The Monster in the Sky. Klance AU

Chapter 19: Going Home (Again)

Shiro stepped to his left so he could block Pidge and Lance's view of the television. He had his arms folded and an eyebrow raised, clearly unimpressed by their behaviour. They had been sat in the living room all day, screaming at the TV as their fingers frantically smashed the buttons on their gaming remotes. Shiro never would be able to understand the appeal of killing people within video games with graphics that sort of resembled real life but still weren't quite right. "You've been playing video games all day." He pointed out the obvious in his authoritative dad tone.

Pidge knew Shiro well enough to snap, "You're not my dad." She waved her hands in the air in an attempt to get Shiro to move out of the way. On the screen, her character was still, jumping up and down from inactivity and restlessness. If she had been playing Crash Bandicoot, Crash would have been throwing his wumpa fruit up in the air by then. "Shiro, please move. Just one more game."

"No. No more games. Have you even eaten lunch?" Lance opened his mouth to respond but Shiro spoke up again before he could say anything. "No, chips don't count." Lance snapped it shut again. His head lowered so he was able to look down at his remote with a frown that loosely resembled a pout glued to his face. He looked like a five-year-old who had been denied ice cream; not a brave defender of the universe who had saved many lives.

"We'll eat after this game, alright?" Pidge thinned her eyes to glare at Shiro, though, of course, it didn't give her the magical ability to look through him like a pane of glass. All she wanted was to destroy Lance and claim victory. Was that too much to ask for?

"Nope. I have news for all of you anyway. Come into the meeting room with me after you get a sandwich or something."

"Whatever." As soon as Shiro moved out of the way, Pidge began button-smashing again and trying her hardest to demolish Lance's character. As Pidge let out a profanity so intense that most people shunned it, he rolled his eyes and left the pair to it.

-

"We're going back to Earth."

As soon as the words escaped Shiro's mouth, the room lapsed into silence. Coran smiled as if he already knew what was coming whilst Lance and Keith exchanged identical concerned looks. Hunk and Pidge began murmuring to each other with puzzled expressions on their faces. Shiro clapped his hands as a call for silence.

"Coran and I both believe Altean and Alkafan technology can be utilised on Earth. We could build things alongside Garrison technicians so Earth security can be optimised. Pidge, you have learnt so much about Alkafan ways." Coran nodded from where he was standing alongside Shiro, agreeing silently.

"But... aren't we needed in space?" Pidge spoke up, standing up to draw attention to herself. Everyone turned to look at her as mixed emotions swirled in the pits of all of their chests.

"Not anymore. We have dealt with the Alkafan rebels and the Galra are no longer an issue."

Lance raised both his eyebrows and a single eyebrow. "When will we go back then?"

"Soon. Coran reckons that it will take about a week if we take the Castle or a few days if we go just by lion."

"What are we going to do?"

"I think we should take the lions. Coming to Earth in a massive castle ship might be dangerous. We aren't sure how they're going to react. I was actually thinking we could land one lion at a time so we can explain."

"I think that's probably best," Lance stared down at where he had balanced his hands on top of the table. "They didn't react well when I tried to tell them about Voltron so imagine how they're going to react when they actually see the lion."

"I must ask," Keith cleared his throat so everyone had time to turn to face him. "Are we going back to our original lions. Since Allura-"

Lance nodded so they didn't have to talk about the princess any longer than they had to: it was still a soft spot for him. "Blue came to get me on Earth so I think she'll be happy to have me as the blue paladin again. As for red, she loves Keith."

"And black should accept me... or I can hope she will at least." Shiro mumbled.

"And will we be staying on Earth?" Keith had crinkled eyebrows that made him look almost concerned. His voice also seemed sad and shaky which was unusual for such a reserved paladin who usually made a point of pretending to be emotionless.

"For the foreseeable future, I think so."

"When do we leave then?"

"Soon. We need to decide who is going to land first."

Lance pulled himself up to his feet, his chair making an obscenely loud scraping noise as he did so. The sound seemed to echo around the room like an elephant in the room that no one dared to mention. He closed his eyes and raised his head before opening them up again. "I'll go. I've been there recently so I think I'll be able to reassure them."

Keith nodded, though he still didn't seem too pleased about the situation. "I think he'd be the best option. Lance is really good at reassuring people."

Lance turned his head to briefly meet eyes with the red paladin, just as a smile tugged at his lips. "You complimenting me, mullet?"

"No, I'm stating the facts." It seemed oddly suspicious that Keith had a tendency to flush a deep, dark red whenever Lance teased him.

"Does everyone agree?" After a series of nods from the other paladins, Shiro smiled in a way that confirmed the plans. "That settles it then. Lance is going to represent us and go back to Earth."

"Again."

"Again."

As Pidge and Lance were playing video games earlier, today I am going to ask what your favourite video games are. Mine is Shadow of the Colossus :)