Summary & CW: Angst, enemies (more like rivals/they had beef with each other) to lovers , he gets jealous, blade of marmora!keith, spy!reader, reader has hair long enough that can be put up, no use of y/n, second person
Pairing: Keith Kogane x Fem!Reader
Word Count: 2.4k
A/N: Another piece out the Kiln! Thank you to the loml (@starkkat) for requesting this ilysm. Yall do not know this but before zuko and Jason, there was keith <3 10 year old me knew what was up when I saw him, cannot believe I’ve been down bad for him for 10 years omg. Anyway I hope you all enjoy this fic, it is VERY self-indulgent! (Also please don’t think too much about the timeline)
You were without a doubt going to kill Keith Kogane.
After the last mission with the paladins, a source of yours reached out with the a lead you’d been investigating for months. It felt as though the clouds parted and the sun finally shone for the first time in weeks. This comet had become the biggest pain in the ass since you lost it.
The next day, you approached Shiro asking for clearance to take a pod in order to handle a personal matter.
It wasn’t out of the ordinary for this to happen. The paladins went out on their own pretty often. With the little free time they had or on their own solo missions, they took the lions freely with the only requirement being communicating about where they went.
This mission though… this one was a little different.
Under no circumstance could Lotor find out.
Allura may have grown an affinity for the prince, going as far as making an alliance with him. However, the same couldn’t be said for the rest of you.
This was a man who tried to kill you, on multiple occasions.
She may have been ready to sweep it under the rug with the discovery of his Altean heritage, but you weren’t. This was the son of a dictator. This was a prince who once held a sword to your neck while his generals had a gun to your temple, sparing you nothing but a smile.
He was without a doubt, his father's son.
So with the slight possibility at finding the remains of the comet, you had to go. You weren’t convinced that Lotor had only made one ship with it. There had to be something else.
Shiro cleared you with no problem. The only concern now was having to remove the tracking tech on the pod. You covered your tracks and came up with a whole story, but with one look at where you were, it would fall apart in an instant.
Fortunately, after four nights of messing with wires and panels with your rudimentary knowledge of Altean, you managed to disconnect the location services of the pod. You left before anyone woke and shut down all comms on the trip on the preface of fear of interception. Travel took a little under a day.
The slight dilemma about the mission was where your “lead” was. It was in the Kexeresa system. There wasn’t much information about it. They were on the careful edge of rebel fighters and Galran empire, standing on a precipice ready to fall onto anyone’s side. The team hadn’t managed to get all the way out here yet. There were only eight of you, and the whole universe to save.
The pod landed on the outskirts of the city. Thankfully, no one was guarding the entry and exit of the planet's atmosphere. Making your way into town, you were grateful there weren’t many strange looks shot in your direction. The pros of being more on the back end is no one knew your face. And seeing as you didn’t have a lion or paladin armor, it made these missions less complicated than what you were accustomed to.
The man you needed to meet was in a bar. Stepping thorugh the entryway, you almost laughed. It looked like the Cantina from the Star Wars movies you watched back at home. It was almost comical how similar the layout was. The band was in the corner, the bar top was in the center, and the pale sandstone of the walls transported you onto a movie set you hadn’t thought of in years.
Nistos was toward the back, sat in a booth with a drink in hand. While not being Galran himself, he associated with many. The picture you’d found in the system did not do his appearance justice. He was horrific to look at, his presence disgusted you. He had a hooked nose with a sage green complexion and beady eyes that eyed up every woman walking past him.
This was either going to be a lot easier or a lot harder than you thought.
Taking a deep breath and accepting your fate, you searched for the restroom. There was only one way you were going to get the information you wanted, even if it mean sacrificing your dignity.
No one was here to witness it anyway, so was there really any harm?
Your legs carried you past the swinging door and you found yourself face to face with your reflection in the cloudy mirror.
This was going to have to work.
Immediately, you pull the hair tie and let your hair fall loose from where it was strung together on the back of your head. As your hair fell around your shoulders, your fingers teased at your roots, increasing the volume while making it a socially acceptable mess. Then you pulled down the hem of your shirt. Your grip teased at the neckline, stretching it to make it sink in a way only the pervert of a man you were going to interact with be tempted by. As your final act of abandoning any class you had left, the knife you stored in your boots went to your leggings; trimming them to a length you hadn’t allowed yourself to wear at all since departing Earth. But you had a mission, and that came first.
After cutting the strips of fabric off your legs, you glanced back at your reflection. She was every bit the tramp you needed to be tonight. With a deep sigh, you don’t dwell on it any longer and leave the last shred of dignity you had with the scraps of spandex in the trash.
You’d made it about twenty minutes into the conversation when you notice him. Your hair was twirled around your index finger and you let out your fiftieth high-pitched giggle when you study the shift in environment. It was getting darker out and the bar was getting livelier. Looking past Nistos' left shoulder, your eyes gravitate toward the mask decorated by three purple orbs lingering in the shadows.
It was a miracle no one notice him.
Your heart sunk to your stomach in an instant. It didn’t matter that you didn’t see his face. Based on the build and stance alone, you knew the exact expression that the mask would reveal. There was no one else in the universe that would attune himself to you in that way.
When he noticed that you finally found him, his head motioned the exit next to him.
Oh fuck no.
You searched for an ounce of a lead for months and now that you find it, Keith thought he could swoop in? Nice try.
With a laugh that was far too flirtatious for your liking and for what Nistos was saying, you drape your left arm over his shoulder. Your hand falls behind his neck, out of sight, when you lift your middle finger toward the man who was for sure going to ruin this.
It took him five minutes.
A bomb went off in a two-mile radius from where you were, the bar evacuated within seconds. You came to find out later that it was in fact an abandoned warehouse, so no one got hurt.
Well, no one except Keith.
Once you’d been rushed outside, you saw him slip behind the building. Nistos had already high tailed away from you, leaving you no choice but to stomped in the direction of the ravenette. Before he had the chance to turn around, your palm met the crown of his head as you smacked him.
“What could that have possibly been for?” His words came out modulated, the Marmora mask disappearing as he finished the question.
“You motherfucker.” The words were spit out like venom off your tongue.
He merely crossed his arms. “What’re you doing here? I thought you guys were planning for Lotor’s crowning.”
“I was following a lead.” You managed to grit out, teeth pressed together. It was truly mind boggling how you never managed to be in the same orbit as him without some fight breaking out.
“Really?” he deadpans, “that was following a lead?”
“Yes.”
His eyes roam over you, and you finally see it. The tick in his jaw, the way he swallowed too hard, the purple of his eyes darkening to match his pupils.
He was jealous.
“You’re kidding.” Disbelief was mixed in with your tone. His eyes flicker back to yours and defensiveness pools into his posture.
“What?”
“You’re jealous.”
He scoffs. “I’m not.”
“Oh my god, you so were. You were jealous of that piece of shit.”
Even in the darkness of the night, you can see how his cheeks tint to a pale pink and he remains silent. He knows there’s no winning this battle. You may be comfortable with sacrificing some dignity, but Keith wasn’t.
“What lead were you following?”
The desire to tease him hadn’t entirely left your system; unfortunately, there were more pressing matters.
A part of you missed this. You and Keith knew each other back from the Garrison and to put it simply, you hated each other. You were the most competitive duo in your class. After one bad decision and going out with the group, you found yourself swept across space with them.
Playing nice with Keith was probably the hardest part in the beginning. It was a long road of bickering, cursing, and full on war. It was months before you could be in the same room together without a snide remark. You still don’t really know when it happened, maybe it was at the mall, or maybe it was when Shiro disappeared but slowly, he turned into someone to lean on. One night the line between distaste and something more blurred. Neither of you mentioned it, not to the paladins, and definitely not to each other.
There wasn’t much to tell anyway. The only things that changed were that he slept in your bed occasionally, he let you near him at times when it all got too much, and you traded kisses in the dark and acted like nothing happened once morning came.
It was a quiet type of change that no one caught on. But you never missed it. You never missed how his body turned to yours, how he sought you out after a mission, how he always patched you up. How he held you on the nights when nightmares truck him.
Then he left.
He joined the blade and you couldn’t hold it against him, not really. Not when nothing was ever going to come of you two. Not when the fate of the universe rested on your shoulders.
“It was about the comet.” The answer came out oddly soft and he perked up. He was never going to forget that mission. It haunted all of you. “I got some chatter from a rebel fighter that Nistos was working with some Galran generals to transport a rare type of metal. He’s been bragging about it at the bar for a few weeks. I looked up some of the intel and when I checked the receiving port he was talking about, it didn’t exist in Galran records. So then I found the generals involved in the contract, and Acxa signed off on it. Lotor may have Allura and the paladins convinced but I’m not sold yet, there’s something more we’re missing.”
It was frustrating sometimes. The three moons on this planet managed to light up his face just right, reminding you of all the nights he held you in your room. He was staring down at you so intensely, you were tempted to look away. There was so much more you wanted to say but couldn’t.
How could you?
How could you look at him and tell him that you were happy he was here? That you were happy he found you. How could you look him in the eye and tell him that fighting with him tonight was the best thing that happened in weeks? Because being with him was better than any lead you could chase.
All he does after processing the information is nod, a small simple thing and he looks away.
“Let me get you back to the ship. I should probably say hi to the others.”
There’s a new cut on his neck. The scab was fresh and pink, fading at the edges ready to scar. Before you could stop yourself, your nails were tracing the top of it that peaked from the top of his suit.
“Where did you get that?”
His breath hitched in his throat. It had been so long since someone touched him this gently. As if he could break instead of something to break.
“Training session gone wrong,” he whispered. The night was loud around you, panicked voices from the bar, officials checking out the warehouse. It was almost necessary for this to be quiet, reserved just for you.
You hummed in reply, dropping your hand to your side once again.
“I missed you.” He whispers again, dropping his forehead to yours. You weren’t sure when the proximity between you shrank and he was millimeters away, yet you couldn’t push him away. It was almost as if your body wouldn’t let you.
His confession landed somewhere you didn’t want to think of as it cut right through you. You missed him too, it was impossible not to, but he left. He made his choice and you couldn’t follow. A small thought in the back of your head always wondered what would have happened if you asked him to stay. If you fed into that selfish desire to keep him with you in the walls of the castle. Maybe something might've come of you two. Maybe he would still hold you at night. Maybe you could look at the dip in your mattress and not be haunted by the fact he no longer comes home.
It's difficult to stomach the fact you barely talk anymore. He goes on month long missions and then calls get missed, words are lost in translation, and next thing you know it’s been three months since you’ve seen him.
“I missed you too Kogane.”
And with that, you just let it exist. You let the small confession of two young adults with a burden none should bare lay between you, because there was nothing to be done. You were going to have to miss each other until the war was over. You were going to have to love him from a distance because you were in too deep. You lost too much of yourself to this war to give up here, to ask him to come back to you.
So as a final act of love for now, you give yourself this gift. You steal this small moment from the universe behind a bar, allowing yourselves to hold each other one more time. Because unfortunately, there’s always a chance it may be your last.
•───────•°•♡•°•───────•
A/N: Can't believe i'm writing a voltron oneshot in the year 2026 omg
keith kogane x archer reader headcanons!! maybe u can include both pre relationship and established relationship headcanons!!
Agh sorry for the delay! Hope you like :)
I wasn't sure if you meant archer like the tv show or someone who does archery so I just did archery since I actually know what I'm talking about with that! Let me know if not and I'll research archer.
Also so glad you send about Keith phew I've been wanting to write about him foreeeevvveeerrr
Voltron Keith and Archer!Reader (GN)
Pre-Relationship
He thinks it's pretty cool that you're an archer. Keith is more up close and personal with the enemy so it's interesting for him to learn how you fight.
If you're in the fight with him providing long range support, he'd try to keep up with your arrows. He's a lil competitive what can I say?
Will stop for a brief sec to admire your shot if you do a great one and it's safe enough. You might even get a "heh nice" if he's feeling chatty.
I feel like Keith would ask to see your bow and your arrows to look at the craftmanship - he's pretty big on weapons, especially knives, so if you've got a cool bow (you definitely do) he'd ask to hold it and look at the carvings.
Big fan of watching you train... so he can learn... of course... definitely not oogling... no idea what you're talking about.
BONUS: Lance definitely makes fun of him for staring at you while you're training.
Established Relationship
Fighting with him is great, he is usually slightly ahead of you and super fast but you've trained with him enough to know where to shoot without hitting him. You both keep tallies of how many enemies you got and compare while you're travelling back. One with the least does the dishes.
If you land a particularly impressive shot, you'd hear "great shot babe!" through the comms (and groaning from Lance).
Trusts you with his life ngl would let you shoot an apple off his head. Has offered multiple times which is uh a lil worrying (he likes adrenaline a teeny bit too much)
Will tell Krolia about your archery skills and basically brag to her about how good you are. She'd definitely say "if you're that good then you can shoot this off my head" (Like mother; like son)
At the Space Mall, he'd not actively be looking but he'd definitely keep an eye out for anything archery themed there that he can get you. Whether that's new string for your bow, new gloves or a really nice new quiver (in red and black ofc so everyone knows you're his).
Watches you train and will give you pointers. He tries to train with you to improve his long-range defences with his sword and shield but sometimes (most of the time) the training will end with you both making out.
You can't leave me with Keith being handsy before bed and not expand on that. Give me Keith being down for the reader.
I left you on read for so long dear anon, such a shame of me 🫣
Let's do this
Fandom: Voltron
Ship: Keith x GN!reader
Rating: 18+ no smut, but 18+ to be safe.
LISTEN the moment you two are alone for the night the first thing he takes off are his gloves. Why his gloves? Because he wants to feel every single inch of you with his hands that he can.
He loves to hug you from behind and pull you in close by your hips. To him, the feeling of your soft skin is heavenly and it is the softest at your hips. Maybe its so soft soft because it is always covered?
Lots of lazy open mouth kisses are placed on your neck and shoulders between questions about your day.
Grins like a cat at every single gasp or moan you make for him.
A normal nightly conversation goes like this
"Keith I need to get changed."
"Let me help you with your clothing then"
"No because these will end up on the floor and me on the bed."
"The PJ's will be on the floor either way."
Sometimes that earns him a kiss and the freedom for his hands to roam. Sometimes that earns him a playful shove away.
On the nights you let him undress you Keith takes his sweet time. finger tips trail up your sides and he'll place kisses at new patches of exposed skin.
You will have love bites to hide in the morning, good luck with that.
You are a fellow pilot at the Garrison and Keith's only friend, he sneaks you out to show you something during the night...
Word Count: 3.2K
Slight Angst | Sweet, Vulnerable Keith
{This can also be found on my wattpad: @/blueberry_sunshines}
{POV: Yours}
You were sitting criss-cross on top of your small bed in your dorm at the Garrison. The dim yellow glow of the school commissioned lamp lightly lit up the pages of your biology textbook. You were staying up late trying to study. Your roommate offered to stay up with you to help but you told her just to go to sleep. You didn't want her to be all sleep deprived.
Keith Kogane wasn't in all of your classes, but he was in a few. You were both fighter class pilots so your curriculum was quite similar. Everyone always says they're so surprised he's nice to you, and your roommate loves to tease you about it. She says that Keith has a 'soft spot' for you, but Keith just says that you're the only person he can stand.
Besides, you've known each other since you were kids. You both transferred to the Garrison at the same time and were partnered together. At first Keith was really cold towards you, but you always just thought he was shy and it didn't bother you that much. He seemed bored with the simulator and you always found his showing off to be rather funny. After what happened with James, Keith finally opened up to you and after that, you two were rather close. By the end of the year you two definitely started to become real friends...
You guys are 16 years old now and Keith is probably your best friend. There's always been a thin barrier between you two, but you've been ignoring it because you don't want him to push himself further away. You kind of always wished he would open up more. You thought about asking him to help you study tonight, but boys and girls aren't allowed in each other's dorms and you've been trying to make sure he stays out of trouble because you've been worried about him recently. He's been kind of distant lately and much more aggravated. A lot of people had been antsy lately because the Kerberos mission was a few months away. You knew that Keith sees the pilot, Shiro, as an older brother figure. He took Keith under his wing, so maybe that's what he was thinking about all the time when he was out of it. You had talked Shiro many times about Kerberos and he seemed very confident about it, so you never thought to worry about it. You shook your head, trying to refocus on your biology book. You turned around to look at your alarm clock and saw it flash "1:13 AM" in its big, red numbers. Damn, you really needed to wrap this up and get to bed soon...
-Knock Knock-
You had just about jumped from the surprise of someone knocking on your door. You looked over to your roommate's bed to see her definitely asleep. You sprung off your bed knowing exactly who it would be. Shaking your head in half disappointment, you put your hand on the button on the wall and let your door slide open to see none other than Keith Kogane. You felt the accidental smile form on your face the moment your eyes met his. He looked uncharacteristically nervous as he stood there in the hallway all dressed up in his red jacket and boots. You loved seeing him in his outfit because the Garrison uniforms were rather bland. Although, you thought, Keith could probably pull of anything.
"Are you gonna let me in?" Keith whispered to you with a furrow on his face. Your face began to heat up in embarrassment from spacing out.
"Sorry, just tired..." you whispered back, peeking outside the door to see if there was anyone there before grabbing Keith's sleeve and pulling him into your dorm room.
"I didn't think you'd be awake..." he admitted quietly as he walked towards your bed.
"What's up?" You asked curiously. Normally he tells you he's coming before he does, so you weren't sure what he was doing here.
"Get changed, we're going out." He was sitting on your bed now and had his arm crossed. You looked down at yourself and realized you were still in your old T-shirt, sleep shorts combo. Eh, well this isn't the first time Keith's seen me in my pajamas.
"Keith," you sat back down on your bed, pulling him down with you. "I don't know if we should." You cautioned, "You're always getting in trouble and you can't afford losing your scholarship. You are the best pilot here, you were born for this."
He frowned at you before speaking, "(Y/N), we're not gonna get caught. Besides, if I get kicked out, they have you left." He bumped into you jokingly. "Where are we going?" You asked quietly to make sure your roommate doesn't wake up. Keith started standing up then and shook his head, "You'll find out soon." He said shortly, not leaving any room for you to guess what he's planning.
"Come on," he stood up quickly and held his gloved hands out to you. You placed your hands into his and felt the warmth of his palms. It made your heart jump for a second. He pulled you up off your bed and slightly spun you over towards your big, gray wardrobe.
"Now get dressed and come with me~" he whispered into your ear and pulled back with a smirk. He let go of your hands then and slipped out towards the door, "And hurry before we get caught!" He whisper-yelled to you as the door slid shut.
Your heart was beating so fast. Something about Keith always made your adrenaline start pumping. Maybe it's because we're always doing things that could get us in trouble. You thought to yourself.
Okay maybe more like convinced yourself. You then started changing out of your pajamas and into your regular outside of school outfit to distract yourself from your thoughts. You didn't want to like Keith. You guys are best friends and there's no reason to ruin that just for a silly crush. Once you were changed you made a dash to the door and snuck out next to Keith as quietly as you could. You smiled up at him and he looked down at you kindly before heading down the corridor with you stealthy following after him. You were glad to see him like this, this is the first time he's really seemed happy in the past couple weeks.
You slipped around past some adults and teachers before making it out of one of the dock's open doors. You and Keith had snuck out of the Garrison many times before but you normally don't go with him every time he goes out. He likes being alone and so do you, so you understand.
Keith was leading you around the side of the building to stay out of cameras' and lookouts' lines of vision you eventually managed to creep around to a corner and ran until you were in the spot where you are completely hidden, there you two found Keith's land speeder. Keith plunked a helmet onto your head and started to get on before you protested.
"Hey I wanna drive!" You whisper shouted to him hoping he'd let you be in charge of the speeder. Shiro had taught Keith to ride them ever since you've known Keith, you tried to convince him to let you join them when you were younger but he always refused. It wasn't until you were older you realized your boundaries much better. Over the past year, though, you had asked Keith to teach you and he's been trying. You weren't the greatest yet but you were definitely learning.
Keith let out a soft chuckle, "No way, sweetheart." He snipped at you in a playful tone while using a sarcastic nickname that always caused your chest to ache. "Besides, you don't even know where we're going." He fully sat down on the seat now and patted the seat behind him, other hand on the handlebar. You reluctantly obliged and slid on behind him. He turned his head around to look at you and gave you a smirk, "Hold on tight, we're going fast."
You grinned and nodded then wrapped your arms around his torso and hung on as he revved the speeder and you two went rushing across the desert. Your heart began to race as you pulled yourself closer to Keith, feeling the wind on you as you flew through the air. You began thinking to yourself where Keith may be taking you as you looked around at your surroundings blurring past you. You eventually leaned your cheek against his back as the ride wasn't super short.
"We're almost there!" He yelled back to you, not turning his head back this time. You could hear the smile on his face and it made you smile too. You picked your head back up to start looking around again to see if you knew where you were. As you slowed to a stop, you peeked your head around his shoulder to look in front of you.
"Hey!" You began laughing, "You liar! I so know my way here!" Keith had driven you guys to his old house he used to live in with his dad. You guys have come here many times in the past. Keith comes here all the time and even skips classes to be here. It's a cute little home but it's not very cleaned up inside. Perhaps Keith likes it the way it was left and you can see why. Keith joined in on your laughter.
"This isn't the place, we're just stopping to pick something up." Your laughter subsided as Keith got off the speeder. "Stay here," he smiled down at you, "I'll be right back." He then pushed down the visor on your helmet just to tease you before he walked off towards the house. You flicked back up the visor and rested your hand on your palm tiredly. You were starting to feel tired again after that adrenaline rush. You yawned as you thought about what on earth Keith could be grabbing. By the time he came back you started to feel more awake when you began having conversation again. Keith had a long case in his arms and he strapped it safely to the back of the speeder. Keith got back on and began driving you two up a long hill a small while away from the old Kogane house.
Once you made it to the peak, you two both got off the speeder and you got to see the beautiful sky line over the dessert mountains. You let out an amazed sigh at the sight. You were pulled out of your awed state when you heard the sounds of Keith doing something behind you. Turning around, you saw Keith setting up a telescope. You looked at him in confusion because you didn't think Keith liked telescopes, especially not after that full semester on telescopes and astral charts two years ago. He looked up at you through his long hair that was sagging in this face from his bent over stance. He didn't really look so amused either which just pushed your confusion even further.
"Come here." He beckoned after he was done setting it up. "Come here and see what you can see, right in the middle of the scope."
You looked at him skeptically before getting down to look into it. In the middle of your view was a small faint blip in the sky. "Dude," you snorted, "what star is this?" You still had no idea what he was having you look at.
"It's a moon. Jupiter's Europa." He said shortly. You stood up from the telescope and saw Keith sitting nonchalantly on the ground now. You walked back and sat down next to him, letting your hands fall behind you to hold yourself up.
"Europa is about 365 million miles away. That's nothing compared to Kerberos." He said, his voice starting to sound a lot more unhappy. "It's over 3.2 billion miles from here. And Shiros actually going!" He shouted with a growl in his voice. There it is, you thought, this is about Kerberos.
You kept quiet. You knew during times like this, it was better to just let Keith talk and you were perfectly fine with that. Looking over at him, you could see him still looking up at the night sky. His eyes were sad, his gaze was lost, yet angry. "I heard him fighting with Adam when I was outside his door a couple hours ago. Adam told Shiro that if he goes to Kerberos, that he won't be here for him when he gets back." His eyes wavered down at the ground between you two now. "And it got me thinking, everyone's been saying this is just a routine mission but, why would Adam be so worried about it?" He looked over to you now, helplessly, you didn't have an answer, and he didn't expect you to have one.
"I think you should confront Shiro tomorrow and ask him to tell you the truth about it." You offered finally after a small moment of silence. Keith nodded slowly, thinking about your response.
"Thanks, Y/N." He gave you a small grateful smile before laying down on the ground now, face up to the sky. You followed suit and laid down, suddenly even closer to him than you were before.
"Anytime, Mullet." You grinned turning your head to face him. You saw him looking at you with a disappointed scowl on his face, causing you to let out a small laugh. Keith let out a sigh as you stopped giggling. You never knew what he was thinking, and the look on his face, you could tell he was thinking deeply about something. "What are you thinking about?" You decided to ask him, thinking there'd be no better time to have real conversations with him than tonight.
Keith looked back at the sky now opening his mouth to speak and then closing it again. Most likely thinking over his words.
"I've been thinking about something else too. I don't know what I would do in Shiro's shoes. I'm impulsive and stupid as hell, and when I want to do something I don't let anything stand in my way, but if someone I really loved tried to stop me from doing it, I don't know if I could, even with the thought of them leaving me for me. And it scares me, Y/N, so many people have left me and I don't know what I'd do if it were my fault you left."
You felt a lump form in your throat from hearing Keith talk about this. This is one of the times in a very long time he has let you in on how he feels about anything. Hearing him openly express your emotions was touching and you felt so honored to be the one he tells them to.
"Y/N?" Your name escaped his lips again, this time asking as if he was longing for you. You turned your head again to look at him. You held your breath when you noticed that your faces were close enough that your noses could be touching if either of you moved any further.
"Yeah?" You asked him suddenly much more quiet now, you cursed yourself for sounding so nervous but you couldn't control your pounding heart at the proximity. You were searching his eyes to see if you could guess what he was thinking, he's never been very touchy and you were oh so close to touching, you started to sit up a bit to give him space, but you were stopped in your tracks when you felt Keith's hand grip onto yours as he sat up too, pulling your hand towards him.
The warm touch so foreign and yet so familiar. An hour ago in your dorm, a month ago while guiding you in the simulator, a year ago when he tried to help you fix your bad hair day, all the way back to age 13 when he handed you back your glitter gel pen in class and you felt the flaming rush in your chest.
"I want you to know," he whispered, holding onto your hand a little tighter now, "no matter what happens, I will never do anything on purpose to make you leave me."
You didn't know what to say, so instead you flung your arms around him and pulled him into a loving hug. You let out a shaky sigh as you felt Keith's body relax into yours. "I know you wouldn't." You were in this weird state of shock having never seen Keith this vulnerable before.
"God I'm so fucking stupid..." you hear his muffled voice growl from your shoulder. He pulled away from the hug then, angry at himself for just simply showing you his emotions. You shook your head quickly and put his hand back into your own.
"No you're not, Keith." You reassured him, "Thank you for telling me this." You said then, hoping to make him feel more secure again.
"Yeah..." he sighed then, "Let's get you back in your dorm, they should be switching look outs soon." He quickly changed the subject. You frowned at him, both for putting back up his wall and for making this night coming to an end. You agreed nonetheless, you were glad Keith was beginning to let you in and you were willing to accept that the boundary was back up. Keith means the world to you, and you'd never let that go.
Keith drove you guys back to his speeders hiding place before helping you sneak back in and back through the halls to your dorm. There wasn't any talking on the way back but it was a comfortable silence. Once you were back at your door, you thanked Keith for the wonderful night and told him to get some sleep before the sun starts to come up. You turned them to your door and were about to open it when,
"Hey, uh, (Y/N)?" He whispered for your attention once again. "You're really important to me." He said shortly but still full of so much love. You pulled him into another hug. "You too, Mullet." You whispered into his ear, "Never forget it... please?"
You felt Keith nod and he gave you a quick squeeze before letting go of the embrace, slowly, his hand sliding down your arm as he began to walk away, once it reached your hand and gave it another quick squeeze before he finally let go and slipped around the corner into the darkness. You let out a large breath you didn't know you were holding once you saw him disappear. God were you in love with him. Even if he's never usually like that during the day, you love every Keith and maybe one day you'll tell him....
__________
Hey!!! Let me know what you thought of this one shot :))) I know Keith was pretty ooc, but I like thinking of him being very sensitive around the ones he loves!
Also this didn't proof read yet because I rlly wanted to get this chapter out to you guys !!!!!
This is my first like official Voltron work so bare with me!
Summary: Keith is an angel, and he’s completed mission after mission for the Upper Hand, the organisation controlling all of the Above. He’s only failed a mission once: when he was assigned to kill you, a surprisingly charismatic demon. He roamed Earth–Middle Ground–for years before he was caught by the Upper Hand again, and things quickly go south.
Genre: angst YEEEET
Word count: 6.2K
Notes: masterlist - {previous} - {next} -- me: *doesn't update for 67 years* *updates* *doesn't update for 67 ye
– – –
And when I fall to rise
with stardust in my eyes
In the backbone of night, I’m combustible
~ King of The Clouds, Panic! At The Disco
– – –
“I got you caramel popcorn.”
You look up from where you’re tying your boots and raise an eyebrow. “Beg your pardon?”
A plastic box filled with the sticky treats lands on the couch next to you. “Caramel popcorn. You like it, right?” Keith runs a hand through his hair and plops down too, giving a small wince. He’s trying very hard to hide the fact that he’s still feeling pretty beat up, but he’s not very good at it. Or maybe you’re just very skilled at reading him.
You cautiously take the box, pop off the lid and pluck one grain from its siblings. “I do like it.” With a flourish, you stick it in your mouth and smile at the sweet taste. “How’d you know?”
Keith looks down. “You probably mentioned it while I was… out.”
Your fingers, halfway down the box already, freeze. “Say what now?”
He shrugs stiffly, the shirt draped over his lanky frame only barely moving with him. He’s lost so much weight while he was sick, and it’s affected him more than he cares to show. He still tires easily, needs a lot of sleep. He gets nauseous faster, and gets dizzy when he stands up too abruptly. Over the past few days he’s been getting better, staying up with longer intervals between naps every time but he still isn’t quite back to normal.
And it’s bothering him. You can tell it’s bothering him. He tries to help you in any way he can, though those aren’t many. You’ve had him buy groceries a few times so you could come straight home from work–but that was often quite late in the evening, and you right now you’re just about to leave for work.
“I keep getting these flashes of memories that aren’t mine. And–well–you’re the only person I’ve talked to for about two weeks, so I figured they were yours.” He gives a nervous laugh. “Well, practically the only person. I’m guessing it wasn’t the grocer who leaked some of his memories into my brain.”
“No. ‘Cause that would be weird,” you say, carefully removing your hand from the popcorn and placing the bucket on the low coffee table in front of you. Suddenly you feel cold again.
“Look,” he starts, and you firmly keep your eyes on the bowl of popcorn, not wanting to meet his, “I don’t know what you did or who you went to for whatever it is that cured me. But I do know that you saved my life, and I’ll forever be in your debt for that.”
“Keith–”
“No, seriously. I don’t need to know everything. That’s completely fine. But I don’t want you to get hurt because you were trying to help me.” And he sounds so sincere, like he means every word, and you look away and purse your lips and tug at your shoelaces because he’s really not making things easy for you.
Whenever you think you finally have your thoughts out in a row, Keith swoops in and says a line like that one and makes everything foggy again. He could have drop-kicked you in the stomach and you would be less confused. Stupid, stupid, stupid. You wonder if he’s doing it on purpose–if he knows you’ve been tasked with a mission that’s nothing short of impossible.
Not impossible in the literal sense of the word. In fact, it would hardly be a challenge at all; Keith’s still weakened and even without your knives you could overpower him in half a second. No, the impossibility of the task lies in a more complicated and nuanced territory: your morals. Your feelings towards him, to be exact, and how much you can ignore them. If you even want to ignore them, and up til now that’s not looking very likely a possibility.
The portal pass Prince Lotor gave you sits untouched in a locked drawer in your nightstand. At night, when the only sound filling the air is the nightlife of the city, you can feel it pulsing beside you, beckoning to be used. It’s tempting you, whispering for your touch, begging to return home. As far as you know, portal passes don’t have expiration dates, but you’re still hoping that the call will eventually weaken until you don’t even notice it anymore.
No, giving Keith up to the Below isn’t an option. But he’s growing stronger every day, and at one point he’s going to leave. He’ll leave, and you won’t be there to protect him anymore, and that means he’ll be fair game for any Bounty out there who caught word of the prize his capture will grant.
And really, you just want him to stay.
You want him to stay because your life has been infinitely more interesting since he showed up. You want him to stay because you took care of him for a week while he was dying, and you’re the reason he’s here, alive, in the first place. You want him to stay because you’ve grown to like him–and because he understands you in a way no one else can.
“I’m not hurt,” you assure him. Your fingers ghost over his briefly before you pull them back to your lap. “I won’t get hurt. I promise.” He gives a tentative smile and you zip your hoodie up over your t-shirt. “Let’s focus first on getting you all healed up, all right?”
“I’m fine!”
“Keith, you tripped over your own shoelace and immediately knocked yourself out. You almost threw up after going out onto the rooftop.” You tug a soft hat over your ears and, after a small moment of hesitation, grab a last small handful of caramel popcorn and cradle them in your palm. They really are good. “I’ll be back this afternoon. If anything’s wrong, call. I might not pick up right away but I’ll call back.”
He sighs, tugs at a strand of dark hair. “Okay. Bye.”
You snatch up your keys and open the door. “Take a nap,” you smile over your shoulder. You don’t stay to see his reaction.
– – –
The day goes by as most work days go by, and you huff out a breath when you sink onto a chair around lunchtime. “I’m taking my break,” you tell Emmie–the real Emmie–and she nods. It had been pretty weird to see her and the others for the first time after the whole Bountyhunter fiasco. You were pretty sure none of them noticed how you stiffened when they’d greeted you first thing in the morning, and even if they had they would probably just think you had a rough day or something.
Your phone buzzes and you jump. Before picking up, you glance at the caller ID. “Hey. What’s up?”
“Oh, did I get it right? I always forget when you have your lunch break,” Allura says.
“You got it right. I’ve literally just sat down.”
“Fabulous. It’s the hospital, you know. Messes with your perception of time.”
“I’ll take your word for it. I wouldn’t know.”
“Nah, you wouldn’t.”
You shake your head, but a smile tugs at the ends of your lips. “Did you just want to chat or did you need anything?”
“Nah, I just wanted to chat. We haven’t talked in ages! And also you won’t tell me what you’re doing or what’s going on or who is staying in your apartment… you know. Breezy stuff.” Her tone is light, but you can tell she’s a little pissed at you for ghosting her, and you honestly can’t blame her.
“Allura… I’m really sorry about that. My life’s just been really messy for the last two weeks or so. I’m working on it, I promise.”
She sighs, and you imagine the way her lips purse as she glares out into the distance. “You know,” she says suddenly, “I think I’ve been a pretty good friend so far.”
It takes you aback, and you choke out a startled laugh. “You have been. I mean, you are. You’re the best.”
“Then why won’t you tell me what’s going on? Maybe I could help.”
You lick your lips, lightly kicking at an empty cardboard box on the floor. “It’s hard to explain. I–it’s–it’s complicated.”
“Right.”
“Listen, I want to explain it. I do. You deserve to know what’s going on, but… I’m afraid of what you’ll think if I do tell you. And I’m afraid–” You only just manage to cut yourself off and swallow the words about to tip from your tongue. You let your head fall back. “Okay. What if we meet up tonight? After work? And I’ll explain what I can, okay?”
She’s silent for a moment, then says, “Fine. Okay.”
Silently, you let out a breath you’d been holding. “All right. Uh, how about the park? Let’s say half past eight?”
“Sounds good to me.”
You switch your phone to your other ear. “So, uh, see you then? I guess?”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye,” you say, but she’s already hung up. You growl, squeezing your eyes shut and raking a hand through your hair before rubbing your temples. “Fuck.”
Is this whole ordeal worth jeopardising your friendship with Allura? No. But then again, how much of a choice do you really have? What are you going to tell her? Oh yeah, I’m actually demon, and I kind of saved an angel that I then later learned is on the lam so now I’m harboring a fugitive. It just doesn’t ring very well.
But you’re going to have to tell her something. She’s starting to get suspicious–she has every reason to. Maybe you’ll just have to improvise a bit.
A glance at your watch tells you that your break ends in ten minutes, and you haven’t even had your lunch yet. You stand up and make your way to the snack dispenser, logging in a coin and, with a fair amount of shaking and punching the already-battered sides of the machine, plucking out a pack of raisins and a chocolate granola bar. Not much of a lunch, but oh well. Keith would have your head if he knew these were your only nutrients of the day.
Then you shake your head and frown. Since when do you care what Keith thinks?
As you nibble on the granola bar, you contemplate your phone that you laid on the coffee table in front of you. Part of you wants to call your home phone. Just to see how Keith’s doing. What he’s been up to (in the whole five hours that you haven’t seen him). Stupid, you tell yourself. Stop it. He’s fine. He’s a grown angel, for Hell’s sake. He can take care of himself.
Really, you just want to hear his voice. It’s comforting. He has a nice voice.
But you mentally scold yourself. Just because you decided you won’t turn him in doesn’t give you an excuse to get all cuddly with him. So you lick the last of the chocolate from your fingers, straighten your blue work shirt and stuff your phone in your back pocket. Tony allows phones in pockets as long as they’re switched off, so you make sure you do just that before you push the door open and resume your shift.
“Keith?” You shout his name before you even properly entered your apartment, and you’re greeted with an irritated hum from where he’s half passed out on the sofa. “Have you just been sleeping the entire day?”
“Hm.”
“Good for you. Wish I could get more than four hours’ sleep a night.”
He cracks open an eye. “You only get four hours’ sleep a night?” Oh. Not as unconscious as you thought.
“No, no,” you quickly lie, “nah, I was exaggerating. I get plenty of sleep. Don’t worry.” You kick off your shoes and drop your keys in their little box. “But you sleeping is good. It means you’ll feel better soon.”
“Hey, hey,” he says, suppressing a yawn and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, “don’t change the subject.”
“Keith. I told you I’m fine. Drop it.”
“No.”
You raise an eyebrow.
He looks at you, squinting with fatigue, but his eyes are determined and glint. “You look like crap. You’ve been working your ass off when you look like you can barely stand on your feet. I didn’t want to say anything because–well–I figured it wasn’t my place to tell you you should rest,” he adds, a bit awkwardly, but voice still firm.
“It’s not,” you say, eyebrow still raised and feeling your shoulders stiffen with ever word falling from his lips.
“But you should. Rest, I mean. I don’t know why you won’t take care of yourself, but I don’t want–” He catches himself before the end of his sentence, and when you narrow your eyes you think you can spot a faint blush dotting his cheeks. “Anyway. Just… be careful, okay?”
“Sure.” For some reason, it’s easier to be curt when he’s worrying about you instead of the other way around. Though you don’t think you’ll actually stop being worried about him until he’s a hundred percent back to normal, but him reaching out and voicing his concerns about you has your emotional walls immediately shoot up.
Up until now, you hadn’t realised how much you’d started to let them down.
You grab a cup and fill it with water, leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen as you gulp it down. Keith’s gaze is still fixed on you, and you pointedly direct yours at the floor.
“Y/N–”
“Keith. Drop it. Seriously.” You set the empty cup down on the kitchen table, maybe a bit more forcefully than necessary. “I’m actually going out tonight.”
He frowns, and again there’s that flash of concern that has you resist the urge to roll your eyes. “I’m just meeting up with a friend. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but you don’t have to wait up for me if you want to go to sleep early. God,” you add with a scoff when he purses his lips, “don’t look so disapproving. What are you, my dad?”
“Y/N–”
“I’m going out.” Your voice is quiet but icy, and you can see Keith knows he won’t change your mind.
He closes his eyes briefly. “At least eat something before you go.”
“I’ll get takeout on the way or something.” You turn on your heel and, after a split second of internal debate you pull your scarf from its place on the coat hanger and wrap it around your face. “I’ll be back in a bit.”
You don’t even wait to hear his answer.
Allura’s waiting for you on your bench, her purple scarf pulled around her cheeks and her hair piled atop her head in a bun. She looks up when you approach, then shifts a little to the side to make room for you. Her eyes are narrowed, though you suspect that’s due more to a mix of fatigue and a protection against the cold wind than it is anger against you.
“Hey,” you say, sinking onto the bench next to her.
“Hi.” She crosses her ankles and looks away briefly before focusing her gaze on you again. Her brows furrow slightly. “What happened to you?”
You freeze. “What?”
“I mean, why do you look like that?”
A hesitant laugh rolls past your lips. “Like what?”
“Like you haven’t slept, eaten, or seen sunlight in a week. No, don’t even–hey, look at me.” She grabs your wrists and forces you to look her in the eye. With every second she scrutinises your face the worry in hers grows, and she reaches out to tentatively touch the tender skin beneath your eyes. “Have you been overworking yourself?”
“No,” you say, deflated, though it comes out more like a whine.
“How much sleep have you been getting a night?”
“Allura, stop it. I feel fine.” It’s a lie, and she doesn’t look convinced. “I don’t need you fretting over me as well.”
She leans back. “What do you mean, as well?” Her lips purse and she takes your hands in hers. “Y/N, what is going on?”
You sigh, cursing yourself and this entire situation internally. You have to think very carefully about what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it. You bite your lip, and after a moment of silence you say, “Remember when I called you a while ago about that fever?”
She nods slowly. “And I told you to sweat it out, and you said that wouldn’t work, so I told you to go find my uncle.”
“Right. Well, I did,” you sigh, thinking back to the strange excursion that was the trip by Coran’s shop.
“And did you find what you were looking for?”
“I did.” She raises an eyebrow, rolling her hand in a Go on gesture. You exhale, fumbling with the words in your mind before speaking them out loud. “It wasn’t for research purposes. I needed it because… a friend of mine–well, he’s more like an acquaintance, really–was very sick. And no, I couldn’t take him to the hospital,” you add quickly when she opens her mouth to say something.
She frowns. “Why not?”
You cringe slightly. For some reason, you don’t think He’s not human is going to cut it. “I just couldn’t, okay? Please just–just trust me on this. Listen,” you say, lowering your head into your hands, “there’s some things I really can’t tell you. I just can’t. But I’m trying my best.” Your voice catches and you’re surprised to find your eyes sting. You angrily wipe the forming tears away.
“I’ve known him for a while,” you continue. “But we never really… talked before. Because we come from… different places.” What a way to simplify it.
“So he’s, like… some kind of famous, rich, bourgeois-esque guy? Is that what I’m picking up here?” She’s trying to lighten the mood, you know she is, but the laugh you manage to grit out is bitter anyway.
“That’s one way to put it.”
It’s silent for a while, and the tension that cloaked the air before starts to fade. Allura can be quite hot-headed sometimes, but she doesn’t always manage to stay angry for long–though in this case, she would have every reason to. You’ve been avoiding her, even if you had a good reason.
Then she sighs. “I’m trying to understand, Y/N.” You glance at her, keep your mouth shut. “But it’s hard. And I’m not sure if this is just you being your mystical self, or if there’s something really weird going on, but I don’t like it. At all. Not if this is how it makes you act and feel.” Again she shoots a pointed look at your face. “But you’re asking me to trust you, so that’s what I’ll do.”
Your eyes, that narrowed as you looked down at the ground, snap open and you turn your head around fully to look at her. “Seriously?”
She nods. “Yeah. Seriously. And I don’t like it,” she repeats, shifting to sit on her hands and glaring out into the darkening evening streets, “but I trust you to not do anything stupid. Or, well, anything very stupid.”
And it makes you feel good. A huge weight seems to fall off your shoulders and you breathe a relieved sigh. “Thanks, Allura.”
“Well.” She sits up straight and hooks an arm over the back of the bench, turning fully to you, her mouth curling into a wicked grin. “Now that we worked that out, you’re going to tell me about this guy, because I want to know who you’re risking our friendship for, God damn it.”
Your head tips back. “Allura. Please. Don’t.”
“Nuh-uh-uh,” she tuts. “None of that. You owe me this. Fine, I’ll start easy. What’s his name?”
You slowly roll your head until you’re looking her in the eye. “Keith.”
She nods, grin turning smug. “Where’s he from?”
You flinch. “…Somewhere up north.”
“Ah. Touchy subject?”
“Eh.”
“Fine,” she huffs, “then answer this one. Why would he come to you now if you’ve never even spoken before? You made it sound like he was in serious trouble.”
“He was. And, well… I guess he came to me because he had nowhere else to go.”
Allura hums. Then, “You sound like you care about him.”
You start. “What?”
“You know. You took him into your apartment, you stayed home from work for a week to take care of him, you almost fucked up our friendship for him… that’s not just because you felt sorry for him.” She says it so breezily, the words more a joke by now than anything, but you still wish she hadn’t said them–if only because they ring so true.
“I barely know him,” you protest weakly.
“But you want to. Get to know him, I mean.”
“Fuck, Allura, I wanted to talk, not for you to tell me how to lead my love life,” you groan, sliding along the backrest.
She wiggles her eyebrows. ‘Who said anything about love?”
“Oh my god.” You jump up, dusting off your coat and giving your scarf a vigorous tug. “I’m gonna go now. Again, the coming days–weeks, maybe, I don’t fucking know–might be weird. There’s a bunch of stuff Keith and I need to sort out. I’ll call you eventually, but it might be smart if you kind of stayed out of it? I’d appreciate that. As a personal favour.”
“Uh, sure,” she says, looking equally taken aback and somewhat smug by your sudden flustered and rambly state. “Why’s that?”
“You know. I was already manipulated into thinking you were being tortured to get information out of me, so. I’d rather that doesn’t happen again. You know what, just pretend you don’t know me until I call you, all right?”
She freezes for only a fraction of a second, then scrambles up and grabs your sleeve.“Say what now?”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s no big deal.”
“That absolutely is a big fucking deal, Y/N.”
“Figures. I’m really sorry you got sucked into this mess, Allura. You deserve better friends than me.”
Her lips purse, and before you know what’s happening she’s pulled you into a hug. “Please be careful,” she whispers into your shoulder.
You wrap your own arms around her and squeeze. “I’ll try.” Welcome to my shitstorm of a life, you think wryly, then you gently free yourself from her embrace. “I’ll call you when this is all over.”
She nods, and you’re about to walk back to your apartment when something occurs to you. You spin around again, mindlessly rubbing your forearm. “Hey, one last thing.”
“Yeah?”
You bite your lip, hesitate. “Your uncle Coran. He might be able to answer some of your questions. He’s… a special guy. I think he knows more than he lets on.”
Allura gives a small smile, then nods. “I’ll think about it.”
Your living room windows are dark, and that should have been enough to make you suspicious. Keith doesn’t put out the lights until you’re home.
But your mind is still occupied with everything you told–and didn’t tell–Allura, and you’re just feeling good that everything went the way it did. You won’t have to worry about her getting hurt anymore, and the light feeling of maybe everything will be okay after all is the reason you don’t notice anything’s wrong until you turn the keys and open the door to be greeted with darkness.
You freeze. “Keith?” No answer.
Slowly, you flick on the light switch beside you, blinking hard to force your eyes to quickly get used to the light. Nothing. The sofa looks eerily clean and made up. The blanket you gave him sits neatly folded on one armrest. Your heart speeds up, and you make your way over to the kitchen. The fridge’s contents have been rearranged. The tub of caramel popcorn is in the cabinet where you keep your sweets. He’d put it there before leaving. It’s a small gesture, but one so sweet and innocent and final that it makes a fist clench over your heart.
Somehow you sense that this is it; he’s not coming back. This isn’t one of his impromptu errands. He cleaned up after himself, made sure everything looked exactly the way it did before he even set foot in your apartment.
But it doesn’t feel right anymore. It’s empty.
Keith was never much of a presence. He wasn’t loud or brash or in constant need of attention, but he would quietly come sit in the armchair next to you when you were reading on the sofa, or he’d join you at the kitchen table and doodle on a notepad, one foot tucked under his butt and the very tip of his tongue peeking out from between his lips. His company made your apartment feel that little more alive.
Made you feel that little more alive.
And it’s not that you can’t handle yourself on your own. You can do that just fine. But you’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy having him in your home. Another presence like you, to remind you that you’re not alone.
And it just feels weird. Why would he leave so suddenly? Without even giving you a warning? Without saying goodbye? It doesn’t make sense, and you sink down onto the sofa, fingers absentmindedly trailing over the fuzzy blanket. The room’s too clean for him to have been kidnapped or murdered; that would have looked way messier than this. No, he went by choice.
It’s late. It’s late, it’s dark, and if Keith really doesn’t want to see you again you don’t stand the slightest chance to find him in the nightly streets.
And yet, half a minute later you find yourself–all the while cursing and scoffing at yourself under your breath–outside once more, narrowing your eyes against the chilly evening wind. You hesitate for a moment, not quite sure of where to go, then you decide to just make your way to the nearest underground station and figure out where you’re headed from there. Keith knows this city, but you know it better.
So that’s how you end up in the underground at half past ten P.M, brain working at a thousand miles per hour, looking for a runaway angel that you know you have a very slim chance of finding. The cart is surprisingly crowded, and you have to crane your neck to find an unoccupied seat. You plop down beside a reading student.
The grind of the track below you makes it hard to think, so you let your head tip against the backrest of the seat and close your eyes with a sigh. A hand comes up to rub your eyelids. “What am I doing,” you whisper to yourself. The student casts you a half-curious look, but wisely doesn’t say anything.
If Keith doesn’t want to be found you doubt you’ll find him–but what if someone else does? What if someone who knows about the price Lotor fixed on Keith’s head finds him and recognises him? He’s in no shape to fight. He can barely stand upright for more than half an hour. He’ll be handed over to the Below, and then… You don’t want to think about what might happen next.
So you have to find him. You don’t know where to start, don’t know if you even can, but you have to at least try.
Your gaze flicks up to the screen where the route is all stippled out. You’re almost halfway, with four more stops to go until the final destination. None of them ring any bells at first, but then one catches your eye. You bite your lip, leaning slightly forward.
It could be. It would make sense.
You could be wrong, of course. But there’s a feeling in your gut. You’re jittery and fidgeting with the buttons on your coat and when the train slowly stops to a halt you’re the first through the doors. Your destination is clear in your head and you round corners without looking, confident that your feet will carry you where you want to go. After all, you’ve walked this route more times than you can count.
The factory is as silent and still as it was the first time you slipped through its broken gates and between its walls. You can hear faint voices coming from a room on the ground floor; laughter, music, chattering. Probably just a private friend get-together. Keith won’t be there.
It feels weird to retrace your steps from that night. The room where your painting still gleams proudly against so many others–an angel and a demon, red wings dripping from their backs. The painting makes your gut twist in a funny way, so you don’t stay very long admiring it. Then there’s the hole in the wall behind it leading to the staircase. You hop through, start climbing the steps at a leisurely pace, keeping as quiet as possible.
Only then do you start to think about what might happen if you do find him.
Up until now, you had only thought about the possibility of not finding him. But what if you do, and he explains why he left and tells you to go away? Or what if he doesn’t want to talk to you at all? Would you be able to let him go that easily?
You almost stop and turn back. Almost. But there’s something about him. Something about him that makes you feel a certain way, and you’d tried to push it down and ignore it but you don’t think you can do that anymore. And with every step you take your heart beats faster until you’re running the last feet up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time.
You half expect to see him as soon as you walk through the doorway, but of course that doesn’t happen. You slow to a halt, unsure of where to go first. You take a step forward, and the hollow sound echoes in the hallway. You clear your throat before calling out. “Keith?”
Maybe not the smartest move if you were going for discretion, but you threw caution into the wind when you stepped onto the dark top floor. He’ll be here or he won’t, and you’ll figure out what to do then.
Another step, and you peek through the first doorway. “Hello? Keith?” Nothing. You steel yourself. You’ll go by all the rooms. You won’t leave until you’ve combed through the entire floor.
And then you hear him softly say your name behind you, and you whip around. He’s leaning against a doorway, a faint smile tainting his lips, sweet and genuine but a little sad, too, and all you want to do is run to him and wrap him in your arms and press your lips against his–
But you don’t. “Keith. Hey.”
“Hi.”
You’d wanted to be a little less forward, but just the relief of seeing him caused your verbal filter to completely disappear. You step towards him, your hand reaching for him despite him standing too far away. “Why are you here?”
He raises a brow. “I could ask you the same thing.”
“What–I came to find you, obviously,” you scoff, the words coming out sharper than intended. You screw your eyes shut, your shoulders bunching around your ears. “Sorry. Sorry. I’m just–I’m glad I found you. I was worried.”
He looks down, fingers fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “Right.”
You bite your lip. “Keith.” His eyes meet yours, and you hesitantly close the distance between you until he’s a mere step away. “Why’d you leave?”
A shrug. “Don’t know.”
“Don’t believe you.”
He sighs. “I just–I feel like I’m being a burden. You’re looking more tired and sick every day and I’m just so useless.”
You start, recoiling slightly out of pure shock. “Excuse me?”
“I’ve noticed it, you know.” His jaw sets and his eyes grow cloudy. “How you try and leave the room every time I’m there. Or how you work overtime to make sure you have to spend as little time with me as possible. Or how every smile you give me is forced. They never quite reach your eyes.” His fingers twitch. “But I don’t blame you. I get it.”
You throw a look over his shoulder. The room he chose is empty bar a filthy pillow that looks like it came straight out of the trash and a blanket in the same state. “So you’ll just live here instead.” You kick an old, empty beer can out of the way. “Real homey.”
He shrugs again. Then he shivers, and it’s that small gesture that completely shatters you. Tears form in your eyes. “You wanna know why I did it? Pushed you away?” You don’t wait for an answer. “Because I actually like you way more than I should. And I was scared of what would happen if I let myself get close to you. I still am. But,” you add, nudging his arm, “that doesn’t mean I want you gone or living in a dump like this.”
“So you came to look for me.”
“Yeah.”
Now he smiles, rubbing his eyes. “You found me pretty quickly. That’s rather embarrassing.” With a sigh, he lets himself drop to the floor and props his elbows up on his knees. “Can’t even run away right.”
You scoff, sliding down the wall next to him. “Don’t sound so disappointed. I, for one, am glad I found you.”
His fingers ghost over yours. “Me too.”
And it might just be that you’re very tired because you’ve been on your feet since six A.M, or that you’re so happy and relieved to see him in one piece after running through all the possible horrible scenarios in your head. Whatever the case, you figure that if it isn’t clear now that he’s more to you than just an inconvenient guest, it might never be, so it wouldn’t mean anything if you were to take his hand in yours.
So you take his hand in yours. He stiffens for only a split second, then relaxes. After a while, he whispers, “How’d you know I was here?”
You hollow out your cheeks. “I didn’t. I wasn’t sure, I mean. But… I don’t know. I had a feeling, I guess.” You shoot him a pointed look. “You’re not gonna get sick again, are you? Last time we were here you almost died. I’d like to not have to try and find Coran’s shop again, ‘cause that was a complete disaster last time.”
Keith giggles. “I wasn’t planning to.”
You shove his shoulder with yours. “Moron. Don’t scare me like that again, all right?” The insult is kind of cancelled out by the fact that you’re still holding hands.
“Okay.” He bursts into a coughing fit and you throw him a sideways look, letting go of his hand to awkwardly pat him on the back.
“This is exactly why you need to come home,” you scold softly. “You’re not better yet. Come on.”
He casts you a look, hesitancy painted across his features. You raise your eyebrows slightly. “What?”
But then he shakes his head and pushes himself up again, holding his hand out for you to grab. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
You take it and let him pull you up, and then you’re face to face. Close. Closer than ever before. For a second you’re just standing, holding onto each other’s hands like it’s the only thing tethering you to earth. You want to kiss him. You want to kiss him. Your eyes flick down to his lips, ever so briefly. You want to kiss him.
“Let’s go.” Pulling your hand out of his feels so wrong, but you do it anyway. Reluctantly. You shove your hand in the pocket of your hoodie to hide its trembling. “We’ll take the underground.”
The ride back is not awkward. You wouldn’t call it that, but there is a kind of tension hanging in the air between you and him and you decide that you don’t like it. Another part of you whispers that it’s probably for the better. The tension means you won’t make any rash decisions. It means that you’ll think about the words you say and the things you do, important or not.
Maybe it won’t make a difference in the end. Maybe it will. At the moment it doesn’t really matter, because it’s late and Keith is half asleep in his seat, and you only allow yourself a brief moment to look at him–really look at him, study the little details of his face that would normally be clouded by lines of worry or fatigue. When he sleeps he looks so peaceful, without a care in the word. His skin smooths out. His mouth hangs open ever so slightly. He snores a little. He looks younger and, somehow, free.
But then your stop is announced over the loudspeakers and you startle as the train slowly grinds to a halt. You nudge Keith with your foot. “Wake up.” He groans, blinks a few times before hoisting himself up, softly muttering under his breath.
Your apartment looks exactly as you left it–which is to say, eerily clean and tidy. You pull a face and immediately march over to the sofa, where you shake out the neatly folded blanket and deposit it on a heap in a corner, after which you give the cushions a good shake. Keith stands in the corner of the room, hands in his pockets, a bemused smile on his lips. You crinkle your nose at him. “It felt too… orderly.”
“Because you’re not orderly.”
“That’s right. It didn’t feel like home. Like some unwanted cleaning lady came in and reorganised my entire apartment. I hated it.”
“So you’re mad at me for trying to tidy up your house?”
You roll your eyes. “Not mad. Not about that. If anything, I’m mad because you fucking ran away, but that’s forgiven and forgotten. Look, I’ve made your bed.” You point at the rumpled sofa and try to hide your mounting grin.
Keith shakes his head, laughs, and it’s a sound you will never grow tired of. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
There’s a silence, but this time it’s not awkward in the slightest. The tension’s still there, but along with it is a kind of quiet understanding. A little sad, maybe. A little longing. But it’s something you’ve both accepted as impossible, and at the moment, that’s okay.
Because he’s back. And he’s okay. And really, that’s all that matters.
request → hi hi can i plz have ‘having to kiss to hide from the bad guys’ w/ keith (voltron) x reader ? thank you sweetie 🥰
song inspo → last night on earth by green day
“There is no way you’d beat me in a race.”
“Yeah? Try me, Red. I so would.”
Keith glares at you playfully, throwing a chip at you from his corner of the wall. You laugh with a “hey” and try to throw the chip into the trash can, but miss, ultimately.
“You can’t even aim!” Keith exclaims, hand gesturing to the chip (which is only, like, three inches from the trash can, okay?). “How are you gonna beat me in a flying race?”
You gape at him, and he smirks. “Okay, first of all, low blow, dude,” you say, looking around the corner as you pick the chip up off the ground and put it in the trash can. “Second of all…”
Oh, shit.
Galra soldiers are coming down the mall, and you freeze. They’re definitely looking for you, and they’re definitely gonna see you. Oh, no.
“...second of all?” Keith asks, but his face turns from playful to on edge once he sees yours. He seems to know what’s going on immediately, and stands, his bag of chips forgotten on the ground. Neither of you have your bayards or any spare weapons, and knowing that the soldiers are armed, there’s no way to fight them.
“How far away are they?” He asks, and you stealthily sneak another look around the corner. They’re far off, but moving pretty quickly.
One catches your eye, and your heart swims up to your throat at the disgruntled “hey!” that comes from the soldier. Yeah, they definitely recognized you.
“Uh, so they were pretty far away but then they saw me and now they’re running,” you gasp out in one breath, ready for Keith to yell at you. When you turn back to him, he doesn’t, though.
The footsteps are getting louder.
“Keith, what do we do?” You ask, and he looks around you, presumably for something to fight with.
Oh, they’re right there, right around the corner, you can’t get caught -
“Keith!” You whisper-yell, eyes urgent as they move between behind you and Keith.
Said paladin grabs your arm, suddenly, and spins the both of you around so you’re in front of him and he’s backing you up. Your back hits the wall with a startled grunt and you glare up at him.
“What the hell are you doing -”
“Shut up and follow my lead,” he says firmly, and then he’s leaning and his lips crash into yours and wow.
One of his hands cages you to the wall, covering your face partially. His other hand rests on your waist, fingertips tracing patterns over your shirt. You didn’t really think he’d be this good at kissing. But he is, and he’s aggressive, too. He’s all teeth and tongue, pressing himself to you like you’re the air he needs to breathe. Plus, you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t imagined this once or twice…
You don’t open your eyes, but you hear the Galra soldiers come around the corner and stop abruptly.
“Oh, uh,” one of them says, and you have to resist not smiling. Keith doesn’t stop his onslaught of kisses, and you know that if he did they’d see your faces and you’d be goners for sure. You can tell he’s listening too; his kisses lighter and softer.
“Guess you just thought you saw ‘em,” the other soldier says, quite awkwardly, and then the footsteps start again and fade, fade…
Keith finally pulls away from the kiss, and you open your eyes, blinking slowly. His hand doesn’t leave your waist, even to lean around the corner.
“They’re gone,” he says, uncharacteristically soft. You don’t say much, only a slow but comprehensive nod.
“So, um,” you begin, and Keith raises an eyebrow. “Where’d you learn to kiss?”
He grins at you, tilting his head a bit. “Why? Did I stun you with my obviously great kissing skills?”
“You know, you’d have to kiss me again in order for me to determine if it was really good,” you offer with a bite of your lip, and Keith leans closer to you.
What about paladins w/ s/o who is badass but cinnamon roll and cuddly and scared most of time but paladin gets in trouble and with in 2 secs s/o is by their side w/ weapon in hand? Thanks you. I'm sorry I can't English today
I can’t English ANY day so it’s fine anon! 💜💜💜
————
Shiro
Shiro never really knew you had a bad ass side to you
He knew you could take care of yourself and you were strong, but not in a sense where you were protective
You cared for people a lot, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise
But nevertheless, the day he got in a sticky spot on amission you came running towards him, fire in your eyes
Shiro didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified
You singlehandedly took down 3 Galra guards
He was really out of it for a few seconds
Just kinda in awe by you
Keith
Keith never feels like he needs protecting
Being a Paladin, he’s just used to protecting everyone else and hoping not to die cause no one is going to save him-he has to save his own skin
But with you it’s different
You guys in battle go back to back just fighting off enemies, taking down sentries in your guys’ weak spots
He always in shock on how quick you are
A Galra could be advancing and you’ve already shot the soldier down before Keith can even register what happened
But after battles your hard exterior turns into something else
All you want to do is to hold Keith and snuggle in his warmth
Which is new and foreign to Keith but-he grows to kinda like it!
Lance
*sigh
Lance was so blinded and naive
On your first training session, Lance was going to “teach you the ropes” , thinking he was helping you
Because Lance only saw your soft side
He never knew you had this hardcore side to you
He was afraid one day you would get hurt because-well-you were too sweet
What LIES
But Lance wasn’t noticing and a battle droid just started advancing
You grabbed your weapon and went AT it
You’re so sweet, how could you be so aggressive and-hot?
Lance was definitely phased
Like ALOT
His fave so red because all he could see was how strong you were and how attractive it was and how stupid he was to think you were weak
Hunk
Hunk is totally blindsided
He loves you for all sides of you-but he feels kinda guilty for you trying to protect him
It’s nice of course to know you care for him, and because he knows he would act the same way in your shoes
Like the Time a glara grabbed his bayard and you literally SPRINTED WHILE SHOOTING A GUN at the droid to get his weapon back
But he doesn’t want you getting hurt
He’s always hugging you, even though you do it to him all the time
He just likes to remind you that he’s there and you’re there and you both are gonna be okay
