Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lance loved kissing. It had been true since his very first one, even though the kiss itself hadn’t been very good. There was something about the action and how differently every person did it that enamored him.  
  
His favorites so far had all come from Keith. Keith had, single handedly, replaced all the kisses on Lance’s top ten (and yes he kept a top ten) with his own. There was their first kiss, which had stunned Lance to stammering right there in the kitchen, and the kiss immediately after that. There was their first kiss good night after their first terrible date (turns out not all planets found candles romantic). There was the first kiss that sent them tumbling into more. There was the gentle way Keith kissed him good morning, or the reverent way he kissed his hips.  
  
There was the gentle series of kisses last month when Lance came out of the pod after… They still didn’t know how to talk about that. Lance had dubbed it ‘The Event’ and that seemed to work. Afterwards, he’d fallen out of the pod, free of bite marks and bruises and Keith’s hands had shaken against his cheeks. He’s kissed Lance like he was fragile; like he was afraid of breaking him and Lance had nearly cried at the tenderness.  
  
But since then, kisses had tapered off. In fact, most of their moments had. He would never know what had been discussed while he had been in the pod after the event, but whatever was said had shaken Keith in a way Lance was struggling to understand. Keith never ignored him, in fact he was as doting as ever. Overprotective even. But there were moments when he’d look to Lance with that familiar spark in his eyes then simply smiled and turned away. In fact, he was pulling away in general. Lance would initiate kisses, even pressing into them, and Keith would hold him firmly away, keeping things mild. That same sense of fragility Keith seemed to see in him exiting the pod had apparently never left. 
  
In a way, it made Lance look forward to missions. 
  
Since the very first one, post-mission kisses were something to write home about. They were celebratory and lustful. If there was ever a kiss to be described as ‘fireworks’ then it was the post-mission kiss. It was passionate, with all their adrenaline and worry resolving through a tangle of tongues. 
  
So today, when they landed in the hangars and the castle warped them to safety, Lance burst out of Red in a flurry, abandoning his helmet and running towards Black, where Keith was also emerging at a breakneck pace. They collided in the center, Keith's arms wrapping tight around Lance’s middle and lifting him in the air as they spun with leftover momentum. Lance's legs wrapped around Keith’s waist as his fingers dug under the lip of Keith's helmet, throwing it aside as he took Keith's face in his hands, tugging him in for a bruising kiss.  
  
Keith kissed him with a fervor he'd come to miss, tongue sweeping into Lance’s mouth and making him shiver. Lance sighed into the kiss, turning his head so Keith’s tongue could push even deeper, filling Lance with the taste of Keith. Keith readjusted his hands, one coming to support Lance at his bottom and the other staying tight around Lance’s waist, nearly crushing him against Keith as the other boy held him as close as their armor would allow.  
  
Lance tangled a hand in Keith’s hair, gripping just hard enough that the other boy gasped. Lance grinned against Keith’s mouth before moving forward to nip his bottom lip. Keith’s hands flexed against him as Lance licked against the stinging spot to soothe it. This is what he’d missed: Keith holding him tight like any inch of space was a travesty; Keith licking into his mouth like their tongues were dance partners; Keith’s fingers gripping his legs like he wanted to carve his fingerprints on them. This is what Lance always wanted. 
  
Lance used his grip in Keith’s hair to tug his head back, kissing down his chin to his neck. He kissed his adam’s apple before trailing along the line of Keith’s jaw, kissing and nibbling above the uniform. Keith hissed his name but Lance only continued, tasting the sweat from the mission that was drying against Keith’s skin. He shivered, the reminder of that stress making him feel needy, vulnerable. He surged up again, kissing Keith on the mouth.  
  
“Lance,” Keith said again, more insistent.  
  
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Lance whispered, returning his lips to Keith’s. He sighed into the kiss, hands coming up to cradle Keith’s face. He kissed Keith sweetly, slowing down until their lips were barely brushing against each other, sighing against each other’s heated skin. 
  
“Lance,” Keith sighed, brow furrowing as he pressed into one last kiss, then pulled Lance back for one last kiss after that, before gently placing his boyfriend on the floor of the hangar. Lance’s arms stayed wrapped around his shoulders. Keith took a deep breath, hands falling to Lance’s hips and very gently pushing him away. “We should go debrief,” he said, looking awkwardly away so he couldn’t see that look that was growing all too familiar as Lance’s face fell. 
  
“Keith, could we actually—” 
  
“We shouldn’t keep the others waiting,” Keith said, picking up his helmet and escaping into the hall. His stomach swirled with guilt, even as arousal simmered in his groin. If you asked, he couldn’t pin down why he was so— not scared, he wasn’t scared to be around Lance, but at the same time, it had been weeks since he’d been able to properly relax around the other boy. When he looked at him, he still saw the marks he’d left against Lance’s usually perfect skin. No matter how much Lance had assured him he was fine, that morning was a stark memory in Keith’s mind. Since then, he’d been… struggling around the other boy.  
  
He loved Lance. If that borderline awful experience had shown him anything, it was that Lance had somehow become the most important thing in his world, and the possibility of damaging or endangering him had scared Keith more than anything.  
  
Since then, Keith had been nothing but careful with the other boy. He could barely bring himself to touch Lance some days, but he did anyways because he didn’t want Lance to know what was going on in his brain. 
  
Lance had forgiven Keith, even though Keith didn’t think he deserved it. As far as Lance was concerned, there’d been nothing to forgive. But, since Keith insisted on apologizing, Lance gave the forgiveness he’d thought he’d craved. 
  
Instead, it made everything worse. Now Keith simmered alone in his guilt, and could see that his behavior as a result was throwing Lance off.  
  
Keith was simply lucky that Lance was too nice to bring it up. No matter how awkward he’d been lately, the other boy had been sweet and understanding, pressing into the gentle cuddles they had been sharing more and more and rarely pushing Keith for anything more. 
  
Until now. 
  
In their mission debrief, Lance was restless. He fidgeted constantly, his foot nudging repeatedly against Keith’s before retreating. He looked at him constantly in the meeting, and Keith would give him what he hoped was a reassuring smile, but Lance’s eyebrows would just furrow and he would turn away, looking to Allura and paying deliberate attention. Keith frowned, but turned back to the meeting.  
  
After debrief, they all moved in a clump to the communal showers and began to help each other out of their armor. Keith turned, reaching for Lance to help him undress but found the other boy standing with Hunk, chatting as he helped the larger boy out of his uniform. Keith tried not to be shocked. It wasn’t uncommon for him to find himself playing second fiddle to Hunk. While he and Lance were boyfriends, Keith knew he would never come close to taking Hunk’s place in Lance’s heart, and would never want to. Keith walked to where Shiro was helping Pidge and fell in line behind his mentor, helping unlatch his breastplate.  
  
Pidge was rambling happily about an idea she’d had based on one of the droids they’d seen on the mission, and called over to Hunk to see if he wanted to try and apply some of them to the android down in her lab after they were all clean, and Hunk replied with an enthusiastic yes.  
  
“Lance, you wanna come help us? We know how good you are at brainstorming robots,” Hunk said, pulling his flight suit down his torso. “Lance?” 
  
Keith looked over to where Hunk was trying to capture Lance’s attention and found his boyfriend staring at him with stormy blue eyes. Keith looked down at his bare chest, checking to make sure none of the hits he’d taken had turned into bruises, and found nothing. But then he couldn’t figure out what that odd, pained look on his boyfriend’s face meant.  
  
“Lance?” Hunk said again, saving Keith the trouble of saying it himself. 
  
“What?” Lance said, coming back to himself with a start. Hunk raised an eyebrow at him and Lance, to Keith’s surprise, blushed.  
  
“I asked if you wanted to come to the lab with me and Pidge after we get washed up.” 
  
“Oh. Yeah, sure. I just, uh. I realized it’s been a while since I did my last face mask, so I’m gonna go shower in my room.” 
  
“Just make sure you put your flightsuit in the laundry chute here,” Shiro called. “The last thing we need is another hostile spores issue.” 
  
Lance nodded, grabbing a towel from a cubby and ducking behind a shelf to shuck his flightsuit. Keith watched for his return, letting his eyes roam over Lance’s bare torso and noting happily that the other boy seemed unharmed.  
  
He raised a hand to wave to his boyfriend, hoping to signal that he would see him later (and hopefully apologize for pulling away earlier, as it had obviously put Lance in an off mood) but Lance only looked at him with those same clouded eyes, turning quickly away and escaping into the hall.  
  
Keith sighed, before turning sedately towards a shower stall. The entire time he washed, he planned what he would say to Lance when he saw him. 
  
The other boy was obviously preoccupied, and it had to be his fault. Everything had been normal this morning, and they had worked together great during the mission. Then they had gotten back and— 
  
Keith shuddered, but for an entirely different reason. 
  
The post-mission kiss. 
  
It was the only consistent ritual he and Lance really had. Whether the mission had been dangerous or easy, whether one of them had been hurt or both of them were fine, they always found each other after and, well, Keith never held back. No matter how hard he tried, especially of late since he’d been trying to be more reserved with his boyfriend, he could never help himself from sinking into that moment. 
  
That moment when he saw Lance after a mission, when he knew that they were both okay and he could hold the boy he loved in his arms that night—well who could do anything then but kiss the daylights out of him? 
  
Kissing Lance was as natural as breathing, and just thinking about it was enough to make him ache with need.  
  
He wanted Lance. He wanted him in every way he could have him, every way the other boy would allow. He wanted to hold Lance as tight as he could. To press so close that they were one shared body in one shared bed and only separate for air— 
  
Keith came back to himself with a start, taking a deep breath and turning the shower water to cold. He jumped as the freezing spray hit him, but was grateful for how it was able to calm the heat simmering within him. 
  
He needed to be gentle with Lance. He didn’t want any of his behavior to even risk reminding Lance of that awful night, and Keith would hold back until he was sure that he could handle being around the other boy without becoming overwhelmed. 
  
Keith wrapped a towel tight around his waist and stepped out of the shower. He walked slowly to his shelf and grabbed his spare clothes, changing right there in the noise of the locker room—Pidge and Hunk shouting ideas over the shower stall walls, Shiro singing pop songs under the spray of his. 
  
When he was dressed, he made his way to his bedroom and lay down to wait. If Lance was doing his skincare routine, it could be a full hour until he emerged, much less sought anyone out. Keith used the time to plan what he would say to the other boy. 
  
He didn’t want Lance to know he was still hung up on the event, but he didn’t know how to apologize for himself without bringing it up. Then again, it was entirely possible that Lance was upset about something else, and bringing up the event would only upset him more.  
  
Keith groaned, rolling over and shoving his face in his pillow. He hadn’t been in a relationship for so long that now he had barely any idea what to do. How do you tell someone that you’re terrified to hurt them without making it sound like you think they’re fragile? And it’s not that he thinks Lance needs protecting from other things, just from himself—which, as he thought it, Keith knew would upset the other boy to hear. 
  
Lance had made sure to tell Keith repeatedly that his Galra heritage wasn’t something to hate. That he wasn’t afraid of him whatsoever and that he thought it was “kinda hot that he’s gonna get to bang an alien.” Even the memory had made Keith laugh, as he had immediately pounced on Lance’s apparent thoughts about them ‘banging.’ 
  
The other boy had clammed up, looking away with a blush as Keith had crowded him against a wall, letting his hands roam up and down his sides as Lance stammered  something about about the assumed progression of relationships. Keith had quieted him with a kiss that had led to many more, Lance’s legs wrapped tight around Keith’s waist as Keith pressed him against the wall in the training room. Lance had shoved him halfway across the room when the intercom rang, sending them both to the floor, but Keith had only smiled at the other boy’s red face and rumpled clothes. 
  
Keith missed that. He missed how fun and carefree they used to be together. Somehow they had passed weeks together into months. Lance was still the most fun person he knew but now he was also somewhere he could go in these quiet unsure moments. 
  
Maybe he should go talk to the other boy. Isn’t that what people in a loving relationship do? 
  
Keith gasped, rolling back over and staring wide eyed at the ceiling.  
  
It suddenly occurred to him that he not only loved Lance, but that Lance may love him too.  
  
The other boy had done nothing but try and comfort him since the event. 
  
Maybe it was time Keith let him. 
  
As if on cue there was a knock on the door. 
  
“Come in,” he called, looking backwards towards the door. It opened and Keith smelled him before he saw him: all fruit, spice, and powder after his array of face and body creams. 
  
Keith remembered the way Kolivan had wrinkled his nose and cringed away from him after arriving to get Keith for a mission and finding him smelling of a sleepover with Lance. His mentor had coughed politely enough when he’d delivered Keith to Krolia, but his mother’s keen nose sent her laughing.  
  
His mother had simply chuckled and tossed him a washcloth as she explained that he usually came smelling ‘like all of Voltron’s pack,’ but today he smelled only of Lance. Keith had blushed to his shoes when he realized he’d just flown across three galaxies with Kolivan knowing where he’d slept. (He refused to explain that said sleepover had consisted of little other than face masks when ribbed by Krolia later.) 
  
That trip had been informative, to say the least. Otherwise he would have had to describe it as miserable and overwhelming. He’d learned more than he’d wanted to about galra biology and mating habits. Krolia said she just wanted him to know what to watch for should any of his instincts awaken early, if at all. There were no guarantees that he would manifest any galra traits at all.  
  
“You're still quite young for a galra, after all,” she had finished cryptically, leaving him alone with all the strange new things he’d maybe just learned about his body. In a way, it was frustrating not to know or trust his own biology. But, as he continued to think about the many things Krolia had warned him about, he was relieved to remember that losing control again wasn’t on that list.  
  
It was still possible that he wouldn’t have a second puberty at all, and would simply continue to age the human way. But even as he thought it, Keith knew that he was lying to himself. There had been a certain light in his mother’s eye as she said it, and he had seen that measuring glance before. Even Krolia was curious as to what he would become. He had seen it in her face as she had explained about galra halflings. She seemed certain that Keith would eventually have some sort of galra-equivalent of puberty, changing his body once more to mature him fully into galra adulthood (and all its challenges). Keith had no idea what to expect when that happened, and worse of all neither did Krolia. What would he look like? How would the changes start? And what would he say to Lance to explain it all? 
  
‘Hey, my biology may ask me to marry you, but by the way, if I don’t I’ll have horrible hormonal cycles until I find the person my biology tries to marry next…’  
  
His mother had used the term mate. Even when Keith finally braved the subject of his dad with her, she had rarely used the term husband, even giggling girlishly at the word marriage. Apparently his father had brought it up multiple times, to her complete and utter confusion as they were already mated by galra standards. She had finally agreed, but they hadn’t been able to hold the ceremony before she’d been forced to leave earth again. 
  
“He was already my mate,” she’d sighed wistfully. “I didn’t see the point, and he’d said the silly vows to me a million times before. Nonetheless…  it would have been nice to see him through the veils he spoke of.” 
  
In the stories, Keith had always heard about them eloping. He supposed those must have been the vows she was referring to. Yet Krolia continued to insist that the biological and emotional implications of “mating” were far more satisfying than any attempt at “human marriage” she called it. But Keith was more than skeptical of the whole thing. He didn’t want to be anyone’s mate. He didn’t want to have instincts that could change his relationships. He had enough trouble sorting through everything he felt as it was. There were already so many awful memories from moments when his emotions boiled over and took control of his actions. He had even felt like he was growing out of it the past few years, finally managing his emotions in a way Shiro could be proud of, proving his strength every step of the way. 
  
Keith cringed, remembering the horrors of his first earthen puberty. He was not eager to relive those feelings, much less with the added quirks of alien biology. And yet whenever he had tried to present his worries to her, she had shaken her head and assured him he wouldn’t think the same once he had presented— whatever that meant— and simply promised to explain whatever became necessary whenever it became necessary. Then the castle had been within sight and she was crushing him into multiple hugs and petting Kosmo and stuffing some strange organism for Pidge to study under his arms as he entered his pod. 
  
He still got a rush of longing every time he thought of her. Keith hadn’t known her for so long, then spent such an intense bonding experience with her on the whale for two years. He even knew that Kosmo missed her when they were separated a long time. Kosmo was Keith’s pet first and foremost, but the wolf had the softest spot for his mom.  He was genuinely convinced that the wolf flickered across the universe to Krolia whenever he pleased. They’d raised him together after all. Keith shook his head as he remembered the strange dog’s own part of life on the whale. He looked at the end of the bed to where Kosmo often lounged.  
  
‘Where even is that wolf?’ Keith’s mind asked finally, sitting up. It was then that he remembered he wasn’t alone in the room. 
  
Lance was still lingering in the doorway. His arms were crossed awkwardly in front of his chest and his face was pinched into a curious expression, obviously having been watching Keith while lost in his thoughts.  
  
Keith sat up quickly, combing a hand through his still-damp hair. 
  
“How was your shower,” Keith asked finally, unsure what to do with the uncharacteristic distance from the other boy. 
  
“It was nice,” Lance said, echoing Keith’s nervous fidgeting with his own. “What’re you thinking so hard about?” he asked, head tilting towards Keith.  
  
“Just my mom and some blade stuff,” Keith said. 
  
“You guys don’t have a mission together for a few weeks, right?” 
  
“Yeah, not for a while.” 
  
“You miss her,” Lance said. Keith nodded. 
  
“Yeah. I’m not worried though. She’s happy with the blades and they’re definitely happy to have her.” 
  
“And you’re okay?” Lance asked, coming to lean on the wall by the bed. Keith looked over at him, eyebrows raised. 
  
“What makes you ask that?”  
  
Lance shrugged, looking away from Keith. 
  
“Just thought I’d ask. You are, yeah?” 
  
“Of course, Lance.” 
  
“So then is it something else?” 
  
“Huh?”  
  
“Why you can’t be around me. It’s something else then.” 
  
“Did some of that toner melt your brain?” Keith chuckled, leaning up on an elbow. “What on earth are you talking about? I’m by you right now—“ 
  
Keith cut off as Lance came to sit on the bed, pressing directly into Keith’s space. He laid a hand on Keith’s chest, looking at the other boy’s shocked face. Keith leaned away from the intense blue eyes that studied him. 
  
“It’s because of what you guys talked about before she left, right?” he asked lowly, and if Keith weren’t so practiced at it, he wouldn’t have heard the waver in his voice. He took Lance’s hand from his chest, holding it as he sat up to face him. 
  
“Lance, it’s nothing, just—” 
  
“It’s not nothing, it’s eating you up inside,” he spat, turning away from him. Keith squeezed his fingers.

“It’s just some blade stuff, really. Galra shit and whatever. I didn’t realize I’d been off.” He scratched a hand through his bangs so he could look at Lance, watching his jaw work from behind.  He brushed his fingers along Lance’s knuckels, but the hand under his pulled away. “Lance?”

Lance crossed the room to look at Keith’s cluttered desk.

“’Galra shit and whatever?’” he repeated incredulously, turning on Keith. “Seriously Keith?”

“Sorry, sorry. That’s not what I meant. Not like that—” Lance cut him off with a look, leaning back to face him.

“Then what did you mean?”

Keith clenched his jaw, looking down at his hands. He remembered all too clearly the soreness in his fingernails after de-transforming from claws. He knew he would have to tell Lance eventually; but he was sure that when he did, Lance would begin to see fangs in his smile.

Lance pressed on. “I don’t want you to  hide from me. Please, Keith, we’ve gone through too much together for you to shut me out now, and I don’t know can’t take it. Not anymore, not—“ He took a shuddering breath. “It’s been weeks… I thought we were okay, but now you can barely look at me. I know what happened was a mistake, but—” 

“Lance, you haven’t done anything wrong,” Keith said quickly. 
  
“Then stop treating me like I have! You said we were fine. You said you forgave me—” 
  
“There wasn’t anything to forgive you for.” 
  
“Then why can’t you touch me?” 
  
They froze. Staring at each other. Keith looked away first, shame swirling within him as he found his answer. 
  
“Because I don’t want to hurt you.” 
  
Keith had braced for any number of responses from Lance: anger, insecurity, embarrassment— 
  
He hadn’t prepared for laughter. 
  
“Keith, I’d like to see you try.” Lance said. “How long have we been doing this, Keith? You think the one time ever you get drugged by our enemies is going to define how I think about you? Keith, I’m not worried about you hurting me. At all. Is that all this is?” 
  
“Don’t say that like it’s some little thing!” 
  
“Keith, name a single instance before then or since when I was ever once in danger with you.” 
  
“Ok, but those parameters are unfair, as they’re ignoring a notable instance—” 
  
“Gah! At ease, cadet! You don’t have to Garrison-speak me. I’m not concerned about some lab-made hormone creature you turned into once—” 
  
“But what if it wasn’t just the once?” Keith said warily.  
  
“Then I’d sign up again to be your frisky little chew toy until I get my Keith back,” he said with a chuckle, coming to sit beside Keith on the bed. “If you don’t need to forgive me, then I don’t need to forgive you, okay?”
  
Keith froze as Lance scooted forwards, accidentally allowing him far closer than he’d intended. But his mind couldn’t wrap itself completely around what Lance had just said. Lance had called him his; but only part of him. Then again, it was the part Lance knew best. There still wasn’t any guarantee that anything further existed.  
  
Keith startled as Lance’s hand landed against his the base of his neck, fingers curling around it.  
  
“Y-your Keith?” he stammered, trying not to sound as unsure as he felt when he said it. Lance gave him a soft smile.
  
“Yep, mine,” Lance said quietly, moving his hand from Keith’s shoulder to his chest, fingers running idle patterns as he continued to speak. “Even when you’re being a reckless idiot, you’re my reckless idiot. And even when you’re being an emotionally constipated idiot, you’re my emotionally constipated idiot. Or when you’re being a protective idiot—” 
  
“Am I always an idiot in your eyes?” Keith scowled. 
  
“You have been lately.” Lance countered, fixing Keith with an azure glare. Keith wilted beneath that accusatory gaze, looking appropriately abashed. Lance’s hand stilled, cupping the side of his jaw.
 
“Just stop shutting me out because of this, okay?” Lance said. 
  
“I… I guess I hadn’t noticed how much I had been doing it.” 
  
“You’ve just been so in your head. And that’s not unusual, but...” Lance shrugged, “but before you could be in your head and hold my hand at the same time. Now it’s like you can’t touch me outside of training. And even that is back to how it used to be. It’s been so long since you— since we—” Lance huffed and cut off, removing the hand on Keith’s chest to scrub it down his face while muttering under his breath. 
  
“Lance?” Keith prompted, “Lance, since we did what?” 
  
“Forget about it,” Lance said, shaking off his sour mood as if it hadn’t come. He gave Keith a forced smile, but Keith could see the slight panic in his eyes. 
  
Keith reached over, taking Lance’s hand very carefully in his. Having just showered, Keith hadn’t replaced his gloves, and he squeezed their palms flush together. Lance didn’t look at him but his blush deepened and he tensed, which gave Keith pause. He sighed, squeezing Lance’s hand again. 
  
“Do you wanna hang out with me for a bit? We could do Juvoe forms on the training deck?” 
  
“I promised I’d help Pidge and Hunk, remember?” 
  
“Right, right. Droids or whatever,” Keith said, letting go of Lance’s hand. Lance stood, stretching awkwardly 
  
“Well, maybe you could come hang down in the lab with me. I’m sure the others wouldn’t mind.” 
  
“No, I think I’ll maybe go train for a bit. Try and clear my head.” 
  
“Most people don’t shower to get all sweaty again, but here you are,” Lance chuckled. Keith gave him a small smile, letting his fingers wander up Lance’s wrist. 
  
“Magical castle with endless water. I might as well get as dirty as I want,” Keith said with a wink. Lance’s eyes widened and he gave him a long, curious look before he stuttered out a laugh with the word ‘sure’ hidden somewhere in it— 

And then he bolted for the door, leaving Keith just as confused as he was before the boy arrived.

Chapter Text

In the training room, Keith scrolled through the gladiator’s challenges, but his mind was far away. 

He was mentally retracing interactions he’d had with Lance over the past few weeks. He didn’t know when the other boy had gotten so awkward around him again, but he only had himself to blame.

He’d pulled away from Lance completely without even noticing. 

Well, that wasn’t entirely true.

After that night, he had stepped back from touching Lance. But he hadn’t meant to stop. It had taken over a week for his fingers to stop aching from retracting the claws he’d acquired, and even longer for him to stop seeing them whenever he reached towards Lance. He supposed he had simply stopped reaching and not noticed. It had been weeks since he’d held Lance for anything other than spotting him during training, and he hadn’t given Lance more than a peck in weeks either. 

Well, again, not entirely true. 

There was a certain habit that he couldn’t bring himself to break: the post-mission kiss. He doesn’t know when he got used to it, but once it had started it wouldn’t stop. Post-mission adrenaline had always led team Voltron into a variety of exuberant tackles and dog-piles. Unless someone was injured, Pidge was guaranteed to take a running leap into one of her boys’ arms; and unless she was running towards Lance, Lance was running towards everybody else, cheering.

In the early months of team Voltron, Keith had maintained a strictly apathetic stance towards Lance’s displays of affection. It largely came via teasing, random favors, and little touches. At first Keith was only occasionally on the receiving end of anything but the teasing. With Lance’s competitive streak, even their successes could still find him trying to rib Keith about one thing or another, and Keith always rose to the challenge. They’d spent the majority of one mission in fierce competition over most downed ships until the battle had grown too intense and frustrating. They had formed Voltron, and were no longer two lions in competition, but one unit in motion.

The mission ended a success, and even Keith felt proud of their latest display of teamwork against the empire. They had landed and, as always, Shiro was first one out of his lion, eager to put eyes on the rest of his team. 

Keith was next, trotting to the center of the hangar to Shiro’s side. 

Then the blue paladin had exited his lion and set blazing blue eyes on him. Keith had set his jaw and stood firm where he was beside Shiro, pretending to watch the others disembark as the older paladin patted his shoulder. Keith saw Lance approaching them and found himself tensing up at the blue paladin’s imminent arrival, though he didn’t know why. Nothing of the moment was, actually, any different than normal— Pidge was out and running towards them across the hangar, and Hunk was heading their way as well— so why was Lance’s approach making Keith’s palms tingle?  

Keith nearly toppled over when the blue paladin’s body collided against his own in a hug. He would have if Shiro’s hadn’t been a wall to brace against as a laughing blue paladin scratched gloved hands against Keith’s hair in a noogie. 

“We’ll call it a tie, huh?” Lance said with a wink when he released Keith, rounding Shiro with a hip bump and bouncing to Pidge where she was clinging to Hunk’s shoulders. He pulled her off of his former roommate only to replace the green paladin on the yellow one’s chest. 

Things with Lance and team had seemed to be normal from then on. It drove Keith insane, because he suddenly realized how normal it was for Lance to touch them. The blue paladin was in constant contact with the rest of Team Voltron, and Keith couldn’t understand it. He wanted to be frustrated by it, but instead he was fascinated. Over their time in space, they had seen comets blazing across the sky, and entire belts of asteroids crashing against one another in their orbits. Lance was sort of like that. He was this strange, shining thing that could crash into him at any moment. He found himself watching Lance’s every move, simply waiting for the cues that meant he was going to reach for someone or lean into someone’s side. It was a tilt of the head or hip, or certain change of cadence and then— impact. 

Keith found himself hoping for it. He began to strategize around the other boy; positioning himself so it would be his arm Lance grabbed when he laughed, or his shoulder he would nudge when he spotted something strange and new on a new planet. Lance was a ball of energy on new worlds, and it came out via constant motion: endless observations and remarks, pointing over heads and purposefully bumping shoulders as he ran toward some foreign statue or building. Whenever Keith arrived someplace new for a blade mission, he found himself missing the buzz of the blue paladin’s observations and opinions.  

His fellow blades were tactile, but in very different ways. The affection Keith witnessed between other galra reminded him of the ways documentarians described play between wild animals. More than once he had seen one galra seemingly tackle another, only for his team to titter and avert knowing eyes. His own relationships with his team had brokered more than one misunderstanding, with various galra and human acts being misconstrued in the worst (and often most embarrassing) ways. Krolia had helped a lot in breaching the gap between human and galra communication, but that was often after whatever accidental insult or come-on Keith and companions had suffered through, and always accompanied by his mother’s raucous laughter. Sometimes the embarrassment simmered even after blade missions ended and he returned to the castle and the immediate embrace of his team.  

But as much as the moments of team bonding after missions calmed and warmed him, nothing spurred him on like the searing kiss Lance drew him into every time.  

Usually when Lance came to kiss him, there was a hesitance about it. The first kiss was always, in Keith’s opinion, too short. It was a question, a starting point. Lance pecked him once on his bottom lip as if to ask if he could kiss him more, and the answer was almost always a resounding yes. Depending on where they were in the castle, Keith could coax Lance flush against his front and ease the tip of his tongue between Lance’s lips; but if anyone could see them Lance was, typically, prone to be shy. While Keith had no personal qualms about being affectionate in front of the team, Lance would gift Keith the one, eager peck then pull away to look at him; raising an eyebrow or cutting his eyes towards the nearest outlet from prying (or rolling) eyes— 

Unless they had just finished a mission.  

Lance was different during a mission. That was something team Voltron knew. He got an intense tunnel vision; so much so that it took a fair amount of training for Lance to be able to multitask safely in the field. Maybe, as Voltron’s current leader, Keith shouldn’t tolerate that closed off, single-mindedness that clouded Lance’s eyes at times, but how could he fault it when that icy blue gaze turned on him? 

The first time Lance exited his lion and turned those hard eyes on Keith, Keith had prepared for a fight. Sure they’d been boyfriend’s for a few weeks, but that didn’t keep their tempers from flaring and sending them into the occasional standoff. So when Lance leaped out of Red and stalked across the hangar towards Keith, he had simply squared his shoulders and thought back over the mission; re-thinking every time he’d raised his voice to try and guess what Lance was mad at. He stood with his helmet under one arm and watched as Lance marched towards him while the others exited their lions. It clattered to the ground as Lance hooked his hand in Keith’s uniform and yanked him into a rough kiss. 

It was unbalanced: Lance was tugging hard, too hard, on the front of Keith’s uniform with one hand, and still had his helmet in the other. His teeth scraped against Keith’s bottom lip, reminding Keith all too much of the fight he’d expected to receive. Instead, Lance’s attack was one on Keith’s senses, overloading him, sending his heart racing before it could even slow from the mission. Keith’s brain ground to a halt, giving itself over to instinct as he reveled in the smell of Lance’s sweat and the feel of his body pushing desperately against Keith’s. 

He swore against Lance’s mouth in a failed attempt to cover the undignified sound that rose in his throat. While his mind raced to recover, his body reacted instinctively; one hand scrambling to lock onto Lance’s hip as the other let his helmet fall to the floor, choosing instead to slide along Lance’s armored back. For a few long seconds he could only hold on as Lance poured all the worry and longing that had built up during the fight against Keith’s mouth. 

Keith recovered quickly, shivering with the thrill of Lance’s newfound boldness, and giving back as good as he got as he met every curve and caress of Lance’s lips. His body reheated as his heart took off, searing his sore muscles and giving him yet another reason to tremble. The heat of battle had been replaced by a different one entirely, and he burned with longing as their breastplates clacked against each other. He shuddered as Lance’s other hand dropped his helmet and found a purchase in Keith’s sweaty hair. Keith gasped and yielded to Lance’s firm grip, planting a foot behind himself as he was pushed back towards his lion. 

When he refused to budge, Lance’s hand twisted hard in Keith’s hair, shocking out a groan and angling him so Lance could lick into his mouth, tasting Keith’s whine from the source. Lance seemed intent on devouring him and Keith was only too eager to let him; so much so that he forgot about their other teammates, who were tittering as they made their way towards the hangar exit. They didn’t exist to Keith: the world shrunk down to those scalding points of contact he shared with Lance. 

For all his bravado, Lance was rarely forward. For Lance, initiating was usually a whispered question paired with an even shyer glance towards their nearest escape from the group. This kiss was so far from what Keith had come to expect from his partner, that he momentarily worried that Lance had hit his head during the mission.  

He began to pull back, hoping to check Lance over, and Lance let him, though he kept his grip on Keith’s hair, using it to steal one last biting kiss. He pressed his forehead against Keith’s, and fixed him with furious, tearful eyes.  

“You fucking idiot!”

Alright, Lance was fine. 

“The next time you want to try some dangerous stunt like that, we need more warning than ‘I think this could work.’ You nearly gave me a heart attack and Shiro was swearing on comms.” 

Keith winced as he remembered the team’s collective cries of outrage as he dove through falling wreckage to sneak behind the enemy, shooting into their generator and shutting down their canons just in time.

“You would’ve done it too.” 

“And you would’ve had my ass for it,” Lance hissed, knocking Keith the rest of the way back against his lion as he emphasized his point. Lance's fist clenched at his side as he forced himself to take a breath before continuing. “You’re smart enough to ask for backup, Keith. Don’t just make me— m-make us watch you throw yourself into mortal danger like that. It’s not fair.” 

Keith started to retort, but stopped as he saw Lance’s eyes, glistening despite the angry set of his face. 

Keith smiled, though apparently not only to himself as Lance’s hand moved up from his breast plate, curling menacingly in the neck of Keith’s flight suit. 

“Are you even listening to me?!” 

“I hear you, Lance,” he replied, laying a hand over the fist Lance had made under his chin. And even though this was clearly not the time, he smiled wider, warmed by Lance's concerned anger and thrilled by his out-of-the-blue kiss. He had seen Lance overwhelmed by his feelings before, but it was something completely different to see him overwhelmed by his feelings for Keith. 

Lance frowned as Keith sank down against the black lion's leg, pulling Lance off balance and into his space. Keith's leg muscles protested as he leaned against the metal, but being able to look up at Lance as the frustration on his face twisted into confusion made him feel warm for a different reason. 

"I'm sorry, I worried you," he started, prying Lance's fingers from his collar so he could intertwine their fingers. He reached for Lance's hip, drawing him forward between his knees. "But if this is how you're going to be scolding me, it almost makes me want to get in trouble again." 

"I'm not scolding you, I just— " 

"Yes you are," Keith scoffed, tossing his damp bangs as he smiled up at Lance in the shadow of his lion. Lance spluttered, looking away in a familiar way.  

"O-okay, but I have to! How else am I supposed to make sure you know to take care of yourself? You're awful at it." 

"Well a kiss like that is certainly a good reminder to get back to the castle safe." 

From his vantage point, he could perfectly watch Lance's flush creep from his ears down his neck. 

"That was just—“ a huff, and blue eyes disappearing as he scrubbed a hand down his face. “I was mad at you, okay? It was the heat of the moment! You don't have to worry that anything like that is gonna happen again," he muttered, looking away at the empty hangar. 

"Oh… I mean that's not— " Keith cleared his throat, hating how it was suddenly his turn to blush. For so much of their relationship so far, he had been the physical one. It had made sense in a way: where Lance could communicate his emotions with words, Keith was better at doing so with actions.  Lance made sure that Keith heard how he liked him, but there had been something exhilarating about having Lance show him instead of telling, even if the show had been about Lance's post-fight frustration. It had been dizzying in the best of ways. 

Keith looked at the hand he had on Lance’s hip, focusing on the movement of his thumb over Lance’s flight suit instead of looking him in the face. 

"It's not, um, a bad thing if that— I mean if what happened when you came over to my lion— happens again. I mean, I wouldn't mind if you— I mean if that happened again. And I don't care if everyone else can see." 

That had been month four of them dating: of voice messages left for him during blade missions and shy touches that sent electricity through him. The touches were no less shy after, but now Keith knew the fire that hid behind them.

The console in the control booth began to beep at him. He still hadn’t picked a workout.

He closed the program, exiting the training room and heading back through the castle. He made his way to Pidge’s lab. She was at the work bench surrounded by scrap and wires, and was passing pieces to Lance, who was walking between her and Hunk. Hunk was up on the scissor lift, carefully fixing each piece in place along the frame of what would become an android. His voice echoed from behind his welding mask, turning his words into a garbled mess under the sound of the laser hitting metal. 

“Hunk, for the last time, we can’t understand you!” Pidge snapped, looking up from her pile of wires and metal pieces. “I’m reading in Altean here, the least you can do is chit chat when there aren’t powertools running.”

The laser shut off and Hunk lifted the mask, noticing Keith in the threshold.

“Hi Keith,” he called cheerfully. Too cheerfully. Lance was glaring up at the yellow paladin, which wasn’t uncommon, but always let Keith know when Lance was feeling testy. 

“I was saying for the hundredth time that if Lance is going to subject me to him somehow hypothesizing against what is essentially proven, then he has to put up with me giving advice he’s already heard.” Hunk gave Lance a long look, and Lance glared back. He mouthed something at Hunk, and the other boy only lowered his welding mask, reaching down for the next piece of scrap. He smacked it against Hunk’s gloved fingers, making him jump. Lance gave him an innocent look.

“Hey Keith,” Pidge said tiredly as Keith crossed into the work area, sighing as the laser faded again. 

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“So-so,” Pidge said with a shrug. “I don’t know how well I can apply a Th’bnoy power source to the Altean tech, especially without a restock trip to the Noyvin system,  but if we could, it would significantly increase how far we can communicate between satellites. It’ll take me a while longer to figure out the conversions.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Keith said, sending Lance a clueless expression. Lance shrugged at him.

“I don’t get it either,” he stage-whispered. Pidge rolled her eyes at them, passing Lance another piece of metal.

“Even after I gave you the simplified version,” she sighed. “Hunk, attach that to Q4.”

“Aye aye,” Hunk said, lowering his visor again. The sound of the laser fill the room again, and Keith winced against the sound. It immediately made his ears rings. Lance gave him a sympathetic look. Noises had been bothering Keith more and more lately. Even the advanced machinery of the castle was filled with high pitched whirs and ringing sounds that had been driving him further up the wall each day; and Pidge’s lab was filled with the widest array of machines outside the weapons cache.

Even so, he walked closer to the sound of the laser, coming to stand beside Pidge and watching Lance where he stood under the lift. He looked at the small of Lance’s back, his palms itching under his gloves. He was constantly drawn to him, a desire that lived in his chest and flowed through him, finding its way to his fingertips.

The laser ended and Pidge shuffled through her pieces, lining up a few in succession. 

“Lance, circle to the back of that leg and check the rear panel; are there any lights on?” 

“Nothing yet,” he called. Pidge huffed but nodded, returning to their spread of pieces. They stacked three, turning to Keith.

“Take these over to Lance,” Pidge said, carefully loading them into his arms. Keith walked over with the stack. “Lance, give Hunk the top one. Hunk, attach that to O7.”

Lance grabbed the piece, arms tangling between Keith’s and his chest as they passed the dense metal plate between them. Lance turned and lifted the piece to Hunk, who lowered his visor and began soldering. Keith stood by Lance and waited, looking at the other boy. He was gazing at the giant robot, watching the sparks fly from where Hunk was working. The shadows from the wires fell over his face, even as the sparks from the laser danced in his eyes. He smiled when Hunk finished, shooting his friend a thumbs up. 

“Lance, the next one has a hinge on it. Careful lifting it up,” Pidge called. “Hunk, that’s interior venting for the back. Look for L3.”

Again, Lance stepped close to take the plate, having to slide his fingers against Keith’s chest to get a grip on the plate of metal. It warmed him through his stomach, and he opened his mouth to… well nothing. He gaped at Lance, who gave him a curious eyebrow. 

This time as Hunk worked, Lance’s eyes slid back and forth between Keith and the sparks, and Keith realized he was caught. He’d probably never been subtle in the first place. Why else would he be in Pidge’s lab if not to be near Lance? He rarely hung out in here.

This time, Keith had no excuse to get close to Lance, able to hand him the plate easily, but afterwards his hands were empty, and his fingers itched to find a resting place on the boy in front of him. Especially as Lance stretched both arms overhead to pass Hunk the piece, the whole back of his body on display as he reached. His palms itched again, begging to find their place on Lance’s back or slide along his side. Even his legs itched, wondering why it had been so long since they’d tangled with Lance’s. 

Keith’s mind had plenty of reasons, but his insubordinate legs didn’t care for any of them, and they moved steadily towards their jean-clad focus.  He came to rest at Lance’s side, shoulders bumping as he came to a stop. Lance looked over at him, nudging Keith with his shoulder and giving him a raised eyebrow. Keith shrugged against him, fighting the blush that wanted to crawl up his face. The laser started up again as Lance’s little chuckle faded, and Keith immediately felt himself lose against his blush, heat conquering even the back of his neck. He looked away, scratching his head in confusion at the shy feeling that overtook him. 

He jolted as he felt Lance’s arm move against him, arm sliding up his back until his fingers could twist in the ends of Keith hair.

“Mullet,” he mouthed, wrapping a lock around one finger and tugging. He looped higher and higher until he reached Keith’s scalp, turning to bury his whole hand in the hair at the nape of his neck. Lance rubbed briefly, massaging his fingertips against Keith’s scalp and making his eyes want to shut. Lance chuckled against his side, ribcage bouncing where it pressed against his side. Something inside him wanting to bounce in return, his very core wanting to revel in the contentment that seemed to be flooding his system. The sound of the laser disappeared into a fuzzy feeling that filled his ears and the way his heart was pounding in chest.

He was still standing with his eyes closed after the laser cut off, spine still tingling where Lance’s arm laid against his back.

Pidge called for Lance and he sighed, pressing into Keith’s shoulder for just a moment before separating with an exaggerated sigh. He turned back to Pidge, letting her point him towards a stack of metal strips.

Keith couldn’t help a sigh of his own, staring after the other boy as he continued working. He fought not to pout, not knowing why he was suddenly so frustrated with Pidge. Lance was constantly splitting his attention across the team and usually Keith appreciated it, admired it even. But right now he wanted nothing more than for Lance to tell Pidge how boring all her sheet metal was and come with Keith to spar or just watch a movie. They really didn’t have to do anything, Keith just wanted to have Lance to himself.

He fought the urge to pout, instead deciding he would head back to the training room. He made to leave, only stopping when he heard Hunk behind him.

“Yo Keith, what do you remember about electromagnets?”

“Sorry?”

“Electromagnets,” Hunk continued, lowering towards the ground. “Didn’t you have to take Theories of Physics at the Garrison? There was a whole week about early debate on electromagnets and their applications before we figured out like semiconductors and EMP’s and stuff. I don’t remember if pilots had to take it though.”

“I only took Aerodynamics and Basic Repairs. If you need a hand up there I’d wait for Pidge.”

“Nothing like that. It’s just always cool to me how the fundamental forces we discovered on Earth are truly fundamental. We go to so many planets and can calculate gravity with the exact formula Newton developed hundreds of years ago.” Keith gave Hunk a look he thought was clueless, but must have been encouraging because the yellow paladin continued chattering about electromagnets, growing more passionate and less clear to Keith as he continued. Finally, Keith shook his overloaded head.

“Hunk, what are you trying to tell me?” Hunk paused before shrugging.

“Some things don’t change, no matter how foreign the field of operation. Electromagnetism is the same on Earth and on Th’bnoy and all the way out here in the middle of space. The more we try and stray from what we understand, the less likely we are to find a marriage between ideas. Alien and earth sciences aren’t so far from one another, and overlap in ways we’re only beginning to discover and may not understand for years. Even if this is barely one step towards the types of advancements Altea has made, shouldn’t we still take it? Don’t you just want to try?” He finished with a pointed glance at Lance. Keith followed his gaze and raised an eyebrow, looking incredulously back at Hunk.

“Was… Was that a pep talk?” Keith asked. Hunk grabbed a rag from the railing behind him, mopping his brow.

“Of course not,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m under strict instructions not to meddle. I’m talking about electromagnets.”

“Electromagnets.”

“Uh huh.”

“So working with… electromagnets.”

“Isn’t any different now than it was on Earth,” Hunk finished. “If, for example—“ he stared at Keith hard “— an alien piece of technology using an electromagnet based power source—“

“You already lost me.”

“Electromagnetism is equally powerful in space! No matter where we start, the force it exerts is the same.” Hunk said again, staring at Keith hard.

“Hunk please—“

“Keith. We are talking about basic forces of attraction.” Keith’s eyes went wide and he fought not to look back at Lance. He cleared his throat, looking at the floor as Hunk simply stood and began to remove his work gear. He shrugged at Keith. “Now the strength of that attraction— “

“Stop,” Keith said, raising a hand. “Let’s not… let’s not stretch the metaphor any further please.”

Hunk nodded, turning to look at where Pidge and Lance were stacking metal and wires. 

“Just… scientific method, okay? Keep trying until you learn something. It’s the least you guys deserve.” He pushed off the railing behind him, circling the android’s legs. “Pidge, maybe we should stop and re-evaluate the ventilation back here.” Pidge looked up from her desk.

“What’s wrong with the ventilation?” She hopped off her chair, leaving Lance standing by the table. Hunk leaned out to wave Pidge over and winked at Keith, before looking past him and waggling his eyebrows, popping back behind the android quickly. Keith looked over his shoulder and Lance was giving his friend a stern ‘wtf’ look, transferring it easily to Keith when he caught him staring.

Keith walked over to the work table, stopping beside Lance, who was fiddling with some of Pidge’s wires. He stopped beside him, trying to lean casually against the table. He brushed some of his hair behind his ear, giving Lance a small smile when he caught him watching.

“So, they’re probably gonna be talking robots for a while… Would you wanna come to the training room with me?”

Lance looked away quickly, shrugged, then nodded, poking the wires he’d been messing with back into place.

“Yeah, I’ll change and meet you down there.” He glanced back at Keith, who smiled.

“Great! I’ll see you in a bit.” Keith brushed the back of his hand against the side of Lance’s head before tucking his hands back into his pockets and heading towards the door.

Hunk watched from behind the android frame as Lance watched Keith leave, wide blue eyes glued to the other paladin’s back. Lance touched the side of his face where Keith’s leather glove had grazed him, feeling the tense heat of his own flush in his cheeks and the answering tug down his spine. Hunk could barely keep from rolling his eyes, and he could practically hear as Pidge did. She banged a hand on the android, making Lance jump.

“Lance! No dirty thoughts in the lab!” she shouted.

Lance screeched her name and Hunk finally did roll his eyes as the two of them dove straight into their sibling-esque bickering. With one parting insult, Lance stormed off in a dramatic huff, leaving Pidge’s echoing cackle behind in the lab as the doors slid closed behind him.