Being flung out into the farthest reaches of space had led to a disconnect between the Paladins and a great many things that were a common part of human life, of the human social calendar. Time took on a different feel when it was almost constantly dark outside, and with so much of their time spent in near-death situations, fighting against Zarkon, Lotor and the Galra Empire, sometimes the creature comforts and the little things fell by the wayside… even more so with the protracted absence of the Black Paladin.

Which resulted in Keith being in the unexpected position of asking himself: what do you get the Blue Paladin of Voltron for his birthday? What do you get as a gift for Lance McClain?

This predicament was partly Pidge's fault, but also partly Hunk's. Pidge, being the only person with any Earth tech that was capable of tracking the time, day and month had been keeping time for where in the year they would be if they were still on Earth… and as it turned out after some hushed conversation with Hunk which had quickly exploded into unsubtle Hunk fashion with a loud "It's Lance's Birthday tomorrow?!", it was apparently just shy of the 28th of July, Earth time, and Lance would be turning 18.

Now that the cat was out of the bag, there'd been some conspiratorial discussion between Hunk, Pidge and Keith about what to do for Lance (they couldn't just ignore the fact it was Lance's birthday - that'd be rude, and Keith isn't that heartless - and given that they'd marked Hunk's, Pidge's, even Shiro's unusually-timed birthdays, it was only fair they mark the Blue Paladin's.

Which is what led to Keith asking himself what he could possibly give to Lance. Skin care items? He's got plenty of those. Something human? We didn't really have any GAC, and we're not near a Space Mall. A Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Keith scoffed. Yeah, right.

In the end, it was Coran who had provided a spark of genius, whilst he and Allura had been preparing something for Lance in the dining hall.

"I'll admit there's still a lot for me to learn about all five of you, your interests and the Earth customs unique to each of you…" Coran had mused, giving his moustache a thoughtful tweak. "But if the best birthday presents are meant to be thoughtful, and something that the birthday boy… in this case… really wants, there is something that might work."

Keith had listened attentively, but frowned when he'd heard Coran's idea.

"Wouldn't that just rub in the fact that Lance isn't able to return home anytime soon? He's going to think I'm being a dick."

Coran mulled Keith's point over. "I'm not sure what a 'dick' is… but despite your loving antagonism towards each other, I believe young Lance will see the care you've put into his gift."

So Keith had thought some more on the project, and had eventually enlisted Pidge to put it together. The timing was going to be tight, but as Pidge's laptop ticked over from the 27th of July into the 28th, they had something they both thought might just work.

The other Paladins, Allura, Coran and even Kolivan and Slav had gathered in the common room to give Lance their various well-wishes or presents (although Slav had remarked that his present was the certainty that in this universe, Lance's birthday wouldn't result in death and disaster).
Lance took a deep breath as he inhaled the scent from a small selection of new skin lotions Hunk had synthesized with Pidge's help.

"Man, if these work half as good as they smell, I think you'll be onto a winner big guy." Lance gave a wide smile to his fellow Paladin.

"And they should be okay if you accidentally get some in your mouth." the Yellow Paladin remarked.

"He knows that because he ate the first bottle." Pidge added with a nonchalant adjustment of her glasses.

Hunk flushed a little and averted his gaze. "How was I supposed to know they'd be surprisingly full of flavour? We had to test it to make sure it wouldn't make him ill."

"Aww, thanks for caring." the Blue Paladin beamed, and Keith was begging to wonder if he might have to leave the room for a moment. In no time at all Lance turned his attention to Keith, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. Keith didn't need to be telepathic to guess that Lance was asking himself something to the effect of: 'What on Earth could mullet get me?'

As it turns out, that question wouldn't be far off.

Lance angled and studied the box, before he made a movement to open it.

"Wait… I just need to do something before you open the box. Coran?"

The royal advisor winked, and extracted his hand-held device. With a press of a button, the lights in the common room dimmed, leaving only the teal-coloured lines at full illumination, and the screen displaying the moving starfield of space.

"Okay, you can open it now."

Lance removed the lid of the box, and Keith could see his eyes widen in surprise in the light of the ocean-blue glow emanating from within. He dipped a hand inside and extracted a scaled-down Altean holo-projector, displaying a three-dimensional rendition of the Earth.

"It spins if you move it." Keith added, a little uncertain as he elaborated on the gift, he was still worried that Lance would take it the wrong way. "Pidge also built in a calendar if you press a button on the projector."

Lance pressed one of the buttons, and was rewarded by the Earth date briefly appearing on the curvature of the globe. He tested spinning the miniature planet for a few more minutes as Keith stood there awkwardly. Without a word Lance set the glowing planet down and crossed over to Keith.

Keith had never been on the receiving end of one of Lance's heartfelt hugs. He'd had a few from Hunk, but not from Lance.

Now he had.

"Thanks, Keith." The Blue Paladin stepped back, and Keith was surprised to see him wiping some tears away from his eyes, but there was a smile on his face. There was no witty retort or cheesy pick-up line inspired by the gift, there was just honest emotion. "Oh man, now I'm just blubbering. Seriously though, thanks Keith… I love it."

The others looked on fondly in the dim light, but the brightest thing had to be Lance's smile. "Now I'm going to have to really pull out the stops when your birthday comes around." he added with a smirk towards the Red Paladin.

As it turned out all Keith had to do to bring a smile to Lance's face and a tear to his eye was to give him the world, and it was pretty easy in hindsight.

The End