Y'AAALLL...

I.am.going.to.lose.hair.cuz.of.the.stress. and I'm not even kidding. I just had my first national test after three years and it went ok I guess??? BUT, I have pictures to draw for my school application and my hand is dying and it feels like I haven't written in a decade (which I haven't) and I'm just dying inside right now cuz we have even more tests coming up and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

But here, have a very late chapter :D

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"ALLURAAAAA!" My words rattled the walls, resonated the castle corridors as I rushed to search for my sister, finding her in the dining room with our mom, Melenor, as they sat bended over a couple of holograms, chatting away in subdued voices.

But as soon as I barged in, both their heads whipped up at the same time, looking at me with large eyes. Allura dropped something she held to the table, and the clang of it made both the women flinch. My sister scrambled with the dropped item as she put it to the side, her eyebrows twitching.

"L-Lance...You sca..." She began to stutter, but I quickly interrupted her.

"Could I please have a word with my dearest, kindest big sister?" I batted my eyelashes innocently, adding a strained, wide smile afterwards. When I met Allura's gaze, I tried to put a clear message into my eyes, one that said get your princess ass up this chair in this instant and COME WITH ME. She must have gotten the hint, because her eyes widened, and she very hesitantly and carefully stood up, her hands gripping the edge of the table firmly. She began turning her head towards our mom for a dispensation, but before she could ask, I beat her to it.

"This won't take long mother, I'll just have to burrow Allura for a minute. She'll be back in no time", I vowed, putting my hand on my chest as I shut my eyes intently and bowed forward just slightly, before dashing forward and took a death grip of my sister's arm and yanked her to the exit. Allura gave out a little squeak at the sudden movement, but let me drag her out nevertheless.

"...sure...", mom began to say but me and Allura was already out of the door, turning the corner to stand out of earshot from our mother. I stopped so abruptly that my sister practically walked straight into me, her face hitting my shoulder blade. She squealed again.

"What is up with you, Lance? Me and mother were actually doing some very imperative preparations for the imminent ball", she snapped, her white eyebrows set hard over her bright eyes. Normally, I would have felt daunted by her look, but now I was terrified for a completely different reason, one that included a certain Galra boy and what had exactly happened him. But before I could let my mind wander off into perilous paths of assumptions, I opened my mouth to explain the situation - thus, lie about it all.

"Allura, Allura!" I said sharply, gripping her arms and staring her dead in the eye. She pursed her lips together. "Nyma, she's finally back! And I'm seeing her, like, right now! You'll have to cover up for me, come up with an excuse if someone notices I'm gone. I'll tell you what, if someone asks, tell them I'm visiting Hunk and Pidge. Be convincing, don't panic. I trust you." Now I placed my hands on her shoulder, and she flitted a look sideways at one of them, before pinning me with a hard stare.

"Lance", Allura began, her voice leaning towards vexation. I knew this would turn into some kind of sisterly lecture, and I definitely didn't have time for such a thing. The timer in my mind was ticking, my worry for Keith's well being increasing. My thoughts was beginning to run free, throwing horrible theory after theory inside my head, until the only thing that existed in my mind was all the different kinds of trouble he could have gotten himself into. He got kidnapped, one voice inside my head cried out. He could kill that intruder with only his stare, the other, more judicious, voice reassured. But they both dispersed as my sister spoke again. "I'm happy that Nyma is back again, I really am, but you can't go now. It's almost dinner time. If you could at least wait until tomorrow morning..."

"I can't wait!" I exclaimed and Allura flinched again, her lips narrowing into a thin lie. I had to lower my voice after that, afraid that someone would manage to eavesdrop on us. "I can't wait. I've waited far too long already, and now she finally returned. I want to spend every little tick with her as I possibly can. That includes now." It physically pained me to lie this effortlessly - a kind of ache in my heart - but right now I didn't have the time for the remorse, not when every tick I spent here, was more ticks that Keith maybe was in trouble. I could only hope I was wrong, and that when I would arrive at the cave, Keith would be sitting there just fine, with a fully logical explanation as to why he hung up so suddenly, and the terror-struck expression on his face. Maybe a part of the cave was falling apart, and it had nothing to do with an interloper. Maybe Keith couldn't call back again after that because he needed to keep the cave steady so it all wouldn't just tumble down on him and crush his very muscular body.

Before I could let my theories drift any further, I took my hands away from Allura's shoulders, starting to back away. "I need to go now, Allura, just please, cover for me? Please. I'm counting on you."

I turned around just as she opened her mouth to oppose, and her protest faded away as I made a run for it, making my way over to the garden doors. My footsteps thudded against the floor, and my heart started to pound somewhere in my head. This whole situation was hopefully not as horrifying as I made it seem, and when I arrived at that cave, I would sigh in relief, laughing at how absurdly distressed I had been. Everything would turn out just fine.
I let my gaze fall down to my boots as I pumped my arms to move me forward. Everything was okay, I was only overreacting, like I always did. I would get there, hopefully getting out of the castle with no further distractions...

My face collided with something solid, and the impact of it sent me staggering backwards, my arms darting forward to try and grip anything to hold me upright, just like in the water. And like before, a firm clutch on my arm is what steadied me, preventing me from falling flat on my bum. I looked up at my saver and my breath caught in my throat, making me give out a strangled noise.

"Da...F-father...!" I squeaked, solidifying into a terrified rock in his grasp. In this moment, he looked like an approaching predator ready to bite on my lies I would ramble up, but it was just in this moment, with me on the verge of sneaking out of the castle to visit a Galra that was very much not allowed into our home planet, that if he were to get noticed by anyone other than me, he would surely face the worst kind of sanction. A sanction that could most likely mean death. My whole body went through a violent shudder just as my dad spoke.

"What's the hurry, son?" He chuckled in a low, tired voice, the wrinkles around his slumped, blue eyes deepening as he looked down at me. I felt just like a little kid again when I looked up at his towering body, shaking in fear after I'd done something stupid and I was afraid of his reaction towards it. Just now, it didn't have anything with breaking a valuable item or going against his commands. This was me breaking fate's rules, and me bringing the possible consequences even closer to me. Soon I would be practically embracing them. I was about to drift away to my mind space when dad opened his mouth again. "You're running as if you were Coran being chased by one of those Unilues when he'd made a false trade."

My laugh sounded painful as I forced it out, almost sobbing in the process. Dad's eyes immediately twitched in suspicion, but he kept his smile, putting a big but soft hand on my shoulder.

"Where are you heading to in such a haste?" I hated how his eyes just narrowed in the slightest, like he tried to squint and see past the feeble barrier I was trying to create around me.

"To meet Pidge and Hunk." Quiznack, too fast. I tried again. "To...meet...Pidge and...Hunk..." Too slow! It was just best for me to not talk at all. That way I wouldn't risk saying anything dicey, or the way I said it. Dad's eyes were almost two slits - or maybe they were just naturally that small. I quickly had to add, in the most moderate voice I could muster: "We...are working on a project. We're... translating food recipes to upgrade the castle shield and to...network a wave...?" Now dad's eyebrows was slowly raised, and I mentally face palmed myself. I couldn't even lie properly now. And why did I even want to lie properly? That was the worst kind of ability to have.

"Allura did allude to something about a project of recipes, but I never heard anything about upgrading the castle shields", dad hummed in wonder, looking to the side and looking like he was in deep thought. "How does one work? Translating food recipes to improve a castles barricade? I've never heard of such a thing."

"Weeell, you know...Pidge and Hunk's crazy innovations. You never know what's going on inside their heads", I quickly tried to save myself, bringing up my hand to scratch my neck, the scraping sounding too loud in the little silence between us, so I immediately dropped my hand, just as dad was turning his head around again, looking down at me, smiling a smile that didn't really reach his small eyes, and which I doubted would in a while. Ever since Zarkon's deception, dad's smile would always look stiff, and his laugh would either be limited or just very paltry, like he didn't find it in him to put enough energy in them. And the wrinkles... All the wrinkles on his face that certainly didn't have to do with his age. Looking at him now, one would think that he was maybe ten deca-phoebes older than he actually was. But right now, I was too jumpy to be worried about that.

"That is true", he said, and just when I was ready for this conversation to end, he added: "But Lance, I have been noticing a certain change in your comportment these past spicolian movements. Is everything alright, son?" His hand squeezed my shoulder, and I gulped. He had me captured now. I had no way of escaping. "I feel like these past deca-phoebes I have failed in doing my duties as a father to make sure everything is okay with my kids, and I just want you to know that although I may be busy and diligent in what I need to do for Altea - trying to compensate for Voltron's absence - my families hitches and botherations will always, no matter what, be pertinent to me. I'll always listen." Now his eyes just looked sad, and I wanted nothing more than to just disappear. This whole moment would have felt sweet and sincere, if it weren't in this moment, that moment where my heart was already expanding in worry, soon exploding.

"Wold it be pertinent to you even if I said that I'm visiting a Galra boy behind your back, and have done it for a while now?" I said, but only in my head. Always in my head, never out loud. What I did say instead, was: "Thanks dad... I mean! Father..."

His smile turned wider, but still never going high enough. He must have been prepared that I wouldn't just spill to him instantly - what he didn't know was that I was probably never going to tell him - so he just patted my shoulder before calmly pulling me into his arms, his other hand resting on the back of my head. The sudden movement felt impetuous, and my eyes widened against his shoulder blade, that hard white metal feeling cold against my cheek. After some stunned ticks, I forced my arms upwards, wrapping them around his broad body.

"Lance", he sighed against my hair, and I gripped his body tighter, appreciating this very unexpected action of affection. It just felt long ago since I had actually embraced dad like this, or anyone in my family. These past movements, I had been so wrapped in myself, that I had completely forgot everything else around me. In my living, the only ever thing that had existed for me had been Keith, and not getting caught actually seeing Keith. It had completely estranged me from my family, and this hug was a reminder of just that.

Dad sighed again, longer this time, and his warm breath ruffled my white hair strands. "You have so much potential within you, so much aptitude. Please don't waste it."

I was confused, couldn't really understand what he was implying on, but before I could ask him what he meant, he pulled away, and the upcoming warmth he was radiating disappeared. He still had his hand on my shoulder though, and he asked: "New shampoo?"

That threw me off even more, and I quirked one eyebrow, waiting for an elaborating to follow, but it never came. So I had to stutter out a hesitant "No...?"

Dad hummed in understanding, nodding once, flashing me one last smile before withdrawing his hand from my shoulder, and starting to go the direction I had just come from. I just stood there, staring ahead of me like I'd just found an undiscovered planet, like I'd just heard Hunk curse for the first time. Like on pure instinct, I whirled around, just as I saw dad look over his shoulder and, still holding that small smile, saying,

"Don't come home too late, but I'll let you skip dinner this time."

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My hands were quivering again, trying to steady the communicating device in my grasp, while also running for my life, but this time it wasn't for the same reason as before. This wasn't the same kind of worry.

My breaths were shallow and erratic, and I didn't know why the way over to him felt longer than ever before; it was like it never ended, like my feet were running the same route over and over, only to never reach the end. The branches under me crunched under my weight, all of them sounding like small detonations in my head. My mind hurt, legs ached. With trembling fingers, I pressed a signal to Hunk, keeping it on only voice call, and not video call, afraid that my surroundings would somehow reveal myself. And Hunk was better to call than Pidge, anyways, since Pidge would get too snarky and ask too many questions. I certainly didn't need questions now. Especially not Pidge's questions.

Hunk answered after three signals, and when he spoke, he seemed happy, the hologram of his voice waves bouncing in front of me.

"Hey Lance! I'm glad you called! I was actually about to tell you about this r..."

"Hunk!" I interrupted, trying to squeeze some excitement into my voice, despite the current situation that was far from exciting. "Hey, buddy, I really need you to do me a favor, like... a really big one..." I had to pause with the talking for a little, starting to feel exhausted. "You see, Nyma is back, so I'm off visiting her right now. But I lied to my parents about the actual reason as to why I'm... heading out. So, just so you know, I'm now with you and Pidge...translating recipes to update the castle... shields. Please tell Pidge that too."

"What? Okay, don't get me wrong, I am super happy for you, but... come one, translating recipes to upgrade the castle shields? That doesn't make any sense and you kno..."

"I know, Hunk! But cut me some slack here! I ran into my dad and I was panicking!" I was getting harder to speak, and soon I was just panting out incomprehensible words, or, something that was supposed to resemble words. When would I quiznacking reach my destination?

"Still don't understand how you could come u..."

"Hunk."

"Okay okay! You, me and Pidge, translating recipes to upgrade the castle's shields, got it! Aye aye, captain! Affirmative..."

"Good..." My mouth felt dry, and I had to swallow, only making it more torrid. "But please sound convincing Hunk. We don't want it to be like the last time yo..."

Before I had time to finish what I was saying, something pulled me down, and my breath was too slow to follow, so my lungs felt empty and I felt dizzy as I was tumbling down, the communicating device no longer in my hand, and my heart no longer in my chest. I gasped, going for a scream, but it was like déjà vu, having a strong hand over my mouth, muffling any sound I could let out, nothing sexual about it. Suddenly I was looking up towards the tree tops, everything still, not moving like it had done just now. I was some kind of peace, to finally stop.

He was behind me. Keith. I could recognize his smell anytime, and I hated that I could.
Keith, that I had been running to in the first place, convinced he was either kidnapped or very much injured, was now behind me, pressing my back against his chest as he pressed his back to the very big tree we were hiding behind, his hand over my mouth, his face just inches away from my ear. His chest was barely moving, and I started to wonder if he was even breathing. But then, if I listened close enough, I could hear the little puffs of air he was letting out, how they hit my skin, warm and ragged, immediately sending my hairs on my neck straight up. None of us were moving, and that made me very much aware of how his heart was like punches against my spine, the only sign that he was actually shaky. It made my heart respond in the same way, almost ripping my ribcage apart completely. I could even imagine how one by one, every bone would snap in half. Still, I sat perfectly still, knowing that something was currently happening, and it was best if I just acted dead altogether, nor moving or emitting any kind of sound.

The leaves rattled above us in the little gust of wind, softly and gingerly, like they also knew to be cautious, like they were trying to hold their breaths as well. My heart drowned the sound of them, pulse pounding loudly in my ears. It was almost loud enough to drench the sound of Keith behind me, and I tried to concentrate harder to hear it, because although it was irregular and nervous, they were still somehow mollifying. His hand had snaked around my waist at some point - or had it been there the whole time? - and his glove covered hand smelled strongly of smoke mixed with coniferous as it was just under my nose.

We sat just like this, hunched against each other against a tree, waiting for something, listening to the leaves palpitating in the breeze in some kind of rhythm. I was just about to get engulfed into it when another more harsh sound broke through, and I almost squeaked, but the hand over my face prevented the little cry to be heard and reveal our whereabouts to whoever was walking behind the tree trunk right now.
That was clearly footsteps, further back, sounding too jagged to be just one person. It sounded like they were about to walk past us.

I shifted, trying to peek from behind the tree, just a little, because my inquisitiveness was just that strong. But before I could fulfill my action, I was doggedly being pulled back, tighter against his solid chest. My breath hitched, and I could feel something, just barely, grazing my ear shell. It was Keith's lips, I realized, and they were scarcely moving, pressing a muted, almost inaudible word into my ear.

"Don't."

The wind carried his word with it, almost muffling it completely, but still I shivered against him, my breath fluttering. His mouth disappeared, and instead he put his chin on top of my head, making sure I wouldn't try and turn it again. From there on, I just sat perfectly still, but my thoughts weren't succeeding in being so motionless.

The footsteps had moved closer now, sounding like they were just several meters behind us, and I could feel how the sweat that ran down my body made my clothes stick just as uncomfortably as when I had fallen into that pond, only now it was warmer and far more tacky.

I listened to whoever was behind us walk further and further away, right past us, until you couldn't hear the footsteps at all, and only when they disappeared completely and the only sound left was the moving leaves around us, did I hear Keith exhale properly, but he still didn't lower his hand, probably scared I would be screaming directly when I got the chance to. Well, he wasn't exactly wrong...

My eyes fell down, my head throbbing, and I stared down at Keith's hand on my stomach, entangled into mine, and I tried to remember when one of us had taken the other's hand, but my mind was only impeded with fear and dread, and panic over that I was this close to him, almost melting in with his body. And we were holding hands~

He shuffled the slightest behind me, and just when I was about to think that he would stand up, he only fixed his legs in a better position - almost soundless - and his hand gripped mine harder, digging his chin deeper into my head, but it didn't hurt, not like it was supposed to. I took the opportunity to make a bold move and press myself even further back, letting my head fall slack, resting it against his collar. I gazed up at the looming trees over us, feeling like it was tucking me deeper into his embrace, and I sighed, didn't make any further sound even as Keith lowered his hand ever so slowly, letting it drop to my lap, taking my other hanging hand in his, pulling them both against my chest as he cradled me stronger, and I closed my eyes, for just this moment.

I didn't know what was happening anymore; maybe we were just high on adrenaline, making us make decisions we normally wouldn't ever consider doing. Or maybe this was just Keith's way of hiding us better from any potential threat, and I was enjoying it way too much, seeing it for something that it clearly wasn't. But then his thumb ran small circles over the back of my hand, running over my knuckles, one by one, taking all time on him, and I had to rethink. He moved it along every one of them, forward and the back again, before he started the same with my other hand. I wanted his gloves to be gone, I wanted to feel his skin. I wanted so many things in this particular moment, things that would have been embarrassing to reveal to anyone else - and even myself - but I couldn't get any of that. Not now, maybe never. So the best I could get was this.

But it ended too soo. His thumb reached that one last knuckle, and the tick he did, he stood up, so abruptly that it made me dizzy, almost falling back against the tree, but he caught me before I could, his touch way less tender now, and I let myself be scooped up, standing on wobbly legs, needing to lean my shoulder against the tree trunk for support, because Keith wouldn't give me any. It felt like I had just gotten an amazing massage, all my muscles in the mist of relaxation, but now it was time to put all my functions on high speed again, and it was a too quick change for me to process. He looked at me and his eyes looked dull.

"Don't. Make. A sound", he pressed through gritted teeth, and the wind wasn't there to carry it away into a soft tone anymore. This sentence had sharp edges, a bared truth. Nothing embellished. It made me shiver again, but for a completely new reason.

Keith turned around and nimbly ran out from behind our tree, disappearing behind the bushes and trunks. He was gone within milliticks, and without a freaking sound, too.

"Wha..." My mouth flopped open and closed, and it felt like my tongue had scrunched up into a crumbled cloth, like I'd dipped my whole head into sand and eaten a mouth-full of it. I could barely speak, so instead I just followed him, less graciously, of course, and I almost tripped ten thousands times before I reached my destination, one that had seemed so far away earlier, but seemed like only two meters away from me this time. I thudded my way into the darkness of the cave, waiting for that spark of fire he would lit, but it took way too long without any of that. I had to rely on my instinct to take me further into the grotto without falling or colliding into something on my way.

At last, I heard the stroke of the stick against the striking surface, like a familiar crackle in my head, and I relaxed.

No scratch that. I squealed

"Where's all your stuff?!" I yelled, the sand in my mouth making my tongue granulate into crumbs, and I grimaced, staring at Keith that was staring down at the empty cavern floor, at the spot where all his stuff used to be scattered over but weren't anymore. My chest tightened and I almost whimpered. "T-they... Those bastards, robbed you on your stuff?!" I hissed, in such a pitched voice it was almost too high for even me to hear.

He didn't say anything, and I wanted to cry, wanted to give him the whole castle, everything I owned just so I could provide him with anything he needed. I would pluck down the whole galaxy for him if he asked. I couldn't really make out his face in this light and this angle, and I wanted so bad to read the expression on his face, to know what he was feeling. Although...did I really want that? Could my heart handle more despair than it already was? Presumably not.

His hand moved, and he dug his hand into the little brown fanny pack he carried around his hip, before unhurriedly pulling out a little device, but this wasn't the communicating one. This was something he pressed, and the next tick, all his things scattered into view, showing themselves being pushed to the very far corner of the cave, stacked up on each other. It looked like they had been hidden behind a camouflaged barrier, and I had never been more baffled.

"W-what...what was...t-that..." I stuttered out, my eyes flacking from him to his belongings, and he turned around to look at me, his eyes set low and his lips a thin line.

"This would eventually happen", he muttered, not breaking eye contact with me. "That's why I have this.." He lifted his hand holding the device up, to show me. I only had time to see the color of it, before he let his arm sink beside him again. "If only I'd be fast enough to use it when you first visited me. If only I'd be quick enough to hide form you."

My brain had never been this confused and perplexed; it was like som kind of workout session. My mouth gaped at him, my eyes gaped at him.

"T-that again?!" I finally exclaimed, the sudden loud sound making me jump. "Are you seriously going on about that again, no matter how many time we had gone through it? About the whole fate is pulling us apa..."

"THIS WAS FATES WARNING, LANCE!" Keith roared, and everything around me stopped, stopped breathing, stopped living, afraid of the power his voice held, of the fury that sparkled in his eyes, his narrowed cat-like irises, afraid of the capacity his fangs held as his lips moved. I could swear that the walls trembled. "This was reality, hitting its first strike on us, reminding us of the situation we are in!" He took a step closer, and I couldn't think, couldn't comprehend anything that was happening. "This was reality telling us that there is no seeing past things, no truths to deny. This is now and this is what it is." Another step, another heart string of mine snapping in half. "If only I'd hidden in time", he mumbled, more to himself than to me, but I could still hear it perfectly. "Lance." Two more steps.
Four more. There was only half a meter apart from us and I had no idea how fast that could have happened. His eyes were beginning to wide out again, but his fangs remained, and my panic lingered like a thin layer of sweat over my body. Another tick passed, another movement happened. His face was just inches from mine, his fingers slinking into mine, and he said, "Lance, Lance...I..."

I watched his mouth form the next words he uttered.

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I'm awful, I know! Just...take this poor cliffhanger and wait another ten thousand years for the next update😭 #authoroftheyear

Okay so, I almost had a heart attack because I thought I had misread the instructions for the application test; that I wasn't allowed to bring digitally drawn pictures there, but I had already drawn them and I almost gave up completely because it's in TWO DAYS, but then I called them and they said it was fine, phew!

So anyway, I'm bringing this:

...because I'm such a sucker for Klance and I want them to know that. So here I present you model Klance, modelling for the Voltron Legendary Collection.

*sigh*, if only that existed.

💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜