Voltron One Shots

Turn That Frown Upside Down

Prompt: Ok so this is gonna be kinda weird but here goes: Lance has been kinda sad for awhile. He still had random good days or at least that's how it was until an alien race decided to make and alliance with Voltron. But it turned out that they had made a deal with the galra. The race would never get actual blood on their hands and the galra knew that so they tell the race just to grab the happiest paladin and flip their emotions permanently. Haggar knew that it wouldn't stop Voltron but she knew it'd make for a hell of nuisance. So they grabbed lance who was in an especially bad mood and he got into a fight with hunk and it just screwed with his emotions for the rest of the day. But he was acting like his normal self so they nabbed him and did the emotions swap he kinda was forced into a Manic happy spell. The sadder he "should" feel just made him just all the happier. I think that's enough for a good plot right?

A/N: I don't know if any of you noticed but 'Voltron One Shots' now has a new cover! The amazing LilDonn (again THANK YOU SO MUCH!) made this for me and I love it so much!!!

Trigger warnings: none

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"Where did you disappear to earlier?" Keith asked a few moments after Lance entered the dining room. Lance blinked in eyes in confusion.

"What?" he asked as he pulled down a bowl and filled it with the goo of the day.

"Earlier. During the alliance celebration thingy" Keith clarified. "We couldn't find you after dinner" Lance grabbed his food and sat down across from Keith.

"I was there the whole time?" Lance said with a frown. "Where were you?" he laughed shorty and turned to his food. He'd been having a good day that day, so he was psyched that they got to go to a party. The party didn't disappoint. People flooded the streets cheering for Voltron, the defenders of the universe, their saviors. Lance had been having a great time, greeting the people, dancing with some of the children. It had been a day of celebration.

Then something happened.

Lance didn't remember exactly what. All he knew was one minute he was sipping his punch and watching the celebration go on, feeling happy and content for the first time in a while, and the next he was laying on the ground a little way away from the party, feeling sore and disoriented. He'd sat up, gripping his head and groaning. He was groggy, unsure of what happened. He eventually shrugged it off as having drank too much punch, assuming that it had some sort of alcohol in it. Lance was too embarrassed to admit that he had passed out, so he came back to the party and pretended it never happened.

"I looked for you for like an hour" Keith said, frowning. "Hunk told me that he got into an argument with you earlier and said he wanted to apologize. Everyone looked all over for you and you just... appeared in the middle of the room" Lance felt a bolt of irritation run through him. Hunk wanted to apologize? Why hadn't he just apologized when Lance was there? Why hadn't he just kept his comments to himself? "What were you and Hunk fighting about anyway?"

"Hunk told me that I should stop flirting with 'anything that had a pulse'" Lance grumbled. Lance was mostly upset because he flirted to improve his mood. Flirting made him feel better. Happier. So, when Hunk called him out on it Lance couldn't tell him why he did it, because then he would have to tell him that he was depressed.

"Oh, well... you kinda do. Flirt with everyone, that is" Keith pointed out. Lance stared down at his food. Keith's words strangely didn't hurt that much. In fact, it actually made him smile. A laugh spilled from his mouth before he could stop it. "Why are you laughing?" Keith asked. Lance covered his mouth, unable to stop his laughter.

"I don't know" Lance said in between laughs. He genuinely had no idea. Any other day he would be masking his pain and then making an excuse to leave so he could be alone. But maybe he was just in a good mood today.

~   ~

It wasn't until a few days later that Lance realized that something was different. He wasn't reacting appropriately to anything. Every time someone say something that would usually hurt him, something that would remind him just how much he missed home, or how bad he felt, he would feel this bolt of happiness run through him, making him smile or laugh. While that sounds like it should be a good thing, to Lance it was not. It was kind of terrifying. When he thought about his parents, about his home, he felt happy. That was good. When he thought about how he might die out there in space, never getting to see his parents again, he laughed. That was bad. Lance didn't know what was wrong with him.

"Lance, can I talk to you?" Shiro said that afternoon. Lance smiled and followed after him. Shiro waited until they were in the hallway before he spoke again. "We need to talk about your behavior over the past few days" Lance cocked his head.

"Okay..." he said slowly. Shiro sighed.

"I don't know what's been going on with you lately." Shiro began. "But you need cut it out. You haven't been taking anything seriously. Everyone's noticed. Allura's noticed" Lance looked down at the floor. "The way you have been acting is totally inappropriate. You're disruptive, and unfocused especially during missions. If you don't fix this than someone might seriously get hurt" Lance knew what he was referring to. Allura and chastised Lance during a mission the other day, and Lance had burst out laughing. He was laughing so hard that no one else could hear each other over their headsets. "So please, Lance, fix whatever's been going on with you" A smile stretched across Lance's face involuntarily.

"Yeah, okay" he said, trying not to laugh. He bit his lip. Any other day Lance would've cried for getting in trouble. He couldn't stand when people talked sternly or yelled at him.

"Lance, I'm serious" Shiro said sharply. Lance winced, his lips twitching as he forced himself to stay silent.

"I... know..." Lance ground out.

"Lance—' Lance ducked his head and rushed past Shiro, unable to hold it in any longer. He laughed silently as he ran down the hall. "Lance!" Shiro called after him.

Lance didn't stop until he was in his room. He slammed the door behind him and marched straight to the bathroom. Lance gripped the edge of the sink so hard his knuckles turned white. He grimaced as he met his own gaze in his reflection. He didn't recognize the face staring back. It was so bright and full of hope. It didn't match the image of himself in his mind. Something was definitely wrong, but he didn't know what.

His limbs shook as a whimper escaped his body. Lance tried to push back the overwhelming feeling of dread as a smile appeared on his face. The worst part was, it didn't feel forced. He genuinely felt happy. And it terrified him. He knew that he didn't just get over years of anxiety and depression in just a few days. So how had it happened?

The sadder he knew he should be feeling, the happier he got. He was so happy that it was becoming unbearable. Every time something happened that normally would send Lance in a downward smile, he would smile and laugh it off. His head felt like it was going to explode. Every little incident that filled him with an overwhelming sense of joy also increased the pressure in his head.

Lance wasn't sure how much more he could take.