Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/11089824.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Rape/Non-Con, Underage
  Category:
      Multi
  Fandom:
      Voltron:_Legendary_Defender
  Relationship:
      Allura/Shiro_(Voltron), Keith/Lance_(Voltron), Lance/Original_Female
      Character_(Past)
  Character:
      Keith_(Voltron), Lance_(Voltron), Shiro_(Voltron), Allura_(Voltron),
      Pidge_|_Katie_Holt, Hunk_(Voltron), Coran_(Voltron), Lotor_(Voltron),
      Original_Characters
  Additional Tags:
      Female_Pronouns_for_Pidge_|_Katie_Holt, Post-War, Lance_has_a_daughter,
      Single_Dad!_Lance, Lance's_ex-wife_is_a_bitch, Shiro_and_Allura_have
      three_kids, Next_Generation_of_Paladins, It_Makes_Sense_In_Context,
      Gender-Neutral_Characters, canon-typical_slavery_junk, not_canon-typical
      sexual_slavery_junk, Anal_Fingering, Anal_Sex, Oral_Sex, Mutilation_
      (briefly_mentioned), I_swear_this_is_fluffier_than_it_sounds, Shiro_and
      Allura_own_a_school, Professor!_Pidge, Professor!_Hunk, Professor!_Coran,
      Flight_Instructor!_Lance, Some_angst, referenced_drug_abuse_(not_any_of
      the_main_characters)
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-06-04 Updated: 2017-08-01 Chapters: 3/? Words: 6751
****** The Heirs ******
by Maisie_Ackerman
Summary
     It's been twenty-four years since the war has ended with the Galra
     Empire and the Paladins of Voltron, as well as their Altean
     companions, have been allowed to returned to earth. Now the team can
     finally relax a little and live out the rest of their lives in peace.
     Lol, syke
***** Prologue *****
There was a smirk in his voice as entered the room.
“Princess Allura, welcome to Laypos,” The figure announced, stepping forward.
the door closed behind him and Allura got her first look at the man who'd kept
her locked up, waiting in the dark for nearly an hour now. “Wonderful planet
really, great people, but I must apologize for their sloppy extraction job,
it’s not in their nature to be so… demanding with a woman. That being said, I
must say, you, my dear Allura, are an awfully hard princess to get ahold of.”
“Lotor.” The Altean princess growled, “I get it now... I know what you want,
and I’m sorry to inform you the paladins of Voltron are far too smart to fall
for your tricks. We’ve defeated your father and it’s merely a matter of time
before the rest of your empire follows.”
“I’d hardly call your team the paladins of Voltron with no one piloting the
Black Lion, would you, princess?” Lotor hummed, his lips curling into a smile,
“It’s a shame your dear Shiro disappeared, isn’t it? I wonder what you and your
team would be willing to do to get him back...”
Allura was stunned, her eyes widening as she looked up at the Galra prince,
“You-... You’re the one who took Shiro! Where is he!? I promise you, Lotor,
whatever you've done to him, I will pay back to you tenfold.” It was all Allura
could do from lunging forward to attack him, but with her hands chained and
with several guards surrounding the prince, it was a fight she knew she’d lose.
“Please, Princess,” Lotor waved a hand at her dismissively, “There’s no need
for such dramatics. I can promise you that no harm has come to your beloved
Shiro. In fact, I’m here to graciously escort you to him. You’re welcome.”
Allura grit her teeth in frustration at the prince’s sense of superiority but
kept quiet, waiting for the catch. But the prince simply waved for her to
follow and turned to walk back out of the room with his guards, leaving the
door wide open for Allura to follow.
The princess hesitated for a moment. This could easily be a trap. There was no
way Lotor, the Galran prince, was just taking her to Shiro, with no particular
plan in mind. There was something going on here, there just had to be… But yet
again, what choice did she have? Stay in this dark, empty room forever? No,
nothing good would come of that, and besides, if there was even a chance that
she could see Shiro again, she had to take it. She had to know he was okay,
like Lotor had promised. It had been months since his disappearance and for all
Allura had known he could have been dead. So if there was even a glimmer of
hope that he was alive, Allura was willing to do anything to confirm it.
After a moment, Allura stepped forward and followed Lotor out of the room and
down the grand, extravagant-looking corridors of what must be his palace. Out
the windows she could see a large garden full of lush foliage and exotic
flowers of every kind. Beyond that she could make out a thin stretch of beach
leading out into a wide, vast ocean that stretched out to the horizon.
Lotor came to a stop as they approached a set of large, heavy-looking ornate
doors. Without a moment's hesitation, the Galra prince push them open to reveal
what looked like a conference room with several large portraits hung on the
walls and an abundance of plush armchairs scattered about the room. A long
table lay in the center of the room with delicate carvings etched into it’s
wood. A vase of multicolored flowers sat atop the table, making the whole room
smell sweet and fresh.
However Allure’s gaze found none of this, as the only thing she was focused on
was the figure standing on the other side of the room, with a tall, muscular
figure and white bangs hanging in his face.
Shiro's eyes widened as soon as he saw the princess, taking a step closer,
“Allura..!”
“Shiro!” Allura felt her eyes twinge with tears at the sight of him. Not only
was he alive but he looked well. Unharmed, just as Lotor had said.
Lotor gave a slight wave of his hand, and Allura felt the tight cuffs around
her wrists release their hold on her arms. No sooner had they fallen to the
floor that Allura bolted across the room, throwing herself into Shiro’s arms,
who wrapped her up in a protective hug, squeezing her gently. Allura ran her
fingers through the short black hairs at the nape of his neck and buried her
face in his chest, breathing in his scent.
He smelled like wet soil and juniberries...
“I’m so glad to see you,” Shiro’s deep voice resonated in Allura’s ears, making
her relax further into his arms, despite their current situation. Even in the
middle of Lotor’s palace and surrounded by guards, having Shiro’s arms wrapped
around her like that made her feel safe.
When they separated it was far too soon.
Shiro quickly pulled away and searched the Altean princess over for any signs
of injury. He seemed to let out a sigh of relief when he concluded that she was
okay, like a large weight had just been lifted of his shoulders. Then, just as
quickly, his face turned serious again and he spoke with a hit of concern in
his voice, “Where are the others right now? Are they alright? Keith? Pidge?-”
“They're fine, they’re all fine,” Allura quickly assured him as best she could,
“At least, to the best of my knowledge they are… we were visiting with the
Olkari, trying to figure out another way to track down your location when I was
ambushed. I didn’t think anyone would be bold enough to attack within the city,
so I’d wandered off to view the city on my own...” Allura trailed off suddenly
angry with herself. How had she been so careless? She should have known, the
Galra had taken over the Olkari for some time, there was no doubt that they had
figured out how to navigate the city undetected, at least to some extent.
Allura quickly turned her glare on Lotor, suddenly reminded of the enemy among
them.
“Yes, Yes,” Lotor grinned, “It’s not the first time I’ve been described as
bold, trust me. Now, since you have your precious princess with you and you
know she’s unharmed, just as I promised, perhaps now we can begin to negotiate,
hmm?”
“Negotiate?” Allura scoffed, glaring at him, “You think we’d negotiate anything
with the likes you?”
“Shiro, when you suggested that the Altean Princess be present for this
discussion, you made it seem as though she’d be much more helpful and
cooperative,” Lotor stared at the two, unimpressed, “But so far all she’s done
is screech and complain. Are you certain it wouldn’t be better to handle this
on our own?”
“No, Allura knows about these types of dealings better than I do, and I trust
her judgement,” Shiro said, his voice firm, “I won’t make any type of deal with
you without her approval. Allura is every bit a leader of Voltron as I am. I’d
prefer to have my whole team with me, if you’d let me contact them...”
“I already told you,” Lotor narrowed his eyes, “You can have your little
princess with you as a consultant, but until we agree on some certain terms, I
don’t want your young, inexperienced team anywhere near Laypos. We can go into
detail with the rest of your team later, but for right now, I’m not about to
let this planet be ripped to pieces by a bunch of hooligans flying around in
the greatest weapon in the known universe.”
Allura’s gaze traveled from Lotor to Shiro, her brow creasing in confusion. Was
it simply her imagination, or did Lotor seem… protective of this planet?
“Shiro, what’s going on here?” She demanded, her lips drawn in a thin line. She
hated the feeling of being left out of the loop, especially when it came to
something that sounded as important as this. “What is this? What negotiation is
he talking about?”
Lotor clicked his tongue at the princess, stepping further into the room, the
door shutting behind him. He walked over to one of the large, purple-colored
armchairs scattered about the room and leaned against the back of it, a smile
gracing his lips as he stared intensely at Allura.
“Why, didn’t you know, Princess? I’m talking about the negotiations of my
surrender.”
***** Chapter 2 *****
Chapter Summary
     Lance is a proud dad.
To say Lance was a proud dad was the understatement of the century.
Lance has absolutely adored his young, beautiful daughter from the moment he
first laid eyes on her in the hospital. She had his curly brown hair, tanned
skin and blue eyes and her mother’s rounded nose, freckles and long eyelashes.
She screamed for at least an hour after she was wrapped up in a blanket and
handed over to her mother and it was from then on that Isadora Sofía Valentina
McClain became the center of Lance McClain’s universe.
When Isadora was ten months old and took her first steps, it was all Lance
would talk about for two weeks straight and when she said her first words less
than a month later he’d called Hunk in tears, sobbing “She said ‘papa,’ Hunk!
Papa!”
Some of Lance’s other proud moments included Isadora's first day of
kindergarten when she was five years old, the time she won her fifth grade
spelling bee and the day she received her acceptance letter to the Academy for
Humanitarian Intergalactic Studies (or AHIS for short) at fifteen years old,
which was the school Lance worked at. And those were just a few of his
favorites. There were hundreds more.
Yep, Lance had no shortage of moments in which he’d felt his heart swell with
pride for his beautiful, amazing, talented daughter. But the moment he had to
pull his sixteen year old daughter off another student in the middle of the
main courtyard of the school as she cursed at the other girl in rapid-fire
spanish, was not one of these moments.
It was Lance’s last class of the day and one of his favorites; beginner lessons
with the first years. They were busy studying for a test on the first few
chapters of their flight manuals outside on the grass, since the weather was
pretty nice out for early spring.
And that’s when he heard rushed footsteps.
No sooner had Lance turned around to see what was going on did he see Bo
Crawford rushing over, looking nervous as he stuttered out his words between
heavy gulps of air, “M-Mister McClain..! Isadora..! H-Hailey- fighting..!
Courtyard. Help!” the young boy looked flustered as he wildly pointed in the
direction of the school fountain, hoping Lance got what he was trying to say.
It was all Lance could do to keep facepalming as he muttered, “Ah quiznak, not
again…” Lance quickly turned back to Bo and put a hand on his shoulder briefly,
“Stay here, make sure these guys don’t burn anything to the ground, I’ll be
right back.-” He gave his class the universal ‘I’m-Watching-You’ sigh with his
pinky and pointer finger before running off in the direction Bo had pointed him
in.
It didn’t take Lance long to find his daughter. He only need follow the sound
of high-pitched screeching to where he was lucky enough to find the two girls,
at least, hadn’t gotten very far in their fight and were simply locked in an
intense yelling match as they held each other by the front of their shirts in
tight grips.
When Isadora’s yelling turned into spanish cursing and went to grab the other
girl’s hair, Lance rushed over to pulled his daughter off the other girl, which
was easy enough since Isadora was, like, 5’4” and only weighed about a 120
pounds.
“Okay, okay, okay, that's enough, Is, cool your jets, would you,” Lance said,
putting his daughter down and slotting himself in between the two girls, “Now,
what is going on here?”
“Your daughter is crazy, Mister McClain!” Hailey Spencer yelled, her perfectly
curled red hair messed up and falling in her face, “I didn’t do anything, she
just attacked me out of nowhere!”
“Didn’t do anything!?” Isadora snapped, “Oh, you know exactly what you did,
Carajo puta!”
Lance rubbed his temples. He really had to talk to Isadora about her language,
even if Hailey Spencer was a bit of a carajo puta. Not that he'd ever say that
outloud. Shiro and Allura would be on his ass faster than he could say quiznak.
“Listen you two,” Lance said, finally, “here’s how this is going down. You two
are going to shake hands, apologize and go your separate ways, or you’re both
going to the main office. any questions?”
Both girls grumbled under their breaths for a moment before Isadora finally
thrust her hand towards the other girl muttering, “Sorry...” angrily as she
refused to look her in the eyes. Hailey sighed and took Isadora’s hand and
shook is briefly, muttering her own apology, before pulling away.
“Sweet,” Lance said, grinning at his own ace mediating skills, “Now I assume
you two both have class, so scoot. I gotta go check on my freshmen.”
Both girls turned to walk in opposite directions, and Lance prepared to go back
to his first year class just as he saw Hailey shoot Isadora a glare over her
shoulder and mutter, “Yeah, Isadora, go run along to your freak of a
boyfriend…”
“Oh, that is IT!!”
And just like that Isadora tackled the other girl to ground.
Lance sighed.
***
In Isadora’s defense, she did not start the fight. She was simply too mature
for that kind of thing. No, Isadora had simply been minding her own business,
walking to class with her best friend, Bo Crawford, when they passed Hailey
Spencer and her group of underfed harpies, with their perfect hair and colorful
fake nails long enough to be considered talons.
“And then he asked me if it was noticeable,” Hailey scoffed, “and I was like
‘yeah, no shit it’s noticeable, it’s a giant fucking bruise right on your
fucking jaw.’ Like, I knew he was a total freak, but now he’s getting into
fights too? I mean, what if he’s dangerous? I don’t wanna go to the same school
with some violent maniac! He could attack me!”
“You can always tell which kids are going to be the total weirdos, ya know,”
one of Hailey’s friends piped up, “It’s, like, a look. Like, that hair? And I’m
honestly starting to think he only has one facial expression. I don’t even know
if he blinks, it’s creepy!”
“And he’s in the Tech and Engineering Program, so, of course he’s this freaky
math genius, but I swear he doesn't even know how to spell his own name!”
Hailey exclaimed, “Honestly, it’s not that complicated, it’s literally Ryan
Williams. It’s not rocket science.”
As soon as Isadora heard the name Ryan Williams, she slowed to a halt by the
fountain, her cheeks turning red. She knew exactly who Ryan Williams was and if
anyone on campus thought that they could get away with making fun of him in
Isadora’s presence, they were sorely mistaken.
Bo slowly stopped when he realized his friend was no longer following him. He
paused and backed up, noticing the way Isadora was glaring daggers at the back
of Hailey’s skull, and frowned.
“Isadora, it’s not worth it...” He warned, putting a hand on Isadora’s arm to
hold her back.
Hailey was still talking.
“And we’re doing essays in Professor Kelley’s class, right?” Hailey continued,
“and the professor has to help him through the simplest of sentences! It’s like
he’s never seen english before in his life! Like, how much of a retard can you
be?”
Isadora bristled at the insult and turned an even deeper shade of red as she
turned to give her best friend a look. Bo sighed and released Isadora’s arm,
muttering, “I’ll go grab a teacher...”
And with my that, Isadora marched over and slammed her books down on the
fountain ledge. Before anyone could even acknowledge her presence, Isadora
pushed Hailey in the back, as hard as she could, watching as she stumbled
forward a few steps before whirling around to face the angry, cuban girl behind
her.
“What the hell!?” she sputtered, angrily..
“Ryan is not a retard! Don't call people that!” she hissed, “Besides, he has
more brains in one brain cells then you do in your entire fucking body. And
he’s not a freak either, so why don’t you shut your stupid, whore mouth before
I shut it for you!”
Hailey narrowed her eyes at Isadora, “Ugh, I should have known it was you! Why
so mad, Isadora? Don’t like being reminded of what a loser your stupid
boyfriend is? Oh, wait, that’s right. He’s not your boyfriend, because not even
a creep like Ryan would want to date a cheap whore like you.”
Isadora growled, grabbing Hailey by the collar and yanking her forward.
Hailey’s friends all made high-pitched noises and ran off leaving Isadora and
Hailey standing there, holding onto one another’s collars so they screamed at
one another.
And you pretty much know how things went from there…
So by the end of it all, it was no wonder Isadora ended up waiting outside
Professor Shirogane’s office, arms folded tightly across her chest as Shiro
spoke with her father inside. Hailey was being spoken to by Princess Allura in
her office, but was spared the displeasure of having her parents called in to
talk since she was a boarding student from New York.
However, she apparently wasn’t spared punishment because when she was released
from Allura’s office twenty minutes later with an indignant look on her face,
her cheeks were almost as red as her hair. She passed Isadora and gave her a
pointed glare as she left, muttering something about detention.
Good Isadora thought.
It was a good thirty minutes before Isadora heard Shiro’s door open. Her father
exited the office looking exhausted as Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder and
said something Isadora couldn’t hear. Lance gave the older man a tired smile
before thanking him and walking out of the office. Isadora felt her heart sink.
She hated it when her dad looked all exhausted like that, especially when it
was her fault...
Isadora had pretty much the coolest dad ever. He was laid-back and chill and
fun to be around and all her friends liked him. He practically everyone in the
school’s favorite teacher, whether or not they took his class and he was a good
dad although he wasn't overbearing either.
Not to mention he helped saved the fucking universe. Did she mention that? Oh
yeah, Isadora’s dad, Lance McClain, helped save the fucking universe. He was,
after all, one of the paladins of Voltron. Back in the day he piloted the Blue
Lion and helped defeat the Galra Emperor Zarkon.
And now he worked full-time training the next generation of intergalactic
pilots at the Academy of Humanitarian Intergalactic Studies and on top of all
that, still managed to raise Isadora, all on his own, after… well, what
happened with her mom and all.
So, yeah, Isadora couldn’t help but feel more than a little guilty when she was
the reason her father looked like he was fighting back a headache. She frowned,
staring at her feet, trying to look smaller in her chair as her father
approached.
However after a moment, she felt a hand ruffle her long, brown curls and she
looked up to meet her father's gaze, “Come on Is, you got away with only, like,
a week’s detention this time. Let's bounce.”
Isadora looked up at her dad, searching his face, sure he’d be give her some
kind of disappointed look but he only gave her a half-smile and nodded for her
to follow as he left Shiro and Allura’s joint waiting room. Isadora paused for
a moment before grabbing her bag and following.
They exited the main office and started walking home, which was a just a short
ten minute walk over to the Castle of The Lions, which was located at the
center of campus.
Well, the castle was kinda the McClain’s home anyway... Like, Isadora and her
dad had another, smaller, and way homier house back on Veradero beach in Cuba,
right next door to her abuela’s place, but most of the year, when Lance was
teaching and when Isadora was at school, they lived here, in the castle with
Princess Allura and Shiro and Professor Coran, and a few of her other
professors and their families. It beat living in a dormitories anyhow since
there was no way in hell Isadora was sharing a room with anyone.
Isadora’s dad was silent for most of the walk and Isadora began to chew the
inside of her cheek thoughtfully as she waited for him to lecture her or
something. However, her dad was silent for the most part and now that she
thought about it he didn’t even seem to be upset with her. Eventually Isadora
spoke up instead.
“You’re not mad?” Isadora asked slowly looking up at her dad, curiously.
Lance looked down at his daughter, before smiling a little, “Nah, Bo told Shiro
and Allura what Hailey said about your friend and honestly, she kinda deserved
it. I probably would have tackled her too if I were in that situation.”
Lance gave a small chuckle and Isadora took a moment to every god in the
heavens for the gift that was her a best friend as good as Bo Crawford. God
bless that child. She smiled and turned her gaze back to her shoes so that her
father couldn’t see.
“But seriously Isadora,” Lance fixed her with a serious look, “as much as I
believe that sticking up for your teammates is important, your kinda developing
a record here. If this keeps up, Shiro’s going to kick you out of the Flight
Program, kiddo.”
Isadora shot her head up to look at her dad, eyes wide, “What!? No!! Dad- N-
no..! He can’t!”
“Another fight like this and he will,” Lance assured her, crossing his arms,
“And I can’t really disagree, you know. I mean, I don't see one of the best
pilots in the program have to go but it’s not up to me, it’s up to you, so if
you really want this, stay out of trouble.”
To clarify, AHIS was a space school. It taught students as young as their
freshmen year of high school all the way into their graduate years of college,
but while most students got a general education in everything from
Intergalactic Cultural Studies, to regular English courses, there was a good
number of students who’d been accepted into one of the academy’s three select
programs of study.
There was the Technology and Engineering program, for students who were
talented with technology, mechanics, engineering, math, anything along those
lines, which was headed by Professors Holt and Garrett, who taught Computer
Sciences and Aerospace Engineering.
Then there was the Diplomacy Program, headed by Princess Allura and Professor
Coran, which was mainly taught students interested in space exploration and the
study of other planets and their diverse cultures and histories.
And last, but not least, there was the Flight program, which took the school’s
most promising young students and turned them into the most elite group of
pilots the universe had ever seen. Isadora had pretty much gained acceptance
into the Flight program before she even applied to the school because it was
headed by her dad, but the problem was that it was co-headed by Professor
Shirogane and while Shiro was one of the coolest people Isadora had ever met,
he was a stickler for the school rules and didn't bend them for anyone. Not
even for Isadora, who he'd known since she was born, and whose father he would
probably die for.
Shiro didn't even make exceptions for his own kids, Alfor and Ofelia, who also
attended school at the Academy. In fact, often times, Shiro was harder on those
two than he was on most of his students. Especially Alfor, since he was
enrolled in the school’s Flight Program as well, although he was a year older
than Isadora was.
Then there was Ofelia, who Isadora was half-convinced had the worse of the two
sibling’s fates, since she was enrolled in the Diplomacy Program and had to
face her mother, Allura, instead of Shiro, and that woman was downright evil as
a teacher. Not that you’d ever hear Ofelia complain. Ofelia was at the top of
all her classes and was considered a model student by pretty much anyone and
everyone who knew her. She was the oldest of the three Shirogane children at
twenty-one years old and was in the midst of her undergrad studies in college.
Isadora sighed. She couldn’t lose her spot in the Flight Program. Her father
was a genius pilot. She was the daughter of a pilot of Voltron for crying out
loud. If she wasn't destined to be a pilot, then what was she good for? She was
meant to do this. She had to.
“Fine…” she finally muttered, “Next time, I’ll just make fun of her hair until
she cries or something…”
“That’s my girl,” Lance hummed, he gave his daughter a grin of satisfaction
before offering her a fist bump, which would normally be pretty lame for a dad,
but Isadora liked to think her dad was cool enough to pull it off so she
obliged happily.
Her father started making his way the stairs of the castle when Isadora paused,
turning to look just down the street at the high school level dormitory. She
bit her lip looking back up at her father, who must have noticed her hesitation
since he’d stopped halfway up the stairs and was now giving her a quizzical
look.
“Hailey said something about Ryan having a giant bruise on his jaw,” Isadora
explained with a frown, “Bo said they were going to hang out in his room after
school today… I wanna make sure he’s okay… Can I-?”
“Go ahead,” Lance waved her off, he knew she would be just down the street and
she couldn’t get in much trouble with Bo around to keep her in line anyway.
Besides pretty much every boy who Isadora hung out with knew exactly what would
happen to them if something were to happen to his daughter so it was all good.
Isadora grinned, hopping down the steps before pausing to race back up them
once more and press a kiss to her father’s cheek.
“Gracias Papa!” Isadora smiled as she raced off in the direction of the dorms.
Lance sighed and smiled warmly. Yep. He really was one proud dad…
***** Chapter 3 *****
Isadora smoothed her dark brown hair in the shiny, metal surface of Bo’s dorm
room door before discretely adjusted her bra to try and make her boobs look
bigger. It was mostly a futile quest, but a girl could try anyway. She took a
deep breath before finally lifting a hand to knock on the door.
There was some rustling and muffled words on the other side before the door
slide open. Isadora expected to be greeted by her best friend’s signature
cornrows and dazzling smile but instead, she was met with milky pale skin,
dazzling green eyes and pretty brown locks that stole Isadora’s breath.
“Ryan!” Isadora squeaked in surprise, although she wasn’t really sure why she
was surprised. She’d knew Ryan would be here. Ryan was the whole reason she had
come after all. She tried to recover by attempting a warm smile but it felt
forced and awkward on her lips and she knew she probably looked like a
psychopath so she wiped it off her face and decided to avoid eye contact with
the boy instead. 
Ryan’s voice was only ever a notch or two avoid a whisper whenever he spoke,
which wasn’t very often, but it still sounded sweet and gentle and it still
made Isadora feel as though she were melting. He must have been smiling as well
because Isadora could hear it in his voice as he greeted her.
“Afternoon Isadora,” he said, stepping aside to let her past, God, that accent
was hypnotic. She wished she knew where it was from… “I didn’t know you were
stopping today as well.”
“Oh! I, um, actually came to see if you were okay,” Isadora explained quickly,
feeling her cheeks grow hot, “Bo and I overheard that you got hurt… Is
everything alright.”
Isadora frowned as she turned her attention back on Ryan’s face. The boy had
the purest, most perfect, milky-white skin Isadora had ever seen in her life so
the purple and yellow bruise on the left side of his jaw was striking against
his fair complexion. It was big too, stretching from the slight curve of his
jawline to his chin. Ryan seemed to shrink under her gaze, shuffling back from
the doorway and lifting a hand to cover the bruise, his cheeks turning pink.
“Yeah,” He said, even quieter than usual. He sounded embarrassed, “I, um, I
tripped on the stairs… pretty lame, huh? It really hurt but Bo said it would be
gone in a few days.”
“That’s not lame!” Isadora assured him in a hurry, “I trip all the time! I’m
actually pretty clumsy. Everyone does it.”
The truth was, Isadora wasn’t clumsy at all. She almost never tripped  and she
could walk perfectly in heels and everything, but if it would make Ryan feel
better, what was a little white lie? Ryan seemed to brighten at her words and a
small smile spread across his face as he nodded slightly.
Isadora could have basked in that smile forever, but the spell was broken when
she heard Bo’s voice from inside the room, her best friend waving at her from
his beanbag chair across the room. “Hey Is!” he smiled at her joyfully, which
always got Isadora to smile back without fail.
Ryan shut the door behind her Isadora before sitting back down in the beanbag
chair opposite Bo, idly fiddling with the silver bracelets hanging from his
wrists. Isadora crossed over to the fridge in the corner of the room and took
out a can of orange soda as well, popping the tab open.
“Catch,” Bo called, tossing her a video game controller, which she caught one
handed, careful not to spill any soda on the carpet. Bo smiled at her warmly.
“We’re playing Mario Kart. You wanna play?”
“Maybe later,” Isadora sighed, shaking her head tossing him the controller back
and flopping down on the bed behind him. Bo gave her a skeptical look since she
almost never turned down Mario Kart, but shrugged and started the game without
her anyhow, taking a sip of his own drink as the game counted down.
Bo nearly spit the drink out when Isadora opened her mouth again, “I think I
might get kicked out of the Flight Program,” she said, trying to sound casual
but probably failing.
“What!?” Bo blinked up at her, pausing the game as he drove off the side of the
road, “Over that fight? But I talked to Professor Shiro, they can’t kick you
out!”
“Well, I’m not kicked out yet,” Isadora assured him, “But my dad said if it
happened again Professor Shiro would probably kick me out, and I don’t know
about you but Hailey’s face is just begging to be punched every time I see it.”
“Oh, good,” Bo sighed in relief. Bo wasn’t in the Flight Program himself, he
was part of the Diplomacy Program instead, but he knew how much it meant to
Isadora to be part of the Flight Program and the fact that he was so worried
was another reason why he was her best friend. Isadora smiled at him as he
turned to look at her, “Well just ignore her as best you can for now and maybe
if we’re all lucky she’ll drop off the face of the earth or something.”
“You got into a fight today?” Isadora’s head shot up as Ryan gave her a very
concerned look. Isadora felt as though her face had burst into flames at that.
God how was he so cute!? “Are you alright? You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?”
“No! No, I’m alright, it wasn’t really a fight,” Isadora quickly assured him,
“It was more like… well, it was  almost  a fight, really. I just got into an
argument with Hailey Spencer in the courtyard today...”
“An argument?” Ryan gave her a confused look, tilting his head at her slightly,
“about what?”
Both Bo and Isadora looked at each other, lips pressed in thin lines. Isadora
shot Bo a look that meant ‘Don’t. You. Dare.’ before turning back to Ryan and
forcing a smile, “Nothing! It was stupid, don’t worry about it!” she assured
him.
“Oh,” Ryan said, pausing, unsure for a moment, before shrugging, “alright
then...”
Isadora let out a sigh and flopped back on the bed as Bo turned back to his
game and unpaused it, the cheery music filling the air along with the cheesy
sounded effects and red shells being thrown.
***
By the time it was time to get going, it was already dark out and both Ryan and
it was pretty close to Isadora’s curfew. Her and Ryan both gathered their
things and headed to the exit, sending Bo and quick thanks for letting them
hang out. The elevator ride was quick and soon they were back out on the
street, which was now only dimly lite by the street lamps lining the road.
Isadora was about to send Ryan a quick wave goodbye when a hand caught her
wrist.
“Wait,” Ryan said, softly, giving her a small, shy smile, “It’s late, let me
walk you back to the Castle.”
Isadora knew the castle was just down the street, in sight even, and she wasn’t
scared to walk alone at night, but hell if she was about to say no to  that
offer. Instead, she smiled widely, feeling her cheeks turn bright red as she
forced out a shaky, “Okay!”
The walk was slow and silent for the most part, so when Ryan spoke up again,
Isadora jumped slightly.
“So, your dad,” Ryan asked, “he wasn’t mad about the fight? I imagine the
school told him, right?”
Isadora laughed nervously.
“Oh yeah,” Isadora said, “He, um, he was actually the one to break up the
fight… But he wasn’t really mad. My dad’s kinda cool like that.”
“Must be nice,” Ryan hummed, “having a dad who’s so cool. I mean, he works at
the school, almost everyone likes him, he was a paladin of Voltron. I mean, I
can’t imagine what it would be like to have a dad like that.”
“Oh, well,” Isadora’s gaze fell to her feet. True, Isadora thought her dad was
amazing, but she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t a little intimidating as
well. Living in the shadow of her father’s achievements was something Isadora
usually chose not to think about. “It’s pretty cool, but I like to think
everyone’s dad is there hero, right?”
Ryan seemed to respond without thinking, “Yeah? I wouldn’t know...” He said
under his breath.
Isadora’s brow creased in concern, trying to catch Ryan’s gaze, “What do you
mean?”
Ryan seemed to realize his mistake as soon as Isadora opened her mouth because
he looked even paler than usual, green eyes refusing to look in her direction.
“Nothing,” Ryan said shortly, clearly becoming tense and uncomfortable, “forget
about it.”
Isadora frowned, taking hold of Ryan's arm for a moment and watching him tense.
She almost let go and considered dropping it, but she wasn't about to give up
when something was clearly bothering one of her friends. She slowed to a stop
and walked around to stand in front of the taller boy.
“Hey, ya know, it's kinda unfair that you’ve already met my family and yet, you
never talk about yours,” Isadora pointed out.
Ryan frowned, “I haven't really met your family… I mean, I’ve only met your
dad…” he pointed out.
“Not true,” Isadora countered, “Your part of the Tech Program, so I know you’ve
met Pidge and Hunk and everyone's met Shiro and Allura, so there. You’ve met my
family. I mean, you haven't met the rest of my blood relatives, but you  have
met my family. But that's besides the point. We're talking about your family.”
Ryan sighed and brushed past her, hands shoved in his pants pockets, “What's
there to talk about. I don't exactly have one.”
Isadora blinked for a moment before having to jog to catch up with her friend,
“What do you mean ‘not exactly’?”
“I mean, my family died when I was little, now it's just kinda me and I have a
guardian who takes care of me, but it's not really a family you know?” Ryan
explains, kicking a rock and sending it skittering down the street.
Isadora looked down at her feet, “oh…” she said, “I’m sorry…”
“Please don't apologize for my parents being dead, I heard enough of that for
one lifetime when it happened,” Ryan sighed exasperatedly.
“No, I mean, sorry for asking… and you know, pushing you to talk about it,”
Isadora explained quietly, “My mom left when I was a baby. I mean, I hardly
knew her, but it's still kinda hard to talk about. Especially with my dad… But
sometimes I vent to Bo about it. He’s a good listener.”
Ryan hummed, once again looking down to fiddle with the silver bands around his
wrists.
Isadora sighed, “I’m not trying to make this about me though. I’m just saying,
everyone's missing someone. So, you're not alone…”
Ryan gave her a dry smile.
“Thanks…” He said, slowing to a stop in front of the castle, “I guess I’ll see
you in class tomorrow then. Tell your dad I said hello.”
Isadora smiled and nodded, looking at the steps that lead to the front entrance
to the castle of the lions. Now many people went inside it since there were
only a couple classrooms set up inside for advanced students in the Diplomacy
and Tech Programs. Mainly it was just Isadora’s home, which she shared with the
rest of her honorary family.
Isadora looked back over at Ryan.
“Ya know, you could stay for a bit,” She offered. “My dad could drive you home.
It is kinda late.”
Ryan looked down uncomfortably at the offer, rubbing the back of his neck and
shifting his weight from foot to foot, “Thanks, but I’m good. I don’t live to
far from here and I like the walk anyhow,” he said with s wave of his hand.
Isadora gave him an unsure look before nodding.
“Well… Okay then,” She said after a moment, “Good night Ryan.”
“Good night, Isadora,”Ryan looked up and met Isadora’s eyes with a shy smile
that showed off his dimples in a way that made Isadora’s heart flutter in her
chest. Her cheeks turned red under his gaze and the way he said her name.
Isadora gave a strangled, breathy laugh, trying to remember how to use her legs
as she climbed up the stairs and made her way to the entrance to the castle.
She opened the door and only breathed a sigh of relief when it was safely shut
it behind her. Once it was, she closed her eyes and tried to stop the beating
of her heart as she pressed her back to the cool metal of the castle door.  
God, why did he have to be so cute?
“Why does who have to be so cute?” Isadora’s eyes snapped open at her father’s
words, her cheeks going red once more. Dammit, had she said that out loud. Her
father smirked at her, as if to answer the question.
“No one!” Isadora said quickly, immediately straightening and brushing past her
father to escape to her room. Behind her she could hear her dad chuckling,
amused.
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