”

The space-wolf let go of it easily enough and sat down at his feet, waiting.

Keith chuckled and took a good look at the box. His heart nearly stopped. It was a slender box, just the right size for Kosmo to carry in his mouth, and covered in brown paper. On the very top was a tag bearing his name in red ink.

“Pidge knows?” he breathed out, looking questioningly at Kosmo, who quietly woofed.

Pidge knew.

Keith backed up to his bed and sat down. With trembling hands, he pulled the paper away and lifted the lid, revealing a brand new tablet. The casing was black with faint red and purple veins running through it in a marbling pattern. Where he would have expected a brand logo of some kind was instead the trademark emblem of Voltron – a stylized 'V' that he would recognize anywhere.

There was a note beneath it.

For Keith,

This is a prototype of my own design and is powered by a pair of Balmera crystals that are capable of regenerating energy. It should never run out of power. It is also pre-programmed with the call numbers for myself, Shiro, Hunk, Lance, and Coran, so you always have a way to reach one of us. I hope you find it useful.

Katie Holt

“She signed it with her real name,” he told Kosmo, who did not reply.

Before Keith could start to wonder what it meant, Kosmo walked over, raised one paw onto Keith's leg, and teleported them away. It was only when he heard a shocked gasp that he realized where he was.

“Kosmo!” Pidge's voice echoed alongside his own.

“I'm so sorry, Pidge,” Keith hastily apologized. “I don't know why he brought me here.”

“No, that's my fault. I asked him to, I just wasn't expecting you so soon.” Pidge hopped down from her stepladder with the security camera in her hands.

Keith winced when he saw it. “Pidge, I--”

“Should have told me from the beginning? Yeah, probably,” she cut him off flippantly. “Honestly, I'm too relieved that it was you all along to be really mad right now, but we will talk about it later. I think there's a lot we need to talk about.”

Pidge set the camera down on one of her junk piles and two of the nebuloids crawled out to investigate the new addition. She crossed the room and sat down on her bed next to him. “So, Galra have courtship instincts? I guess that's the least weird thing I've learned about alien biology.”

“Did Acxa tell you?” Keith asked, wondering how the two of them ended up talking. Had Acxa specifically sought her out?

“Hunk figured it out when I was telling him and Lance what was going on. Funnily enough, they thought we were already dating and were very concerned about why you were okay with a stranger leaving me gifts,” Pidge told him. “After that, I went to talk to Acxa so I could clarify a few things. She was very, um, informative.”

Keith remembered his own talk with her and how she took a special delight in making him turn as red as possible with her in-depth description of the third step.

“I guess the question is, how will we proceed? I mean, you leave tomorrow, don't you? Can't promote universal peace and make amends for what the Galra have done from here on Earth,” Pidge said.

Keith sat up a little straighter.

That was it. The best chance he had, set up by sheer coincidence by Pidge herself.

He took a deep breath. “Pidge, I was wondering if you'd like to come with us.”

Pidge went very still, and here eyes widened in surprise. “You want me to go with you?”

“I've been thinking about it for a while. Longer than just this week, but after hearing about everything that's going on, I thought now would be the best time to ask.” Keith had rehearsed what he wanted to say, but in the moment he forgot all of it. His best bet was the keep going without interruption, so he wouldn't lose his train of thought.

“We need a technology expert on board and there's no one I'd trust more than you. This isn't just about courting you. We can figure something out if you want to stay here. I'm asking because there's no one else I'd rather have by my side. And-” (And here was the important part.) “-you would be working for the Blade of Marmora in an official capacity. If you miss Earth too much, this opens the door for you to be hired on as a consultant for that project Mr. Holt is working on.”

Pidge was quiet for a moment longer. “You've really thought this through.”

“I have. I'm sorry I didn't ask sooner. I should have,” Keith said.

There was so much more he wanted to say. An explanation for why it took so long. Another apology for not doing the courtship steps correctly. But words have never been his strong suit and they were starting to fail him after all of the talking he'd done.

“You know... I've really missed being out there among the stars.”

Pidge's voice was so soft that Keith nearly missed what she was saying. He looked at her, staying quiet so she could decide without pressure from him.

“I know it sounds like a hasty decision, but I do want to go with you. I miss it out there. The freedom. The experiences. You.” She paused, raising her eyes to meet his. “I've missed you. Hanging out with you this week has been the most fun I've had in ages. And besides, what better way for you to show me how the cosmolabe works? The sounds like a nice fourth date to me.”

Keith could hardly believe it. Was Pidge... flirting?

“Are you counting our morning run as a date?” he asked.

“It was a shared activity, wasn't it? Not my favorite date, by the way,” Pidge joked.

Keith laughed and a smile remained on his face for long afterwards. “I think our fourth date will be me whisking you away to the stars. And yes, we can use the cosmolabe. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out on your own.”

“I probably could, but you did promise and I've been distracted,” Pidge said. She looked around her room, sobering up slightly, though there was still a pleased smile on her face. “I guess I have some packing to do.”

“Do you want any help?”

Pidge shook her head. “It's going to be a lot of me picking things up and asking myself 'do I really need this?' and coming back later to ask the same thing again. You don't want to be around for that.” She made a face. “I have to tell my family too. If you don't hear from me, assume that mom has made good on her threat to ground me until I'm thirty. I can't not tell them though. Mom would steal a ship and hunt me down if I do that again.”

Keith didn't doubt it. All of her fiery spirit didn't come from Sam Holt, that much was certain.

“When you're ready, I'll send Kosmo to get your things. You know how to reach me,” he said, holding up his new tablet.

Pidge stood as well and it was clear from the look in her eyes that she was already busy calculating how much she needed to bring with her.

The first time they left Earth, all she had was the clothes on her back and her laptop. Keith couldn't wait to see what she could accomplish with proper gear.

Feeling daring, he bent down and brushed a kiss against Pidge's forehead. Her pretty blush remained imprinted in his head for the rest of the day, long after Kosmo teleported him back to his room on the ship.

Soon they would be back among the stars, where they belonged.

Keith couldn't wait.

#Voltron #fanfiction #kidgemas #kidge #Instinct #post season 8 #galra courtship

[banditywrites]

New Fic- Peanut Butter

I like to try and post something for my birthday, but I wasn’t able to finish my fic. So here is just the first part of Peanut Butter, the next story in the Senses series. 

Summary: Pidge falls ill. It’s good thing she’s always fine. Right?

Words~ 1,300

Peanut Butter

Even when they’d all caught some form of space flu early on, Pidge had remained perfectly healthy. 

Keith had locked himself away in his room, Lance had become clingy, Hunk had nearly passed out in the kitchen after spending hours trying to make chicken soup, Allura slept for about three days straight and Shiro hadn’t been able to breathe properly and almost suffocated himself when he passed out face down into a squishy pillow. 

He’d also thrown up way more than everyone else.

But Pidge, Pidge felt fine. She kept on working on her projects, she helped Coran sterilize the castleship and she helped administer medicine to the inflicted.

Ever since then it had become something of a Pidge attribute. Pidge was smart, perceptive, small, passionate and Pidge didn’t get sick.

They’d all spent time in the pods, but Pidge had not. They’d all managed to sprain something during a particularly rough training session, but Pidge was fine. 

They all remarked on it, her ability to just be okay. No matter what.

So the first time she rolled her ankle, she stood on it and she laughed and went back to her room where she wrapped it herself and didn’t say anything to anyone.

She stared up at her ceiling and told herself she was being stupid. But no matter how illogical it was, she couldn’t bring herself to admit she was hurt. 

She would have to hide it. She would stay away from everyone for a few days. As long as there wasn’t a Galra attack, she could do it.

Her plan worked perfectly. She was careful not to wince or limp and nobody asked if she was okay.

Because she was Pidge and she was fine.

Always fine.

0-0-0

Lance entered the kitchen with a dramatic sigh before stretching himself out on the floor beside one of the counters.

“What’s wrong?” Hunk asked with a slight grin. Without stopping his whisking, he maneuvered around Lance to get to the other side of the counter. If Lance was being over dramatic than it wasn’t anything serious.

“Nothing,” Lance responded, throwing an arm over his eyes.

“Did Allura scold you for something?”

“No.” Lance crossed his arms, pouting.

“Your back hurt?” Because Lance had taken a fall on a mission recently and, while he didn’t need the pod, it had still hurt him.

Lance shook his head.

“You bored?” Hunk slowly began pouring his batter into a prepared pan.

“Yeah…”

“Did you bug Pidge before you came here?”

“Yes!” Lance flung his arms out in exasperation. 

“She said she wanted to work alone, man. She needed space. Did she yell at you?”

“Yeah." 

Hunk caught the flicker of something serious in Lance’s tone..

"She said to leave her alone.”

“I know, but…” Lance leaned back against the counter. He picked at his fingernails and mumbled under his breath.

“What?” Hunk leaned down slightly, trying to catch what his friend was mumbling about.

“It looked like she’d been crying.”

“Ah,” Hunk straightened a spoon on his counter, fussing needlessly. “Well, not everyone wants to be around others when they feel down.”

Lance crossed his arms once more. 

“Nobody wants to cry alone, Hunk.”

“Lance,” Hunk picked up his bowl again. “Just give her some time. She knows she can talk to one of us if she needs to.”

Lance huffed out a breath, looking unconvinced. 

“Wanna taste test?” Hunk held his spoon aloft.

Lance hummed and was up on his feet in an instant. “Of course.”

Hunk continued his meal prep, including feedback from Lance as he worked. It was companionable and distracting. Hunk made a mental note to bring food to Pidge later before he lost himself in his work once more.

0-0-0

Shiro had wanted to start training early, work on hand to hand since a few of them were, admitingly, struggling with it. Hunk particularly “needed improvement.” Hunk could take out just about anyone, he was more than strong enough, but it was always in the heat of the moment. All reaction and protective instincts. In actual hand to hand training, Hunk was unsure. 

“Move your foot.”

“My right foot?”

“Left. You want to have a steady base.”

“Okay, but I don’t think I’m going to remember that in a fight.”

“With practice, you’ll learn.”

“You got this, Hunk!” Lance shouted encouragingly. 

“Thanks!” Hunk shouted with a wave of his hand, distracted from his task of training with Shiro. 

Keith and Lance were spectators, banned from sparring each other for at least a phoeb after their last match had ended in a badly twisted ankle and quite a few tears, though Lance still denied the crying. 

Shiro had just begun moving slowly in a strike when the doors slid open and Pidge came walking through. 

She was out of breath, her hair was mussed and her eyes were red again. 

Lance waved a casual greeting as she muttered an excuse about being late. 

“Pidge, you’re with Keith!” Shiro called. Pidge nodded and moved to the side, creating more space between her and Lance. 

She moved into a defensive stance. It was something they all knew how to do. Lance watched her for a moment before shifting his gaze back to Hunk and, even though Hunk had his back to him, Lance was hoping his friend would look over. That he would sense Lance was trying to make meaningful eye contact here. Because, surely, it wasn’t only Lance that had noticed how Pidge looked. 

Hunk didn’t look over.

Lance sighed. He was pretty sure Pidge had been avoiding him. They hadn’t talked in a few days. He was trying to give her space, but she still looked like something was wrong. 

Lance picked up harsh whispers going on behind him. That was weird. Keith and Pidge didn’t argue much. 

There was a long silence, a rustle, the tapping of steps, the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the floor…

Lance snapped his head around, because that had been fast. And if Pidge had managed to drop Keith that quick, he needed to know how-

Pidge was on the ground.

Keith was staring, his eyes wide and mouth open, gaping.

Pidge didn’t get up.

“Keith!” Lance stormed over. “What did you do?" 

It was a reaction. And not one he thought would escalate. He shoved Keith back, away from Pidge’s still form. 

Keith pushed back. Wordlessly, easily, he shoved Lance away. 

Lance was pushing again and he realized it was a bad idea when Keith grit his teeth and cocked his fist back. 

"No. No. Not now.” Shiro removed Lance from the equation, picking him up and turning away. He shook his head slightly at Keith and the fight went out of him immediately, rational thought catching up to reactions and instinct. 

“She’s got a fever.” Keith mumbled with a slight gesture to Pidge. “She’s really sick.”

Lance stopped struggling against Shiro’s arm. His protectiveness and anger boiling down to embarrassment and concern now. 

Keith hadn’t hurt Pidge, she had collapsed. 

“I won’t do anything, let me go.” Lance tapped at Shiro’s metal wrist and was immediately released. As soon as he was sure both boys weren’t going to attack each other, Shiro knelt down by Pidge’s side. He placed a hand on her forehead, felt the heat there. 

“Keith, go find Coran. Tell him to meet us in the infirmary.”

Keith went without a word. 

Shiro took Pidge’s pulse and gently shook her shoulder, but she didn’t wake up. Lance was squeezing her hand and he didn’t even remember when he had decided to do that. 

Shiro gently brushed him away, an apology on his lips and then he carefully, carefully picked Pidge up. Sheltered in Shiro’s arms, Lance realized how small she really was. Small and young and breathing irregularly. 

“Is she dying?” Lance heard himself whisper.

“Lance!” Hunk sounded horrified. 

“No.” Shiro’s answer was definite, leaving no room for disagreement. But Lance saw the way he carried her, as though she was delicate and breakable and might slip away from him.

It all seemed so wrong.

To be continued...

#bandity writes #happy birthday to me #pidge whump

[serxndipities]

open to: f 25+ muse: keith yun . 32 . biker gang leader+mechanic. connection: bestfriend, friend, childhood friend, girlfriend, fwb. * made with beta, pls don't like my starters.

" how many times do i have to tell you? " he slammed the hood of the vehicle, turning around to meet the source of the voice. snatching the towel that hung from his back pocket to wipe his stained fingers, he exhaled through his nose as he shook his head slowly. " we're not like that. we give back to the community. we're not criminals. " keith went to take a seat in a rugged and worn out chair to rest his legs for a minute. " is that why you came here? biker drama, really? "

#open starter #indie smut rp #indie rp #multimuse rp #❝ — a-faster than the speed of light ! ❞┊ open #❝ — peanut butter and tears ! ❞┊keith

[maryliz2121]

Voltron University Sheith AU

So I’m a multi-shipper and here’s a Sheith AU because I love Keith and Shiro as gay disasters!

Keith and Shiro are both students at Voltron University. Both are astronautical engineers but Shiro is a Junior while Keith is a sophomore so they don’t have many overlapping classes. Keith is roommates with Lance and they live in an apartment at the edge of campus which is the same building Pidge and Hunk, who are roommates, live in. Keith is best friends with Pidge and he and Lance constantly goes over to hang with her and Hunk. Shiro is roommates with Matt and they live in a building a little farther from campus. 

Keith goes jogging with Kosmo at 7am everyday because he is a heathen that wakes up early in the morning. Shiro, a fellow heathen, also jogs in that park but at 8am instead of 7am. Usually, Keith leaves around the time Shiro arrives but one day Keith arrives late and is still jogging when Shiro starts his workout. Keith has his headphones in and is oblivious to everything but Shiro saw him the second he walked into the park. He is stunned into a gay panic because Keith looks like a model while running which is completely unfair but he’s gorgeous and I don’t make the rules. Shiro is so starstruck by Keith that he doesn’t watch where he is going and falls into the pond. As he claws his way out of the scummy pond’s muddy grip, Keith takes notice of him and Shiro dies internally and makes the walk of shame home. However, Keith barely saw the mud on Shiro because his white shirt was soaked through revealing his glorious abs to all the lucky people in the park. Here begins the pining. 

For the next week, Keith goes to the park a little later and Shiro goes a little earlier. This change in schedule of course was in no way influenced by their mild infatuations with one another. Due to both of them being dumb asses and gay disasters, neither will approach or talk to the other. They just jog by each other and avoid eye contact. 

Matt, being best friends with Shiro, and Pidge, being best friends with Keith have been listening to them gush about the mysterious man at the park since their first encounter (if it can even be called that). Being the geniuses that they are, the Holt siblings quickly worked out who the boys’ crushes were from their descriptions (Hot emo twink and white-haired muscled adonis were among many of the descriptions they heard of the boys). The Holts decide that if the boys are to ever evolve into more than strangers, they will have to take matters into their own hands. 

The next time Shiro goes for his morning jog, he has peanut butter in his pocket courtesy of Matt Holt. When he passes by Keith and Kosmo, Kosmo goes ballistic and launches himself towards Shiro. The leash yanks Keith so hard he goes sprawling on top of Shiro. Kosmo further worsens the situation by tangling them up even more in the leash while he licks all over Shiro looking for the peanut butter. Keith and Shiro are both mortified but Keith even more so since Kosmo is his dog. Both are apologizing profusely and end up yeeting themselves out of the park out of embarrassment. 

After this both boys, being the absolute disasters that they are, avoid the park. However, they are both moping so Matt and Pidge decide that enough is enough. It’s time to get Lance involved. Despite Lance’s constant lack of success in picking up girls, he is a surprisingly great matchmaker and got Hunk and Shay together. Anyway, Lance suggests a group get-together at him and Keith's place since Keith and Shiro seem to be unable to act like normal people around each other and need “adult supervision.”

Keith agrees to it because Pidge, Lance, and Hunk say that they are inviting Matt and one of his friends. Likewise, Shiro is just told he is going to meet Pidge’s friends. When Matt and Shiro knock on the door, Pidge opens up because Keith is in the kitchen. Kosmo remembers Shiro though and launches himself at him to check for more peanut butter. At the commotion, Keith exits the kitchen to save Matt’s poor friend from Kosmo. Upon removing Kosmo, he sees Shiro’s face and both are frozen in gay panic. 

Lance and Hunk enter with the food and diffuse the tension caused by their awkward introduction. After eating and playing some Mario-kart, which Pidge and Keith dominate in, the group decides to play some drinking games. They go through a few rounds of never have I ever where they take shots instead of lowering a finger. At this point, Lance and Pidge are drunk af while the rest of well on their way there. Shiro, being the grandpa that he is, didn’t have to take too many shots which was fortunate for him because despite his large stature, he doesn’t hold his alcohol very well. Keith, on the other hand, took a lot of shots but he holds his alcohol extremely well (probs that fast metabolism lol). 

They switch over to never have I ever and Lance, ever dedicated to the plan even when drunk off his ass, dares Keith and Shiro to do Seven Minutes in Heaven. Keith and Shiro turn bright red but both are competitive as fuck so they go in the closet. Both are blushing hard af but Keith is not one to be outdone by a dare, especially one from Lance, and he grabs Shiro by the collar of his shirt and yanks him down for a kiss. The kiss gets spicier as both boys get hella into it but the moment is broken when the gang tumbles through the closet door when eavesdropping. 

They call it a night and everyone goes home (they take an uber because we don’t condone drunk driving in this household ya heathens). Keith and Shiro exchange numbers before Shiro leaves. The spend the next few weeks getting to know each other and by the end of the semester they are dating and they live happily ever after because I said so. 

The end!  If someone ever happened to make this into an actual fanfic l I would cry tears of joy! Please drop any works (art or writing) in the response (or message them to me) because I would love to see them!!! Thanks for reading <3

#voltron #sheith #University au

[tiny-opal-essence]

Pocket Paladin Chpt 2

Downtime

“What’s cooking good looking?” Lance said as he walked into the kitchen.

“Just making some cookies for everyone.  How many times are you going to use that line?” Hunk chuckled.

“As many times as you let me.”  He started walking towards where Hunk was working.  “Need any help?”

“Don’t think so.”  A timer went off.  “Oh!  That’s the next batch.”  Hunk ran over to the oven and grabbed the tray and placed it on the hot-pads on the counter.

“Aww, look how tiny these ones are!”  Lance said as he grabbed one of the smaller cookies on the cooling rack, pinching it between his fingers.

“Those are for the space mice and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the space mice are tiny.”  Hunk playfully said.  “I’m not about to give them a full-sized cookie each.  Can you imagine Allura’s reaction to the space mice getting sugar rushes?  She’s terrifying when she wants to be.”

“No arguments here.  I’ve been on the receiving end enough times.” A sad look flickered across Lance's face before he flashed a smile and continued.  “I just love how you’re able to make these mini-meals, big guy.  You’re truly a gentle giant.”

“Haha, thanks, but really, it’s not too difficult.”  Hunk sheepishly said.  “All I had to do was recalibrate all of the kitchen systems to accommodate for the smaller food and not burn it to a crisp.  Then it’s just a matter of having a steady hand to get things to be the right size.”

“That’s still impressive.  I don’t think I could do all of that.  Maybe the steady hand part, but that’s about it.  Engineering’s not my strong suit.”

“Don’t I know it.  Remember that project at the Garrison?”

“Hunk!  I thought we agreed never to talk about that again.  I had to pencil in my eyebrows for weeks!”

“Sorry.”  Hunk chuckled.

“Speaking of projects, how is the mouse shower coming along?”

“It’s coming.  There’s just a lot of small parts to figure out how to use.  They don’t exactly have a build-it-yourself one.  I’ve broken so many mini pipes trying to cut them to the right size and fit them together.”  Hunk sighed.

“Pidge could probably help there.  She’s got the smallest hands out of all of us.”  Lance suggested.  “You could even get the space mice to help you.  They’re the ones who are going to be using it.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to build it as a gift for them.  They do a lot to help around here, I don’t want to make them build their own present.  Pidge is busy with her own projects and I don’t want to bother her.  Oh, speaking of Pidge, would you be able to bring this wrench back to her?  I’ve still got a few batches to make.”

“No problem.  Do you want me to bring some cookies around for everyone?”

“If you aren’t busy”

“No worries.” Lance grabbed a plate from a cupboard and loading the cookies on it, including some of the mini ones for the space mice.  “See ya later.  Happy baking!”

———————————————————————————————————–

As Lance approached Green’s hanger, he heard a string of colorful language.

Pidge is definitely in there.

Lance opened the door and walked in.  He didn’t see Pidge at first.  Then he heard the clang of something metal falling near Green.

“Quiznak!”

“Hey Pidge.”

“Aaagh!”  Pidge yelped as she fell from her hiding place.  Luckily, she didn’t have far to fall.

“Sorry.” Lance winced.  “Didn’t mean to scare you.  Are you ok?”

“I’m fine.” Pidge dusted herself off.  “Why are you always like that?”

“Like what?”

“So loud.”

“What can I say, I’m a loud and proud kind of guy.”

“And modest too.”

“Aww.  Thanks, Pidge.”

“Did you need something?” Pidge started walking towards Lance wondering why he would be coming to Green’s hanger.

“Hunk made some cookies for everyone and wanted to return this wrench to you.  Where should I put them?”

“You can just put them on the workbench over there.  I’ll put the wrench away later.”  

Pidge made her way to the workbench and grabbed one of the cookies.  She raised one to her mouth but paused.  

“Hunk didn’t put any skultrite in these, right?”  she questioned the blue color.

“Nope.  No skultrite in these bad boys thanks to you labeling everything in the kitchen.  Hunk appreciates it.”

“I think we all appreciate it.” Pidge snickered before taking a bite of her cookie.

“True.  Hey, are you ok?” Lance looked over and asked seeing Pidge’s eyes tearing up.

“I’m ok.” Pidge rubbed her eyes.  “These just taste exactly like the ones my mom always made.  How is Hunk able to do that?”

“Don’t know.  It’s his gift.  Are you sure you’re ok?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Yeah.”

“You said that they reminded you of your mom’s.”

“My mom would always make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies whenever we had something to celebrate.  Birthdays, anniversaries, when Matt got in the Garrison, when we got Bae Bae.  I think I get my peanut butter addiction from her.  Also my love of computers.” Pidge smiled a bit at that.  “She made a lot of cookies for the Kerberos mission.  So they could have a taste of home.”

“That’s really nice.”

“Yeah, it is.” She sniffed.  “It’s just, she’s all alone back on earth.  Well, alone except for Bae Bae.”

“Bae Bae?”

“Our dog.  He’s a sweetheart.  I don’t think he ever understood where my dad was when he went on missions.  When Matt and Dad went to Kerberos, he waited by the door all day for them to come back.  When they said that the Kerberos mission had crashed, he still waited there.  My mom was heartbroken, but she refused to believe what the Garrison was telling us.  With two of the greatest minds and one of the greatest pilots from the Garrison on board, how could they crash?  That’s when I decided to sneak into the Garrison to find answers.  Iverson caught me and banned me from the premises, but not before I saw enough to know that they didn’t crash and the Garrison was hiding that fact.  I wasn’t able to download anything before I was caught, so I knew that I would have to find another way in to get concrete evidence.  Seeing as I was banned, I decided to register as a boy.”

“You literally pulled a Mulan,” Lance commented.

“Yeah, I guess I did.” She snickered.  “I even used Matt’s nickname for me from when we were little.”

“Wait, Pidge isn’t your name?”

“You thought it was?”

“You never said anything.”

“I didn’t think I had to.  Anyways, I tried to hide what I was planning to do from my mom, but she found out when she saw my first attempt at giving myself a boy haircut.  Nothing gets past her.  I can still hear her saying ‘Kathleen Marie Holt, if you think for one second that I’m going to let you sneak into a government facility on your own, you must be crazy.’  She helped me get everything ready.  Together, we forged all the documents I would need to pass for someone else.  I used her maiden name as my last name.  ‘Pidge Gunderson’ was declared a cousin of the Holts, hence the similar looks.  We called my Aunt Jennifer to let her know about her sudden new child in case the Garrison ever decided to call her to verify anything.  I called her maybe every other week from the payphones at the Garrison to help keep up the façade.  I called my mom every week to give her updates on what progress I was making, but I used my cell phone for that so the Garrison wouldn’t be spying on our conversations.”

“Wait, the Garrison did that?” Lance thought back on all of his conversations with his family when he would start crying from being homesick.

“They’re a government facility working to improve technology for our country.  Of course they’re going to spy on the phones on their grounds.  They don’t want anyone leaking any information.  That’s why I had to call my aunt from their payphones, so the Garrison would see that ‘Pidge’ was talking to her family about completely normal stuff.  That’s also why my mom and I made sure my phone wouldn’t be able to be spied on.  I gave her updates every week.  The last thing I sent her was a picture of all of us with Shiro when we were all in Keith’s shack.  I gave her all of your names in case the Garrison tried to cover this up like they did Kerberos.  I wonder what they did say.  I mean, three cadets all just disappear overnight when there was a code red going on?  What could they possibly say to that?”

“Do you think our families think we’re dead?” Lance asked.

“No.  If any students at the Garrison died, it would launch an investigation into what happened.  That would be the last thing they would want.  Most likely, they’d say we ran away because we couldn’t handle the pressure and didn’t want to face our families.  Remember how our last simulator went?”

“Yep.  We were not a great team back then.  And then Iverson just ripping us apart in front of everyone.  Not fun.”  Lance said remembering what Iverson had said that day.

“Thanks for taking the brunt of what he said.  I get pretty defensive when my family is involved.”

“No problem Pidge, err, Kathleen?”

“I go by Katie, but don’t tell Hunk.  If he doesn’t guess my real name in one movement, this girl’s going to be 20 GAC richer.”

“Got it.  My lips are sealed.” Lance said while doing zip it, lock it, put it in your pocket.

“What are you, 5?”

“On a scale from 1 to 5, yes.”

“You sound like Matt.”

“Is he charming and suave?” he held a finger gun under his chin to emphasize what he was saying.

“No.  He was a big dork, but he was always able to cheer me up.  He’s a great brother.  The best brother a girl could have.”  Pidge wistfully said.

“I’m sure we’ll find him and your dad soon.  Shiro too.”

 “I know.  It’s just… what if they’re…”

“Nope.  Don’t you finish that sentence.  They’re alive and trying to get back home.  Just wait until they find out you’re a paladin!  They’re going to be so proud of you!”

Pidge suddenly latched onto Lance in a hug which he quickly returned.  “Thanks, Lance.”

“What for?”

“For listening.”

“No problem, Pidge.”

A screen over the workbench suddenly turned on and they saw Coran’s face on it.

“Hey, Coran.” Lance and Pidge said.

“Hello, Pidge and Lance.  Wouldn’t have expected both of you to be here.  Anyhoo…Pidge, you wouldn’t happen to have borrowed my impact driver, did you?”

“Oh yeah.  Where did I put that?” Pidge started scanning the workbench for the tool, but Lance beat her to it.

“Is this one yours, Coran?” Lance held up the impact driver to the screen.

“Yes!  Would you be able to bring it to me?  I’m in the med bay by the healing pods right now.”

“No problem.”

“Excellent!  Out and over!”

“Guess that’s my cue,” Lance said as he grabbed the plate of cookies and started for the door.

“Wait.  How did you know what an impact driver is?” Pidge asked.

“I did theatre for years.  The whole cast and crew worked together to build the sets.  Impact drivers are lifesavers.  Anyways, see you later Pidge.”

———————————————————————————————————–

“I got your impact driver, Coran.  Also some of Hunk’s cookies.”  Lance said as he entered the med bay area.

Coran emerged from behind one of the healing pods.

“Thank you, my boy.  Now I can finish this up.”

“What are you working on?”

“Just updating a few things here and there.  This should help speed up the healing process in this healing pod.  Slav has quite a few ideas for upgrading things,” Coran begrudgingly admitted, “but I’d rather not have him be too involved in it, even if he did send over some plans.”

“Same here.”

“Could you give me a hand here for a tic?”

“Sure.  What do you need me to do?”

“Just hold this piece here.  Slav seems to forget that in this reality Alteans only have 2 arms.”  Coran used the impact driver on the part.  “I’m just glad we don’t have to listen to him blabber on about how outdated he believes the castleship is.  Altean technology is second to none.”

“Yeah, I mean, the Galra had 10,000 years to improve their technology and they still aren’t better than your tech.  Though, there is always room for improvement.”

“I know,” Coran lowered the impact driver “but it almost feels wrong to alter things about the castleship.  My grandfather worked so hard to build this.  I would hate to ruin what he created.”

“Coran, you know basically everything about this ship.  There’s no way you could quiznak it up.”

“Oh, you used quiznak correctly.”  Coran wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.  “I feel like a proud father gren.”

“Well, I learned from the best.”

“Haha.  My mother used to say that to my grandfather, and I used to say it to her, and…” Coran’s voice dropped off as he got a distant look in his eyes.

“Are you ok, Coran?”

“Ah, yes.  Just reminiscing a bit.”

“You lost a lot of people on Altea.  I can only imagine what you and Allura are going through.”

“It’s something I hope no one else will ever have to experience.”

“Well, that’s why Voltron’s here to save the day!  Pow pow pow!” Lance said as he did his laser gun impression.

“Haha.  Right you are my boy.” Coran said as he tightened the last screw into place.  “That should do it.  Let’s start it up.”

Coran powered up the healing pod that he was working on.  The light in it sputtered before turning off.

“Oh.”

Suddenly, the lights lit up to full brightness.

“It’s working!  You did it, Coran!” Lance exclaimed.

“No, we did it, my boy.  Now we just need to wait for someone to be injured enough to need it so we can check for sure.  Any volunteers?” Coran joked as he grabbed a cookie from the plate.

“Not today, sorry.  I’ve still got cookies to deliver.  Do you know where Allura is?  I know Keith’s training, cause what else does he do, but I don’t know where Allura is and I don’t want to wander the whole ship looking for her.”

"I believe she’s in the library.”

“Do you need any more help before I go?”

“No, I should be ok.  They don’t call me the Coranic for nothing.” He struck a heroic pose.

“Haha.  Alright.  See ya later, Coran.”

———————————————————————————————————–

When Lance walked into the library he almost tripped on a pile of books and tablets.

“Whoa!” He yelled as he somehow managed to keep the tray from spilling while he regained his balance.

“Lance?  Is that you?”

“Sure is, Princess.  I come bearing cookies.” Lance said as he carefully made his way through the maze of books scattered on the floor.  He found Allura and the space mice at one of the tables with a mountain of knowledge in front of them.  

The space mice were looking at the pages of one of the open books and *squeaking* instructions and encouragement to Allura who was looking determinedly at a pencil in front of her.  She held her hand out and there was a pink aura around her and the pencil.  It started to twitch slightly, but you wouldn’t have noticed if you weren’t looking for it.  The pencil started to float off the table before the aura grew brighter and it shattered into pieces.  Luckily, the space mice had run behind one of the stacks of books, so they weren’t harmed.

Allura sank in her chair with a sigh.  “I feel like I’m never going to get this right.”  She said putting her head in her hands.

“Don’t say that.  So you have a bit of trouble controlling your powers, big deal.  You still have these amazing powers.  You can definitely teach the Galra and Hagger a few things.”

“I just wish I had someone that could teach me how to control these powers.  Everyone who could is either dead or working with the Galra.  Being able to hit a target with a strong attack is good in a fight, but I want to be able to do more with these powers.  All I have to learn from is books and tablets that are over 10,000 years old.  The druids have years of training on me and it feels like I’ll never catch up.”

Kind of like me with Keith.

“Hey, I know what can turn that frown upside-down.  Cookies a la Hunk.” he placed the tray down on the table.

“What kind are they?”

“Peanut butter chocolate chip, or as close as Hunk can get them to taste like that.  Hunk even made some mini ones for you guys.” Lance told the space mice who quickly scurried over to the plate to grab their mini cookies.

“I always wondered what Pidge meant by peanut butter.  Let me try something.”  Allura put her hand out again, this time with her palm facing the tray of cookies.  The cookie on top got a pink aura as well as Allura.  It began floating and slowly started floating towards Allura.  When it was just a foot away from her, the pink grew brighter as the cookie blasted into pieces that flew around the room with one of the larger pieces hitting Allura right on the nose.

“I guess that’s how the cookies crumbles.”  Lance tried to hold in his laughter but eventually couldn’t help it.  “I’m sorry princess.  Your shocked face was just so perfect.” He said between laughs with Allura joining in.

“It’s alright.  It’s good to laugh at one’s self from time to time.  In truth, it’s been quite some time since I’ve had a good laugh, what with Shiro missing and everything else.” Allura said as she reached over and grabbed a cookie from the tray

“Yeah, it’s a lot on all of our shoulders, yours especially.  But your magic is getting better.  The cookie floated longer than the pencil before it broke.  If you ever need any encouragement, you know where to find me.”  Lance picked up the tray once more.  “I’ve got to get these to Keith.  See you, princess.”

———————————————————————————————————–

Lance could hear the clang of metal on metal before he opened the door to the training deck.  

Where else would Keith be?

He opened the door and saw Keith facing off against one of the gladiator bots on the other side of the room.  

Probably should wait until he’s done to let him know I’m here.  I don’t want to be the reason he got a black eye.  Again.

He remembered the last time he burst in and yelled to Keith who had looked over at him and got decked in the face by the gladiator.  Keith had been upset at first but brushed it off as nothing after Lance quickly apologized.

Lance stayed close to the wall and found a ledge to put the plate of cookies on while waiting for Keith to finish.  He leaned against the wall and watched Keith fight the gladiator.  

How is he able to make it look so effortless?

Keith managed to block a strike and slide behind the robot.  With a quick slash of his sword, the gladiator was down for the count.  Keith continued to slash at the robot, yelling in frustration.

“I think you got ‘im,” Lance called out.

Keith looked up at Lance in surprise and brought his sword down.  With the clashing of swords no longer ringing in the air, Lance could hear Keith’s heavy breathing.  Clearly, he’d been at this awhile.

“Oh.  Didn’t see you come in.” Keith said in shock.

“You seemed pretty occupied.  But dude, that was awesome!  You were all like” Lance imitated Keith swinging his sword “and he was all like, and then you…You’ve got to teach me how to do that!”

“Umm.  I don’t really know how to teach.”

“Oh.  Well, that’s ok.”

“Did you come here to train?  I can leave if you want the deck to yourself.”

“Nah.  Hunk made some more cookies, so I volunteered to bring them to everyone.”

“What kind are they this time?”

“Peanut butter chocolate chip.  I feel like I’ve said that too many times today.  Next time, I’m making a sign.”

“It’s probably time I took a break anyway,” Keith said as he came over to where Lance was and sat down, back against the wall.  Lance went and grabbed the plate of cookies from the shelf and sat down next to Keith, placing the plate between them.

“I also wanted to apologize for what I said on the mission yesterday.  I shouldn’t have said that you aren’t as good of a leader as Shiro.” Lance said with his head hanging low.

“It’s ok, Lance.  You were right.  I’m not a great leader like Shiro.  I try to do what I think he would do, but it just seems to go wrong every time.” Keith said as he grabbed a cookie off of the plate.

“Well yeah, you’re not like Shiro.  You’re Keith.  You run in guns blazing, or I guess sword swinging.  You have your own way of leading.  That doesn’t make you any better or worse a leader than Shiro.  There’s nothing wrong with having a different style than him.  You just have to ask yourself ‘What would Keith do?’ instead of worrying about what Shiro would do.”

“What would Keith do?” Keith snickered as he said it out loud.

“Exactly!  Wait, did you just smile?”

“You have no proof.”

“Next time, Kogane.  I can’t believe you’re still training.  I mean, I can, because it’s you, but we had extra training today.  How are you still going?”

Keith shrugged.  “It relaxes me.”

“Oh yeah, cause hitting one of the training bots repeatedly when it isn’t fighting back is so relaxing.”

“Think you could do better?” Keith smirked slightly.

“You know it!” Lance said as he went over to grab the staff from the downed training bot.  “Let’s dance.”

“I’m not going to go easy on you.”

“Wouldn’t expect you to.”

(A few minutes later)

“Oof,” Lance said as Keith pinned him again.

“Had enough?”

“I haven’t even gotten started yet.”

“Could have fooled me.”

Lance tried to fight against Keith, but he wasn’t able to break his hold.  

Maybe a distraction of sorts could work.

“Is that a knife in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

“It’s a knife.  What else would it be?” Keith responded confused, his grip not letting up.

“I waste my best material on you.”

Suddenly, the PA system in the castle turned on.

“Guys,” Pidge said over the speakers.  “I think I found where they’re keeping Shiro.  Meet me on the bridge.”

“She did it!” Lance exclaimed.

“Last one to the bridge has to clean the healing pods for a week,” Keith said as he got off of Lance and started running.

“No fair.  You got a head start.”

———————————————————————————————————–

Previous          Next          Masterpost

#pocket paladin #voltron #vld #klance #g/t #giant/tiny #the g/t content starts in chpt 3 if you want to skip ahead

[kidge-planet]

Kidge Headcanons 8 : pregnancy (pidge's first pregnancy)!

When pidge discover her pregnancy, she hysterically laughed before to fall and cry ( not obviously of sadness, but it was a lot to process...)

When She told Keith, he just stared at her for a moment, in chock. They weren't planning on having a kid at all... I mean, they talked about it quickly but never really thought about it.

After a while of just staring at her in shock, he reassuringly smiled at her because he could see that she was pretty scared about it.

"if you are ok with it, I'm ok with it. We sure never really thought together about having a kid, but I have to admit that I thought of it on my own... I mean, I can picture it! You are the only one I want to form a family with, and I knew that this would come at some point. I just... Wasn't expecting it so soon... But hey! It's ok! It's about you now, do you want to keep it or not?". He said, holding her hands and stroking it with his thumb.

She had tears in her eyes and hugged him tightly.

They talked and decided to keep the baby.

Pidge had morning sicknesses. A lot of them... So much that she didn't want to eat. So, Keith had to get her back to bed and to force her to eat a little for her own health but also for the baby.

When they told their friends, they all were happy for them... Especially space dad! (More about Shiro later...)

Hunk was preparing peanut butter cookies for Pidge every weeks so she felt happy ( also because Keith told him about the morning sicknesses and he got worried that she didn't eat enough...)

Hunk was also preparing healthy diner for her from times to times.

Lance teased Pidge and Keith a lot. "YOOOO, THAT MEANS YOU TWO HAD S-

"WE GET IT LANCE!"

Even if he was teasing a lot, he was so happy, he loves kids! Because of his nephew and niece, he knew how to handle kids... Also, kids are cute and nice ( in general...

Lance was also taking care of Pidge a lot, always making sure she is ok and confortable.

Shiro.... Haaaa.... He got hysterical, hugged Pidge, then Keith, then both, then had tears rolling down his face.... He was very proud of them ( especially of Keith)..

When Pidge's stomach became bigger, Shiro would talk to it. Pidge thought it was very cute.

Coran... Well, Coran wasn't surprised. He thought that because Keith was part galra, they would have had a kid sooner because galra usually have kids very young.

He was still very happy tho.

Colleen was waiting for that moment. She hugged both Keith and pidge tightly and directly gave them a list of names that Krolia and her had picked... (WAIT WHAT-)

On the list, York was scribbled...( Colleen probably said yes to Krolia's proposition to make her happy but she would have never accepted this name...)

Collen tells them about how annoying having a kid will be. ( As a joke)

Sam was feeling a little uncomfortable. That meant that his small daughter was not a baby anymore... Like, he couldn't bring himself to the fact that his daughter was an actual adult, with a sexual life.................... He internally knew, but for him, she is still his little girl that does her homework in the kitchen's table, or that is asking him about life...

That got him all emotional and he congratulated them, his voice cracking and tears forming in his eyes. HE IS GOING TO BECOME A GRANDPA! ( Omg, Sam would be the best grandpa......)

Matt hugged pidge very tightly.

"IM GOING TO BE THE COOLEST UNCLE IN THE UNIVERSE. If you think otherwise, FIGHT ME"

"your kid is going to be a trouble maker, tho. Look at the parents..."-Matt

Krolia=proud mother. She wants 30 more grandkids.

"mom, we didn't even had our first one... We are not thinking of having another one... And, hum... About the 30 grandkids, I don't think that'll be possible."

Krolia made a special blade for her grandchildren.

They told kolivan and well, not a big reaction... You know, it's Kolivan. Nha, he was just happy for them and proud of Keith.

After they discovered the gender of the baby ( 5 month later) Keith had doubts: will he be a good father? His father died when he was still very young...

Pidge reassures him, she knows that he'll be a perfect father for her kid.

Pidge had mood swings. She could cry for no reasons. Or get very mad too... Like when she asked Keith if he could bring her some peanut butter cookies that Hunk had made just for her but all the cookies were gone... Well, she ate them earlier and forgot that she ate them all. Hehe, she cried for an hour.

When she cries for no reasons, Keith does his best to calm her down. Cuddle, gently kissing her face, talking to her, caressing her cheeks.... It works sometimes...

When she was getting angry, he tried his best to remain calm. He knew that it wasn't her fault and that she'll calm down quickly. It still started a few fights, which got Keith to sleep in the couch. (Hehehehe)

Alright, I'll stop here, I have an horrible headache 🥲 I'll keep going with these headcanons when I'll feel better because I still have a few ( maybe one, but I need to lay down. Right now. Or my head will explode.

(pretty glad that I wrote so many headcanons today!)

Also, if it doesn't make a lot of sense, I'm sorry, I haven't read back and I'm currently dying. Sorryyyyy!

I hope I kidged you.

#voltron legendary defender #kidge #voltron #voltron pidge #keith voltron #pidge #keith #keith and pidge #pidge and keith #voltron kidge

[a-dragons-drabbles]

Tattered Blankets and Mending Hearts Part 7

The bell above the door chimes cheerily as Shiro and Keith walk into Altea Cafe. The pair simply nods in acknowledgment of Coran’s chipper greeting and scan the shop for any sign of the lanky Cuban who can usually be found working behind the counter.

“Is Lance in today? I think we’ve made some progress in figuring out what’s going on around here.” Shiro explains to Coran while stepping up to counter. Coran twirls his orange mustache while trying to remember Lance’s schedule for the week.

“Lance won’t be in until later today, I think he’s scheduled to start at four and then work until closing.” Coran explains and looks up at the officers in front of him. “Now, will please tell me what progress you’ve made on the case and why you are looking for Lance?” He asks, fearing that he may already know the answer.

Shiro and Keith share a look before Keith begins speaking, “We manage to track down a kid from the surveillance video behind your shop and the kid claims that a man who perfectly matches Lance’s description bet that him and his friend wouldn’t’t be able to get the bags from behind your shop without getting caught.” Shiro smiles sympathetically at Coran when he sees how worried the cafe owner looks about his lanky employee.

“Now just because we think Lance was the one to dare those two boys does not mean that it was Lance or that Lance is in any kind of trouble. What it does mean is that we would like to speak to Lance to see if we can confirm if he did dare the teens. If he did we would also like to find out why he wanted the to grab the bags from behind your cafe.” Shiro explains and steps closer to the counter so he can lean against it. “So if you can think of any places that Lance likes to hang out, or if you know where he stays we could use your help finding him so we can ask him a few questions.”

Coran nods and grabs a scrap piece of paper to scribble down the address of the apartment Lance has listed as his residence, the address for Hunk’s bakery where Lance can often be found hanging out or taste testing, and the name of the park that is a few blocks over that the boy has told him he likes to take walks in, although Coran has a feeling that Lance spends a lot more time in that park then he lets on.

-

Keith and Shiro pull up in front of the apartment complex that Coran gave them the address of and quickly exit their squad car. They make their way through the maze of poorly labeled apartments until they find what Coran has listed as Lance’s apartment. Keith glances at Shiro with a questioning look before stepping forward and knocking on the door. They both wrinkle their noses at the way the paint flakes away from the door from the rapping of Keith’s knuckles against the old wood door.

The door gives way and for a moment they both believe maybe the ratty thing has fallen off of its hinges but instead they find themselves face to face with a grumpy looking man who is definitely not Lance. The man looks Keith and Shiro up and down, taking in the sight of their uniforms before promptly slamming the door in their faces. Shiro and Keith are left standing in a little cloud of paint flakes and Shiro throws Keith a look to silently let him know to have his back before knocking on the ratty door again.

“Excuse me sir, I’m Officer Shirogane. My partner and I are here looking for Lance, Lance McClain. We just want to ask him a few questions so if you can open up the door that’d be great. We heard from Lance’s boss that this is his apartment.” Shiro explains and there is a beat of silence before the door creaks open again.

The man’s face is contorted in a dark scowl which rivals Keith’s most fearsome glare and his words are no kinder than his expression, “I always knew that McClain would get himself into some legal trouble. Let me tell you one thing, that boy hasn’t lived here for months and I’m glad to be rid of him. Next time you go looking to deport his immigrant ass remember that he ain’t here and isn’t welcome back here. I don’t harbor illegals, my apartments are for people who deserve to be in this country.”

Shiro’s face hardens as he listens to the awful way the man refers to Lance and how the man claims that Lance is involved in illegal acts. Keith speaks before Shiro can even open his mouth to respond to vile landlord before them.

“Sir, as we have already stated, Lance is not in any kind of trouble. From our. Records Lance immigrated here legally so please refrain from making anymore false accusations in our presence, my partner and I do not take kindly to such blatant racism.” Keith says in a tone that implies some kind of threat but is still so monotonous that it gives the smaller officer the appearance of remaining calm and collected.

The man just scoffs and opens the dilapidated more so that the officers can pear into the rundown but obviously vacant apartment behind I’m. “I already told you that McClain doesn’t live here anymore. I drove his rent up to make sure I could get rid of him and now I’m checking one last time to make sure he didn’t leave any drugs behind before I rent this place out to someone who can actually afford to pay me rent.”

Keith looks like he is trying his hardest to not physically washout at the man in front of him after hearing him imply that Lance uses drugs. Shiro carefully reaches out and pushes Keith just a few steps behind him to prevent any physical altercations between his partner and the ignorant man standing before them.

Shiro takes a better look at the tiny apartment behind the man and is saddened by the image of Lance living in such a barren and dreary looking space. His heart breaks a bit as the weight of the man’s words sink and he realizes that Lance had been forced out of the apartment and if he was unable to afford a dump like the closet sized living space in front of them then there is almost no way that Lance has moved himself into a nicer apartment.

The man before them looks ready to slam the door in their faces again but Shiro raises his hand before he can get the chance. “Thank you for your time sir. We will be leaving now but some other officers will probably stop by later to investigate the legality of driving up rent to get rid of tenants that you do not like and to also investigate the standards of living in your rather run down establishment,” Shiro states before promptly dragging Keith away from the now enraged man who is shouting about knowing his rights and them needing warrants to set foot on his property again.

Keith turns to face Shiro as they come to stand beside their squad car once again, “Are we really gonna send some officers down here to investigate because I think it would be better if we set Coran after this guy. You’ve seen how much cares about Lance, he would definitely tear that land lord apart.” Keith grumbles and Shiro indulges in the idea of Coran using some odd mix of martial arts moves he’s seen in movies and any actual fighting skills that the cafe owner might have.

Shiro just shakes his head and makes his way around the squad car to get into the driver’s seat. He clicks the unlock button on the keys and pulls his door open before answering Keith, “No, we have bigger things to worry about right now than a racist apartment owner. We need to find Lance, not only because we need to question him so we can close the investigation of the cafe but also because Lance is out here on the streets somewhere.” Shiro says seriously and the only sound that follows is the sound of the patrol car’s doors closing and the engine starting up.

-

Lance sits on a metal bench in the far corner of the park that he has been staying in. All of belongings are tucked away beneath his feet except for the jar of peanut butter that he is cradling in his lap. He carefully digs in a metal spoon that he’d nabbed from the cafe when it was going to be thrown away for having a slightly bent handle.

He carefully scoops up just enough peanut butter to fill the spoon. His stomach grumbles in protest of Lance’s measly spoonful but Lance knows he can’t afford to be more generous with his portion sizes if he ever intends on saving enough money to be able to rent an apartment again. He brings the spoonful of peanut butter to his lips and sighs softly.

“I am so sick of peanut butter. I wish I had one of Hunk’s fresh pastries instead.” He grumbles before closing his lips around the spoonful of peanut butter.

—

I know this chapter took absolutely forever and I’m sorry. I have honestly been working on this chapter for months because I just haven’t been happy with how it was turning out. I’m still not thrilled with how it turned out but thus chapter is more of a set up for what is to come later. I hope to have the next chapter up sooner and as always am sorry for any mistakes and thank you for reading!

P.s. happy late birthday Lance

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #lance mcclain #keith kogane #langst #takashi shirogane #klance #shklance #tattered blankets and mending hearts #homeless lance

[shastelly]

Memories - March Klance Prompts from Monthly Klance Day 11

This is me, a few days behind now :)

"Oh my…Pidge!  It should totally be illegal to be that cute!"  Hunk gushed as the image of Pidge as a toddler gnawing on a calculator played across their mind meld.  

 "I know."  Pidge grinned wickedly.  "That was Matt's calculator."

 "That was wonderful, now your turn Hunk."  Allura directed.  Replacing the little gremlin with giant eyes and plastic green glasses was a dark toned little man dressed in brightly floral swim trunks.

 "Awww!"  Lance cooed. "Hunk, it's so much better than your picture album."

 Hunk had sprained his ankle early in the training session.  He'd come down wrong dodging a hit from the gladiator.  Coran had put some cream on it, wrapped it in something that looked like seaweed and said that by tomorrow morning it would be fine, but that he should elevate it and stay off it as much as possible.  Shiro and Allura had decided that made for a perfect opportunity for some team bonding training.

 Lance had whined about how boring that was and Allura had snapped at him to come up with something better.  So, smiling like he'd planned it all along, he suggested that instead of forming Voltron in their minds over and over that they get to know each other better.  

 Shiro had nodded and told Allura he thought it was a good idea, that knowing more about each other would make them closer as a team.  Hunk had smiled, Pidge had groaned, and Keith had frowned and crossed his arms.  Allura had asked that since they were not forming Voltron, maybe she could join them for the exercise.  Shiro had readily agreed.  It was a great opportunity for Allura to understand more about her human paladins.

 Allura had suggested that they each have a turn to pick a topic and then each share something.  Shiro had let Lance go first since it was his idea.  Lance had chosen an easy topic of share a happy memory.

 Lance went first and they were immersed in the smells and sounds of his brother's wedding. There were so many people and tons of food and Lance was laughing and dancing and blushing from a kiss on the cheek from his new sister-in-law and then finally the memory faded with Lance dancing with his mother.  Hunk gushed and Pidge called him a big sap.

 Hunk had shown himself with his mom and aunt in the kitchen making dinner.  His aunt put flour in his mom's hair and batter on Hunk's nose.  Later Hunk had distracted his aunt while his mom snuck up and stuck an ice cube down her back.  There was a lot of laughing and it was clear how happy they all were.

 Pidge shared a family outing to a science museum.  Her and Matt climbing some kind of dinosaur thing, which may or may not have been allowed, her hair standing on end holding a static generator of some kind, her dad happily explaining why the explanation on one of the plaques was wrong, and her mom brushing her hair out of her face as she fell asleep almost as soon as she was buckled into the car.

 Keith had shared a memory of him and Shiro riding hover bikes across the desert. The wind whipping around them, both sailing off a cliff in perfect sync and jetting off across a plain as fast as they could go.  Then they were eating pizza in a little restaurant and laughing about the day. Shiro had looked so pleased to be a part of Keith's happy memory.

 Allura then shared on of her own.  She was at a dance of some sort and there were hundreds of people in the castle. She looked lovely as always.  She was walking around talking with people and smiling and seemed to be having a good time, when King Alfor surprised her and led her out on the dance floor, the memory faded with them spinning around dancing.

 Shiro's memory was next.  He was a small boy sitting on an older woman's lap.  She was working on repotting a little tree.  She guided Shiro's hands as they moved the tree and added handfuls of rich soil around it.  Then together patted around the tree securing it in the pot.  The smells of soil and the plants filled the memory.

 Pidge picked next saying that little boy Shiro was so cute they needed to do baby pictures, which is where they found themselves now.  

 Shiro's baby memory was an even younger version of himself wearing a stained white t-shirt and a diaper.  He was barefoot and toddling along behind a woman in a faded yellow dress.  

 "Shiro, is that your mom?"  Keith asked.

 "Yes, she loved to let me play outside.  She said the fresh air would make me grow faster."  He chuckled a little.  "I'm not sure that she ever got used to how dirty I managed to get though."

 "Eh, my mom said eating a little dirt never hurt anyone."  Lance offered.

 "Well, if you're the example we might have evidence to the contrary." Pidge teased.

 "Please, my mud pies were delicious."  Lance then shared his memory of himself covered head to toe in mud being dipped into a five-gallon bucket of water by his older sister.  

 Pidge about fell over laughing, "Of course, your first mud mask."  Lance elbowed her.  "Fine.  Allura show us you.  I bet you were a cuter baby than Lance."  She elbowed Lance back.

 "Oh, mabye not."  Allura grinned.  The image of a little girl covered in some sort of reddish-purple goo appeared.  You couldn't even tell what color her hair was, but she was laughing and had the jar of whatever in her hands licking it with her tongue and smiling.  "It took over a month for the berries to wash all the way out of my hair, it was stained pink.  Mother thought she was going to have to cut it, she was so mad at me."  

 "I stand corrected."  Pidge pushed her glasses up.

 "Keith?"  Shiro asked raising an eyebrow.  

 Keith blushed but the image came up anyway.  A tiny little boy in diapers with a plastic firefighter’s hat on.  His eyes were too big for his face and his skin was pale.  In short, he was adorable.

 "Oh, come on!  Seriously, Keith do you have to be the best at everything.  I mean, you just had to be the cutest baby."  Lance huffed gesturing broadly at the image.

 "I'm sorry?"  Keith looked confused and the rest of them laugh.

 "I'm not sure Keith can help this, Lance."  Hunk laughed.  

 Lance crossed his arms and pouted.  

 "Who's next?"  Shiro asked.

 "I can go."  Hunk offered. "How about favorite food?"

 He pictured his mom serving him what a roll from a pan fresh out of the oven, the smell of coconut wafted through them all as she flipped it over onto a plate revealing the white coconut milk sauce.

 "Panipopo," Hunk practically drooled.

 "Good choice,” Lance also looked longingly at the roll.  

 "Okay, I can get behind this."  Pidge grinned and showed her Dad pulling a pan of fresh peanut butter cookies out of the oven.  She'd grabbed one and tossed it from hand to hand until it cooled enough to hold and then had taken a bite, holding her mouth open as it was still warm enough to burn.

 Keith laughed, "If you want burn."  His memory showed a huge pot of chili on a stove.  There were several over men all getting bowlfuls.  Keith stood on a stool stirring the pot, a wicked grin on his face and a can of hot peppers behind his back.  At the first sound of distress he laughed and ran out of the door.  He sat by a large red firetruck and opened the jar of hot peppers, pulling an orange one out he happily put it in his mouth and chewed enjoying every minute of the burning feeling.

 "Keith, spicy is good, but it needs to have flavor too!"  Lance admonished.  His memory was of some kind of stew served from a large pot, he'd taken his bowl to a table and poured in almost half a bottle of Tabasco before taking a huge bite.

 "Lance, we've talked about your Tabasco problem."  Hunk shook his head sadly.  Lance laughed.

 "Shiro, what about you?  Spicy? Sweet?"  Lance asked.

 "Um, neither, I have more of a junk food problem."  Shiro's memory was a pizza parlor with a huge slice of pizza covered in more toppings than could be identified.  He got sauce all down the front of his shirt when he bit into it. The sound of someone laughing filled the background.

 "Okay, Allura, what's your favorite."  Shiro smiled at her.

 "Oh. Yembrem."  She concentrated and the image was of a bowl of purple blobs wiggling around in a bowl.

 "Are they moving?"  Lance asked in horror.

 "Oh yes, I loved the way they wiggled when you swallowed them."  Allura giggled.  "It tickles."  Hunk turned a slight shade of green.

 "Who's next?"  Allura asked. "And this time pick something more specific.  I want to see you work harder to pinpoint a memory with the devices."

 "Why don't you pick one, Allura?"  Shiro offered.

 "No, go ahead Shiro."  Allura offered.  "Do humans have holidays or celebrations?"

 "Sure, several, but we might not all celebrate the same ones."  Shiro answered.

 "We all have birthdays?"  Pidge offered.

 "Okay, a birthday."  Shiro said.

 "Make it more specific if you can?"  Allura requested.  "A specific year?"

 "OH, how about 10, I got a new chef's coat that year."  Hunk was saying as Shiro's eyes widened and he was shaking his head no, but it was too late.  They all felt the sorrow hit them like they'd been punched in the gut.  

 "Keith?"  Shiro asked concern pouring from his body.

 The red paladin sat with hands clenched into fists and his eyes tightly closed.  The image in their mind was of young Keith dressed in a black suit.  His face was pale, and his eyes were wide and filled with unshed tears.   People were walking by shaking his hand.  There were flowers in the background.  He was shaking.  He looked back over his shoulder at the casket laid under a bed of roses.  It was closed, but there was a large picture of his father in front of it.  Keith threw the headband across the floor and ran out of the room.

 "Fuck."  Pidge wiped a tear.

 "On his birthday?"  Hunk asked horror on his face.

 "The funeral was on his birthday; his father died a few days before." Shiro explained with a deep sigh.

 Lance stood and slipped his head set off before turning to leave.

 "Lance, where are you going?"  Allura frowned, this was not the time to pick at the red paladin and Lance and Keith only seemed to do that to each other.

 "This was my idea."  He shrugged. "I just…I'm going to go find him."  He walked away leaving Allura looking confused.  The other three exchanged a wondering glance, but let it go as soon as Allura turned their way.

 "Keith?"  Lance knocked at the door.  "Um, can I come in?"  The door slid open, so Lance took that as an invite.  Keith was sitting in the dark on his bed.  "I just wanted to say I was sorry; this whole memory thing was my idea."

 Keith didn't answer.  Lance shifted nervously, "I…um…I…"

 "Just sit down."  Keith gestured, his voice sounding rough.  "You're making me nervous standing there."

 "Oh, okay."  Lance sat next to Keith.

 "Why'd you follow me?"  Keith asked looking up finally.  Lance could see the red puffiness around his eyes and knew he'd been crying.

 "I felt bad and wanted to apologize."  Lance signed.  "I didn't mean for anyone to get upset or hurt."

 "It's not your fault.  It was an accident that it even came up."  Keith shrugged.  "And it's not like the memory isn't there anyway and that sure as hell isn't your fault."

 "I know. I guess, I just wanted to check on you?"  Lance offered.

 "I'm here."  Keith snarked.

 "Okay, well, just one more thing."  Lance turned and quickly wrapped his arms around Keith and pulled him into a hug.  "I'm really sorry that happened to you." He whispered into Keith's hair and then he was up and out the door before Keith could even react.

 Keith sat on the bed, his face flaming with a blush, feeling the warmth where Lance had been pressed against him and wondering what, if anything, that meant.

#monthlyklance #monthlyklance march 2019 #klance #voltron fanfic

[rueitae]

If you're taking those writing asks could you do June 1 with plance?

June 1 is ‘Canon’ and ‘Sharing a bed’. Crack concept turned angsty. Trending towards the platonic side, but there’s some hints of romantic feels in here. Thank you for the prompt! About 1100 words. Please enjoy.

Read on Ao3

~~~~~

Cow-parent Trapped

“Well this is a large, stinking pile of – “

Lance turns to glare at her. “Not in front of Kaltenecker!” he says as he covers the cow’s ears.

“– disaster,” Pidge finishes. “I was going to say disaster because that’s what this is.”

Her shoulders slump in dismay. In six hours she’s due to lead a meeting regarding the specs of the new sea vehicles.

Instead she’s still at the farm with Lance as he pets and tries to sweet talk an obstinate Kaltenecker from unblocking the only exit to the milking barn. Pidge’s tinted glasses show an analysis of the cow, nothing seems physically wrong with her, content to sit and moo at their every plea for her to move.

“I’m sorry, Pidge,” Lance says. “She doesn’t like the dark. She’s usually in her own barn by now.”

The last hints of light disappear from the cracks in the door, sending the former Paladins and their cow into darkness.

“So we’re actually going to let a cow hold us hostage right now?” she asks dryly.

She only sees him raise his hands in surrender through the night vision mode on her glasses. “I’m not going to make her go anywhere she doesn’t want to. Kaltenecker is very sensitive after all she’s gone through!”

We’ve all gone through a lot, Pidge thinks sadly. She isn’t worried about the meeting, not truly, despite her moans over being late. Right now she can’t help but read between the lines.

It’s difficult to forget Allura’s sacrifice on any given day, but especially with the anniversary almost upon them. Pidge has her family to help with the Defenders project, to keep her mind occupied each time she wonders what the vehicles would look like with Allura’s touch, what they would look like combined with Altean magic and what she would think of the Voltron legend continuing like this.

The passing of years does not make it easier. Hunk confides that he thinks about Allura every time he makes a milkshake for galactic dignitaries. Shiro asks leaders to consider what she would want every chance he gets. Keith will tell her story to anyone who will listen as he hands out food and blankets.

Lance will tell her story too, mostly within safer borders, to school groups and historians; one of them has to. He spends as much time with his family as he can. Pidge can hardly chastise him for it, not after what she went through to reunite her own family.

It weighs on him more than the rest of them, she can tell. Except for possibly Coran, but the older altean is far more practiced in concealing his feelings when he wants to. He has Altea to govern and occupy his mind.

They’ve all thrown themselves into work, just like their early days on the Castle, doing everything to keep from being overwhelmed with grief and homesickness.

Pidge wonders as she has her glasses zoom in on the bags under his eyes, are they taking care of each other enough?

“You look tired,” she says.

He stares and takes too long to answer, not bothering to deny it.

She grins instead. “Maybe Kaltenecker is just trying to look out for you, telling you to get more sleep. You saved her after all.”

“We saved her,” Lance corrects immediately.

A specific sort of happiness swells in her chest at the inclusion, the same feeling that occurs every time he praises her and boasts about her genius. While his words are objectively true, she is a genius after all, she drinks in the genuine admiration behind them.

“Come on,” she says with an outstretched hand, “animals are more keen to their surroundings than humans. If Kaltenecker thinks you need rest, you’d better listen.”

She tries not to smile too much when he takes it. “A hay bale isn’t the most luxurious bed,” he argues. “And don’t you have a meeting soon? You look nice, I’d hate if you got your hair and clothes all messed up.”

Pidge is glad it’s so dark and Lance can’t see the warmth in her cheeks. How does she explain it now, after everything they’ve gone through, that his friendship means more to her than she can express as      only     friends?

“We’ve both been through worse,” she teases. She frowns and squeezes his hand. “I know you’re hurting, and it’s okay. But please don’t forget to take care of yourself.”

He stares into her eyes, as if searching into her soul; something he did more often these days. Finally, he sandwiches her hand with his other and sighs dramatically.

“I’m going to need to make my masks for a solid week. It’s so gross in here. Marco was supposed to clean it today.”

With no warning - she barely manages a surprised ‘ahh!’ - Lance drags her back with him into a pile of hay. Strands puff out, landing on her nice green top and sticking to her bangs.

Lance has the audacity to laugh, though he’s in the same predicament next to her.

She lets him continue holding her hand.

“Thanks for today, Pidge,” he says, rolling his head to face her. “It’s been a long time since we’ve hung out like this. It was really nice, I needed it.”

“Too long,” she agrees. “And I’m never too busy for you Lance - or any of you!” she quickly corrects, but then smirks and shifts hastily to lay on her side. “Especially if you have peanut butter cookies and video games as bribes.”

“I’ll note that,” he teases with the brightest smile she’s seen from him in years. He sobers just as quickly though. “Thank you, Pidge. Seriously. I… still miss her.”

“We all do, Lance and we always will. But we’re here for each other when it feels the worst. We’re the Paladins of Voltron; we will always be connected, all of us.” Pidge means it. No matter where Allura is, she’s still a part of the universe. It’s all she can do to keep the memory of Olkarion alive.

He hugs her, wraps his arms around her shoulders as if desperate for contact. His tight squeeze is as good as a thank you.

Pidge reciprocates and soaks in the warmth of his body as she nestles into his chest. He sobs, wetting her hair with his tears. She fights back her own until she realizes there isn’t a point to.

If they can’t be a shoulder to cry on for each other, then what kind of arms of Voltron are they?

#plance #pidgance #flirtyrobot #voltron legendary defender #vld fanfic #voltron spoilers #vlds8 #rueitae #my writing #here i am with another s8 fic #didn't expect that so quickly but here we are #i enjoyed the ask very much thank you for sending it! #vld kaltenecker #vld pidge #vld lance