Au where Lance is a florist and one day Allura comes in slams a 20 dollar/gac bill on the counter and angrily asks how to say "fuck you" in flower
Ooooo, a classic. Allurance flower shop au let’s gooooo
***
When Lance was younger, he dreamed of reaching towards the stars.
But then the stars came to him.
Aliens—their existence was a mystery no longer. Area 51 couldn’t build a facility big enough to contain the ships that suddenly made it onto the scene, one so remarkably like every alien invasion film ever that everyone was prepared for the worst. They sat and awaited the end.
It never came.
And suddenly Lance was looking up no longer. All the adventure was on his doorstep, in the streets of Plaht city, a hot pot for human and alien life alike, all so intermingled it’s like it was always so, the days of Lance’s childhood a distant memory. There’s something in this community here, something that’s kept him tied, feet planted in soil. It’s the greatness of it all, in a universe so large, so vast, much more so than he ever imagined.
He’d feel small, out there. Here, he has his family, and a taste of the unreachable.
(“I’m sorry you didn’t get into the garrison,” Veronica had said, the rejection letter in her hand. Now the stars are closer than ever, technology capable, the call to flight had swept up his entire generation. Overwhelmed in numbers, he hadn’t made the cut.
Veronica ruffled his hair. It eased the pain, somewhat. “They don’t know what they’re missing out on,” she’d said.
Lance sniffled. “Maybe.”)
So, maybe he didn’t get into pilot school. Maybe he didn’t go to the stars himself because Earth kept ahold of his shoes and tugged. Maybe he’s still here, in the same place because a dream died in his heart.
And he’s fine with that, really. The sting has left him. And he’s not trying to convince himself otherwise. Not with the vastness of the universe, and the knowledge that, wherever he’d go, he’d miss home.
Lance is at peace with continuing the family business. With staying here, with them. For them.
Mostly.
More so now than when he was younger.
The Serrano’s floristry shop ‘Florrano’s’ has been in the family a fair few generations, long enough that the shop has become a bit of an heirloom itself. Even after the chaos the arrival of their interstellar friends caused, the shop has stood strong, ever resilient. Even if it were to have fallen, it would have been built again. Family roots are like that.
Lance likes to think that he’s taken to the business quite well, in fact, well enough that he’s known as the flower tailor around these parts, a name that, though he may have given to himself, is one he’s sure that others are calling him. He’s certain—it’s cool. Like him. Lance makes the best arrangements on the block. And he’s competing with that olkari run shop, so you know he’s good.
He’s the flower tailor, after all.
Any occasion, he has the flowers. Weddings, funerals, apologies—
***
“Excuse me, tell me, how would you go about saying ‘fuck you’ in flower?”
Lance blinks. “… Huh?”
It’s been a steady day, really. A few customers in to browse, a bulk purchase for in upcoming event, and someone looking for the most expensive bouquet to salvage his relationship—not that Lance has much faith in flowers being able to save that. The guy seemed like a grade A jerk. No, an A+++.
But other than that, steady.
And then in comes this hurricane of white hair making a beeline for the till, slamming down ten, no, twenty GAC onto the counter, and suddenly grade A+++ jerk guy is already fading from Lance’s mind.
“Did I not say it right?” says the woman, frowning, her head tilted in askance. She’s got this accent—English perhaps, a slight lilt to her words that makes him think he’s speaking with someone who’d outstretch their pinky when sipping a cup of tea, regal, refined. Or perhaps there’s some sort of space equivalent, because one look at her ears tells him he’s speaking to an altean, and a gorgeous one at that. He allows dreamy bubbles to float across his vision for the bliss of about one second before he remembers that a) she’s talking to him and b) he probably hadn’t hallucinated the vein that had popped on her forehead. This woman had not shown that GAC any mercy, slamming it down like that.
“The human language has so many curses,” she continues. “Hmmm… I want this.” Lance almost chokes on his own spit when she pulls out a middle finger on him. “In flower.”
“Yeah, I heard you loud and clear the first time, lady,” says Lance, his hands raised in defence. He motions to her. “You can put that thing away.”
Her cheeks darken, an embarrassed flush as she lowers her hand, now rigid at her side. “Oh, right. Sorry. I’m… a little out of sorts.”
Lance goes for an easy, relaxed smile. The kind he uses when he turns up the charm—ladies totally dig it. “Hey no worries, I can forgive a pretty face like yours.”
Well, they usually dig it, deep enough to tunnel in. This woman just gives him and his Lance ™ wink this unimpressed look as his insides wither and die. Oh to have that tunnel—he’d love for a getaway right now. “Hmm.”
Lance clears throat, resolving to pretend that just straight up never happened. He can play this off, he can play this off. “You know, people don’t usually say that in flower. Usually in words, just to keep things from getting confusing.”
“Believe me, I’ve tried. But Lotor just doesn’t want to get the message.”
She’s a talker, it seems. Lance may be getting his dose of drama today. “Lotor?” he pries.
“He’s my ex.”
“Ooof. Rough breakup?”
“Putting it mildly,” she says, and he can see it in her eyes—the emotionally wringing flashback she’s thrown through, all amounting to one singular wince. “So, do you have any flowers that could help?”
“Ahaha, now that’s where you’re in luck,” says Lance, slipping past her from around the counter. He starts pulling up several flowers from around the shop, talking as he goes. “You’d want a bouquet with orange lilies in for sure, maybe some geraniums… and some yellow carnations. Anyone well versed in flower would know a hatred bouquet when they saw one.”
Lance stops, meeting her eyes. He’s listed off the flower equivalent of an all out verbal assault, no remorse, completely soul crushing stuff. If he were the recipient, him and his self esteem would never recover, but—
“But something tells me you need a little more than subtle. Something that speaks to him in a language he can’t ignore, so he knows your lovely rose has thorns.”
She considers this. “Then what do you propose?”
“Lotor—that’s a galran name, right?” Lance thinks that’s what they’re called, the fuzzy purple ones. Lotor’s got something distinctly galran about it. He swears he’s hard the name somewhere before.
“Well, derived from both altean and galran history, but yes.”
“Thought so.” Lance puts down his collection of flowers onto the counter, and dives into the ‘staff only’ room, back where they keep and grow some of their more exotic plants. Veronica’s job at the garrison had got them in contact with one of their most reliable suppliers, Colleen Holt. And the amount of alien plants she’s come across—man. Supplied from anyone else, Lance would assume she was trying to get them killed with carnivorous foliage. But no, alien plants are just weird and wonderful like that. He picks up an incredibly velvety looking plant, its petals a deep rouge seeping into black, jagged edges making the petals themselves look like they’re laced with thorns, though they’re as soft as they come. A few snips, and Lance has enough for a bouquet, should the woman want them. He exits back out to the till, waving the flowers upon return.
“See, this here is—”
“Grunarvexus,” the woman finishes for him, her eyes widening in recognition.
“Yep! That’s the one. Others call it the galran catastrophe plant. They see it as a bad omen—always growing in places of calamity.” He grins, sharp, smug. “It would be pretty hard to ignore a bouquet with these in.”
“I don’t know why I didn’t consider it before. Please, I’d like you to add some grunarvexus to those orange lilies, and the other two.” She looks at her cash, still where she had slammed it down earlier. “Would this be enough to cover it?”
“More than enough, but for you? I can offer a discount.” Not that his parents would be pleased, but you know. Cute girl. “I’d say on the house, but a guy’s gotta put food on the table somehow.”
Sharp eyes—he feels the sting of her skepticism. “What’s with the charitable mood?”
Lance shrugs. Says it how it is. “This ex of yours does not sound worth your money.”
Seriously. For a guy to fumble this girl as bad as he did? Not even worth a cent. Or GAC in this case.
“I suppose you’re right.” Her lip twitches into a light smile, amusement a gift like sunrise on her face, positively radiant. She glances at his name tag. “Thank you… Lance.”
The way she says his name, something in Lance’s heart stutters, caught on the ghost of an r that reshapes his name to her design—something so spectacular in a nickname that isn’t really a nickname at all.
“No problem,” he says, sounding a little faint. With her attention on him arranging the bouquet, tying it up with a nice, black ribbon, he hopes the rising heat to his face goes unnoticed. “Just doing my job, Princess.”
“Princess? How did—” She cuts herself off, looking down at her shirt, its bright pink declaration that she’s a ‘princess’ inspiration for the endearment. “Oh. I forgot I put this one on. I’m Allura. Just Allura. And certainly not a princess.”
“I don’t know,” he draws out. “You seem like one to me.”
“I assure you I’m not!”
“Well then,” Lance says, putting her bouquet through the till. “Here’s your change ‘just Allura’.”
“Thank you,” Allura says, taking the change and the flowers along with it. Her eyes trail the shop, admiration soft, tender, every plant truly a marvel under her eyes, and Lance’s chest swells with pride, cosy and warm in its golden glory. Maybe this isn’t his original dream, but he’s proud of his work, proud of what his family has built here. “You have a wonderful shop—I’m glad Romelle told me about this place.”
Romelle—he knows that name. A regular, one who often stops by with her brother—Bandana? Banana, no, Bandor, he thinks—and, like Allura here, an altean too. She’s chatty, friendly, and even brought him in some of her freshly baked blomfruit pie when he let slip about his breakup with Jenny. He’s still gotta get her recipe for that, and ask her what a blomfruit even is.
“Oh, um, thanks! You know Romelle?”
“She’s a friend.” Allura gives him a strange look. “One who may have had ulterior motives in brining me here.”
“… Huh?”
“No matter,” she says, already heading towards the door. “Take care, Lance.”
“You too,” he says, caught in a daze. He shakes himself to, brings back some of his ol’ Lancey Lance confidence. “Oh, and Allura? If the flowers don’t work and he’s still bothering you, we could always turn this flower shop au into a fake dating one. You know where to find me.”
Allura looks back at him, apparently just to make a show off rolling her eyes before she leaves. “I’ll consider it.”
(And like a star—she comes to him, brilliant, blinding, beautiful.
He may not be a pilot, but in this moment, his heart learns to soar.)
Au where Lance is "secretly" the Grim Reaper (it could be either like Lance being very obvious about it but everyone thinking he's a theatre goth nerd until the very end where he reveals himself, Or it being kinda like Pidge situation where Lance thinks he is hiding it very well but everyone in the team (save for one person) knows it and go, "well he doesn't seem like he wants to hurt us and besides it might be helpful to have Personification of fucking Death itself on our side")
(I think the reason behind it is that Voltron's reawakening is destined to bring a lot of death and new beginnings and he has to be there to see it all through. Besides Zarkon and Honerva have been running away from him for far too long)
Ooooo, cooking up an intriguing au there anon!! It’s food for thought. Lance being literal Death would certainly change things. The plot, him as a person (how much of him is a mask, a role, how much is genuine?)
-A big part of his homesickness for Earth stems from his family. Being Death—do these people still exist? Are they simply souls now of those who passed long ago (souls he still can communicate with being death and all). How did he become Death? Did he always exist as Death from the very beginning, or is it a role passed down through his family, randomly appointed, did the OG Death make Lance take on his duties for a deal to bring someone back—did Lance lose someone like one of his family members? Was Lance his original name, a name he goes by when he’s faking human? Is Death a separate entity that fuses itself to people and forces them into this position? Are his canon family just random people he inserted himself into the lives of in an attempt to feel normal? Reincarnations of people he’s cared about in the past? Do other reapers exist to collect other souls when Lance is preoccupied? Does he send out projections of himself to do that? Did he not mean to become a human, somehow bound to his human form (and souls are stuck as ghosts, unable to move on)?
-Is he Death for everywhere? Are there Deaths for different planets and cultures? One person from every planet has an assigned soul made into Death?
-If you go the route of being super old ™ what draws him to the garrison? Does he still have those dreams of being a pilot? And this is him enjoying what spare time he has with a hobby, of seeing how far humanity has come with going to space, of living a dream maybe he once had? Is he there on a dare? Did he join because of what happened with Shiro—didn’t sense his death—and felt something big was afoot? Or what you said about Voltron’s reawakening drawing him there? Or is it all coincidental? Did he know Blue was nearby but it wasn’t yet time? Has he bumped into Keith around the cave?
-Lance could be homesick for another time, another place (his dynamic with Coran would intrigue me in this sense). Also, if he was older, his level of maturity would be different. Not personality altering—this is still Lance, he’s still gotta have his playfulness—but in his eyes he’s Death in space with a bunch of kids causing chaos. Some holiday, right?
-Being Death—maybe Melenor, or the part of Alfor’s soul that isn’t with Haggar, is tied to the castle of lions still. Either parent would want to watch over Allura, and wouldn’t feel ready to move on without that. Maybe it’s that determination that keeps them from losing sense of self.
-Or maybe there’s no ghost and he mentions off hand about their current incarnation. Maybe Allura asks to see them again—and she knows it’s not them but. Are they happy?
-Maybe he knows other worldly entities like Bob. Just imagining beings like them having semi-regular meetings in their sleep on an other plane of existence. Lance shows up in full paladin armour and the others are like ‘what did you do this time?’
-He would be extremely confused at Shiro’s death in s2. He can sense he’s departed from this world, but where’s the soul to collect??? It’s gone. Poof. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It’s still not yet his time. When Clone Shiro shows up, he knows he’s different, but where’s the original soul? Something is blocking him.
-Zarkon has met Death before. When he tried to collect him. But his soul was elsewhere, and what was left of him was clinging on, tainted. There’s a strange familiarity when he encounters Lance.
-Lance just having. So much beef with Zarkon and Honerva. He doesn’t really want them in his domain, but they’re annoying him. Can’t they just die already?
-Shiro has a morbid sense of humour to cope ™. Lance offers him a high five every time.
-Lance says that ordinarily he’d feel like Shiro not crossing over was cheating the system (and Keith instantly had to ask if he was planning on taking him back) but Haggar’s the big fish. There’s more to worry about. So stick it to the system for once.
-He lets Keith and Krolia see Keith Dad one more time in a shared dream. It’s all he can do. But Keith appreciates it.
-Lance’s body is human but he is Death and therefore cannot die in the same way others do as Death is eternal. Catch him being a little reckless with his life in the eyes of others.
As for the reveal:
-Him just. Not hiding it. And all these things being ‘just Lance’ things.
-‘I am Death.’ Will get mistaken for ‘deaf.’ Hunk started learning ASL for him.
-Hunk: “We’re all gonna die!!” Lance pulling out a sand timer out of nowhere as he’s trying to be encouraging: “Not yet you’re not.”
-they bump into some alien who just. Sees him and knows. Instantly. “No!! I’m not ready!!! Don’t take me!! I can’t die yet!” Pidge, rolling her eyes “Lance have you been scaring the locals?”
-Has met many celebrities upon collecting their souls. No one believes him.
-Often after battles no one can find him for a while. He’s helping out the departed.
-No one picks up on this because why would they? Lance being Death simply never crosses their minds. He’s not exactly what you’d thinking of when you say grim reaper. Where’s the grim? He’s too. Well. Lance.
-And then it happens. Maybe they get some undeniable evidence, maybe it’s because of the Shiro situation. I don’t know. *Insert however you imagine it going down here anon*.
-On one hand it’s Lance and ‘what the heck do you mean you’re literal death’, on the other, to them at this point why not. Pidge is a girl, Keith’s part galra, Shiro’s a clone, Lance is death, sure. Okay. They’ve seen it all. Hunk it’s your turn to share, what’s your secret?
-And he just shrugs and says he wasn’t hiding it.
-At least Hunk’s ASL came in handy as a skill
-BUUUT if you go with your other option. Of no one knowing.
-Identity shenanigans are always fun
-Coran confronts him about the scan he took of all the paladins to understand more about their physiology. There is something off about them. And whoops he tried his best with a human body but you do miss some things. He just laughs and says he’s built different. A+++ save.
-Blue knows and therefore all the lions end up knowing
-Allura learns through the mice (though at first she can’t believe what she’s hearing. Because Lance??) They’re her information network.
-The biggest slip up is through the paladin bonding exercise wherein they connect minds. For a second—his family look like skeletons.
-His bayard turns into a scythe which he glares at until it becomes a rifle. It’s not like he’s used a scythe in years. He much prefers being a sharpshooter.
-Shiro goes in s2 and Keith immediately tells Lance to bring him back. And he’s all what??? And Keith goes ‘I know you’re Death. If he’s gone, bring him back!!’ ‘It doesn’t work like—how do you know I’m Death?’ Queue everyone realising that everyone knew. Like it was some big open secret.
(This is just an idea i wanted to share, you don't have to write anything for it)- BNHA au where Allura got One for All and keeps finding new and interesting ways to break her every bone, and Lance is from Class 1-B/Support Department with a powerful but untrained healing quirk who gets pushed into her shenanigans because Recovery girl is kinda busy
Delicious food for thought anon. Delighted you shared this! Bnha au let’s go
-Recovery Girl loves her work and the students. But damn, if she doesn’t crave a holiday some time in her future. A really long holiday. Maybe retirement. She wants to go back to her days of extreme sports. Jump out of a plane. Abseil. A little bit of rafting. Thing about being the one reason UA doesn’t get sued for reckless child endangerment within lesson plans is that they literally can’t function without her. Maybe one day she’ll get the chance to take on her own capable successor (like a certain All Moustache).
-One day.
-Speaking of successor’s, All Moustache’s (who is of course Coran, Coran, the apparently super buff man) new successor Allura has an apparent disregard for her own bones. Like. Can you get any more self-sacrificial?
-So, suffice to say, Allura is in her office a lot.
-And she means a lot.
-Despite how protective Coran is of her (as she’s the daughter of his best friend. The now dead pro hero Red Paladin—once part of the Voltron force). Allura just has a strong set of values. Too bad her bones aren’t so nearly reinforced.
-And Recovery Girl is sure her hair is getting greyer.
-She also starts noticing someone who should not be there. A support department kid who stops by to leave Allura flowers whilst she’s out cold.
-(Growing up, he knew Allura. She was his first crush. She went into homeschooling after the death of her father but also because of how she was beginning to be treated by others for her quirklessness as a daughter of a once successful pro. Allura could stand up for herself, but her mother wanted her out. People were just. Mean. And now, for Lance, feelings are stirring up again. She has shown no sign of remembering him though from their few encounters here though. Lance assumes she was a super late bloomer with her quirk. Because you can’t magically gain a quirk, right?)
-Recovery girl finds out his name’s Lance, and he has a healing type quirk. Healing water. Essentially he can make health potions.
-So next time he’s there, she’s comes up to Lance and says “If you’re going to drop in all the time, you might as well make yourself useful.”
-Anyway. That’s kinda how she ends up with her unofficial apprentice. She’s fond of the kid. Knows how to respect his elders.
-And it’s nice having someone to help. She has a lot of kids to deal with.
-Lance had initially applied to be a hero course student. But his quirk didn’t mesh well. If he had been able to bring support gear, he knows he could have wowed the teachers with his projectile shooting skills. He has an accurate shot! It’s just… not his quirk. (Because it’s all him).
-He wishes he had a better hero type quirk.
-Which Recovery Girl reminds him that there’s nothing more heroic than saving lives.
-And he gets that. He does. He just.
-He isn’t in the course he dreamed of with Hunk. (Hunk had his sights set initially on the support course. Until Lance’s encouragement about applying to be heroes instead. He may be a teensy bit jealous that he got in. And is spending a lot of time with his new friend Pidge. Just a tad).
-And maybe it was never meant to be. Maybe it just wasn’t his thing. Being the hero, being the star. Maybe he wasn’t meant for the limelight.
-But it hurts.
-And then you have people like Keith who got to UA on special recommendation (Shiro. Who has gone missing) who seems to not even want to be there? He’s kill for that spot.
-Well. Not kill. That’s the opposite of heroic values. But you know what he means.
-Anyway, being around in Recovery Girl’s office so much, he and Allura get to talking more.
-Recovery Girl is this close to threatening to stop treating her wounds so she’ll stop her reckless behaviour.
-Allura gets an idea. She asks Lance if he’ll train with her. That way, she’ll have a medic on the side to treat her injuries should they arise, she gets to improve on her quirk, and Lance will get the chance to learn what she has been taught in lessons. Maybe he’ll be able to transfer courses.
-He doesn’t know at first. Because, hey? Maybe look out for your health?
-‘But I am looking out for my health. I’ll have you there.’
-He’s sold.
-Before Lance knows it, he’s an unofficial member of 1-A, and he’s getting dragged into their ‘adventures’.
-There’s something off about that student Lotor, and does he have something to do with the Generals who attacked UA?
-What happened to Shiro? And how does it link back to Voltron Force?
-Who is Zarkon and why does everything seem to come back to him?
-And what do you mean Pidge Gunderson is a fake identity? (Suddenly they have to vouch for Pidge as suspicion falls on them for being a mole.)
Just popping in to say thank you for keeping the allurance fandom alive 🙏🏽🫡
If allurance has a million fans, then I am one of them. If allurance has ten fans, then I am one of them. If allurance has only one fan then that is me. If allurance has no fans, then that means I am no longer on earth. If the world is against allurance, then I am against the world🫡
I just wanted to say I miss allurance so much and your drabbles make me so happy 🥺 thank you for your service 🫡🩷💙
Sammmeeee I’m unreasonably attached to them even after all this time. As long as Allurance don’t let me live in peace (they won’t), there will be more drabbles to come. Happy to be of service 🫡
