Chapter Text
“‘Oh, hush, my dear, it's been a difficult year
And terrors don't prey on
Innocent victims
Trust me, darling, trust me, darling
It's been a loveless year
I'm a man of three fears
Integrity, faith and
Crocodile tears
Trust me, darling, trust me, darling’”
—---—
Yorak was tired. He had been on four Blade missions in the last Phoeb, and he was absolutely exhausted. He also had two new scars on his arms from the missions.
Yorak flopped down onto his bed, fully ready to fall asleep, when he saw that Lance was calling him. He reached over and accepted the call.
Lance’s face filled the screen, smiling cheekily.
“Hey, Yorak! How are you… oh my. You’re, uh, bleeding.”
“I know.” Yorak grumbled.
“Are you gonna do something about it?”
“No.”
“That’s nice, well anyways, Voltron is having a weird gala thing to celebrate the alliance going well! And I sort of wanted you there… as my date.”
Yorak looked over at Lance, confused.
“And if you’re not comfortable with that, that’s fine! We can just go as friends, or maybe acquaintances, or maybe you don’t have to go-”
“Lance. I’d love to go with you.”
“Is that with or without the homo? No homo? Or yes homo?”
Yorak laughed. “Yes homo.”
Lance blushed, angling his face slightly away from the camera.
“O-okay… Well, I’ll send you the details soon. Looking forward to seeing you.”
“Yep. Can’t wait to see you, too. Goodnight, Blue Paladin.”
“‘Night, Yorak.”
They hung up and Yorak blushed. He was going to a gala with Lance.
—---—
“Hey, Hunk, can I have some advice?”
Hunk looked up from his book and into Lance’s dark blue eyes. He gestured to the spot next to him on the couch and Lance sat down.
“What sort of advice?”
“...Relationship advice?”
“Do tell.”
“So I sort of… met someone? It’s not official, but I asked them to the gala as my date and they said yes, so what does that mean?”
“Well… does she consider it a date? Or is it just an outing as friends in her eyes?”
“They know it’s a date.”
“Well, then you could just… flirt a bit? See if she likes it? I don’t really know, I’m not Loverboy Lance.”
Lance laughed and Hunk smiled softly. Hunk reaches out and puts his hand on Lance’s shoulder.
“Just… be careful, yeah? I don’t want you to get hurt again.”
“Right… and Hunk?”
“Yes?”
“It’s not a girl.”
—---—
“‘So look me in the eyes
Tell me what you see
Perfect paradise
Tearing at the seams
I wish I could escape
I don't wanna fake it
Wish I could erase it
Make your heart believe’”
—---—
Planets away, Yorak knocks on Krolia’s door. She answers it and looks at her son, who’s pacing across the hallway.
“Can I help you with something?”
“Yeah… I have a date?”
—---—
“It’s not a girl?”
“That’s what I just said.”
“Are you… gay?”
“No, well, not completely? I’m bisexual.”
“Oh, well, that’s great, Lance! I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks, Hunk.”
“So you’re going out with a guy?”
“Yes.”
“Do I know him?”
“...Yes.”
“Who is it?”
Lance breaks eye contact and looks at his lap, where he’s fiddling with his hands. Hunk looks at him curiously, unsure of what to say to break the awkward silence.
“It’s Yorak.”
“What?”
Lance nods mutely, still not looking at Hunk.
“Lance! Of all the people to ask out! He’s Galra! He’s dangerous! You just met!”
“You don’t get it, Hunk! He’s amazing! He’s nice, funny, and really pretty! And I really want this to work out!”
Hunk is silent for a tick, then he looks at Lance, dead serious.
“Lance, please don’t take this the wrong way… but are you sure that you’re not just interested in him because he reminds you of Keith?”
Lance isn’t sure how to respond to that.
—---—
Yorak yawns and stretches. He doesn’t want to get out of bed today. He doesn’t have a mission today, so what’s the point of getting up?
Someone knocks on the door and Yorak groans, getting up and opening it. The door slides open to reveal Krolia, looking unimpressed.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Yorak. Why aren’t you ready?”
“...Ready?”
“For your date. With Lance.”
Yorak’s eyes widen. He completely forgot that it was today.
“Shit! Shit shit shit shit…”
Yorak closes the door, throwing on his clothes for the day, and tying up his hair. A few doboshes later, he opens the door again, glancing up at Krolia’s amused expression.
“Don’t say anything. Not a word.”
Krolia laughs.
“Let’s go then, loverboy. We got to get you to that castle ship.”
‘Loverboy…’
—---—
“Quiznack!”
Lance is racing around his room, trying to tame his hair. He woke up with a terrible case of bedhead, probably because he was tossing and turning all night, panicking about his date with Yorak.
He was also thinking about what Hunk said.
Did he honestly only like Yorak because he reminds him of Keith? Or is there something else? Does he feel genuine feelings towards him, or is he just a replacement for what he lost a deca-phoeb ago?
…And now, Lance is spiraling.
He runs over to the bathroom and looks in the mirror. His hair looks great now, as usual.
He exhales in relief. He wants to look perfect for Yorak, despite not really knowing why.
Oh, well. He can figure out his feelings later. For now, he needs to try on his new outfit.
—---—
“‘Did all my dreams never mean one thing?
Does happiness lie in a diamond ring?
Oh, I've been askin'
Oh, I've been askin' for problems, problems, problems
I wage my war, on the world inside
I take my gun to the enemy's side
Oh, I've been askin' for (trust me, darling)
Oh, I've been askin' for (trust me, darling)
Problems, problems, problems’”
—---—
Yorak steps off the pod and onto the castle ship. He can see other people getting off of their ships around him. There are tons of people here, and all to celebrate the alliance. It’s sort of breathtaking.
Krolia steps out from behind Yorak.
“You ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
They walk into the main part of the castle ship, following the other people around them. Right before they’re about to round the corner of the ship, Krolia stops Yorak with a hand on his shoulder.
“Yorak. When are you going to tell him?”
“Tell who? And what?”
“When are you going to tell Lance that you are… Keith.”
Yorak flinches at the name. Krolia hasn’t spoken it in a long time.
“...I’ll tell him today. I promise.”
“You better.”
And with that, they turn the corner.
—---—
Lance is standing in between Pidge and Allura, waiting for the members of the alliance to show up. Allura insisted that they all dress formally already, despite the gala being later that quintant.
The members of the alliance start drifting into the room. At the sight of this, Allura claps her hands and starts talking, her musical voice echoing around the room.
“Welcome, members of the alliance! All of you important people are here to celebrate this wondrous day! Though there will be hard times ahead, now is a time to celebrate! So eat, drink, and be merry!”
Lance looks around at the crowd, trying to see Yorak. But the handsome Galra is nowhere to be found.
Lance looks over at Allura, about to ask where the Blades are, when he hears her gasp.
“What is he doing here?” She mutters angrily. Lance glances over at where Allura is looking and sees Yorak, is all of his purple-tailed glory. This is going to be interesting.