Work Text:
**July 28th, 8:07 AM — Miami, Florida**
Lance blinked at his phone.
The lock screen lit up with a simple message from the group chat:
**“happy birthday lance 💙🥳”**
From Hunk, followed by “HBD, dude.” (Keith, shockingly fast), a stream of emojis from Pidge, and a classic Shiro thumbs-up. Allura sent a glittery GIF. Matt somehow sent a meme of a frog in a party hat.
Lance chuckled to himself and flopped back on his bed, still in boxers and a Voltron hoodie he "borrowed" from Keith two years ago.( They'd bonded over the show and how underrated it was. Lance personally thought he was like the blue paladin,(if one of his reasons for it was that the blue and red got together he wouldn't say)).
That was enough. Just the messages. Just knowing they remembered.
Honestly? It was *more* than enough.
He’d told them just last week — "Don’t go all out, or anything okay? Just shoot me a text and/or give me some candy. That’s literally all I want." He didn’t expect them to argue. He thought they might protest, maybe Hunk would pout or Keith would roll his eyes. But instead, they all nodded, said okay, and respected his request. That... actually meant a lot. He felt seen. Not babied. It felt nice.
Of course, **what Lance didn’t know** was that behind those “okay” nods... there was already a **group DM titled ‘OPERATION STARBOY’** in full swing.
---
**July 23rd — Five Days Earlier**
**Group DM: OPERATION STARBOY 💙 (Lance Not Included)**
**Allura**: “just a happy birthday and candy” he says, like i don't know why he doesn't want more
**Allura**:wait i do know, he doesn't think he deserves it
**Hunk**: lol that’s what he thinks
**Pidge**: my man deserves a throne and a sky parade. Despite how he is he really does deserve it
**Keith**: yeah and he’ll pretend to be annoyed but he’ll love it, and he'll give us that signature grin and tell us we didn't have to because that's just how he is.
**Pidge**: that's a suspicious amount of texting keith ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
**Hunk**: i hate to say it but they're right
**Keith**:oh shush, no its not
**Pidge**: i call it as i see it¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯
**Shiro**: so what’s the plan?
**Matt**: I say themed gifts. We each draw a category.
**Allura**: and we organize a virtual surprise party. in a spaceship with aliens, 3 mice and 5 multi colored lions
**Hunk**: I'm sorry what?
**Allura**: i’ve said too much, you guys wouldn't get it. Every day I'm reminded you guys wearn't there when we watched Voltron
They drew virtual lots.
Each friend was tasked with a theme to base their gift around:
* **Keith**: “Something personal”
* **Pidge**: “Something techy”
* **Hunk**: “Something edible”
* **Allura**: “Something sparkly”
* **Shiro**: “Something nostalgic”
* **Matt**: “Something unhinged (within reason)”
They now had *five days* to create, buy, deliver, and somehow surprise their loud-but-softhearted friend *without tipping him off*.
Small issue:
* Keith was all the way in Australia for some schooling program Shiro had convinced him to enrol in.
* Matt was in a different state, Texas to be exact, with Shiro.
* Allura was bouncing between meetings in London.
* And shiro was in Texas with his boyfriend missing his little brother Keith.
...What could go wrong?
---
**July 26th — 2 Days to Go**
* Hunk's kitchen was a disaster. He’d tried making Cuban pastelitos from scratch. They... *burned.* Which was to be expected because as much as hunk was a great cook he hadn't really done much Cuban dishes, of course he knew how to make some of lance's favorite's like garlic knots and bread and ect, but he had made those with the help of lance and or his mother or siblings.
How was he gonna make this in time for Lance's birthday?
Lance was his best friend and Hunk knew he deserved something special like this
…
They'd been best friends since they were kids, Hunk was shy and Lance wasn't there wasn't any reason for them to be drawn together but they were and ever since then they had been the closest of best friends.
Lance helped Hunk get over most of his anxiety during the years , he'd helped him get with his now girlfriend shay and its been 3 years now and showed him his love for cooking, he could still remember the day.
They had been in 5th grade, they were walking home together when Hunk stayed over after school to work on a project, while there his mother, Rosa, had asked lance to help her make garlic knots and hunk had joined in.
He remembers how they'd laughed when he and Lance got into a flour fight behind Rosa's back before her finding out and covering them both in flour, he remembered how while they were making it they'd talk all through and how it smelled when it was done. He remembers how everyone gathered around the dinner table and they ate and it tasted so much better than eating alone.
Lance has done so much for him, more than Hunk could possibly repay
So Hunk was gonna make sure he was able to finish this for his buddy. The others were probably doing better than he was.
***
* Pidge blew up her laptop’s motherboard trying to 3D print a “ hologram of Lance's favorite memories of his pet snake Blue.
Lance's brother, Marco , had a pet snake named blue but when he went off to uni he wasn't allowed to take him so he stayed with Lance. And Lance absolutely adored the little guy , he was a ball python and his family had had blue for years, but sadly he'd passed away earlier this year, living a long life of almost 13 years which was high considering they mostly lived for 10.
Lance wouldn't show it much but he was devastated , Blue comforted him so much and was considered part of his family, sometimes the group would find Lance looking through photos and videos of blue trying to hide how sad he looked but they still noticed, they all new pets would die everyone died eventually but it still hurt seeing Lance this hurt.
Pidge had a few photos and videos of blue that she wanted to make a hologram that acted and looked just like him, she also wanted to make him holdable but she needed to figure out how to do that first. But she was willing to work towards it, lance was one of her first friends and she knew, she just knew, he needed and deserved this.
Lance had supported her through so much, especially during her transition, she'd remembered being scared to come out to him, she also remember how he'd comforted her and hugged her and told her that if she didn't feel comfortable in he own body and wanted to be non binary then she could be and he wouldn't judge her for it. He wouldn't judge her for being Aroace or non binary or for being bad with people, because that's just who he is.
She remembers how she was struggling with her body image and was scared of growing more 'feminine’ features and how lance noticed and got her a binder and a book for being non binary for her birthday and how she cried when she saw them.
So yes, she was going to do everything in her power to make sure he enjoyed this birthday party and part of it was her gift so she went back to working on it. She absent-mindedly wondered how the others were doing.
***
* Allura may have accidentally ordered 150 glitter-filled balloons instead of 15.
They'd all arrived and she was confused about what to do with them, he'd texted their group and they had decided to have the party at Pidge’s place because it was casual and also not suspicious.
She knew logically that she probably shouldn't blow them up but what was a few, she also needed to see how they would look and had gotten the approval from the others.
What she wasn't expecting was for it to go wrong, because not only did they pop ,but all the glitter had somehow multiplied and now she was covered in glitter and her living room was covered in glitter, and no matter how hard she scrubbed she couldn't get it off, and what made it worse was that every room she went into glitter followed her, so no not only was her living room glitterified but so was her washroom and bedroom.
Yeah these would be so fine, she needed them to be after all.
She knew she and Lance weren't that close but she considered him one of her closest friends.
Lance had done so much to help the group and her over the years. She remembers how he'd get his older siblings textbooks to tey and help allura with her college curriculum. She remembers how he'd helped her gather up the courage to come out to her friends and family that she was a lesbian. She remembers how he'd given her advice on how to ask out her crush, while she was rejected she didn't really mind because one, it was because the person was already in a relationship and two she was now with her girlfriend Romelle, who Lance also helped her get with.
And she really cared for him, enough that she'd have her apartment and her covered in glitter she guesses so. The others couldn't possibly be in a mess worse than me.
(She was wrong lol)
***
* Keith, after panicking, wrote a poem. A real, hand-written poem. Then spent 4 hours wondering if it was *too* much.
Because he knew he could be too much and he honestly didn't know how Lance could be friends with him. Lance was perfect in every way Keith wasn't. Lance could talk to people he could run and swim , he was also really beautiful and kind and sweet and adorable and a dork and just every name in the book.
He was so kind and don't get Keith started on Lance's laugh, it could be light and airy or it could be a full on snort and yet Keith would always find it pretty. It was pretty because it was lance's .
And his name too it even meant strength, honor, chivalry, and protection. It also came from the word meaning spear which is also ironic because lance can't use any weapon maybe other than a gun for his life. , but also because soldiers on the front lines of ancient times used spears and shields, lance would and has gone on the offensive and defensive for them and he knows he will continue to do so. He's also willing to take the brunt of the force for them so long as no one else gets hurt.
And Keith hates that, he hates that lance would rather he gets hurt than anyone else, that he has the self sacrificial streak and that he's okay with getting hurt.
Keith wouldn't be able to stand it if Lance got hurt because he was protecting him, he wouldn't be able to stand it if the brown light in Lance's eyes disappeared and if they stopped shining like the stars and shine they did.
They looked like they were forged from the sky itself , like that stars fell down to earth just for lance and wanted everyone to know. He couldn't speak of stars without mentioning Lance's freckles, and he knows Lance hides most of them with concealer because he's insecure about them and because he was teased about it when he was younger, and if Keith ever found who teased Lance he would punch them in the face.
Because who could ever tease lance when he looks so beautiful and acts so beautiful and is so beautiful.
If he was asked what the perfect example was for beautiful, kind, and perfect, he'd say one word and it'd be Lance.
And he couldn't even start on Lance's actions, he did everything so gracefully and full of love, whether it be talking, running, cooking , art, making stuff with yarn , swimming, or just sleeping.
And he knows he was a dick to Lance when they first met and Lance shouldn't be friends with him and shouldn't be close to him but he is. And that's just the type of person lance is.
Lance is like a big pool of kindness and love and perfection and Keith wants to dive in head first and drown.
He knows the others don't feel that way towards lance and wouldn't have trouble writing a simple poem, he figures they must be doing better than he is.
(He does feel like he's missing something)
***
* Matt got Lance a voucher for being able to fly a small aircraft. It wasn't cheap and he also had to get proof that Lance went and still is going to a school that'll allow him to fly planes after he graduates as the garrison has a college program as long as your grades at their school were fine you had an automatic acceptance into their college without him finding out. But he guesses it was the least he could do.
Plus it was safe , he wouldn't be flying the whole time, just for a few minutes and there were trained professionals there and it would be a cool thing to add to his resume.
Matt and Lance were good friends, he thinks its because he easily bonded over memes and being like siblings to pidge.
He didn't have many memories with Lance or had many personal deep moments with Lance like the others had but he knew just as much as the others that Lance cared for them and that they cared for Lance.
There was a particular memory Matt could remember. He remembers when he and shiro had a falling out in their relationship.
Tensions had been high, they'd been worried about school and Keith's health and living together amongst other things and they didn't talk about as much as they should have.
He remembers the night where it all blew up and they'd broken up. He remembers crying his heart out and calling his mother (dad was on a trip) and had for some reason called lance. He knew Lance had admired Shiro when he was younger and had a crush on Keith so he expected him to maybe take Shiro's side or just hang up.
But instead he stayed through the call and comforted him and gave him advice. “ If he loved you as much as you loved him then you guys probably needed to take some time to think and talk to each other. After all if you love someone you'd listen to them and it doesn't sound like either of you guys were listening to each other”
He hated to admit it but he didn't listen, so he called shiro and they planned a meeting at a nearby coffee shop. When he arrived he saw that Shiro had already ordered his favorite drink and had paid already. They talked, it was a real conversation where they listened to each other's worries and apologies.
They'd taken things slow rebuilding their friendship before getting back into another relationship.
Matt considered Lance one of his siblings, and he knew Pidge did too. So he knew he could do this mush for him. He wonders what the others were doing. But he couldn't spend that much time, he had to finish the rest of his packing as they were leaving soon. 19 hours was a long time he muses.
***
* Shiro, He found an old Garrison hoodie Lance had left at his place years ago when he and the others visited. He washed it, folded it, and attached a note: “Some memories don’t need to be new to be special.”
He knew this from experience, he knew from Matt that Lance had given them some advice when they'd broken up and had helped Keith so much. He also knew how lance saw him, lance had admired him when he was younger, he honestly didn't know why.
It was probably because of the Kerberos mission but he'd failed then and was now a teacher at the garrison. Still Lance would still ask about it and how he was doing.
Shiro also knew Lance liked Keith and he found it cute how oblivious they both were, and how Keith would freak out when Lance complimented him or wanted to spend time alone with him.
He also knew lance was also conscious about Shiro's arm and how he'd ask if his physical therapy was alright despite it being years since he started
Lance was a great kid and was gonna achieve so much and fix this world too. Gosh he sounded like a dad, gosh damnit he was only 6 years older.
He went bac to hauling his and Matt's stuff in the boot, 19 hours with Matt to go visit his friends and his brother was something he could do.
He others probably were scrambling to fix things and distract lance, he thinks they're doing good.
**Later that night**
They were on call –without lance– talking about plans when Shiro asked the important question
“Where the tje flip are you allura” he asked through Matt's phone, cuz he couldn't drive and use his phone. No, that was dangerous.
“Flip he says" pidge Snickers through the phone
“I'm on the plane I'm gonna arrive in a few hours"
“oh shit" keith says through the phone “so thats what i was missing, a plane ticket to miami”
The call was silent for a minute before hunk spoke up
“Bro…”
And chaos ensued, everyone was speaking over each other before finally pidge spoke up.
“I'll see if I can find you a ticket”
She indeed found a ticket.
---
**July 27th — The Day Before**
Allura arrived at the Gunderson-Holt household at 12:42am the 27th to Hunk and Pidge, setting up decorations for the next day and hugs.
Shiro and Matt arrived later at 9:58pm the 27th to hugs glitter filled rooms and allura pulling shiro aside
“I found this when cleaning out, its from me and lance's childhood and i wanted to ask if i could give this to him ‘cause it kinda falls under the category of nostalgia, I wanted to give him more cause I don't think glitter filled balloons are enough”
Shiro, of course, told her she could give it to Lance and that he wouldn't mind.
And Keith, finally, arrived at 2:12am the 28th to everyone had pulled mostly and all nighter so they could pick him up at the airport. He was met with hugs and his brother crying into his shoulder as he told him how much he missed Keith.
They had been slick in their preparation
But they forgot one thing:
**Lance is very nosy.**
He texted Keith:
4:17am
**Lance**: why has Hunk been dodging my texts and calls, the others too?? 👀
4:17am
**Keith**: idk maybe they're busy
4:18am
**Lance**: u suck at lying btw
4:18am
**Keith**: shut up, also I'm not lying
4:19am
**Lance**: sure, goodnight keith(or should i say morning, are u even going to bed, u should ur eye bags are designer atp)
4:20am
**Keith**: yeah, goodnight lance (they're not that bad)
4:21
**Lance**: <3
Keith *froze*. How should he respond, without thinking he typed out the same thing
4:21am
**Keith**<3
Keith put his phone back down and wondered as he fell back asleep, was it really a good night if lance wasn't here right beside him.
---
**July 28th — 5:00 PM EST — SURPRISE TIME**
Lance entered the empty hall and called out “Okay, I showed up. Who wants to tell me this is *totally just a movie night and not a weird intervention?*”
He walked into the living room and then boom, Confetti exploded. Everyone popped in — tripping over each other and looking tired but beaming.
**“HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY, LANCE”**
The room was filled with chaos:
Hunk waving tupperware. “I RE-DID THE PASTELITOS. THEY DIDN’T BURN. I also have other food guys, this is my present to you lance”
* Pidge played a hologram of lance's pet snake Blue that she could actually hold, looking happy but also a bit sad and nostalgic “happy birthday" she said
Lance felt his heart ache
* Allura wearing a sequin cape. “I hope you like sparkles. I **bathed** in them. This is part of my gift but i also have something else to give to you”
Lance looked over to Matt and saw
* Matt holding tickets to something, “check them out later” he said
* Shiro holding up the hoodie and nodding. “You left this behind, remember?, I got the printing fixed and it looks brand new”
* And Keith... holding up a folded piece of paper, cheeks a little red. “This is my gift" he said quietly
Lance blinked. He was still in pajama pants. Eyes wide. He couldn't believe his friends had done this for him, Matt and Shiro lived in a different state, Allura lived in London and Keith in Australia and yet they still all came..for him.
“I said— I told you guys— you didn’t have to—”
Keith coughed. “Shut up and enjoy your party”
***
The food tasted just like his moms, he cried
***
Allura pulled Lance aside later, and handed him a worn faded plushie, it was of a shark he had when he was younger.
He remembers how it got to Allura, she left Cuba before his family did and Lance didn't want her to forget her favorite cousin so he gave her the shark and told her to take good care of it.
He knows the importance of it, he couldn't sleep for days after giving it to Allura and he cried over missing them both a lot but eventually he forgot.
He cried again
***
“I know you missed Blue, so.. yeah. Hope you liked it"
Lance loved her, she looked and acted just like blue and he'd watch videos of blue with the new pet. Newly named Red
---
**Later that night**
Lance sat cross-legged, it was late and everyone was asleep, everyone but Lance and Keith.
They talked for hours. About everything. About nothing.
Finally, Keith said, “Happy birthday, Lance.”
Lance grinned. “You guys really didn’t have to do all this.”
Keith shrugged. “We wanted to.”
There was a pause.
Lance whispered into the quiet room, “...I loved the poem.”
Keith smiled, ears tinging red, he thought he could make out a red on Lance's cheeks too. “I meant it.”
Pause.
“...I meant it, too.”
(Lance tasted just how Keith thought he would but somehow sweeter)
***
All good things must come to an end because the next day , the 29th, Allura left to catch her plane and so did Keith on the 30th, Matt and Shiro stayed a few more days before packing up the car again and leaving on the 33rd.
Lance felt sad to see them go but he knew they cared about him, just as much as he cared for them. Gosh this really was the best birthday ever.
( The night of his birthday he called his family and they all cried on the phone together)
***
July 28th is Lance 'Sanchez’ McClain’s birthday. Its also his favorite day.
---
**END.**