Klancetober/Fictober 2018
... so uh yeah here’s day fifteen totally on time and everything ahem yep
(I’m still going to finish all the prompts though, even though I’m behind) :)
Read it on AO3 here or below the cut as usual!
"Paladins of Voltron, we thank you for liberating our planet. To show our gratitude, we have arranged a celebration in your honor." Keith hadn't been paying much attention to the leader of the planet they had just freed from the Galra until he heard him say those two simple sentences. Allura inclined her head to their leader kindly.
"It is our duty, and we are so honored to protect the universe. Please accept this communicator as a gesture of faith and goodwill. If ever you find yourself in need of Voltron, call and we will come to your aid." Allura said formally, handing the alien leader a communicator.
Beaming, the alien leader accepted it and led their people in a hearty cheer.
Keith leaned over to Shiro and nudged him. "A celebration?" Shiro nodded.
"Get used to it, Keith," Shiro said. He lightly punched his arm. "It'll be fine, just try not to pick any fights and it'll go swimmingly." He turned away from Keith as Allura led the paladins back to the Castle.
Allura led the way into a room at the end of a long corridor that none of the paladins had ever seen before.
Pidge spoke up. "Allura, what are we doing? Where are we going?"
"There is a diplomatic celebration tonight, and you must present as Paladins of Voltron." Allura pulled open the double doors into the room. "And that does include your wardrobe." The paladins looked around to see rack after rack of diplomat clothing.
"Whoa..." Lance said as he stared at the contents of the room.
Allura busied herself finding a suitable change of clothing for each of them.
Soon, they all wore a variation of a black suit, each with an appropriately color-coded shirt and tie beneath.
Lance twisted and turned in front of a mirror on one wall, admiring the suit.
"These are fantastic, Allura! Why do you have these?" He asked, smoothing his bright blue tie.
Allura smiled. "It was the Altean custom to have several options of dress for any diplomats that may be visiting the Castle. Good diplomacy involved as much as comfort and accommodation as possible, of course. Thus, the variety you see here."
Keith tugged his tie slightly to loosen it, sneaking another glance at Lance. He flushed and looked away, but not before Pidge noticed. She smirked and nudged Keith's arm. "See something you like, Keith?" She teased, mercifully quiet. Keith groaned and rubbed his forehead for a minute.
"Pidge, I'm not going to make it through this celebration we're supposed to go to. I'm not, he's going to kill me."
"Oh calm down, you'll be fine." She waved a hand. "You could always ask Red to come kidnap you."
"Don't tempt me."
Now dressed, Allura led them back out of the Castle. Lance caught up with Hunk and pulled him down to talk quietly into his ear.
"Okay, but did you see Keith? Keith in a tie- I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, Hunk. It should be illegal to look that hot in the same suit as everyone else, honestly, how is that even possible?"
Hunk rolled his eyes. "The real question is why you haven't said anything to him yet. He's clearly into you, just say something charming and sweep him off his feet. You're never going to get a golden opportunity like this again. You look great, let's be real, and I noticed him looking over here a couple times earlier." Hunk shrugged and smiled encouragingly. "Promise me you'll say something to him tonight?"
Lance bit his lip anxiously. "Well... You know what? Yes. I'm going to tell him how I feel, and I'm going to do it tonight." He nodded decisively, then a look of doubt flashed across his features. "Please make sure I don't chicken out."
"What else is a best friend for?" Hunk gave Lance a quick squeeze around the shoulders.
After the leader had formally welcomed everyone to the celebration and once again formally thanked Voltron for saving them, the party got into full swing pretty quickly. Music filled the air and the locals spilled out into the large open space in the middle and started dancing with each other. Lance lit up, figuring that this would be a great way to casually get Keith alone. Beaming, he turned to the team.
"Alright, who's wants to come dance with me?" He grinned at them, wiggling his eyebrows. Shiro took a step back and held up his hands.
"I'll do everyone here a favor and sit this one out, guys," he said sheepishly. Keith snorted.
Hunk knew what Lance was trying to do. "Nah, that battle kind of wore me out, I think I've pressed my luck with motion sickness enough for one day. Sorry, man." Lance looked at his remaining team members.
"Pidge? Allura? Keith?" Keith's eyes widened at being included, but he briefly shook his head. Allura rolled her eyes.
"I'm afraid I must go finish business with their leader. I'll meet up with you all later, but do enjoy the party. It's not often that we get to relax like this." And with that, Allura left the group entirely.
Lance rounded on Pidge and smirked. "Come on, Pidgeotto, I'm gonna teach you how to dance, let's go!" Pidge tried to fight a smile but finally relented.
"Alright, let's go. But you owe me!" She dragged him out and the two laughed their way around the dance floor.
Shiro, Keith, and Hunk found a table near the edge of the dance floor and sat down. Keith found himself staring at Lance dancing. First the suit, and now apparently Lance is a really, really good dancer. Like, ridiculously good. Keith couldn't tear his eyes away and he really wished that he was brave enough to have agreed to dance with Lance. Or go ask him to dance with him now, at least. How was it that he could face down anything in battle, but ask him to be honest with Lance about his feelings? He couldn't be more of a coward. He could be out there, right now, dancing with Lance, if only-
"Earth to Keith, Earth to Keith. Come in, Keith. Do you read me-" Keith realized Shiro had been speaking for several minutes now.
"Oh, sorry. I was... just thinking. What is it?"
Shiro smiled teasingly. "Thinking about what? A... certain blue paladin?"
Keith's face burned. "Shut up, Shiro."
Hunk grinned excitedly. "Oh my gosh, you totally like Lance, don't you?" Keith groaned and banged his head onto the table in front of him.
"I hate you both." He sat back up and gestured helplessly at a still-dancing Lance. "Look at him! How could I not like him?" He rubbed his temple with one hand. "Just do me a favor and don't tell him, Hunk. Okay? I... I'll get over it eventually, I guess-"
Shiro interrupted him. "You really think that? You haven't gotten over it in the past-" Keith lunged and slapped a hand over Shiro's mouth.
"You've spilled enough embarrassing secrets today, I think." He shot a glare at Hunk, who was grinning gleefully. "Let's just say it's been awhile. But I'll get over him eventually, it's bound to happen. Besides, it's not like telling him would accomplish anything, anyway, since there's no way he could ever like me. All it would do would be make forming Vol-"
"Wait, you really can't tell?" Hunk threw up a hand to stop Keith from talking. "Are you serious right now?" Keith just raised an eyebrow and shrugged.
"Y-es...?"
Now it was Hunk's turn to groan. "I can't believe you two... Lance would probably kill me if he knew I was telling you this... Look. I had to listen to ten minutes of him complaining that you looked so good in the same suit as the rest of us and "Hunk why does his mullet look so hot it's a mullet there's got to be some universal law against making a mullet work" and, I quote, "Okay, but did you see Keith? Keith in a tie- I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, Hunk." And let's not forget all the times I had to listen to him moon over you at the Garrison while he was still oblivious to his own feelings and this whole time on the Castleship, and-" Hunk trailed off when he saw how pale Keith had gotten. "Keith, are you okay?"
Keith blinked a few times. "Lance... Lance likes me." He blinked again, blankly, and then an incredibly flustered look fell onto his face and he buried his face in his hands. "Oh my gosh Lance likes me-he actually does-I have a chance-Shiro, Hunk, what do I do-oh my gosh he actually likes me..." He trailed off and ran a hand nervously through his hair. "Do I... do I talk to him about it? How do you even bring that up?" He looked over at the playful blue paladin, flustered and nervous.
"Well," Hunk started, "You could ask him to dance with you. He was trying to earlier, seems only fitting that you repay the almost-favor, right?"
"He was trying to ask me to dance with him?" Keith's eyes widened.
Hunk rolled his eyes. "He singled you out when you didn't answer him right away like Shiro and I did. What exactly do you think that whole "Who's going to come dance with me" thing was? He was trying to ask you to dance with him without making you uncomfortable."
Keith looked at Shiro, who nodded. "He was looking right at you when he asked, I can't believe you didn't realize what he was doing."
Keith groaned. "Well I'm sorry, no one tries to subtly flirt with you when you're alone in the desert, okay?!" He bit his lip and looked over at Lance. "Hunk, are you sure about this?"
Hunk nodded confidently. "Yup. Go for it!"
Lance was having a blast dancing with Pidge. Granted, he had wanted to dance with Keith, but that didn't mean he wasn't still going to have as much fun as humanly possible. He spun Pidge around and couldn't help but laugh along with her. She really did remind him of his sisters.
"Hey, Sharpshooter!" Lance heard from behind him. He turned to see Keith standing a few feet behind him, hands behind his back and looking... nervous? That was weird.
"Yeah? What's up?" Lance asked as he approached his teammate and crush. "Did you need something, Keith?" Keith felt shivers run down his spine as he took in the soft look in Lance's eyes when he'd said his name. How could he have missed this for so long?
"I, um," Keith cleared his throat, scolding himself for being so nervous. "Lance, do you want to dance with me?" Keith saw Pidge's eyebrows shoot up under her glasses and she shot him an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Lance's eyes went wide and he blinked a few times as his cheeks grew pink. "Wait, really?" He made a few uncertain and awkward hand gestures. "Like, with me, with me?"
Keith stifled a laugh. He bit his lip and nodded, offering Lance his hand. "Yes, really. I wouldn't ask if I wasn't serious, Lance. So... do you? Want to dance with me, I mean."
Lance lit up excitedly and he took Keith's hand, intertwining their fingers. "Thought you'd never ask, Samurai. I'll even let you lead."
With that, Lance tugged them out onto the dance floor as a soft, gentle song started to play.
Things had never felt so utterly, amazingly perfect.