Hey everyone! Sorry for going ghost on all of you, I'm alive and trying to just finish this semester in one piece hahahaha *cries in balmeran* yeaaaah anyways! This chapter is not shallura centered (sorry) but IS important to the plot otherwise I wouldn't have it!
At Shiro's request and with Lance's help, Hunk tries to make a pie. Pidge hangs out with them and somebody decides to join in...
Open up your second tab and get ready for a trip down memory lane because the song for this chapter is You'll Be In My Heart by Phil Collins (yes the Tarzan soundtrack). Remember to look out for the star (*) to press play.
The second song mentioned in this chapter is Guillotine By Jon Bellion. There won't be any stars for this one since nobody actually sings it but definitely check it out. Not only it's a great song, it will be making a comeback later on in the story...
I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defenders nor the songs used for the purpose of this fanfic (could you imagine owning Disney?!).
ENJOY!
Chapter 6: Bonding Moments
Keith walked through the castle to find the others. Shiro saw him training on his own that day and although he applauded him for his self-discipline, he did also talk to him about the importance of spending time with the other Paladins. "Often, the strongest bonds aren't made during a battle," he said. Taking his words to heart, Keith decided to try and apply them.
It seemed simple enough, at least in theory. Keith didn't socialize. In part because he didn't want to but mostly because he didn't know how. Despite his best intentions at making friends he never managed to fully comprehend the nuances of human interactions, leaving him in awkward situations where he would say the wrong thing or not say anything at all when he in fact needed to speak up.
Keith hears laughter coming from the kitchen. Fighting his instinct to walk the other way, he opened the door and saw Hunk, Lance and Pidge. Hunk and Lance had their upper arms covered in what looked like blue flour and Pidge was working on their laptop.
"Hey man!" Lance said. "You're just in time! We're about to make some blueberry pies and found some space flour, wanna try?"
Keith couldn't help but notice his more than usual cheery mood.
"They have blueberries in space?" Keith asked suspiciously.
"Not really," Hunk replied, "but they do have dried juniberries in this castle and let me tell you, despite this place being 10 000 years old, they're perfectly preserved and to die for!"
"Pies?" He then asked.
"Shiro apparently was craving some and it gives me an excuse to bake. Win-win situation!"
Keith wasn't too sure about it. But when he saw Lance's insisting smile, something inside him started stirring. Shaking off the feeling, he shrugged and made his way to the counter, taking off his gloves to put them in his pocket.
"Alright!" Lance shouted. "I'll get another bowl, we're having pies for desert tonight!"
Pidge, who stopped typing to look at the scene, couldn't help but wonder why Keith was suddenly down to try spending time with the team, specially while they weren't training or fighting. Maybe Shiro gave him a pep talk, they thought as they looked back down at the screen.
Hunk started explaining the portions they needed to mix into their bowl. This isn't so bad, Keith though as he started kneading the ingredients to create the dough for the pie crust. The boys placed the balls of dough on the side to let them rise and started working on the filling. Lance tried one of the juniberries and winced at its hard texture. Hunk promised that they only become edible once they absorbed the liquids for the filings, with the help of heavy mixing. As they mixed all the ingredients together, they noticed that Lance had taken his mixing bowl into his left arm and kept his mixing spoon in his right*. He was mixing and humming… almost like he was singing a lullaby to a child. Pidge lifted their head from the laptop to look at him moving across the floor.
"Oh he's in the zone," Pidge whispered with a smile.
"Wait this isn't the first time he does this?" Keith asked in a hushed tone.
"It happens all the time," Hunk answered, "especially when he's doing something that reminds him of home."
"He's letting his guard down," Keith replied. This was unusual, Lance was always so... confident, charismatic. He had never seen the blue Paladin so... blue.
"That means he trusts us," Pidge told him. "And in this moment he trusts you too, Keith."
Keith looked at Lance. He was mixing and walking in a steady rhythm, singing to himself in a low tone. The whole scene made him realize how little he actually knew about him. The blue Paladin looked so relaxed and carefree that it was almost painful in contrast to their usual "rivalry". Keith didn't realize that he had stopped mixing to listen to the soft voice of Lance singing.
"Come stop your crying it will be alright,
Just take my hand and hold it tight.
I will protect you from all around you,
I will be here don't you cry..."
"Why is he singing a Tarzan song?" Keith asked.
"He grew up with like a bazillion siblings and relatives… wait. How do you know it's a Tarzan song?" Pidge asked suddenly.
Lance stopped singing, distracted by Pidge's sudden change of tone in their voice. The trio looked at Keith intensely, waiting for him to reply. All the boy did was attempt to hide his blushing cheeks while still mixing his pie filling.
"Wait what did I miss?" Lance asked.
"Apparently Keith is a Disney fan?" Hunk whispered, still shocked by the discovery.
"Keith?" Lance tried.
"So what if I am?" he replied with a defensive tone. "It's not a big deal!"
But despite Keith's best attempt at dismissing the whole thing, Pidge wasn't ready to let this slip up go.
"Oh but it is: karaoke battles will never be the same, we could create even teams now!"
"Now," Hunk hummed, "the real question is: can you sing?"
"Twenty dollars sais that he can."
"I refuse" Lance interjected.
"Why? Chicken?" Pidge said, their lips now raised to a smirk.
"He can't be good at everything! He's already the best pilot and fighter so don't tell me he can sing on top of that!"
Silence. Everyone was now staring at Lance who had placed his mixing bowl back on the counter. Realizing what he had just said, Lance's expression switched from pissed off to embarrassed. He sighed heavily to cool down his increasingly burning cheeks and switched the filling bowl for his dough and started applying flour directly on the counter.
This isn't how things were supposed to go, Keith thought. Why did I have to say the wrong thing? Lance shouldn't be mad, this wasn't supposed to be akward, damnit!
"I'm calling the out the law of Schrodinger's cat."
All eyes were back on the red Paladin. Hunk's jaw dropped, Pidge's face gleamed and Lance bursted out laughing. He was folded in half, tears streaming from his face. In an attempt to wipe them, he got flour all over his cheeks.
"This has gotten way out of control," Hunk declared, "I vote yes for Schrodinger's cat and yes for finally finishing the pies!"
Lance was still laughing when he put his thumbs up in approval.
Well at least Lance seems happy, Keith thought.
"Keith?"
"Hmm?"
"How do you know about Schrodinger's cat?"
"I read a lot believe it or not."
"Is that also how you knew we wouldn't die that day? When you dived down that cliff to rescue Shiro?"
He thought about his answer before finally replying. "I think I was just being reckless that day."
Lance chuckles. Silence.
The pies had been a success. Allura and Coran could't stop talking about how it reminded them of Altean pastries and decided to keep some for the next day. Shiro didn't talk at all, his tongue was too busy memorizing the taste he had forgotten after spending so much time in space. Nobody mentioned the singing incident, which made Keith happy. Despite all that, they couldn't escape their dishes duty that night.
"Keith?"
"Now what?" Keith asks.
"Why the mullet? I mean, I tease you and all that stuff but… is it just because you like it or because of something?"
Keith wasn't as quick to answer that question. Despite what everyone thought, his hair length was more than a fashion statement. This was the first time anyone bothered asking him about it. Should he tell Lance? Would he laugh if he knew the truth?
"If you don't wanna tell me it's okay, we all have bones in our closets."
"The expression is squeletons in the closet, doofus."
"BUT, mister I-know-every-song-in-the-universe-apparently, the song goes 'there's bones in my closet, but you hang stuff anyways'"
Keith looked at Lance with wide eyes.
"And if you have nightmares…"
"We'll dance on the bed?"
"Wait you know that song?" They both yelled.
"It one of my favorites" Keith admitted. "I know it forward and backwards. I'm surprised you know it. "
"Damn! No way!" He shouted as they kept cleaning the dishes. "I saw him in concert twice, I swear it's a soul cleanser. My older sister took me the first time as a surprise for my birthday and the second time I went on my own." The words were out before he could take them back. He didn't want Keith to know about that last detail but it was too late: what was said was said.
"Why? Couldn't get a date?" Keith asked half mockingly.
Lance took a deep breath. He could tell Keith but he also didn't want his pity.
"It' a long story," he simply answered.
Keith looked at Lance, the shine from his eyes had vanished. He then looked at the pile of dishes they still had to clean. "We got time," he said, "but… it's okay, I won't push you." He gave Lance a kind smile and focused at the task ahead of them. It was enough to get Lance thinking about his decision. Keith never baked. He never hung out with him, or anyone, outside of the battlefield or of a group meeting. So to spend most the afternoon with him and the others (and not destroying each other)… maybe…
"My date never showed up." Keith looked at Lance. "I bought the tickets for him, thinking that he would like it as much as I did. I still love the song, the whole album but… I just can't sing it anymore."
"I'm sorry," Keith said in a hushed tone.
Lance shrugged, finally rinsing the plate he had in his hands and putting it on the drying rack. They cleaned up the rest of the dishes in silence.
"Whoever did that to you is really missing out." Lance jumped at the sudden statement of the red Paladin. They looked at each other for a while and finally, Lance decided that the moment was turning into something he wasn't quite ready for.
"Are you trying to flirt with me?" He asked, his usual smirk returning at its rightful place.
Keith flicked his fingers at Lance, spraying some water on his face. "You're terrible you know that?"
As Shiro walked by, he heard laughter coming from the kitchen and smiled. Finally, the two boys seemed to be genuinely bonding.
TADAA! A little shorter than usual.
Not familiar with Schrodigner's cat? Let me make a VERY brief summary. Schrodigner places a cat and a container filled with poison inside a box and then closes the box. Until you open the box to find the truth, you have to assume that the cat is both dead by poisoning and alive. Same with Keith singing: until he decideds to actually perform, we have to assume that he can and can't sing.
The next chapter will be a mini-chapter dedicated to Coran Coran the gorgeous man then it's back to our regular Shallura programming I promise!
Again, please feel free to comment!