How long does it take to fall in love. (Krolidad)
My final contribution to the Voltron fandom. My account will be shifted to Andi Mack after this. I know @joltron wanted something like this in Voltron so I wanted to be the one to write it, because I love the idea.
Small. The first word Krolia could think of when she saw the man’s home. It’s lights dim and almost out. And it smelled of something Krolia wasn’t familiar with. Almost wet.
“What is that?” She asked, eyes trailing over the entire room as if in search of the aroma.
“Ah. I apologize for the smell. I didn’t know I’d have a visitor so I left my wet boots out.” Krolia’s eyes jumped to the floor, glaring at the item of clothing as though it’d personally insulted her. The man in front of her moved to the corner of the room placing the boots inside a much smaller version of the room they were already in.
Krolia must’ve looked confused because the man remarked. “This is a closet.” She must’ve still looked confused because he continued, “You put clothing in it- Nevermind. I guess I should ask how long you plan on staying on earth.” The male walked over to the bed resting close to the window seating himself. The frame squeaked immediately catching Krolia’s attention.
“I don’t know. Probably not long, I plan to fix my ship by morning.”
The male nodded head jerking towards the window. It had been late when Krolia had crashed down but now the sky was almost completely dark. So empty. With only a couple stars lingering and twinkling with soft color.
“Well. You’re welcome to stay the night here. I’ll leave you the bed please make yourself at home.” And with that he was quickly exiting the room.
She didn’t automatically move once he’d left. Still watching the empty frame of the door where he’d last been his scent lingering in the room. It wasn’t like the scent any galran possessed. It stung her nose in a sort of ticklish way. The bed had dips in the sheets from where he last was and Krolia felt herself drawn to it almost. She approached it with careful steps, eyes darting to the door then coming back to the bed.
It creaked when she sat as well. The sheets were light brown. Same as the rest of the home. She blinked at the pillow at the far end of the bed moving closer to touch it. A single pillow, one that flattened under the weight of her hand making her eyebrows scrunch up.
Might as well not even use the pillow. She thought rolling her eyes. She pulled it closer, examining it’s features. It was clearly old, worn and a bit ripped at the pillow case. Flipping it over she instantly caught a whiff of the man that saved her. It didn’t sting her nose this time though. It almost smelled… good. She repeated the action again wanting a little more of the same scent.
Her eyes fluttered close slowly pressing her face into the object and squeezing it where it rested on her chest. It really was nothing she’d ever smelled before in the worst/best way possible.
The pillow slowly folded over her arms where she’d stopped pressing it to her cheek. And she went with it, chin resting on the fabric.
She quickly tossed the pillow away, leaving the room she’d been brought into only moments ago. There wasn’t a sound of the man anywhere. All the tiny rooms of the house teeming with silence, in a way Krolia was throughly uncomfortable with.
The screen door slammed behind her as she walked outside, arms crossed from the nip of chilly air that ran over her spine.
“Did you come out to look at the stars?” The same male that she’d followed sat up on the roof, his fingers curled over a can in his possession.
Her eyes narrowed a little but she didn’t answer immediately. “No.. No I was… Never mind..”
“You can join me if you want. The roof might not be comfy but it’s plenty spacious.”
Krolia almost smirked at this, peering around the old home with confusion.
“I climbed up the ladder.” The male explained pointing to the far end of the house. “It’s right there.”
Krolia paused once she’d made it around. It was a weird looking thing. Cold under her finger tips. “Do you have ladders where you come from?” The man asked watching Krolia from up top the roof.
The galran began to pull herself up taking easy quick steps until she was met with a hand. She surprised herself by her willingness to accept the help, shifting to completely climb onto the roof top.
“We prefer to use the bones of our enemies to assemble ladders where I’m from.” The man’s face scrunched a bit as if he was having a hard time grasping the idea, that is until Krolia said, “You’re supposed to laugh. Its a joke.”
“Oh. Oh! Ha! That’s humorous.” Krolia had to admit she liked the way his face relaxed so quickly to her attempt at humor, and she smiled warmly.
They quickly faced the sky. Taking in more of the calming atmosphere that surrounded them. All the stars looked so much bigger and so much brighter from right here on this roof top. So much so that Krolia was starting to ignore the cold, in favor of staying in this moment just a little longer.
“Mm are you cold? Would you like my jacket?” The male asked already shrugging the jacket off his shoulders and handing it to Krolia.
“Won’t you be cold?” She asked with a hand already out to take the item of clothing.
“No. I’ve got this to keep me warm.” He remarked fisting the can of liquid up into the air. He shuffled closer placing the jacket on her shoulders allowing her to fully embrace herself. It was definitely much better than the cold had been. His scent was coming from this as well. Only it was stronger. Definitely stronger.
The sort of musk that trapped itself in her nose all over again made her a little uneasy. Like it was the only thing around her. She shook her head trying to focus on the sky again.
“Have you ever seen a sky like this where you come from?” He asked.
Her eyes jumped to him before quickly darting away. “We’re not quite under the stars like you are here. On earth.”
The male nodded with a small grin that Krolia could feel. "Ah so this is your first time really experiencing stars?"
"You could say that." Her eyes stuck to him far longer than it had before. Now she was taking in the hairs that grew from his chin, some actual brown like the one's on his head while others were colored a more white, gray.
"They're beautiful tonight. More than usual I'd like to think." With a new conversation started up Krolia flinched darting her eyes down to the brown tile of the roof below them.
"So.. Do you have.. Alcohol.. Up.. There?" The male asked pointing to the sky.
He handed over the can Krolia had been looking over with a nervous shake of his wrist. "It's uh. It's called beer." Krolia stared at it further. This was the only time she'd ever felt even slightly uneasy around this man since they'd met. Now with some strange liquid shoved out to her. "I mean uh.." The male seemed to pick up on it because he began to speak again. "You really uh- you don't have to drink it.. I mean it's not for everyone.."
He put a hand over his eyes as if he was physically pained. And Krolia almost smirked at the human again. "What's it called again?" She popped the can from his hands and he sat up blinking quickly in surprise.
Krolia cupped the drink in both hands sloshing the liquid inside. The smell automatically threw her off a bit, her eyebrow raising in disgust.
I mean you really don't have to drink it.. It's a human drink.. I don't know if you'd like that sort of thing.." His rambling continued for another couple seconds after Krolia tipped the can up against her mouth.
She didn't spit as it would be impolite and instead kept hold of the drink, reluctantly swallowing eyes shut with disgust.
She nodded keeping her eyes closed as the aftertaste continued to taunt her taste buds.
A soft laugh filled her ears and she finally looked up at the brown eyes next to her. A sort of softness filled her chest as she watched the man laughing, eventually catching onto the atmosphere letting a small chuckle leave her throat.
"Do all earth drinks taste that bad?" She finally asked handing over the can.
"Ah no.. Some taste worse." She squinted raising an eyebrow. "It was a joke. You're supposed to laugh."
"I don't find that funny."
He snorted with a soft, "Fair enough." Krolia's came back up to stroke the zipper of the jacket with her nails. The light sound of breathing next to her taking most of her attention. "I know I asked how you crashed before... But I kinda wanna know how you got so close to earth in the first place."
A soft chirping noise filled Krolia's ears. All around the world seemed to stand still. Nothing else was happening. Just this. Only now. "A bit of recklessness didn't agree with an order.."
She could feel the man nod next to her. "Well if you need help getting that ship of your's repaired tomorrow, I'd be happy to lend a hand."
"You've done a lot already, besides I know how to fix my own ship."
"I'm not surprised. You strike me as independent."
For the first time tonight when she turned her head to look at him he was already looking. A smile big and bold. One that made her fingers tense up where they were holding his jacket, and made her skin hot.
"Heath." The male next to her said. And Krolia had never been so confused in her life. Was that an earth thing? "I'm sorry.. It's my name.. We didn't.. I'm Heath.."
She almost felt bad for not understanding what with the way he lowered his head, shrugging of the clear embarrassment with a sigh.
And as if like clockwork, he was smiling all over again.
Heath.. I kinda like that.
Krolia awoke to more sounds and smells she wasn't used to. And she curled up further in Heath's smell trying to force away the rest of the overstimulating racket currently keeping her awake.
While it was more assuring it definitely wasn't enough. She sat up tossing the pillow, watching the way it smacked off the headboard and hit the floor. Heath had given her clothes to wear to bed all not much of her style but she managed. A plain white tank top slightly slipping from her shoulders and grayish almost brown pants to boot.
He'd also given her a sweater. One that was white. One that she actually really liked. One that was currently draped on a chair nearby.
With a soft sigh she plucked her legs over the edge of the bed, staring out at the brightness filling the barely lit room. It stung her eyes. Like really bad. Heath had told her people liked to watch the sunrise as well. What for? This was awful.
Kolivan wasn't going to be pleased when he found out where she was. She'd have to contact him today. A blade member going off mission was concerning on any level. Even without the being with a human on earth to mix with it. A perfect cesspool for disaster.
"Good morning." A soft knock rang through the room and Krolia turned to Heath coming over with a mug in hand. "I made you some tea." He explained placing the cup down on the nightstand next to the bed.
"And don't worry. It tastes nothing like beer." The male remarked with a soft laugh. Krolia rolled her eyes a bit playfully pulling the sleeve of her tank top up to rest comfortably on her shoulder. "I also made some breakfast. You know a bunch of things you've probably never had up in space."
Now she was curious. She carefully swung her legs around to the other side moving from Heath's side to the bedroom door. "Well now I'm curious." She stated as she slipped away from the frame allowing Heath to move ahead of her with the drink he'd brought into her room.
She plopped down in the first chair she came to with a bit of a thud. The chair being a bit unsupportive and a bit uncomfortable, but she managed. Within a couple minutes a plate was sliding her way another clanging a bit against the table as it went. Heath seating himself next to her.
"While I know you want to deal with that broken ship of your's all on your own I do want to help in some way. I mean I know how to fix things. Maybe not alien ships but I have tampered with many a cars and things in my life."
I figured you would feel that way." Krolia commented poking a couple things on her plate with the fork Heath had given her. "Though before all that I want to be completely honest with you."
Heath's fork clattered a bit as he set it down to give Krolia his full attention. "I crash landed here on earth because of a strong energy signal being transmitted to my ship. The blue lion of the huge war machine called Voltron. I wanted to know more about it. I want to look into it. I was told to let it go.. But I can't.. I have to see it.. I won't leave until I do."
The sudden warm press of his fingers snapped Krolia completely out of her ranting. Her eyes flashing up to meet his. "Then I'll come with. I can help with this."
Her eyes fluttered away to the plate before it was falling over where their hands were still connected. The same warm feeling from last night flooding her "All you wanna do is help me."
"Well it's not everyday an alien crash lands on my planet."
Not a second went by before she was finally asking, "What's this thing called?"
"Those are eggs, and that's toast."
Krolia gave the "toast" a small nibble. It was grainy kind of warm and dry. While the eggs were a bit of the opposite and had an unsettling breaking feeling when she bit into it.
"Is it as bad as the beer?"Heath finally asked a touch of nervousness striking his words.
"Nothing will ever be as bad as the beer." Krolia said with a joking tone.
Walking around outside with Heath was such a different experience from being locked up in the small house. It was like the sun brought out a different light in him. Both inside and out. His skin glowing with a color the house just could present. He looked... good..
While she did try to keep the staring to a bare minimum as they walked at certain points in time Krolia just couldn't help herself, eyes curving over his figure, and basking in the way his t-shirt clung to him in the heat.
"You're not hot?" He'd asked at one point to which Krolia could only reply. "No. No I'm doing ok."
The bottle of water he'd brought had disappeared by the time they finally made it to the cave and Krolia was actually starting to feel the heat from the sun smoking off her body.
The soft blue inside the cave echoed it's soft colors off the wall. So bright, everything inside shone with it.
"It's apart of a weapon?" Heath asked turning to Krolia who stood a couple inches behind him.
"Yes. One called Voltron. And there are many people that want this lion in their possession. Ones that would use it for evil, I can't leave knowing that. I'm going to stay on earth and protect it."
Heath turned to grasp Krolia's hand, eyes half lidded with his next words, "I want to help."
"I know." Her voice was soft as she spoke, eyes half lidded and hand enclosed in Heath's. Someone she hadn't known meer days ago. "I'll need your help."
"I know but this is just as important!"
"How many times have I told you not to let your feelings cloud your judgement?" Lectured a very annoyed Kolivan
"This isn't a feeling this apart of the whole mission! We can't let the blue lion be taken away. It's dangerous to leave it unprotected!"
"I apologize Kolivan. It won't happen again."
There was a long pause of silence before Kolivan's voice filled the small pod once more. "Stay on earth for the time being. Make sure the lion stays safe."
"I promise to return back as soon as I can." Krolia wasn't expecting much from Kolivan at least not right now. He wasn't going to say much not even if it was an in person call.
But she was glad. She could stay on earth just a little longer. Continuing to protect the blue lion.
The annoying screen door slammed just behind her. A sound she'd grown extremely tired of in less than 48 hours. She slowly walked across the room to the kitchen where Heath was currently sitting wrapped around a bottle of something Krolia had definitely never seen here before.
"Ah you're back!" He announced giddily
"What's that?" Krolia asked a bit concerned over the sudden chuckling the male was doing.
"This.. This... Is vodka.. It's stronger beer.. But it doesn't taste like it.." So there was more versions of that awful tasting stuff from before. "Wanna try?"
"More of that stuff you gave me last time? Why would I want that?" Krolia smirked playfully
"Come on just a little.. It's fun.." Heath replied, he shoved a small version of the other glasses they'd drunk from earlier towards Krolia with a stupid grin plastered on his feature. "One shot." He chuckled softly
Without really thinking about it Krolia took the shot glass pouring a touch of the liquid from the bottle in to the tiny glass. She sloshed it around giving it a slightly dirty look. Heath watched with careful, trailing eyes that shot up to her face when she looked down at him.
With a soft breath she let out a quick, "verpit sa!" Before downing the liquid. It wasn't as bad as the beer. Definitely not as bad as the beer. But it had a bite a smooth bite that ached as it went down. And Krolia placed the glass down blinking profusely.
Humans had some weird hobbies
Heath just chuckled some more, cheeks flushed with color. "Y-you look pretty chugging that liquor.."
Eventually Krolia sat down with a pretty much limp Heath and she listened to his slurred speech over more and more shots of vodka. Though the liquid never seemed to shake her like it did him.
"Aliens c-can't.. Get dr..unk huh.." He hiccuped forcing himself to pull away from the table.
"We can.. Just not like humans.." Krolia watched his little fall back and the way he clung to the wooden table for balance.
Heath nodded or at least tried.. "I wonder what'd.. You'd b..e like drunk.. Like...... Human drunk.."
"You want me to be drunk?"
"No.. No... No! I was curious.. I'm not creepy.."
Krolia just smirked resting her head on the table next to her shot glass as she watched Heath repeatedly almost but not quite fall over. Humans were funny when they're drunk. "Can I confess something else?" She whispered like a small child ready to spill a secret.
"I like drunk Heath.. He's.." She cut herself off not really knowing what to say. The galra weren't exactly a race of a million complements.
"Wh-wha-what? I'm... Curious now..." For the first time tonight he actually did fall. And Krolia was right there to catch him... And hold him..
She was there when those strong arms were wrapping around her body. She was there when her pulse skyrocketed and her brain melted. She was there when they were on the floor wrestling through clothes. And she was there when it was over. There when they were just two bodies pressed together laughing and holding each other.
She was there for that. And she was prepared to be there for more.
