Voltron One Shots

Longing

Prompt: "The sand hurts" mer Lance. If you want to :D

A/N: What up I have no excuses for why I've been gone so long sorry. Also I did one-sentence prompts on tumblr so I'll be posting those on here in a bit. (This was one of them but it turned out to be longer than my actual prompts so it gets its own chapter lol.

Trigger warning: attempted suicide

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Keith gazed longingly at the sea. How much he wished he could be out there, underneath the crashing waves. He had always loved the water. As a child he had to be dragged out of the bathtub and out of pools. Every spare moment he had he was submerging himself in them.

He loved the ocean most of all.

He didn't know what it was that drew him to it. The sereneness of it all? The quiet crash of the waves washing up on the shore? Or maybe it was the unforgivingness. Keith knew how dangerous the ocean was. But sometimes, sometimes late at night he would think about walking out into the water and never turning back. He would watch the waves crash around him and let the water pull him under. Usually, he sat on the end of the pier, watched the water silently, too afraid to indulge his innermost desire.

But tonight was different.

Keith stood, ankle deep in the water. The wind whipping wickedly around him. He shivered but didn't move. The cold water bit at this skin, but it was almost as if he couldn't feel it. Or he didn't mind. He slowly moved further into the water, wading deeper and deeper. In a moment it was up to his chest. And then his neck. Soon Keith's feet barely brushed against the smooth sand, and then he was free.

He floated aimlessly through the black water. The only light came from the moon and its reflection in the water. Keith couldn't see the beach anymore. It was lost. He was lost.

A sense of calm washed over him. This was it. What he had always wanted. Keith took a deep breath. . .

And he let go.

He woke up the rough feeling of sand beneath him. Keith tried to suck in a breath, but his lungs were full of water. Someone pushed Keith onto his side and he coughed all the water out onto the already wet sand.

"Oh god, is that supposed to happen? Is that supposed to come out of you?" Keith heard a strange voice. He groaned and tried to pry his eyes open. After blinking the blurriness out of his eyes, he saw a person hovering over him. He closed his eyes, wishing sleep to overcome him, and then—

"Wh- what t-he fuck" Keith coughed out as he rolled back over, realizing what was different about the person above him. He. . . had gills?

"Oh, thank Poseidon. You're alive" The creature relaxed and laid back on the sand beside Keith.

"Who are you?" Keith asked as he sat up. Something flicked into view and then quickly disappeared. Just as Keith looked down at what was next to him, the creature answered.

"My name is Lance" Lance cocked his head and grinned at Keith, his tail flopping back and forth. "What's yours?"

He was a mermaid.

"K-Keith" He stuttered. He was in shock. Between his near death experience and seeing an honest-to-god mermaid. "You- you- you—" A coughing fit stopped him for finishing his sentence.

"I- I- I?" The mermaid flashed a blinding smile. "You're cute" he cooed. Lance's eyes traveled over Keith's waterlogged body.

"You saved me" Keith said, instead of stating the obvious.

"Yeah" he chirped. His gills twitched, lifting up and flattening down on his skin. Lance pursed his lips. "What were you doing in the water?" he asked bluntly. Keith frowned and continued to stare blankly at him. His tail. His gills. The brightly colored scales that were shining in the moonlight. It wasn't until said tail was brushing teasingly against Keith's arm that he snapped out of his trance.

"What?" he said loudly.

"You were far out there" Lance nodded in the direction of the water. Keith couldn't pull his eyes away from Lance to look at it though. For the first time there was something he was more interested in other than water. "Why?"

"I—" Fear gripped Keith's throat as he suddenly remembered what he had been doing that night in the water. He slapped his palm over his mouth and stared down at his soaking wet clothes. "Fuck" he breathed. He had tried to drown himself. The waters pull was so strong on him that he almost sacrificed his life to be in it.

"Oh" Lance said simply. Keith's body began to shake as he began to feel the cold seeping into his bones. "I see"

"I- I don't want to die" Keith whispered. "I just- I wanted to- The water—" Lance stayed silent, waiting for Keith to collect his thoughts. "I just wanted to be out there. It's where I belong"

"Where you belong" Lance repeated. He laughed humorlessly. "You almost killed yourself for cruel uncaring bitch" Keith blinked a few times in surprise. That was kind of harsh. But he was right.

"You get it though, don't you" Keith asked, his eyes shining with hope. He was a mermaid after all. He had to love the water. "There's just... something about the water" Lance's face screwed up for a moment before he uncomfortably readjusted himself on the wet sand.

"Um, to put it bluntly? No." Lance scratched the back of his head, dislodging a piece of seaweed out of his hair. He rubbed it between his fingers for a moment and then tossed it back out into the water. "I'd much rather be here, on land" Keith fell silent. He couldn't imagine preferring land over the water. "You want to be in the water?" Lance repeated incredulously. Keith gulped and nodded. "Can't relate" Keith looked down at Lance's hands and saw his sharp nails dig into the sand. He lifted his body slightly and squirmed around, his face twisted in discomfort.

"Are you alright?" Keith asked, noticing Lance's wincing.

"Ironic isn't it?" Lance laughed brightly, ignoring his question. "We both want what the other has" he grinned, revealing the thin razor-sharp teeth that lined his mouth. Keith marveled at him. He couldn't believe this was real. That this was really happening. A mermaid. He never in a million years would've thought he would meet one, let alone one saving him. Before Keith could utter another word, Lance reached over and took Keith's hand in his own. He was very gentle so that his talons didn't scratch Keith. "Can you promise me something?" Lance asked quietly. Keith leaned in, so entranced that he couldn't speak. "I know you love the water, but please be safe. I can't always be around to save you" Keith lowered his head in shame and nodded.

"I'm sorry" Keith whispered. Lance lifted Keith's hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on Keith's hand and then let it go. Keith looked down at his hand in surprise. Where his lips had touched his skin, there was the perfect imprint of a seashell.

"Wh- what's this?" Keith asked, lifting his head. But Lance wasn't there. Keith scrambled to his feet and searched wildly. After a few moments he saw Lance's head bobbing barely above the surface of the water, several feel away from him. "Wait! Where are you going!?" Keith began to walk out into the water and then stopped when he noticed the mark on his hand glowing. His face fell blank and he back out of the water again. He had given him a reminder. So that he would never do it again.

"I'm- I'm sorry. I don't want to leave but..." Lance stared at the land longingly. "I- I just. . . The sand hurts me" he said sadly. "I need to be in the water"

"Meet me down there" Keith pointed to the pier, which was a ways down the beach. Lance looked at it and nodded. Suddenly he disappeared from view. Keith took off down the beach, running as fast as he could. He wanted to spend as much time with Lance as he could. He knew that their time couldn't last forever.

When Keith arrived at the end of the pier he found Lance swimming around below him in the water. Keith laid down with his arms hanging over, so they could dip into the water. Lance floated up so he was on his back.

The two of them sat there watched the waves ebb and flow up and down the beach for a long time, both remaining silent. After what felt like forever, and no time at all, the sun began to rise. Both turned and looked at each other, knowing that they had to leave. This surreal and magical night was over. Silently the two parted ways, both wanting what the other had.

Keith walked up the beach and straight back to his house. If it wasn't for the small seashell mark on the top of his hand Keith would think the whole thing was a dream.