WHO Lance, Hunk & Keith WHAT Having a breakthrough WHEN Saturday night, Oct 5 WHERE Los Cabos, Mexico WARNINGS Nah they're bros STATUS Closed | Complete
Lance was super into their vacation trip, in part because it was totally less stress knowing her parents weren't anywhere near them. The other part was the six of them were together, so it really felt like a proper family vacation. Sort of. This was their crew now and he was definitely happy to have those connections here. As much as he was never going to admit to Keith ever that he was glad for him, he was. It really made things feel less insane.
The girls were off doing something on their own, so Lance had grabbed a couple of beers and headed out to where Hunk and Keith were chilling. "Guys," he said, "can you believe this is our life right now?" He definitely couldn't, even as he handed out the beers to his friends. "This is literally the best idea I've had ever. In the whole world."
Hunk hadn't been so sure this whole thing was going to be a good idea in the first place, but it had turned out to be pretty great. He was having a good time, and he was really glad that Lance and Molly had decided they should all go. It was pretty obvious the whole getting away thing was supposed to be some romantic weekend thing for them but it didn't feel like they were getting in the way at all. They were all just having fun together and at the end of the day those two went off on their own and that was cool. The rest of them played board games and stuff.
He was stretched out in a lounge chair, just enjoying the warmth and the sun that reminded him a little of his home. It wasn't quite so humid here, so it was actually nicer in that way, made it so Hunk could just have fun and not miss his family more than he usually did.
"It might be the best idea you've had," he agreed, cracking one eye open to take the beer that was handed to him. "I don't know if that's the measurement standard you want to go with, though." Lance had had some bad ideas.
Keith was here mainly because all of them were here. He wasn't sure where along the line after they left Earth that he stopped being alone as much and started being part of a team but even if it was only the three of them here that was still his team. Sadly that was also how he got talked into doing a lot of really stupid things like speed dating. But here there were things like hiking and rock climbing and he wanted to try some of the other more challenging things they could try instead of lounging all day by the pool.
He took the beer that was handed to him and hoped there wouldn't be any repeats of the spin the bottle idea Lance had on the boat. Keith didn't think they would but like Hunk was thinking, Lance had bad ideas.
"Go ahead and let him go with that standard. It's better to keep his expectations low." Keith masked a grin by taking a drink of the beer.
"It's definitely the best idea I've ever had, and I don't know what you're talking about, because I always have great ideas," Lance replied, well used to his friends' ribbing by now. He knew it was definitely super fancy, but that was the fun of it all! They got to live it up in the lap of luxury - no less than what they all deserved - and have a good time doing it, all to celebrate Molly's birthday. She definitely deserved the fanciest place under the sun. And they would definitely not be doing spin the bottle ever again because no one else got to kiss Molly but him.
"You, Mr let's go be super active, should take Kim and go do all that busy exploring stuff you want to do. Molly and I are definitely into lounging around and enjoying this seriously amazing villa. I mean. It's huge." He glanced at Hunk. "And you definitely can't complain about the kitchen, man. It's epic! Not to mention all that fresh produce and stuff they delivered for us. I am totally going to make a cake for Molly from scratch for our last night. Just to keep the party going, you know?" Lance wanted to prove he wasn't totally useless in the kitchen, too. Even though he mostly was useless in the kitchen.
"Hey, man, I have no complaints here," Hunk noted with a laugh. The kitchen really was great, and it was well stocked, and he was making the best use of it. Hunk was spending a lot of his time there; better there than trying to deal with the fact that he definitely had feelings right now and definitely didn't have the guts to say anything about it. That was not something he was saying to his dumb friends, though.
He glanced over to Keith at Lance's cooking announcement, eyebrows lifting in disbelief. "So I should prep something we can cook out here after he blows something up, right?" Lance cooking sounded like a really bad idea. They were definitely going to wind up losing the house or something. "I'm thinking clam bake meets umu meets good old fashioned barbecue."
Now that he'd said it, it actually sounded like a good idea with or without kitchen explosions. He was going to figure it out.
"We already planned on leaving you behind and doing the active stuff without you." Keith wasn't insulted at all he was basically being told to take Kim and get out because they'd already made plans and along with those plans they'd wanted to two couples to have time to themselves so it was a win-win situation.
"I'll make sure we have the fire extinguishers in the kitchen while he tries to bake if you cook out here." It was partly joking but mostly serious. Keith would stay in the kitchen while Lance made a cake just in case. It wasn't like they had Pidge here to fix something on the fly but if it got too bad Shuri could probably fix just about anything so maybe she would be able to reverse any damage Lance caused.
"You guys are soooooo funny," Lance replied with a roll of his eyes. Honestly, they weren't that far off, but he was going to do his best. "You know, if Shiro were here, he'd offer to help and be supportive instead of running for the hills." The words were out before he really realized what he'd said and the weight of their friend's loss hit him right in the chest.
"Damn," he muttered before he took a swig of his beer. "I wish he was here. I wish they were all here." He hadn't meant to get so serious and melancholy about it. He'd just wanted to point out that they did have one teammate who'd have his back if he wanted to try something so far out of his comfort zone. Molly made it worth the risk, though. Lance would always believe that.
Trust Lance to screw it up. Hunk really wanted to be kind about it, he was going to try even if it was hard because these were his friends, his team, pretty much family now and he knew that even when it hurt him, it hurt them too. And they'd have to be able to talk about it one day, would have to actually heal instead of just not dealing or whatever they'd been doing.
"We all do," he assured, shifted so he could reach to put his hand on Lance's shoulder. "But they'd want us to be having a good time, not moping over them. And I mean all of us.Keith.." Someone was pretty well known for not having a good time. Not relaxing at all. It was a constant battle and for some reason Hunk was always middle ground.
After all the wishing Keith had been doing to have Shiro there Lance saying it had hit him like a punch and he'd crossed his arms and scowled because at least last time they were here Shiro was still where they left him and they knew he'd be there when they got back. That wasn't the case anymore.
"Yes, we all miss Shiro." Fine he'd admit it but he wasn't looking at either of them. "And the others." It wasn't like Keith had relaxed or had a lot of fun for a long time even before he'd known them so he wasn't sure why they thought he'd change that much now. He wasn't having a bad time he just didn't have fun the same way they did most of the time.
"And just because I don't want to be signed up for things like speed dating doesn't mean I'm having a bad time."
"Yea, yea. I know. Party foul, okay. Got it." He definitely wasn't happy about his misstep either, but then again, he was also feeling more than a little bit like they should be talking about it. It sucked that they couldn't do anything about it and most of the time he could get along fine with all the distractions of Madison Valley. Sometimes though, in the quiet hangout moments like this, he really missed their leader.
It helped though, that Keith admitted he was actually missing Shiro and the others. "Well it wouldn't kill you to show that you're having fun," Lance pointed out mildly. He wasn't looking for an argument and hoped it wouldn't spark one, but that didn't make what he said any less true. "Cause we care about you, ya knucklehead." He was definitely a far cry away from the joker he usually was, but that was partly because this was his family right here and he cared enough to be able to mostly say it out loud.
"I hate to admit it but he kind of makes a good point." Hunk really only went along with Lance's dumb ideas because he wanted his friends to be happy. Ever since they'd left Earth things had just kind of mostly sucked for everyone and things had definitely gone downhill pretty far at the end of what they'd lived through. He and Lance at least were obviously making the best of their new situation, liking girls and making friends and doing some things but Keith really always seemed to need to be dragged into it. Hunk knew how hard losing Shiro was for him but he wasn't sure if Keith was healing at all.
"Though you know, now that I'm thinking about it, he fights us but not really that hard." Keith could always just...not. They signed him up for stuff and dragged him on vacation but he always wound up grudgingly participating.
"Just because I don't react the way you two do doesn't mean I don't have fun." Keith pointed out. He wasn't ever going to be as over the top or enthusiastic as they were. "And there is no way either of you could drag me to anything if I really didn't want to go. So maybe I'm cooperating better than you think I am."
He wasn't getting over Shiro, that much was true, but then he hadn't ever really gotten over his dad either. There was a reason everyone called him the emo kid back when he was in school.
"You're my family. I'm not going anywhere."
Hunk made a good point, but it didn't really sink in until Keith admitted to it himself. Lance couldn't admit that he wasn't always good with subtlety, which meant if someone wasn't obvious about how they were feeling - like Keith - then he didn't always pick up on it. Or even immediately believe it to be true. Keith wouldn't like to him though and definitely not to make him feel better. So it meant a lot more that he was the one to admit that they were family.
"Well. At least we're all on the same page on that one." He held out his beer for them to lift their glasses to. "Brothers? Cause I sure as hell am not calling you Dad, guardian or not." Lance grinned, and that was definitely more him than he'd been for most of this particular conversation. He knew he shouldn't have brought Shiro up, but now that it had happened, he didn't necessarily regret it. At least they got some things out in the open and maybe it would bring them closer together.
"I'll drink to that," Hunk agreed with a nod, no hesitation in lifting his drink as well. They may not technically need a guardian anymore, but Keith was totally their adult supervision here. Which was the most dangerous thing and they really should have someone like Shiro around to keep them all in line. They were so not ready to be adults, any of them.
But they were a family and Hunk did want for them to stay that way so he was willing to play the middle between Lance and Keith and alternate between voice of reason for one and a little more encouragement to loosen up for the other. That was what family was for, after all.
"And then can we stop with all this seriousness and gloom? We're supposed to be on vacation here and if anything we should be asking why Lance is out here drinking with us instead of off trying to get into his girlfriend's shorts." He wasn't dumb enough to think there was any other purpose for the vacation, it was just nice the rest of them got to participate in all the rest of it.
"Brothers." Keith lifted his glass to touch it to the other two without even thinking about it. He might be the 'adult' supervision but he definitely didn't want to be the dad. And considering how often back home he ignored good sense and did what he thought was right and damn the consequences he might not actually be the best adult supervision to have around. But they had to work with what they had.
"And he's out here with us so we can plan this totally going to light something in the kitchen on fire cake baking thing he wants to try to surprise his girlfriend with. So I'll bring the fire extinguisher and you make the food and we'll get Lance a how to bake a cake video and we're all set."
For once, Lance didn't actually take offense to what Keith was saying. Sure, it wasn't nice, but it was true and it was Keith's way of being supportive. Which was really all he wanted in the first place. "Ugh wait, I take it back. I want new brothers," he said, but his grin told a completely different story. Even though he butted heads sometimes with the both of them, they always had his back no matter what. He really could not have been luckier in the people he'd ended up tied to Voltron with.
"Now drink your beers and enjoy the damn sunset." He winked as he settled back into his seat. This was definitely a great vacation.
Just a little not nice to each other was pretty much how family was, in Hunk's experience. But it was just as much about having each others' backs and that they definitely had. Which was why, even as Hunk just laughed and turned his attention back toward enjoying the quiet evening, he was already coming up with some plan to save the night after Lance's sure to be disastrous attempt at baking anything. An edible cake was definitely not going to be on the table.
But because they were family, Hunk was going to make sure it went well regardless.
And maybe he'd manage to convince Keith that doing something nice for Lance was a good idea despite the constant shenanigans they pulled on him.