Took a little longer than I thought to get this out. I finished it days ago, but real life kept me so busy that I barely had time to edit the last three days. I do want to say going into this chapter that it is written before season 3 came out, so if you read this after it does, then please remember that I have no knowledge about what happened in season 3 at the time of writing this. And that anything written in here about things happening after where season 2 left off is just speculation or theory. I really just needed things to write, since Keith has to keep writing, and here I am without knowing what is going to happen on the show. If that makes sense and isn't just rambling. Also, this chapter is at least double the length of what I've been writing for this. Actually longer than the first and second chapters combined, and just barely shy of being as long as all three combined. So enjoy the long chapter.
Chapter 4
"And you didn't think this was a bad idea until you got the tickets?"
Why did Shiro feel it was necessary to lecture Keith on things he already knew? The two stepbrothers had just left Keith's publishers, who needed some last minute sketches before the convention tomorrow. Keith had been fine for the company, as Shiro had offered to drive, until this subject had come up.
"You know," Keith began as they stood in the lobby, "I didn't mean to. I wasn't thinking. Lance asked me and then I was suddenly making promises."
Shiro just gave him this knowing look. "You mean the same Lance that you're now modeling Isamu after?" Dammit, Allura. She couldn't be trusted. "As far as I can remember, you've only modeled two... perhaps three... characters after people you know."
Letting out a sigh, Keith said, "For the last time, Haggar is not inspired after-"
"Your mother." Shrio smirked when Keith glared at him. "So you say." As some girls that were carrying things for the convention passed them by with some giggles, Shiro smiled and waved at them. "You also refuse to admit that you modeled Akira after yourself."
"I didn't!" Keith let out a groan as all the people around them stopped to stare at the two of them. Kolivan shot him a glare from where he was talking to his secretary before he went home for the day. "And I didn't model the new look of Isamu after Lance... not exactly."
"Do you like him? You just met him."
Keith already knew that. It had been a few weeks since the incident at the swimming pool, and Keith still felt like a fool over it. Why had he overreacted like that? He barely knew Lance at all, and here Keith was trying to crush on him. It just proved how lonely Keith really was. He had never been in a relationship, too caught up in his graphic novel to ever consider it.
"I think-" Keith began, but Kolivan cut him off as the man passed them by.
"Are you sure you don't want to do the panel at this convention?" Kolivan asked.
There had never been a more certain issue to ever be placed before Keith. "I'm sure. I just want to attend it with my friends. You made sure nobody working the convention that knows me will actually address me as the author, right?"
Letting out a sigh, Kolivan quickly checked his phone. "Yes, yes. Don't worry. It's all been taken care of." He pointed at Keith with a dull look. "I'm going to cash in on all these favors you owe me one day, Keith."
As a smirk crossed Keith's lips, he nodded and gave the man a wave as he left the building. The two stepbrothers stood there a moment longer before stepping out into the parking lot. Shiro was still watching him, waiting for an answer. If it were up to Keith, his brother could keep waiting.
But he let out a sigh and said, "I think I'm just lonely. Happy?" He frowned and kicked at a broken piece of concrete that was on the sidewalk. Shiro pulled out his car keys. "I've just been so isolated, and then Lance comes out of nowhere and... I don't even know. I can't tell if he's flirting or being weird. But he's been showing me attention and I don't know how to respond to it."
Like the bastard he was, Shiro made Keith wait for a response. He waited until they got back in the car and Shiro cranked it. Instead of backing up, Shiro just placed his arm behind Keith's headrest, like he was going to look behind him to back up, and stared directly at Keith.
"I'm glad you're making a friend," was all he said at first. Shiro waited again until Keith squirmed before he pressed on. "If you want to pursue this-"
"No!"
Shiro just let out a sigh and shook his head. "If you want to pursue this, Pidge does speak fondly of Lance. Although, the time or two that I got to meet him, he kind of seemed loud. He also flirted with like three girls during orientation, so there's that." Those eyes narrowed and Shiro pointed a finger at Keith. "He better not cheat on you."
"Shiro!" Keith wailed. His face was now red. "I just said that I'm just lonely! That's all! I have no interest in pursuing Lance in a relationship. Like you said, we just met. And, yes, he's a giant flirt with just about anyone he sees. He's just attractive is all." Crossing his arms, Keith slouched in his seat and pressed his knees to the dash. "Have no fear, your brother will remain forever alone. I don't have time for dating anyways."
"As you say," Shiro said as he finally pulled out of his parking spot. He glanced at Keith a single time before they pulled back out onto the road and into traffic. "You know, I am still salty that you killed off my character."
Keith slapped a hand to his face. "For the last time, I didn't kill him. I even showed you the next two issues. Ryou is alive... for now."
There was a dull look tossed in Keith's direction. "That's so cruel. As you know, your fans want me back."
"Stop speaking about the character like you are actually him," Keith mumbled as he leaned his head against the window. "Yes, I modeled him after you. You came into my life in a very hard time. In my original ideas, he was not meant to be the leader, though. But you helped me through a lot of stuff..." Keith glanced at Shiro, who smiled at him, "and I felt inspired to use that." Then Keith gave Shiro a dull look of his own. "But Ryou has his own things to do right now. Besides, it was always my plan to make Akira the leader of Voltron. I just decided to adjust after I changed the character of Ryou."
A moment of silence, and then, "Okay, but are you going to kill me?"
Keith let out a groan and tried to tune out his brother by turning up the music. His head fell back against the glass and Keith ignored the smirk on Shiro's lips. Honestly, Keith wasn't completely sure what he was doing with his characters right now. A year or two ago, Keith probably would have killed Ryou off. But the fans really did take to the character, so Keith was trying to decide.
He had time. No pressure. Not much, anyways. Reaching down, Keith pulled one of his old notebooks out of his backpack and pulled back the cover to the first page. On it was a diagram of all of the paladin names as Keith had originally planned them. Then below that was a similar diagram, just with a lot more arrows pointing at where he wanted all of them to eventually go. Maybe Keith had over complicated his plot.
Akira was always meant to be the leader. Isamu was actually going to be the red paladin, but after the change with Ryou and Akira, the latter needed a lion that fit him. So Isamu had moved to blue. The only two that never changed were Tsuyoshi and Hiroshi, the yellow and green pilots. Well, Hiroshi hadn't completely changed. The night before Keith had to turn in everything for the first issue of Voltron, he had called Kolivan in the middle of the night and had begged for an extension, because he had decided that the pilots needed more gender diversity and had made Hiroshi a female. Then there was Princess Farla, who Shiro and Allura both pestered Keith about it probably being modeled after Allura. It was, not that Keith would ever admit.
Shiro and Allura had met right before Keith's world had turned upside down with his graphic novel, and the girl had inspired every ounce of Farla. Their fight over Keith living with them might have inspired the bickering between Akira and Farla over the discovery of Akira being half Galra.
Breaking the silence, Shiro asked, "How much sleep did you get last night?"
"I don't know," Keith mumbled, eyes halfway shut. "Maybe a few hours. I had to get all that work done for Kolivan before tonight. Plus I had to get all my homework done, so that I could go to this convention." Rubbing a hand across his face, Keith shut his eyes. He would sleep good tonight. The best part was that he shouldn't have to worry about anything other than having fun all weekend. Fun. What even was that?
There was clearly a sadistic side to Lance. One that enjoyed being home alone, lights off, wrapped up in his favorite blanket, as he played through Outlast. His phone had buzzed a few times beside him, but Lance was too enthralled with the task of surviving to actually check his texts. It was good that nobody was home to see him hiding for an unnecessarily long time from whatever might be out in that hallway. And by nobody, Lance meant Pidge. He would never hear the end of the mocking.
Right as Lance was about to open the door at the end of the hallway, there was a knock at his bedroom door and Lance jumped several inches off his bed, shrieking like some banshee in the night. Thunder boomed outside as the door opened. Lance stared at the door with wide eyes as someone entered.
Eyes immediately fell dull as Lance took in the form of Keith, who was slightly wet from the rain outside. "Who let you in, mullet?"
"Do you always have to address me by that?" replied Keith, ignoring Lance's question. His eyes roamed from Lance, to the TV, and then back again. "Hunk said you'd be home, said I could just come inside. He thought you fell asleep, since you weren't answering his texts."
Oh. Lance quickly scooped up his phone and found several texts from Hunk, letting Lance know that Keith would be dropping by. Well then. With a huff, Lance flung his blanket around his shoulders and moved a few inches to give more space on his bed.
"Well don't just stand there like some creep while I play," he said, nodding to the space beside him as he went back to the game.
Keith took a step towards the bed and stopped. His eyes narrowed and he frowned. Lance paused the game again to look up at Keith. Keith just pointed at Lance and said, "Why are you wearing booty shorts?"
Rude, Lance thought to himself. His legs looked amazing and they deserved to be shown off, even if it was just for himself until Keith showed up. Jutting one leg up into the air, Lance leaned back against the wall and motioned to his leg. "There's your answer."
As Keith sat down on the bed, he mumbled, "Aren't you afraid your junk is going to fall out?" He crossed his legs and Lance found the guy staring down at Lance's lap. The shorts always did their job. "Or maybe you don't have to worry about that."
Wow! Rude! But at least Keith could make a joke. Smirking, Lance pulled at the leg of his booty shorts, showing his tight black briefs underneath. "Not to worry, everything is kept safely in place. No children will be scarred." Shooting Keith some finger guns, Lance let his leg fall back onto the bed. "Besides, the legs of the shorts could be a few more inches long and I'd still have that problem if not for the underwear."
"You have no shame."
Lance grinned and went back to playing. "None whatsoever."
Now that Keith was here, Lance had to actually refrain from shrieking. Instead, he bit down on his lip and contorted his face every time that something scared him. Keith smirked at him every time this happened. Clearly Lance was not subtle about being scared. There were a few times that Lance couldn't stop himself from jumping. When that happened, Lance brushed against Keith's shoulder.
Keith chuckled and Lance wanted to be mad, he really did, but Keith's laugh was so freaking cute. The guy rarely smiled or laughed. Lance had to actually pause the game to listen to it once or twice.
Lance glanced at Keith out of the corner of his eye as Keith laughed when Lance died. He was so unguarded when he laughed. Squinting in the dark towards Keith, Lance said, "Why is it that you never smile or laugh?"
"I just did."
"Yeah," Lance scoffed, "like once a month."
There was a dull look shot back at Lance. "Why does it matter when I do so? Would you like me to schedule more throughout the month? How about biweekly?"
"It's a start!"
Slouching so far down that his knees jutted straight up and he had to spread his legs to even see the TV, Lance focused back on his game. If Keith stared any harder at Lance's bare legs, he might actually bore a hole. Lance was used to it. People stared at him a lot after puberty, and Lance himself knew that he had been blessed with good looks. The world should be thankful that his parents decided to conceive him. Unfortunately, those good looks did not help Lance get a relationship. As Pidge and Hunk liked to point out, Lance had horrible dating skills.
Unconsciously, Lance's lips tilted down. It wasn't entirely his fault. His flirting might have been the problem. His loud personality might add to that, but it was part of who he was. And guys and girls that Lance tried to date just assumed that Lance would always flirt with anyone, even in a relationship, and always accused Lance of being unfaithful. His girlfriend senior year of high school and his freshman college boyfriend had both accused him of cheating. He also got asked to be part of threesomes. Sometimes it wasn't so fun being bisexual.
"Lance?"
With a start, Lance paused his game again. He was never going to get any progress on this game with mullet around. He blinked over at Keith with a frown. "What?"
"You were so deep in thought that I thought your brain might short circuit," Keith mumbled.
Lance's grin returned as he leaned on his palm towards Keith. "So glad that you care, mullet."
"It's Keith."
"As I was saying, mullet-" Lance ignored him. He cut himself off, though, when the front door opened and closed. "Looks like Hunk and Pidge are back." His grin split full across his face as he shut off his game and jumped off the bed. Lance turned around to find Keith getting a quick glance at his ass. The booty shorts never fail him. "Time for movie night and junk food! Stay up late, and then convention tomorrow!"
As Lance opened the door, he motioned for Keith to leave his room. Mullet got up and walked towards the living room, Lance following after him. Hunk had suggested that they let Keith crash at their place tonight, since they would have to get up so early to drive. By the front door was Keith's duffel bag for the weekend.
Hunk and Pidge were both in the kitchen. They had brought home three boxes of pizzas, two bags of chips, some Oreos, and a case of ice cream. Pidge caught sight of the look of mild disgust or horror on Keith's face and laughed.
After they got plates loaded up, they all moved into the living room and crashed on the couch. Hunk put on the first movie, which Keith had never seen before. They quickly listed off the rest of the movies for the night. Keith had not seen any of them.
"Where have you even been all your life?" Pidge exclaimed before stuffing a giant slice of pizza into her mouth. "Like at least half are classics."
While he stuffed his face with some Oreos and chips, Lance watched as Keith got a tinge of red to his ears. "I've just been busy," Keith mumbled. His brow furrowed as he looked over the box of the movie they were watching. "I'm sure it is very good, though."
Halfway through The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Keith had his brow still furrowed. He hadn't eaten much of his food. It had been forgotten in favor of the movie. "I'm confused. He just created a person?"
More of the movie went by and Keith seemed to get more into it. Mainly at the end, where the alien thing came up. Receiving an elbow on his other side, Lance blinked over at Hunk, who had an eyebrow raised. Nothing was said, but Hunk nodded towards Keith and gave Lance a questioning look. Lance cleared his throat and turned back to the movie, putting pizza into his mouth. He might have been watching Keith's reaction to the movie more than the movie itself.
The movie ended and Hunk got up to change it to the next one. While Keith rambled to Pidge about how much he enjoyed the movie, Lance got up and retrieved his blanket from his room. He returned and Hunk pouted at him. "You didn't get me one?"
"You didn't ask!" Lance exclaimed as he sat down. The next movie was going to be Fight Club. Lance placed the blanket across his lap and it fell on Keith's feet, which had been drawn up onto the couch. "Okay, but if you don't like this one, we can never be friends, Keith."
"Oh no, whatever will I do?" Keith droned. Pidge snorted and the two shared a smirk at each other. Those two did not need to be friends. At least Lance still had Hunk.
It quickly became late. After Fight Club, they opted to watch Clueless, which Lance had solely suggested. Pidge always complained about it. Hunk never said anything, and Lance secretly knew that it was because he enjoyed the movie, too. As the movie played, Lance did find himself getting tired. It was a little past one in the morning. Hunk declared going in that it would be the final movie for the night, as they had to get enough sleep for tomorrow.
Drawing his knees up and curling into a ball, Lance leaned slightly on his side. Pidge had made two bowls of popcorn, and Keith and Lance had a bowl settled between them under Lance's blanket. Keith had sneakily taken some of the blanket during the last movie, but Lance had been too caught up in the movie to actually do anything about it.
"Why am I not surprised that you love this kind of movie?" Keith whispered, leaning towards Lance as he got a handful of popcorn. Lance shot him a dull look and Keith grinned wickedly back.
Lance was so caught up with his glare that he did not pay attention as he reached down to get his own handful of popcorn. Both of their eyes went wide and color filled their cheeks. Lance cleared his throat and got some popcorn on the side that Keith wasn't currently getting some from. When Lance glanced over at Keith again, the guy was already consumed with the movie again.
It seemed like Keith was not meant to know the end of Clueless this night. He had fallen asleep about ten or fifteen minutes before it ended, his head rested on the arm of the couch. Lance had realized after it happened because Keith's legs loosened and his feet got pressed against Lance's leg.
The lights got turned back on after the movie and the other two went about cleaning up. Lance got Keith an extra pillow and some blankets, since he hoarded blankets and had enough pillows to give to a small family. When he returned, Lance found himself staring down at Keith for a moment. The dark circles under his eyes were more prominent now that the lights were on and Lance was actually paying attention. How much sleep had Keith been getting?
"Hunk?" Lance called out to his friend. Hunk poked his head in from the kitchen. "Have you two been working on your project more than usual?"
Brow furrowed, Hunk glanced Keith over. "No. Keith's actually been too busy to meet up this week to work on it. He said he had a lot of other work to get done before he could come to the convention."
As Hunk returned to cleaning up, Lance crouched down beside the couch. He touched Keith's shoulder and shook him awake. If he hadn't been so tired, Lance might have just thrown the pillow and blankets on top of Keith to wake him up. But Keith also looked exhausted.
Keith stirred and opened his eyes. A pillow was quickly thrown at him. "What the fuck, Lance?"
Okay, maybe Lance wasn't tired enough. He smirked and handed Keith the blankets when the guy sat up, clearly frustrated. "There you go." He stood up and stretched, raising up onto the balls of his feet. "You should thank me. You'd probably have a kink in your neck if you just slept like that on the couch."
"I've fallen asleep in more awkward positions," Keith mumbled, but took the blankets and pillow anyways. He got up and retrieved his bag, pulling out some cotton shorts and an old shirt.
When Keith disappeared into the bathroom to get ready for bed, Pidge came back into the living room and said, "You have such amazing skills at waking someone up. Is that how you're going to wake him up all weekend?"
Lance blinked once, twice, and then shot around to stare at Pidge with wide eyes. "What?" That came out a little louder than necessary.
Pidge just shrugged and moved across the room. "You hog the bathroom, so Hunk and I decided to room together for the weekend. Try and leave Keith some warm water." She smirked as she stopped in the doorway, cat-like stare shot back over her shoulder. "Unless you want him to join you in the shower."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Instead of answering, Pidge left, cackling on the way to her room. Lance just frowned as he stared after his friend. Hunk shut off the kitchen light and bid Lance goodnight. Pidge didn't know what she was talking about. Lance crossed his arms as he moved to his room. Right as he got to the door, Keith came out of the bathroom.
Blue eyes drifted along Keith's form. The shirt was a size or two too big, worn and faded. One of the sleeves even threatened to fall from his shoulder. It was also big enough that it covered most of Keith's shorts.
Recovering from staring, Lance just said, "Looks like we are going to be roomies this weekend." He took Keith by the shoulder and motioned into the distance. "But fear not, this just means you get the full convention experience. I will be there to answer any questions you might have during all of this."
Keith fixed him with the dullest of looks that could be mustered at this hour. "I'll be sure to remember that," he droned before removing Lance's arm from his shoulders and went back into the living room. Lance just smirked as the light was turned off.
Maybe there was hope for Keith yet to become a fan of Voltron.
Morning had come way too soon for Lance's liking. In fact, the only person that seemed to be really awake was Hunk. After they got their stuff loaded in the car, Pidge got shotgun, acting as the navigator. Which was fine, because Lance wanted to get more sleep on the drive. They got some quick breakfast and coffee before they got on the highway.
And Keith? Lance couldn't look at Keith right now. After coming out of the shower and drying his hair, Keith had emerged in a black shirt under a red plaid button up that was open. It looked good on him, but that was not the problem. Lance just no longer wanted Keith to get that haircut. Today Keith had tied his hair into a ponytail and it actually looked really good. It showed off his neck and jawline. And his hair wasn't hanging in his face today.
If Keith actually needed glasses, Lance might have combusted from how cute he actually looked.
Lance had brought along the first five copies of Voltron for Keith to get familiar with. Both of them had taken a short nap after eating, though, but Lance woke up to find Keith casually flipping through the pages of the first issue. Every page or two, Lance could see Keith's mouth scrunch up while he analyzed everything. Did he not like it?
Apparently Pidge had been paying attention to Keith reading as well. She turned around and said with much excitement, "I can't wait until you catch up! Maybe you can get to the latest issue before they start the next cycle. I need to know your thoughts!" Pidge was practically bouncing in the front seat, bringing a smile to Keith's lips. "We'll get you a shirt or something this weekend. You like it so far, right?"
"Uh, yeah..." Keith looked briefly down at the book in his lap before back at Pidge. "I think some things might could have been handled better, but overall I'm happy with it." Part of Lance died inside just listening to someone say that Voltron could have been better. It was impossible. Keith was just delusional. But Lance could forgive him, maybe, after the guy got caught up.
It took them three hours to get to the city that the convention was being held out. Traffic sucked, even with it still early in the morning. But this wasn't just a convention for Voltron, so they knew it was going to be crowded going into this.
They just weren't expecting an issue with the hotel rooms.
"What do you mean all your rooms with double beds are taken?" Lance basically screamed within inches of the woman behind the desk. Her eyes just widened as she continued to type away at her computer. "Do you have any rooms at all?"
"I do apologize," she said as politely as possible. "Due to all the people in for this convention, we are offering complimentary upgrades on all those that had reservations." Leaning forward, she peered at her screen. "We do have two rooms still available for you, Ms. Holt."
Pidge shoved Lance aside and tapped her debit card on the counter. "That's all that matters." She narrowed her eyes at Lance before he could open his mouth again. "All that matters is the convention. Don't ruin this for me."
Lance just grumbled and crossed his arms with a pout. The lady seeing to their rooms smiled and pulled out two small packets. "These are your cards. You won't be charged extra, don't worry about that." Pidge took the cards from the woman. "The rooms are, technically, an upgrade, but these do only have the single beds. It also, in my opinion, comes with a nicer view of the city, and much nicer showers."
After paying, Pidge handed both Keith and Lance their cards. Keith and Lance just frowned at each other for a moment. "Think of it this way," Pidge interjected before either could say a word, "it's a much nicer room than what we were previously able to afford." Then she leaned towards Keith with a grin. "I would watch out, though, Lance has a habit of being a cuddler."
Lance would have complained more, but then they got up to their rooms. While Pidge and Hunk went to theirs, Keith and Lance dropped their things off in their room. Lance wasted no time in jumping onto the bed, while Keith just kind of hovered. Lance let out a content sigh. He needed some sheets like this, they felt amazing.
Even if he did have to share a bed with Keith, this was going to be a good weekend. A better hotel room than they had expected, plus Lance finally got to go to a convention. Although, truthfully, Lance was much more excited about the next one, which was dedicated solely to Voltron.
Reading back through his first issues of Voltron had been a little nostalgic for Keith. It had also shown him how young and inexperienced he was back then. There were so many things that could have been done differently if Keith had known what he did now about writing a story. It had sold great, though, so maybe it was best if he didn't change anything.
Yesterday, after getting settled in and finding some lunch, the group had decided to check out the convention. Nothing from Voltron had been set up yet—like Keith knew it wouldn't be—but they had stuck around until dinner, so that Lance, Pidge, and Hunk could look into some of their other favorite graphic novels and comics.
"Do people dress up a lot for these?" Keith decided to ask as he studied the hundredth person he saw in costume on Saturday.
They had gotten there early, because the Voltron stuff would be there all day and the group wanted to get as much as they could. Even yesterday, Keith had witnessed so many people dressed up in costume. Some he recognized, but many he didn't. He was fairly certain several of his author friends would be disappointed in him for this fact. Well, he had never actually met any of them, so maybe friend was not the right word.
"Isn't it awesome?" Hunk exclaimed. "We thought about dressing up, too, but that would have cost more money, and we barely could afford this and the other convention."
"Okay!" Pidge shouted, startling the other three. "Let's split up and see what cool stuff we can find." She pointed eagerly at the group. "Text for any cool merch that can be found, and look for any signed things." As Pidge darted into the crowd, she shouted, "There's treasure to be had!"
Hunk motioned to Keith. "You want to tag along with me?"
Not even letting Keith answer, Lance slung an arm around his shoulders and leered at Hunk. "I am taking him under my wing. I need this. I need to nurture the love for Voltron that I can clearly smell on him." He took in a deep breath. "I can practically taste it. And I am destined to show him the way to the promised land."
Keith furrowed his brow as he glanced over at Lance, then turned back to Hunk. "I'll be fine. I might come find you if he gets too crazy."
Hunk chuckled and said, "Suit yourself."
While Lance was showing Keith around the area dedicated to Voltron, they stumbled across some fans discussing the plot. Lance, apparently, got invested into it, because he migrated them over. It didn't take Keith long to realize the one that was doing all the talking was bullshitting out his ass.
"And, like, it's clear that Ryou and Akira are brothers. Akira's dad looks just like Ryou," the guy rambled. He had dressed himself up like the red paladin, which probably irritated Keith even more. "And Tsuyoshi is basically comic relief. He hasn't had a real issue dedicated to him since the Balmera. And Hiroshi? What kind of disguise was that anyways? Like how could nobody recognize her? That just seems like poor writing." Keith felt his eye twitch. Of course there always had to be a critic that just didn't understand something. "And Farla just suddenly has magic? Please. And what is the author even doing with Farla and Isamu? Like it's clear that they'll just end up together. The author shouldn't keep having her act like she doesn't feel the attraction."
"Okay, first of all," Lance suddenly interrupted, "how dare you. Never invalidate Tsuyoshi as anything other than important. Second, Akira gets along so well with Ryou because Ryou looks like Akira's father, doesn't make them brothers." The guy seemed irritated that Lance was even trying to interrupt his tangents. "I'd also like to point out that the author was clearly making a point about how girls are looked over and sometimes ignored, which apparently you looked over and are exactly the example of what he was trying to get across." Keith had a look of awe for Lance by now, his mouth just slightly open as Lance went on, even when the guy tried to argue. "How exactly do you think Farla controlled the castle like that, if she didn't have some magic in her?" Lance flailed his arms wildly at this. "She can open freakin' wormholes!"
The guy looked so offended. "Okay, but-"
No, Lance was not done. "And if there is going to be any romance in Voltron, it's likely going to be between Akira and Isamu, once they get past their obliviousness."
"Isamu clearly likes girls," another guy standing there interjected.
"Yeah, doesn't mean he isn't bisexual," Lance argued.
Keith could barely comprehend anything right now. His brain was possibly about to start smoking from overload. Lance... actually got some of the implied messages he had written into the story? Lance? Had Pidge explained this to him? And he actually understood Akira, and appreciated Tsuyoshi, and didn't overlook Farla as a character. Although, honestly, Keith still had not made any decision on what romance path to take, but he wasn't against Isamu being bisexual.
Sticking up his nose at the group, Lance dragged Keith off towards a booth that sold figurines of all of the characters. Keith watched as Lance eyed a very well done blue lion, hovering above some ground. Sadly, it did not look like Lance could afford it. He pulled out his wallet, eyes glancing down to the sticker attached to the stand, then his shoulders slumped. Keith peered over Lance's shoulder. It was just shy of a hundred dollars.
Keith's brow furrowed as Lance dejectedly wandered over to the next stand, where they had some art. Taking out his own wallet, Keith grabbed his debit card and handed it to the woman behind the booth. "Can I get that blue lion for my friend, please?" he asked.
He got it wrapped up and bagged, then Keith turned to give it over to Lance. But Lance was gone. Keith let out a sigh. The idiot had probably gotten distracted by something flashy. It was definitely strange to see so many people dressed up as his characters, and there was so much merchandise. Like he knew that they sold plenty of toys, posters, and things like that. But a lot of this seemed to be made by fans. Some of it was even better than what they sold on the shelves. He was actually impressed.
Snapping a few pictures, Keith decided to show some of it to Kolivan later. Maybe they could get some of these people to help design better merchandise for stores. Or, at the very least, get some recognition out to the people that made this stuff.
As he was looking for Lance, Keith came to a stop as Thace walked by, phone to his ear, with several people from the publishing company following after him. His eyes locked onto Keith's for a moment, giving him a brief nod, before heading towards the stage. Keith was going to assume that the things the people were carrying was all the art being unveiled.
Just as he caught sight of Lance at another booth, eyeing some wall scrolls hanging from above the booth, Keith found a girl that was probably around his age, pressing a tissue to her eyes. Keith glanced at Lance briefly before stepping over to the girl. If Lance could wander around, Keith could go do his own thing for a minute.
Keith came to stand in front of her. She was clearly dressed as Princess Farla, and actually did a pretty good job on her costume. "Excuse me?" Keith asked quietly. The girl looked up, startled. "Are you all right?"
There was a definite pause from her, where she tried to dry her eyes and seem like she hadn't been crying. "Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause you to worry." She touched the tissue briefly to her nose, studying Keith curiously. "Please, we are at a convention, meant to have fun. There is no need to concern yourself."
"You're upset." Crouching down, Keith brought himself closer to her eye level. "What happened?"
"It was nothing, really. Just some people..."
Keith's brow furrowed. He really was not having a good day being around some of his fans. They were all great in letters and things like that, but some of them could apparently be dicks. "Who upset you?"
"Just," the girl began, "two guys. They said I wasn't skinny enough to have any business dressing up like someone like Farla." Her shoulders slumped as she finished her sentence. "But I really enjoyed her character, she's such an inspiration." Those roamed up to meet Keith's. "I'm sorry to trouble you."
"It's fine," Keith said gently. He had his phone still in his hand. He palmed it a few times, flipping it over and over in his grip, debating on if he wanted to message someone to track these guys down and throw them out. "Are you going to be okay?" The girl nodded. "Do you have any friends here?"
"Yes," was her reply, "I was actually looking for them. I just got here a little while ago." She held up her phone with a frown. "But service is not very good right now, so I'm having a hard time getting a hold of them. But, please, I don't want you to miss out on this convention. Go enjoy yourself. I will be fine until I can find them."
Giving a small nod, Keith stood up. He studied her for a brief moment before he said, "If it means anything, I think you look amazing."
"Thank you." She smiled at him, a real one, and it made Keith smile himself. "And thank you for stopping to check on me. It was very nice."
With a final glance at her, Keith went over to where Lance was still looking at merchandise. He now had a bag in his left hand. Keith just gave him a dull look and handed the bag he was carrying at Lance.
Turning, Lance blinked at Keith, who would not look back at him. Lance peered inside the bag and his eyes shot open wide. "Holy shit, Keith! Did you buy this for me?" When Keith actually looked at him, there was such a soft look on Lance's face. It either made Keith want to hug him or punch him. He was undecided. "Dude, that's like the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."
"It looked like you really wanted it," Keith mumbled.
"I did." Lance peered back into the bag. It looked like he might cry himself. "I-I... This costed so much money! I can't accept this." He actually tried to hand it back to Keith.
"Dude," Keith started, "it's a gift. Accept it."
Narrowing his eyes at Keith, Lance's eyes shifted between Keith and the bag. "This was really expensive, though." Keith would totally punch him if he didn't just accept it already. Then Lance added, "Did Hunk tell you my birthday is coming up?"
"Uh... yes..."
It was a lie, but whatever got Lance to shut up and take the damn gift. Unfortunately, it did not get them away from the booth fast enough to save Keith.
"Isn't that sweet," came a female voice that made Keith stiffen and his eye twitch. Shit. Behind the booth now stood Nyma. She had a smile on her face, but it was laced with treacherous venom. "If your boyfriend is willing to shell out the big bucks, he's clearly a keeper." Her eyes opened from her smile and fixed on Keith. "I have a few things your boyfriend was looking at over here, if you want to look at them. Official merchandise. Money goes to our great creator, so that he can get more issues out for us."
Keith felt his eye twitch again. Why was Nyma always out to get him? At least she wasn't actually addressing him by name. Lance beat him to say anything, though. "He's not my boyfriend." Then Lance glanced at Keith from the corner of his eye, smirk now on his face. "But I would happily accept anything else he wants to buy me?"
"And what happened to 'it's too expensive?'" demanded Keith. Not wanting to let her think her last comment went unnoticed, Keith fixed Nyma with a glare. "I'm sure the author makes plenty of money without me donating to him."
Still smiling, Nyma said, "I'll be sure to tell his publishers to tell him that."
Not missing a beat, Lance quickly jumped in. "You work for Voltron's publishers? Have you met the author? What is he like? How old is he?"
Nyma tilted her head to the side with a smile. "Aren't you cute? Yes, I have met him." Her eyes lingered on Keith as she twisted a strand of hair around her finger. "He's about your age." She then scanned her eyes between Lance and Keith. "I'd say he's about your height." Keith was going to kill her when he saw her next week. "He's boring, really. Just grunts a lot. Comes and goes, just drops off his work." She let out a sigh and let go of her hair. "Sadly, he's very gay. I would know, I tried."
Lance's eyes sparked at that. "Really? That's so cool! I can't believe the author is basically the same age as me!" His hands went behind his head, eyes falling closed. "And he's gay. I wonder if he's cute... or single..."
Nyma took the opportunity to smirk at Keith, who glared back at her. She mouthed, "He's cute."
Before Lance could open his eyes, Keith was dragging him away. Nyma waved at them as they left. Keith, sadly, knew that she was going to spread the news of Lance to everyone at work. And they would then get the wrong idea that Keith had a boyfriend. Nyma was fine, really, but she was always up to no good.
Maybe he could catch Thace privately and beg for some damage control. Lance was just his friend. He didn't need Nyma getting the wrong idea. When did Lance even get to friend status, though? It was just like Keith blinked and suddenly Lance was there in the metaphorical friend room. What kind of magic had Lance pulled off to make that happen?
The place was a little too crowded for Keith's liking. And Lance was smiling at him for some reason. It wasn't until Lance said, "At least you're willing to hold my hand in public. Maybe you are a good boyfriend," that Keith realized he was still holding onto Lance's hand from pulling him away from Nyma.
Quickly letting go, Keith frowned and said, "We aren't dating."
"I know, but it's easy to poke fun."
"Or flirt," Keith mumbled.
That brought a frown to Lance's face. "What's that supposed to mean? I flirt, so what?"
Keith let out a grunt and refused to look up at Lance. "Just, you know, if you're going to invite someone to hangout, maybe you should pay attention to them. Instead of trying to find the nearest girl to flirt with."
Smirking, Lance just said, "Would it have been better if it had been a guy?"
"No!" Keith felt color rising to his cheeks.
Keith was saved, though, by Hunk coming up to them. He had several bags in his hands. He was also followed by someone that Keith had already met. The girl dressed like Farla tagged along beside him.
"Hey, guys!" Hunk greeted them. "Lance! You won't believe some of the cool things I found." He was grinning so broadly that Keith was not sure how his face wasn't hurting. "You were right, skipping classes yesterday to make sure we were here all day was totally worth it."
Funny, since Keith remembered the guy complaining at least half the way here yesterday about that fact. Pidge, surprisingly, had been totally calm. But she had explained that she had her professors email all her assignments to her.
"Oh," Hunk continued, realizing Keith was standing there. "Keith, this is Shay. We're dating."
"Right..." Keith held his hand out and shook Shay's hand. She was smiling at him.
"We already met," she chuckled. Shay gave a nod to Keith. "He stopped to check on me earlier." Then, meeting Hunk's eyes, she scratched the back of her head. "I was just lost. Nothing to worry about."
The look that she shot Keith let him know that Hunk worried too much sometimes, and she did not want him to worry now. Clearing his throat, Keith said, "If I had put together that you were dating Hunk, I would have just told you to tag along with me and Lance."
"Well," Shay replied, "to be fair, Lance was not with you at the time."
Hunk just smiled, his arm around Shay. "I probably should have shown you a picture of her."
All that was left was for them to find Pidge. Not as easy as Keith thought it would be. "They are unveiling the new art soon," Lance pointed out, checking his phone.
To hurry and find Pidge, they split up in pairs. Keith and Lance scanned the crowds, but to no avail. Lance actually looked anxious, but Keith wasn't sure if it was because he didn't want to miss the art reveal or if he was worried about Pidge. From what Keith knew about Pidge, he was fairly certain that Pidge could handle just about whatever was thrown at her.
Unfortunately, instead of finding Pidge, they found someone else, who took an interest in Lance without even speaking to him. The guy was dressed as a Garla. He even had the sharp teeth and some yellow contacts.
"Hello there," he said to Lance, who stopped and blinked at him. "Enjoying the convention?"
"Wow," was all Lance said at first. The guy smiled at Lance's expression. "That costume is really cool! How long did it take to make?"
"Oh this? A few months." The guy would not stop smiling. And he looked at Lance far too long. "And what's your name? I am Lotor."
Lance, still blinking, said, "Me? Uh, I'm Lance." He studied Lotor a bit more. "Are you here with the publishers, or something? Your costume just seems a bit more well done."
"Uh... yes."
Keith arched a brow. He had never seen this guy. Was he new? Maybe an intern? Maybe it was just hard to tell with all the purple body paint.
Lotor decided to continue with, "Anything a cute fan like yourself might want to know?"
Again, Lance had that wide-eyed look he had with Nyma. "Do you know the author?"
"Yeah," Lotor replied. Uh, what? "I just saw him the other day. We get lunch together sometimes and he tells me what he's working on."
Uh, bullshit. Keith had definitely never seen this guy, as far as he knew. A quick glance to the tag around his neck, Keith noted that there wasn't any special marking on it. He didn't work for Kolivan. But what was Keith going to do? He couldn't call the guy out for lying.
Lance, thankfully, wasn't smiling anymore. He had lost that sparkle in his eyes. "Really?" His voice sounded much duller now. It made Keith's lips twist up in a smirk. Maybe Lance wasn't as gullible as Keith thought. "So you could introduce me to him?"
"Oh. Yeah." Lotor was still grinning. He clearly did not realize Lance wasn't biting. "I think I saw him somewhere earlier." Well, Keith was staring right at him, so he wasn't technically wrong there. "Would you like me to introduce you?"
"No..." Lance said slowly. He smiled and grabbed Keith's hand. "I think you might have the wrong impression here. I'm happily dating." Both Keith and Lotor had the same shocked expression. "Sorry."
Lotor took one look at Keith and scoffed. "Him?"
"Uh, yeah?" Lance had an eyebrow raised and hand on his hip, bottom lip jutted out. His face turned to Keith and gave him a look. Unfortunately, it was too late that Keith could figure out what it meant. Keith's eyes shot open wide as Lance leaned in and planted a chaste kiss directly on Keith's lips. It was over before Keith's mind could even comprehend what had happened, and even before pink flooded Keith's cheeks. "I'm not an idiot, man. You're clearly bullshitting me. But I'm happily taken and currently looking for a friend, so you'll have to excuse us."
As Lance led Keith away, Lotor just stood there and gawked at them. Keith could relate. His face had soon turned entirely red, finally processing what had happened. Lance had kissed him. On the lips. With his own lips. They had kissed. What? Why?
"I- You- How- Why-" Keith fumbled with his words and stumbled to keep up with Lance. "Why did you do that?" His fingers came up to touch his lips. He had never been kissed before. Never. And Lance had just come along and kissed him to get a guy to leave him alone.
"Sorry," Lance muttered as he searched for Pidge. He wasn't even paying attention to Keith. Probably didn't think Keith had been really bothered by it. But Lance had just taken that from him. How could Lance not see it as a big deal? "The guy was shady. Needed to get away, seemed like a quick way to do it."
He could still feel the warmth from Lance's lips on his. To be honest, Lance's lips were much softer than Keith had expected them to be. Then again, Keith was not really sure what he had expected from a kiss in general. He had nothing to compare it to, and it was barely even a second long.
Finding Pidge was far more challenging than they originally thought, but they did find her. She had several large bags on her arms and it was accompanied by a manic grin. Hunk wanted to chastise her, but Pidge quickly handed him a full bag that apparently was his. She even gave Keith one, who looked into it with confusion.
His fans sure got creative with what they made for these things. Keith slowly followed after the others as he dug through the bag Pidge had gotten him. They really expected him to fall in love with the graphic novel. It was actually a lot harder pretending that he didn't know anything about it than he thought it would be. Up until now, Keith had only given minimal interaction to people that read his work. It wasn't like everyone around him just spewed their love for Voltron typically. Hunk, Pidge, and Lance were the first real friends that Keith had made that didn't know who he was.
In fact, most of the people in his life, up until them, knew that Keith created Voltron. He really didn't make many friends. Any friends, really.
"Come on," Hunk said, "there will be more time to look around after the panel!"
There was no arguments to be had. They made their way over to where the panel was, a long table in the front and many rows of chairs in front of it. Keith found the blown up art he had delivered on stage, covered with some cloth. Thace was already seated at the table, talking to Ulaz, who was the editor for Keith's storyboard. Nyma had actually made her way on stage. As Keith remembered it, she was supposed to be reading comments and questions. It took a lot of restraint for Keith not to groan. He had spent the majority of his week writing down his answers to those for Thace and Ulaz to use.
As everyone was getting settled in their seats, Thace checked his phone and then motioned for Nyma to get started. She cleared her throat close to the mic and then said, "All right everyone, it looks like we are ready to begin." There was a cheer throughout the audience. Lance and Pidge were practically bouncing in their seats. "Thank you all for coming to listen to the Voltron Q&A." A grin crossed her lips as she gave the audience an amused look. "As most of you have probably guessed, the rumors that the author would be here were exaggerated." Of course she looked directly at Keith before she continued. "Mostly exaggerated."
Thace cleared his throat warningly and Nyma smiled sheepishly as murmuring began in the audience. "What does that even mean?" Hunk leaned forward to whisper down the aisle.
"Maybe he's here!" Pidge replied. Keith was going to murder Nyma when he saw her again.
"I only jest," Nyma quickly recovered. As she rested her elbow on the podium she stood at, she smiled. "Or do I? It will have to remain a mystery." Definitely was going to kill her. Thankfully, Nyma decided to spare Keith further and pulled out some note cards. "I have some questions that many of you sent us." More cheering. "Before we get started, let me introduce you to our two panel members. Why don't each of you introduce yourself and tell us what you do?"
Thace raised a hand in a lazy wave. "I am Thace. I work at Marmora Publishing, the company that puts out Voltron. I also work as the author's personal agent." Several people cheered. Thace held up a hand. "Believe me, working with The Chief is not always the dream job."
"Maybe he could have picked a better pen name!" Nyma chuckled. Several in the audience laughed. Keith just groaned and palmed his face. He was like sixteen at the time, he deserved a break!
"Maybe like his real name," Thace continued, clearly shooting Keith a look. Like Keith had not heard a million times about how Thace wouldn't have to be subjected to these panels if Keith would just use his real name and show his face. "But that is another matter. He is a very talented writer, as I'm sure many of you are aware. And it has been a pleasure to be working with him the past two years."
That first year of being with Malmora Publishing had been horrible. Kolivan had handled Keith himself, with no real knowledge of handling a teenage author. If Keith had been a hugger, he probably would have tackled Thace in one after just a week of working with the guy.
Next up was Ulaz. He stood up briefly and waved, several cheered for him. He actually enjoyed these panels. He was also usually the one that sat down and talked to Keith afterwards and let him know what the fans might want.
"My name is Ulaz," he finally said. Keith glanced at Lance, who was leaning forward with his chin propped up on his palms. He was so invested that Keith could probably light his foot on fire and the guy wouldn't budge. "And I work for Malmora Publishing as its storyboard consultant and editor. I basically sit down with the author, and go over the direction of the story he is interested in taking." Hands immediately shot up, but Ulaz bade them to wait. "I know, I know, you are all curious about what is going to happen in this next season."
Leaning forward to speak into the mic, Thace said, "And we do have some art with us today that might help answer those questions." A lot of cheering came with that news. "Why don't we just start with that? And then all of you can be forming some questions to ask us yourselves."
There was an eruption through the audience. Thace motioned to Nyma and she moved to the first drawing. Honestly, Keith had no idea in which order his drawings were going to be unveiled. As Nyma removed the cloth, it revealed a drawing of Ryou and Hiroshi's lost brother. Both looked kind of beat up, especially the latter. Hunk and Pidge turned to each other with excitement. Thace motioned for Ulaz to take this one.
Standing to his feet, Ulaz took the microphone and walked over to the drawing. "So, as you can see here, Ryou is perfectly alive." Much cheering for that comment. "At least for now." Ulaz gave a chuckle as the audience fell silent. "You'll have to read and find out if I'm telling the truth." He leaned forward, whispering into the mic. "To be honest, the author hasn't told me that far in yet." There were several chuckles for that comment. "Some of this season will deal with Ryou finding his old friend, and that will be where he is for some time."
Ulaz pointed to the next one and Nyma removed the cloth. This one had Akira standing before the black lion, helmet off, as the giant lion stood still. There was a quiet gasp. Lance's mouth fell open. Thace finally stood and joined Ulaz over by the drawing.
"With Ryou currently missing, Voltron will need a new leader. Whether it be temporary or permanent, that leader will be Akira." Thace pointed at Akira and circled his form with his finger. "As you can see, he will be keeping the red paladin armor, as Ryou still has the black armor." He raised a hand to silence people in the audience when they grew a little loud and several raised their hands. "Questions are later. And I am sure you all are wanting to know how Voltron will form without all five paladins."
The next drawing was unveiled by Ulaz himself. "Here is the next paladin to fill the empty shoes." This drawing was of Farla, full battle attire on, as she stood in front of the blue lion with a stern look on her face. Pidge and Hunk both looked at Lance, who looked a little sick. Keith's brow furrowed. He really hoped Lance wouldn't hate what he had done. "Princess Farla herself will be joining the fray with her team. How that will play out, though, will be revealed in the season."
The next drawing had half the room cheering. Lance stuck out his tongue, which made Keith smile. This one was of the new Garla prince that was going to be showing up. Honestly, Keith was still working with him. But the character design was at least done.
"I think this one speaks for itself," was all Ulaz said. "We know that you all have been eagerly awaiting the upcoming prince."
Nyma stuck the next one on the panel table. She smiled as she pulled off the tarp. The audience fell silent, only a few gasps being heard. Lance was frozen, eyes slightly wide and mouth agape. "Do you see that?" Pidge whispered to Hunk. Keith could barely bring himself to look. This was the one that he had been dreading being around Lance when it was revealed.
"Isamu," Thace said. He stood beside the drawing with his hands folded in front of him.
This was the final one. It was of Isamu, still in his blue armor, but now in front of the red lion. He had a solemn look on his face, a vast difference from his normal grin that Keith usually drew him with for these things. But Keith knew that the lion was not the main focus everyone was staring at. It was the new skin color and a mild change to his hair style.
Thace placed a hand on the drawing and said, "This is Isamu. Don't worry, he didn't die. It's not a new character." He looked over at Ulaz, who shrugged. "Uh, I guess we can talk a little about him right now."
"Lance, he looks just like you," Pidge hissed in Lance and Keith's direction.
Brow furrowing, Lance kept staring at the drawing. "What? I mean, maybe a little." A smile finally broke across his lips and Keith was able to breathe. "But isn't that cool! He's like Latino!" Several people nearby shushed him. Lance cringed and lowered his voice. "But like, really, that's so cool."
"As you can tell," Ulaz started, "he looks different. Our author had some inspiration recently, and apparently realized that Isamu would look better like this." That brought some murmurs from the crowd. "To be specific," Ulaz pulled out a sheet of paper and looked it over, "Isamu is Cuban." Lance pursed his lips, his eyes large. He was happy. "We know this is a sudden change, but The Chief said just yesterday that he hoped that all of you will come to like this new design better."
Thace took over from there. "You can also see that he is taking over as the red paladin, but keeping his armor as well." He took the sheet of paper from Ulaz and read from it. "The Chief says that: 'Isamu is the only real option for a new pilot for the red lion, as he can be about as rash and quick to act as Akira is.'"
There was a lot of clapping. Some, including Lance, stood up to clap. Lance even whistled. Leaning back in his chair, Keith breathed a sigh of relief. He had been so nervous about how Lance would respond. Unfortunately, his relief was not long lived.
Pidge was giving him an odd look from his relieved appearance. It was just a blessing when Lance sat back down and said, "I can't believe I can have representation in my favorite graphic novel!" Those words, so pure and heartfelt, made Keith want to melt. "This season is going to be awesome. I don't even care that he's being moved to the red lion, him being Cuban now is like the best thing ever."
Pidge and Hunk both smiled. Hunk chuckled and leaned towards Keith. "In case you can't tell, Lance really likes Isamu."
"That's not fair," Lance argued, "I like them all."
Pidge adjusted her glasses and grinned at Lance. "Well, you have a crush on Akira." That comment alone brought a blush to Lance's cheeks. "Interesting how your favorite character is now piloting the lion that your crush previously piloted."
It did not seem like Lance was going to get to comment, probably much to his relief. Ulaz and Thace both sat back down, and Thace motioned for Nyma to start with some questions. She smiled and shuffled some cards she was holding. "Okay, let's get some questions that were sent in out of the way, and then we will still have time for a Q&A." Nyma flipped to the next card. "Here's a question. Going into this, did any of you think Voltron would get as big as it did? Did the author?"
Ulaz and Thace both glanced at each other. "Not at first," Ulaz confessed.
"I came in just as it was blowing up in popularity," Thace added.
Ulaz continued with, "It definitely had potential. And I don't think even the author expected it to get anywhere near where it is now." No, Keith definitely did not expect anything like this to happen to him. "But we've been doing our best to deliver a great story to all of you, and we have a long road planned ahead of us." Ulaz was referring to a folder that Keith had put together last year, which detailed where he would like to take Voltron. "Next question."
"Right," Nyma mumbled. "The next question is asking if any characters were inspired by anyone in the author's life." Keith could feel his face going red. Why was that a question?
Thace smirked and Keith wanted to sink into the ground. Ever since Keith had shown the drawing of Isamu to the publishers, Thace had been persistent if the new design was based on anyone. "It seems rather sudden," the jerk had said.
Thankfully, Thace steered away from that particular subject. "I do know that one or two characters are based on people he knows." Apparently, Thace had already spotted Keith, because he looked directly at him. Keith sat there, arms crossed, and flipped him off where nobody else could really see. Amused, Thace continued. "He refuses to admit that Haggar is based on a particular person in his life."
Several people laughed, including Lance. Keith would have been mad, if Lance didn't have a nice laugh. Instead, Keith just settled in to listen to the rest of this panel. He checked his phone and groaned. It was going to be a long hour for this panel.
After Nyma got through several questions, the floor was opened up for questions. Some were easy, others were dumb, and some were things that Thace and Ulaz couldn't answer. But then Lance had his hand in the air and a mic was brought over, which was being held by Rolo, who smirked at Keith as he leaned over him to give Lance the mic. Keith might have stepped on the guy's foot when he went to step back.
Thace and Ulaz both had their chins propped up by their palms, clearly tired from all the questions they had to answer. Thace motioned for Lance to ask his question. Because Lance was too shaken just from standing there with the mic in his hand to do anything. His legs were actually shaking.
"Um," Lance squeaked and then went red. There was some snickering. Clearing his throat, Lance managed to get out, "I have more of a request than a question." This piqued Thace's interest, as well as Keith's. There was still a look of awe in Lance's eyes. "I was hoping that you could tell the author when you see him again that I really appreciate the representation that he's showing with the new design for Isamu. I'm Cuban myself, and I can't tell you what it means to me that my favorite character is now also Cuban."
Not answering right away, Thace stared at Lance for a long moment. Then at Keith, tapping a finger to his lips. He smiled and Keith sunk in his chair, face now red. He knew. Of course he knew now. Keith was sitting right next to Lance, who just admitted that he was the exact same ethnicity that Isamu now was.
Pursing his lips to try and contain his smile, Thace just chuckled and said, "I have the feeling that he knows how much it means to everyone that wants representation." His eyes finally left Keith and went back to Lance. "But I will personally tell him that you said that."
"And that," Nyma interjected before Rolo could hand the mic off again, "will conclude our panel." There were a lot of groans of disappointment. "Sorry, sorry, but we are on a timed schedule." She still wore her flashy smile and winked at them all. "We will see you all in a few months for the actual Voltron convention. We will be having a contest at that one, but you'll have to wait and find out what it is!" Nyma gave a giant wave. "Thank you all for coming!"
As everyone got ready to leave, Keith fought the instinct to run on stage and tackle all three of them up there. They were all out to get him. He already knew that the coming week was going to be hell.
It was a blessing when Hunk announced that they needed to head back to the hotel. They also needed to leave to get Shay to her car, as she had to get back for work in the morning. "I had so much fun, guys," she smiled. "Again, thank you for getting me into Voltron. I very much enjoy it." She turned to Keith and actually pulled him into a hug, which made his eyes shoot open wide. He rarely got hugged. "And thank you, Keith, for stopping to make sure I was okay."
Keith just smiled and hugged her back. He was glad, truly realizing it now, that he had found these people. Even Lance, obnoxious personality and all. After they hugged, Shay and Hunk walked over to her car. The others waited to let Hunk have privacy with Shay, although Pidge and Lance both said that the most Hunk would probably do was kiss her on the cheek.
"They are taking it slow," Pidge stated.
"Like a snail," added Lance with a shake of his head and a smile.
When Hunk finally returned, he was blushing a little. Pidge and Lance just grinned at him. They loaded back into their car and went to pick up some food before going back to the hotel to eat. And they were all starving. They had gotten some breakfast before the convention, but had skipped lunch. And it was well past time for dinner.
The group sat in Hunk and Pidge's room to eat, finding a movie on TV to watch while they quietly talked and ate. Keith just sat and listed as the other three talked with much excitement. They were definitely rambling at an excessive rate.
"You're lucky," Pidge pointed out to Lance, "at least they showed your favorite character. I was hoping to see some Hiroshi. At least we saw her brother. I was beginning to think we'd never see him again."
Not thinking at all, Keith mumbled, "Maybe they can't change perfection." All eyes turned to him and Keith's face quickly heated up. "Uh, I mean, they were showing new designs and looks for characters. And, even though I'm still on the first few books, Hiroshi seems like a badass."
Pidge grinned and kicked her feet up onto the bed. "You're not wrong there." She used her chopsticks to stuff a piece of chicken into her mouth. "I knew you were smart, Keith. You clearly have taste for which character matters." Hearing that made Keith smile.
Digging into his bag, Lance pulled out the lion figurine that Keith had bought him. "Yeah, well, Keith bought me this."
"Sorry," Keith mumbled at Pidge and Hunk. "I was with Lance and didn't know what you might want."
But neither was listening to him. They were both leaning close to inspect the lion in Lance's hand. "Dude!" Hunk began. "This thing must have been expensive. How'd you even afford it?"
"Oh. Uh, I mean..." His mother made plenty of money, even without mooching off him, but Keith didn't want to bring her up. Bringing her up would open up the possibility that his friends would ask about her. And it wasn't like he could just bring up the fact that he was perfectly well off on his own. "It's not a big deal. It was an early birthday present."
Nice diversion, he thought to himself, when they all went back to admiring the figurine. And that was the end of the attention on him. As they went back to looking through their acquired goods, Keith decided to stay quiet. There was an empty feeling that began to form in the pit of his stomach, but Keith was not sure what it was just yet. Part of it felt lonely, which he was used to. But he was around friends now. Why was he feeling lonely?
All four of them finished eating and then it was time to get some sleep. Lance and Keith retired to their room. Keith got the bathroom first. After last night, he knew not to trust Lance in a bathroom before bed or after just waking up. It had taken them an extra hour to get going earlier because he refused to leave until his hair was just right.
After changing into some pajamas, Keith emerged from the bathroom. Lance traded places with him and Keith was already dreading him coming back. Last night hadn't been bad, really. Lance had been fine. They hadn't woken up in any awkward positions or anything, but Lance had brought his booty shorts to sleep in and a sleeveless shirt that exposed far too much skin. Keith had woken up before Lance, and had kind of just laid there to stare at Lance's bare shoulder. There was something beautiful about Lance's skin tone and even his back in general. He still hated to admit that was where he got the inspiration for the new Isamu look.
When Lance came back out, he plopped down on the bed, next to where Keith was seated with his legs crossed. "So," Lance began with a grin, "how did you like the convention? Wasn't it amazing?"
There was no stopping the smile that Keith got. Lance's smile was just too contagious. "It was pretty cool. I guess I'll be going to the other one as well."
"Good luck," Lance snorted. He had an amused look as he looked up at Keith from where his head was on the pillow. "I think they sold out the other week. Pidge, Hunk, and I were lucky to get our tickets."
Keith hummed to himself. He would be fine, but it would just mean that he needed an explanation to his friends now. But he couldn't just tell Lance that he wasn't worried about it. So he just stayed quiet.
The TV was turned on and the light was turned off, and Keith settled underneath the covers. He let Lance find something to watch, not knowing much himself about what was good. He rarely had time to watch TV or movies these days. Maybe it was the kiss, though, but Keith had a harder time laying next to Lance. Their shoulders were two or three inches apart, but Keith could feel the heat radiating off of Lance.
Should Keith bring up the kiss? It probably didn't mean anything to Lance. He had been just trying to get an asshole to leave him alone. Lance had no idea it had been Keith's first kiss, and might even laugh if Keith tried to bring it up as a big deal.
A long sigh escaped Keith as he rolled onto his side, back now to Lance. The volume on the TV was turned down just a little. The bed shifted and Keith could practically feel Lance staring at him, though Keith didn't roll back over.
"Keith?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks for coming," Lance whispered. "I hope that us hanging out this weekend made up for me trying to blow you off to flirt with some girls."
Keith rolled his eyes, smiling a little. Goddammit, Lance. He rolled over and both boys blinked in surprise, their noses now nearly touching. Lance had his hands tucked under his cheek. "I..." Keith stumbled on his words. Would it be too much to hope that it was too dark to see the blush on his cheeks? "It was nice. I had a lot of fun. Thank you for asking me to come."
With only the light of the TV, Lance's eyes bordered on hypnotic. Keith mentally kicked himself. Stop being so lonely! He was practically desperate and it made him sad. Not aware of Keith's internal argument with himself, Lance quietly said, "You should come around more, don't be a stranger." A smile was unconsciously brought to Keith's lips. "You live in the dorms, right? Do you get along with your roommate?"
"I live alone," Keith admitted. He let out a sigh. "Although, I think I might move out and find an apartment."
"Damn," Lance whispered. "Must be lonely. I can't go that long without some form of human interaction." Didn't surprise Keith. "But it's going to be pretty hard to find a place now."
Again, Keith could have it taken care of, but he couldn't explain how to his friends. Lance had his brow furrowed, though, like he had something on his mind. He didn't say anything, though, and Keith wasn't sure if he should ask what it was.
Keith let out a sigh and rolled over again. "Goodnight, Lance."
There was a pause, but Lance finally said, "Night!"
I hope that was good! It's actually really hard keeping Keith and Lance apart in a physical sense. So I hope the pacing isn't terrible. Keith is just lonely, you know, and he's finally being shown affection. Well, what he perceives as affection. Lance is just a natural flirt. I do hope that it was at least an amusing chapter. I just really wanted to get the entire convention into one chapter. Do not worry, though, because next chapter will pick up right where this one left off. Do not think I forgot your needs of having them wake up awkwardly in bed together. I got you. Also, any names used in the graphic novel are just the names of characters from the original Japanese Voltron. And the author name was so difficult for me to think of, so I just used Keith's nickname in the original version.
Haven't decided if we will see Lotor again, but Nyma, Ulaz, and Rolo will definitely be appearing more in the future. I should probably add them to the tags. Still trying to come up with the perfect place to put Coran. The next chapter is likely to include a time skip after a scene change, just as a heads up. This chapter was just already so long, I just wanted to end it and the morning scene would have been at least 5 more pages probably. I will end on the note that Lance's mother will probably be appearing in the next chapter or two. On that note, I am going to go enjoy the rest of my day. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, feel free to leave a review, and I will see you all next time!
