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Waking up is comfortable. Warm fuzzy surface below her chin, gentle and loving strokes on top her head with the occasional lick that has ‘momma’ written all over it.
It’s wonderful; a constant circle of feeling safe and sound.
Opening her eyes, though? Now, that’s anticlimactic.
A plain blue wall welcomes her into the world she lives in. The fun part here is that she doesn’t even know that she isn’t supposed to recognize the color itself. Or any color.
But Blue does.
Just like she recognizes the big red ball her brother keeps pushing towards her too, yipping and bouncing with it not even minutes after opening his own eyes. Red looks excited, small paws never still and he better get tired soon because Blue doesn’t want him to nibble on her ear.
Her other brother, lying lazily next to her, yawns big and loud while snuggling closer to the yellow blanket below him. Yellow looks comfortable enough and Blue doesn’t want to bother him. She decides to look for her last sibling.
Blue finds her sister on the far corner of their space, her dark eyes staring in awe at something thin and green. Blue tilts her head to the side in curiosity when Green starts nibbling at the thing but she just shrugs in the end, thinking that if momma hasn’t stepped in yet then it means it’s okay.
Talking about momma.
Blue perks up when she feels the familiar nuzzle from her momma’s hug. Momma’s fur is beautiful; black and soft. Blue’s favorite place to nap is next to her, even when Red would sometimes kick her in his sleep.
Blue blinks when Momma pokes her head firmly and she realizes that Momma has been trying to tell her something. She tells her about change, about being strong and have faith in the future.
Momma tells her that they might separate soon but that it’s nothing she should worry about yet. Blue believes her, despite the uneasy hollow feeling in her tummy.
She holds on to Momma’s words that night and the ones that follow.
Blue stares at the white fluffy thing in front of her and pats it playfully.
It wiggles and it just encourages her to play with it more.
Shiro laughs below her but Blue doesn’t pay him that much attention. She continues to play as he slowly brings her back down and holds her against his chest.
Shiro’s talking with someone and they sound different than Allura. Curiosity gets the best of her and it makes Blue stop biting on Shiro’s finger to turn and meet his friend.
It’s a boy like Shiro but darker and softer. He has big blue eyes and Blue’s excited to see the color again after Shiro and Allura moved them from their room to another one with more space and white walls.
His name’s Lance. He says so himself as he leans down and waves at her happily.
Blue likes Lance. She shows him so by biting his hand.
Lance calls it home.
Her new home.
She’s unsure of this because home is with Momma and her siblings. Home is with big fluffy blankets and half-eaten toys spread over the floor.
Blue is quiet during the ride. She resigns to snuggle close to the soft lilac blanket Lance brought with him to pick her up earlier. Lance sneaks a few concern glances every few minutes, both hands on the wheel except for that one time during a red light when he reached out and stroked her head gently, scratching behind her ear long enough to make her relax.
Home turns out to be small and yet cozy. Lance gives her a tour, carrying her the first few minutes in his arms until she becomes confident enough to just follow him around, skipping a few of his steps with her excited jumps.
Her new bed is big, full of warm colorful blankets and toys. She rolls on it happily, nibbling on her toys and shaking the thin blanket off her when it blocks her sight.
Lance laughs quietly near her and it just makes Blue happier.
Maybe she will like this, as long as Lance’s here.
Lance names her Lady.
But it never sticks, not really. From the past few weeks she’s been living with Lance, he has called her different names: baby, beautiful, gorgeous, princess, sweetheart, star.
‘Mi amor ’ and ‘preciosa’ also comes up regularly. Those are her favorites.
Blue cries.
She whines and cries out in both desperation and panic. Her paw is tangled, and the more she pulls the more it traps her with the stray cushions strings and she can’t get away.
Blue grows louder; more desperate and she calls for her momma. She calls for her siblings.
She calls for Lance.
Strong but gentle hands pick her up carefully almost immediately, taking the entire destroyed cushion at the same time and Blue cries pitifully as she nuzzles her face against Lance's chest, his steady heartbeat making her calm down.
"Hey, hey now, it’s alright, what happened?" Lance mumbles quietly, using his free hand that it’s not supporting her to stroke her fur gently. "Did your paw get stuck? Hey, don’t be afraid, mi amor, I’m here! Lancey Lance will make it better, just stay still for me, ‘kay?”
Lance works quickly but carefully, humming softly to calm her down whenever the strings pull at her paw painfully but it’s soothing enough to catch her attention and focus on his voice.
In no time, Lance gets her paw out and puts the cushion away. He doesn’t even look mad like Blue expected, after all, this is the third cushion she has bitten and destroyed in the week but Lance looks relieved when he picks her up and kisses her head.
“There we go, beautiful! All done, now come on, I was in the middle of knitting and you’re a good model, having in mind it’s your future sweater I’m knitting.”
She falls asleep on Lance’s lap before he can finish. Lance doesn’t mind.
Someone’s biting her ear and it’s annoying enough for Blue to whine in frustration.
She blinks her eyes open, slightly grumpy that she has been woken up from her afternoon nap before its due.
It quickly disappears when the face of her brother enters her vision and then she’s all over the place. Bleu jumps on Red, heads knocking together playfully before they enroll themselves in a playful wrestle match on the floor.
It’s a nice surprise to see one of her siblings again. She can hear Lance talking on the background but she hardly notices.
Red seems to be as excited as she is, because soon enough he’s telling her all over her new owner, how they have nightly competitions with each other on who gets the bed’s blanket and who is the first one to find the missing sock.
Red tells her that his owner’s name is Keith and that he came with him to Blue and Lance’s home. Which is weird on its own right, especially when Lance continues to address the only other boy in their home as ‘Mullet’.
After that, she gets to see the last two siblings she has been missing. Green and Yellow come together, both held in their owner’s arms before they are placed on the floor carefully and they waste no time to tackle Blue on the ground.
Yellow doesn’t stop rambling about Hunk and his food while Green tells her all about Pidge’s backyard and how it’s a jungle on its own, millions of flowers and plants always around her. Green says that it used to drive Pidge crazy the first few times when Green would explore it but then she started joining her.
Neither Red or Keith come, but Blue does hear Keith’s name every few times from Lance’s mouth. Blue finds it weird because Lance usually calls Keith by Mullet when said boy is near but when he’s not around, it’s like Lance finally remembers his name.
Lance’s weird. Green says that Pidge calls him ‘ loser ’, whatever that means.
Blue sticks with ‘weird’ .
Lance told her that he had a surprise for her.
The last time he said that Blue was stuck with a diaper for a week until she managed to finally destroy every single last of Lance’s ‘puppy diapers’.
This surprise though, Blue approves.
Blue barks and bounces happily near her Momma’s face. She tells her all about Lance and their home, about their daily walks in the morning and the different shampoos Lance has tried on her that always makes her smell good.
Momma says she’s happy for her and proud. Blue tells her that she misses her and her siblings but that she’s not as sad as she used to be about it.
Momma tells her that it’s okay to be sad sometimes and to miss what’s in the past as long as it doesn’t blind her of her blessing of the present.
Her words make her turns back to see Lance, laughing freely at something Allura had said and Blue can’t help but feel relieved that she’s the one who ended up with Lance.
That night she sleeps with Lance on his bed. Lance doesn’t even question it.
Keith and Red’s visit start being regular.
Too regular to the point that Blue’s not amused anymore when Red stumbles into her bed and takes her chew toy for himself.
She wonders if she has to have a talk with Lance.
Blue turns, determination filling her small body as she walks towards where she had last seen Lance and Keith but stops short when she finds them wrestling on the couch.
Blue opens her mouth to bark, to catch their attention but then she decides against it when Lance squeals and giggles. Blue waits before she turns and leaves them alone.
If Keith makes her Lance happy, then she guesses she can share her toys with Red.
For Lance’s sake, of course.
It’s funny, sharing a name.
It started out small. Lance usually calls her ‘mi amor’ when it’s time for lunch or when she does something particularly cute, which, come on, it’s all the time.
But then, one time he called her out and Blue had jumped off the couch to run towards Lance but as she had turned the corner, Keith was there.
“Yeah, babe?”
Now, that was weird.
First off, who is 'babe', Keith?
And second of all, why did you answer, Keith?
It’s hard the first few times because Blue’s not sure when is Lance’s calling her and when is he calling for Keith, who apparently shares the same nickname as her now.
She’s grumpy about it. She’s sad and grumpy so she lets them know.
Her opportunity comes the next time Keith visits them, without Red for a reason, and when Lance calls out ‘mi amor’, Blue’s determined to be the first one to get to her owner.
Her enthusiasm and competitivity must have been obvious because both boys stare at her surprised and curious before realization dawns over their features.
“Aw, my beautiful princess is jealous?” Lance coos, rubbing his cheek against her face.
“Now that explains a few things.” Keith chuckles, shaking his head in amusement before he sits next to the pair. “It’s okay, I can give up my nickname if she wants to. It was hers first, after all.”
“Aw, Keith, sweetheart -”
Blue tunes them out and focuses her attention on Keith, feeling uneasy at the resigned sad tone in his voice. This isn’t what she wanted. Not really. Keith should be allowed to feel as loved as Lance makes her feel with just a nickname, Blue doesn’t want to take that from him.
So, she wiggles herself out of Lance’s grip and walks over Keith’s side on the couch, climbing on him quickly until she’s on his face and Keith’s hands immediately support her.
She licks his cheek, her silent blessing and both boys coo.
“Seems like it won’t be a problem,” Lance says softly, leaning down to drop a kiss on top of their heads. “Hm, mis amores.”
Blue’s okay sharing a nickname, as long as it’s with Keith.