Love, Child [Klance AU]

Chapter 6

Everyone's hair stood on end. Slowly turning, Lance saw Taylor in the doorway. ''Shit shit shit' was all that ran through his mind as he rushed over to the child. 

"Ay, chico! You're awake already?" Lance exclaimed as he picked him up. "How was your nap?" The child gave a thumbs up and squirmed, explaining he wanted to be put down. Lance did so and Taylor walked up to Coran. 

"I know I'm not home." He confessed, making the others panic. "W-What do you mean, bud?" Hunk stuttered, afraid they were about to be uncovered. "Of course we aren't, we're in space!" He tried his absolute best to cover it up.

The attempt, of course, failed. "You thought I didn't know? The ratones told me." Nearly everyone had no idea what he said, but Lance knew. 

He gasped at the realization. "Guys. He can communicate with the mice."

Allura was surprised, "But I thought it had to be a mental bond? I can communicate with them because I was stuck in a cryo chamber with them. How can he?" Taylor turned to her and explained how. "Dad is part Altean, so the blood got passed down to me. At home, the mice told me it was a special bond with Alteans of royal blood. " 

"Wait, which one of us is Altean?" Keith curiously asked. in this reality, Keith was Galran and Lance was pure human. Taylor walked over and grasped Lance's sleeve. "Dad!" He looked up at his father and smiled as he pointed at his own cheeks. "I even have the marks! But they don't show right now. I have to activate it." 

Allura was the most excited about this. "Okay, Taylor. Do you know how to activate them?" She walked closer and crouched to his level, smiling brightly. "There are a few ways I can! I remember one, but it involves... tickling." He put his arm behind his back and swung his hips back and forth, getting a little flustered. Their hearts exploded as he opened his arms again.

"Do you wanna see? Come on, you just have to tickle me!" He giggled, making Keith snap.

"Come here, ya little cutie!" He ran up behind him and tickled up and down his sides, the child's bubbly laughter filled the whole castle. "Papá! Stop, it tickles-" he couldn't fathom a single sentence with the sound escaping his mouth. The more he laughed, the more he lit up, and not metaphorically.

His face was shining a light and Allura spotted the marks. Below his eyes were bright purple Altean marks, the roots of his hair were becoming white, and his ears were broadening to a tip. Keith stopped tickling so everyone could see the astonishing sight before them. The child continued to giggle as the light dimmed and his hair receded back to the dark brown it once was. 

All eyes were on Taylor as he wiped a tear of laughter off his face, absolutely amazed and confused at the wonder before them. Pidge brought back up the matter at hand.

"Hey guys, since he knows he's in an alternate universe, shouldn't we figure out how to get him home?" He ticked at the words.

Panicking, he started to jump up and down. "But I don't wanna go home! I like it here with my parents and you guys, you're all so different from back at home!" He spun around and looked at all of them.

"Uncle Kashi has his hair color inverted, Auntie Pidgey has short hair, Uncle Hunk can cook, Auntie 'Lura's hair isn't purple, and Mister Cory has a mustache!"

'Did he give everyone except Hunk a nickname?' Ran through all of their brains as they processed the information. They saw the child tear up again at the thought of leaving his other family.

Shiro stepped forward and kneeled in front of Taylor, who was holding back the third round of tears. "Hey, Taylor. I know how you only just found us, and you want to stay, but we aren't your actual family. You have people at home looking for you!" He put a hand on his heart and the other on Taylor's shoulder. "I'm sure they're as worried sick as we are for you."

The boy exhaled and sucked up his tears, trying to laugh it off. "I know, I understand that. But, it's so different here. I was always stopped from doing a lot at home. Please, just for a while?"

He used the ultimate attack that made it impossible to run. Puppy eyes. In one swift move, the child lifted his chin to reveal the one thing that they feared the most.

Hunk was the first to break. "Oh, okay! You can stay for a while." He cried as he broke out into a wail. Lance laughed and finished for him. "We haven't figured out how to get you home just yet, so for now you can hang out with me and your dad!" Lance put an arm around Keith's shoulder and smirked.

Keith smiled and looked at Lance, "What're you going to do? Show him how to flirt with aliens?" Lance put a hand over his chest, defeated. "Well, I can flirt with more than just aliens."

Taylor fake-gagged, alerting the tension. "Ugh, you two aren't that different from back home, huh?" The two looked at the others with the most stunned faces, the others chuckling.

"Come on, ya little gremlin! You're gonna watch us train!" ==============================