Written for Voltron Fluff Week Day 6 - prompt: Shopping Trip/Field Trip.
I've been kind of wanting to write this threesome since The Ark of Taujeer & Space Mall, but this story was unexpectedly tricky. Guess I'll just have to try writing them again sometime.
(Also, I only just finished this about five minutes ago. Sorry for any mistakes!)
"What's down here, do you think?" Lance asked, switching the shopping from his aching right hand to his left. The switch didn't help that much - he was tired, it had been a long day - but he refused to admit it, especially considering that Allura had taken most of their purchases to carry herself, and seemed completely unburdened by them.
"It looks like- Oh, dear, it's one of Coran's beloved swap-shops." Allura's expression pinched, but her eyes were sharp with curiosity.
"Well, we've come this far, right?" Lance said, smiling. "It would be a shame to leave without at least exploring it..?" He stepped aside and waved her forward ahead of him with a formal bow. Allura laughed and lifted her chin, stepping past him with a regal look that sort of clashed with the heavy bags she carried.
He thought Allura could probably look elegant and regal doing anything if she really tried, though. Lance trailed after her, mind happily turning over the possibilities. He'd seen her in many of them, of course - and he thought her ridiculous, beautiful cloud-hair must be magic, because it was never even mussed when she woke.
Thank god for Keith, who looked like a long-haired cat that had been petted the wrong way when he woke up, his hair tangled and sticking up every which way.
The shop itself was dusty and somewhat ill-kept, broken items - or things Lance thought were broken, to be fair he might not know - leaning against whole ones, and some objects so dirty they could hardly be seen. Allura hesitated, and Lance nudged her gently.
He picked up a spirally-looking silver oddment he was fairly certain wouldn't explode - if only because it was probably broken, one piece hanging loose in a way that definitely didn't look intentional - and turned towards her. "What's this?" he asked.
"A Scavorian flaxn." Allura told him absently, then looked back at his face. "It's for processing raw fibre, from specially bred animals, so it can be worked with - spun, woven." she explained.
"Ah." Lance eyed it and had no idea how it would work, but then he had no idea how you'd do something similar back on Earth either.
"Don't touch that." Allura advised as he moved on. "It doesn't look like it's been cleaned." Lance immediately pulled back, eying the tool warily.
"What is it?" he asked, moving over to what looked like buttons. Big jars full of them, much like his aunt kept in her sewing room. He swallowed down a pang.
"It's used by the Aurens, when they need to remove their-"
"Okay never mind." Lance interrupted quickly, looking at the instrument again and edging a little further away. "I don't need to know."
"As you wish, dear." Allura said, smirking slightly. Lance pouted at her, but it only made her smirk grow. She was moving through the items on offer on her own now, though.
As they explored the contents of the shop Allura explained - with varying levels of patience - many of the things Lance still didn't recognise, and they had fun making up ideas for the ones that Allura didn't either. The proprietor thought the pastime was less amusing, especially when one of Lance's suggestions made Allura burst out laughing and jerked backwards, accidentally knocking a large vase from its shelf.
Lance caught it, and he fixed a glare on the alien when he tried to chase them out. He fell silent with an odd little burbling sound that Lance wanted to laugh at, but held the impulse down, so as to not break his intimidating façade. And not be rude. Of course.
Lance replaced the large, breakable vase and trailed after his Princess as she made her way around the shelves, poking around curiously. He got distracted by a little alcove that seemed like it was full of things relating to the ocean - many oceans, really. There were paintings and mosaics of seas and beaches in a rainbow of colours, shells in shapes and hues that even Earth's marine diversity couldn't have produced, and little models of what were probably sea creatures.
Lance ran his fingers over some of the shells and the edges of frames, then stopped, reaching for a small curve of brilliant blue peeking out from behind a wide dish piled high with jumbled shells and little figures. It was a thin, roughly oval-shaped tablet - it felt like slate - with the ocean painted on it. The surface was near the top, and below curled tall kelp, trailing down to a brightly-coloured reef.
It couldn't be a scene from Earth - nothing was quite right, and the stone felt slightly off too - but it was achingly close.
"There you are!" Allura appeared at his side, light fingers trailing over his shoulder near the base of his neck. "Have you found something you like?" she asked.
Lance nodded silently, running his thumb over the painted scene. Allura's hand wrapped around his wrist and she squeezed lightly, a soft kiss brushing his cheek. Lance pulled himself together and smiled at her, following her away from the little sea corner.
"Have you?" Lance asked after a moment, and Allura pouted briefly.
"Yes, but he's being obnoxious about the bargaining." she said, snorting. "I don't think he knows what he's selling, either, and I don't want to tell him. It's . . . from Altea." she added under her breath, eyes flicking towards the proprietor. He was coming closer now.
"I suppose we've seen just about everything there is to see." Allura said, louder, with a little disappointed sigh. "Worth seeing, of course." she added, lips pulling into a delicate moue. "Let's go, dear."
"As you like." Lance said on cue, moving towards the exit, and as though they'd rehearsed it with him, the shopkeeper was immediately placatory and willing to bargain - and selling the piece Allura wanted at a reasonable price.
He barely took a second glance at the little painted slate Lance had fallen in love with while bargaining with her, and Lance left her to the task. He cradled it carefully in one hand as Allura dismissed the proprietor's attempts to wrap any of their purchases. Lance had his ornament, and Allura efficiently dealt with the thing she'd bought - a pair of metal rods connected by a banner? - herself.
"Now," Allura said quietly as they made their way out, "I think we really have seen everything worth seeing, or buying, in this place." Her voice was light and her eyes sparkled. "Shall we return to the Castle?"
"As you wish, my lady." Lance made to bow, then stopped before he could drop something and blushed, bowing his head instead.
Tired as Lance was, he was happy and still felt energetic after the long day exploring the mall. He kept up with Allura's conversation and outpaced her a few times as they walked, idly wondering what their boyfriend had wandered off to do when they'd lost track of him earlier. He wasn't particularly worried - it was a peaceful mall, and anyway he knew from experience that even if something could take Keith down, it wouldn't be quick or quiet - but he wondered.
Lance nodded at Allura thoughtfully. "Yeah, I don't know- Keith!" Lance blinked and paused just inside the door. Keith was lounging in the sea of pillows, his legs kicked over the low wall at the side of the bed. "What are you doing here?" he asked, continuing inside and putting his bags down by the wall, picking out his painted slate.
". . .reading? It's nice to have books in a language I can read again." Keith said, smiling fondly at the book he was holding, running his fingers over the edges of the pages. "I was surprised to find books from Earth out here."
"I'm glad you've found something from your home." Allura said warmly, putting the bags and packages she still carried down on the bureau by the wall.
"This is my home." Keith said with a shrug, and Allura's smile softened, tinged with sorrow and fondness. Sometimes Lance wished he could tell her that, but his heart was tethered too strongly to home, family, to where he came from. He was here with them and he was happy, but a part of Lance always belonged back on Earth - back home. "But I am happy to have some things from Earth." Keith added.
"You know you could have read them later; there was a lot of interesting stuff at the mall." Lance said, frowning slightly as he approached the bed. "We're leaving now. You probably can't go back."
Keith blinked. "I know?" He propped himself up on one elbow, holding his place as he closed the book. "I looked at and got everything I wanted, so I came back. Did you have, er, fun?" he asked, glancing between Lance and Allura.
"Yes!" Allura said brightly, sorting through her purchases. Lance had figured he'd do that later, like maybe tomorrow. He was tired and he already had his favourite purchase out - and, he realised as he looked at the neat stacks on the bedside table, Keith had wound up carrying the books Lance had bought, too, and had unpacked them.
"It was fun. I'm sorry you missed more than half of it." Lance said pointedly, and Keith shrugged, stretching languidly as he slid back down off his elbow. The movement was very distracting as Keith's shirt rode up and his lean muscles came into view.
"I don't think it was my kind of fun, but . . . thanks, sweetheart." Keith said with a smile. "You can tell me about the interesting things you looked at?" he invited, putting his book aside and stretching his left arm out.
Lance looked at him thoughtfully and then toed off his shoes and climbed into bed, leaving his jacket over Keith's knees - he'd probably knock it off, but whatever - and stretching out beside his boyfriend. He rested his head on Keith's arm, holding up the little piece of art he'd found at the swap-shop and resting his hand on Keith's stomach.
"The ocean." Keith said softly, pulling Lance in a little closer with a comforting murmur.
"Yeah." Lance rubbed his thumb over the edge of the slate. "It's not- It's not mine, but it almost could be. It's. . ."
"It's pretty." Keith said, reaching out to curl his hand around Lance's, touch as gentle as his voice. "Something to think of home?"
Lance swallowed. "Yeah." he said again, biting at the inside of his cheek.
"That's good." Keith said, surprising him, and he looked up. "You love the ocean." Keith pointed out with a crooked smile, fingers running through Lance's hair, short nails scratching lightly. He leaned into the touch, closing his eyes for a moment, and nodded.
A moment later Allura either finished sorting through new acquisitions or decided to leave them for later, because she joined them. Lance smiled and shifted so Allura could settle closer as she leaned across him, catching Keith in a light kiss.
Pulling back, she snuggled against Lance's side, fingers curling into his shirt. She was a little cooler - Altean lower body temperature - than Keith on his other side, but they were both solid and strong, familiar and comfortable.
They were also both much cuddlier than they liked to admit - all poised and dramatic, silly things - outside of their room. Lance hid a smile against Keith's shoulder. That was all right.