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Lance was always surprised by the amount of dust that accumulated on his picture frames. The task of dusting each one of them off and placing them in their correct place on the already crowded mantle was at least a two hour affair, and it seemed like nothing could really cut down that process; not that Lance necessarily minded spending that long on simply dusting them. The photos themselves were important and included everything from his old childhood photos to the most recent one of himself and the rest of the team at Shiro and Curtis’ wedding.
Readying the orange microfiber cloth in one hand, he picked up the frame that held the first photo they had all taken together after the war had ended. Allura’s statue of remembrance stood tall, watching over them in the background, while the team huddled together, crowding themselves into the frame. It was the first of many photos that would be taken on the anniversary of Allura’s death, but this photo had always been one of Lance’s favourites. His heart clenched a little at the memory before easing into something more sentimental. Lance wiped the dust from the glass attentively and returned it to its place on the shelf.
A picture of Keith and Kosmo sat next to it, and Lance held it in his hands, chuckling to himself at the memory. Keith had been visiting the farm with Kosmo hoping to catch up with Lance after one of his missions. It had been nice to see his friend after all that time, but Lance had been busy with maintaining the farmhouse and taking care of Kaltenecker and the other animals. Keith had offered to help at one point before Lance’s mother jokingly scolded him for being too helpful. He was a guest and was welcome to wait inside with Sylvio and Nadia if he wanted. Keith, however, had insisted that he’d prefer to wait outside for Lance and took refuge by one of the large oak trees in the field. It was under this tree that Lance later found Keith and Kosmo, passed out on top of one another. It had been one of the cutest things Lance had ever seen, so he couldn’t help but take a picture, cooing as Keith burrowed himself into Kosmo’s fur. Lance smiled as he scrubbed the glass frame with the cloth and set it back onto the ledge.
There were a collection of photos in the center of the mantle that showcased Lance with his friends. Some were with Pidge and Matt at the Garrison, others were with Hunk at a variety of different restaurants and scenic locations. However, most of the photos were exclusively of Lance and Keith. Lance picked up the Christmas photo from just a year prior. It had been their first Christmas together as an actual couple, and Keith had sat for the photo with mixed feelings. Despite Keith’s protests of how old-fashioned the two of them had posed for the photo looked, Lance insisted on that specific configuration for ‘comedic and ironic purposes’. Mimicking the archaic trend of posing with one person seated with a dog in their lap while the other stood behind them, Lance had urged Keith and Kosmo to help him recreate the photo. It was arguably one of the best photos that existed of the three of them together, at least, according to Lance it was.
Lance continued to dust through the different photos he kept out, cleaning off more candids of Keith and Kosmo, candids of just Keith, and selfies they had taken together that were good enough (in Lance’s opinion) to be printed and framed. As he reached the end of the mantle, Lance took hold of the next photo and began wiping at its edges, careful not to catch the cloth on the intricate, decorative frame. During Shiro and Curtis’ wedding, Pidge had managed to snap a quick picture of Keith and Lance slow-dancing and gifted it to them. They had been dancing to one of Curtis’ favourite songs under the setting sun, swaying slowly to the violins. They’d spent the entire song with their foreheads touching, whispering things to each other as the song played on. It had been easy to lose themselves in each other and in the music. With the two of them together, it felt as though they were separated from everyone else, dancing together until the song had ended, as the sun bid farewell beyond the horizon and the moonlight illuminated the dancefloor.
That dance had been the last time that Lance had Keith to himself. Due to his commitments with the Blade of Marmora, Keith had been scheduled to fly out for another humanitarian mission two days after Shiro’s wedding, having to leave Lance for almost a month, and in that month Lance had found himself missing Keith terribly. Keith had been gone for longer periods of time in the past, but what could Lance say? He missed his boyfriend. They had moved in together not long ago, and it still felt like they didn’t spend enough time together.
It was nothing like what he had felt when Keith had left for the Blade all those years ago. He’d been doing that to learn about his Galran heritage and his mother. Missing Keith then and missing Keith now felt very different, not to mention that it was a very different Lance missing him.
Now, excitement thrummed through his veins at the prospect of reuniting with Keith. Lance had received Keith’s transmission early in the morning regarding his upcoming return to Earth, something that had immediately woken him up. The news of Keith’s impending arrival motivated him to begin the long overdue cleaning of their home starting from their bedroom down to the main floor. It was helpful that the house hadn’t accumulated too many items in it, still bearing signs that they had only moved in about six months ago.
Lance’s family had been incredibly supportive during the move. His parents had helped transport most of the things in Lance’s old bedroom to the spare farmhouse at the edge of their property. It wasn’t a far walk, and most of his siblings had been happy to assist Lance in his adult venture of moving in with his boyfriend. Marco and Luis had even lent their woodworking expertise in building new pieces of furniture for the house.
As he put down the last picture frame and turned to head over to the kitchen to check on the bran muffins he’d placed in the oven, Lance caught a small glimpse of shimmering out of the corner of his eye. Before he knew it, a large wolf had materialized in front of him, sparing no time in mowing him down and greeting him with plenty of slobbery kisses.
“Kosmo!” Lance reached up to scratch the wolf’s fluffy blue ears. “Welcome home, buddy.”
Someone cleared their throat, causing Lance to try to look around Kosmo’s head to see Keith looking down at them. “What about me?”
“You’ll get your turn,” laughed Lance, as he continued giving Kosmo belly rubs.
Keith allowed Kosmo a few more minutes to lavish Lance without instruction before rubbing the wolf’s head affectionately. “Alright, buddy. Go say hi to the rest of the family. I want to say hi to Lance too.” Kosmo pulled away to nuzzle against Keith’s hand a moment before disappearing in a cloud of shimmering light.
Lance looked up at Keith from his spot on the floor and grinned at him. “Hi there.”
“Hi.” Keith offered him a hand and pulled Lance up to his feet with just enough force so that he could secure an arm around Lance’s waist.
“Welcome home, samurai.” Lance touched his forehead to Keith’s.
Keith pulled Lance in for a soft kiss, their lips meeting for a short moment. “I’m home, sharpshooter.”
“Glad to hear it.” Lance pulled away to give Keith a once over. “How was the mission? Did everything go well?”
“More or less. We wanted to check in on the Olkari’s new home planet and the other planets in their part of the galaxy. It was mostly to provide food and resources to the planets in need,” Keith recounted as he grabbed Lance’s hand and intertwined their fingers together.
“The Olkari! Man, I haven’t seen any of them in a long time.” Lance tightened the grip on Keith’s hand and tugged him towards the kitchen. “I have to check on something, but keep talking.”
Keith responded with a simple smile and continued, recalling how the resource distribution was mostly smooth and how the citizens were doing their best in making the new planet their home. “We visited the Taujeerians too, to make sure everything was okay after they moved their entire colony to a moon near their original home planet,” Keith went on.
“Ah, I remember those guys. I’m guessing they’re more settled on the moon now?”
“Yeah.” Keith took a seat at the kitchen table as Lance flicked on the oven light. “They’re adapting a lot better than anyone expected, but they still needed the extra resources.”
“Well, I’m glad that the Blade is doing their due diligence.” Bending down, Lance peeked through the oven window to check if the muffins were ready to come out.
“You’re baking?” Keith leaned back into the chair and began removing his gloves, folding and setting them neatly at the corner of the table.
Lance slipped on a pair of blue oven mitts and carefully pulled out the tray of muffins, placing them on the countertop cooling rack. “Yeah, I figured you’d be hungry when you got home, and I know how much you love bran muffins, dare I say the most boring muffins on Earth.”
Keith reached for a muffin, but Lance quickly slapped his hand away. “Dude, they just came out of the oven, so they’re burning hot. Plus, you haven’t even washed your hands yet.”
“But-,” Keith stammered.
“No buts. Go upstairs and get changed out of your uniform, then we can talk about you having a muffin,” Lance instructed as he started to delicately pluck the baked goods from the metal tray. Once Lance was sure Keith was upstairs, he finished removing all the muffins, placing a couple off to the side for Keith to eat. Leaving the rest of the muffins to cool, Lance took the ones he’d set aside into the living room with him and placed them down onto the coffee table in front of the couch.
Lance hopped up onto the sofa, tucking his feet underneath his legs while awaiting Keith’s return. He reached for the remote and turned on the television, booting up an episode of their favourite show with the knowledge that they would be getting to it eventually. Keith hadn’t even been home long, and Lance was already feeling lighter. The rush of water from the bathroom upstairs and Keith’s footsteps reminded him that he wasn’t alone anymore. This was what sharing a home with Keith was meant to feel like. It was a relief knowing that this wasn’t his imagination, that Keith was a real tangible thing and that they were together again. Video calls really weren’t cutting it.
When Keith came back downstairs, he joined Lance on the couch, sidling up next to him so that their shoulders were touching. “So,” began Keith, one hand slipping into Lance’s while the other snagged a muffin on the table, “what have you been up to?”
“Besides the usual farm stuff, there was actually something new that happened while you were gone.”
“Oh yeah? What happened?” Keith responded with his mouth full.
“It was my first time helping out with the newborn piglets,” said Lance cheerfully. “I’m usually on flower duty and not much else, but yesterday I got to help out with the animals, and one of our pigs happened to give birth.” He fixed Keith with a meaningful look. “They were so cute, Keith! We got to cradle them in tiny little blankets and feed them tiny little bottles like they were babies!” Lance grabbed both of Keith’s hands excitedly.
“Well, piglets are baby pigs,” reminded Keith.
“Yes, but you know what I mean.” Lance pouted as he playfully elbowed Keith in his side.
Keith gently shoved him back. “I always know what you mean, but it’s still fun teasing you a little bit.”
“Is this revenge for the rival stuff I used to talk about back when we first started Voltron?”
“Maybe?” Keith laughed at Lance’s expression but eased back, looking at the television screen and lighting up at what he saw there. “Are we watching what I think we’re watching?”
Lance returned a bright smile. “You bet your butt we are. It’s Jalapeño Business or nothing. I can’t believe Hunk’s been hosting this cooking show for 6 seasons already.”
“Wow,” Keith began, “has it been that long? Seems like Hunk’s doing well for himself.”
“He’s honestly doing swimmingly. He told me that the show got picked up for a seventh season, too!” Lance leaned in closer to Keith, resting his head on Keith’s shoulder.
The two of them settled into each other, eyes focused on the screen. The familiar theme song filled their living room and the pair watched as Hunk came on stage smiling at the camera. He gave his usual introductory spiel before the show cut to each contestant giving their respective introduction and culinary background.
“I hope she wins,” whispered Lance as a Puigian contestant finished explaining her desire to make delicious food for her family, no matter the circumstances.
“You think she has a better chance than Varkon?” asked Keith as Varkon’s face filled up the screen and he began speaking about his own motivation to win.
Lance pursed his lips and turned to look Keith dead in the eye. “Do you?”
“Hell no.” When the camera panned out to all the contestants side by side, Keith pointed out the Arusian. “They’re going to win for sure.”
Lance huffed. “Babe, they can barely reach the counter.”
“But they have a sword!” insisted Keith.
“I don’t think they’re allowed to use that in the competition,” Lance interjected, laughing at Keith’s enthusiasm.
“Doesn’t matter. All sword wielders are good in my book.”
“You are so biased.” He relaxed back into Keith, whose arm came around to hold Lance close.
Lance snuggled further into Keith’s embrace, placing himself in between Keith’s legs just as the first commercial break played on the screen.
Keith nudged Lance with his knee. “You gonna fast forward through the commercials or…?”
“Nah, I’m too comfortable to move. Let’s just let them play.”
Keith hummed in agreement, allowing for Lance to feel the subtle vibration in Keith’s body. It really was great to be together again. There weren’t many moments where the two of them could spend quality time together, so Lance cherished every single second they got to be in each other’s company.
About two minutes into the advertisements, Lance spoke up. “Oh! Have you heard the news about Kolivan?”
“Kolivan?” Keith was pretty sure his mom kept him properly updated on the tasks of the Galactic Coalition, so the idea that there was news surrounding Kolivan that he was unaware of seemed a little suspicious.
Lance turned his head so he was facing Keith more directly. “Yeah. He’s going to be a guest judge on the show.”
“There is no way that he would ever agree to that. I know Kolivan.”
“It’s true,” Lance continued, explaining the details as he resumed the position of lying with his head on Keith’s chest. “He had to sign a non-disclosure agreement already, so it’s pretty official. I’m not surprised you didn’t know, though. That guy is a pro at keeping secrets. He wasn’t the leader of the Blade for nothing.”
Keith laughed lightly, pressing a kiss onto the top of Lance’s head, his lips barely grazing the brown hair. “Okay, but if he’s sworn to secrecy, why aren’t you? Shouldn’t you also not know that he’s going to be a guest judge?”
“Hunk’s my best friend, Keith. There are no secrets between us,” Lance stated with no hesitation.
“Is there anything else that I don’t know?”
“Bii-Boh-Bi is going to be a guest judge too.”
“Seriously?” Lance didn’t need to look at Keith’s face to know that he was somewhat pleasantly surprised with the information. “How is anybody going to know what he’s saying?”
“Fancy guesswork may be the only way.”
As their conversation came to a close, the show reappeared on the television and the two of them returned to enjoying each other’s presence in silence. Hunk explained the rules of the show once more, the contestants asked him their questions, and then all three chefs were being herded into a huge ball pit that encompassed the entire kitchen.
“Damn, they really didn’t prime these contestants for the ball pit. They were basically just shoved in there.” Keith chuckled.
“That’s the magic of the show, mi amor .” They watched as the contestants struggled to wade through thousands of plastic balls to get to the pantry. Varkon seemed to be drowning in the pit while the Arusian, once they’d swum to the top of the ball pit, hopped towards the pantry. “What!?” exclaimed Lance. “That’s not fair! They’re too light!”
“See?” Keith said proudly. “They’re clearly superior.”
Lance crossed his arms in indignation. “You wait, the competition has only just begun.”
The show carried on in both expected and unexpected ways. Both Keith and Lance shared countless laughs watching each chef tackle their main dishes while trying to fish around the ball pit for all the required utensils and cookware. After the first round, Varkon and the Arusian emerged successful in creating dishes that would push them to the next round while the Puigian contestant was eliminated, much to Lance’s chagrin.
“My cooking intuition isn’t that bad, is it, Keith?” asked Lance as the show went to commercial again.
“Don’t be bummed about it. We all have hits and misses.” Keith rubbed Lance’s arm reassuringly.
“I guess.” Lance mumbled, grabbing Keith’s free hand and wrapping it around his torso.
“Oh! I forgot to tell you. Shiro and Curtis invited us to their place for a housewarming party next week. They finally got settled in. Let me just-” Lance was jostled about as Keith reached into his pocket for his phone. “Shiro sent me this invite for the both of us.” Keith angled the phone so that they could look at it together, while Lance used his fingers to scroll through the email.
“I’m glad they were able to move in without any problems.” Lance commented as he continued to read the contents of the email, taking note of all the details.
“Me too.” Keith let Lance take the phone from his hands. “Shiro said that their biggest struggle was choosing, like, countertops and wall paint. Apparently Shiro was pushing for white everything but Curtis wanted to make it more fun and add colour.”
“What did they go with?” Lance asked, eyes still scanning the last few sentences of the invite.
“I think they decided on a compromise. Shiro’s last call said that the main rooms had to be all white but that the bedrooms and bathrooms got the colour.”
“A win-win scenario, then.”
He felt Keith nod, his chin brushing Lance’s forehead. “Yeah. They argued about it for a while though. I think he said that it was the longest argument they’ve ever had.”
Lance smirked to himself. “So, like a week?”
“Yeah, like a week.”
Lance returned the phone to Keith with a laugh. “Any ideas what we should get them for their housewarming gift?”
“Hm… I’m not really sure.” Keith placed his phone on the coffee table.
The smile on his lips died, and Lance stared at Keith’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure? “Has Shiro said anything to you? Do you know if they’ve already received everything they need through their wedding registry?”
Keith shrugged his shoulders. “We don’t really talk about that stuff, so I wouldn’t know.”
“Babeeee,” Lance whined, “you’re not exactly being helpful right now. Help me think of something!”
“I’m sorry. I’ll help, I’ll help.” Keith lightly tapped Lance’s nose. “Stop whining.”
“Then help me! You hear from Shiro the most. Has he said anything that might be important? Is there anything that he might like or anything he might need?”
“Hey, calm down.” Keith thumbed at the edge of Lance’s hips in an attempt to soothe him. It wasn’t just because of their positioning. It was common these days for Keith to calm Lance down with a word and a gentle gesture. They’d figured out relatively early on that Keith’s arm around him was comforting, and Keith’s current tactic was an easy way to bring Lance back down to earth. “I’m sure we can figure something out. Isn’t the most common housewarming gift just a good bottle of wine or something?”
“Maybe! But, I don’t just want to give them something normal! This is Shiro and Curtis we’re talking about. They’re practically family. I want the gift to be something more meaningful, y’know?” Lance placed his hands over Keith’s.
Keith was silent for a while, his mind searching for a solid solution, before saying, “If you’re thinking meaningful, maybe something handmade?”
“That’s a good idea!” Lance looked up at him, eyes alight with excitement. “I used to embroider pillows for my mom back in highschool, so I’m sure I could do that.”
“All you gotta do now is think of what to embroider then.”
“Hmm… What about that phrase that Shiro always said to us when we were Paladins to help encourage us?”
The reminder alone had Keith wrinkling his nose. “You mean patience yields focus ?”
“Yes! That one!” Lance was absolutely beaming. “That would look amazing on a decorative pillow, and there’s so much meaning behind it too.”
Keith responded with a soft smile. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. But, the party’s next weekend. Do you think you’re going to have enough time to complete it?”
“If you help me, I will.” Lance waggled his eyebrows at Keith in hopes of bringing him aboard this arts and crafts journey.
Keith’s response was curt, “No.”
“Please?” Lance leaned up to kiss at Keith’s jaw. “For me?”
Another beat of silence passed between them before Keith sighed. “Fine.”
Lance cheered quietly and rewarded Keith with another quick kiss before turning his attention back to the television screen, where the contestants had begun to work on their next dish with the smallest utensils Lance had ever seen.
The pair of them immediately burst into a fit of laughter, unable to contain themselves at the sight of every contestant struggling with the small utensils. The only exception to this was the small Arusian, who had been gifted a comically large set of cooking utensils instead to balance the scales.
“Can you believe-” Lance got out before erupting into another laughing fit.
Keith doubled over in laughter, knocking his head with Lance’s. “Look at that tiny spatula!”
“Hunk is a genius for coming up with all these punishments,” Lance exclaimed in the midst of his giggle fit. “This is one of the funniest episodes yet.” Lance relaxed back into Keith as his laughter began to subside.
It didn’t take long for the episode to quickly come to its conclusion as Hunk congratulated the Arusian on attaining first place.
“Told you they would win. Swords have once again proven themselves superior,” Keith haughtily boasted, careful to omit all tones of arrogance from his voice.
“I’ll let it go this one time,” sniffed Lance, “and only because I also wielded a sword.”
They were cuddled close together, and Keith squeezed Lance affectionately. “It sucks that I never got to see it in action,” said Keith absently.
“I was pretty cool with it. I bet I could have kicked your ass.”
Keith buried his face in the crook of Lance’s neck. “Oh yeah?”
“Mhmm!” He smiled at the idea of them sparring together on the castle’s training deck. What a sight they would have been. Being a paladin, unlocking that bayard, fighting alongside one another… that was all in the past. It had been a hard, difficult past, but one that he could still recall fondly. “I might have been really out of practice, but I definitely could have taken you on one-on-one.”
Keith secured both his arms around Lance’s middle. “Lance McClain, are you challenging me?”
The moment Lance felt the grip on his torso tighten, he knew. If he didn’t get out of there in the next five seconds, Keith would undoubtedly start tickling him. In the time it took for Lance to process what was about to happen and to plan an escape route, Keith had already began poking at Lance’s ribs.
“Babe, this is so unfair!” Lance got out between his laughter. “You didn’t even give me a chance to get out before you started tickling me!” He wriggled beneath Keith’s grip, but to no avail.
Keith continued to squeeze at Lance’s midside, slipping a hand underneath his boyfriend’s shirt, causing Lance to gasp at the sudden warmth pressed to his skin. “I surrender, Keith. Please, I surrender.”
“That sounds more like it.”
With a huff, Lance took a few moments to regain his breath and straighten out his shirt, sticking out his tongue petulantly at Keith in retaliation.
Keith merely rolled his eyes and tugged Lance back into his lap, wrapping his arms around Lance’s upper body and peppering gentle kisses to the back of Lance’s neck. “I missed you, you know?” Keith’s voice was much more gentle now, almost as if he was whispering, keeping the moment intimate between the two of them.
Lance leaned back into Keith, grabbing both of Keith’s hands and pressing a kiss into each palm. “I really missed you, too.” His heart warmed with the knowledge that he was not alone in missing the other.
“I’m sorry that the Blade takes me away from you.” Keith brushed his lips against Lance’s temples. “I really don’t want to be away so often, but I can’t seem to get around it.”
Lance angled his neck so he was facing Keith. “Hey, you do important work. Those people out there need you and I’m glad that you’re out there helping them.” He pushed himself slightly upwards so his lips could meet Keith’s. “I’m proud of you, Keith, and I’m sure your dad would be really proud of you too.”
“Thank you,” Keith replied softly, a look of fondness washing over his face. They stayed like that a moment, the setting sun casting its orange glow over the couch. The light coloured both their faces, and Lance admired the light along Keith’s fair skin, glinting against his eyes.
“Now let’s get back to watching tv, hm? I really just wanna laze around all day with you.” Curling up into Keith’s body, Lance pressed play on the next recorded episode of Jalapeño Business.
Two episodes played through entirely before either one of them said anything. In a sleepy daze, Lance mumbled into Keith’s shoulder, “I like it when you cradle me. Reminds me of when we were younger.”
He heard Keith’s breath catch softly amidst Hunk’s pun-filled narration filling the space. Keith began to say something before shaking his head fondly and switching gears. “So you do remember, you piece of shit,” he chuckled. “I knew it.”
The words bounced right off Lance, who merely got more comfortable in Keith’s lap with a dreamy smile on his lips. “How could I forget?”
“Why do I even put up with you, you dork,” Keith teased as he slowly twirled his fingers into Lance’s hair.
Lance looked up at Keith, eyes at half-mast. “Because you love me, obviously.”
Keith sighed in defeat, leaning down to capture Lance’s lips with his own. “I know. I love you, Lance.”
“Good, because I love you too.” Lance snuggled closer into Keith’s chest and closed his eyes. Keith was finally home, and his world was complete once again.