#redbladepaladin

[texasxslugger]

@redbladepaladin ordered something soulcrushing

It seemed as if he had just blinked, and everything had changed - yet nothing had at the same time. He's still home, and yet, everything seems... wrong. Nothing is out of place, not really. But the energy is different, and.. some of his clothes are missing?

And wait..

It also doesn't look quite as.. lived in? As it should.. What.. what was going on?

"Keith? Are you home?"

[bluesniperpaladin]

@redbladepaladin

Their entire plan to take down Zarkon had gone sideways in the absolute worst way; shutting down the entire ship had gone rather well, which was good, but when Haggar had stepped in, that was when things had gone utterly quiznacked.

A surprise hit from her and a follow up one from Zarkon in a special mech attacking Black and Voltron was split apart violently, with Black (and Shiro) temporarily knocked out. The other paladins fought him off the best they could until Shiro woke back up and they recombined into Voltron.

At least, until Haggar hit them again with more of her magic...

She actually leeched a considerable amount of quintessence from them, knocking out both paladins and the giant combined mech itself, although with a bit of encouragement from Allura, they managed to get Voltron powered back on again utilizing their bond with each other and the Lions.

When they did, they managed to beat Zarkon, piercing his mech through with the sword Voltron summons --

The resulting explosion, however, forced the Lions to split from Voltron and shrapnel to be thrown everywhere -- with one particularly big piece stabbed directly into Black, and the paladins worried considering Black also went out of commission at the same time...

The other Paladins didn't think twice about it, immediately getting Black and taking her to the Castle, then landing their own lions and bolting straight for Black. Lance's own stomach was twisting to the point he wasn't sure what was worse, that or the absolute worry he felt.

What met them was a sight that had all of them horrified -- the shrapnel had indeed jutted straight into the control room, directly into the pilot's chair -- and Shiro along with it.

And judging by the amount of blood.... he definitely didn't survive.

Pidge bolted out of the cockpit and it didn't take a genius as to what they were likely doing in the other room, and Lance had to admit, he wanted to do the same, but he forced it down. "C-Coran-- CORAN."

[bluesniperpaladin]

@redbladepaladin

"It goes without saying for you, mi vida. You should know this."

[game-weaver]

Since Yugi always seemed to gift him pastries, Keith decided to try his hand at baking. He wanted to do something nice for Yugi this time.

Given that Keith barely had time to cook, he hadn't attempted baking in years. The last attempt didn't exactly... go well.

At least, this time, Hunk was there to supervise, so everything didn't become a disaster. Hours later, Keith managed to do the near impossible; he had created a dozen "chocolate chip" cookies made with a few alien ingredients. They turned out perfect! While the chocolate wasn't exactly from cocoa beans, it was damn close to tasting like it. Maybe even better than its Earth counterpart.

After wrapping the contents in a bag, he made his way over to Yugi's place and knocked on the door. As soon as his friend opened the door, he greeted the half-fae with a smile. "Hey, Yugi."

"It's, uh.. been a while since we spoke." He had been doing a lot of Blade missions recently. "Since you always like making things for me, I thought I'd return the favor." He held out the gift box towards his friend.

Yugi had been finding his own footing after having arrived here. Finally settling and finding a 'normal' of sorts. It was odd for him to find comfort and normalcy in visiting the Other Realm rather than the human realm for once but he was figuring it out.

And part of that normal was keeping himself busy, mind and body. Which was why when he answered the door a bit out of breath from his work out and then running to see who it was when he wasn't expecting guests. But his eyes brightened when he saw Keith.

"Hey!" He smiled brightly, before his eyes softened a little at the offered gift. "Really?!" Reaching out, he took it and stepped aside to let his friend in. "Thank you, you didn't have to, you know. Just stopping in to say hi is always nice."

[bluesniperpaladin]

Keith couldn't believe he was going to do this, but he was curious on how Lance would react if someone tried a pick-up line on him like Lance had done to him and many other aliens.

So, out of the blue, he approached his mate with a faint blush on his face, trying not to huff as he abruptly said, "I think you just destabilized my gravitational field. I hope you're happy about that."

His blush only worsened after the lame pick-up line left his mouth. "Ugh. I can't believe I just said that."

Unprompted Asks [Always Accepting] | @redbladepaladin

Just a couple of blinks -- yes, he had actually said that -- was all Keith got at that, especially the last bit, before he just let off a snort and doubled over laughing so hard he was almost wheezing. And it continued for several minutes, leaving Lance out of breath from how hard he was laughing, until he finally was able to recover -- though not without his sides hurting.

"Keith, babe, I think you should just leave the pick-up lines to me," he gasped out, still cackling. "Cause -- I think you were trying too hard with that."

[bluesniperpaladin]

Keith was curious on how Lance would react to him using a cheesy pick-up line on him. He never thought he'd do something like this, and quite honestly, he was typically too socially awkward to dare and try. Though, the curiosity was getting the better of him.

So, he walked up to his boyfriend out of the blue and tried not to blush as he spoke: "If charm and good looks were a cosmic force, you'd be violating at least three treaties."

He stood back and waited, feeling his cheeks erupt with heat.

Unprompted Asks [Always Accepting] | @redbladepaladin

Keith walking up to him wasn't anything new, and it just had Lance turning to him and already about to move in and poke at him or something when he noticed Keith was fidgeting and paused.

What followed had him staring in stunned surprise -- had Keith just flirted with him? Using a pick-up line?? That was a first.

....Though seeing him flushed ended up breaking the surprise, leaving him snorting a bit despite himself, grinning and putting a hand to his chest. "Damn right I would, mi cielo, though I'm pretty sure you'd be breaking far more than I would."

[bluesniperpaladin]

Keith just blushed more when Lance began laughing at him. With a loud huff, he replied, "Obviously! It is a tactical move!"

He paused, finding himself just staring in awe at how hard Lance was laughing. Honestly, he hadn't seen his partner laugh this hard in ages. It was.. nice to see it again.

He then quickly shook his head to stop himself. "S-stop doing that! I'm trying to stay mad at you!"

Unprompted Asks [Always Accepting] | @redbladepaladin

By now his laughter had toned down to giggles and snickering, which he was trying to restrain, but with Keith pouting like he was, he couldn't help it. Keith really was too cute when he pouted.

"I mean, if you want throwing a tantrum to be called a tactical move, then go right ahead, bombón, but I think you'd be better off just leaving it as getting pissed off." He snickered again, unable to help it.

He moved closer. "Aww, Keithy Cat, you can't stay mad at me. You never could." He planted a kiss on his boyfriend's lips for a moment with a sly grin.

[bluesniperpaladin]

"I'm not jealous!" Keith declared almost too loudly. "I'm just..." There was not a faint blush dusting across his cheeks. "...strategically annoyed!"

Unprompted Asks [Always Accepting] | @redbladepaladin

Lance just found himself staring at his boyfriend for a long second, blinking a few times before a snort left him, one that dissipated into laughter ad he folded over for a moment from the force of it.

Only Keith would call it something as stupid as strategically annoyed.

Dios, he loved this man.

It took him a minute or so before he could actually calm down enough to speak. "Strategically annoyed, huh? What's next, you gonna call judo throwing a training bot when you get mad a tactical move?"