VLD LANGST Oneshot -- Lance's Birthday 2023 -- Happy Birthday To Who We Want You To Be

ヽ（≧ω≦） ｛☆HAPPY★BIRTHDAY☆LANCE｝（≧ω≦）/

Its been such a busy July, and yet Celebrating Lance's birthday is still a priority. Not to be a classic 'AO3 A/N' but Gramps(my Grandfather)is literally in the hospital/rehab for re-occuring cancer issues right now and I prioritized THIS DAY over him...(-_-;)

Anyway, MAJOR THANK YOU to my Discord Friends @Idkjustaname & @applejuice463 for helping me come up with this idea, you two are the bestest!

WARNINGS//NOTES:
- Angst With a Happy/Hopeful Ending
- Langst (Light)
- Klance if you squint

Without further ado...HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANCE! 

LETS GOOOO!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance awoke naturally, with no emergency alarm or Shiro knocking on his door to wake him up for training. It felt nice to sleep in and not feel guilty about it for once! Lance stretched for a good few seconds, feeling well rested--Which was not often when your in the middle of an intergalactic war.

Lance took his time washing off his facemask and doing his morning skin care routine, before getting dressed and making his way through the Castle of Lions.

Lance was the one who had pushed for days off on Birthdays. It was quite the fight, as Alurra and Keith insisted there was no time for such celebrations when the Galra could attack any moment. But after being given their own Birthday Celebrations by Lance, they agreed to his request.

"I suppose having Birthdays reserved for celebrations couldn't hurt," Alurra had said. 

"I guess Birthdays are fine," Keith had rolled is eyes. "Besides, it counts as bonding and stuff."

And now, it was Lance's birthday. Lance was very excited! He couldn't wait to eat Hunks' delicious cake and open all the gifts the team will have gotten him! What can he say? Lance was a Material Gurl!

...

Lance entered the kitchen, to see the room decorated in...Red? Normally the team decorated the room in the Guest of Honor's favorite color. And that wasn't necessarily their Lion's color either. Shiro's favorite Color was purple, and they had all decorated accordingly. But Lance's favorite color was Blue, and he was sure they all knew this...

"Happy Birthday Lance!" everyone cheered.

Lance smiled. Who cared about the decorations, he was just happy to be celebrated today! He rushed over to the team and gave each of them an extra tight hug. They quickly sat him down at the head of the table, and presented him with his gifts. Lance was so excited! He couldn't wait to see what his Space-Family had got him; maybe some new skin-care or face masks? Or a new attachment for his Bayard's sniper-rifle? Whatever it was, he knew he would love it! 

First was Corran's gift: A Custom Blue key to the Custodial Closet.

"What do you think my boy?" Corran smiled. "Now you won't have to use my keys when cleaning the pods! You can get the supplies all by yourself!"

Lance wasn't sure what to think, to be honest. But Corran was giving him such a proud smile. He was Altean, and probably didn't know that on Earth practical gifts weren't really for Birthdays.

"Thanks Corran, this is reallt thoughtful of you!" Lance gave Corran a hug. 

It really was, it Corran's own way. Lance complained about never being able to find Corran, having to look all over the castle for him just ask for the keys so he could get a wash-rag.

Next was Pidge's gift: An alarm clock

"I made it myself!" Pidge grinned. "What do you think?"

The homemade alarm clock was shaped like a planet with rings surrounding it, resembling saturn. However it wasn't painted or anything, and was clearly made from different scrap parts. But it still managed to look like something and stand upright. 

"An Alarm Clock?" Lance asked, not really sure what to say yet.

"Yeah! This way we don't have to wake you up every morning when you sleep in!" Pidge laughed.

The rest of the team let out a laugh too, and Lance faked a chuckle. 

Was this a gift for Lance, or a gift for the rest of the team? Was he that much of an inconvenience? If he had known he would have worked harder to get up on time himself. Pidge said that it could record a custom alarm, so it didn't have to be a loud scary ring, which was nice. But Lance still didn't feel too happy about this present. However he didn't want to appear ungrateful, so he faked another laugh and thanked Pidge.

"Oh! Oh! My turn!" Princess Alurra clapped her hands and gave a little hop or two. 

Alurra's gift was a sword.

It was very beautiful, colored with the traditional altean blue and a bright red--seriously, what was with all the red? It wasn't a bayard of any kind, so this was its own weapon.

"Isn't it lovely?" Alurra said with glee. "You can train to master the blade, how exciting!"

What the hell was this?! Lance was the Sharpshooter of the team! It didn't matter if he gave himself that nickname, it was clear to everyone that he used a gun, not a sword. The only one who used a sword was...

Shiro's gift was last, the most insulting of all: Fingerless Gloves. 

"To go with the sword," he put a hand on Lance's shoulder. "They improve grip and keep your hands from getting cold."

Keith wielded a sword. Keith wore fingerless gloves and ran cold. Keith's favorite color was red. It was all so clear now: These gifts weren't for Lance, they were for who the the team wanted Lance to be. The team wanted Lance to be more like Keith. Of course they did, why would they want a flirty goofball from Cuba when they could have Keith, a focused prodigy practically made for Voltron! 

This was supposed to be Lance's day, where he was celebrated for who he is. But instead, it became Keith's day, reminding Lance of everything he wasn't.

Hunk walked into the room, carrying a delicious birthday cake covered in red icing. Lance's eyes blurred at the sight of the powerful flames upon the candles, and whatever Birthday song the others sang him was muffled by Lance's own dread. He didn't even register blowing out his own birthday candles, and only snapped out of his own head when the others cheered and clapped.

Lance stood up from the table just as Hunk was cutting him a slice.

"Lance, where are you going?" Hunk asked.

"I was just going to go put these amazing gifts in my room!" Lance lied with his fakest smile yet. "I'll be right back for a slice of that delicious cake!"

The others nodded and all began digging into their own slices. 

...

Lance entered his room, and set his gifts on the floor. He numbly sat on his own bed, tears falling down his cheeks. He let out quiet hiccups as he hugged himself tightly.

He remembered all the gifts he gave the others for their birthdays: He gave Pidge a special neck pillow. So that she could code late into the night in comfort. As he hated her staying up late at night coding, he accepted that it wasn't something he was going to stop her from doing. Pidge had gave him a look that said, 'I appreciate your understanding even for something you hate'. He had surprised Hunk with a garden in Kaltnecker's room, growing all sorts of Alien vegetables and fruits he had never worked with before. Lance had spent a month growing it, and gifted Hunk with the special alien gardening guidebook he used so Hunk would be able to take care of them too. Cooking Tools were all fun and good, but being able to have ingredients at his disposal made Hunk cry from joy. He had given Shiro his headphones, because he knew Shiro was suffering from PTSD night terrors and hoped they would help him, calm him with music and meditation tapes. For Alurra and Corran--Alteans have a single holiday in which the royal family celebrates all their birthdays together, and Corran practically became a member due to how close he was with the royal family and Alurra--he gave them both an expensive space-internet subscription to a space-internet encyclopedia service. They were overjoyed to have the resources to catch themselves up on 10,000 years of history they missed while in the Pods. And Keith, Lance had worked tirelessly to find something the grumpy emo would genuinely appreciate. He ended up getting Keith a set of elbow/kneepads, so that he wouldn't have to wear his entire paladins armor while training. He used to not wear it, but after getting hurt one too many times Shiro instead on full armor or no training. It pissed Keith off to no end, having to get his heavy armor on just to exercise. So Lance spoke with Shiro before hand and got approval that Keith could train without his armor if he wore the Elbow/Kneepads Lance gifted him. Keith had looked up at Lance, whom always teased Keith about his endless training, and actually smiled.

It was while he thought of Keith that Lance noticed the crate on his bed next to him. That wasn't there this morning? It was black and made of metal, the BOM logo on top of it.

Lance opened the lid with a squeak, and found an assortment of 3 or 4 bottles/jars, and a peice of paper. Lance raised an eyebrow and read the note:

I know its not much, but some alien was selling a bunch of this stuff at a market while I was on a mission. I don't know exactly what it is, but the lady said it was the skin-care basics and I know you like that kinda stuff. You probably already got some of this or better stuff from everyone else, sorry. Happy Birthday, and I'll try to visit soon

-- Keith

Lance didn't think such a basic note could make him tear up. Keith had taken the effort to get him a birthday gift while on a mission and write him a note! And it was an actual good gift! It wasn't some sort of gift for his benefit, or something he wanted Lance to want. No, it was the perfect gift for Lance. 

And if Keith could appreciate Lance for who he is, Lance knows that he's enough.

Lance wiped his tears and left his bedroom to go back to the kitchen. Red icing or not, Hunk's cakes were always amazing and not even Zarkon could stop him from eating his Birthday Cake!

THE END

(Happy Birthday Lance! Thanks again to @Idkjustaname & @applejuice463 for the help!)