Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alteans were insane, but Lance couldn’t complain about the results.

“I can’t believe all it took for us to form Voltron was a food fight!”

“Yeah…” Hunk frowned. “Wish we’d known that before Allura and Coran programmed the castle to attack us.”

“Yeah. That would have been nice.”

Lance’s muscles ached. His bruises would probably last years, and the resident Alteans already planned for more training the next day. Was it too late to leave Voltron and return home? Could he stay in Voltron without the painful training exercises?

Don’t get him wrong, he loved flying Blue and being a hero and fighting as a team. He loved his team in general – minus Keith – but he also liked relaxing and laying back and enjoying life.

They eventually reached Hunk’s room. His buddy yawned, stretching his arms wide to get out the kinks, before waving to him. “Goodnight. See you tomorrow if the Galra don’t kill us first.”

With that pleasant thought, Hunk slipped away. It took a few seconds for Lance to move on.

“If the Galra don’t kill us first?” It was a legitimate concern, but why had Hunk had to voice it? They really needed to work on optimism. Hunk and Keith both. And Pidge. Maybe that should be their next team bonding exercise. Physical training couldn’t take up all the time. Lance shook that thought from his head and bounded around the corner to his own room.

Lance’s first order of business was his skincare routine. As old as the stuff was, he hadn’t missed his routine in six years, and not even traveling into deep space would stop him. Besides, Coran assured him that Altean technology worked wonders when it came to preservation of healthcare objects. Even after ten thousand years.

After applying the final cream, Lance almost donned his headphones and sleep-mask. Then, he remembered Allura’s lecture after the incident that morning.

“You are not to listen to music at night, Lance. You must always maintain awareness. One day, there will be a true emergency, and you’d best be ready for it. We all must.”

It would take him hours to fall asleep without those security blankets, but he loathed the thought of disappointing the princess.

“I’m too keyed up to sleep anyway.” If he wouldn’t get much sleep anyway, then he may as well get used to the lack of music. The mask would hopefully be unnecessary once the castle got up and running. As long as the lights in his room dimmed enough, he’d be fine without it.

Despite his honest attempts to sleep, however, Lance couldn’t. Even ignoring the lack of music and sleep mask – ignoring the alien environment and daytime lighting – fighting together that day and forming Voltron made him feel complete. For the first time since joining the Garrison, he felt connected to something important. Even if he was just the fifth wheel on a team of stars, he was part of it, and that left him more wired than he could contain.

He groaned and flopped over in bed, wishing his smile would fade so he could relax and focus on sleeping. They had more training the next day, and exhaustion caused skin problems. Why did he have to feel so giddy?

I wish my family could see me.

Rachel would roll her eyes and call him dramatic. The danger involved might concern Veronica, but she’d congratulate him on the accomplishment. Marco and Luís…

Lance rolled onto his other side, minding his skin cream as he faced the wall. His smile finally died.

Thinking of his family made him miss home.

It wasn’t a new sensation. The Garrison boarded all its students, after all, but at least on Earth he had his scheduled calls and Veronica not too far away in the girls’ dorms. Planet Arus was who knew how far out into space. Definitely too far for a call home.

What do they think happened to me? Judging time was difficult in space, but Coran had mentioned hump day. If that meant the same to Alteans as it did to Earthlings, then they’d been gone for two – almost three – days. The Garrison had to have noticed their absence by then, even if no one knew they kidnapped Shiro. What had their families been told happened?

Lance sprang up as he recalled their earlier conversation. He hadn’t been paying too much attention. The princess was so beautiful it was hard to concentrate, and the way the holographic stars illuminated her face and highlighted her Altean markings…She was the perfect distraction.

You’re getting distracted again, he told himself. If he wanted to stay on the team, he’d have to work on that. What had he been thinking about before?

Wait…Allura said the castle got distress signals from all across the galaxies. That meant the castle had communication technology. Lance could try to contact Earth. He could tell his family that he was alright.

Without thinking through his actions, Lance jumped out of bed and made his way through the cold, abandoned hallways. The castle was huge and unfamiliar, but he knew the way to the bridge. That was the only direction he needed.

What should he say if he reached his family? Should he tell them where he was? Would that worry them too much? Maybe he should just say that he was alright and leave it at that. Not that his Mamá would accept that answer.

Lance was passing the common room when he heard a Thud! on the other side of the door.

Someone must still be up. Or a Galra infiltrated. Maybe it was the princess, and Lance could get some alone time with her. Get to know her better and amend their first impression.

Forgetting his original mission, he turned to assess the threat level of whatever he’d uncovered…Allura was probably the worse option, if he outright flirted.

Lance saw no one at first. There were the bright white, blue-streaked walls. The round couch lay untouched in the center, and the window on the opposite side showcased the orange, pearlescent sunset on Arus. All of that, he expected.

What made that noise?

Then, it happened again. Thud! followed by the hiss of a sliding door.

But the only other door in the room was in Lance’s direct line of sight, and that hadn't moved.

He frowned. “Hello?”

Thunk! “Ow.”

Threat level: 100.

Lance glared towards the source of the sound to see Keith, on all fours, crawling out from some hole in the wall. Once the Red Paladin fully escaped, the sliding door closed, leaving nothing but an infinitesimal seam in the wall.

“What are you doing?” Lance’s gaze shifted between Keith and the wall. How had Keith even known about that space? The castle was new to all of them.

Wait. He hasn’t had any alone time with Allura, has he? Lance would die before letting Keith win Allura’s heart like he had all of the girls' at the Garrison. Even if she never liked Lance, she deserved so much better than the mullet. The thought of them together…

Keith huffed and stood. He brushed dust off of his clothes, but a few cobwebs coated his hair, too. Feeling vindictive, Lance said nothing about it.

“I saw a weird glow coming from those cracks earlier and decided to investigate.”

“A glow?” Practically the whole castle glowed. Why would that raise Keith’s shackles? Granted, Keith was apparently a paranoid conspiracy theorist who hunted lion signals in his spare time.

“Yeah. I think it came from this.” He held up a wooden figurine.

The figurine did, admittedly, feel weird. A soft, pulsing energy emitted from it every other second, but who said that was abnormal for Altean toys? Maybe there was some craze for radioactive space toys ten thousand years ago.

Lance didn’t say that. Instead, he said, “Why would a toy dog be glowing?”

Keith huffed. “I doubt it’s a dog. It has to be Altean.”

Really? That’s what he stuck on?

“If Alteans have lions, why not dogs?”

For once, Keith had no comeback. Lance grinned in victory. Threat incapacitated. Lance: 1; Keith: 0.

“So, it was glowing?”

Keith shrugged. “Something was. The compartment took awhile to open, and the glow stopped before I could look inside.” He inspected the figurine. “What do you think it does?”

“Let me see it.”

The Red Paladin handed the toy over, and Lance studied it. At first, it appeared like a normal, wooden toy. Upon touching it, however, Lance realized the dog was made of clay.

Newly dried clay.

What?

Surely, ten thousand years in an abandoned castle would roughen the smooth edges and sap all moisture from it. Instead, the dog felt as silky as Lance’s skin, like all he needed was a little water, and he could remold it to his own desires.

Not that he would remold it. Lance loved dogs. They were loyal and energetic, just like him. The dog in his hand reminded him of the ones on Earth, with its floppy-ears and long tail, sitting calmly and happily. Etched into the clay were small details to give certain spots a furry look, but those were the only changes in the otherwise smooth surface. Mostly smooth, Lance realized, looking more closely at the neck.

“Hey, look at this.” Lance flipped the figurine to see that, indeed, the other side of the figurine’s head also had a dip between it and the shoulder. Like someone had pulled a chunk from the neck, intending to add more detail. Or like a hotheaded emo had torn it when digging it out. “I think it’s missing a piece.”

Lance handed the figurine to Keith and bent to investigate the hole he’d initially found the other in. Unfortunately, it was too small for him to comfortably see inside it, and the space was too dark. Left with no other choice, Lance shoved his hand in, feeling for a spare chunk of clay. He instantly regretted that choice when his hand hit something that moved. Please don’t be a bug. Lance refused to give Keith the satisfaction of reacting, though. He could deal with a bug bite. Even a possibly venomous, alien bug bite.

“Lance, there’s nothing-”

After a bit of flailing, his hand hit something solid. “Aha!”

Lance pulled back, taking the small object with him. At first, it just looked like a clay harness, but as Lance watched, the shape morphed, expanding into a half-wreath of several, familiar flowers.

“What the hell?” Keith leaned closer, inspecting the jagged points protruding from the flowers’ centers. “What kind of plants are those?”

“They’re myrtle flowers. They symbolize love or something.”

Keith stared at him, aghast. “And you know that how?”

“My sister-in-law wanted them for their wedding,” Lance defended. He grimaced, remembering all of the wedding magazines and props spread throughout his family home. For months, no one could walk anywhere without slipping over something wedding related. “The flowers weren’t native to the area, though, and she wanted them live and natural…They had orchids instead.”

“That doesn’t explain how you know what ‘myrtle’ flowers look like,” Keith muttered.

Because I helped plan the wedding. Veronica had started calling Lance bridezilla by the end. He pushed away that thought. “I’m a good brother.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say.”

Annoyed, Lance took the figurine back, but Keith refused to release it. “Hey, let go!”

“No, what are you doing?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you!”

Before Keith could argue, Lance freed the dog from Keith’s hands just enough to bare its neck. He slotted the myrtle wreath into place.

“There, now it’s-”

A burst of purple light exploded out of the figurine, interrupting Lance’s admiration. Energy poured through their bodies, making it impossible to release the figurine even if they wanted to. It was like nothing Lance had ever felt before. Every nerve in his body sang, and his hair stood on end. Even the castle’s lights – which had remained in day mode despite all of Coran and Allura’s attempts to fix them – surged. He’d never felt so aware, even as his mind went blank with wonder and pure overstimulation.

Several, long moments later, Keith gasped, “What the hell did you do?”

“Me?” Lance stared at Keith incredulously, blinking blissful stars from his eyes and ignoring how the other’s hair defied every law of gravity. Ignoring how Keith’s eyes had never looked a more vibrant indigo. Had Keith always looked so pretty? “You’re the one that found this thing in the first place!”

The doors behind them opened to admit their friends, all of whom seemed to have rushed from bed. Again, only Shiro was battle-ready, but Hunk had haphazardly donned his armor over his pajamas. Pidge hadn’t even tried.

“What is going on in here?” Allura demanded, staring between them in shock.

Lance hoped his hair wasn’t as bad as Keith’s. He suddenly became aware that his face mask may have also been affected by the odd energy. Was there a good way to check how he looked?

He was torn from his embarrassment by Coran’s gleeful giggles. “Oh, princess. I believe congratulations are in order for our Red and Blue Paladins.”

Congratulations?

Lance looked to Keith. Maybe he knew what Coran was talking about, but the confused shrug the other sent him proved otherwise.

Even Allura seemed uncertain, the edge of tiredness in her tone belying her previous eons of rest. “Whatever for, Coran?”

The engineer’s joy increased. “Don’t you see what they are holding?” he demanded.

The princess turned her gaze to their hands, which also brought Lance’s attention to the fact that, in their earlier fight to hold the figurine, his and Keith’s hands had entwined around it. They simultaneously jerked back, ripping their hands apart, and the figurine fell to the floor with a soft, Thunk!

Allura’s eyes followed the descent, wide with disbelief. “Is that what I think it is?”

“What is it?”

Shiro moved closer to inspect it, but Coran hurried to stop him. “Don’t touch it! If you do, you’ll be caught up in its magic!”

The Black Paladin froze. “Magic?” He stared at Coran in horror. “What kind of magic?”

Lance would like to know that as well.

“And why did you say congratulations are in order?” Keith demanded.

“Because you two have just married, of course.”                                                       

“What?!”

The little power Lance’s brain had gathered since the energy surge evaporated when he heard those words. Married? Lance was seventeen! Too young to be married at all, let alone to his mullet-headed rival. And he wasn’t into guys! He definitely wasn’t into Keith, of all people.

Didn’t you call him pretty earlier?

Shut up, Lance told his brain. He was too in shock to think about that. If he did, he might slip into a coma.

Coran’s enthusiasm died in the face of their horror. “Do you not have Olrensel clay on your planet?”

Shiro took the reins, which was good because Keith and Lance would probably be mute for weeks. “Coran, what’s Olrensel clay?”

“It’s a clay that is – was – formed in the core of planet Altea where the planet’s quintessence – life-giving energy – is highest,” the engineer explained, frowning between them all. “Due to that, the clay easily molds to the sculptor’s will, bonding to him or her for the time it takes to complete the process and settle. Since its discovery, Olrensel clay has been highly sought after across the system. Any who touch the clay after it has been molded are given a brief boost to their energy and access to psychic abilities. The longest such an event has lasted was a week when the Alchemist Ferudar made her adventure across-”

Allura cut over him, taking up the explanation before he could get side-tracked. “If two people touch the Olrensel clay within a short amount of time of its molding, the power binds their quintessence and that of the clay itself. Permanently. The only known way to break the bond is to break the Olrensel object that binds it.”

Lance stared at her in horror. So, his and Keith’s ‘quintessence’ or whatever had been…He’d never drank alcohol in his life, but right then, he needed a drink. Or several.

“What are we waiting for, then?” Keith reached down to break the dog, but Allura stopped him.

“No! Keith, you don’t understand. Breaking the bond would kill you. Your and Lance’s very life forces are now connected to this statue. And to each other.”

Maybe Coran could find him something. Altean alcohol probably didn’t have an expiration date. Besides, the more fermented, the better, right?

“Where did this clay even come from?” Shiro demanded, glaring at the Alteans.

It’s not their fault, Lance wanted to say. He was still too in shock.

“I’m afraid I don’t know.” The princess turned to her advisor. “Coran?”

“I suppose it could be your parents’,” Coran said thoughtfully. “It has been the royal tradition for centuries to pass the clay to the next generation once the previous couple passed, and they wished for you and your husband to have it. They hid it somewhere in the castle to prevent anyone from stealing it.”

If only someone had.

“So, Keith and Lance are married now?” Hunk asked, confused.

Coran moved forward, kneeling to eye the statue while making sure not to touch it. “Not quite, going by the energy it’s giving off.” He glanced to Keith and Lance. “Have you kissed yet?”

Have we-

Lance jumped away from his rival in disgust. “Hell no!”

“Why would you ask that?” Keith demanded.

“Because that is how the bond is sealed.”

Pidge cleared his throat, bringing everyone’s attention to him. “What happens if they don’t seal the bond?”

Hopefully, the next words out of Coran’s mouth would be: ‘Then the magic resets, and they’ll live happily ever after. Far away from each other.’

That, of course, didn’t happen. Coran actually shrugged. “I’m afraid I don’t know. Olrensel clay on its own is rare enough. I don’t think there’s been a case in eons where two people haven’t wanted to bond.”

“Is there any way to undo it?” Shiro asked.

“Yeah. There has to be, right?” Lance was never more grateful to Shiro than right then. The Black Paladin was the voice of reason in a ridiculous mess of a conflict.

“No. By design, the clay is meant to mold to the wielders’ will and bond their essences into one. That effect is what makes it so sought after. If only one of them had touched it, then they’d be fine, but now, both of their life forces are too intertwined to separate without causing unparalleled harm.” Coran speared Lance with a warning look that he didn’t appreciate. Keith was the hothead. If anyone tried to break the figurine, it would be him. “Any attempt and they will die.”

“What does this bond do, exactly?” Pidge asked.

Allura sighed. “When completed, it gives the bonded a psychic connection and awareness of each other. If one of them dies, so does the other. That sort of thing.”

“So, a soul bond.” Shiro looked far from happy.

“No, no. Solband is a brand of skin protectant.”

They ignored Coran.

Shiro turned to face Lance and Keith for the first time since the conversation started. For the first time in his life, Lance wished his hero’s attention was anywhere else. The entire situation was both horrifying and embarrassing. They wouldn’t see James Griffin accidentally soul-bonded to his rival.

“I’m sorry, you two, but there doesn’t seem to be anything we can do,” Shiro said.

“Well I’m not sealing the bond,” Lance argued, pushing down his embarrassment. If he had control over anything, it was his reaction. The others couldn’t realize how upset he was. He’d wanted to settle down with a nice girl one day. Be a father and provider and call his wife his soulmate. Keith had to go and ruin that. “Nothing on Earth could get me to kiss Mullet.”

“Yeah, ditto.”

“You’d be lucky to have me, dropout.”

They both ignored Pidge’s, “We’re not on Earth.”

“Come on, guys,” Hunk pleaded. “What if not sealing the bond causes something bad to happen? What if it kills you?”

“I’m not kissing him!” The universe had to give Lance that much dignity, at least.

“We’ll monitor them,” Coran compromised. “Do weekly checks to make sure there are no adverse effects. Let us know if you notice anything strange.” He giggled to himself. “This will actually be quite the interesting experiment.”

Lance stamped down the anger that crawled up his throat. He wasn’t some lab rat for Coran to poke at with a stick. He was a human being that had just had his dreams crushed and freedom stolen from him.

No one said anything else, so Shiro sighed. “I guess that settles that. What should we do with the clay?”

“Well, only Lance and Keith can touch it,” Pidge pointed out.

Keith scowled. “I’m not keeping it!”

“I’ll take it.” Before they could ask how Coran meant to do that, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully scooped up the figurine. “Ooh. It feels quite warm. Still saturated with quintessence, I expect.”

Shiro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just get it out of here, Coran. Keith, Lance, we need to talk.”

Lance crossed his arms and glared. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Yeah,” Keith agreed. “We’re not married. We never sealed the bond or whatever. Everything can go back to how it was before.”

Frowning, Hunk asked, “What were you even doing in here?”

That was the last thing Lance wanted anyone to ask. He couldn’t let them know how homesick he was. What would Shiro think? Pidge would never let him live it down. “Mullet woke me up with all of his thumping.”

Luckily, Keith’s hotheaded nature prevented anyone from pointing out how far the common room was from the sleeping quarters. “Hey! The closet just started glowing. It could have been a threat, so I found a way to open it. I didn’t know what it would do!”

“And you touched it anyway.”

Before the argument could worsen, Shiro stepped between them. “Alright. Break it up, you two. This is no one’s fault, and you’re right. We should just move on.”

“Besides.” Hunk sent them an uncertain smile. “Altean marriages would hardly hold up on other planets. You’re both still single and free to mingle, right?”

Lance couldn’t feel more relieved. That was right. Altea had been destroyed. An ancient marriage ritual couldn’t legally hold them on any other planet, and even if it did, it definitely couldn’t do so on Earth. No one had to know what had happened.

He ignored the lingering doubt that seeped past his denial as they all said their goodnights and went to bed. Come the next morning, everything would be back to normal, and they could forget that night had ever happened.

Chapter Text

Electricity flickered beneath Lance’s skin and his bedsheets sparked with built-up static as he woke up. He’d hoped a night of sleep would erase everything. Hoped he’d wake up to realize the previous night’s events were just a dream. Wish denied. He remained in bed as long as possible, not wanting to encounter the others after the previous night’s events.

Was getting up even worth the trouble? Outside of the princess calling them for another day of training, he saw no reason to expend any energy to face the day. He’d rather not have to deal with Keith or the consequences.

We’re not married. We just happened to both touch an ancient wedding object at the same time. It was an accident, not a marriage.

Yeah, Lance wouldn’t move for a while. He groaned and buried his head under his blanket to expel the embarrassment. Then, he noticed his face mask.

Is it peeling? Lance bolted out from the blanket and to his bathroom in horror. The mirror confirmed his fears. Before, his face mask had been creamy and smooth. After a night of sleep, the green paste cracked against his skin, falling off in flakes. It resembled paint from Renaissance art more than a moisturizer preserved by Altean magic. If the weird energy did that to his face mask, what was it doing to his skin?!

The only silver lining as he cleared the caking creams from his face was that his hair no longer stood on end. Though, static sparked as he brushed it.

What the hell was flowing through him?

As Lance moved through his morning routine, he pushed all thought of the strange energy to the back of his mind. There was no use worrying about something he couldn’t change, and the familiar, ritualistic motions soothed him, made him feel more at home. By the time he strode through his bedroom door, the shift of power was an afterthought. He felt the currents, but he didn’t notice them.

Okay. We can do this. Let’s just pretend nothing happened. Nothing did happen.

Keith was alone in the dining room when Lance walked in. When the doors slid open, he glanced up, but upon seeing Lance, he turned away, staring moodily back at the table.

Jerk.

Lance ignored him and sat at the table’s opposite end. Avoiding Keith would be hard, what with them both being Paladins, but Lance had to try. Luckily, Keith seemed to agree with that course of action. Not addressing the elephant was the best option all around.

If only their friends would take the hint.

Hunk burst into the dining room not long after Lance sat, carting in a tray of food goo. The cart’s squeaking wheels preceded the Yellow Paladin’s – uncalled for – declaration of, “So, how are the newlyweds? I would have made your favorites if we had any real food, but you get your pick of the food goo to make up for it.”

He looked far too pleased with himself.

Lance scowled while Hunk set the food tray on the table. “We are not newlyweds. We’re not newly anything since we’ve been rivals for years, and that’s what we are now.”

He loathed Hunk’s answering smirk. “Whatever you say, Buddy. I just wanted to celebrate the occasion.”

“Can we celebrate with a divorce?” Keith muttered.

“We aren’t married!”

The doors slid open again, admitting Shiro and Allura. They both seemed concerned, eyeing Lance in particular, but they changed the subject. Thank God.

“Shiro and I have been planning this morning’s training regimen,” the princess informed them as Shiro stole the seat next to Keith and grabbed a bowl of food goo. “We’ll start with practicing your Voltron formation. In order to stand a chance against the Galra, you must perfect your bonding until you can form Voltron in your sleep. After breaking for lunch, you will head to the training deck and practice with your weapons there. Remember-” She stared pointedly at Lance and Keith. “Focus on teamwork.”

Like Lance could focus on anything when Hunk kept smirking at him and Keith. The energy continued its slow movements across – through? – his skin, another distraction. Admittedly, entering the dining room had drastically reduced the sensation. The energy had quieted. Probably due to Keith’s presence, if Lance was honest.

Stupid Altean soul bonds.

“Speaking of teamwork,” Hunk said, drawing everyone’s attention. “Where’s Pidge?”

“Number Five is on the bridge,” Coran answered from a nearby corner. Lance jumped and turned to face the mustached man. When in quiznak had Coran gotten there? Why did he have a notepad? “Waiting to interrogate those prisoners, I suspect.”

“Any idea when they’ll be out, Coran?” Shiro asked.

“Not until after lunch, at the least.”

“Good. So, Pidge should have no scruples about joining you for training.” Allura nodded once, sharply, and then left.

Did she ever eat? The only time he’d seen her sit down to a meal was for the previous day’s food fight, and no one had eaten much then. Not that Lance blamed her for not wanting to eat the disgusting slop sitting in front of him. With more than a little foreboding, he dragged a bowl closer to himself.

He withheld a gag as he took a bite. What a great wedding feast. There had to be something better than ten-thousand-year-old food reserves.

“Hey, Hunk?” Lance asked, dropping his spoon and turning to send Hunk puppy eyes. “Any chance of finding something decent to eat?”

Hunk shrugged. “I’ll see if any plants on the planet aren’t poisonous when we’re out today.”

“You’re the best, Buddy.”

***

When Lance suggested partying instead of training, he was irresponsible. When the Arusian king made the proposal, Allura called it a, “Wonderful idea!”

Despite Allura’s hypocrisy, Lance had to admit that the Arusians threw a mean party. After Voltron defeated the Galran robeast, King Madleif gathered everyone from the Gazrel Hill village to celebrate. There was food and drink and dancing. Lance had never been to such a high-energy party.

“To our protectors!” the king declared, raising a cup in toast.

“To our protectors!”

The Paladins were too big to safely participate in the usual village parties, so the Arusians relocated all festivities to the outskirts of the village. Near the forest, where they had plenty of space to dance and mingle without knocking over any houses. King Madleif assured them that the relocation was no trouble. They’d been planning a village hike anyway.

“Moontow!” King Madleif shouted once the toasts finished. “Start the ceremonial Dance of the Cake!”

Moontow hurriedly bowed and started a series of twisty movements and handsprings.

Lance watched in interest. “Man, you Arusians have a dance for everything, don’t you?”

“It is our greatest pride,” the king agreed.

Eventually, the music changed, and other guests began dancing. Lance wasn’t one to let an opportunity like that slide. “How about it, princess? Want to dance?”

By the expression on Allura’s face, Lance would think he proposed they swim in toilet water rather than dance together. Allura was a diplomat, though, so she just said, “I’d rather not. You never know which ceremonial dances are actually a pledge of fealty or an agreement to marry the prince.”

King Madleif laughed. “I have no sons, but my daughter would have no qualms joining with you, if you so asked, Lion Goddess.”

Lance held back a snort. The princess had told the Arusians multiple times that she wasn’t their Lion Goddess. None of them seemed to agree.

“I am not-” Allura groaned, giving up. Instead of arguing the point again, she curtsied to the king. “If you’ll excuse me.” She didn’t give Lance a passing glance.

She’ll realize what a catch I am one day. Lance ignored the part of him that whispered the unlikelihood of that.

While he wanted to pout after the princess, that would accomplish nothing, so Lance turned to face the king. It had been a while since he could socialize with anyone outside of his family and the Galaxy Garrison. He should make the most of it.

“You have a daughter? Is she cute?”

“I like to think so. She is over there, speaking with the Red Paladin and Klaizap.”

There went Lance’s plan.

He’d almost forgotten his so-called marriage, but it all rushed back as King Madleif pointed into the distance.

Lance’s gaze unconsciously followed the motion, landing on Keith, Klaizap, and an Arusian – the princess. The trio stood in the middle of the dancing bodies, engaged in a pleasant conversation, but Mullet couldn’t look more uncomfortable. He’d never been the social sort.

Serves him right. Keith shouldn’t have infringed on Lance’s plans to charm the Arusian princess and restore his ego to its proper state.

As if feeling their gazes, Keith glanced up.

Shit.

His eyes met Lance’s for only a second before Lance grimaced and turned away. The energy beneath his skin crackled.

“I’m gonna get something to drink,” Lance said, interrupting King Madleif’s story about the princess’s first vanquishing. She’d speared a sea creature during their annual boat trip, and that seemed to be a big deal on Arus.

Lance didn’t actually plan to get a drink, but as he left the king, he saw Hunk. The Yellow Paladin stood near the food table, speaking with some of the locals. Baskets of meat, vegetables, and nuts filled his arms. If Lance remembered right, Hunk had collected some huge eggs before their earlier fight, too.

“Stocking up for when we leave?” he asked, cutting into the conversation.

Hunk smiled at him and nodded. “Yeah. I refuse to suffer the food goo for however long we’re stuck in space. Two days were enough.”

“I hear you.”

If they could stay on Arus and subsist on the king’s feasts until Zarkon’s reign ended, it would be fine by Lance, but Shiro felt restless. Not that Lance blamed him, with the Galra knowing exactly where they were and how to get to them. They had to leave. Arus was at risk until they did. He just wished they could stay in the castle as long as possible. Living in the lions, never knowing when they’d reach another planet, wouldn’t be fun.

Maybe he should ask the others what their plan for when they left was. If they even had one.

“I think I’ve got enough to last us a couple of weeks if we have a meal of food goo once a day,” Hunk continued. He gestured to the Arusian in front of them. “Willy here is giving me some pointers on how to cook it.”

‘Willy’ bowed to Lance. “Hello, Blue Paladin. I am Willoepit, the King’s best cook.”

“You do make awesome food.” Lance reached for a meatless kebab-like thing that called to him from the buffet. The herbal flavor melted across his tongue, drawing a moan past his lips.

Much better than food goo.

Willoepit beamed with pride. “Thank you. It is a great honor to be praised by the Lion Goddess’s best warriors.”

Lance liked the sound of that. “Best warriors, huh?” He preened as he grabbed another kebab. “Well, you earned it.”

“Oh my God.” Hunk shooed him away. “Go bug Pidge. Willy was just teaching me how best to roast Carwonian Nuts, and I don’t want to mess it up.”

Lance didn’t know what any of that meant, but he took the hint. “Fine, fine. I’ll get out of your hair.”

He found Pidge with Shiro. They were laughing about something.

“Hey, guys,” he greeted, coming up next to them.

“Hey.”

“Hello.”

“What were you talking about?”

“Nothing.” Pidge waved the question off, making Lance more curious, but the Green Paladin distracted him before he could press the issue. “So, how’s married life treating you?”

Shiro snorted into his drink as Lance glared. Every time he forgot and could move on with his life, his friends brought it back up again. “We’re not married!”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that.” Removing his face from his cup, Shiro glanced at Pidge. “Do you mind?”

“Sure. I wanted to talk to Allura about the castle’s tracking mechanisms anyway. There might be something that can help me find my dad and Matt.” With that, Pidge strode away, leaving Lance alone with Shiro.

If he wasn’t so annoyed, this would be the best and most nerve-wracking moment of his life. Takashi Shirogane, the Garrison’s youngest and best pilot, ripped and handsome immigrant that all girls wanted but could never attain, wanted to talk to Lance. Veronica had said it would never happen.

…But he was annoyed, so Lance just groaned. Even his hero wanted to tease him. “I don’t want to talk about it. Would you guys just lay off? According to Coran, we didn’t even finish whatever magic gobbledygook bonded us.”

“It’s not that.” Shiro’s soothing smile eased some of the defensive tension from Lance’s body. “Marriage is about more than the rituals and traditions anyway. No, Keith told me that he’s been feeling a strange buzzing since what happened. I was wondering if you did, too.”

Oh. “Uh…yeah. Maybe. It’s been kind of annoying.” If no one brought it up, ignoring the sensation grew easier, but Lance doubted his friends would listen to any such requests, and mentioning the bond’s effects would make it more real. More permanent.

“He said it decreases when you’re near each other?”

“Yeah...”

Shiro hummed and glanced over at Keith. “I’m thinking it might be residual magic connected to you two. Has it faded at all?”

“Maybe a little. It’s definitely less than it was at first.” His hair wasn’t standing on end at least.

“Have you noticed any other effects?”

Lance thought about mentioning their trouble when forming Voltron earlier, then he decided against it. He didn’t want to be kicked off the team. “…No.”

“That’s good.” Shiro turned back to Lance, looking even more serious than he had before. “Listen, Lance. I know you want to blame Keith for what happened, but it wasn’t his fault. Neither of you knew what touching that statue would do.”

The annoyance from that morning resettled in Lance’s gut at the reminder. He and Shiro would have to agree to disagree on that point.

Shiro must have seen Lance’s reluctance because he grabbed his shoulder, leaning close to catch his attention. Lance nearly lost the ability to speak from shock and pure giddiness – his hero was right there, acknowledging him, touching him! – but the Black Paladin kept talking. “Keith’s just as upset about this as you are.”

Lance’s blush faded before it could fully form. “I’m not upset!”

“He’s just as upset,” Shiro repeated, ignoring his outburst, “and he’s blaming himself. You need to work together to get over this. Otherwise, it could affect the team. Even this morning, it took us twenty minutes to form Voltron just because you two didn’t want to mind meld.”

They’d tried! In a strange reversal of their bond’s usual physics, every time Keith or Lance’s minds went near each other, the energy between them amplified and sent off sparks. Neither of them cared to be electrocuted, and the reaction made their lions antsy. Eventually, Keith had yelled a mental, “Screw it!” and flung himself headfirst into Lance’s mind. The energy wave that coursed through them then was deafening, blinding, and…electrifying. But after getting past that, it had felt almost…nice. They’d felt complete.

Lance flushed and pushed the thought to the back of his mind. Stupid Altean soul bonds.

After that, they’d had to focus on joining with the other Paladins which turned into an even bigger struggle than joining with each other. Twice the struggle with none of the electricity.

He sighed, remembering Shiro’s point. “You’re right. I’ll try.”

“Good.” Shiro squeezed his shoulder and let go. “He’s free now, if you want to clear the air.”

Wait. What? “But-”

“If there’s nothing to be upset about, then there’s no reason for you not to talk to a teammate.” Lance may need to rethink Shiro’s title as his hero. That was plain evil. And, going by the smirk on his face, Shiro knew it.

“Fine.”

He groaned and slumped his way over to Mullet. With every step the electricity running through him faded.

The other eyed him suspiciously and with maybe a little relief. “What is it?”

“Shiro said I should talk to you. Something about Voltron.” Lance turned to face the party, pretending to watch the drummers and dancers even though he was too wired to pay much attention. “So, I’m just going to stand here and pretend for a minute, then I’ll be out of your hair.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

The silence lasted maybe ten seconds. “Lance, I’m sorry.”

Had Keith just said that? Lance stopped pretending to watch the party, too surprised to not respond. He’d never been one for silence, anyway. “For what?”

“For causing…” Keith groaned in frustration, clearly unaccustomed to apologizing. A trickle of gleeful vindication filled Lance at being one of the few to earn one. “For what happened. I know you hate me, and I know you blame me, and you’re right. If I hadn’t gone after that stupid toy, then we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

He certainly looked upset.

“There is no mess,” Lance insisted. Maybe if he denied it enough times, it would become true. “So what if it feels like I’m being shocked every time we form Voltron?”

Or I’m away from you, his traitorous mind added. Lance ignored it.

“If that’s the only thing that happened, we’re fine. For all we know, that’s what’s supposed to happen.”

Yeah. Paladins probably always get shocked when mind melding, and we only noticed now because we’re finally doing it right. It’s just a coincidence that it happened after touching that statue.

Indigo eyes glared. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the static that morning. “Can’t you just accept my apology?”

“No.”

“No?” Keith gaped at him. “Because you hate me or because ‘nothing happened?’”

“Both.”

“Well, something did happen, and-” Keith trailed off, eyes darting to a point behind Lance. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Lance turned around, but all he saw was forest.

“Something’s moving over there,” Keith hissed, already striding towards whatever he’d heard.

Lance rolled his eyes. Always the hothead, aren’t you? He followed, trying to talk some sense into the Red Paladin. “It’s probably an animal.”

Keith drew his bayard.

Great. “Keith, it’s probably nothing.”

“Well, I’m not taking chances.”

Keith picked up his pace, and Lance trailed behind him. How far could Keith hear if he thought the threat or whatever was a hundred yards into the forest? The hothead only stopped once they reached some sort of water-logged trench. It wasn’t too big. They could easily walk around it, so Lance wasn’t sure why he stopped.

“You’re going to get lost,” he taunted.

Keith shushed him. Then, a large form darted from some nearby bushes. It was glowing purple.

“It’s…just an animal,” Lance repeated, uncertain. “It looked like a rabbit.”

“Look.” Keith circumvented the trench and approached the bush that the – probably – rabbit had vacated. “There’s metal here. It looks like a piece of a Galran ship.”

A weird, sort of static-y, anticipation began to fill Lance. He followed Keith, more for a distraction than any true desire to see the metal. “It probably fell during our fight,” he reasoned, crouching to see the dark metal. It glinted eerily, but it didn’t glow. “I’m sure there’s all sorts of Galran metal around here right now.”

Keith raised an eyebrow, turning to give Lance that ‘Are you stupid?’ look. Lance was suddenly reminded of how much he hated the Red Paladin.

“And it just so happened to be where a glowing bunny was hiding?” Keith demanded. “What if the Galra are spying on us? If bonding is possible, what other kinds of magic are?”

He had a point. Still… “Keith, the last time you followed something that was glowing, we wound up soul bonded.”

A hint of Keith’s previous guilt reentered his eyes. “You’re…right…It did look like a rabbit.”

“Exactly. So, let’s get back to the party and pretend we never saw...whatever that was.”

When Lance turned around to follow through on that order, however, he tripped over a root. Long limbs flailed as he tried and failed to catch himself. There was nothing to grasp onto. Left with no other options, he splashed, face-first, into the trench. Luckily, he caught himself before his head could be submerged.

He really hoped that pink liquid was water. God, he hoped.

“Ow…” He groaned, shaking his head to dispel the liquid before it could run into his mouth. The collision would add a few bruises to his, already sizable, collection. Probably scratches, too, going by the stinging in his hands and shins.

“What- Lance!” Keith stepped closer. He probably wants to revel in my humiliation. But Lance refused to let Keith have the satisfaction. He wasn’t stupid. He’d just tripped.

“Are you okay?” Keith asked, eyes wide in – fake, probably – concern.

Lance ignored him. As he’d noted before, the trench wasn’t that big. It was maybe shoulder-high in depth and big enough for a couple dozen people to stand together and still leave enough space for the personal bubbles his gym teachers had always talked about.

“Here.” Keith held out a hand, offering to pull Lance out.

An idea sparked in Lance’s mind at the patronizing gesture. He wasn’t stupid or helpless, and Keith was not better than him. There was one way to prove that. A way that Keith had just handed him on a silver platter.

Lance took Keith’s hand and tugged, pulling the Red Paladin down with him.

“Aaah!” Splash!

Can’t humiliate me now.

“Why would you do that?” Keith demanded, sputtering and coughing to get that suspicious liquid out of his mouth.

Lance couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face. “You deserved it, Mullet.”

Keith didn’t ask why, but an evil glint entered his eyes. “You know, this doesn’t taste too bad. Sort of like berries.” He cupped his hands to sip some more of whatever they were sitting in. Lance recoiled in disgust. Had Keith really just done that? Blech.

Then, he turned to Lance.

“What are you-?” Keith took advantage of his open mouth. He grabbed Lance, holding him too tightly for Lance to escape in time. Then, Keith cupped some more of the liquid into his hand to shove it into Lance’s mouth.

It did taste like berries.

Lance sputtered, trying to get rid of the possible poison while Keith laughed with glee. Two could play at that game.

“Oh, it’s on.”

They started a wrestling match. Lance used a move Allura had taught them that morning to trap Keith against the trench’s edge and try to dunk him again. She’d yet to teach the counter, so Keith couldn’t get out. Or so he thought until Keith slipped through his arms, as easily as an eel through water. Lance wouldn’t let that stop him.

They transformed into a mess of limbs and hits and shoving. Berry water flew left and right, soaking the area around the trench. Indignant shouts turned to shrieking laughter. Flailing limbs grew sluggish, useless as weapons as they expended all of their energy.

And still, neither of them stopped.

Lance couldn’t be sure how long they went at it, but the noise eventually drew the others to their position. He saw Allura first, and the look on her face…He froze. Keith noticed and released his hold, turning to see the reason. The entirety of the Arusian village was there. Judging them.

“Lance! Keith! Explain yourselves this instant!” Allura demanded.

Any ounce of joy in Lance evaporated. Uh oh.

They didn’t get a chance to comply with the princess’s order. King Madleif clasped his hands together in joy. “No explanations are necessary. The gods call whom they will to the Pond of Bonding. Moontow, commence the Dance of Nuptial Jubilation!”

As Moontow started yet another dance, Keith and Lance stared at the king, mortified.

“The Dance of what?!”

Chapter Text

“No. Nope. Nu-uh. No! There is no way we are married again. Hell to the quiznaking no.” Lance paced. The sloshing of the water barely slowed him. He couldn’t believe it. He refused to believe the words that had escaped King Madleif’s lips.

"Commence the Dance of Nuptial Jubilation!”

There would be no dancing on Lance’s watch.

Keith was less mobile. He stood, frozen and gaping between Lance and the king, as everyone absorbed the situation.

What situation? There is no situation. What were the odds that Lance and Keith would wind up married twice? It all had to be a gigantic misunderstanding. Besides – like Shiro said – rituals did not make a marriage.

As Lance consoled himself with that line of thinking, Pidge burst out laughing. “Oh my God! That’s twice in less than twenty-four hours!”

Two days. One on Wednesday; one on Thursday. Not twenty-four hours. The other perspective seemed somehow worse. It couldn’t have been less than a day since the first time.

Paying Lance and his mental break no mind, the Arusians gossiped amongst themselves, gleefully discussing the apparent marriage like it was celebration-worthy. Even King Madleif ignored Lance. He wanted to throw another party. A wedding shower. Half the Arusians disappeared after speaking with him, off to perform various tasks and get ready for the party. Like hell would Lance attend.

In his distraction, he knocked into Keith.

“Sor-”

The automatic apology died on his lips. This was all Keith’s fault. Lance didn’t owe him anything. If he hadn’t chased that glowing rabbit into the forest, then they never would have fallen into the trench.

The Pond of Bonding, Lance’s mind corrected.

Keith’s eyes shuttered. Confusion and disbelief hid behind angry walls so thick a lamppost wouldn’t reach the end. He probably would have stayed like that, arms crossed and unreadable while Lance twitched around like a loon, ranting in Spanish, if the king’s demands didn’t filter over to them.

“We’ll need a banquet, Willoepit. A large one! Celebrations like this only happen once a bentrip after all.” He chuckled, clearly overjoyed with Lance’s suffering.

Lance might have spit out a biting comment if he hadn’t noticed Keith’s sudden increase in tension. The Red Paladin growled, readying himself to rip into the king, and a grin slipped onto Lance’s face. He stopped pacing.

This will be good.

If Keith could be relied on for anything, it was providing a good fight. Keith would make the king mad, and he’d annul their marriage. Or do whatever it took to not be married to a person you hadn’t married at all.

A small projectile hit Keith’s head before he could start.

“Ow!”

What the-

Lance’s eyes traced the object’s path of movement, trying to uncover the culprit, only to come face-to-face with Princess Allura. She glared at him, daring him to say something and start the argument himself. That betrayal stung worse than her earlier rejection.

“King Madleif,” Allura said, turning and smiling politely towards the king, as if she hadn’t just pelted Keith with a rock. “What exactly is this pond?”

Whatever instructions King Madleif had been doling out died. He turned his grin to the princess, declaring, “It is the Pond of Bonding, of course.”

Bonding can mean a lot of things, Lance consoled himself. Though, he loathed the thought of bonding with Keith in any fashion.

“What does that mean, exactly?” Shiro asked. “Bonding how?”

The king giggled in glee. “Oh, it is a lovely tradition. The Pond of Bonding has been bringing together destined couples for eons. The last such couple that I know of happened fifty decaphoebs ago…” He smiled in memory before returning to the topic. “Any who enter the Pond of Bonding are immediately and legally married!”

Shiro had to ask.

Lance finally hauled himself out of the trench. Once he was back on his two, dripping feet, he faced the king. “We’re not married! We just fell in. There was no bonding.”

Despite Lance's protests, King Madleif couldn’t look happier. “That’s how it works, Blue Paladin. No one means to enter the Pond. The gods choose it. You see, it all started…”

The king trailed off, and for a brief moment, Lance wondered if he’d come to his senses. Maybe King Madleif realized that Lance and Keith weren’t married after all. Maybe they’d missed one key part of the ceremony that made the whole thing fall apart.

The only thing that fell apart was Lance’s hopes. “Moontow!” Everyone jumped at the sudden shout, but the king just said, “The Dance of Remembrance!”

As the drummers drummed a new beat and Moontow complied, the king began his tale.

“Eons ago, there were two warring villages. The one on Gazrel Hill-” He gestured to the hill in the distance, barely visible between the trees. “-and one other, from Karlon Valley. They had been at war for phoebs, but the king of our village had a plan. He would marry his daughter to the son of another village. A powerful village. This would gain them allies to win the war!”

“We don’t need a sto-Ow!” Keith glared at Allura, rubbing his head. Was the princess hiding rocks up her sleeves or something?

King Madleif didn’t acknowledge the interruption.

“The princess did not wish to marry this man. So, she prayed to the Lion Goddess. At first, it seemed that no help would come.” The king sighed in dramatic sympathy. Lance had to admit he was a good storyteller. He just wished it was a different story being told. “So, the princess ran away the night before her wedding. In the darkness, she did not see the pit that had formed in the forest. A storm the day before had collapsed a tree, and while the tree had been removed, the hole that formed had yet to be filled in. After hearing the princess's plea, the Lion Goddess filled it instead with the waters of her sacred spring, allowing a new rain to soften the ground beneath and eternally connecting the pond and spring!

“A wanderer, hearing the princess’s shout, came to rescue her and also fell in. After escaping, he brought her to his camp. It was there that the princess discovered her rescuer was the king of the warring village! He called the war to an end, unable to continue fighting his friend’s people. For the first time, Arusians talked instead of warred. It was realized that the gods meant for the princess to meet the foreign king. The gods had brought them together. Soon after, they were married, and after, many other destined meetings occurred at this pond, until we were forced to realize that all who met here would be married. So, now all who enter are considered married already!”

What a load of-

“But we have different gods on Earth,” Hunk argued. “Yours couldn’t have chosen Lance and Keith. Could they?”

Exactly! Lance would have said so verbally if he wasn’t scared of being pelted with rocks. He eyed the princess in annoyance.

Willoepit stepped forward. “If you’ll forgive me, your majesty, the Blue Paladin is very boisterous. And he chose the Gnarleve sticks to consume. Perhaps he attracted the liking of the River God?”

Lance had done what?

The Arusian princess nodded. “And the Red Paladin complimented my amulet.” She showcased her beautiful silver and sapphire necklace. “He could have gained the favor of my patroness.”

So, Lance and Keith had somehow gained the favor of two, alien gods? Somehow, Lance didn’t buy that. He just liked the kebabs, and Keith was an awkward emo who’d managed a weak attempt at flirting.

King Madleif, however, thought differently. If possible, his grin grew wider. “How marvelous. We shall have to incorporate their likenesses and favors into the celebration in gratitude!” He giggled with delight. “Perhaps you can make rice cakes in the shape of moon hares, Willo.”

“Moon hares?” Shiro asked weakly.

“They are the favored animal companion of both the Sun Goddess and River God,” King Madleif explained. “It seems only fitting.”

Hares?

Lance stiffened and sent Keith a look. The other shook his head. He was right, of course. They’d never hear the end of it if they admitted a rabbit led them to the pond. Besides, maybe it wasn’t a rabbit. It could have been any animal; the thing had been too quick and glow-y to tell. A lot of Earth beasts could hop, and Arus probably had a bunch of other hoppy animals, too.

Instead, Lance focused on the more important news. “Look, I don’t know about these gods or rituals or ponds. All I know is that Keith and I aren’t married, and we never will be, and we are not celebrating with a party.”

For the first time, King Madleif looked upset. “Are you rejecting my village’s traditions, Paladin?”

Allura spoke before anyone else had a chance. “Of course not! Your majesty, we would be honored to join you in your marriage celebration. Lance is simply experiencing marital nerves.”

The king’s expression lightened again. “Ah. The first of many. But don’t worry.” He winked at Keith and Lance conspiratorially. “The benefits outweigh the negatives. Just think. Now you can mate outside of the equinox celebrations!”

“HELL N-”

“Okay!” Shiro hurriedly interjected. “I think it’s time we head back to the castle.” He pulled Keith from the pond and began shoving him and Lance in the appropriate direction. Lance’s brain had short-circuited, so he could do little to stop the manhandling. “We’ll see you for the party, Your Majesty.”

The others said their goodbyes and followed.

“You two had best behave,” Allura hissed once they were out of earshot, “or you will both help Coran clean the castle from top to bottom. Starting with the storage rooms which have not been cleaned since long before our cryosleep.”

The threat jolted Lance’s mind back into gear. He hated cleaning with a passion.

“Fine,” he muttered. “But I refuse to be anywhere near Mullet.”

There was no need to tempt fate again.

“Ditto.”

Come on. How many more times can we accidentally get married? It would all blow over after a few weeks. Once they left Arus, he and Keith would never have to think about this part of their lives again. They’d defeat Zarkon, go back to Earth, and marry a pair of nice girls. They’d live far away from each other and never have to think of each other again except in the odd high school reminiscence.

***

They were forced to stand next to each other at the party. It wasn’t a rule, really, but the Arusians kept coming up to give them gifts. In the end, it seemed more practical to stand near the gift table than to walk back to it every minute or so.

“No one else has to know about this,” Lance muttered as the Arusian who had just gifted them a keepsake chest skipped off. The chest was beautiful with its dark brown wood and intricately carved designs, but the Arusian had also left his wishes for a “fruitful” marriage behind him.

Can Arusian males reproduce with each other? Lance really didn’t want to think about that. Arusians were too cute and innocent for him to imagine them making babies in any pairings.

Keith sighed and set the chest on the table, next to the Sun Goddess and River God amulets the Arusian princess had gifted them. “It’ll blow over after a couple of weeks. We’re leaving tomorrow anyway.”

Another Arusian bounced into their space and took advantage of Keith’s newly abandoned hands to shove a leather strap into them. “To count your descendants on,” the alien squeaked happily.

Were Luís’s wedding guests so sex-crazed? Lance’s memory said no.

The Arusian went on his way, and Keith tossed the strap to the other side of the table the second no one was looking.

“Keith?”

Keith groaned. Like he had more right to be annoyed than Lance. “What?”

Instead of snapping at the other for his tone, Lance continued with his previous line of thought. It still got the message across. “The next time you try to follow some weird glow, I’m punching you until you’re unconscious.”

It looked like Keith couldn’t speak. Not like he didn’t want to speak but like he legitimately could not form words. (McClain: 2; Kogane: 0.) After a moment, though, he shook his head. His lips twitched as he said, “I’ll help you.”

Lance bit back a laugh.

The next Arusian to approach them handed Lance a handmade tapestry of some sort of rabbit. Probably a moon hare.

“Woah. Did you make this?” The detailing was incredible. The thread was multicolored – a mixture of blues and beiges and whites that matched a third of the entry hall’s party decorations. The rabbit itself glowed with a silver shimmer, hopping along a silhouetted, forest backdrop. And it was silky smooth. How did the residents of a small, primitive village have access to such a soft fabric?

“I usually spend the afternoon tending my shop, but with everyone in the village preparing for the festivities, there was not much point.” Lance turned to her in surprise, and the Arusian shrugged. “Do you like it?”

“It’s awesome!” And it really was. The design was flawless; not a stitch lay out of place. Even some of the tapestries the king insisted on placing around the hall to appease their gods had the odd missed stitch or frayed edge. “I can’t believe you made this that quick.”

“It is my hobby, Blue Paladin.” The Arusian bowed and scampered off before he could throw more praises her way.

He’d have to throw praises elsewhere, then. “Keith, look at this.”

“Yeah. It looks great.”

Lance frowned and finally tore his gaze from the fabric. Keith didn’t sound remotely impressed, and he looked doubtful, like he couldn’t understand Lance’s admiration. He thought Lance’s appreciation of the gift was stupid.

“You don’t deserve this masterpiece,” Lance decided. “I’m keeping it.”

“Go ahead.”

Why was Keith always so infuriating? Lance huffed and carefully folded the tapestry to set it on the table. It was getting full. They’d need a second one soon.

“I’m getting a drink.”

“Whatever.” And they’d been getting along…sort of.

As Lance wandered the crowds, he sighed. Two days. It had only been two days, and he’d been married twice. His only consolation was that these “marriages” wouldn’t hold up in any Earth court system. He hoped.

But still. How had he wound up married to Keith, of all people? Twice! Why couldn’t it have been Allura?

He searched for the princess through the crowd. It wasn't easy to find her through the mess, though. Allura had offered up the castle’s entry hall to host the party. The move was made both to appease King Madleif, who was still slightly offended by Keith and Lance’s continued rejections of his traditions, as well as to ensure Lance and Keith attended the party. They couldn’t escape if the party was in their home.

After King Madleif’s renovation, it didn’t look like home.

Arusian banners and tapestries littered the walls. The Sun God’s gold and sky-blue streamers intermixed with the River God’s midnight-blue, silver, and white above a sort of sacrificial altar near the entrance. There were even a few, life-sized statues spaced sporadically around the dance floor. None of the Arusians seemed to mind. They just continued to dance and mingle, maneuvering around the effigies with practiced ease. Those effigies looked suspiciously Altean, but the Arusians assured the Paladins that they were the gods.

Lance sighed. He’d be the first to tear down the invasive décor once the party ended. Keith could start the bonfire, but God help him if he got in Lance’s way.

His inspection of the wedding party halted once he spotted Allura. She stood at the top of the main stairs. Part of Lance hoped she’d be looking at him or at least would feel his gaze and turn around. Allura was too distracted, watching King Madleif give a speech Lance didn’t care enough to listen to.

Man, she was beautiful. Lance never stood a chance.

He would have been lucky, with her as a wife. It would be soon, true. Allura didn’t even like him as a friend yet, but at least then, he could accept his fate. He could imagine a future with her in it.

He imagined how life would have been, married to the princess. He imagined going home after the war and introducing Allura to his family, sheepishly explaining how they’d accidentally gotten married and fallen in love after. His family would be confused, but Allura was so pleasant – when she wasn’t throwing rocks at people. They’d instantly love her. They’d live together, and he would come home from working at the Garrison, and she’d be there, smiling and telling him about some mischief Coran had gotten up to or an interesting part of Earth culture she’d learned.

With Keith…His stomach flipped. He couldn’t imagine that. There was no future with Keith. The last two days would be a dark stain on his past. A secret he could never confess to anyone, even the girl he wound up marrying. Hopefully a girl like Allura.

The Altean princess was kind, beautiful, and strong. She put the needs of the universe above her own. That was the person Lance needed to marry, not Keith.

Coran walked up to him, jostling him from his thoughts. “Here you are, my boy. Try this.” Lance frowned but accepted the offered cup, sending the princess one last, wistful look. “It’ll perk you up.”

He turned his full attention to the engineer. “Thanks, Coran. Any clue when the party’ll end?”

Coran twirled his mustache in thought. “Not until after the play, at least.”

“What play?”

Coran gestured to the steps where King Madleif and Allura stood. This time, Lance noticed their Arusian accompaniment. Five of the Arusians had formed an odd cheerleader’s pyramid on the steps in front of the royals.

“That play. They are recounting your defeat of the Galran beast. I believe they mean it as another wedding gift.”

“Oh.” Lance really wanted the party to end, then.

As Coran moved on, another Arusian accosted Lance to hand him a clay pot. Before he left, the Arusian made sure Lance knew that the pot’s engravings outlined the story of the River God’s defeat of the Bwellian sea beast. Then, he recounted the story. Down to every last, gruesome detail.

Lance ran the second he could.

“Get anything interesting while I was gone?” he asked Keith as he rejoined the other at the gift table. Several new items had appeared, so he had to move some things to make room for his pot of death.

“Someone gave me a knife. There’s some weird creams that you can have…” Keith grimaced. “It’s all junk.”

“Don’t say that,” Lance admonished. “These people worked really hard to give us these presents.” Though, he suspected at least a few Arusians were clearing out the garage.

“A belt to count our children on?” Keith demanded. “Bed sheets for our first night together?”

“Well…yeah. Those ones are a little weird.” How had the tiny aliens even gotten sheets that large? They were bigger than the houses in the Arusian village!

A cheer resounded through the hall, interrupting their conversation. “Huurah!”

“Eeee!”

What was going on? Lance watched the celebration for a clue, but all he could see were gaudy decorations and dancing and excited Arusians.

Hunk walked over as he was about to give up. [“We oughta get something like that.”]

[“Like what?”]

[“You know, like a cheer. Like a team cheer that we do.”]

Lance thought about that. It sounded interesting, and all good hero teams had catchphrases. All he could think of, though, was, [“How about, ‘I say ‘Vol’ and you say ‘Tron’! Vol?"]

Keith wouldn’t play along. [“Uh…Voltron?”]

Was he joking? ["No! No. No no no no. The cheer includes the instructions. I say Vol, and you say…?”]

[“Vol-tron?”]

He…didn’t look like he was joking. Lance sighed. [“We’ll work on it.”]

And this was the guy who beat him out of being a fighter pilot. Feeling more than a little depressed at that thought, Lance took his first sip of the drink Coran gave him. The second the liquid touched his tongue, he recoiled. It took every ounce of will inside him not to spit out the bitter and rancid drink.

Seeing the engineer not too far away, Lance stalked over.

[“Coran, what is this?!”]

[“Oh, this is Nunvill, the nectar of the gods!”] Lance was really beginning to hate these alien gods.

[“It tastes like hotdog water and feet.”]

[“Yeah. Makes a wonderful hair tonic as well.”] Coran splashed some on his mustache before walking off. He left Lance trying and failing to get the taste out of his mouth.

Lance would rather drink that sacred spring water a hundred times over. He’d rather drink pickle juice.

Once the taste finally faded – which took much too long – he found Hunk again.

“Feeling better, Buddy?”

“Yeah. A little.” He sighed and stared into his cup. [“But I guess we should get used to this space juice. Who knows when we’ll get back home again?”]

[“Yeah, if ever.”] Hunk frowned at his Nunvill.

If ever?

[“What do you mean?”]

[“I mean, if this Zarkon guy has been ruling for 10,000 years, how long do you think it’ll take for us to fix it? You know, if we live.”]

Hunk had a horrible, terrifying point. [“Right. That.”]

The Yellow Paladin’s mood did a one-eighty as a food tray passed. [“Hey, what do you think the chances are of us landing on a nacho planet?”]

Probably zero.

[“Well, there’s only one planet with Varadero Beach, pizza shack looking over the water, and the garlic knots and my mom’s hugs and…"] Lance couldn’t continue. He couldn’t let Hunk see him cry. [“I’m sorry. I think this Nunvill is getting to me. I gotta go.”]

He hurried up the stairs as quickly as possible without full-on running.

Keith immediately knew something was wrong. He, Shiro, Hunk, and the princess were plotting out how to find a new Green Paladin to replace Pidge when, out of nowhere, a chill danced across his spine. The hairs on his arms and neck stood on end, and his every nerve lit ablaze.

“Something’s-”

The castle rocked with an explosion, and every sensation, even the low buzzing he felt when Lance wasn’t around, disappeared. Numb. Gone...

...Dead. “Lance!”

Chapter Text

Lance honestly remembered very little about the explosion or Sendak’s attack. Through the ordeal, all he could think of was his and Keith’s fight in the pond. It played on a loop through his head, distorting more and more until it made no sense. (“We make a good team."  Why would Lance say that during a fight?) Everything else remained in the fuzzy background, hidden by pain and burning.

Lance flambé.

Waking to cold was a blessing…Until he remembered Keith carrying him to the cryopod.

Great.

Had he really passed out? In Keith’s arms?!

There was no time for him to think through his embarrassment, though, because the cryopod screen slid open, dropping him into the too warm embrace of his team. Was it normal to feel so tired after sleeping for…however long? He needed another nap to recover from his nap.

The others eventually let him go, giving him a chance to rest. Hunk promised to bake him some special, Arusian soup as a get well present.

Finally left to his own devices, Lance thought through the recent events. He’d been too wrecked by the explosion. There was no other explanation for his sappy declaration. He and Keith may have made a good team against Sendak, but that didn’t make them one any other time. They fought too much. Lance hated him too much.

He looked like a stupid hero, crashing in to save the day. Lance had regained consciousness soon enough to see that. Throughout their captivity, Shiro kept up a stream of whispered reassurances, and the words roused him in time for Lance to witness the rest of the team bursting into the room.

Perfect. How was Keith always so perfect? Lance couldn’t stand it. Then, he’d stolen Lance’s thunder, attacking Sendak right after he had.

Lance pushed the memories aside as the usual annoyance filled him. Keith was still a jerk. One moment out of a hundred meant nothing. He’d been high off crystal fumes and castle dust; that was all. Besides, Keith hardly needed a bigger ego. That’s why he told the other he didn’t remember.

What gave Keith the right to broadcast their ‘bonding moment’ to the others, anyway? Their friends were bad enough with knowledge of the actual bondings.

Keith held Lance back as the others moved to prepare for the launch. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine. Why? Come to gloat?” Lance wouldn’t put it past him.

Keith looked almost offended. “No! I was just- I was really worried. I couldn’t feel anything from you.”

He’s talking about the bond. “So what? It just went blank?” Lance couldn’t think of anything better. For a blissful moment, Keith had had a moment of normalcy. A taste of before. Then, he thought about the implications.

For two days, they’d felt a constant hum of life. It was a sensation they knew connected to the other. For that to go silent all of a sudden…Lance imagined himself as the one downstairs, enjoying the party when the explosion happened. He imagined knowing that Keith was somewhere else in the castle and suddenly feeling nothing except emptiness where the other’s lifeforce should be.

Oh. Keith must have been terrified.

“Y-yeah. I thought you were dead. It was- I’m glad you’re okay, is all.” Keith’s brow furrowed, and he eyed Lance skeptically. “If you’re okay.”

Lance had to smile. “It’s going to take a lot more than a little explosion for you to get rid of me, Mullet.” He planned to annoy Keith for as long as they were forced together. The other deserved it for being so annoying himself. Call it the law of reciprocal annoyance.

For a moment, Keith grew defensive, but then, he sighed and grinned, letting it go. There was a first time for everything, Lance supposed. That day seemed rife with them. “Good to know.”

That was enough sappiness for one sitting. “If you’re done bothering me, I have to get my armor on. Allura’s waiting.”

***

Lance’s Mamá had told him his flirty nature would get him into trouble. He’d just assumed that trouble would involve overprotective fathers, broken curfews, and angered boyfriends. Ropes didn’t make the list.

“Not one word,” he hissed to Keith.

Despite his taunts, the Red Paladin had arrived to unchain him in record time. That didn’t mean Lance had to like the situation.

“I wasn’t going to say anything.” The smirk on Keith’s face begged to differ.

Lance might have said something in retaliation, but the rope was still giving Keith trouble. If he was too mean, Keith might leave him there until the others arrived to check on them. He could only take so much humiliation in one day.

He could also only take so much silence. “So…how’s it going?”

“Well-” Keith hacked ceaselessly at Lance’s bonds, but the only effect his sword had on the chord was sending a loud Fwizz! through the air. The restraints didn’t even move. When Keith gave up and answered Lance, however, he was grinning. “I just flew through an asteroid field, fought space pirates while flying through that asteroid field, and rescued an ancient and powerful weapon from those pirates’ clutches. Life could be worse.”

Oh, that explained it. Keith got all the fun.

It was Lance’s job to ruin that.

“I bet I could do it twice as fast.”

“Whatever you say, Lance.”

Whatever I say? Lance frowned. Something was different. Old Keith would have gotten indignant and started a fight. That’s the reaction he’d wanted. It would have ruined Keith’s good mood and given Lance something other than his captivity and Nyma’s rejection to think about, but Keith seemed completely unfazed. What had happened?

Keith turned back to inspect the restraints without so much as a glare. “My sword’s not working.”

Fine. If he wants to be that way. Lance ignored all thoughts of Keith’s personality transplant to focus on the main issue: untying him.

“Maybe because the rope can’t be cut?” he suggested. “Try a rock or something. We can try to break it or short it out.”

Keith glanced around, frowning in every direction without finding anything useful. Oh yeah. The ground was completely solid. For all they knew, there was nothing movable within twelve miles of them, let alone something strong enough to break through alien rope. If it even was rope. Lance wondered if Nyma had planned the heist so thoroughly to think about his possible tools of escape or if the universe just hated him.

You and Keith have been married in obscure alien rituals twice in less than a week, his mind groused. Of course the universe hates you.

“I’ll be right back.”

Keith left his field of vision, and a minute later there was the Splash! of something large hitting water. Large like a person. Lance gaped. Had Keith just jumped into the spring? What part of Lance being chained to a tree made him think it was time to go swimming?

“Keith! What the hell?! You can’t just leave me here!”

Sploosh! “Shut up. I can hear you underwater. Do you want someone dangerous to find us?” Another Splash! followed that order. Lance tried to twist to see what Keith was doing, but as bendy as he was, he couldn’t stretch enough to see behind the tree. Not without tearing his arms out of socket.

“Ugh, fine! I’ll just wait here for Mr. Perfect Hero, then,” he muttered.

He knew he was busted the second his headset crackled. “You know we can hear you, right?” Pidge asked.

Lance squawked. How had he forgotten about his helmet? It’s what saved him in the first place! “Uh. Of course, why wouldn’t I know that? What kind of Paladin would forget about his headset which connects him to his awesome team?”

Shiro’s chuckle vibrated through the headpiece, sending bursts of static through with it. Lance would never live this down, would he? “How are you holding up, Lance?”

“Fine. I’m absolutely awesome. Just…chilling.”

At least they weren’t there to see his humiliation in person. Just the thought had sparks of anxiety flickering across his skin.

“I’m sure Keith will be back soon, Buddy. Then we can be on our way to the Balmera so I can keep my promise to Shay.”

Man, Hunk really liked this girl, didn’t he? Lance hoped she wasn’t another Nyma. He could deal with the rejection; while he hated to admit it, he was used to it. Hunk…not so much.

Remembering his betrayer, however, distracted Lance from Hunk’s lady friend. He, instead, began thinking of all the ways Karma could get revenge on the pirates. Maybe they’d be eaten by dangerous beasts on the asteroid. Maybe a hot guy would win Nyma’s heart then shatter it to pieces like she’d done to him. At the very least, Keith had destroyed their ship. Lance could be happy with that.

Maybe.

Another Sploosh! followed by the sound of wet footsteps preceded Keith reentering his field of vision. Man, Keith looked a mess. Wet locks of hair clung to his face, but he did nothing to fix it. Literal pools of water formed beneath him, originating from air pockets in his armor. His shoulders slumped, and the purple in his eyes stood out in contrast to his pale skin. Either he’d lost blood-flow due to the cold water or his wet hair made the difference between his skin and hair color more apparent.

Damn, but Lance could see why all the Garrison girls had a thing for him.

Keith was soaked and barefoot and frowning, and he couldn’t look more alluring.

Mr. Perfect Hero...

“Let’s hope this works,” Keith muttered.

Lance shook himself from his daze. He hoped this worked. The cuffs were obviously restricting the blood-flow to his brain.

Without wasting a second, Keith raised his hand – which Lance finally noticed was holding something – and brought it down in one, forceful strike. Sparks rained down on Lance’s hands, sizzling oddly where they touched his armor, but it worked. The rope fizzled and died, and the cuffs detached themselves from Lance’s wrists.

“Oh, thank God. Keith, I could kiss y-”

What the hell? Why would I say that?!

Before Lance could freak out, Keith said, “I deserve it. I nearly drowned!”

Oh. Thank God Keith was an oblivious idiot when it came to socialization. He wouldn’t know that Lance had just said one of the stupidest and most social-life-ruinous things he could have said.

But…he does look kissable.

Moving on!

Lance laughed, hoping it sounded less hysterical to Keith than to him. “You could have worn your helmet, you know.”

“They can’t get wet.”

“Actually,” Allura cut in, reacquainting Lance with the fact that their friends could hear every word of their conversation. He’d never live this down. “Those helmets are built to withstand thousands of different environments, including aquatic ones.”

Keith groaned. “Good to know.”

Since no one pointed out his previous slip, Lance decided to shift the conversation to safer waters. Ones that didn’t have Keith looking like a half-drowned cat and kissable hunk at the same time.

No, wait. That’s not what he meant!

What the hell is wrong with me? Did the explosion cause brain damage?

“What saved me anyway?” Lance tugged Keith’s hand up to get a better look at the rock. If it also let him avoid looking at Keith and collect his thoughts, who could prove it?

The rock was actually a crystal. A large, beautiful crystal consisting of swirling shades of purple. The hypnotic and glistening swirls were enough to distract him from his momentary mental impairment. “Woah. Where did you find this?”

“At the bottom of the spring. There was nothing up here, so I figured…” Keith shrugged.

Hunk spoke before Lance could respond. “Uh, guys? Are you on your way yet? We really need to get to Shay.”

Right. Hunk’s girlfriend.

They both smiled towards their helmets, and Keith actually chuckled. “We’re on the way Hunk. Wouldn’t want to keep your girlfriend waiting.”

“She’s not my girlfriend!”

They snorted, reveling in Pidge’s teasing and Hunk’s subsequent denials.

Still chuckling, Keith pushed his crystal to Lance. “Here, keep it.”

Lance couldn’t even try to reject something so beautiful. Considering his attitude toward the Arusian tapestry, Keith probably wouldn’t appreciate its beauty enough, anyway.

The second Lance touched the crystal, a shock burst through his hand. “Ow! What the-?!”

Crack!

“What the hell?” He looked up and saw Keith gripping his own hand.

“It must have absorbed some residual energy from the cuffs,” Keith muttered. He frowned towards the crystal. In the shock of pain, they’d both let go, allowing the gem to fall to the ground. It lay in two, somehow symmetrical, pieces.

Lance’s hand jerked with another spasm, and he glanced down, removing his glove to assess the damage.

Great. There was a burn scar on his palm.

At least it looks cool.

“Did the lightning hit you, too?”

When Keith stared at him in confusion, Lance displayed his hand. Keith frowned at it, then assessed his own hand. Whatever he saw had a half-smile forming on his face before he showed Lance his injury. Yep, on Keith’s palm, there was an identical burn, stretching like lightning across his skin.

“Guess we should get used to scars, huh? We are fighting in a war.”

“Yeah, but I’d hoped they’d be more badass.” Lance sighed, finally dropping his hand. It didn’t hurt anymore. “Just don’t tell Griffin that I got my first scar from touching a rock.”

“As long as you don’t tell him I took my helmet off to jump in the spring.”

“Deal.”

Keith assessed the crystal before slowly poking it. Nothing happened. “It’s fine now. How about I keep half and you keep the other? As a souvenir of our ‘dangerous battle.’”

Lance snorted, but he accepted his part of the crystal anyway.

“Guys!” Hunk shouted. “Stop chitchatting about crystals and get over here!”

***

When they got back to the castle-ship, Coran took one look at the crystals and nearly fainted. “Twelve gods of the Fraptious Mountains!”

Okaaay. That was odd, even for Coran. What had Keith and Lance missed?

“Um, are you okay, Coran?” They all stared at the engineer, wondering what was wrong.

Coran ignored Lance’s question, too captivated by the crystal in his hand. “That’s a Norocos crystal! And it’s split in half!”

Was that bad?

“Yeah,” Keith said slowly. “I used it to break through that rope on Lance, and some of the energy from the cuffs cracked it.”

Pidge scoffed. “Yeah, we heard.”

Remembering what else they’d heard, Lance groaned. Please, don’t mention it. I’ll do anything. I’ll stop flirting with Allura. I’ll clean the castle top to bottom. Pidge’s smirk crushed what little hope he had of being left alone. At least they had more important things to worry about at that moment than Lance’s moment of insanity.

“You mean it wasn’t cracked when you found it?!” Coran leaned against the wall, fanning his face. “Oh, gods of the mountains. Gods of the seas!”

“Coran, what is it?” Allura stared at him in concern. “I’ve never heard of a Norocos crystal.”

“Well, of course not. They’re quite rare, and they’re only found on planet Densinthian.” His eyes widened, and he suddenly sprinted to the central kiosk to pull up a map.

Lance stared at the others through the glimmering stars and planets, silently asking if anyone else knew what Coran’s problem was. Hunk shrugged, Allura and Shiro frowned, and Pidge shook her head. Keith looked like a very confused, drowned rat that had just been through a tornado. (The decontamination chamber had done his hair no favors. It was in severe need of a brush, conditioner…and maybe a braid or two.)

“Coran-”

Coran’s gasp cut over whatever Shiro would have said. “I knew this system looked familiar! You must have landed on Densinthian’s moon! There are far more asteroids than I remember, but I suppose it has been ten thousand years.” The map flickered off, leaving the room brighter but somehow less real.

What in quiznak was Coran talking about? This all seemed like a huge overreaction to a crystal. Even a rare one. The Paladins and Allura waited patiently for the full explanation, one that would justify Coran’s freak-out and make everything make sense. It never came.

“Coran, what is a Norocos crystal? Why does it matter?”

“It matters, Princess, because the Norocos crystal is used in bonding ceremonies on Densinthian!”

Lance froze. Used in bonding ceremonies? Every bone in his body prayed that this explanation wasn’t headed where he thought it was. Give me one thing. Just one, he pleaded to all the gods, alien and from Earth.

“A crystal is chosen by one of the couple and anointed with the waters of a sacred spring.”

Just one thing, Lance begged.

“Then, the crystal is presented to the other party who either accepts or rejects it. When it is accepted, the crystal splits in two, drawing in their essence and marking the two as bonded.”

Coran’s words echoed through Lance’s head on a loop. ‘Marking the two as bonded. Marking the two as bonded. Marking the two-’ “Oh my fucking God!”

“Wow. Three for three.”

“Pidge…”

“Come on, Shiro. This is hilarious.”

“Oh my fucking God!”

Shiro turned to him. “Lance. I know the situation is-”

“Horrible. It’s horrible!” So far, not one planet hadn’t married them!

“Is anyone else getting freaked out by this?” Hunk asked, frowning between Lance and Keith. “I mean. This can’t be normal, can it?”

Lance ignored him. He turned to Keith who was acting much more quiet than usual. Suspiciously quiet. “Keith, please, please tell me it wasn’t glowing when you found it.”

“…I thought it was the light reflecting off of it.”

“Keith!”

Chapter Text

They reached the Balmera before Lance could kill Keith. He resigned himself to only imagining the event as they followed through on their missions. Together, of course, because Shiro was apparently evil. Must have been that year with the Galra.

Lance stared at the mess of sentry bodies scattered across the cavern floor. Whatever else anyone said about Keith, he fought great for a rookie. That didn’t make the other any less of an impulsive hothead, though. Case in point: he sprinted away without saying one word to Lance, seconds after committing mass sentricide.

Jerk. Lance followed anyway.

“Why do we always get paired up for these things?”

“Shiro sent us in because we’re the best people for the job.”

Keith froze at the next intersection and pressed against the cave wall, leaning carefully around to check that the path was clear. Progress. At the start of the mission, he’d hurtled into the path of Galra soldiers every two minutes. Only Lance’s quick reflexes had saved them from getting killed or exposing themselves.

Deciding it was safe to move, Keith took off again, sparing Lance only a brief look as he followed. “We can’t let personal problems affect the team.”

“I could have done this mission on my own,” Lance argued. It just would have taken a little longer.

“What happened to, ‘We make a good team’?”

Lance really needed to think before he spoke. Especially to Keith. “Don’t remember; didn’t happen.”

“Whatever you say.”

Lance glowered, but he stayed silent until they reached the intersection of several tunnels. There were too many to choose from. “Alright, where’s the core? Allura?”

“We’re a little occupied at the moment!”

That doesn’t sound good.

Despite his lingering irritation, Lance turned to Keith. He didn’t have much choice. Allura and Coran were their only guides through the caves, and he didn’t know what to do now that the Alteans were ‘occupied.’

“Maybe the Balmera can help us,” Keith suggested. “It’s alive, right?” Without waiting for an answer, he stared at the ceiling and asked, “We’re trying to get to the core. Can you show us the quickest way?”

Lance wanted to call Keith crazy, but he actually got a response.

A long Waa-oo! resounded around them. Almost like a whale.

“Is that the Balmera?”

Keith shrugged.

Lance waited for something to happen. Maybe the walls would move. Maybe all but one tunnel would close or collapse. Maybe the Balmera had enough energy to summon crystals to help them navigate.

Please don’t be the crystals, he mentally begged.

Nothing happened.

“Nice going, Mullet. You made the Balmera mad.”

“What?” Keith glared at him. “No, I didn’t. I jus- Woah!”

WAAAAA-OOOO!

The cavern shuddered around them, leaving dust and chaos in its wake. They dodged to avoid the falling rocks, but a sizable one clipped Lance’s shoulder before he could get away. He clutched it, trying to shake off the ache and focus on the situation.

“It’s caving in!” Keith shouted.

No duh. “Where should we go?! We’re underground!”

Everything was chaos. Lance couldn’t see past the dust and debris, and the cavern still quaked around them, making it impossible for him to focus on any one area or tunnel.

Keith hurriedly glanced around. After several, nerve-wracking moments, his eyes fixed on an area to their left. Keith pointed. “There!”

Of all the tunnels they’d initially had to choose from, Lance was certain that one was new. Maybe the dust was messing with his head, but it seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

But it was the only tunnel that wasn’t vibrating and spitting dust.

They ran to take cover, only stopping once they no longer saw the tunnel entrance or felt the ground shaking. That’s when they noticed something else weird.

“Is it just me, or are there way too many crystals here?”

Small but numerous gems covered the walls. Not one inch lacked adornment. Blue, green, and white light flashed across their suits, reflecting from and to all directions, guided by the crystals. Lance even saw a few rainbows scattered through the mix. Where the light originated from, Lance didn’t know, but it lit his and Keith’s path, allowing them to walk without tripping over the numerous dips and holes in the ground. If Lance wasn’t so confused, he’d be in awe.

“Why would the Galra leave this one tunnel alone?”

Keith frowned. “I don’t know, but we should keep walking. The others are waiting for us, and we don’t want to attract the wrong attention.”

Lance eyed the crystals. “Something tells me we won’t find any Galra down here.”

They jogged through the tunnels in silence. As a rule, Lance hated everything to do with the quiet. He was a loud guy. He liked being heard, and he didn’t like to think too much. That led nowhere good. But he couldn’t think of anything to say. The lull in action gave his mind all the time and opportunity it needed to focus on the curse he and Keith seemed to be under. Why couldn’t he be stuck with Hunk? The other would be talking his ear off.

Wait. Why isn’t Hunk saying anything? “Hey, guys? You there?”

Only static answered.

“The comms are out,” Keith said. “I think something in this tunnel is blocking the signal.”

That wasn’t good. If they got trapped down there, the others might never find them. “Let’s keep moving.”

Silence descended again, and Lance’s mind found a distraction from his and Keith’s possible doom in the form of their definite one.

Three times. Three times, they’d been married. What was going on?

There was no way they could have accidentally stumbled through so many marriage rituals. Once, sure. Twice, maybe. Three made a pattern Lance didn’t like.

When they got back to Earth after the war –

If we get back.

Shut up, Hunk brain.

When they got back, they’d have to cut all ties to each other. Lance refused to spend the rest of his dating life explaining that he and Keith were married on three planets.

Probably more than that by the time we get back to Earth.

Shut up!

How is that going to feel for you? His brain continued anyway. Being a few rooms away feels like an itch. What would a distance of two states do?

Lance was willing to find out, if it meant living a normal, Keith-free life. Being around the other so much was already messing with his brain! He couldn’t let it get worse.

What’s wrong with finding Keith attractive? He’s a good-looking guy. All the girls at the Garrison had the hots for him.

Yeah, and he’s the jerk who brushed them all off! Lance still remembered Carol Rogers running out of their classroom in tears after asking Keith out. The jerk had said, “No,” and walked away! What kind of soulless monster did that?

The memory reignited his anger at the other. That’s right. Hot or not, Keith was a jerk, and Lance had miles of proof. No matter how much time they spent together or how messed up it made his head, he had to remember that.

Two states isn’t far enough.

Much calmer than he had been, Lance returned his focus to the real world, only to blink in confusion. Everything was black. He couldn’t see a centimeter in front of him. Even his bright, white armor was invisible! Far above him, he saw the faint light that must be coming from the crystals, but they weren’t close enough to aid his vision where he was.

The darkness pressed close, suffocating him, and he stopped walking.

“Keith?”

“I’m here.”

Lance would forever deny the relief that flooded him when he heard that.

Keith sounded a little distant, but he was there. Without thinking, Lance rushed in the direction of Keith’s voice. Unfortunately, he forgot how uneven the ground was. He tripped.

“Ow!” The descent knocked him into a hard but warm and unstable surface that he assumed was Keith, and they tumbled to the ground.

At least the landing was soft. For Lance anyway. Keith groaned in pain.

“Are you okay, Lance?”

“I’m fine.”

He tried to get up by pushing against what he thought was the ground, but Keith’s second pained groan begged to differ. “Oh, sorry!” Lance scrambled to his feet, kicking either Keith or a rock in the process and stubbing his toe.

Lance wheezed through the pain. “Everything’s just…fine.”

There was a shuffling sound, and Lance tried to stay balanced as his toes throbbed and Keith knocked into him. That became exponentially more difficult when two, searching hands began feeling up his chest and face.

He jerked back. “Hey!”

“Sorry. Just wanted to make sure you were there. I can’t see anything.”

“Yeah, well I can’t either. You don’t see me poking your eyes out, Mullet.”

Keith sighed. “Let’s just go.”

“Fine!”

They both quickly learned why that was a bad idea.

“Quit kicking my heels!”

“Then quit walking so slow!”

“I wouldn’t walk so slow if you didn’t keep bruising my feet!”

“Oh, for crying out loud!”

Keith’s hand shot out to feel him up again, and Lance pulled back, nearly tripping on a raised portion of rock. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“Look. If we want to get out of here without killing each other, I think we have to hold hands.”

“What?!” The word reverberated through the cavern, adding a fitting drama to the situation that Lance appreciated. The universe was on his side in small ways, at least.

“Do you want to keep running into each other?”

“No,” Lance said, “but I also wouldn’t be caught dead holding hands with you.”

“There’s literally no one else down here!”

Lance refused to budge.

Several moments of silence passed before Keith groaned. “Oh, for- Look up! Do you see where the crystals are?”

“…Yes.”

“So, you see the ground near the exit, too?”

Lance’s gaze followed the crystals to the tunnel’s end. “Yeah. What about it?”

“It’s there. And we can see it. We can hold hands until it gets light enough to walk without running into each other, then we’ll let go. After that, we’ll forget about it, and it never happened. Happy?”

Lance debated on arguing further. Holding hands with Keith, of all people? But Keith was right. They had to get to the Balmera’s core. The others were waiting on them.

“Fine, but this never happened.”

“Agreed.”

Sight couldn’t come soon enough.

They had to slow their pace to both accommodate their hold on each other as well as avoid tripping over a ground they couldn’t see. In other words, they were stuck holding hands for much longer than Lance appreciated. The second Lance could see his feet, he threw Keith’s hand away from him and bolted for the cave exit. He wasn’t running away. He was just trying to get to the others.

The others weren’t on the other side.

Keith came to a stop next to him and took in the scene. “Great. A dead end.”

The tunnel had led to a cavern, but there was no exit. In fact, the only thing inside the crystallized cove, other than an abundance of blue light, was a pit. Lance walked over to inspect it with Keith following close behind him.

“There has to be a way out of here.”

The crystals in the pit were much larger. Each one a multitude of colors and jutting dangerously out of the walls. There was no way the Galra would have left the cave alone with crystals that big in it. How had it remained hidden from them? Lance hadn’t seen one other tunnel during their trip that wasn’t rife with Galra tech and deficient in crystals.

Keith drew his attention to the sides of the pit. “Maybe those tunnels lead somewhere.”

The holes could feasibly be tunnels, Lance supposed, but they were at least twenty feet down, at the base of the pit. The very sharp and pointy pit.

“I don’t like our odds of getting stuck down there.”

“As opposed to being stuck here?” Keith retorted. “The Balmera’s core would be down, right? Shouldn’t we head down?”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Alright, then. How about I stay up here while you check it out?”

Keith vaulted himself into the pit.

What the hell, Keith?! Lance’s heart jolted into overdrive. He almost didn’t want to look. He hadn’t expected Keith to actually jump.

Keith narrowly avoided collision with the crystals.

“Keith!”

The Red Paladin didn’t look the slightest bit apologetic when he stood from his hero landing. He just inspected the pit, acting like he hadn’t endangered his own life the second before. “It’s fine, Lance. It looks like the tunnels lead out. And there are enough footholds in the cliffside to get back up if I’m wrong.”

Lance glared at him, heart racing in anger more than fear as the other continued to be unaffected by his narrow escape from death. Unlike Keith, he didn’t jump into the abyss like a maniac. He moved carefully off the rocky ground and onto one of the crystals, testing his weight before resting fully on it. From there, he moved to the edge and sat. Only then, did he jump, pushing himself into the pit more than hurdling over the edge.

Keith watched him through the entire process, growing steadily more impatient. “Lance, we didn’t have time for all that!”

“We don’t have time to die here! Now, where to next, genius?”

Keith rolled his eyes but turned to inspect the tunnels anyway. “Heads or tails?”

“You have a coin?”

“No.”

“Then, why?”

If Lance had thought Keith was annoyed before…“Just pick one!”

“Fine. Tails.”

“We’ll go that way.” Keith headed left.

Here goes nothing.

Lance followed Keith to his doom. Instead, they found a waterfall.

“I am not jumping in there.” Not after the last two times he’d encountered alien water. Besides, since the cavern wasn’t flooding, the resulting river had to be emptying somewhere. With Lance’s luck, he’d be sucked in the second he dipped a toe in.

Keith pursed his lips but nodded, eyeing the other side of the cavern with an intensity only he could manage. Unlike the previous cavern, the new one had an exit, and it was a reasonable and safe one to get to. Except for the waterfall.

“There has to be a way past it.”

Lance looked around, trying to find something that would help him stay dry but also get across. How long had the others been missing them? What if they were in danger or captured while Lance and Keith were trapped in this maze?

His inner voice snorted. You haven’t been here that long.

Neither of them had any way to know that.

Despite his distraction – should he be worried about this new voice in his head? – Lance noticed the pillar first. “Look! There!” Near the waterfall, there was a loose but long, crystal column. “We can make a bridge with that!”

Keith held back, and Lance tried to move the crystal on his own. Unfortunately, it was too heavy for him. “A little help, please.”

“Okay, but if this is another marriage rock, it’s on you this time.”

Lance glared at him. “Just get over here and help me, Mullet!”

Keith hurried over. Together, they got the column securely over the river.

“Alright.” Lance panted. “God, that was heavy.” And it hadn’t shocked them or done any other weird things which was good.

Not a marriage crystal then. Probably.

“Let’s go.”

They followed the next tunnel into a downward slope. The farther they got, though, the redder everything looked. The warm color occasionally mixed with the blue and white lights of the crystals to bathe the cavern in shades of purple and pink.

Where’s the red light coming from?

It could mean they were almost out of the tunnel system. If the Galra base was under attack, then any rooms could flash red in warning. Lance groaned when he saw the actual reason.

“I knew it.”

Lava. They’d somehow found their way into a room filled with pools of lava. It bubbled menacingly before popping and emitting puffs of smoke or steam.

“That’s it. I’m declaring us lost.”

Keith snorted. “We’re not lost, Lance.”

“Then where’s the exit?”

Keith looked around, and Lance followed suit. Despite the lava, there was plenty of room to move. Most of the room, actually. The dozen or so pools of fiery death just drew the eye. In the very center, a large stalagmite jutted from the ground, almost, but not quite, meeting the stalactite in the ceiling. A few ledges of rock or crystal were scattered at various points across the walls, interspersed with the occasional alcove, but what there wasn’t, was an exit.

Then, Keith looked up. He pointed to a space on the wall to their immediate right. If Keith hadn’t mentioned it, Lance would have never seen it. “It’s up there.”

Lance followed his point and saw an opening in the wall. The only problem?

That has to be sixty feet above us!

“How are we supposed to get up there? The wall’s completely smooth!”

Keith frowned at the wall like glowering would make it move. Then, he asked, “How high do you think you can lift me?”

“What?”

“There’s a ledge every ten feet or so.” Keith pointed to indicate the ledges he meant, staring at Lance in a very commanding way. Who’d given him control of their mission? “If you can lift me, I might be able to reach it. Then, I can pull you up.”

Lance debated on arguing. Hadn’t he done enough already? They’d held hands, for God’s sake! The alternative, however, was turning back around and hoping the other tunnels hadn’t completely caved in. They’d probably have to hold hands again to get through the darkness intact.

“Fine.”

Keith wasn’t light, but he wasn’t too heavy either. The main problem was lift. They tried the usual, foot-in-hands move first, but there was nothing on the wall for Keith to grasp onto to help Lance not drop him. He couldn’t lift Keith high enough that way.

Next, Lance tried lifting Keith by the waist, but they were still a foot too far from the ledge.

“I have to stand on your shoulders,” Keith realized. “That would double our heights. I should be able to reach it.”

Lance bit back a comment about Keith’s height. After so much lifting, he didn’t have the energy for a fight. Once the adrenaline wore off, his arms would probably be useless for weeks.

He bent down and allowed Keith to clamber up his back and onto his shoulders. Nothing on Earth – or any other planet – would convince Lance that the Red Paladin didn’t kick him more than necessary on the way up as payback for their earlier tumble.

Keith grasped the edge and pulled himself up.

Oh, thank God. Lance groaned in relief as the excess weight disappeared. Having all of Keith’s mass pressing down into two focused points on his shoulders was debilitating. And they’d have to do it again!

“Alright, Mullet. Your turn.”

Keith nodded and laid flat on his stomach. When he reached down to pull Lance up, however, his arms were too short. They still had almost a foot of space between their outstretched hands. “You’ll have to jump.”

Why did Lance have to do all the hard work? His legs protested – they hadn’t missed out on the workout, either – but he jumped as high as he could, ignoring the rush to his head as vertigo set in. He missed Keith’s hands by an inch.

“Try again.”

That time, he missed by a mile. Or half a foot.

Third time was the charm.

The second their hands interlocked, Keith dragged him upwards, not stopping until Lance was safely on the ledge.

Once Lance was up there, though, Keith flopped over, panting like he’d just run a mile. If Lance had had any spare energy, he would have scoffed. Keith had gotten the easy job. He had no right to complain.

“Ready for round two?” Keith asked after a moment.

“Ready when you are.” God, Lance’s stomach hurt. Those ledges had sharp corners.

“Great.”

The problem with being on a ledge? There wasn’t as much room for error. On the ground, Lance could stumble anywhere to catch himself if they overbalanced, and as long as they avoided the lava pools, there would be no lasting damage if they fell. On the ledge, that wasn’t the case.

“Careful, Mullet!” He tried to stay on his feet, leaning this way and that to keep their balance as Keith did his best to topple them both.

“I’m trying!” That’s not how it seemed where Lance was standing.

Which, right now, is literally on the edge. They were going to die, weren’t they?

Keith caught the ledge a moment later and pulled himself up. “Remind me to work on arm strength after this,” Lance called to him. His arms felt like literal jelly, but he powered through the numbness.

“You got it!” Keith appeared over the edge, reaching down to grab him.

Lance groaned. For the first time, he loathed being taller than Keith. Other than their heights, they were both a similar body mass. If he were shorter, Keith would be the one lifting him. He, unfortunately, wasn’t shorter.

Lance jumped to catch Keith’s hands without waiting for a cue.

“You think this will be a regular thing?” Keith asked as they caught their breath. “I mean…the climbing.”

“Man, I hope not.”

“…We better hurry. The others are waiting for us.”

Let them wait. Lance got up anyway.

After three more, torturous, ledges, they reached the cavern’s exit.

They paused in front of the tunnel, just staring. Neither of them wanted to know what else the Balmera had in store for them. A burst of static in their comms got them moving again. Lance sighed. “Right…Let’s see what’s next.”

A tree. A tree was next.

Lance gaped. “Okay, water and lava is one thing, but how does a literal rock monster grow a tree?”

If he’d hoped for an actual answer, Keith was apparently the wrong person to ask. “The same way it grows people, I guess.”

“Rock people.” Lance’s arms flailed in the tree’s direction, their soreness having disappeared in the face of his shock. “This is a tree! I didn’t expect the Balmera to grow trees.”

“I thought the crystals were trees.”

“…”

He’d thought what now? Lance contemplated that information. It…sort of made sense. The crystals grew out of the Balmera. They gave the Balmerans life. Plus, the tree in front of them – while it still looked as green and brown as a normal, Earth tree – did have a strange shimmer to it. Nothing overt, but it could have been made of metal or mineral for the sheen it gave off.

“Huh.”

They abandoned that conversation to look for the exit. Even after scouring the walls and ground, however, Lance saw nothing.

Keith apparently had better vision than he did. “Lance. I think we need to go down there.” The Red Paladin pointed to a gap in the tree’s roots. “There’s light shining underneath it.”

At first, Lance didn’t see anything. He moved behind Keith to get the same vantage point, and that’s when he saw it. Instead of the shadows he’d initially seen, daylight – or as close as an underground cavern could get to daylight – shined through the largest gap in the roots. It would be a tight fit, and the drop looked a little long, but…

“I’ll go first. I’m taller.”

He slid through and, after a very short free-fall, landed on his feet. From there, he turned to ease Keith through. Only once Keith’s feet planted firmly on the ground and their arms hurriedly disentangled did they inspect their surroundings.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

A crystal wall blocked their path.

“Maybe if we talk to the Balmera it can move it,” Keith suggested. “It can control its crystals, right?”

Lance moved his glare from the giant, purple crystal in front of them to Keith. “Like that worked so well the first time.”

“We’re here, aren’t we?”

“You mean at a dead end?” Lance threw his hands up. He was starting to think there was no way out of the tunnels. They’d be forever lost and forced to live off of cave bugs and rocks. He’d be stuck with Mullet for life. “The Balmera didn’t show us the way, Keith. We found it ourselves.”

Ignoring him, Keith stared up at the crystal-covered ceiling. “A little help, please?”

Lance rolled his eyes and went to inspect their roadblock. Keith could fail his way if he wanted; Lance would get them out. “Our only way out is if we can move the…Woah.”

The second he touched the crystal he felt it. He didn’t know how he hadn’t before. Those hypnotic pulses were hardly subtle. And the crystal was so warm. How had he not felt the heat before touching it?

“What?” Keith turned away from the ceiling and stepped closer, drawing his bayard.

“Come feel this. The crystal, it’s…it’s vibrating. It’s warm.”

Maybe there was lava in the walls, heating the crystals.

Keith put away his sword and stepped forward to press his hands against the blockade. The second his hands made contact, he gasped and leaned closer, eyes closing in contentment. “Do you feel that?”

“Feel what?” Lance didn’t want to think. He just wanted to revel. It was like all of his aches vanished the second he touched the crystal. He didn’t want to go back to the soreness and fatigue of before.

“The Balmera. I think it’s lending us energy. Or sharing it.”

Lance focused on the warmth, and yeah, he could see what Keith meant. But the information broke through his haze of bliss. “I don’t think that’s a good thing, Keith. The Balmera needs energy, remember?”

In a desperate attempt to undo any damage they may have caused, he tried to push the energy back. To give as much as he’d taken.

Waaa-oooo!

The crystal moved to the side, and Lance and Keith jumped back before they could fall.

“Woah. That was-”

“Yeah…”

He and Keith exchanged one last look before leaving.

They found themselves back in a barren tunnel. There were no crystals to be found, and in the wall to their right lay a door made of Galra metal. It looked like they’d – finally – reached the end of the path. Lance turned to check behind him only to see a bare, rock wall. What had happened to the tunnel?

“What just…?” Where did the wall go?

Keith shrugged, looking equally confused. They hadn’t imagined that whole ordeal, right? Their imaginations weren’t that good, right? They weren’t that connected?

“Let’s go. We need to find the others.”

The Galran door led directly into the Balmera’s core. When Lance and Keith ran in, the other Paladins were already there, but it looked like Shiro and Pidge had just arrived. Good. They weren’t late.

Chapter Text

After the long and exhausting fight with the space lizard, Lance wanted to drop. Dead or unconscious or just asleep. He wasn’t picky.

Keith noticed Lance’s fatigue and, obnoxious jerk that he was, decided to say something about it. “Is that parade you want worth it?”

Lance refused to let the taunt get to him. The fight against the robeast had depleted every ounce of energy the Balmera lent him. For once, he was too tired to argue. Even with Keith. “Forget the parade. I need a celebratory nap. That fight nearly killed me!”

And Allura. He spared a glance for the princess. She was all but passed out in the arms of Hunk’s girlfriend. Hunk might have some competition.

As if he knew what Lance was thinking and wanted revenge, the Yellow Paladin turned on Lance. “You? What about me? Or the Balmera.”

“Or all of us,” Pidge added. “It’s not a competition.”

Shiro stepped between them to stop any budding fights. Apparently, mixing four teenagers and sleep deprivation did not end well. “Alright, team. That’s enough. Now that the Balmera’s healed and the threat was taken care of, I think we’ve earned some rest. Let’s-”

A crystal sprouted between Lance and Keith.

It was hardly a new event. Crystals continued to appear all over the Balmera after Allura’s healing ritual. Lance saw another one growing several yards away from them. So, yeah, there was nothing weird about a crystal growing, even if no crystals had appeared so close to them since the initial healing. Even if this one was large and swirled with cotton-candy pink and blue light, a contrast to the ice blue color of the others.

There’s nothing to worry about, Lance tried to console himself.

“I suppose that will be happening often…now that the Balmera…is healthy again.” Allura smiled weakly at the new arrival.

She obviously didn’t see Shay’s face.

Shay – and her family – gaped at the crystal. Like it shouldn’t be there.

Definitely nothing to worry about. They’re just not used to freedom. They’re in shock. It has nothing to do with this crystal or Keith and me.

You really do live in a sea of denial, don’t you?

Lance bristled. He did not. He just preferred to remain hopeful and ignorant about certain things until he couldn’t anymore. His inner voice could shut it.

“I have not seen a crystal such as this in many years,” Shay’s grandmother squealed.

“I have never seen this crystal,” Shay whispered. “What could its appearance mean?”

Lance just wanted to sleep. Maybe he should slip away. The others could talk about whatever wasn’t happening with the crystal. It has nothing to do with me.

The grandmother spoke again, answering Shay’s question and completely obliterating Lance’s dreams of sleep. “It is a Crystal of Unity.” She smiled at Lance and Keith.

It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with them! If it did, then why did the other Balmerans look so surprised? Wouldn’t they know about their own marriage customs? Besides, unity could mean a lot of things.

“It pleases me to see one again after so long without. None have been in the Tunnels of the Before since the beginning of the Galra invasion.”

The Tunnels of the Before?

An uneasy feeling trickled into Lance’s gut. Every word out of the Balmeran’s mouth made it harder to hope. He prayed that the crystal’s importance wasn’t what he was thinking. He prayed the universe wasn’t that out to get them. There’s lots of tunnels, he assured himself. It doesn’t have to be the ones you went through with Keith.

Pidge – evil gremlin that she was – smirked. “Just curious,” she said. “What’s a Crystal of Unity?”

Did she have to ask?!

Shay’s brother took up the explanation. “The Balmera gifts Crystals of Unity to recently united couples. It is her blessing.”

United was another word for bonded, wasn’t it?

Lance groaned and buried his head in Hunk’s shoulder in dismay, every possibility of reasonable denial had been obliterated with that one sentence. Why did this keep happening to them? It wasn’t normal! It was as far from normal as a person in space’s life could get.

“Such a crystal is a treasured gift for all Balmerans who receive it,” Rax continued, “but-”

“Are you telling me that the tunnels we went through were some sacred, Balmeran marriage tunnels?” Keith demanded.

“If marriage is the skyling word for unions, then yes,” Shay said. “I offer you my congratulations.”

“No!” Lance was sick of this. He thought he’d escaped the curse. He thought that he and Keith could move on with their lives and forget that the nightmare ever happened.

Too angry for words, he pulled his head from Hunk’s shoulder to glare at Shay. They wouldn’t be on the planet if it wasn’t for her. If they never landed on the Balmera, he and Keith wouldn’t have been married for the fourth time. “No. No congratulations and no marriage! I want it undone!”

Shay’s father stepped between Lance and his daughter, meeting Lance’s glare with an infuriatingly calm expression. “The Balmera has already accepted your union, Blue Paladin. No unions may be voided once the Balmera agrees. It is not done. Attempting to do so would damage her, as she has attached her essence to the bond she formed for you.”

Lance screamed. “Why does this keep happening?!”

“Paladin, you must calm yourself,” Shay’s mother said. “There is more to discuss. None other than those of the Balmera may attempt her union ceremony. We must adopt you into our family immediately. You may join our family. As repayment for saving us.”

Lance didn’t have enough energy for more made-up, alien junk. “Can’t I just sleep?”

“You must be adopted as one of the Balmera!” Rax exclaimed. “It is law!”

“Why can’t you just waive the law? It’s not like we meant to get married!” If anyone had asked, Lance would have said no before they finished the question. Where was his, ‘Do you take this man’ moment? Where was his, ‘Speak now’?

“The Galra were still in control when it happened. We didn’t break any laws.”

Mullet could be useful sometimes. Lance grinned. “Yes! Thank you, Keith.”

“Are all skylings this troublesome?” Rax demanded. “It is not us your adoption will appease. It is the Hendur. The Balmera’s protectors. They come when the Balmera grows her Crystal of Unity, in search of the crystal and its catalyst. If the catalyst is not of the Balmera, the Hendur label it an invader and destroy it so that its essence may not infect her.”

“And if we’re not on the Balmera when they come?” Keith asked, brimming with as much frustration as Lance felt.

“The Hendur will search you out until they find you,” Shay’s father answered. “They will turn against our Balmera, thinking you hide beneath her surface or that something infected her mind. They will go to the core and attack, killing the Balmera in their efforts to extinguish the threat.”

Great.

“We can’t let that happen,” Shiro said.

Lance wanted to argue, but they’d just fought an awful battle to keep the Balmera alive. Allura was passed out from the effort of healing it. No matter what, the marriage was apparently irreversible. They may as well go through with the rest so that the entire mess wasn’t a waste.

“Keith, Lance. Go with Shay’s family. Do whatever they say and get adopted pronto. Pidge, Hunk, help free the Balmerans that were trapped during the fight. I’m going to help Coran get the princess into the castle, then I’ll be right out to help with the cleanup.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Lance grumbled. He slumped after the Balmerans as they descended into the Balmera once again, Keith lagging behind him. “Any chance this ritual involves a nap?”

“No, Blue Paladin,” Shay’s grandmother said. “But I will make dinner once it completes.”

After what Hunk had told Lance about his dinner with Shay’s family, Lance was not looking forward to it.

“How does walking through random tunnels make us married anyway?” Keith grumbled, catching up to Lance.

“Those were not random tunnels,” Rax growled. “Those were the tunnels of our creation.”

Wow. Could he be less detailed? “What do you mean?”

“The first of the Balmera were born through the Tunnels of the Before,” Shay’s grandmother explained. “The tunnels hold an energy unknown to others. The energy needed to create life.”

Shay nodded. “It went dormant long ago as we Balmerans were plenty, but those tunnels now are used to celebrate life. Any who travel the tunnels alone form a great bond with the Balmera. Those who travel together form one with both her and each other. That is why we travel through the tunnels to prove our ultimate love to our united ones.”

“Prove your love?”

Keith glared at him, and yeah, Lance immediately regretted asking. He didn’t need or want to hear how he’d proven his love for Keith. He didn’t love Keith. He didn’t even like Keith! The marriage situation was making him like Keith even less!

“According to legend,” Shay’s father explained, “those who survive the trials of the tunnels together without turning back will also survive through the trials of love together. The Balmera knows this and gives her blessing through the unions.”

Lance was going to be sick.

“So, where are we going?”

Shay smiled. “To the Balmera’s core. To adopt you Paladins into our family.”

“Aren’t there, like, laws against adopting both parts of a married couple?”

The aliens stared at him oddly, but they were the weird ones for not realizing why the adoption policy was strange.

“What do you mean? Why would one not be welcome when the other is?”

Lance shook his head. “Nevermind. It’s not like it matters.”

They reached the core soon after.

“Now, we must sit in a circle. Around the Balmera’s heart,” Shay’s grandmother instructed. She sat several feet away from the core and waited for them to do the same. The old woman still seemed much too happy for Lance’s liking. Did she not understand that they hadn’t wanted to be married?

“Don’t we need herbs or something?” Keith muttered as he sat.

“Herbs?”

“You know, like ingredients. Something to do the ritual with?” Lance clarified. He hoped being adopted by the Balmerans wouldn’t have any side effects. If the ritual turned him into a rock, he’d kill Keith. No hesitation. The marriages would have to stop then, right?

Shay laughed. “Why would we need ‘ingredients’ when we have each other? The ingredients are not joining the family.”

“Then how do we get adopted so the Hanron things won’t kill us?!”

“The Hendur,” Shay corrected with a smile.

Lance wished she wasn’t so nice. He wanted to stay mad at her for her role in his most recent marriage. He couldn’t do that when she seemed so genuine. Rock aliens weren’t his type, but he could see why Hunk liked her.

“We must open up to each other. Use our words and ourselves, not ‘ingredients.’”

Sounded like mushy nonsense. “So, it’s a spell.”

“Spell?”

Lance groaned. Living with aliens was getting annoying. No one ever knew what he was talking about. And he talked a lot. “Nevermind.”

“It is not as you think, Blue Paladin. I will go first and show you.” The grandmother stared at the core, hands placed firmly to the ground. “Great Balmera, I am Avira, united one of Bonto my deceased, mother of Tarr, and grandmother of Rax and Shay.”

Shay’s father spoke up. “I am Tarr, united one of Denzi and father of Rax and Shay.”

Then, her mother. “I am Denzi, united one of Tarr, sister of Quelle, and mother of Rax and Shay.”

“I am Rax, son of Tarr and Denzi and brother of Shay.”

“And I am Shay, daughter of Tarr and Denzi and sister of Rax.”

Lance looked to Keith. No way would he go first. For all he knew, the ground would open up and swallow them whole the second one of them spoke.

Keith grimaced but said, “I am…Keith Kogane, son of…uh, Haneul Kogane.”

That…was a very short list. Lance had almost forgotten Keith was an orphan, alone in the world except for Shiro.

Despite the sympathy that filled him upon realizing that, he couldn’t help the desperation he also felt. Why couldn’t Keith’s family have been bigger? Something to give Lance at least a few seconds to mentally prepare himself. “I am Leoncio McClain García, son of Rosa Miriam García Álvarez and Marcel McClain Gonzalez, brother of Luís Rosario McClain García, Marco McClain García, Verónica McClain García, and Rachel Selena McClain García.”

The Balmerans stared at him.

“You have many siblings, Blue Paladin,” Shay’s father said. “And very long names.”

Lance had heard longer.

“I didn’t know your name was Leoncio,” Keith observed curiously. There was a question in there somewhere.

Lance sighed but answered anyway. “My family moved to the US when I was young. Lance was easier for my classmates to say. Now, everyone calls me Lance…” The others’ curious stares made him uncomfortable. “We should get back to the ritual or whatever.”

“No, it is alright to speak of such things,” Denzi said. “It is encouraged. We must know one another to truly be family.”

That was great and all, but Lance just wanted to get the ritual over with and sleep.

Denzi turned to Keith, not giving Lance a chance to protest. “Red Paladin, why do you only have two names when the Blue Paladin has three?”

Keith shrugged. “My dad didn’t give me a middle name.”

We’ll be here a while, won’t we?

“I don’t have a middle name either,” Lance offered, resigning himself to his sleepless fate. “Just two family names.”

“What is a family name?” Shay asked, intrigued.

“It’s a name you inherit from your parents. Where I’m from, we take one of our mother’s and one of our father’s.”

Rax frowned between them. “Where you are from? Are you not from the same home?”

He was probably imagining Earth as another Balmera. Rax probably thought that they lived underground, in caves.

Thank God for beaches.

“We come from the same planet. Just different areas.”

“Your planet must be large indeed to have such separate naming customs,” Shay said.

“Yeah. It is pretty big.” Definitely bigger than the Balmera. On the outside anyway. He wondered how the sizes compared when taking the Balmeran tunnels into account. He wondered if they’d visit planets bigger than Earth. How large would the biggest one be?

Avira interrupted Lance’s thoughts to remind them of their deadline. “We should continue if we wish to complete the ritual in time.” She faced the heart again. “Great Balmera, I am Avira, maker of sustenance and caregiver of the children.”

The others followed suit, listing their titles when they’d worked under the Galra. It sounded like they should state their occupation. There was only one problem. Lance didn’t know about Keith – he’d lived alone for a while, and food had to come from somewhere – but Lance had never had a job in his life. Not since he was ten and could mow lawns to make a few cents without worrying about how the sun affected his skin.

Keith frowned. “I am Keith Kogane, Red Paladin of Voltron?”

Oh. Paladin work was sort of a job, wasn’t it? Keith was a genius. “And I am Leoncio McClain García, Blue Paladin of Voltron.”

The core pulsed. The heart glowed red hot, adding to the heat of the room.

Ten bucks says the lava from that one cavern is the Balmera’s blood. His inner voice didn’t respond. Fine, he could be that way if he wanted. Maybe he’d finally shut up for good.

Keith gaped at the core. “Did you see that?”

“It is the Balmera,” Shay explained, smiling. “She hears us. She thanks you for saving her.”

“Oh. Well…” Lance turned to the heart. “You’re welcome.”

Keith scoffed. When Lance looked at him, wondering what his problem was, he said, “And you called me insane for talking to her.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You implied it.”

Avira didn’t give them a chance to argue longer. “Great Balmera, I am Avira, and I love cooking above all but my family.”

Tarr followed along, and Lance was left to stew in his annoyance at Keith getting the last word.

Technically, Avira did. Oh look, his inner voice had returned. Yay.

Good point. Lance’s annoyance transferred to Shay’s grandmother. Unfortunately, no one could stay mad at an old lady for too long. That was your plan, wasn’t it?

The voice didn’t respond, so Lance tuned back into the ritual in time to hear Denzi say, “…I love nothing more than my family. They are my greatest gift.”

She smiled lovingly at her children.

There probably wasn’t much else to enjoy when you were enslaved, but Lance couldn’t help the homesickness he felt when he saw the display of maternal affection. He missed his Mamá so much. If she were there, she’d know what to do about the whole marriage situation. She’d make everything better.

Well, first, she’d shake her head and say something about how only Lance could get himself into an impossible mess like that. Then, she’d hug him and make him feel alright again. Denzi seemed like a hugger, too.

“Great Balmera, I am Rax, and I love traveling the mines and exploring our great history.”

“Great Balmera, I am Shay, and I love the sky.”

Lance vaguely remembered Hunk mentioning that Shay had never seen the sky before. At least she’d finally gotten a glimpse, if just a short one. With the Galra gone, she’d have plenty more opportunities.

Finally, it was Keith’s turn.

I wonder what he’ll say…Flying, probably.

Keith didn’t seem as sure. “I am Keith Kogane, and I love…”

He paused, frowning to himself and glaring in the way that meant he was thinking. While this one only lasted half a minute, his record thinking-glare had lasted forty minutes. Lance knew because it had happened during their shared flight theory class. But what did Keith have to think about right then? He had to know his own interests.

“I…don’t really have any hobbies,” Keith admitted.

What? But- “You like flying, right?”

“Sure, I guess.” Keith didn’t seem convinced.

How the hell could someone not know what they enjoyed doing?

Lance remembered his earlier realization. Keith was an orphan. Maybe Keith had been so busy being bounced from group home to foster family that he hadn’t had a chance to relax or do anything fun.

No wonder he’s so stuck up. Lance couldn’t take either victory or annoyance in that thought anymore.

“If you have no favored diversions, Red Paladin…Keith,” Denzi said softly, “then we can move on. We shall simply have to find something you enjoy doing later.”

Yeah. Maybe then Lance wouldn’t feel so weird.

He brought them back to the ritual, letting his more distracting thoughts wash away. It was kind of his turn. “Great Balmera, I am Leoncio McClain García, and I love flying and flirting.” For effect, he winked and finger-gunned at the Balmera’s heart. When Avira smiled at him, he repeated the gestures to her.

Shay giggled at his overexuberance. “What is flirting?”

He was glad she’d asked.

“You know, charming someone. Getting them to like you. Picking up girls.”

Oh. Great idea.

He turned to Keith. “Maybe I should take you out to pick up some girls one day, Mullet. Maybe that’s your hobby. You’re just too moody and serious to have tried it before.”

(Lance: 3; Mullet: 0.) He was on fire.

Keith frowned at him. “Lance, you know I- You know what? Nevermind. It doesn’t matter.”

But Keith’s evasion made Lance curious. “What doesn’t matter? What were you going to say?”

“Nothing. Nevermind.”

“Keith-”

“No. Let’s move on.”

“Not until you tell me what you were going to say!”

Keith huffed. He had no right to be annoyed after dangling that hook. He knew how curious Lance got. “Fine. I was going to say that I don’t like girls, but I knew you’d get weird about it, so I didn’t, and now you made me anyway!”

(Keith: 1; Lance: -1000.)

Lance froze as a million things suddenly centered into place in his memory. Never in his life had he thought- He hadn’t ever imagined that-

What universe was he in? Because it definitely wasn’t his original.

“You don’t like girls?”

“No.”

“But you do like guys.”

“Yes.”

“And that’s why whenever girls hit on you-”

“I ignored them.” Keith grimaced. “Though, sometimes I wouldn’t even realize until later, once Shiro heard the gossip and explained what had happened.” It looked like Keith had never encountered a more disgusting prospect than that girls might be into him.

So many things made so much more sense, but somehow, nothing made sense at all.

“You like guys,” Lance repeated.

Keith gave him a look. “You’re getting weird.”

The second the accusation left Keith’s lips, annoyance replaced Lance’s shock. He held onto that lifeline. It was his only familiarity in this new ocean. “I am not. I just never realized that you were gay. I thought you were purposely being a jerk to the girls to rub it in my face that you could get them. Instead, you were purposely being a jerk because you didn’t want them, and they were blind enough to want you.”

Keith glared. Good. That was familiar, too. “I’m not a jerk!”

“You rejected them without giving a reason. Half the time, you rolled your eyes. Right in front of them!”

“How would you feel if people ignored you or bullied you one day only to wake up the next and ask you out just because they decided you were attractive or mysterious or whatever?” Keith demanded. “Let alone when you’re not remotely attracted to them!”

And his lifeline popped.

Had some girls actually done that? Who would be that cruel? Lance wondered what he would have done in Keith’s situation. Knowing him, he would have gone out with the girl anyway. He would have thought she’d come to her senses and agreed.

And gotten your heart broken into a million tiny pieces, his Hunk voice said. Again.

Lance ignored him.

“Besides,” Keith continued, oblivious to the voice in Lance’s head, “like I said, I didn’t realize half the time! I thought those girls just wanted to get a free movie ticket or lunch or whatever! You know I’m bad with people!”

No denying that. Lance had accused Keith of it himself. Yet another effect of being an orphan.

“Perhaps we should move on,” Tarr suggested in the resulting silence. “We must complete the ritual before the Hendur get here.”

Considering how long it had already been without a single sign of these supposed ‘protectors’, Lance was beginning to wonder if they were a myth, made up to scare non-Balmerans away from the sacred tunnels and deprive him of more sleep. It’s not like Shay’s family would know if they were.

Avira turned to the core. “Great Balmera, I am Avira, united one of Bonto, mother of Tarr, and grandmother of Rax and Shay, maker of sustenance and caregiver of the children, lover of cooking and lover of family.”

Lance expected Tarr to pick up the chant again, but instead, Avira kept speaking.

“I come here with Tarr, united one of Denzi and father of Rax and Shay, former worker of the crystal mines, and lover of family and lover of carving…I come here with Denzi, united one of Tarr, sister of Quelle, mother of Rax and Shay, former tool cleaner of the crystal mines, and lover of family…I come here with Rax, son of Tarr and Denzi and brother of Shay, former worker of the crystal mines, and lover of exploration and learning…I come here with Shay, daughter of Tarr and Denzi and sister of Rax, former cart bearer of the crystal mines, and lover of the sky…

How did she remember all that? Lance hadn’t even listened to half of it.

“We come to accept Keith Kogane, son of Haneul Kogane, Red Paladin of Voltron. We come to accept Leoncio McClain García, son of Rosa Miriam García Álvarez and Marcel McClain Gonzalez, brother of Luís Rosario McClain García, Marco McClain García, Verónica McClain García, and Rachel Selena McClain García, Blue Paladin of Voltron, and lover of flight and love. I accept Keith Kogane and Leoncio McClain García into our family as my new grandchildren.”

“I accept Keith Kogane and Leoncio McClain García into our family as my adopted sons,” Tarr agreed.

Denzi nodded, smiling warmly at Keith as she repeated, “I accept Keith Kogane and Leoncio McClain García into our family as my adopted sons.”

“I have done much against these ones and their friends for which I must still atone,” Rax said. Then he sent them a wry smile, “but I also accept Keith Kogane and Leoncio McClain García into our family. As my adopted brothers.”

“I accept Keith Kogane and Leoncio McClain García into our family as my adopted brothers,” Shay concurred.

Keith was silent. Gaping in shock.

Lance suddenly realized how big a deal this must be for Keith. He didn’t know the details of Keith’s orphandom, but he knew that Keith had no family or friends. He only had Shiro. That’s why he’d gone off the rails when the Galra kidnapped the Black Paladin. That’s why he was so protective of Shiro. Keith was used to loneliness.

Lance had four siblings. What were two more? He had a mother and a father and a grandmother. He had aunts and uncles and in-laws and a niece and nephew. For him, this was just another day where some long-lost relative he’d never known showed up to spend the day with his parents or siblings. For Keith…

“You must also accept,” Denzi prompted, turning to them when they remained silent for too long.

Keith opened his mouth. “I, uh…I accept my invitation into the…into the family.”

For Keith this was not another day.

Denzi smiled and nodded. “All that she requires is for us to speak from the heart. The specific phrases we use are unimportant.”

She must think Keith’s hesitance was from fear of saying the wrong thing. She turned to Lance next. “Lance?”

“I accept my invitation into the family,” Lance repeated, not taking his eyes off of Keith. The other looked close to hyperventilation. Lance knew better than anyone what could happen when Keith got upset.

But Keith had never looked upset like that.

A moment after the last word left Lance’s lips, the Balmera’s heart began pulsing again and the ground split open, spewing smoke and molten lava. Lance was sort of grateful. The events had Keith springing to his feet, sword drawn and ready to fight. That’s the Keith he knew. Anything else threw him off. He didn’t know what to do with a Keith like that.

As Lance turned to watch the disaster – or ritual event – unfold, two small crystals bubbled up from the lava, stopping to rest between him and Keith. Even as the pseudo-volcano cooled, the ground continued to splinter, spidering until it reached the wall behind them. Then, the wall broke open.

Ten people can fit through that doorway.

Was it finally over? Lance turned to the Balmerans. “Are we done?”

“No,” Tarr answered. “Now you must journey to our home and bury the crystals there.”

It was never that easy, was it?

I wouldn’t call the last part easy, his inner voice argued.

Lance glanced toward Keith again. The other still stood in the place he’d stopped when the mini earthquake hit, bayard at his side but deactivated. He was staring at the crystals, an odd look frozen onto his face.

Maybe not.

He shook the worry out of his head. Keith would be fine. He was Keith.

“Please tell me home is ten feet away,” Lance begged.

“Do all skylings measure by their feet?” Tarr eyed Keith and Lance’s shoes. “Distances must be very inconsistent.”

“It is twelve hundred Graznarks away if you went by the front exit,” Shay answered. If only that was an actual answer. “But the Balmera gives all new family members a new path home. It is part of the adoption ritu-”

Something thudded against a wall. It preceded rolling growls and barking and something scratching ceaselessly at the nearby door. As Lance watched, frozen, crystals grew over the door, muffling but not overcoming the sounds.

Oh God.

“What is that?!”

“The Hendur are here,” Tarr said, gesturing them to the tunnels. “Quickly. You and the Red Paladin must go. The Balmera will keep them out as long as she can.”

Not a myth, then. Good to know. They’d been so quiet until then.

Or maybe, they only just caught your scent.

“Time to go!”

Lance bolted for the door that the Balmera conjured for him and Keith while the Balmerans ran for another exit, Tarr grabbing Avira to carry her on his back. Keith didn’t follow. He stood, still frozen, where he’d been since the ground first split. Did he not hear the Hendur?

Lance stopped running.

“Keith!”

The other jumped and turned to stare at him quizzically.

“Ándale! We have to go!”

Keith nodded, finally running to catch up. The opening of the tunnel closed behind them as they ran.

***

“How far…does this thing…go?” Lance panted. He stopped to take a breath. He’d been exhausted before the ritual. After running so long, he was dead.

Keith groaned and leaned against the wall. It couldn’t be comfortable, what with the crystals coating everything. And they kept growing, too, so that probably made it doubly painful. Keith showed no signs of discomfort. From the crystals, at least. “I think we’ve gained enough ground to sit for a second.” He collapsed.

Well, that was reassuring. Lance eyed him. “Are you okay?” There’d never been a moment he’d seen Keith without an abundance of angry energy.

“Just…not used to so much activity. Haven’t done much this past year since leaving the Garrison.”

Yeah. That made sense.

“Keith…” Lance wondered if he should ask, but he was curious.

“Yeah?”

“…Did your dad leave you that shack? You know…in his will?” Was that insensitive to ask? Lance would probably punch someone for asking him that, and he was less of a hothead than Keith.

Keith stared toward the ground. “Yeah. It was his dad’s, so I guess he wanted to keep it in the family. He didn’t have anyone else to leave it to anyway.”

So, it really was just Keith against the world. “…What about your mom?”

Keith tensed. Definitely a sore topic, then. “What about her?”

“Nothing, I guess…We should probably move.” There was no telling where the Hendur were or how quickly they could travel through tunnels, but Lance really didn’t want to move. Not for a decade, at least.

Keith stayed where he was, thinking-glare back on his face. After a moment, he said, “She left when I was a baby.”

Lance hadn’t expected him to continue the topic. “Do you know why?”

Keith scoffed. “My dad said it was because she was a fighter and protector like me.” The rest of his sentence went unsaid. ‘If she was a protector, then why did she leave me?’

“So, this whole adoption thing must be pretty weird for you, huh?”

Instead of answering Lance’s question, Keith asked one of his own. “Are all mothers like Denzi? Do they just…” he flailed his arms in a gesture that was more Lance than Keith.

“Care?” Lance prompted.

“Yeah. That.”

Lance shrugged. Things like that – like family – he tended to take for granted. It was only the past few days without them that he’d realized how much he relied on those daily checkup calls and conversations with his sister over lunch.

“I don’t think all mothers are like that. Most of them, though. Definitely my mom. She’d probably adopt you, too, if you asked.”

Keith stared at him, terrified, and Lance had to laugh. “Don’t worry. You’re legally an adult now, anyway…This Balmera adoption is only a formality, too, you know. If you don’t want to consider it one, I’m sure Shay’s family wouldn’t care.”

Unlike King Madleif. Lance shook off his residual annoyance. They weren’t on Arus. The king couldn’t bother them anymore.

Keith calmed exponentially upon hearing Lance’s words of reassurance. “Thank you, Lance.”

They sat there for a while, not saying anything. At some point, Lance joined Keith on the floor, sitting against the opposite wall. The crystals weren’t as uncomfortable as he’d thought, but they weren’t exactly comfortable either.

“…Do you realize this is the longest conversation we’ve had without arguing?”

Keith just had to point it out, didn’t he?

“I’m too tired to argue. It’ll be back to normal by tomorrow.”

There. That sounded plausible. Keith couldn’t know the real reason Lance wasn’t antagonizing him. Hopefully everything would go back to normal in the morning. Hopefully he’d realize that the feelings of sympathy and his realizations were all a product of his exhaustion, not reality.

Keith made a weird noise.

“What?”

“…What if I don’t want it to be?”

What did Keith just say?

Dizzy stars danced in Lance’s vision with how suddenly his head whipped around to face the other paladin. “What do you mean?”

Keith made a sound like he was being strangled. He seemed frustrated, but he couldn’t be saying what Lance thought he was. He just couldn’t.

“All I know is you barge in when I’m saving Shiro and claim that we’re rivals even though I had no clue who you were. You seem like a decent enough guy, if a little arrogant.” Lance wanted to protest, but he knew that was a fair assessment. “What did I do to make you hate me so much?”

Maybe it was the lack of sleep or the overexertion or the shock of Keith’s confession, but Lance actually answered honestly. “You were perfect.”

Keith stared at Lance like he’d just been smacked across the head with a frying pan. “What?”

“Everyone prefers you to me. Those girls you blew off. Shiro. Iverson.”

At that, Keith frowned. “What are you talking about? Iverson hated me.”

Yeah, no kidding. “Iverson hates everyone. But he still preferred you to me. The guy constantly got on my case about not being as good a pilot as you.” It was true, but that didn’t mean Lance wanted to hear it. He didn’t need to hear it.

Keith shook his head. “I mean, you are pretty reckless, but you’re a great pilot, Lance. If you put your mind to it and focused, you’d probably be better than me.”

Lance doubted that. Keith was a natural. No matter how hard he tried, there was no competing with a talent like Keith’s. “Whatever. That’s not all, though.”

Keith stared at him, wary. “What else?”

“You’re actually a jerk, you know.” Lance glared, thinking back to their first meeting. Their actual first meeting. “It’s my first day at the Garrison. Everyone’s looking for friends and meeting everyone else, and I see this kid with a mullet sitting alone.”

Keith groaned. Good, so he knew where this was going. “What did I do?”

“I said hi, and you huffed that way you do and walked away. Without a word.”

“I was having a bad day,” he half-heartedly defended. Keith’s arms slithered up and around each other, but the gesture was more a self-hug than his usual defensive stance.

“That doesn’t make it better.”

“How about we start over?” Keith decided. He unraveled his arms and shifted to hold out a hand to Lance. He still refused to move from the ground, though. “Hi, I’m Keith Kogane. It’s nice to meet you.”

Lance stared at him, incredulous. “Keith, don’t be ridiculous.”

Keith smirked. “Do I know you?”

“Oh my God. Keith!” When the other didn’t budge, Lance groaned. “Ugh. Fine, I’ll play along. It won’t change anything.” He shifted forward and took Keith’s outstretched hand. “The name’s Lance. It’s nice to meet you, too.”

Despite Lance’s protests, the second Keith’s hand met his to shake, he felt something shift. It was like some weight he’d been carrying suddenly fell off of his chest. He cleared his throat, feeling awkward. “So, what do we do now?”

“Now, we try to get along and see how long it takes for our first argument.”

“I give it ‘til the next marriage.”

Keith grimaced but nodded. Then, his eyes glinted. “Wanna bet?”

“What?”

“I bet you that we’ll make it through the next marriage without arguing once. If we do, you have to admit you remember the bonding moment.”

The competitive part of Lance perked up. “And what do I get?”

“If we do argue – and we both have to get mad at each other to count – I’ll…do your nightly routine with you for a week.”

“Oh, you’re so on.” He couldn’t wait to see Keith struggling his way through the skincare steps. To see Keith in a face mask. To get a picture for blackmail. No way would Lance lose. “You’ve just bought yourself a day of hell.”

Keith laughed. “Good luck.”

Lance might have started his sabotage then, but then, he heard the growls. They were so faint that they blended with the sound of tunnels shifting and the Balmera’s moans, but they had a distinctly threatening tone that the other ambiance could never manage.

They also sounded much closer than he liked.

“Time to go!”

They jumped up, colliding with each other in their hurry. Neither of them stopped to apologize. There was no time. They just helped each other stay balanced and sprinted down the rest of the tunnel.

By the time they reached Shay and family, the beasts were mere yards behind them. All Lance could make out while running were glowing yellow eyes; gray, bounding feet; and sharp, white teeth. And the snarls and growls. Couldn’t forget those.

“Hurry,” Tarr hastened. He shut and barred the door behind them.

The Hendur clawed and scratched and battered themselves against the blockade. It would hopefully hold long enough to do what they had to do.

“Here. We have already cleared the space for your crystals.” Denzi gestured to an area of the floor in the middle of the cave. Lance practically threw his in the hole there, barely noticing that his crystal, which had previously been the same ice blue as the others, swirled with a dark-blue smoke.

What?

Keith’s was red.

The second both crystals had touched the ground, they lit up and began sinking into the rock. Simultaneously, they also began sprouting. The once pure and separate ice-blue crystals grew into one crystal with gradients of red and blue. In a few places, the colors melded into purple. The crystal expanded until it filled the hole in the floor. Then, the bedrock covered it.

It stopped just in time. A second later, the Hendur burst through the door. Lance flinched back, covering his face as the dog-like beasts snarled their way towards him and Keith. Later, he’d realize he probably should have drawn his bayard like Keith, but either action was unnecessary. The second the things took one whiff of him and Keith, they whimpered and melted, leaving a mess of mud on the floor.

They needed a wet floor sign and a biohazard warning on the door. Throw in a ‘Beware of Dog’ sign as well.

“You are now Balmerans,” Avira declared. “Who is ready for stew?”

***

When Lance and Keith finally escaped their new grandmother’s clutches and made their way to the castle, Lance turned to Keith. “Do you think the marriages will ever stop?” Would they be forced to circumvent alien rites and rituals everywhere they went? Until they got to Earth? After? As much as Lance hoped it would stop by Earth, at least, they knew nothing about why they were being married in the first place. Could it really be a series of messed-up coincidences?

Keith jerked out of whatever he’d been thinking. “What?” he asked, attention focused on Lance for the first time in a while.

“We’ve been alien-married four times. Do you think there’s some cut-off? What if we visit a hundred planets? What then? Will we be married by a hundred?”

Keith shook his head. “I don’t know, Lance. I don’t think there’s much point in worrying about it. Unless we can figure out why this is happening, I don’t think there’s anything we can do.”

“Maybe if one of us stays in the castle whenever the other’s on the planet. Or if we just don’t go together. Shiro has to keep us separate.”

“Shiro will do whatever’s best for the team.”

“And keeping us unmarried isn’t?”

“I didn’t say that,” Keith defended.

“Then what were you saying?” Lance demanded.

“I’m saying there’s no point in worrying about it.” Keith glanced at him. “What difference does it make? All we can do is try to figure out what’s happening and stop it when we do.”

Lance thought that through. What Keith was saying…It wasn’t far from Lance’s own thoughts on the topic. “I guess…You’re right.”

“Of course, I am.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky I’m too tired to start sabotaging you right now. Tomorrow, you’ll be toast.”

Keith grinned. “Not if we’re married before noon.”

Oh my God. Despite himself, Lance laughed. “You’re a jerk, you know that?”

“Maybe, but so are you.”

Maybe they’d make it to noon without arguing. Maybe they wouldn’t. Lance didn’t start the argument there, though. It had already been a long enough day. Besides…Keith wasn’t wrong.

Chapter Text

Lance woke to the blaring of alarms and Coran screaming, “Paladins, to the bridge immediately!”

He scrambled out of bed, scrubbed his face clean of his mask, and donned his armor in record time. Usually, he’d have taken his time. Usually, he’d have slept in. After staying up so late to finish the ritual the night before – and having no sleep and many fights for too long before that – he probably would have slept until noon. Of the next day. So, when he entered the bridge – ready for a fight and still much too tired – and found nothing wrong, he was a little resentful.

“Coran, what is it?” Shiro asked, also noting the lack of urgency. Where were the sirens? The rushing wildly around to defend the castle from imminent attack?

The engineer turned away from whatever he’d been doing at the console, smiling. “Good, you’re all here. And you’re all dressed! That’s progress.”

Pidge groaned. “I was trying to hack the Galra crystal. Is there a reason you called us here, or was this just another drill?”

“Well, Princess Allura put me in charge of your training while she recovers, and I simply can’t let her down.”

So, no. There was no reason. Lance might not be so angry about that if the others had been awake when he and Keith returned the night before. Instead, they’d all been snug in their beds while the Red and Blue Paladins ran for their lives from murderous, demonic monsters.

“Besides, I think it’s time we discussed Lance and Number Four’s…Situation.”

Lance blanched. Nope. Not doing that. “Coran-”

“Their four marriages, you mean?” Pidge snickered, and Lance glared at her. He’d rather not have the reminder. He was embarrassed enough as it was.

Keith ignored her. “What about it, Coran? Did you find a way to break the Olrensel clay? You know, without killing us.”

Coran laughed. “Of course not. That’s impossible. But I did figure out that the clay was not, in fact, King Alfor and Queen Melenor’s.” He held up a grayish lump that was half-wrapped in a velvet bag. “I found this with some other old trinkets in the royal treasury when storing your nuptial gifts.”

There was a treasury on the ship?

Lance frowned. “That’s great and all, but how does that help us?”

“It doesn’t! And I haven’t a clue where the clay that Number Four found came from.”

Keith frowned and leaned closer to the clay in Coran’s hand, but he made sure to stay far enough away that he wouldn’t touch it. He was finally learning. “Are you sure that’s Olrensel clay? It looks different than ours.”

Lance squinted to get a better look and realized Keith was right. While he’d done his best to suppress the memory, it was clear enough in his mind that he knew their clay had been red – or at least had a reddish tint. The one Coran held was pure gray. It also, somehow, looked more solid.

“That’s because it hasn’t been molded yet. And there are a few molecular differences. I’ve been trying to parse out what they are, but all of my tests have come back negative.”

“Molecular differences?” Hunk repeated. “What does that mean?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“Then, why are we here?” Lance demanded. He and Keith had been married a few times and probably would be more. What was the point in talking about it if there was nothing they could do? It was embarrassing.

“I’ve made some observations and thought we could compare notes.” He pulled out the notepad Lance had seen him holding over the course of the past few days.

“Notes?” Keith repeated, glaring.

“Yes. For example, the first day or two after your marriage, you tried to stay as far from each other as possible, but the distance seemed to cause a bought of twitching. As time went on, however, the distance grew shorter, and the twitching seems to have stopped. Do you have anything to add?”

What?

Heat filled Lance, flooding his entire body in what he hoped wasn’t a red glow. Then, Pidge and Hunk snickered, further fueling Lance’s embarrassment.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. There was no twitching!”

“Hmm.” Coran wrote something.

“What are you writing?” Keith demanded.

“Defensiveness on both ends, I see.”

Shiro stepped in before Keith could kill the engineer. “Coran, I don’t think this is helping. Maybe we should talk instead of taking notes. Keith and Lance are people, not experiments.”

Exactly! “Yeah!”

“Oh? I suppose, if you insist.” He tucked the notepad in his pocket, but Lance was certain it wasn’t the last time Coran would write in it. “In addition to the twitching, I’ve also noticed that the marriage repeated a few times.”

“A few?” Pidge asked, guffawing. “Try every planet we’ve landed on.”

“Yes, quite. That is not a usual reaction to the Olrensel clay bond. Unless…did you wish to marry?”

Lance nearly jumped out of his skin at the accusation. “No!” How could Coran ask that?

“Wait.” Hunk frowned. “So, the clay wasn’t Allura’s parents’?”

“No.”

“Then, where did it come from? You said it’s rare, right?”

Coran shrugged. “That it is. I’ve been searching the castle logs for the answer, but I’ve yet to find it. It wasn’t listed in the inventory.”

“It might not be in there,” Shiro pointed out. “For all we know, King Alfor didn’t even know it was there.”

“I’ll keep searching anyway.”

“Can’t we ask Alfor?” Pidge leaned against the console, seeming thoughtful. “Allura talks to his memories, right? And we’ve planned to store Sendak’s memories to get answers from him, too.”

“I suppose we could,” Coran said. He looked concerned. “One of you would have to do it, though. That hologram gives me the willies.” He shuddered. “I’m glad it helps the princess cope, but it is not like Alfor at all.”

“I’ll ask him,” Shiro volunteered.

The conversation halted as the alarm went off.

“Oh.” Pidge moved out of the way as Coran ran to the control console. “Someone from Planet Nathku’lar has sent out a distress beacon.”

“Sounds like Alfor will have to wait. Let’s go, team.”

At least Lance was already in his armor.

***

The planet they landed on looked hazy and purple from the upper atmosphere, but when they landed, everything was perfectly clear and tinted blue. The trees, the grass, the people. Everything. Even the little girl who’d called them.

“Hello,” Shiro greeted. “We’re the Paladins of Voltron. Someone called for help?”

The little girl nodded, rubbing tears from her large, black eyes. She couldn’t be more than six years old. “I-I did.”

“Is everything alright?”

It couldn’t be. They’d found her in the middle of the woods, huddled inside an abandoned cabin. It looked like an outpost or something.

“I didn’t m-mean to ca-all you,” the girl sobbed. “I just wanted to find my brother.”

Pidge was instantly sympathetic. “What happened to your brother?”

“H-He’s mi-issing!” The girl’s sobs turned into wails.

While everyone else floundered – Keith looked like he’d rather be in the middle of a Galran siege – Lance let his years of caring for his niece and nephew take effect.

“Hey, hey. We’ll find your brother. I don’t know if you’ve heard of us, but we’re superheroes.”

The girl sniffled but her sobs died, and she looked at them curiously. Whatever she saw seemed to reassure her. “You are?”

“Yep. We’re here to help. And you got us here. Your brother’s lucky to have you as his sister.”

“How did you call us?” Pidge asked.

The girl shrugged. “I-I just used that.” She pointed to an ancient looking radio in the corner. “Papa said if I get lost in the forest, I can use that, and he’ll find me. I thought he could find Ta’Mian, too.”

“Ta’Mian’s your brother?” Shiro clarified.

The girl nodded.

“Where’d you last see him?”

“He said he was going to the ruins.” The girl looked like she might cry again, but a strength and determination settled over her face, and she held strong. “But only married people can escape the ruins. He isn’t married yet!”

“Why would he go there, then?”

The girl shrugged, and it looked like her tears might win out over her determination again.

Lance acted quick. “Hey, what’s your name?”

“Ta’Lar,” she answered, wiping at her eyes. “W-What’s y-yours?”

“I’m Lance. The Blue Paladin of Voltron.”

“What’s Voltron?”

They really needed to advertise themselves. No one knew who they were. “He’s a giant robot that fights evil and helps people.”

Ta’Lar smiled wistfully. “He sounds nice.”

“He is,” Hunk assured her. Then, it was back to business. “Are you sure your brother went to the ruins? Was there anywhere else he might have gone?”

Ta’Lar sniffled. “He said he would take his fiancée to the forest. That’s why I came here. But I couldn’t find him! So, I called for help. You said you could help?”

“We can,” Shiro assured her. “Keith, Lance, you two search the ruins. The rest of us will take Ta’Lar and search the forest.”

“Why do we have to search the ruins?” Lance demanded. Why was it always him and Keith for these missions? Couldn’t he be paired up with Hunk for once? Separation should decrease their likelihood of marrying to almost nothing.

Pidge scoffed. “Why do you think, idiot? If only married people can leave, don’t you think we should send the married couple to investigate?”

“I doubt they’re actually cursed,” Keith muttered.

“We can’t take chances,” Shiro told him. “We can’t know what is and isn’t real in space. You’ve already been married by magical clay.”

Shiro just had to bring that up, didn’t he? “Fine. But this doesn’t count as a marriage on this planet!”

Keith snorted. “You just don’t want to lose our bet.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow. “You guys made a bet about getting married?”

Neither of them answered her. “Alright, let’s go, I guess.”

They split up after getting directions to the ruins. Ta’Lar was pretty well-coordinated for a six-year-old.

“What do you think happened to her brother?” Lance asked as he and Keith made their way to their destination.

“He’s probably trapped in a pit or something. They’re ruins. The only reason married couples can make it through is that they go together and have each other to help get out of traps.”

Lance recalled his and Keith’s adventure through the lava room on the Balmera. He would definitely still be trapped there if Keith hadn’t been with him. Granted, he also wouldn’t be married for the fourth time. “True.”

Keith frowned. With how thoughtful he appeared, Lance thought his next words would be something deep and meaningful. Instead, Keith asked, “Do you think we’ll ever get to train again?”

Lance laughed. “Only you would want to train, Mullet. The rest of us are reveling in the interruptions.”

Keith stared at him like he was the insane one. “We need to train to defeat Zarkon!”

Lance smirked. “Do I detect an argument?”

At the reminder, Keith’s face blanked. He rolled his eyes. “No. I’m just letting you know, calmly, that training is a necessary part of superhero life.”

Yeah, right. “‘Dumbledore said calmly.’”

“What?”

“Nothing. Nothing.” Lance spent too much time with Hunk and Pidge. Their geekiness was rubbing off on him.

“You haven’t been trying too hard to get me to break,” Keith noted.

“Oh, you’ll break. If I try too much, you might get used to it.”

“And I’m not used to it already? After the way you’ve treated me?”

“You’re the one who wanted to start over.”

Keith scoffed. “Aren’t you the one who made up a rivalry in the first place?”

What? “I didn’t make it up!”

Keith just raised an eyebrow. Fine, maybe Keith hadn’t realized they’d had a rivalry, but they definitely had.

“What exactly will you count as an argument?” Lance asked. “This seems like we’re both annoyed.”

“An argument is where we’re both angry. This is just a…friendly discussion.”

“We’re friends?”

“Friend-adjacent.”

Really, now? “Aw, Keith. You want to be my friend. Sorry, but you’re a little too annoying.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “As your husband, I’m supposed to be…I think.”

‘Husband.’ Lance didn’t know how he felt about that word. He hadn’t really thought it. Logically, he knew they were married on several planets, but he never thought about how that made Keith his husband. All of his life, he’d waited for a wife. He got a husband first.

What a joke. “As long as you acknowledge that you’re the girl in our relationship.”

Keith stopped walking and turned to face him, frowning. “Lance, no one is a girl in a gay relationship. Not a gay male relationship.”

That wasn’t what he meant! “I was joking.”

“Whatever you say.” The other still didn’t look happy. He brooded the rest of the way to the ruins. Lance really hadn’t meant to offend him, but it wasn’t in his nature to apologize. Not for a joke. He honestly couldn’t even tell what was wrong with it.

“Are you ready?” Lance asked when they arrived. He had to do something to break that God-awful silence.

“They definitely look haunted enough to be ruins,” Keith muttered instead of answering.

Lance eyed him, judging his mood, before facing the ruins himself. Keith was right, of course. Not only were the ruins in the middle of the woods – albeit, with a road leading straight to them – but they were also falling apart. Thus, the name, he supposed.

The building itself had been made of some onyx-like stone and stood in decent condition, but the portion in front of it had fallen to shambles. There was a half-wall to the right, random stones spread all around, and what seemed to be the remains of a labyrinth. In the end, the ruins could pass for only one thing.

Lance grinned. “It looks like an obstacle course. Guess we’ll get that training in, after all.”

Keith blinked. Then, he grinned, bad mood fading. “You know, we don’t have to go through the ‘obstacle course.’ We could just walk around them.” But he was already gearing up, practically itching to face the challenge.

Lance took off running.

Keith bolted after him.

“I bet I can beat you to the building,” Lance taunted, sparing only a glance back for a prideful grin.

Keith tripped over the hurdle as Lance jumped. “Agh!”

“Can’t catch me, Mullet!” Lance called behind him, still running and jumping. His height was an advantage in the race, long legs giving him the ability to clear the hurdles with room to spare. Plus, all his practice dodging teachers at the Garrison. And Iverson said that sneaking out could only hurt him. Ha!

“Oh, you’re on!” Keith’s legs had to hurt after their impact with the stone walls, but he jumped up and continued running after Lance. Lance had longer legs and a head start, but Keith was quicker in general. It was a tossup, who would win.

He shouldn’t have watched Keith for so long, but seeing the other struggle, watching the fierce competitiveness grow on his face, was too entertaining. It was a miracle Lance stayed upright for so long. The hurdles, however, weren’t the problem.

Once he got to the end of what used to be a maze – Keith still catching up behind him – Lance nearly ran straight into a pit. He hadn’t noticed it in his initial inspection of the grounds. Luckily, he saw it in time to avoid falling in.

That would have hurt.

The thing was made of the same material as the main building – some sort of onyx that probably wasn’t – and it ran from one maze-connected, dilapidated wall to another. Once upon a time, it would have been a dead-end if there weren’t pillars making a sort of bridge across. Adrenaline still coursing through him and competitive nature holding strong, Lance moved back a few feet and ran to jump to the first pillar. The important part in things like this was keeping momentum. If he didn’t, he might fall, and that would hurt. It would also allow Keith to catch up.

I can’t let him win.

Of course not, his inner voice sighed. Lance could practically feel the eyeroll.

Unfortunately, his backtracking allowed Keith to gain more distance. By the time Lance made it halfway across, Keith was only three pillars behind him.

“I think this pit used to be a pool,” the Red Paladin noted, jumping to the next pillar.

“Why?”

“Just the shape of it.” He jumped again. Only one pillar between them now. “And why would they have a random ditch in the middle of their temple or whatever this was?!”

“I don’t know! Aliens are weird!” And because he was Lance and couldn’t help it, he added, “You’re so weird, I used to think you were an alien!”

“My dad was human!”

“Well, you’ve never met your mom, so the jury’s still out on half of you.”

“What the hell, Lance?!”

Lance grinned, continuing to jump from pillar to pillar. Keith had frozen.

Five pillars, and I’m almost there. “Is that anger, I detect?” he teased.

“No!”

Lance touched ground on the other side and began running again. Unable to help it, he spared enough time to turn around and stick his tongue out at Keith. He thought he had plenty of space in front of him before the next portion. He was wrong.

“Ow.” Lance glared at the wall as if it was its fault he’d run into it.

Keith laughed. “Serves you right,” he said as he caught up.

“I still won.”

“Not until we make it over this wall.”

They could have just walked around it, but neither of them ever did things the easy way. Luckily, there were hand and foot holds spaced into the wall. It looked very deliberate, actually. Definitely an obstacle course.

He and Keith both scrambled up the wall.

Unfortunately, Lance’s nose still stung from the collision, affecting his vision. About halfway up, he missed a step. “Aaa- Oh. Thanks, Keith.”

The other had caught his foot. He pushed it to its proper resting place, keeping Lance from falling.

“No problem,” Keith said wryly.

They both made it to the top – Lance winning by an inch, if you asked him – together. There was a steep slope leading to the ground on the other side.

“Oh, awesome.” It had been ages since Lance went on a slide. He was constantly forced into jealousy of his niece and nephew as they had all the fun that he was too old to have. Unless he wanted to be labelled a huge nerd, anyway. Now, only Keith was there as witness, and they had no choice but to slide. Not unless they wanted to climb back down the way they came.

When Keith started walking down, Lance pulled him back. “Wait, wait, wait. What are you doing, Keith? It’s a slide.”

Keith looked at him like he was insane. “A what?”

“You know, a slide. The thing all kids play on at the playground. Something about gravitational forces and fun?” On the last word, though, Lance remembered his revelation the previous day. Keith was an orphan who’d never had fun. “Don’t tell me you’ve never been to a playground.”

Keith shrugged. “My dad didn’t go out much, and after…” Keith grimaced. Lance had to wonder how bad the other’s experience in ‘the system’ was. He’d heard nothing but bad things, and Keith certainly hadn’t turned out 100% stable.

Keith frowned, eyeing the slope with much skepticism. “So, this is something people slide down?”

“Yeah. Watch.” Lance sat and pushed himself until gravity took over. The slide was steep enough to have his fun. And it did end a little bit above the ground.

Definitely not a ramp, he thought, grinning as the wind of his descent swept through his hair and his stomach swooped. He missed slides so much. They needed to find an amusement park, too. How fun would riding a rollercoaster with Keith and Shiro be?

I wonder if Allura would like rollercoasters.

Lance shook the thought out of his head as he reached the bottom of the slide. No time to think of ways to woo his reluctant princess. Keith was about to slide for the first time. This would be good.

“Your turn!” He stood and stepped out of the other’s way.

Keith frowned, inspecting the slide like he wanted to get it right, and Lance stifled a laugh. “It’s not going to bite, Samurai.” Keith was willing to face so much danger, but he was scared of a slide?

Keith looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. “That’s new.”

“What?”

“You didn’t call me Mullet.”

Lance had all sorts of nicknames for him. “Oh, you’re both. Mullet and Slashy Sword-Guy.”

Keith snorted. “Slashy Sword-Guy just didn’t have a ring to it?”

“Exactly!”

Smiling, Keith turned back to the slide. After a second, he pursed his lips and just flopped down. Nothing happened.

Lance rolled his eyes. Save me from idiotic Mullets. “Keith, you have to push yourself. Newton’s Third Law or whatever.”

“Newton’s First La-” Keith’s correction ended in a gasp as he pushed himself forward. Lance might have argued or said something scathing if it weren’t for that. The look on Keith’s face as gravity caught him was too good.

He definitely got the stomach swoop.

“Enjoyed that?” Lance asked, grinning, as Keith got to the bottom.

Keith’s eyes had never looked brighter. His hair was a mess from the running and the slide. It was the windswept look Lance always wished he could manage but Keith pulled off flawlessly without even trying.

A hint of that old jealousy crept in.

“No, I-” Keith glanced back at the slide. He probably wanted to go again but didn’t want to admit it.

Lance laughed, letting the jealousy fade. It was Keith’s first time sliding. He could let him off that once. “Come on, Mullet. We’re on a mission. We can slide again when it’s over.”

Keith grumbled to himself, but he couldn’t hide his embarrassment from Lance. “…Where to next?”

“I’d say the other end of this alley or whatever.”

The space they’d landed in was flanked by two, fairly sturdy and mostly whole walls, but the end was almost completely open. It looked like there had been a wall of some sort there, too, but time had eroded most of it away.

“I wonder how old this place is.”

Keith shrugged, eyeing some carvings on the left side. “What do you think the walls say?”

Lance frowned. It honestly didn’t matter, but now he was curious, too. “Didn’t Coran say something about translators in our armor?” It was supposedly why they could understand the aliens they met. Allura and Coran, as Alteans, had some special, telekinetic ability to communicate with everyone, regardless of language, but not all aliens had that ability.

“Oh, right.”

Keith pressed some buttons on his wrist device, bringing up a scanner. He aimed it at the wall.

“It says; ‘What’s your favorite color’.” Keith blinked. “Well that’s…random.”

Lance laughed. “I think we should answer. Mine’s blue, obviously.”

“Seriously?” Keith asked. “Your lion color doesn’t have to be your favorite, you know.”

“It’s not. I’ve liked blue for years. It’s the color of the sky. The color of the ocean and pools.” He smirked. “The color of Allura’s eyes.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “What’s your favorite shade, then?”

“Whatever shade blueberries are.” Lance didn’t know why. He didn’t even like blueberries, but he’d loved that color since eighth grade or so. Maybe because it looked like the night sky? “What’s your favorite color?”

Keith thought about it. “Peach, I think.”

Lance gaped. “Your favorite color is pink?”

“Not pink. Peach. It’s not too bright or too dark. It just is.”

“You just don’t want to admit it’s red after giving me flak. But seriously, you went with peach?”

“I like black, too,” he offered.

“Yeah, yeah, you big emo.” Lance turned to the next portion of writing. “What does that say?”

“What animal is your…” Keith frowned. “I think it means spirit animal, but the translation’s off.”

“You know what a spirit animal is, but not a slide?”

Keith scowled at him.

“Fine. Let’s see…my favorite animal is sharks, but that’s not necessarily my spirit animal.”

“Chipmunks come to mind.”

Chipmunks? Lance had never been more insulted in his life. “Well, what’s yours, then? Let me guess, a wolf?”

“A cat, probably.”

“Right. The antisocial assholes of the animal world. Fitting.”

He meant to insult the other as repayment for the chipmunk comment, but Keith just grinned. “Exactly.”

Lance eyed him, but he didn’t ask why Keith wasn’t offended. He just continued moving. “This one’s asking, ‘Who’s the weirdest member of your family?’”

Lance considered that. “Well, we’ve already decided your mom’s an alien.”

“I’m not half-alien!” Keith yelled.

Oh, so that offends him.

“You can’t know that,” Lance sing-songed.

“Just answer the question already!”

“Fine.” Lance returned his thoughts to the question. “The weirdest is probably my brother Marco. I don’t know what he gets up to sometimes.”

“What do you mean?” Keith grumped, still obviously upset.

“He’s constantly into one project or other. Usually artsy, sometimes home repair stuff.” Lance shrugged. “He’ll get these ideas in his head and goes through with them.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“Yeah. He made our mom a really nice necklace for her last birthday. Completely one-upped the rest of us.”

Keith smirked. “At least someone’s keeping your ego in check.”

“Hey!”

They moved on.

“What’s your favorite fairytale?” Lance asked, using his own translator for the next question.

“Aladdin’s cool.”

Aladdin? Lance gaped. How the hell had Keith’s childhood gotten that messed up? “That’s not a fairytale, that’s a Disney movie!”

“Same difference.”

It really, really isn’t. They needed to give Keith a proper childhood, stat. What were the odds that they could access Disney movies in space? “Well, if we’re going Disney, I have to choose Mulan.”

Keith blinked at him, seeming nonplussed. “Why?”

“A movie about a badass girl who goes to war for her family and saves China? It’s awesome. And Shang’s awesome. Mushu’s awesome.”

Lance considered all of his favorite characters with not a little nostalgia. He’d had a crush on Mulan when he was younger, and Shang was probably a big reason why he’d become so attached to Shiro. They were both strong and handsome hero-types. Except Shiro was better because he was real, of course.

Keith smiled. “Everyone’s awesome?”

“Exactly! It’s got everything, too. Comedy, drama, action, romance-”

“I get it.” Keith chuckled and shook his head. When he turned to face the onyx building, however, he sighed. “As fun as answering nonsense questions is, we should keep going.”

“Come on. Let’s answer one more.”

Lance honestly expected Keith to say no. The other stared at him, though, assessing before nodding in agreement. “Okay. Which one?”

Lance wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. He decoded the nearest message, but the translation made no sense. “It says, ‘What is your name’. Is this a joke?” It had to be. None of the messages really made sense. Maybe it was all graffiti, added long after the area became ruins.

“You don’t know your own name?” Keith taunted. “Leoncio McClain García doesn’t know his own name?”

“Shut up, Keith Kogane. You didn’t answer either.”

“Who says I know my name?”

Lance snorted, and before he knew it, they were both roaring with laughter. Evan as they stepped past the remains of the wall, chuckles burst out every few seconds. It took a moment to compose themselves. Luckily, the main building was a few steps away from the Hall of Weird Questions, which gave them time.

“Woah. This place is huge.” There was only one room visible, with pillars spaced throughout as obsolete load bearers. At the head of the room, there was a stage or altar of some sort. And there was no sign of Ta’Mian.

Lance and Keith walked across the empty hall to read a plaque that had been placed on a pedestal in the front.

“’I dedicate mineself to thee. To thee shall I be forever bound,’” Keith read. “It must be a dedication to the ruins.”

Lance frowned. He agreed, but…“I’m getting a different translation.”

Keith leaned closer, trying to read from his device. “What does yours say?”

“It says, ‘The commitment of my promise is yours. May eternity unite us.’”

“Sounds like your translator needs an update.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Lance shook off his doubts. Something niggled at the back of his mind, but he didn’t know what. “I don’t see anyone here.”

“Let’s check the back. Maybe he tried to leave through the forest and got lost.”

“We’ll probably get lost.” Lance followed anyway.

In the back, there was a faded path through the woods that they followed. It led across a bridge, and through to a gazebo and, past that, to an orchard.

Lance’s eyes immediately turned to the fruit – glowing blue, like everything else on the planet – that hung from the trees. They’d been called out immediately after Coran’s wake-up meeting. None of them had eaten breakfast yet, and while the mission had mostly distracted him from his hunger, the sight of food brought it roaring to his attention.

“Want an apple, Keith?” he asked, picking one from a nearby tree.

Keith sighed in relief and grabbed the blue fruit from Lance’s hand. Lance had meant it for himself, but there was plenty to go around, he supposed. He plucked another one without fuss.

“I don’t even care that this isn’t an apple,” Keith muttered around a mouthful.

“It’s firm and grows from a tree,” Lance retorted. “That’s close enough.”

They sat there, eating their fill and talking until their wrist devices beeped. When that happened, they both looked down, confused.

“We can text through these things?”

Keith shrugged. “Looks like it.”

It took a little fiddling to open the message, but once they figured out how, Lance read: “‘We found the brother. He and his wife left for a little alone time in some sacred gardens.’”

Wife. Lance thought he wasn’t married. That’s what had Ta’Lar so concerned about the ruins, wasn’t it?

“Aliens sure have a lot of sacred spaces, don’t they?”

Keith snickered. “I’m sure there are some that don’t. The next planet we visit could be all government offices and cubicles.”

Man, Lance did not want to visit a planet that boring.

They headed back to their friends who were all waiting at the edge of the ruins.

“Um, guys?” Hunk asked, staring at them with wide, hazel eyes. “Why are you glowing?”

Lance looked at Keith, wondering what Hunk was talking about, only to see for himself. Hunk was right. Keith’s face glowed a faint blue color. He hadn’t noticed it before, assuming the blue tint was a result of the blue atmosphere and trees. Looking closer, however, and with other humans there to compare, the blue was obviously emitting from Keith. Lance pulled off his glove to look at his hand and saw a similar halo around himself.

What the hell? It had to be the apples.

“Pay up, Hunk,” Pidge said, holding out a hand. “Told you they’d wind up performing the ritual.”

“What ritual?”

***

+Bonus Scene+

Pidge would love to say she hadn’t found Ta’Mian. Unfortunately, she had. At least Ta’Lar was with Shiro, many feet away and safe from the trauma. Even if Pidge wasn’t.

“I found him!” she called, hiding her eyes as the blue, cat-eared alien and his girlfriend scrambled for their clothes. She was too young and too ace for this.

“Mian!” Ta’Lar yelled, running to greet her brother.

Pidge caught her before she could see too much. “I wouldn’t do that yet.”

“Let me go! Let me go!”

Despite all the girl’s struggling, Pidge didn’t release her grip until Ta’Mian was safely dressed and out of the bushes.

“La-La. What’s wrong?” He glared at Pidge, even as his sister escaped her and flung herself into his arms. “Who are you? What are you doing with my sister? Where’s my mother?”

“We’re the Paladins of Voltron,” Shiro answered, striding up next to Pidge. His gaze swept across Ta’Mian and the other girl, pausing on the rumpled clothes and mussed fur. He raised an eyebrow.

When Shiro mentioned Voltron, Ta’Mian looked as blank as Nyma and Rolo had. Note to self: no one in the cosmos other than Zarkon knows who we are. We need to fix that…Also, if someone ever does know, it’s probably a trap.

“Ta’Lar was worried about you,” Shiro continued, “so she went searching. She sent a distress signal from an old ranging outpost, and we came to help.”

Ta’Mian frowned and turned to his sister as Hunk joined them. “Lar, I told you I was going to the ruins. Why would you worry?”

“Wen’Dara said that only married people can leave the ruins,” Ta’Lar sobbed. “You aren’t married yet.”

Realization spread across Ta’Mian’s face, and his girlfriend giggled. “I see,” she said. “Lar, only married couples leave because the ruins are meant as a marriage altar. There’s a special ceremony that can be performed there.”

Pidge bit back a grin. A marriage altar? Oh, this is gonna be good.

Ta’Lar immediately stopped crying. She stared between her brother and his girlfriend in shock. “So, you are married, now?”

He smiled and nodded. Ta’Lar squealed and hugged them. “We are sisters! Hello, sister!”

They could only revel for so long, though, before Hunk interrupted. “Wait. You’re telling me the ruins marry people who go there?”

Ta’Mian’s girlfriend shook her head, blue arms still wrapped around the siblings. “Not like that. They are mere buildings – or what’s left of them. But these ruins are the place of our sacred altar. Ta’Lar is too young to remember, but it was once maintained by several caretakers. As the city expanded and another marriage space was built within it, it fell out of use. We wished to marry the old way, however, and speak the words of bonding at the Altar of Promise, so we journeyed to the ruins. I apologize for wasting your time.”

Wasting their time? Pidge cackled in glee. “Oh, don’t apologize, this is great.” She turned to Hunk. “Two weeks of chores with Coran says Keith and Lance did the ceremony.”

Hunk frowned. He turned to the newlyweds and asked, “What are the bonding words?”

Ta’Mian frowned in confusion but shrugged. “The usual. ’I dedicate mineself to thee. To thee shall I be forever bound’ followed by ‘The commitment of my promise is yours. May eternity unite us.’”

His wife kissed him, seemingly overcome by a gross amount of affection.

Bleh. Could use a little less of that. They were already surrounded by too much nature and pretty flowers for her to take. Pidge was out of her element enough without adding PDA.

Hunk didn’t seem to mind. He just nodded and turned back to Pidge. “There’s no way they’d say that. They’d be looking out for marriage stuff by now.”

“You’d think that, wouldn’t you?”

“You two shouldn’t bet on Lance and Keith,” Shiro scolded. “Especially when we don’t know what’s happening.”

Pidge disagreed. “Why not? They apparently are.” Let Shiro try and stop them if he wanted. It was a wasted effort. “I’m gonna let them know we found Ta’Mian.”

Chapter Text

For the first time in his life, Lance brooded. He couldn’t help it. The situation was too brood-worthy, and he’d found the perfect alcove to sit and stare forlornly out at the passing stars. Stars he didn’t recognize.

Hunk found him first.

“Hey, Buddy. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He didn’t look away from the window. Maybe those three stars looked a little like Orion’s Belt, for all that the surrounding ones looked more like an octopus.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

The Yellow Paladin sighed and leaned against the wall, placing himself just in Lance's periphery. “Down to two-word sentences, huh? I can make you some soup if you want.”

And like that, the octopus was no longer in sight. The castle moved through galaxies too quickly.

Lance shifted his gaze again, looking for a new focus. Looking for anything that remotely resembled Earth’s atmosphere. If it removed Hunk's worried stare from his vision, as well, that was a coincidence. “Not hungry.”

Hunk shifted awkwardly, clothes rustling and breaking the silence, but Lance couldn’t scrounge up the will to care. He just wanted to watch the stars pass in peace and dwell in the sadness that was his life. “I thought you were used to the marriages by now. It’s not like they mean anything. You and Keith aren’t actually husbands, you know. You just happen to keep stumbling into ancient marriage rituals.”

That was the thing, though. Lance shouldn’t have to be used to it. Hunk shouldn’t have to make excuses to help him feel better.

He turned away from the window. There was nothing out there for him anyway. Hunk was his familiar. Pidge was his familiar. The only things he had from Earth were the other paladins.

“I am used to it, Hunk. I just don’t know why. Why is this happening? Why me and Keith? It would be better if it was me and you or Pidge or Shiro. It would be something to shake off or laugh at – just another wacky space adventure. But it wasn’t you guys. It was Keith.”

Hunk frowned at him. “Why is Keith different?”

Was he joking? “He’s my rival! We’re only getting along now because we have to. For the team.” And maybe those words sounded empty to Lance, too.

“Yeah, okay.” Hunk sighed and pushed away from the wall. “Listen, Buddy. I promised to help Coran clean some storage rooms today, but if you ever want to talk...I’m here, alright?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Lance turned back to his window.

‘Why is Keith different?’ He didn’t know. He just knew that it couldn’t be Keith.

Lance didn’t get much peace before someone else interrupted his brooding. And he’d thought he found a good hideout.

“Hey, are you okay, Lance?”

Was that everyone’s question of the day? Did they all get some daily memo that Lance didn’t? “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Keith sighed. Then, he strolled over and threw himself onto the seat next to Lance. If it were any of his other teammates, Lance would have glared or frowned or even walked away, but it was Keith. If anyone knew how he felt, it was the Red Paladin. He had as much right to brood in the alcove as Lance. They may as well commiserate.

“This sucks, doesn’t it?”

Lance couldn’t hold in his snort. Understatement of the past ten eons, he was sure.

“I used to dream about marrying Prince Eric, you know.”

The sentence came from so far out in left field that it took Lance a second to realize Keith had spoken at all, let alone process what he’d actually said.

From ‘The Little Mermaid’? Lance turned to Keith, eyebrow raised in a look of clear judgement and speechless for probably the first time in his life. He hadn’t even known Keith had watched Disney movies – Aladdin had been weird enough. Lance had the excuse of his sisters and niece to fall back on; Keith didn’t.

The Red Paladin grimaced. “Yeah, yeah. I know. But he was hot, and I was, like, eight. Hadn’t had any real crushes yet either.”

“You just wanted to be a mermaid,” Lance muttered. An image of Keith with a mermaid’s tale flashed into his mind, and a smile slipped out before he could help it.

“No.” Keith rolled his eyes. “I liked Eric because not only was he hot, but he was nice and brave and liked to have fun. He was my dream guy…What’s your dream girl? Which princess would you want to marry?”

Allura, sprang to mind, but another part of him asked, Are you sure?

He thought about it. Sure, Allura was a real princess, and she was beautiful, but as a person, Lance really didn’t know that much about her. He knew she hated his flirting and loved to torture them with training. He knew she apparently had a thing for sacrificing herself for the greater good.

What else did he know? Not much.

Honestly, the little he had learned about her made her seem more stuck up than he usually liked in a girl. It wasn’t a bad stuck up – she was still nice and selfless – but she definitely had a serious bone that Lance could never keep up with. He’d date her, sure, but he didn’t think he’d marry her.

Then why go after her? his Hunk voice asked. There’s no point. She doesn’t even want to date you. Going after her when you know you wouldn’t stay with her just seems mean, doesn’t it?

…

The guy had a point. Lance shook the thought out of his head. Keith was there. He couldn’t think about it then. Otherwise, the other might realize what he was thinking.

With the real princess off the table, he cycled through all of the fairytale princesses instead. “I think I’ve gotta go Mulan, actually.”

“She’s not a princess,” Keith pointed out.

No duh, Captain Obvious.

Lance rolled his eyes. “No, but she’s awesome. She’s a fighter. Most of the Disney princesses just cleaned the house or danced in the woods in their movies. That’s great, but Mulan saved her country. Even when the world would have told her not to. Even when the people had only been awful to her. No princess could measure up to that.”

Keith thought about it. “That does sound awesome,” he admitted.

Amid his smug vindication, Lance realized he wasn’t brooding anymore. For the first time in hours, Lance felt happy. What gave Keith the right to barge into his pity corner, looking all sweaty from training, and make him feel better?

He recalled what Keith had said after admitting his thing for Prince Eric. “Who was your first crush?” Who could possibly break through that tough shell and worm his way into Keith’s heart? He had to be something amazing.

“What?”

“You said Eric was your crush before you’d had crushes. That implies there were some after that.”

Keith blushed. “You wouldn’t know him,” he protested.

“So?” Lance didn’t know why he’d asked, really. It hardly mattered. But something inside him wanted to know.

“Fine.” Keith stole Lance’s coping mechanism and stared out the window. “He was this kid when I was ten or eleven. He was in my class. Straight, of course, but he was the best-looking kid there…Not that he’d bother with an orphan.”

Bitterness saturated Keith’s voice.

Some crush. That kid had probably been one of his bullies. How had a bully gotten through Keith’s walls? It couldn’t have just been looks. Keith wasn’t that shallow.

“You know,” Lance started, wanting to somehow make Keith feel better. It was the least he could do after the other helped him, “the most attractive kids before puberty usually wind up the ugliest adults. Not me, of course; I’ll always be this gorgeous. But that kid, I bet he’s not much to look at now.”

Keith smiled, eyes sparkling as he turned away from the window. “You think so?”

“…Oh, definitely.” Keith was another exception to the attractiveness rule.

“Who was your first crush, then?”

Lance jolted. It took him a second to process Keith’s question. What had gotten into him?

Deciding not to dwell on it, he considered the options. He’d liked pretty much every girl he’d ever set his eyes on, but as he flipped through them in his memory, none of them set off the bells of a crush. ‘You’re pretty; let’s go out’ didn’t equal, ‘I want to see if we’re soulmates’ or whatever.

Yeah, none of them were crushes. It was a depressing realization. Was Lance really that shallow?

What about Shang and Mulan?

He shoved that thought to the back of his head. If anything, cartoon crushes were shallower than going after someone based on attraction alone. Cartoon crushes didn’t count. Besides, hero worship was not a form of crush. If he’d had a crush on Shang, then he had a crush on Shiro, and he didn’t have a crush on Shiro. He was 100% straight.

For a straight guy, you talk about other guys’ attractiveness an awful lot.

That was just competitive jealousy.

“I, honestly, don’t know,” he said, answering Keith’s question and ignoring the budding doubt in his head. I didn’t have a crush on Shang.

“Leoncio McClain García doesn’t know who his first crush was?”

Hearing his full name spoken like that…Lance didn’t know how to feel. It was too strange, too intimate. And it seemed to be developing into a habit for Keith. “I regret ever telling you my full name.”

Keith grinned. “Well, it’s too late now.”

“Unfortunately.” Lance contemplated asking the other to stop using his name. Something told him Keith would listen. That same part told him not to ask.

Keith laughed. Jerk. “Listen, I was just heading to the training room. Want to come with me?”

He was such a liar. Going by the sweat dripping off of him, that’s where he’d just been. Lance didn’t call him out on it. “Training? Me?”

“Come on. ‘Be a man’.” No doubt about it: Keith was the biggest jerk in the galaxy. “Or are you scared because you know I’ll have you pinned in ten seconds?”

And like that, Lance was distracted from everything except Keith’s insult. “No. Nope. No no no no. You won’t get away with that insult to my honor.” Lance stood and grabbed Keith’s arm to drag him to the training room. “Come on. We’re sparring right now.”

He’d have plenty of time to think later. Proving Keith wrong came first. It would always come first.

Chapter Text

In all of the turmoil that came with the marriage announcement, Lance forgot about the bet. Keith hadn’t.

“Payment?” Lance froze, pulling out of his cooldown stretches to stare at the Red Paladin. It had been three days since their visit to Nathku’lar, and their training schedule was finally on track. Their friends had already finished up and left the training deck, but before Lance could even think of leaving, Keith taunted him into another match. “What are you talking about?”

“The bet,” Keith explained. “We made it through another marriage without arguing.”

“We argued loads!” They hadn’t stopped arguing, actually. It wasn’t in their nature.

Keith didn’t seem to believe him. “No, we had friendly teasing. Now pay up.”

“I’m not paying for a bet I won,” Lance argued. “We did argue, you’re just biased towards your side.”

“Name one argument,” Keith challenged.

Joke’s on him. Lance had an answer. “You getting upset when I called you half-alien.”

Keith frowned. “Okay, 1) I’m not half-alien, stop saying that, and 2) We didn’t argue about that.”

They’d have to agree to disagree. “Well, you sabotaged me! You didn’t get mad no matter what I said!”

“Wasn’t that the point of the bet?”

Lance groaned. “I take back every nice thing I ever said or thought about you.”

“You’ve thought nice things?” Keith asked, still frustratingly calm. How had he suddenly gotten so good at holding his temper? Had he just become immune to Lance’s taunts? Had Lance really been that awful for so long that his jibes no longer affected Keith?

“Are you going to pay up or will I have to call in backup?”

The last thing Lance needed was Hunk and Pidge butting in. Why was Keith so invested in this? “Fine. What was the payment again?”

“You have to admit that you remember our bonding moment.”

Why did I agree to this stupid bet? Lance grimaced. “Why should I admit something that’s not true?” he tried.

Keith gave him a look. “You do remember. You just don’t like that it happened.”

Ooh. He’s crossing his arms now. Must be serious. “I don’t.”

“Lance, I can feel you lying.”

…He can what?

Lance frowned. Whatever Keith meant, it couldn’t be good for him. “…What are you talking about?”

Seeing – or sensing – Lance’s sincerity, Keith dropped the defensive stance. He frowned in confusion. “I can feel what you feel. Through the bond…You mean you can’t feel when I lie?”

Shit. “Of course not! All I feel is when you’re not here. When exactly did you become a human lie detector?”

“…After the explosion.”

If that was true, then something must have happened to Keith’s side of the bond while Lance was unconscious.

Keith continued talking. Rambling. “The bond was just…gone. It disappeared, and then Allura and I were locked out of the castle. And Shiro was being tortured, and…I had to know you were alright. I kept searching for the bond. Eventually, I was able to feel it again. I think you must have regained consciousness, but I couldn’t just feel you being there. I could feel your emotion, too. That’s why I know we didn’t actually argue. You never feel like you mean to.”

Oh, Lance definitely meant to.

“Keith, I don’t feel any of that.”

“I know.” He could probably sense it.

Lance shifted, sore muscles finally reminding him that he’d been training not ten minutes earlier. He ignored the twinge. “If the bond’s evolving…”

“Has Shiro talked to Alfor yet?”

***

The Black Paladin was just as concerned as they were when they told him the news. He dropped whatever plans he’d had and followed them to the memory chamber.

“Your majesty,” Shiro greeted as the regal and bearded man burst into existence. “I know you don’t know us, but-”

“Of course I know you.” The king chuckled. “You are the Paladins who replaced my friends and I and gave the universe another chance at freedom from Zarkon.”

Wait. “We replaced you? You were a paladin?” How had Lance not known that? Why hadn’t Allura told them her father was a Paladin?

Alfor seemed surprised by the question. “I was the original Red Paladin, yes. I also built the lions. From a rather interesting comet.” The king went quiet, pensive.

“Who was Blue’s original-?”

“Lance,” Shiro scolded. “I think we should focus on why we’re here. There’s plenty of time for more questions later.”

“Right.” They did have more pressing questions.

Alfor pulled out of his thoughts and smiled at them. “I see you’ve come to me with a purpose.”

Shiro nodded. “We were wondering about some clay we found, hidden on the ship. Olrensel clay?”

The king frowned. “I did put the clay in the treasury, to preserve for Allura’s future union, but it was not hidden.”

“Not that one,” Keith said.

Alfor’s face shifted from confusion to shock to utter blankness. So, he did know about the clay they’d found. “I’m afraid I don’t know of what you speak. The only Olrensel Clay in the castle is the one I already spoke of.”

He was lying. The question was: why? What would he gain from not telling them?

Keith growled – an eerily authentic growl – seeming ready to rip the answers from the king’s hard drive, but Shiro held him back. “Thank you, Your Majesty. We’re sorry to have bothered you.”

The king’s projection disappeared without another word.

“What was that?” Keith demanded, rounding on Shiro. “He was lying! He knows something!”

“He wasn’t going to say anything to us, Keith…We need to think this through, and once we have a plan, then we can come back to question him.”

Why did Shiro have to be the voice of reason?

“In the meantime, Lance, I want you to try to stretch the bond on your side. We need to know if the expansion was one-sided or not. That way we know what to expect.” Lance took back the compliment. Shiro was insane.

“Shouldn’t we, I don’t know, not mess with the mystical soul bond?”

“Just do what I said. I doubt it will kill you. Keith’s fine.”

“Shang’s cooler than you,” Lance muttered.

Keith snorted, and Shiro stared at him like he’d grown a second head, but Lance refused to take back the words.

“Guys,” Pidge called over the intercom. “We’re about to hack Sendak’s brain, so you should head to the dungeon if you want to watch.”

Shiro sighed. “We’ll talk more later.”

***

Lance hadn’t thought things could get worse than being stuck – against his will but with his full awareness – in the cryopod. Then, he got stuck in the airlock. And it started counting down. And he was 100% alone.

“Oh, no no no no no! Help! Help!” He battered his fists against the airlock doors, hoping someone might hear but knowing they probably wouldn’t.

For safety reasons, the only way to open the airlock doors was from inside the castle. Lance’s only hope was that one of the others would walk by. Pidge and Hunk were messing with the Galra crystal, so they were out. Shiro was watching Sendak and hadn’t so much as twitched in hours; good luck there. Allura was still resting to heal up, so she wouldn’t rescue him. Coran was cleaning the castle, and Keith was probably still training. If only Lance had his armor on. He could use his helmet to contact the others. Granted, if he had his helmet, then being blasted into space wouldn’t be as awful as his helmetless situation made it.

Despite his lack of hope, he continued battering against the doors. Maybe someone would hear. Maybe he could break through the alien glass or metal…

Yeah, he was going to die.

No, no, no, no. Please.

At some point in his panic, an electric current burst between Lance’s hands and the airlock doors. The pulse sent him flying back into the opposite wall.

Agh. What was that?

His head throbbed, and his shoulder would probably bruise from the impact. Not that he didn’t have plenty of other bruises from training. He took stock of the rest of his body, ensuring no bones had broken, and that’s when Lance realized his skin was buzzing. It was so easy to forget the Olrensel clay bond by then that he barely noticed it. Maybe that’s what threw him into the wall.

Another reason to hate the stupid thing.

He froze mid head-rub when he realized. “The bond!”

Keith had said he could feel Lance’s emotions. Shiro figured Lance might be able to reach Keith’s as well. If he could use the bond to reach Keith, then he could escape the airlock!

Lance closed his eyes and focused. He thought only of Keith and trying to find him.

He was training, right? Lance thought about the training deck, trying to pinpoint the Red Paladin, but he couldn’t get a read on him. One minute, he felt like the other was one place, then he shifted, and Lance had to look for him again.

Just follow the bond. You don’t have to find him. You’re connected.

Lance instead started with himself, forcing himself to notice the buzzing, the energy within him. He traced that back to its source. A hint of fear burst into his awareness - probably Lance’s - then, it was gone. Lance was back in his own body.

He sighed and tried again, blocking out the timer.

“Eleven…Ten…N-”

No time.

Again, he traced the energy to the other end.

Keith! Why he thought that would work, Lance didn’t know.

[“What are you doing in there?!”] Keith demanded.

Shocked, Lance opened his eyes to see Keith sparring with the Gladiator from the training deck. He’d been so focused on blocking out the sounds around him that he hadn’t heard the clangs of sword against staff.

Now that he was aware, though, he could also hear the king’s countdown. “Three…Two-”

“No time! Help!”

Before Keith could do anything, the airlock doors opened. Lance grabbed a protruding panel on one of the walls, screaming as the windforce threatened to suck him into the void of deep space. His fingers froze from the chill, and breathing was impossible, but he held on for as long as he could.

If Keith doesn’t stop that stupid training session and help me, I swear to God!

Suddenly, the doors Lance had battered senselessly with no effect slid apart. Keith pushed the Gladiator out. It nearly collided with Lance, but the Blue Paladin had other, more pressing concerns.

He couldn’t hold on much longer.

[“Keith! Keith, come on!”]

Keith leaned out as far as he could. They only had one shot.

Lance let go of the panel with one hand and fought all of the forces of physics to grab his only possible lifeline. Their hands sparked before touching, but it was like a magnet, pulling him to safety.

Keith threw Lance away from the air current before throwing himself onto the airlock’s control panel. The doors closed, leaving the hall eerily silent.

They both panted, too shocked for words.

I almost died. Again! He hadn’t even talked to his family yet.

[“What were you doing out there?!”] Keith demanded. Like Lance had chosen to go for a stroll in an open airlock.

“What about you?! How could you keep sparring when the castle’s trying to kill me?!”

“That thing was trying to kill me!”

The castle had attacked both of them. And if it tried to hurt them, then…

“Ahh!” They ran to find the others.

***

After the castle-virus fiasco, Lance couldn’t sleep. The entire day played on repeat in his head, and no matter what he thought of to replace the memories, they’d inevitably creep in again. Alfor was gone – there went their answers – Allura was grieving, and Sendak had been jettisoned into space. Could things get any worse?

If Sendak survives, he’ll make straight for us. Considering how their last encounter went, Lance did not look forward to that.

Sendak’s escape, however, only briefly held his attention.

I nearly died today. Again.

…And Keith saved me again.

It seemed to have become Keith’s purpose. Saving Lance, that was. No matter where he turned, if he was in danger, Keith was there to rescue him. He remembered their trip up the wall at the ruins. Keith’s catching his foot hadn’t seemed like much at the time, but looking back, it was yet another example of the other’s heroics. Another example of his saving Lance from harm or danger.

The perfect hero. There was no more malice or jealousy to Lance’s thought. No, instead, he felt guilty.

All you’ve done is verbally attack and belittle him, his inner voice chastised. And he keeps saving you anyway.

There was only one thing to be done.

Without fully thinking through his actions, Lance bolted from bed and through the door. Seconds later, he was standing in front of Keith’s bedroom, waiting for the other to answer his knock.

Keith blinked blurrily, frowning in confusion. Good going, Sharpshooter, you woke him up.

“Lance? What is it? What’s wrong?”

No point dwelling on that. “I’m sorry!” he shouted.

Keith flinched. Any lingering tiredness was probably blasted away by Lance’s volume. He wasn’t any good at this. “What?”

“I’m-” It was no good. Lance couldn’t say it again. “I wanted to say thanks,” he said instead, awkwardly. How did you thank someone for saving your life? “You know, for saving me. If you hadn’t come along, I would have died.”

Keith still looked confused. Yeah. Lance probably would be, too. “Anyone would have done the same.”

“But you did it…Twice!” There. He said it.

Keith didn’t get it. “Twice?”

Great. Lance would have to elaborate. “Yeah, this time with the airlock, and the other…” He breathed in, trying to eliminate his nerves. It didn’t help. All of the butterflies stayed in his stomach, leaving no room for air in his lungs.

Get a hold of yourself. Keith saved your life even after the way you treated him. The least you can do is this. “When you carried me to the cryopods,” he finished. Icy anticipation filled him as he waited for Keith’s response. What if Lance had gone too far? What if his apology had been too weird?

Keith’s eyes widened in shock. Then, he smiled. If he was going to be smug about it, Lance might just take back the confession. “So, you admit that you remember, then?”

“Yes, I admit that I remember,” Lance grumbled. Against his better judgement, he crossed his arms. Keith was still too socially unaware to recognize it as a defensive gesture, right? “I don’t know why you have to make such a big deal about it.”

“I’m not the one who did.”

Why did Keith always have to point stuff like that out? Lance flushed. “It’s not a big deal. Teammates save each other. It’s what they’re supposed to do…Even rival ones.”

“I thought we were past the rivals, at least.”

Lance didn’t know what they were.

Husbands.

He ignored his inner voice. They definitely weren’t that. “You just know you can’t compete with this.”

Keith groaned. “There’s no competition, Lance. Stop pretending there is. Iverson’s a jackass.”

“All we are is competition, Samurai.”

“It doesn’t have to be a bad one,” Keith argued.

Maybe not.

They stood in silence for a while, but Keith broke it. “Hey…Earlier – during that fight, I mean – I thought I felt something strange.”

Lance looked at him. Keith seemed tense. Granted, he was referring to their bond. Lance hadn’t been the most amenable person when it came to that topic. “Like what?”

“…You.” Keith eyed him, still unable to face him head-on. “It’s like…” He looked away again, thinking-glare in place. “It’s like the bond tugged or something.”

Oh. “Yeah, I- I was trying to get you. You know, to get me out of the airlock.”

“Yeah, makes sense.”

But there was something else in his tone. He hadn’t said everything. “What is it?”

“…”

“Keith?”

“…I didn’t just feel a tug. I…You haven’t talked to your family yet. But you want to.”

Lance stiffened. Keith had gotten that, too? He hadn’t even consciously thought about his family during the struggle. It was just an underlying want, constantly beneath the surface. Keith had reached that far into his head?

“So? We’re in space. I don’t even know how to contact them.”

For the first time in a while, Keith looked straight at Lance. A familiar determination filled Keith’s expression as he said the words Lance never thought he’d hear. “I want to help you contact them. If you’ll let me.”

It was like the airlock doors were open again, stealing all of the breath from Lance’s lungs, even so far away.

‘I want to help you contact them.’

Keith really wanted to be his hero, huh? “…Okay.”

Chapter Text

At breakfast the next morning, Keith broached the topic of communicating with Earth. Lance nearly had a heart attack. He couldn’t have the others know how big of a baby he was. Hunk didn’t seem so homesick. Or Shiro. If they could hold out, then Lance should be able to as well. The universe was depending on them.

Maybe Keith sensed his alarm, or maybe he’d planned to lie from the beginning. Whatever the reason, he added, “I just think we should let the Garrison know that Shiro’s safe. And the rest of us. We should let them know about the Galra, too.”

Shiro hummed. “He has a point. Is it possible, Princess?”

They all looked to Allura, waiting for her answer.

“I’m afraid not.” She said nothing else, and no one pressed her. After what had happened with Alfor’s memories so recently, Lance couldn’t blame them, but he wanted to know why it wasn’t possible. The castle was fully teched out. They had to have the means to contact Earth.

“We’ll sneak into the bridge tonight,” Keith told him later. He nearly gave Lance a heart attack, in the process. Keith had come out of nowhere. “See if we can work the comms.”

Lance nodded, ignoring the lingering panic and heart-racing adrenaline. “If Sendak figured it out, we can.”

They staked out in Keith’s room, waiting for Coran to go to bed. It didn’t take long. After the morning’s training, no one was energized enough to stay awake.

Lance was too energized. Too hopped up on the possibility that he could talk to his family. When he deemed it late enough that Coran would be gone, he rushed from Keith’s room, leaving the Red Paladin to fumble after him. They hit a dead-end, however, when they encountered the control console. Not even their translators helped. Lance supposed Altean technology – even ten thousand-year-old technology – was too advanced for an English equivalent.

You think you would have understood regardless?

Not now.

Keith groaned as they stared at the Altean nonsense. “How do you work this thing?”

Lance shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t read Altean.”

And his inner voice was right. Lance wasn’t an engineer, and while he’d trained at piloting Earth’s ships, they weren’t on an Earth ship. When in the lions, Blue always showed him what to do, but they didn’t have mystical help inside the castle.

Keith glared at the buttons. There were too many to count. At that rate, Coran would be back before they got halfway through.

“Wait,” Keith said. Lance turned to watch him. “This looks familiar.”

He pressed a button, and it brought up a blank screen.

Huh. That actually worked. “Good going, Samurai. The screen’s on, but how do we- AH!”

“Paladins!” King Madleif declared happily, popping into existence on the screen. “How may I be of assistance?”

“Uh, uh…”

Keith took over for him. “Sorry, Your Majesty, we hit the wrong contact button.”

The king’s smile fell. “Oh…I thought perhaps you were calling for nuptial advice.”

Any apprehension and awkwardness Lance felt evaporated. “Why would we-?!”

“But I see I was mistaken. Is all going well?”

He’d never listen to Lance’s complaints, and Allura would pelt them with rocks again before letting Lance say what he really wanted. “…It’s going great.”

King Madleif grinned. “Good, good. As I knew it would. The Pond of Bonding never disappoints! But remember, the first weeks are the easy part. It is the ones after that truly test a relationship.”

No way in Hell would Lance listen to another patronizing word about his ‘relationship.’ “Thanks for the advice, Your Majesty, but we should go.”

Lance hung up before the king could say anything else. He slumped against the console. “Sometimes…I forget we’re married. Then, stuff like that happens.”

Keith looked at him. “You forget?”

He didn’t? “It’s not like we meant to get married!”

“Whatever.” Keith turned back to the console. “Let’s figure out if we can connect with Earth.”

They were in the middle of trying out buttons when Coran ran in. It couldn’t have been that long, could it?

Coran froze, all tension draining from him when he saw Lance and Keith. He raised an eyebrow as Lance feigned innocence. “Ah, so you’re the ones in here. What are you doing?”

Don’t look at the console, Lance told himself. He felt so nervous that he didn’t even breathe.

“Coran! We were just-”

“We were trying to contact Earth,” Keith explained.

What the hell, Keith? Lance stared at him in betrayal. How could he out them like that? Not that Lance had specifically told him to keep it secret. If he had, Keith would have asked why, and Lance couldn’t deal with that embarrassment on top of everything else.

“How do we direct a call to a specific location?”

“I’m afraid we can’t, my boys. You heard the princess this morning.” Coran walked forward and began typing something into the system. “There. That should reset all of the alarms.”

Alarms? Lance hadn’t heard anything. There must be sensors that alerted Coran whenever someone unauthorized touched the control panel.

He finished resetting everything then turned around to face them again. “In order to contact a planet, they must have technology on level with ours. Earth does not.”

Just one look at the control console told Lance that much. He would have accepted that and moved on if it weren’t for one thing. “But we called King Madleif by mistake,” he argued. The Arusians were primitive. There were no electronics to speak of on Arus. Earth had to be more advanced than that.

“Yes. Because we gave him a communication device before leaving planet Arus.” Coran sighed. “I’m sorry, but Earth is not accessible, and even if it was, I don’t believe it’s a good idea to contact them.”

“Why not?” Lance demanded.

Coran speared him with a look. “You wish to contact your family, correct?”

Lance didn’t answer.

“If you do that, what do you think they’d say? They’d worry about you. They’d ask you to come home.”

“But they’re probably already worried!” Lance argued. “I need to let them know I’m-”

“You’d also put them in danger.”

He shut up immediately. Danger?

“You mean Zarkon might trace the call?” Keith asked, frowning.

Lance hadn’t considered that. The castle seemed so impenetrable.

“Yes. He’s been on the lookout for us, and communications at such long distances are much more easily traced and decoded. He was already close to Earth when you five came to us, wasn’t he? It’s best for everyone if you do not contact them.”

Oh. “I understand, Coran.”

“I’m sorry, my boy.”

Lance turned and strode out of the room. He couldn’t let the others see him cry. It wasn’t a thing heroes should do.

Keith caught him before he got three steps out the door, hand tight around Lance’s bicep. “Lance, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He tried to ignore the sudden warmth gushing to his eyes, the tickle in his nose. Sobbing helped no one. Heroes didn’t cry, and they especially didn’t cry in front of their teammates. He turned his head, hoping Keith hadn’t seen his face.

So close. They’d been so close.

“Do you want to talk?”

“I just want to go to my room. I have to do my skincare routine,” he said. There. That was a valid excuse. Not that there was much point. His tears would ruin the face mask. “It’s already late, and we’ll need sleep for training tomorrow.”

Keith didn’t relent. He could probably hear the sobs in Lance’s voice. “I’m sorry we couldn’t contact them. Maybe there’s another way. A safer one. We’ll find-”

“Just let me go, Keith.”

“I can’t!”

“Why not?!” Was he that desperate to be a hero? Why did he always have to show off? Why did he always have to be better than everyone?

“Because you’re upset,” Keith answered desperately. “And it’s my fault! I’m the one who said I could help you contact them!”

Lance stared. His tears didn’t stop, but his gasping breaths did. He almost stopped breathing altogether. It sounded like Keith cared a lot. Way more than Lance would expect. He’d been awful to the other for the entire past week. For years before that!

“It’s not your fault,” he eventually muttered. It was Zarkon’s. They had to kill that bastard. “Just let me go,” he pleaded.

Keith frowned, and Lance almost thought he wouldn’t comply. After several long moments, though, he released his hold. Lance turned to go.

“Lance, I promise I won’t stop looking for a way to contact your family. One of these planets has to have a safe way to do it. I promise.”

He sounded like he meant it.

Lance ran before he could let his mind fully process the words.

Chapter Text

‘I promise I won’t stop looking for a way to contact your family.’

Every time Lance looked at Keith, those words slithered through his head. They confused him and warmed him and scared him to a degree that he didn’t know was possible. Why would Keith promise that? Why did Lance believe him?

No one had ever made him a promise like that. Most people brushed him off, barely listening to his rants or concerns. Even Hunk! So, why would Keith of all people – his rival – be an exception? Why was Keith so nice after everything Lance had said and done to him? It made zero sense.

Even worse, why was Lance so affected? It’s not like Keith had already found a way to contact his family. Empty words meant nothing. He’d probably never find a way. Still, something warm filled his insides whenever he remembered the promise. Considering that happened every time he looked at Keith and the fact that he and Keith trained together more often than not, it made his life exceedingly difficult.

Worst yet? Keith – the guy who could apparently feel Lance’s emotions – hadn’t noticed. Well, he’d noticed Lance’s slipups. He just hadn’t realized why. Whenever Lance blundered his way through another training exercise, he’d frown – concerned to a slightly annoying degree – and ask, “Are you alright?”

Why did he care?! Why was he always there, hand held out and eager to save Lance? (Why did it affect Lance so much when Hunk or his family’s concern didn’t?)

Needless to say, Lance was thrilled when another mission for them came in. It had been several days, and he needed a distraction. An infiltration of a Galran Space Base was just what the doctor ordered.

The green and antlered aliens they found upon landing threw a wrench in those plans.

The Galra didn’t kick them out? Maybe they were enslaved, like the Balmerans.

“Hello,” Allura greeted, bending to address the little dudes. (They were only slightly taller than the Arusians.) “Who might you be?”

Most of the aliens screamed and cowered away, ducking to hide around the corner they’d come out of. When the Paladins and Allura followed, they found themselves at the entrance of a cave.

That explains how they hid from our sensors.

As the Paladins drew closer, the aliens scrambled further away, slipping around a corner to hide, but their bioluminescent skin cast a green light on the back wall, proving they were still there.

Hunk held out his hands. “Hey, woah. We come in peace.”

Lance didn’t expect that to work – ‘We come in peace’? Really? – but some of the light on the wall shifted, and a small, green head poked around the corner. “You are not Galra,” she said hesitantly.

“No, we are not.” Allura smiled and bowed. “I am Princess Allura of planet Altea, and these are my friends, the Five Paladins of Voltron.”

“Are you gods?” another voice asked, still hiding behind the corner.

Did all small aliens think that? Lance snorted. “No, we’re people. Well, Shiro might be.”

Shiro sighed. “Lance.”

Was it his fault he liked to tease? Besides, the jury was still out on the state of Shiro’s godliness. Lance wasn’t convinced humans could reach the Black Paladin’s level of perfection.

Three of the aliens finally emerged, staring at Shiro in awe.

Lance snickered when the Black Paladin scowled at him. He could probably convince the whole universe Shiro was a god if he wanted.

“What are you doing here?” Allura asked the aliens. “I did not expect to find inhabitants of this planet. Especially not so near the Galran hub.”

“We’re not supposed to be,” the leading girl admitted, scuffing her feet on the ground. “But we were curious. Our parents were busy with the celebration…We wanted to explore!” She glared at them, as if daring them to rat her out.

So, they’re kids…She reminds me of Nadia. The thought was a little sad, but Lance had to smile. He missed his niece so much.

‘I promise I won’t stop looking for a way to contact your family.’

Any homesickness evaporated in place of embarrassment. The mission was supposed to distract him! Instead, one little girl who happened to remind him of his troublemaking niece made every repressed thought flood his brain, washing out any hope of returning to normalcy.

Lance flushed and tried not to look at Keith. There’d been no trouble with that before, for all that Keith stood next to him. Now, every inch of him wanted to look and see if Keith somehow knew. As if he could read Lance’s mind instead of just his emotions.

Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look.

He looked.

Keith was looking back, eyebrow raised in a question Lance didn’t want to answer but agreed with.

What the hell is wrong with me? Focus on the kids. They’re the priority. They shouldn’t be this close to a Galran base!

Lance used every ounce of willpower he possessed to focus on the problem at hand. Anything else could wait until later. And the longer he ignored the unnamed problem, the more likely he could forget it altogether. Keith just liked heroics; Lance admired heroes. There was nothing more to it than that.

Even after Lance’s internal wrestling match, the kids were still standing in front of them, with the Nadia-clone glaring defiantly. The glow of her skin only accented her narrowed eyes and clenched fists. Something in Lance relaxed as he tried not to laugh.

Yeah, this mission was more important than his…whatever. No way they could leave innocent kids there during their infiltration. If something went wrong, the Galra would send out search parties for them and might find the kids instead.

“I see,” Allura finally said. She contacted Coran. “There’s been a slight change of plans. We’ll have to make a detour before infiltrating the hub.”

“What? Princess, what’s going on?”

“Nothing concerning. We simply have some children to help.” She turned back to the kids. “It’s dangerous for you all to be out this far, and I’m sure your parents are worried sick. If you’ll allow us, my friends and I would like to escort you back home safely.”

The girl sighed. Something told Lance she’d rather infiltrate the base with them than go back home. “Okay,” she muttered, in full-on pout-mode.

Lance tried not to laugh. Yep. Just like Nadia.

Allura ignored the girl’s lack of enthusiasm. “Excellent.”

“Wait!” one of the boys shouted, grasping at the Nadia-clone’s arm in a panic. “Sentri’s missing!”

The Nadia-clone’s eyes widened. She frantically glanced around, even spinning on one foot to find her missing friend when the kid didn’t appear from behind their hiding corner. There was no light reflecting on the back wall from hidden aliens anymore. “So’s Endel!” she cried.

The third kid snorted. “They ran away when they saw the princess.”

That could lead to problems. Who knew where they’d headed or what traps might be in the mountains? Lance tried to look past the corner himself, but even with the glowing aliens near them, it was too dark to see far. Making matters worse, the first turn led into a fork in the tunnel. There was no telling which path the other kids had taken.

The one bright side was that the missing kids had run back inside and not towards the base. Kids weren’t the best forward-thinkers. Lance could attest to that.

“Is anyone else missing?” Allura asked, pulling his attention back to the situation in front of him.

“No. Just Endel and Sentri.”

Shiro sighed, getting to business. “Alright. Lance-”

Lance refused to hear the rest of that order. “Whatever it is, I’m not going with Keith.” While he’d successfully repressed his memory of Keith saying…that…He’d rather not be married a sixth time if he could help it, and walking through an alien cave together sounded too familiar for comfort.

Pidge snorted, and Shiro smiled.

“Lance,” he repeated, smirking. “You, Pidge, and Hunk go with the princess to take this group down the mountain. Keith and I will head upwards and find the others.”

If that had been Shiro’s original plan, Lance would eat his helmet.

We’ve been paired up for pretty much everything since getting to space.

Weren’t you the one who challenged Keith to that first sparring match? his Hunk voice pointed out.

Lance grimaced. Yeah, even as a teenager, he definitely wasn’t a forward-thinker. I just wanted to prove I could beat him at something. Not that he’d won. He was still working on it.

“Alright, we have a plan.” The princess clasped her hands and leaned down to address their charges. “Would you all mind showing us the way?”

The kids scrambled to take the lead.

As they walked, Lance took advantage of the aliens’ bioluminescence to admire the interior. “What are all these carvings of?”

The walls were covered in marks and etchings. Nothing natural could have formed them, but they didn’t look like anything Lance had ever seen.

The smaller boy shrugged. “Don’t know. We’re not allowed to ask.”

That was odd. He’d think kids would be encouraged to learn about their culture. If someone found cave drawings on Earth, it would be international news. Or maybe the etchings were just graffiti. Lisa definitely wouldn’t let Nadia or Silvio see something like that, no matter how much she encouraged her kids to read and appreciate art.

“Is there anything we should keep an eye out for?” Allura asked. “Any dangers in the cave?”

“No. I don’t think they released the Majra yet.”

‘Released.’ That didn’t sound good for them. What kind of animal would be ‘released’?

Hunk frowned. “Um, what’s a Majra?”

“Scary beasts that we release for the celebration!” the bigger boy cheerily answered. “They have pointy teeth! And claws!”

“But- They haven’t been released yet, right? That’s what you said?”

“I don’t think so.” The smaller kid shrugged again. “My father still had them in cages when we left.”

With Lance’s luck, the Majra were released and headed their way.

No point worrying about it now.

“What are your names?” Allura asked, changing the subject.

The girl beamed. “I’m Gladtri! Leader of this expe-”

“I’m Ben!” the smaller boy interrupted. He turned to face Allura fully but continued to walk. “Are you really a princess?!” His distraction cost him. He tripped before Allura could answer, knocking into the last kid.

They both groaned in pain. Lance tried not to laugh.

“Get off me!”

“I can’t,” Ben said weakly. “I’m dead.”

Pidge and Hunk joined Lance in hiding their snickers as the princess went to help the kids. They most likely weren’t hurt, and that had been funny.

“Thank you, Princess Allura,” the last boy said once he was finally standing. He brushed the stray dirt off of his clothes. “My name is Iban.”

Allura nodded, smiling. “Alright then. Now that introductions are over, and as long as everyone’s unharmed, we should keep going. Your parents must be worried.”

Gladtri kicked the rock that tripped Ben, letting it skitter down the tunnel and out of sight. “They won’t have noticed.”

That was…concerning. Lance might have said something, but Hunk got his attention as they continued walking. “I’ve been meaning to ask. Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’ve been acting weird. And in training-” Hunk stepped over a raised ledge, and Lance followed. They waited to help the kids over before returning to their walk.

“In training,” Hunk continued, “you’ve messed up a lot lately. Like, more than your usual.”

“I never mess up!” Was it Lance’s fault Keith was unintentionally distracting?

Great. Now I’m thinking about it again. He groaned. First, he had to end the conversation. Then, he would have to box up his thoughts and confusion. Why was he confused? What was there to be confused about?

Hunk ignored his protest. “I’m just worried. Is it the marriages? Are you still brooding? Because, let me tell you, brooding is not your thing, and it’s kind of freaking me out.”

“I’m not brooding. And I’m not messing up! I’m fine.”

How could he explain to Hunk what he couldn’t even understand himself? For all intents and purposes, he was fine. There was absolutely no reason for him to act the way he did or feel the way he did. That didn’t stop him from feeling it. The question was: Why?

Hunk couldn’t leave it there.

“How are you doing with the marriage situation? I know it was bugging you. Especially since it was with Keith.”

‘Why is Keith different?’ That was the question of the decade, wasn’t it?

Keith was different in so many ways. He never did things halfway, either. He was the best pilot in their class. He was Shiro’s favorite. Unlike the rest of their class, he didn’t socialize at all. He was a discipline case, but his flight skills kept him in the Garrison. Then, he’d dropped out and managed to compile notes on the Blue Lion’s location. He was the reason they were in space, really. Without him, they never would have found Blue.

Then, he’d saved Lance’s life. Twice.

He’d saved Lance’s life after Lance had been awful to him. He’d even promised to help Lance contact his family. But why? Of all the things Lance had thought about Keith during their time at the Garrison, him being a hero wasn’t one of them.

Back then, Keith had been a mystery. A hothead. He’d had anger that could last days and pensiveness that lasted hours. He’d been Shiro’s ingenue and a natural pilot. He’d been weird and jerkish and inflexible. His attractiveness had drawn all of the girls to him and made most of the boys hate him, and his pride could fill the entire commissary. Keith fought teachers and students and himself every day…And of all their classmates, he’d been the only one that Lance had never been able to look away from.

‘Why is Keith different?’ Lance wished he knew.

“It is what it is.” He sped up until he was in front of Hunk. He couldn’t face his Buddy, not with all of the weird thoughts floating through his head.

Hunk frowned, but he didn’t press.

The further they walked, the steeper the hill got until Lance was forced to hold the wall for support. It took all of his concentration not to fall. A welcome relief from both the confused mess his mind had fallen into and the strange humidity of the narrow tunnel.

Then, his hand hit something slick and slimy.

Lance recoiled. “Agh! What the-” On instinct, he tried to wipe it off with his other hand, but that just spread it even more. He could practically feel it seeping into his skin and pores, doing God knew what. Lance grimaced and hurriedly rubbed the gunk onto his pants, feeling sick. “What’s on the walls?!”

The kids frowned, turning around to stare at him.

“Something’s on the walls?” Gladtri asked, poking the stone next to her.

Hunk pulled his hand away. Lucky. He hadn’t reached the slime yet. “Okay, not touching that.”

Pidge snickered. “Oh, the joys of being short. There’s nothing this low.”

Of course, it would only be on the upper part of the wall. And of course, Lance would be the tallest person at the front. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up.”

“Shall we continue?” Despite her nonchalance, Lance noticed that Allura had also removed her hand from the wall.

Hunk gestured to the three at the front. “Lead the way, kiddos.”

Unfortunately, the lack of support made it much harder to walk. If there weren’t so many of them and they had clear view of the landing, Lance might have just slid down. Unfortunately, the odds of that ending in disaster were high. How many times had his character in a video game died from falling off a slide? Too many.

Minutes into the less dangerous form of travel, however, a flash of pink flew past him, darting behind and towards the others. He turned. And he tripped.

“Ah-!” THUD!

“Lance!”

He slid, face-down, down the slope. With his armor on, the sliding didn’t hurt too much, but his speed and path were uncontrollable. And just up ahead he saw-

Lance closed his eyes and held his breath just in time to hit the next landing. If he’d been walking, the plateaued surface would have been a godsend. A brief respite in the middle of a mountain climb. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been walking. He’d been sliding, and the slope led him right into a pool of mud.

God, he hoped it was mud.

Lance surfaced, gasping for breath and trying hard not to swallow whatever droplets entered his mouth. His head twinged from the landing’s impact with his skull, but his helmet did its job well enough to prevent major injury.

Should have closed my visor. Lance hadn’t seen the need to waste oxygen on a planet he could breathe on, though.

Once he’d calmed down enough to realize nothing would get the mud – Please, please, be mud – out of his mouth, Lance eyed the warm and gooey mass coating him from, literally, nose to toes. The gunk was too dark to make out, even with the kids’ bioluminescence illuminating their surroundings. And it was too alien to be sure of anything besides.

Was it too late to quit being a Paladin? Maybe he should have gone with Keith and Shiro. Being married again was worth avoiding a trip into a literal pool of mud.

If Keith doesn’t fall in on his way back, I’m suing this entire planet. Yes, that included the Galra.

“Are you okay, mister?” Iban asked, carefully stopping at the pool’s edge. The others trailed behind, and not one of them tripped.

Great.

“I’m fine.” His arms and legs twinged as he stood. Maybe the collision had done more damage than he thought. Nothing felt broken, though. All Lance could feel was aches, bruises, and mud. Lots and lots of mud.

Is it seeping past my bodysuit? That shouldn’t be possible, but it felt like it was. And his face was definitely in danger if the mud was toxic or acidic in any way. It doesn’t feel like it’s burning.

Lance sighed. No point trying to rub the mud from his face even if it was. His hands and arms were covered, too. He’d just make it worse. “Let’s keep going.”

His friends and the three kids skirted around the pool’s edges to avoid the mud. Lucky jerks.

To make matters worse, the further they went, the warmer the cave got, drying the mud and making it stick. He’d have to enhance his skincare routine to the tenth power to feel clean again, but at least the goo wasn’t sliding around and slipping into horrible places anymore.

What was up with the heat, though? In Lance’s experience, all caves were cold, if not freezing. The only exception had been the Balmera, a living planet with lava running through her veins. The planet that the Space Base was on had no such excuse…And it kept getting hotter.

Even weirder? The caves started to feel misty, too. Within minutes of it drying, the mud on his face turned even muddier. So much for it staying put. A drop of mud that had bypassed his helmet dripped into his eye.

What the hell?

“Do you guys feel that?”

Before anyone could answer, they turned the corner and found a sauna. “Woah.”

“What is this place?” Pidge asked.

Lance couldn’t care less. All he needed to know was that it was water. Well, that and one other thing.

He turned to the kids. “Is this a sacred spring?” He had to be sure before making his next move.

Ben frowned. “Don’t think so. The only sacred spring I know of is the Spring of Cleansing, and that’s a myth. Besides, there are plenty of these all over the mountain.”

Good enough for Lance. He jumped in. The water was hot, but it was water.

“Lance!” Going by Allura’s expression, you’d think Lance had killed someone in front of her. “What are you doing?!”

“Cleaning this mud off.” If it was mud. He tried not to think about the other possibilities.

“I think we’re getting ready for marriage number six,” Pidge joked.

“Shut up. They said it wasn’t a sacred spring. Besides, Keith’s not even here.” He continued to clean himself, trying to ignore any doubts. Keith wasn’t there, so it couldn’t be another marriage. Right?

“We do have a time limit,” Allura chided, holding the kids back from following his example. She only had two hands, so Hunk had to help her, catching Gladtri before she reached the spring’s edge.

Lance wasn’t fully clean. There was still a muddy residue on his skin and armor, but he was clean enough to not feel completely gross for the rest of the trip. And no mud dripping into his eyes, just water. He sighed and exited the spring. “Yeah, yeah.”

After the mud, the dripping spring water was a relief. And the cave’s warmth and waterproof nature of his armor prevented Lance from freezing to death, which was a plus.

Another plus? Compared to the labyrinthine Balmera, the mountain’s one-track tunnel was a breeze to walk through. There was no confusion, no second-guessing paths. The only danger came in the steepness of the ground, but even Lance, soaked as he was, wasn’t struggling too much. It was a wonder the Galra hadn’t eradicated the aliens yet.

“What’s your planet’s name?” he asked, curious.

“Sliebane,” Gladtri answered happily. “We’re from the outer colony, but there’s a bigger one hidden deeper.”

Allura raised an eyebrow. “How is it that you live here with the Galra so close? Do they know you’re here?”

“I don’t know. We’re not supposed to meet Galra. We’re supposed to stay away.”

That was the moment Lance’s shoes slipped and sent him careening forwards, through a curtain of foliage.

Okay, how many times would he trip?! And what was with underground tunnels and plant-life? It made no sense.

“Nice flower necklace,” Pidge drawled, eyeing the garland that had nearly strangled him.

Lance huffed, clambering to his feet to avoid any further embarrassment. “Ha, ha. I’ll have you know I can rock any look.”

“You sure about that?”

Just to be stubborn – and because even Hunk was smirking at him – Lance flung the rest of the garland over his shoulder and proceeded to walk, draped in his ‘flower necklace.’ He just barely managed to catch himself from falling again.

“Keith’s gonna love this,” Pidge chuckled. “Only a week in space, and we’ve already got blackmail for days.”

Keith wouldn’t use it. Not if it would upset Lance.

Lance flushed and pushed that certainty away. While Keith wouldn’t, Pidge would.

Luckily, she didn’t have a camera…Unless- Lance hoped their armor didn’t have cameras. If they did, he prayed Pidge hadn’t found that feature yet.

“We’re here!” the kids announced as they entered a new cavern. Lance believed it. Unlike the others, this cavern was decked out. Wreaths of similar flowers to his necklace littered the walls and ceiling. Candles burned dangerously close to the plants, filling the place with a citrusy scent. In the very center of the cavern was a fountain, and at the very top of the fountain, there was a bonfire blazing with pink light.

“Uh.” He took in the cave with a renewed anxiety. Maybe Pidge had been right about marriage number six. “What kind of ceremony is this again?”

“Something about bringing luck to the colony and keeping the Galra away.” Ben shrugged.

“Oh, okay.” That was a relief. If it was a wedding scene, Lance would have high-tailed it out of there before Keith arrived.

Speak of the devil.

“Wow, you guys are earlier than we thought.” And they’d come from a different tunnel than Lance and the others. Lance might have been jealous and assumed their trek had been easier if Keith’s hair and armor weren’t smoking and Shiro didn’t look like he’d been mauled.

“Are you guys okay?” Hunk asked.

“There was lava. Lots and lots of lava.” Keith eyed the fountain wistfully. Then, he eyed the pink fire before finally glancing to Lance.

He must be thirsty. Best not to risk it, though.

“Well, at least it wasn’t slime.” Lance shuddered. He’d take lava any day.

Shiro chuckled. “You fell in slime?”

Gladtri giggled. “No. The slime was on the walls. He fell in-”

“They’re missing!” The sudden arrival of a panicked group of people interrupted any further conversation. All of the harried aliens stopped, however, when they saw their guests. Good thing, too, because they were much taller than their children, and their antlers nearly touched the ceiling. If they’d stampeded the Paladins probably would have died.

“Hello, there,” Allura greeted. “My name is Princess Allura of planet Altea. We were just returning your children home as we found them quite close to the Galran hub. I hope we’re not intruding.”

“By the Great Gods,” someone gasped. “It can’t be.”

She eyed Lance and Keith.

Oh no.

How? They hadn’t even been together for the trip! They weren’t even standing together, and neither of them had drank from the fountain or touched the bonfire or whatever.

“It is the prophecy. It has finally been fulfilled. Just as the Priestess said! We are saved!”

Everyone started cheering and dancing and kissing, and Lance couldn’t be more confused.

Prophecy?

“Um, what?” Pidge asked.

“May I ask what prophecy you speak of?” Allura asked.

Someone – probably the group’s leader – stepped forward. Tears of joy slipped down her face as she answered the princess’s question. “The prophecy of our salvation. Long ago, when the Galra first settled on our land and drove us here, a Galran priestess came and delivered a warning. She said we would only be saved once the Red One and the Blue One bonded on the Day of the Fading Lights. They would be led by the innocent and be anointed by the Gods of the Mountain, all without their knowing. For years, we bonded those of us with those most rare souls of red and blue, hoping the prophecy would be appeased, but we see now it was not so. We were impatient. Now, we’re saved!”

They started celebrating again.

Planet Count: 5; Marriage Count: 6.

“Wait. We didn’t go through the ceremony,” Lance protested. Was there a reason to? Odds were, they had. All of the cheers stopped.

“Did the children not lead you down the mountain?” one of the adults asked, frowning.

“I mean, yeah. They did, but-”

“And did you not bathe in the Mixture of the Mountain and the Spring of Cleansing?”

Lance sighed. Pidge would never let him live this down. She was already staring at him with a look that said, ‘Told you so.’

“You are wearing the Florals of Garaitha,” the leader said thoughtfully. “An interesting development. Most find the Florals of Evana.”

“Red One,” another Sliebanian asked. “Did you roll in the Ash of Rembrie?”

“Sure. That’s what happened,” Keith drawled.

Shiro snickered. Keith had definitely tripped. Lance couldn’t laugh when that’s how he wound up in the mud. Though, the vision that filled his head had his lips twitching. Keith had probably looked so cu-

“And you found the Priestess’s Gem.”

Lance abandoned all thought of Keith’s incident as he finally noticed the item in the other Paladin’s hand. The glowing stone.

“Did you really pick that up?” he demanded, forgetting that there were others around him for a moment. How could Keith do that again?!

Keith raised his hands in defense, one still clutching the pink gem. What the hell had he been thinking?! “I didn’t pick it up! Sentri found it, but he got tired of holding it and asked me if I wanted it. I figured it was safe if he got it!”

A reasonable enough assumption. Lance groaned. Why?

Someone in the crowd gasped. “Perhaps that is our failure for all of these years. The innocent to find the Gem were always meant to be the children, not the bonded.”

A few considering mutters sounded through the room.

“Told you,” Pidge whispered while the aliens were busy. Lance didn’t need to hear her brag.

Allura sighed. “I am glad to have helped you complete your prophecy, but if you’ll excuse us, we were on an important mission when we encountered the children, and we really must get back to it.”

The crowd cheered. “We are free! You have come to free us from the Galra!”

“Not quite yet, I’m afraid,” Allura said. “But soon. We will not rest until the Galran threat has been eliminated. That much, I promise.”

They gave the leader – Maj – a communication device to contact them if the Sliebanians ever needed help and left the aliens to their celebrations.

“I can’t wait to update Coran on this,” Pidge said.

“Ooo no. Let me tell him,” Hunk pleaded. “He had it pegged for our next distress beacon.”

“Are you guys betting about this?” Keith demanded.

Pidge scoffed. “Yeah. Of course, we are. So are you guys, too, apparently.”

They couldn’t say anything to that, but that didn’t stop them from glaring.

Chapter Text

Why is it always caves?

Lance groaned, straining to swim as the current increased, trying to cart him back to the starting point. Okay, maybe cave was the wrong word, but the thermal vents were cave-like enough to count.

And what did Swirn even mean, ‘Impress your bonded onto your soul?’

Lance didn’t speak nonsense. He just wanted the pain to stop.

When he’d first seen the wormhole turn pink, he knew it meant nothing good. That pink was the color of forced marriages and accidents waiting to happen. The second he slipped through the tunnel, all his thoughts turned to screams. The pain had been unimaginable. Then, he’d woken up with electric shocks still running through him and a jellyfish girl staring down at him. Not the best circumstances.

At least the pain’s gone now.

According to Swirn, the thermal vents led to the planet’s core, so the water around and inside it had some sort of soothing quality for Lance’s tattered soul. Swirn’s friend Plaxum had mixed some concoction from jellyfish ‘sting-juice’ and the water to help Lance farther away from the core, but the mixture only lasted a minute or so before needing to be reapplied. Since they apparently needed Lance to save them from some mysterious, ‘mind-swishing’ queen, they’d sent him with Swirn to heal his soul.

Lance just wanted the pain to stop.

I wonder how Keith’s holding up.

Remembering the ripping pain of being split in two, Lance shuddered. Yeah. No way would Keith be okay. He probably didn’t have the magic water that Lance had gotten. Lance needed to find the other, quick.

But to do that, I need to fix myself first.

From the little information Lance had gathered when with his jelly-friends, he knew that Hunk and he had landed in some waterlogged, Antarctic planet. According to Blumfump, the merqueen was mind-controlling everyone, and Lance was their last hope. They’d kidnapped him before he could be sacrificed. Lance couldn’t help them, however, if he couldn’t move. That’s where Swirn’s idea came in.

‘You must swim to the core and think of your bonded one. Impress them upon your soul and know that they are always with you, even with great separation.’

If only Lance knew what the hell that meant.

He groaned as the current, yet again, impeded his progress. For every three feet forward, the current pushed him two feet back. He’d never get to the core at that rate! Keith would probably die!

…

No. If Keith could jump into battle to save Lance twice, the least Lance could do was swim to a planet’s core. Even if it married them again. Even if he boiled himself alive in the process.

When the next burst of pressure came, Lance braced himself. It passed him without incident.

Okay. That bought some time, but what the hell did Swirn mean?

How could Lance impress – Did Swirn mean imprint? – someone onto his soul? He wasn’t a witch. He wasn’t a soul-expert either. Earth was still debating the existence of souls! Maybe if Hunk was with him, he’d be able to help, but the jelly-people had left the Yellow Paladin back at the castle.

‘Your friend couldn’t fit through the hole, so we had to leave him.’

What were the odds of Hunk being sacrificed for the queen’s ends while Lance was swimming his way into another marriage ceremony?

It’s not a marriage. This can only be done for already married couples, his Hunk voice reasoned.

Tuh-may-toe, Tuh-mah-toe, Lance grumbled. Just because the people in the legend Swirn told him were already married when they completed the soul-healing ritual, that didn’t make this any less of a marriage for Lance.

Focus!

Hard to do when swimming through a hot, narrow tunnel and surrounded by spiky and multicolored coral, oddly heat- and current-resistant fish, and a current strong enough to knock the Hulk down.

FOCUS!

Okay. Geez…

Swirn had told him to make it so Keith was always with him. That way, his soul should supposedly heal…or at least numb enough to get through the day without collapsing in on itself. The distance was the problem, so Lance had to trick his soul into thinking Keith was there.

…

How the hell was he supposed to do that?! It made no sense. Keith wasn’t there, and no amount of pretending would make him appear. Lance’s soul had to know that. This bond wasn’t metaphorical. It was a real, physical thing. That was the problem.

The physical bond was missing its other half – it had torn in two from the distance – and it was crying from the loss. The only thing that might help was getting to Keith, and that assumed the tearing wasn’t permanent.

Lance stretched his awareness to check, and yep –

He shrieked and shuddered in pain, and the current pushed him twenty feet back before he righted himself, mind safely cocooned far from Keith’s void.

– the end dropped off in stinging tatters.

Forget two states, Lance wouldn’t risk going two feet from Keith after this.

Even behind the pain, however, there was a sort of sadness. The bond was literally aching, reaching and not finding anything. Much as Lance tried to ignore it, he felt the same. Keith had been there, a constant since the entire journey started. A constant even before that, in thought and action, if not presence. But now, even thinking about Keith hurt him, wrenched his mind into a thousand different directions as his soul tried to find its mate.

What the hell kind of Altean magic had been performed on them? Who would choose that pain?

Blumfump’s words echoed in his head. ‘No true soul bond should cause such pain with distance.’ Those words had quickly been followed by paranoid and delusional accusations about Lance infiltrating them as a spy, but the point still stood.

Lance and Keith’s bond wasn’t complete. If it was, separation wouldn’t hurt so bad.

“That’s what Swirn said, too, isn’t it? The bonds during that war were damaged somehow, and the soul-bonded were separated. They had to come here to fix it temporarily until their bondmates returned.” It was like gauze and stitches on a bullet hole. Not an antidote but a substitute until the victim could heal.

He had to trick his soul into thinking Keith was still with him. But how?

As Lance swam – Seriously, how long was this tunnel? – he passed a small colony of shellfish. How the animals could stand the heat without boiling to death like delicious lobsters, he didn’t know, but one of the things raised four, angry and protective claws to him as he passed. Lance laughed. The thing reminded him of Keith.

His soul pulsed, and he stopped swimming, bracing himself for pain.

It didn’t come.

When he realized, he was thirty feet back and next to the defensive fish again. Lance blinked.

Oh. That’s what Swirn meant.

Lance grinned and continued swimming, ignoring the Keith-lobster’s grumpy chittering.

His Mamá had told him once that everyone he met would stay with him as long as they made an impression. A random stranger on the street wouldn’t, unless they were eating trash or doing something equally noteworthy, but everyone else would. And there were few people in Lance’s life that had made more of an impression than Keith.

From the time they met, Keith had been a constant. Even before that, really.

Lance had made it into the fighter pilot program. He’d reached his dream, but the last-minute addition of Keith got him kicked out. He’d been upset but determined to get into the fighters anyway. Things could happen. His grades could rise above the others’; someone could drop out. When he’d learned that the kid who dissed him at orientation was the same one who’d taken his spot, it just fueled his determination. Lance was nothing if not dramatic.

He’d never forget the look on Hunk’s face when Lance – having just met the Yellow Paladin himself – declared Keith his rival for life. From then on, Lance watched Keith every moment he could. In class. In the hallways. On fieldtrips. He watched and waited and learned. Keith was such a natural at everything, but Lance could learn from that, and he could become better.

Keith was his drive, and when Keith had left…

Lance hadn’t admitted it to anyone, but Keith dropping out…He hadn’t known what to do with himself. All of a sudden, his dreams were realized, but Keith wasn’t there. He had no one to watch or learn from. He had no one to pit himself against. Compared to Keith, none of the others mattered. They weren’t the best, and Lance didn’t know them well enough to learn from a distance anyway.

His family got worried when his grades – top marks from the time Keith walked away from him at orientation – started to slip. Veronica pulled him aside one day to tease, ‘I bet if Keith was here, he’d have that project finished by sundown.’

You know me better than I know myself, hermana, Lance thought wryly.

That statement relit his fire. From then on, Lance had just had to think, What would Keith do? and something inside him always strove to be better. His grades didn’t get quite up to what they had been – and Iverson didn’t approve of Lance’s subpar Keith-emulation methods by any means – but they got better. Lance got better.

After Keith’s return to his life – after their turning point – Lance had forgotten how to keep that drive – to keep Keith – with him. But Keith was always with him. That was the point.

When Lance reached the core – the boiling and overly-pink center of magma where only the bravest and most hardy fish swam – he closed his eyes and thought of Keith. He thought of everything Keith was to him and everything Keith had done for him.

[‘We were like rivals. You know. Lance and Keith, neck and neck.’]

‘If you hadn’t come along, I would have died.’

‘My friend and I- We’re soul-bonded…We’re too far apart.’

Keith was more than just Lance’s drive. Keith was his hero and his teammate. Keith was his friend…And more importantly – due to coincidental circumstances outside of their control – Keith was his soulmate. They’d reunite once Lance helped these jelly-people with their war, and Lance would save Keith. Just like Keith had saved him.

Neck and neck rivals always stayed close anyway, didn’t they?

When Lance rejoined Swirn, he was glowing. And not just with burns.

“Huh,” Swirn muttered, eyes narrowed on Lance. “You look purple.”

“Purple?!”

The last thing Lance wanted was to look Galra. He wasn’t a shapeshifter like Allura.

“Your blue soul-energy must have combined with the pink of the core’s energy.”

So, there was no helping it. Lance groaned. “Whatever. Let’s just go.”

He had to save Hunk first. Then, they’d find Keith and the others. No matter what planet Keith had landed on, Lance wouldn’t give up the search until his bond disappeared completely. He owed his friend that much.

***

“So, you weren’t mind-swishing everyone?” Blumfump asked, eyes narrowed skeptically.

Queen Luxia – an actual mermaid! No sign of jellyfish on her – smiled. “Not at all.” She turned to Hunk and Lance. “I must thank you, Paladins. Without your help, many more of my friends and subjects would have fallen prey to that beast. If there’s anything I can do-”

“Actually, we need help finding our friends.” To Lance’s dismay, Blue and Yellow’s comms were apparently out of commission, and while Hunk could work on them, proper parts were hard to come by underwater. Their best bet was using the mermaids’ tech to call the others, in hopes that someone would get it and find them.

The queen hummed. “I believe we can help with that. Corinne, fetch the beacon.”

Corinne gasped. “Are you sure, Your Majesty?”

“Yes. Our saviors have need of it, and it is high time that we reintroduce ourselves to the outer worlds.”

It sounded like they hadn’t used the beacon in a while. Lance might have been impressed by the historic moment if he wasn’t so anxious to get going.

While they waited, Hunk swam over to him. “So, how’d you do it?”

How long could it take to get a beacon? They had to go! “Do what?”

“Lance, last thing I remember, you were passed out from pain. I assume it had something to do with your bond to Keith since the mermaids who were helping you mentioned soul damage.” Hunk raised an eyebrow. “So, how’d you fix it?”

Lance was about to answer – still too distracted by how much pain Keith must be in and how long it could take to help him – when he remembered Hunk’s words before they left the Sliebanians.

“This doesn’t have to do with another bet, does it?”

“Of course not!” But Hunk’s guilty shifting spoke volumes.

“You know what? I’m not telling you.” He turned back to the doorway, waiting for the beacon’s arrival.

“Oh, come on. Pidge and I may be betting, but that’s not why I asked! I just want to know that you’re okay.”

“I’m fine.” Lance ignored any further pleas, even as Hunk swam into a kneeling position to beg. His best friends were jerks and deserved no answers. He and Keith would have to find a way to hide any future marriages. Or at least the details.

“Ah. Here it is.” Queen Luxia abandoned her conversation with Blumfump as Corinne wheeled a huge shell into the room. “Our beacon. It has been eons since its last use.”

It was taking just as long for her to turn it on.

It might take even longer for them to find us, Lance reminded himself. There was no guarantee of an immediate rescue. For them or Keith. Come on.

The pain…It had been unbearable. Like a mixture of an acid bath and electrification. No one should suffer like that for even a second, and it had already been a day. Maybe two. Who knew how long Keith had left?!

Despite Lance’s worries, only ten seconds passed between the beacon lighting up the sky and the Green Lion roaring into existence. The Castle of Lions followed close behind.

“I found them!” Pidge called.

But why was she alone? Where were the other lions? Were Keith and Shiro still missing or…?

As if to answer his questions, Shiro’s face replaced Green’s on the hologram. “Lance, we need you. It’s Keith.”

Chapter Text

Sleeping Beauty looked more aware than Keith did when Lance and Hunk made it to his room. He didn’t look bad, per se, but…Lance eyed his friend’s lifeless body and ghoulishly pale face. A few fresh bruises and cuts marred Keith’s skin, but otherwise, he could have been long dead. If he weren’t panting in pain.

“Why isn’t he in a cryopod?” Lance demanded, spinning to face Shiro.

The Black Paladin didn’t look too good himself – with breaths just as short and skin just as pale if not for the pink sheen. (Had the planet married him and Keith since Lance wasn’t there?) Shiro was standing, though. Keith wasn’t.

And Lance still couldn’t feel him.

“Coran says…they won’t help with this problem.” Shiro leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes against whatever pain he felt. “He thinks the problem is Keith’s soul…Since the pods only heal physical injuries…there’s nothing…they can do for him.”

“Like hell!”

Hunk reached out to him. “Lance.” But Lance was striding across the room to Keith. Soul damage. He knew that, but they were finally together again. It was time for the soul healing to begin.

Why isn’t it working? We’re back in the same room…Maybe touching him would help?

Lance frowned and knelt by Keith’s bed to take Keith’s hand in his. The second their skin touched, though, Keith jolted, whimpering from pain. Lance let go immediately.

Why…? Why isn’t it working?

If the issue was their separation, then being together again should have healed Keith, right? He should be up and running again, not lifeless in those cold, pale sheets that made him look more dead than alive.

“Why didn’t it work?”

Lance didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud until Coran – When did he get there? – said, “His ‘soul’, as you all call it, is extremely damaged. The separation tore your bond to pieces, and what remained has twisted itself into knots, trying to find its other half and remerge. I don’t know what you did to ease the pain, Lance, but whatever it is, it’s a miracle that it worked, especially since your bond is only half-formed.”

Lance couldn’t feel more useless. In all of his certainty, he’d never considered the possibility that it might take more than his presence to heal Keith.

But he’d promised he would. Keith had saved him twice. Lance couldn’t fail him this once.

He turned to face Coran. The solemn expression on the engineer’s face would usually be enough to make him give up hope, but Lance had been through too much since entering space. They’d encountered magic clay and mermaids and too many other impossibilities. There had to be something in the universe that could heal Keith.

“Is there anything we can do for him? Some magic plant he can eat or something?” Keith looked enough like a Disney princess in distress for a Disney cure to work.

Coran shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Your bond was fragile to begin with. In couples with completed bonds the abrupt separation would have been difficult. Not only was yours incomplete, but it was also new. I’m afraid the damage may be irreversible.”

‘Was.’ He said it like the bond was completely gone. Like there was nothing they could do for Keith.

“I refuse to accept that,” Shiro growled, pushing away from his wall. He hissed in a breath as the sudden motion pulled at some injury.

Unable to come up with a solution for Keith – and frustrated beyond words that he couldn’t – Lance turned his anger to the Black Paladin. “Why aren’t you in a cryopod, Shiro? You being hurt won’t help Keith.” If Keith were conscious, it would cause him even more stress. Besides, Shiro was the only family Keith had in the world. If Lance couldn’t help Keith, the least he could do was protect Keith’s family.

‘I promise I won’t stop looking for a way to contact your family.’

I promise I’ll find a way to help you, he vowed in return.

“I’m not leaving…until I know we’ve found a way to help Keith,” Shiro said stubbornly, but even his glare was weak. And he was still clutching at some pain in his side. What happened to him? “There has to be some way…He was fine when we first separated. He fought off…a hoard of alien beasts.”

Trust Keith to pick a fight when stranded on an unknown, alien planet. Lance groaned and slid to the ground next to Keith’s bed.

He’s such a hotheaded idiot. No sense of self-preservation at all.

That’s the real reason they’d been married so many times. Coincidence and curse could only cover so much; the real blame was Keith’s recklessness. At that realization, Lance groaned again and hid his head in his arms. At least Keith’s mattress made a comfier resting place than his usual supports in dramatic moments.

“What?” Hunk asked, ignoring Lance. “Lance was out the second we went through the wormhole. It took some crazy mermaid magic to help him.”

“It seems both of their souls had different reaction times.” Coran hummed. Lance imagined him twirling his mustache as he thought. “Perhaps…”

Does he have an idea? Lance’s head shot up as his heart filled with hope. He knows how to save Keith.

As his head raised, Lance caught sight of Pidge standing near the door. She was eyeing him with a weird expression on her face. She must have come in after Lance hid his head, but there was no time to figure out her problem. Coran’s idea took precedence.

The engineer was observing Keith dubiously.

“Do you know a way to help him?” Shiro was so quiet Lance almost didn’t realize they’d spoken at the same time. Justified anger and stupid promises aside, the guy really did need a cryopod. Keith wouldn’t thank them for letting Shiro die. But if Coran had a solution…

“No, but I realized Keith found a collection of quintessence during his exploration of the Galran hub.” He turned to stare at Lance as he continued. “By now, you all must know how powerful a substance quintessence is. It is the very energy that runs through people and planets and all living things. The fact that Zarkon has found a way to extract it for his own purposes is worrying, but-”

“What does this have to do with Keith?” Lance demanded. Keith was in pain and in danger. If Coran didn’t have a point, then Lance would kick him out so they could brainstorm actual ways to help.

The engineer shrugged. “I was wondering if his delayed reaction is due to some incident that occurred in the base. Or even just exposure to the stuff. It may have strengthened your bond, if only temporarily. Perhaps that aided in both of your reactions to the separation, which are truthfully quite mild for a half-formed bond.”

Who cares?! Before Lance could verbalize the thought, however, Pidge spoke up.

“You keep saying their bond is half-formed,” she pointed out. “That means the bond wasn’t finished…and seems to imply that it wants to.”

“Of course.” Coran nodded. “Lance and Keith’s life energies are not accustomed to the precarious state their half-formed bond put them in. Until the bond is complete, their ‘souls’ will most likely waver between stages of unity and as much separation as they can manage. A constant push and pull of power and energy. If Lance and Keith’s life energies were in the weaker stage when you separated, then they may have died from the shock of it. As it is, we seem to have been lucky, but the bond was still badly damaged which can cause irreversible impairment to both them and the bond as the push and pull continues, furthering the trauma.”

“So, the bond is still trying to complete itself,” Pidge summed up.

Coran opened his mouth. Then, he paused, seeming to realize something. “By the gods of the Fraptious Mountains. You’re right, Number Five.”

Pidge grinned.

What? What just happened? Why did Lance always have to feel like he’d missed something when his genius friends got together?

At least he wasn’t alone in his confusion, much as he should have been. Shiro needed a healing pod just as much as Keith.

“Right about…what?” the Black Paladin demanded weakly. “What did you realize?”

“You know how when a computer freezes, the first thing you should try is to reset it?” Pidge asked. “It’s having trouble reaching the data or programming or whatever you commanded it to do, so you cut off all power and restart the process?”

“Yeah…?” Lance didn’t know what computers had to do with their situation, but he was willing to try anything.

“Well, your bond got stuck when we all fell through different parts of the corrupted wormhole. Since then, your souls have been trying to find each other again and probably getting all tangled up in the process. But…if we reset it…”

The bond might untangle and be able to find us again.

There was only one problem with that. “Didn’t you say it couldn’t be undone?” Lance demanded, glaring at Coran. If it could, then why were they even in the situation in the first place?

The engineer nodded. “It can’t. Even now, very thin strands are most likely still holding you together, but that’s precisely the point! Your bond wishes to be completed. If you complete the process, it may shock the bond into action, allowing both your and Keith’s energies to merge fully and thus, to heal.”

‘Complete the process…’ The words and implications echoed through Lance’s head. Floating and repeating restlessly with no way to stop them.

The only way to complete the bond is… But no. Lance couldn’t do that. Keith was sleeping. It would be creepy and wrong.

Keith’s half-dead.

“Lance?” Shiro asked.

Lance glanced back to him. What would Shiro say? What did he think Lance should do?

You know what he’ll say.

Yeah. Shiro wanted Keith safe and healthy, no matter the cost. No matter how creepy and wrong the method.

How is it creepy? You’re just saving his life. You were already bonded before.

But this would be different. Deliberate.

Lance locked eyes with Shiro. His gray irises begged for Lance to do something. Anything. “Please.”

“I-”

You promised to save him.

‘I promise…’

…

“It’s just mouth-to-mouth, right?”

None of the others laughed with him.

“Lance, are you sure?” Hunk asked. “He could still wake up. You did. We can get the mermaids to do whatever magic they did on you for him.”

“We may not have time to wait,” Shiro ground out. Then, he groaned and turned to face the wall behind him. Probably hiding pain. Maybe hoping the white and blue metal would absorb his angry desperation.

It didn’t matter. Lance had made up his mind.

Hunk couldn’t feel what he could. Lance and Keith had a soul bond. Ever since touching that alien clay together, they could sense each other’s presence, but sometime between their fight with Zarkon and Lance waking up in an underwater cave, that sense had disappeared. How could Lance believe that Keith would wake up when he couldn’t feel him? How could he let Keith endure the pain – that horrible, scorching, electric pain – for any longer than necessary?

And how could Lance go on with that emptiness after knowing what it felt like to have it filled? It would feel like losing his family all over again. Except there was still a chance to reunite with them.

‘I promise I won’t stop looking for a way to contact your family.’

If he didn’t try, he’d make Keith a liar.

If he lost Keith…

“We can’t risk it.”

Lance straightened but stayed on his knees next to Keith’s bed. If he stood, the position would be too awkward, and he might fall on Keith.

Maybe I should lay down with him.

…

No. Just the thought made him blush. That would make it too much like an actual kiss. This was clinical. To heal Keith. Practically CPR.

Right…

Trying to ignore the others – Seriously, guys, lighten up the stares. It’s nerve-wracking enough without them – he stared down at Keith. The other’s black hair splayed against the pillow, mussed from whatever fight he’d been through. Lance had to be careful. If he placed his hands wrong, he could pull it. A small pain in the scheme of Keith’s probable agony, but one Lance wanted to avoid.

Keith’s eyes were scrunched together like a person might when faking sleep, but that was better. The second those piercing, indigo eyes opened, it would be over. Lance wouldn’t be able to go through with it. Even staring at Keith’s eyelids made him anxious. For all Lance knew, Keith’s eyes would open any second. They’d open, and Keith would frown and ask why Lance was leaning over him.

This is wrong. Then why couldn’t Lance move away?

Get on with it! he told himself. It’s not a kiss. Just mouth-to-mouth. He’s suffering. You call yourself a hero when you can’t even do this? Keith opened a quiznaking airlock for you, and-

Lance closed the distance.

***

He’d kissed a couple of girls before. Once for a dare and twice because the girls were cute and interested. This was nothing like that. For one, Keith’s lips were dry. Understandable, really. Even if there was lip balm in space, Keith was hardly in a position to use it, and it would be weird if anyone else put it on him.

For two?

Keith’s lips stung. But it wasn’t a bad sting. It was…like walking outside on a sunny day and knowing you’ll get sunburned but not caring. Your face heats up, but you’re wearing shorts and eating ice cream and have nothing better to do than to jump in the pool. It’s worth it. It’s…nice.

That feeling, it started in their lips, then spread through their bodies, down to their fingers and toes. Down to their souls. Lance could feel every inch of himself revitalizing. The stopper he’d put on his own pain? The energy burned it away like it was paper in a bonfire. Before the acidic, electric pain could spill in again, Keith’s soul was there, filling the hole and spreading through him. Entwining with Lance’s and smothering any flares of pain with its healing fire.

And Keith’s soul burned…It felt so much hotter than Lance’s. If Lance’s soul was a sunbeam, Keith’s was the sun itself.

Then, the sun pressed closer. Teeth nipped at Lance’s upper lip, and hands crept into Lance’s hair, pulling him down further.

He’s kissing back?

Lance’s eyes flew open, only to see that Keith’s were still closed tight.

Is he awake or…? He couldn’t feel anything in Keith’s soul past that overwhelming heat.

If Keith was awake, then Lance could pull away. He should pull back and make his excuses and run for it until the awkwardness died down. Not much had happened yet, and awake or not, Lance knew Keith was healed. He could feel it. He could stop right there and Keith might not even realize what little they’d done.

But he didn’t want to.

Lance pressed closer. He started to open his mouth, wanting to deepen the kiss. To-

Keith jerked his head away, panting for breath. He tried to pull his whole body away, but Lance’s body blocked him, pinning the pure muscle that was Keith’s torso onto the bed and pressing him into the mattress.

“What-?” Keith croaked, wide-eyed and staring at Lance. “What just-?”

Shit. Lance slowly raised his head, accidentally brushing his lips across Keith’s cheek in the process. His lips tingled, even as he jerked back.

“I- I was- Oh God.” He pushed off of the bed, ignoring the feel of Keith’s toned chest sliding against his. And their legs knocking into each other as they both made to escape. And their-

Shit…Shit. When had he even climbed fully on the bed?!

“You were unconscious due to severe soul damage,” Coran said, pulling Keith’s attention to him and giving Lance the out he so badly needed. “Lance took steps to complete your bond in order to save you.”

It was true, so why did it feel like such a lie?

Lance’s lips still burned.

Keith gaped. “O-oh…Thank you?”

Don’t look. If Lance looked at him, it would make their situation more real. “You’re welcome,” he whispered to the floor.

Pidge snorted. “Looks like you got that kiss you deserved after all, Sleeping Beauty.”

Lance wanted to scream.

Things may have gotten more awkward after that if Shiro didn’t collapse a second later.

Keith gasped, thoroughly distracted and releasing Lance from his gaze. “Shiro!”

Thank God. Why-?

Why had Lance enjoyed the ki- mouth-to-mouth so much? Why did he want to walk over to Keith and press their lips together again? Why-

“-Lance can stay here to make sure of it.”

“Huh?” Lance jerked his head up to stare at Pidge. What had she just said? “What?”

“We’re taking Shiro to the healing pods,” Hunk explained, grunting as he helped Coran lift their fallen leader. Once fully upright, he jerked his head towards Keith. “You stay here and make sure Keith doesn’t leave the bed. He still needs to rest.”

“What?! No!” Lance couldn’t stay! Not when he was so confused. He didn’t trust himself not to say something stupid. Or worse!

His lips were so…

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Keith groused. “I’m fine.”

“Sure,” Coran said. “If ‘fine’ means ‘collapsing the second you try to stand’ in Earth’s language.”

He tried to stand?!

Lance glared at Keith. “Dude! You just got out of a coma!” Was he trying to die?

He’s an incurable hothead!

“Here we go,” Pidge muttered. She and the others slipped out of the room, but Lance hardly noticed since Keith turned an angry glare to him that same moment. The other was practically boiling with frustration.

“Shiro’s in a coma now!” How was he already energetic enough to argue? His aura – or whatever – even flared up, keeping time with Lance’s. He could feel the connection, now. Feel where their souls made contact. Feel Keith’s anger and frustration and relief. It was breathtaking.

Breathtaking but unimportant at that moment.

“Why can’t you ever just listen and do what’s best for your health?! You seriously fought a hoard of alien monsters?! Are you insane?!”

Keith’s glare sharpened. “They were attacking Shiro! What was I supposed to do? Let them kill him?!”

“The least you can do is stay in bed now. Especially after what I had to do to heal you!”

He regretted the words the second they left his mouth.

I’m a fucking idiot. Why had he brought it up?!

Keith glanced away, glare dying and blush spreading over his face. Even his aura stopped raging. It shied away from Lance’s, but they were connected. All it succeeded in doing was tugging Lance’s mind closer to Keith’s embarrassment. “Right. Sorry…about that.”

He wasn’t the one that needed to be sorry. Lance felt like he’d taken advantage. Keith thought the kiss had been a sacrifice for Lance. It should have been, but…

He cut the thought off before Keith could notice. What kind of friend am I? Not a very good one.

“No. I should-”

Lance closed his eyes as his brain filled with the memory of the kiss. He hoped Keith was too weak to feel his longing. Too busy hiding to pay attention to Lance’s fluctuating emotions. He had to get away.

“You know what? Nevermind. I’m going to bed. Stay here or do whatever. I don’t care.”

“Lance?”

Lance didn’t stop. Not even when he felt Keith’s confused soul probing at the edges of his mind. Desperate, he imagined a wall slamming between their souls, just at the border that connected them. Keith flinched, and his soul stopped probing.

Thank you.

Lance slipped through the door as the thoughts overtook him.

He’d liked it when their lips touched. He’d leaned in and enjoyed it, thrilled when Keith responded. He’d even climbed on the bed, for crying out loud! Keith had obviously been asleep, kissing back on instinct. Lance didn’t have that excuse. He could only think of one reason that he would enjoy kissing a guy. That he would want to do it again.

Am I…?

‘For a straight guy, you talk about other guys’ attractiveness an awful lot.’

…

I’m bi…Shit.

Chapter Text

He shouldn’t have left Keith like that. Lance sighed as he wandered the halls. His room was too close to Keith’s. Keith’s worry and confusion too suffocating. Even with his mental wall, he could feel every inch of the other’s emotions, and he hated it.

He thinks I’m mad at him.

Maybe Lance was, a little. But it was like slapping someone and blaming them for it hurting his hand. Keith had no control over Lance’s actions. If he’d been awake, he probably wouldn’t have let Lance kiss him, soul damage or no. He was stubborn like that.

No, Lance wasn’t angry at Keith. He was angry at himself.

Seventeen years. He’d thought he was straight for seventeen years – or near enough to that. He’d flirted with girls. He loved flirting with girls. He never had that with guys…So, why had kissing Keith felt so right?

Was he bi or just deluding himself? Just confused.

Maybe all kisses felt nice to everyone, no matter who they were with. Maybe he was just lonely in space…Or touch-starved. Maybe he needed a girlfriend to fill some void.

That taunting thought came back to him. ‘For a straight guy, you talk about other guys’ attractiveness an awful lot.’

No. I’m bi…or something.

There had been hints before the kiss. He’d just been too willfully blind to see them.

If he was back on Earth, Lance would have gone straight to Veronica. Not only was she his closest family member – being the only other one at the Garrison – but she was also extremely insightful and honest. And she had experience with same-sex attraction. She could answer any questions he had, like: Was he really bi?, How long had he felt this way?, Why had he been so blind?, Why did it take kissing Keith, of all people, for him to realize?

Veronica wasn’t around, though. Lance had no one to go and vent to. Hunk would be shocked and would probably bake him three dozen space cookies to help him feel better, but he wouldn’t be able to help. The guy still refused to admit his own crush on Shay – a girl! No way he could help Lance through his realization. Plus, he’d tell Pidge.

Pidge herself would laugh and taunt him and call him stupid for not realizing sooner. Allura wouldn’t stay in a room alone with him long enough to listen. Coran would find a way to make Lance’s problems about himself or some weird story, and Keith…Yeah, no way could Lance go to Keith about it. Not when their – no, Lance’s, Keith had nothing to do with it – kiss started it all.

I wonder when Shiro will be out of the cryopod.

Shiro would listen and help. And he’d know exactly how to help, too. He could let Lance know if he was crazy or really experiencing attraction to guys. Maybe it really was just admiration and competitive jealousy.

Thinking back on his kiss with Keith, Lance knew that wasn’t the case.

Lance, too lost in his thoughts, didn’t realize his feet had brought him to the bridge’s door until he heard Hunk’s voice.

“…worried about Lance,” his best buddy was saying.

Lance stopped dead, just out of the sensor’s threshold. Why was Hunk worried?

Apparently, Pidge had the same question. She snorted. “Why? He can take care of himself. He’s a big boy.”

“Yeah, but after that kiss…I think he might have realized.”

‘Realized’?

What were they talking about? Did they know? Was Lance that obvious?

“Dense as he is, I doubt it.” Pidge laughed, and there was the brief sound of some sort of data being typed into the computer. “…He’s probably blaming Keith for casting some sort of spell on him or something.” Pidge put on that voice she did whenever mocking Lance. “’There’s no way I could actually have a crush on Keith! It must be some creepy witch powers! I’m Lance ‘Straight!’ McClain!’”

Crush on Keith?

The thought sent a rush of anxiety through him. Did he have a crush on Keith? He couldn’t, could he? What if-

No. Lance decided, fear transforming into anger at the Green Paladin. She couldn’t be more wrong. He may be an oblivious idiot. He may have denied his – possible – sexuality for seventeen years. But just because he liked kissing guys, that didn’t mean he had a crush on Keith of all people. They were just friends.

You’ve probably been projecting your gayer feelings onto him for years, and they picked up on it as a crush.

…Shit. Had Lance really done that? Is that why he couldn’t stop thinking about Keith’s lips? He’d realized he was bi, so he was projecting those repressed feelings onto Keith, deluding himself and everyone else into thinking he had a crush? That was even worse than kissing the other in his coma!

Even worse, Keith was too socially oblivious to realize Lance was using him as some sort of gay-feelings corkboard! He thought Lance was straight!

So did you, ten minutes ago.

That didn’t make his taking advantage of Keith’s lack of awareness any better. Had he just been using their interactions to get some sort of gay catharsis? All while he’d also been taunting and making fun of the other? What the hell was wrong with him?!

“Pidge, you don’t know Lance like I do,” Hunk denied. “He’s fragile, but he’s actually really smart. I don’t know why he’s so set on denying his feelings, but there has to be a reason, and if he’s realized, then I don’t know what will happen. He could do anything. He might even blow up the castle ship!”

Lance wasn’t going to blow up the ship. Did Hunk really think he was that weak? Had Lance really been so blind?

He leaned against the wall, needing some sort of support and feeling completely alone. He really wished Veronica was there to help him.

Allura sighed. “I doubt that will happen, Hunk, but if Lance acknowledges his supposed feelings for Keith and stops his advances towards me, then I will definitely be happier.”

Was he really that bad?

You used Keith to repress your not-straight feelings to the point where your best friends think you have a crush on him. Yes, you were that bad.

“I just wonder how long it will take them to acknowledge their feelings now,” Coran chimed. “Now that the bond’s complete, it shouldn’t take too long.”

“I give it six months.” Lance could hear the smirk in Pidge’s voice. “They’re both idiots, but we are stuck in the castle together.”

“Months?” Allura asked.

Hunk hummed. “Well, I give it three weeks. Did you see Keith’s face? It’s only been two weeks, and they’re already closer than they were when we found the Blue Lion.”

Were they betting on them?! Again?!

Lance glared, pushed away from the wall, and strode towards the door. He didn’t want to hear another, ridiculous word. He may be bi, but he didn’t have a thing for Keith. And he definitely wasn’t confiding in a single one of them now. Not if they’d just taunt him about his non-existent crush and how long it had taken him to question things. Not if every conversation would remind him of how awful a person he’d been to Keith.

The doors slid open, admitting him into the room and putting a stop to any further gossip.

“Lance!”

“Oh. Hello, my boy.”

Everyone was crowded around Shiro’s cryopod as Coran fiddled with the control console. Hunk looked caught, but the others mustered decently innocent expressions. How often did they talk about him? And Keith? Would Lance even know if they did?

“Hey, guys,” he greeted, still too upset to hide his anger. Let them think it was his repression. “Any news on when Shiro will be out?”

The sooner the better. If Lance couldn’t rely on the others, Shiro was his only hope.

Allura sighed and stared at the pod. “He’s in bad shape. The wound to his side seems to have been imbued with some strange sort of energy. Coran is looking into it, but it may take more time than expected for Shiro to heal. The trip through the wormhole complicates matters, as well.”

“Oh.”

Lance probably had a few days of bottling up his feelings ahead of him. Bottling his feelings and avoiding Keith. With their bond, he wouldn’t be able to hide his guilt and confusion. How hard could it be to avoid Keith when the other was on bedrest, though?

***

As it turned out, avoiding Keith was extremely hard. Lance’s plan lasted all of one night. By dawn the next morning, his hope had completely evaporated.

When he first woke up – to an alarm drill and Allura’s annoying demands – he’d hoped that the faraway feel to Keith’s emotions meant the bond was weakening. Maybe completing the bond made it temporarily stronger, and time would fade the emotional connection completely. Or maybe Keith had taken the hint when Lance shut down his questioning probes on the way to get ready for bed.

Every step closer to the training room proved him wrong.

“Should he be here right now?” he hissed to Hunk, glaring across the training deck at Keith. The Red Paladin was stretching. Based on the sheen coating his skin, he’d already been training a while and was probably stretching to prevent muscle tears from further training.

As he watched, Keith straightened and stretched his arms over his head, carefully flexing his muscles. His shirt rode up, but Keith paid it no mind. Not that he had to. Beneath the shirt was nothing but muscle. No scars. No wrinkles or sags. Nothing anyone would be ashamed of.* Though, Keith probably wouldn’t care in any case.

Lance tried not to blush as he remembered the feeling of those muscles under his body. Remembered the feeling of their souls joining. Remembered the kiss…

What emotions would those thoughts give off? Lance glared, wholly aggravated with both himself and Keith. Why did Keith have to make it so difficult to avoid him? Why did he have to show off by training so hard and stretching like he didn’t have a care in the world? He should be on bed rest!

Hunk followed Lance’s gaze and shrugged helplessly. “Probably not. But he says he’s fine. He was arguing with Allura about it when I came in, but I think she gave up. And I mean…” Hunk looked to him. “You’re okay, right? And you fought the Baku after your coma.”

“I didn’t have a choice!”

Keith noticed him staring and, smiling, began to approach.

Shit!

“I’m gonna talk to Pidge about something! Bye!” Lance ran before Keith could reach them. When he got to Pidge, he pulled her even further away to get as far as possible from the Red Paladin.

“Hey! Lance, what are you doing?” Pidge jerked her arm away, bringing them both to a stop.

Lance floundered. His heart didn’t do his brain any favors, racing and pulling the excess oxygen to his lungs. He might hyperventilate. “I was just wondering…” He searched for any plausible excuse before lighting on the perfect one. “Any updates on Shiro?” There. It gave him a reason to speak to Pidge and he should probably ask anyway. Killing two birds with one stone.

“You’d be better off asking Coran that. What’s really going on?” Her gaze darted to Keith who, Lance tried not to notice, was frowning at them with a sour-lemon face and confused annoyance pouring off of him in waves. Lance ignored him.

The guilt grew.

“Nothing’s going on. I really just want to know how Shiro’s doing. You know. He is our fearless and amazing and h-” Shit. He’d been about to say hot.

Why did Lance have to be surrounded by so many hot people? Shiro and Allura and Keith. Hunk was attractive, too, and even Coran was if Lance looked past the massive age gap and uncle-like personality. Thinking of Hunk and Coran as attractive just felt wrong, though, so Lance tried to put it out of his mind.

Pidge laughed, sending him a knowing look. “Whatever you say.” Then, she walked away.

Great. There went his out. Keith looked ready to approach him again, and Lance prepared to run. Luckily, Allura called their attention before he could risk the embarrassment.

“Alright, Paladins. It has been an interesting, past few days, but it’s time to get back to work.”

She didn’t consider fighting an evil dictator and being stranded – injured! – on alien planets work?

“Training is an essential part of a Paladin’s day. You must keep sharp and strengthen yourselves if you ever hope to defeat Zarkon. I know you may be feeling disheartened with Shiro in the healing pods indeterminately, but even now Zarkon’s forces seek to destroy us. After our attack and my escape he will be even more determined for our defeat, so we must not let Shiro’s injury weaken us. I’ve come up with an all new training regimen…”

As the princess droned on about the hours of training she planned for them, Keith’s attention returned to Lance. He stepped closer, but Lance slid away. He tried his best to make the avoidance look like a coincidence. Keith’s annoyance spiked, and he stepped closer again. Again, Lance sidestepped away from him. Keith tried again. And again. And again.

With every counter-step, Keith’s frustration grew. It was a miracle the others weren’t commenting about the fact that Lance and Keith had – for some reason – circled the entire training deck. Keith stopped trying to get near him when they reached their original positions, but he was clearly unhappy…and a little hurt.

Lance winced. He hadn’t meant to upset Keith. He just…He needed time. Enough for the memory of the kiss to fade into a memory’s ghost. Enough for him to stop taking advantage of Keith’s friendship and projecting his bi feelings on him.

And how long will that take?

He didn’t know.

“Alright,” Allura declared. “Time to pair up.”

Keith’s interest sharpened again, and Lance panicked. “Hunk!” he yelled across the training deck. Everyone stared at him – and Keith’s annoyance began to shift into outright anger – but he didn’t care. “Wanna spar together, Buddy?”

Hunk glanced between Lance and Keith. “Uh, sure, but…Don’t you and Keith usually spar? You know, to see who’s better or something?”

'Or something.' What's the real reason? Lance didn't know. But it probably wasn't what he'd told Hunk and Keith and...everyone.

“Yeah, but I want to spar with you today.” He ignored Keith’s demanding mental prods that said, ‘Yes, we do usually spar together, and we’ll spar together now.’

He was only fighting so hard because he didn't know.

“Actually, Lance. You and Keith should spar as always, and Hunk and Pidge can group up, too. That way, you’ll all be working on your weaknesses, outside of your comfort zones.” Allura grinned. She just wanted to encourage Lance’s supposed crush on Keith to keep him away from her.

He turned a glare on the princess and prepared to tell her, in no uncertain terms, that he would be training with Hunk and no one else. But before a word left Lance’s lips, Keith clasped his arm to drag him to their usual training area. Shit. Lance had gotten distracted.

“You ready?”

Lance was about to say no and claim sickness when Keith drew his bayard. The first attack landed seconds later. By pure instinct, Lance dodged and drew his blaster.

“Hey! What’s with you?!”

“What’s with me?” Keith growled, slashing at him again.

Lance dodged again and backed away, trying to get far enough to properly aim. His weapon was long-range. Unlike Keith’s, it was hard to control in close combat or when in constant motion.

“What’s with you?!” Keith lunged after him, and Lance dodged again. A stray beam escaped his blaster, but it missed. Keith was too close.

Fighting Keith was always like fighting a cat. He was slipperier and agiler than anyone Lance had ever met. Lance could hardly keep up when going hand-to-hand, and since they were weapons training, it was ten-times harder. Adding to the challenge, Keith was venting his frustration with Lance’s avoidance.

“Why are you avoiding me?” Keith demanded again, pulling back.

“I’m not avoiding you!” Lance raised his blaster, readying an aim. “I just think you should be in bed! You know, healing!”

Keith darted forward again and knocked his weapon down. Not out of his hands, just not aimed, but it still hurt Lance’s arms. Keith didn’t seem to notice. He laughed, bitterness drenching every decibel. “It doesn’t feel like that.”

“You know what?! Think what you want!”

Another growl reverberated in Keith’s chest, and the Red Paladin pressed forward. His eyes glinted, and his chest heaved, and his lips curled into a snarl.

God, he’s never looked hotter.

Lance remembered the feeling of those lips on his and imagined Keith growling for a different reason. Keith would pull him closer again, filled with a domineering want, and-

Pain exploded in Lance’s hands as his blaster went flying across the room. Keith’s hit had landed.

Shit! As Lance fell back, stunned and confused, he made his decision.

“Lance! Are you alright?” Hunk ran over, but Lance brushed him off.

All of the others had watched the entire argument. They’d seen and heard everything and had probably guessed what distracted him.

“I’m fine,” he said, trying not to let his embarrassment or panic show. They probably knew. They knew that Keith’s eyes had drawn him in. They knew that he’d remembered the kiss and couldn’t focus. They knew that he couldn’t breathe when remembering his realization and how stupid he’d been.

They knew and made bets about it. Had discussions about him behind his back and gossiped about his supposed feelings for his friends. They knew he was taking advantage of Keith’s innocent friendship by projecting those feelings onto him but still claiming he was straight. He was lying to Keith’s face.

“I’m fine,” he repeated, trying to convince himself. “Just dizzy. I probably haven’t fully healed from the wormhole trip, so I’m just gonna go lay down.”

God, Buddha, anyone. Please don’t let Keith know.

He couldn’t take the embarrassment or the pity. It would make all of their future interactions awkward, and Keith would always have the question, ‘Does he like me?’

Lance didn’t like him. He may be confused about his sexuality, and the kiss with Keith may have brought that confusion to the surface, but he didn’t like Keith. He would have known years before if he did. He was just projecting. Awful as it was, he was projecting.

“Lance,” but Lance shrugged off Keith’s hand. He ignored Keith’s guilt and worry and the others’ probing stares and walked away from the training deck.

A tsunami of hurt and guilt battered at his mental barriers, almost toppling them as he ran through the castle halls.

Fuck.

Lance wanted to cry. Was that due to Keith’s emotions or his own? He couldn’t tell anymore.

FUCK!

Where was Shiro when Lance needed him? Lance just couldn’t control himself where Keith was concerned. It wasn’t Keith’s fault that he needed time. That he was confused. He shouldn’t hurt him, but…What could he do when every time he looked at Keith, he remembered how good it felt to kiss him and how awful it felt to hear his friends laughing at them?

***

Even in his exile, Lance couldn’t get peace.

Lance planned to stay in his room until Shiro got out of the cryopod. If Keith wanted to be out and about, let him. Lance would stay away until he could get himself under control. Allura loved ruining all of his hopes and dreams.

“Paladins to the bridge. All Paladins!”

That seemed a little targeted. Lance sighed but followed orders. How could things get worse than that morning?

Keith glared at him the second he stepped through the doors, enough anger pouring off of him to saturate the entire room. So, the anger had won over the guilt, huh? Lance turned away and tried to ignore the guilt filling his own insides like molasses. A slow but steady flood of icky-ness that made him want to hide away and take a shower. No shower could help him.

“Hey, Buddy?” Hunk asked cautiously. He probably still thought Lance would blow up the ship. “You alright?”

Lance couldn’t face him. He couldn’t face anyone after his morning outburst. Even Shiro, frozen with his eyes completely closed, seemed to be judging him. “I’m fine. What did you need, Princess?”

Allura frowned between him and Keith but didn’t comment. “You may not know this, but my father was a paladin. The original Red Paladin, in fact.” She nodded to Keith.

Lance did know that. He hoped that wasn’t the only reason she called them to the bridge.

“What, really?” Hunk gaped. “That’s awesome!”

Allura beamed with pride, as if she’d been the Paladin and not her father. “Indeed. Now, the reason I called you all here…” She turned to the center console and began typing. “When my father and the other paladins were still active, they saved a planet from a tyrant.” A picture of a large, green and pink striped planet appeared on the holo-screen, and Allura turned back to them.

“I won’t go into detail, but the people were very grateful for their salvation, and so every decaphoeb, on the dedicated celebration day, the people of the planet would invite my father and…the others…to their planet to celebrate with them.”

“What does this have to do with us?” Keith asked, anger fading slightly as suspicion trickled in.

Lance had to smile. He’s always been paranoid.

More of Keith’s anger faded as he noticed Lance’s amusement. He glanced to the side, question in his eyes and curiosity in his aura.

He looks so- Lance tensed and tried to focus on the princess. Those thoughts would lead nowhere good. Noticing the switch, Keith also tensed, and any softness faded from his soul. Lance just wanted to go back to how things had been before he realized the truth. Would things be so awkward between them forever? Would he be fighting the memory of their kiss on his death bed?

“…seems that they’ve continued to extend the invitation every decaphoeb for the past ten thousand years,” Allura finished.

Well, that was dedication.

“So, they sent one now?” Pidge asked.

“Yes. And I thought attending the festival would be a nice treat and way to thank them for so many years of faith.” The princess frowned at Shiro’s cryopod. Then, she shook her head and faced them again. “Shiro can’t attend, for obvious reasons, so you four must be on your best behavior.”

“We do need to get the word out that we’re back,” Pidge said. “No one knows who we are.”

“Exactly.”

It would be nice to get out and away from his worries. Maybe the day out would help him forget and get things back to normal between him and Keith. Then, he could act like a proper friend and rid himself of the guilt forever.

Lance pasted his most arrogant smile onto his face, trying to feign the normalcy he wished for. “Well, I’m in. I’m always up for a good party.” It earned him a few, unconvinced stares, but at least he’d tried.

Hunk nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah. They probably have new recipes I can try!”

“Keith?”

Keith glared at the floor. “Can I stay here with Shiro?”

That’s what he would have said anyway, Lance tried to convince himself. Keith wasn’t just staying back to avoid him.

You’re a hypocrite.

Hunk turned pleading eyes to their teammate. “Come on, Buddy,” he begged. “Think of it as team bonding!”

Hunk could bond. Lance planned to stay as far from Keith as possible until he got his thoughts in line. As if knowing what Lance was thinking, Keith glared at him, eyes piercing straight through Lance like he could see his thoughts.

…Wait…He couldn’t read Lance’s mind, right? Lance couldn’t read his, but Keith always seemed to learn things like that quicker than Lance. Keith had discovered the emotion-reading first, after all.

“They’ll probably have sword-fighting,” Coran said slyly, interrupting Lance’s panic. (If Keith could read his thoughts, he was doomed already.) “King Alfor often tested his mettle in the arena.”

If Keith could read your thoughts, he wouldn’t be so confused. He would know already.

Relief flooded through Lance at the realization. His Hunk voice was right. Keith didn’t feel angry like he knew Lance had taken advantage of him. He felt angry like he was hurt and frustrated with Lance for avoiding him for no reason. Mind-reading was off the table, then.

Allura clasped her hands. “…It’s settled, then,” she said. Lance must have missed something. “We’re going to the festival!”

Chapter Text

After ten thousand years, Lance hadn’t expected much of a party. Maybe a few square blocks of tents with food or games. Definitely more families with children than people living the single life. None of the planet’s inhabitants had grandparents who’d been alive for the planet’s liberation, so why wouldn’t the celebration be scaled back?

He could see the tents from the outskirts of the solar system.

“It looks like they reserved an entire continent,” Pidge muttered.

“Yeah. A pink continent,” Hunk agreed. He trailed off. “I wonder if they’ll have cotton-candy.”

Coran let out a long breath, and Lance turned his attention to the engineer. He half expected the man to say something wise and profound about the planet. Coran hadn’t looked so relaxed since Lance had met him. It looked like he was glad to see the planet. Surely, that meant he had some interesting factoid or history lesson. Instead, what they got was: “I don’t know what fabric candy is on Earth, but no one parties like the Irklènders.”

Lance groaned and turned back to face the planet. He hoped they lived up to that reputation because he needed a major distraction.

Allura nodded in agreement, smiling out the window. “This is a big celebration for them. Before my father and the other Paladins freed them, their people had been enslaved for eons.”

Them and every other planet. It was a wonder Zarkon hadn’t taken it back over in the ten thousand years since.

“Enslaved?” Pidge asked. “What happened?”

The princess eagerly accepted the invitation to go into full-on lecture mode. (Yeah, she and Lance would definitely not be a good match for the long-term.)

You and Keith would.

Shut it.

He didn’t need his friends’ opinions causing any more trouble than they already were. Avoiding Keith for one day was bad enough. He needed to get past his confusion so that he could be around Keith without risking their friendship. He needed to make his brain realize that liking guys didn’t mean liking every handsome guy he met. Even guys with hearts of gold. Especially guys with hearts of gold.

“The Irklènders used to be a people of power. Those who were gifted with that power used it and abused it, thinking themselves better than the rest. They turned the non-powerful into servants. Any with the power but unskilled in its use were lowly workers, but the more powerful ruled over all and were given rights and access the others were not.”

And Lance had thought magic was bad before.

“Do they not have the power anymore?” Keith asked.

Don’t blush. He’s allowed to talk. It would just make Lance’s life easier if he didn’t.

Allura shook her head. “No. My father discovered that the Irklènder’s power was the result of some beast living in the heart of the planet. The beast took the quintessence there and transformed it into usable power before transferring it to certain individuals it deemed chaotic. It thrived on the chaos until my father found and destroyed it. With the beast dead, the power returned to its proper place.”

“What happened to the bad guys?” Hunk asked. “You know, the ones who enslaved everybody.”

“They were tried for their crimes. And my father and the other Paladins helped establish a new government and system of ruling.” Allura turned back to stare out the window again as they landed. “As you’ll discover, a Paladin’s job is more than just fighting battles. You must also forge and maintain peace and stability in the universe.”

That sounded like a tall order for four teenagers, a traumatized man, and a few mystical lions.

Makes a good distraction, though, Lance supposed. And boy, did he need that distraction.

“Paladins!” someone declared as they descended from the castle. “Welcome!”

The woman walking up to them had fuschia skin, black eyes and hair, and a grin so wide Lance thought her head might split open. That mental image terrified him, though, so he pushed it down and focused on standing as far from Keith as polite company allowed. Ten feet should do.

“If I hadn’t seen you with my own eyes, I would not believe it. But you are dressed just as all the historians describe!” She clasped her hands. “It is an honor.” Then, she bowed.

“The honor is ours, Principal.” Allura curtsied.

Principal? Principals were for schools.

Lance raised an eyebrow at the other Paladins, but Hunk just shrugged at him. (Keith scowled, but Lance wasn’t paying any attention to him or his familiar, pouted lips. Nope. He wasn’t taking advantage of Keith’s naïveté and belief in his straightness to ogle him and risk losing their friendship.) Lance had expected a king or queen – maybe a president – but a principal?

To each their own, he supposed.

As the principal led them to the gates of the festival, Lance’s thoughts trailed back to Keith. He didn’t have much option. The planet was nice, but once you’d seen one alien tree, you’d seen them all. Tents and people crowded out any other point of focus, and Principal Kyria was showering them with awkward praises. It honestly seemed like she thought they were the original paladins that saved the Irklènders from their enslavement.

Keith was tuning out, too. Well, Lance thought he was. His emotions were just as bored and trailing as Lance’s. He was probably wondering where the sword arena was. Then, Keith’s eyes turned to him, alerting Lance to the fact that he’d been staring.

Shit.

He turned away, hoping Keith hadn’t caught him. The sharpened curiosity and annoyance proved otherwise, but Keith didn’t approach him.

What was Lance supposed to do? He didn’t want to cut Keith out of his life, but…every time he looked at Keith’s face, he remembered the way his lips felt. He couldn’t stop blushing. Then, he’d remember his friends’ conversation and get mad. An angry Lance never mixed well with Keith. He knew that much. He always lashed out at the other, no matter how little Keith deserved it.

Maybe I should just tell him. Shiro’s out of commission, and Keith wouldn’t judge. He could answer my questions.

But Lance couldn’t breathe just thinking about telling Keith. No. He couldn’t. He had to get himself straight first. Then, he and Keith could hang out again like normal, and the whole episode could be forgotten. No risk to their friendship because Lance was confused about his nonexistent feelings. He couldn’t pull Keith into his problems like that. He couldn’t lose Keith.

“Ready to go, Buddy?” Hunk asked, interrupting his thoughts.

“Huh? What?” Lance blinked and looked around them. All of the others were gone, disappeared into the crowd.

Keith’s probably headed to the arena. Lance could feel him not too far away, but there was no telling where everyone else went. He frowned.

“Ready to explore the festival? Big turnout, huh?”

He was telling Lance. They seemed to be in the only solitary part of the street. The whole planet must have shown up. The walkways were wide enough for a giant to be comfortable, but there wasn’t one spare inch between people. And behind them, even more streamed in from the entrance in a sea of fuschia faces. Even one second could separate him and Hunk forever.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Assuming Hunk could see any landmarks he might know.

“The food court is definitely on our itinerary, but I figured we’d play some games and ride any cool rides we come across.” Hunk shrugged. “It’s been a while since we’ve gone to a fair.”

“True.” They hadn’t even had a party for three months. Not since the teachers busted Gordan Creed, one of their upperclassmen, for sneaking alcohol into the dorms.

Lance hesitantly followed Hunk into the throngs, but as he’d feared, he lost track of his buddy within seconds. He pushed past pointy elbows and fleshy lumps, trying to find the Yellow Paladin. “Hunk?!”

“I’m here.” But the words sounded far off, drowned out by the chatters and screams of the crowd.

Lance searched for his friend’s tanned skin and black hair. It should stand out easily amongst all the pink and rainbow, but the Irklènders were just tall enough to obscure even Hunk’s girth and height. “Hunk?!”

That time, there was no answer. Lance pushed his way through, trying to find any familiar face. Even the principal would be better than no one. After several minutes, however, he had to admit that he was lost.

Great…Is it always this crowded? How does anyone get anywhere? The second he saw an opening, Lance pushed until he’d escaped. He found himself at the edge of what seemed to be a park. Multiple people and couples milled around inside, but it was much more peaceful than the festival walkways. He entered, needing a break.

“Hey, Hunk?” he called, talking into his wrist.

Hunk answered, and Lance didn’t have to ask to know he’d found food. Hunk was holding a meat leg.

Seriously?

What? A man can’t eat?

Not when his friend’s missing.

“Hey, Lance. Where’d you disappear to?”

“The crowd got me.” Lance leaned against a tree. “I’m in a park now, though. How’d you get out?”

Hunk shrugged as he took a bite of whatever he’d found. “There were fewer people farther ahead. People kept splitting off into tents or other areas. Are you okay, though?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” He needed some time to think anyway. The park would give him that. Even if he’d been looking forward to playing festival games. “I might stay here. Or at least wait until the crowd dies a little.”

“That sounds nice.” Hunk hesitated, like he wanted to say something else.

Lance waited him out. It never took long.

“…Lance, you’ve been acting a little weird recently. Is there anything you want to talk about? You know you can tell me anything, right?”

Could he? Lance wanted to scoff. Hunk would just tell Pidge, and then they’d start another bet.

He didn’t say that, of course. Instead, Lance shook his head. “There’s nothing going on. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“If you say so.” Something outside of Lance’s field of vision caught Hunk’s eye. “Have fun at the park, Buddy. I’m gonna hunt down some more food. Get some ideas for dinner.”

“Bye, Hunk.”

Hunk clicked off, leaving Lance to his thoughts.

When was the last time I was actually alone? It had been on Earth. He knew that much. Even there, though, he had Hunk or his other classmates.

Must have been the first week of school. When I met that girl. Lance didn’t know her name, but she’d been cute. She was one of his non-Keith kisses. All he’d been able to think about for weeks after was kissing her.

And now all I can think about is kissing Keith.

Somehow, it all always came back to Keith.

Lance hoped Shiro was out of the cryopod by the time they got back to the castle, but Coran had checked before they left and still gave it a few days before the wound healed, let alone whatever magic was attached.

I’m bi, right? He was sure that was right, but…Why didn’t I realize sooner? Why am I so scared? Why am I projecting these feelings onto Keith?

Lance had nothing against homosexual people. His sister was a full-blown lesbian! Could he really have gone so long without realizing he liked men? Was he gay and overcompensating? He’d never had a real crush before…Or maybe he was straight and thinking too much about a kiss. All kisses were supposed to feel good, right?

“Ugh! I wish someone could answer these questions!” What even was a crush or attraction? What did love mean?

As he continued walking and mentally berating himself – steadily feeling more and more insane – he heard a scream. It wasn’t loud or anything, and it stopped seconds after it started, but there was no doubt someone had screamed.

Lance glanced around, taking in the scene for the first time since he’d started his walk. During his walk, he’d somehow found his way to a wooded area. The only thing around him were the trees with their orange-ish trunks and green leaves. He could still feel the afternoon breeze and hear couples chattering and animals making animal noises in the distance, but his search for peace seemed to have been granted. That didn’t explain who screamed. Where had the sound come from?

Lance stood there for a moment, trying to remember. He’d been caught up in his thoughts, but the noise had seemed louder in his right ear.

He spun on his heel and went right. There was a worn path that seemed to head in the same direction as the scream, so he followed that. Most likely, whoever needed help had followed it, too.

“Hello?” he called as the wooded enclosure gave way to some sort of glade. It was pretty, with the tall trees surrounding a garden of blue and lilac flowers. They covered shrubs that skirted the forest, leaving only the opening Lance had walked in through as a makeshift gate. In the very center of the glade stood a bronze statue, but vines of some sort of ivy coated it, making it impossible to see more than a few misshapen, green blobs.

There was no one else there.

Maybe I am going insane. Didn’t Lance have enough on his plate to deal with?

Before he could resign himself to that truth, however, he got a response. “Hello,” someone greeted, strained but casually, like it was any other day.

Lance looked around again, but still, there was no one.

No one except the trees. He followed that thought and raised his gaze to skim through the branches. There was a lot to look through, with how thick the leaf-cover was, but Lance wasn’t a budding Sharpshooter for nothing. Lo and behold, he spotted an unnatural neon-pink in the midst of the green leaves.

What are the odds of one neon-pink flower in the middle of a purple- and red-flowered tree?

Realizing the chance was slim, he stepped closer until he could see past the leaves and to the Irklènder straddling the vertex of the trunk and a tree branch.

Lance stared into sheepish blue eyes for almost a full thirty seconds before realizing he should probably say something. “What are you doing in a tree?”

The guy flushed. “I was attempting to pick a flower, but, uh…” He glanced nervously toward the branch in front of him. “…I seem to have gotten stuck.”

No wonder. He was a beefy guy trying to climb between the forked limbs of a tree. “Do you need help?”

Those inhumanly blue eyes turned back to him, relieved, and Lance realized the guy’s pupils were star shaped. Huh. Weird, but sort of nice. “If you could.”

Lance stepped up to the tree and assessed it. As he’d noted earlier, Beefy Guy was wedged with one leg on either side of a fork in the tree. He’d probably tried to ease his way down by sitting but hadn’t realized how narrow the space really was. What flower could have been so important that he’d risk it, though?

“Can you stand?”

“I’m afraid I can’t get the proper leverage.” Beefy Guy grimaced. “It’s a quite uncomfortable position.”

“I bet.” If these aliens were anatomically similar to humans, then…Lance did not envy him at all.

Thinking about alien anatomy led nowhere good, however. Especially when the alien was as attractive as Beefy Guy and Lance was still confused from his recent realizations. Instead of focusing on that, Lance frowned and circled the tree, inspecting it.

The trunk was at the guy’s back. If it weren’t for the branch in front of him, he’d be able to push himself up using that as support, but there was a branch in front, so he had no way to move. “We might have to get someone to cut the branch,” Lance realized.

“We can’t!”

That was an extreme reaction. Lance turned back to Beefy Guy. “Why not?”

The other’s blush deepened. “I can see you are not from here, so you would not know, but…This is a sacred tree to my people. It is said that our saviors planted it. It is a tree of hope and the future. Picking her flowers is allowed, as well as pruning dead limbs, but to cut off a perfectly healthy branch…” The guy paled, staring off into horrified imaginings.

“…Ri-ight…” There always had to be something, didn’t there? Lance sighed and shook his head. “Well, if you got stuck, there has to be a way to unstick you.”

“…I fell into this position.”

“You fell?”

Beefy Guy couldn’t get any redder. “I slipped. And I fell.”

Lance gaped. “What was so important about this flower?” he demanded. It couldn’t be good enough to risk life and limb.

“It’s my intended’s favorite,” Beefy Guy defended, all embarrassment fading in place of determination.

He’d been getting the flower for his girlfriend. Of course.

Wouldn’t you do the same?

…Maybe. I don’t know. Lance shook the thought off.

“Perhaps if you pushed me, I could slip through.”

Lance glanced between Beefy Guy and the ground. That was at least a twelve-foot drop. Not necessarily deadly, but… “You might fall.”

Beefy Guy grimaced. “Anything is better than being stuck here.”

So, Lance stepped forward and pulled himself up onto a lower branch. Then, he pressed against the guy’s leg. It was just as muscular as the rest of him looked.

He remembered Keith’s stretches that morning. The way his muscles had strained against his pants, as he’d completed his toe touches.

I wonder if Keith’s legs feel- Nope! Stop! He needed to stop projecting his sudden bi realization onto Keith. He should find someone he actually liked. Then, he could stop thinking about the kiss. Stop thinking about how it would feel to have Keith’s lips on his again in a more romantic context. Stop thinking, ‘If only Keith thought about it like I do.’ Finding someone else would stop all of that and return things to normal. Beefy Guy would have been a good option if he weren’t already taken.

What is Rachel always saying? The good men are always either taken or gay?

Not that the latter would affect Lance anymore…Not that it had affected him before.

Shit…

He determinedly focused on getting Beefy Guy out of the tree. It took at least a full minute of shoving. Lance didn’t want to hurt the guy, after all, and there was always the chance that he would lose his balance and fall as well. Eventually, though, he gave up on gentleness and gave one hard push. Beefy Guy slipped through and fell out on the other side of the tree.

“Oof!”

Luckily, he stood almost immediately after, brushing off excess dirt and leaves until he looked a little more presentable. So Lance hadn’t killed a local. Allura would be happy.

“Thank you,” Beefy Guy said, still using one hand to fix his appearance. The other was busy rubbing his head in pain. Then, all traces of pain vanished as Beefy Guy gasped and halted every other task to hurriedly check his pockets. He pulled out a purple and red flower, sighing in relief. “It is undamaged!”

Girlfriend or not, that flower couldn’t be worth the possible broken bones.

Lance jumped off of his branch and approached his new friend. “Wish I could say the same for you. Your ‘intended’ would probably prefer that.”

Beefy Guy grinned, smiling at Lance from over the flower. And maybe Lance should have known he was bi way before he found out because that was kind of cute. I’m an idiot. A ginormous, oblivious idiot.

“I am often injured. He calls me his Adexi. It is an animal on our planet known for its lack of grace.”

‘He’? Oh…Lance should have known better than to assume. He’d done the same thing with Keith, and look how that turned out. He’d done the same thing with himself!

All he said, though, was: “He calls you a clumsy animal?” That…actually sounded sweet. How could name-calling be sweet?

It’s a pet name, his Hunk voice reasoned. Lance supposed that made sense. Like Mullet or Samurai.

…Shit. Lance really had been projecting onto Keith for a while, hadn’t he?

“Mm-hmm. So, who can I thank for saving me?” the Adexi asked brightly.

“Lance.” Lance held out a hand. “I’m the Blue Paladin of Voltron.”

Adexi gaped. “V-Voltron? It cannot be.”

Finally. Someone who knew them. Lance grinned. “It is. My friends and I pilot the lions. We’re here by personal invitation of Principal Kyria.”

“But…” Adexi glanced around the forest, as if he expected someone to jump out at any second to tell him he’d been pranked. (Did aliens have prank shows? What kind of jokes would that involve when so many aliens had magic or weird abilities?) Eventually, however, his gaze returned to Lance. “It has been cantars since Voltron was last seen. We thought it was a myth!”

Lance lowered his hand, realizing the guy wouldn’t take it. “Nope. Not a myth.” Myth or not, at least this guy knew them. That more than made up for the people of every other planet they’d visited. “We aren’t the same paladins as the ones who saved you, but we do pilot the lions and plan to bring peace to the universe and all that jazz.”

Adexi bowed. Must be a cultural thing. “It is an honor to meet you, Blue Paladin. If I may ask-” He rose up again. “-where are the other paladins? There are five of you, correct?”

Lance shrugged. “They’re around here somewhere. We’re enjoying the festival.” Other than Shiro, but that was more than Lance wanted to explain.

“Has it been to your liking so far?” When had the embarrassed mess of a beefcake turned into his host?

Lance almost didn’t answer. His experience at the festival had been minimal but mostly unpleasant, what with the crowds. He didn’t want to offend anyone, but Adexi stared at him expectantly, waiting for his answer. He couldn’t lie to the guy. “It’s…a little crowded out there.”

Adexi smiled knowingly. “It is better at night when most families have gone home and most revelers have tired themselves out. And-” He leaned in conspiratorially. “Many attractions are only available during the nighttime festivities.”

Lance grinned, soaking up the other’s enthusiasm as he tried to imagine. “Like what?”

The guy shrugged and walked over to the ivy-covered statue. Without an ounce of hesitation, he flopped to the ground to sit cross-legged, staring up at Lance.

How could someone so handsome and manly-looking seem so sweet and innocent and…confident? He acted like he didn’t have a care in the world. Like he embraced every part of himself wholeheartedly, no matter what others might say about him. Maybe it was a cultural thing, but somehow, Lance didn’t think so.

“Many shows only start at dusk,” Adexi explained. “There’s the nighttime scavenger hunt. The game-hunt for hunters. The glowing night-rides. Rumor has it, someone is opening a kissing booth this year, but that is merely rumor.”

“It does sound fun.” Lance wondered if they’d stay long enough to see it.

Adexi laughed. “The kissing booth or the rest?”

Lance blushed. “The rest,” he muttered.

“I figured.”

They let the silence settle for several moments before Adexi’s eyes widened. “I did not tell you my name!” He hurriedly stood and bowed, nearly tripping over his shoes. “Blue Paladin, I am Pelzar.”

“Nice to meet you, Pelzar.” Lance held out his hand again, and when Pelzar straightened, he stared at it in confusion. “Why do you hold your hand out to me?”

“Oh, it’s to shake.” Lance demonstrated. “When two people first meet on my planet, they shake hands.”

Pelzar held out his own hand and shook it in midair, seeming perplexed.

“No no no.” Lance laughed and took Pelzar’s extended hand. “We’re supposed to shake each other’s hand. Like this.” He demonstrated.

Pelzar smiled and picked up Lance’s other hand in his free one until they were crossed in an ‘x’. “Why not use both?” He yanked both of Lance’s hands up and down in an awkward shaking motion.

Lance laughed. “You know, I never really thought to question it.”

They stood there, grinning and holding hands for several minutes before Lance realized how weird they must look. He pulled back. “Uh, sorry.”

Shit. What am I doing? He’s dating someone. And doesn’t intended mean engaged? Was he really rebounding onto this guy? Did he actually like him or was he just trying to find someone to foist his newfound feelings onto? Again.

“It is alright.” Pelzar stared at him curiously. “I do not wish to be rude, but it looks like you have much on your mind…”

He clearly wanted to help, and Pelzar didn’t seem like a bad guy, but Lance…I just need Shiro. Once he’s awake, he can help me figure this out.

Why does it have to be Shiro?

Lance paused. Why did it have to be Shiro?

Because he knows what it’s like to have feelings for a guy. Because he’s older and more experienced.

But so was Pelzar. Lance stared at him again. The other watched him patiently, waiting for any answer Lance gave. Maybe…

An image of Keith when Lance fled the training deck that morning flashed through his mind. The other had been hurt. Lance didn’t want to hurt him. He wanted things to get back to normal.

He checked in on Keith, probing to test his emotions. Even from so far away, Lance could feel a swirling mix of anger and despair and confusion. He’d made Keith feel that. Keith was channeling it into his fight, trying to get it out, but Lance was the reason he felt that way at all.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked, unable to face Pelzar.

“It would be an honor.” There was a strange hint of amusement in that. Like Lance should know that.

Lance just sighed. “How do you know if you’re attracted to someone? Like…for real attracted?”

“Hmmm…I suppose, for me, I know when I can’t stop thinking about someone. When I can’t stop touching them or staring at them.”

“For you?”

The other smiled softly at him as he explained, “Everyone has their own Cáana. Their own way to show love and receive love and understand love. I prefer touch and physical affection. My brother is much more reserved, but one way he shows love is by showering those he loves with presents.” Pelzar laughed. “Many, many presents.”

Love preferences? Lance had assumed he’d get a more elaborate answer than that. Maybe he’d have to wait for Shiro, after all. But how could he avoid Keith until then without hurting him? “Oh…”

Pelzar reached out, touching his arm, so Lance turned to him. The alien was staring at him in sympathy. “Has someone captured your heart, Blue Paladin?”

Lance blanched and jerked away. “What?! No! Of course not!”

Pelzar held up his hands, wide-eyed. “I was just asking.”

Great. He’d freaked out on an alien who was only being nice to him. Lance could imagine what Allura would say. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to explode like that.”

“It is fine. We all have different ways of expressing emotion.” Pelzar grinned.

“So you keep telling me.”

Pelzar hummed. “How do you usually express emotion, Blue Paladin?”

“I don’t know. I’ve thought people were cute or handsome or whatever, but I’ve never…I’ve never really thought about liking them deeper than that. I didn’t really think about any of that.”

How shallow was he? Was he planning to go his whole life just flirting? Never having a substantial relationship?

“You are young, yes?” Pelzar asked. “It makes sense, then, that you’d still be exploring love and its effects.” He stared into the distance, smiling softly. “When I first fell in love with my Atteni, he wanted nothing to do with me. I was much too persistent...” He chuckled to himself. “Then, I realized he did not like such pressure, so I stopped. That is when he first took notice. He realized he missed many of my attentions. Not all, but many. They made him feel loved, and they seemed very me, and he liked that. We are grown, but still, we are learning.”

Lance had to smile, too. “So, you were pushy, huh?”

“Ferociously pushy. That is another trait the Adexi and I share.”

How would Lance express his love? With his family, it was easy. He’d hug them and generally keep them close. Maybe not touching constantly, but hugs, definitely. He hugged Hunk a lot, too. How else, though?

He was pretty loud. Pretty out there. He’d just exploded on Pelzar for insinuating he had a crush.

I’d probably tell them I love them every day, as loud as possible. Just the thought made Lance grin. Yeah, he liked the thought of having someone to brag about. I’d flirt incessantly. He imagined the person blushing from embarrassment and shying away. Secretly, however, they’d be pleased. Maybe a little annoyed.

It all sounded so nice.

How would I like to be shown love? Lance thought about it. He thought about his mother’s soft but stern care. Hunk’s small shows of affection. Pidge’s nerdy but caring gifts – she’d once made him a robotic shark just because. They all had their ways of showing love, but what made him happiest?

I don’t know.

But maybe…Maybe he could still learn. Like Pelzar said, he was still young.

Pelzar hissed in a breath as the clock sounded. “Oh, Grathunkle. I’m late. And after I lectured him for it this morning.”

“Late for what?”

The clock was still sounding as Pelzar turned back to him with a grin. “I’m supposed to meet with my intended. Would you like to meet him, Blue Paladin?”

“Sure.” Lance had nothing better to do, and this guy sounded nice. Still… “You wouldn’t happen to know a way that avoids all the crowds, would you?”

Pelzar laughed.

As it so happened, he did. He took Lance through the park – which apparently bordered the entire fair – and to-

“A game? I thought we were meeting your fiancé.”

Pelzar nodded, picking up one of the rings the game vendor had laid out for him. “We are, but I vowed to myself that I’d win him a prize first.”

Pelzar was a horrible shot. Lance’s smile grew wider and wider with every missed throw. By the time the third ring of Pelzar’s fourth round fell short of the bottle, he wasn’t even hiding his snickers.

“You’re tossing it all wrong,” Lance explained, still laughing. “Here, let me try.”

Pelzar handed the vendor more money. Maybe he figured if he’d already wasted enough money for four rounds, one more didn’t matter. Either way, Lance was determined to win that prize.

He tested the first ring’s weight and eyed the bottle in the distance. If he got all three rings around a bottle, he’d win the biggest prize, with the prize downgrading the fewer he got. After Pelzar’s earlier advice, he wanted to win the best prize possible for him. Drawing on all of his Paladin training, he tossed the ring.

Clink!

“Lucky shot,” the vendor drawled.

Lance glared and lined up the next ring. Was it just him, or was that ring heavier? He wouldn’t put it past the guy to change the weights. Most people wouldn’t think to check before overcorrecting their aim and tossing.

Lance threw the ring, accidentally giving it a slight spin. It landed just over top of the first one.

Pelzar gaped. “You are good. But I should expect no less from a Paladin.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The vendor picked at something under his fingernails, feigning boredom. “Two lucky shots. Get the big prize, then we’ll talk.”

Was he trying to psych Lance out? It was just a carnival game.

The third ring was lighter than the second but heavier than the third. Lance weighed it, readied his throw, then

“ACHOO!” He jumped mid-throw, and the ring fell just short of the bottles.

Lance and Pelzar both glared at the vendor who had the gall to wipe his completely bare nose. That sneeze couldn’t be faker if he had a handkerchief and pretended to swoon.

“Tough luck. You can choose one of these prizes.”

“I should get another shot,” Lance argued. “Your sneeze threw me off.”

The guy shrugged in fake sympathy. “Look, there are all sorts of noises here. I can’t control perfectly innocent bodily functions.”

Lance glared but grabbed a random, giraffe-like stuffed animal from the bin. “Would Atteni like this?”

Pelzar grinned. “That is an Adexi. It is perfect. But I wish to see you win. Fairly.” He leaned in and whispered. “I will watch and distract him from any cheating.” He gave the vendor some more money.

Lance wanted to protest, but the money had already changed hands. No way would the vendor give it back, so he may as well take his turn.

Like with the first try, he weighed the rings – these ones felt heavier than the heaviest of the others – before tossing. And also like with his first try, the vendor let him throw two rings unopposed. On the third, however, Lance faked a shot, pretending he was about to throw. The vendor tried to sneeze, but Pelzar stumbled into the table, distracting him. Lance took the opportunity to throw the last ring.

“Yes!”

The vendor glared but offered him his pick of the grand prizes. Several glass figurines.

Pelzar gasped. “These are quite the luxury for even this festival.”

“Well most people miss a shot,” the vendor snarked, still scowling at Lance. “So we can afford the extravagance.”

Lance ignored him. “Which would Atteni like?”

But Pelzar shook his head. “You pick one. It is your well-earned prize.”

“But you paid for it.”

“The Adexi is repayment enough.”

Clearly, Pelzar wouldn’t take no for an answer. Lance considered the prizes. There were a few figurines. Maybe twelve in total. Just over half were Adexis and other animals he didn’t recognize, but there were five that he did. Lions. Each in the colors of the Voltron lions. He almost reached for the blue, but then, he remembered how hurt Keith had been. He’d ignored the other for a day – would probably ignore him longer if he couldn’t get his thoughts under control – the least he could do was get Keith a prize.

He picked up the Red Lion.

“Not Blue?” Pelzar asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lance nodded. “Not Blue.”

Pelzar hummed thoughtfully.

“What?” Lance couldn’t help his blush. Was it so weird that he wasn’t getting a Blue Lion? What if he just preferred red?

That’s not why you’re getting it, his Hunk voice sing-songed. Dear God. He sang.

“Nothing. Shall we go? I am far too late as it is. Atteni may not forgive me, even with the prize.”

Lance could have groaned. “If you were late, why did you stop to play the game?”

Pelzar grinned. “If I am already late, why not? Keep this in mind, Blue Paladin: When running late, always bring a gift. It is no excuse, but it is an apology.”

“Along with an actual apology, right?”

“Of course.” Pelzar laughed.

Before they left, Lance stored the figurine in a hidden compartment in his wrist. It was meant to hold plants and stuff for later analysis, but the figurine was small enough to fit. He wanted to keep it safe until he could give it to Keith.

They didn’t cut through the park again on their way to Pelzar’s fiancé, but the crowds in that area were much less suffocating, so Lance and Pelzar were safe to chat during their trek. Pelzar told him stories about the planet, and Lance exchanged stories about his space adventures that far. As well as a few about Earth. He was so distracted by the conversation that he didn’t realize where they were headed until they’d already entered the arena.

Keith’s eyes immediately shot to him, and a strange irritation sparked in his soul the second his eyes landed. He got a hit in the chest for the lapse of attention, but it didn’t knock him out of the contest.

“Is that another paladin?” Pelzar asked, watching Keith curiously.

“Uh, yeah…” Lance laughed, trying to pretend he wasn’t incredibly uncomfortable and wanting to run. “What gave it away? The armor or the Earthlingness?”

“Both?” Pelzar grinned at him. Then, he nodded across the stadium. “My Atteni is over there.”

‘Over there’ turned out to be the VIP box. How had Pelzar’s fiancé gotten such high-end seating? It was even airconditioned!

Atteni turned to them the second they entered. He raised an eyebrow. “You’re late…And I see you brought company.”

“I am late, but I brought apologies, as well.” Pelzar held up the Adexi and the flower.

Atteni shook his head but accepted the presents with a fond smile and kiss. Lance glanced away, giving the lovers their privacy.

“Why were you late?”

“I got stuck in the tree trying to get you your flower,” Pelzar sheepishly explained. “Paladin Lance rescued me.”

Atteni turned back to him. “Paladin?”

“Uh, hey.” He waved awkwardly, still thinking about how sweet and natural that kiss had looked. They truly loved each other, didn’t they?

“Your teammate is in the rounds right now.” Atteni glanced back to the fighting, an impressed glint in his eyes. “He is very skilled.”

“Yeah. That’s Keith for you.”

Lance didn’t know how Keith got so good with a sword so quick, but maybe it was some sort of Paladin instinct. Similar to his blaster instinct. It still required training to hone the skills, but a lot of it was simple soul connection. Like with the lions.

They all watched as Keith dodged and twisted and twirled. He was up against skilled opponents, a lot more creative than the Galran sentries – though, the sentries were more blasters than swordfighters anyway – but he still held his own. For the first time, Lance had a chance to sit back and watch Keith move. He was impressed. Keith’s sword movements may have mystical help, but his grace and speed and agility? That was all him.

The crowd cheered as, with a final sweep, Keith took the win, sword held to his opponent’s throat. The guy grinned good-naturedly and took Keith’s extended hand, probably offering his congratulations.

“And that’s five wins for the Red Paladin!” An announcer announced.

Five? Lance shook his head. Venting or not, Keith was probably having the time of his life.

“Does anyone else wish to challenge our winner?”

No one came forward.

The announcer tsked. “No one? Win or lose, it would be a great honor to fight the Red Paladin.”

Even that didn’t seem to be worth it for anyone.

“He bested Agash and Taisi,” Atteni explained. “They are our best, so none will dare face him. Not until after dusk and much imbibement.”

“Can I challenge someone?” Keith called, staring at where Lance supposed the commentator was stationed.

A hush of confusion fell over the crowd. What was Keith doing?

“…Do you wish to challenge someone?”

Keith turned to the VIP box, determination flowing off of him in waves as blue eyes clashed with indigo. “I challenge the Blue Paladin to a match!”

What the hell was Keith doing?!

Even more whispers broke out, and Lance could feel every stare turn toward him. “…Does the Blue Paladin accept?” the commentator asked.

A chant began in the stadium seats. “Sechi! Sechi! Sechi!”

“What are they saying?” Lance asked, nervous at the sudden attention. Had Keith really just called him out like that? Sure, he’d been unfair in avoiding the other, but even that couldn’t warrant Keith challenging him to a duel!

“They are calling on your bravery,” Pelzar explained, smiling. “The Sechi is a fierce animal that backs down from no challenge. When one opponent challenges another, it is customary on our planet to reference it.”

To make matters worse, the crowd wasn’t the only one taunting him. Keith shoved all of the defiance that he could at Lance. Taunting him without words. Lance glared. No way would he let Keith prove him a coward in front of an entire planet.

“I accept!”

Then, he remembered that it was a swordfight. And he was up against Keith.

Shit.

Chapter Text

Lance met Keith inside the armory. He needed a sword, and the other decided to corner him while he got it. If Keith wanted to be a jerk, Lance felt no reason to hold back…Even if they were surrounded by long, pointy objects that Keith knew way more about.

“What the hell are you playing at?”

The fuming ball of wrath across from him scoffed. “Oh, I’m sorry. Are we speaking now?”

Seriously? Lance would have felt more guilty if Keith wasn’t such a jackass about it.

“Is that your plan?” he demanded. “To embarrass me in front of a crowd of people to soothe your ego? I’m sorry for avoiding you Keith. Is that what you want to hear? I’m sorry your fragile ego can’t stand being separated from me for one day.”

Had it really only been one day? It felt longer.

Keith glared at him, fury spiking. “Fuck you, Lance. You can’t just cut me off without explanation and call me the bad guy.”

Maybe that was true, but Lance was petty enough to keep that thought to himself.

And Keith’s anger just fed into his own. They were in no state for this argument. Not so soon after their bond was finalized. Not when their emotions were so tuned to each other’s. Fuck Keith and his stupid challenge. Fuck Lance for caving to the bait.

“Well, I hope this will make you happy, then, because we both know there’s no way I’ll beat you in a sword fight.”

Keith’s glare lessened a little. “Do you want some tips?”

What?

Lance’s anger spiked in a way completely unrelated to Keith’s emotions. “Are you serious, right now?!”

“What?”

“You call me out in front of an entire planet and now you’re offering tips to help me?!” What the hell was Keith’s problem?

Keith shrugged. As if this entire thing was no big deal. As if, beneath his small but fiery aura, there wasn’t a bonfire of repressed fury and hate hot enough to roast Antarctica. And Lance couldn’t blame him!

“Well, I’d prefer a fair fight.”

“A fair fight would be weapons-less!” At least then, Lance would stand a chance. Instead, they were fighting with swords, a weapon Lance hadn’t even held before. He’d embarrass himself in front of everyone there.

A bit of that hidden fury leaked through. “It’s a sword arena,” Keith argued back. When Lance just turned on his heel and began inspecting the available weapons, Keith sighed. He muttered something under his breath then forced himself to calm. “You wanna know why I called you out?”

“I know why.” No need for Keith to explain something he already knew. Keith wanted to get back at Lance for the way he’d been acting. As much as Lance deserved it, he didn’t relish the thought of being embarrassed in front of an entire planet.

Keith pretended he hadn’t said anything. “Let’s make a deal. If I win, you tell me why you’ve been avoiding me. If you win, I’ll drop the subject and wait until you’re brave enough to face me again.”

Did he seriously not know? Lance had started avoiding him after the kiss! What else could have caused it?

He did spend the better part of a day in a coma. Maybe his brain was scrambled.

Maybe.

Lance scoffed but didn’t turn away from the swords he wasn’t inspecting. “That’s the least fair bet I’ve ever heard.” Obviously, Keith would win.

“How? If you don’t try, I won’t drop it no matter what.”

And maybe Keith had a point there.

“Fine. But I have an amendment.”

“An amendment?”

Lance lowered the sword he’d been pretending to look at to face Keith head-on. Its point hit the ground with a Scritch!, but he couldn’t care less. “When you win, you can still ask, but I can still refuse to answer.”

“How is that winning?!” So, that emotion must be incredulity…It tickled.

“We’re on your turf, Keith. Fair left the arena the second you taunted me into a sword fight.” Lance pointed his sword at Keith to highlight his point. God, it was heavy.

Keith rolled his eyes, and while mountains of disbelief and annoyance still loomed where he stood, some amusement seeped in at the base. “You aren’t using that one.”

“You can’t control me.” And it wasn’t fair of him to laugh at Lance. Not when Lance didn’t know the first thing about sword-fighting. If only his bayard could form more than his blaster.

Zarkon switched between weapons, he remembered. And how had Zarkon even activated the Black bayard? Why did he have it if the Black Lion was in the Castle of Lions?

“I refuse to fight you until you have a decent sword in your grip.” Keith glanced around at the options. There were a lot, and Lance should probably help, but…

Keith was really graceful as he moved around the room, inspecting swords like he actually knew something about them. Like he knew more than that they stabbed things and looked cool. And there was something hidden there, under his annoyance at Lance, that Lance felt but couldn’t quite catch. It teased at the edges of his consciousness until he found himself following it, trying to name it.

Is he…having fun?

The emotion wasn’t happy, per se. But Keith felt relaxed. At ease, with some sort of anticipation in the center. It felt…nice.

Lance unconsciously settled into the feeling, letting their souls entwine and rest together. He felt at peace in Keith’s peace, watching as the other’s callused hands smoothed over blades and tested sword weights, looking for one he thought Lance could handle. At one point, he got into a fighting stance to try a sword out. It left his entire torso exposed and practically bare, with how the sweat-soaked bodysuit clung to him. Lance didn’t need to see Keith’s pecs to know it would be just as taut, and-

Shit! He jolted and hurriedly withdrew from the bond before Keith could notice. This was why he’d avoided Keith in the first place. In the midst of his anger with being called out, he’d forgotten, but he had to get himself under control. Why couldn’t he stop projecting those feelings onto Keith?

Would you rather project them onto me instead? his Hunk voice asked.

No. No, he would not. Hunk was his best Buddy, and that would just be weird.

Not that liking Keith, his friend, was any less weird.

Oh, God. I’m a mess.

“What’s wrong with you?!” Keith demanded, glaring at him and dropping the most recent sword onto its proper hook before swinging around to fully face Lance again. “Your emotions are giving me a headache. They’re all over the place!”

Don’t look at his chest. Lance suppressed the blush as it rose into his cheeks. “Yeah?” he asked, pretending to inspect a nearby sword so he wouldn’t have to look at Keith. “Well, try being me.”

Keith considered him. Lance wasn’t looking, but he could feel the Red Paladin’s gaze burning through him. Feel the soul probes that he hurriedly shrugged off. Keith scoffed and gave up, retreating back into himself. The peace he’d felt earlier was gone. “Don’t think I want to.”

“Exactly.”

And Lance was finally released from that piercing, indigo stare as Keith turned back to the swords. He pulled out one that looked much lighter than Lance’s previous. He frowned but handed it over. “Try this.”

Their hands brushed, sending anxious tingles skittering up Lance’s fingers.

I’m an absolute. Fucking. Mess. They needed to end this pronto so he could get back to the castle and hole up in his room for the next century.

Maybe it was an effect of the residual tingling in his fingers, but the sword felt featherlight in Lance’s grip. How could something made of metal be that weightless? Lance loved it. It would help him move quicker, an advantage against Keith’s sword experience and natural agility. Before Lance could even attempt a few test swings, however, Keith swiped it from him. “Nevermind. Too light.”

“What the hell, Keith?! That one’s perfect.” Lance moved to take the sword back, but Keith pulled it out of his reach.

“No. My sword is heavy, and you’re untrained. If you use that one, one of my attacks could shatter your wrist…” He glanced at Lance from beneath his fringe. It added an extra weight to his words when he added, “Or worse.”

Well, when he put it like that…Lance still glared for the principle of the thing. “Why can’t I choose my own sword?” If he couldn’t choose anything else, he should at least be able to choose that.

“Who knows more about swords?”

Lance scoffed. “Shut up, Keith. You’ve only had a sword for, what, three weeks?”

I don’t know. He did seem pretty confident when testing all those other ones.

Confidence doesn’t equal knowledge. Lance should know.

Keith glared at him. Was he…insulted? He absentmindedly dropped the feather-sword back into its rack before turning fully to Lance, arms crossed. “I actually researched a lot on blades back on Earth. That includes fighting styles and techniques.”

Lance gaped. “You’re seriously ‘that guy’ aren’t you?”

“What guy?!”

“The feisty, emo sword-guy.” Something about that knowledge made Lance want to smile. It was…cute.

‘Cute’?

Was the voice in his head really judging him? Friends can be cute, too…Right? Lance didn’t know. That’s why he needed Shiro.

Keith groaned. “Fine. Pick your own sword. See how you do.”

Lance took the bait and circled the room. No matter his protests, he did want to keep Keith’s advice in mind. If he wanted a chance to win – no matter how unlikely he thought that was – then he’d have to be smart about it.

He tested a few swords, but they didn’t feel right. There were a few he might have taken, not knowing better, but then he remembered Keith’s inspection. Lance had been nestled into Keith’s soul for long enough to know that Keith would have rejected those swords as well. Though, he didn’t know why.

His mind flashed back to the rings from the carnival game. He wouldn’t be throwing the swords, but maybe the way they’d moved could tell him something. The swords did seem to be made of the same metal.

Maybe…

As he was searching, Keith kept a steady watch. He pretended to be stretching, but Lance knew better. That attention and slight curiosity never wavered from him…And Lance couldn’t stop his gaze from traveling to the other every other second.

Shit. Keith was too flexible for anyone’s good. Be that villains or girls or Lance. Lance had to get out of there fast.

A glint caught his eye, drawing him to a wall that was almost bare except for one sword. Unlike the others, that sword wasn’t made of the same bronze metal as the carnival game’s rings. It was a tarnished silver, with red and black endowments on the hilt and pommel. It was pretty – or might have been, once upon a time – but it didn’t look too heavy or too light. He grabbed it.

A little light, but good enough.

“Ready?”

“You cannot be serious, Lance,” Keith muttered, pulling out of his calf stretches and turning to scowl at Lance.

“What?”

“That thing has to be centuries old! It looks like it hasn’t even been polished in a decade!”

“Are you offering to polish my sword, Keith?” The words were out before Lance could stop them. It was what he’d say to anyone. A quip. A flirt. But he couldn’t say that to Keith, of all people. Not with what had been going through his brain!

“Don’t think we have time for that.” Keith tilted his head, listening to the crowd, and yeah, they seemed to be getting riled up, waiting for the fight to start. He sighed and glared at the weapon in Lance’s hand. “Are you sure you can’t go for a better sword?”

Keith’s response could be taken so many ways. Did he not realize the innuendo, or was he ignoring it? Or maybe that was his way of playing along. Shit. Lance couldn’t go out there while he was blushing. They were getting ready to fight!

“This one’s fine.”

Waves of disapproval poured off of the other, but for the first time, Lance realized something. It distracted him from his embarrassment and Keith’s muttered, “If you say so.”

Keith’s holding it back.

While Lance could still feel the emotions – had been able to the entire time – the cloud of emotion stopped short of reaching him. It stayed wrapped as tight around Keith as the other could probably get it. Keith was still respecting Lance’s boundaries and wish to stay separate.

Always the perfect hero. It would be easier if Keith wasn’t.

The second they exited the arena, a hush fell over the crowd, followed immediately by whispers.

“The swo- The Blue Paladin has brought the Sword of Gath!” the commentator stuttered.

Was it really that bad to bring a tarnished sword to a swordfight? Lance sighed. Too late to change. He eyed the terrain. At least nothing else would affect his chances. The arena was packed with a hard, dirt ground. No dips or hills or mud to inhibit his movement. The only disadvantage he might face was the sun or any distracting audience members.

Once the commentator collected himself, he continued, “A-alright, Paladins, the rules are as follows. No maiming or dismemberment, but you may use any tricks in your repertoire. You may start when you feel ready!”

At least there weren’t a boatload of rules for Lance to memorize that would have given Keith an even bigger advantage.

Once they reached the center of the arena, Lance and Keith faced each other. Lance tried to mimic Keith’s stance. Fortunately, getting into the stance wasn’t hard, but staying in it?

This is way different to my blaster.

And Keith was smirking at him. Jerk.

Lance knew better than to charge in right away. Keith was too quick for that to work. His only advantage was that he’d seen Keith wield a sword. Had faced off against him, too. He could predict Keith’s moves, but Keith couldn’t predict his.

Not that Lance could predict his own moves.

“Are you gonna just stand there, Keith?” Lance taunted. Keith definitely wasn’t the patient type. Especially not during a competition. “I thought you wanted a fight.”

For some reason, that jolted the other. A thrill of alarm flashed through Keith’s side of the bond. Had he been lost in thought or something? That wasn’t like Keith at all. Unfortunately, Lance didn’t have time to contemplate that or try to remember what Keith had been feeling because Keith charged at him the next moment.

Right. Time to go.

Lance dodged the attack, but the addition of the sword threw his balance a little. Luckily, he overcorrected, driving himself further from Keith rather than closer. He had just enough time to catch his feet before turning around to face the other. No point exposing his back like that.

He was right. Not seconds after, Keith was on him again. Only instinct saved Lance from the Red bayard impaling him. Was he allowed to use a shield? He didn’t remember either fighter wielding one in Keith’s previous match.

“Are you trying to kill me?!” he demanded, pressing back against Keith’s sword with his own. Polished or not, it was doing a good enough job keeping him safe.

Keith glared at him. “Just getting out some anger. It’s good to vent, you know.”

“Yeah. Verbally.” Lance rushed out of the deadlock they’d come to, swinging his own sword at Keith’s back. The weapon moved easily, but Lance’s muscles didn’t. How did Keith move so smoothly?

His biceps don’t hurt. Lance flushed and shoved the thought away. Keith was strong and agile and liked to stretch before and after training just to show off. Lance didn’t need a reminder.

Maybe it makes sense…That he’d projected his feelings onto Keith. It wasn’t hard to do.

“You’re one to talk.” Keith’s eyes pierced straight into his as their swords clashed again. Their faces were only inches apart. If Lance wanted to, he could-

He tore away.

He couldn’t stay on the defensive. He had to do something. Otherwise, Keith would draw out the fight, and who knew what Lance might do?

Lance ran forward to attack. The charge clearly caught Keith by surprise, cutting through the thrill of adrenaline in both of them, but the Red Paladin still managed to dodge.

“Well, you’re not the only one who’s angry!”

Keith snarled, dodging another charge. “What the hell did I do?!”

“You challenged me to this sword fight!”

“Because you’ve been avoiding me all day!” Keith charged at him, full throttle. Lance dodged. “What did I do to make you hate me so much?!”

What?

Keith charged again. “Was it because I left you guys back there?”

Because he-? Lance just barely avoided the collision.

A light sparked at the edge of Lance’s vision as Keith passed him, disappearing seconds later, but it was enough. His gaze drifted to Keith’s left cheek.

Shiny. Keith’s cheeks were shining. Was he crying?

The thought distracted Lance. He had no time to dodge the next attack, so he threw up his sword in another block.

“You didn’t do anything,” he answered, confused. Somehow, his own anger only tripled.

Why was he so mad? He knew Keith had every right to be angry with him. He hated how much he was hurting Keith when the other had done nothing wrong. Lance was the one in the wrong, so why-?

You’re angry with yourself.

Lance lost his grip, and his sword was suddenly in Keith’s hand. Keith’s bayard pointed threateningly.

“If I didn’t do anything, then why are you avoiding me?” Keith demanded. He stepped closer, swordpoint stopping just short of Lance’s chest.

Despite the fact that he was free to move anywhere but forward, Lance felt caged. Frozen. Keith’s desperation and anger had him pinned in a way their locked swords couldn’t manage.

‘If I didn’t do anything, then why are you avoiding me?’ Lance didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t say the truth.

An odd dizziness engulfed him. Was he having a panic attack? He hadn’t had one of those since he was a kid, but if any situation would bring it out, Keith’s question qualified.

“Keith, I-” Along with the dizziness and fear came a voice. A whisper of something. An idea. Desperate, Lance clung to the words. He couldn’t say the truth, so he might as well say, “Nikel’atoni bahn.”

All sensation flooded back to Lance as the words left his lips. He felt like he’d just been shoved back into a bright, crowded street after detouring through a dark, soundproof tunnel.

What? What had that been? What had he just said?

Keith’s sword dropped, and the Red Paladin himself frowned in confusion, chest still heaving from their fight. “…What?”

“I-I don’t know. It just came to my mind.” The whisper…It had had a sort of presence to it. And when Lance said them, the words resounded through the arena, much louder than any of their others.

“THE RED PALADIN SUCCEEDED IN CAPTURING THE SWORD OF GATH FROM THE BLUE PALADIN, AND THE BLUE PALADIN HAS SURRENDERED!”

Cheers erupted through the crowd at the announcement, cutting through their confusion.

Why are they so happy? Lance frowned, turning to face the stands. Hundreds of people stood cheering in jubilation. More than Lance would think for what had to have been a pretty boring fight, overall. He was awful with a sword. Watching their match had to be like watching a cat swat at a fly. Boring and vaguely sad.

More than that, though…What did those words mean? How did I know them?

Principal Kyria rushed over to them, appearing from nowhere. “Paladins, I’m sorry I was late. I came as soon as I heard and managed to make it to the tail-end of your Bainitet. I will draw up the documents posthaste. Would you like to consummate the ritual now or then?”

Consummate? Was the entire trip going to be so confusing?

Lance stared at Keith, who stared back at him, just as nonplussed. “…What?” they asked.

The principal stopped muttering to smile at them. “The consummation. The public declaration of your union.”

Again? They really should have expected that. If Lance had been more focused, maybe he would have.

“Would you like to perform it now or once the paperwork has been put in?” The leader gazed thoughtfully into the distance. “Perhaps that would be best, actually. You can perform it before or after the speeches. That way it will be broadcast to the entire planet.”

“Hell no!” Keith yelled, horrified.

Lance had no idea what Principal Kyria was talking about, but he figured they’d just been married again. He groaned. “Is there even a point in fighting it anymore, Keith? Might as well go for a seventh, right?” Was it seventh? Lance had lost count.

Keith stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “Lance, do you know what consummate means?” he demanded.

That seemed like a trick question. “…No.”

“She wants us to have sex on camera for everyone to see!”

“WHAT?!”

Nope! No! Hell no! No way in Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory was Lance doing that.

Principal Kyria frowned between them, enthusiasm fading. “Is something wrong?”

Keith turned on her. “We’re not consummating anything!”

“But how will you declare your union to the world?” she asked, seeming legitimately confused.

“What union?!” Lance demanded. “All we did was fight.”

“Yes, you fought over the Sword of Gath, and the Red Paladin won it fairly, proving his prowess and ability to protect you. Then you, Blue Paladin, surrendered yourself. As all such unions are meant to be.” The principal sighed dreamily and gestured to the old sword in Keith’s hand. “It has been many taras since the last Bainitet. I have been told the original-”

“We may be married, but we’re not having sex on camera!” Shit! “I mean we’re not having sex at all!” Lance wasn’t even sure he’d like sex with a guy.

I wonder what Keith’s- Nope! No, not thinking of that. God, he hoped he wasn’t blushing. The warmth in his entire body begged to differ, but he had just been in a fight.

“But, the ceremony-”

“Can go screw itself.” A fitting curse, given the circumstances.

Pelzar and Atteni chose that moment to make themselves known again. “Can we speak with the Paladins, Principal?” Atteni asked, walking up behind Principal Kyria. Pelzar followed close behind, staring nervously between the Paladins and the planet’s leader.

Principal Kyria threw up her hands and glared at Lance like all her problems were his fault. “Yes. Please. Try to make them see reason, Atteni. They must consummate their union!” The principal stormed away, muttering to herself about proper methods and displays.

“What just happened?” Lance demanded.

“Well…” Pelzar twiddled his thumbs nervously. “Most sparring matches are just that, but the sword you chose…” His gaze switched from his hands to Keith’s, where the Sword of Gath still resided. “It is an old relic. For our people, to fight using the Sword of Gath is to agree that whoever defeats you in combat and obtains the sword can claim you. And then you surrendered...” He grimaced.

“Fine. We’re married. What else is new? But why does she think we need to have sex? On camera!” Seriously, what the hell?

Atteni stepped forward and took one of Pelzar’s hands, stopping any more twiddling. Pelzar sighed and sent his fiancé a small, thankful smile.

That’s the kind of relationship to aspire to.

Lance had to agree. All his life, he’d gone around flirting, not thinking seriously about his love life or where that path would take him. If he hadn’t realized how stupid he’d been, that attitude would have led him nowhere good.

Once Pelzar was sufficiently calmed, Atteni turned to Lance and Keith. “Long ago, only our people who were in positions of high power had the ability to complete the Bainitet. And they usually did so in times of war to assure the masses that their partners were strong and capable, as well as to solidify and prove alliances. As such, the Bainitet has always been a highly public affair. Refusing to officially consummate it…” He trailed off uncomfortably.

“Our entire planet will consider it an insult,” Pelzar finished.

“But we didn’t mean to bond!” Why did none of these planets have clauses to overturn accidental bondings? Did they not believe in divorce?

Pelzar shook his head, but at least he seemed a little more sympathetic than the principal had. Lance could still see her, standing to the side and muttering under her breath. “That does not matter. You have.”

“And it’s hard to prove your lack of knowledge when you used our sacred words to accept his claim,” Atteni added.

Lance didn’t even know what the words meant!

Keith groaned. “Look. Forget the marriage; that’s whatever. But we aren’t consummating anything. Who cares what everyone thinks?”

“It could damage our alliance with you.”

…Shit.

Allura would kill them. She might lock them in a room with a camera and drug them just to get them to consummate and prevent them from insulting the Irklènders. And with the way Lance’s thoughts had been going, he might actually do it!

“Is there anything we can do to smooth things over?” Lance asked, trying not to imagine.

Pelzar’s eyes traveled to Atteni. “Perhaps…If you were in agreement…It would be quite the change of plans.”

Whatever Pelzar’s plan was, Atteni didn’t seem to care. He just smiled softly and said, “I’d change every one of my plans if it would make you happy, my Adexi.”

Despite the tense circumstances and the fact that he had no idea what they were talking about, Lance grinned. That was sweet. Pelzar and Atteni were so open with their feelings.

Keith had to ruin the moment. “What’s the plan?” Long live Keith, The Romance Killer.

Still, Lance had to stifle a laugh. It was such a Keith move.

Pelzar turned away from Atteni to smile at the Red Paladin. “No matter what, our people will be displeased with your refusal. But they can’t refuse alliance if you have the gods’ favor.”

The gods’- Lance could have groaned. There always had to be something.

“And how do we get that?” Keith asked, just as resigned.

How didn’t they? It seemed like they earned the gods’ ‘favor’ on every planet they went to. They probably already had it and just didn’t know.

Neither alien answered the question, but Atteni did stride over to Keith.

“What-?” Keith shifted away, uncomfortable with the other’s proximity.

What’s he doing?

“If I may?” Without waiting for an answer – confused or otherwise – Atteni pulled the Sword of Gath out of Keith’s hand. Lance forgot he’d still been holding it.

“Wait. Atteni, are you-?”

The other ignored him and practically strutted back to Pelzar’s side as a hush fell over the audience. Were they doing what Lance thought they were?

“Pelzar,” Atteni announced. “Love of my life, and my Intended. I challenge you to a Bainitet!”

Pelzar grinned and carefully pulled the sword from Atteni’s hand. “I accept your challenge.”

“What?” How was this supposed to help Lance and Keith gain the gods’ favor?

Chapter Text

Principal Kyria nearly exploded. Her robes fluttered dangerously around her legs as she ran over to them before Pelzar and Atteni could even think to start their fight. Miraculously, she didn’t trip.

Maybe she’s too angry to. Her face was a much deeper pink, and steam could have poured out of her ears with how much she was glaring…I wonder if there’s an alien that actually blows steam from their ears when they’re mad.

Lance shook off the thought. It hardly mattered.

“You have been planning your Cáanetet for a year!” the principal exclaimed, finally managing speech instead of her series of unintelligible screeches. “It is in two dercas!”

“The Paladins’ fight moved us,” Atteni lied. He slowly stepped between Principal Kyria and Pelzar, clearly meaning to take the brunt of their leader’s anger for himself. Pelzar stayed back, grinning like he didn’t have a care in the world. Maybe he just trusted Atteni that much.

Atteni’s a good boyfriend…fiancé…Husband? Whatever they were, Atteni was a good one.

“We decided to do things as they used to be. As they should be. I want to prove my worth as a mate to Pelzar and the planet.” For all appearances, Atteni didn’t have a care in the world. He was so casual when rejecting his home planet’s traditions.

‘I’d change every one of my plans if it would make you happy, my Adexi.’ That’s right. He didn’t care about the ceremony or breaking tradition. He just cared about Pelzar.

That’s what marriage should be, Lance realized. It’s not just, ‘Do this’ or ‘Complete that.’ It’s two people who care about each other more than anything promising to do that forever.

Maybe he could find that one day. Someone who cared about him that much.

Unfortunately, the principal didn’t accept Atteni’s explanation. She moved even closer to Atteni’s face than she’d already been. Lance couldn’t see her face anymore, but she looked seconds away from stomping her foot just like his niece, Nadia, whenever she threw a tantrum. “But the invitations! They were just sent out!”

She knows a lot about Pelzar’s wedding planning. Are all Irklènder ceremonies that public?

Pelzar grinned innocently, still protected from the brunt of Kyria’s ire by Atteni’s body. “We can have two ceremonies, can we not?”

Lance expected Principal Kyria to argue more. She didn’t seem like the type to back down so easily, especially when she was that invested in something. Instead, she stepped back. “As you wish,” she said, clearly displeased. “When do you wish to consummate? Have you convinced the Paladins to do so with you? It has been many eons since two couples-”

“We won’t be publicly consummating,” Atteni interrupted before Lance – or Keith – had the chance. “We wish to follow the Path of the Elders.”

Gears whirred in Principal Kyria’s head as she considered the new information. After a moment of thought, her eyes sharpened, turning to Lance and Keith in dangerous accusation.

“I see,” she muttered. “You wish to throw away tradition as well?”

Pretty much. Lance knew better than to say that, though. He held Keith back as the other’s annoyance spiked. The hothead would get them banned from the planet. If he did, Allura might throw them out of an airlock.

Luckily, Pelzar drew her attention away from them. “We wish to embrace older tradition and look to the gods for their blessing.” He raised his arms in praise to their gods. Those gods, hopefully, wouldn’t strike him down for lying about them.

“We will not provide a ship,” the principal threatened.

A ship? Gaining the gods’ favor involved a ship?

“We can use one of the Lions.” Pelzar looked to them. “Provided that’s okay with you.”

After his last experience letting someone else in his lion, Lance was wary, but Keith said. “If we need to.” Anything to get out of the consummation, apparently.

Lance considered the other option. Him and Keith. Together. Lips moving and-

He dropped Keith’s arm, fighting a blush. Yeah, best to avoid that. Besides, Pidge had enough blackmail on them without adding an alien sex tape to the mix.

Principal Kyria scoffed and stormed away.

It provided enough distraction from Lance’s racing thoughts. He watched her stomp out of the stadium, kicking up a dust storm, before turning to Pelzar and Atteni. “Thanks, you guys, but are you sure you want to make her mad? Whatever this ‘Path of the Elders’ thing is, you don’t have to do it with us.”

Pelzar stepped out from behind Atteni, waving off Lance’s concerns. “We want to.”

“Besides,” Atteni added wryly, “Principal Kyria is unlikely to accept your completion of the Path unless we or someone else of import joins you. She cannot risk delegitimizing the union of my Adexi and me.”

“Are you…?” Lance shook his head. No matter how big Atteni may be on the planet, it didn’t matter. “You know what? Nevermind.”

Keith grabbed Lance’s arm, regaining his entire attention. When he looked at Keith, all he could think about was the other’s hands running through his hair as they-

Nope. No. We’ll be stuck together for this entire path thing. I need to get used to acting normal around him. Think normal thoughts.

…

Easier said than done.

Lance jerked his arm away, and Keith scowled but let him be. “We should sit down. I think the crowd’s waiting for the fight.”

Pelzar grinned, starring across the chanting audience. “That they are.” He turned his grin to Atteni. “Shall we give them a show?”

“Nothing would please me more.”

Maybe all Irklènders were exhibitionists. That would explain a lot. Lance shook his head and led Keith to Atteni’s VIP box. The guards didn’t protest. Either they recognized Lance as Pelzar’s friend, or they didn’t care if Paladins hijacked the seats.

“So, who are these people?” Keith asked as he and Lance sat.

Oh, right. Keith has no idea who Atteni and Pelzar are. Lance thought about Atteni’s allusions to his power over Principal Kyria, as well as the fact that their friend had a VIP box – with cushioned velvet seats and air conditioning! – in the arena. He didn’t know the couple either, for that matter.

“Pelzar and Atteni,” he answered anyway. “Some people I made friends with.”

For some reason, Keith didn’t believe him. Skepticism poured off of him in waves. “Right. Friends…And they’re engaged to each other?”

Trying to block out Keith’s emotions, Lance stared toward the fight, watching the two in question. Pelzar seemed to be toying with Atteni. Keeping the Sword of Gath just out of reach and using a second sword for actual combat. Not that Atteni seemed to mind. He was laughing.

“They are. Or were, all things considered.” They’d share Lance and Keith’s anniversary. On that planet, anyway.

Lance sighed. It would be so much easier to untangle his feelings if a half dozen marriages hadn’t joined the mix. And to make matters worse, they’d added another one! Instead of calmly thinking through his bi realization and separating his feelings for guys from his friendship with Keith, he was forced to join in on this ‘Path of the Old People’ or whatever, suffering in Keith’s company.

Not that Keith was bad company. Lance just couldn’t trust himself around the other. And Keith shouldn’t trust him either.

Keith’s trust almost made it worse.

If he knew what I’ve been thinking, he wouldn’t be sitting next to me right now. Instead, Keith thought that Lance was straight. He thought Lance had kissed him to save him and that’s where it ended. He thought he’d done something wrong that he needed to apologize for.

“Lance, I won the fight.”

Lance stiffened as his previous thoughts receded, making room for new worries. “And I reserve the right to not answer,” he replied.

Keith sighed in aggravation. “You said it’s nothing I did, but then why are you avoiding me?”

There were so many reasons.

‘Because I can’t be trusted around you.’

‘Because I’m confused, and you make it worse.’

‘Because I’m scared I’ll lash out and drive you away.’

Or even, ‘Because I might tell you the truth, and I don’t want to lose you.’

When had Keith become that important to him? Lance thought back to his realization in the thermal vents. He thought about how he’d felt when Keith disappeared from the Garrison. About how he’d felt when Keith reappeared a year later. Keith had always been important to him. He just hadn’t known right away.

His Hunk voice decided to poke its uninvited nose in. Have you thought about how important he might be to you?

I’m not in love with Keith. He was just projecting; that was all. Just confused and trying to figure things out, and Keith was the best available person to help him sort out and deal with those feelings. Keith was a good person and a great friend. Who wouldn’t want to be in love with him?

I didn’t say anything about love.

Lance shut out the voice, shoving him down with all of his unwanted thoughts. He could think about all of that later. Or never.

“…I just need space,” he told Keith, finally answering the question.

Keith glared at him. “It’s me specifically, Lance. You don’t seem to have a problem with Hunk or Pidge.”

If there was a way to stay by Keith’s side, Lance would take it in a heartbeat. But he just couldn’t think of one.

I just need to sort out my actual feelings, he assured himself. Then, it will all go back to normal. I need to find my Cáana.

Then, maybe he’d realize Keith wasn’t it for him.

“Just drop it, Keith. Please.”

“Fine. Just…” Keith glanced away, anger wilting. “Are you done avoiding me?”

Oh. Oh. Keith wanted…

He didn’t care why Lance was avoiding him – or maybe he did, a little. But he wanted to know so that he could apologize. So that he could make up for it and get Lance to stop. To spend time with him again. The only problem was: he hadn’t done anything wrong. It was Lance who was in the wrong. Lance needed to apologize.

Every fiber of Lance’s being wanted to say yes, he’d stop avoiding Keith. Yes, he’d spend time with Keith again. Life was more than lonely without him, and that was just from Lance’s side. That was for the person causing the separation and who knew the reason. Keith didn’t know. How could Lance put Keith through that? Was it right to make him think he’d done something wrong? Was it right to make him think Lance hated him just to protect their friendship from a possible lapse in judgement?

It could be right, but…He hesitated, staring at Keith.

He looked at Keith and saw his stupid mullet and sculpted body and perfect jawline. He imagined holding that jaw as they kissed. Running his fingers through what was probably unfairly soft hair and over the toned muscles in Keith’s chest. Thought about going through with the consummation and how, maybe, he might actually enjoy it.

Then, Keith turned, and Lance saw his eyes, blue clashing with indigo for the first time in what felt like centuries. Hurt and frustration and doubt flooded into him, finally crashing against his soul barriers. Too strong to ignore, no matter how much Keith held back. Keith really thought he’d done something wrong.

What can I do? Lance thought, desperate. He’d told Keith it wasn’t his fault, so why did Keith- Suddenly, he remembered their conversation in the Balmeran tunnels, on their way to joining Shay’s family.

‘She left when I was a baby.’

Keith probably has serious abandonment issues.

But Lance couldn’t damage their friendship so soon after he’d found it.

He blinked and tore his gaze away. “Keith…I ca-”

Stupid, stupid idiot!

Lance unthinkingly looked up, so caught up in his own despair that he didn’t consider his actions before his eyes found Keith’s again. Disappointment radiated from Keith’s eyes, erasing the small hope Lance hadn’t realized had been there before.

For the first time since their kiss - since their first marriage, really – Lance felt Keith’s aura begin to close off. As much as they could shut each other out. Something about that stung. While Keith had respected Lance’s wishes and kept his energy and emotions as close to himself as possible, he hadn’t fully closed himself off. Lance could still feel him. He hadn’t thought it was possible not to feel him without a traumatic separation involved.

As always, Keith learned quicker than Lance did. Lance could have screamed.

No. He couldn’t lose Keith. With the other’s soul boarded off, he felt so alone. The ice of it burned his skin. Is that how Keith had been feeling?

“I won’t avoid you anymore,” he promised, desperate.

Keith gasped, eyes widening and hope seeping back in, and – thank God – Lance could feel every fiery inch of it. “No matter what?”

“No matter what.” Lance mustered a smile as his previous worries set back in. “If we ever get in a fight, we’ll just spar. Winner takes the win, and loser has to apologize.”

Keith laughed. It sounded more relieved than amused, but Lance could feel his happiness trickling back. Could feel it mingling with his own soul. That was worth anything. “Sounds good to me.”

“Of course. There’s nothing you love more than a good fight.”

And maybe if Lance just kept up the banter, he would get over the urge to kiss Keith.

Avoiding him hasn’t helped anyway, he told himself.

Keith paused, and a strange understanding joined the happiness in his aura. It was followed quickly by…acceptance? Why would he be feeling that? “…I wouldn’t say that.”

Lance didn’t know what to make of Keith’s emotions, but he seemed alright, so Lance let it go. There was no point prying. He grinned more fully. “We can agree to disagree then, Samurai.”

“Atteni has successfully stolen the Sword of Gath!” the commentator announced.

Lance turned back to the fight in surprise. Was it over already? Up there in that box, surrounded by plush seats and air conditioning and Keith, he’d sort of forgotten about Pelzar and Atteni’s fight. A lifetime could have passed in the outside world, but it couldn’t have been that long.

When Lance took in the scene, Atteni stood, grinning and straddling Pelzar’s fallen body with the Sword of Gath pointed at Pelzar’s heart. Pelzar’s other sword lay in the dirt, several feet away as Pelzar himself pouted at his fiancé.

Definitely husband now.

Pelzar said something, but Lance couldn’t hear from so high up and over all the background noise. Whatever it was, it made Atteni smirk, and after responding, he pulled Pelzar up and into a kiss. Pelzar’s pout had vanished by the time they pulled apart. He was grinning from ear to ear.

Lance beamed, happy for the couple. He hoped to find a love like that one day.

His gaze shifted, almost automatically, to Keith. When he realized what he’d done, he spun it back to the newlyweds in the middle of the arena. Right. First, he had to get his emotions straight. It was a wonder they weren’t more of a mess after seventeen years of ignorance.

Before Lance’s thoughts could get too confused, Pelzar lifted Atteni’s hand and kissed the palm. “Nikel’atoni bahn,” he whispered.

Somehow, the words resounded. Maybe the stadium had magic that always amplified the words. Maybe the words themselves were magical. Either way, the stadium went wild. Lance hadn’t thought it was possible, but the noise tripled, and there were standing ovations and whistling and cheering. Even more than there had been for Lance and Keith’s Bainitet.

Sitting there, next to his friend and watching two lovers in love, Lance made a vow to himself. Time to start thinking love through instead of taking it moment to moment. That was the only way he’d find a love like Pelzar and Atteni’s. One that anyone could see, whether up close or at a distance. One worth celebrating. That was the only way he’d get over his confusion about Keith.

“Lance?” the Red Paladin asked, concerned. Lance glanced over to see that the other had stood and seemed to be waiting. “Are you ready?”

Oh, right. They had somewhere to be. “Ready.”

Keith smiled at him, and Lance stood. He told himself the fluttering in his stomach was just hunger. He hadn’t eaten all day, so that made sense.

Right. That’s why.

Not everything has to lead back to Keith.

Lance cut off any further thoughts and let Keith lead the way to Pelzar and Atteni. But before they could reach the others, Keith stopped. He grabbed Lance’s arm to hold him back.

Is he going to-

“By the way…When we get back to the castle, you and I are going to spar.”

“What? Why?” That had come out of nowhere. They’d just sparred, for crying out loud.

Keith shrugged. “You missed training this morning…Plus…”

“Plus what?”

Keith’s grin widened, and his soul fluttered teasingly at the edge of Lance’s. “Plus, I’m going to train you to use a sword. If we’re invited back next year, I want a rematch. A fair rematch.”

Of course. Lance groaned, but he couldn’t suppress his own grin. “Fine. I’ll hate every minute of it, though. There’s so many better things to do.”

Keith’s grin got even bigger, and Lance realized he wasn’t thinking of kissing the other’s lips anymore. Instead, he was thinking of how to keep Keith smiling. Maybe he could get better at the friendship thing.

Then, Keith tugged his arm to cart him to the arena, and for a brief, stupid moment, Lance thought Keith would pull him into a kiss – not unlike Atteni had done with Pelzar moments before. Disappointment filled him when he realized that Keith wasn’t going to.

Okay. Maybe I’m not getting better.

But Keith was happy, and his energy was still mingling with Lance’s. It pushed and pulled in a steady and soothing game of tag. Lance couldn’t lose that.

He would have to get over himself. That’s what a real friend would do. A real friend wouldn’t be disappointed their friend didn’t kiss them. A real friend wouldn’t convince himself he was in love with his friend just because that friend was attractive, available, and nice to him. He could remember that and handle things himself until Shiro got better enough to help him.

Chapter Text

Personal space, dude.

After leaving the arena, Lance and Keith followed their new friends into the crowded, festival streets. Fewer people filled the paths than before, but they were still packed enough to be annoying. And Keith kept bumping into Lance.

Deep breaths, Lance told himself. Don’t get mad.

He wasn’t even mad about the collisions, really. It was just really hard to ignore the warmth that sparked in his stomach every time it happened. All he wanted was to reach out and keep Keith there, pressed against his side for the rest of the walk. Keith seemed to want that, too, if the way he constantly fell into Lance’s gravity was any indication. Why should Lance deny them both?

Then, the doubts and confusion and everything else crashed back in, and when Lance was confused, he tended to lash out.

Don’t get mad at Keith, he told himself. You’re mad at yourself, not him. But it’s not like Keith was making it easy. Most people would be annoyed if their friends decided to play human bumper cars on their way to an important mission. Besides, even with the crowd, Keith had plenty of room. Why was he staying so close to Lance?

It didn’t help that strangers kept running up to them. In fact…

“Congratulations!” someone called, passing closely.

Keith moved nearer to Lance, bumping into him again in his attempts to get away from the woman.

Maybe I should switch places with him. Not that it would help. They were being attacked on all fronts.

“I look forward to your consummation!” She bounded away, child in tow, before Lance or Keith could correct her.

“Part of me just wants to yell that we’re not consummating anything,” Keith muttered, glaring after the lady. “I’ll scream: ‘We’re not fucking!’ Right here.”

With how large the festival setup was, Lance doubted the news would reach half of the attendees. It probably would reach Pidge and Hunk, though, and as funny and cathartic as Keith’s outburst would be in the moment, Lance did not want to deal with the other Paladins if they found out.

“Please don’t.”

Atteni laughed and glanced back at them. He and Pelzar hadn’t seemed to mind the constant interruptions and well-wishes. They walked ahead of Lance and Keith, Atteni’s arm wrapped possessively – caringly – around Pelzar’s shoulder as they carved their way through the festival streets.

“That would be ill-advised. We’d be swarmed.”

Apparently, Keith didn’t have to tell anyone anyway. Just as quickly as the word had traveled that they’d completed the Bainitet, people got the memo that they weren’t consummating. Congratulations and cheerful smiles slowly turned to jeers and disappointed glares. Soon enough, every person who accosted them came with a stern lecture on the importance of traditions rather than mushy sentiments about their own relationships and how to keep the intimacy between partners.

By the time they reached the castle, Lance was ready to deploy the particle barrier. He might have done it if Pelzar hadn’t drawn his attention.

“This palace is astounding.” He wandered the entrance hall, running his hands down the walls and gazing up at the ceiling. Suddenly, Pelzar’s eyes lit up, and he grasped at something from the floor behind a pillar. “What is this?”

Lance gasped. The fabric in the alien’s hand was one of the many banners the Arusians had put up during their celebration. He’d thought the others took everything down during his cryosleep.

Apparently not.

He bounded over to Pelzar and seized the banner. “Nothing important.”

The aliens stared at him in confusion, but neither of them protested. Lance would have to burn the offending cloth later. It was one of the River God’s.

Keith glared at the banner, but all he said was, “Come on. We should get to the hangar. The sooner we leave; the sooner we’ll get back.”

***

Maybe we should have told the others we were leaving.

By the time Lance thought about it, though, it was too late. They were already flying out of the castle.

He stared out the window as they left. It was weird, seeing space under a Red tint instead of Blue. I wonder what it’s like in the other lions.

“Do you think they’ll be mad?”

Keith frowned up at him. For a moment, his aura twitched closer to Lance’s. As if he wanted to search for the answer that way. Then, he stiffened, almost alarmed, and the energy drew back. He asked instead. “What? Who’ll be mad?”

Lance resisted the urge to reach out his own energy and let Keith know it was okay. If he did that, he might stay there, wrapped up in the comfort of Keith for eternity. He might give things away that shouldn’t be. And he didn’t like the thought of Keith prying into his soul anyway.

All we can get is emotions. What answer did he expect?

“The others. We didn’t tell them where we’re going.”

Keith turned back to the flight path in front of them and shrugged. “They’ll be fine. Besides, they’re enjoying the festival. I doubt they’ve even noticed we’re gone…So, where to?”

Did Keith really think they were that unimportant to their friends? Granted, it hadn’t been that long. It was still morning on the planet. Hunk probably thought Lance was still skulking around the park.

Atteni pointed to the right, directly at the sun. “Head towards the star there. Our first stop is Ahm, the green planet.”

Lance almost got whiplash, he turned around so fast. “First stop? There’s more than one?”

Pelzar – who seemed perfectly content in his position on the floor in front of the cockpit doors –nodded. “The Path of the Elders crosses three planets.”

“It’s meant to mimic the migration of our ancestors,” Atteni explained. “We started on planet Ahm, later journeyed to planet Hiwi and planet Inimore before settling where we are now.”

They definitely should have told the others they were leaving.

“Why so many moves?”

“They wished to.” Pelzar said, grinning. “I like to think they longed for adventure.”

Atteni shook his head and joined his husband on the ground. “Not quite. Most people left to acquire more resources or get away. Some wanted to start their own civilizations. Not everyone left, though. We may meet some of their descendants on our journey.”

“Can’t wait,” Keith drawled.

Lance withheld a snicker. Sarcasm was Keith’s real soulmate. “So, what do we do on this path? How do we ‘gain the gods’ favor’?”

“On Ahm, we search for the Stone of the Ancients.”

Sounded like a scavenger hunt. “Stone of the Ancients? Any clue where it is?”

Pelzar shrugged. “Somewhere at the top of Ahm’s highest mountain.”

Something told Lance they couldn’t fly there. “Let me guess, we have to climb?”

Smirking and seeming overall more delighted by the words than Lance appreciated, Atteni said, “The blessing is in the journey.”

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

“Can’t we just tell people we walked?” Keith asked.

Atteni shook his head, but his expression never changed. “We can’t give Principal Kyria any reason to delegitimize this. She’ll look for any opportunity to get us to consummate. If you don’t, it will be in her rights to ban you. And trust me when I say she holds a grudge.”

You don’t have to look so amused about it.

But hold on. “I thought you said she couldn’t delegitimize your marriage,” Lance said, remembering the other’s bewildering assurance. He didn’t know what sway Atteni or Pelzar had over the principal, but they’d seemed convinced the path thing could work due to it.

“She won’t want to, but she probably thinks she can talk us into consummation once you’ve left. If given an opportunity.”

“Why is that?” Keith briefly looked away from their path to frown mistrustfully at Atteni. Lance did that, and he crashed. Of course Keith would have no problem staying airborne. “What’s so special about you?”

“Keith!”

Pelzar snickered. “You’re very blunt, aren’t you, Red Paladin? I appreciate that.”

Atteni’s smirk finally dropped. He sighed. “It’s fine, Blue Paladin…To answer your question, I am Principal Kyria’s…ward, so to speak.”

Ward? Lance tried to place the word’s meaning. It sounded familiar; something to do with taking care of children? “She adopted you?”

“Not in so many words…My father was our previous leader. He was very popular and wound up elected three times. I was born a few years after his first election, so I’ve grown up in the public eye. When he was killed, many wanted me to run, but I backed Principal Kyria instead. She’s kept me close to keep public approval ratings high.”

‘Killed.’ Lance wasn’t touching that one.

“So, you’re her trophy son.”

Keith stifled a laugh.

“I suppose,” Atteni conceded. “If that means she only uses me to keep in the public’s good graces.”

“Pretty much.”

What had they been talking about before? “So, we have to walk up a mountain to find this Stone of the Ancients thing?”

“Precisely.”

“That doesn’t sound too hard.”

***

Lance spoke too soon.

As they disembarked Red’s ramp, he stared up at the mountain. He’d initially envisioned a snowcapped hill – hopefully with stairs built in to make the trip easier. What he got instead was an overgrown forest and humidity. Large, green trees covered the mountain from foot to peak, leaving no visual room for the actual mountain, and the second he left the Red Lion’s shade, the heat moved in, causing sweat to trickle down his back and into his eyes.

And the mountain was huge.

“This is going to take a while.”

“Not so long,” Pelzar disputed. “We may not know where the stone is exactly, but we do know it is at the peak.”

Atteni nodded in agreement. “The main trouble will come in our separation.”

Lance and Keith whipped around to stare at him.

“Separation?” Keith demanded.

Either Atteni didn’t hear his tone or he didn’t care. “Yes. Tradition dictates that all who face the path begin it alone.”

Planet Irklènd certainly had a lot of traditions.

Before Lance could protest, however, his stomach growled. The others turned to him.

“What?” he muttered, embarrassed. “I haven’t eaten since dinner last night.”

It seemed like a week had passed since then, but it hadn’t even been a day. Or had it? The castle was in the late afternoon when they’d left, and they’d arrived at the planet in the middle of their morning.

Planet hopping. It totally messed with internal clocks.

Suddenly, an Arusian nutbar was being shoved in his face, distracting him from further thought. “Here. You can have this.”

Lance’s eyes crossed as he tried to take in the treat. “Where the hell did you get this?” he demanded, snatching the bar from Keith’s hand.

“Hunk stocked Red up on snacks. He didn’t do that for you?”

Way to forget me, Buddy.

“Yeah, of course he did. I just…”

Keith’s sympathetic stare pierced right through him. ‘I know you’re lying,’ it seemed to say.

Stupid soul bonds. Lance was a great liar without mystical connections.

“Maybe he did and you just didn’t see it yet. I caught him when he was sneaking in.” A hint of amusement flirted at the edges of Keith’s consciousness, but Lance couldn’t see what was so funny.

“Yeah…maybe.” He took a bite out of the bar, trying not to pout.

I’ll check Blue when we get back.

At least the nutbar tasted decent: dry and salty and almost like honey. Better than the berries he’d been planning to scavenge; it made him really thirsty, though. Lance glanced back at Keith. “Have water in there, too?”

Keith frowned back at the lion. “No. Sorry. We can bring the snacks with us, though.”

With no water, Lance almost said no. He was dehydrated enough already, and the planet was blazing. But when his stomach growled again, he gave in. “Alright.”

Keith went back inside Red to get the other snacks.

“We’re going to go ahead,” Pelzar said, touching Lance’s arm to get his attention.

Lance jumped. He’d forgotten the others were there.

“We have to separate anyway. We’ll meet at the mountain top.”

Lance nodded and waved as the couple set off.

“Okay, so I have some-” Keith stopped and looked around. “Where are your friends?”

He said that like he still didn’t believe it was true. “They went ahead. Pelzar said we’d meet up at the top.”

“Right. Their tradition.” His soul flickered, but Lance couldn’t decipher the emotion. It was too jumbled into other, more pressing ones. “Anyway, I found some more bars, some trail mix, and some dried fruit.”

And still not one drop of water.

Lance sighed but accepted the pack when Keith handed it to him. He fastened it around his waist. Dry or not, having food was better than risking poison if he had to search for those berries. “Let’s go. Like you said: The sooner we go; the sooner we can get back home.”

Keith nodded, and they began walking. The closer they got to the mountain’s base, however, the better Lance could see what surrounded it.

“Is that a gate?”

“Looks like it.”

The gate was connected to a stone fence that seemed to encompass the entire mountain. As big as the mountain was, though, there only seemed to be one entrance. And it had a sign on it. Written in an alien language.

“Pelzar and Atteni would be a big help right now,” Lance muttered.

Keith raised an eyebrow at him. Then, he pulled up his translator. Lance blushed. To save face, he sent a mental (emotional?) shove at Keith. The other laughed.

“It says to follow whichever path calls to us. And that we have to go alone.”

Lance had spent the morning avoiding Keith. He didn’t want to spend the afternoon the same way. Especially not with an uphill hike. With his luck, he’d get lost or fall and break a leg, and no one would be able to find him.

Yep. Not doing that.

He frowned at the sign. “You know what? That’s a stupid rule. If anyone asks, we can just say that we ran into each other after separating.”

Happiness – and little relief – flared up in Keith’s aura. No one could tell by his face, though. He looked dead inside as he shrugged and said, “Fine by me.”

Lance nearly scoffed but held it back just in time. That didn’t stop Keith from eyeing him skeptically as they swung open the creaking iron barrier.

When’s the last time this path was taken? Lance shook away the thought. It hardly mattered.

Beyond the gate, they found themselves faced with five trails. Four of the them were indistinguishable from each other – just heading into the forest – but the rightmost one led up the treeless ledge of the mountain. The very narrow ledge.

“Okay,” Lance muttered. “I vote we stay away from that one.”

Keith wasn’t listening. He was already striding toward the leftmost path.

“Keith!” That’s right: Lance was with the team hothead. He jogged to catch up. “Keith! We can’t just go in a random direction!”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“No, but-”

“Then we’re going this way.” He glanced back at Lance. “They all lead to the top anyway.”

“You can’t know that.”

“We’re going up, aren’t we?”

Lance groaned. “Fine, fine. But if we die, I’m blaming you.”

The other paladin rolled his eyes. “We’re not gonna die.”

After several moments of silent walking, Lance’s agitation got the better of him. “You know…I’ve been wondering.”

Keith looked to him expectantly.

“You said you know a lot about swords. How? Why? You didn’t even know what a slide was, but you know swords?”

A strange apprehension emanated from Keith at that. So strong that Lance almost curled into a ball to hide. Luckily, he wrangled the emotion under control before he embarrassed himself.

Our emotions can influence each other. Not good. That was a worry for another time, though.

Lance fought back his own uncertainties as Keith said, “I just do. I- Nevermind. It’s not important.”

Well, now Lance had to know. “Ke-eith,” he whined.

“It’s none of your business.”

“You can’t just leave me hanging.” In an – admittedly childish – attempt to get Keith to tell him, Lance prodded repeatedly at their soul border.

Instead of giving in to that brilliant persuasion tactic, Keith mentally shoved Lance away and slightly withdrew his own consciousness. When Lance tried to push in again, he just kept retreating.

Fine, if he wants to be like that. Lance huffed and pouted at the trees.

He didn’t need to see Keith’s glaring face to know the Red Paladin rolled his eyes. “I’ll tell you when you tell me why you avoided me all morning.”

No way in hell.

“Fine,” Lance grumped. “We can’t just not talk for these next few hours, though.”

“Why not?”

It almost seemed like he was serious. “You have met me, right?”

Keith’s glare dropped as he laughed, smirking and aura flickering with a dangerous amount of something that Lance shouldn’t find so enticing. “Only a week ago.”

He was talking about the Balmeran tunnels, wasn’t he? Lance thought back to uncomfortable stone floors and the heat from Keith’s hand in his as they shook to their do-over. “Ha ha. One day, you’re going to remember me from before, and you’ll realize you missed out on how awesome I was.”

“Annoying, you mean.”

“I, apparently, didn’t miss out on anything.”

Keith snickered. “I’m sorry, okay? When we get back to the Garrison, we can look through yearbooks or something if that’ll make you happy.”

The Garrison? That age-old homesickness crept back in. It probably wouldn’t ever fade, and the prospect of home seemed so far away. “Do you really think we’ll make it back to the Garrison?”

“Of course.” Keith frowned at him. “We’ll get back there, Lance. You’ll see your family again. I get to go back to my house…”

Something about that didn’t sit right with Lance. “I’ll have to visit you,” he decided. Realizing how that might sound, he added, “W-we all will. Monthly paladin lunches or something. You’re buying.”

“…You really mean that?” Keith’s soul stuttered, disrupting the usually calming ebb and flow of energy between them. “I figured you’d want to be as far away from me as possible.”

“Yeah, well…you’re not so bad, really. And besides, who else will try to knock some good fashion sense into that mulleted head of yours?”

Keith rolled his eyes, and their souls began their dance again. “You only make fun of it because you’re jealous.”

“Yeah, no.”

“You like it. Admit it.”

Lance opened his mouth to issue further denials when it hit him. I like his mullet. I think it’s cute…And his hair looks so soft. “It’s soo outdated,” he said halfheartedly. He tried to tamp down on any, more revealing, emotions.

“So’s your jacket, but you wear it anyway.”

Lance gasped, all worried thoughts vanishing at the insult. “At least it’s a full jacket.”

“Try overlarge.”

“It was my brother’s!”

“He was obviously trying to get rid of it and decided you were stupid enough to take it.”

Keith was joking. He was obviously joking. His eyes were twinkling. His lips curled up in a smirk. His aura teased at Lance’s. Everything about him screamed, ‘I just want to make you mad because it’s fun.’ If Lance was in his usual mind, it might have worked. Instead, he caught himself staring into Keith’s eyes. Reveling in Keith’s happiness and carefree attitude.

Maybe if he wasn’t so distracted, he would have noticed the vines.

A slimy, green plant caught around Lance’s middle and pulled him in. Before he could react, more vines joined the first, twining together until they made an inescapable harness across his torso. “AGH! KEITH!”

Keith drew his sword, eyes wide, but another vine crept out and grabbed hold of it. He glared and pulled the weapon free, but more vines whipped towards him and bound his wrists, preventing easy movement.

Lance screamed as the vines pulled him off the ground. “A little help!” he pleaded, head spinning as he was jerked to and fro. It seemed like the plants were fighting over him. Each one attempting to pull him into their – probably deadly – embrace.

“I’m a little busy here.” Keith grunted, still straining to get his hands free.

Lance watched as a new vine crept past the binds on his chest and towards his throat. He’d expected a hike. He hadn’t expected killer plants.

“Keith!”

“One second!”

It took Keith ten seconds to get free. By that point, the new vine had wrapped around Lance’s throat and begun to tighten. A few of the ones on his chest twitched upward, as if wanting the glory for themselves, but with one swing of Keith’s sword, most of the vines around Lance withered, disconnected from their life source. Another swing freed Lance completely.

He dropped to the ground, heaving in breaths despite the fact that he’d been rescued almost immediately.

“Come on!” Keith grabbed Lance’s hand and tugged, cutting through the net of vines covering their path forward and dodging any of the smarter vines before they could be trapped again. One vine actually got ahold of their joined hands, twining around and reaching their wrists before Keith severed it. They shook off the withered husk and ran until the vines – and their breathing – were a distant memory.

“Oh…my…God…” Lance gasped for breath, heaving into his knees and trying to ignore the sweat gushing down his back and face. “Is there any sane planet in this galaxy?!” He dropped to the ground. He only realized he was still holding Keith’s hand when he nearly took the Red Paladin with him. Lance immediately dropped the appendage. Why the hell had Keith grabbed his hand in the first place?! They could run just fine without it.

“I admit,” Keith wheezed. “I didn’t expect…killer plants.”

“Neither did I.” Lance slumped forward, clutching his sides. He tried not to collapse as his head swam from exertion. The vines had left an awful residue around his neck – and probably on his armor – but he couldn’t worry about that then.

Without any warning, Keith perked up and sprinted off the path and into the forest.

“Keith!” What the hell was he up to?

Despite every muscle in Lance’s body urging him not to, he bolted after the hothead.

“Keith! What are you doing?!”

Branches slapped against Lance’s helmet, twigs breaking apart as he stumbled through the untrodden area, and he was never more glad for his armor. Avoiding roots and running while already out of breath was troublesome enough without worrying about losing an eye.

“Keith! You can’t just run off!”

Still, the Red Paladin didn’t listen. Lance followed him for probably two minutes of pure torture before they burst through into a clearing and Keith finally stopped, staring at whatever he’d found.

“Ugh!” Lance collapsed as he caught up, vision spinning and head rushing. “What the hell, Keith?”

“It’s a waterfall.”

“What?” Lance tried to listen, but his head was still pounding.

Keith turned around, and the smile on his face…If Lance wasn’t already dying from lack of oxygen, Keith’s gorgeous face would fix that.

Lance could have groaned when he realized the path his thoughts had taken. Again. This was why he’d run into the vines in the first place. Keith deserved a much better friend than the confused mess that was Leoncio McClain Garcia. Where was air when his brain needed it?

“You were thirsty, right?” Keith asked. “I found a waterfall.”

Sore pain shot through Lance’s body as he shifted to view the scene behind Keith. Green grass. Pretty flowers. Overgrown plants and moss-covered rocks.

And a waterfall that led into a river. Pure, refreshing water swerving away from him and into the deeper parts of the forest. Lance’s throat burned, begging for relief.

There was only one problem. “I can’t move.”

Keith frowned. He took in Lance’s prone form and seemed to realize the Blue Paladin wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. After a quick perusal of their surroundings, however, Keith’s eyes lit on something, and he moved towards it. “I’ll bring the water to you, then.”

A minute later, he was in front of Lance, holding a gleaming, silver goblet to his lips. Where he got the cup from, Lance didn’t know, but he wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Mostly.

Lance glared and slapped Keith’s hands away. “I can drink myself.”

“Fine.”

Keith watched as Lance downed the liquid. Thank God. The water ran down his throat, tingling in the best way and hydrating the desert it had become. Once the goblet was empty – much too soon – Lance stood and moved to the pond just beneath the waterfall to get a refill. He drank and drank until, finally, he felt nearly normal again.

“Thanks,” he croaked – he’d just downed an ocean; his voice wouldn’t be normal for a while – smiling softly at Keith.

“No problem.”

Seeing that Lance was done, Keith took the cup and got his own drink. Right, he had to be thirsty, too. Especially after a morning of sparring. While Keith drank, Lance pulled out the trail mix. Dinner seemed so long ago.

“Let’s rest a minute,” Keith decided once they were both fully satisfied. “Then, we can keep going.”

Lance was too tired to complain. His legs felt like jelly after that sprint. Did Keith really have to run to the clearing? A walk would have gotten them there just fine. It’s not like the waterfall would disappear…Probably.

After a few moments of sitting in silence, Lance couldn’t take it anymore. “You’d think they’d have a sky lift.”

“’The blessing is in the journey,’” Keith mocked.

Lance snickered. “Come on. Pelzar and Atteni are nice.”

“Whatever you say.”

“You don’t like them?”

There was a strange, uncertain shift to Keith’s aura. “They seem okay.”

“But?”

“I’m not a people person. You know that. I wish we could do this ‘Path’ thing without them.”

No. He definitely wasn’t a people person. Lance sighed. “Man. I’ll never get how you and Shiro got so close. You’re like total opposites!”

At the mention of their leader, Keith smiled into the distance. “Sometimes I wonder, too. To be fair, it wasn’t easy. Shiro’s just stubborn.”

“How’d you even meet?” It was something Lance had wondered since he’d learned his rival was his hero’s shadow. How did a gifted, brat of a kid meet the Garrison’s youngest pilot? Shiro had been with the Garrison since he was a teen.

For a second, it seemed like Keith wouldn’t answer. He flicked a pebble as he thought through his answer, and they watched it skip off into the river.

“I stole his car.”

Lance froze, turning away from the rushing waters to gawk at his friend. “You what?”

“I stole his car,” Keith repeated, blushing.

He turned to face Lance. As embarrassed as he was, though, there wasn’t an ounce of shyness in his aura. He didn’t hold back the details, and he didn’t want to hold them back either. Keith trusted Lance implicitly.

That familiar guilt gnawed at Lance’s insides. He didn’t deserve Keith’s trust. Not when he was taking advantage of Keith’s naïve belief in their pure friendship and lying to him about it. Not when Lance hurt him by being selfish and still refused to explain why.

I will get over this, and we’ll be fine, he assured himself. I’m just confused. We’ll be back to normal soon enough.

“He was visiting my middle school to recruit cadets,” Keith explained, cutting across Lance’s guilt-fest. “Someone said something stupid when I was flying the simulator, and his car was right there. So, I took off.”

“Some kid got jealous that you were a natural?” Lance guessed. He could imagine how Keith’s class would feel, seeing the loner kid do better than them.

“It was the teacher, actually.”

His teacher?

As Lance gaped, Keith added, “Well, the kids, too, but I’m used to that.”

“You shouldn’t be.” Lance remembered that he used to be one of those kids. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” Keith smiled reassuringly. “I’m not a people person.”

That doesn’t give people the right to be awful. Shiro really is an awesome guy, though.

Even though Keith stole his car when they first met, Shiro still pushed and pushed until he got Keith to open up to him. From the sound of it, he hadn’t punished Keith for the incident. He’d seen the real problem and decided to give Keith someone to rely on instead.

Lance glanced up at the sky and realized how much lower the sun was than when they’d arrived on Ahm. They still had two more stops, too. He sighed. “We should get moving again.”

The longer they walked, though, the more Lance realized how hot it was on the planet. He was sweating a waterfall under his helmet. Everything he’d just drank was evaporating in the tropical heat. “Ugh.”

“You okay?” Keith asked, looking back at him. He seemed completely unaffected.

“Aren’t you hot?”

“Yeah, I guess. So?”

Lance groaned. Right. Keith had grown up in the middle of the desert. He’d get no sympathy. “Nevermind.”

“We can stop for a minute if you want.”

“No no. The sooner we get to the top, the sooner we can leave.”

Keith shrugged and kept walking. Lance made it another two minutes before groaning and flopping down. “I take it back! Who cares if the planet hates us?! Allura can deal!”

Keith stopped once again. “Allura?” he asked, frowning down at Lance. “What does she have to do with this?”

Lance groaned. “The alliance. She’ll kill us for damaging it, but it’s soooo hoooot.” He threw his arm over his eyes as theatrically as possible to block out the harsh sunlight.

When Lance heard snickering, however, he moved his arm up enough to see his handsome teammate. Keith looked like he was having the time of his life up there. “What are you laughing at, Mullet?”

“You.” Keith kept laughing. It made his eyes dance and soul sing and Lance almost didn’t want him to stop. “You’re so dramatic. It’s not that hot.”

“Says the Red Paladin.” The words came out more teasing than Lance meant.

All of Keith’s amusement vanished, and for a moment, Lance thought he’d finally realized.

Shit. I was starting to get over those thoughts, too.

No, you weren’t. Lance didn’t need that kind of negativity. Not when Keith knew.

But no. There wasn’t any sense of realization or horror or…anything…in Keith’s soul energy. Keith felt…Lance couldn’t tell what he felt. Maybe Keith didn’t even know.

“Come on,” Keith said, giving no clue to what caused his sudden mood swing. He gestured off the path. “There’s a shaded area over here.”

Lance didn’t pry. He just followed Keith to the makeshift sleeping area he’d somehow found. It was majorly overgrown, but they could easily move the vines and plants to make space. How Keith had even seen it when it was so well-camouflaged was a mystery. Keith was Keith, though, so Lance couldn’t be too surprised.

“Hey, Keith. Look at this.” Lance picked up a slab he found near the central firepit. “It has writing on it.”

Keith leaned over to get a better look. His emotions steadied, and it looked like Lance’s distraction had worked. Keith had forgotten about whatever was worrying him.

“It looks Altean.”

Lance glanced down at the slab. While he’d seen the writing, he hadn’t paid much attention to it since his main goal had been to get Keith smiling again. Looking at the carvings, though, he conceded Keith’s point. Some letters did look Altean. Some of the others looked almost Galran.

“Maybe the Irklènders borrowed their language?” he guessed.

“Maybe.” Keith tugged the slab from Lance’s hands and pulled up his translator. He frowned as a dark light filled the holoscreen. Only a few words had been interpreted. “It’s too worn down to read.”

Lance leaned over to assess the slab again. Seeing a familiar set of characters, he pointed. “Pretty sure that’s the Altean word for meat.”

Keith looked at Lance like he’d just bitten the head off a Barbie.

“What?”

“How do you know that?”

“Hunk.”

Keith shook his head. “Makes sense.” Then, he turned back to the slab. “There’s something about a sword here, too. And…” He tilted the slab a little. “A flower?”

“Sounds like an ancient shopping list.”

Keith laughed. “All the way out here?”

“Who knows? This could have been a village.”

They were actually pretty lucky, if that was true. They’d already seen so much more of the universe in just a few weeks than others saw in whole lifetimes, and as they spoke, they might have been sitting in the last vestiges of an ancient civilization. Walking the same footsteps as people from ten thousand years before. Despite himself, Lance had to admit he wouldn’t want to share that type of moment with anyone else. Just Keith.

They sat for a bit, just enjoying the environment and each other’s presence, until Lance sighed. He was starting to think those thoughts again.

“…Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you been wondering why this keeps happening?” He couldn’t look at the other when talking about that, so Lance continued to stare out at the forest. He tried to pretend they were talking about anything else. They could be talking about the weather, for all he cared.

Keith frowned at him. “Yeah, but I told you. There’s nothing we can do about it, so why worry?”

Lance shrugged awkwardly. “It’s just weird. Even when we’re not together, we wind up married. It has to be a curse. That clay you picked up must have been hoodoo-ed.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who said those weird words after our fight in the arena. Why’d you even say them?”

“…I don’t know.” Lance hesitated before admitting, “I don’t even know what they mean. It’s like something whispered them to me.”

Keith’s frown deepened as he turned to face Lance. “Whispered?”

“Yeah.”

“What did the voice sound like?”

Lance hadn’t even thought of that. “It was raspy. But it was so low I almost couldn’t hear it…Maybe a woman’s voice?”

Keith frowned. “That’s weird…Not that everything else has been normal.”

“Has Coran found anything with the clay yet?”

“No. He’s still looking into it.”

Lance groaned.

Probably sensing Lance’s desperation, Keith reached out and placed a supportive hand on his shoulder. It sent sparks down his arm and across to his chest. Was he about to have a heart attack? The muscle was definitely beating quick enough. And maybe that’s why he could feel his face flushing. Maybe it wasn’t Keith.

It is.

Shut up.

Lance wished he could pull away from the touch. Two weeks before, he would have. He would have given Keith a look of pure dislike and said something like, ‘Hands to yourself, Mullet.’ They’d been through too much since then, though. He’d learned too much since then. All he could do was muster enough willpower to not lean into Keith completely and let the Red Paladin hold him until the others came looking for them. Or, more likely, until Keith realized why Lance was leaning on him and how much Lance had lied to and used him.

“Lance,” Keith said softly, oblivious to Lance’s conflict.

How could he say Lance’s name like that? Like he was the most precious person in the universe. It made it a hundred times harder for Lance to remember that they were just friends and those feelings he’d been feeling weren’t real. He was just twisting things in his mind to make himself feel better. He needed to stop before things went completely out of control and he lost Keith forever.

Keith somehow remained completely unaware of the direction Lance’s thoughts had taken. “It’s okay,” he said, “I-it’s not like any of this means anything. We’ll get back to Earth, and you can ignore me all you want.”

If only it was that easy.

Lance mustered a smile and finally shook off the hand. “You won’t get rid of me that easily, Mullet. You owe me – us – a free monthly lunch, remember?”

Keith rolled his eyes, but he smiled back. “Fine. If you insist.”

“I do.”

Despite himself, Lance let the moment fade as his annoyance came back. “This still sucks, though,” he complained. And it sucked for so many reasons.

“What?”

“All of this. We have to bend over backward, hiking up a mountain in hundred-degree heat, just to appease a people of a planet that we don’t even care about for a marriage we didn’t even want. It sucks.”

“There has to be some perks,” Keith reasoned. “Like those presents the Arusians gave us. Maybe we can throw a wedding shower when we get back.”

“With our luck, there’s a traditional wedding shower ‘consummation’.”

Keith smiled. “Well, there’s one perk from this marriage.”

Lance frowned and finally looked back at Keith. His mind was finally blank enough to risk it. “What?”

“You learned a new word.”

“Shut up, Mullet.”

Lance expected it to end there. Keith wasn’t usually much of a talker anyway, but he actually smirked and said, “Just try and make me.”

Lance gaped.

As he remained speechless, Keith carried on. “Let’s see. You learned a new word. We got a bunch of presents from the Arusians. We got some cool crystals. We were able to participate in a sacred ritual that made us honorary Balmerans. We’ve visited so many cool places and seen things our old classmates back on Earth would never dream of.” Keith smiled at him. “I’d say we’re actually pretty lucky.”

“Who are you, and what have you done with Keith?”

“I just met someone who’s more pessimistic than I am and needs cheering up.”

Lance had been called many things in his life, but pessimistic wasn’t one of them.

But somehow, he’s completely right. Still…

“I don’t know who you’re talking about. I’m the cheeriest person I know. Other than Hunk.”

Keith raised a doubtful eyebrow. “If you say so.” Something caught his eye, and he frowned down at the slab he was still holding. “Huh.”

“What?”

Lance glanced over, but he couldn’t tell what Keith was looking at until the other pointed. There were several, extremely small characters at the very edge of the slab. Written in an entirely new language and carved so deeply they were still millennia away from smoothing out. That time, he pulled out his translator, only- “It didn’t translate it.”

“What do you mean?” Keith asked, frowning.

“It changed the letters, but it just says Viána. Dráago. Aigosten. Fola.”

“Viána Dráago Aigosten Fola?”

A strange surge swept through the forest, and even the animals went quiet. Lance barely noticed, though. Apparently his suit had no problem translating the verbal words because it told him the meaning the second they left Keith’s lips. Life. Love. Family. Union.

Shit. Lance sighed as the noise returned to the forest. “It happened again.”

Keith shook his head. “You can’t know that.” Even he didn’t believe that.

“You felt that weird energy, right? The translator literally said one of the words means union.”

“We need to stop saying words we don’t know the meaning of,” Keith muttered.

“Let’s just go. The sooner we get back, the sooner we can hide in the castle.”

“You realize we have two planets to go,” Keith pointed out.

“…Shit.”

Chapter Text

With all the hype about gaining the gods’ favor, Lance expected more than a fenced-in pile of rocks. The Stone of the Ancients was less a stone and more a rock garden. Like those ones with the rakes that were supposed to help people stay calm, but waist-high and surrounded by a smooth, gray stone wall.

“This can’t be it,” he muttered as Keith walked forward to inspect one of the rainbow-colored pebbles.

The Red Paladin snorted in disgust. “Whatever. As long as it gets us home quicker.” He dropped the pebble and turned his gaze to the surrounding area.

Lance didn’t know what he was looking for. Probably Pelzar and Atteni, but the clearing lived up to its name. Trees with yellowed trunks and emerald leaves skirted the edges, but other than the pen of pebbles in the center, there was nothing but dusty ground around them. Not even grass.

“I didn’t expect to get here first.”

“You didn’t,” a voice croaked.

Leaves rustled and twigs cracked. Normal forest sounds, but Lance turned toward them and found Pelzar and Atteni. The Irklènders emerged from the nearby trees, disheveled and mussed and completely satisfied. He doubted the hike caused their red, swollen lips and crooked grins. Or the skipped button on Pelzar’s shirt.

To smile or sigh, that is the question. At least someone was properly enjoying their honeymoon, even if Lance and Keith couldn’t.

Not that I want to celebrate with Keith, he quickly backtracked. He didn’t want to celebrate with Keith. He didn’t want to celebrate at all. It wasn’t his honeymoon. He was just on another mission…of sorts.

Either oblivious to or ignoring Lance’s emotional breakdown – And who could blame him? Lance had been a mess from the start – Keith frowned at the married couple, radiating disapproval.

‘I’m not a people person,’ Lance recalled. They really needed to work on that.

Deciding not to dwell on it, Lance turned back to their original point of focus: the rocks. “So this is the Stone of the Ancients? It’s not much of a stone.”

Pelzar nodded. Neither he or Atteni looked remotely ashamed about their previous activities. (And why should they be? They were married.) “I said the same thing.”

“I take it you haven’t read the inscription yet?” Atteni asked them.

“Inscription?”

When the other pointed toward the rock garden, Lance noticed a strange patch of roughness on the fence’s side. Letters carved into the side. They were barely visible, practically camouflaged from erosion, but he’d let his translator worry about that.

Once he’d decoded the carvings, however, he sighed. This is really meant for the planet’s people, huh?

The inscription detailed the next steps to take as well as the importance of the path to the Irklènder culture and their spiritual connection with their gods. He and Keith had to find a rock and add it to the pile, but only after climbing on top and thinking about how far ‘they’d’ come as a society and as individuals as well as where the rest of the journey would take them.

When Lance explained that to Keith, the Red Paladin crossed his arms, glaring at the rock garden as if that would help the situation. “Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

“The purpose of the path is to consult the gods,” Atteni explained with a small smile. “Whenever one of our people went through a change of any kind, they’d make this journey. Sometimes ‘the gods’ would answer through the path itself. Anyone who could not finish the journey accepted that their change was not in the gods’ plans for them. Those who made it through would be left to uncover the gods’ will through meditation. I’d imagine this tradition facilitates that.”

“It’s not just for marriages?” Keith asked, frowning.

“No. The path can be taken for change of any kind. Though it fell out of common practice long ago as many forgot the gods or decided to live in mystery.”

So it’s for any change. Lance could handle that. His life had changed drastically in the past few weeks, and not just with the marriages. If he thought of the ritual as a way to come to terms with and embrace change and growth, then maybe finishing the path wouldn’t be so bad.

He went first.

Finding a rock wasn’t difficult. It just took a short jaunt into the edges of the forest. As he clambered on top of the sacred site, he tried to take the ritual seriously. It was important to some people somewhere. He shouldn’t mock it. All he could think about, though, was that the tradition belonged to a people who also tried to force foreigners to consummate – publicly – when they didn’t want to.

‘There’s one perk.’ Lance nearly scoffed as he remembered Keith’s words. Luckily, he stopped himself in time. He’d definitely grown since going to space.

And maybe it was a little awe-inspiring that he was standing where thousands of people from centuries past had also stood. Learning and growing along with them.

Unconsciously, his eyes shifted to Keith. It was a habit ingrained in his soul from years past at the Garrison, and their new bond only worsened it. Every noticeable shift to Keith’s emotions drew Lance’s attention. But that wasn’t why Lance looked to him then.

If anything, Keith felt nothing. Empty. Bored. He wanted to get the stupid ritual over with and go home. When he caught Lance looking at him, though, he smiled. An answering smile slipped onto Lance’s face without his permission.

We’ve come a long way.

Keith’s head tilted in curiosity, and Lance realized he’d stared too long. He hurriedly tore his gaze away, pretending to inspect the trees. As far as they’d come, Lance still had a ways to go.

I’ll be better, he promised. It just might take some time.

Someday, he’d manage to be a better friend.

Lance sat the rock down and jumped off of the ledge. He’d contemplated enough for one day.

“Your turn,” he told Keith. In spite of himself, the grin slipped back on his face. There was something freeing about the rock garden. It filled him with hope that maybe he could succeed with his goals.

As the Red Paladin took his own place – having already found a rock somewhere – Lance turned to Pelzar and Atteni. He planned to make conversation so he wouldn’t get bored, but both members of the couple were frowning between him and the rock garden, cutting across whatever Lance might have said.

“What is it?”

Pelzar slowly shook his head. “Perhaps it is nothing, but…”

“Our stones were absorbed and integrated into the others,” Atteni explained. “They both shrunk and transformed the second they touched the-”

A brilliant light began emanating from where Keith had just put his rock. They turned to watch, wide-eyed, as Lance’s also glowing rock practically melted into Keith’s, moving and shifting until the combination resembled the others. A faint light remained, though, pulsing faintly and making their stone stand out even among the rainbow pebbles.

“And ours did not glow,” Pelzar added, confused.

Completely oblivious, Keith jumped down. “Can we go now?”

Pelzar and Atteni maintained their staring contest with the stone.

Lance tried to brush off the odd behavior. “So, it really wasn’t supposed to do that, huh?”

“I don’t know.”

If Atteni didn’t know, it must be something weird.

The older man frowned, gaze shifting to rove across the rock garden. “The truth of such journeys is kept secret from those who have not completed one. They live only in tales and rumors and the knowledge that the journeys exist…But my Adexi and I did not receive such a reaction, and I see no other glowing stone on the surface.”

“There could be one buried in there,” Lance tried.

Keith glared between them all in confusion. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Our rocks were supposed to change shape the second we put them down,” Lance explained, grimacing. “And they shouldn’t have glowed.”

Atteni slowly shook his head, turning his attention back to them. “According to the inscription, the rocks represent ourselves.” He frowned. “As I said before, the journey through the forest is meant as an introspective trip. A peaceful walk to contemplate and accept the changes you’ve been through as an individual as you climb the hill to your next destination and begin your new journey. I suppose when we find a rock and place it here, it is a way of accepting and cementing our new identities and showing the gods that you are prepared to do so.”

It was a serious conversation, but Lance had to scoff. “I don’t consider killer vines peaceful.”

Pelzar frowned in confusion. “Killer vines?”

Maybe they only grew in Lance and Keith’s path. Had Pelzar and Atteni’s trails been completely clear?

“Yeah,” Keith agreed. “Or carnivorous animals.”

What was he talking about? “We didn’t see any carnivorous animals.”

“You didn’t. That’s why I changed direction that time.”

Lance thought back to the sudden spike in anxiety he’d thought was from him and Keith’s sudden decision to go left when before he’d defended the merits of going right. He’d thought Keith took the spiked emotions as Lance’s irrational fear of the rightward path and changed his mind. Not wanting to admit that he was anxious because he’d – yet again – found himself staring at Keith’s ass, Lance hadn’t tried to correct him.

In hindsight, the real reason made a lot more sense. Why would Keith change direction just to spare Lance from an unreasonable and pointless worry?

For some reason, Atteni’s frown sharpened until it was almost a glare. “You didn’t separate.”

Oh…right. Lance had forgotten about that.

“Why does it matter if we separate or not?” Keith demanded. “Whether we’re one foot apart or a hundred, we’re all still in the woods together!”

Pelzar sighed, but he didn’t look as angry as his husband. “Because if Principal Kyria presses the issue and discovers your transgression, she will most likely deem your journey inadmissible since you didn’t follow the proper procedure.”

Yeah, Lance could see how that would be a problem. Even Keith’s irritation died a little as guilt trickled in. Maybe they should have followed the rules. The separation probably wouldn’t have killed them.

Probably.

“And it sounds as if the forest itself tried to stop you,” Atteni added.

“I’m not so sure of that…” Pelzar trailed off, staring back towards Lance and Keith’s still glowing stone. A new light glinted in those star-pupiled eyes as he turned back to them. “Which path did you take?”

“The one on the very left, at the edge of the mountain face.”

“With the old, wooden archway at the front,” Keith expanded.

What’s he talking about? “What?”

Keith raised an eyebrow, lips quirking. “You didn’t notice?”

Lance did not appreciate Keith’s amusement. Especially since he could feel it.

Before he could say anything, though, Atteni gasped. “An archway? That path has been overgrown and blocked off, all but unused since the paladins’ last visit. Any who made it through always turned back.”

“If they returned at all,” Pelzar agreed.

Atteni nodded, but his incredulous stare never wavered from Lance and Keith. “It became such a problem that it’s the one warning everyone from our planet gets when discussing the journeys.”

The path wasn’t that bad. Even with the vines. And getting through hadn’t been difficult at all.

Keith had other concerns. “And you didn’t warn us?”

Pelzar shrugged. “We didn’t think of it. Everyone from our planet already knows.”

Lance should get them back on track before Keith attacked their friends. “What was your point?” Something about the forest not trying to kick them out?

Pelzar blinked. “Oh. I was going to say that it sounded like a gods’ test.” When Atteni scoffed, he grinned. “Or we can phrase it that way if asked,” he conceded. “The gods tested you and were so approving of your relationship that they combined your stones into one. Your union truly was meant to be.”

Great. Just what Lance needed.

Keith practically vibrated with annoyance. “Fine. Whatever. Can I summon Red here, or do we have to walk back down?” It would take at least another hour.

After a moment of contemplation, Atteni nodded. “You may call you lion. I know of no rule that forbids it.”

***

Lance slumped in relief to see Red. Finally. Air-conditioning.

For some reason, Pelzar and Atteni fell back, declaring a wish to stay in the cargo area. Lance didn’t question them and followed Keith up front. He wanted to see the planet they were heading to. It was supposedly cooler than Ahm, but there could be other drawbacks. Probably were, to be honest.

Ready as Keith had been to leave, however, he froze before his butt even touched the pilot chair. Waves of anxiety suddenly crashed into Lance, and he didn’t know whether to run or freeze. That wasn’t from him, right? He was pretty sure he wasn’t that disconnected from his own emotions.

What was wrong? What had happened? “Keith?”

“…This is probably a weird request,” Keith said, not looking at him. He was still posed to sit, hands grasping the armrests tight enough Lance knew his knuckles would be bone white. “…But I want you to sit here.”

He wants what now? Lance frowned. “What? Keith, we have to go.” They didn’t have time for whatever nonsense Keith had in mind.

“I know. Just- Just sit, okay?”

Lance couldn’t interpret the emotions pouring off Keith past the ocean of nerves – and since when were Keith’s emotions an ocean? They were usually a bonfire – but whatever they were had him complying.

“Okay, fine, but then can you sit? We didn’t tell the others where we went.” Lance wondered if they’d noticed yet. Who would realize first?

Probably Hunk, he decided.

Without waiting for Keith’s nod – though, it came anyway – Lance slithered into Red’s seat, barely giving the other paladin time to move out of the way. The seat felt oddly warm. Blue’s seat was cool to the touch, but Red…

And then the controls lit up.

“What the-?” Lance flung himself out of the seat just as a warm mind tried to connect with his.

Not Keith. Why couldn’t it have been Keith?

In his hurry to get away, Lance tripped, knocking into the other paladin. They both tried to keep their balance, and they both failed spectacularly. In the end, they wound up on the floor, Lance straddling Keith and faces inches apart. If they weren’t wearing their helmets…

Shit. Lance bolted upright. Shit. Shit. Shit.

He tried to get his breathing under control, but that just made his heart beat faster. Was he blushing? No way he wasn’t blushing.

In his panic, he almost didn’t hear Keith. “So it worked.”

Shock poured over Lance like ice, cooling his blush and stopping any thought that wasn’t: What did he just say?

“’Worked?!’ You meant for that to happen?!”

Lance was the Blue Paladin! Blue! The Red Lion wasn’t supposed to light up for him! Was this another effect of their bondings?

He turned, planning to throw more accusations and questions at Keith, but the words froze in his throat when he realized Keith was still on the ground. He looked like he was questioning his entire life as he stared at the ceiling.

Curious, Lance followed his gaze. He half expected to find a star-filled sky or some equally unexplainable void, but no. There was only metal. Alien metal but metal all the same.

After a long moment, Keith stood, but he didn’t answer Lance’s question. “Shiro asked me to lead Voltron…if anything happened to him.” He glanced up at Lance, clearly uneasy with the idea. “He wants me to pilot the Black Lion.”

Lance gaped. “You’re the Red Paladin!” he exclaimed. “You know, ‘tempermental, unstable, and instinct-driven’?!” Why would Shiro even think to have that conversation?

“I know.” Keith shriveled in on himself, even as those nameless emotions inside him rose higher like the water at high tide. “I know, but he’s got this idea that…Just because the Black Lion let me pilot it once…”

The Black Lion what?

Lance stared at Keith. He stared, and he realized. Keith would make a good leader if he learned to control his temper and curb his more aggressive instincts. Shiro knew that. That’s why he’d chosen Keith as his successor. Not that he needed one. He would be fine.

Well, he is in a coma right now. Lance ignored the intrusive thought. There was still one thing he didn’t get.

“Keith, why did you ask me to sit in Red’s pilot seat?” He’d said he thought the lion would light up for Lance. He’d planned for it.

Keith turned around, crossing his arms in discomfort. “I just figured…You know what? Nevermind. I’ll fly us to the next planet. You can keep your friends company.” He spun on his heel and took the pilot seat, not sparing Lance another glance.

‘I’ll fly us.’ Had Keith wanted Lance to fly?

“Keith-” Keith retracted his soul from Lance’s in a clear dismissal. Lance sighed but left. If Keith wanted to be alone, then fine. Pelzar and Atteni would be better company anyway with the mood he was in. Even if they were making out when Lance entered.

“Ummm…” This was awkward. Not that Lance could blame them for taking advantage of the alone time. That was probably why they’d secluded themselves in the first place.

He thought about his and Keith’s kiss, an oddly welcome distraction from their argument. That had been his most passionate romantic encounter by far, and loathe as he was to admit it, he’d enjoyed it. He’d enjoyed it too much. He wanted another.

Just not with Keith, he tried to convince himself.

Either seeing Lance or sensing his presence, Pelzar pulled away from Atteni. His smile turned into a frown the second he saw Lance’s face. “Is everything alright, Blue Paladin?”

See? Blue, not Red. What was Keith thinking? What did him being Black Paladin have to do with Lance?

“Yeah, Keith’s just being…” He sighed, unable to finish the thought. Keith was being Keith. A big, emo Mullet who couldn’t deal with his feelings.

Reminds me of someone.

Lance couldn’t even deny it anymore.

Pelzar glanced at Atteni with a deeper frown. Without saying one word to each other, they seemed to have an entire conversation. Then Pelzar stood and walked into the cockpit.

“I wouldn’t-”

Pelzar’s smile stopped Lance’s warning in its tracks. “It will be fine, Blue Paladin. I can handle an emotional shut-in.”

Atteni snorted as the other alien slipped through the doors to Keith’s lair of brooding.

“He’s right,” the older man said. “He’s had plenty of practice with me.”

Atteni wasn’t Keith, though. “It’s a delicate situation.”

“Pelzar can navigate even those. He knows when to hold back and when to press forward.”

‘Love changes you.’ Maybe that’s what Lance’s Mamá meant. It wasn’t just Pelzar’s relationship with Atteni that changed when they got together, it was how he interacted with the world in general. Still…

Lance frowned at the door leading to his favorite brooder. Keith didn’t like strangers. If anyone should be talking him through whatever was on his mind, it was Lance.

“Are you alright?”

“Huh?” Lance tore his gaze from the barrier to face Atteni. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Atteni looked knowing. Too knowing. “You’ve seemed to be wrestling with something since we met, and my Pelzar told me you’ve asked some interesting questions.”

Was Lance that obvious? He remembered his friends’ conversation the previous night. How they’d all laughed at him for not realizing the truth before he had. He wasn’t stupid, he just...

“…I’m just trying to figure things out. Part of growing up, right?”

Atteni smiled in soft amusement. He wasn’t laughing, was probably trying to comfort Lance, but it didn’t make him feel any better. “It is part of growing, but the best way to figure things out is through experience. It is well and good to think, but you won’t know until you do. Thoughts can only take you so far.”

Was he telling Lance to find a boyfriend? Kind of hard to do in space. Even Hunk and Shay had only spoken once since they left the Balmera. Their adopted family was still cleaning up and reorganizing society which made it hard to keep contact. And then there was Allura’s rule about communications which doubled the difficulty.

“But how do I know that’s what I want?” Lance stalked forward and slid down the wall to slump dejectedly next to the alien. “How do I know I’m not just making a mess of things?”

He’d already screwed up his perception of Keith, fooling his emotions into thinking he had a crush. Fooling his friends, even. At least finding another boy to transfer his feelings onto wouldn’t harm a friend, but Lance could wreck anything he touched.

“Would you rather miss out on something you did want to avoid that possibility?”

The breath caught in Lance’s throat. Atteni had a point. But…

“When I mess up, I tend to mess up bad. I’m not…” He mustered a smile. “I’m not as awesome as I pretend to be.”

Atteni chuckled. Was Lance’s pain really that funny or had he just gotten so used to deflecting with humor that he was still doing it without realizing?

“You don’t have to be perfect to be ‘awesome’,” Atteni said, golden eyes still glinting with amusement. “You don’t even have to be awesome. You just have to be you.”

‘You just have to be you.’ Lance gazed at the floor as the words nestled into his brain. It felt like they were dissolving there, spreading through his bloodstream to the rest of his body and waking up parts of himself he hadn’t realized were asleep. Was that what an epiphany felt like?

“And,” Atteni continued, “the best way to be you is to follow your heart, even despite fear.”

And with that, all hope disappeared. “But I’m so confused on what it’s saying!” How could Lance be himself when he didn’t know who he was? He’d thought he was himself already until the events of the previous day ruined that delusion.

“Listen closer.”

Lance groaned just as Pelzar poked his head through the doors. “We are here.”

Chapter Text

Keith was calmer when they stepped onto the planet. Whatever Pelzar said to him must have gotten through.

Good. That’s great.

Lance wished he could get his heart to agree. How had Pelzar gotten Keith to lighten up so quickly when even Lance couldn’t manage it? Keith hadn’t even tried to listen to him.

We’re here for a reason, he reminded himself, boxing those unexplainable emotions away to deal with later.

Right. Because you always deal with emotions you don’t like.

Lance shouldn’t have to take Hunk’s sarcasm when the Yellow Paladin wasn’t even on the same planet as him. It wasn’t fair.

He ignored the words as much as he could and observed his surroundings. Red had landed in the middle of a beach, so the ground caved as they walked. Wind blew off the ocean, cooling them even though the planet’s heat almost rivaled that of Ahm. It was the water that caught Lance’s attention. It was glowing.

Keith frowned as Atteni led them to the edge of the ocean’s reach. If they stepped further, the wet sand would make it easier to walk. It would also expose them to whatever radiation or magic made the water glow.

But the water receded, and Lance realized the ocean wasn’t glowing. The shells were.

Billions of seashells in all shapes and sizes coated the sand. Some were buried deep, nice and snug in the ground, others lay loosely at the top, ready to be carried away by the ocean’s next grab. Lance watched as one shell succumbed to the tide, there one second and gone the next.

Radioactive or not, though, Lance still didn’t plan to jump in. Bodies of water had the unfortunate habit of marrying him and Keith, and he wanted to avoid that.

Unfortunately, Pelzar insisted they had to swim across to reach some distant island. And they had to swim instead of taking Red because, ‘The blessing is in the journey.’ Yeah, Lance was beginning to see why Keith would have preferred to take the trip alone. They’d probably already be back at the castle.

“You know,” Keith muttered, still glaring at the ocean, “the last time I jumped into alien water, I proposed to you, and we wound up married.”

“The last time I did, I fought a sea monster.”

Atteni and Pelzar stared at them.

“Proposed?” Atteni asked. “Exactly how many times have you been married?”

Lance didn’t even know anymore. “Seven, right?” He counted on his fingers, gazing out over the ocean as he thought. “The clay, the pond, the Balmera-”

“Don’t forget the crystal from the spring.”

“Right. Uh…”

“The ruins,” Keith prodded.

“The ruins. The Space Base. The mermaids. The forest…And the arena!” Lance stared at his fingers. That was almost all of them. Soon, he’d have to count on his toes, too. “No, nine.”

Keith’s soul prodded at his, grabbing his attention and distracting him from worries about what to count with when his toes were all used up. “Mermaids?”

Lance blushed. He’d forgotten Keith didn’t know about that. No one did. “Oh. Yeah…When we were split, some mermaids helped me with the…bond situation. Though, I guess it was more of a renewal than an actual marriage…”

“Oh…” Keith blinked. A weird, sort-of-hesitant something flickered in his aura that Lance couldn’t interpret until Keith muttered, “Make that ten.”

“What?”

“The, uh, planet Shiro and I landed on had a sacred chamber that I sort of…fell into.”

Lance didn’t have to ask, but he sort of did. “And this chamber married us?”

“I had to name someone before stepping into the fire!” And the embarrassment slipped away to make room for Keith’s usual defensiveness.

Because that totally made sense. “Right.”

“Let’s just go.”

“You have been married ten times?!” Pelzar exclaimed.

Oh, right. People still existed outside of Lance and Keith’s bubble. The world was still turning. The ocean still rising and falling. The sun still shining down with that unbearable heat that only the breeze washed away.

“And you did not wish to be?!”

“We’re cursed.” Lance didn’t know if that was true, but the more time went on, the truer it sounded. “Every planet we’ve landed on has married us.”

Atteni frowned. “Who cursed you?”

“No one. Well, we did find some magic clay. That was the first marriage.”

“Guess we were cursed before that, then, right?” Keith asked, also frowning. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have found the clay.”

‘We?’ Lance refused to let Keith shift the blame. “Excuse me. Who found the clay?”

“Who tried to take it from me?”

“I wasn’t the one who pried open an ancient Altean cabinet because something was glowing.”

“You did pull me into the Pond of Bonding.”

“Yeah, well you followed the glowing bunny! And picked up the glowing crystal! And took that glowing rock in the mountain!”

“That wasn’t my fault. How was I supposed to know what they did?!”

“Oh, so if next time, I pick up a glowing seashell, then it won’t be my fault?!”

“Exactly!”

He couldn’t let such a blatant challenge pass. Lance immediately stepped over that imaginary line in the sand and onto the other side of the beach. The one that was easier to walk on but was covered in those ominous shells. Ignoring all the alarms blaring in his head and shouting at him for being so stupid, he bent down and picked up one of the heralds of doom. “Hah! Here!”

Keith gaped. “Are you trying to marry us now?”

Before the full recognition of what he’d done could crash over Lance, Atteni muttered something.

“What?”

“You are not married,” the alien repeated, staring at them like he was reconsidering their sanity. Lance wondered the same. Only someone insane would risk what he just had because of a petty argument. “Not on this planet, at least. The shell’s glow is due to a fungus that grows in its surface.”

“Oh.” Lance considered the shell as Keith stared at him in full-on ‘I told you so’ mode. It was nice. One of the spiral ones. Small and blue beneath the glow and easily carried. “Well, I’m keeping this anyway.”

When he opened the small compartment in his wrist to put the shell away, he saw the Red Lion figurine. It was nestled safe and sound where he’d left it, despite all he’d been through since. Lance hurriedly dropped the shell inside, taking up the remaining space, and closed the hatch. Shit. He’d forgotten about that. He couldn’t give it to Keith yet, though.

Why not?

It has to be the right moment!

“Weren’t we supposed to be swimming?” he asked, hoping to stop any questions about his odd behavior. He didn’t feel like contemplating what ‘the right moment’ was or why it was so important to him.

Keith raised an eyebrow at him, but no one commented.

***

They’d been swimming toward their destination for at least ten minutes when Keith stopped moving and briefly dipped beneath the water. With their helmets on, it wasn’t too dangerous, but-

“Keith! Float!”

The other didn’t listen, letting the ocean overtake him again. “How much longer do we have to swim?” he asked through the comms.

Lance eyed the island. It honestly didn’t look any closer than it had when they started swimming, but that was probably due to the current. He glanced back at their starting point to check, only to doubletake. The shore was much farther away than it should be when their destination was no closer than when they started.

“Is that island moving?!” He demanded, staring forward in trepidation. How were they supposed to catch up to a moving island?

Pelzar frowned. “There are legends about a moving island here. I assumed it was a myth.”

“It’s moving,” Atteni said. “But others can and have reached the island. We’ll just have to keep going. Eventually, we should make it.”

Pelzar shook his head. “No. No matter how quickly we swim, the island will evade us. In the legends, those who wish to catch the island must lure it to them.”

Could alien legends ever make sense?

“And how do you propose we do that?” Atteni challenged. It was the first time Lance had seen him look anything other than awed and in love with his husband. Granted, they’d been swimming for a while. And they’d had the hike before that. Even the best tempers were bound to fray eventually.

Before Lance could add his own questions to the mix, something wrapped around his ankle.

He shrieked and flailed as the assailant pulled him under, but Lance’s foot slamming into his head didn’t faze Keith’s amusement. Stupid armor. It protected hotheaded idiots from personal growth.

“You jerk!”

Keith snickered. The sound crackled warmly across the comms. “You’re the one who wasn’t paying attention.” Still smiling, the Red Paladin gestured for Lance to follow him. “Come look at this.”

Lance sighed, but he decided to leave Pelzar and Atteni to their debate. He spared enough time to surface and let the others know, “I’ll be right back,” before rejoining Keith. (It was more than Team Voltron had gotten.)

He dived down. “What is it, Mullet?”

Keith pointed. “I just thought you might like to see this.”

Lance’s gaze moved to the indicated area. When he finally took in what Keith found so important, he gasped. Above the water, the ocean had been beautiful. Just like any ocean on Earth, for the most part, but if Lance hadn’t been so preoccupied, he would have reveled. He missed the beach so much. Even planned to take a break and visit Varadero again once they saved the universe.

The view beneath the water wasn’t beautiful. It was stunning.

Colorful corals spread across the ocean floor as far as his eyes could see. All of them bright and happy colors. All of them thriving.

Fish swam here and there – nibbling at coral, looping through the water, and doing whatever fish do. Lance almost teared up when he realized the animals weren’t that different from Earth’s. They all had fins and scales. Not one looked alike, but there was no jarring difference between them and the fish he knew. Not even Earth’s ocean life conformed to one standard. Maybe fish were just fish, no matter where you found them.

Every once in a while, sunlight caught the water just right or bounced off neon scales. It lent a glittery etherealness to the entire scene. It reminded Lance of the time his parents took him and Veronica snorkeling. None of the others wanted to go, so it had just been them. And it had been worth it. Being completely submerged and not beholden to a small pipe for air made this view ten thousand times better.

“Keith, I-” Words escaped him. He tried, but a view that breathtaking deserved more than a regular thank you. To think, he’d almost missed such an amazing view. Had almost swum right over it.

Keith smiled, and Lance knew he didn’t have to say anything. Keith could probably read it in his soul.

Instead of dwelling in that feeling – no matter how much he wanted to – Lance swam up to inspect some coral. The fish eyed him and stayed a little apart, but they didn’t run. A few even gathered the courage to come close to him. A hermit crab scuttled out of one of the holes, chittering curiously.

Lance grinned and held out his hand. “Hey, little guy.”

He almost expected it to run away, but the small animal actually stepped onto the outstretched appendage and dashed all the way up his arm, still chittering a mile a minute.

“Uh,” Keith eyed an invisible point on Lance’s shoulder. “Are you sure you want something with claws that close to you?”

Lance grinned. “Are you scared, Kogane?”

“Of course not!” The wary flicker of Keith’s emotions begged to differ.

Lance snickered. “It’s fine. The little guy’s just curious. Harmless.” There were sea creatures more vicious than a hermit crab.

Keith still didn’t swim closer, seeming content to watch from a distance. Getting an idea, Lance grabbed an empty shell from the ground. So far out in the water, the shells didn’t glow, but that didn’t matter for his plan.

“Here’s another one, try holding it.”

Keith jerked away from him. “Lance, no!”

“Come on, Keith. It’s fine. You’re scared of a harmless hermit crab?”

“Harmless for you, maybe.” Keith glared, still swimming away from him as Lance gave chase. “Living things tend to hate me!”

Lance froze, and his previous delight vanished. “Keith…That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is.” Keith frowned and glared at the ocean floor, arms crossed and still ten feet away. “You know I’ve never been good with people, and the few times I’ve tried to approach animals – cats, dogs, snakes – they’ve all run away…Even Red didn’t respond to me right away…”

There was an unsaid, ‘Unlike for you,’ in there somewhere, but Lance could only focus on one problem at a time.

“Well, some animals are scared of humans.” As an example, he pointed to the fish in the distance. None of those fish swam away, mostly continuing their normal activities with the occasional nervous side-glance from cold, black eyes, but they still avoided Lance and Keith. “You probably just found ones that are.”

Keith didn’t budge. “I’d go up after someone else was friendly with them. One of my foster families had a dog that loved everyone but me.”

That was a little weird, but- “Keith…If an animal rejects you, that just means you have to work extra hard to get its love. But that means you deserve it more.”

Surprise jolted across their soulbond as Keith’s attention refocused on him, and Lance knew he’d won. “What?”

He shrugged as if the conversation wasn’t important. As if Keith’s happiness could ever be unimportant. “Take dogs. They used to be wild, right? But then we domesticated them, and now they’re man’s best friend.”

“Domestication took centuries!”

“That’s not the point.” Lance sighed and threw the empty shell to the ground.

Keith stared at it, then stared at him in betrayal, but Lance just shrugged again. He’d told Keith he was overreacting.

“If someone came up to you that set off your fight or flight instincts, what would you do?” he prodded.

“Fight.”

Of course you would. Lance bit back a groan. “And if they didn’t deserve it? If they were just being nice?”

Keith frowned. “I wouldn’t buy it, but I’d leave.” Maybe there was hope for him after all.

“Exactly. Now, let’s say this person kept coming back, kept being nice, but they always let you leave when you wanted. That establishes trust. Eventually, you’d warm up to them and wouldn’t leave.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. “So you’re calling me a wild animal that needs domestication?”

“I’m saying to give animals a chance. You can’t let one bad reception put you off.” Lance glared pointedly at him. “And don’t let one animal’s reaction speak for all of them. That’s kind of racist, dude.”

“You mean specist?”

“Tuh-may-toe, Tuh-mah-toe. It’s wrong.”

One…Two…Three…Keith’s thinking glare lasted twelve seconds. Then, his expression cleared, and he eyed the junction between Lance’s neck and armor where the hermit crab rested, still chittering away. He swam closer. “What do I do?”

Take that Pelzar, Lance thought. Now who’s better at cheering Keith up? “Hold your hand out to him. That gives him the chance to come to you.”

Keith grimaced but hesitantly held out his hand. His fingertips brushed against Lance’s neck.

Shit. Lance really should have thought things through. The touch sent a jolt through his body. He felt his face overflowing with heat as the rest of him reflexively stiffened. Oh, God. Keith was so close.

The hermit crab’s legs added an additional, creep factor as the thing skittered across his neck and to Keith’s outstretched hand. Even Keith flinched when the crab reached him. Seeming to notice the reaction, it paused, but after a moment where nothing happened, the crab continued its path to Keith’s shoulder.

Keith couldn’t look more uncomfortable.

Lance took in the view. Keith: slightly hunched from awkwardness, nose scrunched, and pout in place. The crab: nestled safely between the Red Paladin’s armor and neck. The awkward embarrassment Lance had previously felt faded, and he laughed. “I wish I had a camera.”

Keith muttered something about small mercies.

Then, something on Lance’s wrist flashed. He grinned as Keith groaned. “Oh no.”

“Oh, yes.” He pressed it, and lo and behold, a camera scope appeared. “Say cheese, Keith.”

Keith glared at him as the hermit crab chittered curiously and a few other fish swam by to see what was happening. Perfect.

Lance snapped the picture. He’d ask Coran to develop it when they got back.

“Now take one of me next to the weird coral over here!” Lance swam over to the mouse-eared coral and posed.

“Lance, I don’t even know where the camera i-” His wrist device lit up, too. Maybe all they needed to do was say camera. Good to know. “Fine.”

Keith snapped the picture, and Lance couldn’t suppress his grin. He was in the middle of posing for another picture with a turtle-like animal covered in barnacles when Keith said, “Don’t we have a mission?”

Lance glared, mouth opening to go off in a rant, just before the camera flashed. Keith’s smirk told him that had been intentional.

“Fine. Whatever, you’re right.” He swam up to Keith and held out his hand. “Sorry, little guy. We have to go.”

The hermit crab scampered down Keith’s arm. Before he left, though, he pinched the Red Paladin’s hand. Lance had no warning before the crab jumped into his own and did the same.

Ow. Pain pulsed up his arm and spread into his core, but it disappeared just as quickly. What had that been about? The attack was completely unprompted.

Keith glared as if to say, ‘I told you so.’

Before Lance could respond, the hermit crab jumped from his hand and swam back to its hidey-hole, disappearing inside. “What just happened?”

Keith frowned at him, absently rubbing at his injured hand. “It’s a fish, what did you expect?”

“Crustacean.”

“Whatever.”

When they rejoined Atteni and Pelzar, the aliens were still arguing.

Lance sighed. Looked like it would be a while before they got home. “So, I take it you still don’t know how to catch the island?”

Atteni stopped talking and frowned toward them. “Of course we do.”

“But you’re arguing,” Keith pointed out.

To Lance’s surprise, Pelzar grinned. “We were debating on our dinner schedule now that we are married.”

That ‘debate’ had looked more heated than a volcano. Still, Lance rolled his eyes. Atteni and Pelzar were married, and married people were always weird. They argued over stupid things and pretended to hate each other when, really, they couldn’t live without one another. His parents were the same.

Aren’t you married?

…Only technically.

Keith couldn’t understand; he glanced back and forth between their friends incredulously. “You’re arguing…over dinner?”

“Yes.”

He still didn’t get it, but he didn’t press the issue. “Alright…How do we get to the island, then?”

“We float.” Atteni didn’t elaborate.

“Float?” Keith prompted.

Pelzar’s grin widened. “Yes. Complete relaxation will have us on the shores in no time.”

Lance considered the words. Then, he nodded. “That makes no sense. Let’s do it.”

“The currents will push us to the island,” Atteni clarified. “We noticed that the less we moved, the quicker the water around us ran, drawing us toward the island. It is how the island travels.”

But Lance waved off the explanation. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I just want to get back to the castle so I can sleep. And shower.” They’d been out for too long as it was.

One more planet after this, he reminded himself. Then, we’re free.

***

Lance probably shouldn’t be surprised anymore, but the floating idea actually worked. The second they laid back, the current increased, carrying them toward the island.

“Wow, it’s actually-” A flash of fear lanced through him, and his words froze on a panicked breath. “Wha-”

WHO-OOSH!

Water surged over Lance. He flailed, trying to maintain his float, but the sudden attack ruined any pretense of calm in his body.

“What the hell?!” He flipped upright. “Keith?”

The Red Paladin was swimming, also upright, and frowning mistrustfully at the water. Did that fear come from him? It hadn’t been Lance, so it had to have. But Keith had been floating a second before. And why would he be scared? “What’s wrong, Keith? Haven’t you ever floated before?”

Keith didn’t look away from the water. “I lived in the desert. I barely know how to swim.”

Lance was definitely taking Keith with him to Varadero. “What happened?”

“It’s not-” Keith hesitated, and his frown deepened. “I guess I just overbalanced. It threw me off.”

That was a scary feeling. “Oh. That happens to me sometimes. My siblings will grab me when I’m just trying to float. Mamá hates it because someone always gets kicked, but it’s their own fault, so they have no right to complain.”

Keith glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, a smirk ticking at the corner of his lips. He was probably remembering his own attack. “I’m sure you deserved it.”

“Hey.” Lance sent a light splash his way. Keith splashed back.

Before it could turn into a war, Keith’s eyes caught on something behind Lance. “Pelzar and Atteni are getting away.”

“What?” Lance turned and saw what he meant. While they’d been distracted, the lovers had kept floating. They were almost a football field away. “Oh. We should probably follow them.”

Keith frowned, still not looking at Lance as his eyes narrowed on their friends. “Are they holding hands?”

Lance checked, but he couldn’t see Pelzar and Atteni’s hands too well from the distance. “Maybe…Who cares?”

“How are they floating like that?”

‘How are they-’ “All you have to do to float is relax, Keith. Holding hands won’t affect that.”

That got his attention. Keith glanced skeptically back at Lance. “Relax?”

Yeah. That probably wasn’t easy for him to do. “Alright. How about…” He thought about how he could best help Keith. “Oh, I know.”

Lance reached out his soul, twining it with Keith’s and holding firm against the urge to sink deeper. Staying mostly to himself was easier than he’d thought it would be. “Here. Borrow my calm.”

“I wouldn’t call you a calm person.” But Keith’s soul stretched as well. The energy settled around Lance like a cocoon. Or a warm blanket on an early, winter morning. It would be so easy to fall into the feeling. To just drift away, closer to Keith until-

Nope! Lance shut down on those thoughts. No time for that. You need to relax. Keith needs to relax.

That might be easier if Keith wasn’t frowning guiltily at him. “Sorry.”

“…For what?” If it was for his previous comment, Lance had said worse. Hell, Keith had said worse.

“I’m just not used to floating.” Sincere guilt laced Keith’s tone. “You’re trying to help me, but I’m just making you nervous, too.”

“Keith, it’s not-”

Wait. This is your out, part of him whispered. But could he really take advantage of Keith’s guilt for his own benefit?

…It’s better than the alternative. “It’s fine. We can still float. Just don’t let the nerves win.”

The word ‘liar’ whispered tauntingly through his head.

Keith smiled slightly. “So, this is a competition, huh?” A hint of competitive glee tinged the words, itching at the edges of Lance’s consciousness. Lance sopped it up like a sponge until they were both guilt-free and vibrating with impatience.

Their emotions were too close – too unstable – when together, feeding off of each other and amplifying, but in that instance, it helped Lance.

“Yep,” he said. “Let’s see who reaches the island faster. I bet the most relaxed person wins. Loser takes the blame for disappearing.”

It wasn’t the competition Keith originally meant, but he took the bait anyway. “You’re on.”

Technically, Atteni and Pelzar won. While Lance and Keith were lost in their own world, the other two had floated even farther away. They reached shore long before the paladins.

“I won!” Lance declared, jumping to his feet in victory. Sand flew off of him in waves, but his armor had protected him from the usual, grit-in-weird-and-unholy-places experience. Strangely, he sort of missed the feeling. It wasn’t a beach trip without it.

Keith shook his head. “No. I won.” But he was grinning. He was happy.

Lance stifled a laugh. “Only if you’re blind.”

Their ‘argument’ was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice. “The Blue One is right. He arrived on land moments before you.”

They turned as one to face the intruder, and the breath caught in Lance’s throat. Pelzar and Atteni stood near her, but he had no interest in them. Not when faced with shoulder-length dark hair and eyes like emeralds. The sun behind her lit around her like a halo. He bit back the urge to spit out a pickup line.

You told yourself you wouldn’t. Think of the future, remember? Search for your Cáana, not every pretty face.

It wouldn’t hurt to look, though. Right?

You’ve looked for seventeen years, and what has that done for you?

Protected him from mental breakdowns and insecurity, apparently. Still, Lance couldn’t go back to that. He knew too much. Had realized too much.

That didn’t make the stranger any less stunning.

“Thank you.”

Keith glared at the beautiful intruder. “Who are you?”

Lance could have kicked him, but the girl just kept smiling serenely.

Pretty and calm. Maybe she wouldn’t immediately reject Lance if he made a move. It was worth a try.

Atteni said to do, not think. Not words often directed at Lance, but maybe…And it would be a good start to getting over Keith.

…

Over my projection on Keith, he hurriedly corrected, realizing what he’d thought.

Oblivious to Lance’s internal crisis, Pelzar gestured to the pink-skinned enchantress. “Her name is Kila.”

Whelp. Here goes. Lance shelved his panic and stepped forward, pasting his most charming grin onto his face. “Hi, Kila. The name’s Lance, the Blue Paladin of Voltron. What’s a beautiful girl like you doing on an island like this?”

“I am a caretaker here,” Kila explained, giggling. “One of the servants of the goddess Spinar. The patron of this island.”

Oh yeah. She’s definitely into this. Lance grinned back, feeling a little more confident and a little less worried about the uncertainty of his future. Maybe Atteni’s advice would work after all. He didn’t know if he was following his heart, but he was certainly acting and not thinking.

Speaking of Atteni. The alien continued the conversation while Lance congratulated himself. “The Servants of Spinar keep the island thriving. Growing the plants. Cleaning the beaches and ancient relics.” He glanced to Kila. “If the myths are to be believed, you should be preparing for the Endral Celebration tonight?”

For some reason, Kila grimaced. “Yes. We have been trying to, but…”

That didn’t sound good.

Keith’s annoyance faded until his energy matched Lance’s in wariness. It was about time. Only a gay man could resist the charms of a woman so beautiful. “But what?”

“It is nothing. Your friends told me you are trying to complete the path of the Elders. I shall show you to the wrav.” Kila tried for a smile, but it was half-hearted at best.

All of Lance’s plans to woo her flew out the window. If a planet was in trouble, it was their duty as paladins to help. Everything else came second. Including the Path of the Elders and flirting with beautiful people.

“What happened? Why can’t you celebrate?”

For a moment, it looked like Kila would evade the question. Then, she eyed his armor. “You said you are the paladins?”

So she’d heard of them. Lance pushed down the giddy hope that filled him. Kila’s planet might be in trouble; it wasn’t the time. It was just his luck he’d find the perfect person to help him get past his romantic roadblock and not be able to act on it. “Yeah. We can help if you need it.”

Kila opened her mouth, frowning like she might argue again, but she gave a hesitant nod instead. “Allow me to take you to the Priestess. She can explain.”

As they walked, the sunlight shifted until it no longer surrounded Kila. A little of her ethereal beauty faded. Not that she wasn’t still strikingly pretty. She just seemed more approachable.

Lance took a deep breath and finally tore his gaze away to inspect their surroundings. Maybe the island sun was enchanted or something because, while it no longer highlighted Kila, it still covered the beach, and that was no eyesore.

The dark sand sparkled as they walked. Some even glittered through the air, blown away from large dunes by the wind. Once the dunes were left in a semblance of peace, the wind changed directions to cartwheel through beach fronds before making its way to them. Lance wanted to take his helmet off and revel in the breeze, but they had a mission to accomplish. At least he could still look.

Lance might assume he was simply biased towards ocean scenery, but the entire island seemed otherworldly. Even after the sandy ground sloped upwards and faded into open fields, that feeling of peaceful amazement and wistfulness never left him. There was just something relaxing about the island. A welcome change after the suffocating heat and claustrophobia of Ahm’s forest.

Beyond the beach, there were more people. Dozens of girls stood in scattered groups. Some picked flowers. Some whispered amongst each other. No one looked as happy or carefree as Lance felt, though. An aura of concern lay over everything. The flower-pickers did so half-heartedly. The whisperers huddled together.

When the people caught sight of Lance and company, the whispers increased.

What happened here?

Lance was about to approach Kila to get more info on the planet’s situation when Keith drew closer to him.

“So what do you think is wrong?”

“Beats me.” Lance frowned back towards the masses. What could stop a group of people from celebrating whatever they were celebrating?

“Maybe someone was kidnapped,” Keith mused. “Or a relic was stolen.”

He almost sounded hopeful. Lance stifled a smile. “Whatever it is, we’ll fix it. Maybe then Allura will forgive us for leaving without telling them.”

Keith frowned. “Right.”

What was with him? Lance tried to get a better read of Keith’s emotions, but the other’s soul danced away whenever he tried to grasp it. All he got was the vague sense of something upsetting. Maybe Keith felt bad that they hadn’t told the others?

Whatever the reason, Lance couldn’t stand to see him upset, so he changed the subject. “So what did that ‘carnivorous beast’ look like?”

To his credit, Keith didn’t pause to blink in confusion, despite the abrupt question. “On planet Ahm?”

“Yeah.”

“They were the size of a compact car. Looked sort of like beavers with shark teeth.”

Yeah. Better to avoid those.

Lance noted the plural. “How many were there?” He hadn’t seen a single one.

“I saw three, but more could have been further ahead.” Keith smiled at him. “And that’s why I changed direction.”

Lance grinned back and waved a hand to dismiss that. “Aw, we could have taken them, Keith. We’re Paladins.”

“I wasn’t risking it.”

“Since when are you one to back away from a fight?” he teased.

“Since we’re outnumbered on an alien planet and just trying to get home.” Keith playfully bumped into him. “Trust me. Better safe than sorry…Besides…Allura would kill us if you came back mauled.”

Something about that made Lance extremely happy. Keith – hothead extraordinaire – had changed direction instead of charging head-on into a fight, just to keep them safe. To keep Lance specifically safe.

Shit. He’s not making this easy, is he? Lance tried to ignore the warmth building inside of him, but as he was shoving the feeling down, he realized. Is this part of my Cáana?

He thought back to every time Keith had saved him or put him first. The airlock, running to him instead of Shiro after Sendak’s attack, promising to help him contact his family…Then, he thought about their crush conversation. Lance had chosen Mulan – and Shang, he finally admitted – as his dream people.

I like being put first, he realized. Part of his Cáana was being saved and protected. He loved protectors and warriors in general.

With that realization came a deeper – scarier – one. Maybe my feelings aren’t 100% a projection.

But no. Just because Keith matched one of his love preferences – And matches it perfectly, his Hunk voice traitorously whispered – didn’t mean he matched any of Lance’s others. It was just a huge, unimportant coincidence.

Right. Lance shoved those thoughts aside. If he dwelled on them, he’d be left with no option but to avoid Keith again, and he’d promised not to do that.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asked, frowning at him.

“Nothing. Just daydreaming.” Lance grimaced and tried not to give anything away. The sun behind Keith gave him an excellent excuse not to look directly at the other.

Keith’s eyes switched to their companions. Pelzar and Atteni were conversing with Kila a few feet ahead of them, but once again, Lance and Keith had fallen behind.

“Daydreaming about her?” Keith muttered. “Allura might get jealous.”

Lance snorted. If Allura got jealous over him, he’d eat his helmet. Still…He eyed their guide again. He’d never had a real relationship, and Atteni’s advice continued to ring through his head.

As if feeling his stare, Kila glanced back and met his eyes. She blushed and smiled.

“Did you need something, Blue Paladin?”

Lance smiled back. He was about to say something along the lines of, “I don’t need anything now that you’re here,” but Keith beat him to the punch.

“We were just wondering if we were almost to your priestess.”

Kila’s smile dropped as she eyed Keith’s glare. “Almost,” she said, nodding. Then, she turned back ahead, clearly uncomfortable.

“Dude,” Lance muttered.

Keith just turned his glare to the ground. “Sorry…I’m not a people person.”

Lance sighed. Clearly. “Just…focus on me whenever people agitate you, alright?” Not that Kila had done anything agitating in the first place.

Keith’s glare lightened into a teasing grin, though he still didn’t look or feel fully happy. “How would that work? You annoy me more than anyone.”

“Hey.” But Lance grinned back anyway, happy to have eased some of Keith’s tension.

Their conversation was interrupted as Pelzar fell back to talk to them. “This island is beautiful, is it not?”

“Not bad for a honeymoon,” Lance agreed.

Keith scoffed, but Pelzar looked at him in interest. “Honeymoon?”

“It’s a…tradition on our planet. After getting married, a couple takes a break and goes on vacation.”

“Ah yes. A perfect place then.” Pelzar grinned at Keith. “According to Kila, this island was the first land to form on the planet. She says it will probably be the last to die.”

“With the way they’re taking care of it, it wouldn’t surprise me.” Lance eyed some girls in the distance who seemed to be gardening. And others who were clearing bramble-like ivy from trees.

Keith followed his gaze, frowning. “Are there any men here?”

Pelzar laughed. “No. I do not believe so. The Servants of Spinar are an all-female group. If any other men exist on this island, they are spouses and family of her servants or other island visitors.”

“You’d think some of them would be out here, though,” Lance pointed out.

Pelzar shrugged. Then, something caught his eye, and he nudged Lance’s shoulder. “Look.”

Lance looked. In the distance was a huge cliff, and built into the side…

“The home of our priestess and the more advanced servants,” Kila informed them. She seemed to have regained her cheer, but Lance noticed she was avoiding looking at Keith. “Beyond it is our village, but none may enter without first meeting the priestess. That is where we are going.”

***

The priestess’s home was huge inside and out. The front half protruded from the cliff face on a high ledge, impossible to climb up to without stairs. Multiple windows dotted the surrounding rock, proving that the house continued inside the cliff itself, but the front consisted of a sleek dusty-blue wood that almost blended into the surrounding stone. Lance might not have noticed it, if not for the stairs or the orange lights shining through the windows.

Feeling like they were meeting an empress and not a village priestess, Lance followed Kila around the ledge, to the stairs and up to the front yard. Vegetation was sparse, but the ledge overlooked the fields and beach. Lance couldn’t imagine a better view.

Kila didn’t stop to appreciate it. She kept walking. Through the front doors and spacious entrance hall, past random bystanders and onlookers (Lance finally saw a couple of men, but just two). She only stopped when they reached the end of a random hallway.

The open door led into what seemed to be a meeting room. A woman – probably the priestess – stood at the head of a table in the room’s center, arguing with ten other occupants. She glared at one woman in particular.

Lance would not want to be under that intense, pink stare.

“But Priestess, we must. If we are to hold the festival-”

The glare’s recipient cut off, realizing they weren’t alone, and the priestess turned to them.

“Kila,” she greeted, frowning. “What brings you here? Why have you brought these strangers?” She eyed Lance and Keith in particular confusion.

Kila gestured to them. “Priestess, these are the Red and Blue Paladins and their friends. They’ve offered to aid us.”

“Paladins?” someone gasped, eyes wide. “I thought they were dead.”

The priestess ignored the side comment and turned her full attention to Lance and Keith. “I see…You wish to help?”

A sort of power surrounded her. Not mystical power or anything, but like she owned the respect of everyone in the room – probably on the entire island – and knew it. A confidence in herself and her own authority. It was terrifying, and Lance knew he shouldn’t cross her.

He swallowed back his initial fear and nodded. “Yeah. Kila said something was preventing you from doing your ceremony?”

The priestess sighed, and her forceful stare finally turned away from them as she gestured to some maps and papers covering the table. “Yes. It has been many years since the last time, but every so often a particularly bold Frankori will gain access to our sacred gardens. It is where we grow the fruit for the festival of our goddess. This is one of those years.”

“What happened those other years?” Atteni moved closer to inspect the documents, but two of the women stopped him, glaring. He nodded respectfully and stepped back.

The priestess waited for everyone to settle again before saying, “In previous years, our designated protectors would vanquish the invading Frankori, and the celebration would go on.”

“But Caymon, the last such protector, went to the gods movements ago,” Kila told Lance, grimacing.

The priestess nodded. “Yes. And there are no eligible applicants to take his and his partner’s place.” She eyed Lance and Keith with a frown. “You look young to be the Red and Blue Paladins. I’ve always pictured the Red Paladin with a beard…And lighter hair?”

“We’re not the original Paladins,” Lance admitted. “Same title and lions. Different people.”

“Oh.” Any hope in the priestess’s expression faded. “If you are not the same Red Paladin, then you cannot help us after all. Only those who have gained the blessing of the Panta may hope to defeat this beast.”

Something on Lance’s cheek itched (Maybe sand that had somehow slipped through), but he ignored it to focus on the priestess’s words.

The blessing of what now? Lance frowned. “Maybe we can get this blessing. Or we can try, anyway. What’s the banta?”

“Panta,” Kila corrected.

Again, Lance’s face itched. He absently removed his helmet to scratch at the spot (no sand), but before he could ask about the process to get blessed, the priestess’s gaze sharpened. Several others gasped. Had he done something wrong?

“You have already received her blessing?” she asked, staring at him in awe.

“Um, what?”

She gestured to his face. “You have the Panta’s mark; you have received her blessing. It’s on your face.”

He had the what now? “What happened to my face?” He ran his hands over it, but he couldn’t feel anything wrong past the faint and fading itch.

And then all worries about any scars or blemishes fled Lance’s brain as Keith invaded his space and caused him to short-circuit. The Red Paladin frowned, stepping – much too – close to take Lance’s chin in hand, face inches away as he inspected whatever mark the Panta left. Blood rushed into Lance’s head, roaring in his ears and probably turning him the color of the Irklènders.

He tried not to think about Keith’s proximity or about how the last time they’d been so close, he was in Keith’s bed. He tried not to think anything at all. Lance just had to wait for Keith to remember society’s rules about personal space, and he’d be fine…That might take a while.

“Um…Keith?” Lance crushed his eyes closed, mortified at the anxious squeak in his voice.

“Your face has a glowing mark,” Keith muttered, frowning like the mark offended him. “Like a tattoo or something.”

And suddenly Lance had more to worry about than Keith being kissing distance away or his noticeably creaky voice. His eyes flew open, and he jerked away from Keith to feel all over his face for whatever held everyone’s attention. “It what?!”

“It’s not permanent,” the priestess assured him. Noting her amusement, Lance glared. Not that it remotely frightened the woman or lessened her humor. “It seems you gained the blessing not long ago.”

“You mean that crab thing?” Keith asked. He frowned and took off his helmet.

Everyone’s gaze shot to the Red Paladin as Lance slumped in relief. At least it wasn’t just him. There was an asterisk-shaped mark glowing dark purple under Keith’s cheekbone. It had been hidden by his helmet. “You’re glowing, too.”

Keith’s frown deepened, but overall, he seemed more okay with the prospect than Lance had been. “Okay. So we can fight this beast now, right?”

The priestess smiled. “You may. Perhaps our celebration may go on after all.”

“Someone must tell the Lady,” one of the others muttered. “She headed home.”

“I’ll go,” Pelzar volunteered. “I can let her know while the Paladins battle the Frankori.”

The priestess smiled at his enthusiasm. “Alright. I shall write a note for you to bring her. I thank you.”

“Is there anything we should know about this thing before we go kill it?” Lance asked.

“You shan’t kill it,” the priestess laughed. “None have managed in eons. Legend says even age harms no Frankori. No, you shall simply drive it away. Distract it while others gather the fruit and hopefully clear the garden for our future endeavors.”

“If this happens so often, why haven’t you planted the fruits somewhere else?” Keith huffed.

“We have tried,” one of the others said. “The fruit itself attracts the beasts.”

But Lance was with Keith. “Two gardens wouldn’t hurt. You can use one whenever the other’s too dangerous. Or hide the second one.”

The priestess hummed thoughtfully. “Perhaps. I shall think on it.”

They headed out without delay. If they wanted the celebration to happen on time, the beast had to be removed from the garden as soon as possible. To Lance’s pleasure and torture, Kila was their guide, but she took her job seriously, staying ahead of them and remaining grim.

Lance sighed. There was one point out of her favor. Why did the prettiest girls in space have to be so…focused?

That’s another Cáana thing, he noted. Focus and stoicism were fine – good traits to have in most cases – but Lance needed someone at least a little more laidback than Kila and Allura would ever be. Someone able to joke with him during serious moments and help keep things light. Maybe that’s why he liked Pidge and Coran so much.

“So where are we headed after this?” Keith asked Atteni as they walked. “What do we have to find on this island?”

“There’s a relic somewhere,” Atteni explained. “Guarded by Spinar’s servants. One of them will show us to it, and when they do, we will learn its history. Then, we can leave for our next, and final, destination…” He eyed the scenery wistfully. “It is a shame to leave so hastily, though. This island is beautiful and rich with history.”

Lance could imagine him sitting in the middle of some old ruins, reading scrolls – in Lance’s mind, the info was written on scrolls. Pelzar would stop by periodically to keep Atteni fed and get an occasional kiss. Lance held back a snort.

“I guess,” Keith muttered. Lance could swear he glared at Kila, but the expression was gone in seconds. “If you like stuff like that.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “You don’t like the island, Keith?”

“The island’s fine. There’s just nothing to do.”

Lance glanced around. He guessed that was true. The island would be nice for a short, relaxing vacation, but after a while, even he would get bored and long for a more productive activity. And Keith definitely needed more stimulation…and fewer people. It was nice to dream about paradise, though.

***

Eventually, they made it to the garden, and Lance saw the beast. No wonder no one could kill it. The thing was like one massive mixture between a lion and an armadillo. Hard outer shell with sharp claws and teeth. Great for offense and defense.

“Um, I’m really rethinking this mission,” he muttered.

Keith spared him a grin before charging head on. The beast snarled and jumped out of the way, and Keith narrowly avoided the tail. A tail as thick and solid as a bridge cable.

“Keith!”

The lion turned toward him and roared. Before it could do anything, Lance drew his bayard and began firing. Blue light bounced all around the area as the blasts rebounded from the armadillo shell, blowing through branches from the surrounding trees and narrowly missing Lance and friends.

Right. Awesome defense.

Lance stopped shooting. He absently noted Atteni and Kila diving to the side to escape the rebounded blasts.

“Hey, Growly!” Keith yelled.

The lion rumbled and turned to its new distraction.

“We’ll gather the fruits,” Atteni muttered, helping Kila up from the ground. “Just help the Red Paladin and keep it from noticing us.”

“You got it.”

Whatever blessing the Panta had given them didn’t seem to help. Sure, they didn’t die, but the lion kept a steady distance, preventing them from landing any attacks. All Lance and Keith could do was dodge, and even that only worked some of the time. Lance couldn’t count the number of times a paw or the tail swiped him into the ground. Only Keith’s quick and various distractions kept him from being eaten.

Why fruit attracted the thing, Lance didn’t know because teeth that sharp definitely belonged to a carnivore.

Unlike Lance, Keith wasn’t an easy target. He was too quick. A few times, he even managed to jump from the ground and onto the creature’s snout or head to avoid getting eaten. He couldn’t stay on the thing for long without getting thrown off, though. The few times he kept hold, the lion’s attention turned to Lance. Keith always jumped off and made noise or did something annoying to distract it again.

The fight cycled back and forth like that for a while with neither the paladins nor the lion gaining an upper hand.

Then, the beast got a lucky swipe in.

“Keith!”

The Red Paladin fell to the ground with a painful-sounding THUD!. The lion didn’t give him a chance to stand again. Instead, it pounced on him, holding him to the ground and growling menacingly in his face.

Fear, plain and terrible, filled Lance so completely that he couldn’t move. His and Keith’s souls were finally in agreement on an emotion, but it couldn’t be for a more horrifying reason.

Lance was sure that was the end. Keith would be monster chow. Bye bye, Voltron. Bye bye, Keith and the rivalry that barely existed anymore. What was Lance supposed to do without Keith in his life? Or would Keith’s death kill him, too, since they were bonded? Would he die from missing Keith and the bond?

Then, the beast reared back, staring at Keith in confusion.

What?

Lance couldn’t risk waiting to figure out what had happened, though. Warmth returned to his fingers, and he drew his blaster again. He needed to get that thing the hell away from his soulmate.

The lion growled at him, jumping to avoid his shots, but it still seemed dazed. Confused.

Lance followed the beast’s every retreat with his blaster. Not that the few attacks that landed even hurt the thing. The blasts rebounded off the lion’s shell, colliding with trees and blasting through fruits and flowers.

Kila shrieked as one nearly hit her, and Lance finally stopped shooting. Unfortunately, the animal took that as permission to stalk towards him. It wasn’t pouncing, though. It lifted its head to sniff the air. Again, it reared back.

“The blessing,” Keith muttered, climbing to his feet with a groan. He didn’t feel afraid anymore, just exhausted. That didn’t stop him from drawing his sword again. “I don’t think she wants to get near us.”

Lance tested it out. He stepped towards the beast. It stepped back. He took another step forward. Again, it stepped back.

“Keith, I think we can corral her out of here,” Lance said.

Keith nodded, and as Atteni and Kila gathered the necessary ingredients for the celebration, they chased the lion – Frankori – out of the garden, making sure to lead it away from the Servants’ village. The second they reached the treeline on the town’s outskirts, the Frankori ran away. Lance and Keith, slouching from both exhaustion and relief, returned to help Atteni and Kila gather fruit.

With the threat of imminent death gone, picking the fruits was a simple task – though, a guilty twinge flashed through Lance every time he caught sight of a splintered branch or the blasted fruit guts on the ground. Some of it looked a little too much like blood for his liking.

At one point, Kila couldn’t reach a purple, orange-like fruit, so Lance got it for her. She smiled shyly up at him, blushing a little. “Thank you, Blue Paladin.”

Lance could have crowed at the confirmation of her interest, but then she frowned and shook herself. After that, she showed no signs of returned affection. She practically avoided him, running away anytime he drew close. Had he done something wrong?

Not that it matters. He sighed, instinctively catching the fruit Keith lobbed toward him and dropping it into the basket. We won’t see each other after this anyway.

He didn’t know what he’d been thinking. A relationship wouldn’t be sustainable without communication. And communication was impossible when Lance spent all of his time traveling space.

***

Pelzar made it back to the priestess’s house before they did. “The Lady of the Hill was a delight,” he gushed. “She invited us to join her at her table for the celebration.”

“We can’t,” Keith denied. “We have to get back. We shouldn’t have been gone this long.”

Lance knew Keith was right, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. He and Pelzar exchanged disappointed gazes as Atteni nodded in agreement.

“We can return for the next celebration,” he said. “I’m sure she’ll extend the invitation again.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Lance doubted he and Keith could go, even if Pelzar and Atteni did.

Keith frowned at him. “When’s the next one?” he asked, turning to their friends. “In a year?”

“If it follows the same schedule in our myths, it occurs every six…I believe the Altean word is phoebs…” Atteni frowned, unsure. “We can contact you to let you know.”

If only. “We don’t know how to use the castle’s messaging system.” Lance sighed. It just wasn’t fair. “And Allura says that long distance messages are dangerous and should only be done in emergencies.”

Atteni’s frown deepened, but before he could say anything, the priestess came over to them.

“Thank you so much for your help, Paladins, princes.” She nodded at each of them. “It was lucky that you came to us on this day. And that you gained the Panta’s blessing to bond on your first attempt! Spinar provides!”

Lance gaped, holding up his hands to get her to stop. “Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean blessing to bond?”

The priestess paused, looking between the two of them in confusion. “The Panta…Her blessing is given to those whose love she deems worthy. To those who prove their love and compatibility. Most couples have to visit her several times to gain her approval, but I suppose I should have expected nothing less from the Paladins.”

Lance wondered how he could still be blindsided when every planet had married them. If one didn’t, that should be the surprise.

Atteni smirked. “I think that makes eleven.” Pelzar elbowed him as Lance and Keith just sighed.

“Where’s this relic?” Keith groaned.

They needed to finish the journey. It had been a day and a century, but they’d been married three times. With one other planet to go.

The priestess still looked confused, but she gestured to Kila. “Kila will show you the way.”

***

The relic was a coffin. Kind of depressing really, but it was gold and engraved with its inhabitant’s entire life story, and the mausoleum looked more like the pantheon on a sunny day than a ghost hangout. They stood there for an hour, listening to the history of Aphia the Ascended, and by the time Kila finished her tale and Aphia became a goddess, Lance was struggling not to sleep.

Keith nudged him. “Are you okay, Lance?”

“Yeah. Just tired. How long have we been awake?”

Keith shrugged. “Long enough. And we have one more stop.”

Lance groaned. If they had to fight a herd of bears on the next trip, he’d sit back and let the others handle it.

Before he could continue their conversation, Kila came up to them. Keith glared at her, annoyed, but Kila didn’t shy away. She’d probably grown used to the expression. “Blue Paladin? Can we speak?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

She didn’t answer, just looked to Keith. Clearly, she wanted privacy.

Keith didn’t budge.

Is he actually oblivious or refusing because he doesn’t like her?

When Lance sent Keith his own look, however, the Red Paladin rolled his eyes and left to join their friends. Lance blocked out the annoyance filtering over to him from Keith’s location and turned back to their beautiful guide.

Kila stared at her shoes. “I will speak honestly…Blue Paladin, on our planet, bonds are sacred. They are not something to be played with.”

Oh. That explained her sudden lack of interest.

“We didn’t mean to bond,” Lance said, resigned. “We didn’t even know it had happened.”

“Whether intended or not, your bond is true. It is now a part of you that you will never lose.” She glanced up, a strange and sad fire in her eyes. “You bonded with the Panta’s blessing. That is the highest honor a bonded pair can receive. To see you ignore her blessing and search out others…You cannot drag another into your relationship when bonded to someone else. It is not right. Both the other person and your bonded will be hurt by it because, whether you like it or not, the bond is a part of you. It will influence you more than you know.”

With that ominous statement, Kila walked ahead, resuming her role as guide.

Lance stared after her, feeling completely lost.

It will influence me?

Lance wanted to deny it, but hadn’t the bonds already done that? He and Keith were getting along so much better, and yeah, while that had a lot to do with him no longer being an idiot, the bonds had definitely instigated the change. Already, he and Keith planned to keep in touch after getting back to Earth. Lance, already, couldn’t stand to lose him.

And that stuff about the people he’d date? Keith wouldn’t care, but Kila had a point about how his future love interests would take it. His and Keith’s bond was unique. Nothing could or would ever emulate it, and they would be in each other’s lives for a long time. Forever, probably. What person wanted to compete with that?

“We didn’t mean to bond,” he muttered to himself, feeling hopeless. “What should I do? Be lonely the rest of my life?”

Lonely’s not an option. You’re bonded.

And maybe that made Lance feel the tiniest bit better.

Kila officially left them when they reached the priestess’s house. “I should join the others. Our festivities will be starting soon. Thank you for assisting us.” She grinned. “Not many people make such journeys anymore. I am glad I was able to participate in one.”

“No problem.”

Keith watched her go with more than a little relief. “Time to head out. One more stop.”

“One more stop,” Lance agreed. Then home. Or as close to home as he could get.

Chapter Text

Lance contemplated Kila’s warning all the way back to Red. He hadn’t meant to. Her words – while true – meant little to him. She didn’t understand the full scope of the situation, and he didn’t want to think about the consequences of spending life bonded to Keith. Or about the futility of finding someone to share that life with. Thinking about it meant giving up, and if Lance was anything, it was persistent.

But as they traversed the forceful currents, braved the sweltering sun, and shuffled from shifting sands to the cold, hard metal of the Red Lion’s ramp, Lance had too much time and nothing better to occupy it. So, he thought.

He thought about Kila’s anger: how she’d ignored him the second she realized he was bonded. He thought about her censure: her insistence that not intending to bond didn’t change the fact that he had. Then he thought about her hurt: her declaration that bringing anyone else into his relationship would only cause more pain. He thought about it all until his head spun and his eyes watered and his soul twinged from a desperate, ineffable loneliness.

Is it already ‘my relationship’? he wondered. When had it gone from Lance and Keith, two people bonded against their will, to Lance and Keith, soulmates? When had he decided Keith was a permanent part of his life? Was it just him projecting his feelings again? Or was it something more?

Maybe Kila understood more than he realized.

The initial Clang! of entering a Voltron Lion reverberated through his legs, but it was nothing to the echoing sadness of knowing he might never have someone to hold at night or grow old with. Lance wanted nothing more than to lay in his bed and sleep away the ache.

As they entered the cargo bay, Pelzar waved them ahead. “You two may go on. Atteni and I will stay here.”

“My love?” Atteni asked, furrowing his brow and seeming altogether less convinced of that plan.

Pelzar ignored him. “We’ll stay here,” he insisted.

Weird.

“Is everything alright?” Lance frowned between the couple as his previous worries slipped into the deeper recesses of his mind. He’d probably only see them again in his worst moments.

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

Even Atteni stared at him. Then Pelzar whispered something in his ear, and the older Irklènder’s confusion faded. Pelzar pulled back with a satisfied grin as Atteni waved Lance and Keith forward. “Go ahead. My Adexi and I must discuss something.”

“But-”

“Let’s just go, Lance,” Keith muttered, completely uninterested in the conversation. His soul flickered lowly, much slower and more reserved than usual, grabbing Lance’s attention.

What’s wrong with everyone?

You’re one to talk.

Lance ignored his inner Hunk and checked on his soulmate. Indigo eyes practically burned a hole in the cargo bay doors. “We need to fly to the last planet.”

And it all rushed back to Lance. Keith’s weird insistence that he sit in Red’s pilot seat. The control board lighting up. The Red Lion’s fiery consciousness connecting with his.

Keith wanted me to fly her, he remembered. Then: Keith was upset that I wouldn’t. Or maybe that he could. The reason for Keith’s earlier brooding wasn’t any clearer to Lance than the reason for his current mood.

When Lance finally mustered the courage to step through the doors, he saw that Keith had frozen midway to Red’s pilot seat.

“Are you alright, Keith?” he asked, already suspecting the answer. If Keith was alright, his usually roaring soul wouldn’t feel like dying embers. But why was he upset? He’d been mostly fine – if a little irritable – on the island. And what was with Pelzar and Atteni? None of their behavior made any sense to him.

Keith didn’t answer, just kept staring at the chair. “Lance? Can you do me a favor?”

Maybe Kila poisoned them? Lance immediately felt bad for the thought. Kila wouldn’t do that. Besides, they hadn’t eaten anything on the island.

…Actually, he was starving. They needed to finish up their path and get food, pronto…Which meant figuring out what Keith needed.

“What?”

The Red Paladin finally looked at Lance, and the steady flicker of his soul roared to life. Keith was determined. But what was he determined about?

“Sit in the seat.”

“Keith-” Lance shoved down the sudden apprehension and feeling of ‘I’m not good enough’. Red was too powerful for him. She needed Keith to pilot her. He was the only one capable.

“Lance, please…Shiro appointed me as leader if he couldn’t be…” Keith frowned at the seat again before glaring back at Lance. “Being leader means I have the final say here. You need to sit.”

Lance might have gotten mad at the audacity of that statement if Keith’s soul didn’t scream desperation and uncertainty.

Why did it mean so much to him? Why did he want Lance to pilot Red so badly? Even if something permanent did happen to Shiro and Keith took over, they could find someone else to pilot her. Allura, maybe? She was the daughter of the former Red Paladin.

But Keith looked so frantic. Practically wild with desperation.

Lance sighed. Then with a muttered, “That’s not how a team works,” he sat.

Once again, the controls powered up, and Red’s energy connected with his.

Every drop of air flew out of Lance’s lungs the second their minds touched. The rush of power replaced it, overwhelming his entire being until the atoms in his body nearly burst from oversaturation. He somehow survived the feeling, but he was hanging by a thread.

What should he do?

Keith came up behind him. “Relax. She needs a steady hand. Otherwise she’ll take off on her own and drag you along for the ride.”

“And you think I’m the man for the job?” Lance muttered. Blue was so much calmer. Her energy more manageable and guiding.

“You’re the only one I trust with her. And with me.” Keith soul shied away from Lance’s, showing his hesitance and gaining Lance’s attention. Then, Keith screwed up whatever courage he needed to admit, “What you just said…About the team…You’re right. I don’t know how a team works, let alone how to run one. If I’m going to lead Voltron, I need a right hand I can trust to keep me in line, Lance. Someone I can trust to protect the team and make sure I don’t get us killed.”

Lance stopped breathing. Right hand? He hadn’t thought of it that way. Still, Red was so powerful. “I don’t think I can do it,” he admitted.

“No one else can.”

They’d have to go without, then.

“Red’s a force of nature,” Lance argued. The Lion’s mind caught his irritation, absorbed it, and amplified it. He hurriedly stifled the emotion and recaptured the residual power from Red, knowing she was about to use the energy to take off.

But once Lance got ahold of himself and the lion, Keith smiled. “If you ask me, so’s Leoncio McClain García.”

Why did Keith have to be so inspiring? Lance gaped at him, but the Red Paladin – was he still? – just kept smiling at him with that knowing amusement.

“You can do this, Lance. You were the first of us to fly a lion. And you didn’t have any coaching or anything. You just did it. Because that’s who you are.” Keith reached out both physically and mentally, and the task of keeping Red grounded became a lot more bearable. “Here.”

Lance wanted to pull away, but what reason could he give? Keith was just trying to help him.

He tensed as the other’s hand covered his and moved it to the starting controls. Their souls fully intertwined, and Keith connected to Red with him, easing Lance’s mind into a steadier and more harmonious thrum with the Red Lion’s. He wasn’t controlling her, but he wasn’t letting her energy jostle his, just remaining steady and moving with her, in some cases guiding hers along. Despite himself, Lance started to relax. But only a little.

“Are you ready?”

Lance opened his eyes. He hadn’t realized he’d closed them.

“Y-yeah. Let’s do this.”

Keith smiled at him and moved his other hand – now fully wrapping himself around Lance – to press some other buttons on the console. “Atteni programmed our destination into Red’s system. We just have to get her there.”

“Right.”

Lance focused on their joined hands as Keith accessed the data, pulling it up on screen. He focused on the guiding feeling of calm centeredness Keith projected. If he lost that focus for even a moment, he might react to Keith’s arms encompassing him, and that was something he couldn’t do. Not when Keith could feel every twist and turn of his emotions.

Red thrummed with power, itching to move. To run. To fly. Only Keith’s steady presence inhibited their takeoff. Then Keith pulled away.

Lance shrieked as Red jumped into orbit. “Keith!”

And Keith’s soul was back. Controlling, calming.

“Relax,” Keith repeated. “Center yourself.”

So Lance breathed and closed his eyes again. He tried to mimic Keith’s steadiness. Tried to apply that to his own bond with Red. (He couldn’t believe he had a bond with Red.)

When Lance felt ready, he nodded, and Keith slowly pulled away again. It was jerky at first, Red pulling to the left or right, up or down, at the drop of a hat, but Lance eventually had her moving in a straight line.

“I’m flying her,” he said, amazed.

Keith smiled; though a low sadness hid deep beneath the pride he felt. “Knew you could do it.”

Lance’s concentration broke, and Red jerked to the right. He hurriedly reconnected with the lion.

“Keith,” he muttered, doing his best to concentrate on flying Red and talking at the same time. Keith made it look easy.

“Yeah?”

“…Don’t worry. You’ll make a great leader. Even without me, you’d be awesome.”

Keith looked shocked at the admission, but he must have sensed Lance’s truthfulness because a hopeful smile dawned across his face.

***

Lance would love to call it a perfect landing, but it was more like a perfect crash. Flying Red and keeping her in line was one thing; stopping was another lesson entirely. As they entered the upper atmosphere of planet Inimore, he panicked and lost control, sending them careening into the dusky valley at breakneck speeds.

He jerked to avoid the stone mansion nestled between the hills – Can’t risk hitting people! – and veered toward an area clear of innocent victims.

VABOOM! The sound echoed through the surrounding area, and even from within Red, Lance could hear trees collapsing from the aftershocks.

Oops?

Keith groaned, still clutching the back of Lance’s seat. At some point during their collision, Lance had felt his head collide with the metal, but the Red Paladin armor protected him from the worst injuries.

“I’ll…dig us out of this,” Keith muttered.

Lance blushed and happily relinquished his seat. Though, the spinning in his head made standing difficult.

As Keith maneuvered Red out of the crater they’d formed in the mansion’s yard, he winced. “…We’ll work on speed control next.”

“Right…”

Atteni and Pelzar acted like nothing happened. They were sitting against the wall, completely composed and immersed in conversation, when Lance and Keith emerged. Lance may have bought it if not for Pelzar’s mussed, neon-pink hair and the smear of blood on Atteni’s forehead.

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you guys okay?”

Pelzar grinned at him. “What makes you think we wouldn’t be?”

No use pointing out his embarrassment if they didn’t want to bring it up. “Nothing, I guess. Let’s head out.”

Miraculously, the crash hadn’t gotten anyone’s attention. Or maybe there was no one whose attention they could draw. The valley around them seemed mostly empty, and while the mansion looked well-kept for a lone, stone castle nestled between two mountains, that didn’t mean anyone lived there.

But Lance could swear there’d been a hedge-maze garden behind it that looked decently maintained. A garden that huge couldn’t care for itself.

“So, what’s next?” he asked their self-appointed guides. “Climbing the mountain? Scaling down a cliff?”

“Actually,” Atteni gestured to the mansion. “We just knock.”

Knock? “You mean we actually landed at our destination this time?” Lance asked, incredulous. The other planets on the Path of the Elders all involved lengthy travel. What was so different about this one?

Pelzar shrugged. “It’s the last planet.”

Keith’s aura flickered nervously, tickling the edges of Lance’s and giving him goosebumps that he tried to ignore. (No way was he letting Keith’s paranoia infect him.) The Red Paladin all but glared at the fortress. “What happens here?”

“All anyone knows before their first journey on the Path is that this is where we obtain the gods’ blessing,” Atteni admitted.

Only one way to find out what that meant. Lance led the way to the front door and knocked. It opened almost immediately.

“Paladins!” an old man cheerfully greeted. He seemed too happy to have heard Lance’s crash. Maybe the castle walls were soundproof?

But no, his eyes almost pointedly avoided the spot between Pelzar and Atteni – where the crater sat, 100% visible beneath the moon’s glow – even as they flickered from one Irklènder to the other. “And princelings! Welcome. We’ve been expecting you.”

Keith stiffened. “Expecting?” His hand twitched toward his bayard.

On instinct, Lance sent a jolt of pure emotion to stop him. Despite the less than specific communication method, Keith must have gotten the message because his glare turned to Lance…But his hand withdrew, leaving the weapon in its resting place.

Cool. Need to do that more often.

“Principal Kyria informed us of your journey,” the old man explained, unaware of how close he’d come to decapitation. “It has been much too long since anyone other than budding principals or kings embarked on the Path of the Elders! And to get two couples celebrating their Bainitet at once!” The guy clasped his hands in joy. “I wish you all the best.”

“What exactly do we do to gain the gods’ favor? Do we pray? Find a sacred flower and bring it to you?” Skepticism danced across Atteni’s tongue as he asked the question, but his expression remained clear of any critical emotion. All of those years with his father as principal must have given him a hell of a poker face.

For most people anyway. Pelzar poked him.

The old man laughed. “No. No. Of course not. Come in, and I shall explain.”

Eldwin – as he told them to call him – led them through so many ivy-covered hallways that Lance felt like they were traveling through some sort of forested Balmera rather than a temple. Eventually, however, they stepped into a dining area.

Dozens of other people sat inside, talking and laughing and generally bringing life to the party. All the occupants sat at various, circular tables around the room, and all of them wore some sort of robes in various colors. They looked like monks.

We are trying to gain the gods’ favor, I guess.

If Lance had any food other than the snack bars from Red in his stomach, he might have felt more guilty about interrupting their dinner. As it was, he only felt jealous. What would it take to get some of that meat stew?

“Everyone!” Eldwin called, gaining the revelers’ attention. The hall grew eerily quiet as all eyes turned to them. “I’d like to introduce the Red and Blue Paladins of Voltron, as well as Atteni and Pelzar, princelings of Irklènd. They have almost completed their Path. The first citizens in two hundred revolutions to do so!”

Cheers echoed around the room, and a few people toasted as Eldwin moved on, leading them to a table at the other end.

Only four people occupied that table, and their robes looked different than the others’. Forest green where everyone else’s were blue, gray, or purple. They seemed to be made of a better material as well.

These must be the priests and priestesses.

Eldwin led the greetings and introductions, but Lance was only interested in one thing – other than the food, which he piled onto his plate to dig in. He’d gone so long without nourishment that his stomach panged with every successful bite, but he was too hungry to care. “So, what do we do here? How do we finish the Path?”

“In theory, you already have,” the woman who’d been introduced as Zunnera said. “You learn here if you successfully obtained the gods’ favor, but it is your previous adventures that determine it.”

Keith frowned at her. Like Lance, he’d piled his plate with food, and he finished swallowing before asking, “What do you mean?”

“Over dinner, you will tell us of your journey,” another priest, Clarus, said. “What did you encounter in Ahm’s mountains, and what did you learn from the Isle of Spinar? After hearing your stories and interpreting the signs, we sleep for a night to allow the gods their say. Then we determine if your Path was completed or not.”

So the success or futility of their task was up to the people in front of them. Great.

A gleam entered Eldwin’s eyes as he added, “Though, I believe Principal Kyria would wish for not.” He laughed.

Clarus ignored him. “So?” he prodded, not quite glaring at Lance and friends. “Describe your journey.”

Atteni and Pelzar went first, taking turns to detail their personal journeys up the mountain before moving on to the events on Hiwi. The monks all looked shocked but moderately impressed when they explained their missions on the island, though they left out any part Lance and Keith had to play.

Then came the moment of truth. To lie or not to lie? Lance and Keith exchanged a look.

“Well?” Eldwin prodded. “Which of you wishes to tell your tale first?”

Keith faced them. “My path-”

“We hiked up the mountain together,” Lance admitted. Better to tell the truth than be caught in a lie. Besides, he really didn’t want to invent some adventure.

Their hosts gaped. Clarus dropped his spoon with a CLANK!, splashing stew across the table, while the others stared with the things still raised to their mouths, ready to bite once they regained their senses.

“Together?” Clarus ignored his mess to glare at them. “That mountain is meant to be traveled separately. You dare throw years of tradit-”

“Wait,” Pelzar encouraged. “You have not heard what happened.”

The man huffed but gestured for them to continue.

“…We went together,” Keith said, eyeing Lance. “We took the left path. Through the archway-”

Zunnera gaped. “The archway? And you survived? And completed it?!”

“I suppose if anyone could, it’s the paladins,” Nera muttered thoughtfully.

“What happened?” Eldwin prodded, seeming almost excited. He’d even abandoned his stew to stare at them in anticipation.

Lance wished he knew what they expected to hear. “We just walked. There were some killer vines, but we cut through them. The only other problem was the heat and lack of water...And apparently some animals we were able to avoid.”

“The path is a long one. How did you manage so quickly without hydration?” Marique asked.

“We found a waterfall.”

Another gasp.

“You found Sevda’s Falls?”

“Uh…Probably?” Why was Lance getting a bad feeling? “We needed water. We didn’t jump in or anything, just drank it.”

“Make that twelve,” Atteni muttered.

What?

“Paladins…” Eldwin breathed, wide-eyed in wonder. “That mountain was chosen for the Path of the Elders due to its importance to our people. Our first recorded leader, Queen Sevda, was gravely injured on a journey through the mountains. She met her husband when he nursed her back to health next to those very falls. To this day, the goblet she drank from remains there as a symbol of their love. In eons past, before our people migrated, they would traverse the mountain with intent to find Sevda’s Falls and drink from the goblet, declaring their love.”

“So, you’re saying we married twice on that mountain?” Keith demanded.

“Twice?!”

“We found a tablet,” Lance explained, feeling weak. “There were some words written on it, and…” The rest was history. Sad, annoying, and predictable history.

Eldwin frowned. “What words?”

“Uh…Life. Love. Family. Union.”

Zunnera scoffed. “Those words would not marry you. What gave you that impression?”

“The forest reacted.”

“You must have imagined things.”

Lance could accept her attitude if it meant they’d only married eleven times instead of twelve. Back to square one. Lance and Keith shared a grimace.

“Did anything else happen on Ahm?” Eldwin asked.

He almost didn’t want to tell them now. “…Our rocks combined.”

“They mean at the peak,” Atteni clarified.

“And once combined, they started glowing,” Pelzar added.

The priests looked faint. “I have only heard tales of such an occurrence,” Nera said. “It only happens with twin souls.”

For a moment, no one spoke, then Eldwin gestured them onward. “Continue your tale, Paladins. What happened on the next planet?”

Lance and Keith told them. No other surprise revelations happened – for them; the monks couldn’t believe they’d gained the Panta’s favor on their first attempt – and Lance could have danced from relief.

“Well,” Eldwin declared. “You have certainly given us much to think about, but after such an adventure, you must be tired.” He turned to one of the tables near theirs. “Gale!”

One of the people sitting at the other table perked up, stopping mid-conversation to give them his whole attention.

Eldwin gestured him over. “Show our guests to their rooms, please.”

“At least it’s almost over,” Keith whispered to Lance on their way up the stairs. “When we get back-”

“The others will kill us for disappearing.”

Keith laughed. “Not until Shiro wakes up.”

“You’re right. They can’t be down three paladins.” Lance agreed. Despite himself, he smiled. They may have been married three times in one day – and probably one more before they were through – but Keith was smiling and joking. Things weren’t all bad.

“And when he’s awake,” Keith continued, “he’ll convince them to just banish us.”

I doubt they’ll let us take the lions. “Where should we go?”

“If they’re too mad to drop us off at Earth?” Keith asked.

Lance nodded.

“Hmmm. We could always stay on Irklènd. Pelzar and Atteni are our friends. They’d take us in.”

“Not if Principal Kyria has any say in it,” Lance denied.

But Keith just shrugged. “We’ll visit a new planet, then.”

“One with a beach.”

“One with a beach,” he agreed. “And plenty of deserts.”

“I don’t want it too hot.”

Keith snorted. “What? You don’t want an excuse to take off your shirt and flirt with girls shirtless?”

Before Lance could even think to answer that, Gale said, “Paladins, this is your room. I hope you find it to your tastes,” and any thought of jokes and flirting and Keith being shirtless, too, flew from his head.

Did he just say ‘room’?

Lance frowned at the door. ‘Room,’ as in singular. As in-

Shit. We’re married, aren’t we? That means sharing a room. Before he could try to ask for a separate space, Gale slipped around a corner and out of sight.

Keith sighed. “Come on. Let’s just get to sleep.”

Lance’s worst fears were realized when he walked into the room and saw one bed. “I’ll take the floor,” he volunteered. “I’m tired enough to fall asleep wherever.”

Keith looked at Lance like he was an idiot. “Is there any reason other than your Straight Man Syndrome that we can’t share the bed?”

Straight Man Syndrome? Was he calling Lance out? Did he know Lance was- No. Keith couldn’t know. He just thought Lance was being his usual, obnoxious self.

“Keith, I don’t mind taking the floor. Really.”

“I’m not dealing with you in the morning after sleeping on the floor. We’re sharing the bed, Lance.”

“Keith-”

“Lance, get on the damn bed.” Keith added an impressively – and eerily – realistic growl to his command. For a moment, it even looked like his eyes slitted like a cat’s. It must have just been Lance’s imagination, though, because when he blinked, they looked completely normal again.

Lance was definitely in no shape to share the bed after that. Shit. Please tell me he can’t feel that.

Keith didn’t stop glaring until Lance had climbed onto the bed.

“Happy now?” he asked, injecting as much annoyance into his voice as possible. Trying to cover up any other feelings.

“Yes.” Keith quickly joined him and reached over to turn off the light, but Lance stopped him.

“You realize I have a nightly routine to follow, right?”

Keith turned to him, incredulous. “None of your skincare products are here!”

“I can still shower. It’s been a long day!” Lance could feel the grime coating his everything. He remembered the slime from the vines and grimaced.

“You couldn’t have thought of that before getting in the bed?”

Lance gaped. “You ordered me on here!”

Keith just gave him a look.

“You’re just as dirty as me, you know!”

“Yeah, and I don’t care. The sooner we sleep, the sooner we can get out of here.”

“Well, I can’t sleep in a dirty bed.”

“Fine, then take a shower.”

“If we’re sharing the bed, you need one, too, Mullet.”

“You take your shower, then I will. Then, can we sleep?”

“Fine.”

***

Lance should have thought through the shower thing. He was used to sharing a bathroom and showering with people next door. He had a family of eleven, for crying out loud. He’d lived in a dorm.

He also usually slept alone afterwards. Showering – naked! – knowing Keith was waiting in the bed just outside the door…Knowing they’d be sleeping in the same bed when he got out…Lance wanted to stay in the shower for the rest of their trip. It felt safer, somehow. Then, he thought about what Keith had said.

What the hell is Straight Man Syndrome?

He already knew the answer.

Keith’s right, though. Sleeping in the same bed doesn’t mean anything. You used to share a bed with Rachel. Man up and get out there.

Keith’s not Rachel.

Lance thought about lying in bed, pressed against Keith. He’d probably be hot as his lion. Comforting in the chill of the night air and unfamiliar surroundings. His arms would circle around Lance and hold on protectively, shielding him from whatever dangers his paranoia dreamed up after a day filled with weirdness. Their souls would intertwine and lull Lance into a comfortable and restful sleep.

He wanted that so badly he ached.

You just want someone to hold, he tried to tell himself. Kila rejected you earlier, and you’re still feeling that.

But Lance couldn’t rid himself of the thought that, pretty as she was, he didn’t really care about Kila’s rejection. The only part that stuck with him were her words about the bond. And as worried as he was about companionship and the future of his love life, a part of him still held on to the fact that he and Keith were bonded. With that bond, he’d never be lonely. And Keith would never let him be either.

“Lance!” his soulmate called from the opposite side of the door. “Are you seriously trying to hog all the hot water?!”

Lance jolted, nearly slipping. Once he caught himself and gathered his voice – trying to feel normal and not like he was hanging off the edge of a very steep cliff – he yelled back, “This is payback for the Bainitet!”

“Well, if I don’t have hot water, I’m sleeping without a shower!”

Lance laughed, enjoying Keith’s annoyance even if it was unintentional, but he turned off the water and grabbed the clothes he’d found in the closet to change into while his armor dried.

“It’s clear,” he announced once he was decent. Seeing Keith’s vengeful glare, Lance grinned. Was there anything better than riling Mullet up? Even accidentally?

The Red Paladin muttered very unflattering things as he stalked past, and Lance snickered until his eyes landed on the bed. Then, all of his amusement died.

How could one piece of furniture be so intimidating?

Will it really be so bad? he wondered. Realizing how badly he wanted to curl up next to Keith and feel how it felt to be next to someone when sleeping, he realized that yes. Yes, it would.

The second Keith stepped out of the shower – looking much too handsome with his post-shower glow, dripping hair, and the purple monks’ robes covering him – Lance declared, “That’s my side of the bed, and that’s yours. Stay on your side, and everything will be fine.”

It took Keith a moment to process the words. When he did, he rolled his eyes. “Did you seriously stay awake just to tell me that?”

Lance could have kicked himself. Somehow, he hadn’t imagined they could go to bed at separate times. He hadn’t questioned his waiting for Keith, even though he could have climbed in at any point and fallen asleep before Sleeping with Keith™ became an actual problem. If he’d already been asleep when Keith came out, he could have spent the night in blissful ignorance.

When no answer came, Keith snorted and scowled. “Right. Well, get on ‘your side’ then. I promise I won’t feel you up in your sleep. Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I’m a pervert.”

What?

But Keith was already climbing into bed.

“Keith, I didn’t mean-”

“Whatever. Just go to sleep, Lance.”

‘Never let your partner go to sleep mad, mijo,’ his Papá once told him. ‘If it’s important, it’s important enough to work through then and there. If it’s not, there’s no point staying angry.’

At the time, Lance had jokingly asked if his Mamá’s anger over the dirty plate in the sink was in the former category. Now, he couldn’t help staring at Keith and realizing some things could be both. Lance hadn’t meant anything by the comment, but for some reason, Keith had taken it that way.

“Keith, that’s not what I meant,” he repeated. “I just- I used to share a bed with my twin sister, and she always kicked me in her sleep.” True story. Lance still hadn’t forgiven her. “That’s why I said that.” Not remotely true.

Keith rolled over, and a little annoyance left his gaze and aura. Though, he still looked suspicious. “If you say so.”

The words ‘Straight Man Syndrome’ reverberated through Lance’s head, but Keith released his glare and pulled up the comforter with a sigh. “Come on. Just get in the bed already. I’m tired.”

Lance practically launched himself there. Thank God. Crisis averted.

***

Sleeping next to Keith was surprisingly easy. Sure, at first Lance was too keyed up to close his eyes – Keith was right behind him, laying back-to-back with him – but when the bed shifted and Lance turned over to check the cause, he found himself lost in hidden eyes, soft breathing, and the light flush of sleep…and the knowledge that Keith had unconsciously turned toward him.

He’s kind of cute when he’s asleep.

The tension inside Lance relaxed, and before he knew it, he succumbed to the soothing lull of Keith’s breaths.

He woke up confused.

Dark, unfamiliar room. Strange bed covered in rough blankets. Soft but breezy clothes. Where was he? Why did the space next to him feel so empty?

“What are you doing, Samurai?” he muttered as his groggy eyes noticed his soulmate’s form near the bedroom door.

Keith continued leaning against the door with his ear pressed into the wood, but he spared enough attention to shush Lance. Every inch of him screamed ‘fierce protector.’

What’s going on? Lance sat up, even more confused but much more alert. “Keith?”

“The priests are moving,” he whispered. “I think they’re up to something.”

“It’s probably a religious ritual. Or they’re deciding our fates.”

“You don’t find it weird that we had so much more involvement on the other planets?” Keith asked. “And we couldn’t fly directly to the areas on those ones, but this one we could?” He pulled away from the door, itching with irritation as he muttered, “They told us they’d sleep all night to hear the gods’ opinion…I’m gonna follow them.”

“Keith…”

Keith didn’t look at him. “I just want to check it out. I’ll be back later.”

Before he could open the door, Lance leapt out of bed and grabbed his arm. He ignored the jolt of shock that Keith unconsciously projected to him. “No you don’t. You can’t kill innocent monks just because you’re paranoid. I’m coming with you.”

“I’m not paranoid.” But Keith smiled at him and gestured down the hall. “They went this way.”

Lance followed Keith as he tracked the priests’ movements. Though how Keith knew where to go, he hadn’t the slightest idea. There was no one in sight. All Keith said when Lance asked was that he could hear them.

He has scary good ears.

Keith’s ears led them through hallways and rooms and courtyards. It was enough to get anyone lost. Lance softly mourned their bed as Keith finally stopped in the middle of the garden. They’d traveled so far out that the hedges hid even the highest points of the mansion from view.

“Where are they?” Keith muttered, glaring at a particularly noisy amphibian. It sat at the edge of a stone fountain that would have been beautiful if it wasn’t a reminder of how lost they were.

Lance sighed. “Wherever they want to be. Come on, Keith. Let’s go back.” If they could find the way, anyway.

Just turn around, right? Once they got to the mansion, they could figure out the rest.

It looked like Keith might actually listen, but then his gaze caught on something behind Lance.

“Wait. Look at that.”

Lance turned, curious despite himself. He was glad he did because there in front of them, in the middle of a garden filled with beautiful flowers and luscious fruits, situated just feet from that luminous fountain with the annoying unicorn-toad, was an even more magnificent sight. An enormous lion-shaped hedge.

“It’s Red.”

“No. It looks more like Blue. Or maybe the Green Lion?”

Lance stepped closer to run a hand over the leg. The leaves felt smooth as the leaves on most of Earth’s shrubs, and it left a bitter homesickness in his stomach. Would they get hedges dedicated to them when they got back? Would the people on Earth even know about the war? Would they tell them if they didn’t?

“I wonder if the other lions are here somewhere…” Shaking off the brief yearning, Lance raised an eyebrow and turned to Keith. “Still think they’re trying to kill us?”

“I didn’t say they wanted to kill us,” Keith muttered. He glared around the garden. “I just think this is too easy. There has to be some sort of test.”

“Well, if there is, we’ll need sleep to get through it. Come on.”

Keith sighed and nodded. “Alright. Lead the way.”

Lance hesitated. “Um…Why don’t you lead the way?” he pressed, not wanting to admit he had no clue where to go. Had the fountain been on the left or right when they arrived?

Keith shifted awkwardly. “I don’t know how to get back.”

“…Neither do I.”

They stared blankly at each other before they both sighed in resignation. “Walk until we find the way out?” Lance proposed.

“Guess so.”

For a whole minute, they walked in silence, but Lance couldn’t bring himself to mind. The garden was beautiful. The insects and animals filled the quiet with their midnight choir. Fragrance floated around them, coating them in a weird mix of fruity and spiced perfume. It wasn’t even that dark since lanterns and bugs flew through the air, and nothing about the ambiance allowed for awkwardness or depressing thoughts. The nightlife captured his full attention.

Like those red flowers, hanging from a trellis and spouting steam. Or the furry creature scuttling from vine to vine, nibbling at petals and picking berries.

“This place is beautiful,” he muttered. It may even beat Spinar’s Island.

“Yeah,” Keith agreed, surprising him. When he saw Lance’s face, he crossed his arms. “What? I can tell when things are pretty.”

“If you say so.” Lance smiled and turned to inspect a nearby flower. A firefly flew inside it, illuminating it in a greenish glow, and he waited for the insect to leave before bringing the purple bud to his nose. It smelled like cinnamon.

After a few more moments of walking, Keith said, “Can I ask you something, Lance?”

Lance turned away from the distant fruit he’d been eyeing. It called to him like a siren, but the odds of it marrying them were too big. “What is it?”

A sudden spike in Keith’s nerves pricked at his skin, making him more curious. “I heard what Kila said to you.”

Lance stiffened, and he suddenly wished to be anywhere else. Keith had what?

“…And what you said after.”

“And?” Lance pressed, feeling more than a little defensive.

“You probably already know this, but I’ll be fine…if you date people. It won’t- You can be with other people.”

Lance didn’t know why Keith was telling him something he already knew, especially with how awkward the conversation was for him. It was awkward and painful to Lance, too, just for different reasons.

“It’s not that,” he admitted. “I know you’ll be fine. I just…Who would understand our bond and actually want to date someone bonded to someone else? They’d see the bond as a threat.”

Keith frowned. “See me as a threat, you mean.”

Lance flinched.

“I won’t interfere in your relationships, Lance.”

“You would interfere just by being in my life, Samurai.” Before Keith could take that the wrong way, Lance added, “And I want you in my life. We’ll both just have to find people that can deal with that.”

Keith smiled. “I want you in my life, too. Even if you annoy me and hog the hot water.”

“Gee. Thanks.” But Lance laughed, and the night brightened again.

As they settled into another comfortable silence and continued their walk, Lance’s eyes drifted to Keith. The Red Paladin smiled as some squirrel-like creatures ran past, chasing and chattering with each other. He stopped whenever they passed a particularly interesting plant or sculpture and was nearly blinded when one flower blew bubbles in his curious face.

Lance laughed and joked and had an overall great time. He found himself glancing toward Keith again…And again. And again, until he never looked away at all. Until he saw the tops of the mansion slipping into sight from his periphery and slowed their gait, wanting to spend as much time with Keith in that garden as possible.

How can someone be so beautiful?

Maybe it was the backdrop of the night sky, but the moon and lanterns lit around Keith in a more superior halo to the one that had surrounded Kila on Spinar’s Island. The light danced in his dark hair and highlighted his cheekbones. The glow from the fireflies reflected in his eyes, lending them an even brighter liveliness than normal. And Keith looked softer, more human, with just the moon and the garden around them. His soul sang, and Lance…Lance wanted to respond. He almost let the song drag him in until their souls twined together again. Almost sank into their bond until he knew nothing else.

What am I doing? he wondered. Why was Keith so hypnotic? Why was Lance so susceptible?

Keith’s gaze sharpened, soul tugging excitedly at Lance’s to get his attention – he already had all of it – when he spotted a particular plant. “That’s a myrtle flower, right?”

Lance turned away from Keith for the first time in ages. Why was that so difficult to do? His soul sang out again, begging to join with Keith’s. Lance lassoed it back.

Stop it. The last thing we need is more confusion. It was just the soul bond. Lance hadn’t felt that way before the soul bond.

“Looks like it,” he finally answered. The struggle to suppress his soul left him oddly breathless, but he endeavored to hide that fact from Keith. “But we are on an alien planet…I can’t believe you remembered that.”

“It’s hard to forget our first marriage.” Keith grinned at him, and the moon caught his hair again. Indigo eyes softened, still twinkling beneath the lantern light.

Lance was suddenly breathless for a totally different reason. If the rest of their lives would be that torturous, maybe he should walk away. But leaving would bring a torture all its own.

“You said your sister-in-law wanted them for her wedding?” Keith continued, turning back to the flower to inspect it.

“Yeah. It took her months to give up and resign to the orchids.” Lance smiled a little, remembering his brother’s relief at finally convincing her it didn’t matter. “My brother Luís was so grateful I almost thought he would propose to the flower clerk that got her to give in.”

“He’s your older brother?”

“Yeah. By eleven years.”

Keith turned back to him, seeming intent but still somehow soft. “How many siblings do you have?”

Lance didn’t know why Keith was so interested, but he was glad for the chance to talk about his family. “Five. Two sisters, two brothers, and then Lisa, my sister-in-law.”

“You said you had a twin?”

“Yeah. My sister Rachel. She’s the most annoying person you’ll meet.”

A smirk danced at the edges of Keith’s lips, but to his credit, he mostly suppressed it. “Definitely your twin.”

“Hey.” But Lance smiled, too. He gestured in the general direction of their surroundings. “She would have loved this place. She loves helping Mamá garden.”

While the monks’ garden exceeded anything his Mamá and sister could manage on their own, Lance much preferred the one at home. He imagined being back there, watering or weeding the flowers, walking between the lilies and violets with bees buzzing and birds fluttering around him. The sun would beam down, and he’d milk the tan that it gave him until any girl – or guy – he flirted with grew more than sick of him.

He imagined bringing Keith home and showing him his Mamá’s garden. Imagined walking through the flowers and talking and generally enjoying each other’s company as Nadia and Sylvio ran around in the distance and the rest of his family kept busy with whatever tasks they chose that day. Would Keith like that? Would he be as interested in the Earth plants as he seemed to be with the ones on Inimore? Would he like Lance’s family or be as wary of them as everyone else made him?

“What did you do back home?” Keith prodded, cutting through Lance’s daydream.

Lance flushed. Luckily, Keith couldn’t see his thoughts. “Mostly helped with the animals. When I realized my fighter pilot dreams, though, a lot of time was taken up by studying to get into the Garrison. My sister Veronica helped.” Lance smiled, remembering the many hours of torturous lectures. Veronica definitely believed in the benefits of tough love. “She’s training to be an analyst with the Garrison.”

“Is she older or younger?”

“Older. Rachel and I are the youngest of our siblings.” A fact that Lance resented deeply. He’d been born last, too, so his siblings always called him the baby.

“I think I know her,” Keith murmured, frowning in thought. “Veronica, I mean. She bought me lunch once after Shiro left for Kerberos. I’d left my money in my room but didn’t have time to get it because of detention.”

“That sounds like something she’d do,” Lance agreed. His soul hummed with the knowledge of his sister’s kindness. No one deserved that kindness more than Keith, and realizing his soulmate and his sister got along in even a small way made him happier than he could express. “It’s weird that she didn’t tell me, though. It’s the type of thing she’d lord over me. ‘Guess who I bought lunch for today, hermano. Your rival.’”

He chuckled to himself at the thought. He loved his sister.

A strange sort of amusement filtered over to him from Keith’s side of the bond. When he looked, Keith was smiling at him, lips twitching periodically in an effort to withhold laughter. “What?”

“You talked to your sister about me?”

Why did I have to say that? “…No.”

Keith’s amusement only worsened. “Sure. Whatever you say.”

Lance couldn’t let that topic linger any longer than it already had. “What did you do to get detention?”

Keith shrugged, still smiling knowingly. His soul taunted at the edge of Lance’s, tugging like, ‘I know now. You can’t hide anything from me.’ Lance desperately hoped he’d translated wrong.

“I snuck into Shiro’s old apartment. I’d left something there and needed it, but no one would let me in. They caught me on my way out…It’s still back there in my house…”

Those jerks, Lance thought. Shiro wouldn’t have cared if they let Keith in to stay, let alone to get something that belonged to him.

“When we get back, we can prank Iverson,” he decided. Whether Iverson had anything to do with Keith’s detention was irrelevant. As the epitome of all things Garrison, he was definitely the man to punish. “Between the two of us, we can pull off something awesome, and we’re good enough that he’ll never catch us.”

Keith smiled at him. “We do make a good team.”

And for the third time that night, Lance’s breath soared from his lungs. Maybe there were magical, breath-stealing fairies hovering around them. Maybe he wasn’t just in over his head and fixing to drown. “…Exactly.”

“What should we do?” Keith prodded. “Put shaving cream in his desk drawer?”

“Nah. Too boring. We can do better.”

They abandoned the myrtle flowers to the fireflies and fairies as they wandered back toward the mansion, continuing their – only half-joking – plans for revenge.

Lance had almost convinced Keith to use Red in their scheme when something caught his attention. Who turned off the crickets? Throughout their stroll, various animals and insects had kept up a steady chorus of activity, lending noise and life to the otherwise dead surroundings. The lack of it was not only creepy but wrong. Where had the animals gone?

And they were gone. Lance could still hear Keith. He could make out the rustling of leaves and the general rush of wind whenever a breeze blew through, but no other sounds reached his ears.

“Do you feel that?” Keith muttered, hackles rising.

Lance stretched his senses, only to shudder back. An ice-cold pulse of energy emitted just around the corner to their right. It tugged at the edges of his soul, and the last thing he wanted was to move closer.

“We should ignore it,” he decided, but Keith ignored him to stalk toward the source of that steady surge of power.

Sadly, Lance knew Keith was right. As Paladins, it was their job to investigate weird phenomena and protect the universe from anything dangerous.

They followed the strange energy to what seemed to be the corner of the garden. The mansion sat just past the hedge, much more tempting than it had been only minutes before. All they needed was an opening – or one good jump – and they’d be one step closer to their bed. But any attraction sleep might hold for Lance was dwarfed by the power pouring off The Flower.

It sat in the corner of the clearing, nestled within the safety of a stone vase. Compared to some of the other plants they’d seen, it was small, but no one could miss it. Not when every drop of light from hedge to hedge bent toward it, disappearing the second they touched the pitch black petals or stem.

Lance almost thought he was looking at a flower-shaped emptiness – a sort of bend in the universe where he just couldn’t see – but no. It was a flower. The petals may have seemed more like perpetual shadow than physical reality, but they were connected to a stem that ended in a soil-filled vase. The air around the flower may have frozen, and the glow of the fireflies in the surrounding air may have dimmed, but the centerpoint of the flower glowed silver with the abundance of collected light and lent the flower a more definable shape.

He wanted to touch it, but that would probably be a bad idea.

“There’s a plaque under it.”

Lance followed Keith’s gaze and tried to read it. He couldn’t, of course. The only available light came from that faint, silver glow, and the portion of the plaque he could make out was written in an alien language.

Before he could try his translator, though, Keith said, “Those are the same words that were on that slab. What were they?” He frowned in thought. “…Viána. Dráago…Aigosten…Fola?”

How can he even see that?

Then, the flower’s pulsing amplified, and any other worries flew out the window.

Whelp. This is pretty much how I always imagined I’d die. The flower was new, but Keith was there, and his impulsiveness was on point.

Lance remembered Zunnera’s scathing assurance that those words weren’t marriage words. But they didn’t sound like Words of Death either. (‘You must have imagined things.’) Was the pulsing just another reaction? Like the one in the forest on Ahm?

After a moment where nothing happened, Lance almost dared to hope. He eyed the plant warily. “Keith, what did you do?”

“I don’t know, but I think we should-”

The shadow-petals stretched, growing bigger and reaching out to them. They tentacled, wrapping around Lance and Keith until nothing but shadow and stardust surrounded them, but it wasn’t suffocating, it was-

“God,” Lance gasped as he was filled with light and energy beyond imagining. It was more powerful than even the quintessence that initially bonded him and Keith, but it didn’t hurt. His veins flooded with warmth, not lightning. A million sparks danced across his eyes as he accepted the feeling, reveled in it.

And Keith was there, too, soul pressing into his, engulfing his until they were one whole. It might have terrified him, but the warmth left no room for terror. It left no room for uncertainty.

Lance got the feeling the flower was judging them, testing them for any weakness. He knew without a doubt it would find none.

An eternity and a millisecond later, the petals released them, and Lance almost mourned the emptiness of the cool night air. His and Keith’s souls were once again as separate as they could be.

Lance almost combined them again. He could, if he wanted to. He had that power…But there had been a safety inside the petals. Just him and Keith, wrapped in each other and in total awe of their bond. Back in the real world, other fears and worries settled in, and raw as Lance was, Keith would know. Keith knowing would change everything.

Knowing what?

About my doubts, he finally admitted to himself. About my feelings. If I even have those feelings at all. He was still so, so confused.

“What the hell was that?!” Keith demanded, gasping for air as the flower resettled.

“I don’t know.” Lance felt charged, like every drop of light and warmth the flower had absorbed over the centuries was inside him, aching to burst out. “I really, really don’t know.” He didn’t want to know either.

Before either of them could even try to speak again, Eldwin burst into the clearing. “Paladins,” he gasped, falling to his knees in shock and exhaustion. “We saw…the flower activating…How are you here?!”

“We followed you-”

But Eldwin didn’t care about that. “No, how are you here with us after the flower devoured you? It’s the Flower of Despair!”

“Despair?” Keith glanced at the plaque. “It’s labeled: Life, Love, Family, and Union.”

The priest gaped. “You can read the engraving?”

What? “You mean you can’t?” It was written in their language, wasn’t it?

“No one can.” Eldwin gaped at them in astonishment. “The alphabet is an ancient one that has not been used in eons!”

Huh. Their translators would be pretty old. Lance wondered how the things would fare with the updated language. It seemed fine with modern verbal tongues, at least.

Eldwin stumbled to his feet and excitedly pulled a small book from his robe pocket. “Can you read this?!” he asked, thrusting it into Lance’s face.

Then Keith was there, ever the hero. He wedged himself between them and forced Eldwin to back up. “We can’t tell what it means,” he snarled.

Lance sent a jab at his soul. Tone it down, Mullet. We don’t need another diplomatic incident on our hands. They had almost resolved the last one. Still, he wanted to step back and watch Keith go totally feral to protect him. Definitely part of my Cáana.

Unfortunately, Lance’s message got across, and Keith took a deep, calming breath. He sounded much more composed when he said, “But we can translate the letters with our translators.”

Eldwin practically vibrated with anticipation. “What does it say?”

“How about we go back to the mansion and get some sleep?” Lance asked, knowing Keith’s patience could only last so long. Already, he was taking another breath, struggling to stay calm in the face of Eldwin’s abundance of peppy energy. “When we get back to Irklènd, we can have our Altean friends send you a translator that you can use on your texts.”

“Yes. Thank you so much. It would be an honor, Paladins.” The guy didn’t stop bowing until Lance and Keith were safely behind their bedroom door.

“We never found out what they were doing out there,” Keith muttered, frowning at the wooden barrier.

Lance groaned. “You ask. I’m going back to bed.” He flopped down and turned over. Not that he really needed to sleep. He was bursting with energy after their encounter with the ‘Flower of Despair.’

Keith sighed and joined him. “You’re right. Doubt I’d get any answers from him right now anyway.”

***

“I take it your night was restful,” Pelzar commented. He observed Lance’s smile with a grin of his own.

Lance fought back a blush as he sat, Keith stealing the seat next to him. Yeah, the night had been restful, but that’s not what had him so happy. (‘I admit, I’ll miss the robes.’ ‘The robes are great, but I have to say…I prefer you in armor.’)

“Pretty restful,” he agreed, shoving the memory of Keith’s smirking eyes out of his head. If he didn’t know any better, he’d call that a flirt. “What about yours?”

“Exhausting. I didn’t sleep a wink.”

Lance nearly choked. The grin on Pelzar’s face and glint in his eyes as they turned to Atteni left little to the imagination.

“Didn’t need to know that,” Keith drawled.

“Want to know anything else?” Atteni asked, smirking.

Lance probably should have left it at that, but he couldn’t suppress his curiosity. “How was it?”

“Lance!” Keith shouted, horrified.

“Everything I could hope for from my husband.”

The Red Paladin was living up to his title right then. Lance hid his own grin by eating his porridge.

“Not that we did anything new,” Pelzar added. “Our relationship has been physical for some years now.”

Keith’s head hit the table, and Lance couldn’t stifle his laughter. Pelzar and Atteni were so open. They were eating breakfast in a mansion of monks, and still they didn’t hold anything back. He couldn’t help but admire them for it.

“I do have another question,” he admitted after a few moments of silent eating. He ignored Keith’s pleading indigo eyes, begging him not to ask whatever Keith thought he’d ask.

“Do you wish to know how Pelzar looks when undressed?” Atteni asked. “I’m sure he’d be happy to show you.”

Yes. “No, thanks.” Lance couldn’t suppress his own blush. God, but he’d never be able to get it out of his head if he saw that. (‘I prefer you in armor.’) “I was actually wondering if you’d heard of the Flower of Despair.”

Pelzar and Atteni’s eyes turned to him, and even Keith deigned to raise his head, curious at the answer.

“The Flower of Despair?” Atteni repeated. Lance nodded. “It is a flower that has been studied for eons. A rare flower that absorbs all of the light around it. Luckily, it remains mostly dormant. Until someone touches it. If they do, it absorbs them, leaving no trace of them.”

“I believe there’s a poem about it,” Pelzar said thoughtfully. “‘Despair’s arms reach where emptiness lingers, Only gods’ known favor can ward it away’?...Or something like that.” It probably rhymed in their language.

Atteni nodded. “The Ballad of the Paladins.”

Lance and Keith stiffened. “What?”

“The Ballad of the Paladins,” Atteni repeated. “The poem was created long after their disappearance, but two of the original Paladins were said to have encountered the flower and survived, so-”

“Which Paladins?” Keith demanded. “Red and Blue?”

“No, Red and Black.” Pelzar stared at them like they were the ones who made no sense. “After they completed the Bainitet, they also chose to travel the Path of the Elders rather than publicly consummate.”

“After they what?!”

Chapter Text

Processing Pelzar’s words took longer than Lance wanted to admit. A million questions raced through his mind: ‘What did Pelzar say?’ ‘When did that happen?’ ‘Who was the Black Paladin?’ (Because it definitely wasn’t Allura’s mother. She would have told them when she mentioned her father the other morning.)

Then, Keith said, “Alfor married Zarkon?!” and those questions vanished as several, much more pressing ones replaced them.

Lance’s ears must be broken. Or maybe his brain after the previous shock. “What do you mean ‘Zarkon’?!”

To his further horror, Keith just turned to him and nodded. A weird, foreign discomfort twinged at the edges of Lance’s soul, but his own emotions disturbed him enough; he didn’t have the strength to process anyone else’s.

“Zarkon was the Black Paladin.” Keith’s lip curled upwards as he explained, “He had the Black bayard and was able to summon the Black Lion from Shiro.”

Did the Black Lion accept everyone? It seemed like it.

Lance took a deep, slow breath and let the new information settle into his mind. As the air escaped his body, so did the tension until all that remained was the faint pulsing at the edges of his awareness. Nothing he could do about that.

So what, if Zarkon was the Black Paladin? So what, if he and Alfor were married? Lance couldn’t change those things, so he let them go. No use stressing over immutable realities.

Like a hundred accidental marriages?

Lance ignored that in favor of changing the topic. “What were we talking about again?”

“The Ballad of the-” Pelzar gaped between them. “You mean you didn’t know they were married?”

Keith’s fist clenched around his forgotten spoon. “Why would we know that?!” he demanded.

He’s projecting, Lance thought. Keith couldn’t fight Zarkon or any of the other million things causing his stress, so he was taking his anger out on their friends. But Pelzar and Atteni had been nothing but kind to them; Lance couldn’t let Keith’s rudeness stand.

“Keith…”

The Red Paladin huffed. Then he closed his eyes and took several calming breaths. After the third repetition, the edges of Keith’s anger dulled, and his glare died. “Why would we know that?” he repeated more calmly.

Atteni raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment on the previous events. “You are traveling with the former Red Paladin’s daughter, are you not? His and the Black Paladin’s love was legendary. Powerful enough to endure the Flower of Despair which only six others have survived.”

Powerful enough for Zarkon to kill Alfor? Before Lance could say that, however, a hush fell over the dining hall. They stopped talking as well and turned to identify the cause. In Paladin business, anything from a cute puppy to imminent planetary annihilation could be the reason for a sudden stillness.

It wasn’t either of those. The root of everyone’s silence was all five priests entering the room.

Noticing the Paladins’ attention as he and the others strode to the front of the hall, Eldwin grinned and winked.

Guess that answers that question. He wouldn’t be so happy if the gods decided they hadn’t proven their union…or whatever.

“At least we got the blessing,” Keith muttered.

“It is a relief to not be cursed,” Pelzar agreed, much too calm for the words he’d just uttered.

Lance turned away from the new arrivals to stare at him. “…What? Cursed? No one said anything about a curse.”

“When those who bonded before obtaining the gods approval then seek out that approval, they allow the opportunity for their union to be rejected and, thus, cursed,” Atteni explained.

How could he and Pelzar be so calm about that?

“In the event that a couple cannot finish the Path or they fail to obtain the gods’ blessing, they are forbidden from being together or even seeing each other in the future and must undergo many trials and rituals to undo the taint of the rejected bond.”

Keith’s eyes widened. “You risked a cursed bond to help us?”

“Not really.” Atteni shrugged. “We are both confident in the strength of our relationship, and rejection is rare.”

That still wasn’t something Lance would risk when he had a choice. Before he could comment, though, Eldwin called, “Attention!” The priests had arrived at the front of the room.

“As you all know, our four guests completed their Bainitet and journeyed on the Path of the Elders to gain the gods’ blessing. Last night, my fellows and I heard their tales and consulted the gods, and it is my pleasure to introduce princelings Pelzar and Atteni, as well as Paladins Lance and Keith! Our newest bonded pairs! They have all found, fought for, and earned their Blessed Match!”

Cheers and whistles rang through the hall. A few people toasted their space juice, sloshing it over the various tables in their excitement. In the midst of the celebrations, Eldwin caught Lance’s eye and gestured for them to join the priests.

Lance sighed. He hadn’t eaten nearly as much as he’d wanted, but he stood to follow the demand anyway. Keith, Pelzar, and Atteni trailed close behind.

The priests led them to some sort of office off the side of the dining hall. It was tiny, clearly not meant to hold more than a few people, but that might have more to do with the wall-to-wall bookcases. Maybe they made the room feel smaller than it actually was.

Two pieces of paper sat on top of the desk.

“These are the certifications of your union,” Nera explained, smiling at them.

‘Certification’? Lance groaned. Did there have to be marriage certificates?

“We shall keep the original documents here,” the priest continued, oblivious to Lance’s embarrassment, “as this is where they were signed, but we will give you two copies to take with you. One for you and one for Principal Kyria to file. Two others will be sent to the appropriate centers on planets Hiwi and Ahm for their records. All that is required of you is your full signatures.”

Clarus cleared his throat, drawing their attention to him. “In the past, it was customary for those who completed the Path of the Elders to receive titles that reflected their accomplishments. We see no reason to forgo this ancient tradition, so Pelzar, Atteni, the two of you have gained the title Gránule to reflect the blessing to your Bainitet. Paladins-”

Eldwin excitedly cut over him. “Not only have you received the gods’ blessing; you also received the blessing of the Panta, earned a twin flames stone, and survived the Flower of Despair. It is apparent to us that the gods not only blessed your union, but they have also chosen you for a purpose far beyond our mortal understanding. For that, you shall forevermore be known as the Paladins, Chosen Gránui of the Blessed Path.”

We’re the what of the what now? Lance tried not to blush. Bad enough that he and Keith had married at all; now they had a title for it? Screw breakfast. He couldn’t wait to leave.

“May your path be ever blessed,” Zunnera added.

“Right. Thanks…”

Clarus reclaimed the conversation, holding out two pens. “All that is left is for you to sign. Be sure to include your full titles…There is also a page beneath to document your thoughts and feelings for the future generations. Or any advice you may have.” He stared intently in Lance and Keith’s direction.

You are the ‘chosen ones’.

Lance rolled his eyes. This is stupid. Nonetheless, he took the pen from Keith and signed his own name (Leoncio McClain García, Paladin of the Blue Lion of Voltron and Chosen Gránule of the Blessed Path). He didn’t have any other thoughts past, ‘Should I have signed as the Red Paladin, too?’ but he wrote some generic nonsense about treasuring your spouse just to appease Eldwin’s expectant smile.

“You have officially completed the Path of the Elders,” Eldwin declared, rolling up the documents. “What do you plan to do now?”

“Go home.” Lance didn’t care that he and Keith had just answered in unison. He didn’t acknowledge the embarrassed pride that sent through him. (Why should he feel so pleased that they were on the same page? Of course they were. What else would Keith have said?) Way too much had happened since they left, and it had only been a day. He didn’t have time or the mental energy to focus on his – maybe, but no, it couldn’t be – growing crush, as well.

As they left the mansion, Nera handed him and Keith a couple of booklets.

“About the twin flames stone and the Flower of Despair,” she explained with a quiet smile. “I did some research last night to confirm our judgements and thought you might like these.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Lance tossed them aside the second they entered Red’s cockpit.

“We can never tell Pidge and Hunk about this,” he whispered as Keith took the pilot seat. (He’d get them home the quickest, and Lance flying would bring up questions neither one of them felt like answering.)

“No kidding.”

***

A faint roar of cheers and delighted screams met Lance’s ears as they descended towards the planet. He might have thought people were waiting to greet them if it weren’t for the rollercoaster lights and floating lanterns. Hundreds of tent stalls were still open for business.

That’s right. Pelzar said the festival would still be going at night. And it was night. Entering Irklènd’s atmosphere was like entering a tunnel on a bright day: sudden, suffocating darkness.

Keith frowned as they soared past the festivities. “Has it really been less than a day?”

“We’ve only been gone for about thirty marks,” Atteni said, glancing at a device on his wrist. “There are sixty three marks in our…quintas? Is that the Altean word?”

Lance shrugged. He didn’t know the language any better than the alien.

“The festival can last into the early hours.” Pelzar smiled down at his fellow Irklènders. “Rumor has it, it once lasted a full derca.”

Before Lance could ask what a derca was, an alert beeped, letting Keith know he had a video call.

Keith sighed and looked to Lance. “I can just ignore it.”

“And make them madder?”

“If they want to be mad, let them be.” But he accepted the communication anyway.

Seeing Allura’s scowling face, Lance wanted to go back to Inimore where warm breakfast and awkward praise waited for him. He could do another Path. Maybe say he wanted the gods’ approval for switching lions or something.

Allura said nothing for a full minute. She just stared, and Lance wondered if she might send them away herself. Part of him wanted her to. Butterflies appeared in his stomach and whispered for him to leave planet Irklènd. He and Keith could do their own solo missions, protect the universe in their own way. But even he knew that was just anxiety talking. They’d be better off with the team, even if facing the team felt more nerve-wracking than facing the Frankori.

None of that knowledge mattered if Allura refused to let them in.

She wouldn’t send us away, right? he told himself. We’re in her father’s lion.

But the seconds ticked by with nothing but that cold, angry stare. Lance’s neck prickled, and he tried not to shiver. That would show weakness.

For his part, Keith just glared back. Not an inch of the Red Paladin apologized for their absence. If anything, he seemed annoyed. As even more time passed, their stare-down slowly transformed into a contest of who could look madder and be more disapproving.

I have to stop this before it gets out of hand, Lance realized. Keith and Allura were too stubborn for anyone’s good.

Not one word escaped his mouth, however, before Pelzar interrupted. “You must be Princess Allura. My name is Pelzar, and this is my husband, Atteni. It’s an honor to meet another friend of the Blue and Red Paladins.”

Allura offered him a taut, polite smile. “Of course. It’s an honor to meet you as well. I must also offer my congratulations on your recent union. May the gods’ will be true.”

She knows. Lance held back a groan. How did she find out?

Atteni muttered something unfavorable about the gods, but it was low enough Allura probably didn’t hear. Pelzar just kept grinning. “Thank you, Princess. Our Path was an interesting one, but we’re all glad to be home.”

“Of course. Who wouldn’t be after an entire afternoon away?” She offered Keith and Lance one last glare before her image disappeared. The hatch opened.

“This is a trap,” Lance decided, trying not to blush. He was too wound up for the coming conversation. Allura knew. “Keith, don’t do it.”

Keith sighed. “I’ll leave if you really want, but we might as well get it over with.” Indigo eyes stared expectantly at Lance, waiting on his answer.

That did it. Heat flooded Lance’s face. Keith was too sincere – too handsome – for anyone’s good. Lance averted his eyes, unable to look at his friend – soulmate, husband – for too long. “…Fine. Just remember that I won our race to the island. You have to take the blame for this.”

Keith rolled his eyes as he moved Red into the hangar.

***

They should have left when they had the chance.

Everyone’s staring.

If only Pelzar and Atteni hadn’t disappeared. They’d headed out almost immediately – as much to give the Paladins privacy as to get the marriage certificates to Principal Kyria – but with them gone there was no stopping Allura’s wrath. How could a princess be so scary? She hadn’t even spoken yet.

Another few moments passed in silence; then Pidge said, “So, how was the trip?”

Lance didn’t need to see her face to hear her smirk. Another blush fought its way to his face. They know. A paranoid part of him thought she even knew about them sharing a bed, but that was impossible. Wasn’t it?

It’s not like they didn’t know about the other marriages, Lance told himself, crossing his arms in hope that would hold him together. But that was before. Before the kiss. Before he knew what they thought he felt for Keith…

And a part of Lance was starting to wonder-

No. I don’t like Keith. Not like that. I would have known! He just finally understood why they thought that way, is all.

During the Path, it had been easy to forget. To get lost in the mission and feel like it was just him and Keith. With Keith, none of that mattered because – while he didn’t know the reason Lance had avoided him – they’d talked through Lance’s reaction and moved past it. Everyone else, though?....Lance still remembered Pidge’s laughter and Allura pushing him and Keith to train together.

He didn’t realize he’d physically and mentally shifted away from Keith until the other’s soul panged and reached out to keep him close. They locked eyes, and while Keith hid it from his face, he was devastated.

…I promised, Lance reminded himself. He relaxed his hold on his soul and shifted closer to Keith again. Let the others think it was nerves making him too antsy to stay still. Let them think whatever the hell they wanted. I promised I’d stay. No matter what.

But did staying have to involve everyone else and their stares?

Pidge snorted. “Plan to answer me or just stand there looking like an idiot?”

“How are most missions?” Lance covered. “Dull and boring. We couldn’t wait to get back.”

“Is that what you call it?” Before Lance could further their cover-story, the Green Paladin held up three objects. “Then what do you call these?”

In her hands were the photos Lance and Keith had taken at the bottom of Hiwi’s ocean. Keith’s preserved image pouted grumpily at him from the middle picture. Yeah, Lance thought as ice joined the butterflies in his stomach. I probably deserve this one.

Pidge caught Lance’s eyes with a knowing, triumphant smirk, and he tried not to show his embarrassment.

“…How did you get those?” he asked weakly.

“The memory chips in your suits upload directly to the castle’s database,” Coran explained. “I saw them when I was about to search for you, and Number Five asked me to make physical copies. I believe she called it evidence; though of what, I could not say.”

Pidge’s evil smirk boded nothing good.

Maybe I can sneak them from her…Lance wished he felt more confident about that.

“Never mind the photographs,” Allura said, still glaring intensely. “Principal Kyria explained everything to us. You cannot just leave without informing us of where you are going. What if there had been an attack while you were gone?! And what’s more, I told you to be on your best behavior! Principal Kyria is furious. She may never invite us back due to your refusal to consummate!”

Pidge dropped the photos. “Their refusal to what?”

“Say what, now?” Hunk sputtered, looking green.

Lance ignored them to glare at the princess. “We shouldn’t have to ‘consummate’ a marriage we didn’t mean! ESPECIALLY NOT WHEN IT WOULD BE BROADCAST TO THE ENTIRE PLANET!”

“There are loopholes to the consummation!” Allura huffed. “Which you would have known if you had contacted us first!”

And all of Lance’s indignation vanished. Loopholes?

“…Loopholes?” Keith echoed weakly.

“Loopholes,” Allura agreed. Though hers came with an irritated eyeroll. “All you had to do was touch skin! Hand-holding would have sufficed, and while Principal Kyria would not have been pleased, she is hardly pleased now, and you would not have wasted an entire afternoon traversing the system!”

They could have just held hands?

Lance drew back. Everyone was looking at them like they were idiots, and yeah…maybe they should have told the others before leaving. He and Keith would have been saved the embarrassment of three new marriages. Three marriages confirmed by five copies of a marriage certificate; one of which was hidden in Red’s cockpit and another on its way to their infuriated host.

As Lance shrunk into himself, trying not to let the icy fingers of shame shine through him, Keith stepped forward. He glared at the princess, oozing fury. “And how do you know about the loophole?” Keith demanded. “Your father didn’t know it when he married Zarkon.”

I don’t think now’s the best time to bring that up. But Lance couldn’t take back Keith’s words any more than he could go back in time to tell the others their plans.

It took Allura a moment to process the accusation. At first, all she did was blink, dumbfounded. Then, she reeled back in shock...Shock and fury. “How dare you accuse my father of such nonsense! Being angry is no excuse to come up with ridiculous and, frankly, disgusting notions like that.”

“It’s not a notion,” Lance muttered. Goodbye, frying pan; hello, fire. “It’s true. Pelzar and Atteni told us.”

“Well, they’re lying!” Allura turned to Coran. “Coran, tell them.”

Coran nervously inspected his bare wrist. “Oh, is that the time? I really should go check on the-”

Allura’s glare dropped. “Coran…?”

The engineer glanced up, seeming very uncomfortable. As he took in Keith’s expectant scowl and the princess’s fear, all pretense drained from his face.

Guess it’s true, then. Some part of Lance had held some doubts, but if Coran said it was true, it must be.

“Oh…I promised I’d never tell you this,” he muttered. “But I suppose I must now…” He glanced between them all. “King Alfor and Zarkon were married.”

Allura gaped. “What?” Her voice trembled. “But- My mother. My father loved my mother.”

“He did,” Coran agreed. “With all his heart. The situation is not as you think.”

“Why would my father marry Zarkon? Of all people…” Allura shook her head, trying to process. For just a moment, she looked ready to cry.

Why had Keith said anything? Maybe they should have kept it hidden entirely. It’s not like the king’s married life affected them, and how would Lance feel to suddenly hear that his Mamá had married an evil tyrant?

But Keith pushed on. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because they were close,” his idiot of a soulmate accused. “Zarkon was the Black Paladin.”

“Wait.” Hunk glanced between them all, shaking his hands wildly in front of him. “What in the name of chicken and dumplings is going on here? Zarkon was the Black Paladin? And he and Allura’s dad were in love?!”

“Married,” Coran corrected. “Not in love. And only on planet Irklènd. It’s not unlike Lance and Number Four’s arrangement.”

Did he have to bring that up again? They’d finally shifted the attention away from them. The one good thing about Keith’s tangent.

Luckily, Allura wasn’t distracted. She glared at the engineer. “Explain, Coran.”

Coran shrunk in on himself. “If I must…” He sighed and righted himself, twiddling with his mustache as he continued. “You already know about the original Paladins, your predecessors. There was the Green Paladin, Trigel; the Yellow Paladin, Gyrgan; the Blue Paladin, Blaytz; the Red Paladin, King Alfor…and the Black Paladin. Emperor Zarkon.

“Before Zarkon turned villainous and began conquering planets, he helped the other paladins maintain peace in the galaxies. One such planet, as you know, was Irklènd. For several decaphoebs after their defeat of the beast, they all enjoyed the annual independence celebration. King Alfor and Emperor Zarkon’s favorite activity was the sword arena. They were both very competitive and would often challenge each other to duels there…One decaphoeb, however, King Alfor made a grievous mistake-”

“He used the Sword of Gath?” Lance guessed.

Coran sent him an odd look. “What? No, he always used his own sword. The mistake was using the Irklènders’ sacred words to indicate his surrender. He didn’t know how sacred they were until then.”

“But what about the sword?” Keith asked. “There’s a ceremonial sword they use for it.”

Pidge grinned. “Is that how you guys-?”

“What else happened, Coran?” Lance interjected.

Coran shrugged. “They accepted the marriage and completed the necessary ceremonies. Then they left and never went back. They made everyone promise to never reveal the truth to anyone.” The advisor grimaced and turned to Allura. “That is why you were never made aware, Princess. Your father was…embarrassed by the incident. It could happen to anyone!”

Lance certainly felt better that he wasn’t the only one.

“That was the only time?” Allura asked, closing her eyes.

Coran nodded. “Yes.”

Lance frowned. “But how can you be sure? I mean…accidentally getting married? What if it’s connected to our issue? Like a curse on the Red Lion or something.”

“Hey,” Keith protested. “Leave Red out of this.”

“I’m just saying. You are the one who found the clay first.”

“It was only the once,” Coran assured them before the Red Paladin could turn his anger on Lance. “As King Alfor’s closest confidante, I would know.”

“So my father and Zarkon were married on planet Irklènd,” Allura muttered. “That is very disturbing information.”

“Yeah, agreed.” At least Lance hadn’t married his future murderer.

Pidge laughed. “I don’t know, it’s pretty funny. Maybe Lance is right and the Red Lion’s cursed.”

Allura glared. “My father built the Lions with his bare hands!”

“Maybe someone cursed it later.”

“Red’s not cursed,” Keith argued. “There may be a curse, but if Alfor and Zarkon were only married on one planet, then it has nothing to do with my Lion.”

Lance decided not to argue. “How’s Shiro, Coran?”

The engineer blinked. “Slowly healing,” he answered, frowning as he stared into space. “The analysis of the quintessence surrounding the wound is almost complete. We should know more in three or four vargas.”

Keith nodded. “Good. The more we know, the quicker we can heal him.”

And the quicker they healed him, the sooner he’d wake up…and the sooner Lance could talk to him.

“So, where’d you go for the honeymoon? What did you have to do?” Pidge asked, bringing them back to the original topic with an evil smirk.

Lance tried to shove down the overwhelming embarrassment that flooded him. Keith’s echoing emotions didn’t help. “None of your business.”

Allura frowned. “Wherever you were, you missed our debut. It was very irresponsible to disappear without a word to us. For all we knew, you could have been kidnapped by Zarkon! And I know just the punishment.”

Lance groaned.

***

The good news: it was midnight, so Allura didn’t expect them to clean the storage rooms right away. The bad news…Lance and Keith had just woken up. Lance couldn’t even think of closing his eyes.

After the hundredth time he’d turned in his bed, he groaned. “Forget it.” There were better ways to spend his time. He’d missed most of breakfast; maybe Hunk had left some food in the kitchen.

Apparently, Lance wasn’t the only one with that idea. Dim light shined through the doorway as Lance rounded the corner of the kitchen hallway. The strong, brooding aura emanating from that direction told him who to expect.

Of course.

Still, Lance continued to the kitchen. He was starving, after all, and Keith had probably sensed him anyway. Retreating would be an admittance that something was wrong.

When he entered, he saw Keith sitting at the table, gazing mournfully into a bowl of Arusian stew.

He didn’t notice me.

What could possibly be on Keith’s mind that he was so unaware of his surroundings? So unaware of Lance?

Lance almost turned around. If Keith really hadn’t noticed him, he could leave with no one the wiser and postpone any potential embarrassment for the next time they married. Returning to the castle had reminded him of all the reasons he should avoid Keith, even despite his promise. Things were too confused, and the other Paladins were bound to make it even more so. Time alone together – and in the dark – definitely would, as evidenced by their recent trip.

I could leave now and see him in the morning.

As Lance stood there, debating on a course of action. Keith’s face hardened in determination. He stood to leave, only to finally notice Lance.

“AGH!” Lance found himself on the business end of an unfamiliar dagger.

“Woah, hey!” He threw his hands up to show he was unarmed. “Keith, it’s me! I come in peace!” Where had the knife come from? It wasn’t Keith’s bayard.

The other relaxed and pulled back, flushing. “Sorry…Couldn’t sleep?”

“Yeah. I was gonna get some food.” Lance moved to do just that, pretending he’d just arrived rather than been standing and staring at Keith for the past two minutes.

Keith grinned wryly and gestured to his food. “Me too.”

“Thanks for warming it up.” Lance probably would have eaten it cold to avoid figuring out the oven. He’d have hated every moment of it.

They stayed in awkward silence as Lance spooned the stew into a bowl. We shouldn’t feel so awkward. We’re friends. We can eat together.

Yeah, it’s not like we spent the entire day together or anything.

Lance sighed.

Keith gazed at him in concern. “Everything alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Keith nodded and glanced back at his stew. He kept playing with it, not actually eating. Whatever was on his mind seemed serious. Maybe it was the same thing that was on Lance’s mind. Maybe he felt just as awkward, like they’d been dreaming and were back in the real world and trying to readjust.

Lance said nothing and sat down to eat.

“…I didn’t think it would be dark,” Keith eventually muttered.

Lance froze. He hadn’t expected Keith to speak. He’d thought they’d pass the time entirely silent until he finished and made a quick exit. Replaying Keith’s words in his mind, he nodded. “Yeah. Guess we haven’t been gone as long as we thought…And the festival probably has a lot more life left in it.” Hadn’t Pelzar mentioned nighttime games?

“…Do you want to go?”

Lance blinked, tuning back into Keith. “Huh?”

“Do you want to go…to the festival, I mean…” Keith shrugged awkwardly. “I didn’t get a chance to do anything outside of the arena, and I figured you didn’t either, so…”

It was just a request. It wasn’t like Keith had asked anything important. So why did Lance feel like he’d just been asked out?

“…Sure.” Don’t think about it like that. It’s not a date. Keith just wants to see the festival. He’d go with or without you. That’s probably where he was heading earlier.

But Keith’s happy smile when Lance said yes made his heart flip.

***

“So what do you want to do?” Keith asked, gazing unsurely at their surroundings.

Pelzar had been right. The festival at night was something else. All of the rides glowed. The tents seemed to have moved around, and fewer people walked the paths. Mostly couples which didn’t help Lance’s thought processes any.

It’s not a date, and I don’t want it to be. Lance wished he fully believed that.

Instead of focusing on his confusing mess of thoughts and emotions, Lance thought about possible activities for their not-date. “Pelzar said there might be a kissing booth.”

He wasn’t serious, but an odd, sort of uncomfortable irritation entered Keith’s aura. Lance hid a grin. He loved making Keith squirm. He loved knowing that he could still rile the other up, no matter how close they’d gotten.

“We’re not visiting a kissing booth.”

“Come on. There could be one with a guy for you. You don’t even want to check it out?”

“No.”

“Fine. Fine.” Lance laughed. Then, he considered Pelzar’s other information. Outside of the Cáana talk. “He mentioned a scavenger hunt.”

Keith grimaced. “Yeah, I’m not really feeling that right now.”

They had just gotten back from a sort of scavenger hunt. Lance nodded. “How about a rollercoaster, then?”

“That, I’ll do.”

“We need to find the biggest, fastest one,” Lance declared, already heading towards the back of the festival. All of the rides were that way, glowing brighter than the moon. “I bet you’ll scream like a baby.”

Keith laughed and jogged to catch up to him. “You wish. If anything, you’ll scream first. I’ll have to hold your hand.”

“Oh, it’s on. Front row seats. The scariest rollercoaster there is.” Lance eyed the horizon. In the very back of the park was a huge track with three loops and the steepest drop he’d ever seen. He grinned and pointed. Perfect. “That one, right there. First to scream buys dinner.”

“Neither of us has money.”

“First to scream gets a disadvantage in our next sparring match. But no telling the others what happened.”

“Deal.”

Laughing, they raced each other to the ride. (Lance may have started the competition before Keith knew it existed, but he still counted it as a win.) Unfortunately, there was a bit of a line. When the people in front saw them, they glared and turned away.

Oops? People must still be mad about the Bainitet fiasco. Keith looked at him like, ‘Can you believe these people?’ Lance just shrugged back.

“Where do you think we’ll head after this?” he asked, wanting to make conversation.

Keith smiled softly at him. “Wherever we’re needed, I guess…We just need to wait for Shiro to wake up.”

“Yeah, he’s been out a while.” Lance frowned as worry began to seep into his happiness.

“Not much longer than you were,” Keith argued. Though, it looked like he was trying to convince himself. “But you heard Coran, we’ll know more in a few hours. Hopefully he’ll be awake by morning.”

“Yeah…” Lance really needed that conversation. But should he bother Shiro with his mess when he’d just gotten out of a coma? “…Yeah. He will be…”

Keith eyed him as they moved forward a little in line. “Is something on your mind? You’ve been a little spacey since we got back.”

He’d noticed…Of course he’d noticed, he had a direct line to Lance’s emotions. Lance grimaced. “It’s nothing important. It just…” He sighed. Screw it. “It feels weird being back. Like coming home after a vacation.” Or a honeymoon.

“I know what you mean.” But he couldn’t know. Not when Lance’s issues stemmed from more than the surrounding environment. Not when Lance had let down his guard and started enjoying Keith’s company and their alone time only for being around Pidge and Hunk and the others to remind him of why he’d avoided Keith in the first place.

I got too comfortable. The world isn’t just me and him…So why did it feel so much like it was?

“Tell me more about your family,” Keith declared.

Lance jolted from his thoughts. “What?”

Keith shrugged. He smiled, but a hint of worry hid deep in his subconscious. If Lance wasn’t mistaken, Keith actually shifted closer to him. Like he thought Lance would leave any second.

“You said you had a twin sister, right? And that your other sister tries to annoy you?”

He’s trying to keep things light. He wants to have fun. Lance could oblige. Smiling, he shook off his more serious and depressing thoughts and focused on Keith’s topic change. (It was much easier than it should have been.) “That’s just a sibling thing. They’re great; it’s just our job to annoy each other.”

The niggling of worry disappeared, and Keith relaxed with a softer, more genuine smile. “If you had to pick a favorite sibling, who would it be?”

Lance couldn’t resist. “Oh, that’s easy. The best McClain García sibling is Leoncio. He’s the best.”

That response earned him a laugh. “And super modest, too.”

“Of course…” But his happiness faded again as he thought of his family. How far away were they now? Twelve billion galaxies? “…I miss them.”

Keith frowned and put an awkward, comforting hand on Lance’s shoulder. The gesture drew a half-smile out of him but wasn’t enough to stop the ache in his heart. Nothing was.

“What do you miss most?”

“…I don’t know…Everything? I miss my Mamá’s cooking, but I missed that at the Garrison. I miss Veronica checking up on me during lunch. I miss by brother Marco calling to ask random space questions and going to the mall with my brother Luís and his family…I just miss them.”

“I know how you feel.” Keith shuffled awkwardly. “When my dad- When he was gone, I couldn’t even look at the sky without thinking of him. We used to stargaze together. He’d bring pretzels or some snack, and we’d talk about my mom or anything that had happened that day. I couldn’t look at the sky, knowing I’d never see it with him again. It was only when Shiro came to my school and invited me to the Garrison that I started getting over it.”

“Shiro really helped you, huh?”

Keith smiled. “Yeah. He’s good at that.”

I hope so.

Maybe they should move back to lighter topics. “I’m thinking about what handicap you should get when I win our bet.”

“You mean when I win?” Keith challenged with a smirk.

“No, I got it right the first time.”

They passed the next few minutes in line bickering. Then, it was time. Lance grinned and joined Keith in climbing into the seats.

“Ready, Leoncio?” Keith grinned, though it was hard to see him past the oversized harness.

“Born ready, Samurai.”

The second the employees finished their seat check and verified the safety rules, the car started moving. As with most rollercoasters, it started slow with the car climbing to the peak of the first hill. Lance had missed the sound of gears grinding as they forced several tons of weight up into the sky. Anticipation built up tingles in his stomach as he awaited the inevitable. Gravity could only be defied for so long. That was one of the lessons his teachers insisted a trip to the amusement park would teach them.

Lance frowned, thinking back to that day. He’d been so ready to taunt Keith into a screaming competition similar to their current one, but Keith disappeared before they went on the first ride. Lance had never found out why.

“This reminds me of that field trip that you got kicked off of. What’d you do anyway? Steal a bumper car?”

Keith snorted. “I don’t think that’s possible, Lance.”

“I don’t know…You’re pretty crafty.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” Lance waited, but Keith didn’t answer his question. “So, what actually happened?” he prodded.

“I saw a whack a mole game, but Iverson wouldn’t take us to the arcade, so I snuck off to play it.”

Lance would have roared with laughter if they hadn’t reached the hilltop. Gravity overtook them again with a vengeance, stealing his breath and sending his head reeling. The ride ran so much faster than anything he’d experienced on Earth.

It was awesome.

At one point, Keith reached out for him. The motion was probably unconscious, going by the way he immediately pulled back. Lance just grinned and dragged Keith’s soul back towards him. He reveled in the rush of shared adrenaline.

“That was amazing!” he declared. “I don’t think the other rides can measure up.”

Keith grinned. Their souls were still entwined, so Lance could feel every inch of his elation as he teased, “Why don’t we test that?”

“You’re on, Kogane.”

Chapter Text

“Okay. If we don’t stop soon, a bird’s going to mistake your hair for its nest and try to lay an egg in it.”

After riding each rollercoaster at least twice, Keith’s mullet had devolved from hot bad boy trying to maintain his image to starving wolf that just survived a hurricane. Lance’s hands itched to fix it, but he caught himself in time.

What am I doing? He can fix it himself.

In fact, Keith flushed, and his hands flew to his hair. He winced every time he hit a tangle but soldiered on despite the pain, pulling at knots and working to loosen them into decency again. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I had a hair tie.”

“Hair tie?” Keith wore hair ties? It took every drop of his willpower for Lance not to imagine that.

The other eyed him suspiciously – almost as if he knew what Lance was thinking – and Lance stiffened. But after a moment of close inspection, Keith relaxed and returned to his task.

Oh. He thought I was making fun of him, Lance realized. No jokes here. (Just very tempting images of Keith in a ponytail. Or worse: a braid.)

Luckily, Keith nearly ramming into an innocent bystander distracted him from any further imaginings. The lady glared at them, but Lance wasn’t sure if that glare was for almost running her over or the Bainitet incident. Whatever the reason, he apologized and hauled Keith off the path. They wound up in the cramped space between two merchant stalls, but at least it wasn’t a walkway. No need to upset more people.

“My hair’s long, so I have to tie it back sometimes,” Keith explained, returning to their conversation. “When I’m working on my bike or jogging…Stuff like that.”

Details were the last thing Lance needed. “Well, we don’t have any hair ties.”

Maybe they could find some, though. Allura might have something, and Lance could use Keith to practice those braids his niece, Nadia, always wanted him to try for her.

He imagined Keith wearing some shiny barrette of the princess’s. It would probably be flower-shaped and would definitely look good on Allura, but on Keith- He shook his head to rid it of the image of a flushing face and soft, fully-exposed eyes. This wasn’t an anime, and Keith wasn’t an eleven-year-old girl with her first crush. If Lance ever put something like that in Keith’s hair, all his eyes would do is glare.

But at least I could see them clearly.

Lance fought back the heat flooding his face at that thought. Why did Keith have to be so handsome and sweet and intense? That was the perfect recipe for Lance to think he had a crush, especially in such a confusing time for him. And now that his friends had planted the idea, Lance was pretty sure he was developing an actual crush.

Shit. What would it do to their relationship if Keith found out? Probably nothing good, and Lance could forget about seeing Keith’s eyes ever again, hair tie or not.

Those same eyes were staring at him with concern. “Are you alright, Lance?”

I need to focus, or he’ll realize.

“I’m awesome!” Thank God they weren’t soul-joined anymore. Not more than usual anyway.

Keith sent a few gentle probes to his soul, but when Lance recoiled, he pulled back and let it be.

“Just wondering what games we should play.” Lance’s voice sounded more strained than he liked, but trying to fix it would just draw more attention to it. Better to keep talking and hope for the best. “Pelzar and I played ring-toss earlier, and-”

Shit!

He forgot about the lion figurine. Again! Lance wanted to kick himself.

“Did you win?” Keith asked before he could follow through on that thought.

“Yeah…”

Should he give it to Keith? It still didn’t seem like the right time, but the lion was an apology gift. If he waited any longer it would be weird. He imagined Keith’s expression if he waited two years before handing it over. Assuming Lance remembered the souvenir at all by then. Yeah, no. He had to give it to Keith that night. No excuses.

“…The guy running the game was a jerk, though. Tried to make us lose on purpose.”

Keith smiled. “And you still want to play another game?”

“Makes it more challenging.” Lance waved him off. “Nevermind that, though. We don’t have money for a game.”

“True. And I doubt anyone’ll give us a freebie just because we’re Paladins.” Keith glared out at the remaining passersby. “They’re all mad at us for rejecting their traditions.”

I can’t just give it to him. That will be weird, too.

Lance eyed the stall across the street. A customer walked through the front tent flap, and he caught sight of some strange objects that might be shoes or might be blocks before it fluttered back into place behind the customer. Too public.

“Is there anything you wanted to do?” he asked, turning back to Keith. Maybe he’d find an opening on the way to wherever Keith wanted to go.

Keith jolted. “Me?”

Who else would I be talking to? Lance sent him a look, and Keith flushed.

After a moment, he opened his mouth to say something before quickly closing it again.

“Keith?” Lance pressed. “What did you want to do?”

“It’s just…” Keith blew out a breath before finally saying. “There is one thing I’ve always wanted to try. I just don’t know how you’ll feel about it.”

What could possibly be that bad? Keith was practically twitching from the nerves. “What is it?”

Keith pulled Lance back onto the path and pointed. They ignored the glares they got as they obstructed people’s path once again.

“The Ferris wheel?” Sure, it was slower than Lance usually liked, but why would Keith be so nervous about that? “You’ve never been on a Ferris wheel?” Though, he wasn’t sure why he was so surprised. Keith had never been on a slide either.

Keith shrugged. “I’ve seen people ride them in movies, and it always looked…fun.”

“I guess they sort of are.” It was a good way to unwind after hours at a park, at least. To take in the view one last time. And it would give Lance the privacy he needed to properly apologize. “Let’s go, then. It’ll be our last ride. We should get back to the castle before the others wake up.” Lance didn’t need another lecture about leaving, for all that they’d stayed on the planet that time.

Keith grinned at him.

The line for the Ferris wheel wasn’t long, but they were the second ones on it after its complete round. They’d have a while to wait before the official start.

“So we have to wait for all the cars to be full?” Keith asked, trying to glance around their walls. Not that he could. They were safe and sound in their own private box. There wouldn’t be any pesky Paladins to judge them or annoyed aliens to glare. It was just them. Just Lance and Keith. Lance didn’t want to let that feeling go.

You have to. You can’t keep feeling like this. It’s not fair to Keith. Just because he matches your Cáana doesn’t make your projection any better. Just because you can develop a crush doesn’t mean you should.

“…Yeah. It’ll take a few minutes at least. Until then we just enjoy the view.”

Keith eyed the metal beams in front of them. “Great view,” he joked.

“It’ll get better.”

Lance remembered the view from space. He hadn’t paid much attention coming in either time, but just the small print of tents and festival lights that stretched for miles had been impressive. He couldn’t wait to see a more resolute landscape. Maybe he would even glimpse hints of the regular life and environment. “I thought you’d seen movies.”

Keith smiled at him. “…I have.”

“Then just be patient.”

The silence only lasted a few seconds before Keith shifted in agitation. Stillness wasn’t either one of their strong points. Keith was too much of a hothead, and Lance was too hyperactive. Why had they thought the Ferris wheel was a good idea?

At least it’s private enough, but how can I start the conversation? Lance could hardly pull out the figurine and say he was sorry. Keith wouldn’t know what he was talking about. It would make everything even more awkward.

After another few moments of uncomfortable silence, though, Keith started the conversation for him. “Thanks for coming out here with me, Lance. To the festival, I mean.”

“No problem.” Lance remembered Keith’s soft smile when he’d agreed. He tried not to blush even as a tingling warmth entered his chest. “It’s not like I got to do much earlier either.”

“You said the ring-toss guy was a jerk?” Keith smiled a little. Like he found the alien’s jerkiness amusing.

“I almost didn’t win,” Lance complained. How could Keith, his soulmate, laugh at him? “He fake sneezed on the last shot because I was doing too well.”

“But you did win?”

“Yeah, I gave the smaller prize to Pelzar. He was horrible at the ring toss, but he wanted to get something for Atteni. He was late to the arena and wanted to apologize…”

Keith watched him quietly, seeming to realize without Lance saying it that there was more to the story than Pelzar and Atteni and a jerky game operator.

We both got apology gifts, Lance reminded himself. This was his perfect opening.

“Keith, I’m sorry I avoided you all morning.” He hadn’t said it yet, and he really had to.

Keith blinked in surprise at the topic change. Then he frowned. “I…Yeah. Yeah, you should be. Are you going to tell me why now?”

No way in hell.

“I was just being my stupid self,” Lance deflected. “But it won’t happen again. You’re impossible to stay away from.”

When Lance realized what he’d admitted, he almost slapped himself. Why had he said that? It was weird wasn’t it? He’d probably just ruined everything. Keith would leave or change the subject and Lance wouldn’t even get to give him the figurine.

But Keith didn’t leave. No, he beamed.

The air caught in Lance’s chest, constricting his breath, and he may have actually blacked out for a second. That smile could light the Milky Way.

Hello, butterflies. Any doubts Lance had about forming a crush vanished. He could sit next to that smile for eternity.

“Most people wouldn’t agree with you,” Keith said, almost laughing, but Lance could feel the relief behind it.

Their entire journey, Keith had been twitchy, thinking Lance would abandon him at the slightest inclination. Even Lance had his doubts at certain moments. But right there. Sitting in the light of Keith’s smile, he couldn’t even dream of leaving. He’d never leave Keith again.

“And I forgive you,” his soulmate added softly.

Lance blinked back into reality, glancing away from Keith’s eyes – eyes the color of the starriest night sky – to reorganize his thoughts. He’d had a plan, hadn’t he? “You do?”

“Yeah. Like you said, you’re an idiot.”

The familiarity of Keith’s banter broke the moment and finally freed Lance from whatever weird fog he’d fallen into. “If we weren’t a hundred feet off the ground, I’d totally leave right now,” he threatened, trying not to laugh.

No you wouldn’t. And that was the problem, wasn’t it?

Keith smirked. “Not a total idiot, then,” he allowed.

“You’re a jerk, Mullet.”

“I think we’ve established that you’re a bigger one, Leoncio.”

A jolt shot through Lance when he heard that name. That name that Keith hadn’t let go of for all that Lance’s family had. It was like Keith was calling on some deeper, buried part of him whenever he used it. And the other always had that tiny smirk when he said it. And that southern US drawl. Keith was from Texas, but his accent rarely came out, hidden from years with dozens of foster families and group homes.

But it always emerged when he said Lance’s given name.

That deeper part of Lance appeared again, as if summoned, but this time it stayed longer, urging him to do something. What, he wasn’t sure, but it probably involved closing the distance between them and sealing their lips together to prevent another taunt from escaping Keith’s mouth.

Instead, Lance pulled the figurine out of its compartment and said, “Would a jerk get you this as an apology gift?”

That got rid of the haughty smirk. Keith gaped. “When did you get that? I was with you the whole time! You don’t have any money!”

Lance shrugged, feigning carelessness for all that his heart was trying to escape his chest. At least he affected Keith just as much – or at least half as much – as the other affected him. If for different reasons. “I won it playing the ring toss game with Pelzar. They had a bunch of figurines, including the lions, so-”

Keith surged forward, and for a small, stupid moment, Lance thought Keith meant to kiss him. The proper, friendly reaction probably wasn’t to half-close his eyes and lean closer.

Shit. What am I doing? Of course Keith wasn’t trying to kiss him. Keith didn’t see him like that.

Lance pulled back in shame. He tried to pretend he hadn’t been about to make the biggest mistake of his life and ruin a friendship that meant so much to him, but his lips burned with the remembered sensation of their last kiss, making that ten times harder.

Luckily, Keith was too focused on his actual thoughts to notice. “So you were intending to apologize even before I attacked you?” he pleaded. Desperation saturated the words and battered at Lance’s soul, as if Keith needed the answer to breathe.

“I-” What? Kiss or no kiss, that was the last question Lance expected. “Yeah. Of course I was going to apologize. I shouldn’t have cut you off like that. It was a jerk move.” Why was Keith so surprised? And he still hadn’t taken the lion. “Do you like it?” Lance asked, suddenly worried.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Keith grinned and finally accepted the gift. “It’s our lion.”

Somehow Lance’s face flooded with even more heat. Considering the inferno of embarrassment inside him from the not-a-kiss moment, he hadn’t thought it could get worse.

‘Our lion.’ It was true, but it sounded like more. Like we’re soulmates or something. And yeah, they kind of were.

“Thank you, Lance. And I do…forgive you. I wasn’t lying or anything.”

“That’s enough sappy stuff,” Lance decided. He couldn’t take any more. Not when they were trapped in the box together. “Who knew you were so mushy, Mullet?”

Who knew I was so into it?

Keith rolled his eyes. “And it’s just like you to ruin a moment.”

‘We had a bonding moment!’ “Hey, I’m just saving our reputations,” Lance defended. “We’d never live it down if anyone found out how big of a sap you are.”

“They’d never believe it. They’d think you’re lying to get back at me.”

Just when Lance was about to comment, their box jolted as the wheel turned. He expected it to stop, but then he realized that they were at the ground level. They were on the official rounds now.

“Aw,” he said as he realized. “We missed the view.”

“No. We didn’t.”

Lance turned to Keith in surprise, and the other paladin reddened. Maybe he’d realized what that sounded like.

“I-I mean…Look.” He pointed as they reached the wheel’s peak.

Keith was right. While they wouldn’t have as much time to take it in, the skyline was amazing. From so close, Lance couldn’t even see the end of the festival. It stretched on, into the night. Across multiple cities if not the entire country. He and Keith had debated on flying out further, in search of more rides, before realizing Allura wouldn’t be happy with them leaving at all, let alone taking the lions to explore the planet. Instead, they’d enjoyed the rides available to them near the castle.

Not that the scenery only consisted of flashing rollercoaster lights and festival tents. To the right side, Lance saw the park he’d found Pelzar in; a huge lake shined in the moonlight several dozen miles ahead; and even a few nocturnal birds flitted through the night air. One perched on the edge of their box to pick at its wing before taking flight again, and Lance could make out shimmering green and purple feathers and two ivory horns on its cheeks.

“You’re right,” Lance admitted. “We didn’t miss anything, but the ride’s almost over.”

“We can go again,” Keith said, leaning around to catch Lance’s eyes. The Red Lion figurine caught the moonlight as he moved, drawing Lance’s attention to it.

I did everything I wanted to do today. The Ferris wheel had been Keith’s idea, and Lance had already seen everything he’d see on another round.

“Nah. Maybe at the next festival.” He glanced away from the figurine to shoot Keith a reassuring smile.

Keith smiled back, and his soul almost melted into Lance’s. They weren’t joining together, and he wasn’t probing or anything, but Keith’s usually fiery soul calmed into a warm hum, heating Lance from the inside out with just his presence. Lance could live forever next to that soul.

“It’s a d-eal.”

Chapter Text

Brutal. That was the only word that described training the next morning. Staying out so late certainly took its toll on both of them. Not that anyone could tell with Keith.

Unlike Lance, the Red Paladin showed no signs of exhaustion, training as fervently as ever. Only Lance knew how tired Keith really felt. His aura flowed less vibrantly than usual. His usually quick and fierce emotions formed more sluggishly. His sword movements were a little stiff, too, but the lag was barely discernible. Lance only noticed because they trained together so often.

God. Where did he find the energy? Lance could use some of it.

“You alright, Buddy?” Hunk asked the twelfth time the drone got a shot past Lance’s shield.

That day’s training involved full-Paladin teamwork – minus Shiro, for obvious reasons – so they all stood back-to-back. Each of them had to protect themselves and the others from laser-shooting drones, all while working to destroy the threat.

Lance was failing miserably.

His entire body stung with welts, and even the little energy he’d retained from his few hours of sleep couldn’t help him lift his shield in defense. No telling how many shots missed him and hit the others.

Another drone prepared a thirteenth blast that probably would have landed if not for Keith’s lightning quick reflexes.

“Thanks,” Lance groaned, eyeing the smoking remains of their enemy. Not that that did him much good when more remained, circling and waiting to strike.

Keith frowned at him. “You should take a break.”

“Do you think Zarkon will let you take a break in the middle of a battle?” Allura demanded from the sidelines.

Easy for her to say. She’s not the one training.

Lance had barely even gone to the gyms on Earth. Jumping from little to no exercise straight into Allura and Coran’s daily torture sessions couldn’t be good for his health.

Keith’s gaze wavered from Lance only long enough to shoot the princess a glare. “I don’t know. He’s your stepfather.”

Oh no. Lance mustered enough strength to step forward, barely noticing when Pidge deactivated the forgotten training bots. He didn’t know what he planned to do, but he couldn’t do nothing. Maybe breaking Keith and Allura’s line of sight to each other would deescalate the budding argument.

“Uh, Keith? Buddy?” Hunk glanced unsurely between the frustrated Red Paladin and the outraged princess. He winced. “I don’t think you’re helping.” Suddenly, his eyes lit up. “I know! You both must be hungry! We should break for breakfast! Then we’ll come back to training nice and refreshed!”

Great idea! At the very least, it was an idea.

“Good thinking, Hunk!” Lance turned to the princess. “How does that sound? I think we could all use a little breakfast.”

For a moment, it looked like Allura might argue further. Blue eyes sharpened on him derisively; not that Lance could blame her. Not only was Allura right about Zarkon and breaks; she’d also caught him and Keith sneaking back into the castle that morning. She’d taken one look at them, stumbling through the doors and breathless with laughter, then walked away without a word. She hadn’t even added to their punishment.

Maybe training on no sleep is our punishment, Lance thought. It certainly felt like one.

His exhaustion – and Allura’s annoyance – may not have been so bad if they’d come back directly after the Ferris wheel like they intended. Instead, they’d spent another two hours playing festival games.

A guy running a shooting game had heard about Lance and Keith’s twin souls somewhere and decided that, once the rumors spread and even the more stubborn people forgave them, his stall would be twice as popular for having attracted them. He offered them three free games, and Lance caved to the temptation of showing up Keith after their spat in the arena. (Not that Keith stopped him.)

The crowd they attracted to that game convinced more vendors to let them play others, but while they’d played plenty of games, not every stall owner agreed. To Keith’s annoyance, the dunking booth lady outright refused to give them a free round.

Lance didn’t know why Keith wanted to dunk that poor man into the goop so badly, but that argument alone took a large chunk out of their sleeping time. In the end, they’d gotten back extremely late, and Allura hadn’t been pleased. But considering how Lance’s Mamá would have reacted to him disappearing for so long without warning…Yeah, Allura let them off easy.

“You are correct, Hunk,” the princess eventually muttered. She sighed, letting go of most of her tension, and offered Hunk a tight smile. “Perhaps some refreshment is just what we need.”

“Great. I’ll head to the kitchen now.”

And I’m taking another nap. With more training ahead, Lance needed all the energy he could get.

***

Lance’s nap – while effective – proved pointless. The Paladins were just finishing breakfast when Coran announced, “Paladins, Princess! Please come to the bridge immediately. I have looked over the results of Shiro’s tests.”

Keith was the first one up, but he didn’t hold the lead for long. No one could wait to hear how to help Shiro.

The second the bridge doors slid open, Keith demanded, “What is it? What’s wrong with him?”

Coran ignored the Red Paladin’s rudeness.

“The wound itself is minor,” he told them, holding up Shiro’s medical chart. “The problem is what it was imbued with: both quintessence and poison. So far, the pod has worked to heal the poison, but the quintessence amplifies it, preventing it from fully fading. Now that we have the molecular make-up of the quintessence, I can program the pods to manually break it down, but to do so would leave his body vulnerable to the poison.”

“So we have to get rid of the poison first?” Pidge asked.

“Precisely.”

Keith stared desperately at Shiro’s pod. He itched to move. To leave. To do something. For a moment, Lance even thought Keith might punch the cryopod to get it to perform a miracle. He stretched his soul a bit, lending his soulmate some calm. Keith gratefully accepted.

Lance wished he could help more, but there was nothing he could do. Neither of them was a doctor.

Allura frowned. “Do we know what the poison is, Coran?”

Coran smiled and nodded. “Yes, as a matter of fact. It is a concoction consisting of the venom of a Glengiel Bittersnake and the corrosive sap of the Dastardly Rettle Tree. To combat it, we need ingredients from their natural enemies, as well as a reactive agent that will bind them together while not reacting with the poison itself.”

“Well, what are their natural enemies?” Lance asked. Coran had to know, or he wouldn’t look so happy.

“The Bittersnake’s natural enemy is the Scynthian Crawler.”

Coran typed something into the computer, drawing up a picture of a spider. It didn’t look too bad, but Lance hated spiders. Especially creepy white ones with ice-blue eyes.

“Nasty beasts. They’re twelve feet long and telepathic. Or is it telekinetic?” Coran frowned in thought before shaking his head and moving on. “In either case, we need its venom to heal Shiro.”

Twelve feet? Sleep-deprived as he was, Lance wasn’t sure he could hold out long against a spider that big.

“Next, the Rettle Tree. Its natural enemy is an invasive weed commonly known as the Starberry plant. It can grow across an area of a hundred square feet in just one day once it’s introduced to the environment, but the poultice from its petals is the natural neutralizer to the Rettle Tree’s sap.”

This ingredient looked much friendlier. Though something about the large, red-and-black striped petals put Lance off. “It’s not poisonous, is it?” he asked warily. “And it doesn’t breathe fire or anything?” He recalled the odder plants in the monks’ garden.

Coran shook his head. “No, no. It’s perfectly safe. For Alteans, anyway. But I’m sure it’s the same with Earthlings!”

Reassuring…

“What’s the third thing we need?” Hunk probed nervously.

“Ah yes. The ideal reactive agent for such volatile ingredients would be the milk of Anemile. An ingredient found only on planet Alouran.”

“Milk?” Hunk asked. “Lance and I will get that one!”

“We will?” Not that Lance was against it per se, but he’d sort of expected to go with Keith. A part of him slumped in disappointment at the thought of not joining his former rival.

That’s just the crush talking. He groaned. He’d been trying not to think about that.

“You will not,” Coran disagreed. “Planet Alouran is very selective of who they invite inside their borders. Only those who have received the express permission of their emperor or empress may enter into their lunar system.”

“We can just sneak in, then,” Keith said, determined. “We don’t have time to get an invitation.”

“Luckily, we don’t need one,” Allura said. “I already have the permission of Empress Gelana to enter the planet. My father saved her life as a young girl, and my family was given free access.”

“Yeah, but that was ten thousand years ago,” Lance pointed out. “What if their current empress or whoever doesn’t let you in?”

The princess waved off his concerns. “I’m sure they’ll honor their predecessor’s invitation. The people of Alouran are quite dedicated to their ancestors, the ancient rulers especially. I’m sure that, over time, Empress Gelana’s wisdom has only become more sacred.”

If she said so.

“Alright,” Keith decided, not convinced but not arguing. “So you and Coran can get the milk. Lance and-”

“Me,” Hunk cut in.

Why is he so insistent on going with me? Lance remembered Hunk all but refusing to train with him the day before when he’d still been avoiding Keith. The memory still stung at part of him, even if he’d acknowledged how awful avoiding Keith without explanation was.

Keith frowned between Hunk and Lance. He shot Lance a look like, ‘Are you okay with this?’ but Lance just shrugged. If Hunk wanted to go with him in particular, there must be a reason. “Sure…Lance and Hunk, you go get that Star plant. Pidge and I’ll get the spider venom.”

“Uh, can we not?” Pidge asked. She shuddered. “I hate spiders.”

“Better you than me,” Lance said, earning a glare from their youngest member.

Coran cleared his throat. “Actually, all of you can search for it. The Starberry plant and the Scynthian Crawler are both found on the same planet and in rather close proximity.”

“Oh.” Keith pulled back, something like shame or disappointment flooding him. It was then that Lance realized Keith had just given them orders. Like a leader would.

He’d make a great leader, he thought, frowning.

“I shall program the coordinates into your lions,” Coran assured them. “The princess will open a wormhole for you before we make our way to Alouran. We’ll meet with you once we’ve acquired the milk of Anemile.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

***

The plan was ruined the second they got to the planet.

“Uh, guys? Are we at the right place?” The landscape looked nothing like the one in the pictures Coran sent them. Lance even double-checked the image to be sure.

Keith disappeared in a burst of speed to check the rest of the planet, but when he circled back to them, he shook his head. “It looks like this all the way around.”

“…It’s the right location,” Pidge said hesitantly. “But I don’t think we’ll find the ingredients here.”

Ahead of them sat a barren wasteland. A few dried-out plants laid scattered across the surface, long dead but not quite decomposed. They lent the only hints of life to the otherwise depressing environment. It was a far cry from the lush forests and crystalline lakes in Coran’s electronic information booklet.

“It’s been ten thousand years,” Hunk said. “I guess a lot can change in that time.”

“But how did the planet get this damaged?” Pidge demanded. “There’s nothing left, and it used to be filled with nature.”

Keith looked ready to destroy the rest of the planet. “There has to be something. Bugs can survive anything, and there are still some plants. We have to check. For Shiro.”

Lance would love to believe that, but…“Keith, there’s nothing down there.” They would be better off searching another planet for the same or similar ingredients instead of wasting time searching a dead planet.

Granted, Allura and Coran are still at that other place, and we might get lost in space if we leave without them knowing.

“We have to try!” Keith flew off without any other warning.

Lance sighed. He was about to chase after the hothead – As always, part of him whispered – when he remembered Keith’s earlier plan. Maybe following that would help calm Keith down. “Pidge, go after him. You two search for the spider, like he said earlier. Hunk and I’ll search for the Starberry thing.”

The Green Paladin sighed. “Did it have to be the spider?” But she flew off to find their makeshift leader anyway.

“Where do you think we should look?” Lance asked, frowning around at the landscape. He pulled up the plant’s image Coran had downloaded to their lions, hoping something in the background might act as a landmark, but the planet looked so different it probably wouldn’t help. Surely that bright red would stand out against the pale gray of the planet’s bedrock if it was there.

“Well, we’re at the spot he said it would be in.” Hunk shrugged. “I don’t know, Buddy. If it was anywhere, I’d say right here, but it’s been ten thousand years.”

Staying in their lions wouldn’t help them find anything. “What’s the air quality?”

“Huh?”

“I think our best bet to find the flower is to get out and search for it.” As it stood, they were too high up to see any clues. Not that Lance expected to find anything at all, but Keith was frantic. Even then, his soul cried out in desperation.

Lance winced when he realized that feeling was only growing stronger. Maybe he should have gone after Keith, plan or not.

Hunk frowned, but he hit a few buttons. Pidge’s lion worked best for analysis, but supposedly all of theirs could manage the basics. Not that Lance knew how to.

“The air isn’t great, but it wouldn’t poison us. I would keep your helmet on anyway to be safe.”

“Alright.” Lance moved to leave with Hunk following, then he realized. “Wait. We should figure out where the Starberry plant grows best.” No matter what had happened in the past ten thousand years, that shouldn’t have changed.

He pulled up the information and skimmed through. “Its ideal environment is one with plenty of shade and nutrient-rich soil.”

Hunk eyed the dry terrain. “I don’t think we’ll find that here.”

“Well Keith wants to try, and I guess we should. For Shiro.” Lance shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll find a miracle.”

“Alright, so what place would get plenty of shade and nutrition?”

Lance scoured the information. When he found the answer, he grimaced. “It lists one here, but I don’t think you’ll like it.”

“What is it?”

“A gravesite.”

Hunk’s face said it all.

“We’ve gotta try, Buddy. For Shiro.” And Keith.

“…Right.”

Lance frowned. Hunk clearly needed a distraction before heading out. “Can I ask you something?”

Hunk shook himself out of whatever stupor he’d fallen into and smiled at Lance. “You can ask me anything, Buddy.”

“Why did you want to come with me specifically? You seemed pretty insistent.”

Hunk’s smile faded, and he glanced away, unable to meet Lance’s eyes. “Well, yesterday you seemed set on staying away from Keith, so I figured I’d help.”

I had to ask.

Lance’s face burned with heat, but Hunk continued before he could confirm or deny the accusation. “Besides. We haven’t spent much time together recently, and I was looking forward to playing games and riding rides at the festival with you after the official speeches.”

Guilt gnawed at Lance’s insides as shame overshadowed his embarrassment. Maybe he and Keith should have invited Hunk, too. But no, Lance didn’t think he’d do anything different even if he could. There was just something about being with Keith – and only Keith – that soothed something in him. Adding anyone else to the equation would have set him on edge, and he wouldn’t have enjoyed the night half so much.

That’s just the crush, his inner voice sang mockingly.

Shut it.

“…And I’m sorry.”

Lance blinked back into the conversation to find Hunk staring pleadingly at him. “For what?”

“For making fun of your marriage situation. It may seem funny to me, but I know it’s not for you. I shouldn’t laugh about it.”

Lance grimaced. “Honestly, at this point I’m more curious about what’s going to happen next. Not that I’m happy about it, but…It is what it is, I guess.” He watched a dust cloud form outside, chasing nothing across the barren planet. Maybe this time he and Keith would fall into some ruins during their search. Or maybe the planet was too dead to marry them. “At least it’s just Keith and me. If we were all marrying each other, it would be a nightmare.”

Hunk laughed. “I don’t know, I’d marry you in a heartbeat. Just say the word.”

Lance smiled. “Yeah, but imagine trying to sort out who was married on which planet. We would greet the Sliebanians as Mr. and Mr. McClain Garrett when really it should be Mr. and Mrs. Garrett Holt.”

Hunk shuddered. “True.” Then he paused. “Would you take my last name? I mean…I know that’s not the Cuban custom, is it?”

Lance thought about it. In theory, he could change his name. He lived in America where the practice was common, after all…But would he want to? He’d never had to think about it before. If he wound up marrying a guy-

You already have.

-then the question of names would come up. He imagined how his name would look. Leoncio Kogane, Leoncio McClain Kogane, Leoncio McClain García Kogane…Lance Kogane. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t him.

“Mi abuela would kill me,” he decided, pushing the thought away for later. It was a moot point when he didn’t even know if he would wind up with a guy. Let alone what that guy’s last name would be. “Throwing away tradition like that.”

Hunk ignored his dismissal. “What would our kids be called?…I like Rosa for a girl, after your mom. But what about for a boy?…Dustin?” He nodded decisively. “Rosa and Dustin McClain Garrett.”

Lance laughed. “Hunk. You realize we’re not married, right? And I’m pretty sure we don’t have kids.”

“Are you saying you don’t want kids with me?” Hunk shot Lance a wounded look, but he couldn’t hide his grin. “But I picked out matching tuxes for our prom already!”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Come on, ‘cariño’. We need to get to this cemetery before Keith realizes we haven’t started searching yet.”

“You love Keith more than you love me,” Hunk mockingly complained. “I’m filing for a divorce! I call dibs on the kitchen.”

Lance flushed again, glad Hunk couldn’t see his face. ‘You love Keith…’

He’s just teasing. I have a crush, but that’ll go away soon enough. The second I meet a new girl at the next planet probably. Lance knew from experience that his interest rarely lasted long. He’d never had an actual crush before, but he was sure it would go the same.

“Alright,” he said once they finally left their lions. “According to the maps, the nearest cemetery used to be this way.”

“Uh…Lance?”

Lance turned, wondering why Hunk sounded so weirded out. “What is it?”

“Look.” He pointed at Lance’s feet. A circle of grass had appeared where, before, there had been nothing but dust and rock. The longer Lance stood in place, the wider that circle grew. It even filled in the footprint-shaped grass that made up Lance’s path from Blue.

“What the hell?!”

Lance turned back around and saw a narrow path of grass forming, leading in the same direction the gravesite should be in. The edge of the path shimmered pink before the ground absorbed it and softened into soil that allowed more grass to grow in its place. As Lance watched, the cycle repeated until the grass spread far into the distance.

Keith’s voice cut through his terror. “Are you okay, Lance? What happened?”

Lance balked. “…Ke-eith?!” he called, completely unnerved. “Have you guys noticed anything weird?”

“No, why?”

“Have you left your lions?”

“No. What happened? Do you need us?”

He sounded ready to bolt. To abandon their mission and come to Lance’s rescue, even if that meant waiting longer to help Shiro.

I can’t let him do that, Lance realized. And really…what was wrong with plants coming to life wherever he walked? If anything, that helped them.

“…No. It’s just…Nevermind. I guess it’s not that important.” He eyed the bare ground behind Hunk and tried not to let the fear and confusion overwhelm him. Even from so far away, Keith would sense that.

“Are you sure?” Pidge asked. “It sounds pretty important.”

“Yeah. Just keep looking for that spider. We’ll let you know if we find the flower.”

Keith sighed. “Alright. Just call if you need anything.”

“You got it.” Lance made sure to open a private channel for him and Hunk to talk without distracting Keith and Pidge again.

“What’s going on?” Hunk whispered, staring in horror at the grass circle. It finally seemed to have reached its max diameter, but two grass paths branched out from it. One leading in Keith and Pidge’s direction, and the other in the direction of the cemetery.

It’s leading to Keith, too? What the hell is going on? Lance had a sinking feeling he knew the answer.

“I think it’s the quintessence.” Coran had called it life-giving energy, and this definitely fit that description. “Keith and I must have been saturated with the stuff after bonding, so it’s coming off me. That’s why that path is growing.” He pointed to the one leading to the other paladins. “It’s feeding off the energy linking me and Keith.”

“Sure, but why’s it going that way, too?” Hunk asked, gesturing to the other path.

“I have no clue, but I think we should follow it.”

Hunk looked like that was the last thing he wanted to do. “Follow a weird, life-giving energy into a cemetery filled with dead bodies? Great idea.”

“I don’t think it can raise the dead.” Lance hoped not anyway. The second a hand split through the ground, he was out. “Besides…Maybe it doesn’t lead to the cemetery. Maybe it just looks like it does.”

***

It led to the cemetery. Or the gravesite. Whatever it was called, the quintessence path led to it.

Lance eyed the sloping steps of the pyramid. As old as the place must have been, it looked sturdy, like even time or whatever destroyed the rest of the planet couldn’t touch it. He imagined how it must have looked when the planet was alive. Grass and flowers covering the ground that made up the steps, animals flitting in and out of the many doorways that were etched into the pyramid’s sides. With the quintessence path still spreading and bringing that vision to life, imagining the before wasn’t too hard.

Not a zombie hand in sight. Lance sighed in relief.

“Just don’t step over any graves,” Hunk said nervously. “Stick to the paths.”

Depending on where the bodies were buried, that could be easier said than done. They might have been hidden in the nooks just past the doorways, but they could just as easily be buried in the ground of each tier. Maybe even both. Lance and Hunk had no way to know.

“Do you think it’s taking us to the Starberry plant? We did ask for a miracle.” Maybe since the quintessence was attached to Lance’s soul, it was reacting to Lance’s thoughts.

“Maybe…Or maybe-”

Whatever Hunk meant to say was cut off by a clap of thunder. Vibrations shook the ground under Lance’s feet, and it took all of his effort to remain standing.

Once the aftershocks stopped, he looked up at the completely bare sky. “What the- Can this place even get a rainstorm?” Dry as the planet was, Lance doubted it.

“I don’t think that was thunder,” Hunk muttered. He pointed to a section of the pyramid. It had finally succumbed to the elements and caved. “The plants growing must have weakened the foundation.”

Lance eyed the trail of life which went directly through the rubble and dust. “I guess we should follow before it caves in more.”

Hunk whimpered. “I don’t like this,” he said, even as he followed Lance. “I really, really don’t like this.”

“Well, there’s no sign of emerging body parts yet,” Lance muttered, not feeling much better. “That’s something.” He kept an eye on the rubble as they passed it, but there was no sign of anything other than rocks, dirt, and ivy within. Maybe the bodies were buried deeper inside. For all they knew, the pyramid led into a cavernous underground and the exterior doorways were only meant to confuse visitors.

Several moments of walking passed before they heard another rumble. Hunk gasped. “Look out!” and pushed Lance into the opening beside them just in time to miss the rain of boulders where they’d previously stood. It wasn’t enough to cover the entryway, but that collapse could have severely injured them.

“Thanks, Buddy,” Lance wheezed once the stars cleared from his eyes and the cavern stopped shaking. Thank God he’d kept his helmet on. Not only did it protect his head from the few rocks that managed to hit him; it also prevented the dust from suffocating him.

Hunk shot him a half-hearted grin. “No problem.”

“Is everything alright, guys?” Keith asked. Was he keeping tabs on them or something? Lance thought he turned the comms on manual.

He is your soulmate. Right. If Lance could still feel Keith’s emotions – at that moment, worry and exhaustion – then Keith could still feel his.

“For the most part,” Lance answered. “What about you two? Any luck?”

“We found the spider’s den,” Pidge told him. “We’re going to lure it out. That way we won’t be trapped, and we can fight it from our lions.”

Lucky them.

Lance sighed. “We’re still looking for the flower. No sign of it yet, but if it’s anywhere, it would be here.”

“We’ll meet up with you when we’re done here,” Keith promised.

The line went dead, and Lance eyed the half-buried archway. “If this doesn’t help Shiro…” he muttered half-heartedly.

“You heard Coran. As long as we can cure the poison, the pod can take care of the rest. He’ll be fine.”

“Yeah.” Still, Lance didn’t want to go outside just yet. “This must be where they buried people.” No grass grew at his feet, but ivy crept along the walls, cracking bits and pieces of it. Amazingly, the wall didn’t give more than that. Whoever used to inhabit the planet must have been amazing with architecture…and botany.

Planter boxes circled the room, positioned midway up the wall. As Lance watched, flowers of all sorts blossomed into life. Within seconds, a strong floral smell overtook the previous smell of mold and dust, and it set Lance at ease. While there were some pretty interesting specimens among those flowers, however, nothing remotely Starberry-shaped appeared.

Coran called it a weed. They wouldn’t intentionally plant it, would they?

Realizing something else, Lance stepped up to one of the planter boxes to inspect the purple flowers that filled it. All of the plants in the room were either purple or bronze, even though the type of flower varied. I wonder what it means…

When Lance tore his gaze away from the flowers, he noticed an odd writing engraved in the wall, just above the box. He pulled up his translator.

“Is that a translation device?” Hunk asked, coming closer to watch.

“Yeah.”

The wall said:

Kellil the Eighteenth

43213.43356

Son of Sons

Father of Fathers

May His Legacy Live and Light the Path of His Descendants

(Killed in the War for Lake Gretheid)

Lance bowed his head to pay respects. Long ago, a man had lost his life in some war, leaving a family behind. He straightened up the grave, pulling ivy from flowers and brushing dust off the headstones. When he finished with Kellil the Eighteenth, he decided to do the courtesy for the other twelve graves as well.

Once satisfied that the work was done, he turned to Hunk. “Let’s go.”

Hunk smiled. “You’re nicer than people think, you know.”

Lance puffed up, letting the somber mood fade. “‘Nicer than people think’? I’ll have you know that I’m a delight 24/7! Three hundred and sixty-six days a year!”

Hunk laughed. “You keep telling yourself that.”

Lance ignored the insult, and they climbed past the rubble to continue following the path. Neither of them made any other detours, but several more walls collapsed in the time it took them to reach the top of the pyramid. Whenever they came to one of the breaks, they climbed over, using the jetpacks Allura just told them about to add force and get them over more safely.

The path stopped at the edge of the upper tier.

“Well, that was a waste of time,” Lance declared. The only thing disrupting the flat, barren nothingness of the pyramid’s crest was a single archway. It stood tall and proud in the very center of the space and seemed to be made of both rock and metal, but that didn’t help him find the Starberry plant.

“I don’t know…” Hunk frowned. “Just because the quintessence didn’t lead us to the Starberry, that doesn’t mean it isn’t somewhere here. It grows in the shade, right? So what if it’s in one of the burial rooms?”

They didn’t have time to search every room. There had to be at least five hundred.

Before Lance could mention that fact, he felt an odd disturbance in the air around them. Keith appeared, flying the Red Lion, followed swiftly by Pidge in Green. They both landed safely next to Lance and Hunk and disembarked.

“Have you found it yet?” Keith asked hurriedly. He eyed their empty hands as if glaring would make the Starberry plant appear.

“No,” Lance admitted. “But the flower prefers shaded areas, so we think we have to check inside the burial rooms in this pyramid.”

“Burial rooms?” Pidge grinned. “Like with mummies? Cool.”

Spiders were scary but mummies were cool? Okay.

“No. No mummies!” Hunk declared. “Just nice, flower-filled rooms that happen to house no-longer-living people.”

“It is weird that this mountain has so many flowers on it when the rest of the planet is dust and rock,” Pidge noted, eyeing the edges of grass at the entrance. “I guess the soil would have enough nutrients. Maybe they don’t need water.”

Lance grimaced. “Actually…” He walked to the edge of the roof and pointed to the path they’d followed on their way to the pyramid. “Look.”

The others looked and frowned. “That’s…interesting. All of that survived?” Pidge asked.

Hunk shook his head. “It wasn’t there until Lance got out of his lion.”

Keith went so still he almost stopped breathing. “What?”

“Our best guess is that the quintessence inside me from all the rituals gave them enough life-energy to grow,” Lance said awkwardly. “That other path over there is leading to where you were.” And it looked like another one had formed, leading in the direction Keith and Pidge flew in from.

“But he didn’t even have to walk before the quintessence spread this way. Like it was leading us here,” Hunk added. “We thought it might be leading us to the flower, but-”

“No luck,” Lance finished. “The trail stopped over there.”

“It might be because there was nothing here to regrow,” Pidge said. She eyed the edge of the grass path then sized up the arch. “It looks like the most direct path leads to this archway.”

They all crowded around to inspect the architecture. Multiple engravings littered the rock parts, but they were just pictures. When Lance tried to translate them, nothing came up.

“I wonder if…” Keith trailed off, gazing up at the top of the archway. “There’s writing up there.”

“What?” Lance walked under the arch next to Keith to see what he meant only for the pictures to blaze with light. A sort of forcefield surrounded them before either of them could even think of escape.

What?

“Um, guys?” Hunk asked, looking freaked out. “I think you should move.”

Lance tried, but the forcefield held firm, preventing him from leaving. It didn’t sting him or anything, but touching it sent ripples cascading through the energy. That lent the forcefield a sort of elasticity that even Keith’s sword couldn’t tear through.

“Is it a trap?” Hunk asked nervously.

Pidge shook her head, eyes narrowed in thought. “I don’t think so. You said the quintessence led you here?”

Lance nodded. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I think that it’s connected to whatever keeps marrying you guys.”

“You mean this is another marriage?” Keith demanded, glaring at the forcefield. He hadn’t stopped slashing at it with his sword, not that it did any good.

“Keith…” Lance admonished softly.

Keith stopped attacking. “Fine…How do we get out of here, then?”

“You said you saw writing?” Pidge asked. “What does it say?”

Keith frowned but leveled his translator at the rock above them. “From life to death, may love forever bind us.” He shifted uncomfortably but looked to Lance expectantly.

Why is it always us? Lance wished Hunk and Pidge could experience what it felt like to constantly stumble into alien wedding rituals at least once.

“From life to death, may love forever bind us,” Lance repeated in a mutter. He stared at the ground to hide his burning face.

Pidge snorted, but the words did the job. The forcefield vanished. Lance glared at the snickering Paladin, so he saw the second Hunk muttered something that had her smile dropping into a frown.

“So you think the Starberry plant is in one of the rooms here?” Keith asked, clearly uncomfortable and trying to move on.

“Yeah…I guess all we can do is look.”

“Let’s split up again,” Pidge decided. “If the plants came to life around Lance, then they probably would for you too, Keith, and we’ll cover more ground that way. We can figure out why the quintessence led you here once we’ve healed Shiro.”

“Right.”

They headed out to look for the Starberry plant, leaving any thoughts of the archway behind them.

Chapter Text

Lance didn’t know much about apologies – he could count on two hands how many times he’d found it important enough to apologize to anyone – but he was pretty sure they shouldn’t start with the words, “Hunk said I should apologize to you.”

Thoroughly distracted, he turned away from the dark and dusty tomb to observe Pidge. “What?”

The Green Paladin didn’t even pretend to search for the Starberry. She faced him head-on, daring him to explain Hunk’s sudden request. “Hunk said I should apologize to you.”

That explains their whisper session before we split. It also explained why Hunk insisted Pidge and Lance group up for the rest of the Starberry search, a complete turnaround from that morning when he claimed Lance for himself.

“He thinks that we should stop laughing whenever a marriage happens. That it upsets you.” Pidge eyed him like he was a piece of alien tech she was trying to dissect. “I think you’re upset for other reasons. Am I right? It’s not like you wouldn’t laugh if Hunk or I were the ones being married.”

And you would hate every second of it if I did.

“Yeah. I probably would,” he admitted curtly. He didn’t want a fight, so he turned back to the flower boxes, hoping Pidge couldn’t see how tense he’d gotten. Purple. Purple. Bronze…No sign of red. “Well, it’s not here. Let’s try the next-”

“Lance. You’d let me know if I upset you, right?” Pidge demanded. “You’re one of my best friends. Me laughing doesn’t negate that.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

He tried to leave, but Pidge blocked the doorway. “Lance!”

The tsunami of anger inside him burst, releasing more pent up frustration than Lance had even known existed there. “Would you stop pestering me?! I know! The whole situation is very funny! Hilarious! Laugh it up all you want!”

Pidge stared at him blankly. How could she be so unaffected when Lance had just exploded on her? “So it does upset you.”

“Of course it upsets me! Who likes being laughed at?!”

“I’m not laughing at you,” she defended. “It’s just so…”

“Hilarious?” Lance finished, glaring.

“Well…yeah.” Pidge shrugged.

She acted like the whole thing was no big deal. Like Lance and Keith just kept tripping over their shoelaces or something instead of tripping into a slew of unwanted and unplanned marriages. And to make everything worse, not one ounce of the Green Paladin seemed legitimately apologetic. She hadn’t even realized something was wrong on her own. Hunk had to tell her.

Oblivious to Lance’s seething disbelief, Pidge continued to explain her side. Some apology. It sounded like she wanted one from him.

“All you and Keith ever do is fight, but you still keep winding up married on these planets.” When Lance just kept glaring, though, she sighed. “Fine, if it upsets you that much, I’ll stop laughing. We do need to figure out why it’s happening so often.” She glanced at the flowers which were still blooming all around the grave room. “It seems to be connected to quintessence somehow.”

That’s the best I’ll get right now, Lance realized.

He wanted to roll his eyes, but he just sighed instead. They didn’t need to add intra-Voltron fighting to their already unstable mess. Keith and Allura’s feud created enough unnecessary drama on its own. And they were still down a Paladin until they found the Starberry plant and the Alteans returned with the space milk.

“It’s not the laughing,” he conceded. A tiny lie, but being part of a team was all about compromise. No matter if Iverson said 'organized delegation of tasks' was more important. “Not that the laughing feels great, but I honestly expect it from you.”

Pidge gaped. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re a troublemaker, Pidge. You love anything that inconveniences someone else. So do I. It’s why we get along so well.” At least Lance acknowledged his flaws. He winced, remembering how awful he’d been to Keith at the start. If Lance had ever had a chance at seeing where his crush would take them, his initial behavior would have blown it. He tried not to feel sad about that.

How long can this crush last? he assured himself. You’ll meet someone new on the next planet, and everything will go back to normal. Or as normal as life in space could get for a seventeen-year-old hero.

“Guess it’s not so funny when something inconveniences you, huh?” Pidge deduced.

Lance shook his head to clear it of his wandering thoughts, but his anger had disappeared, replaced by a stifling heaviness that he couldn’t shake.

“No, it isn’t funny. But you can laugh. I’ll get over it.” There. He’d given up something on his side. Now it was Pidge’s turn. “What you need to stop is the betting.”

Anyone walking in on them would think Lance had slapped her. “But how else will I get Coran to let me tinker with the castle’s systems?!”

And the anger flew back. Is that all she cares about? “You can’t bet on your friends’ lives! That’s a horrible thing to do.”

Pidge pouted. “Fine. But we had some pretty interesting ones going that you’re totally ruining right now.”

Lance could imagine what those were. “No more bets,” he insisted. “We so don’t need that on top of everything else.”

“I guess we are stuck in space, huh? Moreso now without the castle.” Pidge released her pout to frown around the room. “They should’ve been back by now. Allura and Coran, I mean.”

Lance snorted. “Not if they were arrested for trespassing. No way the Alouran invitations last ten thousand years. And even if they did, how would Allura and Coran prove they are who they say they are?”

“Yeah. You’re right. Come on. Let’s find the flower and then figure out what we should do once we’re all together.”

“Right.”

***

After many more rooms, and a few too many close calls with death by crumbling foundations, they finally found the Starberry plant.

Hunk shuddered. “Of course it was in the boarded off room marked dangerous.”

“It wasn’t marked dangerous,” Keith argued, fed up. Lance couldn’t blame him. It had taken at least twenty minutes to convince the Yellow Paladin to open the closed-off tomb. Valuable time that could have been used getting back to Shiro. “The sign clearly said the only reason they closed the room was because so many graverobbers had visited it.”

“Who says your translator was right? The tech is outdated by millennia!”

Lance shrugged. “They’ve been right so far.”

“No no no,” Hunk insisted. “You’re assuming that. They could have been completely wrong. What if a flesh-eating virus is working its way through our skin right now?! An alien, flesh-eating virus that we have no immunity against!”

“It can’t get through our armor,” Keith snapped.

And now we can add Keith and Hunk’s arguing to our mess. Lance groaned. If Shiro was there, he’d be able to calm everyone down. Granted, if Shiro was there, Keith and Hunk wouldn’t be arguing in the first place.

Pidge ignored them in favor of inspecting the wires and circuitry inside her wrist device. “I really need to figure out how they work. Having translation tech like this on Earth would be lifechanging.”

“I don’t know…” Lance remembered his experience learning English. “Actually learning the language gives you a huge insight into other peoples’ cultures. If we had a shortcut, most people wouldn’t even bother anymore.”

“But it’s so much more convenient,” Pidge whined.

Hunk laughed hysterically. “Convenient? We trusted that sign that the room wasn’t dangerous and were nearly suffocated by an overgrowth of Starberry plants!”

Pidge snickered. “Don’t blame the tech for that. No one can prepare for Lance McClain, Destroyer of Peace and Harbinger of Chaos.”

“Hey. Mullet got here first.”

When Keith and Hunk found the room and saw the first Starberry plant, they’d immediately informed Pidge and Lance. Having both Keith and Lance in the room, however, had caused an upsurge in the number of flowers. It took much too long to pull the weeds from their armor, and Lance could still feel thorns pricking against his arms and legs. Whenever he looked, though, he couldn’t see anything there.

“Fine,” Pidge allowed. “Not even alien tech can prepare for the combined recklessness of Lance McClain and Keith- Uh…” She frowned and turned to Keith, abandoning her tech dissection for the moment. “Hey, Keith. What’s your last name?”

That’s right. She’d only just met him before they flew to space.

Keith frowned at her. “Kogane.”

“Huh. Cool. Mine’s Holt.”

Keith shrugged. “Yeah, I figured.”

Holt? “Wait, what?” Lance frowned. “I thought your last name was Gunderson.”

“She lied about her name, Lance,” Keith reminded him. “If Sam and Matt Holt are her family, then her last name is probably Holt, too.”

Yeah, well, adjusting to the new reality became infinitely more difficult after living with the illusion of Pidge Gunderson for a year.

“My first name’s Katie,” she offered.

“Is that short for Katherine or Kaitlin?” Hunk pondered.

Pidge scowled at him. “It’s just Katie.”

Lance was about to call her Katherine, just to annoy her, when something in his periphery caught his eye. They were still at the cemetery, far enough from the room they’d found the Starberries in to avoid being buried again, but not far enough that Lance couldn’t see the trouble advancing toward them. “Guys, I think we should head out before the start of Starberry II: Revenge of the Starberries.”

The others looked and also saw the plants creeping their way towards them. If they didn’t move soon, they’d be covered again. Hunk shuddered and all but ran away.

When they got back to the lions, they made the unanimous decision that the plants should not, under any circumstances, be left with Keith or Lance. Soil or no, they might find a way to grow again. Since Hunk was still terrified of the things, they deposited their clippings into the Green Lion.

“This will give me a chance to analyze them,” Pidge said happily. “They’re growing so fast. Even faster than the other plants, and while those seemed to have a termination point, that doesn’t seem to apply to these.”

Keith frowned. “Do whatever you want to the things. Just makes sure to leave enough for Shiro’s antidote.”

“Of course.” Pidge looked offended that Keith would even think the reminder necessary.

Lance cut in before another argument could start. They’d had way too many as it was. “So, now that that’s done, what should we do about Allura and Coran? They’re probably imprisoned on Alouran.”

“Yeah. Does anyone actually know where that is?” Hunk asked.

Pidge frowned. “I can try to pull up a map in the Green Lion. Maybe the coordinates are somewhere in its databank.”

“What if they’re already on their way out, though?” Keith pointed out. “Or even if they break out later. If they do, and we’ve already left, then we’ll be lost in space and it would take even longer to heal Shiro.”

Lance frowned. “You have a point, Samurai. Maybe we should give them a little more time. It is Allura and Coran. If anyone could talk their way out of a diplomatic mess, it’s them.”

“True,” Hunk said.

“So much for definitely being allowed in,” Keith scoffed. “If that was the case, they’d have been back by now.”

“Yeah, well…” Lance had nothing he could say in the Alteans’ defense. Instead he asked, “What should we do while we wait?” Sitting around in boredom wasn’t his idea of a good time.

“We could explore the planet,” Pidge said.

“Explore what? It’s all desert.” And Lance was suddenly aware how thirsty he’d gotten. How had he not noticed the dryness of his throat beforehand? His lips were starting to stick together from lack of moisture.

Note to self: stock up Blue with hydropacks. If only he’d thought about it in time for his mission.

“Hey. Deserts can hide some pretty interesting things,” Keith defended.

Lance turned to him, pushing thoughts of thirst and rivers to the back of his mind. He’d last longer if he didn’t think about it. “Like what? Sand?”

“Like the Blue Lion,” Keith challenged.

Pidge snickered.

“He has a point, Buddy,” Hunk said, smiling.

Lance almost smiled, too. Trust Keith to have the best comeback. Then he remembered that Pidge and Hunk were there – remembered smiling might just prove their thoughts about him and Keith. He scowled instead. “That was different.”

Keith shrugged. “Who’s to say another Lion isn’t hiding here?”

“As far as I know, there are only five Voltron Lions.”

“How do you know? What if Voltron has a…a tail or something?”

Despite himself, Lance snorted. “A tail? Made of a full lion robot?”

Keith smiled, too. “You never know.”

“I don’t see anything about lions,” Pidge cut in. Lance blinked back to reality to see her scrolling through information on her wrist device. “There is a famous haunted mansion somewhere around here that got half-buried in a dust storm. Supposedly, there’s a bunch of treasure in it.”

“Alien treasure?” Lance imagined that. “Sounds fun.”

“Sounds creepy,” Hunk rebuked. “I’m not going.”

“One of the treasures is a long-lost recipe,” Pidge goaded.

Hunk’s eyes lit up. Then, they dimmed again. “Oh…Fine. We’ll go. I mean…the haunted part is probably an exaggeration, right?”

Lance snickered. “I don’t know, Hunk. If I were buried alive by a dust storm, I’d be a pretty restless spirit.”

Keith smirked. “And I’d take my revenge on the living by haunting the treasure and hoarding it for myself.”

Hunk shivered. “Very funny, you guys.”

Pidge laughed. “Come on, Hunk. I doubt it’s actually haunted. There’s only a little evidence to suggest ghosts exist. Like this one time, in this one house, a little girl saw-”

Hunk covered his ears to block out her words, even as they started walking towards Pidge’s suggested coordinates. That didn’t stop them from teasing him for the next half-hour.

***

Miles into their search, long after their teasing dissipated and any other conversation grew as dry as their tongues, the wind changed. It transformed from barely discernable brushes of warm air to full-force gales of power, throwing sand across their vision and pressing them into each other only to rip them apart again at the drop of a hat.

“Ugh!” Lance groaned as mother nature shoved him into Hunk for the twelfth time. Well, he groaned as much as he could groan when his throat felt like sandpaper and his mouth like straight-up sand. If his helmet weren’t fully engaged, he’d think he swallowed the desert. “I thought you said this place was nearby.”

He didn’t know when the weather turned against them, but it felt like days since he’d been steady on his feet. Why are we out here again? A hunt for a mystical mansion can’t be important enough to die.

Yet Pidge trekked on, struggling for each step even as the wind continued to push her back. “It should be near here,” she muttered, glaring at her wrist so hard Lance might think the map was the problem and not the planet actively working against them if he wasn’t also fighting to remain standing. Even one slip could bury him alive.

“Going by the dust storm, I’d say we’re in the right area,” Hunk replied shakily. Dust flew between them, momentarily blocking Lance’s view. When he could see again, Hunk was several feet away from where Lance thought he’d last seen him, but there was no telling which of them had actually been moved.

“We should go back,” Hunk declared. “No recipe is worth this, and with all this sand, the mansion has to be fully buried now. If it even exists at all.”

“I think Hunk’s right,” Keith conceded. His aura pulsed tiredly, like he was fighting to keep up his energy and losing that fight miserably. With his worry about Shiro, their lack of sleep, a morning of training, and the following mission, it was surprising he had any energy left at all. “Let’s go back to the lions.”

They’d been pushed in so many directions, Lance didn’t know where back was, but when he turned around, hoping for footsteps to follow, he encountered another problem. The wind. It had completely erased their tracks, covering it in mountains of sand.

“Um…Guys? Does anyone know which way the lions are?” He stared hopefully at Pidge, their navigator.

She shrugged apologetically. “Sorry, Lance. I lost track of where we are on the map an hour ago.”

Then what have you been looking at this whole time?!

Panic began to set in, and Lance’s chest tightened. Any minute, his breathing would stop completely. “You mean we’re lost in an alien desert?!” Lance shrieked. “In the middle of a dust storm?!”

At least if they’d gone to look for Alouran, they’d have the lions and cool air and food.

Before the first breaths of hyperventilation reached his lungs, however, a soothing calm pressed warmly into Lance’s mind, burning its way through his panic and melting it into nothing. Lance had no choice but to melt with it, relaxing into Keith’s soul like he would his favorite chair at home.

This can’t be ethical. But Lance appreciated it all the same.

“Lance,” Keith soothed. “Everything’s fine. There’s an easy way to find the lions.”

“How?” he asked, not hopeful, but unable to feel anything other than peaceful in the face of Keith’s steady certainty.

Keith sent him a half-smile. “Just reach out for them. You realize we’re bonded to them, right? As paladins, we can find the lions anywhere.”

I’m an idiot, Lance realized, flushing. Keith’s answering amusement echoed the thought.

“Good thinking, Keith,” Pidge cheered. “Let’s try to connect.”

But Lance barely heard her. Keith was still staring at him with that fond half-smile. Somehow, he couldn’t look away. He never could. Not from those eyes.

Why’s he staring? Is there something on my face? There couldn’t be. Lance put his helmet on before heading into the desert, and nothing had been there before they left.

“I got it!” Pidge cried. “I found the Green Lion!”

Keith jolted, pulling his eyes – and soul – out of Lance’s immediate view.

It’s for the best. If only Lance could believe that. Maybe he should actively look for someone on the next inhabited planet they visited. Once he did, he’d forget all about this crush situation, and everything could go back to normal.

“Good going, Pidge.” A gust of wind nearly knocked Keith over, but he sounded firm – if a little gruff – when he added, “Now let’s get back to the lions.”

***

Pidge and Hunk disappeared almost as soon as they reached the lions. Since their mansion search was a bust, Pidge wanted to console herself by running tests on the Starberry flowers. She slipped into the Green Lion as Lance, Keith, and Hunk collapsed to the ground. Lance wasn’t sure about the others, but he needed the rest for his aching and overtaxed body.

“Man, am I exhausted.” He sighed and flopped onto his back, planning to stare at the stars until Coran and Allura showed up. It was all he had the energy for.

Then, a chime rent through the air. Keith and Lance turned to Hunk in surprise. “Are they finally here?”

“Who?” Hunk blushed, trying to cover his wrist as it continued to chime. “Uh, no. I-It’s actually Shay. I programmed the Yellow Lion’s system to send any calls to my suit if I wasn’t inside. That way I wouldn’t miss anything.”

“Aren’t you going to answer it?” Keith asked, eyebrow raised and a weird skepticism pouring off of him.

Hunk sighed and finally picked up. The second Shay’s hologram appeared above his wrist, Hunk beamed. “Hi, Shay. One second, I just need to get back into the Yellow Lion, then we can talk.”

He pressed some buttons, and Shay’s face disappeared from view. Then, he turned to them. “I’ve gotta go. Sorry, you guys.” Just before Hunk reached the Yellow Lion’s ramp, however, he blushed and sent them a nervous look. “Um…don’t tell Allura and Coran about this, okay? I know they have that rule about communication, but…it’s Shay.”

Lance hadn’t even considered that before Hunk mentioned it. Exactly how often did Hunk and Shay talk if he was asking them to keep it secret? Either way, he smiled and said, “Sure thing, Buddy. Tell Shay we said hi.”

Hunk beamed again and headed into the Yellow Lion to continue his chat in private.

Lance flopped back into the sand. “Shay, huh? I’ve never seen him so smitten.”

He’d meant the words mostly for himself, but Keith asked, “Has he ever had another girlfriend?”

“Hunk?” Lance shrugged. Exhaustion pounded into him from every angle. All he wanted was to sleep, but even at night, the alien desert was hot enough to keep him awake. “He’s had two official girlfriends that I know of, but they seemed more like those kindergarten crushes. Didn’t even kiss or anything. The second one moved away, so they broke it off. He never told me what happened with the first girl. They started dating before I knew him and broke up long distance.”

“Must have been really bad if he didn’t tell you.”

“Yeah. I figured the same, so I never pushed it. But what jerk would break up with Hunk? He’s the best catch in the world.”

Keith nodded. “I haven’t known him that long, but even I can see that. He’s a great guy.”

“Handsome, too,” Lance added. “He has everything a girl could want. Makes me jealous sometimes.”

“Have any of your crushes ever liked him?” Keith asked, curious.

“Some of them. He’d never do that to me, though. Flirt with someone he knows I like. Not that he’s the flirty type in general.” Lance sighed as he thought about those girls. He couldn’t even blame them for preferring Hunk. Hunk was great. Even if him and flirting were like oil and water.

Keith laughed. “Unlike you.”

“Hey. Flirting’s fun. You should try it.”

Keith gaped at him in disbelief. “Try flirting? With who? Shiro? Griffin?”

“Hey, Griffin may be an idiot and a jerk, but he’s at least a mildly attractive jerk. You could do worse.”

A strangled noise escaped Keith’s mouth. “Mildly attractive?” he choked.

“That…came out wrong,” Lance tried to cover. Why am I such an idiot?! “You can’t tell me you disagree, though!”

“Please tell me I’m at least more attractive than he is,” Keith begged.

“You’re ten times as attractive!” Lance declared, more honest than he wanted but unable to lie. Keith was in a league all his own. “I’d date you if…” If you’d take me.

“If we weren’t already married?” Keith finished, laughing and relaxing back.

“Yeah. That.”

Keith smiled that fond smile again, and Lance forced himself to look away before he got caught in the indigo riptide. There was no Pidge to save him if he did.

“Griffin’s attractive,” Keith admitted, after a moment. His voice quivered strangely, like he wasn’t sure about saying whatever he was about to say. “But he’s too much of a bully to make that an important factor…”

It sounded like there was more to the story. Lance frowned. “He bullied you?”

“We were in middle school together,” Keith admitted. “We never got along, even then, but it…escalated when we both got into the Garrison. He couldn’t stand that I was a better pilot than him.”

Not many people could. Lance included before he’d gotten over himself. “What did he do?”

“He’d always make these stupid comments about me, my parents…Shiro. Remember how you said I brushed you off at orientation?”

Keith had been sulking in the corner before Lance walked up. Lance approached him, hoping to cheer him up and make a friend. Keith hadn’t been as convinced. “Griffin got to you, huh?”

“He saw me and accused me of cheating to get in. Said I’d be kicked out within the week and wouldn’t have gotten in in the first place if it wasn’t for Shiro.”

At least I was never that bad. Lance wasn’t sure if he should be grateful he’d never devolved to comments that mean or horrified that anyone had at all. “Keith, you shouldn’t let that get to you. It’s not true.”

“But it is,” Keith denied. “Shiro had to work so hard to convince them to take me. I had so many marks on my record from starting fights and just bad behavior in general. And you see how long I lasted once he left.”

“Didn’t you run away?”

“They were ready to throw me out anyway,” Keith muttered. “I just hurried the process.”

But Lance knew Keith. He couldn’t believe the Red Paladin would start a fight for no reason. “Keith, why’d you get in those fights? What made you so angry?”

Keith pursed his lips. “Usually just mean comments. No one can keep their thoughts to themselves.”

“And the other times?”

“…I just…I get so mad, and it’s like I have to fight.”

“Why?”

Keith glanced at him with a grimace. “I don’t know. My dad always said I’m just protective. There was this one time, before he died. We were at a store, but I’d stayed outside. I saw these other kids torturing a tortoise. They kept poking it with a stick and flipping it over, and they wouldn’t stop laughing…I got so mad…” He frowned at the ground. “I kind of blacked out, but the kids were gone, and my dad was carrying me home when I came to…I asked him why those kids would do something like that. He just said they hadn’t been taught better. That I’d just inherited a natural protective instinct they hadn’t learned yet.”

“He’s right,” Lance said. When Keith turned to him in shock, he smiled. “What? You haven’t noticed? I’ve never met anybody as protective as you are…It’s kind of annoying. You’re such a showoff.”

Keith scoffed, but he smiled at the ground.

“And Keith?” Lance added, making sure he had Keith’s full attention before continuing. “Don’t let Griffin get to you. He’s a jealous idiot. He once called me ugly.”

Keith jolted upright in fury. “What?! You’re not ugly!”

“Of course not. Like I said: he’s an idiot.”

The Green Lion’s ramp descended, cutting into anything Keith might have said to that. “Remind me to update the molecular scanner in my lion when we get back,” Pidge told them, coming to sit beside Lance. “It’s analyzing some of the flowers now, but the tech’s so rusty it projects a two-day scan period.”

“What do you think knowing the molecular makeup of the Starberries will help you with?” Lance asked, nonplussed. “You work with robots, not plants.”

“You never know what information could come in handy…So, what are you guys talking about?”

“Just how thirsty we are,” Lance lied.

The next second, a hydropack was shoved into his face. What?

He blinked, sure he was hallucinating, but the object was still in Keith’s hand when he opened his eyes again. “You’ve had that this entire time?!”

“I stocked Red up after that last trip. Didn’t want to be caught without water again. Here, take it.”

Lance swiped the pack and downed it in seconds. It worked wonders to relieve his thirst, but he sort of needed more after almost a full day in the desert. Without a word, Keith reached into his pocket and pulled out another one to hand to him.

“Have any more?” Pidge asked hopefully.

Keith smiled and grabbed one for her as well.

Once he was satisfied and not nearly as thirsty, Lance glared at Keith in accusation. “Why didn’t you pull those out hours ago?”

“I didn’t think taking our helmets off in the middle of a dust storm was a good idea,” Keith retorted.

Touché, Mullet.

When Hunk joined them, Keith grabbed some more packs from Red for him. Hunk declared it a camping night and instructed them to get all the snacks they could from their lions. Apparently, they needed them in order to settle in for camping story time and ‘Paladin Bonding’, and Lance had to admit, letting loose and relaxing with his friends? It felt great. For the first time in weeks, he felt like a real teenager again.

They fell asleep curled together under the stars, surrounded by empty hydropacks and snack wrappers.

Chapter Text

In hindsight, falling asleep in the middle of the desert without helmets was an awful idea. Add in the fact that Lance had fallen asleep on Hunk, and it formed the perfect conditions for a rough wakeup call.

Who turned on the fault lines?! Lance jumped up, prepared to find a stable surface for cover, only to realize the ground wasn’t moving.

Wha- “A-ack!” Sand flew from his mouth and throat as he heaved out whatever he’d just breathed in. Had he swallowed the desert? Sooo, gro-oss!

He tried to stay quiet – no need to wake the others – but with sand coating his everything, layered and embedded into every inch of his mouth, he felt like an oyster forming a pearl. Considering the taste on his tongue, if Lance was an oyster, pearls would go extinct.

Disgusting!

As a last resort, he dug into Keith’s pack to pull out one of their few remaining hydropacks. He sipped as little water as possible to rinse out his mouth, downing the rest once all the sand had returned to the ground. The water went down his burning and raw throat like acid, but it still eased something within him.

Keith’s a lifesaver. Lance smiled over at his still sleeping teammate. Somehow, the others had managed to sleep through his entire fit. Even Hunk, who had woken Lance with his own sputtering. Lance couldn’t find it in himself to wake them, though. Not when they looked so peaceful. They’d earned rest, after the day they’d had.

Maybe he’d slept in the desert before because Keith had turned onto his side, huddled away from the wind and using Hunk’s pack as a pillow. Only Pidge – who’d donned her helmet – was safer from the sand.

“You always have to one-up me, don’t you, Mullet?” Lance whispered. A much too fond smile settled across his lips as he watched his favorite rival.

There was a strange peacefulness on Keith’s face that only ever appeared when asleep or in a similarly relaxing environment. Lance remembered how Keith had looked a couple of days before, on Inimore. They’d been forced to share a bed, but Keith hadn’t cared. Hadn’t freaked out.

How can he be so unaffected by our bond that he’s willing to share a bed? Lance thought, maybe a little pettily. The answer to that was both easy and sad. Because he doesn’t feel the same way about me.

Sleeping in the same bed as Lance had been a non-issue for Keith for the same reason sleeping on top of Hunk was a non-issue for Lance. They were just friends. Keith didn’t see him as anything more than that. Lance did, and that’s why it had been such a big deal for him.

Definitely need to find someone on the next planet, Lance decided. Finding someone else should fast-track the end to his crush. It would give him someone else to focus his romantic feelings on and free up Keith to be just his best friend. Staring at Keith’s relaxed and handsome face, though, he knew it would be easier said than done.

“You couldn’t make things easy on me, could you?” he whispered, frowning.

Keith shifted, and Lance thought he’d finally woken the other.

He tensed, ready to turn around and pretend to do anything else. A moment later, his fear proved unfounded as Keith settled again, snuggling deeper into Hunk’s pack.

Lance sighed. Lesson learned, he moved away from Keith and forced himself to clean up their mess. Better to distract himself by picking up litter than to stare broodingly at his crush for the next however long. With his luck, he’d fall asleep and have to explain that, ‘No, Pidge, I did not fall asleep staring at Keith,’ even though he very much had and knew Pidge would never believe otherwise.

It’s not that Lance minded having a crush on a guy. He still felt that stifling anxiety whenever he thought about it – still wished desperately that Shiro would wake up soon to help him through it – or thought about how he could still be completely wrong and misinterpreting everything. But for the most part, it was similar enough to the nerves whenever he thought a girl wouldn’t return his feelings that he’d be able to get over it. No. The guy part wasn’t the issue. The Keith part was.

Lance stopped mid trash-pickup to look at Keith again. Why do you have to be so perfect?

Lance had gone so long hating Keith that maybe he was seeing things more powerfully because of it, but Keith was perfect. They’d called Hunk the perfect catch, but Keith? Keith was hot, nice, funny, smart, protective, thoughtful…Sure, he was a little broody, but as long as he was around people he trusted and cared about, that was an insignificant part of his personality.

Lance frowned down at the hydropacks in his hand. Keith had brought them because he hadn’t wanted them to be stuck without water again. He’d brought them out when Lance complained about being thirsty and shared the packs amongst their friends to keep them healthy and hydrated. It was no wonder Lance had a crush on the guy. But Keith’s perfection made it all the worse that he’d never return Lance’s feelings.

If I hadn’t been so awful to him, then maybe…

But Lance had. He’d ruined any chance to see where life might take them all for the sake of some petty rivalry. All for the sake of avenging a small, easily ignored rudeness. One that Keith apparently hadn’t even meant!

And to add insult to injury, they were married a dozen times over and bound tighter than the strongest atomic bond.

Kila’s words came back to him. ‘You cannot drag another into your relationship when bonded to someone else. It is not right.’

But that was the only way he’d have anyone. Keith wouldn’t take him. Lance wasn’t delusional enough to even try. If he did, he’d ruin the great friendship they’d both worked so hard to build. It’s not like Keith had ever approached any of the people who had hit on him afterwards. He’d avoided them all like the plague.

If I tell him, I’ll never see him again. Lance couldn’t risk that.

“You’ve been staring at Keith for like, three minutes,” Pidge muttered, still half-asleep. Lance nearly shrieked. “It’s getting creepy.”

“I was not,” he lied, turning to continue picking up their trash. With the last item in hand, he walked into Blue’s cargo bay and dumped the trash in an empty box. He’d have to wait til Allura and Coran got back to fully dispose of it.

When he got back outside, Pidge was sitting up. Green eyes gazed knowingly – almost angrily – into his soul.

Great.

“You were.” Pidge continued, not even acknowledging his attempt to avoid the subject. “Lance, you’re getting ridiculous. Hunk doesn’t think we should mention it, but I’m pretty sure you’ve already figured it out.”

She was talking about his crush. Lance shook his head. He didn’t have to listen to this. Why was she bringing it up with Keith right there?

“Pidge. Don’t.”

“I will,” Pidge denied, glaring. “You know why?”

Lance turned around to leave, but the Green Paladin’s next words stopped him in his tracks.

“Because you’re my best friend, and I love you, and you’re an idiot if you think your feelings for anyone would change that.”

Something inside him broke, and Lance started to cry. It’s not that he’d thought they’d reject him for liking guys. They’d apparently known before him, and they were still friends with Shiro anyway. But having that support spoken so blatantly? It was overwhelming. Pidge’s words were a dart aimed straight at the bubble holding every repressed thought and emotion inside him. The moment that dart hit, the bubble burst.

Pidge shot up, eyes wide. “Wh- Are you crying?” She looked around, waving her hands as wildly as Coran would to try and get him to stop. “Lance- Oh my God…Keith’s gonna kill me…”

With the sobs constricting his throat, Lance couldn’t ask her what she meant by that.

“Lance, calm down. It’s not like you didn’t know we’d support you. I mean…You knew, right?” She looked concerned that maybe he hadn’t after all.

Lance couldn’t speak, so he nodded. Of course he’d known. He’d also known they’d tease him mercilessly and laugh at him for developing feelings for Keith, of all people. Like, what were the odds?

“Then why are you crying?” she pleaded.

Lance shook his head. Even he didn’t fully know the answer. A few tears? Maybe. But why was he outright bawling in front of Pidge with Hunk and Keith sleeping way too close for comfort?

Pidge groaned. “Please stop.”

Lance laughed through his sobs. After another minute of Pidge looking terrified for her life, Lance’s heaves slowed. He wiped his eyes and nose with a rag Pidge handed him. Going by the oil stains on it, it was from her mechanic’s kit, but there wasn’t much else he could use.

“What did you mean: ‘Keith would kill you’?” he finally asked, voice scratchy. If it was that way when Keith and Hunk woke up, he’d explain it away as swallowing sand.

And your puffy eyes?

Sand. It’s all because of the sand.

Pidge sent him a dirty look. “Nevermind that. Why were you crying?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, staring at his feet. “It just sort of…happened…I know you guys wouldn’t care who I liked. I’ve flirted with aliens, for crying out loud.”

“Lance,” Pidge interrupted, raising an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure you checked out a seventy-year-old the other week. The aliens are the least of our worries.”

“She looked young for her age,” he defended.

“Whatever floats your boat, dude.”

Lance groaned. “You know, I’m trying to have a difficult but important conversation here, but you just have to ruin it.”

Pidge held up her hands in defeat. “Alright. I won’t interrupt again. Converse away!”

“We can’t do this here,” he muttered, eyeing Keith, dozing soundly only feet away.

That earned him an eyeroll, but as the smart one, she should be proud of him for his forward thinking. “Fine. Let’s go to those rocks over there.”

Lance glanced toward where she meant, only to shake his head. Too close. “No. They’ll still hear us.”

“Lance, they’re asleep, and those rocks are a hundred feet away.”

“Keith has scary good ears.”

“You’re just being paranoid.”

Lance wished he was, but he’d spent the last few weeks in close company with Keith. Even three hundred feet was probably too close. How are his ears so good? And his eyesight.

He pushed those thoughts aside for another time and led Pidge into the Blue Lion. It should be soundproof enough, right?

Lance settled on the ground and tugged his knees toward his chest. He’d need all the comfort possible for this talk. Pidge mimicked him, sitting against the opposite wall and staring at him in concern. Once they were comfortable, Lance opened his mouth to continue, only to freeze when he couldn’t remember what had already been said. “Where was I?”

“You knew we wouldn’t care who you liked,” Pidge prompted.

“Right…” He cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the lump that had just returned to it. I’ve already cried, dammit. “I knew you guys wouldn’t care, but…Do you know what it’s like to think you’re one thing for seventeen years, only to find out you were wrong? That you’d been lying to everyone?”

He paused to gather his thoughts, all the while avoiding Pidge’s pitying gaze. That was almost worse than the laughter and derision he’d expected.

“It’s terrifying. I felt like…like I didn’t know myself at all. I…I’m convinced that I have the truth of it now. I’ve been noticing things that I should have noticed before. Realizing things…I’m- But I’m still so scared that maybe I’m wrong again. What if I’m just…picking up the wrong signals or…misinterpreting them? What if I get so far believing this, only to realize I was wrong?” He glanced at her fully, now. Feeling more desperate than words could express. The feeling tightened in his chest, making it almost impossible to force out the words, “I don’t want to lie to anyone again, Pidge.”

Pidge frowned. “Okay, there’s a lot to unpack there. Let’s start with the lying thing.” She released her knees, switching into a more comfortable position to lean closer to him. “Lance, you didn’t lie to anyone.”

When Lance opened his mouth to object, she raised her hand. “Let me finish. You didn’t lie because as far as you knew, that was the truth. Feelings are ridiculously hard to interpret, and sometimes we’re not ready to interpret them…What made you realize how you felt?”

Lance hugged his knees to his chest. “…When I kissed him,” he whispered. “It was so…” There were no words in English or Spanish that described how good that kiss had felt. Even if there were, he was talking to Pidge. She didn’t want to hear that. “I wanted to do it again. Still want to.”

“Okaaay…” Pidge frowned. “I guess that does sound a little traumatizing. To realize so suddenly.”

“It felt like I’d been blindfolded, living in a swamp, and someone finally took the blindfold off to show me the real place I’d been sleeping in. I can’t believe how long it took me to realize.”

“Yeah, I realized it in-” And there it was. When Lance glared at her, Pidge scrunched into herself self-consciously. “Sorry…Lance, I’m gonna speak from personal experience here. Sometimes things are clearer from the outside than they are from the inside.”

Personal experience? “What do you mean?”

“You’re so deeply ingrained in your own thoughts and emotions, that you can miss signs that others don’t. Not seeing the forest for the trees. That sort of thing. You didn’t lie to us, so don’t worry about that. We always knew who you were, and even if none of us had realized the truth, we still knew who you were. You’re a nice guy with a boatload of insecurities who’s a little hyperactive and a bit of a showoff but loves his family and friends and will fight for what he thinks is right. That’s all we need to know to know you.”

Lance hugged his knees closer. Being called out like that was a little scary, but Pidge wasn’t wrong.

“As for the fear about being wrong or changing your mind…” Pidge frowned at her own knees. “I don’t think that will ever go away. Especially with how you found out about your feelings. You just have to remind yourself how you do feel. How you’ve felt in the past. You have to trust in yourself and your feelings. Don’t let society dictate that for you. And you also have to remember: at the end of the day, who you like and who you will like doesn’t matter. Just live – and love – the best you can while you can.”

Woah. “That’s pretty wise advice for a fifteen-year-old.”

“Yeah, well…I’m asexual. You think I don’t go through similar crises?” Pidge asked, eyebrows raised. “I’ll see my parents kiss and happy and in love and sometimes think how all I’d need to do is ignore that part of me that’s an aro ace and I could be as happy as they are. But then I think about finding someone, and the thing is? I wouldn’t be as happy as they are. I’d be miserable in a relationship like that, and I’m just letting what society thinks of as a happy ending tell me what I should want too…Which is kind of the point.” Pidge stared at him pointedly. “It’s very different to your situation, but the advice is the same. Just be true to yourself, and the rest will follow.”

‘You just have to be you.’

Lance smiled. “Thanks, Pidgeon.”

“You’re welcome.” When neither of them continued the conversation, she added, “I’m a little offended you didn’t come to me before this. Or at least Hunk. What the hell, Lance? You’ve been dealing with this on your own for days, and this is something your friends should help you through.”

That question reminded him of the conversation he’d heard between the others when he’d first realized his feelings. “I might have,” he grumbled. “But then I heard your little gossip session in the bridge.”

“Our-” Pidge’s eyes widened. “Oh, you heard that?”

“I heard.” He glared at her. “Exactly how often do you guys talk about us behind our backs?”

“Lance, if we knew you were there-”

“If you wouldn’t say it in front of me, don’t say it behind my back,” Lance demanded. “What the hell, Pidge?”

“So I’m not allowed to plan you a surprise party?” she joked, half-heartedly.

Lance continued to glare.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? We didn’t mean anything by it. We-”

“How would you feel if Keith and I talked about you behind your back? If we made bets about when you’d ‘give up being asexual and settle down’ or when you’d finally reject someone interested in you?”

Pidge glared. “You can’t ‘give up’ being-”

“That’s my point!” Lance exclaimed. “Maybe if you’d just been talking, I’d be more okay with it, but you were making fun of me for not realizing my feelings, Pidge. And then you made bets about it! Do you know how hurtful that is?! The two people I consider my best friends!”

Pidge deflated. “I- I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it like that.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“You’re right. No more bets. I’ll let Hunk and Coran know. And I’m sorry for laughing at you. Especially over this. It’s not a joke, and I shouldn’t act like it is.”

“I forgive you, Pidge. I know you weren’t trying to be mean…It just really, really sucked to hear.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Lance huffed and slumped back against Blue’s wall. “Man, I feel exhausted.”

“Yeah, ditto. Did you have to start this talk so early in the day?” Pidge asked.

“Hey, I’m not the one who started it.”

Pidge’s expression said she believed otherwise. “You started it by ogling Keith for ten minutes while he was sleeping. Way to be creepy, Lance.”

Lance turned bright red. “I was no-”

“What were you going to do if he woke up? Tell him he had a spider on his face?”

“I didn’t mean to stare at him,” Lance defended. “He’s just so…”

“Pretty?”

Lance sighed. “Yeah…” He flushed, realizing what he’d just admitted. “Uh, you wouldn’t happen to have any advice on getting over an unrequited crush, would you?”

Pidge frowned at him in confusion. “An unre-” She rolled her eyes. “Sorry but that sort of thing lands way outside my range of experience. Matt always pined until the girl did something that made him lose interest, though.”

Lance thought about Keith. Long, dark hair…Noble protectiveness…He’s too perfect. Yeah, no help there. “Thanks anyway…We should probably get back out there before Hunk and Keith wake up.”

***

The other two were already awake when Pidge and Lance left Blue.

“Hey, guys,” Hunk greeted, waving some space jerky at them. Lance’s stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. With Keith utilizing their main food pack as a pillow, he hadn’t been able to grab anything. “We were wondering where you disappeared to.”

“I told you they were in the Blue Lion,” Keith huffed from the ground. Hunk’s pack no longer rested beneath his head, but the Red Paladin didn’t seem to care about the sand lacing itself into his hair. Not that there hadn’t already been sand in it. They all needed a shower when they got back.

“Yeah, but you were assuming Pidge was with Lance. She could have been anywhere.”

Keith rolled his eyes. Then, he sat up to frown at Lance, concern pouring off of him. “Are you alright?”

Warmth flooded Lance’s face, contrasting the ice in his stomach. Did Keith somehow know what he and Pidge had been talking about? Had his scary good ears been able to hear them even inside Blue?

No. If he knew, he wouldn’t even be talking to Lance. “Uh, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

The nervous laugh probably gave him away, but Lance couldn’t help it.

Keith’s frown deepened, and his eyes flicked to Hunk and Pidge. Lance followed the gaze to see his two best friends staring at them and paying altogether too much attention to his and Keith’s conversation. Pidge sent him a subtle thumbs up, and it took everything in him not to strangle her. Really? Right in front of Keith? He only hoped the Red Paladin wasn’t so close when Pidge inevitably divulged their earlier conversation to Hunk.

“…No reason.” But Keith didn’t look or feel convinced. Those dark eyes just kept boring into Lance, searching for any sign of the truth. “Just checking.”

What made him so sure something was wrong with Lance? If he’d witnessed the crying spell earlier, Keith would also know what caused it. No, it had to be something else.

Keith’s soul poked softly at his, more reassuring than probing, but Lance suddenly knew what had happened. Keith hadn’t heard their conversation. He’d felt Lance getting upset. It might have even woken him up as easily as Hunk’s coughing woke Lance.

Stupid soul bonds.

Lance smiled half-heartedly and sent Keith the best surge of reassurance he could manage. He was fine; it had just been a rough conversation.

Keith’s frown didn’t lift, but he nodded in acknowledgement, and his soul wrapped more fully around Lance’s, lightly twining into the outer recesses in a small attempt at comfort without going too deep and invading Lance’s privacy.

Lance’s smile turned a little more genuine. Why did Keith have to be so perfect?

“Thanks for cleaning up our mess, you guys,” Hunk interrupted, reminding Lance that they had an audience.

He blushed and pulled his soul away from Keith so quickly that he missed the next spark of some emotion. Keith stifled the feeling before he could read into it.

“There’s no need to litter on random planets. Even dead ones.”

“That was all Lance,” Pidge said. “He woke me up,” she complained.

Hunk smiled at him. “Well, thanks, Lance. If you give me the trash when we get back, I can take care of it. I think the hydropacks might be reusable.”

What had that feeling been? “Sure thing, Buddy.”

“Have Allura and Coran called yet?” Keith asked. Lance wondered if he changed the topic on purpose, trying to impede Lance from deciphering whatever emotion he’d felt.

If Keith can hold himself back from prying into your soul, you can do the same. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be curious, though.

“No, they haven’t, but they’ll probably just wormhole straight to us, right?”

Before anyone could answer Hunk’s question, the castle of lions appeared in the clouds, slowing to descend not too far from them.

“Paladins!” Coran called through the speaker system. “We’ve returned with Shiro and the milk of Anemile! Meet us in the bridge, and we can get the antidote sorted.”

Keith rushed to Red, the rest of them not far behind.

***

“What the hell took so long?!” Keith demanded, storming into the bridge.

“Well, you see-”

“Nevermind, just get the antidote ready. The spider’s in Red.”

Lance winced even as Coran followed the order. The Red Paladin had let his annoyance stew the entire jog – yes, he’d jogged – up to the bridge until it had transformed into outright anger. “Keith, calm down. It’s fine. We have the ingredients now. Shiro will be okay.”

“So you did manage to get your ingredients, then?” Allura asked. She frowned towards the window, which looked out at the barren landscape. “When I saw how dry this planet looks, I wasn’t sure.”

“We got them,” Lance assured her. Pidge handed over a handful of the Starberry plants. “So what did take so long?” Hotheaded outbursts aside, they deserved some sort of explanation after being trapped in the middle of a desert for so long.

The princess flushed. “Well…As it seems…” She took a deep breath before facing them head-on and swallowing her pride. “You all were correct. Much has changed on planet Alouran. They imprisoned us for attempting to trespass, but we managed.”

I knew it! Lance wanted to call her out on her earlier dismissal of his warning, but it probably cost her enough dignity to just admit she was wrong. For someone so selfless, Allura certainly had a lot of pride.

“How’d you escape?” Pidge asked, raising an eyebrow.

Allura smiled to herself. “It was all Coran, actually. It seems that in the past millennia, the people on Alouran have developed a seething hatred of Empress Gelana due to some later policies she enacted and people she endorsed. Coran took advantage of this by offering up some…choice comments and stories about her.”

“So he roasted Empress Gelana, and they let you go?” Hunk guessed.

Allura frowned. “I do not see where cooking comes into the situation, and Empress Gelana has been dead for many years. Why would we cook her?”

“It’s an expression,” Lance interjected before anyone else could say anything. Keith looked like he’d been about to, and as impatient and annoyed as the other felt, that probably wouldn’t end well. “It means to insult someone.”

“Oh…” Allura paused to take in the new information. Eventually, she shook her head. “Then, yes, I suppose. But no, they didn’t let us go. They did let us out, though, and we used the distraction to slip away at the opportune moment. The tricky part was procuring the milk of Anemile while evading recapture…but we managed.” She smiled again as she thought about her and Coran’s adventure. But as beautiful as she looked, Lance noticed an exhaustion behind her eyes and tightness to her mouth that hadn’t been there before.

She hasn’t slept since the mission started, has she? There was a very real possibility she hadn’t slept since she’d caught him and Keith sneaking back into the castle.

He glanced between Allura, who looked ready to drop, and Keith, who twitched with impatience next to Shiro’s cryopod, waiting for Coran to return. “Um, how long will it take to get the antidote ready?”

“I’m afraid that’s a question for Coran. Probably a varga, at least.” Allura yawned.

Varga? Lance didn’t know how long that was, but it sounded like longer than he cared to wait. Luckily, while Keith wasn’t happy at the news, he at least didn’t argue. “You should get some sleep then, Princess.”

Allura nodded slowly. “I think I will.” If she was actually agreeing, it must be bad. “Please tell Coran where I’ve gone.”

“Sure thing.” Hunk saluted.

Once the princess left, Keith addressed the question burning a hole in Lance’s mind. “What’s a varga again?”

“Pretty sure it’s an hour,” Pidge said thoughtfully. “The time doesn’t translate exactly, but it’s close enough.”

Keith pouted at Shiro’s cryopod. If they let him, he’d spend the entire hour staring at the frozen paladin inside it. Lance sighed. “Come on, Keith. Let’s spar. No point sitting around here waiting.”

He expected an argument. Instead, Keith just shook himself and nodded, following him through the bridge doors.

“You know, I expected more of a fight on this,” Lance pointed out as they traversed the halls to the training deck.

“There’s no point,” Keith muttered. “You’re right that waiting won’t do anything. Honestly, it would probably make the time pass slower. Besides-” And his flat – kind of miserable – expression lifted into an evil smirk. “-I promised to teach you how to fight with a sword.”

Oh God. Lance had completely forgotten about that. “Uh…How about we just focus on hand-to-hand today? Or even team up against the gladiator?”

“Nope. There’s no getting out of it now.” Keith chuckled lowly, and Lance wasn’t horrified enough to miss the shock of want that sent through him. How did Keith inherit all of the most desirable characteristics in the universe? It wasn’t fair.

“But I don’t even have a sword!”

Keith paused, seeming to realize the issue for the first time. Lance’s bayard always transformed to his blaster, and if the castle held any spare weapons, they weren’t on the training deck.

After several moments of silence, Keith reached into his pack and pulled out his knife. “You can use my dagger. We’re mainly going over stance and stuff anyway.”

He’s giving me his dagger?

Lance gaped between Keith and the weapon. The thing looked way fancier than he’d expect an orphan to possess, and he could sense how special it was to Keith. Why would Keith trust Lance with something so important to him?

Lance slowly reached out a hand. Surely, Keith would come to his senses and pull the dagger out of his reach. Surely, he didn’t trust Lance that much.

Seconds later, his fingers closed around the handle, meeting first with Keith’s hand – sparks sizzled up Lance’s arm until Keith pulled away – and then with the warm smoothness of the leather wrap. The weight settled uncomfortably into his palm, and Lance wanted to both throw the dagger back at Keith and wrap it in the softest, safest cloth known to man. It felt lighter than he expected – almost fragile. Or maybe he was just paranoid about dropping it and breaking Keith’s trust.

Small or not, though, the dagger was made of metal. It was one of Keith’s prized possessions. Shouldn’t it weigh more? And what was with the weird, glowing design on the front of the blade.

It almost looks like Galran writing. He shook off that thought. How would Keith have gotten a Galran dagger? Unless he’d found it when exploring the castle. But no, he was too attached to it for that to be the case.

“What does the engraving mean?” Why was it glowing?

Keith shrugged, and a weird, almost nauseous, emotion squirmed to the forefront of his aura. Maybe he’d finally realized Lance was the last person he should trust with an important object. “I don’t know…My dad gave me the dagger when I was younger. He said it…belonged to my mom. But she wanted me to have it.”

And Keith was letting Lance use it to train with a weapon he didn’t even use?

“Come on,” Keith murmured when Lance spent a little too long gaping at him. “We should get to the training room.”

He still hasn’t taken it back.

Once they made it to the training deck, Keith grinned. All traces of awkwardness seeped out of him the second they walked through the room’s double doors. “Stand how you think a swordsman should stand,” he advised.

It took Lance a second to process the words. His brain was still trying to compute. Keith. Knife. Smile.

Once he processed them, Lance adjusted his stance into a more offensive one. The one Keith always used when fighting. Keith’s smile turned proud. “You’re a natural.”

“Not really, I’m just copying you.”

Keith blinked in surprise, almost gaping. A moment later, he collected himself enough to clear his throat and say, “Well, you picked it up really well. It’s not perfect, but-” His eyes raked across Lance from head to toe, and Lance couldn’t decide if he felt more embarrassed or pleased. Keith Kogane had just called him a natural. “…I’d be terrified if you were attacking me.”

Lance scoffed, trying to ignore the warm flush in his cheeks. He wanted nothing more than to squirm, but that would give him away and ruin his mostly perfect stance. “I look that scary, huh?”

Keith smirked, eyes abandoning their perusal to finally meet Lance’s again.

I think I preferred it the other way. Keith’s gaze felt so intense, and he was suddenly struggling not to think about his crush. What if Keith somehow found out just because Lance was thinking about it?

“Not scary,” Keith answered, lips twitching in amusement. “But you look like you know what you’re doing.”

Oh God. Time to switch gears. Maybe Lance could add a little humor to the situation and shatter Keith’s overwhelming intensity. “Good. Because, at this point, my only chance is scaring my enemies away before they can see how incompetent I am.”

Keith laughed. “I can help with that.”

He moved close, circling until he was behind Lance, and Lance tensed as the other’s hands grasped his arms, moving him around like a puppet until he’d achieved whatever stance he should have. Lance fought back the urge to turn around and lead Keith into a dance. If he did that, then the bright red of his face would be visible, and Keith would definitely notice it from so close.

After a few seconds that felt more like hours, Keith pulled back, rounding to face Lance from a decent distance again and eyeing his adjustments. “…Perfect,” he breathed.

If Lance could get any redder- As it was he was fighting a heart attack, his heart was beating so fast it might leave his chest any second. Don’t be like that, he scolded himself. Keith didn’t mean it that way.

“Great. At least I’ll look perfect before I make a fool of myself.”

Keith laughed.

The next hour or so passed with Keith going over different moves and how to do this or that. For the most part, he stayed to himself, just demonstrating…unless Lance really messed up. In those cases, Keith always put away his bayard and approached Lance to manually walk him through the motion. Lance died at least ten times in that hour, but part of him wanted to mess up on purpose. Though he tried not to, Lance reveled in every touch.

Stupid crush. Keith, hopefully, didn’t notice. He was too caught up in the thrill of teaching.

“You know,” Lance complained. He’d just slipped when reviewing one of the first motions Keith taught him, but that didn’t give Keith the right to smirk like that. “We aren’t actually sparring. Isn’t that what you agreed to?”

“You need to learn, Lance. Most sword fighting is about muscle memory,” Keith explained, laughter slipping through between the words. “You need to train yourself to stay in the proper stance and move this or that way. That way, when the time comes, it’s second nature.”

It wasn’t fair of him to laugh after torturing Lance for the past hour. Not only did Lance have to navigate Keith’s touches and smirks and overall Keith-ness without letting Keith know he was navigating that. As exhausting as that was, Lance could deal. No, the main issue was running drills with an unfamiliar weapon. It left Lance sweaty and gross and sore beyond belief.

An evil idea popped into Lance’s head, and he was too impulsive to think it through before acting on it. If he doesn’t want to spar, then I just have to make him.

“What are you-?” Keith’s eyes widened as Lance rushed him. “Lance!”

Before Lance could make contact – or wind up stabbing both Keith and himself with the dagger – Keith retaliated, flipping and disarming him in one smooth motion.

Woah. How did-

And then Keith was there, pinning Lance and growling into his face. The proper reaction probably wasn’t excitement, but Lance laughed in delight anyway. Then the blurry vertigo cleared from his eyes and he saw Keith’s face clearly for the first time since enacting his stupid plan. The laughter caught in his throat.

“Keith, are you-?”

Coran’s voice interrupted. “Paladins! I’ve completed the antidote and administered it to Shiro! He’s waking up!”

Keith shook his head, and his expression returned to normal. He took in their positions – Lance pinned to the floor and himself on top, dagger all but forgotten in his hand – and just shook his head. “That was a stupid move, Lance.”

But Lance couldn’t return the taunt or remind Keith that they’d both been perfectly safe in their armor. He couldn’t do anything but gape because, when Keith first pinned him, he’d looked up into slitted pupils and corneas swirling with gold.

Chapter Text

“K-Keith…?” His eyes. Did they just-

A lot of weird things had happened to Lance in the past few weeks. He flew to space in a semi-sentient, lion-shaped spaceship. He met an alien princess. He got cursed into marrying his rival in over a dozen alien rituals, and that same rival somehow completed a soul bond with him…Out of all of that, this took the cake.

And Keith still hadn’t moved. He still stared down at Lance with that half-exasperated/half-something expression and more than a little amusement pouring across their soul bond. “Yeah?”

Upon taking in their positions and realizing he still had Lance pinned to the floor of the training deck, however, he jumped up. “S-sorry!”

Their previous closeness was the least of Lance’s worries. Keith’s eyes. They’d slitted at the pupil, and the whites had turned yellow. That shouldn’t have been possible.

Was I hallucinating? But the image was so vivid. There was no way Lance could have imagined it.

A burst of worry so powerful it surpassed Lance’s own slammed into his soul, and he glanced up to see Keith’s eyes again – still human, but widened in fear. “Did I hurt you?”

Hurt me? Why would he think- Lance realized he was still lying on the floor. Keith had moved a while ago, but Lance had been too dazed from shock to move. Keith must have misinterpreted the cause.

Something that felt like guilt joined the fear in Keith’s soul when Lance took too long to answer, and Lance’s heart panged as the icy shards of his own guilt pierced it.

Needing to correct the damage he’d unintentionally inflicted, Lance sat up. He still couldn’t process what he’d seen, but he couldn’t let Keith think that minor attack had crippled him. Not physically, anyway.

Everything began piecing together in Lance’s mind. All of Keith’s peculiarities and weird ticks. How realistic his growls sounded. His excellent hearing and vision. No one could growl like that or see that well. No one human, anyway.

‘You’re so weird, I used to think you were an alien!’ Maybe there was more truth to that than Lance had known.

“So you can move.” Keith stepped forward, arms half-raised in an aborted motion to help him. Worry: Slightly lessened. Guilt: Thriving. “What’s wrong? Did you hit your head?”

‘I’m not half-alien!’ He’d been genuinely offended by the thought. Genuinely upset.

“A little,” Lance lied. He mustered a smile, shoving his concern to the background and rounding up as much fake cheer as he could. He clambered to his feet, belatedly realizing how sore and tired his muscles felt, either from the earlier drills or because Keith’s attack actually had hurt him. He shook off the pain. “It dazed me a little, but I’m fine now. Race you to Shiro. Winner gets to tell him Zarkon’s Allura’s stepfather!”

Lance was out the door before his sentence ended, both to prevent Keith from calling him out for lying and because, thinking about it, that bet sounded kind of awesome.

“Lance!” And Keith dashed after him, previous conversation forgotten for all that the worry still haunted the edges of his consciousness. “Not everything has to be a competition, you know!”

Lance knew. Competitions just made things more fun.

***

Due to his lead – “Cheating!” – and longer legs, Lance won their race, but only by a couple feet. He dashed into the bridge in time to see Shiro’s cryopod open and their leader tumble into Coran’s waiting arms.

“Shiro!” Keith cried, rushing past Lance to help the engineer. The others were already there, too, standing around Shiro’s pod like they’d been waiting and watching for the entire hour. Creepy. He hoped they hadn’t done that when he was in the cryopod.

Keith smiled down at their leader, filled with a pure happiness at his finally waking. The lingering guilt in his soul faded into nothing, and any mean thoughts Lance had about the others were driven away, unable to survive in the face of such a pure joy and love. “How are you feeling?”

“…Weird,” Shiro muttered. He blinked like he was trying to focus, completely unaware of just how much Keith cared about him. It almost made Lance mad, but his anger couldn’t hold up against the waves of adoration pouring from his soulmate. “…Anyone catch the plates on the truck that hit me?” he joked tiredly.

Pidge snorted. “Sorry. No luck.”

“Damn…”

“Why don’t we move to the common room?” Allura suggested, frowning at the unbalanced paladin. “That way Shiro can sit while we talk.”

Coran and Keith nodded and guided Voltron’s leader out of the room. The conversation only continued once they all settled on the couch – Keith and Lance on either side of Shiro to ensure he wouldn’t fall over.

Satisfied with their arrangements and Shiro’s relative safety, Coran asked, “Are you feeling any weird aftereffects? We weren’t certain if your body would handle the antidote as an Altean’s would.”

“I feel…tired. And disoriented…” Shiro blinked like he was trying to focus. He knocked into Lance as he swayed a little, but before Lance could even move to stabilize him, Shiro shot up, eyes wide. “The coordinates!”

Everyone stared at him. “What do you mean?” Keith asked. He glanced between the couch and Shiro’s teetering form, clearly trying to figure out how to convince the Black Paladin to sit back down.

“I remembered more about my escape from the Galra.” Shiro wobbled more obviously, but when Keith and Lance attempted to help him back into his seat, he brushed them off, turning instead to Pidge. “I need you to hack into my arm.”

***

If you’d told Lance a week ago that a Galra under Zarkon’s employ had helped Shiro escape imprisonment, he wouldn’t have believed it. Shiro said it happened, though, so it must have. Or they’d scrambled his brain a little too well.

“Well, this is it,” Coran declared as they portaled to a part of space Lance would never dream existed. It looked pretty cool, with all the crystals floating around in the emptiness, but in Lance’s experience, space crystals meant nothing good. “There appears to be nothing here.”

Shiro shook his head, still seeming as annoyed as when he first mentioned Zarkon being the Black Paladin and the Alteans hiding that fact. Allura hadn’t stopped blushing at the floor from embarrassment.

Wait until he finds out Alfor married Zarkon. They hadn’t told him yet. None of them wanted to aggravate the already intense situation.

“We need to get closer,” the Black Paladin decided. “Ulaz gave me these coordinates for a reason.”

For some reason, Coran shifted anxiously on his feet. He shot Voltron’s leader a concerned glance. “I’m afraid that’s not wise, Shiro. [Those xanthorium chunks contain highly unstable nitrate salts. Even bumping one of them can blow us straight to Wozblay.”]

Yep. Nothing good about space crystals.

Shiro frowned. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

[“These are the coordinates Number Five gave me.”]

Pidge scowled at the implied insult. [“Hey! My decryption is solid.”]

But Lance couldn’t believe Shiro would be so easily fooled. Not by the Galra. “Maybe we came in the wrong way? If that’s the location, then maybe the front door’s on the other side or something.”

“The problem with that is that we are in the exact location Number Five decrypted,” Coran denied. “Down to the last mantrid!”

“It’s obviously a trap,” Allura huffed. She hadn’t stopped pouting since encountering Shiro’s stubborn refusal to accept her – borderline racist – mistrust. When combined with her blush, she seemed more like a three-year-old throwing a tantrum than the wise and composed princess they’d come to know. “The Galra cannot be trusted.”

There was one thing Lance didn’t get about her logic, though. “But why would they let him go in the first place? He was already their prisoner.”

Allura waved him off, clearly not even considering his point. “Who knows what Zarkon has up his sleeves? Perhaps he wanted to follow Shiro home or capture whoever else he brought to these coordinates. Whatever the case, we should leave. Right now.”

But Lance trusted Shiro’s judgment. If their leader said a Galra could be trusted, then that Galra could probably be trusted.

“…No.” Shiro narrowed his eyes at the screen depicting their possible doom. He was probably trying to think of another solution. Another reason the Galra would have for sending him there. “I think we should wait.”

“Shiro, are you sure?” Keith asked, unconvinced. “Allura’s right. If it’s a trap, we need to leave before they can spring it.”

“I don’t think it is one,” Shiro denied. “Like Lance said, why would they let me go when I was already their prisoner? They had no way to know we would find Voltron when I escaped. To them, I was just another prisoner.”

At least someone acknowledged Lance’s point.

“And if it is a trap?” Allura demanded.

“Then we should wait anyway to figure out what their plan is.”

“I don’t like it,” Keith muttered. “But I trust you, Shiro.”

Shiro’s hardened expression smoothed out as he smiled fondly back at Keith. If Lance didn’t know any better, he’d be jealous. He shook the thought out of his head. He did know better, and why should he be jealous even if he didn’t?

“Thank you.” As Shiro turned back to face front, Lance tried to ignore the rush of relief that sent through him. “Coran, is there any way to get past these crystals?”

“I’m afraid not. The second they’re touched, they’ll go kabloom! And so will we.”

Shiro pulled up an image of the outside on his screen and started fiddling with it. “If there was a way around them…”

“But we’re in the exact location they said,” Pidge denied. “That means they wanted us in this exact spot.”

“Which is exactly what they would do to lead us into a trap,” Allura insisted.

Shiro shook his head in frustration. “It’s not-”

All the alarms blared.

[“There’s an intruder in the castle!”] Coran declared, eyes wide as he frantically typed things into the front console.

But the castle was high-tech and completely sealed off. [“How could someone just sneak aboard the ship?!”]

[“I knew coming here was a mistake!”] Allura tracked down the intruder before anyone else could comment. They all deployed, heading to level five.

***

Lance found the intruder first. [“I got him!”]

[“Keep eyes on him, Lance. We’re all headed toward you,”] Shiro assured him.

Easier said than done. The stranger turned to him. Lance couldn’t see his face with that dark mask on, but he didn’t look intimidated.

It’s fine. All he has is a sword. I have my blaster, and if that fails, I know exactly how to knock him off balance after Keith’s lesson.

[“Hold it right there!”]

The guy charged, laying any doubt about his threat level to peace. Guess it was a trap after all. Shiro couldn’t be right all the time, he supposed.

If only…a blast…would land! But the guy was too agile to hit, jumping all over the place “like a spritely globinheffer” if Coran’s commentary was to be believed.

“Coran! Not helping!”

[“Ooh. Somebody’s as mad as a wet chüper.”] Whatever that meant.

Shit. The guy disappeared around the corner, and Lance gave chase, but even when the intruder began dragging Pidge through the halls, not stopping, and Hunk joined him, he couldn’t catch up.

Just. A little. Faster! Lance put on a burst of speed, but that just helped him keep pace. There was no closing that distance. Man, he hasn’t even tried to use his sword yet. Maybe that was a good thing. Lance doubted they’d win if the guy brought out the big guns.

[“Alright. It’s up to Keith now.”]

[“Copy that. I’m ready.”]

Oh God, his voice. You’re sexy, is what you are. Lance nearly shrieked and froze, but Hunk bulldozing along directly behind him spurred him onward. Unfortunately, Coran continued his commentary, describing Keith in a much too sexy light. That didn’t help Lance’s thoughts any.

After being metaphorically knocked off his feet by Keith’s gruff and protective words, Lance didn’t expect to be physically attacked as well. The other paladin came flying toward him and Hunk the second they rounded the corner.

“AGH!”

“O-oh,” Hunk groaned. Lance and Keith righted themselves immediately, but the Yellow Paladin stayed down for a second.

When they turned back to confront the intruder, however, he was already occupied. Locked in a standstill with Shiro.

Not good. Shiro had only just gotten out of a coma. He was in no shape to-

Lance’s eyes caught the symbol on the intruder’s sword and every other thought flew out the window. That marking. It’s-

He glanced at Keith – surely, the other paladin must have noticed, too – but his gaze remained fixed on the stare down in front of them. None of his emotions gave any clue to his level of awareness either.

Resigned to the fact that he’d get no answers from Keith right then, Lance turned back to the deadlock in front of them, trying to get a better look at the engraving. It can’t be the same symbol, can it? What are the odds of that? Or maybe it was a common inscription for space weapons. Sort of like those generic tattoos people get in an attempt to look cool and cultured. Maybe Keith’s mom was one of those people, just…alien.

All of Lance’s speculation derailed when the intruder dropped his weapon and removed his mask and hood, pulling the sword out of Lance’s line of sight while also adding another crucial piece of information to the ever-growing, Keith-is-an-alien file in Lance’s brain.

Not just an alien. If the engraving on the sword and dagger weren’t just a random cliché…If they were specific to a group of people – a specific alien race – then that meant…

Shiro pulled away from the intruder, almost as shocked as Lance. [“Ulaz?”]

“That’s the guy that saved him, right?” Hunk whispered.

“…Yeah,” Lance muttered back, too distracted for a more in-depth response. “I think.” If that sword really did have the same marking…

‘He said it…belonged to my mom.’ Keith’s eyes had turned yellow. Looking into Ulaz’s eyes, Lance realized that they’d been in space almost three weeks and he’d only seen one type of alien with yellow eyes so far.

Fuck. That’s not good.

They all jumped as Allura surged forward out of nowhere and knocked Ulaz against the wall, demanding even Lance’s full attention. He winced in sympathy. Altean strength was nothing to scoff at.

[“Who are you?!”] she demanded.

Shiro intervened, stepping between the enraged princess and possible – but maybe not? – enemy. [“Stop! It’s him! This is the Galra who set me free.”]

Whelp. This can only go two ways. After being attacked, Lance wasn’t sure they could trust this guy. Granted, he had stopped fighting when he saw Shiro. But what if that was part of the trap? Glancing at Keith, thinking about the sword and the dagger and Allura’s fury, he could only hope it wasn’t.

***

Shiro glared when Allura brought out the handcuffs. [“I don’t think this is necessary.”]

[“I will not have some quiznacking Galra soldier on the bridge of my ship!”]

Their prisoner himself just kept staring at the ground, seeming annoyed. And a little sad? [“If I wanted to kill you, you’d be dead already.”]

Because that makes us feel soooo much better. Lance wondered if subpar social skills was a Galra trait. It would explain a lot about Keith.

[“Are your Galra threats supposed to win my trust?”] Allura demanded. Lance had never seen her so enraged. She was usually the personification of composure and diplomacy, and while – yeah – the Galra Empire had destroyed her home and her people, her fury seemed a little extreme since the Galra in front of them was tied up and beholden to their mercy. What would she do when she found out the – possible – truth about Keith?

He shot the Red Paladin a worried glance.

[“I’m not trying to win your trust,”] their prisoner declared, glaring at the floor.

Lance almost felt sorry for him. Ulaz hadn’t hurt them despite the fact that he’d had every chance and the skill and discipline to do so, but Allura acted like he was Emperor Zarkon himself, just because he happened to be Galra.

[‘I’m trying to win a war. And because of Shiro, we are closer than we’ve ever been.”] Ulaz’s attention shifted to Shiro, and some of his previous tension faded into warm approval. [“Our gamble on you paid off better than we could have ever imagined.”]

Shiro smiled slightly before returning to business. [“When you released me, you also mentioned that there were others working with you.”]

Ulaz nodded. [“Yes. We are called the Blade of Marmora.”]

[“Uh, others?”] Hunk asked, looking scared. [“Are they here?”]

Lance sighed. Trustworthy or not, the guy was handcuffed. [“Hunk, can you try not to act so scared around the chained-up prisoner? It makes us seem a little lame.”]

Ulaz ignored him. [“I am alone on this base.”]

It did seem pretty empty.

Allura scoffed. [“What is this base you’re talking about? Shiro’s coordinates just led us to this wasteland.”]

[“The base is hidden. Now that I know that it is Shiro who has come, you are welcome to our outpost.”]

Man, what had Shiro done to get so much loyalty from these people?

Lance eyed Ulaz’s weapon again. Allura had disarmed the Galra and tossed the sword to the side, not caring where it landed as she hauled their prisoner to the common room. Shiro hadn’t stood for that. He’d glared in defiance and brought the sword with them, laying it on the table with an odd level of respect. If Ulaz had actually saved him from imprisonment, though, Lance couldn’t really blame him. Either way, that gave him every opportunity to study the sword…if it was turned the right way.

He couldn’t see the marking with it sheathed and facing the other direction, but if it was the same…and if these people were fighting to free the universe of Zarkon…‘It…belonged to my mom.’

The metal and handle look just like his dagger’s, too. No doubt about it. Lance would have to talk to Keith.

[“It lies dead ahead.”]

[“Behind all the xanthorium clusters?”] Pidge asked.

[“No. Right in front of it. In a hidden pocket of space-time.”]

Lance blinked back into reality. ‘A hidden pocket of space-time?’  That sounded too made-up to be true anywhere but in movies.

[“Coran?! Are you hearing this?!”] Allura demanded.

Coran activated the intercom to answer. He’d stayed on the bridge to keep an eye out for any other intruders or sprung traps. [“I am picking up some kind of anomaly on the screen. I suppose it could be a cloaked base.”]

There was no way pockets of space-time actually existed. That couldn’t possibly be a thing.

Why not? his mind traitorously whispered. Keith’s half-Galra.

Allegedly.

[“Just fly straight for the center of the xanthorium cluster,”] Ulaz said. [“You will see.”]

Or maybe don’t do that? Lance frowned. Maybe this guy was trying to kill them, after all.

[“You think you’re going to get me to destroy our ship just because you say so?!”]

[“We came out here to find some answers,”] Shiro said, ignoring Allura’s glare. [“Are we going to turn back now?”]

Keith shook his head. He hadn’t stopped frowning at Ulaz since their earlier fight. For a moment, his gaze flickered to something behind them.

The sword, Lance realized. Did he see the marking, too? Considering the intensity of the situation with Ulaz, he couldn’t tell. That worry and borderline nausea lapping at the edges of his consciousness could mean anything. They might not even be Keith’s emotions.

[“You know I trust you, Shiro, but this doesn’t feel right.”]

Lance nodded, frowning between Shiro, Allura, and their prisoner. “I agree. Whether he’s lying or not, we can’t just fly straight into a minefield without thinking.”

“I get that you trust him Shiro,” Pidge said, “and that you believe he helped you, but the [Galra could have implanted fake memories of the escape in your head.”]

[“Oh, come on, that would be so evil.”] Hunk realized what he’d said and frowned. [“Which, of course, they are. But they’d have to come up with some molecular level storage unit, which his hand…does have. But to be linked up to memory, it would need a direct path to his brain, which…yeah.”]

Well, when he put it like that.

[“Ulaz freed me. Without him, we wouldn’t be here!”]

Shiro stared Allura down until she huffed. [“Fine. So be it. Slow and steady, Coran. Head for the Xanthorium cluster.”]

[“Yes, princess,”] Coran said over the speakers. [“Beginning approach. Impact imminent in five, four, three, tw-”]

Did he really have to count down?

Before Lance could issue his complaints, the castle shook. But it wasn’t in a deadly explosion way. It felt more like a plane taking flight.

[“Well, that’s something.”] Coran sounded awed, not fearful or horrified, and hope began seeping into Lance, sapping at his previous suspicion.

Ulaz looked a little smug, but the otherwise blank expression made Lance wonder if he was seeing things. It also made him wonder if an appearance of apathy was genetically predisposed of all Galra.

Glancing over to see Keith’s furrowed brow and pursed lips, he banished the thought. Facial expressions came from experience and circumstances, not genetics…Temperament, on the other hand…

“I’ll put it up on the screens,” Coran declared when Allura asked what he was so awed about.

[“Amazing,”] Pidge declared as the image of a wormhole appeared. [“They’re folding space.”]

Hunk gaped in amazement. [“It’s like a space taco. Or a space calzone. Or a space-time soup dumpling, and we’re the soup.”]

And then the wormhole ended, and they landed right in front of some sort of outpost.

[“Welcome to the Blade of Marmora Communications Base Thaldycon…Now,”] Ulaz stood. [“If you’ll free me, I need to send a message to the leadership. They need to know I’ve made contact with Voltron.”]

Allura still didn’t look convinced, but she sighed anyway. [“Go with him,”] she ordered. [“And keep an eye on him. I’m staying here.”]

Hunk perked up, eyes shining and hand raised. [“Ooh. Can we go?”]

Pidge jumped up and down. [“I wanna see how they make the space pocket!”]

“You guys go ahead.” Lance offered. “I’ll stay with Coran and Allura.” He didn’t really care to see the base, and someone should stay back in case it did turn out to be a trap. Or even just if something else attacked them…Or, he added, glancing toward Allura’s displeased pout, in case Allura wanted to try something.

His gaze shifted from the princess to Keith as a lion’s-worth of annoyance all but exploded into existence in the other’s mind. What’s wrong with him? Lance eyed Keith’s glare but decided it could wait for later. They had more important things to worry about. Especially since – if he wasn’t hallucinating – a little yellow had seeped into the whites of Keith’s eyes.

As the others headed out in Red, Lance sighed and slumped onto the couch. “Guess it’s just a waiting game now.”

“You mean to see if Ulaz will double cross us?” Coran asked, finally joining them in the common room. “I don’t think he will.”

Allura scoffed. “Why not? You know what the Galra are like, Coran.”

“Yes. And I know that, before the rift, everything was fine. We got along well.”

“No, they’ve always been evil and always planned to betray us.”

Lance glanced between them, deciding not to comment on Allura’s generalizations. Not that she’d listen to him with how defensive she seemed. “What happened, anyway? Zarkon used to be the Black Paladin, right? What changed that?”

Coran slowly sat onto the couch. His eyes stared wistfully off into the distance, lost in old memories. “It’s a long story. And a sad one. I’d rather tell you and the others at the same time.”

There was a long moment of silence until Allura broke it. “You didn’t have to stay, Lance. Coran and I are quite capable of protecting ourselves.”

What?

“I didn’t stay to protect you.” Lance frowned over at her. What gave Allura that impression? “I stayed because, if Ulaz is lying, one of us should stay back. That way we have one lion available to help.”

He’d known before they said anything that Pidge and Hunk would want to investigate the base, and Shiro would want to go with Ulaz. That left Keith – who would most likely stick close to Shiro after not seeing him in so long – and Lance. If no one else stayed, he had no reason to go with them.

Allura’s mouth opened in a silent ‘Oh.’ After a moment, she composed herself. “I see. I…apologize. I assumed you’d stayed back to…spend more time with me, but your actual reasons are quite admirable. And smart.”

Spend more time with her? Lance eyed Allura’s vaguely disgusted expression and realized. Oh. That.

Lance straightened in his seat. No reason to leave things ambiguous, and at least they didn’t have an audience. Other than Coran, who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts anyway. “Allura, I know I didn’t give the best first impression, but I can take a hint, you know. All you had to do was ask me to stop, and I would have backed off sooner. I’m sorry for being so pushy and making you uncomfortable, though.”

He'd just had to try. He was a guy with hormones, after all, and Allura was beautiful and single.

Allura’s frown softened into a smile. “I forgive you…It seems you’re not quite as annoying as Pidge claims.”

Trust Pidge to- Lance laughed, shaking his head as he thought of his best friend. “Oh no, I’m worse.”

Allura giggled. After a moment, though, she frowned again and began picking at her sleeve, refusing to look at him. “I must apologize as well. I’ve realized recently that I never gave you – any of you – the chance you deserved…These past few weeks, I’ve been pushing so hard, trying to mold you into the Paladins I remember from childhood. But those Paladins had years of experience, and even then, they ultimately failed. I promise to be less…overbearing in the future. To trust you more.”

“Does this mean Keith and I don’t have to clean the storage rooms now?” Lance teased.

Allura pursed her lips, glancing sternly up at him. “You still left without saying anything. What if we wormholed elsewhere, not realizing you weren’t with us until too late? What if there was an emergency, and we couldn’t get in contact with you?”

“Fine, fine.” Lance conceded the point. “We’ll still clean the storage rooms.”

***

After all that, Lance hadn’t expected Ulaz to die. He’d somehow thought the Galra would be with them longer, barring some epic escape to report back to Zarkon if he turned out to be the enemy. It left him more than a little sad, especially with Allura still insisting his sacrifice was a ploy to gain their trust.

“I don’t think it was, princess,” Hunk said slowly, clearly disapproving.

“He was Galra. You’d be horrified at the things they’ll stoop to.”

Lance frowned, thinking of slitted pupils and yellowed corneas. “Not every Galra can be bad, though,” he pointed out. “There have to be some good ones out there. It makes sense that, after ten thousand years, they’d form this Marmora club to stop the evil they saw.”

“It’s not a matter of good and evil,” Allura declared, crossing her arms. “The Galra have always been a vicious people, warring over territory and resources. They thrive from the battle and the thrill of the chase. Their driving force is anger. Before my father and Zarkon temporarily made peace and began protecting the world, the Galra were very much the conquerors they are today. Zarkon was the exception, not the rule, and many of his subjects revolted when he did join with my father.”

Despair and hurt tickled at the edge of Lance’s senses before Keith pulled the feelings back, and he knew he had to do damage control. Keith definitely knows. “Many, not all. That means some of them agreed, right? Maybe those ones formed the Blade, then. Or their descendants.”

Allura blinked, and Lance thought he may have gotten through to her. After a moment, though, she shook her head, glare slipping back into place. “Perhaps, perhaps not. We thought the same of Zarkon until he betrayed us. When it comes to the Galra, it’s best to proceed with extreme caution and no trust.”

Even Coran frowned at Allura.

“I’m going to the training deck,” Keith muttered, storming out. Lance stared after him, hoping Allura’s words wouldn’t make him do something rash.

“Is Keith alright?” Pidge asked, turning her frown from the door to Lance.

Lance mustered a smile. “He’s fine. You know Keith: he always wants to spar. The guy runs on indignation and-” ‘Anger,’ he’d wanted to say, but Allura’s words came back to him. ‘They thrive from the battle and the thrill of the chase. Their driving force is anger.’  Shit.

***

With how upset Keith had been, Lance wanted to give him a chance to calm down. Keith had never really liked socializing, and being around anyone in such a volatile state might just set him off. Instead of following every instinct that told him to go after Keith and help him, he followed Hunk and Pidge to the common room and hung out with them.

On second thought…Lance bitterly regretted his choice after the hundredth, “I’m so proud of you, Buddy!” Hunk squeezed him so tight Lance wondered if his best friend actually wanted to kill him.

“Hunk,” he croaked. “You can let me go now.”

Hunk flushed and dropped his arms. “Sorry. I’m just-”

“So proud. Yeah, I got that.” Lance sighed. “Look, I’m happy you’re happy, but can’t we just hang out?” He needed to get his mind off Keith. What was the other doing right then? He hoped leaving him alone didn’t make things worse.

Shiro’s awake now. He’ll probably talk to him.

With that thought, a boatload of anxiety followed. If Shiro was back as Keith’s confidante, where did that leave Lance?

Pidge eyed him skeptically. “What’s wrong with you?”

“He’s worried about Keith,” Hunk said before Lance came up with a snarky enough answer. “That’s his, ‘worried about Keith’ face. It was practically his only expression for, like, five months after Shiro disappeared.”

“I do not have a ‘worried about Keith’ face,” Lance squawked. Did he?

Hunk nodded. “Yeah, you do. You forget I’ve known you and Keith for as long as you’ve known each other. That’s long enough to know all your Keith-related expressions.”

Pidge snickered. “How many expressions is that?”

“Well, there’s the ‘proud of Keith’, the ‘angry at Keith’, the ‘annoy-‘”

“Shut up, Hunk.” Lance glared as his friends grinned at him.

“My personal favorite is the ‘I’m so totally in love with Keith and pining, right now’,” Hunk finished.

Lance shrieked. “I don’t have an expression like that!”

“You do,” Hunk sang.

“Oh, you totally do,” Pidge agreed. “Even I’ve seen that one.”

“I’m not in love, and I’m not ‘pining’.” Lance wished his voice didn’t sound so shrill. They might believe him if it didn’t. “I may have a crush, but I’ll get over it soon enough.”

Hunk and Pidge exchanged a look. Their smiles died. “If you say so, Buddy…So, what did you want to do?”

Lance decided it was in his best interests to not think about that look. He just wanted to move on, so he allowed the topic change.

***

After about an hour with Hunk and Pidge – who both, thankfully, kept the teasing about Keith to a minimum – Lance headed to the training room. He had a mullet to comfort.

Instead, he found Shiro.

He and Keith need to learn how to relax. Not even a day out of a coma, and Shiro was already back to training. Not that he’s bad.

Lance watched as Shiro blocked one of the gladiator’s blows, only to follow through with a kick to its gut. The gladiator slid back, allowing Shiro to recuperate and catch his own balance again. Watching Shiro train was always amazing, but something felt different this time. Lance watched carefully, trying to figure out what that difference was, but for all intents and purposes, nothing was. Shiro dodged and slashed and overall did everything he’d come to expect. He was amazing, but he’d always been amazing.

And hot. Like that, Lance realized what was different. He was ogling Shiro…and he’d actually acknowledged the fact that he was. Shit. I need to go find Keith. Preferably before Shiro noticed him staring.

He hurriedly turned around and was halfway out the door when the gladiator got in a shot, giving it the chance to sweep Shiro’s legs out from under him.

“Fuck!”

Had Shiro just cussed?

Lance turned to see his leader on the ground, unmoving, with the gladiator frozen in place as it waited for another attack.

“End simulation,” he said, walking over to make sure Shiro was alright. Keith would kill him if he let Shiro kill himself with training.

“Lance,” Shiro greeted breathlessly as Lance stared down at him. He seemed alright, heavy breathing aside.

“Hey, Shiro…Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just…need to work on spatial awareness. I got too focused.” He groaned and sat up, not protesting when Lance lent support.

He must feel awful, then.

“Did you need something?” Shiro asked, smiling at him from the ground.

“No, uh…Just looking for Keith. He said he’d be training, so I came here.” But now that Lance thought about it, Keith’s emotions were coming from a different part of the castle entirely. He should have followed them.

“He went back to his room a while ago.” Shiro’s smile softened. “Before you leave, though, I wanted to thank you.”

“Thank me?” What had Lance done?

“Keith told me how you helped him focus while I was out. That you helped keep his mind off of things. I know you two didn’t get along too well at first, so I’m really proud of you for putting that aside and helping him through it.”

Lance flushed. “Yeah, well…” He just hadn’t been able to let Keith stay upset.

“I’ll be fine here, if you want to find Keith now,” Shiro assured him.

A thought came to Lance then. If anyone would know, it was Shiro. “…Actually, can I ask you something?” he asked. “A-about Keith?”

Shiro frowned, perplexed. “Keith?”

“Y-yeah. Have you noticed anything…strange…about Keith lately?”

How was he supposed to ask without letting the truth slip? What if Keith didn’t want Shiro to know?

And now Shiro was worried. Maybe he should be. “Strange how? Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, exactly.” Lance winced. He hadn’t meant to stress Shiro out. Keith was definitely going to kill him. “It’s just…Has he been acting weird?”

“Not that I’ve noticed, but you’d know better than I would considering I’ve been out of commission since-” A light of understanding entered Shiro’s eyes, igniting Lance’s hope that he did know about Keith. Surely, if anyone else had noticed Keith’s alien characteristics, it was Shiro. “I take it he’s been acting weird around you?”

“Well, not acting weird, really.” God, why was this so hard? In a sudden realization, he added, “N-nothing bad! I’ve just…noticed some stuff.” He couldn’t have Shiro thinking he’d hold this against Keith.

Shiro’s grin widened. “And you thought I could help you figure out this ‘stuff’?”

“Well, yeah.” Lance shrugged. “You’ve known Keith for a while now, and you’re both pretty close…I figured if anyone could help me, you could.”

Shiro chuckled. “He must have really let his guard down if you’ve noticed.”

Lance remembered the sudden desire to spar and his rush to attack. He blushed. “I may have...sort of…ambushed him.”

If anything, Shiro’s amusement grew. Great. “Ambushed? That would do it. He’s never been the best at controlling his emotions spur of the moment.”

So, the eye changes were emotion-based? Made sense. “You can say that again.” Lance smiled fondly, thinking of his hotheaded soulmate.

Shiro laughed. After a moment, he stood, finally meeting Lance eye-to-eye and putting a warm hand on his shoulder. “Lance, I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to come to me with this, and I’d love to help you, but with how personal the subject is, all I can tell you is to talk to Keith. I doubt he’d turn you away. No matter what, though, don’t let him leave before making your own feelings clear. He tends to assume the worst.”

Lance couldn’t blame him with what Keith had been through. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” He left Shiro to his own devices and hunted down Keith.

***

Lance followed Keith’s soul, not paying attention to where it led him and not noticing anything weird until he strode through the doors and found himself in…his room?

Keith stood awkwardly in the middle, looking the definition of uncomfortable. “Uh, hey.”

“Hey…Is everything alright?” Lance could have slapped himself. Of course it wasn’t. He’d already known that; he just hadn’t expected Keith to be in his room when they talked about it.

“Yeah! It’s fine. I just…wanted to talk to you.”

He’d wanted to talk? Lance raised an eyebrow. “What about?”

“I…Uh…”

This doesn’t seem like a standing conversation. Plus, it felt really weird to just stand around his own room. “You can sit down, if you want.”

“Right. Thanks.” Keith plopped down on the floor.

Did he just- Lance couldn’t stifle his laugh.

“What?” Keith demanded, signature glare in place. “You said I could sit down.”

Lance snorted, still trying to contain his snickers. “I meant on the bed, but whatever floats your boat, man.”

“Oh.” Keith’s glare faded, and he glanced to the side, hiding the slight redness of his face. “I think I’ll stay here.” Lance kindly ignored the embarrassment he felt weaving its way through the other’s aura.

Whether that declaration was a matter of pride or not, Lance didn’t push it. He did sit on the bed. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you, too.” Remembering Shiro’s advice, he added, “It’s nothing bad, and you’re still my friend, so don’t take this the wrong way!”

That got the other’s attention. He shifted, as if already preparing to leave. “What is it?”

Not a good sign for things to come. Lance grimaced. Why did he get all the tough conversations? Maybe the start of the morning was an omen for the rest of the day. “Well…I don’t know how to start, but I guess…Did you notice anything…weird when we sparred earlier?”

“Weird?”

“Yeah, like…did you feel anything weird?”

Keith looked ready to bolt. “Through the bond, you mean?” He reflexively pulled his soul further back, and Lance nearly jolted at the sudden emptiness. “No. Why? Did you?” He looked horrified at the thought.

Not the time to feel sorry for yourself. If Keith wanted to hide his emotions, he had every right to do so.

“Not through the bond…” Lance shook his head. How was he supposed to broach the subject? It was such a weird topic to bring up out of the blue. He thought about Ulaz’s sword and the fact that Keith had to have seen the marking on it. “Did you see Ulaz’s sword?” he asked.

Keith’s eyes cleared, and some of his horror dissipated. His soul released, pressing against Lance’s once again, and Lance tried not to cry from relief. There was nothing as horrible as that dank emptiness. “Oh. Yeah. Is that what this is about?”

“Yes.” His voice, hopefully, came out less breathless than he felt as he reacclimated to the feeling of Keith’s soul. “I, uh, saw the sword…and the engraving on the side.”

Luckily, the topic must be enough to distract Keith from any weird shifts in Lance’s emotions and behavior. He frowned, staring at the ground and sitting so stiffly Lance worried he might break. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about…” He glanced up, looking shocked and confused and altogether like he needed a hug. “I think- I think I might be part Galra.”

Chapter Text

The second the words left his mouth, Keith flinched back, as if he expected Lance to punch him. When a few moments passed without any reaction, though, he glanced over – still not looking straight at Lance – and squirmed uncomfortably.

He looks like he wants to run. Which – yeah – Lance could understand why, but Keith had come to him.

Realizing he was taking too long to react, Lance mustered a small smile. How was he supposed to react here, though? What was the protocol for when your friend told you they were part alien? “…I know. Or at least…I figured?”

A – very – small amount of relief ignited inside Keith’s soul at the non-rejection, but that didn’t release the tension in his shoulders. Lance watched as Keith’s eyes flicked around his room, clearly looking for a distraction. Not that he’d find much. Even after three weeks, Lance hadn’t collected much to fill the space.

He’d hunted down a table in one of the other rooms that he stored his skincare products on. Next to those sat his half of the marriage crystal and the glowing shell he’d found on Hiwi, but those were the only decorations in his otherwise barren room.

Note to self: find out where the others put that Arusian tapestry. Lance vaguely remembered Coran mentioning that he’d stored their wedding presents in the treasury, wherever that was.

After several moments, Keith gave up his search and returned his gaze to Lance, only to jump in shock when their eyes met.

Oops? Maybe Lance should have at least pretended not to stare.

Keith glanced away again, shifting awkwardly in place, and Lance waited to see if he’d finally bolt. He didn’t. “You said you…saw Ulaz’s sword, too?”

“Yeah. I recognized the mark on it.”

Keith nodded sharply, squirming again. Lance had never seen him so uncomfortable, but he supposed it wasn’t the most comfortable conversation. “Guess that makes sense. That’s how I figured it out.”

Did that mean he’d had no clue before seeing the sword? Had Keith never noticed anything? Even if he never saw his eyes slitting, wouldn’t that have caused enough of a change in his vision to catch his attention? And what about the growling or the superhuman senses? Had Shiro never mentioned any of it to him?

“…I asked Ulaz about it,” Keith admitted after another long moment of silence. He picked at an invisible spot on his pants, still not meeting Lance’s eyes. “He couldn’t say much before we were attacked, but…He said every member of the Blade of Marmora has a weapon like his.”

Lance nodded. That made sense. “You said your dagger was your mom’s?”

“Y-yeah.” Keith shook his head, disbelief overpowering any other emotions. “God…I’m part Galra. Griffin would love this.”

“Screw Griffin,” Lance said, so powerfully he even shocked himself.

Keith glanced up, blinking in surprise. Then, he snickered. “You’re right. S’not like we’ll see him any time soon.” The moment of levity dissipated, and Keith’s gaze dropped to the floor.

Several more moments of silence passed as Lance waited for Keith to collect his thoughts, but when it looked like Keith would never speak again, he continued on his own. “So did you just come here to tell me that you’re Galra?”

Keith winced. “I don’t know why I came here, really. I’m just…confused…I guess.”

“It is some revelation, huh?” Lance smiled at him. It might have worked to soothe some of Keith’s nerves if the other sent him even the slightest glance. Since Keith wasn’t verbally forthcoming, Lance cautiously released his soul, slowly easing his way into Keith’s, trying to get a better read on his emotions.

Everything was a complete mess. No wonder Keith was confused, with the war raging inside his head. To make it worse, Keith’s emotions had always been powerful. Everything he felt, he felt to the tenth degree, and right then, he felt a lot. And he’d somehow managed to block most of it from Lance, sectioning off the more powerful and aggressive emotions to put up a calm front. Calm was far from the truth.

There was anger, all too familiar and hidden deep. There was relief – probably a remnant from Lance’s unconditional acceptance…But between those emotions lay a storm of horror and fear and-

Perfect indigo eyes glanced up at him, and a bit of that fear shined through. For a brief second, Lance knew that Keith wanted to pull away, didn’t want him seeing the mess inside his head – inside his soul. Part of Lance agreed. Keith’s emotions overwhelmed him. They battered against his own soul, twisting and turning in his mind until he didn’t know what was him and what was Keith.

If it was only one emotion, it might be easier to control, but being so deep inside Keith’s soul subjected him to the brunt of everything. Keith’s fear brushed against his mind, sending his heart racing with the want to run away and never look back. Keith’s anger clenched Lance’s fists in preparation to hit an enemy who wasn’t there. One who’d never been there. Keith’s desperation and loneliness made Lance’s soul cry. Actual tears sprang to his eyes. All of that, Lance felt. He wanted to get away from it, to put some distance between their souls and respect Keith’s privacy.

No! Lance pressed closer, wrapping his soul more tightly against Keith’s before the other could try to pull away. He chased down every negative thought and emotion and sent the opposite. Where he felt fear, he sent certainty. Where he felt anger, he sent forgiveness, and where he felt hate…

Keith gasped, eyes wide. He twitched in place, and his eyes rolled back from overstimulation. “L-Lance! Lance, stop! I can’t-”

Lance pulled his soul back, not wanting to hurt Keith and certain that his work was done anyway. As Keith sat there, panting and trying to regain himself, Lance joined him on the floor. “You’re not alone Keith. No matter what, you have to remember that. Galra or not, you have me. And Shiro. And even Pidge and Hunk when you tell them. Probably Coran, too.”

Keith shook his head, and maybe his soul was still raw from Lance’s meddling or maybe he’d just given up hiding it, but his anger and self-hatred rose to the surface again. “And Allura?”

Lance winced. Yeah, they’d have to deal with Allura, but if they went through with Shiro’s wish to find the Blade of Marmora, then they’d have to do that anyway. She couldn’t treat their allies the way she’d treated Ulaz.

“My people killed her people,” Keith despaired. “She’ll never forgive me once she finds out. She’ll kick me out into space!”

“Okay, one: I won’t let that happen.” Lance glared at the thought. If the princess tried, he’d make it clear exactly what he thought of her prejudice. “And two: Keith, Zarkon and some others may have killed her people, but you didn’t. She can’t hold something you didn’t do against you.”

“You heard what she said,” Keith argued. “Galra are naturally aggressive. We’re predisposed to be evil, and-”

Lance nearly shouted in outrage. “Oh no you don’t. You don’t get to call Ulaz evil after he just sacrificed his life for us. You’re starting to sound like Allura, Keith, and it’s not a good look on either of you.”

Keith flushed and averted his eyes, hunching in on himself. “I didn’t mean Ulaz.”

He meant himself. “Well, I’m not buying a ticket to your pity party.”

“Fine.” Keith moved to leave. Before he could fully stand, however, Lance caught his arm. “Lance, let me go.”

“No. I didn’t say that to get you to leave. I said it to get you to listen.” Lance held Keith’s stubborn gaze, refusing to drop his glare. “You are not evil. Galra are not evil. People make whatever choices they make for whatever reasons, Keith, but that’s their own fault, not their race’s. And calling it genetic predisposition is bullshit. Do you even hear yourself right now?!”

Keith winced. “I didn’t mean it like that, but Allura’s right. Me being Galra explains so much. Why I’m always on the edge of a fight. Why I can’t get along with anyone. Maybe the people on Earth could sense my Galra DNA and that’s why they never liked me. They could tell I wasn’t human.”

“Okay, that last part says more about them than you,” Lance noted. He didn’t like the self-hatred and internalized racism he heard in Keith’s words. “And fine, let’s assume that being Galra does mean you’re more likely to fight than talk and does make you more aggressive, in general. So what?”

“You think hurting innocent people isn’t important?” Keith demanded, fury rising toward Lance this time.

“Keith, you’ve never once hurt an innocent! I don’t think that’s possible.”

“I hurt you this morning!”

“I- What?” Lance was pretty sure he would have remembered that. “What are you talking about?”

“When we were sparring,” Keith said, despair and guilt overcoming his previous anger. “I flipped you without thinking and you couldn’t even move for four minutes.”

Was I really out for that long? Lance laughed. “Keith, you didn’t hurt me.”

Keith scoffed. “Yeah, and that’s why you couldn’t get up.”

“Nooo. I couldn’t get up because I was too shocked by your eyes turning ye-” Too late, Lance realized what he was saying. He tried to cover his lapse with a cough, but Keith’s eyes sharpened on him anyway.

“My eyes what?”

“They, um…”

“Spit it out, Lance,” Keith ordered. Someone should tell him that with Shiro back, he wasn’t the leader anymore.

Lance winced. “Well, that’s what else I wanted to talk to you about. This morning, after I attacked you and you defended yourself-” He glared pointedly at the other, but Keith was too focused on his slip to give him more than an impatient glare. “Right. Well…Your eyes may have…slitted like a cat’s and turned yellow…The whites anyway.” He thought back to that moment. “Your canines looked a little sharper, too.”

Keith slumped, and Lance spared a moment to wonder how uncomfortable he felt. Not only was Keith still seated on the floor, but his arm was also outstretched, wrist stuck in Lance’s firm grip. Lance wouldn’t let go, though; the second he did, Keith might bolt.

“I really am a freak…” he muttered.

What? “Kei-”

“No.” He tugged his arm, trying to take it back, but Lance refused to release the hold. “Lance, let me go.”

“Not unless you promise to stay and talk about this.” Lance frowned when Keith just looked away, fully defeated. “Keith, being Galra doesn’t make you any more of a freak than being Cuban makes me.”

Keith shook his head. “Being Cuban doesn’t make your eyes shapeshift,” he muttered.

“No, but it would be so cool if it did.”

Keith snorted but still didn’t look up.

Seriously? Lance sighed. “Keith, you’re not a freak. You sound an awful lot like Griffin right now.”

Keith flinched and Lance suddenly realized what the problem was. Keith wasn’t reacting like that because he thought Galra were evil or somehow lesser. He was reacting that way because he thought he was.

“Screw. Griffin,” he repeated slowly. Since his gaze couldn’t reach Griffin himself, Lance glared at Keith, hoping that might get through to the Griffin in his head. “If anyone’s evil or predisposed to fight, it’s him. Literally no one likes him. I don’t think he has a single friend.”

“Neither did I before three weeks ago,” Keith muttered, bringing his knees up to clutch at them with his free arm.

“What about Shiro?”

“Shiro’d befriend a shark if he met one.”

Interesting analogy. “Who wouldn’t? Sharks are awesome!”

Keith glanced up at him in reserved amusement, but when he saw the glare still on Lance’s face, he turned away again.

“Keith, you’re acting like no one wanted to be your friend. A lot of people did. You just always brushed them off because you like to throw pity parties for yourself.” Lance raised the arm he held as proof.

Again, Keith tried to tug the appendage back, but Lance still didn’t relent. That convinced those sad, indigo eyes to turn back to him. “No one wanted to be my friend Lance! The only people who talked to me were bullies or girls who wanted to date me, apparently.”

“I did.” Lance scoffed, remembering the look on Keith’s face as the other walked right by him, not even acknowledging Lance’s existence. It seemed Griffin was a constant problem in their lives, but Keith would have to get past it. “And Hunk did, too. Do you know how many times he asked me if I was sure we couldn’t be friends after you dissed me?”

Keith’s lips twitched. “How many?”

“Hundreds! A day!” They’d lost track of the conversation. “But that’s the point. You’re not unlovable, Keith. You just don’t accept the fact that you can be loved.”

Keith hissed in a breath. “What?”

Maybe he should be embarrassed, but there wasn’t time or room in his soul for that. Instead, Lance stared directly into Keith’s eyes and reiterated, “You. Are not. Unlovable…So let people love you.”

Keith sat there, stunned into stillness. Lance gave him that moment, knowing the words he’d said were a lot and could take a while for anyone to process, let alone Keith. Life had never been kind to him, and all the trauma had worn him down until he no longer believed in his own worth.

Well, I’m not leaving until he does, Lance vowed. He let that unspoken promise stand between them as Keith’s stare wavered. But this time, it wasn’t awkward side-glances and squirmy discomfort that caused the lapse.

Tears streamed from Keith’s eyes, and if Lance wasn’t so horrified, he would have been awed. He’d never seen Keith cry – though he suspected that’s what Keith had been doing when he disappeared after Iverson dropped the news about Shiro to their class.

Not knowing what else to do, Lance finally dropped Keith’s arm but only long enough to reach out and pull his soulmate to him. Keith was warm. And solid and…Lance tried not to revel. He couldn’t let himself take advantage of Keith in such a vulnerable moment. This hug was for comfort, nothing else.

It was a testament to how upset Keith was that he didn’t even try to fight it. He just threw his own arms around Lance and buried his face in the crook of Lance’s neck, nuzzling closer. Comfort. Support. Lance couldn’t do much, but he could do that.

“I- We are here for you. No matter what.” You aren’t unlovable. You are loved. No one could know you and not love you.

They could have sat like that – with Keith crying into his shoulder – for seconds or days. Lance didn’t know. All he did know was that, when Keith finally stopped crying, he stayed in Lance’s arms…and Lance didn’t move either.

“Can we keep this to just us for now?” Keith mumbled into his neck. His breath was hot, and Lance’s shirt was wet with tears, but he couldn’t force himself to mind. “I- I want to be sure…before we say anything to the others.”

Shiro already knows the alien part. But Lance didn’t want to cause another freak out – didn’t want to lose the weight of Keith against him – whatever Shiro’s reasons for not telling Keith what he’d noticed. “Sure…Are you alright?”

Keith shrugged, and Lance wondered if he had the energy to feel more than that mute numbness. “I guess…I will be.” Keith stiffened after a moment, finally pulling away. Lance struggled not to pull him back, already missing his weight and warmth. “Is there anything else you’ve noticed? Anything I should keep an eye out for?”

“Oh…Well…You do growl a lot,” Lance put in awkwardly. “And it’s a super good one, too. Sounds like an actual cougar or something.”

“I…growl?” Keith looked completely nonplussed.

“You haven’t noticed?” How had he not? He growled, like, once a day, at least.

“…Not really.” Keith frowned but let it go. Lance briefly marveled at how far they’d come that the other accepted his words as the complete truth. For all Keith knew, Lance was pranking him. “Anything else?”

“Yeah. Your hearing is amazing. At least ten times better than most people’s. I can’t say anything about your vision, but I’m pretty sure that’s superhuman, too. That’s all that I’ve noticed so far.”

“Huh.”

“Yea-” A knock on Lance’s door interrupted any further conversation. Lance stiffened, suddenly aware of just how close they were sitting. He hurriedly jumped to his feet. “One second!”

“Lance, it’s me.” Recognizing Hunk’s voice, Lance knew he only had seconds before the Yellow Paladin barged in. He usually only knocked as a courtesy to let Lance know he was there.

Shit. I can’t let him see Keith. The evidence of Keith’s episode still covered his face, and Lance didn’t have to ask to know the last thing Keith wanted was to be seen like that. Besides, Hunk would never leave until he’d gotten the full story from them both, and Lance had never been able to get a lie past his best friend. For those reasons, he accelerated, slamming into the door and smashing down on the lockpad. The door – which had only just started opening – jammed shut with only a small sliver open to show Hunk on the other side.

“Uh, is everything alright?” Hunk shifted, peering through the gap to get a better look inside, but with Lance in his way and Keith having scooted out of his line of sight, he couldn’t get much.

“Everything’s fine! My room’s just a mess, and you don’t need to see that.”

Hunk’s gaze returned to him. “Lance. I was your roommate for five years, and in those five years I’ve seen things that I will never forget even if I got a hold of Galra mindwipe technology.”

And of course he had to say that with Keith right behind Lance. Amusement washed over him like sunlight at dawn, mixing with nerves and relief and a lion’s load of other, unnamable emotions, and when Lance glanced back to him, Keith was biting both lips, chest quivering in an attempt to hold in laughter.

Ninety-eight percent sure he’s hysterical right now. It had been a long day.

Lance huffed and returned his gaze to Hunk with a glare. “Did you need anything, Hunk?”

“I just wanted to let you know dinner’s ready,” Hunk answered, distracted. He sent a confused glance in Keith’s direction, but the door still blocked his line of sight. After a moment, though, he shook his head, probably brushing off Lance’s weird behavior as one of his ‘ticks’. “Oh, and do you know where Keith is? He’s not in the training room or his room.”

“He’s been walking around the castle for the past thirty minutes,” Lance lied. “Probably brooding about whatever mullets brood about. Just have Coran make the dinner announcement over the intercom.”

Hunk frowned. “But that’s so impersonal. Besides, he seemed upset when he left the bridge earlier, and I wanted to make sure he’s okay.”

“Keith’s fine,” Lance promised. If you ignore the hysteria. He tapped his forehead to emphasize the point of his lie. “Trust me.”

Hunk’s eyebrows shot up. “Is this part of the soul bond? Keith said that’s how he knew you were in the Blue Lion this morning.”

The soul bond had ingrained itself so deeply into Lance’s life that he’d forgotten it was still new. And that they’d hidden every possible detail about it from his friends. “Oh. Yeah.” Hunk looked like he had many questions, so Lance hurriedly added, “Go get Coran. Mullet’s still Mullet-ing, and I don’t think a personal conversation is worth a cold dinner.”

Hunk shuddered. “You’re right. That’s the stuff of nightmares.” He walked away to finish his task, and Lance slumped against the door in relief.

“‘Mullet-ing’?” Keith asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Shut up.”

The dam burst, and Keith's laughter probably echoed through the entire castle.

Chapter Text

Keith was Lance’s worst habit. Or rather, watching Keith. Focusing on Keith. Prioritizing Keith. He’d noted the habit during his swim through the mermaids’ tunnels, but with everything that happened afterward, he hadn’t had the chance to think on it and realize what it actually meant. Or why it might not be the best habit to have.

The night after the Galra talk proved why he should have focused on it more.

Lance tried to go to bed early. He really, really tried. Exhaustion weighed him down after the emotionally draining day, and he wanted nothing more than to cleanse his face, apply his most soothing face mask, and dive headfirst into the world of dreams. The second dinner ended, he all but ran to his room to accomplish that goal…But sleep didn’t come as easily as he’d hoped. Instead, the second Lance’s head hit the pillow, every repressed thought from earlier that day sprang into his brain and refused to leave.

Keith is half Galra. That sentence reverberated through his head on a loop. But it’s not like he didn’t know! He’d had all day to think about it – had thought about it. Had even talked Keith through the realization and helped his soulmate come to terms with it.