Tags: mutual pining, living vicariously through dungeons and dragons characters, dungeons and dragons dating lmao, lots of dialogue, coran’s a snack mom, everyone’s there, even matt!!
Summary:
“Holy crow,” Lance shot up, excitement written in the way his face lit up, “Are you going to propose to me, Keith?”
—
The gang plays DnD.
Klance Week 2017 Day 1: Free Will vs Fate
Alternate Title: Shut up and ask him out roll the dice
Read on AO3 (please)
Tired eyes stared down all around the table. Pidge pushed her glasses up her face, past her bangs to rest on her head, and gave a long, suffering sigh. From beside her, she could see Matt look up and glance her way, having heard her pull a signature Shiro sound, but she couldn’t help it. Not anymore.
Lance, as usual, was the first to verbalize his complaints. “Allura,” He whined, shifting in his seat so he could lean forward, “You always make your campaigns so long . Can we just go to a tavern or something? We’re still recovering from the giant nest!”
Across the table, Keith nodded in silent and rare agreement, his eyes flicking around as he scanned his papers.
Allura clucked. “I’m afraid not. We’ve got at least two more hours tonight, so stop complaining and get yourselves in order.”
“You’re just trying to make your campaign last the longest because Shiro has the record!” Lance accused. Their dungeon master bristled, but didn’t comment or correct him.
“Alright.” Shiro sighed, “I’m sure, on appearances alone, the group of bandits…you’re calling them Galra still, right?” At Allura’s nod, he continued, “The Galra have no interest in trying anything with us. I think we should carry on.”
“No.” Keith grunted, “Red’s gonna be suspicious.”
“You mean you’re suspicious?” Lance snorted, ducking down as Keith throw a chip at him.
“I told you it’s not a self-insert.” The other boy growled.
Hunk cut in, “I agree with Keith.” and swirled his mug of hot chocolate contemplatively.
“With Red !” Keith threw his hands up, leaning back in his chair.
He continued on, though Hunk did have the decency to look sheepish, “Right. Saffron would agree with Red. Kinda. He’d be nervous, but only a little suspicious.”
“Alright then. So, Red’s awareness would give an advantage, of course, but Saffron gets nothing from his general fear.” Allura dictated, shuffling papers mysteriously from behind her partition.
“As usual.” Pidge grunted, “Foxglove ignores the bandits in favor of staying focused on that strange dwarven thing she’s going to figure out soon.”
“Is it time for her to roll for that again? What did we say she had to get over?” Matt wondered aloud, glancing at Allura from his own papers. “I’m just following Nero’s lead, by the way. Shiro’s in charge, after all, Red.”
“Over a sixteen.” Allura hummed, nodding at Matt’s instruction, “and five minutes.”
“Which is bullshit because of my–”
“I did the math twice , Pidge.” Allura brought out her overly-authoritative tone, “At your request, and it is still a roll over sixteen.”
Before Pidge could even retort, acid on her tongue, Coran wandered over from the kitchen, all smiles and completely unaffected by the argument and tension brewing. “How are all you adventurers doing? Kill any goblins today? Has Azulle been kidnapped again?” He tweaked his mustache as he leaned over Allura’s side, humming a little.
Lance’s head shot up, face alight. “Coran! The gorgeous man! I’ll ignore that jab for now. Did you make any space juice?”
Hunk made a face from beside his best friend, shifting to see Coran from around the lankier boy. “More important question: how are the nachos coming?”
“Adventure’s going great, Coran!” Matt finally responded for the group, cheerful, “At Allura’s pace, we’ll be here for a few more weeks under your hosting!”
“Well,” Coran mused, moving in on the table further to observe their work up close as well, “That’s no trouble. I’m just glad you little rascals are all interested in these old antiques of mine.” He plucked up one of Allura’s hidden books (ignoring her soft “Wait, they don’t–”) and hummed more as he revealed it to browse.
“Is that the monster guide? We just left the town! To go to one less than a mile from here! This is a basic retrieval quest!” Pidge huffed, “Damn it–”
“We need to get Plaxum and Swirn back over, we do so much better with rogues like them.” Shiro commented thoughtfully.
“ Without Blumfump. Man, he’s exhausting.” Hunk rubbed his face.
Lance straightened his spine a bit. “Hey, come on, he means well. Besides, he doesn’t like to do campaigns unless he’s the DM. That’s why he and Slav only play Magic down at the Post.”
“Oh, good.” Pidge began, weirdly excited seeming, “So we can re-invite them without the other.”
“Please don’t let Slav back in your house, Allura.” Shiro whispered.
“He was very informed about potential campaign outcomes when I discussed ours with him last week at the Post, I’ll have you know,” Allura defended, “but yes, I don’t think he’s interested enough to join us again.”
“So, space juice for Lance? Anyone else?” Coran set down the book with a smile, counting as Keith, Pidge, Matt, and Allura’s hands all flew up. “The nachos will be done in just a tick or two as well.
A murmur level of cheers followed, and Allura straightened up as Coran parted, ready to set back to the quest. “Let’s see…Oh, Lance?”
“Azulle follows Red’s suspicion, but way more lax about it.” Lance said smoothly, switching papers in his hands, “Does anybody have my purple highlighter?”
Keith handed it over, ignoring their brushing hands fluidly. “Azulle should know to trust Red’s intuition from the supply raid alone, let alone the countless other quests they’ve done and he’s been right.” He mumbled, pressing his elbows into the table as he leaned forward. “He’s always good about this stuff.”
“Hold the phone.” Lance spread a hand as he idly highlighted a section of his personal notes with his other, “Back up. Azulle is well aware that Red has great intuition, but he’s a total hothead, too, adn that supply raid was only so much of a shit show because Red charged off, anyway, regardless of whether he was right or not.”
“Yeah!” Matt laughed, “I wouldn’t have died if we took things slow like Lance suggested.”
Hunk laughed along a moment, “No, dude. You would have died. You sort of always die.”
“You and Shiro have death records .” Pidge snorted.
Allura rolled a die without preamble, stilling everyone as they looked to the sound. “The bandits pass by, taking in the party, and notice Keith’s–”
“ Red’s. ”
“Red’s glare. They’re disgusted, and advance on the bold group.”
“Azulle flies to the front and tries to charm them!”
“He does not –” Keith said immediately, “Red’s glare intensifies as Azulle moves to flirt.”
Sliding down in his chair, Lance groaned, “Jealousy, thy name is Keith. My charm skill has saved us so many times!”
“Lance, roll.”
He followed suit tensely, without readjusting his seat. The dice rolled almost lazily, prolonged as the group watched. “Eight.”
Allura laughed plainly. “They notice that you smell like cow and see Red’s background glare. The charm is wasted.”
“They never like Kaltenecker.” Pidge commented, a lightness in her tone.
“I smell nachos!” Hunk sang, listening as Coran came back with drinks in hand.
Lance huffed, his foot brushing against Keith’s from being so far under the table. “At least Keith likes cow.”
“ Red .” He stressed in return, not moving his foot.
“Keith and Hunk have initiative. the Galra advance with a scoff.” Allura narrated.
“Red pushes Azulle behind him, draws his sword, and makes a strike for the leader. Rolling.”
“My hero!” Lance cooed, making prolonged eye-contact with Keith while the die bounced.
“You never said how many there were, Allura.” Matt murmured, glancing at Hunk as the boy rolled as well.
“Drat.” Allura murmured back, flipping a curtain of hair over her shoulder and beginning to tie it up as Coran set her drink before her. “There are three. Would you like to hear their names?” Her voice became almost gleeful.
Pidge laughed, flipping pages frantically. “Yes. I’ll add them to our Worst Names Ever list.”
Allura was not deterred. “Plytox, Plyrox, and Sendak. Sendak’s the leader, missing one eye, and his roll beat yours, Keith. Hunk, What is your action?”
“Uh,” He groaned a moment, giving a wary eye to the sludge concoction Lance was downing almost frantically. “Saffron lets Red rush ahead and casts a barrier on whoever Matt is right now.”
“Whoever Matt is right now thanks you.”
“Roll again?”
“Eighteen! Woo!” Lance cheered for Hunk, throwing him a high five and not noticing Keith’s close gaze while he pumped his fist.
Pidge’s phone timer went off, and she jumped. “I’m using this turn to perceive this fucking relic again. You guys can battle on your own.”
“So, Matthew’s character is protected sufficiently, Sendak laughs at Keith’s–Red’s, I know, don’t start–Red’s attack and sends him flying back into Azulle with a hard shove. No damage necessary, he’s just being a little stinker while he tries to rough you all up. He then advances on Shiro due to his natural leader appearance.” Allura explained, as she always did in these events, with a pleasantness of a ruler, completely in control of all outcomes no matter the situation.
Shiro grunted, “If I sacrifice myself this turn can I go watch whatever Coran is in the den?”
“Azulle pleasantly cradles Red as he fumbles through that fall.” Lance cooed again, still engaged in on-again, off-again eye-contact with Keith that might last too long.
Allura narrowed her eyes at their leader. “No. I’m sorry you dislike this campaign so much, Shiro, but you can complain about it with Pidge when the night is done. Sendak draws a short dagger.” Mindlessly, she pulled the new bowl of nachos Coran delivered more towards herself and Hunk, shoving a handful into her mouth.
Keith picked at his cheese-less personal bowl of chips with fake nonchalance. “Red stands and sends Azulle a meaningful smile, preparing for his opportunity again…”
“Aww. Azulle kisses Red’s cheek and moves away to draw his bow and aim for the farthest Galra from Sendak’s flanks.”
“Plytox. Roll?”
“Seventeen. Oh my god, we are on fire tonight!”
“i’m gonna swing my spear into Sendak to try and distract him from Nero, because Shiro’s participation sucks when Coran’s got a good movie on.” Matt assured, rolling his die before he was prompted. “Six. Welp. Never mind.”
“No, that’ll do.” Allura nodded, “Not much, but Sendak is affected by such a bug bite. The goon Azulle hit is without the use of a shoulder.”
“Nero is tired but draws his sword and humbly requests Wemb to move over before he dies.” Shiro sat up a little, reaching for a nacho, “Also, I’m very focused on this game, I just appreciate Coran’s outlook on other activities.”
“Is that who I am right now? I picked the name Wemb? I’ve been loosely following Yuv’s character outline this whole time.” Matt complained, squinting at his papers.
Lance threw his head back in a laugh, “You need to get a better organization system. Hunk teaches, look at how pretty his binders look.”
“I think Shiro wants to retire from DND. I bet he’s going into LARPing.” Pidge snickered, “Can I roll for Foxglove yet?”
“You may.”
“Fifteen. Fuck. One day.”
Allura didn’t even bother to look sympathetic. “You’ll have better luck soon. Let’s see…The goons each knock an arrow at Saffron, recognizing his status as a healer. Roll for avoiding those, Hunk.”
“They always underestimate my dexterity.” Hunk laughed and Allura swore quietly, also having forgotten, as Hunk’s roll was modified into well past the necessary range.
“They miss so far that everyone, your party included, is embarrassed for them.” Their dungeon master begrudgingly narrated, “Sendak, however, is not deterred. Lance, you’re fastest, go ahead.”
“I throw another arrow at cold shoulder goon.”
“Plytox.”
“Playtex?”
“Lance.”
“And my roll is a beautiful thirteen. Are you proud mom? Is mama out there somewhere realizing my DND worth?” Lance elaborated, all smiles as he drank his sugary space juice.
Shiro glanced around the table, but Pidge beat him to commenting. “I’m sure somebody’s proud of you.” She laughed, adjusting her glasses so they were fixed on her face one more and glared in the light. “Red’s swooning by now.”
“Actually,” Hunk began, “When are Azulle and red getting married? Can we have a badass quest wedding? Wedding quest? We need closure.”
“They’re married through the spirit of battle. They don’t need fancy clothes or rings or ceremonies. It would be complicated.” Keith colored, sending a fleeting glance towards Lance.
“Foxglove was with Red in that market after the stupid retrieval quest we did for the Yalmor innkeeper, and Keith, you spent a lot of time whispering to Allura about what you were buying, so Foxglove should know.” Pidge explained slyly, scrutinizing her papers with a false casualty, “Can’t withhold information, you know.”
“Holy crow,” Lance shot up, excitement written in the way his face lit up, “Are you going to propose to me, Keith?”
Keith’s own face flared immediately, though he didn’t flinch under Lance’s beam and gaze. “I’ll text you what I bought, Pidge.” He gritted out.
“Why, thank you.” She said mercilessly.
When a strange silence fell over the table, unrealized only by the still excited Lance, Keith stood abruptly and moved away from the table. “I’m going to the bathroom.”
Allura sighed, though she didn’t look like she truly had any objections. When Keith was out of sight, she and the rest of the table turned to Lance collectively, watching him smile down at his character notes almost bashfully.
“I can’t believe you’re going to marry Keith.” Hunk said lightly, all smiles.
He laughed in return, moving his bright eyes to meet his best friend’s own. “I know, right? Who thought we’d get here ?” After another chuckle, he stopped. “Wait.”
“There it is. We can all go home.” Pidge threw her hands into the air.
“Lance…” Shiro started, eyes on the hallway that led to the den where Coran was comfortable, “I give you my blessing.”
“Please don’t do this.” A flush raked up Lance’s neck to the tips of his ears, and he groaned as loud as he could. “They’re just characters.”
“Dude.” Hunk began, only to be cut off by Lance’s own standing.
“What’s that, Coran? More space juice for me in the kitchen? Be right there!” And he was gone.
Pidge rested her head in her arms on the table. “End this. Why did we even introduce them? Introduce this game ?”
“Without this game,” Matt decidedly sagely, resting a hand on his sister’s back, “We wouldn’t even know the extent of how sad they pine for one another.”
“They’ve contaminated dungeons and dragons by being in love.” She whined, squinting at Allura when she laughed from behind her partition.
When Keith returned from his fake bathroom run, he immediately asked, “Where’s Lance?” much to his own dismay at his train of thought.
Shiro looked towards him, soft mirth in his tired eyes. “Keith,” He began seriously, “Please, ask Lance out.”
Keith’s face gained color quickly, and he downed his space juice as he sat, fluster only amplified when Lance returned from the kitchen with a refill for the two of them.
