#black paladin keith

[autisticlancemcclain]

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing.”

Vaguely, Lance registers that he’s far too loud, that his dead-of-night shout has people peeking out their doors, rubbing groggy eyes. He knows he should tone it down and handle this gracefully and he meant to, thought about it in the hour or so he spent crouched but his door, waiting, straining his ears for the sound of Keith’s silent footsteps, convinced something would go down tonight.

Correct.

Keith jumps, duffel bag slipping off his shoulder and thumping as it hits the floor. He whirls around to meet Lance’s eyes and the shock melts quickly into stubbornness, into something defensive and irritated.

“Go back to bed, Lance,” he says evenly, and Lance envisions punching him. Lance envisions gripping the sleeve of his jacket and holding him in place. Both visions fight for standing ground in his mind, blurring into each other. His fists curl at his sides and he has to hold himself back, physically, root himself in place.

He thinks about saying, I know you’re afraid.

He thinks about saying, you will always have a place here.

He thinks about saying, please don’t leave me.

He says, “You’re running,” and it comes out sharp and accusatory, and there is a hiss from somewhere beside them, quick inhale through the teeth, but the world feels narrow, blurry around the edges, and Keith is the only one in focus, the only one Lance can see.

Keith’s face drops into something menacing, something as flat as it is furious, something familiar and almost comforting.

“Coward,” Lance spits before he can say anything. The cruelty of the words leaves a bitter taste in his mouth and he relishes in it, sucking it off his teeth.

He watches as Keith’s shoulders shift, an aborted lunge, as his chest inhales and exhales with a measured and practice breath. Watches as he calms himself, visibly, yanks himself back from the edge. Lance prepares to yank him right the hell back.

(Anything to keep him from going. To distract him, enrage him, occupy him.)

(Anything to make him stay.)

“You don’t know a goddamn thing about me,” Keith says, angry and short, less fiery than Lance expected, more controlled than he’s ever seen.

Lance panics. Keith tears his eyes away and bends down, wrapping his hand around the forgotten duffel bag strap, swinging it back over his shoulder. He turns and walks — stomps — away, heading down the hall, towards the hangars. Leaving.

Lance loses control of his mouth. A sound fights its way out of his throat, something croaking and furious and desperate, and like a cork shooting off a champagne bottle there is nothing he can do to stop what comes next.

“Your voice cracks when you lie.”

The anger has practically fled from his voice. In its place is pleading, begging, vulnerable. He chokes it back and tries to swallow and it does nothing, it bubbles out of him, spilling down his face and dripping onto the floor and soaking his bare feet, the ankles of his silk pajama pants. It comes all the way back up to his neck and chokes him, instead.

Keith freezes.

The champagne keeps bubbling.

“You — duck your head when you smile. And when you’re confident you snap your fingers on your left hand. When you read you mouth along to the words, except when you get really into a book, which is always, and then you stop. You always end up hiccuping after you eat because you fucking — hoover them back, you animal.“

Lance sniffles. The lump in his throat gets harder and harder to speak around, but the urge didn’t go away, the intense need to spill his guts, to slice himself open and spill at the ground by Keith’s feet.

Stay. Stay. Stay.

“You’re not as elusive as you think, you fucker.”

He forces himself to stop, then, bites his tongue until he tastes blood, until the words stop flowing. He inhales big and long and holds it, lets the air go stale in his lungs, lets his heart start to pound.

“I want to go,” Keith says, back still turned.

His voice cracks on ‘want’.

Lance gasps an exhale. “You’re a fucking liar.”

Keith’s turn is slow, and Lance can’t help but think it’s on purpose. To torture him, to test him. To say I don’t believe you. To say when I turn back you’re going to break character.

It’s heartbreaking, a little. And the heartbreak is written all over Lance’s face, and he watches as Keith sees it.

“You saw the problem first,” Keith argues, weakly. Lance hears what he doesn’t say: I’m leaving or else you’ll have to.

And Lance knows he was the one to go to Keith with his pinky finger extended and wide worried eyes. He knows he was the one who planted the idea of leaving in Keith’s head, never meaning for him to be the one to go but expecting him to try anyway. He knows he’s the one who’s standing here, in the middle of the hallway, arguing around the subject, half-conscious of his friends’ stares, their acknowledgment that more is being said than just their words.

And Lance shoves that all back, and says: “I told you I’d be your Red.”

Paladin. Your Red Paladin. But the words don’t come all the way out.

Keith swallows. “I know.”

“I won’t be anyone else’s.”

“…I know.”

Lance’s hands shake. “So you can’t leave me, you motherfucker.”

The duffel drops to the floor again. This time it’s intentional. This time it’s shoved off Keith’s shoulders.

He takes three great strides forward, grasping Lance’s face in his perpetually burning hands, and shoves their lips together, bruising.

“If I leave then the math checks out,” he whispers, pulling back, eyes closed, breathing heavy. His forehead is pressed to Lance’s like he can beam his thoughts into his brain.

Lance sighs. “If you leave I’ll follow.” His eyes flutter shut. “You goddamn suck at math.”

Keith snorts. “A little.”

“Stop trying to fix my problems without me.”

“It’s — I want to. Fix your problems.”

“I want you here.”

“…Okay.”

“Promise me, Keith.”

“Okay,” Keith says again, quieter. “I’ll stay, Red.” He kisses Lance again and this time it’s soft, loving instead of desperate. “I’ll stay.”

———

animatic by @jiveyuncle

#vld #voltron #lance #lance mcclain #keith #keith kogane #klance #s4 klance #red paladin lance #black paladin keith #klangst #keith angst #lance angst #langst #my writing #fic #longpost #THERE IS ART NOW???

[jiveyuncle]

Just a couple of dumbasses swordfighting

*offers you these pen doodles from my lunch break*

#klance #keith kogane #lance mcclain #voltron legendary defender #voltron #vld #fanart #black paladin keith #red paladin lance

[k1ance-a-lot]

D2-4 Weapon | Red Paladin | Black Paladin

#2023keithtober #voltron #fanart #vld fanart #keith kogane #art #galra keith #red paladin #black paladin keith #blade of marmora

[trivojol]

Black paladin? Red paladin? Both..both are good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEST BOY ❤❤🎉

#voltron keith birthday 2023 #happy birthday Keith #keith day #keith month #keithtober #keithtober 2023 #black paladin keith #red paladin keith #voltron leader keith #keith vld #vld keith #keith voltron #voltron Keith #keith kogane #keith fanart #vld #voltron #free palestine 🇵🇸 #free palestine

[spacecimen]

what?

#digital illustration #illustration #keith kogane #digital art #keith voltron legendary defender #voltron #voltron keith #voltron legendary defender #clip studio paint #vld #vld keith #keith vld #Kogane Keith #voltron legendary defender keith #red paladin #black paladin keith

[jillustrates]

@callmelyc and @k1ance-a-lot are doing some Keithtober prompts and this one is for 'samurai'

#keith kogane #black paladin keith #blade of marmora #samurai Keith #Keithtober #yes I used this as an excuse to draw him shirtless #sue me #but actually you're welcome #2023keithtober

[princessallura052]

Unpopular: I prefer Keith as Black Paladin

So thanks to a wonderful friend of mine, I feel more comfortable posting my unpopular opinions. I prefer Keith as the Black Paladin. I don't hate him as the Red Paladin but he was just kind of boring to me. He was just an angry young man who did not really grow. Stepping into the leader of Voltron, he was forced to grow, he was forced to learn how to be a leader, he was forced to mature. Not to mention while he and Red were buddies, he was Black's healer. The two become such good friends right away to the point that he defended her from clone Shiro. I know I'm unpopular but thats how I feel. Would anyone be interested in a full psychoanalysis of why with screenshots?

#voltron legendary defender #vld keith #black paladin keith #black lion

[nighmoons]

sometimes i think about shiro *technically* died in season 2, he comes back but his characterisation (after kuro) is still never the same so we lost him. sometimes i also think about how keith never wanted to be the leader, only stepped up because shiro believed in him and if theres one thing keith believes in- is that shiro never gave up on him so he kept trying.

#takashi shirogane #keith kogane #vld keith #vld shiro #voltron legendary defender #why am i rewatching this godforsaken show #broganes #black paladin keith #keith vld #shiro vld

[fanart-ftw]

Line of Succession pts. 1-4

Here's the whole thing 😊

#lineofsuccessionvld #digital art #vld fanart #throwback #vld au #vld lance #vld keith #lance mcclain #kieth kogane #black paladin keith #red paladin lance #black paladin lance?

[zerokirigaya]

Never forget that Keith's name was almost Yorak.

#voltron #keith kogane #black paladin keith #krolia #keith voltron

[autisticlancemcclain]

“You’re not going.”

Keith picks his head up from the table. “Huh?”

“To the Blades,” Lance clarifies, chopping up something that looks like a bright pink potato and throwing it in a rapidly boiling pot in what Keith would call an aggressive manner. “You’re not going.”

“…I didn’t say I was.”

He didn’t. He didn’t mention anything about the Blades to any living soul. Like, yeah, he had made the decision and was going to, but.

There’s no reason Lance should know that.

“Good, then, because I took your uniform — which looks like a slutty catsuit, by the way, just so you’re aware — to the incinerator last night. It’s ash now.”

Keith stares at his best friend, jaw dropped, hands resting limply on the edge of the dining table, because — huh? pardon? what happened?

“Whatever identity crisis you’re having can happen here,” Lance adds, shaking some spices into the boiling pot and stirring it a couple times. He dips in a spoon, brings it up to his lips, then makes a face. “Here, try this.”

He marches over to where Keith has been moping as he makes dinner and shoves a spoon into his gaping mouth. Keith chokes, hot stew making its merry way down his trachea, eyes watering and chest heaving.

“A little too salty,” he rasps.

Lance scowls. “Fuck. I knew it. Gotta add more barbie potatoes.” He turns down the heat, grabbing more potatoes from the sack and busying himself with peeling them. Slowly, as he recovers from the fear of his actual lungs collapsing in on themselves, Keith stands, hesitantly approaching Lance and reaching for a knife to chop what he peels.

“So,” he starts.

Lance ignores him.

But Keith is used to this dynamic. It’s either this or flipped. Friends or not, if there’s one thing they can’t do it’s use their big boy words. So he carries on.

“I take it you…don’t want me to go, then.”

Lance grunts. “Oh, look, the caveman has room in his skull for a brain after all.”

“Uncalled for,” Keith says, scowling. “I am not the one who’s refusing to communicate right now.”

The corner of Lance’s mouth twitches upwards.

Score. Point to Keith.

“Obviously I don’t want you to leave, you stupid dumbass,” Lance admits finally. He wrestles the chopped roots out of Keith’s hands and practically dunks them in the pot, turning the heat back up. Keith smears his starch covered hands on his shirt in revenge (and then wisely takes three quick and giant steps back, well out of backhanding range).

“But there are too many paladins,” Keith points out. “You said it yourself.”

Lance grabs a dishtowel, twisting it menacingly in his hands. Keith tries not to think about the scar he knows Hunk has from when Lance snapped a towel at him when they were kids, wrestling in the McClains’ kitchen. He fails.

“Do you actually have any braincells left in your head at all?”

“Yes, jackass. That’s why I did the math. I leave and the numbers add back up. Problem solved.”

“You leave and Voltron falls apart,” Lance snaps. “So maybe crunch those numbers again.”

Keith stills. Lance steps towards him, still glaring, still menacing, but he doesn’t move — he holds Lance’s gaze, searching his dark eyes, looking for the words he isn’t saying. Because Keith…Keith isn’t the one holding Voltron together. There was a reason his heart caught in his throat when Lance came to him downtrodden and talked about being a seventh wheel. There’s a reason his duffel is packed, a reason he’s talked to Kolivan. He knows who needs to step aside.

“You just don’t get it,” Lance says, frustrated. He takes another step.

“You talk to us about teamwork all the time.”

Another step.

“You’re favourite thing to whine about is the bonding moment.”

Another step, this time as he pitches his voice high and mocking, flapping his hands.

“You never shut up about training as a group.”

One final step and he’s toe to toe, shoes to boots, nose to nose. Keith realises, startlingly, that they’re the exact same height, now.

“We are a crew, imbécil. Team, group, boyband. Whatever you wanna call it. All for one and one for all. The whole nine yards, all that cheesy bullshit.” He pokes Keith hard in the chest. “You don’t get to ditch.”

“But it makes more sense,” Keith argues, weakly and half-desperately. “We only have so many resources. If I can be useful at the Blades —”

“Fuck the fucking Blades.”

Keith deflates. His hand comes up to stop Lance’s jabbing finger, curling around his knuckles. Lance softens, slightly.

“I just want to be as useful as I can be.”

“And if you’re enough as you are?” Lance asks quietly.

Keith opens his mouth, but stops, automatic I’m not dying in his throat. For the first time in his life, it doesn’t seem like the truth, with the determined set to Lance’s jaw and the sliding of their fingers together, gripping tightly.

“Then I guess I’m staying,” Keith breathes.

Lance nods. “Good.”

Keith notices his hands are kind of clammy. His forehead, too, is a little sweaty. The air between them feels hot. Keith swallows.

“Your stew is on fire,” he croaks, voice rough.

Lance drops his hand, cursing.

“Oh — por amor de dios, hablas en fucking serio —”

———

At dinner, Keith eats his burnt stew without a word of complaint. When Lance drags him to the sink to help clean up, after, even though it’s not his turn, he goes, and he lingers too close and too long, and he’s grateful that the duffel he packed to leave home for good is laid emptied on his bed when he turns in for the night.

#fuck keith leaving ❤️ #vld #voltron #lance #lance mcclain #keith #keith kogane #klance #pre klance #black paladin keith #red paladin lance #angst #communication issues #kekth angst #langst #klangst #brown eyed lance #insecure keith #keithtober #my writing #fic #longpost

[justaz]

pidge and lance rivalry after the lion switch of pidge being infuriated that she’s no longer the black paladins favorite and lance rubbing it in her face every chance he gets

#vld #voltron #klance #keith kogane #takashi shirogane #lance mcclain #pidge gunderson #katie holt #black paladin keith #hunk is everyone favorite all the time so i can’t even mention him here #he wins no matter what #lion switch #season 3 #or 4? #i haven’t watched vld since s8 came out 💀 #this is NOT sh!dg3 btw #but like shiro knew matt and sam so he like took pidge in and protected her for her dad and brother #it was a adoption thing #not romantic #idk why but i feel i should’ve specified that

[k1ance-a-lot]

The Black Paladins of Voltron

Some folks on twitter were discussing who was/could be the best BP and I am of the opinion that Klance would be the best 😌🖤🖤

Black let's them both pilot by using a mind meld technique (think pacific rim). Whenever they use this technique, inside or outside of the Lion, their pupils will emit a purple glow like in the Close-up. ✨️

Galra hallway background credits: AnnJoanneBlaze

#klance #voltron #fanart #art #keith kogane #lance mcclain #vld fanart #black paladin lance #black paladin keith #pacific rim

[trivojol]

Spider Keith🕷

#keith #voltron keith #vld keith #keith kogane #keith vld #keith fanart #spider keith #red paladin #black paladin keith #keith voltron #vld #voltron

[ginervacade]

My current favorite thing about Voltron is how much Red loves her boys. All of the lions can sense when their Paladins are in danger,and blue definitely loves Lance too, but Red gets there and MAJORLY REACTS anytime Keith or Lance are in the tiniest bit of danger. I love it so much!!!! ( I get it Red, I’d do anything to protect them too!)

#voltron #voltron: legendary defender #lance mcclain #blue paladin #keith kogane #red paladin #black paladin keith #red lion #voltron lions #red loves her boys #( I also love her boys) #blue loves Lance a lot too #keith and lance #paladins of voltron #the red paladins are fricking adorable

[v-tired-queer]

Me, watching Keith make his first inspirational speech as the leader: YESSSS MY BABY BOY IS GROWING UP 😭👏😭👏😭👏

My mom in the next room: wtf is going on in there??

#proud yet also terrified #keith bb please get better at leadership soon you're going to kill someone #voltron legendary defender #voltron #s3 ep3 #keith #lance #hunk #pidge #allura #rip shiro #black paladin keith