Work Text:
"Sketching"
Keith sighed as he was alone in Black Lion. Cosmo had taken a liking to teleporting the passengers to different lions, so Keith didn't know exactly where his mom and Shiro were but he had to chuckle when Cosmo went to teleport his mom. She didn't get to finish her exclamation, but what she did get out was "I said I'd never-"
Keith knew the rest of her line was "-leave Keith again."
He wondered if she finished it when she rematerialized or if it was lost in subspace somewhere. Oh well. He slipped out a large drawing pad and a case full of pencils (regular and colored). Lance may have accused Keith of not being able to draw, but when he only had a few ticks (or whatever those weird time measurements were), Keith couldn't take his time and do a great job. He pulled out a pencil and started sketching.
%%%
"Why am I here? No offense to you, Lance."
Lance barely gave Krolia a second glance when Cosmo popped her into Red. Strangely, Red had purred when Keith's mom had appeared. Lance knew Red still adored her primary Paladin, but he wasn't jealous. He adored Keith too; he just wasn't going to admit that out loud. "It's all right, Krolia. You know, Cosmo does what he wants. Did Keith ever train him?"
"Yes, though he never could get him to stop teleporting on top of him when he returned from scouting." Krolia gave a small chuckle at the memory.
Lance gave a small smile. "I don't know if I ever said it, but I'm glad Keith found you. How did that happen anyway?"
"I was stationed at a base run by Warlord Ranveig for eighteen deca-phoebes. When he didn't return after the Kral Zera, I took command of the base. However, it had come under attack by Commanders Trugg and Ladnock. Keith was sent in by Kolivan to extract me and destroy the superweapon that was housed at the base. He didn't know that I was his mother until the mission was over. I realized who he was the second I encountered him. There was no way that I wouldn't recognize my son or my blade that he was wielding."
"Keith's Marmorite blade used to be yours? How did he get it?"
"Marmoran, not Marmorite, and yes, it was mine. I left it with Keith's dad, so my son would always have a piece of me with him."
"He's very protective of his blade."
"I know."
All of a sudden, the comm activated, and everyone was treated to the scene of Keith sitting sideways in Black's pilot seat with a sketchpad in his lap. He had a red colored pencil in his right hand that he was using to put the finishing touches on his picture. The picture was a jaw dropping recreation of the five lions flying through space with a nebula of purples and blues in the background. Lance couldn't keep his mouth shut. "How can you draw that well, when you couldn't in the game show?!"
Keith nearly fell out of the pilot's seat when he heard Lance's voice. He looked up and, to his horror, saw everyone staring at him. Black Lion had taken it upon herself to show the other Paladins (and their passengers) Keith sketching. To his relief, no one seemed angry that their leader was relaxing. Allura, who had Coran and Romelle with her, was smiling at him. The other two Alteans were amazed at his skill. Hunk, who had Shiro with him, was nearly bouncing in his seat with amazement over Keith's drawing. "Could you please draw Yellow Lion? I would love to have such an amazing piece of art inside my lion. It would make the journey home a little better."
"I'm glad you're relaxing, Keith. You have been far too tense during our trip," Shiro commented.
"Oh! Could you draw Green for me? That would be great!" Pidge asked.
Keith's face was completely red, and he was trying not to duck his head to hide it. "If each of you want, I could draw a picture for each of you. Just tell me what you'd like."
"You already know what I would like," Hunk replied.
"You've got my order too!" Pidge piped in.
"I would appreciate a picture of Blue Lion," Allura requested.
"A picture of Black please," Shiro said.
"Lance, do you want Red or Blue?" Keith looked at Lance, whose jaw was still hanging open. "Lance? Lance!" Keith sighed. "Mom, can you smack him on the back of his head?"
"Sure."
*SMACK*
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"Lance, everyone was asking for pictures of their lions. Do you want a picture of Red or Blue?"
"Would it be too much trouble to ask for Red and Blue in the same picture?"
"No. I can do that. Coran, Romelle, Mom, do you guys want one? This isn't restricted to the Paladins, and it doesn't have to be a picture of the lions."
"Could you do a picture of your blade?"
"You mean our blade. It still responds to you."
"No thanks, Number Four. I appreciate the thought though."
"Oh oh. Can you draw a Klamüirl?" Romelle asked.
"Uh, no, because I don't know what that is," Keith admitted.
"It's-" Coran began, straightening his collar.
"Nope! Not explaining the scary bear thing!" Pidge interrupted.
"Nevermind then."
"Okay. I will get to work on the pictures." Keith turned off the comm and huffed. "Black, why did you do that?"
"I apologize, little one, but you looked so adorable and relaxed."
Keith huffed again and turned to a new page in his sketchbook. It was going to take a bit of time to do the six drawings.
%%%
Keith activated the comm to Green Lion. "Hey, Pidge, is my wolf there with you?"
"Yeah, Cosmo's here. Do you want me to send him over?"
"His name isn't Cosmo, but yes. Send him over."
"Stop denying it's his name. Besides, he likes it. Anyway, he's coming over now."
"Thank you." Keith ended the connection and turned to Cosmo, handing him a small basket full of the sketches. "All right, buddy. Take these to the other Paladins."
Cosmo nudged Keith's hand before he disappeared, appearing in each of the lions, where each person took out the sketch they asked for. Once he was done delivering the sketches, Cosmo appeared in Black Lion and laid down beside Keith's seat.
Lance looked at Keith's sketch for him and was surprised to see the two lions curled around each other with their tails linked in a desert setting with a blue sky with white puffy clouds. It looked like Red and Blue napping in the desert on Earth.
Allura looked at her sketch. It was Blue with her her Sonic Cannon activated. It looked so life like as if someone took a picture of her in Blue Lion fighting the Galra.
Krolia loved the sketch of their blade. The way Keith shaded the background indicated someone in the shadows. The glow of a Marmoran mask, chest plate, and blade indicated that is was Kolivan. She had always admired the leader of the Blades.
The first time Pidge looked at the sketch it just seemed to be a picture of Green Lion in space. A closer look revealed figures could be seen through Green's eyes. It was difficult to make out, but Pidge could tell she was piloting (of course), and there were three passengers in the cockpit with her. She could just make out Matt, her dad, and, to her immense surprise, her mom all looking out at the vastness of space.
Hunk immediately hung up the sketch of Yellow Lion fighting the Weblum with its armor plating and armor claws. He was pretty sure Keith drew that because, it showed Hunk's bravery, which he had admired.
Shiro stared in complete shock at the picture. He couldn't believe what Keith drew. Black was kneeling down near the Garrison, and Shiro was hugging someone while standing in her mouth. There was no mistaking the brown hair, glasses, and grey officer uniform. It was Adam hugging Shiro. Gold glints on each of their left ring fingers indicated that Adam accepted Shiro back into his life.
It was then that each Paladin (and Krolia, sadly) realized that Keith knew more about them than they did about him and resolved to somehow fix that. They were going to get to know Keith better, whether he liked it or not.
Fin