* As mentioned in another post John and Esme have arm wrestling contests to end arguments and assign chores.
* When the kids get older they start betting on it.
*They’re money is always on Esme. She is ruthless.
* He’s really proud of them for it “That’s the Shelby way. Its in their blood”
* They start using their earnings to get out of chores and trouble. “I’ll give you all my money if you tell Dad you’re the one that broke the window?”
* John and Esme have their nightly routine down.
* He’s in charge of homework (he runs the betting board, boys gotta be good at math)
* Esme does bath time
* John makes up bedtime stories.
* He’s gotten a really long saga going about a boy named Clive and his magic turtle.
* John is a horrible singer. So he sings badly and loudly just to get on his children’s nerves.
*He sings when he cooks.
* John and Esme alternate daily on who makes breakfast in the mornings and gets clothes and hair ready.
* John dutch ovens Esme all the time. She never sees it coming either.
* Just imagine them laying in bed, Esme is reading and call her name, “Esme.” She looks up from her book and he just rips it and pulls the cover over her face.
* “For fucks sake John! One day you’re actually gonna kill me! How would you explain that to the kids?”
Lance sends Keith out of all people a video at 4 am, along with 57 messages that get increasingly more and more worrisome. Something is wrong.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Keith sighed and flopped down on his bed after Hunk hung up the phone. He closed his eyes and tried to remember how to breathe. So this wasn't a joke. It was real.
He could still hardly believe it. Lance McLain’s mother, Mrs. McLain, Lance’s favorite person in the entire world, slapped him. That was an anomaly, something like that didn't just happen without reason. Keith hoped with all his heart that he’d find that reason in the video. He took a deep breath, sat up, and pressed play.
“Keith….I ran away.”
Lance held his arms tighter to his chest and looked away from the camera.
“Things are….not good at home. Everyone used to be so happy, they were all so relieved that I was home. You were there when I reunited with my family. All of us crying outside my house, just one huge happy mess. Remember my nieces and nephews throwing themselves onto me so hard that I fell over?”
Lance laughed. Keith smiled, he had missed that sound. And he remembered that day. After defeating the Galra Empire, the Paladins were allowed to finally rest and go home. Their job was not done; obviously, there were still some Galra operatives and colonies, but their line of successors and more than three-quarters of the empire was gone. Zarkon, Haggar, and Lotor were all defeated and Allura had decided that the Paladins were in need of a break. Perhaps retirement. After fighting for the universe for 2 years, they deserved at least a few months rest. From there they would decide if Voltron was still necessary.
Keith expected that the rest of the team would never want to go back into space ever again after that experience. He was wrong. Sure enough, all of the Paladins decided to return to their studies in the Garrison (excluding Shiro who was going back to work not study). That gave them the summer to just breathe. And remember.
Lance had forced the entire team to come with him to see his family. Everyone was ecstatic, but Keith. He was hesitant, was it a good idea? He was no good at meeting new people. What if he made a fool of himself? What if Lance’s family judged him? What if they hated him? Seeing Lance run to greet his parents changed his mind. Watching Lance’s mother cover her mouth and sob, reaching to touch her son’s face, his dad suffocating him in a tight hug, and his siblings squeezing him, it all felt so warm and supportive. And totally out of Keith’s element.
Nonetheless, Lance’s family forced him and the rest of the group to join in on the love and there they stayed for a while, hugging and crying. Mrs. And Mr. McLain tearfully thanking them for keeping their little boy safe in space, with Lance whining in the background. Sharing stories about space with everyone. It was a good day.
“Oh my god. I don't remember the last time we were all so happy. When I was that happy.” His smile faded away.
“And then….everyone got scared. To see me leave again. Because what if I went missing again? How long would it take for me to come back this time? What if I never came back? And that was only because I wanted to come back to America. When I told them that I was going back to space and they, well, freaked out.”
No shit Sherlock.
“They didn't like the idea of me going back to the Garrison and hated the thought of me piloting the Blue Lion again or forming Voltron. ‘Too dangerous,’ they said. ‘Leave it to someone who knows what they are doing’. ‘The universe doesn't need you defending them.’ ‘Someone else could do a better job.’” Lance winced and hugged himself even tighter.
“I don't think they were trying to be mean or anything, maybe I'm just being too sensitive, I don't know. When I tried to talk back and say that the universe did need me they-”
He self-consciously rubbed his cheek and lowered his eyes to the ground in shame. Keith held in a breath and clutched his phone.
“....things escalated pretty quickly.”
Lance shook his head. “I just….don't know what's going on. This isn't like my family, they don't….” He stopped to wipe his watering eyes. In a shaky, unstable tone he continued. “They don't act this way. I know why they’re upset, but this is my choice. Shouldn't I be able to make it?” He ran a hand through his hair and looked at the ceiling.
“The universe needs us, Keith. Even if we defeated most of the Galra Empire, there are so many galaxies in the universe that still need to be freed. I wasn't going to let them down. So I fought back. Probably not my smartest idea. But I told them that I needed to go back. That people depended on me and that no matter what they weren't going to stop me from doing what needed to be done. And so…”
He turned around and reached into a backpack behind him, pulling out a small bag. He emptied it into his hands and moved them toward the camera so Keith could see.
Keith gasped. That couldn't be-
“Yeah. My parents weren't really ah cool with the idea.” He laughed without a trace of humor in his voice.
“So the communicator for the Blue Lion that Allura gave us before we left? This is it.”
Keith stared at the crumbled broken pieces of machinery in his hands. They were smashed into little silver and aqua bits, no hope of ever being fixed. They looked like the remains of a broken dream.
“That was the last straw, Keith. I….I just couldn't take it anymore. I left. Just walked away from the conversation. There was nothing left to be said.” Lance took a deep shaky breath and wiped his eyes.
“I ran to my room, slammed the door shut and locked it. I thought I would just stay in there for a while but I knew that it wouldn't solve anything. So I packed up my stuff and-”
He snorted as he laughed.
“And I jumped out of the window! Oh my god, I did a Keith I jumped out of the window with my backpack full of stuff and just ran. Didn't know where I was going and what I was doing, I just knew I needed to get out of that house.”
Lance shook his head and laughed dryly.
“And now I'm here! Alone, scared, and clueless. I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm emotionally unstable, and I would really appreciate it if you replied with advice that is not ‘Go back home’. Please tell me something that is actually useful for once because Keith, I'm not sure where I am or how I got here I just know,”
He looked straight at the camera, his eyes burning with passion and dripping with tears.
