Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“ I know we are ‘Defenders of the Universe’ and all but we are also people who need a break. I’m voting to put we have an energy limit in our contract.”

Voltron was currently working on securing an alliance with the planet Spini ( Lance could not remember the name so he called it Spini due to its fast rotation which makes for a windy planet.) who were eager to join the alliance.Which was great! Another one for the win! But the Spindels (Which is what Lance called the planet inhabitants, much to Shiro’s disappointment.) had their terms and conditions about joining. Literally. Even in space, galaxies away from Earth, paperwork still brought devastation to innocent minds.

The team spent three whole Quintants reading stacks of paperwork, making sure the Spindles weren’t trying to trick them into anything. Hours of reading the small print of meaningless words have left Lance bored and exhausted. The whole team was more than ready to leave the planet. Even Shiro, who Lance swears got more white hair recently, could not stand to see another ‘Sign here in Quadruplicate’.

They were about to leave the castle where the king and queen had let them stay, but they were summoned to the throne room for reasons unknown. As they followed one of the castle's servants, they talked among themselves trying to remember if they missed anything in the paperwork.

“ I could not miss a signature if I wanted to. It's hard to forget your hand cramping 5 times.” Pidge explained. 

“ Well, if we have everything covered then I suppose they just want to give their thanks?” Allura hesitantly suggested with a shrug.

Lance gasped, “What if it's more paperwork?! " He dramatically dropped himself on top of Hunk. “ Buddy, prepare my vows.”

Hunk immediately stood him back up “ No can do, I need you to write mine.”

“Guys calm down I’m sure it's not more paperwork. Besides how much paperwork can one planet legally give us?” Kieth offered.

Lance caught up to Kieth's side reaching for his hand,“ Don’t jinx us, mi Vida. Who knows what's legal on this planet? After all, they let you in.”  he teased. 

The red paladin rolled his eyes“ Yeah good point.” he took the other paladin’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze.” They have to be EXTREMELY patient to have tolerated you this long.”

Lance turned to face a grinning Kieth. And he was momentarily speechless not just of the comeback but of his stunning boyfriend. 

It had been a few months already, but Lance still couldn't believe he was dating Kieth. And he loved every second of it. At first, he was nervous about making a mistake and ruining it all. But he soon came to learn that he could comfortably be himself around the red paladin. And he would never leave him like the people from past relationships.

To his surprise, Kieth was the one to approach him. They were about to land on a planet to gather intel about one of Zarkons fleets. Kieth had privately asked Lance if he wanted to “hang out” on one of the planet's many beaches. To which he led him to a restaurant by the shore. Lance was starting to put two and two together and asked him if “hanging out” actually meant a date. Kieth was red as the setting sun as he slowly nodded. 

The rest is history. 

“ Alright, team let's see what his and her majesty need. And let's hope it’s not more paperwork” said Shiro.

They had arrived at a 7-foot-tall pair of stunning, intricately designed doors that led to the throne room. The whole castle had been a pleasing sight. It was filled with arched doorways and long elegant hallways with thin but sturdy pillars holding it all in place. In every hallway, there was at least one stained-glass window. At a certain time of day, the sun would light up the windows and illuminate the planet's history that they displayed. 

The whole team thoroughly enjoyed staying in such a beautiful castle and thanked the king and queen endlessly for letting them stay. Lance was in awe in every corner, the whole place reminded him of a medieval church. Though they had a painful amount of forms and documents, the Spindels sure knew their architecture. 

But it was nothing compared to the throne room.

The elegant doors opened to reveal the most gorgeous throne room Lance had ever seen. It was almost entirely made of glass. Three wide clear pillars decorated the sides of a hallway holding up a dome ceiling. The dome was made up of a pattern of glass and metal rings ranging in size as it neared the middle.  On the opposite side of the hallway from the doors, sat the queen. 

Her throne was a dull silver color and consisted of a simple and narrow shape. Which made sense because the alien on it was the real sight to behold. All of the planet's inhabitants were covered from head to toe because of the Sahara-like nature of the land. 

But the queen had no scarves or heavy jackets. She had human-like features but was entirely made of shards of glass. It reminded Lance of that time his cousins had glued a bunch of plastic gems on his arms while he was sleeping. Though this was much more well done. It looked like diamonds the way the glass shined with an array of colors. 

The queen only wore a simple ankle-length white dress, which Lance was very thankful for. Any more color and he might go blind.

“ Thank you for coming Paladins of Voltron. I do apologize for delaying your departure.” The queen's voice sounded like a melody from a metal windchime. 

“ No apology necessary your Majesty. Voltron is always happy to help.” Allura said.

“ Uhm not that I expect it, especially after all the tedious paperwork, but the paladins don’t seem…well I’m not sure what's wrong.” the queen questioned.

Allura turned to the group who were all in shock and staring at the queen in awe with slack jaws. It was only Allura and Shiro who had been to the throne room and met the royals. 

Hunk was the first to snap out of it. “Sorry Your Majesty, it’s just our first time seeing you and…”

“You're stunning and we’ve never seen any species like you before” Pidge blurted out. 

“ Oh thank you, you're much too kind.” she giggled and reflected a rose pink off the walls of the room. “ But I summoned you to discuss earth's beauty.” 

That got the paladin's attention. After a minute of silence, Shiro asked what they were all wondering.

“We’re not sure we understand.”

“Come with me.” The queen said, standing from her throne and leading the group out of the throne room.

“ For a few, as you say on earth, years now I have taken interest in the way of your planet. I’ve heard so many different things and am amazed by each one of them. However, I fail to understand the reason or meaning behind it. To try to gain more knowledge about the earth, I sent a few ambassadors to gather what they could “

“ That explains the sightings.” Pidge quietly thought out loud. 

“and bring it back for further observation.” 

She stopped in front of another set of doors, much smaller than the previous set but all the more beautiful. 

Lance was sure this was made when the glass had yet to finish solidifying and someone threw a rock at it. It looked exactly like ripples in a pond, warped so you couldn’t see the inside of the room but knew something was in it.

“Sadly,” She had turned to face the paladins, “ I am even more at a loss than before,  and I was hoping you could assist.” then turned to face the two guards at the door and nodded at them to open the room.

Right then and there, Lance decided that this was one of his favorite planets.

The room was filled with so much stuff from every corner of their very own earth. Colors of all kinds in all patterns decorated the countless objects that sat everywhere. There were a couple of instruments as well, including a bagpipe, which Lance thought Coran would love if he brought it back to the castle ship. On a Victorian-styled table lay a couple of scrolls that looked ancient and would probably crumble apart if touched. Lance spotted a surfboard in the corner that looked to be surrounded by food-

“OH MY QUIZNACK ARE THOSE LEMONS?!” Lance exclaimed and ran into the room toward the limes*.  

That’s all the rest of the team needed to rush in with him. They each dug through different piles in the room shouting out their finds with excitement. 

“ Coconuts! Oh, I missed you!” Hunk exclaimed, cradling an armful of the brown fruit.

“ Oh, my grandpa had one of these.” Pidge softly said as she immediately whipped out tools and started working on a turquoise Vespa. 

Even Shiro, who usually remained the responsible one, found something in the glorious mess. “ Whoa, I haven’t seen one of these since I was a kid.” he gasped in amazement at the black Kimono* he held in front of him. 

“Hey Keith,” Lance said as Kieth walked up behind him checking limes. “ can I borrow your knife? I have to cut this, it’s been forever since I tasted the sourness of a lemon.” 

“Uhm… about that. My hands are kind of…” 

Lance turned around to see a hesitant Kieth. Then he looked down at his hands and saw the problem. Kieth had found five Chinese handcuffs and managed to get all his fingers stuck in them.

Lance slowly looked up to his pouting boyfriend's face.

“I don’t know what happened,’ Kieth miserably began. “ I found one and then I found more and then-” he brought the clump of stuck fingers to Lance’s face with a whine. 

And look, he loved and cared for his boyfriend more than anything. But sometimes he couldn’t help himself. 

He burst out into a fit of giggles at Keith’s predicament. 

“Oh, Yuki*. Didn’t you learn your lesson the first hundred times?” Shiro said with a hand on the trapped paladin's shoulder.

”Wait, he’s done this before?” Pidge asked as she and Hunk walked over to the commotion. 

“Multiple times,” Shiro said, grinning at Kieth who was glaring daggers at his older brother. 

“Shut up! Lance stop laughing and cut these off of me!” 

The queen and Allura watched with amusement as the team bickered and tried to pry the paper tubes off of the red paladin's hands.

” I am glad you recognize these objects from Earth.” The queen said as the last of the toy was taken off Keith's finger. “ Though it confuses me how one planet could hold such a large variety of things.”

“ Well,” Lance began as Shiro was telling the others of Keith’s tragic history with Chinese handcuffs. “Earth isn’t one kingdom as many of the planets that you know are. The planet is separated into different regions we call countries. Each of those has its own traditions and customs that are all unique from one another. We also have different languages but some countries share the same language.”

”For example, I’m from a place on Earth called Cuba, where we speak a language called Spanish. There are a few other countries around Cuba, which altogether is called South America, that speak Spanish as well*.” 

As the queen listened she looked more and more interested by the second. Lance got a bit nervous under her strong gaze. 

“ You come from such a beautiful planet, paladins of Voltron. When this war is over I do wish to visit and experience all of your various traditions.” The queen said wistfully.

 Then her eyes turned downward and she solemnly said “ Well, if we make it out of this war at least.” 

And that gave Lance an idea. 

“What if we brought earth to you?”

Allura quickly interjected “Lance what are you proposing? Earth is galaxies away.”

“Wait,” Hunk came next to the blue paladin “Middle school, Ms. Jackson-“ he gasped. “ Culture Fest?!” 

Lance nodded excitedly at his friend. 

“What is a ‘Culture Fest’?” Allura asked.

Hunk explained ”At the school Lance and I went to, before the Garison, our geography teacher came up with a cool project. Culture Fest. All of us had to choose a country and do research on it.” 

Lance continued “ We had to present one dish, tradition or holiday, and a fun fact! It was super fun and educational for the whole class. Hunk and I researched each other's countries.” 

“Hispanic food was so much fun to make and so good,” Hunks said dreamily 

“So your idea is to showcase all of Earth’s cultures in a giant presentation?” Pidge asked. “That seems like a lot of work, plus it’ll take forever to properly explain everything.” 

“Well, not all of Earth. Just our own countries. You're Italian so you can do Italy.” he told Pidge. 

“ And Keith can do…” Lance hesitated “Korean ? Sorry I can’t remember, I just know you're Asian*.” he confessed.

”Oh, uhm I do-“ 

”It’s ok.” Shiro stepped in “I’m Asian, well Japanese to be specific, so I’ll do Japan.” 

Before Lance could ask Keith again, the queen squealed with delight. Which since she was made of glass sounded more like a tea kettle. 

“ I love this Culture Fest you speak of blue paladin! When can you get started?”

He turned to his team. “ You guys in?” 

They all nodded and were more than eager to get started. Even Allura approved. 

“It would be a good way to make more personal connections within the alliance. Plus I don’t know much about Earth myself.” 

“Well then,” he turned back towards Her Majesty. “ We should probably get started!”

One, two, three, four

Five, six, seven.

Or was it six counts? 

Lance let out a sigh of defeat. He could not for the life of him remember how to dance salsa.

He had found a small portable speaker among the piles of objects in the room, and Pidge had somehow managed to connect it to an old iPod she had found. To Lance’s delight, it had a Spanish dancing playlist. So for the past hour, he had been trying to remember his moves. He was failing. Something just wasn’t adding up.

The upbeat song ended and changed to a slower pop song that wasn’t meant for dancing*. He needed a break anyway, so he took out his tablet from under his jacket that he had thrown to the side earlier.

Food-check

Fun fact-check

tradition/holiday-?

“Working on it,” he told the tablet with a huff. “May be harder than I thought.”

“You need help?”

Keith held one of the doors open to Lance’s designated room. He was wearing his typical black shirt and jeans with his jacket tied to his waist. 

“Hey Mullito!* Just hit a stump in my project but I just gotta work around it. How’s yours going?” Lance said.

“Well,” Kieth replied as he walked in, the door shutting softly behind him. “ apparently Hunk has tribal tattoos on his shoulders that he plans to explain how they are more than just ink on skin in his presentation for the queen. Word of advice; don’t call them tattoos without expecting a lecture on the history of their origins and meaning.”

“Pidge fixed up her Vespa and was zooming through the halls with one of the natives. Until she crashed into Shiro’s room and messed up some of his research. She did this gesture with her hand under her chin* at him when he wasn’t looking? I have no clue what it means but I'm sure it was probably something rude.” he finished with a shrug.

Lance softly rolled his eyes at his friend's antics. They were a crazy bunch but that just made him love them even more.

“I didn’t ask for a mission report, but it's nice to know how everyone’s doing.” Lance softly teased. 

“So,” he tried again.” What's your progress? I can help if you want, I know a bit of Asian customs but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Plus I know they're not all the same as each other.”

Kieth hesitated and looked down, his bangs falling in his face.” Yeah, uhm about that…I can’t participate in this.”

“Well, I don’t expect you to do your Galra side and your human side. Since it's more about Earth, it makes sense to just do that side. “ Lance offered.

“Did you ask Shiro for advice?” he questioned.”  Not that I mind helping you of course. Just wondering what the big ol team leader said.”

“I did, but he said to ask you since this was your idea. So you are technically the leader here for this one.” Kieth explained.

“Oh,” Lance had not thought about that. 

“Well, how can I help?”

“Uhm, so I grew up in Texas right?” 

Lance quietly nodded.

Kieth continued. “ But I never had an accent or anything else Texas-related. But then I remember my dad, Texan dad, making me bento boxes*. And a bunch of different foods as well from different Asian countries. Not only that but sometimes we had relatives who would visit and bring different things. I didn’t think much about it until I looked into where these things came from. They all come from either Vietnam, Japan, or Korea so…” 

He ended with a sigh “I have no clue what my real heritage is because I grew up with a mix of them.” 

Lance pocketed his tablet. “Keith that’s really cool. Having a collection of customs from different places makes you incredibly diverse. Plus your Galra! Which adds more coolness to the mix!” 

“Thanks,” Keith shyly looked down. “But it still doesn’t help me know my direct heritage.”

“Don’t worry you don’t have to do it if you're not comfortable knowing your true background,” he reassured him.

 “BUT, you can help me!” he said, grabbed the other boy's hand, and led him closer to the speaker in the center of the room. 

Lance immediately recognized the song and had another one of his brilliant ideas. He gave a sly smile toward the other man and turned the volume up.

“ You can dance with me.” 

“What?! Lance, I can’t dance!”

“That’s cause you never had a hot bae to teach you!” he joked with a wink.

Kieth stifled a giggle at his lover's antics. “How is teaching me to dance helping you with your project thing?”   

“I was trying to remember how to dance earlier, but I couldn’t because I was missing something. And that something was a dance partner,” Lance explained as he stood in front of Keith and held both of his hands. “Or in simpler words; you.”

The boy in front of him gave a small smile as he agreed to be Lance’s dance partner. 

“Ok so you put your hand on my shoulder and your other on my arm and I’ll hold your waist and your opposite arm.” the boy said while he guided their limbs.

“Now you sidestep left four times with the beat like this.” he demonstrated and stepped to the left making sure to keep some space between the steps. “And then once you finish that way you lift the left side of your hip a bit and then do it again but toward the right.” 

“Now you try.”

After stepping on Lance’s feet a respectable amount of times and almost making both of them trip, Kieth, much to his lover's delight and relief,  was starting to get it. 

“Alright Samurri!” he cheered him on. “Now let's take things up a notch shall we?” 

“What do you mean by that?” Keith asked nervously. 

“Just try to follow the beat of the next song and…well you’ll see,” he reassured the Asian boy. 

As the song faded out the next one came on with a man signing smoothly.

Oh, 

he thought as he immediately yet another song.

Perfect. 

He pulled Kieth closer, their noses almost touching. 

“Lance, what are yo-”

“Just go with it. Half of learning how to dance is feeling it.”

So he did and let Lance lead him. They slowly danced around the room all the while keeping to the rhythm. Once Keith got comfortable and loose, he started moving his hips more and lost himself in the music.

 Lance almost stumbled when Keith rested his forehead in the crook of his neck. He was sure he was as red as the other boy's lion. 

Can’t dance my ass. Well, two can play that game. 

 He gently spun Keith in a half circle and pressed his back firmly against his chest. Keith let out a soft gasp at the action and placed his hands on Lance’s as they held his hips. 

Lance had to give the other some points as he continued to dance, seemingly unfazed by the action. Even when he started gently singing in his ear, he just kept right on dancing in the new position. They were so close that Lance could feel the sweat on Keith's back on his chest through the fabric. It was suddenly really hot in the room.

Too bad the song ended and they both came to an abrupt stop.

A minute passed. Then another. 

Keith turned to face his dance teacher. “Uh…thanks for teaching me. You're a good dancer.” he quietly told him. 

“I'm a good dancer?! Vida, you were amazing! I cannot believe you lied to me saying ‘Oh I can't dance!’” Lance mimicked him in a whiny voice.

“Shut up!” he said shoving the taller boy away, though he was grinning. “Besides I don’t even know what kind of dance I just did.” 

“It’s called Bachata, my dear student. There are a couple of different ones but KIETH I GOT IT!” Lance interrupted himself with a yell.

Keith bunched his eyebrows, clearly confused “Got what?” 

“So, you are, like Asian in three ways, right?”

“Uh, I guess, yeah.”

“So why not do all of them for different parts!” he exclaimed throwing his hands in the air at his revelation.

“So…for example, Vietnamese tradition, Japanese food, and a Korean holiday?” he suggested.

Lance nodded excitedly. “Exactly! That way you can share every aspect of your earth side!”

“Unless that’s too much or you don’t want to, which I respect-” his rambling was cut off by a peck on his cheek.

“Stop worrying. It’s a great idea, I love it.” 

Lance froze. They barely used the ‘L word’ toward each other. They haven’t gotten to say the big three words either, their relationship was only a few months going. 

“Well, I should probably get started. “Keith said with a pat on the blue paladin's shoulder, snapping him out of his shock. 

The boy walked toward the door and grabbed its ornate handle. “Ashiteru.” he quietly mumbled. 

Lance whipped his head toward the door and yelled. “Well, I shit you too!” 

Keith threw his head back and let out a bright laugh. 

Dam, if his boyfriend wasn’t so cute he’d whoop his ass for cursing at him in a different language.

“That’s not what I said!” he wheezed out at Lance.

“What did you say then?” he demanded.

“See you in the throne room!” 

Keith shut the door, leaving a confused and slightly offended Lance behind. 

“ Welcome Queen Myira, may we present to you, Earth culture! Or, well at least a bit of it.” 

Lance announced as the Queen entered the throne room and excitedly took a seat on her throne. Shiro had drilled the womans name in his head a few minutes prior entering the throne room. It’s not his fault he can’t remember, they meet a lot of aliens!

 “ Thank you, blue Paladin. I am positively ecstatic to know more about your planet.”  She said as she tapped her hands in her lap making a happy little clinking sound.

“Ok,” Lance turned to the semi-circle that made up his friends. “Who’s first?” 

“Hunk.” they all responded in unison.

“This is cause the ‘tattoos’ isn’t it?” the Samoan said with finger quotes.

“ I need an explanation like yesterday.” Pidge retorted, leaning against the wall.

“ Yes, I am quite shocked to see you have markings.” 

They all nodded at Allura’s statement.

“Are you sure you're not Altean?” Coran questioned twirling his mustache in thought.

“ Ok, yep, I need to go first.” Hunk grabbed his little red wagon (where he found that Lance had no clue.) filled with plates for later and went to the middle of the room. 

“ I’ll start with the tradition segment your Majesty,” he politely told the queen, “ since these guys will probably never let me live it down,” he said with a glare over his shoulder.

 “ So, there is a group of islands on Earth called Polynesian islands. Then there's a smaller group inside of that group called the Samoan Islands, and I was born and raised in one of those. Sorry is that confusing?” 

“No not at all dear Yellow Paladin! Let me just.” she whistled in a low frequency and one of her servants came with a notebook and pen. “Please proceed.” she told him once she was ready with her items. 

“ Ok, uhm, where was I?” he muttered.

“TATTOOS!” Pidge kindly reminded him.

“Right.” he sighed. “ Where I am from we mark our skin with ink and it's called a tatau in my language by the way,” he said that last part to Pidge. 

“ We get them for many reasons, from personal and/or family history to protection and spiritual reasons.” Hunk explained. 

“ For example,” he took off his green vest, placed it in the wagon, and rolled up the left sleeve of his shirt. “ mine are shark teeth.” 

This whole time. Lance’s best friend. The sweet and motherly over-protective Hunk had a shark teeth tatau. 

“What?!” he exclaimed and was by Hunk's side in a flash. “How did I not know about this?!” 

“You didn’t know I was a girl when everyone else did. You're kinda clueless like that.”

“Shut up Pidge!” Lance shouted at the gremlin at his side.

“Can I see?” Keith asked, slipping between the two. 

“ I got it at Space Mall, I went to the earth shop you guys mentioned and had it done for 20 Gac.” he calmly explained to the shocked group. 

“What does it mean?” Shiro asked 

“ It symbolizes strength and power like a shark, but also protection and guidance in tough times. I thought it matched the yellow lion perfectly plus I need all the protection out in space. We all do.” 

“ I think it matches its paladin pretty well too,” Keith said with a reassuring hand on Hunk's left shoulder. “You didn’t let me go when we got stranded in space and protected all of us from that giant creature.”

“ Plus you make the best snacks!” Pidge jumped in

“And I would have never asked Mullet out if you didn’t threaten me.”

“It wasn’t a-”

“Wait what?” 

“What are these snacks you speak of?” the queen interjected. 

“Yes! Let’s let Hunk get back to it.” Lance nervously ushered all of them away. 

“Oh sure, I found all the ingredients so I was able to make coconut rice and Fa’ alifu Fa’i*.” 

Lance sighed in relief as everyone grabbed some of Hunk's food and some was served to the Queen. He internally scolded himself for almost outing that embarrassing story. Thankfully Hunks mouth-watering cuisine served as a great distraction. He was saved.

“ So Hunk is the reason we’re dating?” 

Or not.

“Keith! Puta Madre! Where did you come from?” Lance exclaims at the guy next to him. 

The emo boy just silently handed him a plate of the Fa’ alifu Fa’i. Lance quickly took it and savored the banana and coconut goodness. 

“You're forgiven,” he told him between bites.

Keith fondly rolled his eyes(which Lance didn’t think was even possible until he met the other paladin.) for the second time that day. 

“ So the sweetest of all of us somehow managed to threaten you into asking me out? Wasn’t I the one who planned the first date?” 

“ Yes, you did Carino*.” Lance reassured him with a peck on his cheek “ And you would feel threatened too if Hunk banned you from all of his cooking for a whole week.” 

“ Sounds terrifying.” he deadpanned 

“It was! I’m a weak man when it comes to his food! Have you tried this banana?” Lance exclaimed to his boyfriend, shoving the dish toward him. 

“ It is good. And you were extremely jittery on our second date.” Keith contemplated. 

“Yeah duh. Because I was taking the fine red paladin and head of Voltron on a date after he just took me on an amazing one!” Lance explained. 

“ I didn’t want to mess it up.” 

Keith blushed and turned away. “You could have never messed it up. I was just happy you wanted to go on another date.” 

“Awww!!! Keefers!! “ Lance drawled out and threw himself on him in a tight side hug. 

“ Don’t call me that.”

After Hunk finished his presentation, Pidge was next. 

“ For once I don’t have an extensive amount of research to share. I didn’t grow up in Italy so I don’t know much about its culture.” Pidge said with a shrug.

”But,” she continued, “ I do have this!” and let out a shrill whistle.

For a moment nothing happened. 

 “ I present to you Italy's most treasured vehicle, drumroll please, LA VESPA!” Pidge announced.

 Then one of the glass people came bursting through the doors on an aqua Vespa. 

Shiro immediately scolded her. “ Pidge what are you doing?!” 

“ Silenzo Bruno!” She yelled back.

“ Who’s Bruno?” Keith muttered next to Lance who just shrugged.

The queen leaned forward in curiosity as Pidge explained.

“ This little guy,” 

Was she talking about the glass person?

“ though may be small it’s mighty!” 

Or herself? Lance wasn’t sure until she gestured to the Vespa. 

“ Fun Fact: The guy who invented this was trying to come up with a name for a while but nothing stuck. But then he realized that the engine sounded like a wasp, which is an insect that buzzes a lot on Earth,  so he called it that! But in Italian of course it translates to Vespa!” 

The queen was mesmerized by Pidge’s lecture and even got out of her seat to further inspect the Vespa. 

Once she finished, Shiro was next. 

But his research, unlike Pidge, went deep and a bit too crazy. 

Voltrons' design was based on samurai armor*? And so was this thing called transformers? Whatever that was. Lance was having a hard time understanding the whole thing. That is until Coran stepped in and cut his lecture short. Something about the fourth wall? Lance wasn’t sure. 

Next was Keith. 

“ Uhm I don’t know where I come from on earth exactly, plus I’m half Galra, so I’ll just show you what I grew up with I guess.” The red paladin shyly told her Majesty. 

After giving a full 5-minute lecture on how to not get stuck in them, he showed the queen a pair of Chinese handcuffs. He then told a few basic facts about Japan and then it came to the food. 

“ So this is soup but it’s also a lot more than that.” He said as he held a small white bowl with steam coming out. 

“ It’s called Pho and Shiro would always make it for me after a…challenging day. Especially cause I didn’t really or never eat much growing up.” He stuttered out. 

“ And he knew that so he made something so simple so big in a way.” 

“ So,” the queen began “ you would say this food of yours holds memories?” She asked. 

Shiro and him exchanged soft smiles and looked at the noodles. Though it was just soup it was something only they could truly cherish. 

“ Definitely.” 

And last but not least, was Lance. 

“As I mentioned earlier, I’m from a country island called Cuba! Where moving your body is a way of life!” 

And he gestured to the emo boy slouched in the corner. 

“ If you please, Mi Vida.” 

Keith looked left. Then right. Then pointed to himself with wide eyes. 

“ No the other mullet behind you. Yes, you!” Lance exclaimed. 

“ FUCK NO!” Keith yelled back wearing a strong shade of red on his face. 

“ Oh come on! You didn’t have a problem earlier you were really good too!” The blue paladin insisted. 

“ You can dance?” Hunk questioned the embarrassed boy next to him. 

“ That was different!” Keith hissed back, ignoring his friend's question.  

Lance felt a small tap on his shoulder from behind. He slowly turned to be met face-to-face with the queen. 

“ Could you possibly teach me your earth dance?” She pleaded. Her face beamed with anticipation. 

“ Of course, I’d love to! And I think it’ll be even better if ALL the paladins joined us as well!” Lance kindly suggested. 

“ Come on Kieth,” Pidge yanked on his arm “ you can let me step on your feet .” And brought him to the center of the room. 

After much stumbling and laughing, most of it coming from the queen herself, they all somewhat knew how to dance bachata. 

“ Oh, what a delight! All of you have such interesting and incredibly diverse backgrounds!  Earth seems to be a planet of many wonderful colors! “ the queen exclaimed when Lance had finally finished his presentation. 

“ Yes, it is! Though we may not all get along sometimes we all come from the same place no matter how different.” Lance added to Myrias delight. 

The queen stood up from her throne and dressed the room. 

“ Thank you Voltron for your help through the alliance of my kingdom and I truly cherish having such powerful friends as well as comrades in battle. I do apologize for all the paperwork, though it is tedious, it is extremely necessary for us. We once had an alliance with Zarkon,” 

The team tensioned. 

“ but it was all a part of his plan to conquer our planet and use our glass gardens for advanced weaponry. So you understand we must take precautions going into another alliance.”

They all let out a sigh of relief. And here they thought that they were being tricked when the queen was only taking precautions. 

“You have gone beyond what me and my people expected. On behalf of my people, I thank you Ambassadors of Earth.” 

They have been called so many things out in space. From the typical Paladins of Voltron, Defenders of the Universe, and sometimes Protectors of Peace. Some of the titles, like scum, traitors, and pirates (Lance didn’t understand that one too well.). But never anything close to Ambassadors of Earth.

Never a title so close to home. 

Lance quickly wiped the tears sliding down his cheeks while Allura spoke for all of them.

“It was our pleasure Queen Mirya, anytime you require Voltron assistance, we will gladly come to you and your kingdom's aid.” 

The queen let out a small quiet whistle and her servants opened the doors. 

She took her seat on her throne and bid them farewell.

“As will we Princess. Safe travels young heroes.” 

They all said their goodbyes and left the room. However, she called out once more.

“ Oh! Could I have a moment with the red and blue paladins? I understand you have other duties to attend to so this will only take a moment I promise.” she quickly promised 

Allura and Shiro exchanged slightly concerned looks with the two addressed. Their eyes said go ahead but please for the love of Quiznack be quick. 

They all loved seeing and visiting other planets but it got tiring and aliens must have an unlimited energy reserve because they failed to notice the dark eyebags they all wore. 

“ Of course, your Majesty,” Lance said with a sigh though a small smile adorned his face. The glass woman held such a child-like charm that it was hard to resist. “ we are at your service.”

Keith came up from behind him to stand to his left as the doors closed behind them with a soft thud. 

Lance glanced at his boyfriend and decided he was going to throw this man in bed for a nap (PSYCHE LOL). He could barely stand and was swaying a bit in place. His eyes were half open but threatening to fully shut at any moment. Lance quickly grabbed his hand just in case Keith fell asleep standing up. 

“ You two are partners correct?” The queen suddenly said. 

Keith shot up straight, his eyes widened at the personal question. 

“Uhm, yeah I guess that’s another word for it,” Lance muttered in response his face displaying a light blush. 

It’s not like they were necessarily hiding their relationship, the whole team knew about a week after they became a couple. However, both were still getting used to being called a couple. 

 “ There are some words you speak among yourselves, terms of endearment I assume, that I couldn’t help but wonder what you mean.” she inquired. 

Yep, that might be a bit too personal. Plus Lance would become the new red paladin if Keith ever found out what he was saying in Spanish. 

“ I, for one am very interested as well! Care to share Kirei?” Keith boldly proclaimed with a hand on his hip. 

“Well, I-what uhm.” Lance stuttered out. 

He was in shock, he was supposed to be the cocky one! Not Keith! The queen eagerly nodded to Keith's statement. They stared at him waiting for an answer, wearing matching grins. 

Lance shot a pleading look his way but was met with a mischievous gleam in his lover's eyes.

Got you now loverboy they teased at him.

And to think he really liked this queen, well turns out she and his very own boyfriend were traitors.

He let out a sigh of defeat, might as well give them what they want. 

“Fine.” he sneered at the emo man, “ what would you like to know.” he gently turned towards the queen. 

“ Hmm, may I suggest one?” Keith asked in a sickly sweet voice. “ what does mi V tha mean?” 

“ …you mean mi vida?” Lance snorted. 

“ Yeah sure however you say it.” He crossed his arms. 

Lance let out a small laugh, he might as well tell him. 

“ It means My Life, Keith.” 

The smirk was wiped off his face replaced with a slack slightly opened jaw. Keith’s eyes held a stone of emotions. From shock to adoration. 

“ Oh.” 

“ Is that what you call loved ones in, what’s it called, Cuba?” Her Majesty asked with heart eyes. 

“ Yeah, kind of but I just like using it 'cause,” he looked deep into Keith’s eyes.” I think you’re my everything.” 

Keith threw himself and tightly wrapped his arms around his lover. Making both of them collapse, Lance on his rear and Keith on his knees. 

“ Aishiteru, aishiteru, aishiteru.” Keith muttered against Lance's face between kisses. 

As much as Lance loved the affection he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of curiosity.

He gently grasped Keith’s shoulders and pushed him back so their foreheads were touching. 

“ What does that mean?” Lance asked in a low voice only meant for him. 

“ I love you!” And Keith surged forward again. 

They never said it directly, but each in their native tongue. But honestly, it made Lance feel closer to home than ever. 

Chapter Text

Hey guys! For the facts and other things that were left unexplained, here’s a glossary (kinda) for it!

• OH MY QUIZNACK ARE THOSE LEMONS?!” Lance exclaimed and ran into the room toward the limes:

• Explanation: In South America they next to never use lemons(the yellow ones). It’s always limes(the green ones), since they are more sour and lemons are sweeter. It’s just better to use for most recipes. Though lemons are used for some recipes. I think because of that limes are called lemons (just put a Spanish accent to it and that’s how you say it in Spanish) and lemons are called limes (if I remember correctly I think it’s the same the other way around). So that’s why Lance calls them lemons, because the words translate to the opposite in English. Hope that makes sense I know it’s confusing. And I’m aware that Cuba is not part of SA though I believe they go by the same or similar traditions regarding food. If I’m wrong, please lmk and feel free to explain and correct me. :)

• Whoa, I haven’t seen one of these since I was a kid.” he gasped in amazement at the black Kimono* he held in front of him. 

• Explanation: Kimono is a  traditional Japanese garment. It’s like a robe that you wrap around yourself. It can be worn by guys and girls alike. Ngl I’m looking at these and wondering why there isn’t one in my closet.

• “Oh, Yuki*. Didn’t you learn your lesson the first hundred times?”

• Definition: Yuki is a popular gender neutral name. It’s Japanese for Snow. But depending on how the kanji characters are written the meaning can change. It can mean happiness or snow/innocence. I use it here as snow/innocence (cause of Keith’s white self lol) and as a cute nickname.

• There are a few other countries around Cuba, which altogether is called South America, that speak Spanish as well*.” 

• Explanation: though it is true that South America speaks Spanish, not all of it does. Brazil does speak it, but its main language is Portuguese. And not from Portugal, but heavily mixed with it (due to colonization in the past) and Spanish. Not only that but each country has its own unique accent and/or slang. So yes, most of SA speaks Spanish but it’s all specific to its own country. I just felt like this was worth clarifying due to so many questions and stereotypes I hear about SA.

• The upbeat song ended and changed to a slower pop song that wasn’t meant for dancing*

• Explanation: There are different types of Hispanic songs with different counts. Some are slower more spaced out and others are a steady staccato that can be hard to keep up with. Each of these are for different types of dances. For example: Salsa is 6 (or 7. It’s been awhile) counts where you step on each beat. Then there are other songs that are just pop songs or ballads that don’t have that lil cowbell(idk why it’s a cowbell or a cowbell like instrument. It can change sometimes but it’s still can be annoying) that counts the beat for dancers and the song.

• “Hey Mullito!* Just hit a stump in my project but I just gotta work around it. How’s yours going?” Lance said.

• Explanation: No this isn’t a real word. I think you all know what Lance is saying here lol. But for those who are a bit confused: in Spanish when something is small or cute you can put “ ito” or something similar at the end of the word. Think of it like when you see a cute dog and call it a doggy. So Mullito means little and/or cute mullet basically. I just made it up lol.

• “Oh sure, I found all the ingredients so I was able to make coconut rice and Fa’ alifu Fa’i*.” 
• Explanation: I legit just looked up Samoan dishes and was GIFTED with this plate! It’s bananas with coconut AND IT LOOKS SO GOOD! Here’s the recipe and more info for those interested https://blog.polynesia.com/faalifu-fai-green-banana-with-coconut-milk

• “ Yes, you did Carino*.” Lance reassured him with a peck on his cheek
• Explanation: Cariño (which I forgot to accent it so..mb) Spanish for “ dear”

• “ Silenzo Bruno!” She yelled back.
• Explanation: Luca movie reference!! BC I LOVE EVERY ASPECT OF THAT MOVIE WITH ALL MY HEART!! Plus I think some Italians who watched it said that it was an actual slang. Idk it sounds like something Pidge would definitely use/say.

• Voltrons' design was based on samurai armor?
• *takes deep breath* jk jk I’ll keep it simple as possible. So there’s a (really cool) series called “ Transformers “ (cars that turn into cool robots) that was highly based off of an old Japanese robot comic. Said comic was designed after the countries honorable warriors of old called “ Samurai”. So I’m ASSUMING IDK FOR SURE that Voltron, old and new, took the same inspiration. I mean just look at it. Especially that sick Altean powered mech at the end of season 7. OOF GOOD STUFF. So that’s what Shiro found out. That Voltron IS A LIE. Jk jk.

Extra: I made Keith multi cultural because it’s not exactly confirmed what his heritage is. Plus there’s so much debate on if he’s Korean, Japanese and I even saw a Vietnamese one once! So I just thought it’d be fun to make him multi-cultural! And it was!

Now don’t get me wrong I love Italy and could talk about it for ages. But not everyone knows a ton about where they (I’m not Italian btw…*sobs*) come from, like Pidge. And that’s nothing to worry about! I have a multi heritage myself and don’t know much about one of the places I come from. It’s a process. Especially if you grow up in England for example but find out years later you’re from the islands! If you don’t grow up with it it’s hard to understand. But keep trying and I promise it gets better and easier. And much more interesting too!!