Chapter Text
"Alright," Allura said, each handing them a small, circular device with two buttons on it. "If there are any problems, or if you need to contact us, use these. Shiro and I will be very far from you three, I think it was called... Jeipn?"
"It's Japan, Princess," Shiro corrected, off to the side.
"Yes! Japan. We'll be in Japan. Lance, you and Hunk live relatively close, so you'll be taking a pod with Keith," she winked at Keith, who blushed and hid his face in Lance's shoulder. Lance laughed fondly and wrapped an arm around his waist. "Pidge and Matthew, you live rather close to them as well, correct?"
Matt nodded, just as Pidge jumped on his back. "You can take your own pod, if you wish, but it does not matter to me. Just make sure you stay cloaked.
"Does everyone understand?"
Everyone nodded.
"Alright! Be back here in eight quintant!"
Allura took Shiro's hand as they went to their pod, hugging Coran briefly.
Keith walked beside Lance to their pod, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
Shiro had a mostly serious expression on his face. "Remember what I said, Keith. Don't fight his family."
"I know, Shiro. You've told me this, like, a million times. I get it."
Shiro sighed, but removed his hand. "Okay. But, Keith, I swear to God, if you come back and Lance tells us a story about how you kicked someone's ass-"
"I won't Shiro."
"Good," Shiro grabbed his arm and pulled him into a hug.
Surprisingly, Keith didn't flinch.
"You're getting better," Shiro commented, raising an eyebrow as he let go.
"Hell yes he is! Especially with the aid of a master toucher-"
Pidge fake gagged.
Keith frowned, clamped a hand over Lance's mouth, grabbed his arm and pulled him to the pod.
This was going to be a long eight days.
"Okay. Who lives closer, Lance? Hunk or P-"
"Hunk. We're literally neighbors."
"Wow. Okay," Keith breathed. He looked at the holographic map. Just a few more minutes until they reached Pidge's house. "You guys got your stuff?"
"Yeah," Pidge and Matt said in unison, Pidge still on Matt's back.
"Alright, we're-"
"Keep driving! Tuck and roll, Pigeon! Tuck and roll!" Lance yelled, opening the pod doors.
"Lance, what the hell?" Keith asked, landing the pod in their backyard.
"You're no fun," Lance grumbled, wrapping his arms around Keith's neck.
"That's not what you said last nig-" Keith glared at the hand over his mouth.
"Get a room, you fuckers!" Pidge yelled.
As soon as she said that, Matt ran from the pod, laughing his ass off. Pidge smacked his back and yelled "Faster!"
Lance gawked at her. He would've ran after the little gremlin, but it looked like their mom, who was in the backyard when they landed, was about to have a heart attack from seeing her kids.
Pidge and Matt waved at them as they left, but quickly returned to their mother.
If they weren't in a soundproof pod, Lance swore they would be able to hear their mother crying.
They flew for a few more minutes in silence, before Hunk finally spoke up. He had been uncharacteristically quiet the whole time.
"I'm super pumped to be seeing my moms again, but what if they don't believe it's me?! I mean, they've always trusted me before but now I've been gone for, like, a year and a half, so when I tell them the story they might think I'm an alien or something that's trying to take over Earth?!"
"Hunk, buddy," Lance sighed, grabbing his biceps. "I've met your moms. They'd believe you."
"I know, but-"
"No cuts, no buts, no coconuts! You hear me?! No buts!"
Keith frowned from the pilot seat. "I thought you loved my ass."
Even if he couldn't see it, Lance turned a bright red, letting go of Hunk's arms.
"Lance.Exe has stopped working, Keith. Good job."
"Thanks. I try my hardest," Keith teased, unbuckling his seatbelt. "Oh. We're here, by the way."
"What the fuck?! What. The. Fuck?!" Lance repeated, grabbing his and Keith's bag.
"Lance, what are you-"
"If you're my boyfriend, I am going to be the most gentleman there is. Expect this shit from now on!" Lance moved the bags to his shoulders, taking Keith's hand and exiting the pod.
"See ya'!" Hunk called, right before bolting for his house.
"Take me to your leader," Keith smirked, intertwining their fingers.
Lance's hand hovered over the doorbell.
What would happen when they opened the door?
Was anyone even home?
Would they think it was some trick?
Would they recognize him?
Would they hate him?
Would they be mad at him?
Would th-
"Lance," Keith placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. He knew Lance didn't like to be touched much during panic attacks. "Breathe. In, out. Breathe."
He tried to even his breathing out- he really did. He just couldn't. He didn't know how his parents- his whole family- would react, and it was making him so fucking anxious that he couldn't breathe right and oh God what if they hate me now-
A car door slamming brought him out of his thoughts, but not from his panic attack.
"Who the fuck are you?" someone said.
Everything was muffled.
It was like he was underwater.
Underneath the clear, blue waves of Varadero beach.
He was home.
It didn't matter what they thought.
He was home. With Keith.
They were home.
"...et go, I'm helping your brother-" Keith grunted.
"My bro went missing two years ago!"
"Look at him-!" Keith broke off with a harsh cough.
Carlos clearly hasn't seen me yet.
Finally having his breathing under control, he turned to face Keith again. Carlos had him pinned against the wall, one arm across his chest, while the other pulled harshly at Keith's hair. Keith's fists were twitching at his side, clearly trying to listen to Shiro's "Don't fight his family," rule. Blood dripped slowly from his nose, landing against Carlos' elbow.
"Dios mio, Carlos, ¿qué mierda? ¡Ese es Keith, imbécil! ¡Suéltalo!" Lance shouted, grabbing the back of his brother's shirt.
"¿Lance? ¿Eres tu?" Carlos asked, turning his head around.
" Joder sí, soy yo. Ahora suelta a mi novio, hijo de puta-"
Keith had no idea what thy were saying, but the arm was removed from his chest, and he could finally breathe properly, so he didn't care. He'd ask later.
"Lance!"
A short, tan woman with long, curly hair and dark blue eyes swung the front door open, pulling Lance into a bone crushing bear hug. She sobbed, hugging him harder.
"Mama, please- air-"
She loosened her grip.
"Mama, I want to tell you guys where I was, and what I did- I have no idea what the Garrison told you, but it's all bullshit, and I'm just gonna ask you not to be mad-"
"I'm goin-going to be mad at you later. Hugs now. Mama missed you.
"Okay, that's fine," Lance wrapped his arms around the shorter woman, who reached his shoulder, and was his mom, hiding his face in the crook of her neck as he cried quietly.
Lance has always been one of the pretty, muffle every sob, criers.
Carlos, his brother, eyed Keith warily, but joined in on the hug.
Keith stiffened when he heard barking.
He forgot to tell Lance-
A bloody sneeze seemed to catch Lance's attention, raising his head to look at Keith, who was sneezing blood into the crook of his elbow.
"Shit- Keith, what-?"
"Come with me, what's his name? Keith?" Keith nodded, smothering another sneeze with his arm. "Come with me, Keith. Lance, you can tell me what happened after I take care of this young boy."
Lance's mom took him by his other elbow, dragging him into the house.
He clenched his eyes shut as he sneezed more, from the fur in the house, most likely. He still wasn't sure what he was allergic to from dogs, but it was them.
And it sucked.
"Dogs," he gasped, wiping the blood off of his face as they entered their kitchen.
Lance had said a lot about his family, like how they weren't rich, but wow, was Lance lying.
So far, all he had seen was the outside of the house (which made it seem small, but it wasn't, God,), and the kitchen.
The outside was a pale orange, a peach, maybe, with vines littering the sides and an old, brown roof, with plenty of windows.
The kitchen, on the other hand, was huge. There were granite counters in one half, with a white tiled floor, and a granite counter in the centre of it all, rainbow stools surrounding it. A modern sink sat on one of the counters, while a huge stovetop sat on the inside of the island, facing the sink. A double stainless steel fridge was what ended it all, lots of (obviously homemade) drawings pinned to it by cheesy magnets.
She sat him down on a red stool, pulling a box of tissues towards him as she dug through a cabinet to find bandaids.
Keith tried not to think of how ironic that was.
"So, hon, what's your relationship with my son?" She asked, and Keith could feel the knowing smirk growing on his face.
"I- uh- we-" Keith sneezed at that moment, more blood dripping down his face.
"Are you allergic to something, dear?" Lance's mom asked, concern evident on her face as she turned around, holding a box of bandaids.
"'llergic to dogs, ma'am," Keith sighed. "Can I..?" He gestured to the tissues, sniffling.
"That's why they're there, hon," Lance's mom smiled fondly, setting the box on the counter. She dug through another counter. "And call me Rosa."
He grabbed a tissue before he could sneeze this time.
It came out bloody.
"How'd you get a bloody nose, hon?" She grabbed a bottle of tylenol and a bottle of water, handing it to Keith.
"Why-?" Keith accepted the tylenol and water, downing it in one go.
He avoided the question.
"Lance told me you get a little wrinkle," Rosa poked in between his eyebrows. "Right here."
"I haven't heard him say anything about me yet," Keith pointed out, after he swallowed the pill.
"During the Garrison, he told me a lot about you. I think he was stalking you," she chuckled, grabbing a few tissues. Keith felt his face heat up. "Head up," she ordered.
Rosa had one of those personalities that kept you from not following her orders. Keith obeyed.
She dabbed around his nostrils, wiping off the blood. "Back to my other question, how'd you get a bloody nose?"
"Oh, uh-" Keith bit his tongue to keep himself from yelling 'fuck' in front of Rosa. "Framp," came out instead.
Rosa snorted, putting the bandaid in place.
"Alright. There you go."
"Thanks, ma'a-" Rosa hit him with a dishrag.
"Call me Rosa!"
"Yes, ma- Rosa."
"Good boy," she teased, putting the dishrag back. "Now, tell me what happened."
Keith rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Okay- just don't get mad at Carlos, he did see a stranger on his front porch. He, um, punched me. In the face," he sneezed again. He grabbed a tissue, wiping the blood off.
"Oh, not that story," she laughed a bit. "I saw that. Just wanted to see if you would defend Carlos or not," she winked. "Lance is a little... preoccupied," she gestured to the small window in the wall, where Lance was explaining to the rest of his family where he was. Every once in a while, his eyes would flicker to the kitchen, probably looking for Keith. Keith smiled when he looked again. Lance visibly relaxed, turning back to his family. "I want to know where you were, and why my son has a scar on his jaw."
"Oh. That. Right," Keith crossed his legs beneath him. "Well. Okay, yea. Do you remember Takashi Shirogane and the Kerberos mission?"
"Remember him? Lance had posters of him!"
Keith snorted, instantly regretting it. "Jesus, your son has a mean punch."
She nodded.
"Okay, well," he rubbed his nose. "He crashed on Earth in an alien ship..."
When Keith had gotten to the end, Rosa was sitting on the yellow stool across from him, one leg over the other.
"I'm going to kill them," she muttered, a dark gleam in her eyes.
Keith didn't answer her. He figured how much she would hate the Galra after hurting her son.
"Keith, honey," She looked him in the eyes. "Are you alright?"
Keith blinked in surprise. "Wh-What?"
"You told me what happened without sugar coating it, unlike Lance. He's probably taking out the... traumatic events," she gestured behind her, where Lance was listening to his little brother say 'he's a superhero, daddy! A superhero!'
"Oh, I... Yeah. I'm fine," he lied. He was perfectly fine. You know, just a few panic attacks whenever Lance so much as fell asleep, being woken up from nightmares every night, definitely has PTSD, and can hardly high five someone without screaming. Perfectly fine.
She seemed to understand that he didn't want to talk about it, changing the subject. "He calls you space cat?"
"Yes," he grumbled, face heating up.
"That sounds like Lance," she smiled. "I know some of his siblings may not believe Lance, but I do. I believe you wouldn't lie to me, and I know Lance wouldn't lie to us. About this, at least. He'd love his family too much to disappear for no reason. Saving the Universe is hell of enough reason for me."
"Thank you. Lance started having a panic attack before we- before Carlos kind of freaked. He thought you wouldn't believe him, and his mind went to worst case scenarios," Keith explained, fidgeting with the edge of the bandaid.
"Stop touching it," she smacked his hand away from his nose. "Next question, what is your relationship with my son?"
"Boyfriends, mama!"
Lance waltzed into the kitchen, wrapping an arm around Keith's shoulders, and placed a kiss to his cheek.
He fought the blush creeping up his neck.
"Good," she said fondly, grabbing a phone. "He's a good boy, mijo."
She held out her arms for Lance, phone in hand.
Lance let go of Keith, all but running into her arms, sobbing as he buried his head into the crook of her neck.
"I'm so sorry, Mama, I should've told you somehow, or-or-"
"It's fine, mijo. Family is important, sure, but saving the Universe is far greater. You were protecting us by killing them, Lance. I understand. Your brother Carlos did the same thing, remember?"
Lance nodded. "I heard Ke-Keith telling you t-the story," he mentioned, lifting his head up. He didn't let go of Rosa. "He didn't mention h-how he st-stared at my ass. A lot."
Keith felt the heat rise up to his cheeks. He never stared at Lance's ass. Well. Maybe a few times, but still! "What- I didn't- Lance stared at mine!"
Rosa laughed, taking her arms off of Lance. "It's fine, hon. My son has a fine ass. So do you, Keith."
"I'm glad someone appreciates it," he glared halfheartedly at Keith, who was beginning to pout unconsciously.
"Lance," She sailed a number on the phone. "How long until I see this Castle-Ship thing?"
"About eight days."
"Alright. I'm ordering pizza, go see your siblings," she raised the phone to her ear, shooing them out of the kitchen.
Lance grabbed Keith's arm, dragging him out. "Told you she'd love you."
"Shut it," Keith muttered, keeping his gaze downcast as they entered the room where most of his family was gathered.
Lance's father, John, Lance had told him, passed by them without a word, slipping into the kitchen. The rest of the room was filled with Lance's brothers and sisters.
On the ground, his little sister and brother, Carla and Jacob, were playing with race cars.
Carla had tan skin, like Lance's, brown hair that went to her waist, but was currently in a braid. She wore an outfit similar to Lance's, but purple, instead of blue.
Jacob had tan skin as well, with cropped brown hair and brown eyes. He had dimples when he laughed, with a plaid shirt and yoga pants. He had a star wars bandaid on his elbow.
Lance had mentioned that they were both seven, twins, and that Jacob was probably gay.
Another one of his siblings, Crystal, sat on a blue couch, legs crossed beneath her, piercing blue eyes studying Keith. She looked a lot like Lance. The only difference was that she had glasses and a ponytail in her hair.
Keith smiled sheepishly, giving a little wave before looking at the rest of the room.
Jessie, Lance's sister, who was seventeen, sat on a blue chair, feet reclined on a table. She was barefoot, toes painted blue. Her legs were bare, up until mid-thigh, where a black skirt started. She had a white tank top on with a jacket that was way too big for her- It was probably her boyfriends. Her hair went down to her shoulders, the same colour as her brown eyes, but with blue tips. She watched him, just like Crystal did.
Carlos sat on the floor, a little boy in his lap. Now that he wasn't being attacked, he saw that Carlos had a white t-shirt with his blood on it. He looked a lot like Lance, but he had glasses as well.
The little boy in his lap, who Keith had yet to learn the name of, was tan like the rest of them, but had green eyes instead of blue or brown. He looked a lot like Carlos.
"That's his son," Lance told him, pointing to the little boy in Carlos' lap. "His name is Ethan."
Keith nodded. "Don't you have more siblings..?"
"School," Crystal mentioned, eyes not leaving him. "Who are you?"
"I'm K-"
"That's no way to introduce thyself!" Lance shouted dramatically. "Try again!"
Keith looked up at him, blinking in confusion. "What?"
"I said, try again!"
"Um. Okay," When you've dated Lance for nearly a year, you got used to his theatrics. "My name is K-"
"God, Keith. You suck at this," Lance huffed, shaking his head. "Let me do it for you."
He pulled Keith behind a wall, not taking his hand off of his wrist, even when he sneezed blood. Again. Stupid fucking nose. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and that slut over there," he pointed to the golden retriever, who laid on a dog bed with an innocent look. "Introducing-!"
"Keith," he sighed, stepping out of the wall. "I really don't want to do this right now, Lance," he sneezed again. "Dog."
"Oh, right. Wait. What?"
"I'm-" he sneezed. "Allergic to dogs. Or something on them."
Lance made a 'pfft' noise, but let go of Keith's wrist, grabbing the dogs collar. "That's just because you're part cat."
"I'm not part cat!"
"Keep telling yourself that, babe," Lance smirked, attatching a leash to the dogs collar. Keith glared at him weakly, but made no other response. He was right, after all. Not that he'd ever say it out loud. "I'm taking her out back. Behave, Keith," he teased, disappearing through the kitchen door.
"I didn't believe a word he said," Crystal spoke up, hands folded in her lap.
"You never believe anything he says," Jessie rolled her eyes. "He told her that the Easter bunny was going to chew her head off when they were six," she told Keith.
"Uh- okay. I don't-"
"Jesus, sit down. You don't have to be so uncomfortable," Jessie said, pointing to the couch.
"No, it's fine, I'm okay to stand-"
"Get on the God damn couch, Keith. We don't bite," Crystal said, a mischievous gleam to her eyes. "Well, this little monster does," she bent down to grab Jacob, lifting him off the ground. She tickled his sides.
Jacob shrieked with laughter, and Keith couldn't help but smile fondly. He leaned against the wall. "Nope. Not happening. Get on the couch," someone said behind him, giving him a rough shove.
"Dad! Don't-!"
Keith eyes widened in panic as he stumbled, but he quickly recovered himself. From stumbling, that is. Every breath he took in wasn't enough- it was too short, too fast, not enough-
He stumbled again, falling on to someone's chest. He tried pushing away, but he couldn't- the arms holding him were too tight- he couldn't breathe- there wasn't enough room-
"Keith."
Keith shook his head frantically, placing both of his palms on the persons chest, pushing with all of his strength.
"Keith, calm down. It's me, it's La-"
"No- no, let go!"
"Keith-"
Everything was becoming blurry.
"Breathe, yeah? Breathe with me, okay?" The person holding him said softly.
What..?
Why- why would the Galra want him to breathe?
They wanted him dead-
"In and out, baby. In and out."
Keith sobbed, burying his face into the persons shoulder.
That voice could only belong to one person.
And that person was dead.
Lance was dead- he was dead- this couldn't be Lance-
"I'm right here, baby. The pod fixed me, remember? Just a little scar now."
"No- no, no, no, no! Y- H-he died! The stupid fucking Galra shot him and he's d-dead and this isn't real!" Keith sobbed again, clenching his fists in the fabric of fake Lance's shirt. "It's just some hallucination! None of it's real!"
"Look at me," fake Lance said, taking his hand off his head. Keith left his head where it was. He'd probably get a broken rib for didobeying, but it didn't matter- he didn't want to see him again- "Baby, please."
God, Keith had no willpower.
He removed his head from fake Lance's shoulder, hesitantly meeting his eyes. Although it was blurry, Keith knew that was Lance.
The real Lance.
Whenever they made a hallucination or something, he would never smile, and his eyes would be black, and blood would be coming from his slack mouth-
"Deep breaths," Lance ordered.
Keith nodded, trying to follow Lance's example.
"Sorry," Lance said, rubbing his back. "I should've told them not to do stuff like that-"
Keith shook his head. His breathing was almost right, and the black spots were gone. "It-It's fine."
"I'm gonna tell them later, though. Okay?"
Keith nodded. "Can we, uh, sit down?"
"We are sitting down, d-idiot," Lance said, pointing Keith's head down.
They were kneeling on the floor, with Keith practically in Lance's lap. "What- when did we-"
"Your legs gave out, like, three minutes ago."
"Oh- I- how long did it last this time?" Keith asked. He thought he was getting better, but if it took three minutes...
"Ten minutes, at least."
"What the-?"
"Lance, mijo, could you come into the kitchen?"
"Annnd, that's my cue," Lance said, letting go of Keith. He took the opportunity to sneeze into his arm. "Go sit on the couch, space cat."
Keith grumbled, but obeyed, getting off the floor and sitting on the couch.
Keith watched Lance disappear behind the kitchen door, panic fading away.
"So," someone said beside him.
Keith jumped, but made no noise. He looked over at the person beside him, heartbeat erratic. Jessie was sitting in Crystal's old spot, in the same position, but facing Keith. "Oh. Hi."
"Hi," she parroted, eyebrows furrowing. "You're wearing my brothers jacket."
Keith stared at her in confusion.
"Look at your arm, dumbass," She had the same teasing smirk Lance did.
This family was so alike.
He obeyed, looking down at his arm. Jessie was right; it was Lance's jacket, the sleeve covered in drops of blood from when he sneezed.
"Fuck," he muttered.
Jessie snorted, handing him a box of tissues.
Keith took it gratefully, pulling a few out and wiping at the sleeve.
"You're the Keith from space, right? His boyfriend?"
"Um, yeah. Do you not believe him?" Keith inquired, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her.
"'Course I believe him. He never lied," She took a minute to think, while Keith rubbed the last of the blood off. The spots where it used to be was a little wet and darker, but it wasn't too noticeable. "Well, to me, at least. I doubt he'd lie about where he was."
"What about the others?" Keith asked, mimicking her position.
"Don't believe Crystal; she definitely believes him. I don't think she can't believe him. Like, a trait where she has to believe Lance."
Keith snorted. Bad idea. "I've gotta stop doing that," Keith grumbled, rubbing at his nose. "How the hell can he punch hard enough?!"
"He, uh, Carlos was in the war."
Keith blanched. "Oh. Does he have...?"
"PTSD? No, he's one of the lucky ones. Still pretty cautious and all, but he doesn't have any disorders from it, luckily. You, on the other hand..." Jessie prompted him to explain. "What happened?"
"Did Lance not tell you?" Why wouldn't Lance tell them?
You didn't sugar coat it, unlike Lance. He's probably taking out the... traumatic events.
There were little kids in the room.
They would be scared if they heard how their big brother was taken by evil aliens.
"Nah. It would probably scare Carla and Jacob, so he probably sugar coated it or something."
Keith nodded. "Makes sense. What'd he tell you?"
"That you, him and Takashi," Keith ignored the way she butchered the pronunciation of Shiro's name, "were taken by the Galra," he once again ignored the pronunciation, "and came out a week later unscathed, which is absolute bullshit."
"Bullshit," Keith agreed. He turned around to look in the kitchen. Lance had his back to him, explaining something to a very angry-sad Crystal and Carlos. "Yeah, we did not come out unscathed. Well, Lance mostly did, actually."
"What? Why?" Jessie backtracked quickly. "I mean, I don't want him to get hurt or whatever-"
"I got what you meant," he smiled. "Their prince was creepily obsessed with Lance, and would use me to get to him. I'm not sure why. We started dating after all of that," his voice was surprisingly calm when he explained it, no matter how scared he was then (and now). "So, the prince, Lotor, would tell him to come to his chambers or something, and if he refused, they'd hurt me, or whatever," he looked down at his lap, fiddling with his thumbs. "They, um, did a lot of stuff, that I'm not comfortable with saying right now, but-"
"That's absolutely okay, Keith. I just- why the fuck would he do that?"
"But I can show you," he finished, ignoring her question. He took a deep breath, taking his-Lance's- jacket off.
"You don't have too, Keith."
"It's fine, I just- I don't like saying what happened," he tried to smile, but it probably came out as a frown. By the time he got to his shirt, his hands were shaking.
Should he really do this?
How old was Jessie?
Fifteen, sixteen?
She could be scared by this-
Taking a deep breath, yet again, he pulled the shirt over his head.
Jessie gasped.
Her eyes trailed his body, starting from the bottom of his abdomen, up to his neck, where a handprint was burnt into his skin.
"There are whip marks on my back," he mumbled. He didn't want to keep too many secrets from Lance's family.
"Jesus- that was seven days?"
Keith nodded.
"Fuck them," She practically growled. "Can I..?" her hand hovered in the air, near his chest.
Keith nodded.
She gingerly touched the scar where he had been impaled, looking at Keith for permission. He nodded again.
"Jesus Christ," She took her hand back, eyes never leaving his chest. "How the fuck do you do that in seven days?!"
"Beats me," Keith sighed. Literally, he mentally added.
"I do have one question, if that's okay."
Keith stiffened. He didn't really want to explain anything, but... "Shoot."
He sat on his hands to keep them from shaking.
"Why is there a handprint on your neck?"
Oh. Fun. That story.
"It's kind of hard to explain," he sighed. He hardly knew how that happened himself. He wasn't very coherent during that time.
"You don't have to-!"
"It's fine, I just wasn't very coherent at the time."
Her eyes darkened.
Keith suppressed a flinch, knee bouncing on the couch. "Before all of this," he gestured to his chest. "We had defeated Zarkon. Shiro, my brother, disappeared. We found him two days later in a cell at the Galra, but it wasn't really him. He tried to kill all of us, Lance included, but we have these weird healing pods-"
"Lance mentioned that. Somehow it can't cure fevers?"
Keith nodded, choosing not to snort. His nose would explode if he snorted again. "Yeah. It sucks. Anyways, none of us actually knew it wasn't Shiro, so we didn't question it. He came to me while I was training one day, and he had just gotten out of the pod, because he had impaled himself. I don't think it hurt him in any way, either. Oh, wait- you know that Shiro has a prosthetic arm that's a weapon, right?"
She nodded.
"Good. He can use it to burn stuff, or just fight with."
"Lance called it the ultimate bitch slap."
Keith snorted. "God damn it-" He brought a tissue to his nose, which was now dripping blood. "Okay, well, he kind of, um, choked me, with that hand, and was also burning me at the same time."
"He's dead, right? Please tell me he's dead."
"Yeah." Keith lied. He had no way to tell if Kuro was dead or not. Shiro said he would die if he was away from Kuro for too long, but they might have changed that.
"Good. You can put your shirt back on, if you want. I don't think the kids should see."
"Right-"
Someone gasped from the kitchen. Keith turned around, pulling his shirt over his head. Lance was staring at him, a small smile on his face. Rosa had a hand over her mouth, eyes wide from shock. She was staring at his back.
Oops.
No one else was in the kitchen.
"Keith, hon," she said sadly.
"I'm fine m- Rosa. It was a while ago."
"I hope you know that if I ever meet those monsters," Keith flinched. He forgot to say he was part-monster. "I'll kill every last one."
"Mama?" Lance asked, shooting Keith an 'I'm-sorry-I-didn't-mention-you're-part-cat-to-her-yet.' He turned back around, facing his mom.
"They, um, did other... stuff, too," Keith said at last, facing Jessie again.
She seemed to get the idea.
"Is that it?"
Keith laughed darkly. "Oh my God, no. I don't want to say anything else, but, no. No way in hell was that it."
She nodded. "Do you want me to wash Lance's jacket?"
He looked at the jacket, which was in a heap on the table. He shook his head. "Thanks, though." He took it off the table, slipping it on again.
"No problem," she said, watching him pull the hood on. "You look tiny in that," she added, after a moment.
"So do you," he shot back, gesturing to her jacket.
She flushed. "Touché."
"Who does that belong to?"
"My boyslashgirlfriend."
"What?"
"He's transgender. Born a girl, became a boy, or something like that."
Keith nodded. "Okay. I'm gonna go get L-"
Someone, probably Lance, sat down behind him, wrapping an arm around his waist, and another across his shoulders, pulling him into his lap.
"Why can't you have your ears again?" He sighed, resting his chin on Keith's shoulder. "I want you to purr."
"What," she demanded, not asked, an amused smirk tugging her mouth.
"He would change into the Galra form sometimes. He got these super cute cat ears, and whenever I sc-"
Keith clamped a hand over Lance's mouth.
Lance licked it.
"Fuc-"
It was Lance's turn to cover his mouth.
"No swearing! There are children around!"
Keith huffed, glaring at Lance. He wasn't going to be immature and lick his hand.
Nope.
The doorbell rang before he could choose that route, startling him.
"It's okay, space cat. Just the doorbell. Squash your animal instincts. Save them for bed-"
Keith covered Lance's mouth, licking his hand. Lance took his hand off, wiping the spit on Keith's jeans. "Jessie,"
She was laughing.
"Jessie, we will not have sex here."
Lance licked his hand, prompting him to take it off and wipe it on Lance's shirt. "Yeah, Grandpa over here always falls asleep before we can do anything."
"Jesus," he muttered. "That was one time! I was training the entire day!"
"Sure it was, babe. Sure it was."
"Lance, Keith!" Rosa called, appearing from the wall covering the door, a few boxes of pizza in hand. Keith's mouth watered. He hasn't had pizza in so long. "Oh- Jess, take these boxes and put them beside the boys, will you?"
Jess huffed as she got up, but obliged, taking the boxes (three, to be exact. No, Keith did not count), and putting them on the cushion beside Keith and Lance.
"Lance, I want you to know I love you, but I love pizza more right now."
"Agreed," Lance said.
"Can we..?" Keith asked, smacking Lance'a hand away from the box. He was going to be polite, and ask.
"I got them for you two, hon. Eat as much as you like- you're both way too skinny, and probably haven't had pizza since you left," Rosa answered, carrying another three boxes into the kitchen. "When you leave for space again, because I'm not allowing you to stay here instead of you saving the Universe, I'm going to buy a bunch of frozen food and send it with you, okay?"
"I love you, Mama," Lance squealed.
Keith took a box, placed it in his lap, and dug in with Lance.
Pizza was so good.