Airtight

Ayyy I’m back! I got a random inspiration fairy yay! Thanks to @promptsforvoltron for this one. Don’t forget to send me prompts :D!

Lance giggled as he saw Keith approach the food goo. All Keith had on his mind was to eat and then rest up after a hard day of training. All Lance had on his mind was how funny mullet was going to look after he discovered his prank. Before Keith took a bite Lance got up and ran out of the room. But even in the hallway he could hear the small explosion and Keith’s shriek of surprise.

“Lance!”

Pidge winced and turned to look at who had interrupted her coding. Only to burst out laughing when she saw the state Keith was in. His clothes were covered in goo and he had several chunks of something stuck in his hair.

“Jesus,” Pidge said while laughing, “What happened to you?”

“Lance! He put something in the goo and it blew up in my face!”, Keith said.

Pidge nodded before turning back to her computer. “It was probably the exploding pepper I gave him”, she added as an afterthought.

“YOU HELPED!”

Pidge scoffed,”Chill out, all I did was give him the pepper. How was I supposed to know he would use it to prank you?”. She glanced at Keith and saw his unimpressed face. “Look, just get him back if you’re so angry about it.”

“I can’t. I have literally no idea how to prank.”, Keith said.

“I’ll help you then. It’s only fair since I helped Lance. Besides I’ve been wanting to prank him for a while. It’s a win-win.”

Keith thought about it for a second before nodding.

“Excellent!”, Pidge gave of a smile so unnerving Keith almost regretted letting her in on this, “Here’s what we’re going to do…”

Lance was on his way to Blue’s hanger when Pidge ran up to him. He greeted her with is signature finger guns. But as she got closer he noticed that she was crying. “Woah, hey what wrong!?”, Lance asked.

“Lance you have to help Keith, he- I cant- just, HELP!”, Pidge wailed. She was shaking and looking around frantically.

“Pidge calm down!” Lance grabbed Pidge’s arms and hugged her, “I need you to tell me what wrong.”

“Me and Keith were walking and the airlock malfunctioned! H-he’s stuck!” Pidge explained frantically, “Please help!”

Lance took off to the nearest airlock. “Keith! Keith!”

He saw the doors closed and ran to the control panel. The doors opened instantly when he pressed the button and he ran inside. If Lance had been thinking clearer he might have noticed the fact that the doors seemed to be working fine and that Keith was nowhere to be seen. But in that moment all he could imagine was Keith dying by being sucked out into space.

After a moment he stopped and looked around. Keith wasn’t here. Then he heard the airlock doors closing. He whirled around and saw Pidge hi-five Keith. Keith laughed and tapped on the glass.

Lance sighed, “Haha, very funny. You got me!”

“Yeah we did”, Pidge cheered.

“Can you two now kindly let me out?”

Keith smirked as he started walking away. “Y’know I don’t think we will.”, he called over his shoulder. Pidge blew a raspberry and skipped off in the other direction.

Lance ran forward and started banging on the glass,“Guys! Guys wait! Hey this isn’t- it isn’t funny open the door! Pidge! Keith please! Open the door!”.

“Man we got him good!” Pidge cackled as she ran into the lounge room.

“That was amazing! I’ve never seen him so scared!”, Keith agreed.

Pidge plopped down on the couch and smiled, “We’ll get him out in like, thirty minutes.”

Keith sat down on the opposite couch before responding, “Make it an hour.”

“Deal”

After several minutes of banging on the door Lance realized they weren’t coming back anytime soon. He turned around and sank to the floor. He remembered his claustrophobia acting up as a kid. It got so bad his mama had to take him to a doctor. He thought he had gotten over it, but it must have resurfaced after he got stuck when the castle malfunctioned. Tears started streaming down his face and he gasped for air. The walls seemed to be closing in and he looked around frantically.

“Please…”, he called out weakly, “Open the door.”

“Hey guys”, Hunk greeted as he walked in, “I made some cookies!”

Pidge jumped up and ran over, only to pout when Hunk held them out of her reach. 

“Nuh-uh, sorry Pidge. Lance always gets first taste. It’s tradition. Speaking of Lance, have you seen him? I checked in his room but he’s not there”, Hunk said.

Keith nodded, “Oh, yeah! Me and Pidge locked him in the airlock.”

The tray clattered to the ground. Keith and Pidge gaped at Hunk’s horrified face.

“Oh no.”

He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe. No matter how much he gasped he couldn’t get enough air. He was choking. Slowly the world seemed to fade out. He could no longer hear himself gasping. He laid his head against the door and stared at the floor numbly as the world faded to black.

Hunk tore down the hallway, a panicked expression on his face. Pidge and Keith were right behind him.

“There!” Pidge said, and pointed to the airlock.

They gasped when they saw Lance on the floor. Pidge sank to the ground and started sobbing. Keith felt guilt eating up at him as he turned away. Hunk opened the door and ran to Lance.

“Help me get him to a pod!”, Hunk yelled.

Pidge nodded and took off to get Coran. Keith helped pick Lance up but Hunk could carry him on his own. As he ran to the pods he shot a worried glance to Lance. “Don’t worry buddy. I got you now.”

Lance could faintly hear other voices. Where was he? It was dark. Suddenly the memories of what happened flooded his mind. The last thing he remembered was fainting. The doors of the healing pod burst open and he fell forward.

His senses swiftly returned as a piercing screech blasted his eardrums and something slammed into him. He looked down to see Pidge crying as she hugged him.

“I’m so sorry! You have claustrophobia and I didn’t know and you-”, she paused for breath before shakily continuing,” Lance I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put you through that and I understand if you hate me.”

He blinked in surprise for a moment then hugged her back. “ Pidge I don’t hate you. I never told you I had claustrophobia, it’s not your fault.”

“He’s right.”

Lance looked up to see Keith. His gaze was on the ground and his arms were crossed. Slowly Keith looked up, and Lance saw how red his eyes were.

“It’s my fault.”, Keith mumbled. “I heard you screaming as I walked away. I should have opened the door then. I’m-”, His voice cracked and he looked down again,”I’m sorry.”

Lance look back and forth between Pidge and Keith, his eyes wide in surprise.

“Do you guys understand what you did was wrong?”, Lance asked

Keith nodded and Pidge whispered out a yes.

“Then it’s forgiven.”

“What!?”, Pidge yelped.

“Aren’t you going to lecture us? Or shout at us?” Keith asked

“Nah. You beat yourself up already, there’s no need for me to shout. And besides, you understand what you did was wrong. It doesn’t make what you did okay, but you won’t do it again.”, Lance smiled. “Now come on, I am dying for some of Hunk’s cookies.”

Cold

Based on a prompt by @promptsforvoltron I really hope you enjoy it!!!

~

           The walls of the castle were so cold, and bleak. And dead. It invaded his very core and sunk deep into his bones like a chilling plague. Liquid ice in his bone marrow and bloodstream. It caused a hollow and empty feeling in his chest that was suffocating. Like there were splinters of bone and ice crowding his lungs and making it hard to breathe.

           His feet were almost completely numb as he sluggishly dragged his feet to the main common area and collapsed against the couch. His eyes barely looking up to recognize there were other people in the room. Hunk’s back was to him, hunched over something. Pidge was on the couch at his other side, typing away at their computer. Keith was lodging and messing with his knife as Shiro sat beside him going through more battle plans. The Alteans were absorbed in their own conversations.

           Another bitter chill hit him like a riptide and he could help but quietly whimper.

           “I want a hug.”

           Lance stared, at first surprised that the words had passed his mouth. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud. He sometimes forgot thinking aloud wouldn’t be swallowed by the noise of his siblings in his happily crowded house. Even the quietest words in the castle echoed endlessly. But, a small little ball of light lit up in Lance’s chest. Giving him a small bit of relief from the cold.

           But Hunk’s back didn’t even flinch. It was as if Hunk didn’t even hear him. Lance internally winced, he annoyed Hunk for physical attention all the time. Lance being a naturally clingy person with a need for physical reassurance, it was stupid. Really. It was pathetic for a ‘defender of the universe’ to still need some support. Lance didn’t blame Hunk for being fed up with it. Hunk was too nice to outwardly reject Lance. He probably pretended he couldn’t hear Lance to spare his feelings. It was a nice thought.

           It didn’t ease the sickening turn and bite in his stomach.

           Pidge simply scoffed and rolled their eyes at Lance, before typing as if he hadn’t said anything at all. Lance ignored how it felt like someone had taken a thick fireman’s boot and stomped on that small ball in his chest. Leaving it a fizzling and sputtering spark. But, that was just Pidge, they were so busy trying to find their family and help the team. They didn’t have time to deal with a homesick boy from Cuba that’s just freakishly cold and heavy for no reason at all.

           Keith absently minded cleaned his knife still, “If you’re such a ladies’ man and so great why don’t you just hug yourself. You’re always bragging there isn’t anything you can’t do.” Shiro didn’t even respond to either comment, still scrolling through the battleplans. He only even batted an eye once Keith spoke, but then figured it was just their usual bickering and went back to his tablet. As if what Lance said didn’t matter.

           Because it didn’t… did it?

           Lance laughs, it’s cold and empty. Just like his chest as he shifts to lay on his back. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He wasn’t worth the time or effort. He was just pathetic. So, quietly once they stopped paying attention, it only took a minute anyway. Lance slipped off the couch and past the still conversing Alteans and snuck off to the room to huddle in his blankets. And even bundled in four different comforters the cold still sunk its teeth into him like a rabid dog.

           He wanted to sleep and not wake up.

—

           The universe loved to kick him when he was down however as he jolted awake, a loud scream scrapping his throat raw as he thrashed. Kicking the blankets off of him as they tried to strangle and trap him. No. NoNONONO. It was so cold. It was so so so cold. All he could feel was the castle’s walls cramping him down. Trapping him as the airlock threatened to open and throw him into the empty vacuum of space. Where it was really and truly cold. Lance choked on a sob, his chest burned and his limbs felt like pricks and needles.

           Hunk, he needed Hunk to calm him down.

           But, Hunk… he was sick of Lance. He was probably so fed up with Lance constantly waking him up with stupid nightmares and having to hold Lance until he wasn’t so hysterical anymore. But, then who he go to?

           Pidge would be awake at this hour, but, they didn’t like him. They didn’t like him at all. It wasn’t like they hid their dislike either. Bugging Pidge would just worsen his relationships with the other paladins. They already hated him enough. If he bugged the one person that was practically invaluable on their team they’d all hate him so much more. Bugging Pidge was a no-no.

           Shiro? He was still awake at this time. Patrolling. Nightmares kept Shiro awake too. But… Shiro’s fears were valid. Shiro had PTSD. Lance was just a stupid, scared kid with a hollow feeling eating away at his chest. That was nothing compared to what Shiro faced on a daily basis. Why would Shiro care about Lance’s stupid little problem anyway? It wasn’t worth it.

           What if he went to Keith? Keith… was strong. Helpful. He couldn’t wake Keith up because he was scared. It was pathetic. What would that do to their rivalry if Keith found out just how weak Lance was? Lance would lose the last thing he could cling to. He’d have nothing. Lance wasn’t helpful. But he was Keith’s rival. The second best. The fill-in. It was… something. No matter how much it turned his stomach.

           ‘why don’t you just hug yourself?

‘there isn’t anything you can’t do.’

That was a lie, there was so much Lance could not do. There was so much that Lance was too weak to face. But, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try. Lance brings his legs up to his chest, cradling his body against himself. Hugging at least his legs. It wasn’t a warm hug.

Lance missed the feeling of warm arms always wrapped around him. Supporting him. The sound of laughter and warm dinners. Hot chocolate and pressing kisses into the warm hair of his baby nieces and nephews. Being enveloped by the strong, if a little short arms of his mother. The feeling of being warm inside and out.

He puffed out a sigh, it almost came out as a cloud of white. It was just like when he was getting bullied at the Garrison. Or when he would get separated on a mission. He’d just have to fight and do his best alone. All he had left was himself. All he could rely was himself. He was… alone.

God, how he hated being alone.

Being alone meant he wasn’t with his siblings. It meant he was cold. It meant that dark cloud that hung over him like a vice had no limits. Had nothing to stop it from swallowing him whole and make him swallow something else. It meant no one would hold him and tell him it would be alright. It meant that he was completely and utterly alone.

And it was so cold.

aaaaAAAaAAAa!!!!! This is so great! I love it so much!! You're similies/metaphors are super cool and discriptive!! I love the warm/cold thing it adds so much to this!!! And you're writing is! so! good!? I'm so happy, thanks for writing this!!

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