I couldnt sleep last night so I thought up lance coming out to shiro (since that picture where they are together holding the lgbt sign) and it went something like this:
Lance took a deep breath and knocked on Shiro’s door before he had the time to realize how bad of an idea that was and walk away. Shiro opened up and a puzzled expression appeared on his face when he saw who was knocking.
“Lance?”
“Hi, uhm, can i talk to you?”
“Sure,” said Shiro stepping aside to let the boy enter. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, I just… need to say something? I think… I need… advice?”
“Oh, uh, sure, you can tell me anything.”
“Yeah… hmmmm…. I… you know I like girls, right? Like, I reeeaally like girls.”
“Yees…? You kinda remind everyone every single day…”
“Yeah.” Lance laughed nervously, crossing his arms. “I really like girls. I like them so much. I like flirting with them and–”
“Lance”
Lance stopped and stared at his own feet, unable to make himself look at Shiro in the eyes.
“I think I know where you are going with this speech,” said Shiro, putting a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “But I won’t say it for you, so just go ahead and say it, it’s okay.”
“You know?”
“Yeah…? I mean, I get how you must be feeling…”
“Ho… you get it?” Repeated Lance, a confused line between his eyebrows. “You like boys too?”
“What?” Blurted Shiro, eyes widening, “I thought we were talking about Allura!”
“What!” Shrieked Lance, taking a step back, “You like Allura??”
“You like boys??”
Lance laughed nervously, “no way, ha ha, I was joking… jeez, you believed that…” he turned towards the door, wanting nothing more than to lock himself in his room and call himself a dumbass for the rest of the night. This had been a mistake. A huge, nefarious mistake.
“No, Lance, wait!” Shiro called after him, “that came out wrong, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Like what?” Said Lance stopping.
“Like it’s a big deal. It’s… okay. If you like boys.”
“Is it?”
“Why shouldn’t it be?”
“Because… I like girls.”
“The two aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s just called being bisexual.”
Lance gasped softly. “That’s the word, quiznack,” he whispered, “I knew I heard something like that…”
Shiro smiled. “Lance, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it, okay? If you ever feel like telling the rest of the team, know that I’ll be there to help you out and support you. And thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.”
“Uhm, sure, whatever. Thanks? I guess.”
Shiro covered the few feet that divided them and hugged Lance tightly.
Lance let Shiro squeeze him like an empty toothpaste tube.
“Don’t tell Allura about… you know.” Shiro whispered, without letting him go.
“Sure,” said Lance, fighting for breath, until Shiro loosened his grip, “You don’t tell Keith.”
“What?”
“Omygod.” Lance pulled away, pretending to look at the nonexistent watch on his wrist, “look at time!! I gotta go! Bye Shiro, t'was nice talking to you!” He cried darting out of the door, leaving Shiro with his arms raised and his mouth open.
Those of y’all who know me know I have an obsession with writing my favs with kids sooooo here we are. Single dad Shiro and his four young rowdy children!
Cross-Posted on Ao3
“DAD! DAD! DAD!”
Shiro was in the kitchen making lunches for everyone to take to school. Today it consisted of a peanut and jelly sandwich, a juice box, a piece of fruit (which is almost never eaten), and snack cake. Sometimes the lunches changed a little; a ham sandwich, two snack cakes, and if they are lucky, leftover dinner. But today was a little busier than usual since Shiro woke up later than he wanted to.
“DAAAADDDDDD”
Shiro sighed heavily, seemed like he already needed another cup of coffee...maybe the entire pot. He hoped the child behind him would just walk away after a few moments.
“DAAAAAAADDDDDDYYYYYYY!”
Seemed like he wasn't going get that lucky this morning. He left out a hefty sigh.
“What Lance? What is it now? You should be getting ready for school.” Shiro asked, looking down at the small child next to him. “And why are you still in your pajamas? Hunk was supposed to help you get dressed after he got out the shower.”
“I am a big boy! I don’t need his help!” Lance said, crossing his arms over his chest. “But I need yours dad.”
Shiro sighed and ran a hand through his bedhead. “What did you need Lance?”
“Keith took my toy and he won't give it back!” He whined, pulling on Shiro’s pajama pants.
“Neither of you should be playing with toys. You need to be getting ready for school.” Shiro said, putting the sandwich in a plastic bag. “We can’t be late again.” he said, yawning loudly.
“But daadddddd.”
“Don’t but daaaaaaddd me. Go get ready and tell Keith to come here.” he said, reaching over to take a huge gulp of his coffee, wishing it had a little more kick than it had. The younger child went running out, yelling Keith's name.
“You're too loud, Lance! You'll wake up Pidge.” Hunk said quietly from the doorway from the bathroom. Lance huffed and headed back to tell Keith what their dad has told him.
Shiro had managed to fix up the rest of the lunches before he heard a huff and whine from behind him. He knew that little huff from a mile away.
“Keith, why did you take Lance’s toy?” he asked, turning to face him. Keith was standing in front of him- arms crossed, pout in full force, and some crazy bed head to match.
“Well, he left it in the bathroom…” Keith started, his pout getting deeper.
“And you kept it?” Shiro asked, his tone getting more stern.
“Yes. He left it alone. So it's mine. Finders keepers.”
“That's not how that works Keith.” Shiro said.
“Yes, it is.”
Shiro let out a deep sigh and rubbed his temples. It was too early to argue with a six-year-old.
“Keith, could you just give him the toy back for the morning. You guys need to get ready for school. Now, go back to your room and get dressed. I will help you brush your teeth.”
“I'm a big boy now. I can brush my own teeth...” He grumbled as he walked to the back of the house to get dressed.
Shiro finished everyone's lunch, finishing off his coffee before going to address the madness happening in the back of the house. He didn't get two steps into the hallway before Hunk came running up to him.
“I'm sorry, dad! I tried to get Lance to get dressed but he complained about the shirt you picked out and he wanted to wear the one with the dinosaurs but I couldn't find it and then he started crying. But then Keith took Lance’s toy and that started a fight and I heard Pidge whine and and and.” Hunk rambled, obviously stressed out.
“Hunk. Hunk calm down. It's okay. You should have told me earlier and I would have come back here sooner. Just go get ready. I got it from here. Relax and get ready for school. You have a big test today. Oh, and I bought a new bottle your favorite lotion. It's on my dresser.” Shiro said with a smile, ruffling his hair.
“Aww, thanks, dad! You're the best” Hunk said with a big smile, giving him a hug then running toward his room.
Shiro heard some yelling coming from the room in the back as well as the quiet whines from his own room. He decided he would deal with Pidge first. He walked into his room and the two-year-old child sleeping in his bed had woken up, rubbing her eyes and crying softly.
“Sleepy! I sleepy!” Pidge whined, still rubbing her eyes. Shiro sighed softly and picked up the child and held her in his hip. She laid her head down on his shoulder and tried to fall back asleep.
“Just go back to sleep. I know it's loud in here and I'm sorry.” He said, patting her back before heading the other room with the two screaming boys.
“Hey, stop yelling. You already woke up Pidge and you nearly made Hunk have a panic attack. You two need to relax.” Shiro said in his sternest tone.
Both boys looked up at him and pouted.
“Keith started it!” Lance said, pointing to Keith.
“Nuh-uh! You were being a baby and started crying.” Keith said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Enough. It doesn't matter. Both of you, go get your clothes so I can get you two dressed.” Shiro said, still patting Pidge’s back.
Both of them opened their mouths to stay something else but Shiro shot them both a look. They closed their mouths and dragged their feet to get dressed.
Shiro sighed softly and went back to his bedroom and laid her down. A couple extra minutes of sleep would do wonders for her later in the day. He returned to the boys stripped down to their character briefs and fighting each other.
“This never ends with you two, does it?” He said, half talking to them. He reached out and grabbed a flailing limb and pulled it towards him. Looked like he got Keith first. “Stay still.” He commanded, pulling his shirt on over his little head and moving on to his pants. “One foot at a time.” He said, leaning down to help the boy put his legs inside of his pants. Once over his legs, He pulled them up and buttoned them quickly. “Go to the bathroom and get your toothbrush ready.” He said to Keith as he grabbed Lance’s shirt. The boy went running out of the room.
“But I wanna wear the dinosaur one! Kelsey and Cindy like the dinosaur shirt!” He whined, trying to shrink away from his dad.
“You decided to fight with your brother all morning instead of looking for your shirt. So now you get to wear what I picked out. Kelsey and Cindy will have to wait.” Shiro said, slipping the blue shirt over Lance's head. He grabbed his shorts and helped him with those too. He quickly buttoned them and stood up. “Come on. Let's go brush your teeth and comb your hair.” Shiro said, standing up with a groan.
Lance followed him to the bathroom where Keith had managed to squeeze half the bottle of toothpaste out into his brush.
Keith turned around and confidently showed him his toothbrush covered in bright blue toothpaste. “See! I told you I can do it myself, dad!” He said with a smile.
Shiro chuckled and pat his head. “Yeah...you did it, buddy. Congrats. Maybe next time, use a little bit less.” He said, grabbing Lance's toothbrush and putting a small amount on his handed it to them. Both boys immediately started to brush their teeth as best they could. Shiro grabbed a brush and ran it through Keith's unruly hair first.
“Remember to get the front teeth, the back teeth, and your tongue. But don't stick it down too far. I'm not cleaning up cereal vomit again.” He said, getting Keith's hair into a manageable hairstyle. They were already late so he didn't have time for much else.
“One at a time in the sink.” Shiro called out as he could already see the impending argument that was going to happen when they needed to spit. Shiro ran the brush through Lance's hair a couple times. “There. Now I gotta get dressed so get your mouths rinsed out and shoes on. If I hear you guys fighting, I'm taking the cakes out of your lunches.” He said before heading to his room to throw in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. He grabbed Pidge and put her on his hip and grabbed her stroller out the corner of the room.
Shiro walked the boys to the front of the school every day, regardless of weather or how he was feeling. Lance, even though he claimed he “was five-years-old and did need help anymore” still gets a little upset every time Shiro has to leave him in the kindergarten class alone. Keith always got a little sentimental at the goodbye hug Shiro gave him before he ran into the front gates. Hunk always gave Shiro a hug before he left, even when Shiro gave him the option to go on ahead of everyone when they got to the school since most eleven year olds didn’t want to be seen with their parents. But Hunk was different. He always took his hug with a smile and gave Pidge a kiss on the cheek before heading out. Shiro silently dreaded when Hunk wanted to go to school on his own, know his little boy was growing up.
Shiro was twenty-four when he started his journey into parenthood. Hunk was his first kid. Hunk’s parents were a close friend of Shiro’s when they were in college. He was named his godfather when the kid was born but he never imagined that he would actually have to take that responsibility seriously. Hunk’s parents died in a tragic accident and both sets of grandparents were unable to take the two-year-old boy. So Shiro was next in line, having the decision to take him in or leave him to the state. It was then and there that Shiro threw in all his chips and became a parent.
Fast forward a couple years later and he saw Keith, a quiet little orphan. He had some behavioral issues which kept him alone but that didn't scare Shiro. Shiro had wanted to start being a foster parent after he had taken care of Hunk for so many years and he felt that Keith would be a good start to their little family. Within a year of fostering Keith, Shiro had set up adoption papers for him as well. Before he knew it, Shiro had four kids in his house - Pidge being his latest and seemly last one. His little three bedroom apartment was getting awfully full now with all these growing kids.
Hunk is eleven years old and in fifth grade, Keith is six years old and in the first grade, Lance was five and in kindergarten, and his youngest Pidge was two years old and already independent as she could be.
“Dad! We’re ready to goooo!” Lance called out from the living room.
“I’ll be there in a second!” he said as he grabbed a random pair of shoes and slipped them on He grabbed Pidge and the stroller and headed out to the living room.
“Grab your lunches. Make sure to put them in your backpacks. I don’t need another phone call saying that one of you forgot your lunch.” Shiro said, grabbing the keys off the kitchen counter. “Okay everyone double check everything. Backpacks?”
“Check!” All three said in unison.
“Notebooks?”
“Check!”
“Lunches?”
“Check!”
“Last night’s homework?”
There was a pause as both Lance and Keith opened their backpacks to see if their homework folder was in there. “Check!”
“Hunk, do you have your phone?”
‘Yup.” he said with a smile.
“Okay then, let's go. Keith and Lance, no fighting about who is getting what seat. One of you needs to sit in the middle.” He said as they all headed out to the car. Shiro made sure to put Pidge in her car seat first before jumping onto the driver's seat. Everyone got in the car with minimal arguments this time and Shiro headed out to the school.
Once at the school, Shiro found a parking spot after about ten minutes of road rage in the parking lot. He unloaded the stroller and put Pidge in it while everyone climbed out the car.
Lance pulled on the back of Shiro’s sweatshirt. “Dad…”
Shiro turned around and raised his eyebrows. “What’s up buddy?”
Lance pulled him down so he could whisper in his ear. “I accidentally left Mr.Bun Bun at home…”
“I thought he was in your backpack?”
“I got scared last night and took him out of my backpack to sleep and I forgot to put him back inside.” he said, the little tears forming in his eyes before he had a chance to wipe them away.
“Lance, don’t cry. Mr. Bun Bun will be fine. I’ll bring him when I come to pick you up in the afternoon.” Shiro said, wiping his tears with his thumbs.
“But...But...But….” Lance stuttered, trying to hold back his tears.
“Hey, it's time to be the big boy you are always telling me you are. I can’t just go back home and bring him back. School will have already started by then. You’ll be okay without him for half a day.” Shiro said, using his sweatshirt to wipe the snot from his nose. “Can you be a big boy today?”
Lance wiped a few more tears and nodded. Shiro smiled and gave him a kiss on the head. “Okay then. Let’s go.” he said, holding Lance’s hand with one hand and pushing the stroller with the other.
Once they got to the front gate, they all turned towards Shiro. Shiro got down gave Keith a hug first. “Be good today and try to talk to another kid today, okay? You can’t be alone forever or wait until Lance gets out of Kindergarten.” Shiro said. Keith sighed and nodded.
“I’ll try…” he said, giving Shiro a little bit of a frown.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay. I’m going to pick you up right here after school like I always do. You don’t have to worry. Find Hunk after school and I’ll be waiting right here.” He said, reassuring Keith. He gave him a kiss on the head and smiled. Keith gave him another hug before standing up.
Hunk gave Shiro a tight hug as always. “Love you, dad.”
“Love you too Hunk. Good luck on your test today. You studied a lot so I you got this in the bag.” He said, patting his back. Hunk bent down and gave Pidge a kiss on the cheek.
“Bye bye Pidge. See you later!”
Pidge smiled and waved at Hunk and Keith, who left hand in hand through the front gate. Now, all Shiro had to do was walk Lance to the kindergarten room.
Lance held Shiro’s hand tightly as they went through a side gate and ended up in front of the smaller but much more frantic Kindergarten area. Other parents were lined up around the gates as well, saying bye to their kids.
“Remember, what I said, Lance?” Shiro said, picking him up and giving him a hug. Lance wrapped his arms tight around Shiro’s neck and nodded.
“I ‘member.” he said with a smile. Shiro kissed his temple and put him down.
"Okay then. Go have fun today. I'll be here with Mr. Bun Bun at one to pick you up."
“Bye dad!” the boy said before running off to go hang with his friends.
Shiro sighed happily and watch him play for a moment.
“Oh, Shiro. Every time I see you with little Lance, my heart is ready to burst open. It's so sweet to see a man love his kids.” a woman nearby said, heading towards him. Shiro wanted to roll his eyes but he was a little more polite than that. “I know you have a hard time with all those kids in your house so I made you something to heat up for dinner. It must be stressful being a single parent at home with four kids.” she said, holding out a casserole tray
“Thank you Phoebe.” he said, with the small faked smile on his face as he took the dish. Phoebe made sure that her fingers grazed over his and made a quiet noise like it was an accident. Shiro was really close to just rolling his eyes.
She looked like she was ready to open her mouth again but Shiro spoke up instead in the politest way he could
“I would really like to stay and talk but Pidge is cranky this morning and I need to get her back to bed so she can sleep a little. Thank you for the kind gesture though. I appreciate it.” he said with a soft smile.
“Oh...okay. Well, I will see you tomorrow then.” Phoebe asked.
“Okay. Have a nice day,” he said before pulling the stroller back and headed to the car.
That would make three dinners this week from her. Not to mention the other two from some other mom he saw at the gate the other day. He was going to start running out of room soon…
He was on his way back to the car when he heard a woman call out his name.
“Oh, Shiro!”
Shiro let out a deep sigh.
Seemed like his busy morning was never going to end.
Commission for @tami-flu who’s a sweetheart and wanted me to bring one of our very self-indulgent AUs to life
“Are you sure this is the right address?”
Lance tried really hard not to roll his eyes when he unstrapped the wiggling child from her booster seat and lifted her out of the car. This was only about the fifth time Shiro asked that question, after all.
“Yes”, he hummed patiently and tucked a lock of white-blonde hair behind Emily’s ear. “It’s the address Laura’s mum gave me and that I checked on the internet. Besides … it says dojo in big red letters above that door?” He pointed over his shoulder at the sign. “I think we’re good.”
Shiro gave a short hum as he threw the door shut and locked the car with the press of a button.
“It’s just so … empty”, he wondered and looked around the parking lot, only a few other cars scattered across it. Some, like theirs, were parked in the shade of big oak trees to shield them from the already burning sun. It was hot for May.
“Relax, man. We’re twenty minutes early. What did you expect?”
Just at that moment Emily wiggled free and started running across the parking lot, heading for the dojo.
“Hey!”, Lance called after her with a laugh. “Wait for us!”
“Catch me! Catch me!”, she shouted back over her shoulder, giggling, her bright green backpack bouncing up and down with every step.
“Oh, just you wait, young lady!”, Lance grinned as he took up the chase, barely hearing Shiro behind him, calling for his daughter:
“Don’t go inside without us!”
But Emily was far more occupied with outmaneuvering Lance, jumping around the low hedges confining the parking spots and shrieking whenever Lance got too close.
“Too slow! You’re way too slow!”, she taunted and laughed but after a few minutes of trying to catch her Lance finally got a hold of the little gremlin. He hauled her up into his arms, blowing an obnoxiously loud raspberry against her shoulder which made her shriek with laughter, short legs kicking but arms flying around his neck to hold onto him.
“Shoulders”, she demanded after a few seconds, already trying to climb higher and Lance boosted her up until she could swing comfortably onto his shoulders with him holding onto her legs tightly as to not let her slip off.
“And now?”, he asked, spinning in circles a few times and spotting Shiro heading for them and the entrance to the building that Emily soon pointed at.
“Onwards, trusty steed!”, she ordered and he couldn’t help but snort, wondering where she’d picked that up. He started galloping toward the wide double doors anyway.
“Your word is my command, lovely princess”, he grinned but earned a weak kick against the chest for his troubles.
“I’m a knight”, Emily declared instead and ducked down when they reached the entrance. Lance bent his knees as well, just in case, and waddled through the open doors.
“My apologies, your braveness...”
Emily just hummed, apparently pleased with his reaction, and straightened back up, head held high as they made their way to some sort of reception.
There was a man standing behind a short counter, writing something down in a notebook. When he looked up to greet them Lance almost tripped.
Because damn, the guy was hot. His dark shirt was clinging tightly to his body, leaving hardly anything to the imagination as it revealed strong arms and well-sculpted pecs, a tight stomach. His features were Asian, Japanese maybe, and finely cut, a nice fit with his lean form. But the most impressive thing were his eyes, an intense, stormy blue-grey that stared straight at Lance for a few moments before shifting up to Emily.
When he smiled it was like his whole being was blossoming.
“Hey, now that’s a brave knight if I’ve ever seen one”, he said and Lance could barely keep from whimpering at the smooth tenor of his voice. The man reached out to shake Emily’s hand. “I’m Keith, I’m one of the teachers here.”
“Hello. My name is Emily Shirogane. It’s nice to meet you”, she replied and shook his hand, always polite and well-mannered when meeting strangers. No matter what a tiny beast she could be when it was bedtime.
“Oh yes!”, Keith nodded. “I talked to your father on the phone. Is this him?”
Stormy eyes flicked down to meet Lance’s again but before he could answer with anything but a breathless wheeze Emily giggled, her little body shaking on his shoulders.
“No! This is my nanny!”
Lance nodded and managed to mumble his name. Keith didn’t offer him a hand to shake.
“I’m her father”, came Shiro’s voice from behind them and Lance didn’t know whether to be relieved or mortified because … there was no way Shiro didn’t hear that, right? “We spoke on the phone.”
“Right, now I recognize your voice. Mr Shirogane”, Keith nodded and stepped around the counter. Damn his legs were long.
“Just Shiro please”, Shiro smiled and extended a hand for Keith to shake. In a split second stormy eyes flicked up and down Shiro’s body and Lance felt himself bristle.
Oh no, he didn’t.
No matter how hot the guy was, it was on. Lance hadn’t spent the better part of a year trying to get closer to the utter heartthrob that was Takashi Shirogane only to have some random karate teacher butt in at the last second.
“We’re here for the trial lesson”, he said, interrupting their little moment before it could grow into something entirely unnecessary. “Emily’s a friend of Laura, she told her she really liked coming here.”
It took another second too long for Keith to end the handshake and look over at him.
“Yes...”, he nodded. “Oh yes, I remember. Shiro told me on the phone. Laura’s a good kid, very … fierce.”
“Oh, Emily is, too”, Shiro chuckled and Keith smiled at him. Lance wanted to slap his stupid, pretty face. Even if it would most likely get him the ass-kicking of his life. The dude was probably a black belt if he was teaching.
“I believe that...” Keith turned to look back up at Emily. “You can join us for a lesson or two, see if you like it as much as Laura does.”
“Yes”, Emily said and nodded strongly, judging by the movement of her body. Keith smiled at her before looking back at Shiro.
“And I’ll see if she can follow the instructions, integrates well with the other kids, things like that...”
“Wait, so you’re teaching her group?”, Lance blurted, earning a slight frown.
“Yes”, the instructor nodded. “I give classes for children and teenagers. Is there a problem?”
Lance held that intense gaze for a beat or two before forcing out an awkward laugh.
“No!”, he shook his head. “No problem. No problem at all, I was just … I don’t know, forget it.”
Keith frowned at him for a horrible moment before his expression softened and he looked back up at Emily.
“If you want you can get changed over there.” He pointed into the hallway behind himself. “Then I can show you around until the others get here. That sound good?”
“Yeah!”, Emily quickly agreed, then kicked Lance’s chest again. “Onwards, trusty steed!”
Lance hesitated.
“Come on, Em. You’re a big girl, you can get changed by yourself.” Besides, he’d rather not leave Shiro alone with painfully hot Keith. But Emily wiggled on his shoulders and leaned down to whisper into his ear, hands cupped around her mouth:
“I don’t wanna go alone...”
Shiro gave a carefree laugh that made Lance swoon inwardly. Of course he’d heard the little plea, Emily wasn’t too good at whispering yet. He cocked an expectant eyebrow at Lance which usually meant it was time to do his damn job.
Lance reluctantly galloped down the hallway.
~
It turned out there was another boy in Keith’s class that Emily knew from preschool and as soon as Laura and him arrived the little girl made it very clear she didn’t need Lance’s assistance anymore. Instead she ran off with her friends as everyone got ready for the lesson.
Him and Shiro weren’t allowed into the room but could watch Emily from a row of windows where a bunch of other adults were already gathered.
Lance chatted with Laura’s mum for a bit, telling her how excited Emily was to try karate as well and scheduled a playdate for Saturday, when Laura’s dad would finish preparing the pool for the summer. The girls should have fun cooling down like that.
Lance excused himself soon after and sidled up to Shiro on the wobbly bench offered for the parents. The kids had just finished warming up and moved on to fall exercises.
While the others were going through the motions expertly already, Emily waited for Keith to show her the basics, how to initiate a controlled fall and how to roll and twist so she wouldn’t hurt herself.
Her first tries still looked clumsy at best but Keith still smiled widely at her, nodding and correcting her posture and movement a bit as he kept watching her.
“I like him”, Shiro said after a while, eyes following Keith around the room as he went from child to child, praising them and offering feedback. Lance felt his heart sink.
“Who? Keith?”
“Yes, he seems to be really good with the kids, don’t you think? I like how he talked to Emily first when we got here. Not a lot of adults do that.”
As reluctant as Lance was to admit it, Shiro was right. Keith was good with kids, had an instinctive, warm ease when talking to them that mysteriously vanished when he addressed Lance. What a shame.
The kids all seemed to adore him, though, striving for his attention and smiling bright when they earned his praise.
“Yeah”, Lance nodded. “Yeah, he’s really good. I think Em likes him, too...”
The kids had a break about halfway through the lesson and while most of them went to their bags to get a drink Emily skipped up to them, face flushed and sweaty but smile wide and eyes sparkling.
“I really, really like it! Keith is amazing! He says I’m a natural and that I’ll be as good as Laura if I come back each week!”, she babbled, climbing into Shiro’s lap.
Lance automatically reached for the little bottle of water in his bag and handed it to her with a stern look. She huffed but took a few gulps.
“Please daddy, please can I come back? I really want to!”
Shiro smiled and nodded quickly.
“I can talk to Keith after the lesson and sign you up. But you’ll have to promise to keep coming here, we talked about this...”
“Yeah yeah, I promise”, Emily shrugged quickly, then perked up again. “Oh, can you make me spaghetti for dinner? I’m hungry!”
“You’re hungry?”, Shiro asked, bouncing his daughter on his knees. “Well, if you want I can make you spaghetti right now!”
She frowned, her little face scrunching up as Shiro touched a finger against her nose: “Boop, you’re spaghetti!”
Both Lance and Emily groaned, rolling their eyes in unison while Shiro grinned, undeservingly proud of himself.
“You’re so lame!”, she cried out and hopped from his lap in protest, crossing her arms. But she was also smart and quick to think, knowing she wouldn’t get her favourite food if she kept pouting, so she corrected herself: “Can you please cook spaghetti for dinner tonight?”
Shiro agreed the same moment Keith called for his students to continue.
~
After the lesson they waited for Keith to say goodbye to the other parents before approaching him.
“Yes, of course!”, he smiled after Shiro asked him to sign up his daughter. “Emily did great for her first time, her motor skills are already very well developed, I think she’ll benefit from a challenge. I’ll give you...”
Keith held up a finger, signalling for them to hold on as he ducked back behind the counter. After a moment he re-emerged with a few papers in his hands.
“These forms. You can fill them out at home and just bring them to the next lesson.”
“Thank you, Keith”, Shiro smiled and Lance felt that ugly jealousy squirm in his stomach again. “Emily really liked it. Didn’t you, sunshine?”
“Yes!”, she nodded quickly. “Thank you, Keith!”
“Thank you for doing so well, it was my pleasure, Emily.”
She giggled and Lance wanted to groan. Did the whole family have to fall in love with his pretty smile and gorgeous eyes and that lean, perfect, powerful body and…
Focus.
“Great, see you next week, then”, Shiro smiled softly and Keith nodded.
“Yes, I’m looking forward to it...”
There was definite purr to the words and Lance would have tackled the guy to the ground if the sound didn’t also do things to him…
Instead he sighed inwardly, a long-suffering expression of helplessness as they left the building, Emily chattering on and on about the lesson and how great Keith was, Shiro still smiling.
This would be a bitch.
[This fanfic was a commission! Check out how to commission me or consider buying me a Coffee if you liked this story!]
"Lance."
"Mmmmm?"
"Lance, wake up!!!"
"What?" Lance opened his eyes drowsily, slowly focusing on the boy in front of him. His eyes widened to soccer balls after he blinked his sleep away. "What the fu-"
Keith shoved his hand over the other's mouth, muffling his surprised shout.
"I know, just shut up for a second!"
"Mmf ugrhh!!!" Lance wrestled his hand off, pushing his teammate away. "What the hell?! Why-"
"I said shut up!"
Lance instantly quieted down, his eyes flickering over Keith's body. Or at least it was supposed to be Keith's body, but what the hell is he doing in my body?!!!
"So, we switched bodies." Keith stated the obvious. Lance gave him an are-you-seriously-kidding-me look, and Keith scowled back at him. Woah, my face does not look good with a scowl. The red paladin saw the other's frown and tried to force a condescending smirk.
"Ahahaha, you look ridiculous!!!" Lance clutched his stomach, before trying to stifle his laughs when he saw Keith giving him an odd look.
It sounded weird hearing a carefree laugh escape his lips. Keith stood back up to full height, peering down at his own body. How the hell did this happen?
“It’s probably that fruit you ate yesterday,” Lance seemingly read his mind.
Or technically, he was already in his mind, but how does that work, I don’t even know anymore! Keith huffed, but waited for his teammate to continue.
“You know, that pink one with the white leaves? You accidentally got it in your mouth and swallowed it right? Dude, you should’ve spit it right out!” Lance scolded, sitting up.
“Then why did I switch with you? And it could’ve been your fault, too.” Keith crossed his arms.
“Okay, yeah, I admit a lot of things are my fault, but not all the time!” Lance threw his arms up, narrowly missing slapping his own face.
“Watch it,” Keith warned, taking a step back. “Don’t want to hit your pretty face, do you?”
“So you admit I’m pretty?” Lance grinned, getting out from under the covers. His grin widened when he noticed a small blush covering the other’s face.
“It took fifteen minutes to wash that green stuff off. And you looked absurd.” Keith turned to hide his blush.
“Oh, you talking about my face mask? You better have washed it off right!” Lance stood up, trying to peer into his own face.
“There’s a right or wrong? I just scrubbed it off!”
“Nooo!!! My poor poor skin!!!” the blue paladin lamented, dragging his hands along his face.
“Stop pulling on my cheeks. I’ll get wrinkles.”
“You already have them from how much you glare all the time.”
“Well fuck you too.”
“Make me.”
Keith opened and closed his mouth, unsure of how to answer.
“Shit, man, I thought you said shut-”
“Let’s pretend this conversation never happened.”
~~~~~~~~~~
"Shiro, please?"
"Why do I have to do it?"
"You're the only one Keith listens to!" It was the first time he'd heard Pidge sound so desperate. Shiro was also kind of getting annoyed at how the red and blue paladin couldn't seem to work out their differences, but he didn't know how this would help. "Even if I say anything, they won't listen unless they want to."
"Then you have to make it convincing!"
"Lance might go along with it as a joke, but Keith's in his rebellious stage and-"
"He's always been in his rebellious stage!!!" Pidge stomped their foot, their glasses glinting in the dimmed light. Everyone was most likely still sleeping, so it was just the green and black paladin in the dining room. Shiro raised his arms, trying to placate the frustrated teen.
"Okay, okay, I'll try my best, but I'm not very good at acting..." Shiro trailed off, unusually nervous.
A mischievous grin sprouted on Pidge's face, but they only nodded in content. Shiro sighed, knowing there was no way he could back out of this now.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Hunk asked, hiding around the bend of the hallway. He could hear Keith and Lance arguing in the common room and was waiting impatiently for Shiro to initiate their plan.
"It better. And you're the one who thought of it; you should be more confident!" Pidge whispered, nudging the other softly.
"But it was just a joke..." Hunk trailed off, not wanting to disappoint his fellow paladin.
"Hey guys, did you hear that it's opposite day today?"
Pidge cringed at Shiro's obviously fake voice.
"Are you absolutely sure this is gonna-"
"He's worse than I expected," Pidge groaned, thumping their forehead against the wall. "Neither of them are going to-"
"Opposite day?" Surprisingly, Keith's voice echoed toward them as he seemingly took the bait.
"What the hell is that?" Lance's voice followed and they could tell he was caught as well.
"You see, on a planet close to Earth, there was a day called opposite day where you talk and act in an opposite manner," Shiro's voice still sounded forced.
"Ughhh, we should have done this ourselves," Pidge complained, already on their way into the room.
"Wait," Hunk grabbed their arm, pulling them back around the bend. "Just give him a few more seconds-"
"How does that even work?" Keith's voice sounded more curious than suspicious.
Pidge and Hunk exchanged disbelieving glances. I can't believe he fell for it. They smiled at each other before returning their attention to their eavesdropping.
"Keith, you need to be happier and more sociable. Try to hang out with us more instead of training on your own all the time." Shiro stated, giving Keith a stern glance.
"Ahaha, sorry?"
It was barely a whisper, but the two gasped at the red paladin's apology. Is this possibly, actually working?
"Lance, you need to be a bit more serious and not flirt with Allura as much. Also, try to be a bit more on time and concentrated on training," Shiro lectured, also giving the blue paladin a stern look.
"Sorry."
"So now that that's settled, you guys better celebrate opposite day to its fullest!" Shiro exclaimed.
"Wait, but if it's opposite day, then don't you need to act in an opposite way too?"
"Shit," Pidge swore under their breath, pulling against Hunk's hand that was still around their arm. Hunk hesitated before letting go, following behind the shorter teen.
"But he's the leader! Who else is gonna take over?" That was clearly Lance's voice, standing up for his inspiration.
"But if it's opposite day then it'd be the least likely person. So Pidge?"
"Which one of you just said that?" Pidge entered the room, glaring at both of them.
"You're not following the rules, Pidge! You're supposed to do the opposite!" Keith laughed, wrapping an arm around Lance. The taller boy scowled at the other, making the other three paladins raise their eyebrows in surprise. Since when does Lance scowl? Glare, yeah, but scowl? The three teammates exchanged worried glances, not sure of how else to react.
Keith and Lance met eyes, and something passed between the two of them. "We're gonna go train together, so if you guys wanna join us then feel free!" Keith's voice was unusually excited as he lowered his arm to Lance's back, gently pushing him in the direction of the training room.
"We're coming too," Pidge stated, giving the other two no time to argue. Something also passed between the three paladins and they gave each other a nearly indiscernible nod, quickly following behind their fellow team members.
~~~~~~~~~~
"This can't be happening." Pidge whispered, but Shiro and Hunk were thinking the same thing.
Keith was laughing, laughing so hard tears were coming out of his eyes as he swung around his double-edged sword. Lance had an ever-present frown on his face as he kept barely dodging Keith's attacks when he could usually dodge and attack at the same time. His bayard was still in his pocket, seemingly forgotten as it took all his concentration to dodge the potentially dangerous sword.
"Did we break them?" Hunk asked worriedly, watching as Keith let out a loud whoop of victory when he managed to knock Lance back with the hilt of his sword. It looked like Lance was finally getting used to his rifle and was now narrowly missing blowing off Keith's head.
"Shouldn't we stop them?"
"No. This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen," Shiro admitted, slowly walking backwards until his knees hit the side bench. He sat down, quietly observing the two fighting paladins.
"Pidge?" Hunk turned to the shorter one for help.
"Nah, why would we want to ruin their moment?"
"Their moment?"
"They're having another moment. Let's just leave them be," Pidge suggested, quietly sneaking out of the room. Hunk took one last glance at the two fighting, shrugged, then followed after the green paladin. Shiro didn't notice the other two were gone until the fighting had lulled and Keith had successfully pinned Lance with his arm bent behind his back. Nope. I'm done. The door opened and closed again, but the blue and red paladin didn't notice, their attention too preoccupied by something else.
~~~~~~~~~~
"So, is this how it feels to beat your all-time rival? Man, I could get used to this," Lance muttered, letting go of his own arm.
"It's because your body's too weak. You're never going to beat me if you change back," Keith stated, but he didn't sound very convincing. What the hell, no one told me Lance is this fit?! But why does he always lose against me. Don't tell me... He's letting me win?
Keith growled as anger coursed through his body. He swiftly flipped them over so his body was pinned under him.
"Stop getting all angry with my face! I'm gonna get wrinkles!" Lance complained, squirming under him. It felt weird seeing his own body pinned to the ground, but Keith was beyond angry now.
"Why aren't you taking our training seriously?" Keith changed his grip to his shoulders, shaking them violently.
"Woah dude, calm down! And how the hell did you come up with that?!" Lance tried to shake off his grip. He knew how strong he was, but he usually didn't use his full strength so it felt weird to be the receiver of it.
"You're obviously holding back," Keith glared.
"Come on man, I keep telling you to stop glaring; I'm gonna get-"
"Why are you so ripped?! The hell; how are you so ripped?" Keith shouted, shaking him again. How did I not notice? The unspoken question passed between them.
"Well, I, uh..." Lance trailed off, unusually anxious. He started squirming again until his own body shoved him lower to the ground.
"You've been training on your own," Keith accused, glaring again.
"I- Not alone, no, Pidge, Hunk, and I thought we needed some more practice since both you and Shiro are super ripped, like, you have abs and Shiro's arms, have you seen how big his guns are? Like damn, how did he-" He cut off when he noticed Keith ducking his head. "Hey, what's wrong?" Did I say something wrong?
"Shut up," Keith finally looked up and Lance grinned at how flustered he made the other. Shit, I wish we were back in our own bodies; I'd give anything to see him blush like that!
"You okay there Keith? Your face is awfully red," Lance teased.
"I always knew you were a narcissist," Keith smirked, leaning closer. "You think you're so beautiful when you actually aren't."
"Says the person leaning toward their own face," Lance smirked back, finally managing to slip out from under his own body. "Come on, it's time for lunch." He grabbed the other's hand, pulling him toward the dining area.
~~~~~~~~~~
"We broke them," Hunk cried, putting his head on his arms. The food in front of him lay untouched as he groaned miserably.
"Yeah. This backfired big time," Pidge commented, cautiously glancing at the two paladins across from them. They were quietly conversing while occasionally stealing food from each other's spoons. "Shit, now they're indirectly kissing. Gross," the green paladin scrunched their nose, but ate another spoonful of green goop.
"Language Pidge!" Shiro scolded from behind them. He laid a reassuring hand on Hunk's shoulder, making the yellow paladin glance up at him warily. "They'll be fine. It's just for today," he smiled.
"What if it's not?" Hunk sunk even lower than before, burying his face in his arms again.
"Better be," Pidge muttered, shifting their eyes toward their leader. "It's all your fault," they accused, but there wasn't much bite to it.
"Hey, you wanted them to get along right? And now they are,” Shiro laughed awkwardly as he watched his two teammates bicker while they stole each other’s food. He’d noticed Keith had taken five bites while Lance had only swooped in once. Either they’re getting really good at acting as each other, or they really have switched personalities.
“Were they always like this?” Allura asked from the head of the table. She was watching the red and blue paladins with a curious look.
“It’s Shiro’s fault,” Pidge stated, sticking their tongue out at Shiro’s scolding gaze.
“Shiro?” Allura turned her attention to the leader.
“Pidge tricked me into tricking Lance and Keith,” Shiro admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.
“And they actually fell for it,” Hunk muttered, regretting he ever brought it up to Pidge. It’s all my fault. Hunk somehow managed to sink even lower, groaning loudly. Pidge gave their friend a worried glance before their expression changed to one of determination. They silently stood up, grabbed both Hunk and Lance’s jackets, and dragged them off toward the lab.
After the initial shock wore off, Shiro also stood up. “Keith, follow me,” he demanded, walking toward the common room. Lance followed nervously, not knowing what exactly was happening.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Lance, bro, you know you can tell us anything right?” Hunk asked, giving his friend a worried look. He took another bite of what looked like oatmeal; Pidge had found some left over in the lab and had refused to eat it.
“Yeah, Lance, you’re acting really weird today,” the green paladin stood on their tiptoes, trying to peer into the other’s eyes.
Keith turned his head away, crossing his arms stubbornly.
“Blegh, this is so gross,” Hunk stuck his tongue out, scraping the oatmeal-like food off of his tongue. “It tastes like glue.”
“Oh, that’s regrettable,” Keith muttered, watching his friend with an amused smirk.
“Pfft. Ahahahahaha,” Pidge burst out laughing, surprising the other two.
“Pidge? You alright?” Is everyone going crazy?! Hunk reached out to his teammate, afraid the castle was going berserk again.
“It’s so regrettable. Get it? Regret in a bowl? Regret-a-bowl?” Pidge covered their mouth, trying but failing to stifle their laughs.
“Pffwahahaha, good one Lance,” Hunk joined in, eyeing the blue paladin through his bellowing laughter.
The blue paladin was giving them a confused expression.
He just said a pun, but he didn’t realize it?! Hunk and Pidge exchanged worried glances, knowing for sure now that something was really, truly wrong with their teammate.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Shiro, did I do something wrong?” Lance asked, eyeing the three warily. Allura and Coran had followed them into the control room saying they needed to make sure the castle was in working order, but Lance knew they were there to eavesdrop.
“You’re taking this opposite day game a little too seriously,” Shiro muttered, putting a hand on the other’s shoulder.
“Sorry?”
“Like now. The real Keith would have said, ‘I do everything to the best of my abilities’ or something like that. Not apologize.”
“I must agree, Keith. The both of you are taking this trick too seriously,” Allura added, walking over to them.
“Wait, trick? This was a trick?” Lance took a step away from them, narrowing his eyes.
Allura realized her mistake, giving Shiro an apologetic smile. The leader sighed, taking a step closer. “We thought it’d help to get you two to get along better. But-”
“Ahahaha,” he was cut off by the sound of Keith’s laughter. Shiro’s eyebrows rose; he’d never heard Keith sound so carefree before. Wait a second... His eyes caught Allura’s as they realized they’d both come to the same conclusion.
“Hey Lance?”
“Yeah?” the red paladin raised his head, wiping invisible tears from his eyes. “Man, you actually thought tricking us would help us get along? Tough luck; there’s no way Keith and I are-” he stopped abruptly, covering his mouth with both hands. “Shit.”
“Did you happen to switch bodies with Keith?” Allura asked what everyone in the room was wondering.
The questioned paladin’s head lowered to the ground, but his silence was enough of an answer.
“You should’ve just told us. We would have believed you,” Shiro smiled understandingly.
“Yes, Lance. You can come to us for anything that may be troubling you,” Allura added, a reassuring smile blooming on her face.
“Thanks-”
‘Errrrrrrghhh, errrrrrrr, Rrrrrrrrrr.’ Red lights flashed as the distress signal went off. Allura ran to the control panel, her eyebrows scrunching when she read the alarm warning.
“There is an enemy ship headed toward the castle!” she yelled, typing furiously on the panel. “You need to get in your lions right away!”
“What happened?” Pidge ran into the room, followed closely by their other team members.
“There’s an enemy ship headed toward us. We need to get in our lions,” Shiro stated, beckoning everyone closer. “Lance’s lion is still being repaired, so he can either stay here or-.”
“I’m going with you guys!” Lance’s voice echoed in the control room as he took a step forward. He glared at them, daring anyone to go against him.
“He can come with me,” Keith’s hand rose above everyone’s heads.
“Then we’ll leave it up to you,” Shiro stated, leaving no time for the other two to argue. He gave everyone a firm nod and they quickly divided.
~~~~~~~~~~
“You only agreed to go to make sure your body doesn’t get hurt.” There was no question in his voice.
“That too,” Lance answered honestly, beckoning the other to follow him. They were both jogging with their heads hunched low, carefully making their way around the enemy ship. They’d left Red with Hunk guarding her in favor of sneaking around the ship to make sure there were no prisoners.
“There’s no one here, where did all the guards go?”
“Don’t let your guard down, they-”
Three shots were heard and Lance’s body moved on its own; Keith pushed Lance down to the ground along with him. Laser bullets hit the wall not too far from them. They jumped back onto their feet, running straight towards what they believed to be the exit. Keith tried to stay as close as he could to the other paladin without restricting his movement.
The door was in sight when suddenly, a mass of soldiers surrounded them. They stood back to back, raising their weapons in tandem. Lance nervously glanced over at Keith; even though they’d trained a bit with their rivals’ weapons, Keith hadn’t gotten very good at using it correctly. But he had other things to worry about now.
Keith wasn’t surprised to see the soldiers attacking Lance first. What he was surprised to see, however, was Lance doing perfectly aimed slices at their middles, where it was easiest to cut them in half. He wasn’t able to voice his surprise though, because five soldiers came running at him at once.
He easily dodged the first blow, then shot the other soldier in the head. He continued to dodge, realizing he was at a disadvantage with his long-ranged weapon. A stabbing pain shot through his body and he looked down to see a pole jabbed through his chest.
“Keith!!!” He heard Lance’s panicked shout from nearby. He jumped back, the piercing pain disappearing and fading to a dull throb. He regained his balance and looked around him. There were still too many soldiers for two people to take down, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to make it through while in Lance’s injured body.
“The blue and red paladin. Join my ranks or die a formidable death,” an unfamiliar voice stated maliciously. They turned to see what looked to be a Galran general holding a gun-like weapon aimed straight at Lance. No, he was aiming at Keith’s body.
“Do I know you?” Keith sneered audaciously. Lance held back a smirk but tensed when the gun moved to point towards him.
“What the hell man, we were just about to kill all your soldiers, too,” Lance returned the general’s attention to Keith’s body, realizing a little too late what he was doing. Ahhh, fuck it!
“Yeah, you ruined all our fun,” Keith caught on, successfully diverting the general’s attention back to him.
“You’re a horrible general. You’re sending your soldiers into a massacre,” Lance smirked, swinging Keith’s red sword around.
Keith watched as the general’s grip tightened on the weapon. He also saw him pulling the trigger and Lance’s body’s instincts kicked in again. A pulsing pain hit him in three different spots as he dove toward his own body. He hugged his body to Lance’s chest, rolling to lessen the impact.
Kabooooom! An explosion shook the whole ship, jostling the two out of their positions. Keith hissed in pain as he sat up to try to regain his surroundings, but Lance hugged his face to his chest, obscuring his vision. By how much he was trembling, Keith could guess what had happened. With shaking hands, Lance laid him down on the ground and took his own upper body armor off. He also took off his jacket and shirt, then bundled it up before pressing it tightly over Keith’s chest wound.
“Hrrrng!”
“Keith, I’m sorry, stay with me,” Lance repeated. Tears ran down his cheeks. Keith had never seen himself cry. He’d always been too scared to look in a mirror while water poured out of his eyes. Now, seeing his face scrunched up and tears dripping off his jaw, he wished he’d never seen. It was even worse than the searing pains throughout his body. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force the image out of his mind.
He groaned again when Lance pressed down harder. “The other three are on their way!” he shouted. Sure enough, he could faintly feel them coming closer. “Please don’t die, open your eyes, please!” Keith could feel his arms shake even more. He forced his eyes open, staring into his own eyes. He could see the faint purple streaks in his iris. Lance lowered his face closer to Keith’s. Their eyes were only a few inches apart now.
“Lance!!!” The loud shout caused his head to jolt against the other’s and their foreheads collided. A short bout of disorientation took over before Keith realized he wasn’t in pain anymore. He was hovering over a tall boy’s body with his hands pressed tightly against his chest. No. No, no, no! This is not happening!
“Lance!!!” the voice that had interrupted them was getting closer. Keith turned to see the rest of their teammates sprinting toward them. He could only continue to cradle Lance’s head in his arm, using his other hand to firmly press his shirt against the open wound. A weird sense of deja vu took over him.
He’ll make it. He made it last time; he’s going to make it this time too.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Is he gonna be okay?”
“Yeah, he’s gonna live right?”
Allura’s heart broke at Pidge and Hunk’s tearful gazes.
“He probably won’t be out by tonight, but we need to keep an eye on him.” Their leader answered for her, giving everyone a reassuring smile.
“I’ll take first watch.” Keith sat on the couch; he didn’t look like he was going to move either way.
“Tell us if his condition changes,” Shiro nodded, knowing what Keith wanted.
“What? I wanted to- Hey!” Pidge grabbed Hunk’s sleeve, dragging him out of the room. Allura and Coran gave him one last worried glance before slowly following after the others.
~~~~~~~~~~
‘Fsshhhhhhhh.’ The sound of the capsule opening echoed throughout the near-silent room. A tall figure stumbled out of the egg-shaped pod, yawning loudly.
“You’re awake.” Keith’s head slowly swiveled around before his eyes bore down on the other.
“Man, what happened? Did I save someone again?” Lance grinned, wobbling over to sit next to the red paladin. He giggled before resting his head on Keith’s shoulder.
Keith tensed, but responded emotionlessly, “No, I was the one who saved you.”
Lance’s eyes clouded with confusion before realization made them explode into basketballs. “Shit, dude, I’m sorry you had to-”
“What is up with your body?”
“What?” Lance’s eyes fogged up again. He’d been expecting Keith to scold him, not ask him a random question.
“Your body; it’s like it’s reflexively defensive?”
“Huh?”
“When someone’s in danger, especially when other people you care about are in danger, your body just moves on its own. It’s freaky.”
“Oh yeah? Well I think that’s better than being reflexively offensive!”
“What the hell?”
“I was going to switch weapons with you since you’re horrible at using my rifle, but I couldn’t get myself to let go of your bayard. Like, it didn’t want me to either? Your body’s been trained so much that fighting comes to it naturally. I wasn’t even thinking half the time,” Lance admitted.
“You think while fighting?” Keith raised his eyebrows, surprised at such a statement.
“Yeah, but doesn’t everybody?”
“No wonder you get hurt all the time.”
“Hey! I don’t get hurt all the time,” Lance defended, but sighed. Who am I kidding, I do always get hurt.
“Your thoughts are deafening,” Keith complained, covering his ears.
“Like you know what I’m thinking.”
“I’m such a failure, I always get hurt. I’m such a damsel in distress.”
“The hell? Technically you’re the one who saved me so-” Lance cut himself off, realizing he was just proving Keith right. “Man, I’m not fit for this job.”
“This isn’t a job.”
“So I can’t quit?”
Keith froze, his eyes snapping toward the other’s. Lance was looking down at his hands, clenching them tightly. Shit, he’s serious.
“If I don’t get to quit, then no one does,” Keith claimed, grabbing Lance’s clenched fist. He squeezed hard enough to stop their shaking.
“Hahaha,” Lance laughed halfheartedly, trying to laugh off his anxiety.
“What?”
“Are you trying to reassure me?”
“Wha- No!”
“Because it’s surprisingly working,” Lance turned his head to smile up at the other. Keith’s face bloomed into a rose, making the taller teen chuckle.
A comfortable silence washed over the room. They could hear the mice’s feet pitter-pattering closeby, and knew someone might be eavesdropping, but it didn’t matter. Until the others came, this moment was all their own.
“Hey, how long did it take for me to wake up?” Lance sat up, leaning backwards on his hands.
“Only a few hours. I guess you weren’t as injured as we thought. Wait, does it hurt anywhere? Are you fully healed?” Keith leaned towards him, searching his eyes for any hints of pain.
“Nah, I’m fine. Just a little sore,” Lance admitted, leaning closer. “So, it’s still the same day?” he swiftly returned to the subject.
“Same day? Why?” Keith looked genuinely confused as he rummaged around in his pocket. He took out one of Pidge’s inventions and clicked it on. “Yeah, it’s 11:50 right now.” His eyes gained clarity after he whispered the time.
“Hey, can I ask one last question?” Lance’s voice was barely a whisper, but Keith felt like it was echoing around him.
“Yeah?”
“Do you still hate me?” Lance smirked down at him, waiting patiently for his answer.
Keith took in a deep breath before returning Lance’s smirk. “Yes. I hate you.”
(A/N: Guess who got sucked into Voltron Hell? Written for KlanceWeek2k16 Day 2: Love/Hate, sorry it’s super late! ^o^)
