Hey guys! Team Green Lion is still in the running so here is our next submission! Challenge #4 to write a fic exploring alien religion and culture. I hope you all enjoy our answer for that! :)

Warning: This fic contains blatant klance. Don't like it then kindly move along.

Disclaimer: Voltron isn't ours. We write this for fun not profit.

Discovery

"You want us to what?" Shiro asked in confusion. He hadn't been back from the astral plane for long and was still struggling to get caught up on current events, but he was more than willing to help his little brother out.

He just wished he understood what exactly Krolia was asking.

"It's a coming of age ritual." She explained with a little quirk of her lips that spoke of long experience explaining Galran concepts to confused humans, "I was forced to leave Keith when he was much too young to go through it, and now that his training with the Blades is complete it's past time he did."

"But what exactly does this ritual entail?" Pidge asked curiously, "I mean, I'm happy to help, but what do we do?"

Krolia's expression softened a little, "It's an celebration of adulthood." She replied, "The family comes together to honor the young Galra's prowess and proof of accomplishment. Traditionally, this is marked by a sacred hunt or other deed, but I think being a Paladin of Voltron more than fulfills that requirement."

She looked at Shiro, "I'm well aware of the importance you all have in my son's life, so I wanted to ask you all to participate. There's a religious ceremony where Keith will symbolically shed his childhood, and look toward his future, followed by a feast in his honor."

Shiro's confusion melted into a broad smile, "We'd be honored." He replied without hesitation, "Keith's like a little brother to me, and we're all family. Thank you for inviting us to such an important moment."

"I could hardly do anything less." Krolia replied wryly, "If it weren't for you my son wouldn't be the man he is today. It's I who should be thanking you."

Shiro looked a little surprised by the praise, but he turned to look at the rather embarrassed looking Keith. He set his robotic hand on his shoulder, a smile curling at the corners of his lips, "I think Keith did plenty of that on his own. Just needed a little nudge or two here and there. He's meant to be the head of Voltron."

"This is a big moment for you Keith, try not to look like we're killing you," Shiro laughed at the strained expression on Keith's face, who looked like he had attempted to swallow a rock whole for some reason.

At least he would have, had Lance not chosen that moment to shove his way between Shiro and Keith, his gangly arms bursting out to wrap around both Shiro and Keith's shoulders.

"So this is a party right?" Lance's smile practically fell off his face, earning himself a judgy little squint from Krolia, "This is going to be so fun!"

"Lance, this is a sacred and religious ceremony," Allura began, looking exasperated and almost apologetic towards Krolia. It was almost as if she were saying 'I apologize, I can't reel that one in.'

"If it's going to be anything like my First Communion, then it's bound to either be a total snore-fest, or a bloodbath depending on how drunk the Blades of Marmora can get," Lance grinned.

Keith shoved Lance's face away from him and out of his personal space, "Lance, the Galra don't really drink. Not from what I've seen from Kolivan."

Lance looked affronted but let himself get shoved away, "So there's going to be no alcohol in a family gathering? Oh yep, someone is going to die."

"Please," Keith deadpanned, "Would you rather stay behind on the ship?"

"And miss you in your Galra-equivalent of a First Communion dress? Nothing could keep me away Samurai," Lance grinned back at Keith, who looked torn between laughing and annoyance.

"So what you're telling us, is that there are pictures of Lance somewhere in a dress," Pidge cottoned on.

"Oh totally!" Hunk grinned at her as she adjusted her glasses, leaving Krolia very confused over the proceedings or what a Communion was.

"You should see the pictures of it, Lance looks so sweet! Like a little angel!" Hunk cooed, ignoring Lance's affronted 'hey!' in the background.

"And you haven't shared this treasure with the rest of us... why?" Matt asked, a devious little smirk that matched his sister's on his face.

"I've been saving it for blackmail material." Hunk replied easily, and rubbed his chin, "Though the potential for embarrassment might make it worth giving it up." He grinned wickedly at the siblings, "For a price."

"Hunk!" Lance protested as Keith snickered, "You can't seriously be planning on sharing that!"

"Why not?" Hunk deadpanned, "It's not like I don't have other stuff on you. Or have you forgotten about that time we hitchhiked to- mmph!"

"We agreed to never talk about that again!" Lance hissed furiously, "It was a complete misunderstanding and nothing else!"

"Now that's a story I would like to hear." Keith smirked as he crossed his arms.

"Not happening Keith!" Lance squawked only for Keith to raise a taunting eyebrow at him and look over at Hunk.

"I'll give you my dessert for the next month for a copy of those pictures and the whole story Hunk."

"I second the offer!" Pidge jumped in eagerly.

"You're going along with this?!" Lance yelped.

"Well sure." Pidge grinned brightly at him, "Hunk's the only one who can keep ahead of my hacking, so I can't just find the file myself."

"Alright that's enough." Shiro spoke up, sounding somewhere between amused and exasperated, "You all can tease Lance later." He looked over at Krolia, who was looking vaguely impressed by the banter, "So what do we need to do to prepare for this ceremony?"

"We'll need a fortnight to prepare an area of the castle for this." Krolia replied, "I've called in a few favors to get the supplies we'll need. In the meantime, you should meditate on your relationship with Keith, and try to find a token of some kind that represents it. You'll be presenting them at the ritual."

"A gift?" Lance blinked, his blue eyes flashing over to Keith, who raised a challenging eyebrow back at him.

"Yeah, better pick out something good," Keith smirked back at him, causing Lance's cheeks to turn red.

"I'll pick out something good! It'll be so good it'll knock you clear out of the water!" He swiped a hand through the air as if to demonstrate how far Keith would go flying, "It's going to be totally awesome and the best token ever!"

Hunk just slapped a hand over his eyes and dragged it along his face, while Keith crossed his arms over his chest and gave Lance a smirk that wouldn't quit.

"Can't wait," Keith drawled. He ventured back with Krolia, his mother dropping a hand on his shoulder.

"C'mon, let me show you where you can stay while we get this whole weird party started," Keith spoke soft to his mom as they walked away from the others.

In the distance Lance could hear Keith quietly explaining to his mother what a First Communion was, before he whipped around to Hunk, who was already giving him a resigned look.

"Emergency meeting Hunk, stat!" Lance grabbed the yellow paladin's wrist and yanked him away from the others and towards the hanger.

Shiro sighed, long and suffering as he shrugged at the remainder of the people gathered.

"I'm just going to go take a nap."

Meanwhile, Lance was having a not-so-internalized freakout over what he was supposed to get Keith. While they were in space. Over a strange alien-religious ceremony he knew next to nothing about.

"Why did I have to talk it up so much?" Lance wailed onto Hunk's shoulder.

Hunk was seated on Yellow's paw, Lance's body draped dramatically over his shoulders and back as he freaked out over trying to get Keith the perfect gift. For Lance, everything was a competition with Keith.

Especially considering his extremely poorly hidden crush on the half-Galra.

That just exacerbated the whole thing.

"I dunno man, you can't help but try to preen at Keith like some kind of peacock, only you end up coming across like a plucked chicken," Hunk grinned at Lance, patting his back sympathetically.

"Ouch, Hunk my man, buddy, pal. Your words wound me," Lance whined.

"Well it's true." Hunk replied reasonably, "And you could always make something for him?" He suggested, "I mean, you always were pretty good with welding and stuff back at the Garrison."

"Hunk that was for engineering classes." Lance protested, but Hunk just shrugged,

"So what?" He replied, "That didn't stop you from putting art on all your projects did it? The only reason you didn't get perfect grades in that class was because the teacher had no concept of humor."

Lance blinked a little, "I... guess?" He hazarded, "But, I dunno, it doesn't feel right somehow?"

"I'm just saying you've got options." Hunk replied, "Krolia didn't say it had to be fancy or anything. Just that it had to represent something about you and Keith's relationship."

He grinned at his friend, "And if all else fails, maybe Allura and Coran would be willing to fly the castle back to the Space Mall. I mean, this is important enough for that right?"

Lance's eyes widened, "Hunk you're a genius!"

"I know." Hunk grinned, "Now c'mon. I wanna ask Krolia and Keith what kind of food there's going to be, and if maybe I can whip up some stuff to go with it!"

-::-

"You want to help prepare the feast?" Krolia asked in surprise and glanced at her son, "Is that wise?"

"Oh trust me." Keith grinned, "If there's anything Hunk knows better than engineering it's food."

"Exactly!" Hunk replied excitedly, "And besides, Keith's still half human right? There should be something from Earth at the feast."

Krolia's expression softened, "Well I can't argue with that logic." She chuckled, "What were you thinking of introducing?"

"Well... I'm not sure if there's a Galra equivalent, but we picked up a cow when we first went to the Space Mall..."

"You have a cow on board?"

Keith shook his head at the exclamation and eyed Lance, "So did Hunk drag you along just to talk about food?"

"Oh!" Lance laughed a little nervously, "Nah. Well... yeah maybe a little. But while he talks food I was going to suggest we go back to the Space Mall."

"What for?" Keith asked curiously, "We're not needing to get Coran to barter something again are we?"

"For you dummy." Lance snorted, "In case you hadn't noticed we're on a castle in space. Where there is a distinct lack of shopping choices for your ritual thingy. Even if someone wants to make you a gift there's no guarantee we'll have the supplies."

That earned Lance a long, hard stare from Keith, who seemed rather on edge at the reminder of gifts.

"Lance," He began tiredly, a tone Lance recognized automatically when Keith was quickly growing exhausted by his surroundings. Usually Lance. He grinned at their intrepid leader, who was becoming more like Shiro with each passing day.

"Nut uh!" He swept over the other in a rush. His heart squeezed in an embarrassing twist at the look on Keith's face. It was mockingly outraged over being cut off and a mixture of amused. Keith was pouting.

Unfortunately when Lances heart stopped functioning correctly, his mouth jumped in to try and fill the gaps.

"Listen man I get you're probably all stoic and 'I don't need gifts!' but you need to give us a chance to shower you!"

"Why?" Keith deadpanned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He glared up at Lance through his eyelashes and damned if it wasn't absolutely adorable. It made Lance want to punch that aggravatingly perfect mouth. With his own.

Sensing he was swiftly falling down a rabbit hole, Keith pressed on, "This doesn't need to be made into a bigger deal than it already is. I mean, the feast by itself seems over the top."

Hunk let out an offended gasp and Keith winced, flashing him an apologetic look, "Sorry big guy. Parties aren't really my style on a normal day."

"But this isn't a normal day." Krolia pointed out, and gave him a look that was somewhere between sympathetic and firm, "Keith, you only come of age once. It's only right such an event be honored." She smiled a little, "And if your friends care enough about it to go out of their way, would it be so terrible to let them?"

Keith squirmed a bit uncomfortably, "I just... I don't like big events." He complained, "I don't mind the idea of honoring the tradition, but I don't want this to turn into some big event with a bunch of people..."

Lance glanced at Hunk and an unspoken agreement flashed between them.

"Hey that's cool." Hunk chirped, "I can totally dig wanting to keep things simple."

"Yeah." Lance agreed, his heart melting a bit at the slightly shy look on Keith's face, "So, like, what do you want for this?"

Keith blinked a little in surprise, "Uh, I don't know?" He asked uncertainly, panic flashing over his face as he glanced between the other three, "Maybe... something with just the team? And one of Hunk's dinners? I don't really need anything else."

Meaning, they were the ones who mattered most to him, and anything else would just be irritating. Lance couldn't help his grin at that. It was nice to know Keith cared that much.

"Ask and ye shall receive my man!" Lance grinned, dropping his hand on Keith's shoulder, his grin widening at the open look of relief washing over his friend. Even his shoulders were relaxing.

"Thanks." Keith breathed, and Lance had to battle back the urge to shove the black paladin against the nearest wall and maul him. Seriously, that look in his eyes should've been labeled illegal years ago!

He forcefully hauled his mind out of the gutter and nudged Hunk, "C'mon. Let's go talk to Allura and Coran."

"You're still going to do that?" Keith asked in surprise.

"Well duh!" Lance smirked, "The fact that you want small and simple doesn't negate the fact we're still in a castle spaceship! And besides, the last thing we need is for Allura to get the idea to turn this into some Alliance thing right?"

He grinned brightly at the horrified expression that reappeared on Keith's face as he grabbed Hunk's elbow and dragged him off.

-::-

"Dude," Hunk groaned after watching Lance draw pathetic kitty faces in the window of the shuttle to the space mall, "I say this with all the love in my heart, and you know I've got a ton of it — but get a grip."

"You and your weird rival-crush on Keith are going to drive you straight into the nearest planet with three exploding suns," Hunk patted Lance on the back, "You've gotta relax. It's not like you're using this gift-thing as a declaration of your eternal love."

"It might as well be," Lance grumbled, leaning miserably on Hunk's shoulder, who gamely patted him on the head, putting up with his drama queen theatrics, "What do you get or make a guy who literally has everything."

"A knife?" Pidge asked from her seat, as if reminding them both that she was still there with them, "The stabbing kind. He seems to like those."

"Of course he likes knives, he probably has an altar dedicated to the sanctification of his lord almighty 'Knifey McStabsalot,'" Lance drawled and raked a hand through his hair, disliking how his crush on Keith was so poorly hidden that his team had picked up on it within a week of being on the castleship. All with the exception of the main focus of Lance's affections.

"It's gotta be something unique. Something that will blow him so far out of the system that he'll hit a planet the Galra haven't conquered yet!" Lance grinned.

"You've set your expectations absurdly high," Pidge raised an eyebrow and Hunk laughed.

"It's not funny!" Lance huffed indignantly.

"Actually, it kinda is." Hunk chuckled.

"Hunk..." Shiro scolded repressively from where he was flying the shuttle, and rolled an eye back to look at Lance, "Lance, why don't you join me?"

Lance huffed at his cackling teammates and slid into the seat next to Shiro with a pout.

Shiro bit back the urge to roll his eyes at the expression and shot Lance a friendly look, "Look Lance... why don't you just tell Keith the truth? He might surprise you."

Lance's pout melted into something far more dejected, "Shiro... I can't."

"Why not?" Shiro asked curiously, "I know Keith can be kind of oblivious..."

"Kind of?" Pidge commented, earning a glare from Shiro.

"However, if you're direct with him..."

"It's not that!" Lance interrupted, "Shiro I can't tell him!" He looked over at the former paladin, "You don't understand! This isn't like flirting with Allura or anyone else. My brain doesn't work right around Keith."

Hunk looked over expectantly at Pidge who waved it off, "Lance and his brain? Come on that's low hanging fruit, it's too easy."

Lance glared back at Pidge, but Shiro gave him a patient smile. One that was just as steady and calm as always.

"You really like him, huh?" Shiro asked, the fingers of his Galra arm tapping rhythmically into the steering column of their shuttle. Shiro almost looked pleased by Lances internal freak out, which he couldn't say he was super thrilled about, but it wasn't the worst option.

Lance sank further into his chair, arms crossed and sulking. Feelings laid bare and his teammates were cruelly poking at him.

And yes, he was being a little over the top and dramatic, but he was feeling rather displeased over his own inability to get a handle on his emotions. Stupid perfect ninja-pilots.

"Alright then, back to the task at hand," Shiro said, mercifully letting go of the original topic, "I've known Keith a long time. And what I know of him, is that he doesn't put much value on earthly possessions."

"What matters to him — what really matters, is the reminders of those he finds important," Shiro turned to watch the starryscape flashing by them.

"It'll be important to him because you made it, don't be focused on what he'll like," Shiro's shoulders relaxed by a hair, "Give him something you would like. A reminder of you."

Lance cocked his head slightly at that, a thoughtful look crossing his face, "Something that reminds him of me huh?"

That... actually wasn't bad advice. And certainly narrowed the field quite a bit. He hummed a little as he began turning over the kinds of things he would like that was a reminder of him for Keith. Unfortunately, nothing immediately sprang to mind.

A charm of Red or Blue? No. They saw the lions every day. Maybe... something from Earth? He remembered that one shop he and Pidge had found, but he kind of doubted it would have anything that was really him to give Keith.

Maybe he could take a different approach with it? Hunk's advice to create something wasn't bad, and though he was no artist, he'd always enjoyed a hobby of whittling. He hadn't practiced in years, not since joining the Garrison, but that had mainly been due to lack of tools.

Maybe he could find something to work with at the mall? Surely there was an arts and crafts shop somewhere in there right?

He smiled a little at the idea, and nearly sighed in relief as the tension in his shoulders started to unknot. Maybe he could do this after all. He tipped his head back and began plotting what he might carve, not noticing the knowing smile Shiro shot him as he did.

"He looks like he's thinking hard over there." Hunk muttered to Pidge, "You think he figure it out?"

"I think if he had to think any longer, his brain would have short circuited and we would have had to have Coran stick him in a cyrotube to get it to restart," Pidge replied, "Thanks for talking to him Shiro."

"Anytime. Happy to help." Shiro shrugged back at the others, a relaxed smile drifting over his face. He looked over at Lance, who had withdrawn into his own head as he tossed back ideas in the silence of the cab. He set his eyes ahead to their destination. He just hoped that whatever it was Lance decided on, that he would take his advice when it came to Keith.

The short tempered paladin was not someone who craved materialistic things. He lived out in a desert shack for an entire year by himself and had absolutely no problem with dropping his entire life by the wayside with only a small knife to his name.

Whatever Lance decided, so long as his heart was put into it — Keith would get the message.

Hopefully.

That kid was thick as a brick too though. Shiro made a few notes to push Keith in the right direction

—::—

Lance had decided on two things. One, which he hoped the personal meaning of the item to Lance would negate the fact he didn't actually make it.

He sat on Red's paw, music blaring from his lion's jaws as he worked on the wooden tube-like shape that was taking form between his fingers.

The idea had come to him while he'd been looking over the various alien woods in the, very, expansive craft shop he'd been lucky enough to find. Armed with actual GAK this time, for which he blessed Shiro's diplomacy skills for convincing Allura, it hadn't taken long to get what he needed. The question had been the form.

But one look at the shine on the polished version of the wood in his hands had brought to mind the memory of a flute his grandmother had craved years before. She'd been the one to teach him how to carve and whittle, and he'd always been entranced by the music she was able to coax from hers.

That had decided it on the spot.

Even if Keith couldn't actually play, and Lance honestly doubted Mr. Perfect could, maybe he would let Lance play for him from time to time.

It was the closest he would probably ever get to being able to express his feelings anyway. He was too much of an idiot every other time. Maybe he would even get lucky and Keith would pick up on the message.

Truthfully, he doubted that too, but the idea was still enough to put a smile on his face as he leaned back against Red's paw and worked.

"What d'you think?" He asked as he carefully finished roughing out the general shape, and held the tube up for Red and Blue's inspection, "I know it's not much now, but it's going to turn out amazing! I just know it!"

He felt a warm rumble of affection and amusement coming from Red, so much wilder and more passionate than Blue had been, and grinned up at his lion. He still remembered how upset he'd been by the abrupt switch, but Red had turned out to match him well. Though that didn't stop him from talking to Blue. For all that she was Allura's lion, she'd been Lance's first, and he was still protective of her.

He looked up as the music cut off abruptly, and grinned as Red peered down a little to get a closer look at what he was doing. The lions had a habit of sitting around not responsive most of the time, to the point he no longer really expected a physical reaction, but as their bond had grown Red had started periodically surprising him when it was something he felt was really important.

Apparently this counted enough.

A rumbling purr sounded, and Lance couldn't help the broad grin that stretched across his face as Red re-positioned himself a little closer to be able to watch better.

"You're a big ol' softie, aren't ya Red?" Lance grinned at the wave of disgruntlement he felt from his fiery lion.

He knew Red missed Keith just as much as Lance missed Blue. After all, Red had an incredibly close bond with Keith before he had to switch with Black. Red was just as invested as Lance was in making Keith happy, even if his lion was trying to play innocent.

"That's okay, I won't tell anyone your secret," Lance grinned up at Red, not hearing the hanger door swish open.

At least not until a familiar — if horrifying voice spoke up, "What secret?"

Lance's head whipped up at the sight of Keith striding into the hanger once more donning his clothes from earth minus his jacket. He had a towel sling over a shoulder, one of the ships juice packets hanging loose in his grip.

Barely capable of understanding the vision that was a Keith clearly fresh from training, Lance was only able to comprehend that he was holding a half finished flute in his hand. In a few seconds it would be in plain sight for Keith to see.

Thinking fast, he whipped around and flung the half finished pipe into Red's mouth, earning himself an wave of affronted disbelief from his lion.

"Sorry Red!" Lance hissed back at his lion and tossed his jacket down on top of all the wood shavings on Red's paw.

He then made a show of standing overly casual as Keith rounded the bend to raise an eyebrow at him.

"What're you doing—" Keith cast him a suspicious look and waved a hand abstractly around them, "—in general?"

"What makes you think I'm up to something?" Lance squeaked defensively, earning him a flat glare from Keith.

Keith looked wholly unimpressed by the whole thing.

"I wasn't accusing you of doing something." Keith shot back, more amused than irritated, "But it seems you've got a guilty conscious."

Keith raised an eyebrow and moved over to Red's paw where he picked up a wood shaving and looked at Lance inquiringly.

"Ah!" Lance exclaimed and snatched it from the half Galra, "How'd that get there?" He laughed nervously, "Must be one of Pidge's projects!"

Keith lifted the edge of Lance's jacket, revealing the pile of shavings there, "Yeah." He replied dryly, "Must be."

Lance blushed madly at the discovery, "Um..." He fumbled, more than half expecting mocking for it, "I..."

"I never knew you liked carving." Keith commented after a moment and Lance blinked at the sight of a small smile on Keith's face.

"You're... not going to make fun of me for it?" He asked uncertainly, not at all sure of how to respond to a Keith that wasn't smashing his rivalry buttons or tapdancing over all his other buttons.

Not that he wasn't doing that too, but it was weirdly different this time, and he didn't know what to make of it.

Keith raised an eyebrow and cocked his head curiously, his gaze turning sharp and speculating for a moment, "No." He replied slowly, "I'm not."

Lance blinked as Keith slowly put the shaving down, "Look... I know we spend more time going back and forth than not, but you know I'd never seriously make fun of you right?"

He locked his dark eyes on Lance, making the red paladin momentarily forget how to breathe, "I respect you too much for that."

And then his lungs stopped cooperating entirely.

He really hoped that gurgling sound wasn't supposed to be coming from him.

"Uh, Lance?" Keith gave him a weird look, as if his whole world was taken aback by the oddness of Lance. Or he thought his friend was about to pass out. Both were likely options.

"Thanks man," Lance managed to speak around his tongue, feeling like it was three sizes too big for his mouth.

"I guess I just never thought about it?" Lance scrubbed a hand through the back of his hair, an apologetic cringe on his face, "Thought you might think it was lame..."

"The only thing lame is you trying to hide something you love." Keith gave Lance a pointed look and he thought he was about to pass out right there where he stood.

Seeing as he broke Lance from temporarily responding, Keith peered around the red paladin.

"So what are you working on?" He asked, interest gleaning on his eyes.

"Well wouldn't you like to know?" Lance teased him, arching an eyebrow back at Keith and recovering with the window he was being given.

"Well that is why I asked." Keith rolled his eyes, but stopped when Lance clicked his tongue and wagged a finger back at him.

"A master doesn't show their work until after the project is completed! Do you take me for an amateur?" Lance clutched his heart over his shirt, his tall body swaying dramatically. He relaxed a moment later, a lazy grin and wink pulling from his lips and blue eyes.

"You'll be the first to see it when it's done though, besides Red and Blue of course."

Keith rolled his eyes, but there was no mistaking the pleased look on his face, "I guess I can accept that." He agreed and stretched before, short circuiting Lance's brain a little in the process, before wandering over to Red's nose, "So how have you two been getting along?"

Lance smiled as Keith rubbed his hand along Red's nose, and the lion purred a bit, "We're good." He replied, "It's been a little weird getting used to Red after working with Blue." He flashed Keith a lopsided grin, "The whole fire and ice thing you know?"

"I can imagine." Keith chuckled, "But your partnership looks pretty solid."

"I like to think so." Lance agreed, for once his urge to boast not rearing its ugly head, "What about you and Black?" He asked curiously, "I know you said you never wanted to be the head..."

Keith sighed as he looked over at the seemingly inert Black, "No. I don't. It feels wrong. Shiro is the black lion's rightful paladin. Not me."

"But he chose you." Lance replied, and a mix of emotions fitted across Keith's face.

"Only because there was no one else at the time." Keith huffed, "No matter what Shiro says, I'm not meant to pilot the head. How can I be when he's right there, and able? I'm just... intruding."

Lance frowned a little and cocked his head slightly as he hopped back up onto his perch on Red's paw, "I don't think that's the case at all man." He replied, "I'm pretty sure the lions don't respond for just anyone, emergency or not. Remember Blue back at the cave? She could've led you to her easily, but she didn't. She waited until I came along. If you were really that bad a match for Black, don't you think the same thing would've happened?"

Keith looked up at him in surprise, "But... Shiro..."

Lance nodded, "Yeah. Shiro was our leader, and in a lot of ways still is, but that doesn't make you less worthy of Black." He leaned back a little, "Shiro's like everyone's big brother or dad. He takes care of all of us, like a leader should, and he's great in a fight, but he's got skills the rest of us don't have yet."

"Like... what? What could be more important than leading Voltron?" Keith asked curiously and Lance blinked at him in genuine surprise.

"You mean, you haven't noticed?" He asked, "Shiro's not just leading Voltron Keith. He's helping Allura lead the whole Alliance. He's constantly coordinating with faction leaders and allies for support and supplies. He's helping to plan strategy for every team out there. He's pretty much become our General out here. He can't go back to piloting Black. He's too valuable where he is."

He slid back down and dropped a hand on Keith's shoulder, "I think that's why you were chosen. You can dedicate yourself to Voltron without anything distracting you." He grinned, "And we both know you'd storm hell itself for us. That's a pretty good quality all by itself ya know."

"Unless you're going to run back off to the Blade of Marmora," Lance trailed off, his grin slipping a bit, "I know you just reunited with your mom."

Keith glanced back at the weight of Lance's hand on his shoulder, dark eyes skimming over the others face.

"What, did you miss me sharpshooter?" Keith asked, his voice coming out at such a low pitch it left something shivering in Lance's stomach. God.

If the situation was slightly less serious, Lance might have taken Keith's words as a flirt, but he didn't dare to get his hopes up.

Keith took a bold step towards Lance, his jaw settling into a stubborn lock. He reached out to grip Lance's arm, and he was a little impressed by the strength in Keith's hands, "I'm not going anywhere. I talked it over with Krolia."

"If there's one thing we both agreed on, it was the importance of never leaving family behind," Keith said firmly, "Not for the sake of the mission."

Lance really wondered how Keith ever heard himself speak, because if he did then he would never doubt why the other paladins followed him.

Keith was passionate and firm in his beliefs.

And Lance was crazy about this stupid, stubborn, oblivious, absolutely perfect man.

"Then hang tight Samurai, because I need you," Lance said softly. He jolted a little and quickly burst out the rest of his sentence when Keith gave him a faintly surprised look.

"The team needs you, Voltron needs it's head!"

"Of course," Keith's face relaxed, but he gave Lance a lingering look that left him feeling like his body was buzzing under his skin.

He shivered a little at the feeling, and was it his imagination or was Keith smirking now?

He opened his mouth to say something when Keith abruptly pulled back a little, "Thanks for that." He said, and cocked his head slightly at Lance, his dark eyes somehow warmer than they had been before, "You wanna join me for a swim?" He asked, "I thought I'd get one in before dinner." He grinned a little, "We could have another race."

Because if there was one thing Lance never got tired of it was competing with Keith, his expression lit up.

"Oh you are so on!" He exclaimed eagerly, "Just you wait! I'm gonna beat your socks off this time!"

"Big talk considering I won the last five times in a row." Keith smirked, but the bite that was so often there was gone, and Lance's heart just lost it at that.

Not that he was about to show it.

"Well that just puts karma in my favor for winning this time!" He exclaimed as he grabbed his jacked and collected the shavings, "You just wait! Gimme five to change and I'll prove it!"

"Heh, I look forward to you trying." Keith purred back, the hint of challenge driving Lance even further up the wall.

The black paladin turned to go, "See ya up there."

Lance's heart thumped again as Red waited until Keith was out of sight before spitting out the unfinished carving.

"Thanks Red." Lance grinned as he collected it with everything else, and ran off. Red's exasperated amusement following him out the door.

-::-

It turned out that Lance was not good at beating Keith in races. Especially not after the Black Paladin had undergone all sorts of weird Galra training while in the Blade of Marmora.

Still, he couldn't find himself to be too upset about it. If he was going to lose to someone, it might as well have been his eternal rival. Even though at the end there Lance thought he had won for sure.

Until Keith, the cheater, burst out from one of the castleship's vents to land on top of Lance. They had rolled to a stop with the confused Red Paladin pinned under Keith and no idea how he had gotten there.

Keith hadn't wasted any time and merely stuck his hand over their imaginary finish line, claiming victory for himself.

Lance had been too distracted by Keith practically sprawled over his body to even care about the way he had lost. Now, a week and a half later, he found himself in a section of the castleship he never visited without being prodded into it.

The ballroom was huge, and it held far more people in it than he knew Keith would have liked. Lance held his two small presents for Keith like lead weights in his sweaty palms and shoved them into his pockets.

He stalked over to Shiro, who watched Lance's approach with a wary eye.

"What's the deal Shiro? Keith wanted a small shindig! Did you guys invite the entire coalition?" Lance whisper hissed at Shiro, who lifted two helpless hands.

"Of course I didn't, don't be ridiculous. But the Blades had to be here, I mean they are a big part of the ceremony," Shiro featured towards the ever-vigilant members of the Blade all standing guard near the exits.

"And they can be a little... intense even for Keith," Shiro glanced at Lance, nodding over to the other guests chatting nearby, "So we invited some of his other friends from around the universe who wanted to show their support."

"It just so happens a lot of them are in the coalition." Shiro chuckled, "Believe me. If this was a Voltron event, you wouldn't be able to keep Coran away from the megaphone."

"I guess," Lance agreed, somewhat relieved that this wasn't going to be too over the top.

He even spotted the little Arusian Keith had threatened with bodily harm while they were on planet Ares.

Ah, memories.

Still, he felt bad for Keith. It sucked that despite their efforts it had turned into a bigger thing than his friend liked. He looked over to where Keith was standing talking with Krolia and Kolivan in a ceremonial purple and black outfit that reminded Lance of medieval kings.

It was... a very good look.

Though it was marred some by the somewhat green complexion he could see around Keith's gills. Poor bastard.

At that moment Keith turned and caught Lance's eye and he mustered a bright smile that seemed to help relax Keith slightly as some of the pinched and nauseated look left his face.

"Well that's way better than a communion dress." Pidge spoke up at Lance's elbow, making him nearly jump out of his skin.

"Pidge!" He yelped, "Don't do that!"

She smirked cheekily as she adjusted her formal Paladin wear, "I wasn't exactly being subtle Lance. You were just too busy drooling over our leader there to notice me."

"Yeah that reminds me." Hunk added as he walked up to Pidge's side, "What did you decide on? Last time you talked about presents you were holding blocks of wood and muttering to yourself."

Lance huffed and crossed his arms, "You'll find out when Keith opens them."

"Them? You got two?"

Lance blushed a bit and shrugged, "Yeah."

He hadn't really been able to help himself. The flute had turned out really well, but he'd also screwed up the courage to offer something that would show his feelings to Keith. Subtly. Maybe too subtly, but he didn't think so.

Keith had been... different since their talk. Not in a weird or dramatic way, but he'd been around more and they'd spent several hours just talking. They'd even played a few rounds on the game system, which had honestly had Lance over the moon, and Lance had begun suspecting that maybe his crush wasn't as one-sided as he'd thought before.

"Well look at who's trying to show us up!" Pidge elbowed Lance in the side, drawing a broken wheeze from his gut.

"Keep your devil elbows to yourself you little goblin!" Lance moaned, but jerked when Pidge patted him light on his back.

"You look a distinct shade of green that would make my lion jealous," Pidge gave Lance a sympathetic look, "You're going to do fine Loverboy Lance."

"Yeah, I mean with all the saw dust that was filtering into my room through the air system, I know you've been working really hard!" Hunk grinned, "Now we just got to get Keith alone so you can wow him with your mad wood carving skills!"

Lance flung his arm around Hunk's shoulder, squeezing him tight, "You are the best hype man! You're right, so long as I don't babble, stick my foot in my mouth, and somehow stop myself from vomiting, I should be able to talk to Keith long enough to give him his gift!"

"So impossible?" Pidge asked sweetly.

"Luckily for you, you've got us," She laughed at his sour look and straightened her glasses to share a conspiratorial smirk, "Matt and I will go and distract the Olkari. Hunk, you get the Balmara's on the other side. I'll convince Allura and Coran to run interference, while Shiro picks off any Blades that get in close."

"Divide and conquer," Lance breathed and smiled at her, "Pidge! You're a genius!"

"Super scary to create a mental dossier on your friends and allies, but smart." Hunk shot her a nervous grin, "You don't have ones on us do you? Right?"

Pidge just smiled at him wider and ignored his question, addressing Lance instead, "You good with this? After the ceremony there may not be time to pull him away."

Lance looked over at Keith and took a deep breath, "Yeah." He breathed, "Yeah I can do this."

"You can." Shiro encouraged warmly and looked at the others, "Let's go clear the field."

Pidge and Hunk grinned as they split apart and in seconds the paladins had melted into the crowd. Lance watched with a kind of half queasy awe as in the space of a few minutes Shiro deftly pulled Krolia and Kolivan aside leaving Keith at loose ends.

Taking another breath he screwed his courage up again and walked over to Keith with a smile, "Hey!" He greeted, "Nice outfit!"

Keith laughed a little self-consciously, "I feel kinda stupid in it." He admitted, "Though I guess it's not any worse than a hanbok."

Lance had no idea what a hanbok was supposed to be, but it was either really good looking or really dorky if it made Keith fidget like that.

"Looks like the party turned out bigger than intended." He noted, casting around for something else to say while his gifts burned holes in his pockets.

Keith glanced around with a grimace, "Yeah. Not that I'm unhappy to see everyone, but..."

"But you're a small crowds kinda guy." Lance finished, "I get it. My cousin's like that. She always moans about having to deal with more than three family members at a time. Sometimes not even that many."

His heart skipped a beat as Keith smiled at him, and before he could totally lose his nerve he pulled his gifts out and thrust them into Keith's face, "Here!" He said, "Um, these are for you."

"Huh?" Keith blinked, off guard by the sudden appearance of gifts being thrown in his face. He accepted them with slow grace, but he stared up Lance in confusion.

"Come on, the ceremony is about to start, but I don't want to open these in the middle of the dance floor," Keith nodded to some place over Lance's shoulder. He indicated for Lance to follow him, and he numbly did, walking after him.

Keith shoved his way through a sealed door, out onto a balcony in the castleship. The planet they were currently landed on was a beautiful one similar to that of earth, with a warm summer night and a crisp breeze.

Lance looked out at the local plant life, where the sounds of hollowed plants rubbed against one another in the wind and sounded like reeds.

It was interrupted by the sound of tearing paper, and lance looked around to see Keith had already annihilated the paper on the first package.

"Wow man," Lance laughed, turning away from the gorgeous outside, "Couldn't wait a second could you?"

"I want to know what dumb thing you wasted your money on when you could have saved it for something for you—," He cut off abruptly, eyes widening as the flute Lance carefully whittled rolled into his waiting palm.

Lance felt heat creep over his cheeks and neck, "Um, that." He admitted sheepishly, "Well, that and a bunch of other blocks of wood. They kinda had a nice deal going on..."

"This is what you were making?" Keith interrupted, his eyes wide with mingled shock and awe, "That day with Red?"

Lance was sure he had to be the color of a tomato by now, but he nodded, "Yeah." He grinned a bit, "I told you that you'd be the first to see it besides Blue and Red."

"Lance..." Keith looked down at it, his fingers trailing gently over the delicate tooling and polished grain, "It's beautiful." He looked up with an soft expression Lance had never seen before, and he felt his heart melt at the sight of it, "Thank you."

Lance beamed at him, his heart pounding with joy at how well this had gone so far, "I'm glad you like it."

"I think like might be an understatement." Keith replied wryly, "What inspired you to make this for me?"

"My grandmother." Lance replied softly, "She taught me how to whittle and carve. My favorite piece was a flute she'd made. She taught me how to play on it. I thought... maybe I could teach you."

He grimaced to himself, wondering if that had been too mushy and corny, but then Keith met his eyes and he kind of got lost in the gaze.

"You... would teach me?" He breathed, and Lance nodded.

"Yeah, if you wanted me to." He ducked his head nervously and nudged Keith a little, his nerves stretched thin, "You should open your other present."

"Two gifts?" Keith raised an eyebrow at Lance, a small smile working his way over his face. It seemed like his guard was currently lowered, the happiness of receiving a home made gift from Lance warming his eyes.

Keith ran his thumb over the flute, his lips curling into a smile that really made every part of Lance's body warm and melt. He felt a happy shudder when Keith carefully slid the flute in one of the folds of his robe, pressing a hand over his heart where the flute was nestled.

"If you were trying to blow away my expectations, you already did. The second gift isn't necessary Lance," Keith hummed but opened it anyway. He unwrapped the paper to reveal a tiny box, and slowly pried open the wooden lid.

He blinked down at the contents inside and withdrew a small chain with glass beads on it. Lance waited with baited breath as he pulled the long chain out all the way. It took Keith a few seconds to recognize what it was, but his eyes widened in confusion and disbelief.

"A rosary?" Keith asked, unsure what to make of the gift as he looked over at Lance for explanation.

"Uh yeah," Lance said sheepishly, rubbing a hand through the back of his hair, trying not to mess it up too bad but unable to stop the nervous habit. Keith was inspecting the rosary carefully, rolling a thumb over one of the glass beads.

"I know we joked about this being your First Communion and all, and I know they're totally different, but I thought you deserved one anyway." Lance gave him a lopsided smile, "It's the rosary my mom and dad gave me when I had my first communion."

Keith looked up sharply at that, and Lance felt the need to hurry and explain more. The urge for word vomit was swiftly rising

"I always carried it with me when I left home to go to the Garrison, I wanted something to remind me of home, and my mom always told me that it would keep me safe." Lance babbled, gesturing wildly with his hands, "I thought it would be good if you had something to remind you of home!"

"And the rosary is split into all different parts, kind of like Voltron, so if you ever want to think of your other space family when you aren't with us—"

Keith stared at Lance, his eyes wide and his mouth falling open as Lance babbled on and on and on. A nervous tick he had when he was just too gone in his own head.

"Lance, shut up," Keith burst out, cutting the red paladin off short.

Good, Lance looked like he was about to pass out from lack of oxygen.

"This is too much." Keith extended he rosary back to Lance, his brows creased, "It has personal significance to you. Your mom and dad gave it as a gift for a special moment in your life, it reminds you of your home."

He shook his head, "I can't take this from you."

Lance looked at Keith, managing to gather his thoughts in a semblance of control. Now that he had ripped the bandaid off and he could tell Keith didn't hate the gift, Lance felt something more confident rise within him.

He stepped forward and curled his hands around the back of Keith's, forcing the others fingers to close around the necklace.

"I want you to have it Keith." Lance met his eyes, "Dumb, stubborn and aggravating as you are — you're my family too."

"Is that all I am?" Keith asked softly, something hot and dark burning in his eyes, "Or is there more?"

Lance stared at him, his heart pounding wildly at the bold question. He certainly expected no less from Keith, though he was honestly somewhat surprised that the other paladin had given him an opening at all. He'd half expected to have to work up to spelling things out after this.

He wasn't objecting one bit though.

Though, as usual, his body reacted before his brain could catch up.

Without thinking he reached out and curled his hands into Keith's robe, and pulled him close, "It was always more you idiot." He breathed, and crashed his lips feverishly against Keith's the way he'd ached to do since he'd first seen the ace student back at Garrison.

He felt him stiffen from the surprise, but his brain had already shut down at the feel and taste of him. Sweet and spicy, Lance could taste the remnants of Hunk's candied nut clusters on his perfect lips, and something underneath that drove him wild. He groaned softly at the taste and suddenly found himself pressed against a wall, being lifted up with an effortless grace that made his blood burn.

Keith pulled away for a moment, and the look in his eyes made Lance shiver with want. It must've showed on his face because Keith suddenly flashed him a dark half smirk before diving back in.

In moments any coherency Lance had acquired during the brief pause fled again as he was kissed within an inch of his life. Tongues met and battled as fevered hands traced each other until finally Keith pulled away with a tortured groan, resting his forehead against his.

"You bastard." Keith panted, though there was a grin on his face, "You just had to do this now didn't you? When I have to go back out there and be all stoic and presentable."

Lance let out a breathless laugh, light headed from the ferocity behind Keith's passionate kisses.

"C'mon Keith, you're always stoic. We just got to work on the presentable thing," Lance huffed a bit and glanced over Keith and the dark violet in his eyes, "Also can I just say, wow. Never been shoved up against a wall before — gotta say, I sorta dig it?"

"Thanks, Krolia taught me that move," Keith snorted.

Lance pulled a conflicted face and cocked his head at Keith, "Okay, so less hot, but still into it."

"Lance..."

Lance just laughed at the affronted sound Keith was making, hammering home that perhaps this was not something he had much experience in. He combed his fingers through Keith's hair, taming it with quick movements.

"There ya go Samurai. You're presentable. Sorta." Lance laughed at the way Keith's cheeks began to burn red, "Besides, this thing is supposed to be a celebration of human heritage as well as Galra. And humans are messy."

"Alright," Keith replied, his voice low and eyes dark on Lance. It was likely he hadn't forgotten the fierceness of that kiss. Nor did he easily lose the perspective of where they were.

"I've got to get back in there Lance." Keith murmured and pulled the rosary on over his neck. He tucked it under his robes, his hand drifting over the beads visible over his collar, "This isn't over."

"Man that almost sounded like a threat." Lance wheezed at the dark promises in Keith's eyes.

"It is," Keith replied simply, before turning and striding back inside, leaving Lance alone on the balcony and practically bursting with happiness.

Lance took a moment to determine that he was well and truly alone before he unleashed a loud whoop into the brisk air, pumping a fist into the air.

He couldn't believe it had gone as well as it had. Had never even dreamed his crush might like him back, let alone this, but Keith did, and it had, and there was a promise of everything he'd ever wanted and more on the horizon.

It wouldn't be perfect, it never was with them. They were way too competitive for it to even get close, but that in and of itself was a kind of perfection. One Lance didn't think he'd ever get enough of.

He paused to compose himself before following Keith back inside, the stupid grin on his face immediately alerting his fellow paladins that things had gone spectacularly. He grinned a little at Shiro's warm hand on his shoulder in silent congratulations, and ignored Hunk and Pidge's teasing. He only had eyes for Keith anyway.

He watched happily as the half-Galra stood up with Krolia and Kolivan as they started the official ceremony, though he would never be able to recite what it said afterwards. He was far too busy drinking in Keith's form and the happy knowledge that later, when this was over and they were alone, he would have Keith all to himself. Finally.

Keith caught his eye as he challengingly dared anyone to object to his right to adulthood, and Lance's heart fluttered at the look in those eyes. There was something warm and indescribable there. As if Keith was dedicating his vows specifically to him, and that just made him melt even more.

He waited patiently as the relatively short ceremony ended, and the whole room burst into applause, watching with a kind of wild anticipation as Keith approached him. No words were needed as an arm curled around his waist, and escorted him to sit next to him at the feast.

Neither of them cared about the startled gasps from various places around the room, or the way Krolia was laughing herself sick at Kolivan's shocked expression.

As far as they were concerned life was already perfect, and about to get a lot better.

And that's the story! I hope you all enjoyed, and we'll see you all next round! GO TEAM GREEN LION!