Chapter Text
The mood in the room was sedate, each gaze focused on the map in front of them. No one knew what to say or how to react.
Pidge had sent out on her long-range scanners to the Balmera where Allura detected the presence of the yellow lion and the images that came back were equally horrifying and disheartening.
“It’s dying,” Hunk murmured, unable to tear his eyes away from the living planet-sized creature. The Galra had infested it like parasite, burrowing into its body with complete disregard for the pain it would cause the creature. They were an infestation, sucking the life out of something that deserved nothing but reverence and respect and Hunk was angry, so angry because he’d seen so many Balmeras. He’d met so many Balmerans who were born and nurtured by the living planets. They were kind, peaceful, with no capacity for hate or violence and now this Balmera was nearly dead and none of its people were in sight.
“They are mining it to death without returning anything. With the size of the Galra Empire, they’ve likely killed hundreds of Balmeras like this,” Allura said.
Lance put a hand on Hunk’s shoulder, offering what paltry comfort he could in the face of the travesty they had uncovered. Hunk offered him a tight smile in return, but there was little comfort to be had right then.
They’d all known, conceptually, that the Galra now were a pale echo of the once mighty and just people of the past. They’d known, but they hadn’t understood, not really, until they saw how the Galra were slowing torturing a living creature to death in their quest for energy to fuel their fleets. There was this small part of them that hoped they could find some small saving grace, some tiny piece of evidence to show them that the Galra hadn’t become creatures of pure malice.
That hope was snuffed out brutally. There could be no excuse for this. There was no hope left o be had. The Galra, their Galra, their once great allies, were gone. Truly gone.
Shiro’s breath hitched. One little sound, barely audible, as that realization hit him. His father’s people, his people, were gone. Whatever these Galra were, they weren’t his anymore.
That little sound from Shiro snapped the string of tension that connected all eyes to the cycling pictures transmitted to them by the drone.
“Shiro,” Allura said softly. She stepped up to her lover and put a hand on his face, pulling his eyes to her and his mind away from its cycling thoughts.
“I’m okay,” he said.
“I know you are.” Allura smiled but didn’t drop her hand. Shiro nuzzled into her touch for a moment, letting the softened atmosphere extend until he felt steady enough to pull away. He thought of his father, the Zarkon he’d loved, and his next breath settled into his bones and infused him with strength. These were not his people, this Zarkon was not his father, and he wouldn’t allow his memories of them to be tainted.
“Alright. This mission now has to be about more than just retrieving the yellow lion. I know we aren’t ready, we’re scared, and we’re mourning, but the Balmera and its people need us and we need to do everything in our power to save them,” Shiro said.
Allura’s smile turned fierce when she gazed out and the paladins. Her paladins. They were young, but they were ready.
“Our parents needed time to bond with their lions, and with each other. They started as enemies, became uneasy allies, before become close friends and eventually family. They had to struggle to form their bonds. They all became great, but we will be greater. We know each other better than we know ourselves. We love each other, we have grown together. We have no secrets, we have no hesitations, and even with only three lions we will crush anything that comes for us.”
“Only if Keith and Pidge can keep up with me,” Lance said with a grin and a wink at the red and green paladins. Blue’s laugh echoed through his mind, quickly chased away by a fiery thread of indignation from Red.
“You issuing a challenge sharpshooter?”
“Yeah I mean, of the pair of us, Blue is the bulkiest. Green and I will probably fly circles around you.”
Blue’s roar of indignation reached them even from the lion hangar and it further collapsed the tension in the room as everyone fell into fits of laughter. Lance clutched a hand to his chest in mock indignation.
“Well I never! Blue is a gorgeous full-bodied woman and I won’t let anyone, even one of my best friends and the love of my life, insult her in such a way! She’s beautiful just the way she is!”
The resulting purr in Lance’s mind had him closing his eyes in contentment, until Shiro flinched and gasped. All eyes went to him.
“Shiro, what’s wrong?” Matt asked, stepping forward and putting a hand to his shoulder.
“I felt something. I think... I think it was Black.”
“What did you feel?”
“It felt like... amusement.” Shiro’s eyes were wide, until his face split into a broad grin and her started laughing. “She’s happy,” Shiro continued.
The laughter swept back through the room in a wave, and then Lance whooped loudly and the crescendo of it increased. It was partially fueled by adrenaline and anticipation of what was coming, and just a moment of release for them to take happiness in being alive and together.
“Now then,” Coran said, grinning like the madman he was, “let’s go save a Balmera!”
----
“Alright team, Pidge is going to drop in close and get Hunk, Matt, and I on the ground. With Green’s cloaking she’ll be able to get us close to the caverns where Allura believes the Yellow lion is. Keith, Lance, you need to be the distraction for the Galra until we’re on the ground. Draw them away from us for as long as you can. Pidge will join you as soon as we’re off.”
“Roger that Shiro,” Lance chirped, he was situated in Blue already, hands gripped the controls in anticipation of the launch. Blue’s constant kneading into made helped to keep the anxiety at bay.
“But guys remember, the Balmera is alive. We aren’t going to be able to keep the Galra ships you shoot down from crashing into it, but try to avoid sending any direct blasts into it if possible. It’s weak and I don’t want it to get any more stressed,” Hunk said.
“We understand Hunk. We’ll be as careful as we can,” Keith said.
“Alright paladins,” Allura said over the comms. “It won’t be easy to remove the Galra presence, but once they are gone I can restore its quintessence. Now, let’s go and make our parents proud!”
The lions roared and launched into the sky. The green lion shimmered and disappeared from view.
“Alright team, we’re dropping in hot. Lance, Keith, be ready to engage immediately,” Shiro said.
White light flashed through the sky and each pilot slammed their thrusters forwards, dropping into the middle of the small Galra fleet before their enemies could register what had happened.
The glow snuffed out and in a second Red and Blue were careening in opposite directions as drone fighters were vomited from the belly of the lone battle cruiser stationed at the Balmera.
“Alright Keith, let’s split the herd. You go left, I go right. We need to get to the surface and draw ground fire towards us as well.”
“Good plan. Let’s get ‘em sharpshooter.”
“Wooooo!” Lance yelled. He pulled blue up and into a back flip, spraying the fighters behind him in a spray of ice before ramming into them so they shattered into pieces.
Keith laughed and went the other way, engulfing his pursuers in infernos and shredding them with his tail beam, then zipping away faster than the Galra could anticipate.
The occupants of the Green lion watched all this with fond exasperation, feeling comforted by Lance’s jubilant shouts and the playful banter that passed between the two lovers.
“Alright, Pidge how far can green get us into that hole?” Shiro asked.
“My scanners are picking up a lot of Galra activity in those mines. My cloaking is good, but if Green flies right past someone’s nose they’ll notice. Ships can’t pick up my burn trail, but an unprotected person will sure as hell feel it.”
“Okay, then drop us at the top, on the other side of the command tower. The three of us will make our way down. Hunk, once we’re in can you find your way to Yellow?”
“Yeah Shiro, I can already feel her,” Hunk said a bit breathlessly.
“Good. Matt and I are going to be your backup so once we get down there, you worry about getting to Yellow and we’ll watch your back. She’s our biggest priority right now. As soon as we get her we can all focuse on freeing the Balmera.”
“Do you think Black will wake up once Hunk get’s her?” Matt asked.
“I hope so. This would be easier with Voltron.”
“But we’ve never formed Voltron before,” Pidge said in response to Shiro. “Even if we get Yellow, and Black wakes up, we don’t have the time to go back to the castle, retrieve her, and get back here. That’s too many wormholes for Allura to open and it would put us at risk of a Galra slipping through and transmitting the location of the castle to the rest of the Galra. And even if we did that, we don’t know if we can form Voltron. I know we all love each other and yadda yadda, but it’ll probably still take time.”
“Pidge has a point,” Allura’s voice over the comms made them all jump – they'd nearly forgotten their lines were still open. “I wish we could rely on Voltron here, but we must be realistic. It’s best for us to anticipate doing this fight in our separate lions.”
“The princess is right, and barring any surprises, there should be no need for Voltron,” Coran chimed in. “This is a small fleet and they’ve never encountered anything like the lions before. After Blue’s flight from Nalquod, and our jail break of Red, Zarkon may suspect Voltron is back if his memory has remained intact after 10,000 deca-phoeb's, but the rest of the Galra won’t know us. Even if they broadcast they’re under attack, these little guys here won’t know who we are or what to even report. Our best bet is to finish this fight quickly, then help the Balmera relocate through a wormhole before any reinforcements can arrive.”
“Alright team, then let’s get to yellow as quickly as possible. Lance, Keith, you two holding up?”
“Yeah but energy signatures from the battlecruiser are ramping up. It’s going to fire something big and if it misses it’s going to hit the Balmera ,” Keith said.
“I got it, I’ll distract it and try to draw whatever it is to me,” Lance replied.
“No! Red is faster, I have the best chance of dodging.”
“And you also have the weakest shielding. If you don’t dodge you can’t take a hit like Blue can. Keep the fighters away from the caves, let me distract the cruiser.” Lance didn’t wait for confirmation before he was pulling up and away from the planet, focusing his fire on the shielded cruiser to get its attention. Keith’s cursing was the only confirmation.
“We’re about to touch down, you three ready?” Pidge asked.
“As I'll ever be,” Matt grumbled. “Though I thought my days of fighting ass holes was behind me when I left the rebels. I’m getting too old for this.”
“You’re my age!” Shiro said.
“Did I stutter?”
“Oh my god, go already,” Pidge snapped.
“Roger that fearless leader,” Matt chirped before dropping out of green.
“We’ll stay in touch Captain,” Hunk said with a mock salute before following after Matt. Pidge whipped around in her seat and fixed Shiro with a glare.
“Don’t you dare,” she said, pointing a finger at him.
Shiro smiled angelically and said, “Be safe out there... Admiral.”
“Guys stop, I’m trying to avoid these big ass energy beams and I can’t do that when I’m laughing so hard,” Lance’s breathless voice came over the comms. He kept giggling and everyone couldn’t help but smile.
“How in the hell are we the universe’s only hope?” Pidge grumbled.
“Okay Lance, Keith, we’re off. Lance, you keep pulling that cruiser’s fire. Pidge, Keith, start destroying as much as their infrastructure as possible,” Shiro said.
“Will do, but I’m getting crazy energy signatures from this cruiser. I think it’s ramping up for something but I'm not sure what,” Lance said.
“Keep alert then. If it looks like something you can’t handle i want you to pull back immediately.”
“Okay, as long as it’s not aimed for the Balmera .”
“Even if it is aimed for the Balmera pull back!” Keith snapped. A grunt was Lance’s only response.
“Keith,” Pidge said, “follow me. Let’s take out all these guard towers. We need to clear as many as possible.”
“Got it.” The Red lion pulled back into a graceful loop, dropping down behind his pursuers and taking them out with a single blast from his tail beam. Keith blasted forward, taking out Pidge’s pursuers as well before falling in behind her.
The first tower went down easily until the drones figured out their goal, then the enemy fighters began swarming the towers to prevent any more from being destroyed.
“The cruiser just spat out another wave of drones, half of them are heading towards the surface,” Lance said.
“Lance that means half are with you!” Pidge said.
“You need to get out of there, come back and form up with Pidge and I.”
“I can handle it, don’t worry!”
“Guys!” Hunk said through the comms. “We’ve found Balmerans down here! The Galra have had them enslaved – they want to help us but it’s worse than we thought. Even if we clear out the Galra and stop the mining, it probably won’t recover. The Balmerans say it’s already on the verge of a total collapse.”
“Can we evacuate them before that happens?” Pidge asked.
“I don’t think there will be enough time,” Hunk replied. Gunfire sounded through his comms and distantly they heard Matt and Shiro shouting to each other.
“Pidge, Keith, can one of you get back to the castle? I may be able to prevent the Balmera from collapsing if I can get to the surface,” Allura said.
“Pidge, go, I can handle things down here,” Keith said.
“Alright, I’m pulling up, Lance can you keep them back while I get through the wormhole.”
“Sure, I’m already avoiding drone squadrons and energy canons, why not keep any of them from slipping by and through a wormhole too,” Lance grumbled. A ‘BOOM’ went through his comms and Lance yelped.
“Lance!” Keith shouted.
“I’m fine!” Lance said breathlessly. “But quick question, how the quiznak is Allura going to fly with Pidge and keep the wormhole open?”
“Once I've opened the wormhole, all it requires is quintessence to keep it open. While Coran cannot open one on his own, he can keep one open for a short time.”
“How did I not know this before?”
“Lance,” Shiro said, “now’s not really the time.”
“I know but seriously, I had no actual idea Coran could keep a wormhole open!”
“I can only keep it open for a dobash at most, it’s a last resort kind of plan my boy,” Coran supplied helpfully.
“Alright princess, I’m up! Open the wormhole and get ready for a quick exit.”
The Green lion lit up with a brilliant white glow as the wormhole opened. Pidge looked to the side in time to see Lance intercepting the group of drones that had branched off in her direction. He took a couple hits and everyone could hear his hard breathing.
“Go fast, I’m not going to be able to hold them long.”
Right before jetting through the wormhole Pidge watched the blue lion drop and twirl to avoid another canon blast from the cruiser.
“Dammit,” she muttered as the serene planet of Arus came into view. She angled green into a steep dive, heading straight for the castle.
“Go, princess! You and Pidge have a dobash before it closes!” Coran said.
“New question, if Allura is here with us how will we get back to the castle?”
“Concentrate Lance!” Keith said.
“I’m just asking!”
“Allura I see you, get ready!” Pidge swooped down, the green lion’s mouth opening in anticipation. The landing was fast and messy, sending up a cloud of dirt and a blast of heat, neither of which phased the princess. She leapt into Green’s mouth and Pidge didn’t wait for it to close before she was pulling up and blasting back up.
“Thirty ticks!” Coran’s voice came strained through the cockpit just as Allura made it inside.
“Got it!” Pidge said. She didn’t acknowledge Allura gripping onto the back of her chair, she just jammed her thrusters forward, urging green on as fast as the lion could go. Coran’s exhausted counting down didn’t even register. Her eyes stayed locked on the glowing portal, Green nose breaking through just as Coran called his limit. Her tail barely closed before the glow disappeared and the wormhole snapped shut.
“Thanks the stars,” Lance said when he saw them get through. He sounded exhausted.
“Paladins, Pidge and I will make our way to the surface now. Hunk, what’s the status on the yellow lion?”
“We got some resistance down here! The Balmerans are helping how they can, but we’re in a standoff,” Shiro said.
“Keith, what about you?”
“Getting a little hot down here. These towers have some sort of auto track firing. I managed to take down a few but now the rest have a lock on me and all I can do is evade!”
“Quiznak, I think it’s an ion canon!” Lance yelped.
“Impossible! That technology was exclusive to Altea!” Allura said. Pidge turned Green around in time to see the massive blast leave the cruiser, aimed straight at Lance.
“Lance!” she shrieked. Blue managed to drop, but the beam followed his trajectory and managed a glancing blow on his right flank. They all heard Lance yell.
“Dammit, I can’t disengage to get up there. Lance!” Keith yelled. A glow on the cruiser indicated the ion canon was powering up again and Blue was flying at half her speed, Lance completely silent save for his too-quick breaths of exertion as he evaded drones while keeping an eye on the canon. Pidge wanted to help, but Allura needed to get to the Balmera’s surface as soon as possible if they wanted any chance of keeping the creature alive.
Lance tried maneuvering up and away, but was cut off by drones just as the ion canon ramped up. If he didn’t move he would get struck straight on, but the drones were corralling him to stay in its path.
“Lance move!” Allura said. The glow intensified and then a blur shot out of the mines and didn’t hesitate before breaking atmo and throwing itself in front of the partially crippled blue lion just as the beam fired. The yellow lion’s shields rippled and the blast sent it careening to the side, but it remained otherwise unscathed.
“Sorry we’re late, you good buddy?” Hunk asked. A shaky laugh came from Lance.
“I am now, good to see ya big guy,” Lance said.
“Allura, Shiro and Matt are still down there leading the Balmerans to the surface. They know how to help you save the Balmera, you just need to lend them your strength.”
The green lion landed on the Balmera’s surface with a thud and Allura wasted no time jumping out. Over their heads the red, blue, and yellow lions swarmed, taking down drones and keeping the surface safe.
As soon as Allura was out, Pidge took off and kept Green low, flying the lion in a tight defensive pattern, focusing more on defending those on the surface than proactively chasing enemies.
Hunk switched between covering Lance, then Keith, and in the span of a few dobash Keith managed to take down the rest of the guard towers with Yellow’s help.
-----
A glow from below had Lance taking his focuse off the cruiser for a brief moment. He enhanced Blue’s cameras and saw Allura, surrounded by Balmerans, kneeling with their hands pressed to the Balmera’s surface. The strength of their quintessence made their circle glow.
“Alright guys, while they save the Balmera let’s take out this cruiser!” Lance called. Blue was hurt, but she was eager to finish the fight. Keith and Hunk joined him a minute later and just as brilliant crystal burst from the Balmera’s surface, the cruiser went up in flames.
Hunk and Keith whooped and hollered, the team below echoed their cheers, but Lance’s breath halted in his chest. He watched the burning cruiser. He saw... something come from the flames. Amorphous, colored a sickly purple, undulating in apparent agitation. As Lance stared it’s stop and a chill crept up his spine – the thing had no features but somehow it was if it stared straight back at Lance.
All of this happened in the space of a few ticks, and then it shuddered and seemed to vanish into nothing, but Lance stayed paralyzed. He'd seen that before. He’d seen it. Where had he seen it?
He didn’t even register the others calling him, didn’t register their concern, because he’d seen that thing before. He’d seen it... and … he... he remembered where.
-----
The paladins sat ringed around the common room, each in varying states of agitation. Shiro was leaning forward, elbows on his knees and hands folded beneath his chin while his eyes stared at nothing. Hunk fidgeted anxiously and Keith obsessively twirled his purple and black dagger with one hand. His other arm was wrapped tightly around Lance’s waist in order to keep the thinner boy pressed close – after they’d returned he’d been reluctant to be more than a few feet away from her lover. Pidge was furiously typing into her portable console with Allura hovering at her side.
“Are you sure?” Shiro finally asked. It was the first time anyone had said anything after Lance told them what he saw.
“It was the same...” Lance paused, unsure how to refer to what he’d seen, “thing that came from the rift on Daibazaal.”
“How can that be possible? I mean, Voltron pushed those things back right? None of them got out and the rift is closed now,” Hunk said.
“We thought so,” Shiro said. “But after Zarkon went into the rift... maybe something slipped through.”
“So what does this mean? They were some sort of interdimensional creature right? So why’d they come out of the wreckage of that cruiser?” Keith asked.
“Who knows. We received data on the creatures but it was stored on Olkarion and I wasn’t among those researching it. Allura, was anything stored in the castle?” Matt questioned. Allura looked up from where she’d been watching Pidge.
“Pidge is searching castle systems for any information our parents logged on those creatures, but without a keyword she’s having to scan through a lot of data. I myself wasn’t told much about them. Coran, did my father or the paladins share anything with you?”
“I wish I could say they had Princess, but that was a tumultuous time. The paladins barely had time to speak with each other. I know as much as you do. Amorphous, aggressive, likely hostile, interdimensional with no known origin. We never knew if it was one massive creature capable of breaking itself into smaller pieces, or smaller creatures capable of coming together to create a larger mass. It could even have been a mix of both with them being separate but possessing a hive mind. The paladins were just so busy trying to contain them that no one had the time to try and do studies. I’m not sure they ever even worked out an intelligence level.”
“So what do you all think it means?” Hunk asked. Everyone fell silent – no one had an answer.
“Nothing that came from that rift was a good thing. It brought nothing but pain and misery. Why would those creatures be any different?” Shiro asked. Allura stood up as soon as she noticed Shiro’s pinched expression. She swept over to sit beside him and pulled him gently, urging him to finally relax. He turned into her embrace and buried his face into the crook of her neck, loosely wrapping his arms around her and sighing deeply. No one knew what to say or what to do.
Keith and lance shared a look before Lance pressed closer into his side. They could get much closer without Lance physically getting on top of him, but Keith tightened his grip around Lance’s waist and pressing a kiss to his temple. Before he could pull away, Lance stopped him and returned the kiss.
Today should have been joyful. The saved the Balmera, relocated it to a safer sector of the galaxy. Hunk had dreamily told them all about the Balmeran named Shay he’d met – waxing poetically about her kindness and strong beauty. Then they completed Voltron, the Black lion had dropped her barrier and accepted Shiro the moment they’d gotten back. It should have been a happy day.
And Lance had been forced to ruin it. He hadn’t even been able to let them enjoy the victory for ten dobash before he had to drop the bomb. Now they all, especially Shiro, were once again being forced to confront memories of everything they’d lost. At every turn they couldn’t escape the weight of what had been stolen from them and it was Lance’s fault for bringing it up. Because of him they couldn’t just enjoy a small moment of victory.
“Lance,” Keith said softly. Lance jerked, Keith’s arm keeping him firmly in place even as he instinctively tried to jerk away. His eyes came back into focus and saw everyone looking at him. He looked at Keith, a question on his face.
“You were spiraling,” Keith said softly. Lance finally realized that he was breathing too hard, his panting breaths indicative of a panic attack he hadn’t even been aware was happening.
“I’m sorry. Sorry I had to drop this all on you. I should have waited or I should have found a better way...”
“Lance, you did nothing wrong,” Allura said. “It’s a good thing you saw what you did. This was information we needed to have. The rest of us were too distracted by our victory to pay attention, but even after fighting for so long and taking a huge hit, you were watching. We don’t know what it means, but now we won’t be surprised. You did well.”
“Thank you,” he said softly.
“Alright, we’ve all had a long day. We can worry more about universe-wide problems in the morning when you’ve all rested,” Coran said. No one moved until Matt stood up with an exaggerated groan and snapped Pidge’s laptop closed. She opened her mouth to protest but Matt was already hauling her up and dragging her off.
“I’ll make sure this one gets some sleep,” he said, waving as he continued herding a protesting Pidge out the door.
The rest of them scatted, and Keith and Lance found themselves in their room. They silently undressed and stepped into the bathroom.
They opted for a shower instead of a bath, washing silently until they finally just stood under the warm spray.
Keith stood behind Lance, arms wrapped around his waist, pressing soft kissed to his shoulders. Lance melted into the touch, little sighs leaving his lips as Keith mouthed over sensitive spots.
“You scared me today,” Keith murmured, mouth still pressed to the warm, wet skin of Lance’s neck.
“That’s going to happen a lot now that we’re paladins.”
“I know.” Another kiss landed on Lance’s shoulder. “And I’ll never not be scared.” Another kiss.
One of Keith’s hands dipped lower, pausing below Lance’s navel when he let out a soft gasp.
“Can I touch you?” Keith whispered.
“Please,” Lance breathed. Keith never stopped his kisses, even as his heated palm wrapped around Lance’s length. The Altean’s back arched and he let out a quiet moan, pressing harder back against Keith while simultaneously trying to push forward into Keith’s grip.
“It’s okay baby, I’ve got you,” Keith murmured through a kiss while Lance writhed. Keith kept a steady rhythm, lazily working Lance up and reveling in the soft little gasps and moans. Lance was never loud, but his soft sounds of pleasure made love and heat swell in Keith’s core.
“Keith, please,” he gasped out, voice still barely above a whisper. Keith pulled his hand away and shut off the water. He turned Lance around and kissed him, their tongues lazily twirling around each other.
Despite the heat between them, their movements were unhurried as they stepped from the shower and dried off. Lance giggled into their kiss as Keith vigorously used the towel to dry his hair, then took to kissing Keith’s neck so the half-Galra could towel dry his own hair.
Then they were stumbling to the bed, unwilling to stop kissing each other to make the walk easier. At the edge, Keith lowered Lance gently. Everything he did with Lance was gentle. His touch, his words, his heated whispered praises.
And Lance trusted him implicitly. He didn’t flinch with Keith when they did this, not anymore. He simply spread his legs and pulled Keith down for another hot kiss while Keith began to work him open, slow and unhurried just like everything else.
Lance continued his quiet sounds, breathless little moans and mewls as Keith deftly explored him, curling his finger into Lance’s most sensitive spots, making the slimmer boy arch into him and murmur Keith’s name.
Keith took his time prepping Lance. When they weren’t kissing, he was staring straight into Lance’s eyes, never turning away and making sure to commit every expression to memory.
“I love you,” Keith said, dropping for another kiss, his fingers crooking expertly to make Lance whimper into the kiss. He swallowed the sounds and kept rubbing that spot to elicit more.
“Please, Keith, love, I'm ready. I’m ready,” Lance begged into Keith’s mouth. Keith pulled away and paused, taking a moment to just study the man beneath him. His cheeks were flushed, his lips shiny and swollen from their kissed, hair mussed from the way he had been tossing his head.
Keith smiled, he couldn’t help it. One hand went down to his own length to line himself up, and the other cupped Lance’s cheek. He rubbed his thumb over one of those glowing marks and he was overcome with such emotion that he nearly felt like crying because Lance was there. Lance was happy. Lance trusted him. Lance’s heart and body were open to him. Lance’s face was relaxed and his expression held nothing but trust and love. Lance was there, he was Keith’s and Keith was his and after everything they were there together.
“I love you,” Lance whispered. His hand came up and brushed away a tear Keith hadn’t even known had fallen.
“I love you so much,” Keith said before finally pressing into Lance’s warm wet heat. Lance’s mouth opened into a gasp and his back arched, but his eyes didn’t leave Keith’s.
They waited like that for a few dobash until Lance was used to the fullness, and then Keith began to gently rock. A choked gasp escaped Lance’s throat, higher in pitch but still quiet.
“You feel so good. So warm. You’re so perfect,” Keith said. Lance giggled a little, rolling his hips up to meet Keith’s thrust, making them both groan at the same time.
“Touch me, please,” Lance said. Keith obliged with a smile. He increased his pace slightly and wrapped his hands around Lance’s length. It was lean and long just like the rest of him, the skin softer than any silk.
“Mmhn,” Lance moaned, biting his lips and alternating between meeting Keith’s thrusts and rolling his hips up into Keith’s fist.
“That’s it baby, take what you want,” Keith said. Their pace increased with the tempo of their breathing, words lost between hot kisses and soft moans.
“Keith, I'm, I...” Lance panted, voice raised in pitch.
Keith pressed a kiss to Lance’s mouth and whispered, “Let go Lance.”
Lance arched off the bed with a quiet cry, releasing all over his torso and Keith hand. Keith himself wasn’t far behind, milking Lance through his release before pulling out and releasing his own spend across Lance’s stomach as well.
They kissed lazily for some time afterwards, waiting for their breathing to slow and their hearts to go back to normal, before Keith rolled off the bed.
Lance whined a complaint, but Keith just laughed and went into the bathroom to grab a towel. He dampened it before walking back out to clean Lance, then he tumbled back into bed.
“Can I be the big spoon tonight?” Lance asked. Keith laughed again.
“I won’t complain,” he said. He turned onto his side and let Lance slot in behind him. Lance threw an arm over his stomach, pulling him back until they were pressed close. One of his legs wedged between Keith’s, and then he finally settled when he buried his face into Keith’s nape and let out a long sigh.
“Comfy?” Keith asked. Lance nodded.
“Love you,” he said sleepily. Keith rested his hand over Lance’s where it rested on his stomach.
“Love you too.”
Keith waited until Lance’s breathing evened out and his body relaxed into sleep before finally allowing his own eyes to drift closed. He wasn’t sure what had nearly set Lance off earlier, but he’d recognized that distant, troubled look on Lance’s face and was grateful they’d been able to pull him out of it before it got too bad.
He wanted to talk to Lance about what had been going through his head, but he’d been too desperate to feel Lance so he saved that conversation for another time. Finally Keith let himself fall into sleep.