Before Allura sent our the lions, let's start from the beginning.
It was supposed to be just another normal day. Why did it have to turn out like this?
Okay, so this is the first chapter of Fluidity, I'm not going to promise a regular update schedule, because I really can't do that. I can promise you that I am working on more than just one chapter at a time (Which is new for me, I'm usually a post as I go kind of writer) and that I do have more written out, I just don't have more finished to the point where I like it enough to post.
Please, this is my first posted fic for the Voltron fandom, I need critical feedback. I don't care if it's a page and half of what you think I did horribly on, I just want real opinions so I know if I'm striking out here or not.
This is a slight AU, so the characters may seem a tiny bit OOC compared to canon, but I am trying to keep them as close as possible while still putting my own little spin on them.
The young prince of Prata Neptunia watched out the window as the Galra ship docked at the port across the cityscape. The ship was the standard steel grey with purple lights and red accents. He would always be able to pick out a Galra ship with just a single glance. Many had been docking in Maritimus lately. Many more than he was comfortable with. He bit at his lower lip, worrying it between his sharp teeth gently. His bright blue eyes scanned the docks, trying to see if he could make out anything that could possibly be a threat. It was in vain though, the castle stood too far away from the pier for even his keen eyes to notice anything out of the ordinary.
He sighed. Well, as long as he didn't have to worry about an attack, he would allow the fuzzy purple menaces to stay. Not that it was his call yet, but his parents had been trying to teach him tolerance. You can't judge an entire race or culture by the bad actions of a few. It was something he had to constantly remind himself of, he really did want to believe that not all the Galra were bad. He decided that rather than worry he should put his time to better use, taking a trip down to the wave pools would give him a chance to calm his mind and work on his push and pull.
His session had been going well for over an hour before his concentration was interrupted. "That's pretty cool, are you doing that?" The prince didn't recognize the voice, but he kept up and pushed on regardless, trying to keep his wave steady.
"Yes." He answered simply.
"How?"
"The quintessence in my body allows me to manipulate liquid substances." He shrugged. "Or, at least, that's how it was explained to me." The prince finally let his small wave sink back into the larger body of water, willing it to still to the point of reflection before he turned to face his new company. What he was greeted with was not a fellow Prata Neptunian, but a young Galra boy, probably about his same age. He wore deep red silk robes with black accents. A crest was on his right pectoral that the prince had never seen before. He looked the new boy up and down before cocking his head to the side, puzzled.
"Is something the matter?" The Galra boy asked, his tone curious but with a hint of worry.
"What are you doing here? How did a young Galran such as yourself manage to not only enter the castle without my knowing, but also be allowed to roam about freely? Especially here, in my wave pools." The young prince huffed slightly as he crossed his arms over his chest, hip jutting out to the right to complete his question with a bit of haughtiness to his body language.
"Um … they just let me walk in?" the other boy shrugged. But before the prince could respond to that the clock chimed in town and he cursed quietly under his breath.
"Fine, whatever, I have to go, but don't even think of touching my water. I'll know. This conversation isn't over, just paused!" he insisted before running out through the door. When had it gotten so late? His mother has told him they were expecting some important guests tonight and she wanted to help him get ready. She'd kill him if he blew her off, even if it was for training.
He was still being preened even on his way to the throne room after spending entirely too long on simply getting dressed. His mother, the queen, kept messing with his short brown hair, making sure it was her brand of perfect, and had popped his collar at least three different times. She had even licked her finger and wiped a nonexistent smudge off his face twice. There hadn't been anything there the first time and there still wasn't after the second.
"Mother, that is quite enough! Who are these people that we're meeting that are making you act so crazy?" He asked, for once, completely fed up with the attention.
"You will see, but you must look your best darling. Remember, first impressions are important." She tugged at his light blue dress shirt just once more before the great doors opened and she rushed him inside and towards his own throne next to hers.
"There they are, my ravishing wife and my dashing son!" His father smiled wide as they approached, his arms held out grandly as if he wished to hug them, though he knew better than to think that was the case with how much his mother had been fretting over his appearance. She hadn't even trusted the servants to help him dress for this occasion, it must be important. It wasn't until he was seated that he noticed the obviously Aristocratic Galrans in the room. And then, standing at attention just behind them, was that the same Galra boy from earlier? No, it couldn't be, right? No. That definitely was. Even if he did look a little different now with his head held high and his fuzzy ears forward facing and alert.
"And so, as to what we were discussing, I will accept your very gracious offer and the peace-"
"It's you! What are you doing here?!" He couldn't help it as he leaned almost out of his throne completely. He didn't mean to interrupt his father, but the curiosity was burning at him. He had to know, and he couldn't wait. Who knew how long this would go on for. All eyes were suddenly on him. The other boy's eyes suddenly very wide as he connected the voice to the face.
"You're the prince?!"
"What of it? Who are you?" His father's hearty laugh stopped him from asking any other questions, and from getting any answers.
"It sounds like you've already met then, good!"
"Kinda, I was practicing in the wave pools earlier and he wandered in and started distracting me." He huffed, crossing his arms and falling back into his throne, turning his whole head from the guests in front of him. "I didn't even get his name before I had to leave to get dressed." He turned his head back towards the boy when he heard some quiet snickering.
"Well if it puts your mind at ease little prince, I promise, I didn't touch your water."
"Little prince?! How dare you! My name is Lance! Prince Lance!"
"My apologies, Little Prince Lance, I meant no offense." There was mirth in his glowing yellow eyes, and a smile on his lips. Lance could feel the condescension dripping from his words. He had to hold back from physically bristling at the comment, his eyes narrowing on the smaller Galra boy.
"Your highness, I apologize. Prince Keith is not usually quite this rude." The boy's mother possibly? She spoke rushedly, then turned to the boy and began to scold him quietly directly into his ear.
"I hope that this little outburst of his is not putting our deal in jeopardy at all." The other man picked up right away, was he the young Galra's father? Wait, they had said Prince, which meant that he was Zarkon's son, didn't it? Lance looked to his own father, trying to figure out exactly why he needed to be here if this was just another residence request. But then, why would the prince of the Galra empire want to live here on his planet that was mostly water? The Galra were never really too fond of water, or at least, the feline ones weren't. He hadn't met too many reptile breeds.
"Not at all, I think it helps actually. Though, I must say, per your proposal, I do not have a daughter offer in exchange for his hand. But my son here is very open minded. Always flirting with the first pretty face he sees, even at such a young age." His father chuckled and Lance almost felt he should be offended if he weren't so curious as to what exactly was happening.
"That may be the case, but is it not true that your species is gender fluid, switching sex as it suits the situation or your fancy?"
"We can, though I am afraid that Lance does identify as a male. He may choose to assume a female anatomy or full body if he so wishes, but he usually does not." Wait. What? No. He had to be mishearing this. It sounded an awful lot like he was being married off to this Galra jerk.
"I see no problem with this, the bloodline has the potential to continue if they so wish it to, and that is the best we can ask for, is it not?" Lance wasn't listening anymore. This was ridiculous.
"Mother, I have the wrong idea of what's going on right now, right? Please?" He turned to his mother, fear in his eyes, his voice pleading.
"I'm afraid not darling. Lance, this is Prince, Keith. He is your betrothed from this moment on, in exchange for a peace treaty between the Galra empire and our planet. We have no natural resources that his father, Emperor Zarkon, wants since most of the planet is water, and since we would rather not get involved with a messy war, It has been decided that a few Nobles would come and form a colony here in Maritimus. This is the leader of said colony, and his wife, this was one of the conditions that both he, Zarkon, and your father came to agree upon in order to promise peace between us." He was frozen in place. He didn't even have the energy to brush his mother's hand from his shoulder as he stared past her at the wall. He was engaged. How was this possible? He wasn't even twelve standard periods yet!
"Of course, the wedding won't be until you are both of age though. So don't fret my young prince." He didn't look at the older Galra male as he spoke, but he heard his clothes rustle as he bowed. Lance finally focused back on his mother, his eyes narrowed. Zarkon was going to be his father in law? That was entirely too far beyond not okay that he couldn't even see it anymore.
"Well, I don't accept." He said firmly before getting up and storming out of the throne room. He would die before he let his parents decide who he would marry. Especially if who they were marrying him off to was Emperor Zarkon's own son! He stalked all the way back to his chambers and flopped face first into his plush bed. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. They hadn't even asked him! Of course he wanted to keep the peace, but not at the sake of his own happiness! He wanted that choice. Like all the royals before him. He wanted to marry for love, not politics! Entirely too soon there was a knock at his door. He wasn't ready for anyone to see him like this. "Go away!" He shouted.
"Are you really crying over this?" The smug voice that he now knew belonged to Keith asked. Great, he had been followed. And now he was being mocked too. This guy really wasn't selling himself too well.
"Of course not!" He grunted.
"Really? Because that's not how it looks to me little prince." There was a quiet snicker. Lance was sure he had been meant to hear it, but he paid it no mind, instead choosing to focus on the other prince's words instead.
"Don't call me little! You're smaller than I am!" Lance hollered as he sat up to face his verbal assailant. Keith's eyes flashed a bright yellow before he answered. Aw, had he struck a nerve? Lance smirked to himself. Good.
"I just haven't had my growth spurt yet! Besides, I'm older, I can call you little if I want to." This time it was Keith who crossed his arms in annoyance. "Look, I don't like this anymore than you do, but we have to."
"They didn't even ask me, this is the first time I'd even heard my father mention an arranged marriage." He took a deep breath. "I know it's for the good of my people, I know it's important. But … I don't want to."
"We have time. I'm not too thrilled with the idea either, but it won't be until your eighteenth birthday. So if it'll help, play around as much as you want before then." Lance scowled at that. Sure his people were more open to sexual encounters than the Galra, but he didn't have to call it playing around. "Because once we mate, I won't allow you to be with anyone else. I'm sure you've heard of the penalty a Galra faces if they are found to be unfaithful to their mate? You may be Prata Neptunian, but once we are mated, you are bound by my culture's rules as well." Keith sat down in the chair across from Lance's bed as he finished talking. "This is a done deal little prince. Neither of us has any say in it."
"My name, is Lance. If we are to be betrothed, you could at least stand to learn my name."
"So then, you accept?"
"No, but, I'm also not being given an option." Lance mumbled. Especially not with a proposal like that, but that wasn't a fight he wanted to pick at the moment.
"Well, at least you can recognize that much. Look, Lance ." Keith paused, waiting for something. Lance looked up from his sulking to look Keith in the eyes, which, apparently had been what he had been waiting for, he spoke again once he was sure he had Lance's full attention on him. "I realize I am not your ideal mate, you are not mine either. Hell, you're closer to what I eat for lunch back home than a potential mate,"
"Gee, comforting. So now I have to worry about being killed and eaten on the honeymoon?" Lance quipped, interrupting Keith.
"No, just that you are -your species is, very fish like, and we eat fish back home."
"We are not fish, but I can see how that assumption was made." That comment bothered him more than it should. They were amphibious, yes, but they were not fish.
"In any case, we may not have the choice anymore, but that does not mean we cannot learn to have a meaningful marriage. I am willing to put effort into this if you are. I see no appeal in not being attracted to my mate after all." Keith finally finished. There was a long, pregnant silence after Keith was done talking, Lance had to take this all in, process it. This Galra boy was saying that he would try to love him? Well, he supposed that he was a little cute. … In the most infuriating way. Lance sighed.
"I will try. I don't want a loveless marriage either."
"Great, then let's go back to the throne room and tell your parents." Keith smiled. He didn't know why, but that smile irked him. Something deep in his gut told him that that smile would be the end of him one day, and he didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Okay, so what did you think? Yes? No? Maybe so?
The teaser takes place roughly between chapters three and four, so hang tight for that bit. I promise we'll get there.
Also, if you are good at coming up with names, I need options. I need two male names for some minor OCs. The OCs are going to be Galra, but they don't necessarily need to sound Galra, I mean, I didn't change Keith's name, so it can pretty much be anything. Please and thank you!
~ Evi