Keith-centric voltron oneshots

Forbidden Fruit

Exploring the wilderness of a foreign planet was not on Keith's agenda for the day. Then again, neither was being shot into space millions of miles from home with a bunch of teens in a giant blue robot lion, but hey, life works in odd ways.

Lance practically begged him to come along, begging meaning poking him in sides until he agreed. So now here they were, walking through a thick, luscious forest. Hunk pointed at a tree, declaring they should take a break to hydrate. A tree which, by the way, looked nothing like the trees in Earth.

Its bark was florescent orange, with leaves that faded from blue to purple the higher up it went. It was fruit bearing tree, judging on the sickly greyish green pods hanging it bunches from the branches. "Hey Coran, what kind of fruit is that?" Pidge asked.

"Well, number five, it appears to be an ibolous fruit. It's completely safe for humans such as yourselves to eat if you'd like." He grinned. Hunk smiled and grabbed a pod. "You just bite into it, peel and all." Coran added, to which Hunk followed instructions. Keith watched as the others grabbed one as well.

"Hm... It's not bad, kind of tastes like blueberries." Lance commented. Keith perked up at the mention of blueberries. He'd never admit it, but he was a sucker for the small, blue fruit. He tentatively grabbed one himself, and before Coran could object, Keith was biting into the fruit as well.

"They're toxic for Galra, number four!" He exclaimed. Keith felt his stomach drop and the heat leave his body. Everyone eyed him with concern, watching as the color drained from his face. "Coran, how toxic?" Shiro asked slowly. "I'm unsure, I'd have to check when we get back to the castle, I don't think it's fatal, though."

Keith glanced at his teammates in suspicion, and when he landed on Lance, he lost it. His swung a quick left hook, grinning as he heard the bones in Lance's nose crunch under his knuckles. He tackled him, pinning the much taller male's arms to the ground with one hand and swinging another punch with his free one.

Lance cried out in surprise when the first punch made contact, blood trailing down his face. Lance felt the air in his lungs leave forcefully from the contact he made with the ground, struggling uselessly under the smaller's firm hold. "Keith, what the fuck?!" He tried to kick his way out, kneeing the red paladin in the groin, but it only seemed to egg him on.

Shiro, shaking off his daze, sprung into action and wrapped his arms around the younger's waist, pulling him away from the injured male. "I'll get him back to the castle. Coran, please, try to find out what that fruit does to Galra." Coran nodded, and Shiro hoisted the man squirming in his arms over his shoulder, starting the trudge back to the castle.

"Are you alright, number three?" Coran asked once the siblings were out of sight. "Yeah, he can throw a damn good left hook though." He chuckled, holding his bloody nose. "Fuck, that hurts." Hunk helped Lance back on his feet. "Let's get you to a pod, I can study up on how the fruit affects those of Galra heritage while you do so." Coran ordered.

Shiro kept Keith in his room until he calmed down. "Shiro! Let me out!" He banged on the door so hard his knuckles started to bruise and bleed. "No Keith, not until that fruit is out of your system." Shiro responded sternly. Keith faltered at the tone, huffing in annoyance and plopping on his bed.

While Lance healed, Coran studied the effects of such a fruit. Roughly a varga later, with Lance out of the pod, Coran finally stumbled upon the information he needed. "Aha! No wonder he attacked you unprovoked, number three! The fruit causes those with Galran DNA to attack those they love most! And it seems the toxin should leave his system in about a Quintant."

Lance, both relieved and flustered, thanked Coran and swiftly left. Keith loved him? More than his own brother? "What kind of enemies to lovers shit is this?" He chuckled to himself. He trailed off to his room to process the information.

A little over a Quintant later, Keith was allowed to exit his room, shooting a glare at Shiro before heading directly for the training room. He faltered at the sight of Lance at the door, looking at him with crossed arms. "We need to talk." The taller spoke, pushing himself off the door frame and walked towards the smaller, who took a faint step back.

"Woah, chill. I'm not gonna hurt you dude." Lance soothed. Keith, still not relaxing, nodded and looked to the side. "I'm sorry about yesterday, I wasn't even aware of what I was doing until after the fact." Lance waved a hand in front of him in dismissal. "Not what I'm worried about, we fight each other during training all the time, getting punched in the face is nothing new." He started.

"I wanted to talk to you about why the fruit had you attack me specifically." Keith quirked a brow. "The toxin causes Galra to attack the person they love most." Lance grinned at how red Keith's face turned. "No need to be embarrassed, Keith, I think it's cute. In fact, I feel the same way about you." He beamed.

Keith's eyes widened dramatically, stuttering a quick, "r-really?" Lance chuckled and nodded. "Yes you little idiot. I've had the hots for you for months now." He said, pulling the short man into a hug. Keith hid his face in his hands, looking down as Lance hugged him. "god, you're part Galra, how the hell are you so small?"

"Shut up.." Keith mumbled. "Keith, can I please see your cute face?" Keith reluctantly looked up at the Cuban. Lance gently cupped his face with one hand, pulling him into a soft kiss. Keith, while slow on the uptake, leaned into the affection.

So yeah, Life worked in mysterious ways. Keith used to think it was for the worst. That it worked for the soul purpose of making his life hell. But he never would have thought that a toxic fruit would be the spark he needed to jumpstart his relationship with Lance.

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