"...Remind me again, how was this supposed to help us work on unlocking the aspects?"
Lance looked over at Keith and found himself trying desperately not to laugh. The red paladin was standing awkwardly near the door, surrounded by almost two dozen small children of various species who were staring up at him with varying expressions of curiosity and fascination. The teen looked more uncomfortable than Lance had ever seen, as if he had absolutely no idea what to do with the situation.
"It isn't. Allura just said that so you wouldn't argue when she volunteered us to help out in the nursery today." Lance grinned, crouching down to be closer to the level of the various small aliens. A Galra cub blinked at him, sticking one claw in her mouth, and he smiled at her. "Just chill and go with it, we needed a break anyway."
Keith made a noise of discomfort, turning in a slow circle as he tried to keep an eye on the little ones behind him as well. "Go with what, exactly? I have no idea how to handle kids. Why are they staring at me?"
Lance rolled his eyes, sighing. "So the great Keith Kogane doesn't know everything, huh? They're curious about you. Just sit down or something. Play with them, talk to them. Hey, sweetheart. What's your friend's name?" The blue paladin added softly, trying to coax a particularly shy little H'ress who was clutching nervously at a stuffed animal as they peered out from behind a climbing structure.
The small one crept slowly closer, hugging their toy. "Sholra."
"Sholra, huh? That's a pretty name." Lance managed to get the name out without mangling it too much and was pleased to receive a nod of approval. The Castle's translators were a life-saver, even if it meant wearing their armor whenever they were around aliens, but they still had to wrap their mouths around frankly unpronounceable names on a regular basis and H'ress names were some of the worst. How his and Keith's future selves had managed to learn to speak the language themselves was an achievement to be respected.
Following his suggestion, a nervous Keith was settling himself cross-legged on the floor in the middle of his circle of children. "Um...hi?" He asked awkwardly.
An Altean boy promptly clung to his shoulder, poking at one of his ears. "What are you? Your ears are so weird!"
"Are you really part of Voltron?" A mermaid-like alien girl demanded, leaning over the edge of the tank-like structure on one side of the room, far enough that Lance worried she was going to fall out entirely.
"Can your lions really blow up an Empire cruiser in one shot?" Her twin brother inquired curiously, resting his elbows on the edge.
A tiny Galra cub crawled up to Keith, sniffed him thoroughly, made a pleased chirruping noise, and curled up in his lap to settle in for a nap.
Another H'ress cub pawed at the red paladin's mouth curiously. "Your teeth are blunt. How do you hunt?" They sounded absolutely baffled.
Keith shot Lance a look of absolute desperation as the barrage of questions continued, a millipede-like alien tucking themselves under his arm and a tiny puffball with bat-like wings settling onto his head and playing with his hair. It would have been hilarious how helpless he was if the boy hadn't looked so overwhelmed and terrified (not to mention unfairly adorable). Chuckling and trying to suppress a blush, Lance took pity on his teammate and waded into the mess. "Okay, guys, get off of him and give him room to breath. You're asking so many question he doesn't even know which one to answer first."
He gently transferred the flying puffball to his own head, shooed the millipede and Altean away despite their protests, and managed to corral the youngsters to sit in a rough semicircle before plopping himself down beside a red-cheeked Keith who mumbled a quiet "thank you" to him. Lance grinned at him, reaching over to gently ruffle the hair of the sleeping toddler in the other boy's lap before turning his attention back to their curious audience. "Alright, so who wants to learn all about Voltron?"
A chorus of delighted shrieks and growls answered that question, the sleeping cub letting out a mewl of protest that had Lance waving his hand in a shushing motion that thankfully seemed to be sufficiently universal to get the point across, or maybe they were just reacting to the same noise. Quickly they settled again, looking at him expectantly in a way that reminded Lance suddenly and painfully of his younger siblings and cousins whenever he got stuck being the one taking care of them. He swallowed hard against the sudden painful lump in his throat and forced a smile. He saw Keith raise an eyebrow at him and ignored it, clapping his hands instead.
"Okay, raise a limb if you've heard of Voltron." A show of hands, claws, and wings was duly raise. "Good, good. Now, raise a limb if you think you know what it is. How about you, what's your name?" He pointed to the millipede-like alien, who was waving an antenna frantically.
"Chek-fin. And it's five ancient spirits that possess beings to strike down evil-doers!" They waved several arms in the air excitedly much like a human child might mime karate chops and punches, making Lance chuckle.
"Sort of. Anyone else? How about you?" He gestured to an Altean girl who had rolled her eyes at Chek-fin.
She smiled, straightening and flipping her blue braid over her shoulder. "Mola. And the Lions are living quintessence that work with beings that have matching quintessence to restore balance to the universe. That's why you have to have all five to make Voltron, the balance." She recited, looking pleased.
Lance blinked. "Huh. Learn something new every day. Okay then. Now, I'm Lance, the blue paladin, and this here's Keith, the red paladin." He gestured to his teammate, who looked startled and reddened as though he hadn't quite been paying attention. "Now let me tell you all about our adventures!" With that, he launched into a (heavily-edited) recounting of their adventures to date. "So, it all started back on our home planet. Our leader, Shiro, had been missing for a year…"
The Cuban teen felt himself relaxing as he spoke, gesturing for emphasis and making ridiculous voices for everyone and bantering occasionally with Keith whenever the other paladin called out his embellishments. Storytelling was always something he'd enjoyed, especially to his family, and these kids may have been aliens but the similarities were unmistakable. The shy little H'ress with the doll named Sholra reminded him of little cousin Juanita, who always hid behind Tia Estefania's legs when they came over. Chek-fin was every bit as excitable and enthusiastic as cousin Tajo. And Mola acted just like his little sister Mariposa, right down to the hair flip. It was a surprisingly comforting bit of familiarity.
"...Except Sendak and Haxus didn't know that they'd made one big mistake when they put up the barrier. They may have locked Shiro, Allura, and Keith out, but they'd locked Pidge in. And let me tell you, no one on the team is scarier than Pidge when-" A loud knock at the door startled him mid-sentence and he glanced over his shoulder before getting to his feet and swinging the door open. "Hello?"
An older-looking Galra female stood on the other side of the door with a cart filled with bowls of food goo. She nodded to him in greeting. "Good afternoon, paladin. I brought lunch for yourselves and the cubs."
Lance blinked in surprise. Lunch time already? Where had the time gone? "Come on in, then. Thanks, ah…"
"Zokena. And I am simply doing my job." She eyed him curiously, looking him up and down. "Do you know who gets what, or would you like some assistance?" Her tone was mild, but Lance got the distinct impression she was silently laughing at him when he looked at the various colours uncertainly.
"A bit of help would be appreciated, actually." He admitted, chagrined, and started passing out the bowls she pointed to and giving them to the children she indicated. "I don't actually know what the different colours mean yet."
"All our ship had was the green stuff." Keith added, stroking the fur of the cub who was still sound asleep in his lap, if now clinging to the fabric of his suit with tiny claws. He made a face. "Got really boring really quick."
Zokena looked over at the red paladin and frowned. "You were being made to subsist on class 3 rations?" The concern and mild alarm in her tone made Lance pause, looking up at her in surprise, especially since her dismay seemed to center around Keith specifically, rather than both of them.
Keith also seemed surprised at the sudden attention, expression baffled. "Uh...yeah? Everyone else in the team was eating it without problems."
The Galra scowled, passing out bowls of blue goo to the mer twins. "Everyone else in your team are not half-Galra, or so I am given to understand. Class 3 rations are for species that are entirely or primarily herbivorous in their dietary requirements. And while they may provide sufficient sustenance for some omnivorous species such as Humans, who would normally receive class 2 rations, they are entirely unsuitable for beings whose diet is primarily carnivorous. That is why when your group first arrived, the one called Kurogane informed us of your and his need for class 1 rations, to ensure proper health going forward." She sounded frankly outraged at the apparent indignity he'd been unknowingly subjected to.
The red paladin looked stunned by the revelation, eyes wide. "I...I didn't...shit...this explains so much…" His gaze dropped to the child in his lap as he went silent, processing this.
Lance looked from Keith to Zokena in surprise. "So even though he looks Human, his dietary needs are more like a Galra?" He questioned curiously, setting Keith's bowl of purple goo on the floor in front of him before sitting down with his own blue goo.
She nodded, taking her portion of purple and sitting as well, one of the Altean children moving to sit beside her. "Yes. If you were unaware of this, and thus failing to accommodate it, I would recommend having one of the ship's medics looking him over to ensure there are no health issues arising from it. I don't know about Humans, but for Galra children improper diet can have severe long-term consequences."
The Cuban nodded seriously. "Thanks for the warning. We'll talk to Shiro and Allura about that tonight. Better to check and not need to than need to and not check, right? Although if there were anything serious to watch out for, Kurogane probably would have mentioned it when he arrived instead of just making sure Keith started getting the right food." At least, he hoped that was the case. The two time-travellers hadn't actually told them much about the things they'd seen beyond the general situation. They hadn't even explicitly told them about the destruction of Earth, but it was easy enough to put that together from what they had said about the Weblum's Breath and everything they'd lost. "Even if he didn't mention the food thing at all."
Keith shrugged, reaching for his food. "Probably just never came up, with everything that's been going on. I mean, there's been a lot of minor stuff that we haven't really been able to follow up on because we've been so concerned with the aspects and stuff like Shiro's arm."
"Probably shouldn't talk about that in front of the kids, Keith." Lance interrupted hastily, glancing around to see all the youngsters engrossed in their own meals and quiet conversations about the stories the two paladins had been telling. Thankfully none seemed to be paying attention to the adult conversation and the serious turn it had taken. "I mean, yeah, we gotta follow up on it, but this isn't really the place."
Zokena purred approvingly at his caution. "I need to be getting back to the cafeteria, even with rations providing food on this ship is a full time job." Gently shifting the child next to her, she unfolded her long limbs and rose to her feet, doing a circuit of the room to collect empty dishes from the children. Depositing them on the cart, she flicked an ear at them. "It was a pleasure to meet you both."
"You as well. Thank you for explaining the rations to us." Lance nodded respectfully and got to his feet as well, holding the door while she left. Then he turned back to the kids already rearranging themselves back where they'd been sitting before. "You guys want to hear more Voltron stories?" He couldn't help but grin with delight when they cheered.
"...And I still send messages to Plaxum and Luxia every week, just to see how they're doing." The blue paladin surveyed his audience, many of whom were looking sorely in need of a nap and several of whom were already sleeping. He was pretty sure it was the ship's equivalent of mid-afternoon, so this was probably as good a time as any. Pushing himself upright, he began passing out blankets and pillows from the stack in the corner to anyone still awake, the recipients obediently finding open patches of floor to curl up on. Then he started gently shifting those already asleep, trying his best not to wake them as he tucked them in. He could feel Keith's eyes on the back of his neck as he worked.
"...You're really good with kids." The Korean teen commented as he settled Mola down on a thick blanket with a sleepily mumbled protest. She nuzzled into the pillow and settled as Lance pulled the blanket over her with a smile.
"Well, I've had a lot of practice." He explained, grabbing a pair of cold water pouches and tossing one to his teammate as he surveyed his handiwork. Almost two dozen children of varying ages and species lay scattered around the room, all sound asleep. Keith's lap was still occupied by the small Galra cub who had claimed it at the very beginning. Lance wondered if the other's legs were falling asleep. "Big family."
"Right." Keith had an odd expression on his face that Lance couldn't quite read as he poked the straw into his pouch. "What's that like?"
Lance gave a soft laugh as he returned to his spot beside Keith, stretching his legs out in front of him while being careful not to bump any of the sleeping little ones. "Noisy, usually. I have seven siblings, thirteen aunts and uncles who live nearby, and a ton of cousins, not to mention my parents and grandparents. It gets crowded and annoying sometimes, but I wouldn't change it for the world." Even as he spoke, he could feel a lump in his throat and hastily scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. "...I really miss them." The words didn't really convey exactly how he'd been feeling lately, with the thought of the Galra suddenly descending on Earth and wiping it off the star map hanging over them. The grief he'd felt in his dream the first night, the terrifying thought of never seeing them again.
He felt an awkward, hesitant arm around his shoulders. "...You'll see them again. We'll keep them safe." Keith said quietly, as though he'd read Lance's mind to hear what he couldn't convey out loud. "Tell me about them?"
Lance nodded gratefully, seizing on the change to a more positive train of thought. "Okay." He held up a hand, ticking off on his fingers. "There's my parents, Rosa and Alistair. They're great, but my mami can be absolutely terrifying if you make her mad. Papi's way more chill. Then there's my older siblings, Alejandro-I nicknamed my future self after him because they're both serious but caring, and Alejandro's always been like my best friend until I met Hunk, Novia, and Zelia. Then there's me, and then the twins Edmundo and Fernan. After that is Mariposa-Mola reminds me of her, and little Lur."
As he talked, he could feel the painful homesickness and constant worry for his family easing a bit. He told Keith about his aunts and uncles and all his cousins, the perpetual disagreements between some of them and the way that if any outsider came for any member of the McClain-Martinez household they came for them all. He described setting up the plastic tables in the yard that everyone squeezed around for family get-togethers and teaching the little ones how to swim in the ocean. He talked about everyone pulling together to support each other when times were hard and sharing with others when they were good. How they whole family had teamed up to scrape together the funds to send him to Arizona to take the Garrison entrance exams, and how they'd thrown a huge party that swept up the whole neighbourhood when his results came back and he'd got in.
He knew he was smiling through tears as he talked, and through it all Keith's arm never left his shoulders, the other paladin listening intently as though committing every detail to memory. Any other time Lance might have been flustered by the proximity and attention, but right now he was simply grateful for the company and someone to listen. Eventually he wound down, sighing softly and staring up at the painted border of alien animals just below the ceiling.
"What about you?" He asked suddenly, turning to look at Keith. The other had listened to him ramble for what must've been hours, the least he could do was return the favour. "What's your family like?"
The way the shorter teen stiffened and pulled away told him immediately he shouldn't have asked. Dark eyes shuttered as Keith looked away, hiding behind long dark bangs. "...Don't have one." He stated tersely after a moment's pause.
Lance's mouth dropped open in horror. The idea of not having someone… "No family at all?" He pressed. He knew he should probably leave the obviously sensitive topic alone, but Keith opening up was such a rarity he couldn't help but jump on the chance to know more about the other.
Thankfully, Keith didn't seem to be shutting him out completely, as he gave a short, sharp shake of his head. "Foster care since I was six. Shiro's basically a brother to me, the closest thing I've ever had to a family since then." He stared down at his lap and scratched the sleeping cub gently behind the ears, eliciting a soft purr of contentment.
"Shit. That...that sucks, Keith." Was all Lance managed to get out, and it didn't nearly do justice to how he felt about this whole thing. He'd heard horror stories about the foster system, and if Keith's assigned mentor when he arrived at the Garrison had ended up being the closest thing he'd had to family, then what did that say about the homes he'd been in. He made a strangled noise as he realized what Kerberos must've meant to the other teen, with Shiro declared dead. "No wonder you and Pidge get along so well."
Keith stared at him for a moment in confusion before he seemed to manage to follow Lance's train of thought and nodded. "You know how I got expelled for 'discipline issues'?" At the blue paladin's nod, he continued, "I punched Iverson in the throat for claiming that Shiro fucked up and got them all killed."
Lance burst out laughing. "Man, I wish I could've seen that. What an asshole." He saw Keith's tentative smile and grinned back. "If it helps, I never believed it. Just didn't make any sense how he could go from 'best the Garrison ever produced' to 'failure to compare students to when they crash the simulator'. I was on the receiving end of that one a lot." He clarified at the red paladin's confused look. "He also liked reminding me that I only got bumped up to fighter class because you left."
"Jackass." Keith nodded understandingly, some of the tension gone now. "You're a good pilot. He wasn't taking into account that you were still adjusting from the cargo simulator controls to the fighter ones, was he?"
The blue paladin blinked in surprise. "Now that you mention it, probably not. The controls are really different, too, since you're solo on cargo flights instead of having a full crew. And they handle differently."
Keith bumped shoulders with him and gave him a small, oddly proud smile that set Lance's heart fluttering and made his cheeks burn. "See? There you go. Adjustment period handicap. Iverson was just being petty as hell. And you kick all kinds of ass flying Blue."
Okay, he was definitely blushing now. "You think so? I mean, the others are probably harder to fly, because Red's faster, Black's bigger, Yellow's heavier, and Green's smaller. Blue's just kinda...average." He looked away, his insecurities rearing their ugly head again. How many times had he mentally put his Lion beside the others and felt somehow inadequate?
"Stop that." Now Keith was frowning at him, shit. "Blue's maneuverable as hell and I've seen the way you make use of that in a fight. She takes less damage than any of the others most of the time, even though, like you said, Red is faster and Green is smaller. You're good at what you do, sharpshooter, so quit selling yourself short all the time."
Lance floundered, unable to respond to the blunt praise. He'd spent years comparing himself to Keith, both at the Garrison and out here in space, and yet here was the object of his admiration and affections telling him in no uncertain terms that he'd seen Lance fly and he thought that Lance was good. It was a heady feeling that he wasn't used to. And he'd noticed Lance's tendency to pick at himself, which was embarrassing rather than pleasant. "...When did you get such a way with words, mullet?" He asked, trying to turn the attention away from himself.
It was Keith's turn to blush now, fidgeting with his gloves uncertainly. "I'm not, really. I just...say what makes sense to me at the time. Go with my gut. It kinda gets me in trouble a lot of the time, like with Iverson. And my foster homes, a few times." He didn't elaborate on that, and Lance didn't pry.
"Well, it was…it was really sweet. What you said, I mean. It helped a lot. So thanks." Lance brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them, staring fixedly at an invisible point on the far wall. "I've always looked up to you." He admitted awkwardly. After everything else they'd shared today and before, this shouldn't be so difficult. "So hearing you say that...it meant a lot."
The red paladin looked baffled, but pleased. "I'm glad. I...don't like seeing you sad." He said quietly, rubbing at a scuff on the armor covering his thigh.
"Same." Lance said quietly. "You know...you do have a family now, you know that, right? All of us, Allura, Coran, heck, even the mice and Kurogane and Alejandro, we're a family. We're here for you, just like my family back in Veradero Beach is there for me. You're not alone anymore."
Keith's head whipped around so fast for a moment Lance worried he'd hurt himself, staring at the blue paladin with wide eyes. He seemed to be searching for something in the Cuban's face and posture for a long moment before he nodded slowly. "I...yeah. I knew that." His tone said otherwise, though, and Lance was glad he'd taken the time to point it out. He knew from experience that Keith had a tendency to miss what wasn't stated explicitly, even if it was obvious to everyone else.
"Yeah. So don't worry." Lance shot him a reassuring smile, putting an arm around the startled teen's shoulders. "And when we do get back to Earth, I'll take you to visit my family, and they'll adopt you on the spot just like they did when they met Hunk the first time." He could already picture it, and the idea of giving his lonely teammate so many people who cared about him was worth knowing that his family would undoubtedly tease him relentlessly after hearing him complain about the other for years.
"I...okay." The Korean whispered quietly, leaning slightly into the touch to Lance's surprise. His smile softened, and they simply sat like that for a while, watching over a room full of sleeping children and enjoying the closeness.
The tranquility was abruptly shattered as the door opened behind them, and they jumped apart with both their faces painted scarlet.
"Thank you for watching the cubs today." Loten, the Altean who was normally in charge of the nursery and who had asked for their help that morning with the ship left short-handed by emergency scouting missions, bowed low with a grateful smile. "I hope they weren't too much trouble."
"No! No, not at all!" Lance exclaimed, jumping to his feet and returning the bow. "They were great. I spent like half the day telling them stories until they all started to fall asleep. Well, besides that one." He pointed at Keith, still trapped under the sleeping cub. "He's barely stirred all day."
Loten laughed, reaching down to gently disentangle the little one's claws from Keith's suit. "Yes, he does that. Galra spend a lot of time sleeping when they're this young, although he usually only cuddles like that with Galra caretakers."
"I'm half Galra." Keith admitted nervously. Loten lifted the child free of his lap, settling him on one shoulder, and the red paladin groaned in relief, slowly straightening first one leg and then the other and hissing as circulation was restored to both legs.
"That would do it." The Altean nodded, giving him a sympathetic look as the Korean massaged his legs gingerly between the armor plates. "Do you need help getting up?" Keith hesitated, then gave an embarrassed nod, allowing the taller man to grab his hand and hoist him easily to his feet. He wobbled a little, and both Loten and Lance reached out to steady him. "Easy now."
Keith brushed off their hands, blushing. "If we're done here for the day, I think I'm gonna go visit Red. Later, Lance." He quickly darted out the door, leaving a confused Loten and bewildered Lance in his wake. The blue paladin sighed. He was never going to figure out what went on in that boy's head.
000000000000
Keith jogged down the passages of the Long Wind, letting the familiar pull of his Lion guide him back to the hangar through the crowded corridors. Much of the ship was still unfamiliar, since they spent most of their time in either the cafeteria or the hangar, but as long as he headed toward Red he would get back to familiar territory.
He knew he should probably check in with the others, but right now all he wanted was to take Red out to clear his head. The events of the last few hours kept playing in his mind, Lance's sad, lonely expression as he talked about the family he had left behind on earth, his awestruck blush at Keith's encouragement, the small happy smile as they'd sat together in silence. So many facets of Lance that were rarely seen. It was hard to take in that he'd been privileged with that look at the young man under the ever-present smile, and he was almost overwhelmed by everything he'd learned.
Red was waiting with her ramp already down as he reached the hangar and he trotted up it immediately, tapping open a com link to the control room before he'd even sat down. "Taking Red out for a run." He said without preamble. Thankfully the Taujeerian manning the com seemed to sense his reluctance to chat and simply nodded, touching the controls for the hangar door. The Lion could clearly feel his impatience and darted out before the doors had even slid fully open, pouring on the speed in a straight line away from both ships.
Keith closed his eyes and focused on seeing through Red's, pushing the throttles to their stops as they tore across open space. The stars flashed by like something out of a movie he vaguely remembered seeing once when he was younger, the streaking pattern calming him steadily.
Except that they seemed to be flashing by much faster than they usually did when he did this.
His eyes snapped open as Red laughed in the back of his head. A screen had popped open in front of him, a systems diagram of the Lion. A section of her shoulders was lit up, with an indicator label that read simply 'ion boosters', connected to a sleek section of hardware that hadn't been there last time he'd actually looked at her. "How the hell…"
His Lion laughed again, nudging part of his memories from earlier.
"I...don't like seeing you sad."
"...When did you get such a way with words, mullet?"
"I'm not, really. I just...say what makes sense to me at the time. Go with my gut"
"Hearing you say that...it meant a lot."
Keith groaned, feeling his cheeks heating up all over again. "Seriously? That's how I unlock instinct? That?" He could feel Red's amusement as she reminded him that no matter how reluctant he was to admit it, Lance was very important to him, so it only made sense that he would subconsciously see the blue paladin's sadness as a major problem. And he'd gone with his instincts on how to solve it. Thus, the aspect.
The red paladin swore, banging his head against the console. "Man, Shiro is never, ever gonna let me live this down."