Work Text:
✦1✦
Over the years, Val, Lua, and Max often found themselves in loads of trouble. They were triplets, so it wasn't too surprising. Val was the chill one, Lua was the mean sarcastic one, and Max was the loud and proud one.
After one day of plotting a new way to make someone jump out of their bones, the thirteen-year-olds soon realized that they never pranked their Dads. Sure, maybe they thought of it, but the prank always ended up happening to someone else.
Today, however, they were going to try everything in their power to spook their Dads.
First victim was Keith, who they just called Dad. He was off today, supposedly forced to by his husband who claimed he overworked himself. Lua spied on him, watching as he washed the dishes, humming some old tune quietly.
She gave a signal to her siblings, waving them over to begin. Max grinned widely before putting on his mask. It was supposed to be scary. They hoped to at least make their Dad jump.
He started to tip-toe into the Kitchen, faintly hearing his sisters giggle as they watched him from the hallway. Before he even got the chance to make a peep, Keith spun around, a knife raised in his hand.
Max immediately covered his face, a horrible instinct really, as Keith gasped.
"What the hell Max!" He set the knife down, putting a hand up to his beating heart. "You can't do that!"
Val came out from her hiding spot, Lua following quietly behind her. Max took off his mask, his eyes still slightly wide.
"Why not?"
Keith ran a hand down his face, groaning quietly. "Max, I was a child soldier. Sneaking up on me is basically a sentence to death." He then paused to uncover his face. "You're lucky I didn't throw it. Lance would not be happy with me if he found out I accidentally stabbed one of our kids because he thought it was funny to scare me." He deadpanned.
Max shivered at the thought of Lance, the normally cool Dad who they called Papà, getting mad. Mad Lance was a bad Lance that you didn't want to see.
"Sorry Dad, we were just trying to pull a prank on you…" Val said with a frown. She was such a guilt tripper, though it didn't work on Keith often. The only way he would give in was Lance.
He just stared at her before raising his eyebrow. "You three are thirteen, I think it's time to give up on these silly pranks."
Max gasped loudly, acting offended. "Never!"
Keith shrugged before picking up the sponge he was previously using, making a show of him slowly cleaning the sharp edge of the knife. "Sure, but there's a chance of accidentally getting stabbed, just so you know."
"I don't think Papà would be okay with you saying that sentence." Lua deadpanned. Sometimes she was almost an exact replica of Keith when he was thirteen and it scared the shit out of many people.
Mostly Shiro.
"Oh he'd say something similar but with guns." He said before grinning. "Don't worry, if you stop, it won't happen."
"This is scary. You're scary." Max whispered, teasingly moving closer to Val as if seeking for protection.
Keith shot him one final sly grin before turning back around to continue washing the dishes.
✦2✦
It was the last Friday of the month which meant movie night. Most movie nights they'd watch some Disney movie, much to Max's complaint who was in a phase where he believed he was too manly to watch Princess stuff.
Lua expressed how she was sick of watching kids movies. She also said that she was a teenager now so she should be able to watch something more grown up.
Val was just happy to be included.
Keith immediately agreed to watch a horror movie after Val and Max asked. Lance however was more hesitant, though he never verbally expressed why, Keith could see through him instantly.
But he did give in eventually after Val guilt tripped him. He, unlike Keith, was bad at saying no. That's why he was the fun Dad.
So the five of them sat in the living room. Lance and Keith cuddled together on the edge of the center couch, much to the triplets' complaints. Lua sat on the chair and Max and Val shared the smaller couch that was off to the side.
They each had their own fair share of snacks, the kids having far more than their Dads though. Keith and Lance both claimed that they needed to ‘Stay in shape.’ The reasoning behind it flew right over the kid’s heads.
The movie started off pretty normal. There was a group of teens all thrown into a stupid situation and then they're running for their lives.
When the first person gets killed, the killer shoots them with a riffel. Lance's eyes widen ever so slightly as he watches the killer raise the gun to shoot. When the victim gets shot, she screams, making Lance flinch. He feels Keith hold on to him tighter and he calms down.
The next person to die goes by a knife. She begs for her life but the killer only laughs as they slit the girl's throat. Keith closes his eyes and exhales. He's had to do that quite a few times to Galrans that think they can get away with acting as if they're surrendering. Galrans don't surrender.
The kids are clueless and absolutely loving the movie. Lua is munching on her snacks, snorting whenever a character does something remarkably stupid. Max laughs when someone trips and gets killed because they're too stupid to stand up. Val watches in silence but she isn't affected by the jumpscares unlike her siblings who do jump.
“That girl is so stupid.” Max shakes his head, “I mean who would just stand there as a gun is pointed to their head? Fight back!”
Keith closes his eyes. He can't snap at the kid. He doesn't know. But, fighting against someone with a gun is never good. Keith would know. Anytime an enemy fought back, he just shot them. It was almost too easy.
The movie drags on. Unnecessary romance blooms between two characters which is sorta ironic since one of the characters is a Hispanic boy and the other is a black girl with long wavy hair.
Keith ducks his head down to Lance's ear. “Look. It's the unnecessary romance between you and Allura!” He whispers, his smirk crystal clear just by the tone of his voice.
“Shut up.” Lance whispers back. The kids don't know about the awkward romance between Lance and Allura. She's dead, but the team knows to not bring that part up around any of the kids. Including Hunk's children.
It's not that it's embarrassing. It is, but the real reasoning is the kids would never shut up about it and Lance really doesn't need that. Allura is known as a hero. She doesn't need to be known as Lance's ex-girlfriend that he moved on from in the span of months.
Lance gets knocked out of his daze by a high pitched scream coming from the TV followed by gun shot after gun shot after gun shot. Lance can feel Keith flinching under him. Good for Keith for staying put, but Lance decides in the span of one second that he needs to get out of there. And he does.
He gets off of Keith, quite literally speed walking out of the living room. He refuses to cry over a movie. That would be pathetic. He blinks away his tears, wrapping his arms around himself. Behind him, he hears the familiar steps of his husband. He turns around and is immediately greeted by Keith's arms wrapped around him instead of his own.
Lance welcomes the hug. He rests his head on Keith's shoulder, burying his face into the older man's neck.
“I knew this would happen.” Keith mumbles, his mouth pressed against Lance's head. Lance let's out a small grunt almost to say Why didn't you say anything then?
“I didn't want to say it in front of the kids.” Keith answers as if he read Lance's mind before kissing his forehead. After fourteen years of marriage, they're still as in love as the day Keith engaged to him. “I don't want to worry them.”
“I don't either. They're too young.” Lance mumbled into Keith's neck. They both decided to ignore the fact that Pidge was only two years older than them when she was forced to be a child soldier.
“Okay. Do you want me to tell them you're going to bed?” Keith asked, his voice still quiet in the dimly lit hallway.
Lance hesitated which Keith noticed instantly. “I'm sure they'll understand in their own way. It's okay baby.”
“I should be stronger than this. I'm not nineteen anymore. You aren't freaking out.” Lance sighed and moved away from Keith. Though, he didn't go far with Keith's hands resting on his back.
“I'm freaking out. Just not externally. I'm sure tonight I'll have plenty of nightmares.” Keith said with a shrug. “But right now I'm comforting you. Later, when I wake up in a cold sweat, you can comfort me.” He cupped Lance's cheeks, making him look up at him.
“Okay.” Lance whispered with a nod. Keith gave him a quick kiss on the lips before taking his hand to lead him into the bedroom.
“What happened?” Max asked as soon as Keith entered the living room. The movie was still running. There seemed to be only two remaining characters. The main character and his best friend.
His love interest died. Keith felt like he could puke.
“Papà wasn't feeling good.” He replied simply as he picked up the discarded snacks on the coffee table. Max shrugged and turned back to the movie. Val seemed convinced enough and also turned her attention back to the movie.
Lua wasn't convinced. “Are you sure?” She said just before Keith left. Turning around, he gave his daughter a look.
“Yeah. He's fine. We'll be in our room. Make sure those two actually go to bed after the movie is over.” He told her. He received a quick nod as a response before she turned back to the TV. It was hesitant, but she still did.
After Keith put the snacks away, he went upstairs into his and Lance's bedroom. Upstairs was just the master bedroom, the master bathroom, and a walk-in closet which included 70% of Lance's clothes and 30% of Keith's.
Not like Keith minded, though.
Lance was curled up in a blanket his Abuela made for him when he was a child. To anyone but Keith, he would seem to be asleep. But Keith knew how Lance breathed when he slept. And how he was currently breathing right now was too frantic.
He sat down behind him, Lance's back turned to Keith. He rubbed his back soothingly, a small frown on his lips.
“When is it ever gonna get easier?” Lance asked after a few minutes of silence, his voice quiet.
Keith didn't reply right away, searching for an answer. After a minute, he found one.
“I don't think it ever will.”
✦3✦
Lance's eyes darted between the rest of the team and Allura's lion. She was going to die if he didn't do anything. He needed to do something. Without thinking, he flew at her. It wasn't as if the team would miss him. But they would miss Allura. She was needed to win this war. Lance slammed Red into Blue, knocking Allura's lion out of the way at the last minute before the energy ray struck. It hit Red. Lance screamed before everything went black.
Lance screamed, shooting up in bed. His heart pounded rapidly as he tried to breathe. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe.
Just then he felt a hand come up to rub his back. He wasn't dead. He was alive.
It was Keith. Keith, who whispered encouraging words to him. Telling him to take deep breaths and how good he was doing even if he kept stuttering over each one he took.
“It's okay baby. It's okay. I'm here.”
“I died.” Lance felt like he was slipping again. This wasn't even the first time he had this dream. Far from it, actually. It was a common occurring one, now happening at least twenty-eight times since the actual event occurred.
That dream and everyone he loved being beheaded in front of him, Keith being saved for last. Those were the most recurring dreams.
“You didn't die. You're here. On earth, with me.” Keith assured him, moving his hand up to rub the back of his neck.
Lance nodded as he continued to gasp for air. In the back of his mind he knew he must have woken up the kids even though their rooms were downstairs.
Great. He was not looking forward to breakfast in the morning.
“The… the kids. I woke them-” Lance's breath hitched as he heard footsteps creep outside their door.
“That's probably one of them right now.” Keith whispered to him. “I need to go answer it, okay?”
Lance nodded and then Keith's cool hands were gone. He hazily watched as his husband crossed the carpeted floor, making his way over to their bedroom door.
Keith opened the door only to be met with Val. She was frowning, her stuffed dog that she's had since she was a baby in her hand.
“Is everything okay? We- we heard a scream.” She asked, distressedness seeping through every word she said.
Keith nodded. “Yeah, baby doll. Everythings fine.”
“Did Papà have another nightmare?” She frowned up at him.
Another. That just shows how many times this has happened. One of these days, Keith is convinced they won't even wake up to their screams.
“Yeah.” He breathed out after a second. “Just go back to sleep. He'll be okay.” Keith assured. They were always fine in the end. Both him and Lance. They… they got through it.
“What was it about?” She asked instead of accepting that the conversation was over.
Keith almost didn't want to answer. But this was their daughter. She had a right to know why her thirty-eight-year-old Dad was screaming.
“He had a nightmare about the time he died.” Keith said, voice way too calm for the words he just said.
Val’s eyes widened. Almost as if she didn't know Lance died in space.
“Papà died in space?” She frantically asked, eyes darting between Keith and to the shadowy figure behind him that was no doubt Lance.
Oh. She didn't know. Fuck.
“You didn't know?” Keith asked, his own eyes widening.
“No?! I never knew!? Why didn't I know that my Papà died before?!” She nearly screamed and Keith could only pray to whatever higher being that her siblings wouldn't hear the words she just shouted.
“Bubs, can we please have this conversation in the morning?” His own voice sounded almost pleading, unfamiliar to his own ears. “Please.”
She seemed to notice how desperate he sounded so she eventually nodded. “Okay…” She whispered. “Tell Papà I love him.”
Keith gave her a slim smile, but it probably looked far too fake. “I will. Goodnight.”
“Night…” She said before the door was lightly shut in front of her.
✦4✦
Val, Lua, and Max knew how madly in love their Dad's were. While it was gross, it was better than their parents hating each other, tip-toeing around one another just to not start an argument.
And as they got older, they grew to understand why their parents were so in love. It wasn't just because they loved each other so much that they couldn't keep their hands off of one another. No, it was because they nearly lost each other so much when they were younger.
From the few stories they have had the pleasure (displeasure) of hearing, also meaning which stories they could force out of someone, their Dad's were the sacrificers of the team.
They weren't allowed to know the details. And while Max wanted to know what that all meant, Val and Lua did not. So, they were promised to know almost everything when they were older.
So sure, they didn't know everything about their Dad's pasts. But, one thing they did know was that they went through a lot to be with each other and that they didn't want to lose the other man.
So you can probably imagine how confused they were when they came home from school to shouting.
“Keith. You are forty years old!” Lance shouted, “You can't go running into the battlefield like you're eighteen again! You'll get fucking killed!”
“I have a job to do Lance. We may have ended the war but this universe still needs a shit ton of fixing.” Keith growled out.
“God Keith. I know that.” Lance groaned. “But someone else younger and stronger can do that! For fucks sake, we have three children Keith! Do you really want them to get a call while at school saying that their Dad has been killed? Huh?!” He shouted the final part, slamming his hand hard on the table.
Val let out a choked sob before covering her mouth. The three were still hovered at the doorway, not wanting to move or make a noise. Their Dad's heard everything and they clearly didn't hear them get home. That was one of many signs that things weren't normal.
Max’s breath hitched, fighting the tears that threatened to make their way into his eyes. Lua could only stand there in shock, her arm wrapped tight around Val who was currently covering her mouth to shut herself up.
“Don't fucking dangle the kids over me like that!!“ Keith yelled. His voice sounded deeper and it wouldn't be a shock if his eyes turned yellow. “I love those kids with all my heart but sometimes sacrifices need to be made!”
“Sacrifices??” Lance spoke loudly, his voice just on the edge of shouting. “Keith, you are not going out there to die! You can't jump in front of other people like that!!”
“You did for Allura!!” Keith yelled, hand slamming against the table. “You fucking died for her, Lance!”
Val knew this already, but she didn't know how or why he died. Lua and Max’s eyes were just as wide as her’s the day she found out last month, if not wider since it was because of Allura.
They didn't know much about Allura. She was the Princess of Altea, a hero. She sacrificed herself for Voltron, saving the universe or something like that. But everyone knew that. They taught it in school for fucks sake.
But from their own family, they didn't know much more than that. Lance had talked about her in the past. Saying how she was super determined and always fought for what was right. Keith told them how her and Coran had woken up after ten-thousand-years only to find out that their whole race had been killed off. (which they later discover wasn't fully true)
The rest of the team has said stuff here and there. Though, Lance seemed to shut them up on most of it.
Before the triplets could react anymore to this new information, they were hit with another shocker.
“The team needed her, Keith! She was the fucking magical princess-”
“Sure. But you were also suicidal and knew that was your chance to die.” Keith shouted back.
“Don't you fucking go there as if you didn't als-”
Keith's face twisted up. “You were in love with her Lance. You loved her enough to take your own life.” His words hit Lance like venom.
“You fucking bitch” Lance felt tears brimming his eyes but he refused to cry. Not now. He's cried enough over Allura for this lifetime. “You don't get to dangle that over my head as if I wouldn't do the same thing for you now in a heartbeat.”
“There! You just proved my point, Lance! I'm willing to go on this mission so you aren't killed here on Earth.”
Lance wanted to throw up. “Or you die and then everyone on Earth also dies! Do I have to remind you that you also sacrificed yourself? Running into a force-field with your pod. Really Keith? How fucking suicidal were you for that one?”
Val looked and felt like she was going to be sick. She could only sink down to the floor before all this new information crushed her. Lua’s face was still neutral, the only hint of sadness was the tears running down her pale cheeks. Max, claiming to be the strong one, was most likely fighting back a panic attack.
Having the former Paladins of Voltron as your parents was real fun.
“We all wanted to die Lance! Why else do you think Shiro slept all of the time? Or why Pidge kept asking Coran for medicine? Or…” Keith took a breath, stuttering over his words, “Or how about the fact that Hunk helped everyone but himself.”
Lance went to open his mouth but Keith wasn't done.
“I’m not fucking suicidal now so don't even go there.” He pointed a finger at Lance. “I know that look in your eye.” He took another breath. “But do I wake up some mornings wondering how many of my insomnia and anxiety meds I could take before overdosing?” He let out a hollow laugh. “Yeah. Yeah I do. But I think of you and the kids and I get up and live my life.”
Keith stared at Lance who gave up on holding the tears in, them now freely running down his tan cheeks. “You probably wanted to die more than all of us. I would bet on it. Look me in the eye and tell me that your suicidal urges are completely gone.”
Keith stared at Lance. Lance stared at Keith.
Lance broke down, covering his face with his hands as he leaned against the kitchen island. Keith, immediately knowing he went too far, rushed over to apologize.
“I think I'm going to be sick.” Max mumbled before throwing up in his mouth. Lua looked over at him, her concern sky-rocketing once she saw how green he looked.
“Fuck.” She mumbled before running over to grab the nearest garbage can.
Max threw up as soon as it was in front of him.
In short terms, Keith and Lance found out their kids heard everything as soon as they heard the sound of Max throwing up.
The rest of the evening was filled with the kids crying into their father's arms like they were little again. Even Max, who was probably the most shaken up out of the three.
They told the kids… everything. Everything that was their business. They didn't talk about the cloning with Shiro or the fight between Keith and Shiro's clone, but they definitely hinted at it.
The three were definitely… in shock and would need at least five business days to process everything that was just said to them.
Lua asked most of the questions while her siblings stayed quiet. She was always the bravest out of the three whether the other two wanted to admit it out loud or not.
Keith explained most of the things while Lance repeatedly apologized for them hearing them fight. Max thought he was funny when he said he felt like his friend after that. (His friend's Dad was in jail for assaulting his wife during a heated argument.
Then Val, high off of emotions, asked which Dad would be the one in jail. And Lance couldn't even be mad because he was also curious.
Max didn't answer.)
Lance, being Lance, made light out of the whole situation. Mainly about his own suicidal issues as a teenager. Max appreciated his humor but Lua and Keith both told him to shut up.
They talked for a long time, taking breaks when someone needed to go to the bathroom or needed a drink, etc.
Lance asked around seven-o-clock if they wanted dinner and they immediately said no. Max said he was too sick for dinner.
(Then Lance made another terrible joke saying that's what he used to tell Coran-
But Keith shut him up real fast. Lance realized that joke may have triggered an eating disorder so he was really glad Keith elbowed him in the ribs.)
So they talked until ten-o-clock. Keith, the responsible one, told them it was time for bed. Then Val freaked out because she didn't do her homework or study for a test. Then Max also freaked out. Lua said she realized that around six-o-clock but decided she was gonna give her teachers the sob story about her Dad's being Paladins of Voltron and all that.
And Lance and Keith said that was a hella good idea and even offered to write a note.
So, it all worked out in the end.
Keith also agreed to not take the job. (Lance fully convinced him with really good se-)
✦5✦
Around two months after that whole parents fighting incident, they were close to the end of the school year. It was sunny, the birds were chirping, the grass was green…
Lance wanted to die.
He and Keith talked about each of their suicidal problems a week after their big fight. Keith said that what he told him during the fight was true. He did wake up like that sometimes. It doesn't usually get too far, however, there were some days that those thoughts ran through his head all day.
Lance, after hugging Keith very tightly, told him how he often didn't like eating because his mind told him if he ate too much Keith wouldn't like him. Or… he woke up mad that his life wasn't even close to normal even after twenty years since the war ended. So, his mind told him to start over.
And today seemed to be one of those days.
Usually, on the rare maybe twice a year occasion, Lance would claim he felt sick and just lay in bed all day acting sick so Keith wouldn't worry even more than he already was.
But he also told Keith what he did when he felt like that, so he wouldn't buy it this time. And he, Keith, and the rest of the team had a meeting today. So…
He got up and sucked it up.
Keith was already up, probably making breakfast for the kids and both of them. He could smell the sweet aroma of waffles (Keith hated pancakes) and eggs.
It made him sick.
He ignored it, (because when was he ever in touch with his feelings? Come on now.) and put on his Galaxy Garrison uniform. He stopped after he put on his pants and looked in the mirror. He hated how over the years, even though he had the same routine he had twenty years ago, he was fat.
Okay, he wasn't fat, but he looked fat. He looked really fat and he didn't know why the fuck Keith was with him if he looked like a-
“Baby?” Keith knocked on the door, “I'm gonna walk the kids to the bus stop. It's raining.”
What. Lance stared at the door, his mind racing. He just smelt breakfast. And he swore he heard Keith telling Max to chew with his mouth closed…
How long had he been staring at himself shirtless in the mirror for?
“Babe? Are you awa-” Keith said, going to open the door. In a hasty panic, Lance grabbed the door handle, slamming it shut before he could even get an inch of it open.
“Woah.” Keith breathed out, clearly not expecting that. “Is everything okay?”
Lance's breathing quickened but he could only ask himself why the hell was he acting like this. Instead of panicking like a child, he responded like an adult.
“Yes I'm doing great.” He said quickly, mentally face-palming himself. Whatever, better than dazing out for fifteen minutes.
“Okay…” Keith hesitated, “Be right back. Love you.”
Good thing Keith walked away before Lance could reply because he didn't say it back anyways.
Hitting himself on the head, Lance groaned, walking back over to the mirror. He hated the sight. But he needed to fucking suck it up. And sucking it up he did. He sucked in his stomach, his eyes blind to the ab lines that were there. He threw on his shirt and continued to get ready, avoiding the mirror.
Then he walked into the bathroom, grimacing at the close up of his face. He then threw his hands over his face and groaned. He was thirty-eight- damn-years-old. AKA, too old for this shit. Ignoring his brain, he brushed his teeth, combed his hair, though the thought of Why even try lingered in his head before he heard the bedroom door open.
His first instinct was to slam the bedroom door shut. But Keith would know something was wrong if he did that, and that was literally the last thing he needed right now.
Sure, they told each other that they would say something if one of these days happened again, but Lance was never known for keeping promises.
“Kids are on the bus…” Keith said as he walked into the bathroom, “and I am not looking forward to this meeting. Remind me of why we have to have one of these every year?” Keith then wrapped his arms around Lance's waist, tucking his chin over his shoulder.
Lance tried not to tense up, and he thought he succeeded since he gave Keith a normal sounding answer. But apparently Keith has been with him for too long or something because he read right though Lance.
“You okay?” Keith asked, rubbing soothing circles into Lance's hips.
Lance stared into the mirror, his face calm to the average person… but not Keith Kogane.
“Lance…”
“Am I fat?” He blurred out before immediately cursing himself out, pulling away from Keith and throwing the comb on the counter.
“What? Of course not-” Lance walked out of that bathroom so fast. “Lance. What is wrong?”
“I'm fineeee.” He said in an exaggerated tone, pushing the door open to the bedroom before hurrying down the stairs, Keith quick on his trail.
“Lance, we promised to talk about this stuff.” Keith reminded him, his tone sounding more like a warning.
“My mouth spoke before my brain could catch up again!” Lance shouted back, raising his hands up in the air dramatically. God he felt seventeen again. And right now, that was a bad thing.
“Lance, baby, please talk to me.” Keith begged. He walked into the Kitchen where Lance was currently storing away all the leftover breakfast because he sure as hell wasn't eating right now.
“I don't want to talk, Keith.” Lance said through gritted teeth.
“Lance-”
He turned around, “Not now, Keith!” He shouted before turning back around. Keith just stared at him, mouth open before he quickly shut it again.
“I'll be in the car.” He mumbled before grabbing the keys from the hook and walking out of the kitchen leaving Lance alone.
The drive to the Garrison was tense, the walk to the briefing room was tense, the rest of the team could see how tense they were.
When was the last time Keith and Lance stood a foot from one another if they had the choice not to?
Oh right, never.
“What happened?” Pidge asked, raising an eyebrow as they sat down.
“It's nothi-” Keith began.
“It's nothing.” Lance finished, his tone tight.
“O…kay…” Pidge trailed off, eyebrows now furrowed together.
When she turned her back to them, Keith gave Lance a what the fuck? look only to just get completely ignored.
Keith wants to rip his hair out.
The rest of the meeting was fairly uneventful if you exclude the fact that Lance was 110% not mentally there the whole time. Keith, despite being annoyed, was mainly really fucking scared for Lance.
“Can we please talk about it now?” Keith said as soon as they got in the car after the meeting finished.
Lance didn't say a word as he got his seat belt on. He continued to not say a word as he stared out the window.
Keith sighed and started up the car. Whatever. Communication is out the window he supposes.
The kids were home before them, already doing their homework or whatever else. Keith greeted them while Lance just walked upstairs.
“What's wrong with Papà?” Max asked, looking up from his homework that he was doing at the dining table to look at Keith.
“He's just having an off day. Don't worry.” He gave him a slim smile before making his way into the Kitchen.
Lua looked at her siblings with a bored expression as she sat at Val’s desk chair. Val called for a sibling meeting which happens far too often for kids with parents who actually love one another.
“So Papà has been weird all day.” Max said after he closed the door, walking across the room with his arms crossed over his chest.
Lua raised an eyebrow and turned her head to look at the clock. She then turned back to Max. “It's only 5:30. We have barely even seen Papà.”
Val snapped her finger. “Exactly!”
Lua shrugs. Okay, point taken. Papà is often the more energetic Dad out of the two.
“Yes, so, something is wrong.” Max nodded very seriously. “Dad told me Papà was just having an off day but…”
“Even Dad looked worried.” Val finished for him despite not even being there.
Max stared at her for a second before nodding with a shrug. “I mean, you are right.” He then squinted at her, “But how…”
“Older sister magic.” She shrugged before taking an obnoxiously sounding sip out of a nearly empty Capri-sun.
Lua groaned at the noise while Max groaned at her words.
“You are literally a minute older than me!” He sassed, puffing his chest out.
“And I'm older than both of you. So shut the fuck up.” Lua said with an annoyed expression. “Now, you two each insisted on this meeting, so spit it out. Papà is acting strange. Sooo?”
It was now Max's turn to act serious. “Don't you remember what Papà said about his suicidal thoughts? He's better but he still has days…” He trailed off, figuring that his sister's could figure out where he was going with this.
Lua clearly did, showing as she gave off a more sad expression before slumping down in her seat. Val followed soon after, biting her bottom lip nervously before sitting down on her bed.
“So what do we do?” Lua asked after a tense thirty seconds of silence.
That question resulted in another thirty seconds of silence before Val opened her mouth.
“I don't think we can do anything. Love can't always cure mental illness.” She continued to gnaw at her bottom lip nervously.
“Yeah. And nobody here knows what it's like to have a mental illness…” He paused and looked up. “Well.”
Lua watched as two sets of purple eyes looked up at her. She just sighed, out of annoyance more than anything really.
“She's right. Love didn't cure my depression. I have all the love in the world yet I still think the world is against me.” She frowned even deeper than before. “Though I don't know what having suicidal thoughts is like… that is not something I have ever had…” She tapped her fingers against her thigh before continuing, “Though I bet it's similar. Love is loud but your mind is louder.”
✦+1✦
The summer time was obviously the best time of the year. No school, no stress, it was warm out, there was freedom. And it also meant the local fair coming into town.
Sure, fairs were something most families went to and enjoyed a normal amount, but for the Kogane-McClain triplets, it was fantastic.
Ever since they were babies, their Dad's have always won them a shit ton of prizes. Fair games are obviously rip offs and nobody ever wins in them all the time.
But somehow Keith and Lance are just better than the average human. (Keith only being 50% probably gives him quite the advantage for that anyways)
But, for a whole week in the month of July, there's a fair in town and Lance and Keith make fucking fools out of everyone there.
It's a beautiful sight to witness really, especially since some people were too young to be around for Voltron so it's not like they know exactly how they look.
So…
“How many tries would you like, sir? The maximum is seven.” The teenager worker asked, oblivious to the stares Lance was getting from older folks.
“Just one.” Lance said casually. It was a shooting game. Use the gun and knock down the target. He's done these games all the time.
Heh, games. Yeah, only games of course.
The worker looked at Lance weirdly but eventually shrugged and accepted the quarter Lance handed him.
Keith hid his smirk behind the piece of cotton candy the four of them were sharing (Lua hated cotton candy with a passion along with many other fair sweets)
Lance cracked his knuckles, only further confusing the poor seventeen-year-old worker. A small crowd gathered at the booth next to the one Lance was currently at. It was embarrassing how obvious they were being with the staring but it was too normal at this point that Lance didn't notice. He just focused on the game and winning the giant elephant stuffed animal for his daughter.
He picked up the fake gun, closing one eye to get a better look at the target. Lua yawned in the background and Lance couldn't even tell if it was real or not before he finally shot at the target.
And, to nobody's surprise but the seventeen-year-old boy, he made it right on.
Smirking, Lance set the toy gun down. “After twenty years I still got it.” He then put a hand on his hip as Val cheered in the background.
Running up to the edge of the booth, she excitedly pointed at the giant elephant hanging up. “I want that one, I want that one!!”
The worker, still confused, dumbly nodded before grabbing the hook stick to reach up and grab the stuffed toy. He then handed it to Val who squealed and hugged it close to her. “It's so adorable!! Thank you Papà!!!”
“Of course, baby doll.” He smiled at her before he heard a click, which sounded like a camera. He turned around to see a very excited girl in her twenties. She looked at him, looked at the picture she got, before walking away, her friend following her.
“Oh she totally got a picture of my ass.” Lance mumbled.
Keith grinned as Max grabbed the cotton candy stick out of his hand. “Who could blame her? It's a really nice ass.”
Max groaned, mouth full of cotton candy. “How old are you again?!”
Keith just chuckled, swatting a hand at Max. “Shut up, you'll understand when you're married.”
Max gave his Dad a look, eyebrow raised. “Will I?”
Keith shook his head as he continued to stare at Lance who was now talking to Lua about what she wanted him to win for her. “Nah. You won't get as lucky as me.”
“Fucking rudeee…” Max mumbled, stuffing more cotton candy in his mouth as he watched his sisters squeal over fake animals. (He wanted Papà to win him a stuffed spider, so, not an animal)
“You being a child soldier at least did one good thing.” Lua said with a bored tone.
“Oh yeah? What's that?” Lance asked, putting a hand on his hip.
“You know how to use a gun better than any pure bred American in this nation.” She said simply with a shrug.
Lance just gaped at her before laughing, Val joining in shortly after.
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