forged in fire (ap)

     ❝ Uh  .  .  .  alright.   How  do  you  know  it  CHOOSES  YOU,  though? ❞      What  a  strange  concept,  but  interesting  tech  nevertheless.   Would  it  prove  to  help  against  INVADERS  of  one’s  ship  if  it  was  implemented  into  their  CPU?   Ratchet  couldn’t  help  but  mull  it  over  in  his  head,  due  to  the  fact  he  was  a  MECHANIC  at  heart  &  had  a  lot  of  previous  work  with  ships  of  all  kinds.      ❝WAIT  ——  what  happens  if  it  doesn’t,  er  —  choose  me? ❞

   “I didn’t really get it at first either, but it’s something you feel. It’s kinda like...

     the lion is calling out to you, but inside your brain. Maybe like...sonar or

     something?” Keith tries to explain. It’s not something that makes much sense

     to him, even after all this time, but Allura was a better one to explain it. She

     was far more familiar with Altean technology, obviously. “If it doesn’t choose

❝ Yeah… It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? ❞ He is aware it might be a hard topic for the younger man, so he has no intention to push on it. If anything, he was just glad to see he seems to be doing well. Or that he’s still alive and in one piece, at least.

❝ I just wanted to say hi. ❞

   It was a hard topic for Keith to handle. He didn’t like talking about it with the

     people who knew, let alone people who didn’t know. It was a frustrating topic

     for his brain to wrap around, so instead of talking about it, he kept it to

     himself. Not healthy, but it’s what he preferred. Tucking some hair behind his

     ear, Keith shuffles awkwardly, uncomfortable.

❝ No, not really… It doesn’t work like that. ❞ She sighs. It’s probably lame, and not helpful at all to make her story seem less made up. She can only hope he’s not too disappointed.  ❝ I’ve always been a good swimmer, but the mermaid thing only happens there. Lately I’ve been suspecting there’s a chance that maybe I can breath under water here too, but I’m scared to actually test it out. I don’t wanna die, you know. ❞ 

❝ A planet with mermaids? Like, alien mermaids? ❞ Her eyes widen, curiosity shining brightly in them.  ❝ I didn’t know that was a thing… What are they like? ❞

   He’s admittedly a little disappointed that he can’t see her morph into a

     mermaid, and it does make it seem as if she’s making her story up, but if

     Keith hadn’t been up here in space and had seen everything that he’d seen

     already, then perhaps he’d have more issues believing it. Or maybe he

     wouldn’t, considering the fact that he already believed in mermaids in the first

     place.

   “Yeah, alien mermaids. I don’t really know because I didn’t get to go...but

     Lance and Hunk say a lot of good stuff about the planet. Maybe if we make

It was hard to hide the pride that Keith’s words made him feel. All dressed up fancy as they were and with his hair combed back it was even easier to read Hunk’s face than normal. “Aww. Don’t be so nice to me Keith. You are making me blush. And this is a formal and very serious banquette.” He snickered and moved to very lightly bump his arm against Keith’s shoulder. 

The whole confident bit felt kinda like he had just tacked it on. It felt kinda fake. Hunk smile twitched slightly and he took a step to the side to pick up some baked flaky pastries that he piled on top of his plate. “What about you though? You don’t talk and I know it is because you don’t like it, but it comes off like you are the cool silent type. So when you say hello people just… Get all hyped up. They see it as bragging right to talk to you.” He took a sip of his glass and there was a visible shudder that ran up his back and his face twisted and he scrunched up his nose and his eyes teared up. Hunk coughed and blinked away the tear. “Sour!”

   Keith grins a bit, head tucking a little bit as he looks at Hunk from under his

     eyelashes, leaning into the bump just a bit, “I meant it. Trust me, I can’t talk to

     those guys, so you’re doing a lot better than me.” Yeah, it may seem like a bit

     too much flattery from Hunk’s perspective, but Keith’s serious and he means

     it. “Just take my word for it.”

   At the question though, Keith scrunches his expression up in thought, trying

     to look for a reasonable explanation to that. Did people really get that

     impression from him? Keith typically just thought people were scared of him,

     or at least that’s what he’d gotten from his point of view. “Seriously? To me it

     just seems like people are scared of me or something,” Keith states, placing

     a snack in his mouth absently before his eyes widen, palm instinctively going

He took Keith’s hand as it touched his shoulder. He gave the red paladin’s finger and reassuring squeeze. With a firm nod Hunk got up. He crawled out of the hole and placed his feet on either side of Keith. There was no time to loose. Keith was in a bad shape and if they didn’t get out of here right now chances were that this whole mission would end badly. The facility was collapsing, Keith was stuck and Hunk would not leave without him. 

So Hunk took a firm grip on the beam that was on top of Keith. He planted his feet as firm as he could and he straightened his back. “When I say so… Just crawl. Drag yourself away. Pull your legs up. Just…” He gritted his teeth and adjusted his grip again. He wished he could lift this and pull Keith loose himself. “Use my legs if you have.”

He took a deep breath and steeled himself. With one mighty heave Hunk pulled up at the beam. His feet settled into the debris and glass shards cracked under his boots. His arms shook and his back flexed. The beam was hardly moving at all. Hunk groaned and pulled even harder, closing his eyes and fully focusing on getting this heavy thing off of his friend. A scream rolled out of his chest as he felt the beam finally move, dust and debris rattling loose as it rose into the air. It was way too heavy to keep it up. Hunk pushed with his knees and stood up as far as he could come. The beam raising inch by inch until he couldn’t budge it anymore. “GO!” He yelled out. “GO GO GO!” His fingers were cramping up ad his hands hurt from the weight and the force. Slipping was not an option so his focus was fully on keeping this thing up. He had to believe that Keith could move at least a a little.

   The touch and the squeeze is reassuring, even though Keith’s not sure if he

     felt it in full force when it happened. Truth to be told, Keith wasn’t even sure

     how he was still alive. He was already pushing himself well past the limit,

     consciousness slipping in and out every couple of moments, his strength

     faded and his broken body shaking. It was a bad situation altogether, but

     Hunk needed him. Hunk couldn’t do this himself, even with all that strength in

     his body, and Keith wasn’t sure what he could do. Could he really move?

   But when he feels the weight of the beam lifted off of his body, it’s almost as

     if a tiny bit of strength returns back to him. He’s not sure if it’s subliminal or if

     it’s just him hoping for the best, but Keith knows that it’s something. Whatever

     it is, he’s taking advantage of it, doing his best to slide out the best that he

     can, gripping at every rock that he can, scratching his palms as he does so. It

     hurts, but so does everything else in that moment. It’s not until he’s finally out

     that he collapses again in the rubble below him, body twitching in pain, blood

     flowing from him with no issue. Had it been like this the entire time? It was

     truly a miracle that he was alive, then.

There’s a rather strange sound that no human should make, but alas Neff had surely made it. His asking for her promise caught her off guard, especially with the topic at hand. Keep trying? And with Shiro at that? She wasn’t quite sure how to feel about it. She didn’t want to get her hopes up, didn’t want to risk it.

….But at the same time Keith was cheering her on. Keith, who was closest to Shiro and knew more about him than anyone else on the team. Keith, who was the type of person who wouldn’t say to go for it if he didn’t think there was a chance. It made her wonder if maybe, just maybe, there WAS a chance.

“…….alright.” Alright?? Seriously? You’re going along with this Neff? “I promise…..to at least try. Just for a little while longer.” Man, she was really backing herself into a corner here, but if Keith really did want her to try….then she would. She trusted his judgement.

   It was probably weird to see him pushing like that, especially since he doesn’t

     like being pushed into affairs he isn’t prepared for himself, but Keith just has

     a feeling that it’ll work in her favor. He doesn’t know what that feeling is, but

     he’s filing it under his good instinct and intuition. It hadn’t failed him all those

     times that it’d been his friend in the past, so who’s to say that it would turn

     against him now?

   He knew he was always the one to dive headfirst into things, so maybe giving

     her advice on this matter was a bad idea, but only good could come from this

     in Keith’s eyes. Neff was an amazing person and Shiro had to have seen

     some of the same. There wasn’t anything bad about Neff, not to Keith

     anyway. Maybe the only bad thing was her unwillingness towards trying this.

   He smiles a little bit, for the first time in a while, and it’s a soft, warm smile. In

     all truth, Keith has a lovely smile, one that people do not often see enough.

     “Good. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Not that I know anything. I guess

Admittedly she was worried after slamming him down like that, a sort of coming to her senses washed over her and guilt followed soon after. He was still only a human and they weren’t exactly built like the lions; fixing the lions was an easy task requiring metal and lasers but for humans from what she’d learned of the first time Lance got hurt it took them longer to recover. She had honestly hoped she didn’t accidentally break any bones upon impact, she’d really hear it if she had.

“Uh are you–” It was all she could get out as she was flipped over and Keith was on top of her instead. Was she still worried, yes very much so, but there was also a human man on top of her pinning her to the ground. It’s not that it was a difficult task, but it had still admittedly come as a surprise. However, she thought, she could use this to her advantage. A sly smirk spread across her face as she looked up into the violet eyes of the man.

“Now whatever would Lance think if he suddenly appeared? Or any of the others for that matter? Keith you sly man you.” She immediately laughed after saying it, flopping the two back over again to take back her position. It was really just a harmless wrestling match between the two at this point but she’d be damned if she was about to let him win.

   Truth to be told, it had hurt, but it was nothing that he couldn’t handle. Keith

     had been smacked to the ground many a time, whether it was by a Galra

     soldier or from the Gladiator in the training room. It didn’t mean the wind was

     any less knocked out of him at her action, but perhaps it meant that Keith

     could take it better. No bones were broken in the matter, that was for sure,

     but Keith was stubborn and headstrong anyways. It was likely that he’d push

     even if there were broken bones just then.

   Everything was fine until he hears those teasing words on her lips, said lips

     curled into a sly smile as her entire expression reeks of smugness in this

     moment. What the heck? Where did that come from? He’s about to argue

     with her logic, beginning to sputter before he’s suddenly on his back again,

     eyes widened like a surprised, stunned child. What just happened?

   “Seriously?” Keith starts, annoyance in his tone, “It’s pretty obvious that we’re

     wrestling and not...that. If anything, Lance would wonder why I’m wrestling

▒ ❄ *.:｡✧ @bladelearnt​  

Honestly, this was all a long time in coming but it didn’t make Lance any less nervous. It seemed like from the moment the idea birthed in his mind, his heart had been beating non stop. He’s planned the day for months now, and it was finally going to unfold today and hopefully in his favor. 

“Keith?” Lance calls out, slowly opening the door to their room. He had woken up rather early to get the final details set up, leaving his slumbering partner to continue his rest. Keith had a terrible habit of running himself ragged, but he was getting better at knowing his limits. It took years, but Rome wasn’t built in a day and Lance took even the smallest victories with great relief and joy. 

For now, he enters quietly and slips inside the covers with Keith. He wraps an arm around his chest, pulling him in and kissing the nape of his neck until Keith stirred. “Wake up, kitten.” 

   His sleep had been deep that night into what was coming up on noon, the

     norm for Keith as Lance had learned after many a time of sharing a bed with

     his lover, but Keith had needed such a sleep. They always needed it with

     everything they went through each and every day. He had quite the issue

     falling asleep early at night, so letting Keith sleep into the day was quite the

     blessing for him.

   He’s woken by Lance’s arms wrapped around him through, stirring just a bit

     with a small groan coming out of him. He’s not ready, doesn’t want to, get up

     and prepare for the day, but Lance holding him in his arms somehow makes

     it a little bit better for him. “Not yet...five more minutes,” he mutters quietly,

Well now that just wasn’t any fun; he was supposed to try and catch it, but no here he was dodging the piece of metal and continuing to run. If he wanted to play like she did with the other lions then she was fine with that now especially. Literally taking off after him this time, she proceeded to go somewhat ahead of him, passing Keith entirely and screeching herself to a halt. From there she turned also as quickly one arm open to catch the boy and well body slam him to the ground below. Dangerous, yes, very much so but also so satisfying in a sense.

Thinking about it a minute she wondered how he’d not run out of breath yet, being as he was an oxygen breathing creature. Again it might have been the stamina from being part alien, but everything had its limits at some point.

   And how was he supposed to know that? It was human instinct to dodge

     something that was thrown at you, especially if it was an object that could

     easily hurt someone. And yeah, Keith could’ve caught it even if there was

     some recoil, but that wasn’t the initial response of his instinct. There’s a

     change then when Blue suddenly slams him into the ground faster than he

     could register though, the remaining air in his lungs suddenly releasing from

     his chest, eyes blown wide. He hadn’t expected that whatsoever.

   Pausing, Keith’s chest rising and falling at a heightened speed, Keith’s eyes

     focus on her, widened as he tried to process it. He’d been ignoring that burn

     in his chest for a while, but now that he’s stopped it’s beginning to catch up to

     him. “Looks like you caught me...” Keith trails for a moment before grabbing

     her and flipping her so that he’s on top of her, pinning her in place. Two could

      A CHUCKLE REVERBERATED IN HIS THROAT when the man seemed pleased with the answer, and hands cupped his lover’s face as he paused meeting lips and instead, met his forehead against forehead with the other. It was one of those mornings that they didn’t argue like the usual ten years ago, when Lance would wake up and complain about the bite marks Keith left him or Keith following a complaint when nails and bruises formed along his arms and back. They’ve mellowed through the years, he supposed. Hate sex turned more to tender lovemaking as years come by until they’ve reached this point where there were no subtle touches and lingering pining glances left for them.

            “ I can’t believe you said I’m HOT without blushing. Did you practice earlier in the mirror again? ” THE PALADIN PLAYFULLY TEASED, mouth reached for the tip of his lover’s nose, and his lips brushed softly against skin. “ Dude, I haven’t even kissed anyone before I kissed you, what do you mean I’m a great kisser? But anyway, someone has to kiss better to make this relationship work, am I right? Also, you’re just playing hard to get, babe, and I’ve fallen so hard. Please elaborate more. ” 

   In all fairness, their sex back then could hardly be described as “hate sex,”

     because Keith never hated Lance. Not for one second in his entire life, even

     when the brunet drove him nuts with his behavior as they were growing up,

     there wasn’t a single time when Keith hated him. He maybe hated how he did

     something, how Lance always thought Keith hated him, how he was always

     trying to pick fights, but no. It was never directed hate towards the brunet he

     was now married to, no matter how they used to talk with each other, and no

     matter how they used to fuck each other, because that’s what it used to be. It

     was never making love, it was fucking, but now it was far more of the former,

     even though the later was also thoroughly enjoyed.

   “Hilarious. I’m not as timid as you think, y’know,” Keith mutters in a low tone,

     teasing right back at him with a smug grin before letting it soften into a simple

     smile, feeling rather warm in that moment. “You must be some kind of natural

     then,” Keith starts, then breaking off to chuckle a little bit. What a guy he’s

     married to, honestly. “You’re an idiot, but you’re my idiot. That’s another

     reason. I also...really love how you are with your family. It’s good to know that

     they mean so much to you,” Keith now says, softer now, arms wrapping tight

Blue had figured he’d pull such a stunt, but was still taken by surprise none the less.  I mean he just essentially destroyed a cover system in the castle, and had it been one of the one’s that let the oxygen out all the paladins and altean’s alike would be in trouble. Not that living inside the lions would probably come off as an issue to any of them, but surely none of them wanted such a life. Quickly confirming whether it was or wasn’t one of the one’s that lead to outside the ship she left it be, not like Coran would know anyways.

Looking up towards where Keith ran she spoke mostly to herself. “Run little one run.” She mocked as she took off after him; she may not have been as fast as Red, but she was still plenty quick enough and there was no way to hide his ‘scent.’ 

Running further up so she was behind him she decided to test a theory, which again could have potentially been dangerous, but he was a paladin and alien hybrid so he wouldn’t be hurt…hopefully. Yanking another nearby vent cover fully off she grinned focusing on him and throwing the piece of metal directly at him.

  Yes, perhaps he should’ve been more careful about where he’d hidden, about

    kicking off the lid just for the sake of things, and he could practically hear

    Coran and Allura nagging at him now, but Keith ignores it for the time being

    and decides to worry about that situation later. It was a whole different thing

    outside of their current movement, especially since it hadn’t seemed to be

    one of importance, and certainly not one that would drain their oxygen levels

    away. There was no need to worry.

  And anyways, Keith was running just as he had started, truthfully unsure of

    where he was heading, and just that he needed to go somewhere. This was a

    chase, and if there was an issue, Keith would figure something out. He knew

    that he could figure out that much. However, there’s a change that he doesn’t

    expect.

  It’s when he’s suddenly flipping his head over his shoulder at the sound of

    metal breaking that he knows what’s going to happen. She’s tossing it at him

    and, within a split second, Keith dodges his head in a manner so that it won’t

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