im a yeehawing bitch

Thinking about Keith’s favorite movie being The Iron Giant specifically now and Can You Say “Special Interest?” This got out of hand. Shals don’t touch(:

Shiro searched high and low for that Iron Giant figurine himself to give to Keith, not even for his birthday or a holiday but just to give to him. Keith probably brought it to school with him a few times, or at least until somebody tried to take it and he wound up smacking them with it to make them let go and he got in trouble. It was a huge comfort concept for him and he very much applied that role to Shiro. All kids do that kind of thing at some point; identify a lot with a character and assign roles to the people around them. It’s an inside joke between the two of them for a long time. How if Shiro was the Iron Giant, that meant he was Superman, too. How, in a way, he was everything.

Shiro tried not to think on it too hard considering the Iron Giant is overall kind of an overgrown newborn with a head injury and no memory of what it was programmed for and well, he just can’t quite relate to that. But there’s still something poignant about it. It’s a powerful thing, being compared to the Iron Giant by somebody who looks up to you like you’re 50 ft tall and like you could save the world someday. It’s a powerful thing, being loved.

Out of the entire Garrison team, Kinkade is the last person Lance expected to see arms crossed, leaning his weight against the doorway entrance to the room the Garrison had provided. Considering the past several days of fighting off an entire alien invasion, a friend waiting for him shouldn’t be that big of a surprise, shouldn’t alert his senses that something’s different.  

Still, Lance can’t help if his stomach flips at the sight of him.

“Kinkade, buddy, my man,” Lance greets, nudging the other gently in the side despite the pull in his arm utterly against the motion. He tilts his head, beckoning the other to come inside instead of awkwardly in the hall. “To what do I owe the pleasure? Would’ve thought you and your team would be taking a much needed vacay right about now.”

Kinkade huffs out an almost-laugh. It’s more of an amused exhale from his nose, but it’s a start. “If the paladins of Voltron aren’t getting a vacation, our little team is far from it.” He stills in the middle of the room, eyes glancing from wall to wall despite the fact they’re bare. If he’s looking for something, he won’t find it here. “So this is where you’re staying?”

“Garrison issued room, yup. My family gets the rest of the rooms in the hall. We all wanted to stick together, y’know?” Lance situates himself on his bed. It reminds him of when he was a cadet in these same halls, which feels like a lifetime ago. “Although I have a feeling you didn’t come here to hear about my living situation.”

“Smart and perceptive. A double threat,” says Kinkade, “I came here to ask for a favor.”

Happy Birthday to the Best Boi!!! I tried to put in the presents that Jeremy said the team would give Lance but anyways this is messy haha

shiro: shiro loves giving presents. back in the garrison days, every year he and adam would take the day off to see keith for his birthday. naturally, shiro wants to get lance the best gift!! he settles for some things he found in the space mall, like a keychain of blue and a heart with the bi flag. he also buys lance a telescope so he can see cuba once they get in the earth’s atmosphere.

allura: she and lance both have a very similar taste for sparkly things, so allura gifts lance some of her makeup and skin care products she doesn’t use. she ends up picking out the altean equivalent of a glittery highlighter, as well as shiny blue lipgloss. she also slips in a few face masks and tremendously glittery pink nail polish. she and coran sing the altean version of the birthday song to lance, and allura ruthlessly smashes coran’s face in the cake.

hunk: hunk has a lot of making up to do, so he plans to outdo everyone and give his best friend the most gifts. he starts with a large painting of a beach back on earth—though he doesn’t mention he had to use some serious diplomacy skills to persuade it into his hands. hunk also purchases a surf board at one of the “exotic” shops in the space mall in hopes that lance will use it in the pool as well as when they go back to varadero. he even gets a new bell for kaltenecker.

coran: he’s probably more excited than lance himself. he rigs the castle comms to play what lance calls “beyoncé” and makes him dance with him to the beat. lance is afraid coran will break a hip with how fast he’s dancing, but he’s having so much fun. coran gives lance an altean relic he’d managed to recover from alfor’s room—a golden bracelet highly respected in his culture. typically, fathers are meant to gift their sons the bracelet as a symbol of honor and pride— a peace offering of unconditional love.