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Keith had never been in a parade before, let alone attended Pride. The number of people in the crowd around him was overwhelming and the only thing keeping him from getting lost in the mass was the comforting feel of Lance's hand in his. Behind them, Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk followed, laughing amongst themselves and giggling at Keith and Lance. 

Adam surprised Shiro, tagging alongside him with a shy smile. Keith saw them link pinkies as they walked and he swooned internally. Adam was a good fit for Shiro, Keith though at least. He was a little bit on the quiet side, but that was okay because Shiro could talk for days as long as someone was listening, though he rarely did out of fear of being irritating. And Keith had to admit, the way Adam shot Shiro sidelong glances through his rectangular glasses, his cheeks rosy pink, one hand in the front pocket of his blue jeans... they looked like something out of a movie. 

Everything everywhere was full of color. Keith felt like he was floating as the parade progressed, weaving through the city to its heart, a massive green with vendors and food carts everywhere. Lance had been singing 'Same Love' with the crowd so loudly that his voice had given out and Keith smiled into his hand- even when he was yelling, Lance's voice was gorgeous. He absentmindedly wondered if he could get him to sing some harmonies for Voltron.

After the parade had finished, the participants met in the field in front of a large stage that had a podium in the center. Shiro shook out a giant flannel picnic blanket and the six of them sprawled out across it, people-watching as they waited for the presentation to began. Soon enough, the first speaker came up.

He gave a warming welcoming speak, recounting the history of the city's pride festivals in the past, before asking the speakers to come up to the stage. Lance made a move to get up but Keith tugged on his hand, staring up at the brunette forlornly. "I'm a speaker, honey," Lance explained. Keith blinked, letting go of Lance's hand reluctantly. A speaker?

The crowd sat through one moving story after another, listening to the inner lives of these people who'd been through too much, all for the people they chose to love. It hurt to listen to, but at the same time, it was really eye-opening. Keith felt no closer to understanding his own sexuality, but listening to these people telling the stories of how their found theirs, even if they didn't think it was possible. 

Finally, it was Lance's turn. The brunette walked up on stage and was immediately met by a chorus of "WE LOVE YOU, MR. MCCLAIN!" from a group of girls sitting a few picnic blankets away. Keith looked at Adam inquisitively and the man laughed.

"They're from one of the ballet classes Lance and I teach," Adam explained and Keith looked over at the girls again, who were staring up at Lance with intense admiration. Keith smiled softly before returning his attention to Lance, who was nervously standing in front of the podium, although he looked like he was trying to be confident. The crowd quieted and Lance began his speech. 

"Um, hey everyone. My name's Lance Mcclain, I'm a student and a coach at the dance center in the next town over. I'm mainly here to talk about how much the queer community has influenced me and my art as a dancer." He looked down at the ballet girls and smiled. 

"I know that we've made a lot of progress with the stigma of men in visual arts, but as someone who was the only boy in my first ballet class, I can tell you first-hand that we're not where we need to be. I don't know why, but a lot of people seem to have a bigger problem with boys in tights and ballet slippers than with boys getting bullied for doing what they love."

Keith heard the pain in Lance's voice and felt an instinct to comfort him kick in. Slowly, Keith got up from the blanket, then slipped through the crowd towards the stage. He looked up and saw Lance watching him curiously as he continued talking. Don't worry. I'm coming. 

"The F slur was being thrown at me by my classmates when I hit middle school and no one really seemed to care. I wasn't seeing a lot of male representation in dance in the media, I wasn't seeing any pushes for equality in the community, and my teachers just told me to ignore it, that it came with the gig.

"Even now, I get these wonderful, brilliant boys coming into the studio and their parents are urging them to do hip-hop or anythingbesides something so traditionally defined as "feminine" in the art community. And I have to tell the parents, 'No, let your child practice the art they want to. Ballet is for everyone', and then I have to tell these talented young boys that dance shouldn't be gendered and that they can do anything they want as they cry to me about how their friends think they're weird.

"I don't understand how people can say such ugly things about something so beautiful. Dancing is something that brings me happiness and passion. I never want to see another boy suffer because his parents or his friends or the parents of his friends think that something he's doing is wrong or bad just because it's been societally gendered. So, please, for the sake of the rising generation, raise your children right. And take negativity out of your own lives so that we can all be better at supporting our community. That's all I have, um, thank you!"

Lance smiled, waved, and then jogged down the steps of the stage and jumped into Keith's waiting arms. Keith kissed Lance's cheek and the dancer breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Was I ok?" he whispered into Keith's ear nervously, "Was it too short? Too long?" He was shaking a little and Keith hugged him tighter. 

"You were perfect."

...

By the time that the sun was beginning to dip down beneath the skyline, Keith was covered in glitter, face paint, and stickers. He and the rest of the group had wondered around the vendors and food carts for most of the afternoon, checking out the merch and other odds and ends that everyone was selling. Lance had ended up getting this adorable blue lion plushie and, with some convincing, Keith let Lance buy him a matching red one. 

Shiro and Adam left early to go on their dinner date and Hunk took Pidge home so he could get back to the cafe before it closed, so Keith and Lance were left alone on the green, curled up together on Shiro's blanket as they snacked on churros from the nearby food cart. Keith had his head on Lance's lap, tracing absentminded patterns on Lance's thigh with his fingers, staring up at the early evening sky. Lance sighed deeply and yawned, leaning down to place a light kiss on Keith's forehead. 

"Thank you for coming today," Keith said quietly, reaching up to hold Lance's face in his hands. He tried to convey how much he meant it in his eyes, searching the pools of blue in Lance's. 

Lance smiled, effectively melting Keith's heart. "I didn't have much of a choice," he laughed softly. "I was thinking about you all week." He brushed a few strands of hair off Keith's forehead before looking away, blushing. "You had me from the moment we met."

Keith's eyes widened. He hadn't expected Lance to be so upfront about it so he felt a little flustered. Right then, the group of girls came running up to the two boys, all smiles. 

"Mr. Mcclain!" one of the exclaimed happily, "we've been looking for you." They all had some sort of rainbow paraphernalia with them and a bunch had rainbows painted on their rosy cheeks. Keith guess they were all around middle school age. He sat up and stretched as Lance chatted with the girls, gathering his belongings and shoving them back into his bag- it was getting late. 

"And this," Lance said, turning to shoot a wink at Keith, "is my boyfriend, Keith." The girls squealed in delight, ogling at Keith with big eyes. Keith felt a blush spread across his face. Boy...friend? For a moment, all he could think about was what Lance had just called him and, judging from Lance's smirk, the brunette knew how much it had effected him. 

Keith cleared his throat and greeted the girls, laughing shyly at their compliments. The girl who seemed to be the ringleader paused for a second before squinting at Keith with what he assumed was an intimidating expression. "If you make Mr. Mcclain cry..." she warned, the rest of the girls nodding seriously behind her. 

Keith laughed and held up his hands in surrender. "I promise, making him cry is the last thing I want to do." The girls, satisfied, said their goodbyes before bounding off across the field, sommersaulting and giggling as they went. 

His face still hot, Keith fumbled to put his phone in his bag. Lance giggled and grabbed Keith's wrists, pinning him down to the blanket with a triumphant grin. "What, Mullet?" He eyed Keith's blazing cheeks as he hovered above him. 

Keith looked away, biting his lip. "I'm just... not used to it."

"Not used to what?" Lance's expression said that he knew exactly what, he just wanted to hear Keith say it. 

"The boyfriend thing," Keith whispered. 

Lance tilted his head to the side. "Well, it's true, right?" He let go of one of Keith's wrists and turned his chin so they could make eye contact. Lids lowered, a small smirk slid over Lance's lips. "Right?" he purred silkily, leaning down to bring their faces closer together.

Keith pressed his eyelids closed tightly. "Lance, we're in public," he said anxiously. 

"Say it," Lance hummed in Keith's ear. Keith felt Lance's hair brush his cheek. 

"Fine, yeah, it's true."

"What's true?"

"You're my... boyfriend," Keith whispered. 

Lance sat back, frowning. "Why do you sound so meh about it?" he pouted, puppy dog eyes boring into Keith's heart. 

Keith sighed, sat up, and wrapped his arms around Lance's neck, pulling him back down to the blanket. "Lance, you're my boyfriend," he said again, kissing Lance's cheek. "You're my boyfriend," kissing his neck, "you're my boyfriend," his nose, "you're my boyfriend and I'm very happy that," his chin, "you're my boyfriend," finally kissing his forehead. Lance, giggling, struggled to escape Keith's arms. 

"Okay, I get it," he laughed, smiling sunnily. "You wanna come over to my house tonight?"

...

ayyyyyyyy hello luvssss sorry if this one was shit 

i didn't do any work today lol YIKES

anyways howre yall?

qotd: what's ur fav type of weather?

mine's thunderstorms-- and one just started as im finishing this!!

I LUB UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU