Raven's Drabbles

So, I started a new fic a while ago, no idea how long it’ll be, but I’m assuming 5 or fewer chapters. Which, for me, would be pretty good. Chapter 1 is already 32 pages though, so I’ve got no idea on the final word count.

I’ve gotten a few people to look it over and so far I’m feeling pretty good about this idea, so, just so I don’t lose motivation before I even post the first chapter, I want to share a small little snippet of it with you all.

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“Why would you give Dipper something like this for free?” Ford asks when Bill doesn’t answer with anything more than a shrug.

    “Who said anything about it being free? I expect payment, but I won’t take it until the pendant has been accepted.”

    “And what sort of payment do you expect for such an expensive charm? This pendant has more protective magic in it than even our best defensive shield for the house alone.”

    “I simply expect to Pine Tree here to willingly let me take enough energy from him to heal myself faster. On my own this sort of damage would take about three or four deals to heal, but as I said earlier, we’re in a very unique situation, one where I can gain as much magical energy as I need by a much simpler means.”

    “I don’t have to give you years off my life do I?” Dipper asked before Ford could say anything himself. Taking the pendant back from his uncle Dipper flipped it over and ran his fingers over the smooth surface, enjoying the way the pad of his thumb would occasionally catch on the engravings.

    “No, nothing like that, it’s not even an official deal that we’d have to shake on. You just have to be willing to offer in order for this to work.”

    “I’ll agree, but I have one more condition.”

    “Kid, my offer is fair, and that’s rare as is, don’t push your luck.”

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/2thf6G5

by RavenTao

Keith had seen a lot while on his mission with his mother, most of it was the past, but his favorite visions, were of his future. Specifically; his future with Lance.

Words: 2678, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Krolia (Voltron), Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Cosmo the cosmic wolf

Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)

Additional Tags: I have this head canon that Keith is terrible at naming things, season 6, spoilers?, Kinda, Fluff, a little bit of angst, because I can’t just not write angst, Would it even really count as one of my fics if there wasn’t any angst?, Written in Keith’s pov this time, EXCITING, I know

Okay, so this is for the fic swap that I agreed to do with @morte-mistrata forever ago. Just some cute Matt and Pidge familial fluff.  I hope you like it!

“So …” Matt started as he sat with Katie in his lap, arms wrapped tightly around her as she played her video game, his head resting on top of her own as he felt her heart beat against his chest. She was alive. She was here. It was the little things you forgot you missed after so long of giving up hope. Having Katie back was a miracle. She gave a small hum of recognition to his unfinished inquiry, indicating that she was indeed listening to him.

“Yeah?” She asked again, verbally when Matt still didn’t pick back up fast enough.

“So,” He started again, dipping his head to rest against her shoulder, turning it so that he was nestling his nose into her neck. She made no move to stop him as he spoke again, “You snuck into the Garrison, no once, but twice?” he asked, his breath tickling her neck if the small little shoulder twitch was anything to go by. She still didn’t push him off or tell him to move though, so he stayed there, just breathing her in. Feeling her being alive and well in his arms. Death had permeated everything he’d done with the resistance. He never wanted to have to bury another comrade or smell burning flesh ever again. Katie smelled of fresh dew on flower petals though. Of the clear sky after the rain in the forest. Of gentile dirt, undisturbed by man. She smelled fresh and alive and Matt wanted to remember this scent for forever. Wanted to preserve it, preserve her. Wanted to throw his baby sister into a cryo pod and send her back to Earth to protect her from this gruesome battle. War was no place for a girl her age. She should be back home, worrying about colleges and future careers, not trying to stop inter-universal conquerors. Not, carrying the stress of the fate of the universe and Earth on her shoulders. This couldn’t be healthy for her.

“I did.” She answers casually, killing the newest boss with practiced  ease. It was her third time through on this level after all. “The first time I got caught because I was sloppy. Though, the second time I’m sort of surprised they didn’t catch me sooner.” She says flippantly. He can’t help it, he chuckles, he missed this. Just sitting with her and talking.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, the first time Iverson caught me hacking into his computer and then kicked me out when I screamed at him and kicked him as security was pulling me out of his office. T’was quite the scene I caused my bro my bro.” She smiles. “I wasn’t going to let them tell me you and dad were dead though.” She adds, quieter this time. “They called it ‘pilot error,’ but I know how much your team trained. I know how good of a pilot Shiro was. He promised me before you guys left that he would bring you both home and I know he meant it. There was no way it was pilot error, especially with the data they had collected from the trip so far. They were lying and I was going to prove it.” Her voice was hard and determined. She was only sixteen, she shouldn’t have to deal with these things. He needed to change the subject to something lighter. This had backfired on him faster than he had thought it would.

“So you came to space with your own little harem then?” He joked, kissing her cheek, feeling her face heat up in embarrassment under his lips.

“I so did not bring a harem.”

“Really? Three very handsome young men and ‘Shiro the Hero’ doesn’t count as a harem? Plus then you found a beautiful princess to help save. Face it little sister, you’re living a storybook fairytale in the best way possible.” Matt jokes, smiling as he pulls back to rest his chin back on top of Katie’s head. “So, do I need to put the fear of god into any of them?” He asked casually when she didn’t respond. He did see the reflection of her rolling her eyes in the screen though.

“There isn’t really a whole lot of time to think about that sort of thing Matt. Plus, they’re my friends, that’d be weird.” She tries to defend herself. He can see through it though. He knows all of her tells, after all, some things just don’t change.

“You’re lying Katie, I can feel it. Your pulse just got a little quicker as did your words. Who is it?” he asks, pressing her for an answer. He needs to know if they’re good enough for his precious, beautiful, wonderful baby sister. “Is it Shiro? You’ll have a lot of competition if it is. Everyone loves him.” He teases, and graciously takes the elbow to the gut that she gives him for that one. He deserved it for teasing after all.

“Ew, gross Matt, Shiro is hot and all, but he’s way too old for me. He’s more like family than a love interest.” She defends.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. Lance is more your type isn’t he? Tall and handsome?” Matt smirks. “You did say at one point when you were younger than you wanted a trophy husband.” he smiles. Lance was a good guy, he would treat Katie right. He could approve of him.

“Lance? I do love Lance, but not like that.” Her voice is soft as she pauses her game. “Lance is super sweet and I honestly love him more than probably any of the others, but, that love is familial too. He was the one that helped me whenever I missed you and dad too much. He would let me cuddle with him, he’d brush my hair and sing me songs to help ease my stress. He’s like a brother. I love Lance like I love you. He’ll always bring me food when even I don’t notice that I’ve suddenly worked through a meal. Even if I don’t agree he’ll pick me up and drag me to bed and tell me to sleep when I’ve been working too long. He takes care of me like I were his own sister.” She pauses here, and Matt can see in the reflection of her eyes that she’s trying to think of the right words to use. “He acted like you do, and I think that’s why I let him do all that, because he was you while you were missing.” Matt would have to pull Lance aside and give him a hug for that then, thank him for taking care of Katie in his absence.

“He sounds like a good friend.”

“He is. So yeah, I love Lance, but not like that.” She smiles and turns sideways in his lap, forcing him to readjust his own position for optimum comfort as well. “And before you ask, no, I don’t like Keith either. He’s too much of a hot head. He thinks things through, but not in a way that I agree with half the time. And when Shiro isn’t with him, it’s like his self preservation and logic just, disappear. I wouldn’t be able to stand that in a relationship.”

“So that just leaves Hunk then. Hmm, I suppose he’s a good guy. I haven’t spent too much time with him yet, but he does seem to keep you on your toes, and it sounds like he can challenge you intellectually, which is good.” Matt says as he brushes some of the longer hair from in front of Katie’s eyes, back behind her ears.

“Wrong again big bro. I like Hunk, but it isn’t like that. I admire his brain, and his kindness, but not in a romantic sense”

“Hmmm, well, that does take care of all the boys on the ship other than Coran, but I might have to put my foot down there. If Shiro is too old, Coran is definitely too old as well.” He says, to which he gets a light smack to the shoulder. He deserved that one, knew it was coming. “Okay, okay, so then, Allura?” He asked with a soft smile as he moved his right hand back to lean back some, his left hand staying just where it was, rubbing her thigh comfortingly. She didn’t need to say anything, the way her shoulders pitched forwards and and up to her ears said it all.

“It’s totally one sided though, and it’s probably just a crush. Besides, there’s no time for that sort of thing in a war.” she says quietly. “Besides, she’s older than me too, I probably just seem like a child to her.” she pouts.

“Now listen here young lady; you, are amazing, okay? You are smart, and brave, and resourceful, and adaptive. You’re beautiful, and caring, and loyal. Katie, there is not a single being out here in the huge wide universe that you don’t deserve. The question here is: do they deserve you? If you don’t want to act on this little crush, that’s fine, but as soon as it turns from a crush to something you want to act on, let me know and I’ll make sure to have this princess falling into your tiny little noodle arms in no time.” Matt tells her, smiling at the playful scowl she gives him at the small jab at her physical stature. He’d really missed this, just sitting together with his amazing little sister and talking about everything and nothing at the same time. They needed to do this more often.

“Fine, but only if you promise to tell your crush how you feel about him too.” She smirks. It was a reasonable request, but he still felt the need to overreact, because he was nothing if not a drama queen.

Okay, so this was my piece for the YJ Fest 2018, it’s just a little preview but I hope you enjoy it! You can read the whole thing here.

Lance and Keith are partners in everything they do. The best in fact, so good that people really only know their names, but not their faces. Shiro, is a cop, trying to catch them, he gets close a few times but always seems to fall just short. Keith finds it thrilling and pulls Shiro in closer. (Because while Lance l8kes to be dramatic and flamboyant, he likes to be dangerous and manipulative) He lies about who they are and what they do. He sells Shiro false information about team Klance to gain his trust, and just to see what he’d do with it.

After gaining Shiro’s tentative trust Keith decides to take it up a notch and seduce him. He has Shiro meet him at a hotel, though the way he goes about seducing him is more by showing off Lance than through his own skills. He’s sitting on the bed with Lance in his lap, just laying there like a sexy kitten when Shiro walks in. Lance of course doesn’t mind, and would only ever let Keith order him around like this. Anyone else would probably end up shot and dumped in the sewers without a second thought on the matter just for suggesting such an idea.

“He’s gorgeous isn’t he? Look at him, so pretty and obedient,” Keith says, brushing the back of his hand against Lance’s cheek gently, loving the way Lance leans into the touch while keeping his eyes trained on Shiro for him. “with my permission, he could make you feel amazing. You want a taste, don’t you?” With Keith’s prompting Lance gets up and backs Shiro up to the other bed. It’s a flurry of light touches at first, just to get Shiro’s guard to fall, but soon it turns heavier when he’s got the larger man hanging off of his every electric touch, and searing kiss. He fondles and teases Shiro to the point where he can hardly keep his professional demeanor up. It didn’t take long for Lance to crack him. It never does. Lance is skillfully sensual and knows just how to get what Keith wants. They’ve played this game out many times befor. Once he’s fallen into Keith’s trap, they pounce. Keith and Lance are hunters and Shiro is their prey. They wring him dry and after he’s spent and out of breath Lance pulls a gun on him while Keith presses a knife to his throat.

“You’re pretty good Detective Shirogane, in more ways than just professionally apparently, but the way I see it, you have two options. Option 1, you die here and we never look back. No one will find you and no one’ll ever know what happened. You’ll just disappear.” Keith smirks before continuing.

“Option 2 though, you live a bit longer. You come with us, keep us entertained. You’ve impressed Lance tonight, I’m sure he’d enjoy keeping a new pet. His hunger is insatiable after all. We’ll still kill you of course, you’re a liability after all, we’d be stupid not to, but, only after we got bored of you. So really, you’ll live as long as you want to.” He finishes with a harsher press of his knife and a dangerous glint in his eye.

Lance breating hotly against Shiro’s ear would ask the final question with a sadistic smirk; “So, what’ll it be Mr. Shirigane? Death, or us?”

_____

My plan with it is more or less, once Keith had a pretty good grasp on Shiro outside a sexual setting, inside one he could probably stun Shiro. Not with a weapon per se, but more, in surprise since their relationship thus far had been (on Shiro’s side) professional, and he would be thrown off balance. Which would avoid a fight too early on and blow the whole thing. He wouldn’t be looking for a threat from them until it was already too late. And at that point Shiro would realize that even if he could fight them off, he probably wouldn’t get out uninjured, or even alive of he messed up somewhere along the way. Lance and Keith have him cornered and are giving him an ultimatum. Shiro would for sure try and find a way out of it, choosing them, but then if I can swing it right, it would take a more Stockholm syndrome-y feel to it as Shiro falls more for them. It becoming less and less about biding his time to escape and turn them in, and more and more about actually wanting to please these two people who have captured him in every way possible.

Lance and Keith are criminals, partners in everything they do. The best in fact, so good that people really only know their names, but not their faces. Shiro, is a cop, trying to catch them, he gets close a few times but always seems to fall just short. Keith finds it thrilling and pulls Shiro in closer. He lies about who they are and what they do. He sells him false information about team Klance to gain his trust, and just to see what he’d do with it.

After gaining Shiro’s tentative trust Keith decides to take it up a notch and seduce him. He has Shiro meet him at a hotel, though the way he goes about seducing him is more by showing off Lance than through his own skills. He’s sitting on the bed with Lance in his lap, just laying there like a sexy kitten. Lance of course doesn’t mind, and would only ever let Keith order him around like this. Anyone else would probably end up shot and dumped in the sewers.

“He’s gorgeous isn’t he? Look at him, so pretty and obedient,” Keith says, brushing the back of his hand against Lance’s cheek gently, loving the way Lance leans into the touch. “with my permission he could make you feel amazing. You want a taste, don’t you?” With Keith’s prompting Lance gets up and backs Shiro up to the other bed. It’s a flurry of light touches at first, just to get Shiro’s guard to fall, but soon it turns heavier when he’s got the larger man hanging off of his every electric touch, and searing kiss. He fondles and teases Shiro to the point where he can hardly keep his professional demeanor up. It didn’t take long for Lance to crack him. It never does. Lance is skillfully sensual and knows just how to get what Keith wants. Once he’s fallen into Keith’s trap, they pounce. Keith and Lance are lions and Shiro is their prey. They wring him dry and after he’s spent and out of breath Lance pulls a gun on him while Keith presses a knife to his throat.

“You’re pretty good Detective Shirogane, in more ways than just professionally apparently, but the way I see it, you have two options. Option 1, you die here and we never look back. No one will find you and no one’ll ever know what happened. You’ll just disappear.” Keith smirks before continuing.

“Option 2 though, you live a bit longer. You come with us, keep us entertained. You’ve impressed Lance tonight, I’m sure he’d enjoy keeping a new pet. His hunger is insatiable after all. We’ll still kill you of course, you’re a liability after all, we’d be stupid not to, but, only after we got bored of you. So really, you’ll live as long as you want to.” He finishes with a harsher press of his knife and a dangerous glint in his eye.

where Lance used to work for Zarkon, was personally trained by him and was one of his most trusted agents. He was Zarkon’s pet project, his prodigy and suddenly, he was gone. Eventually he joins team Voltron to fight Zarkon, but doesn’t tell anyone about who he is or where he trained. He’s quiet and keeps to himself. Keith admires Lance’s skill. There’s an art to how quickly and easily he finishes a hit, like he learned to kill before he even learned to breathe. Then one mission, they mess up. Lance had voiced his misgivings about it but had been brushed off. He was the only one to get away. Keith, Shiro, Hunk, Allura, and Pidge all held captive by their last mark, Sendak.

“You won’t get away with this, you missed one, and he’ll come for you.” Keith growled, having the utmost faith in Lance’s abilities.

“I’m counting on it.” Sendak grins. “Lance, be a dear and come out before one of your little “friends” gets hurt. I thought we taught you better than that. Attachment in weakness.“ He calls, not even turning to look behind him as Lance slowly walks out, a gun pointed right at Sendak’s head. "Put that down or I’ll be sure their deaths are slow and painful.”

To everyone’s surprise, Lance complies. “Leave them alone Sendak.”

“You look well, even though your time away has made you soft.” Sendak practically purrs, rounding on him, holding Lance by his shoulders and leaning down to watch the captured assassins squirm and shout at Lance to kill him. Brushing aside some of Lance’s hair from his ear he smirks. “Come home little Blue, Zarkon misses his favorite puppy. If you do, I might be convinced to let this pathetic lot live.”

“You said that last time too, and yet there wasn’t even enough left of my sister to bury.” Lance grinds out, his eyes hard. The team is quiet. They don’t know what’s going on but they can clearly tell that they shouldn’t interrupt. Sendak chuckles, hands squeezing Lance’s shoulders.

“My hands were tied kid, orders from above for a botched job. Maybe next time you won’t take pity on a target and then join their ranks as a stupid apology. You were supposed to kill them both. Now, I’ll give you one chance to fix it.” He turns his face to press against Lance’s neck. “Finish your job and I won’t have to take away your cute little brother as well.”

Lance clenched his fist around his gun, his eyes slipping shut. “Careful Sendak, one of these days you’re going to run out of bargaining chips to use against me. And then you’ll be at the top of my list.” He answers cooly, walking up to Allura and dropping to his knees in front of her, pulling her to him in a hug as he whispers a broken; “I’m so sorry.” Before bringing his signature silver and royal blue pistol up to press into her stomach. “I tried to spare you.” Are the last words she hears before the gun goes off and her eyes widen from confusion to shocked betrayal. As she slumped against his chest, blood bloomed forth from her new wound, staining both them and the cold ground they sat on. The others are too shocked to even speak as they watch Allura die. “But I can’t lose another one.” Lance whispers, more for himself than for the dying woman in his arms as he lays her down gently and gets up to leave the room silently with Sendak. Zarkon owned him. He was a fool for ever thinking he could escape his grasp even for a second. Death followed him like a plague.

where Stan is the Don of the Pines Familia and has been grooming Mason from a young age to be the next Don. Mason doesn’t want to be lead the Family. He wants to be normal, and so creates “Dipper” as a way to escape reality while he still can. He keeps his real identity under lock and key when he goes out. All the attention and fear his family garners is unsettling. One day, he decides to ditch Mabel and Soos, charged with keeping him safe, and runs off to the next town over to get some drinks. There’s been talk of a new gang trying to usurp power from them over here but to be honest, he doesn’t much mind. While at the bar, Bill spots him and is instantly smitten. The cute boy sitting alone at the bar would be his one way or another. Dipper instantly falls for this stranger’s gorgeous gold eyes and beautiful blond hair. He feels safe with him. Like he can be himself in a way he can’t be at home. Neither tells the other who they are for fear of scaring the other off.

It’s only after several months of secret dates and countless nights of heated trysts that they find out about one another. Bill miscalculated a job and Stan had him brought to the main house for questioning. Wanting Mason to learn how to effectively interrogate a prisoner with some hands on experience, the leader of this pesky pain in his neck being the perfect place to start, asks him to come down and help. Begrudgingly Mason complies, intending to simply watch amd not interact. All of that changes though when he walks in and sees a familiar set of brilliant gold eyes and impossibly soft blond hair that he knew all too well sitting chained to the dirty, bloody floor.

“Bill?!” He gasps rushing to his boyfriend and falling to his knees in front of him. “Oh my god, are you okay, what are you doing here?” He asks frantically.

“Pine Tree? Fuck is this another game to try and break me, bringing you in here? How’d these bastards even find you?”

“Mason, why is this sack of power hungry trash acting like he knows you? And why in God’s name are you on the floor coddling him?” Stan asks cooly, dangerously, and suddenly it all clicks for Dipper, all the evaded questions, and random injuries. Everything makes sense.

“Dipper, I don’t understand what’s-”

“You’re the leader of Weirdmagddon.” He mutters in mild shock, interrupting Bill despite knowing how much the other man hates it. This wasn’t fair. He’d had what he wanted and now it was being taken from him all because he really couldn’t escape this life as he’d thought he had. No. Regardless, he was next in line, and he would fix this. Standing he turned to face his great uncle with a hard glare. One Stan himself had taught him. “Leave, I’ll handle this.”

Dipper is met with a harsh sting in his right cheek as Stan smacks him. “You do not have the authority to give me orders. You would do well to remember your place in this family.” Mason clenched his first as he stands up, facing his uncle head on.

“I may not have the authority yet, but eventually I will be in control on this family and I intend to unite the Pines Familia and the Weirdmagddon gang, killing their leader will hinder my plans.” Dipper argues. Bill stays quiet, unsure of how to process this new information.

“Unite with theives? Don’t make me laugh. They’ve stolen from me, from us. From you Mason, and you want to reward this behaviour?”

“If we merge, we will get it all back and then some.”

“I forbid it, now return to your task or I shall make you watch as I kill him straight out.”

“If those are my options, then I am cutting ties. This man means more to me than the family ever has. I won’t let you take this from me too Uncle Stan. Don Pines, if Bill Cipher is hurt, I will not hesitate to renounce you and this family.”

“You’ve threatened such before, what makes this time any different?” Stan asks, unafraid.

I just want to thank the absolutely amazing @flashfrozenlove​ for all their help and putting up with my pestering and whining.

Also, @frostytrish​, because I love you and I can’t do anything without validation and I beg you to read my shit all the time. You put up with so much from me.

Okay, and with that out of the way, Part 3 to my Suffocating Heat series!

Things weren’t getting any better. Red was still demanding things from him that he couldn’t give her. The team still didn’t seem to notice the pieces falling off of him every time they took a crack at him. Not even Hunk seemed to understand what he was feeling. Lance had contemplated a few times how long it would take, how much it would hurt, how serious he was about taking this initiative and leaving the team before the team left him. The fresh hatch marks along his arm only ever stayed there for maybe a day, the healing pods always made quick work of hiding the evidence.

No one knew a thing.

Which was why now seemed like the perfect time. Their missions were going smoothly, and Shiro had just been accepted back by Black. He could leave now and only suffer a little bit of guilt. Skipping the debrief, Lance went straight back to his room. He probably had only about ten minutes before the others decided to go look for him. Grabbing his knife from it’s spot in his underwear drawer he slunk back out into the hall. His room would be the first place they looked, and Lance didn’t want to soil the bedroom with his blood anymore than he already had. It was clean and his final words were written out in a letter on his desk. This was it. This was the end. He could finally beat Keith at something. He would never see Keith’s back in his way ever again. He wouldn’t be replacing, or compared to Keith again either. Lance would have finally gotten to something first. Death.

Keith would finally feel what Lance always had. He hoped that Red’s heat would hurt Keith when he went back just as much as it had him. Hoped that Keith felt the same smoldering pain and sweltering suffocation of uselessness as he had. Hoped that Red’s fire would leave this wound unable to close, that he would carry Lance with him for the rest of his life just as Lance had carried Keith for as long as he had been able to bear.

He made his way to the observation deck, deciding that was the best place to do it. Where he could sit and gaze upon Earth and his family one last time before he left. Where once the team knew he was missing and started looking, they would find him too late to make it to the healing pods on the other side of the ship. Pulling up the coordinates from memory he sat down and pulled out his knife. This would be the last time they met like this. This would be the last time he felt it’s sharp edge bite into his soft flesh. This time, he would let the fire consume him. This time, he welcomed all of Red’s fury towards him. She didn’t want him to go, but he knew she also didn’t want him to stay. After all, Lance, wasn’t Keith.

Red sent wave after wave of broiling flames into his mind and each one scalded and charred what little was left of his sanity. ‘Keith would never do this.’ flitted through his subconscious with a heat unlike anything Lance had felt Red direct towards him before. But this was exactly why he had to do it. He wasn’t Keith. He was Lance, and he couldn’t stand still being compared to him. It was always Keith this, or Keith that, or ‘Lance, why can’t you be more like Keith?’ He was sick of it. If the universe wanted Keith so badly, it could have him. Lance was done playing copy cat. His letter ran through his head as he made the first cut.

I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you all this up front. But I can’t do this anymore. I never could.  All your sharp words, though I know you didn’t mean it, cut deeper than any knife could have. You don’t know how many times I’ve cried myself to sleep, or cut my wrist to feel literally any semblance of control over this spiraling hell I call my life. How many times I’ve had to tell myself “no, not yet” because I’m too nice to leave you all without a paladin. But there have been fights where I’ve contemplated stepping out from behind the cover and taking one for the team. The physical pain probably wouldn’t even be as bad as this. As bad as always being compared and belittled. As painful as always being Keith’s replacement. As sweltering as Red’s heat leaving me gasping and reeling in hallways with nothing but my thoughts to perpetuate these fantasies of death and feelings of inadequacy. I know I’m just a burden to the team, and I know you’ll all lie and tell me that I’m not. But I know. We need the best out there, and that’s not me. It never was, and it never will be. I miss my home, and I miss my family, but until Zarkon is defeated, I also know we can’t go back. So, for once, I’m taking the initiative. I’m leaving. I’m listening to those little voices inside my head. The ones that keep telling me that oblivion is better than this purgatory that I’ve been left in. That death is sweeter than feeling the constant stab of “Keith is better. Keith wouldn’t do that. Why can’t you be more like Keith?” So Keith, if you’re reading this; I give up. I’m done living in your shadow. I hope you enjoy mine.

He felt the blood trickle down his forearm from the vertical cut, to his wrist, ever so slowly pooling in his hand drip by drip, morbidly warming his skin. The cut had hurt, but he’d been hurt worse too many times before to even shed a tear for the physical pain. He watched the holographic Earth spin in it’s lazy orbit in front of him. He missed it. His only regret was that he hadn’t been able to tell his mother goodbye in person. She would never know what happened to her baby. But then again, the Garrison had probably already told her that he was dead anyway.

His vision stayed focused on the small planet he called home, even when it started getting a little fuzzy around the edges he kept his gaze locked on it. Home. It was so far away. He missed the sky, the grass, the trees, the waves. All of it. Lance missed it so much that it hurt. Slowly the ache in his chest expanded. He had wanted this, so why was he feeling regret now? He had needed this escape just moments before, so why did his heart not want to go through with it any longer? He couldn’t back out now. This was too meticulously thought out, he wasn’t going to survive this. He had made sure to eat only enough to not raise suspicion at breakfast. Losing blood on an empty stomach was supposed to help. His head felt woozy and as he brought his clean hand up to his face to ease the spinning, he felt how wet his face was. Tears. He was crying. He had promised himself he wouldn’t cry. This was his to control! He was not going to cry! He had wanted this so desperately, why was his body trying to steal this one happiness away from him?

Actively he wanted to blame Keith, because all of his problems could be traced back to the mullet haired bastard. If he hadn’t been there to break Shiro out back in the beginning then he never would have convinced them to go looking for giant alien lions. If they had never found Blue, Lance never would have been here, he could have gone back to the Garrison and been a fighter pilot. He would have eventually gotten over the constant reminder that he wasn’t Keith. He would have graduated. He would have made his mama proud.

Subconsciously though, Lance knew it wasn’t Keith’s fault. He knew that what was happening now was his brain working overtime to try and scare him back into wanting to live. He knew because he’d felt it before. It felt good to save the universe, but without Blue by his side to help keep him together, without telling the team that he was hurting, it would never really feel right. Lance closed his eyes and reached out to Red. “Alright girl, you can tell them I’m here now.” he sent. It was weak and there was no way for the team to get there in time. There was no way for Lance to change his mind. He had made sure of it.

He could barely feel the hands on him maybe five minutes later, time was a blur right now. He could feel them shaking him in the way his vision seemed to tilt to the left and zoom in and out entirely too rapidly for his tired and sluggish brain to keep up with, could make out loud shouting voices, but not words. He vaguely recognized Hunk’s panicked voice above all the others, could feel Pidge’s tiny hands against his forearm where he knew he was bleeding out. He let his lips curve up into a soft smile as his eyes caught Keith’s wide, violet eyes staring down at him in panicked confusion. It was too much work to do the cliche’ bloody hand on the rival’s cheek bit, but Lance liked to think he’d have been better than that had he been able to lift his arms at all anyway.

“Your turn to watch me leave, Samurai.” Lance managed to push out before he felt the headache come back full force and pull his eyes closed. He didn’t know how Keith had reacted to the words, but he also knew that he didn’t have much longer.

This was his goodbye.

His first, and final win against Keith.

Chapters: 7/? Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko’s Basketball Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aomine Daiki/Kuroko Tetsuya, Akashi Seijuurou/Kuroko Tetsuya, Hanamiya Makoto/Kuroko Tetsuya, Friendship - Relationship, Kuroko Tetsuya & Ogiwara Shigehiro, Kuroko Tetsuya & Takao Kazunari, Haizaki Shougo/Kuroko Tetsuya, Past relationship - Relationship, Shouta Sasaki & Sota Sasaki/Kuroko Tetsuya, Midorima Shintarou/Takao Kazunari, Akashi Seijuurou/Furihata Kouki, Momoi Satsuki/Ogiwara Shigehiro Characters: Aomine Daiki, Akashi Seijuurou, Hanamiya Makoto, Kuroko Tetsuya, Takao Kazunari, Ogiwara Shigehiro, Kagami Taiga, Hara Kazuya, Yamazaki Hiroshi, Haizaki Shougo, Seto Kentarou, Furuhashi Koujirou, Matsumoto Itsuki, Hyuuga Junpei, Genius Twins, Midorima Shintarou, Momoi Satsuki Additional Tags: Slutty Tetsu, Tetsuya’s friends think he has questionable taste in men, He sleeps around a lot, Kazuya likes to get him drunk, This is pretty mcuh just PWP, maybe a little plot?, Halsey - Strange Love, Song fic, Kuroko Tetsuya-centric, I’ll add more tags as i go, Smoking, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Consensual Underage Sex, But just for chapter 7, It’ll be back to normal next chapter, there’s definitely plot now, Maybe I should give that hint of AkaFuri some more light?, dunno Series: Part 1 of Halsey inspired Summary:

The thing about keeping a secret, Kuroko thought to himself, was that everyone wanted to know it.

If you come to school with a new bruise, or if you have a new hickey on your neck. If you seem a little more dazed and out of it than usual.

oh dude, of course! - Vallie

Fluidity by RavenTao (8/? | 37,072 | Mature)

Allura has to send the Lions out to find their paladins for themselves. She doesn’t know who they’ll discover, she just hopes they will return to the castle before there is no castle to return to. Will these new Paladins be able to work together and form Voltron without the proper training? She hopes so. It’s all up to the lions.

Declining wasn’t an option.

Or alternately;

In which Lance and Keith aren’t human, The lions need their Paladins, and Trust is not easily given when you are Galra. Can Allura accept another Galra as a Paladin of Voltron even if Red did choose him? Can Lance and Keith risk everything they know and love to help her and these humans to overthrow Zarkon? The lions may have chosen them, but they never chose the lions. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, can the two princes really make that choice?

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Aang & Kuzon (Avatar), Aang & Bumi (Avatar), Aang/Azulon, Aang/Zuko (Avatar), Aang & Zuko (Avatar) Characters: Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Kuzon, Bumi, Zuko, Azulon Additional Tags: ships are hinted at, Angst, Survivor Guilt, Depression, A little light fluff here and there, pre Air nomad genocide, post air nomad genocide, I love that their time line is actually defined by that, BG and AG for before and after genocide, Aang is super stressed, contemplating suicide, emotional issues, air, Water, Earth, Fire, Grief/Mourning, Self-Doubt, Self-Worth Issues, Forgive and Forget is not something Aang can do easily Summary:

Chapters: 8/? Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron), Matt Holt/Shiro, Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro Characters: Allura (Voltron), Coran (Voltron), Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt, Zarkon (Voltron), Matt Holt Additional Tags: Lance isn’t human, I need more of non human Lance, so I wrote this, i’ll add tags as i go, klance, Alternate Canon, Prince Lance (Voltron), Prince Keith (Voltron), Galra Keith (Voltron), Water bending (kinda), Arranged Marriage, Think space Katara that’s probably close enough to Lance’s abilities, Keith can’t understand why he thinks Lance is so cute, Zarkon is a dick, Keith wants to protect Lance, And Lance wants to protect Keith, Blood Bending, mentions of original Galra characters, sorta - Freeform, in passing, a lot of them don’t have names, hard choices are being made, Blue really doesn’t make the best first impression on Keith, Chapter 4/5 Keith is really just not having a good day at all, someone help this poor boy, if Keith ever lets Lance out of his sights again after this fiasco Lance should count himself lucky, Well no one can say that Red and Blue don’t know how to make an entrance, They can however say that Red and Blue don’t know how to make a good first impression, because this was seriously not it, Yay! Pidge and Shiro bonding, Background Relationships, Shatt, is there a better ship name for that?, please tell me there is, One sided Shallura, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Shiro will probably take the longest adjusting to calling her Pidge, Hunk is just excited to meet Shiro, Allura is lowkey jealous of Pidge stealing her man, Even though she hasn’t called dibs AT ALL, Matt called forever ago girl, Shiro and Pidge have a sort of brother/sister relationship, Shit’s about to go down guys, Allura! Shame on you!, And you too Pidge, Dishonor!, dishonor on you, Dishonor on Your Cow, (Sorry Kalteneker) XD, These poor boys are just having a really crummy day, seriously though, Bless you Hunk, And Coran too, Shiro doens’t know what to feel, More about Matt is explained, Lance shifts, Princess Lance, change in pronouns for female Lance, our babies get to go home after a long hard day of drama, Seriously Hunk is an angel, Coran is smarter than our boys gave him credit for Summary:

Allura has to send the Lions out to find their paladins for themselves. She doesn’t know who they’ll discover, she just hopes they will return to the castle before there is no castle to return to. Will these new Paladins be able to work together and form Voltron without the proper training? She hopes so. It’s all up to the lions.

Declining wasn’t an option.

Or alternately;

Lance dating Ezor wasn’t what everyone thought it would be like. Yes, they were cute and obnoxiously sweet, but they were also loud and devious. And living in an apartment building with very thin walls meant that Hunk and Shay heard much more of their friends’ sex lives than they really wanted to. Like now for instance.

“No, not like that, come on, like you mean it.” Lance’s voice hissed harshly through the wall followed by a very loud moan. “Yeah, just like that.” Hunk had no clue what his best friend and his girlfriend were up to, but it was nearly eleven at night and he really wanted to sleep. He just hoped whatever they were up to was over in an hour so he could get at least a few hours rest.

On the other side of the wall, Lance was laying on his stomach, one leg tied to the bed post and the other currently being swung over Ezor’s shoulder as she rammed her strapon into him harder and harder. The faster she went the louder he got before she suddenly slowed down.

“Come on baby, I know you can make prettier sounds than that.” she cooed into his ear, pulling out and leaning over him. Her breasts pressed firmly into his back as she laid over him before pulling him down the bed a bit more, the sash used to tie his ankle to the bed bunching with the new slack. “Why not let all our neighbors hear how good I can make you feel.” She smirked. Lance shivered and returned the smirk with one of his own tossed over his shoulder.

Joining Lotor’s ranks wasn’t exactly the infiltration plan that Lance had been expecting when Keith suggested trying to find an inside man to keep track of Lotor’s movements. And since he could still fly Red and Allura could still fly Blue, and Lance was obviously the best actor on the team, it seemed like a logical idea to send Lance. Winning Lotor and his generals over had been the easy part. Honestly, Lance he pretty much just spoken the truth about his insecurities, not being useful to the team, wanting to be more appreciated, not wanting to be blamed for every little screw up that happened that he honestly had no goddamn control over. … Stuff like that. Lotor had believed him, and decided that yeah, Lance could probably help him out at least a little bit.

Another thing Lance hadn’t expected was getting close to Lotor’s generals. Like, really close. Like, he absolutely adored these girls. Ezor was positively fabulous and he loved that woman like his own sister. She was smart, and funny, and brave, and mischievous, and good lord was her routine a godsend. She was his platonic soulmate, he was sure of it. His other half, the yin to his yang, and all that crazy instant BFF stuff. He still adored Hunk, but Ezor was on the same page as him more often than his beautiful Hunkcules was. And then there was Axca, she was pretty much the female version of Keith, only better. Like, Lance could actually stand Axca and he didn’t mind when she kicked his ass in training. She was beautiful too. Lance loved braiding her hair and gossiping with her and Ezor about boys and joining in on conspiracy theories about how Lotor kept his hair so soft and silky.

But what threw Lance through the biggest loop was, falling for Zethrid. She was was just so cute and funny, and adorable, yet gorgeous at the same time. She was strong and loud and destructive, yet caring and soft. God, all of these women were amazing. He felt bad that he hadn’t been able to meet Narti, the other girls spoke so highly of her. It wasn’t until his most recent secret check in with the paladins that he realized that he might not want to go back. He’d finish the mission, but he felt much more at home here with Lotor and his generals than he ever had back on the castle ship as a Paladin of Voltron.

“Lancey Lance, what’re you doing all the way up here?” Zethrid asked with a huge smile as she sat down with him in the small observation room. Lotor’s ship wasn’t nearly as big as the castle, but it was cozy and all the rooms felt lived in or like they had a purpose. It was much more inviting. Lance leaned his head onto Zethrid’s shoulder and sighed.

“Just thinking about my place in the universe and all that jazz, like, wondering how far away from Earth I am, how my friends are doing without me. Stuff like that. Do you think they miss me, or do you think they’re happy I’m gone?” Lance asked. It wasn’t exactly what he’d been thinking about just then, but, they were thoughts he’d had recently and He felt much more comfortable talking about his problems with these women than he ever had with Shiro, or Coran, or even Hunk. He’d tried once with Keith but it honestly had been worse than a dumpster fire. Leave the math to Pidge? Really Keith? What kind of pep talk had a back handed insult in it? Lance knew that wasn’t what he’d meant, but that was what it had felt like.

Zethrid frowned. “I’m sure they miss you, but you weren’t happy with them, so I bet they just hope you’re happy now.” She shrugged. Lance smiled, and really couldn’t help the little giggle that slipped past his lips at such an innocent answer.

“That’s so cheesy.” Lance laughed, leaning in to give Zethrid a small kiss on the cheek. “But thank you, that makes me feel a lot better.” he meant it too. Even though he knew his friends thought he was still on a mission to help them, they probably did still hope he was happy.

“Oooh, Make that noise again, it was so cute!” Zethrid cooed, picking Lance up and pulling him into her lap, hugging him tight and nuzzling his cheek. It tickled, pulling another laugh from his chest.

It had been an unusually hard mission and Lance didn’t know where he’d gone wrong, but he’d sprained his ankle. It wasn’t a bad sprain, but you try telling your seven foot tall overprotective galra boyfriend that. Kolivan at least acknowledged that the sprain wasn’t bad enough to warrant pod time, and for that, Lance was extremely grateful. For now though, he did still have to deal with the larger man doting on his hand and foot, who would not take no for an answer.

He especially wouldn’t take Lance standing up and trying to walk places on his own. It was bordering on ridiculous.

“Koli! I promise it’s not that bad! I can still walk and it only hurts a little bit!” Lance had exclaimed, exasperated, when Kolivan had found him in the kitchen after specifically telling him not to get out of bed. The Marmoran leader wouldn’t hear it though, he’d picked Lance up like he’d weighed less than a sack of potatoes and carried him back to their room right then and there in front of Pidge and Hunk. Hunk had given him a sympathetic shrug, but Pidge, Pidge, that little gremlin, she’d laughed at him. Not even a polite quiet behind her hand snigger, no, she’d cackled loudly as Lance had been carried off to bed.

“Lance. Lay down, let me take care of you, please.” Kolivan had practically begged as soon as he had set Lance back down on the large bed they shared. His eyes shone with such worry, love and devotion that Lance couldn’t help but sigh, nod, and lean back against the mountain of pillow Kolivan had gathered for him.