Work Text:
Lance watched the screen with keen eyes, pupils following right along with the intricate dance that Allura’s slender hands were weaving. She was explaining the girth of the mission as she placed it on the two Paladin’s shoulders. Her voice was worn and Lance could tell she most likely hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a couple of days. They had been dealing with outreaching to the local planets, talking war and peace and joining hand in hand with Voltron. The current system they made home in was more than willing to join in their fight, but it was still exhausting work to ensure they set foot on each one of their home worlds.
The Altean princess zoomed in on a small speck in the corner of the map, something Lance had honestly first thought to be some type of large asteroid. But he was wrong, the little blip was indeed a tiny planet, sectioned off all on its’ own.
Allura breathed in heavy.
“The locals don’t have much information on it. It’s thought of to be a bad omen planet, so most of the populations avoid it altogether.” She said with a shrug.
“But that doesn’t mean we can leave it as a stone unturned.”
Lance groaned.
“So let me guess, we are the lucky winners that get to go down to the cursed planet. Fantastic, sign me right up!” Lance snarked as he folded his arms across his breastplate.
The woman shot the blue Paladin a less than amused glare.
If looks could have killed the lanky man would be sprawled out on the castle floor sucking in his last breath.
There was a heavy sigh from Lance’s immediate right. It was a tired sound that was often saved exclusively for Lance and his usual antics.
“Lance.” The big man warned in that fatherly tone he always liked to put on when Lance was about to take it a step too far.
Lance’s eyes darted to the side, resting on the outline of the massive man.
He shrugged up his shoulders innocently and mouthed “ what??” at the other paladin.
Shiro’s lip twitched upward and he refused to meet Lance with any form of response. His facial expression was enough for the young man to get the message. Without so much as a single syllable Shiro made it very clear to cut the crap.
“We are unable to get a decent read on the surface of the planet. It’s shrouded by a thick fog that seems to throw the castle’s scanners completely off. We just need to see if there is any intelligent life and of course document the findings. I will be firming up alliances with the Etheons, and will be taking Keith as my guard. Hunk and Pidge will be working here running some tests on the Castle defenses. Which means…” Allura explained but Lance quickly cut her off.
“Which means team Black and Blue are reunited again! At your service ready to kick some alien butt.” Lance interrupted, making a series of fingergun motions.
Shiro ran a hand through his hair with a great groan.
Allura cleared her throat.
“You mean, forming alien alliances.” She corrected irritably.
Lance waved his hand dismissively.
“Yeah, yeah, right, right.” He sung.
“The planet, though having an apparently rotten reputation from the locals, seems to be harmless. But due to the thick atmosphere, I’m afraid it will have to be an exploration mission done by foot. Take the Blue Lion and set a perimeter down on the surface. It will help us to get more readings.” Allura continued.
“Awww yeah. Taking ol Blue that’s right. C’mon big man Shiro, looks like you get to ride shotgun with me.” Lance chimed as he put his hands on his hips tauntingly.
Shiro’s face did not change.
“We will radio in as soon as we set down.” Shiro said with a stern nod.
“Good luck Paladins.” Allura offered as she went back to the work she’d been constructing before their little meeting.
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Lance’s hands gripped the controls of his Lion tightly. It was slightly nerve wracking with the other paladin looming dauntingly over his shoulder. Shiro watched the progression down to the lonely little planet with hard eyes, the thick clouds surrounding the lion like a great beast as Lance eased the machine into it. Visibility was next to nothing, heading in blind Lance had nothing but feeling to go off of. But he could hear Blue’s voice ringing in his ears, allowing him to judge just how far from the surface they really were.
Shiro didn’t seem as trusting with how quickly Lance was headed in for his landing.
“Careful.” Shiro muttered under his breath.
“I’ve got this, don’t worry.” Lance scoffed with a roll of his eyes.
Shiro didn’t seem to take Lance’s promise to heart.
“Lance you really should slow down.” Shiro tried a little firmer.
“I said, I’ve got this.” Lance snarled.
“You are a terrible back lion driver. Now hush.” The young man continued.
Then suddenly the fog dissipated, opening up as they neared the surface. Lance slowed their descent just slightly as he got a better layout of their landing path. Lance drew in a shaky breath.
Framed in the front windshield of the massive Altean made weapon was something that looked like it was straight out of a master painting. The planet’s surface was blanketed in a thick carpet of green, tall trees reaching skyward like many eager arms. Rivers laced the ground, cutting through the thick brush like serpents. The glisten of the waters were like tiny beacons to the two paladins, beckoning them in with the temptation of it all.
Lance felt his heart clench tight.
The planet had an undeniable likeness…to Earth.
The paladin eased Blue down gently, finding a small clearing amongst the dense shroud of the forest. Her weight caused her to sink into the soft soil just slightly, the big machine coming to settle as Lance let go of the controls, unable to pry his oceanic eyes away from the outside world. He couldn’t get his helmet on fast enough.
As the young man exited the machine, he wasn’t sure he was even breathing.
The mighty trees were bigger this close, massive things that were old and wise, vines hanging from their gnarled limbs. He was overcome by the different shades of greens, dotted with bright flowering plants that appeared so perfect Lance was beginning to question their authenticity. There was simply no way something so beautiful could be real. They had seen planets with plants of course. They had seen many things in their travels. But there was just something about the way this forest rose up to greet the paladins.
They were uncannily familiar.
It took a moment for Lance to place the similarities, but when it hit him…it nearly bowled him right over.
Like the big live oaks that grew behind his childhood home. Those very same mighty things that he’d clambered up more times than he could ever count. They’d served as everything from pretend pirate ships to clubhouses. He vividly remembered when he’d climbed too high up into the tangle of branches and missed a step, sending him to the hard ground. He’d broken his arm in that fall, and he’d spent the rest of the summer longing to be out of that godforsaken cast just so he could shimmy right back up into those very same oaks. He’d been a stubborn kid. And that had turned him into an even more stubborn adult.
Lance felt as if his body was hardly his own as his boots crunched the thick grass beneath him, warily headed toward the first thick patch of trees. He stood there before the great things, craning his neck up to see the tops. They were skyscrapers in their own rights, conquering the years to grow to such a size.
He very carefully reached his palm out, pressing his gloved hand against the rough bark. He could feel the uneven ridges beneath his clothing, the surface sending him home to his own backyard…if only for a moment.
Lance drew in a big breath, lungs inflating with the sweet scent of wet grass, of leaves, of the vegetation that cradled this strange world. He was lost there for a moment, only just put his feet on the ground and already he could feel it drawing him in. Some long lost want that was buried deep down in the pits of his chest cavity. He tried to snuff it out, time and time again, but it was a fire that refused to be doused. So it burned, however small, in the back of his being. The flames only grew in power as he stood there, faced with his greatest heartache, his wanting.
This place smelled like home.
This place reminded him so much of Earth.
For several seconds he completely forgot about everything outside of himself, he was sucked into the moment like a moth drawn to the flame. The world around him was humid, his breath fogging his helmet in a thin mist. Lance wiped his faceplate gently and continued to allow the great forest to swallow him.
He was yanked back out of the awe and wonder by the sound of his counterparts’ voice. Lance stole a glance back over his shoulder as Shiro came forth from the Lion, already scanning the area with the device they’d been given by Pidge before heading down to the planet’s surface.
The little green light flickered with a holographic grid as it scampered over the grass.
“Pidge does the atmosphere seem to be suitable for breathing?” Shiro questioned firmly.
He was instantly focused on the mission, obviously not as overtaken by the majesty of the landscape like Lance was. The blue paladin narrowed his eyes. Shiro took things too seriously about ninety percent of the time, so much so that he was missing all of this. Lance was nearly offended the black paladin wasn’t gawking in awe like he should have been.
Maybe the other man really had been out in space for too long. Maybe he’d forgotten how gorgeous Earth was, what it was like.
Lance’s mic crackled to life.
“Seems fine, you are ok to switch your air supplies off.” Pidge concluded.
Lance pressed the side of his helmet, his visor coming up and the touch of the tepid air to his face was something otherworldly. It was warm and wet, like summertime back home. Summer after a rain. He smiled. It reminded him of their family trip to the lake, and it had started raining on their picnic. He and his siblings had danced out in the shower, waving their arms and tilting their heads back to let it pelt their faces like small kisses from the sky.
Lance was already feeling a bit of uncomfortable, sticky moisture between his suit and his skin.
“Great, we should be in and out, so far no signs of any native species…but we’ve only just landed.” Shiro said in a deadpan manner.
The big man wasted no time heading off into the forest.
“Lance, let’s go.” He called across the clearing.
Lance released a heavy breath.
He was getting really tired of this whole, all work and no play thing.
Lance hurried through the tall grass, scowling holes into the back of the white and black haired man’s skull. Lance harrumphed and caught up to the other paladin’s position, gracefully jumping over a huge root and passing up his company.
Lance had his gun at the ready, but his hold on it was loose. He wasn’t so much ready to go to war, but simply wanted to enjoy the scenery. He really hoped with all his heart that this would be a peaceful encounter with a planet…for once.
Lance’s shoes slapped the damp dirt, not wet enough to cling to the soles of his boots, but just enough to squish a little when he walked. As Lance moved from one group of trees to the next, coming to knee high grass, there was suddenly an explosion of motion. Little wings beat the air hard as a flurry of birds came forth from the ground, frightened by Lance’s intrusion. They ascended high into the canopy, their glossy black wings shimmering in the light peeking through the leaves.
Lance smiled as they gathered themselves, landing in the tangle of branches, flitting and fluttering, letting loose of cheery little songs and high squeaks.
They were just like the songbirds back home…singing their praises in the early morning, greeting the new day with ever present enthusiasm.
Shiro did not stop to watch the little things as they danced from branch to branch.
Lance sighed.
Was the man blind?
The bright light of Shiro’s scanner flickered across the ground in front of him the sound of his heavy steps drifting back to Lance’s tender ears.
He continued on, following several yard back from the other man.
If he didn’t want to enjoy this then Lance wouldn’t ask him to.
Lance tilted his head back, continuing onward, breathing in every little detail of it, and cataloging it to memory for later. The sounds of far off creatures licked at his senses. More noises, he supposed were from birds flying far overhead, echoed above the trees.
If for a moment he pressed the looming fact that he was millions of miles from home out of his head, he could almost mold the experience into a hike through the woods. Like one of the trails he and his brother used to walk down to and spend all day exploring. They would wander off the beaten path, knowing the cliffs and the trees like the backs of their hands. They would make up games, run wild through the hidden hills. They would paint their faces with the red mud and howl like wolves, listening to the sound echo through the old, serene place.
Lance chuckled softly and adjusted the weight of his gun just a bit.
The trees opened just slightly, giving the two men a beautiful view of one of the rivers they’d viewed from overhead. From the air it had appeared to just be a tiny stream, but up close it was a formidable thing, twisting and cutting through the landscape.
“The water drinkable?” Lance asked into his headset.
There was a pause as Pidge simulated her answer.
“Seems to be actually. But don’t blame me if you end up with some weird space worms.” Pidge snarked.
Lance shrugged and bent down to the lazily moving waters, cupping just enough in his palms. He brought the cool liquid to his face, allowing it to run down his chin as he sampled the water. It was sweet, crisp, and it gave him just a little reprieve from the merciless heat beating down on the two of them. He splashed some up over his face, wetting his hair a little and allowing it to cool his cheeks.
Even Shiro couldn’t seem to resist the small satisfaction of the cool river. He dabbed some at the back of his neck, sighing at the sensation.
Lance simply watched him, wordlessly, wanting to rile up conversation, but Shiro was already getting back on his feet, turning off in the direction the river was coming from.
“I don’t seem to be picking up any scans of intelligent life. Just little blips of animals so far.” Pidge concluded.
“Great, we’ll just explore a bit more then and head back to the lion.” Shiro replied.
Lance frowned.
They’d only just got here and he wanted to leave that quickly? Lance was steadily becoming more and more annoyed with the large man’s attitude toward the situation. He’d not once seemed excited about the beauty of this place. He knew Shiro was stoic and professional…but this was just getting under his skin.
Lance fell behind just slightly more.
The blue paladin seemed to lose track of the time. Not really listening in when Pidge came across his mic, mostly discussing certain readings with Shiro. Lance didn’t really care. They had to have been walking for the better part of two hours at the very least. But Lance didn’t mind. He’d gladly have spent all day in this stunning place if Shiro would allow it. Lance’s lips downturned. He knew there would be none of that of course.
“Guys I’m picking up some weird readings. Some strange weather patterns forming up behind you.” Pidge said suddenly.
This perked Lance’s attention.
The blue paladin looked back over his shoulder, peering through the openings in the trees, only to find she was absolutely right. Dark, ominous clouds were building up in the skies to their backs. A threatening growl of thunder rolled across the land, vibrating Lance down to his ribcage.
Shiro followed Lance’s line of sight.
The man turned, scanning the way ahead, looking to a large formation of cliff faces.
“We might get lucky and find some shelter there if we hurry.” He huffed, already moving on.
Lance willed his legs to move faster to keep up with his counterpart’s pace.
The rock formations twisted out of the ground like great palaces, the trees hugging them protectively, vines and ferns sprouting from the cracks in the old stone. Shiro’s eyes scanned over the new landscape, searching diligently for somewhere, anywhere that might provide ample cover from the brewing storm.
He made a sound of triumph in the back of his throat as his eyes settled in the midst of the formations. There, just a ways up, was the undeniable mouth of a cave.
“There, we can climb up to that.” Shiro said as he pointed.
Lance nodded and followed.
Lance scaled up the rock far quicker than the other man, he’d spent enough summers and spring breaks shimmying up all sorts of rocks and trees to know how to maneuver something like this. Lance crawled up into the shallow cave, pleased that his climbing skills were only just a little rusty.
Shiro hauled himself up into the rock canopy and sighed.
He stood with his hands folded firmly over his chest as he peered out across the surface of the planet. The storm was bigger and darker than he’d expected. It was a monstrous thing, a heavy veil of rain dropping from the behemoth clouds as they rolled toward the location of the two men.
“We might be here a while.” Shiro said to Pidge.
“Yeah, best to just wait it out, that thing looks gnarly.” She replied.
“Not much going to be going on for a while. We’ll ping you when this passes.” Shiro grunted.
“Roger that.” Pidge chimed.
Shiro groaned and pulled the tight fitting helmet off his head, setting the thing down on the rocky floor.
Lance seated himself on the edge of the cave, legs dangling over the side absentmindedly.
He could hear Shiro make some comment about the heat behind him and there was the sound of the other man ridding himself of his top armor, setting the shell on the ground. Lance peered over at the black paladin with keen eyes. Shiro was down to his under armor, the big man running a palm through his sweaty hair, small beads of perspiration forming at his brow.
Lance tilted his lip up in a little sneer.
Someone obviously couldn’t take the heat.
“What’s wrong? Too hot?” Lance snorted.
This finally gained just a little bit of the other man’s attention, if only for a moment.
“Big baby. Try growing up in Florida.” Lance tossed the insult out cheekily.
This gathered a bark of a laugh from the other paladin.
Lance gently pried his helmet from his head, setting it back behind him, cutting him off from the others back on the ship. Now it was just him, Shiro and the darkening sky to be kept as company.
Lance sighed, silence gathering between the two men again.
The billowing bodies of the great storm passed over the land, the wind carrying the scents of rain to the young man’s nostrils. Lance closed his eyes as the breeze washed over his slender face, brown tendrils blowing back out of his eyes. Sitting there, with his lids draped over his baby blues, he could almost taste it. Home. His little head could contort this place into the world he missed so dearly. He wasn’t even sure what season it was back on the blue planet…maybe it was the spring. The rain coming to quench the hard soil and fill the lakes and rivers.
He breathed in, holding the sampling of oxygen for much longer than the standard second.
His fingers tightened on his slender knee, the wind kissing over his exposed neck, down the side of his cheek.
Spring meant his mom cooking tortillas on their great big clunker of a stove. A massive thing that had seen so many holiday meals and warmly baked pies. It had seen a lot of burned meals too, as the siblings learned how to cook under his mother’s careful instruction.
Lance smiled, as he could hear the first hints of the rain slapping against the rock.
Spring meant rainy days spent on their wide front porch, a game of cards being had by the group of them, watching as the moisture came down in weighty sheets around them. He could almost sense the song of the rain clattering off their gutters, of the palm trees rustling under the influence of the weather. He could hang on the sounds of their laughter as thunder clattered across the sky, scaring some of the younger family members.
His mom would laugh and comment that the angels were bowling.
“Lance?”
The sound of his own name gently dragged him out of his fantasy. He was shaken, all of it seeming so real for a moment. He could almost touch them.
Lance felt a lump form in his throat.
He wasn’t ready to let go of it just yet. He’d wanted to hold it for just a bit longer.
It wasn’t fair.
His eyes peered out into the forest, heavy rain falling freely from the clouds now, the world around him painted dark and grey. A flash of lightning illuminated the shadowed cave for several seconds. Lance startled just slightly.
He backed up off the ledge, scooting away from the mist biting at his ankles.
The touch of a hand on his shoulder nearly had him jumping right out of his skin.
Lance whipped his head to the left, blue eyes wide as panic spread out over his expression.
Shiro’s eyes were soft, his brows knitted together in obvious concern.
“Lance are you alright?” He asked very gently.
Lance pressed his hand to the warm material of his armor, burying his bottom lip between his teeth just a little too hard. He was hoping the sting might just dissipate the ache forming in his chest and the heat bumbling up from his stomach.
The blue paladin blinked rapidly, trying to will away the urge to let whatever this was crawl forth. He refused to let it come out. He was trying too hard to bury it back in the dirt…but it just kept floating to the top. Lance didn’t want to look at the other man. He suddenly wished with all his heart that the floor would just allow him to sink down into it and not surface. He just wanted to disappear. He felt so exposed, all the pain, all the hurt unrolling without his control.
The blue paladin looked down at the forest floor and squeezed his eyelids shut as a big, heavy tear rolled down his cheek.
Shiro caught the glisten of moisture on the others’ cheek and his heart dropped down into his stomach.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Shiro questioned, his voice softening, his hands coming to unabashedly rest on Lance’s shoulders.
There it was. That voice Lance longed for but often was not given. The soft tone that Shiro used with him when nobody else was watching. Lance called it the boyfriend voice. Only he didn’t really, he’d never say that title out loud. He wasn’t even sure what they were or what this was, he dare not ever utter that phrase where Shiro could hear it.
Lance feebly wiped at his eyes, sniffling pitifully.
He was so gross, he was so embarrassed.
“It’s nothing.” Lance insisted.
Shiro frowned gently, in that sympathetic little way that only successfully got on Lance’s nerves. He didn’t want the other man’s pity.
“It’s not nothing.” Shiro sighed.
“I say it’s nothing…so it’s nothing.” Lance huffed as he tried feebly to regain his composure, he just couldn’t get the damned tears to stop rolling.
They fell as heavy and as hard as the rain painting the ground.
The other man’s gaze scored over Lance’s form and the silence only caused more anger to rise like bile in his stomach.
“It’s just…what is with you? Look at this place. It’s beautiful! And you haven’t said a word about it! It…it looks just like home.” Lance snapped sharply.
Shiro drew in a big breath and sat down next to Lance.
“I just have trouble with places like these…because it may look like Earth…but it’s not.” Shiro said softly.
Lance turned his head, beautiful eyes wide as they soaked Shiro in.
He hadn’t considered that. He’d just been excited to even have a sampling of something similar. He instantly felt a little guilty for just assuming Shiro was immune to the beauty of the planet.
There was no sound between them then, their shoulders pressed together side by side. Only the drizzle of the rain served as conversation. The storm sang, big and loud and powerful, displaying it’s might without hesitance.
“Can we pretend it is…just for a minute.” Lance choked softly.
Shiro’s hand very gently invaded Lance’s space to intertwine their fingers. Lance took the offered affection, curling his digits in the other man’s. They didn’t touch like this often. Hardly ever, to the point where Lance actually checked over his shoulder just to make sure that nobody was watching. He knew the helmets’ communication was off, there was nothing connecting them to the castle and yet…he still was wary. They were alone. Just the two of them and the rain.
“We can.” Shiro whispered softly.
Lance nodded slowly.
“If we were on Earth what would we be doing?” The blue paladin whispered.
Shiro thought for a moment, seeming to turn over the scenarios in his head before settling on a certain one.
“Well, we would have just stopped by our favorite brunch place. They have the best sandwiches and coffee. We would sit outside, on the patio, because the day is pretty.” Shiro began as he moved just a little closer to Lance, their hands never coming apart.
Lance smiled, just slightly, and if Shiro hadn’t been looking for it he would have missed it completely.
“And they make their own kettle chips, so they are warm and salty.” Lance added to the tale Shiro was weaving.
The bigger man nodded.
“There are people out and about, walking their dogs and jogging. There’s a woman walking a Corgi and of course you ask to pet him.” Shiro laughed.
Lance laughed too.
He loved dogs.
Back home they always had at least five or six. He’d always wanted a Welsh Corgi of his own. He was now aware he must have told that to Shiro at some point. Shiro was good about that, picking up on the small details. He remembered the things Lance himself had forgotten. Lance wanted to think that amount of attention was saved for him alone, but he wasn’t sure and he’d never ask.
“Maybe we have a Corgi.” Lance whispered.
“We do, three actually. Two that you adopted and one that I gave you our first Holiday together.”
Shiro didn’t miss a beat. He was good at this. They had done this several times, first beginning in the observation deck late one evening, the two of them just barely touching their knees together. They couldn’t risk appearing to be…too close. Shiro didn’t think whatever this was, would be received well by everyone else. They were at war, and it wasn’t fair for their leader to pick favorites. Lance understood, or at least tried to. But it still hurt a little. The wandering dread that maybe Shiro kept him secret because he was embarrassed of Lance often nibbled at the back of the young man’s neck.
He shook his head. He refused to let those intrusive little thoughts ruin the moment at hand.
Their stories were slightly different each time. They lived in different areas, had favorite places that changed as they came up with them.
“There’s the sound of someone playing the guitar on the street corner.” Lance replied.
“You know the song, so you sing it to me. It’s beautiful.” Shiro chuckled.
“Your singing voice is fantastic.” He added.
Shiro’s nose was pressed into Lance’s neck then.
“Stop it, it is not.” Lance argued with a giggle.
“But it is. I’m smitten by it, you turn heads of course, they can’t help but to find out who in the world has that voice of gold.” Shiro smiles, and his lips touch against Lance’s caramel skin ever so softly.
Lance inflated just a little bit at the idea.
“We drive down to the state park afterward.” Lance mused, tilting his head to the side, giving Shiro more flesh to work with.
Shiro’s slowly let loose of Lance’s hand, only to wrap his big arm around the younger man’s thin waist.
“You love the hiking trails there. We walk through the trees, seeing a few birds along the way. You brought your bird book with you, but neither of us can decide confidently what species they are.” Shiro grinned.
“I’m obviously right but you won’t admit it.” Lance teased.
“Of course not. But you are right, you are always right.”
Shiro’s mouth was warm against Lance, offering appreciative, soft little kisses, leaving a trail of them all the way up the length of Lance’s neck.
Lance turned his head very slowly, baby blues coming open from behind heavy lids. Shiro’s heart softened at the sight of it. One look from the other man and everything in the entire universe was right. If only for a moment. Those eyes were the deep end of a pool. He’d stepped in and didn’t mind drowning. For a short breath there was no war, there was no need for Voltron, Shiro had never gone to Kerberos, He’d never been captured by the Galra. They’d never been stripped from their homes so young and inexperienced. They’d been allowed to grow together, to have this sense of normalcy both boys longed for.
“We get lost on the trail.” Lance huffed breathlessly.
Shiro’s lips were mere centimeters from his own.
“And wouldn’t it be our luck that a spring shower is forming.” Shiro whispered.
“Good thing there’s a cave to keep us dry.” Lance replied, eyes hooding lazily.
With that Shiro pressed their mouths together, hot and desperate and eager. He tasted heady and overbearing and it was making Lance just the slightest bit dizzy. Lance kissed back, far too wanting, hands immediately grasping at whatever part of the black paladin he could find. Long fingers tangled in the front of Shiro’s under armor, the material slightly damp with perspiration. Shiro’s tongue bullied against the other man’s, hard and mean and Lance was pretty sure he was going to eat him alive. He didn’t care, he wanted to be swallowed, he was more than willing.
They’d not come together like this in months.
Lance couldn’t even remember the last time they’d so much as brushed hands.
Everything had been laid to the wayside in the looming shadow of the Galra empire. The Galra took everything and gave nothing back, they never slept and in turn Voltron always had to be there to butt heads with them. There was no time for rest, there was no time to sort out the pestering feelings between the two paladins. They didn’t have time to put words to it. It was just a series of strange happenings here and there.
Unexpected moments that were few and far between.
Their relationship or lack thereof, was built on them. The touch of a hand to a shoulder in passing. That one overly passionate kiss in the shower stall when all the others were off on a mission. The late night visits to one another’s rooms, fucking quick and quiet and breaking apart immediately afterward.
Lance’s heart ached just the slightest bit with the recollection of all the times he’d wanted to stay curled in Shiro’s sheets. But anxiety and nerves had kicked him out. So he’d always gathered his clothes quickly, hung his smile back on his face and left Shiro there with nothing more than a whispered goodbye in the dark. He was always on his own to make that shameful walk through the castle corridors in the young hours of the morning.
But here, like this, with nothing but the blackened sky as an audience everything felt just a little bit different. A slight hint more real, a portion more brave…or maybe Lance was imagining it all.
A glisten of lightning illuminated the two men’s forms, outlining them against the rock as Shiro just barely pulled back for a needy breath. His human palm, still covered by his uniform glove rested tenderly on the sharp of Lance’s cheek. The younger man moved into the touch, eyes closing for longer than the standard blink.
“And there’s nobody for miles.” Shiro huffed softly into the tender shell of Lance’s ear.
“We know we will be alone for who knows how long.” Lance mumbled in return.
Shiro’s big, stern hands moved Lance with great ease, shifting the other paladin into his lap. Lance spread across him unabashedly, painfully graceful and limber.
“For hours maybe.” Shiro replied, his voice low and rough.
Lance leaned forward to meet with Shiro’s lips once more, arms coming to encircle the other man’s shoulders, taking the moment for all it was and even what it wasn’t. His fingers spread out over broad, thick shoulder blades, moving into the display of affection as if these might be their very last moments alive. Even if they were, Lance would have to say he couldn’t have cared. They would have been happy ones at the very least…soaked in the illusion that they were whispering to each other. They had built this pretend world, far off on this little planet deep in the thick of the trees. They were so lost in it all that it was uncertain if they would navigate to the exit. It didn’t matter. None of it did. Because what Lance had, right then, right there…was home.
His boyfriend that he went on morning jogs with. The man that he shared a bed with every night, Shiro hogging too much of the mattress with his bulk, the rhythm of their heartbeats in the bedroom the lullaby they fell asleep to night in and night out. They had a life, built by their two hands working together as one, setting the bricks down over time. He had his family, whom they visited often…as they only lived just thirty minutes away. His family adored Shiro and took him in as one of their own. They would spend weekends in the house Lance grew up in, sharing his childhood bed that was far too small.
Shiro would laugh and help his mother in the kitchen, always lending a hand where he could.
In their stories they told...Lance could have all of this. Shiro could be all the things he ever wanted.
His younger cousins would hang off the big man like little animals.
He imagined Shiro was good with kids.
Lance felt Shiro’s palms wander down his length, coming to dig into the flesh of his ass.
“What do we do with the hours?” Lance panted softly, a bead of sweat racing down his forehead, only to drip off his brow.
“Whatever we want.” Shiro near growled, his grip on Lance’s backside answering the question with certainty.
Lance drew in a shaky breath, the hot, thick air unsatisfying to his lungs. It caught in his throat, making it hard to swallow. His mouth was suddenly so dry. They’d done this before. It wasn’t the first time and yet it felt so crisp and new it was almost terrifying. The touch of Shiro’s palms, the want in his every movement, it had shivers clambering down Lance’s spine. This was a fire bigger and brighter than anything they had lit before and it honestly…scared him. Just a little. Or maybe a lot. He hadn’t quite decided just yet.
Shiro’s hands worked beneath Lance’s breastplate, the young man’s fingers immediately coming to assist. The battle worn armor was set to the side, fingers unclipping buckles, loosening fastenings, the cumbersome task of stripping out of their armor only becoming that much more of an annoyance in the present situation.
Shiro’s smile was lazy as he observed the gorgeous man seated across his big thighs. After bumped elbows and a lot of fiddling, they had both managed to get down to their black bodysuits. Shiro’s touch wandered down Lance’s side, his big thumb pressing against the pad of flesh just over the young man’s hip. The black material hugged him like a second layer of skin, leaving so little to the imagination it was near painful.
Lance reached into the black paladin’s hair, running fingers through sweaty locks, Shiro seeming to weaken at the touch. Lance liked the way the big man always allowed his guard to come down in these private moments. His role of leader left somewhere in the dirt and once again he was that bright eyed young man that had no idea what hardship was and the world was still only as large as Earth’s known universe. He smiled brighter when they were like this, caught in one of their little games. Because for a second, their shared stories were real.
A crack of thunder caused Lance to startle and Shiro’s grip tightened on him protectively. They smiled together, wide and genuine. They came together once more, as if they needed the taste of each other to survive. Shiro’s fingers were gentle as they drew down the zipper of Lance’s body suit, slowly, the material coming undone like a delicate flower blooming in the new day. Lance leaned back, shrugging the clothing off his slender shoulders one at a time.
Lance’s caramel skin glistened with a soft sheen of sweat, an illumination of light across the sky haloing him in brilliance. Shiro could do nothing but bask in the radiance of the other man.
Without his gloves on, Shiro could feel Lance’s flesh beneath his human hand. The young man was warm to the touch, soft and inviting. He was beautiful, in every sense of the word. The sight of him was enough to have Shiro melting, captivated by the wonder that Lance was. He’d never expected to gather such strong feelings for someone that was supposed to be his teammate and his student. The feelings were unexpected, gone ignored at first, the large man sweeping them beneath the rug time and time again. Leaders shouldn’t act on such irrational desires.
That was until he had.
On the training deck, after the others had filtered out opting for sleep, over more practice…it had just been Shiro and Lance. They’d fought hard, Lance obviously having something to prove against the black paladin. He’d been so tired, Shiro could see the light fading in his eyes but even when he’d been knocked to the floor over and over again he’d still gotten back up, refusing to let the ground become his home. He was too proud for that. Lance had braced against him, determination dripping from his pores and Shiro couldn’t stand it a second more.
Shiro had kissed him first.
Sometimes the man liked to convince himself it was the other way around, but he knew it wasn’t.
And Lance had kissed him back.
It was short and nervous and they’d broken apart near instantly.
They didn’t speak about it for a week.
That was until it happened again, and again…and again.
“You’re so beautiful.” Shiro nearly rasped the words, eyes dazed with arousal.
Lance bathed in the compliment like it was made of gold.
The lanky man arched forward, pressing his apex to the meet of Shiro’s thighs. Shiro groaned in response, the sound going straight down to Lance’s ego. The young man drank the tenor in and savored it, living for the high that it left him with. His favorite drug, the one he should really say away from…but like any good addict he always came back for one more hit.
He ground his hips into his partner, feeling the hard outline of Shiro’s cock.
This earned him another sound from the big man, this one deeper…needier.
Shiro leaned forward, teeth bold as he traced them across Lance’s chest, appreciating the way the man arched into the advances. The black paladin’s tongue danced circles around the younger man’s sensitive left nipple, and then his right, causing Lance’s breath to hitch. Lance dug his teeth into his lip, trying to stifle the embarrassing sounds that were threatening to come forth.
Lance slapped a palm across his mouth out of instinct.
When they treaded here, it was always best to be quiet. Lance would cut off every hint of a moan, muffling it into a pillow or into the flesh of his hand. He could never be too loud, his moans of passion possibly giving away the secrets they weaved between each other.
Shiro’s eyes lazily drawled up to Lance’s face.
A big hand gently clasped around Lance's fingers, taking them away from his lips. Lance’s mouth hung just slightly open, panting into the warm air, eyebrows furrowed in concern.
“There’s nobody here.” Shiro whispered, his tone dark and devious.
“Let me hear you.” He snarled as his teeth latched to the thrum of Lance’s pulse, digging in sharp and deep.
Lance’s eyes rolled back into his head, everything in his body stirring to life with the rough treatment. It hurt…in a way that was so lusciously obscene Lance was fairly sure his heart had stopped dead in his chest.
“I want to hear everything.” Shiro groaned, worrying more marks over the gorgeous brown flesh of his partner.
Lance knew those would leave bruises. He could feel them already forming beneath the first layer of flesh. One after the other Shiro was breaking the very set of rules that he himself had created in the first place.
No sounds, you have to be quiet babe.
No marks…someone could see.
Their routine was based around tiptoeing, around being careful… and now suddenly Shiro was asking him to carelessly throw all of that out the window. Warmth pooled in the pit of Lance’s stomach. He couldn’t lie and say he didn’t like the idea of it. The idea of the two of them, sharing a passionate moment the way it was supposed to be experienced.
Shiro lifted his hips into Lance’s unabashed of just how much he needed the young man. Lance gasped out, allowing his voice to come forth, finding it from the depths of himself. It felt so strange. Shiro’s palm snaked between Lance’s thighs, fingers teasing over Lance’s need, his erection straining against the overly hot material clinging to his bottom half. Lance moaned out then, the sound full and brave and loud as it bounded off the cave walls.
Shiro seemed to drink up like it was the best thing that had ever hit his tongue.
“S-Shiro!” Lance begged pitifully.
Shiro’s name was good slipping so hotly through his teeth.
Shiro groaned into the sound, pressing the two of them together with more insistence.
Lance fumbled to unzip Shiro’s own bodysuit, revealing pale swells of muscle, hard earned from this world they had been thrust into.
“You sound so good.” Shiro managed to groan, eyes sweeping over Lance from top to bottom.
Lance smiled with all his teeth.
The blue paladin continued to peel the other’s clothing from his body, eager to get his hands on what was beneath. Shiro didn’t seem to be in any type of hurry to assist in the matter.
Lance huffed.
“Am I going to have to do all this work by myself?” Lance griped playfully.
Shiro shrugged leisurely.
“What’s the rush?” Shiro grinned.
Lance made a pleading sound in the back of his throat.
“ I need you inside of me.” Lance hissed.
Shiro swallowed hard.
There was no way in this world that Shiro could refuse Lance’s request. Maybe a stronger man could have, but he couldn’t imagine it was even possible. The look in Lance’s eyes was dark and playful, something devious and Shiro found himself hopelessly lost in those gorgeous circles of blue.
The two of them were less than graceful as they worked themselves out of the clothing, hands pulling and pausing every so often to press their lips together in fits of passion.
And then there, in the mouth of the cave, they sat wrapped within each other, for only the dark clouds to see. The storm would never breathe a word of what happened here. Their secrets would lie scattered on the surface of the planet for all of time.
Shiro’s grip on the blue paladin was strong and safe, holding him steady in big arms that were like brick walls. Lance looked at Shiro and he built a home out of him.
“We’ll go out to dinner after this.” Lance panted as one of Shiro’s hands left him, fumbling to the side pack of his suit.
Shiro laughed softly, finally finding his prize, a small bottle of lubricant hidden wrapped in a cloth at the bottom of the pack. Secrets like theirs’ always called for hidden things like such. He was never sure when he’d be allowed to have Lance like so, always hopeful regardless and always prepared. As any leader should have been…only for all of the wrong reasons.
“Of course. It’s our anniversary after all.” Shiro whispered raggedly.
The big man’s fingers were cold as they spread the thin, slick substance over the puckered flesh of Lance’s rear. Lance gasped into Shiro’s neck, burying his nose in his hair. It was so overwhelmingly humid, the heat between them nearly unbearable.
“Is it?” Lance murmured.
“It is. Did you really forget babe?” Shiro huffed, index finger teasing around Lance’s entrance.
Lance didn’t answer, only mewled into Shiro, hips wandering back into the big man’s touch, greedily asking for more.
“We’ve been together three years today.” Shiro went on, weaving the imaginary tale as his first finger delved into Lance, the action met by a low, wanting groan from the younger man.
“Has it really been that long?” Lance managed in broken sentences as Shiro added another finger.
Lance sunk down on the digits as Shiro slowly fucked them into him, far too unhurried for Lance’s liking.
The young man whimpered, voicing his displeasure for Shiro’s pace.
“Afraid so. Where are we going to eat?” Shiro asked, his breath cascading in warm curls over Lance’s shoulder.
“My favorite sushi place. The one on the far side of town that has some stupid Island name.” Lance muttered, a hiss of a sound ripping from his lungs as Shiro added a third finger, opening the thin man up gently.
“Island Times.” Shiro chuckled nibbling Lance’s ear.
Lance moaned out, the sound thick and brilliant as it blanketed Shiro’s form and finally nodded.
“That one.” He said shakily.
“Oh fuck Shiro please…” Lance begged as Shiro’s digits worked into him.
The stretch was so good, but not nearly enough. Lance’s hunger would not be fed on that alone.
“You sound good when you beg.” Shiro snarled darkly.
The phrase sent shivers rattling down Lance’s frame, his eyes fluttering closed heavily.
And then Shiro’s fingers were gone, leaving Lance to flex around air, lubricant drooling off the reddened flesh. Lance whined, loud and needy.
The head of Shiro’s cock was blunt against him, Lance lifting up on his knees slightly, allowing Shiro to align with him. The blue paladin sunk down slowly, both men seeming to hold their breaths as Lance’s flesh opened up to take him, swallowing his head too quickly. Shiro groaned out, the noise gravely and winded. Lance ducked forward, tucking his chin against his collar.
“ You’re so big.” Lance whimpered, teeth grit together as he stilled, allowing his body to adjust.
Shiro’s grip on his hips tightened, Galra hand cool to the touch and Lance was ever grateful for the small bit of relief from the heat.
“You look so good stretched around me.” Shiro snarled throatily.
Lance sunk just a little farther, taking several more inches of his lover.
Shiro snapped his teeth together loud enough for Lance to hear . The big man had to do everything in his power not to just come right there. It had just been so long and Lance was so warm…so tight. So incredibly tight.
Shiro tilted Lance’s chin up, gathering his lips with his own, the young man sinking into the bliss of the kiss and in turn relaxing around Shiro, taking him to the hilt. Shiro bucked his hips up slightly, moving them in a teasing little circle. Lance broke their mouths apart to cry out loudly, the sound awakening dark things in the black paladin’s stomach.
Shiro’s fingers dragged over thin hips as he rammed up into Lance, steadying the young man as he found his pace. Lance’s deafening cries echoed off into the trees, cut off sharply by a slap of thunder.
One of Shiro’s hands moved to rest between Lance’s shoulders, possessive and hard, but in the same sense protective. Lance liked it like this, hard and mean. And so Shiro always gave him his way. He couldn’t refuse the young man. Ever.
Lance used Shiro’s shoulders as leverage, experimentally rocking his hips to meet up with Shiro’s thrusts from below. The blue paladin arched, body limber and breathtaking as he was consumed by the pleasure running like molten lava through his veins.
His fingernails bit sharp divots into Shiro’s skin. The big man answered the rough treatment with harder, steadier motions, jarring up into the lean body above him.
Lance threw his head back wild and beautiful, like some untamed wolf howling his praises to the new blue moon. Lance’s digits tangled in Shiro’s bangs tugging as the man’s teeth sunk into the flesh of his collar, harder this time, like he had something to prove. Shiro’s false fingers curled around his partner’s wrist, tucking it behind him as he took control of the situation meanly. Lance gave in willingly, crying out loudly with each of Shiro’s harsh motions.
The black paladin was thick within him, stretching his body farther than he really thought it could go. But he was young and he was so pliable, taking Shiro’s girth like he was made for the task. They fit together like puzzle pieces, sliding into place with ease.
Shiro growled into him, the sounds so primal and rattling it was nearly unnatural. He was hardly recognizable as their valiant leader, the head of Voltron. He was always so composed, in control at all times. But with Lance draped around him like a silk robe, their hot breaths coming together, he was unraveling like a ribbon. He’d never let anybody else see him like this, so rough, pupils big and blown, succumbing to something so human it was almost disgusting.
The corners of Lance’s vision sparkled as Shiro pressed up against the sensitive need within him, sending his body reeling and careening. Shiro held him tight, knowing he’d found that internal weakness, thrusting purposefully up into Lance at the same angle.
“There?” Shiro groaned.
Lance nodded weakly, his head suddenly seeming like it was only attached by a string, bobbing as he couldn’t keep it held up right.
Shiro thrust faster, harder, hips snapping up into Lance at an unforgiving pace. Lance was nearly screaming, his voice high and shrill and unbridled. He sounded so good like this. Shiro was fairly certain he’d never heard anything more beautiful.
The young man’s knees were red and raw as they rested on the stone, but he hardly noticed. He couldn’t grasp onto any one thing, all his thoughts jumbling together like some great mess in his head. He couldn’t decipher what was real, what was not, where they were…why…?
All he knew is that the pleasure raging through him like some great beast was so powerful he could hardly breathe. He knew Shiro’s touch was real, every whispered word was real.
He knew he loved Shiro.
Right then and there.
The words were weighty as they settled down in him.
But Shiro didn’t know and he wouldn’t.
He loved him with his whole heart and Shiro couldn’t know.
Lance moaned Shiro’s name again and again, like some old world prayer. He pleaded it to the other man, to the stormy skies, to the old stone surrounding them.
His stomach was tight, every muscle in his lithe little body seeming to tense and coil as he settled right there on the edge. He was in danger of teetering over it and he’d never wanted the fall more.
Their bodies were hot against one another, perspiration dripping down torsos, outlining the swells of muscles.
Tears pricked at the corners of Lance’s eyes, his mouth hanging in a weak oval. He was over stimulated, over emotional and everything was crashing into him like a violent sea.
“ Shiro, Shiro I can’t…I’m…gunna come…” Lance sobbed, a thin line of drool sliding over his chin.
Shiro ground his cock up into the young man as if searching for his very center. His hold was so rough. His perfect teeth nipped at Lance’s soft earlobe.
“Come for me. Fucking come for me.” Shiro demanded.
Lance shuddered at the curse coming hot off Shiro’s tongue. The big man was lost and Lance was too, so deep in the moment he knew they would both sink together here. They’d never make it out alive.
Shiro’s thick palm curled around Lance’s bouncing cock, his ring of fingers tight as he stroked up the young man. He twisted his grip, sliding Lance’s foreskin up over his blisteringly red, swollen head. The pretty man wailed, tongue fat in his mouth, words trying to form into sentences but they were getting tangled in his mouth. Shiro thought he heard the sound of his name, but it was hard to tell with the mutterings the blissed man was spouting. Lance’s erection oozed thick tears of sticky precum, the fluids running over Shiro’s skin obscenely. Shiro rubbed his big thumb up Lance’s slit, collecting more, gathering loud sounds of pleasure from the blue paladin. Shiro brought the digit to his mouth, sucking it thoughtfully, sampling the taste of his lover with a grin.
“You taste sweet.” Shiro snarled with a terrifying smile.
Lance hiccupped weakly, streams of tears cutting rivers through his dirty cheeks.
Shiro’s hand was back around him, stroking up his length in time with his every thrust. Lance bowed, back bending in a beautiful arch, thighs quaking as if they may give way at any second. The chocolate haired man made a choked sound, half a moan half a cry and his body went rigid in Shiro’s grip.
Lance came hard, his eyes squeezed shut as he clutched Shiro desperately. His cock jumped with the hard orgasm, expelling hot ropes of come up Shiro’s chest and his own. He rocked into each release, riding the hard pleasure as his body came to pieces in his partner’s palms. His head floated, his eyes rolling, sucking in a breath and holding it as the ecstasy constricted him.
It seemed to last an eternity, the seconds turning to eons until finally…his body had nothing left to give. He was boneless against Shiro, sinking into him, hardly aware of the world around him. He wasn’t even sure he could recall his own name at that point.
Shiro’s hips did not cease, fucking up into the spent young man frantically, desperate to chase Lance’s finish, desperate to just get there. Lance’s eyes fluttered as he wrapped his arms around Shiro’s neck, burying his face in the big man, face wet and disgustingly sloppy.
A deep, low groan rose up from Shiro’s lungs and the man’s hips stuttered, body pressed flush to Lance’s hindquarters as he came. He didn’t have the decency to ask Lance if he could come inside him, he just did. Lance couldn’t find it in himself to be upset.
The sensation of Shiro pulsing within him, pumping him full of all he had to give was somehow nauseatingly right. Lance purred into the feeling, very tiredly rolling his body down onto Shiro’s cock feeding the other man's orgasm. Lance watched the black paladin’s face through lazy eyes, the man’s face twisted into delightful stupor. Pleasure was a good look for him, Lance thought with a peevish smile.
Shiro’s grey eyes rolled open slowly, meeting with Lance’s red tinged orbs. He offered the other man a lopsided smile, the expression sated, silly and maybe even a little embarrassed.
“We watch movies on the couch…after dinner…” Lance panted softly.
Shiro nuzzled against Lance’s warm cheek.
“And I have to carry you to bed because you fall asleep like always.” Shiro breathed tiredly.
“You tuck me in and crawl in next to me. And we fall asleep…just like that.” Lance whispered.
Shiro’s hand stroked gently through Lance’s hair.
“Just like that.” Shiro repeated with a nod.
Lance pressed their foreheads together softly.
“I wish this never had to end.” Lance said suddenly, his voice quiet and sad.
Shiro kissed his temple.
“I promise. Someday…it won’t have to.” Shiro assured closing his eyes.