“There are Some Things Worth Taking Risks for, and Love is One of Them” — Hunk Garrett
Hunk didn’t even have time to gulp after Pidge said those words before the room sprang into action.
“Number 6,” called Coran (having thrown height out the window when he realized Matt would have taken Lance’s spot) as he turned to lock his gaze with the older Holt, “I shall require your assistance with these flash drives; we must make a masterlist of all the data here.”
“Pidge, if you could work with me on the energy signature of the comet, we might be able to come up with some sort of counter, or a way to strengthen Voltron’s interpersonal bonds enough to defeat it,” suggested Allura, offering the smaller girl a hand with a small smile.
“Keith, maybe we should run through those battle plans again, try to account for Haggar not piloting the comet,” offered Lance, covering his kids’ ears as they grumbled at the noise, and pinning Shiro and Adam with a look. “I’ll need you two on babysitting duty; no matter what, don’t let Nadia and Sylvio know why I had to run today. Uhhhhhh, ummmmmmmmm, ugh, fine, tell them about the second birthday party I’m planning for them,” grumbled Lance, lips scrunching up into a snake whose tail had been stepped on. “I’ll just say that the stores didn’t have anything good.”
Shiro chuckled, and Adam reached over to scoop the twins into their laps.
“Gotcha covered, hermano,” he promised, his gaze gentle even as Lance’s wavered. “We’ll take good care of them, lo prometo.”
“I know,” replied Lance, sighing as he bent down to drop kisses on their heads. “I just wish…”
His voice trailed off, and Hunk’s teeth slid against each other as his best friend’s forehead scrunched and his shoulders rose up like a shield.
“Okay, let’s get going,” he called, turning to Keith and flashing him a burning smile. “I’ll grab our gear.”
Keith grinned back, turning to his mother and sister with a faint clack to his step.
“Acxa, Krolia, I’m going to need you guys to get in touch with Lotor and the Blade to update them on the situation as soon as we have word from Matt and Coran,” he requested, eyes crinkling around the edges as a smirk spread up to his lasilh. “Until then, why don’t you two spend some time together today? After all, you finally found each other,” he added, moving to join Lance as his boyfriend pattered down the stairs with two bags slung over his shoulder, interlacing their fingers and dropping a soft, slow kiss to Lance’s knuckles. “So why don’t you two enjoy being found together?”
Krolia chuckled, and Acxa reached up to rub her circlet with a slight hitch in her movements even though her eyes flickered over to Krolia like a kitten who wanted chin scratches. The crinkles around Lance’s eyes eased, and he pressed his lips to the back of Keith’s hand. Then, with that signature firecracker smirk, he passed his boyfriend the darker bag and fluffed at the back of his hair with a faint cackle.
“Remind me to tie that up when we get to the office,” teased Lance, sliding into his boots and opening the door to let Coran and Matt out first. “I am not in the mood to hear James’ snobbish comments today.”
Shiro’s ears pricked up.
“James?”
“Yeah, James Griffin,” grumbled Lance, waving his hand dismissively. “Snotty kid in our class, constantly harassed Keith and couldn’t handle him being better, and he’s got a bit of a mean streak. Not a big deal; he’s just an Iverson-in-training.”
Adam’s nose wrinkled, and Shiro’s face contorted like he had just been told to kiss a centipede, simultaneous groans spilling from their lips. Lance snickered.
“That seems about right, yeah,” he agreed, lacing his fingers with Keith’s. “But! Duty calls! I’ll see all of you tonight, don’t forget we’re watching a movie at 9:30, so be done with work by then!”
Pidge grinned, Adam saluted, Allura gave a flourishing curtsy, Shiro nodded, and Hunk let out a whoop.
“Can’t wait to see it!” He cheered, and Lance shot him a smile that outshone any star in the night sky.
“Which reminds me,” began Lance, placing a finger to his chin with the most innocent expression he could muster, “Shay has never been to Earth before. She’s going to need someone to show her around, get her accustomed to our weird traditions, you know, really give her the grand tour…”
Hunk’s eyebrow twitched, and Lance winked at him.
“Well, since the engineering team is on breaks during the weekends, I guess you won’t be able to start on your awesome inventions and upgrades to handle the comet until tomorrow,” he added in that slow drawl that always brought out his accent, “so I guess you’re free today! Plus, you were the one originally going to the Balmera, so Hunk, do you mind showing Shay around?”
Hunk wasn’t sure if he wanted to strangle his best friend or hug him right then, so he settled for letting his eyebrow twitch at him a little bit more before turning to Shay.
“I, uh, I mean, I do know a pretty good brunch restaurant around here,” he stuttered, strawberries infusing his cheeks as he bounced his fingers together, “you know, uhh, if you wanted to.”
Shay blinked at him slowly, tilting her head to the side as a smile unfolded across her lips.
“What is ‘brunch’?”
“You haven’t had brunch?!” Shrieked Hunk, clutching his hair as Lance leaned against the doorway to watch. “You’ve never—! I didn’t tell—! Okay, no, that cannot stand, we are going there right now,” he decided, dashing to lace up his boots. “It would practically be a crime if I didn’t, from one earthling to an alien, take you out to brunch; it’s one of our best traditions!”
Hunk straightened up, offering his hand to Shay with a blinding smile like he was ready to sweep her off her feet at a moment’s notice. Shay chuckled, sliding her palm into his, and Lance slipped Hunk’s wallet into his best friend’s pocket with a muffled giggle.
“Well then, madam, monsieur, Keith,” he intoned, holding open the door and winking at his boyfriend, “let us go, for there is much to enjoy on Earth!”
“So…” started Shiro as soon as Allura had guided Pidge upstairs to talk through the comet’s energy.
“You. Me. Gremlins. Garrison,” deadpanned Adam, draining the last of his coffee. “No one messes with either of our little brothers.”
“Heh, we’ve still got it.”
“Never speak to me again.”
“Awww, what, you don’t feel old? I’ll help with that, we graduated in—”
“NOPE, CEASE, DESIST, DISENGAGE, SILENCE YOU FOUL DEMON!”
Hunk lifted his hands from Shay’s eyes, nearly squealing himself as he threw his arms out to frame the restaurant he had chosen.
“Tada! The Original Pancake House!” He cried, his eyes dancing with sparkles. “It doesn’t just have delicious pancakes, but also some of the best ham ever! Oh, and their Dutch Babies. And their omelettes are to die for, and—ah! Their strawberry waffles, how could I forget those?! They’re out of this world! Oh, I’m getting even hungrier! What are you thinking of getting?”
Shay tilted her head, rubbing the back of it with a faint blush creeping into her cheeks, her eyes flitting to Hunk’s only for a tick before glancing away again. Hunk blinked, Shay began fiddling with her fingers, and Hunk nearly toppled off his feet because— “Aghh! You don’t know what any of those are, sorry! Hey, no worries, I’m pretty good at figuring out what people will like! How hungry are you?”
“Oh, I am very hungry, and most eager to try some of your Earthling food!” Cried Shay, hurrying to his side again and seizing his hand with that reckless smile that reminded him of the one alien who dared to climb up as high as she could to see whatever slivers of her night sky reached down to those dark caves. “Come, let us adventure in this together!”
Hunk’s face erupted with flames, and he nearly slammed headfirst into the door because Shay’s cheeks were roses and her eyes glowed in the sunlight and-and her traditional dress looked super cute and her smile was a sunflower field all on its own and holy quiznak Hunk was so gone for her, so dead for this pretty rock who he had once admired, then missed, longed for, fallen for, that he had somehow fallen in love with despite having only exchanged letters for over a year ohnohowwashesupposedtohandlethisitwasn’tsupposedtobeadatenononohewantedittobeadatebutitwasn’taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—
“Hunk? Are you okay?” Asked Shay, tilting her head as the cashier’s eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight of the two of them. “I-Is there anything I can do?”
“No! I mean, I’m alright!” Squawked Hunk, robot-walking over to the cashier. “Table for two, please!”
Keith dumped a stack of books on the table in front of Lance, who was somehow on the phone with Ezor despite her being, oh, he didn’t know, halfway across the universe. Something about direct quintessent connection or some other jargon?
“Yup, it flies itself,” confirmed Lance, spinning the rebel’s section of the fleet to the middle and pushing Lotor’s to the back; no one would dare run from the Emperor of the Galran Empire, “because Haggar apparently manages to make everyone and everything independent enough to want to kill her.”
Ezor snorted, Keith placed a book beside Lance’s hand, and Lance tackled him in a swinging hug.
“You saving grace, I was just trying to find that!” He squealed, smacking a kiss onto Keith’s cheeks even as his eyes darted to the clock. “Hey, I was thinking…I’m going to be done in about two vargas, so how does dinner sound? Just you and I, so we can have some us time before family movie night?”
Keith’s chest ached; Lance’s lips had the faintest purse in their smile and he was leaning forward with a little bounce in his step that Keith hadn’t seen in quintants. Since when had they lost out on so much time together? They had spent almost every tick together before they reached Earth, but paperwork and meetings had overtaken their lives lately, especially once Sendak landed.
“I would love that, Lance,” promised Keith, seizing Lance’s hand and pressing kisses along his knuckles. “Where do you want to go?”
“Awesome!” Cheered Lance, throwing an arm around Keith’s shoulders as Ezor let out a whoop. “I already grabbed us reservations at this cute diner downtown! We should have plenty of time to arrive in style!”
Keith giggled as Lance popped open the book dramatically, Ezor’s snorts echoing through the phone, and Lance transferred her to speaker.
“He said yes!”
“Awww, congrats! You guys are going to have so much fun!” Encouraged Ezor, the faint clacking of a keyboard echoing through the connection. “Lance, did you get the data I just sent you? The Blade managed to snag a few more tidbits of data on the comet; Pidge probably already recorded them, to be honest, but these are just in case!”
“Thanks, E,” replied Lance, tapping open the email and throwing it up on the massive blue holographic board in front of him. “Matt and Coran are analyzing their data, so I won’t get all of it until tomorrow. They had a good seventy-five flash drives.”
Keith cackled at Ezor’s screeching, and Lance flashed a wink at him.
“Alright, Samurai. Ready to tackle these formations with me?”
“Always.”
“Abuelo Shiro, what happens if I press this button?”
“Syl, it says not to touch it or—”
“Oooo, nice. Save that for the finale, kids. Don’t forget, this is Petty Revenge 101.”
“But Papi already gave us the 101 course!”
“Aww, alright, I guess I can bump you up to 201. Now pass me the nail file.”
Hunk was practically vibrating out of his seat as Shay popped a forkful of strawberry waffle into her mouth, spinning his straw between his teeth until he had made a tiny whirlpool in his orange juice. At the first bite, Shay’s entire face lit up like someone had lit a firecracker inside her head. Literally. Her skin gave a faint green glow, spreading over her cheeks as she cupped her cheek and let out a delighted hum.
“Hunk, this food is truly delicious,” cried Shay, smile curling up into her eyes like blooming daffodils. “It is sweet, like sugar crystals that dissolve at a touch, but it also has this little bite in the aftertaste much like a soft leaf. It is quite an enticing combination!”
Hunk blew out a tornado of relief, spooning two sugar cubes into Shay’s coffee along with a generous helping of milk before stirring it all together.
“I’m so glad,” he replied, reaching across the table to hand the cup to Shay, a faint giggle joining his grin, “though I doubt it compares to your Grandma’s Soul Stew! Did you ever manage to weasel the recipe out of her?”
“As a matter of fact,” said Shay, a smirk gracing her perfect lips as she pulled out a slip of folded, torn paper, “I have something even better. I wrote the recipe down myself while she was making it, so you also have all the advice she gives along with each step!”
“Hoo baby, yes!” Cheered Hunk, clasping Shay’s hand as his eyes shone brighter than any of the restaurant lights. “How can I ever repay you?”
“Well, may I try this ‘Dutch Baby’ you ordered?”
“You know what?” Said Hunk, shifting the plate between them and smiling softly. “Have as much as you want. We can split everything so that you get the chance to taste as much Earth food as you want.”
Shay’s cheeks nearly pushed her eyes closed as she let out a squeal, smile engulfing her face and nearly melting Hunk through the floor. Letters were nothing compared to that perfect, glowing, brighter-than-the-desert-sun-and-far-less-painful-to-stare-at smile! How was he supposed to handle this angel who was shoveling eggs into her mouth like they were ambrosia, who smiled at him like he was the best of the universe, who had believed in him before he knew how to believe in himself?
“Uh, Shay,” he managed, and she froze mid-bite, her eyes wide and sparkling like diamonds until Hunk’s tongue despaired and tied itself into a sailor’s knot. “Oh, no, you can finish eating! I just wanted to ask how Rax was doing after that skirmish with the scouts?”
“Oh, he is fully recovered!” Promised Shay, swallowing a bowl of blueberries into her chipmunk cheeks. “Our medicine has progressed marvelously since we steadied our trading routes!”
Hunk grinned like he didn’t want to faceplant into the nearest bowl of strawberries because that was not what he wanted to say, quiznak!
“That’s great! Is your niece’s back doing better, then?”
Keith rubbed his eyes as Lance tore across the room, pounding on the keyboards to try and keep up with Matt and Coran’s vargaly flood of data, which was distinctly not what either of the Black Paladins had expected, much less wanted! Keith groaned, his eyes flitting to the clock as it clicked ever-closer to their dinner deadline, and Lance glanced up with a wince.
“Sorry, man,” he apologized softly. “I’ll have it done by our meeting with Hedrick, promise. You want to organize our notes for that?”
“Got it covered,” promised Keith, stepping to Lance’s side and knocking their shoulders together with a grin. “And you’ve got this covered, Sharpshooter. Just imagine it’s a checklist for the twins and Sylvio keeps crossing off charging cords even though he keeps forgetting to pack them.”
Lance let out a snorting laugh, and Keith pressed a kiss to his cheek with a low chuckle. “You’ve got it.”
“Of course I do!” Replied Lance, puffing up his chest and raising his chin a bit. “I’ll make sure he packs his charging cords, because dios mios does he hate car rides without headphones.”
Keith hummed, pulling out his own tablet and skimming through flight reports regarding the simulators for Hunk’s latest upgrade.
“So, how’s coming out going?”
The moment the words were out of his mouth, Keith wondered if he could call up Allura and ask her to induce amnesia with her latest space princess magic! Lance’s shoulders folded over him, and he keysmashed as Ezor flailed to hang up.
“Not great,” he admitted, the faintest trace of a growl under his words. “I tried at lunch yesterday, but the oven went off at the wrong time and, by the time she was back, I couldn’t get the words out. I…all I could hear was her saying that I wasn’t her son anymore. That I wasn’t…wasn’t me somehow.”
Lance groaned, flopping over the table as his bottom lip jutted out. “I’ve been trying to do this for phoebs! Why isn’t it wooooooorking?”
“We haven’t been here for a phoeb, Lance.”
“I’ve been trying for what feels like phooooooooooooebs then!”
Keith chuckled, rubbing his boyfriend’s shoulder in a small massage. He hadn’t ended up needing to come out to Mrs. Shirogane; she had known since she first met him, and had insisted since he came back that she meet Lance. When she mentioned that she wanted to get to know his boyfriend, he spit his Ramune across the table and she raised an eyebrow. Did you think I didn’t notice? Keith, child, I’ve known since you first went to the Garrison! I am just glad I can finally call Lance your boyfriend now. So, what are his favorite foods?
But Lance hadn’t exactly been so lucky. Keith had lost track of how many times Lance had desperately tried to tell his mom the truth, to tell his siblings, his kids, anyone, but it never seemed to make it out somehow. Whether it was someone else’s big news (from Marco’s early graduation to Luis’ marriage proposal to Veronica’s promotion), a small disaster (one of the kids tripping, Rachel calling with a flight delay, or a baseball literally crashing through the window), or something so random Lance would try to pull out his hair later (…don’t ask), he never got the chance.
He never got his moment. And that was so familiar that Keith’s throat locked itself into a vice grip, but Lance just bowed his chin towards his work as his eyes glinted like lasers.
“I’ll come out before the final battle,” promised Lance, the squeak of his spinning chair drowning out the opening of the door as he caught Keith’s hand and kissed his palm. “I have to introduce you to them as my boyfriend, after all.”
“No, no, make the knot a bit looser. Like this.”
“Oh, gracias! Papi always taught us the tightest knots!”
“No wonder Lance was so good at stuff like that. Hey, Adam, what’s the code?”
“Your least favorite number.”
“Haha, no, seriously.”
“I’m not joking.”
“…That’s strangely vindicating.”
“That was most delicious!” Cheered Shay as she walked out with Hunk, their hands just brushing and a green aura glowing off her skin. “Hunk, could you show me how to make some of those later?”
“Uh, sure!” Cried Hunk, hopping down after her, his eyes straying to the park nearby. “Hey, how about we check out the gardens over here? I think you’ll really love some of those flowers.”
“That sounds lovely!” Agreed Shay, and Hunk nearly choked as she seized his hand, smiling like pure sunshine. “Where should we begin?”
“Shay,” blurted out Hunk, squeezing her hand, and screams echoed in his ears.
Lance’s echoing cry for Keith as his boyfriend fought off corrupted quintessence in the astral plane, Keith’s roar as Lance took the explosion of a missile head-on with only a cracked shield and his own determination, and the vargas they had each spent in a healing pod after the Kral Zera. He could still remember every scratch they had faced, the way Lance waved off his near-death experiences with the Mevucs or how Keith shook off the fact that he had to get eaten by Red to avoid an ion cannon blast by a hair. Hunk had watched two of his best friends lay down their lives time and time again, throwing themselves headfirst into danger and taking the consequences with chins held high.
They had faced down death thousands of times, hand-in-hand, bayards raised, and unflinchingly, like the risk was always worth it. Because, to them, it was.
“Hunk?”
“Shay, look, I’m a Paladin of Voltron. Risking our lives is kind of…in the job description. We don’t really have any guarantee we’ll make it out of any battle. Keith and Lance, especially. Those two basically run into danger, like it’s their best friend,” he added with an airy chuckle. “They act fearless, but they’re not. They’re both scared, constantly. We all are. Before I met you, I was scared of everything. I couldn’t handle the idea of fighting in space, of saving people, because I didn’t think it was possible. I never imagined I could make that kind of difference, that we could get this far.
“Shay, you changed all that. You let us into the Balmera, you showed me how many people were getting hurt by Zarkon. You taught me that sometimes, we don’t get to pick our battles, because there are some that we can’t walk away from without giving up on ourselves. Shay, everything we’ve accomplished…it’s because of you. Your crystals saved Lance’s life, kept our ship moving far from the Galra, and they always reminded me when I was wavering that you were out there, cheering me on. The fact that you believed in me, that means the world to me.
“And, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Keith and Lance,” he continued, reaching out and cupping her hand with his free one, digging his feet into the ground and filling his lungs with air, “it’s that there are some things worth taking risks for, and love is one of them. You are one of them. Shay, I’ve liked you since I first met you, and I would really love to get to know you better…maybe as my girlfriend?”
“Would somebody,” snapped Luis, striding into the room with crossed arms and a thunderstorm on his brow, his scowl going pure black as the color fled from Lance’s face, “care to explain exactly what’s going on here?”
Veronica leaned against the doorway, eyebrows arched and arms folded, and Lance’s throat caved-in on itself as Marco and Rachel peered in as well. Luis’ jaw was locked as he approached his youngest brother, his eyes narrowed to slits, and dios mio, they knew they knew theyknewtheyknewtheyknewtheykne—
“I…”
“It means I won the bet, suckers,” drawled Rachel, blowing the dust off her nails and passing the file over to Marco. “Pay up. I said he was dating Keith three years ago, I called it first.”
“Wha—”
“I said it when he walked off the ship, though!” Argued Marco, shoving Rachel’s shoulder lightly as his lips drew up into a pout. “I’m more accurate! By about three years!”
“I called it first though!”
Luis seethed, throwing both hands over his head and letting out a gut-wrenching groan that nearly sent him sprawling onto his back.
“I thought you were going to come back dating Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuunk,” he whined. “I bet twenty dollars on that one, come on!”
“WHAT?!”
“Hey, at least you’re not Veronica, who thought he was dating his pretty cosmos sister!”
“I don’t understand space-lightning-plasma-tattoo-siblings relationships, leave me alone!” Complained Veronica, smacking Marco’s arm and sulking. “Plus, anyone can tell she’s something special; obviously I want her in the family.”
Lance sputtered, arms flailing as Rachel snatched twenty dollars from her siblings with a flirtatious smirk, and Veronica sidled over to Keith. “Wanna see Lance’s early Garrison photos? The uniform was too big on him~”
“Show ‘em.”
“Vee!”
“Hey, I think I just saw Papi!”
“What? Where?!”
“Ahh, don’t run too far!”
“Don’t worry, Adam! We already rigged everything, and Lance is in there. We can join in on harassing him and Keith on getting to their one-month anniversary on time in a minute.”
“……”
“Yes, I realize the irony of what I said, shush.”
Shay’s eyes overflowed with tears as she pressed one hand to her mouth, her skin glowing supernova green and sending ripples of glitter dancing into a shimmering halo over her head. Hunk was pretty sure he forgot how to breathe before she squeezed his hands, pressing their foreheads together and gazing at him like he was everything perfect in the universe, so when she did that—!
“Hunk Garrett,” breathed Shay. “I would be more than happy to be your girlfriend.”
“Look at how excited he is to be finally flying!” Teased Veronica, zooming in on Lance’s face as he spun to face the camera, the wind tearing his hair free of his face as his grin burned up into electric-blue eyes. “We never thought we’d get him to come down.”
“He’s always like that when he flies the Lions too,” added Keith, lips curving into a summer smile at the sight of his boyfriend. “That’s funny, he looks really familiar…”
“You went to school with him for decaphoebs, Keith; of course he looks familiar,” deadpanned Adam, who had swooped in with Nadia and Sylvio in tow a few ticks ago.
“No, he looks really familiar…”
“I was so sure those guys were going to fall in loveeeeeeee,” whined Luis, and Shiro just shook his head as he patted the man’s broad shoulder. “I was so positive the spite would overpower his crushhhhhhhhh.”
“Oh, so you already knew he had a crush?”
“It was obvious with how much he was whining that Keith didn’t notice me todayyyyyy, he’s so meaaaaaaaaan, I hate hiiiiiiiiiiiim, dios mios!”
Shiro snorted, a fond roll of his eyes accompanying his emphatic nods.
“Nice to know all teenagers are the same when they’ve got a crush.”
“Right?!”
Lance swallowed, fireballs dancing behind his eyes as if trying to turn his tears to steam, and his shoulders eased back.
He hadn’t lost them. He hadn’t lost his family.
They knew. They had always known; it just didn’t change anything. He was their little brother, their papi, their…their Lance. He was part of their lives. Part of their futures. And
they were happy being part of his world.
“WAIT, LANCE LOOKS JUST LIKE TAYLOR!”
“Keith, there was no Taylor in your class!”
“Yeah, there is! He was the pretty, smart boy who was a good pilot and kept making that cute joke about threading the needle!”
“……You thought my joke was cute?” Choked out Lance as if his shrill, strangled voice could somehow still be cheeky.
“THAT WAS YOU?!
“YOU WERE THE ONE I HAD TO LISTEN TO KEITH GAY-GUSHING OVER FOR VARGAS ON END?!” Shrieked Shiro as Adam dropped his face into both hands with a shoulder-heaving groan.
Lance just cackled and waltzed over to pluck Nadia from Keith’s back, dropping a kiss into his spluttering boyfriend’s locks.
“And on that note, I have to get the last of these files handled and someone needs dinner. I’ll send them to my laptop just in case.”
Keith’s ears burned like twin volcanoes as his jaw snapped open and closed, and Lance dropped another kiss on his cheek as well because he could. Because almost his entire family was in the room and they were watching and they didn’t mind, they didn’t care, it didn’t change anything. His world hadn’t crumbled. Now he just had his mom to come out to. Oh GREAT.
“OH, IF YOU THINK YOU’RE GETTING OFF EASILY FOR THE VARGAS I HAD TO LISTEN TO KEITH PINE—”
“SHIRO, SHUT IT!”
“…I have a video of him squealing about sparkly blue eyes at midnight over a bowl of ice cream to a dying Shiro.”
“ADAM!”
“Send me the pining fool!”
“Don’t worry, Keith; I’ll send you the baby photos of Lance when he had braces.”
“VEE!”
“Veronica, you are a lifesaver.”
“WAZIR! SHIROGANE!”
“Wait, why are there—ARE THOSE FLAMING YARD FLAMINGOS?!”
“Yep, uh, we might want to book it. Just keep an eye out for the caution tape. Oh, and—”
Hunk hummed, fingers interlaced with Shay’s as they danced through the park together, flower crowns rustling in their hair and hearts lighter than he had words for. It had been the perfect day.
“I’M A BARBIE GIRL~
IN A BARBIE WORLD~”
“Adam, you are an actual demon.”
“And proud of it. Now, RUN!”
“GET BACK HERE!”
“You whipped creamed him?!”
“Pied him, come on, I have class.”
“What flavor did James get?”
“Apple.”
“……”
“Lance, for my sanity, stop asking questions.”
“Sure, babe. Just don’t forget our date tonight.”
“Oh please,” scoffed Keith, pulling Lance into a kiss as they fled from the raging Iverson in a crowd of everyone who loved them enough to terrorize the Commander. “I’ve already got a bouquet lined up. Hope you like roses and forget-me-nots.”
Lance nearly melted, locking their fingers together as they leapt aboard his hoverbike and revved the engine, blazing away from the shouting Iverson with a streak of laughter fading behind them. So much had changed in a month, and even more in a year. And Lance wouldn’t change a single tick of it.
“Anything’s perfect as long as it’s from you, Samurai.”
Keith grinned, revving the engine and racing off into the sunset with his boyfriend clinging to his back and whooping like a madman.
“Right back at you, Sharpshooter.”
“Do you think he already found the cucumber juice and cayenne pepper in his coffee?”
“Nah, he wouldn’t have been able to speak, his vocal cords would be on fire.”
“Mwahahaha. Soon then.”
Adam and Shiro turned, clinking their cups of hot chocolate with the twins, who had maniacal grins on their faces. “And that, younglings, is how you wreak havoc at the Garrison. Did you take notes?”
“We did one better,” cried Sylvio, jumping up and down as he took a sip of his marshmallows with hot chocolate. “We added oregano to his coffee too!”
Shiro wiped away a tear.
“Adam, our legacy lives on.”
“Be gay, torment the Garrison?”
“Be gay, torment the Garrison.”
And, as the sun set over the playground, Hunk and Shay found the best seats in the house atop the monkey bars. Colors streaked across the sky, trails of sparkles flying after them, and Shay’s eyes nearly glowed in the light. Hunk slid his hand over hers, a soft smile dancing from his lips to hers, and the world was theirs in that tick.
“Thank you, Shay.”
“Thank you, Hunk.”
Keith raised his orange juice glass, tapping it against Lance’s with a faint clink, and smiled as they leaned across the table for a kiss. The restaurant was classy but quiet, their Garrison uniforms more than enough to pass muster, even though Lance had insisted on buying him a pin for the collar. It was a moon pin, full and silver with golden craters dug in it, the match to Lance’s deep gold sun pin sparkling across from him. Lance giggled, his face lighting up as he interlaced their fingers on top of the table. Their plates were piled high with fried rice, udon, curry and, of course, tempura.
“To our one-month anniversary,” said Lance, bliss practically swimming in his sigh, and it took everything Keith had not to kiss the stars glowing in his boyfriend’s eyes.
“And to many more.”
Lance’s eyes lit up brighter than any sun, a laugh sparkling off his lips, and Keith relaxed against the table to just admire his boyfriend for a minute. Why not? He was free to look now, after all. They were free, together. And they would fight for all the time in the world.
“To infinite more,” agreed Lance, and they each took their first sips together.