The team was back in the lounge after a hard mission, an extra member with them
Matt. Pidge tried to talk with him, but he in return only rapidly made motions with his fingers. Only Lance understand, and promptly lifted his right hand, and signed, ‘Are you deaf?’
Matt nodded vigrously, before clapping his hands together and pulling them apart in a swift motion, also pursing his lips. “Explosion?” Lance spoke, head tilted. Matt nodded, looking excited that someone understood.
The team only watched, confused by the signing. 'How do you know ASL so fluently?’ Matt signed to Lance, worry written on his face. His own letters were sloppy and slow.
Lance’s grin fell. 'I’m deaf. I had to learn as a young kid. So I’ve been doing it for years.’ Matt, at this discovery, made a sound of surprise. The team looked at him. Lance started frantically signing to Matt, Matt rapidly signing in return, eyes wide. 'Don’t say anything! They dont know!’ Lance made a gesture over his neck, implying that Matt dont say anything about it. He gulped and nodded.
“Uh, what’s going on?” Pidge questioned. Hunk shrugged and tapped Lance’s shoulder, gaining his attention. “Hey, Lance, why wont Matt talk to us?” Lance startles and intently stared at Hunk’s lips, Matt realizing that he was also crazy good at reading lips. So that’s how he got by.
“Matt is deaf, from an explosion, he said.” Lance explains, voice somewhat loud, but that was normal for him. “I know ASL because..” he trailed off for a moment, “I know because my.. sister, yeah, that’s it, was born deaf and I wanted to talk to her.” With his left hand, which was facing Matt, he translated. Matt looked suspicious.
“Well, anyhow, I need to talk to Matt. Uh, or sign. See you later!” With that, Lance was off, dragging Matt behind him. “Pidge, can you work your magic, and get us an ASL translator?” Shiro asked the brilliant girl. She smirked and nodded. Of course she could.
—
Lance dragged Matt into the kitchen and sat him down in the seat across from his own. He started signing again. 'So, have you dealt with any bigots about your deafness?’ Lance slowed his signing down, knowing Matt was knew. He chuckled and nodded, and lifted his hand. 'Of course. My allies dont understand it. We have to speak through weird telepathy things. I hate them. How about you?’ His sign was slow, and maybe a bit off, but Lance could still understand the basic idea.
'Naturally. I got picked on, and kids talked behind my back. Sometimes my older brothers would sneak up on me and scare me. Other times, my sisters would throw things over my shoulders, also scaring me. Only mom and dad made an effort to learn about my disability, cause dad was partially deaf.’ He sighed at the end, not noticing the paladins in the doorway, all with visors over their eyes to follow the conversation.
'Was the sister thing true?’ Matt tilted his head at Lance. He was curious. 'Partly. My cousin was born deaf and no one learned sign language for her. Only I could talk to her, and we bonded over it. We were close.’
'Were?’ Matt questioned. 'Did something happen?’ “Hmm?” Lance wondered aloud before nodding. 'Yeah. She still had some hearing left, so she got conchear implants. We weren’t as close after that, because she could hear and I couldn’t. She did like to describe sounds to me, though. We just didn’t have anything in common anymore.’ Lance shrugged, looking bored, but his eyes sad.
“You’re deaf?” Pidge screeched, Lance sensing her movement from the corner of his eye. He, too, screamed and jumped up, staring at her with wide eyes. “Uhhh, what was that, Pidge? I didn’t quite catch it.’ He chuckled awkwardly. Matt 'oohed’ behind him and when Lance when to glare, he saw Matt signing 'The car is out of the bag.’ With a smug smirk. Lance flipped him off and signed something the other paladins couldn’t quite read from their visors.
"I said you’re deaf?” She hissed. Lance paled significantly.
“Uh, no?”
“I just saw you sign it. I installed a software in our visors to translate ASL to english for us. How.. how did you do it?”
Lance went to pick up his hand, but dropped it. He spoke instead. “I learned to lip read from a young age, and B- I mean, Red, translated things for me on missions, into my head. I didn’t want to be a burden.” He scratched the back of his neck, voice still loud.
“No wonder you have volume control issues. You can’t hear yourself!” Keith exclaimed, astonished. The whole concept was new to him.
Lance sheepily nodded. “Yeah, I just brushed it off as being a 'douche’, I guess. Sorry for not telling you sooner.”
Coran laughed. “Aw, m'boy, it’s alright. No more secrets.”
Lance laughed, echoing. “Yeah, Im lacking something, but I promise no more secrets.”
—
I know its bad but I have 4 other fics planned so pls dont kill me
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I'm sorry if I got some information wrong. The whole deaf thing was mostly guesswork for me. I'm blind, not deaf XD. But no, let me know what is unrealistic or whatever so I can fix it :) Enjoy!
This honestly isn't my fault. I know, those words are something someone who was guilty would say. But this really isn't my fault.
Okay, maybe a little.
I probably (definitely) should've told my team, as you know any person with an ounce of common sense would.
However, in the past... people haven't reacted well.
Which, to me, is completely absurd because I can still hear.
Just not very well.
Thankfully, we live in a great time with loads of technology. So hearing aids were a simple matter. In fact, my deafness hardly impacted my life at all.
Well, if you exclude the several times my hearing aids broke or when we didn't have enough money to buy them.
Which is why ASL and reading lips have come in handy on my part.
Really the only problem is people's views. If I had a quarter for every time someone spoke obnoxiously loud to me I'd be able to afford a bodyguard to keep them the hell away from me.
Then there was the whole having to lie to the garrison about my hearing so I could actually get in. They had a strict policy on any sort of disability, even ones that did not interfere with their jobs.
Since, technically, I was supposed to have tip-top hearing I didn't inform my team of my condition.
It was no big deal, I could hear perfectly fine with my hearing aids.
Until those little fuckers broke.
I seriously had to work the graveyard shift the entire summer at a local 24-hour mart back home in Cuba. Not to mention, the dozens of odd jobs where I worked my ass off for hours on end.
I guess I should have anticipated that the heat of battle wasn't all that kind to the sensitive wiring in the aids.
So, that's how I ended up where I am now, staring down at the charred and blackened little buds.
Fucking delightful.
I groaned into my hands, massaging the bridge of my nose before pushing myself up and onto my feet as I headed out of Azul.
The sentient lion sent small and soothing comments to the back of my head.
Everything will be alright
Just tell your fellow paladins
They'll understand
I shook my head at her suggestion as I left the hanger and steeled myself to face the rest of Voltron.
"The hell was that Lance?" Keith's voice broke out first.
"You were completely unresponsive!" Pidge shrieked.
"You okay buddy?" Hunks comforting tone asked.
It took me a moment to understand what they said between reading lips and what little I could hear.
"Nothings wrong just got a little distracted," I answered.
In unison, all four face's winced.
"Inside voice," Shiro reprimanded.
I sent him an apologetic look before jetting it out of there. I skittered my way to my living quarters and hid there until dinner.
The castle must have tuned into my needs, as when the normal announcement of dinner through the intercoms (courtesy of Hunk), a small holographic screen popped up in front of me.
I shook my hands out as if I was trying to physically rid myself of the anxiety plaguing my mind.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped out into the hallway and headed down to the dining room.
Avoiding the imploring eyes, I headed over to sit down next to Hunk.
Hunk already knows of my hearing. He is, after all, my best friend.
Discreetly, I dropped the burnt hearing aids into his hands.
'Can you fix them?' I signed under the table. Or... not exactly those words- sign language didn't work that way- but that was the general gist.
Hunk shook his head sadly before mouthing, 'Ask Pidge, she could.'
I shook my head while sighing.
I signed, 'I'll live, I guess.' before turning around to the food.
By food I mean goo.
I was eating away at my oh-so-amazing plate of space goo when Hunk elbowed me and pointed to where Shiro had been trying to talk to me.
"I was trying to ask if you were okay, Lance," Shiro repeated.
"Oh um, I'm fine," I could already tell by Hunk- who flinched- that I once again spoke too loudly.
I stood up from the table and headed back to my room before anyone could ask questions. A reoccurring theme, I suppose.
Hunk showed up a few minutes later and hung out with me on my bed. I always felt safe with him, he always knew what to say.
The rest of the week passed by in the same fashion, me trying and failing to act normal and then running away.
It was tiring and the other Paladins were started to get pissed. Namely a certain paladin with a short temper.
"Lance, just stop fucking yelling!" Pidge snapped.
Bet you thought I was talking about Keith. Nah, the cute- I mean annoying mullet-head dealt with his anger by storming out.
Pidge was the one who was getting frustrated with me nearly every day.
"Lance, you need to listen more," Shiro berated me for about the twentieth time that week.
The situation was wearing on everyone, and I felt incredibly guilty.
Okay, so maybe it was my fault.
I just never thought that my hearing would actually interfere with my job. But...
"Paladins! There is a distress signal from a nearby planet!" the text popped up as I was fiddling with my phone.
I jumped off my bed before sprinting to the hangar.
When I landed in Azul, I called out 'Hey baby girl,' in my mind.
'Well look who finally decided to visit me.... when you need me,' retorted the fiery lion.
'I'm sorry babes, how about I give you a good washing after we return from this mission.'
Azul replied with a satisfied hum as we shot into space and met up with the other lions.
I heard a low murmur in my ears- presumably from the other paladins as they discussed the mission.
Luckily, a line of small text popped up near the bottom of my visor. Almost like subtitles on a foreign film.
Shiro was speaking- with a purple text- about the situation.
"A small planet enslaved by a Galra fleet," Shiro informed, "We need to defeat the Galra stationed there."
I nodded once before the paladins and I headed down to the planet.
Azul and I landed near a Galra base camp, hidden by the brightly colored trees and bushes.
Noting the peculiar lack of armed guards, Azul and I decided on quietly picking them off one by one.
Not actual murder, 'cause that was fucked up. The Alteans had long ago developed a weapon that simply knocked the victim unconscious.
The numbers slowly dwindled, involving lots of me stopping and dragging their sleeping bodies behind some bushes.
I pushed my luck as far as I was willing to before climbing back into Azul.
As I was trying to figure out how I should signal the other Paladins into joining me at the base to launch a full-scale attack.
Before I could, my comms were suddenly filled with unintelligible chatter and my visor was filly up with text so fast I couldn't keep up.
Random words I managed to read before they disappeared stuck to my mind lick lead.
Help
Trap
Galra
Abort
I was trying not to freak out, and figure out where the fight was breaking out. But at this point, the text was just filled with "ahhhhs" and various curses.
'Shit shit shit' I thought to Azul.
From the front window, I could dimly see various explosions and stray shots.
I rushed Azul into the sky, momentarily forgetting the base camp under me.
Just as I was towards the edge of the battle, the several fleets left at the camp made themselves known.
I was between two deadly forces, the fleets behind me and the huge Galran forces who were fighting the other paladins.
How amazing.
I managed (barely) to avoid the majority of the shots while sending my own back in return.
Suddenly, a screeching sound of metal against metal that even I could hear rang throughout the battlefield.
I winced at the sound and couldn't even imagine what it sounded like to the others.
Pidge, using her vines, had managed to salvage a huge slice of discarded metal and use it against a battleship.
The hunk of metal scraped across the sides of the ship, knocking off rows and rows of satellite looking objects.
Then, the Galran ships that were floating in the sky started to crash down to the planet, like a hailstorm of asshole Galra ships.
Maybe it was prudent to celebrate, but I couldn't help the joyful laugh that I let out. Pidge had just defeated the entire opposing force in one shot.
Out of nowhere, my visor filled up again.
And the main focus was me.
I sighed heavily, anticipating the lecture I'd get when we landed.
But then a few words caught my eye.
Watch out!
Move!
Lance!
Before I could figure out what the hell they were talking about, something crashed into Azul from behind.
Of course, I fucking forgot about the fleet behind me. Because duh. It's me. Lance fucking McClain who can't keep his shit together.
Azul and I were sent hurtling towards the ground.
The seat belt which had always been faulty, unclipped, sending me to go banging around in the cockpit.
Every hard surface and pointed object in the small room slammed hard against my flailing body.
Azul crashed landed belly up, leaving me sprawled on the ceiling, groaning.
Not having the strength to even move, I instead chose to stay down.
You okay, Az?
I'm fine, paladin. I just need to... rest...
The familiar feeling of Azul in the back of my head was gone, which left me feeling hollow.
Black was starting to fill my vision, distracting me from the aching pain that swallowed my body.
I didn't come to for a while.
Not when the other lions carried Azul and me off the planet and back into the palace.
Not when Hunk dragged me out of the cockpit.
Not when I was stuffed into the cryo pod.
I did, however, wake up when I was falling out of the pod and onto my knees.
Hunk came forward and helped me up to my feet.
The faces of the other Paladins weren't all that welcoming.
"Lance, the fuck?!" Keith exclaims when I exit.
The familiar furrow of Keith's brows and pout of his lips as he snapped at me made him look like an adorable puppy who was trying too hard to be a full grown dog.
Shiro held his hand up, stopping Keith.
"Give him some time, Keith," Shiro began, "He just got out."
"Lance, stop staring at Shiro's and Keith's lips, it's too gay for me," Pidge joked.
I looked down, feeling pretty shitty, to be honest.
Hunk bristled before looking down at me.
"That's what that was wasn't it?" Hunk looked down at me, saddened. "You need to tell them, Lance. You put yourself and us in danger."
Maybe it was Hunk's disappointed gaze or maybe it was the fact that I had put them in danger, but I nodded my head before asking Hunk a question.
"You'll help me right?"
Even though I knew that my voice was much too loud, the fact that Hunk nodded in an "Of course, dumbass" kind of way made me smile.
I turned to face the other Paladins, plus Allura and Coran who had walked over to us.
"So, uh," I began- graceful I know, "I owe you guys an explanation. And an explanation as to why I didn't tell you guys. Basically, I just have a lot of explaining to do."
Shiro nodded in an encouraging way, "That's great, Lance. I'm happy you're opening up to us. But could you maybe lower your voice? You don't have to shout, we can hear you, ya know."
The smile made it clear that the last part of his comment was a joke, but it only made me take a deep breath.
"That's the thing, Shiro. You can hear me, but I can't."
The other Paladin's faces were confused, as they tried to understand what I said.
I sighed before saying, "When I was around five, I was in a car accident. I suffered a traumatic brain injury. To this day I have to deal with incredibly painful migraines. Which sucks, I guess. But the worst- well I don't wanna say worst because it really doesn't bother me. It's just a part of me now. What I'm trying to say is that I'm deaf."
Seeing the shocked expressions on my teammates made me hastily amend myself.
"Well, not deaf, but hard of hearing. Nearly deaf. I have hearing aids, so my condition doesn't even affect me. Or had hearing aids, I suppose," I said, discontented, "They were completely destroyed last week. In that one mission with the fire planet."
"So um, yeah," I tried to end the awkward ass monologue I was delivering, "That's why I've been off the past week. I can't hear shit."
My lame attempt at a joke fell to deaf ears (pun intended) was met with silence.
The fact that none of my teammates were speaking, and instead staring at me was just fucking dandy. Great for the anxiety.
I mean I was just hard of hearing, no reason to have a brain hemorrhage.
"If you guys wouldn't mind saying something, that'd be great." I fiddled with my sleeves.
Keith shook his head before saying, "Um, okay. That's a lot to process. But uh, why didn't you tell us?"
I chuckled nervously before saying, "The Garrison isn't all too keen on any kind of disabilities. So, if they found out about me they'd throw me out. Which means I can't become a pilot."
Shiro's arm clamped down on my shoulder.
"You can trust us. Believe me, I know how the Garrison is probably more than anyone else."
I nodded, feeling lighter than I had in a long while.
"You absolute fucking dumbass!" Pidge spit out, "If you would have told me I could have made you hearing aids within an hour, and you wouldn't off been hurt."
Well actually, Pidge threw words at me so fast that all I could gather was "fucking dumbass... told... hearing... hour... been..."
"Uhh...." I started, "I can read lips but that was too fast."
Hunk tapped my wrist to grab my attention before signing to me what they said.
I dropped my gaze before apologizing, "I'm really sorry, okay? I was an idiot who made a dumb decision."
"As long you know that you're an idiot, we're cool," Keith smiled.
I couldn't help the grin that took over my face from his words.
The gremlin shook their head before saying, "Whatever, I can use the information from the cryo pod to make a pair of hearing aids."
With that, Pidge left the room, presumably going to the huge room they had claimed as their workstation.
I was hella tired so Hunk and I decided to chill in the common room for a few hours.
Hunk was signing to me about what new ingredients he'd invented and how he thought he could make a cake out of them when Keith entered the room and waved me over.
I excuse myself from Hunk before meeting Keith in the hallway.
"I'd like to apologize for being an ass this past week," Keith spoke and to my absolute shock, signed along as well.
"How did you?" I sputtered.
Keith smiled sheepishly, "One of my foster families had a deaf son, and they taught me how. I actually was in my room these past two hours trying to brush up on it."
His hangs smoothly formed the words with a precision that only a person who had signed for a long time were able to manage.
I smiled so wide I thought my cheeks were going to rip, tears began to form in the corners of my eyes.
"That's one of the sweetest things someones ever done for me, thank you so much," I cried while trying to wipe away any stray tears with my sleeves.
"And you're forgiven by the way," I offhandedly commented.
I was about to try and start some sort of conversation with a (probably) awkward starter when I caught Keith's gaze.
He was intensely staring into my eyes, lost in thought, and I couldn't help but lose myself as well.
His dark grey eyes swam with flecks of purples. They shone with hidden emotions, passionate emotions.
Slowly, without even realizing, our bodies gravitated slowly to one another.
His eyes flicked down to my lips just as my own gaze was distracted by the luscious red of his lips.
Gradually, I began to lean down, edging closer until our noses were a hair's breadth apart. My eyes fluttered close as I was about to meet his lips.
"Lance, guess what?!" came Pidge's boisterous voice from down the hallway.
Keith and I scrambled apart. I launched myself so hard that I actually fell on my ass with a painful thump.
"Why are you on the floor, weirdo?" Pidge questioned with a chuckle.
"I, uh tripped..." I lamely explained as I stood up.
Pidge rolled their eyes before handing out to small white buds and dropping them into my hands.
My eyes widened as I placed them in my ears, and sound completely returned to my ears.
"I tricked them out," Pidge gloated with a grin, "They're practically indestructible."
I smiled, looking down at the ground, "Thanks, Pidge."
"No problem," Pidge responded before heading to the common room to talk with Hunk.
I turned back towards to Keith, whose cheeks were dusted in an adorable scarlet.
"Wanna walk with me to my room?" I asked shyly.
Keith nodded sheepishly before tentatively holding his hand out.
Swallowing down my anxiety, I grasped his smaller hand and reveled in the feeling all the way back to my quarters.
