#snowyspacekittenwrites

“It’s so lovely to meet you!”

That was the first thing you’d ever said to the Blue Paladin. It was said in a way that immediately made him feel special, and after that Lance was smitten with you. It didn’t matter to him in the least that you weren’t human; in fact, in the brief time you’ve known Lance it wasn’t unusual for him to flirt with anyone who caught his attention.

And that was the problem, in your mind. How were you supposed to stand out when he was comfortable expressing his attraction towards others so openly? Of course, what you didn’t know was that secretly, Lance liked you back, but being the bean that he is, he had no idea how to even approach you about it. So, he directed his attention elsewhere, because having you as a friend was better than risking the relationship you had together now.

But, you weren’t willing to give up that easily. You began with simple, effortless ways to get Lance’s attention. Sitting next to him at dinner or during downtime, for example. Offering him the last bit of Hunk’s dessert because, yes you really wanted it, but you wanted that gorgeous brown-eyed boy to notice you more.

Yet those things didn’t seem to make a difference…you spent a few days pondering your approach before you decided to step up your game. You began offering to train with Lance, so you could both improve your techniques, you’d said. You started coming to Lance for target practice advice, as he was the team sharpshooter - when you’d told him you wanted to learn to shoot from the best, he’d just winked and flashed you the shiniest grin before wrapping an arm loosely around your shoulders.

“Don’t worry,” he had said happily, “You’ll be hitting that bullseye in no time.”

Well, at least you got to spend more time with him.

And now, here you were, stumbling into the common area after a grueling training session. You ran a hand down your face and sighed, flopping onto the couch and letting the cushions mold into your exhausted body. It felt nice to finally be off your feet. Your tired eyes were almost closed in preparation for a nap when you noticed something poking out from behind a pillow on the other couch. Curious, you made yourself get up and investigate.

You reached out and pulled on the green fabric, and out popped Lance’s jacket from behind the pillow. Your first thought was that you should return it to him…and then another thought came to mind: what if you just…borrowed it for a little while?

The idea made you faintly blush. Still tired from training, you wandered back over to your couch, grabbing a few extra pillows on the way. You curled up against the arm of the couch, making a nest of pillows. For the finishing touch, you slipped on the Blue Paladin’s jacket. The jacket was far too big for your frame; it looked like it might eat you, but it made a nice blanket. It was comfortable and soft, and it smelled faintly like Lance. You grinned, snuggling down into the welcoming fabric and quickly drifting off to sleep.

*****

Lance decided it was time to make a stand. For weeks now, his jacket would mysteriously disappear and no one he asked ever seemed to know where it went. Then suddenly, the jacket would reappear like nothing had ever happened to it. It was really starting to bother him.

He swore that he left his jacket outside the training area today, and when he’d gone back to retrieve it after his shower, it was gone. The Blue Paladin wandered around the Castle, searching, and finally made his way into the lounge area. There, as had become your routine (unbeknownst to Lance) to curl up with the Paladin’s jacket while he was busy training. You usually were able to return it before Lance noticed it was missing, but today you were in an exceptionally deep sleep and didn’t rouse in enough time to keep from being caught.

When the Blue Paladin saw you curled up in his jacket, sleeping with a peaceful expression on your face, he felt his heart rate speed up just a little bit. His eyes followed the length of your arms that were curled around a pillow, the sleeves of his jacket covering them completely - not even your fingertips peeked out of the sleeve ends. Your pink lips were parted ever so slightly, allowing soft rhythmic breaths to quietly pass through. Lance’s brown gaze lingered a little longer on those lips of yours, and he briefly had a thought of what it might feel like to kiss them, to see what you tasted like. He suddenly felt flustered, and could feel the evidence dusting his cheeks a bright rose red.

Maybe he’d have to give you trouble for stealing his jacket later, but for now, Lance adjusted the fabric around your shoulders so that you were tucked in and warm. Before he dimmed the lights and left you to your nap, he plopped a soft, tentative kiss on your head. With a small smile, Lance left the room, occupied with thoughts of how he could get you to kiss him in return.

He knewyou wouldn’t find him here. As much as you admired the Paladins and their giantwarrior space lions, the robotic cats made you a little nervous. They were justso big! And you could never tell what they were thinking.

So it wasthat whenever Keith needed to have some time to himself, or to vent, or toworry where no one else would see, he would often retreat to the sanctuary ofthe Red Lion. His latest reason for seeking out Red in her hangar just sohappened to be the person the team had recently acquired on a mission to cut offvital Galran resources.

The teamfound you in the aftermath of their battle on the small asteroid where a Galraoutpost was mining for rare minerals. Their intelligence information prior tothe strike hadn’t indicated that any civilians were used in the operation – andthey weren’t. You were a rouge rebel acting on their own, and miraculously (orperhaps just by dumb luck), you’d managed to sneak yourself into the middle ofthis small but important mining operation. It took every ounce of persuasionand charm you had to convince Team Voltron that you were not, in fact,affiliated in any way with the Galra. You easily accepted their offer totransport you off the asteroid; getting you to fly in one of those giantrobotic sentient death traps back to the awaiting castle-ship was another thingentirely.

Keithcouldn’t help but shake his head at the memory. He could feel the warmamusement radiating from Red as her thoughts mingled fluidly with his own. TheRed Paladin sat on top of her front left paw, leaning up against the cool metalof her massive foreleg. Despite her colossal size, Keith found Red’s presence,both physically and mentally, safe and reassuring. His Lion was fierce, butcompassion fueled her fire like a bed of warm coals. Warm.

Thatfeeling spread to his cheeks and he knew they were flushed, because he couldthink-feel Red teasing him. “My face is not as red as you!” he grumbled and hid his face in his hands. Hedrew his hands slowly down his face and sighed, and leaned his head backagainst Red’s leg with a soft thump. “I just don’t get it…” he said more tohimself than his Lion.

…“And for the thousandth time, no, I will not ask Lance for dating advice…I madethat mistake once which was more than enough.”

Keith wasjust about to ask Red if she knew if any of the nearby planets had prettyflowers, because potential romantic partners liked flowers, right? At least,that’s what he’d always heard. He started to voice his thoughts out loud, butquickly stopped when he heard footsteps coming down the hallway. He didn’t knowwhat motivated him to jump off and hide behind Red’s paw…it’s not like it wasweird for him to be in the hangar…she was his Lion, this was her hangar…

Keithpeeked around the side of Red’s claws. He felt his face heating up again, asthe object of his affections had just popped their head ever-so-cutely aroundthe hangar doorway. With tentative steps, you slowly walked into the hangar,but you only went a few feet into the room. You raised your eyes to look up atthe great lion, and cleared your throat gently.

“Um…heythere,” you started, then grimaced. “Ugh, no, I sound ridiculous…what am Idoing, asking a robotic space lion for advice…”

Just as youturned to leave, Keith stumbled into your line of sight with a startled yelp.The Red Paladin whirled around to face Red, a look of surprise and betrayal onhis handsome face. “You SHOVED ME” he thought-yelled atRed. The Lion appeared stoic to you, but to Keith she was rumble-laughingloudly in his thoughts.  

Youwatched, bewildered, as Keith stared angrily at the Red Lion, the silentexchange between the two lost to you. Keith’s face turned from pink to crimson,and he finally whirled around to face you. Several emotions flashed across hisface before he finally settled on what you thought looked like embarrassment.It was a little hard to tell, but you were getting better at reading humanfaces.

“Uh…hey,”you said.

Keith swallowed.“Hey,” he replied. “Sooo…what are you up to?” you inquired as nonchalantly as you could. You saw the Paladin stiffen slightly, as if he had been caught doing somethinghe shouldn’t have been. “Oh, you know…stuff…that…space Paladins do?” heshrugged and scratched the back of his neck, eyes averting your gaze.

You smileda little, despite, or perhaps because of, the awkwardness you now foundyourself buried neck-deep in with your favorite Paladin. “Oh? Why so late atnight?”

Your voicemade him look back up. He studied you thoughtfully for a moment before saying: “Ishould be asking you that, along with why you were coming to Red’s hangar.”

Now it wasyour turn to feel caught. “I…uhm, I wanted to ask her advice. I know sheprobably wouldn’t talk to me,” your gaze flickered away from Keith. “But, Iwanted to try anyway…” Your voice trailed off until it was little more than a whisper.

Keith hadstepped closer, now only a few inches in front of you, pulling your gaze backto him. “What were you going to ask Red about?” he asked quietly. To you, hisvoice was soft and velvety; frankly, it made your stomach flip pleasantly.

You couldfeel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up from the way he was looking atyou. It was almost soft; you hadn’t seen that look on him before, but you likedit. Distracted by his eyes, your mouth opened and closed, your ability to formwords suddenly gone. Why couldn’t you just be honest with him? You’ve done moredifficult things than confess your affections for this cute little human.

Shakingyour head, you let out a breath. Time tobe brave, you thought. “I…was coming to ask Red…about you,” you said.

Keith wasblushing now, but a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Me? Why?”

You puffedout your cheeks, but smiled coyly. “You jerk,” you grumbled playfully andlooked at the ground. “I think you know why…”

Keith’shands found their way to your own. They were warm, and firmly held yours. “Yeah,but maybe you could still give me a hint?” He didn’t miss the way your gazejumped from his eyes to his lips and back up again.

“Ah,” hegrinned. “I see.”

He slidhis hands up your arms and brought his hands to cup the sides of your face,holding you still and allowing him to plant a quick, firm kiss to your lips. Hepulled back, the expression on your face making him grin even wider. He wasclearly pleased with himself.

“I take itkissing is also a sign of affection where you come from?”

“It is,”you confirmed happily.