Chapter Text
Keith was well.. He was being put into a really strange position. He’d been bumped from one foster family to the next. It turns out no one wanted a hot headed mopey emo kid so he never stayed at one place very long, at least until the Shirogane’s came along.
The Shirogane’s were the best foster family he could ask for, they made him feel like one of the family… which was a bit of a problem because Keith had no clue how to be part of a family. Apparently that involved them caring about your grades and encouraging extracurricular activities. Which left him in the awkward position he currently found himself in.
He was currently standing in a ticket line for a local comic con? Or FanExpo? Or something like that? He didn’t really know much about it, but when he told his foster family that his only real hobbies were webcomics and playing video games, they said he still had to get out of the house and meet like minded individuals.
So here he was, at FanExpo, fulfilling his promise to meet others. Luckily he wasn’t totally alone in this. His foster brother Takashi, who prefered to be called Shiro, came with him. He was actually pretty big at the con scene, one of those cosplayers who made mechas and some of those bigger cosplays that Keith had to admit was really really impressive. Since this was the case they were both decked out in pretty impressive paladin armour from the webcomic he was making called ‘Voltron’.
He figured it was a nice gesture of Shiro’s, making them these cosplays of his webcomic just to make him feel more comfortable here, but Shiro insisted Voltron had a huge following at the con scene. Keith knew his webcomic had a bit of a following but doubted it was actually enough for people to want to cosplay from it. Boy was he wrong.
Already, even in the lineup he could see people cosplaying the different paladins in their casual clothes. It was both flattering and nerve wracking. They went to the front of the line and got their tickets, heading inside. He paused once inside, staring in awe at the size of the room… it all felt like too much, and there was so many people around.
He moved a bit closer to Shiro and the taller boy smiled down at him and ruffled his hair a bit saying in a calming voice, “Relax Keith. No one’s here to judge you and everyone’s really nice at these sort of conventions. Just focus on having a good time, and if you get too nervous you can always put on your helmet?
Shiro had a good point. He put on his helmet and ya… literally no one could really see who he was under this paladin armour so he felt a lot more confident in himself. “Okay what now Sh…”
He was cut off by a soft voice, “Excuse me? Excuse me can I get your pictures please?” Shiro tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around and saw a girl with a cellphone aimed in their general direction.
“Of course!” Shiro quickly responded and Keith just stood there not knowing what to do. Shiro got into a battle pose with his ‘robotic arm’ so He figured he’d get into a battle pose too with his sword. The moment they were in position a few other people stopped to get their pictures and Keith had never felt so awkward in his life.
It wasn’t long before they were able to move again and one of the girls gushed about how they were basically her headcannons for how the red and black paladins look. He was honestly really flattered that someone cared about his webcomics enough to have headcanons for the characters, that being said the red paladin was literally based off his own aesthetic so it was almost to be expected.
They continued onwards, checking out the artist alley, dealer's room, and stopping by a few different panels for this or that and constantly being stopped for photos. Shiro had his own schedule and Keith was just planning on tagging along for the entirety of it. That was the plan at least until he got completely lost.
He’d told Shiro that he was just going to go to the bathroom quick while Shiro said he needed to get to a panel that he was running, so Keith just said he’d meet him there. That was half an hour ago.
Even with constantly asking the random volunteers for direction he still couldn’t track this panel room down and it all just got him more and more lost. He’d tried texting Shiro but this was a 2 hour long armour building workshop so there’d be no way for him to text back until after everything. So basically he was stuck. Alone. In a room full of crowded people of whom were still stopping him for pictures. Great. Just…. great.
With that thought he got into a battle pose again with his sword out. Then he heard the words, “Blue get in there!” and felt the presence of another human being awfully close to where he was posing. He looked up and saw literally blue incarnate. This is exactly what he’d pictured his character ‘Blue’ looking like. Tall and lanky, tan skin, beautiful(no homo) blue eyes.
Blue turned towards him and flashed him a smile. A perfect Blue like smile, Keith felt himself blushing a bit and smiled nervously back. Blue raised an eyebrow and someone called out, “I ship it!!”
Blue looked at him and murmured, “Do you mind if I kiss you?”
Keith was taken aback completely. What? WHAT?? A complete stranger. A MALE complete stranger wanted to kiss him?? How do you even respond to that? Why would he even ask that!?!
Blue smirked, “I’m gunna take that as a no.” He swooped Keith into his arms and dipped him, making a big show about kissing him and Keith had no clue how to react besides thinking to himself that whoever this cosplayer is, is an extremely good kisser! But like… in a no homo way? Is no homo still a thing people say? Keith never really followed popular terms and slang...
He was pulled away from his thoughts when the Blue cosplayer which may as well be Blue himself, pulled away from him. He stared up at him dazedly before he found himself planted back on his feet and at least a dozen fangirls were surrounding the two of them. What?
This Blue was as charismatic as he was in his comic, popping out a few awful pickup lines which the girls giggled at and handing out some sort of cards… cosplay cards? Shiro had a few of those! So This Blue must be a pretty serious cosplayer?
He was still at a complete loss for how there were so many people who read his webcomic. Did his comic maybe even have a fandom going for it? He can’t even remember the last time he checked how many people were trafficking his webpage, he more wrote the comic for himself than anyone else.
He turned to Blue once he was done with the fangirls and decided to deal with one thing at a time, mainly this cosplayer and telling him off for blind sighting him with a kiss. “What the hell was that!?!”
Blue looked at him completely baffled and confused, “What was what?”
This only pissed Keith off more, who the hell did he think he was? “That kiss! You kissed me!!!”
Blue looked taken aback a bit before raising his hands in surrender, “Sorry man I was just caught up in the moment and wanted to give the fangirls what they wanted. Next time we pose for pics I won’t, since it’s clearly too out of your comfort zone to put on a show for your fans.”
Keith huffed and crossed his arms, “It’s not out of my comfort zone… but anyways that’s not the point! Why would fangirls even want that? Blue and Red aren't together! They’re not even slightly interested in each other!”
Lance grins, “Ya, but that doesn’t matter. There’s way too much sexual tension between them, and the development of their relationship so far drives the fangirls and fanboys mad. There are also a bunch of fan theories that point towards them becoming canon!”
Keith groaned, okay wow, maybe he should look into this cuz apparently his webcomic had an actual proper fandom following. How had he not known this!?! “I have it on good authority that they won’t get together.”
Blue shrugged, “Everyone’s entitled to their own ships. So I take it you’re not okay with shipping pics then? Cuz I was just heading to a photoshoot I booked and was wondering if you wanted to join me?” He grinned easily and well… honestly yes. He wanted to join him because meeting this cosplayer felt like meeting the living embodiment of his character.
Keith shrugged nonchalantly, “Ya sure, whatever. I guess that’s fine.” He followed along beside Blue, “and I mean, if the characters are really shipped that much I guess I don’t mind. But um… I’m not gay, but it’s fine if it’s just for pictures I guess?” He’d seen enough pictures of Shiro, who was super straight, kissing other guys in cosplays to know that.
Blue grinned widely, “Awesome! I was hoping you’d say that!” He grabbed Keiths hand and he couldn’t stop himself from blushing a bit. He looked away so Blue wouldn’t notice as he led him along.
Keith didn’t understand the reasoning for his actions, “W-what are you doing!?!”
Blue chuckled at Keith's reaction a bit, “Just holding hands. Don’t want you to get lost in the crowd, it’s pretty huge.” He winked and Keith's face flushed an even more brilliant red and he looked away again.
Keith mumbled, “Whatever.” and followed Blue now silently.
He soon found himself on a balcony outside the convention hall overlooking the city that somehow felt far more advanced from this angle than it actually was. I guess photography is all about the angles and tricking the public eyes. This view would definitely give off the perfect futuristic flare for their Voltron shoot, even if it wasn’t in space…
Blue let him go and waved at one of the many photographers loitering around, talking in a cheerful tone that Keith doubted he himself would ever be able to replicate as he conversed with them.
He crossed his arms and waited patiently for the other boy before he waved him over and Keith stood there awkwardly, “Ya, Tom here says it’s fine if you join in the shoot, it’s a bit extra but I’ll cover you for another kiss.” he winks and Keith rolls his eyes and shrugs.”
“Whatever. Sure. If it’s actually such a big ship in this fandom i’ll bite.”
Blue grins so widely that he thinks his heart might just stop. Wow. This person really was one of those unrealistically beautiful looking people, all caramel skin and deep blue eyes and perfect smile… thank god his helmet was still on so it was less obvious that he was staring.
“Why don’t you take your helmet off for the first few pics?” dammit. There goes his security blanket. He took his helmet off and set it to the side. “ I um… sure. Okay so… what now?” He looked over at Lance for the first time without the tinted plastic partially obscuring his vision and he all but fell in love with the boy right in front of him. He really had never seen someone so beautiful in his life.
He came back from his daze when he heard a string of, “Red? Red are you okay? You there? Something wrong? You nervous?”
Keith shook his head slightly, “Um ya. I’m fine…. Blue.” wow he just realized he didn’t know this guy's name. Not that it really mattered since he wouldn’t be talking to him after today.
Blue gave him a wide grin, “Good! Cuz we’re ready to start!” and they get to posing. It’s pretty easy for Keith, he literally based the character Red off himself so it was easy to match the mannerisms, and when it came to the fighting poses Blue knew just what to do. He basically moved Keith's limbs until he was satisfied that Keith was in proper position, then posed alongside Keith. All in all Keith didn’t have a problem until Lance wanted to pose like some fanart he saw.
Keith tentatively agreed. He didn’t know why he agreed but anything is alright in cosplay right? Kissing another guy is okay if it’s cosplay, plus he said he would. So he found himself in Blue’s arms, looking into the other boys too blue eyes as he leaned slightly closer and the photographer was more than likely snapping a million pictures.
When Blue was a millimeter from his lips he murmured, “you sure this is okay?” and Keith didn’t know how to respond, too dazed in the moment to say no. So he made the illogical decision to let the moment carry him further and kissed the other boy.
It was much different than their first kiss in the busy convention hall. It was less showy, more intimate. It was soft, it lasted long enough for him to feel the softness of Blue’s lips, lips that felt so similar to a girls. This similarity must’ve been what drove him into his next action, he refused to allow for any alternative as he properly kissed Blue, moving his lips against the other boys, tilting his head slightly to make it easier for them both.
Blue immediately responded, cupping his face slightly, swiping his tongue slightly against Keith's lips which he gladly opened for him. Blue traced his teeth, letting his tongue glide along them then exploring every crevice of his mouth before entangling itself with Keith's tongue, coaxing it to life.
Keith immediately responded, taking over the dominating position despite being the obviously less experienced kisser here. They would have continued if it wasn’t for the photographer chiming in, “Okay we’re good. That looked really realistic guys, I think you’ll really love these photos!”
Keith pulled away, almost disappointed before that disappointment was replaced with embarrassment. He flushed a deep red. “I um.. Ya okay. Good. I um… since that’s done I should probably get going. My friends panel should be ending soon and I still need to find the panel room.”
Blue looked at him and grinned, “If you need some help, I’ve been going to this con for years, I can help you get there.”
He didn’t know if he wanted to be in Blue’s presence at this point, not after that, but he didn’t have much of a choice. There was no way he could find that panel room on his own. “Ya. That’d be great. Thanks.”
Blue thanked the photographer again and paid him before walking back into the con building, grabbing Keith's hand again and grinning at him, “So you don’t get lost in the crowd”, then he winked and Keith found himself blushing and he had to remind himself that he wasn’t gay.
He told Blue the panel room name and he expertly led him onwards. They arrived at the room just as people were being let out. He took his hand back from Blue and looked at him awkwardly, “I guess we should say goodbye now?”
Blue looked at him a bit saddened, “Ya I guess? You probably just want to go around with your friend now hm? And I did promise some of my friends I’d meet up with them sometime today…”
Keith Nodded, “uh ya… so I’ll just..”
Before he could finish his sentance Blue chimed in, “Give me your phone.”
Keith was confused but surrendered his phone to the other boy and when he got it back he noticed a new contact was added to it. Lance. The name suited him.
“Send me a text whenever. We should keep in contact. I’ll also give you the pics when they come in, email them to you or something?”
Keith found himself nodding along, “Um ya… sure sounds good.” he responded awkwardly.
“I’m Lance by the way!”
He gazed at the beautiful boy in front of him, “Keith.” He offered feebly.
“See you around Keith!”
He leaned in and kissed Keith again and before Keith could say he wasn’t gay Lance had disappeared. He held his fingers to his lips and found himself dazing out again. That was a real genuine kiss. That kiss wasn’t for show, it meant something. Though Keith didn’t quite know what it meant, not just yet. But he would. Soon. Yes, he’d text Lance soon and figure it out. Tell him that he wasn’t gay again in case Lance didn’t remember him saying it the first time. Though maybe he should figure out his own conflicting emotions first.