Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Stepping out of the shower, Lance caught sight of the edges of his soulmark in the mirror.  A pair of outstretched wings graced his upper back, delicate lines twisting and weaving through the empty feathers.  It would remain colorless, only a black outline until his soulmate touched him.  Most people’s soulmarks were smaller since it was where your soulmate would touch you first.  But not his.  It was rare, but every so often, someone would have a mark that covered a significant part of their body.  There were several theories and anecdotal evidence as to why that might be, but nothing confirmed.  Not that Lance much cared anymore.

At 21, most people had met their soulmates already.  But again, not Lance.  The Alpha was beginning to wonder if he would ever meet his.  He had come out as pansexual at 13, so he couldn’t narrow it down that way.  And even though he’d started to become numb when it came to finding his soulmate, he still tensed whenever someone new touched his back.  But nothing ever came of it.

He realized that he was still standing in the steam-filled bathroom, staring at his reflection and shook his head, clearing the thoughts.  It was getting late, and he needed to get to work.  When not in class at Altea University’s music school, he worked at the school’s store that supplied the students with strings, reeds, rosin, bows, and whatever else the students needed for various instruments.  It also served as the school’s bookstore, stocked with syllabus-required sheet music and staff-paper notebooks.

“Oh thank fuck you're here,” Pidge groaned when Lance vaulted over the counter that separated the students from the stock.  She hadn't even commented on his showing off, something he noticed.  He could have used the door at the back of the store that occupied a space in the music school’s first floor, but he decided this was faster.

“Rough open?” Lance asked while he punched in.

Pidge groaned again and collapsed onto the counter resting her head on her arms.  “You have no idea.  I know the semester’s almost over and everyone’s leaving for the summer, but do they all have to show up at the same time for their shit?”  She rolled her head to look at him.  The light green-and-white, tie dye striped top she wore that day was just a little too big on her, the wide neck falling off one slender shoulder and exposing her sleeveless, high necked black top.  It also carried the faint scent of peony and lilac mixed with Pidge’s mossy green woods which told Lance that it really belonged to her soulmate Harper.

They were a little odd as a pair.  Pidge, a five-foot-nothing Alpha and Harper, her Omega soulmate who was a full four inches taller.  It was almost always the other way around, since Alphas tended to be naturally bigger than Omegas.  On the other hand, Hunk and his soulmate Shay were pretty evenly matched in terms of height.  Lance, at six feet, was fairly certain that no matter their primary sex or gender, his soulmate would be smaller than him.  Not that he really cared about that.  He knew he’d love them no matter what.  And he couldn’t deny that the idea of an Omega who could look him directly in the eye was kinda hot.

Lance had to look away from his tiny Alpha friend.  After meeting Harper during their freshman year at Altea, Pidge almost always had her twin soulmarks on her wrists exposed.  He had been there when Harper grabbed Pidge to steady her after she tripped, and watched the color race along the vines and flowers wrapping around her pale skin.  And then when Pidge reactively touched Harper’s exposed mark on her upper arm that matched her own.  Normally, he didn’t have a problem, but right then it was bothering him, the bitterness of disappointment creeping into his ocean and sandalwood scent.

It didn’t go unnoticed by Pidge.  “You’ll find them,” she said softly and unprompted.

He sighed.  “Probably.  I mean, I hope so, but what if I don’t?  It happens.  There are people who go their entire lives without ever meeting theirs.”

The petite pianist stood, hopping up to sit on the counter.  She pulled out the hair tie containing one of her two messy honey-blonde buns, redoing it to give her time to think.  “I know there are.  And I can’t say that you’ll absolutely find yours, but I think you will.  Just give it time.”

“I already have!” he whined, then stopped and took a breath, calming himself and his scent, “But you're right.  It’s just that you have Harper, Hunk found Shay back in high school, Matt has Natalia, Romelle and Allura have been together forever.  Hell, half my siblings have found theirs already.”  He trailed off, dropping his elbows onto the counter beside Pidge.  He was letting it get to him again and he knew it.

But so did Pidge.  She nudged his shoulder with her elbow.  “There’s the end of semester party with us and the art school on Friday.  You're still going, right?”

“Yeah,” Lance sighed.  He bumped her back, a mischievous grin spreading.  “Just as long as you’re sneaking vodka in again.”

“You bet your ass I am,” she said, laughing.

Once Lance had gotten over his bout of self-pity over not having met his soulmate yet, he spent the next three days feeling weirdly anxious about the upcoming party.  It was odd feeling like that.  He knew what to expect.  He’d been to every one of them in the last three years.  He knew how it went by then.  He’d mostly ignore the freshmen being not at all subtle about “sneaking” cheap booze in (just the thought of Fireball and Everclear made him shudder), greet the sophomores he knew, and when he found his friends that were juniors like him and a few seniors, he’d settle in for the night.  They’d get tipsy on the stash Pidge brought, and eventually Lance would drag a few people off to dance before collapsing in their claimed corner to finish off the smuggled alcohol.  Sometime before dawn they’d all stumble off to their dorms, pass out for a few hours, and then meet up at the local diner for a greasy hangover breakfast.

The afternoon before the party, Lance was hanging out with Hunk while he worked on the final for his metalworking class.  It was something Hunk never minded, even if it was brought on that day by another bout of depression over Lance’s unfound soulmate.

“Hunk!” Lance squealed, bouncing, “Party’s tonight!  Fuck I'm excited.  Pidge is bringing a couple bottles of Skyy…y’think I should bring my Bacardi?”

Hunk finished with the last piece of solder.  He turned, setting the soldering iron down.  “Nah,” he said after thinking it over, “Save that for our private party.  The masses aren’t worthy.”

Lance snorted.  “The masses aren’t getting their hands on the Skyy either.”

“Yeah, true,” Hunk agreed, “Pidge’d kill them first.”

Both Alphas took a step back to look over Hunk’s final project.  The sculptor had enlisted his fashion designer fiancée’s help with both the design and shape.  Hunk was nearly finished with a self-supporting wire mesh ball gown.  Shay had helped with the overall design, and Hunk was using her measurements to shape the dress.  Other people might look at the piece objectively, but Lance could see what Hunk had put into it.  There was the love of his medium, but this one in particular was about his love for Shay.  Hunk had carefully molded the wire mesh, making it look like it was frozen in time, with the impression of the gown being worn by an invisible model.  Lance could absolutely see Shay in it.  He honestly felt that it was one of Hunk’s best.

Much like Pidge had a few days earlier, Hunk picked up the change when bitter disappointment slipped back into Lance’s scent.  “You alright, man?” he asked softly.

Lance sighed heavily.  “Yeah.  It – it’s not you.  Or this,” he waved a hand at the sculpture, “It’s amazing, actually.  But I can see Shay in it, and it just made me think about how I still haven’t found mine yet.”

Hunk wrapped an arm around his oldest friend.  “Yeah, I know.”  He had a sudden idea.  “Hey, how about we grab Pidge and you can practice your performance piece for your composition final?”  Hunk knew that if there was anything that could shake this, it would be getting Lance’s guitar in his hands.

Lance brightened at the thought.  “Yeah!  And Pidge can help with those couple measures that still aren’t working out right.”  He pulled his phone out while Hunk finished getting cleaned up.

Hi_Im_Treble > SongBird

Hi_Im_Treble: me and Hunk are kidnapping you for a practice session on the quad.  Hunk’s idea

SongBird: I'm in as long as he brings cookies

“Hey, Hunk, Pidge says she’s in as long as you bring cookies,” Lance called.

“How in the actual fuck does she know when – I haven’t even seen her since yesterday!  How does she know?!  Yeah, yeah.  Tell her I made peanut butter chocolate chip.”

Lance’s back hit the wall as he stumbled backward from laughing so hard.  Hunk had gone from startled confusion to questioning the universe to defeated acceptance in the space of thirty seconds.  He almost forgot to text Pidge back.

SongBird > Hi_Im_Treble

SongBird: so is Hunk bringing cookies or not?

SongBird: Lance?

Hi_Im_Treble: sorry.  Hunk’s reaction was amazing

Hi_Im_Treble: and he said to tell you that he made peanut butter chocolate chip

SongBird: excellent

SongBird: eta?

Hi_Im_Treble: 10?

SongBird: k

Lance and Hunk made a pit stop by Lance’s dorm before meeting up with Pidge.  Altea’s dorms were generally separated into two sections.  One for mated students and one for those who hadn’t found theirs yet.  Lance had always found his dorm building depressing.  Architecturally, it wasn’t any different from the mated dorms except for the part where all the rooms were singles.  It was the dorm’s residents that gave it that atmosphere.  There was a reason Lance always went to his friends’ rooms.

Once they had retrieved Lance’s backpack and guitar case and Hunk had grabbed the cookies, they met up with Pidge in their usual spot on the quad beneath the young maple tree.  Unsurprisingly, Pidge was leaned up against a pair of backpacks with Harper’s head in her lap, the Omega violinist playing with her Alpha’s fingers.  Lance and Hunk joined them, settling into a loose circle.  Lance had his composition memorized by that point, and handed the sheet music to Pidge.  He ran through it once, and both Pidge and Harper had constructive input.  Lance was running through the revised version when they were joined by Allura and Romelle.

“Ooh, that sounds good,” Allura said appreciatively, snuggling up against her Alpha.

“Oh, thanks, Lura.  It’s my comp final,” Lance answered.

“We all know I know almost nothing about music, but I'm agreeing,” Romelle added, making her friends laugh.

“Where’s Shay?” Allura asked Hunk.

“Working on her final project until three,” he answered, checking the time with disappointment that 3pm was still an hour away.

“What’s her project again?”

“I don’t know.  She won’t tell me.”

Lance bounced in place like a toddler.  He couldn’t help it; he knew what Shay was working on and he was as excited about it as she was.

“You know what it is, don’t you?” Pidge accused.

He nodded excitedly, making a concerted effort to physically keep his mouth closed.

“And Shay doesn’t want Hunk to know.”

The Alpha shook his head with the same level of excitement.  A second later, his phone buzzed with an incoming text.

SongBird > Hi_Im_Treble

SongBird: She’s making her mating ceremony dress, isn’t she?

“Maybe,” he allowed himself to admit.  That was exactly what Shay was doing, but she had sworn Lance to secrecy.  Pidge knew now, but she wouldn’t spill it.  Hunk would just have to wait.

“Maybe what?” Romelle asked.

“Nope.  I have to practice this,” Lance insisted.

The five of them stayed sprawled on the grass listening to Lance’s practice and editing process while inhaling Hunk’s cookies.  He made sure to put a stack aside for Lance, even if he kept having to slap Pidge’s hand away from it.  It was a warm spring day, so the quad was busy with students taking up swaths of the grass as well as heavy foot traffic.  Allura grabbed the attention of one of them just as he was walking by.

“Keith!” she yelled, waving him over.

Lance stopped playing to see who Allura’s friend was.  So, yes, he was waiting to meet his soulmate, but this boy was beautiful.  Delicately pale skin standing in stark contrast to his deep black hair.  It perfectly framed his delicately featured face, the rest pulled back into a messy bun - and was that seriously a paint brush sticking out of it?  It almost distracted Lance from noticing his blue-violet eyes.  The ones with silver flecks that reflected the sunlight, making it look like he held the universe in his gaze.  Lance reminded himself that he was waiting for his soulmate, but this boy – Keith, he remembered distantly – was testing that patience.

What he was wearing wasn’t helping either.  Black boots and jeans that molded to his every last curve, and a black tank top under an open red flannel that was rolled up to his elbows.  And fucking black leather fingerless gloves.  Might as well just kill him now.  Well, he hadn’t met his soulmate yet, and Lance had to wonder if Keith had either.

“…no, we were just hanging out here listening to Lance practice for a final,” the Alpha in question heard Allura say, shaking him out of his reverie.

“Oh.  Ok.  I was just heading back to my dorm.  I have time if no one minds,” Keith said.

No one else minded, and Lance had yet to remember that speech was a thing.  Keith took the closest spot, which just happened to be between Allura and Lance.  And that’s when Lance was hit with a wave of jasmine and ginger and the wonderful, startling, horrifying realization that Keith was an Omega.  And there was no telltale thread of an Alpha in his scent.  If Lance had thought that he was thoroughly fucked before, now he was just dead.  Whether or not he was waiting for his soulmate, there was a pull toward Keith that Lance couldn’t deny even if he tried.

Forcing himself back to his music, Lance went over the last revisions with Pidge before going back to his guitar.  He risked a look and found that Keith was watching and listening with rapt attention.  It was too much.  Lance.exe was beginning to crash.  He made it to the end of his run-through before making an excuse having to do with needing to start getting ready for the party that night and began getting himself packed up.

Allura nudged Keith’s foot from her spot draped across Romelle.  “You’re coming tonight, right?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, “Shiro’s making me go.  Keeps telling me that I could meet my soulmate there.  Not fucking likely, but whatever.  It’s not like he won’t just be making out in a corner with Adam all night.”

The Omega nearly choked on her water bottle.  “Well, it is true.  Not that I can say anything.”

Romelle turned her face with a finger, capturing her soulmate’s lips in a gentle kiss.  “No, you really can’t.”

Hunk handed the last of the cookies to Lance before he left.  “Don’t worry about getting it back to me.  I know where you live.”

Lance paused.  “Y’know, that would be a lot more ominous if we hadn’t been friends since preschool.  Anyway, party?  Meet up here around eight?”

Everyone but Keith answered in some variation of an affirmative.

“I’m going with my brother Shiro and his mate, but I’ll see you guys there,” he said.

Pidge shot him a look.  “You’d better.  I'm stashing vodka for all of us.  This now includes you.  It really helps that my brother Matt’s mate is one of the organizers.”

“She lets us get away with so much shit,” Lance said, “Anyway, here.  Eight.  Don’t be late.”  He waved with the cookie box as he headed off in the direction of his dorm.

He didn’t know Keith was pointedly watching him go, and he didn’t hear all the shit his friends gave him for it.  He especially didn’t see the flustered mess Keith turned into after that and how quickly he made his escape.

That night, at eight exactly, Lance met up with his friends and headed over to the party.  It was being held, as it always was, in their favorite of the three student lounge areas, the one with nearly enough bean bag chairs to make a ball pit out of.  For the party, the bean bags were clustered around the walls of the room, the rest of the furniture pushed up in between them.  The DJ was at the back of the opened space, and the (non-alcoholic) drinks table was just to the right of the door.  Natalia, Matt’s soulmate, gave Pidge a subtle nod as the gang made their way in, letting her know that the vodka was safe.  The petite Alpha returned the nod, leading everyone to their corner.

Pidge retrieved the first of the bottles stashed behind a (purposely) loose panel in the wall once everyone was settled in.  They drank enough to start the night without being too drunk, and once Lance felt the buzz settling into his skin, he hauled Allura up to go dance.  She stumbled after him, Romelle buzzed enough to slap her ass on the way up.  Allura yelped, falling into Lance, who just laughed.  He let go of her when he was sure she wouldn’t fall, only to find someone crashing hard into his back.

Lance dropped to the floor, not from pain, but from the fireball of warmth sitting on his spine that he soon felt running along the empty lines of his soulmark.  The pressure of the other person had disappeared quickly, and he knew that the cobalt tank top he was wearing meant that anyone looking knew he’d just come in physical contact with his soulmate for the first time.

The spreading warmth was just reaching the tips of his mark when he stood and turned around to find out who had crashed into him.  He felt like the breath had been punched out of his lungs when he saw Keith still on the floor, his beautiful violet eyes wide.  Without a word, Lance extended both hands to help him up.  Keith accepted, and Lance pulled him up.  Lance knew when Keith began frantically pulling his gloves off that he felt the same gentle burning he had only seconds before.  Gloves dropped on the floor, they watched the vivid colors spreading through the lines and feathers woven around both of Keith’s hands.  It was then that Lance realized that the Omega was only barely shorter than him.  And at the perfect height for what he did next.

Lance took Keith's hands again, kissing both palms before dropping one to run the back of his fingers across Keith's cheek, and then into his surprisingly soft hair.  The Omega watched his every move, waiting for his Alpha.  He could feel himself melting against Lance’s soft touch, something the Alpha was fully aware of.  He couldn’t wait any more than Keith could, and dipped down, a soft smile on his lips at the same time as Keith tilted his face up, their lips meeting for the first time.

Somewhere in the back of their minds, they knew everyone was watching, but they couldn’t bring themselves to care.  As far as they were concerned, there was no one else in the world but them.  Lance kissed Keith again before wrapping his arms around his Omega, pulling him close.

“I’ve been waiting for you for so long,” he whispered, “And I will never let you go.”

Keith’s hands, now in full bloom, held on to the back of Lance’s tank top like he would float away if he didn’t.  “I’ve been waiting for you, too.  My Alpha.  My forever.”

Chapter Text

Greetings, my critters.  I wanted to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about this, and that I am still working on it.  However, my mental and physical health have taken a hit recently and I haven't been able to write the way I want to.  I will be back.  I'm not abandoning the story.  But for now, I need to take a step back to recover.  Just know that I'm still picking at it in the background and that I love you all for hanging in there with me.  Until then. . .

~Corvus

(Also, yes, I am posting this on all my fics, so if you follow more than one, it's the same thing all over again)

Chapter Text

“Is it supposed to feel like this?”  Keith asked quietly, his voice a rough whisper.

“Like a comfortable calm you didn’t know you were missing?  Yeah, I think it is,” Lance answered, the sound gravelly in its softness.

They knew they’d been standing there for at least a few minutes only because they were vaguely aware that the song blasting through the too-loud sound system had changed.  Neither of them had noticed Romelle lean over and nearly fall off the bean bag she’d claimed for the night to retrieve Keith’s gloves from the floor where he’d dropped them.  They didn’t notice their friends staring or talking about them, louder than they probably meant to, thanks to the empty vodka bottle tucked beside Pidge.  They hadn’t noticed the brief drunken cheering from those who’d been close enough to see what happened when Lance and Keith collided.  They didn’t notice when the news spread through the room like wildfire.  They didn’t even notice that their friend group next to them had grown.

Alpha and Omega could see or hear nothing beyond each other.  They were dimly aware of the sounds of the party still going on around them, but it no longer mattered at all.  Keith was too focused on soaking in sharp salt air and soft sandalwood, studying the tiny freckles sprinkled like stardust across Lance’s nose, and reveling in his Alpha’s soft touches.  Lance, likewise, was engrossed in committing clean, bright jasmine and the bite of ginger to memory, watching as his Omega traced over his features with the galaxy gaze he was quickly realizing he could never get enough of.  After thoroughly and unashamedly scenting each other in public, Lance lightly traced over Keith’s jawline.

“Let’s get out of here,” he whispered, “We have a lot of catching up to do.”

The words themselves sparked a flash of anxiety that disappeared as soon as it came.  Keith realized he was safe; this was his Alpha, and Lance would keep him safe.  He leaned into the touch, letting long fingers brush across his skin, and hummed a soft affirmative.  “Yeah we do,” the Omega agreed.

Lance let his hand drop, skimming along Keith’s arm until their fingers wove together.  They turned to tell their friends they were leaving, then realized that the group size had doubled within a few minutes.  Pidge, Harper, Allura, Romelle and Hunk had been joined by Shay, Shiro, Adam, Matt, and Natalia.  All ten pairs of eyes were on them.

“If I’d had any idea I would have introduced you two ages ago,” Allura choked.

“It’s not your fault, Lura,” Lance said, “And even if you did, there’s no guarantee we would have found out any sooner.  It’s not like my mark’s not in a weird place.”

Keith held up his free hand.  “I don’t know about that.  Mine’s a little…obvious.”

“Not under those gloves it wasn’t,” Adam snickered.

“And you know why I wore them.”  He looked back to the vibrant colors wrapping his hand.  “Not that I’ll be doing that ever again.”

Lance brought Keith’s hand to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to those vibrant colors.  “Whatever makes you comfortable.”  He turned to their friends, never taking his eyes off his Omega.  “We’re going to head out.  We’ll meet up for breakfast.”

Said friends immediately began calling after them, their buzzed and drunken shouts nothing but innuendoes.  Lance pointedly ignored them, but Keith was becoming nervous again.  He was certainly aware that many newly met soulmates consummated their relationship very early on, but it was something he wasn’t at all comfortable with, and something he needed to address with Lance as soon as possible.  His Alpha never gave him the feeling that that was what was on his mind at the time, and they walked through campus in a comfortable quiet.  When they’d made it within sight of Lance’s dorm, Keith stopped.  Lance stopped as well and turned around, seeing the worry and anxiety on Keith’s face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, closing the distance to slip his arms around Keith’s waist.

“Before anything else, I just need you to know that I’m demisexual and it’s going to take me a while to get…there.  I know we’re soulmates and that we were put together for a reason, I’ve just heard way too many stories.  And as an Omega, they’re pretty terrifying,” Keith answered, unable to meet that ocean gaze.

Lance was certainly aware of those stories.  Alphas who decided that their Omegas were there as little more than toys, and that their being soulmates meant that it was their right.  Fortunately, they were more often bogeyman stories than anything, but it still happened, and Keith had every right to be concerned.  He also just wanted all the cards on the table in the interest of fairness.

Lance pulled him in closer, gently pressing their foreheads together.  “ ‘There’ isn’t important right now.  What’s important is that you feel safe.  I will never intentionally do anything to make you uncomfortable.  If I ever do anything you don’t want, tell me.  I’m your Alpha just as much as you’re my Omega.  I don’t know when your next heat is, but I’ll do as much or as little as you want.  If you want me to just fuck off for the week, I will.  It’ll suck because I know I’ll miss you, but as your Alpha, my first job is your comfort and safety.  Ok?”

Even without being wrapped in the new, bright note of sun-warmed linen in Lance’s scent, Keith knew he meant what he said.  That his Alpha would respect his boundaries, take it as slowly as he wanted, and do whatever he could to make his Omega happy.

“Ok.”  Keith slid his hands up Lance’s chest and around his neck.  “One other thing, just so we’re clear.  Being demi doesn’t mean that I'm touch-averse.  Not at all.”

“Well that’s good.  I’m pretty famous for being physically affectionate.  That and my family has absolutely no concept of personal space.”

“Oh no,” Keith said in a sort of mock fear.

Lance just laughed softly and took Keith’s hand again, leading the way inside.