#vld reader

“Lance?”

He flinched and jumped.

“Y/N, whew-“ He held his chest and sighed,

Relieved,

“You scared me.”

Y/N raised a brow. “What’s wrong?”

Lance paused,

Then leaned against a nearby wall,

Trying to make it look cool and casual.

It didn’t.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Lance, you’re pacing the commons room and it’s 3:12am.”

They always spoke in Earth time.

Just the two of them.

It made them feel more normal.

More at home.

Lance stood upright,

A hand lingering against the wall.

“I’ve been in my head a lot.”

Y/N’s heart immediately cracked.

She took a hesitant step forward,

But didn’t want to get too close without permission.

“Lance-“

“My brain is too loud these days.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head,

As if trying to shake the thoughts from his head.

When Lance got stressed, he got like this.

Distant and flustered,

Frustrated within his own head.

“Is that why you can’t sleep?”

He sighed in response.

Hesitantly, Y/N made their way to a nearby couch,

Sliding into a seat,

And squeezing their nervous fingers in their lap.

“I’m here.” Was all they said.

It was all that was needed to bring Lance immediate comfort.

He slipped into the spot beside them,

His head landing on their shoulder,

His eyes, closed,

His fingers, intertwined with their own.

“I’m in the way.”

“What?” Y/N’s voice was fragile,

Reflecting how heartbroken they were hearing the statement.

“You’re never in the way. Who told you that?”

“No one.”

He squeezed Y/N’s hand tighter.

“Myself.”

Y/N sank deeper into the couch,

Their free hand reaching around Lance’s back,

Fiddling with the hair on the sides of his head.

“Lance, you’re not in the way. You’re not a burden.”

“I can’t offer the same as everyone else.”

He frowned, and Y/N could feel it dig into their shoulder.

“I can’t fight or think or run the same. I’m not buff or brilliant or a great fighter.”

“But you’re you, Lance.” Y/N hushed,

Capturing their cheeks,

Bringing his face close to theirs.

So they could speak directly to him.

“You’re funny and a great shooter and bring joy that none of the others can bring.”

“That’s not true,”

Y/N frowned at him.

“Hunk and Pidge and Coran bring plenty of joy.”

Y/N forced down a smirk.

The selected names they found to be funny.

“But they don’t bring the joy that you do.”

Lance furrowed his brows, confused.

“You bring a special type of joy that no one else can replicate.”

They brushed some hair away from his eyes,

Smiling tenderly and sincerely at his quivering eyes.

“It doesn’t matter if other paladins can make others happy. They can’t make anyone ‘Lance happy’.”

They gave a gentle laugh,

Stroking at his red cheeks.

“Only you can do that.” They finished.

Y/N could see the faint tears in his eyes,

Bubbling beneath the surface,

And wrapped him in a hug so he could compose himself.

“It’s okay to feel down on yourself sometimes,” Y/N hushed.

Lance squeezed them tighter,

Burying his head in their shoulder,

Taking in their familiar smell and warmth,

The comfort that only they could provide to him.

“But you are needed and wanted here. We can’t do this without you.”

Lance squeezed his partner even tighter,

His tears melting into their sweater.

They stayed like that,

Y/N stroking his hair and back,

Hushing him calm.

“I love you.” They hushed. “And you’re valued.”

A few hours later, the paladins found them in the common room,

Still on the couches,

Curled into one another,

Fast asleep.

It was the best sleep Lance had in a long time.

Y/N always had trouble sleeping.

They were terribly homesick.

But normally they laid awake in their room.

Reading.

Praying for sleep to come.

One day, they left.

And explored the ship.

And spotted Lance standing

Looking up at the stars.

They froze.

And studied him.

And then slowly backed away.

They couldn’t sleep all night.

Company was so close.

They could talk until they got tired.

But they ran instead.

Why was he up?

Did he have the same issues?

They didn’t bring it up the next day at breakfast.

They bit their tongue and studied him.

“Feeling okay today?” Lance asked.

Y/N nodded. “Just tired.”

Lance squinted while studying them.

But said nothing as they walked away.

Lance kept an eye on them all day.

They were off.

But it wasn’t just tiredness.

Even though he could see the bags under their eyes.

“Hey,” Lance said.

Touching Y/N’s arm after dinner.

As they were leaving.

They locked eyes.

“Try and get a good sleep tonight, okay?” He said.

His gaze warm and concerned.

Deep.

Y/N felt a flurry of warmth.

They could really feel his care.

His concern and worry.

They mattered to him.

So, Y/N nodded. “I’ll try.”

Then left.

They didn’t.

Even though they tried.

And eventually, they gave up.

They stopped the struggle.

And they left the room.

There was Lance.

And Y/N cleared their throat.

And approached.

“Y/N?”

“You can’t sleep either?” They said.

Lance relaxed, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah,” he said.

Y/N smiled. “Then let’s not sleep together.”

It was peaceful.

But neither of them got tired.

They sat on the floor of the control room.

Staring up at space.

Chatting about anything and everything.

They drank lots of ‘coffee’ that morning.

Coran’s mockup of the earth drink.

Trying to stay awake for the day.

But their conversations were worth it.

“You seem tired these days,” Shiro said.

Setting a hand on Y/N’s shoulder.

They jolted at the contact.

Shiro frowned. “Maybe you should go get some more rest.”

Y/N didn’t fight it.

They obeyed.

Lance watched with a smile.

Frowning.

How long had they been sleepless in silence?

At dinner, lance said nothing.

Staring at Y/N’s empty seat.

Everyone noticed.

But didn’t prod him.

Lance didn’t sleep out of worry.

But then, Y/N emerged again.

Wrapped in a blanket.

Their feet tucked into slippers.

“Again?” They said.

Lance flipped around, frowning. “Again.”

Y/N smiled and spread out their blanket.

And they both laid down.

“Why can’t you sleep?” Lance asked.

Y/N hesitated. Lance noticed.\

“My brain’s too loud.” They said.

Lance’s eyes widened.

“For you?”

Lance blinked. “I didn’t know anyone else felt the same way.”

They stared at each other.

And said nothing.

But felt understood.

They went to their rooms a little while later.

And both rested soundly.

For the first time in a long time.

Lance and Y/N talked all day the next day.

Smiling at each other.

Sitting with each other at meals.

Training together.

They felt understood.

Y/N got hit during training.

An accident by Hunk.

And Lance was the first one there.

Helping them up.

And brought them over to the side.

Lance was struggling with getting tech to work.

Pidge was busy.

And he was getting blatantly frustrated.

Y/N stepped in to help.

And was gentle and calm.

And got everything back up and running as normal.

Lance smiled.

Their presence always calming him.

Even if it was the moment they entered a room.

When Lance came out late one night, he saw two beanbags.

Sitting in the control room.

Two cups of something warm.

And a bowl of snacks.

Y/N trotted into the room and smiled.

Beaming and lighting up when they saw him.

“Hi,” they said softly. “I was getting ready.”

Lance smiled.

His body going warm and weightless.

They relaxed.

And drank tea.

And had snacks.

And talked.

And when they set their cups down, Lance rook their hand.

And Y/N squeezed.

And they smiled into the stars.

Both pink.

They held hands under the dining room table.

And snuck off to see and talk to each other during training

They did everything together.

Always happy and calm.

And at peace.

Everyone saw their moods perk up.

But nobody knew why.

But they didn’t mind.

Then, Pidge saw them one day in the living area.

Away from everyone else.

And Lance wrapped his fingers around theirs.

And Pidge understood everything.

Nobody mentioned anything.

But everyone knew.

But Lance and Y/N didn’t care.

They were too happy.

A few nights later, Lance heard a knocking on his door.

And opened it to see Y/N there.

Blanket draped around them.

“Can’t sleep?” He asked.

A warm smile creeping on his lips.

He was honoured that they came to him above anyone else.

Y/N nodded.

Before they spoke, Lance stated opening his door for them.

“Can I stay here?”

Lance smiled sweetly.

He took their hand.

And guided them into the room.

Closing the door behind them.

It was the best sleep they’d had in a long time.

Together.

Y/N was like a second sibling to Pidge.

Pidge wanted to hate them, but saw too much of herself and Matt in Y/N to be able to.

She could never tell if she wanted to beat Y/N up or hug them.

Most days it was both.

A mission was going horribly south.

“Everyone pull back,” Shiro said from central command. “Fighter jets, retreat. Voltron, stay out there and hold them off while we establish a new plan.”

Y/N was a fighter jet.

They didn’t respond.

Everyone else did.

“Y/N?” Pidge asked, radioing through. “Come on, head back to base. We can handle this.”

There was static, meaning they were able to respond.

But they didn’t.

“Y/N.” Keith called, irritated.

Purposely ignoring them during a mission was far from okay.

They were all at risk.

“Y/N, radio in.” Keith repeated.

There was faint crackling, and a sigh.

“I can’t let them win.”

Pidge could feel her heart drop at Y/N’s words. “Retreating now isn’t letting them win, Y/N. We’re making a plan.”

“I can’t.”

Y/N hated that they couldn’t say more.

They couldn’t tell everyone that there wasn’t a way out.

They were stuck in a visible spot, and no matter what they did, no matter where they turned, they would be seen and captured.

Y/N needed to just face it.

And they hated that.

“Y/N, come on, please.” Pidge begged. “Come back to base. We can’t afford to do this right now.”

Y/N gripped the wheel tighter.

“I go down on my own accord!” Y/N spat, hurt and irritation woven through every syllable.

Then they hit the gas.

Everything moved slowly, and Pidge could see every millisecond of what transpired.

It made every moment all the more unbearable.

She could see what was coming before it even happened.

She saw Y/N’s jet dart forward.

Voltron was too busy confusedly yelling to leap forward and act.

They were too busy trying to hold off enemy jets from the base.

Pidge suddenly understood why Y/N didn’t retreat.

They were stuck.

They couldn’t have, and they didn’t want to put Voltron at risk to save them.

Pidge watched enemy lasers fire straight for Y/N’s jet.

Pigde knew what was coming.

Her eyes widened, and she wanted to scream.

Nothing came out.

There, Pidge watched Y/N’s jet burst into flames and disintegrate.

Voltron was silent.

Deafeningly silent.

The silence made her ears ache.

There was nothing over the radio.

Crackling’s of potential communication unutilized.

Then Pidge screamed.

Y/N was gone.

And she could’ve stopped it.

But she didn’t.

All because they wanted to sacrifice themselves to help Voltron succeed.

She screamed harder.

She hated their stubbornness.