Work Text:
“Lance, what are you doing?” Hunk asked with some exasperation as Lance hovered around him in the kitchen.
Bouncing on his toes, Lance drawled nonchalantly, “Oh nothing. Nothing at all.”
“Really? Because you only make that face when you want something,” Hunk pointed out as he stuck the spoon in his mouth for a quick taste test.
“Pfft, no. What face?”
“This one,” Hunk said as he pulled his face into a goofy, wide-mouthed grin.
Lance scoffed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, buuuut it just so happens that there might be something I need some help with.”
Hunk sighed. “Spit it out already.”
Looking down at his shoes, Lance said, “Well, you know how we got stuck on that water planet together?”
Hunk’s expression shifted to one of concern. “Yeah, what about it?”
Lance crossed his arms across his chest and laughed nervously. “Well, honestly I was pretty lucky to have crash landed with you. You could figure out what parts we needed to start repairs on our lion’s thrusters, you cooked all our meals, and you were able to build us a filter that made the water was safe for us to drink, even though you didn’t fully recognize all the chemicals.” Lance cleared his throat. “Anyways, I was just thinking about how Pidge was able to survive all on her own with her skills, and I’m sure you could’ve too, but I think if I had been in her situation, I probably would’ve died. So, what I’m trying to say is…” Lance paused and shot Hunk a serious look. “Could you teach me more about the lion’s mechanics? I know it’s just a start, but I want to be prepared in case something like that happens again, you know?”
Hunk brightened. “Of course, dude! Why didn’t you just say so earlier?”
“Hunk, this is impossible.”
“No, it’s not, buddy. Look closer and examine the markings on each wire. You’ll be able to spot the differences,” Hunk said as he gestured to the panel of wires.
“They look identical! How am I supposed to remember which is which?” Lance groaned with frustration. “And even if I can tell the difference, I can’t remember which wire does which thing!” Lance hunched over and pouted.
“You’ll get better with practice. Let’s take it slow. It’s alright even if you mess up.”
Lance whirled around to Hunk. “We don’t have time to take it slow! Who knows what’ll happen in our next battle or when I’ll need to use this knowledge. I need to learn now.”
Hunk put a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Calm down, man. Nothing good will come from rushing it. We can study the textbooks together some more and come back to the practical stuff another time. It’s just day one. You can’t expect to master it overnight. I’ll help you make some flashcards.”
Running his fingers through his hair, Lance pinched his nose and inhaled sharply. “You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just that lately I’ve been thinking more about my family and… who knows how long we’ve been out here, but if there’s even a chance of seeing them again I have to make sure I make it back to them alive you know?” Lance dug his heel into the ground. “And even more than that, I have to make sure I can stay alive long enough so we can defeat Zarkon. I need to keep them safe. We need to keep all of Earth safe.”
Hunk put a comforting arm around Lance. “I know you miss them but you can’t beat yourself up about it. You’re doing the best you can and your frustration will only get in the way of that.”
“Yeah… Thanks, Hunk,” Lance said with a smile. “I can always count on you.”
Beaming at the praise, Hunk continued, “And I know you’re worried about dying before telling Keith how you feel but—“ Hunk stopped abruptly when Lance tightly gripped his shoulders.
“How in the quiznak do you know about that? Was I being that obvious?” Lance asked, blushing a little.
“No, not really. But I did take a peek at this diary you’ve been keeping and now it’s a lot more noticeable,” Hunk said while holding up a small journal.
Lance gasped incredulously. “You’ve been doing what?!”
“Well, you just left it in your bedside drawer, which is such an obvious place to put these things, so I thought it’d be fine. We’re friends after all,” Hunk said flippantly.
Lance angrily snatched the blue book from Hunk’s hands and snapped, “Just because we’re friends doesn’t give you the right to go through my stuff. Don’t you have any concept of privacy? I can’t believe you did that.”
Bristling, Hunk said, “And I can’t believe you were keeping your huge crush a secret from me. I thought friends didn’t have secrets.”
Face turning bright red, Lance said scathingly, “Look, I know you mean well but sometimes you can be pretty inconsiderate to those around you. Like that time with Pidge when you found her personal photos and read her diary. Even if it was helpful for us that you discovered the Fraunhofer line and whatnot, it was still an invasion of her privacy and a breach of her trust. I kind of forgot about it with all that happened but looking back on it that was a pretty fucked up thing to do to a teammate.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck and shifted his eyes away from Hunk. “Yeah, maybe I was kind of oblivious for not noticing Pidge was a girl, but I’d rather be oblivious than nosy. Sometimes you have to let people tell you things when they’re ready. I do think you’re a really great friend, Hunk, and one of the most caring people I know… But you don’t have to know everything about a person to still love and care for them.”
Hunk took a step towards Lance. “You don’t trust me?”
Lance laughed but it didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, but there was… stuff in there I didn’t want anyone reading. Not until I felt ready to share it at least.” Shooting Hunk another betrayed look, Lance said, “And I thought you would respect me enough to give me the time and space to do that. Guess I was wrong,” he said as he spun around on the balls of his feet to leave the hangar.
Hunk deflated. “I’m sorry, Lance. I just wanted to help.”
When Lance looked back at Hunk, his expression softened but Hunk could tell he was still boiling inside. He stared hard at the floor. “I know, buddy. But give me some time, alright? I need to be alone for a little bit.”
“Got it,” Hunk murmured as he brought his knees to his chest, prodding at the wiring panel. When the door closed behind him, Hunk plopped down on the ground and sighed. He had to admit that he’d really fucked up this time. He knew he’d have to apologize to Lance later when he’d cooled off, but for now, he needed to do something about that other problem…
“Hey, Keith. Do you have a minute?” Hunk asked timidly, peeking out from behind the door.
Looking up from the bowl of space cereal he was eating, Keith nodded. “‘Course. What’s up?”
Hunk shifted his weight back and forth on his feet. “Well, you know I’ve never been a strong flier, never had the stomach for it, but now I’m out here piloting a giant space cat robot against my will.” Hunk laughed awkwardly. “Well, it’s not so much against my will anymore, so I figure it’s about time I learn. You know, to fly.” Keith raised his eyebrows in alarm and Hunk quickly said, “No don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I have zero knowledge and I’ve just flying blind every time. Yellow has been pretty good at guiding me during battles and stuff. But watching you get Lance’s lion back made me think that it’s not good enough to just be a decent pilot because I follow Yellow’s orders. I need to be able to make my own decisions in the air.” Hunk paused and snuck a peek at Keith, “So what do you say?”
Looking a little suspicious, Keith asked, “You came to me… instead of Lance?”
Hunk winced. “That’s, uh, well… You seem like you would be a better teacher,” he lied.
Keith’s eyes widened in surprised, but slowly a smug grin spread across his face as he stood up eagerly. “Let’s go now!”
It was Hunk’s turned to be surprised. “What? Now? Really?”
But Keith was barely listening. He ran over to Coran and started talking animatedly with him before sprinting back over to Hunk, practically vibrating with excitement.
“We’re good to go. Let’s get to the hangar already.”
“So what’s the plan?” Hunk asked as he followed Keith towards the deployment tubes.
“We’re going to do an old training exercise I did back in the day when I first started flying. Coran gave me the coordinates for a planet that should be the right fit.”
Hunk gave a small salute and said, “Yessir. Lead the way.”
Snickering into his hand, Keith said, “Alright, enough of that. I’m just really happy you asked me to do this.” Hunk felt a twinge of guilt when he saw Keith’s unabashed smile. “Flying really is one of my favorite things in the whole world. I didn’t really like the classes at the Garrison, to be honest, but there’s nothing better than an open sky and that feeling of weightlessness in your stomach,” Keith trailed off with a wistful look on his face.
Hunk grimaced. “That’s actually the part I hate most.”
Keith snorted. “Don’t worry. You’ll learn to love it. Trust me. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll never want to leave the air.”
Smiling at Keith’s enthusiasm, Hunk found himself believing him. Yeah, maybe he would.
“KEEEEIIITTTHHH!” Hunk cried as he jerked on the steering mechanism. Yellow twisted through a narrow opening between two trees and shot upwards.
Placing a hand on Hunk’s shoulder, Keith said, “Would you stop screaming? You got this. Breathe.”
Hunk continued rambling. “Are you getting revenge for that one time I tried to form Voltron by body slamming into you, because if so, I am so, so sorry and I’ll do anything except this to make up for—“ An unceremonious crash into a nearby tree interrupted Hunk’s rant and, although Yellow easily broke through it, the fierce rattling shook Keith off-balance.
Gripping the seat, Keith said through clenched teeth, “Hunk, shut up. Trust yourself. And trust me. I’m trying to teach you.”
Hunk shouted over the blaring sirens, “You call this teaching?! You just brought us to this tree maze from hell and expected me to fly through it like it was nothing. How is this teaching me anything?”
“I already told you: analyze the options in front of you and visualize the cleanest path!” Keith yelled back as Yellow continued smashing through branches.
Hunk looked up at Keith incredulously. “VISUALIZE WHAT? All I’m seeing is this morning’s breakfast coming back up and it’s not pretty.”
Keith roughly grabbed the joystick in Hunk’s hands and swerved them to the left to avoid another tree. “Keep your eyes on the road, Hunk! And just… look harder!”
Turning back to face the front, Hunk rolled his eyes and complained, “That is the worst advice I’ve ever heard. No matter how much looking I do, I am not going to find the magical yellow brick road that leads me to the end of th—“ Hunk’s sentence was cut off as they slammed into a tree with a thicker trunk, one that Yellow couldn’t break through.
Keith lost his hold on the seat and was thrown roughly against the side of the cockpit as Yellow slid down the tree and onto the forest floor.
Quickly unbuckling his seat belt, Hunk ran over to Keith. “Shit, buddy. Are you alright? Can you stand?”
Nodding, Keith slowly stood up and cracked his neck. “Yeah, I’ve been through worse.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Hunk looked around the cockpit as he took off his helmet. “Well, that was a bust, huh?”
Keith’s head shot up and he frowned. “It didn’t have to be. Why weren’t you trying harder? You could’ve totally had that!”
Hunk whirled to face Keith furiously. “No, I couldn’t have! I had no idea what I was doing, which is why I was asking you to teach me!” Hunk exclaimed while throwing his hands up in the air. “But clearly, although you’re a genius pilot, you’re completely hopeless when it comes to teaching. Look harder?! You might as well have told me ‘First, go whoosh and then nyoom and then go woooooo,’” Hunk said sarcastically as he made flying motions with his hands, earning a glower from Keith.
“I told you. I did these exercises when I was first learning how to fly. They worked like a charm for me.”
Hunk gestured towards himself, “Oh sure of course it did. You could’ve been thrown into any aircraft at age two and flown it flawlessly. You’re basically Anakin.” Keith tilted his head in confusion and Hunk muttered a quick, “Never mind,” before continuing to ramble on, “Did you even think about who I was? You can’t just do the exercises that worked for you and expect them to work for me too.”
Still looking confused, Keith asked, “Why the hell not?”
“Because we’re different people!” Hunk cried. “Everyone has their own learning styles. Their own ways of seeing and understanding things. Their own fears. Learn to have some empathy, would you? Not everyone can learn based on instinct or talent like you or Shiro, okay?” Hunk huffed and tucked his helmet under his arm. “Forget it, I should’ve asked Lance instead. You wouldn’t understand.”
A flash of hurt flitted across Keith’s eyes before he ducked his head low and muttered, “My bad.”
Hunk put a hand to his mouth, immediately regretting his words, but unsure of how to take them back. Scratching the back of his head, he said, “Look, I know you didn’t mean any harm, but I can’t learn to fly from something so vague. You’re a great pilot, Keith, I’m not denying that. And I can tell you really love it… But I guess genius can’t be taught, huh?” Hunk sighed and said dejectedly, “Let’s just call it a day for now.”
“Yeah… Sure…” Keith mumbled as Hunk strapped himself in and started up Yellow again.
“C’mon girl. Let’s go home,” Hunk said soothingly as he pulled up on the handles. With a purr Yellow came to life and slowly stretched before leaping into the air and setting a course back to the castle.
Although Keith and Hunk rode in silence for the entire journey, internally Keith couldn’t stop berating himself.
Goddammit, Keith, you can’t even do this right.
Now Hunk thinks he’s a hopeless flier and it’s all your fault.
He asks you to help with his nerves and you put him in the most nerve-wracking situation. Some friend you are.
This would’ve never happened if you just learned to think a little before you acted.
Suddenly, Keith grimaced to himself before sighing deeply.
Guess I really have no choice.
A knock on his door roused Lance out of his sulking.
“What do you want?” he asked with some exasperation as he opened the door, expecting to see Hunk, but when he came face to face with Keith, he immediately straightened. “Oh.”
“Bad time?” Keith asked, eyebrow raised.
Shaking his head, Lance responded quickly. “No, no. It’s just been a long day. Come in.” He backed away from the door so Keith could walk in and take a seat on his bed. “So, what’s up?”
Keith mumbled something indistinguishable and Lance leaned in closer. “What was that?”
“I said, could you teach me some yoga moves?” Keith asked a little louder this time.
Lance gaped at Keith, “Wait, could you repeat that again? I could’ve sworn you said—“
“Could you teach me some yoga?!” Keith asked again forcefully. “And I’m not saying it again.”
Lance was positively glowing with pride as he said playfully, “Well, well, well. The almighty Keith has admitted that he could learn a thing or two from the best paladin on the team. Can’t say I blame you.” He slung an arm over Keith’s shoulder, making the other boy roll his eyes. Undeterred, Lance made a show of shining his nails on his shirt and inspecting them carefully. “I’ll have you know I am the resident Voltron yogi. You’ve come to the right place, my friend.”
“Let’s start with some basic warm-up stretches first. Can you do that on your own or do you need me to hold your hand?” Lance teased as he dipped down in an exaggerated bow and extended a hand towards Keith.
Smacking Lance’s hand away, Keith mumbled through the hair tie in his mouth, “I know how to stretch at least. Give me more credit than that.”
Lance’s eyes traced up Keith’s face as he tied his hair back into a messy ponytail. Swallowing hard, Lance said, “Right, ah well, it’s not like I can assume you know anything anymore now that you’ve asked me for yoga lessons. I’m just trying to be considerate.” He pushed past Keith and let his eyes linger on the nape of Keith’s neck for a few moments before turning away.
“How kind of you,” Keith said sarcastically as he looked at Lance over his shoulder. “Can we just get started already?”
“Yeah, of course. Just stretch for a few minutes and then we can get to the fun and flexible stuff,” Lance said with a wink.
He had meant it to ease the tension, but when he saw Keith’s face turn a light shade of pink, Lance nearly had to slap himself out of his lovesick trance.
As they stretched, Lance attempted to sneak a few glances at Keith here and there, watching as he spread his legs and bent over them effortlessly.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Lance thought to himself, Why the fuck does he need yoga lessons when he’s basically a human pretzel? Go fuck yourself, Keith, you disgustingly perfect human. Who asked you to be like this? Did someone up there forget to add the “flaws” part of your genetic make-up? I mean just look at your stupid perfect body and your horribly beautiful face. You should be ashamed of how damn perfect your ass is. You should be…
“Lance? You good?”
Snapping out of his reverie, Lance stared up at Keith who had apparently finished warming up.
With a nervous laugh, Lance replied, “Oh, yeah. I’m good. Perfect as always, but what else is new?”
Still looking a bit skeptical, Keith took his place on the mat and waited for Lance’s instruction.
“Uh, right. So what exactly are you looking to get out of this?” Keith stared back incredulously. Lance stammered, “No I mean like… there’s a lot of uses for yoga. Strengthening, relaxation, flexibility… Of course, you can do a combination of things, but I was just wondering if you had something specific you wanted to focus on.”
“Oh,” Keith said as he straightened up and crossed his legs together. “I guess… relaxation was more of what I was going for. You know, sort of that meditative mumbo jumbo stuff with the breathing and all that.”
Lance raised an eyebrow. “Trying to get that temper under control I take it?” Keith flushed but didn’t argue. “I guess that’s a good thing for all of us, Mr. Hothead.”
“Shut up,” Keith grumbled. “Can you just get to the teaching already?”
Waving his hand dismissively, Lance said, “Calm down, man. Didn’t you say you wanted to do the relaxation part? Lesson number one is to slow down for a dobosh and just breathe. Can you do that for me? Lie down and just breathe?”
Keith was still muttering to himself but did as Lance said and laid down on his back.
“Thank you.” Lance took his place on the mat and lay down next to Keith. “This is called savasana. Usually, it’s done at the end of a session but I figure this might be the best pose for you to do right now.” Keith turned to look at Lance quizzically. “I mean this pose seems easy. It doesn’t require any physical strain, which you’re pretty well-versed in already, but it requires a lot of mental willpower. Basically, all I want you to do is lie there are do nothing. I don’t mean go to sleep. I mean, be awake and completely relaxed. No thoughts of Zarkon or space battles or knives or whatever the hell goes on in that brain of yours.” Keith made an offended noise but Lance continued, “Just don’t think of anything. Think you can do that, genius?”
Keith furrowed his brow. “Try me.”
Lance smirked. “Good.” Settling back into place, Lance said, “Close your eyes. Even your breathing out and slow down your thoughts. Focus completely on your breathing.” Hearing Keith’s tempered breaths next to him, Lance smiled to himself and said, “You’re doing great.”
After a few moments of silence, Keith said, “Hey, Lance.”
“Hm?”
“You’re right. This is… kind of nice,” Keith said with an amused chuckle. Lance felt his heart thudding in his chest and, against all his better judgment, he snuck a glance in Keith’s direction.
It was the biggest mistake of his life.
The slight tilt of Keith’s face towards Lance, the gentle brushing of Keith’s eyelashes against his face, the barest hint of a smile on his mouth, and his general look of serenity made Lance inhale sharply.
So, mind working into overdrive, Lance did what he did best.
Voice cracking, Lance said, “Yeah, right?” Another awkward laugh. “Now take a deep breath in.” Keith sucked in a breath. “Now let it out,” Lance commanded as Keith exhaled. “Take another deep breath in. Really breathe it in…”
When Lance ripped a loud fart, it took all of Keith’s willpower not to jump up and snap Lance’s neck.
“Lance!! That’s disgusting,” Keith cried as he scooted away from Lance, kicking him in the stomach.
“Sorry, sorry,” Lance said through giggles as he stood up. “It’s just so funny every time. I swear I’ll teach you properly, though.”
Keith folded his arms and squinted his eyes. “Would it kill you to stop joking around for five minutes and take this seriously?! For a moment I thought…” He trailed off and scoffed. “I should’ve known all you were going to do was make fun of me.”
Dismissing Keith with another wave of his hand, Lance said, “Oh, c’mon. I’m only teasing. It’s just yoga. It’s not rocket science or flying a spaceship. You’ll pick it up in no time with me as your teacher.”
Keith felt his eye twitch as he yelled, “No, it’s not just—I… Do you know how many times I lost my cool in battle and almost cost someone their life? My impulsiveness was fine when it was just me who could be killed, but now there are other people at stake here. The whole universe is at stake here, Lance. Don’t you understand that?”
Lance put his hands up in defense. “Shit, I’m sorry dude. I didn’t mean to…”
Keith rolled his eyes. “Of course you didn’t mean to do anything because you’re always joking around. Look, I needed something to help calm me down. Something that could keep me grounded when I need to be for the sake of this team. Shiro once told me that patience yielded focus, so I thought I should try and be a more patient person for the sake of the team. I wasn’t really sure what to do, but this was the only thing I could think of so, despite how humiliating it was, I came to you.” Keith sighed. “But clearly that was a mistake.”
Lance felt his heart sink into his stomach. “No, Keith. Really, I’m happy you came to me for help. I’m sorry.” He reached down to help Keith up, but he merely swatted the hand away.
“Are you happy that I came to you because you actually want to do something to help me or because you are just happy you can brag about being better than me at something? Is your ego really worth more to you than your friends? Well, congratulations you’re officially better than me at being a grade-A asshole.” Panting angrily, Keith stormed over to the door and put his hand on the panel. “Forget helping me. I’ll find another way.”
Watching Keith walk out his door, Lance put a hand to his face and groaned.
Perfect.
“Morning,” Shiro said with a yawn. “How’d everyone sleep?”
Pidge, who was sitting at the head of the table, turned and gave Shiro a meaningful stare, but he only tilted his head in confusion until he saw the other paladins around the table.
Or rather the other paladins spread out as far as they could possibly be while still managing to be seated at the same table.
Typically, the paladins had a tendency to clump together even if there were tons of available seats at the table. It was nice to be closer to have someone to chat with, but sometimes even the simple fact of having someone nearby was comfort enough, especially after their time apart. Maybe it wouldn’t have surprised Shiro so much if it had been just Lance and Keith avoiding each other. Sure, they always sat next to each other even in spite of their so-called rivalry, but it wouldn’t be too unexpected to see them fighting over something trivial.
No, what surprised Shiro the most to see the obvious role Hunk played in this mysterious catastrophe. He saw Hunk stealing not-so-stealthy glances between Lance and Keith, his expression constantly fluctuating from dejection to anger to defeat to annoyance so quickly that Shiro was sure his face would break. Lance and Keith had more practice in keeping their expressions blank, but every so often Shiro would see a little bit of worry or frustration peek out from their steely veneers.
After a few more moments of observation, Shiro turned to Pidge for answers but she merely shrugged.
“Beats me,” she whispered. “But all I know is someone isn’t going to be very happy.”
Shiro winced as the doors behind him slid open, right on cue.
Pidge grinned, “You have to admit. Her timing is always impeccable.”
“Stuff it, Pidge,” Shiro muttered. “Now really isn’t the time.”
“Paladins,” Allura boomed. “Coran and I have planned several vigorous team building exercises for you all today. I know we’ve been back together as a whole team for several quintants now, but we can never be too prepared. Forming Voltron is an extremely precarious feat that requires teamwork and mutual understanding of the highest… Would someone tell me what the quiznak is going on here?”
Shiro sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and looked out at the table. “Ah well, Princess. I don’t exactly know but there seems to be some tension.”
“Tension?” Allura asked tersely. “We cannot have any tension if we want to form Voltron. If we’re going to defeat Zarkon, we need you all at your best. Don’t you understand that?”
It was Keith who broke the silence first. “Oh, I understand it perfectly well, Princess. But there are some people here,” He turned to look at Lance. “Who don’t seem to fully grasp the severity of the situation.”
Lance stood up to counter, but it was Hunk who said, “Hey don’t target Lance like that. He’s doing his best to push himself to be better for this team and take others into account, unlike a certain someone I know.”
Shiro felt as taken aback as Keith looked. He knew Hunk was protective of Lance, but Shiro didn’t think Hunk would take it as far as to insult Keith to get a point across.
“Hunk, I don’t need you to butt in on this. I can take care of myself,” Lance said coolly.
Keith grimaced. “You’re so ungrateful! He’s just trying to help you.”
Frowning, Hunk said, “Don’t decide for yourself what I’m doing. You don’t know everything, Keith.”
Mouth ajar, Keith pushed himself out of his chair to say something more when Lance cut in saying, “Keith knows that, Hunk. You don’t have to tell him. He’s doing his best.”
Hunk spluttered, “Really? You’re actually defending Mr. Perfect for once?” Hunk scoffed. “Guess I should’ve known who you’d choose.”
Lance’s expression took on a hint of concern. “Hunk, that’s not what I mean. I’m just saying that we’re all taking steps to improve ourselves.”
Hunk scoffed. “Are we? Or are we just finding faults in others instead so we can ignore our own?” With that, Hunk turned on his heel and left the dining room.
Keith turned accusingly at Lance, “Now look at what you’ve done. Hunk did nothing wrong here.”
Lance’s grimace deepened. “Hunk might be wrong about a lot of things, but he was right about one. You don’t know everything, Keith, so stop pretending like you do.” Both paladins pushed their chairs back simultaneously and stormed out of the dining room through separate doors.
The other half of Team Voltron stared at the empty table with a mix of confusion, worry, and annoyance.
“So I’ll ask again,” Allura said in a strained voice. “Would someone like to explain to me what the quiznak is going on here?”
“Got me, princess,” Coran said. “They were getting along as usual yesterday and suddenly, poof, they’re like a pack of fighting alokirus.”
Shiro sighed deeply. “Well, whatever it is, we need to get to the bottom of it and soon. There’s no way we’re forming Voltron with more than half of the team fighting like this.”
Allura nodded gravely. “You’re right Shiro. This is really not the time to be arguing amongst ourselves. We’ll have to do some damage control and fast.”
Pidge raised a hand and piped in cheerfully, “I’d just like to point out, firstly that teenage boys are idiots so you all should’ve seen this coming; and secondly that I am the last limb standing so I definitely deserve to skip cleaning the healing pods with Coran.”
“Oh no you don’t,” Coran chimed in, grabbing Pidge by the collar. “With the other Paladins out of commission for the time being, we need all hands on deck until they resolve it.”
Pidge groaned. “Those three stooges better figure this out soon. For all our sakes. Namely mine.”
Lance kicked at the ground with his toe, sending a small poof of dust into the air. It tickled his nose, making him sneeze so loudly that it echoed through the hall. Despite having lived on the castle ship for what felt like forever, many of its hallways were still left unexplored, partially because it was so big and partially because the others were still shaken up by corrupted-Alfor’s takeover of the castle. Lance was still convinced the place was haunted.
Not that it was stopping him from brooding in the strange and unfamiliar passageways now. He needed some space from everyone else to sort out his thoughts and this was the perfect place to do it, even if it creeped him out.
With a sigh he plopped down on a cool metal bench he had found and stared up at the ceiling. What the quiznak was he going to do about this mess now? He knew he should apologize to Keith and make-up with Hunk, but he didn’t know how to go about doing either of those things. Which should he do first? Did he even know if he was ready to forgive Hunk? He knew in his heart that Hunk didn’t do anything with malicious intent but it hadn’t stopped his actions from hurting him. It wouldn’t be fair to Hunk if he tried to pretend to make-up and act like everything was okay. Hunk would see right through him.
Sighing, Lance rolled over onto his side. The scariest part was not knowing if he could ever trust Hunk like he used to. Their friendship meant so much to him, but… He rubbed his eyes with his palms. Well, maybe he should be apologizing to Hunk, too. He knew that his friend felt like he was siding with his crush over their friendship, and even if that was true, it wasn’t for the reasons Hunk thought.
Lance groaned with frustration. Why did this have to be so difficult? All he wanted was to get stronger so he wouldn’t bring the team down when they fought Zarkon, not cause a rift between his friends and make it impossible to form Voltron. Why did he have to be so useless at the worst times?
Tiny squeaks interrupted his thoughts and Lance moved his hands away from his face to see the space mice scurrying up his body.
“Hey little dudes,” Lance said with a smile. “Here to cheer me up?”
“No they aren’t,” a strong voice said. Lance turned his head slightly to find himself staring at Allura. “I am.”
Lance grinned mischievously. “Well, why didn’t you say so Princess. I have tons of ways you could cheer me—OW!” He rubbed the tender spot on his stomach that he landed on when Allura pushed him off the bench.
“Oh, stuff it, Lance. You can’t fool me. Stop trying to hide everything behind a joke or a flirtatious remark. I know there’s no one else for you but Keith.”
Lance sat up straight and screeched, “Did Hunk tell you?”
Allura raised an eyebrow. “No, he didn’t have to. You think your loving gazes from afar are stealthy? I have news for you: they aren’t. I’m surprised you thought otherwise.”
Lance frowned. “Well, let’s just say that Hunk recently breached the bro code in an extreme violation of privacy regarding that specific topic so sue me if I’m a little on edge.”
Allura crouched down next to Lance and asked gently, “Want to talk about it?”
Lance stole a quick look at Allura and pursed his lips in thought. After a few moments, he gave in. “Yeah, why the hell not? It can’t get any worse than it already is. You might as well help me stop myself from digging my own grave.”
Allura chuckled. “That bad huh?”
“You have no idea,” Lance joked, but he sobered up quickly. “It’s not even that big of a deal now that I think about it, but Hunk read something of mine that was private. He said he did it because he wanted to help me because we’re friends, but I have to have some boundaries you know? He didn’t even ask for my permission.”
Allura took Lance’s hand in hers. “That does sound pretty serious. Even though it’s very difficult to keep a secret from your fellow paladins, it doesn’t mean they should expose them before you’re ready.” Lance nodded.
“Exactly!” he exclaimed before a serious look crossed his face. “The thing is, though, I think Hunk knows that, but he gets so eager and excited to help people that he forgets about everything else. He’s always been more of a ‘the ends justify the means’ kind of guy.” Lance gave a wry smile. “But aside from that, I think I upset him earlier when I backed Keith up instead of him. It’s not like I was doing it because I care about Keith more than I care about Hunk. I was just being petty… And I know that Keith has been making an effort to make himself better for the team. That’s why I didn’t want Hunk to say that stuff but the way I said it came out all wrong.”
Humming thoughtfully, Allura said, “So now what?”
Lance groaned. “If I knew I wouldn’t be pacing around this goddamn creepy castle. I want to talk to Hunk, but I’m not sure if he’ll forgive me or if I’ll forgive him. I want to but it’s one of those things I’m not sure our friendship can recover from.”
Allura leaned her head back and looked towards the ceiling. “I think I understand what you mean. Friendship is scary and difficult, much more so than any romantic bond I’ve seen.” Giggling, she said, “Why, you should’ve seen the ways that father and Coran argued. They did not go easy on each other.” Smiling fondly, she continued, “I’ve also had my fair share of tiffs with teammates and if I’m honest with you there are some relationships I had that I never mended. I regret that now knowing that it’s been ten thousand years. If I could go back…” She trailed off and her eyes grew wistful.
“I’m… so sorry,” Lance said gently.
Wiping away a tear and steeling herself, Allura said, “No, it’s alright. I don’t mean to bring you down, but you must realize that this is the reality. Friendships are a two-way street and they require work.” She smiled. “Despite all the mystical connections you all have with the lions and such, there really is no such thing as fate. You decide what you want your future to be and no one else. You can either give into those misunderstandings and grow apart or you can try your best to work through your differences and agree to make your friendship stronger together. It won’t be easy but nothing that’s worth living for is.” Standing up straight, Allura held a hand out to Lance. “There are a lot more hardships and troubles ahead and I think that in order to overcome them we need the kind of bond and connection you have with Hunk. You are the legs of Voltron. Our support system. You make this team better together and give us all that joy and hope that reminds us what we are fighting for. So trust Hunk a little. Trust yourself. Trust that you two can make it through this and, even if you can’t, you might as well go down fighting, right?”
Lance grinned and took her hand, “Princess, has anyone ever told you that you’re really cool?”
Allura grinned back. “You could stand to mention it more often.”
Lance took a deep breath and softly rapped his knuckles against the door. The door didn’t budge, but Lance heard a faint rustling from inside the room.
“Hunk? It’s me. Can we talk?” For a while, Lance didn’t hear anything, but finally, the creaking of the bed and the rustling of the sheets signaled that Hunk was at least willing to open the door for him.
As the door slid open, Hunk glared at Lance. “What is it?”
Lance straightened and asked as sincerely as he could, “I just wanted to apologize. Can I come in?”
Hunk seemed to assess Lance for a moment before caving in with a small smile. “Really, it should be me apologizing. Come on in, you big dork,” Hunk said, arms spread out to either side of him.
Lance gratefully landed in Hunk’s arms and nestled his face into Hunk’s chest. He really was the best hugger on the team.
Stroking Lance’s hair, Hunk asked, “So, you said you’re here to apologize? What for?”
Lance loosened his grip on Hunk and took a small step back. “Oh, I guess sorry for making it seem like I care about Keith more than I care about you.” Hunk looked a bit startled but didn’t deny what Lance had said. “I wanted you to know that I don’t. You’re my best friend. And even if we have our disagreements, nothing and no one can ever change that.” He took a breath and admitted, “I was on edge because recently Keith came to me with a problem he wanted help with and I kind of blew him off. Not on purpose, but well, I always act like an idiot around him so I fucked up obviously.”
Hunk tilted his head but didn’t interrupt.
“But I mean, the man asked me to teach him yoga. How am I supposed to watch the guy I love looking all bendy and serene and shit without making a few jokes here and there to stop myself from drooling all over him? And then I started thinking about how I might have to correct his positions, which would mean touching him and feeling his muscles through that stupidly thin t-shirt…” Lance heaved a deep sigh. “A guy’s got to maintain his sanity somehow.”
Guiding Lance over to the bed so they could sit, Hunk asked, “So what happened exactly?”
Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “Basically, my self-preservation instincts kicked in, but I made one joke too many for Keith’s liking. He’s right, though. I was kind of being a dick, but not for the reasons he’s thinking. He thought I was happy that I was finally better at him at something, which I was, but not because I want to brag.” Lance flushed slightly. “Well, I did want to brag. I always want to brag, but I just wanted him to think I was cool…” Looking a bit dejected, Lance said, “But obviously I took it too far. I do take all of this seriously, fighting Zarkon and protecting the universe, but it scares me too. If I don’t make the jokes, I feel like I’ll lose the mental battle before we even get to the actual intergalactic one. Do you know what I mean?” Hunk gave his friend a sympathetic look.
“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.” With that, Hunk stroked Lance’s back with his hand. “Honestly though, you’re overthinking this. Keith knows what kind of person you are even if he doesn’t admit to it. He’s probably just taking his own anger and frustrations out on you. He’s probably not actually as mad as you think he is.”
“Do you really think that?”
“I know that,” Hunk said firmly as he wrapped his arms around his friend.
Lance shot Hunk a weak smile. “God, I hope you’re right.” Fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, Lance said, “You know even though I am upset that you looked through my stuff without my permission, I know that you did it because you care. It doesn’t make it right, but at least I know you’re not doing it because you want to blackmail me or something.”
Hunk laughed halfheartedly before saying, “I don’t deserve that. I’m not a perfect friend or anything like that… even if I’d like to be. I thought I was thinking about you and putting you first, but now looking back on it, the fact of the matter is it was just dumb curiosity on my part and I covered that up by saying it was ‘for you.’” Hunk looked away sheepishly. “That was a really fucked up thing for me to do and I’m not sure if ‘sorry’ will cut it, but I am really sorry I read your journal without asking first. And I’m willing to do anything to make it up to you.”
“Anything?”
“Anything.”
“Even taking my planet logging duties for two weeks?” Lance teased.
Grimacing, Hunk said, “Well… If I have to…”
Lance smiled and said reassuringly, “I’m kidding, buddy. You don’t have to do anything. We’re cool.”
“Really?” Hunk asked eagerly. “But I did something so terrible to you.” Lance shrugged.
“I think I’m figuring out that we all do awful things sometimes, but it’s not like that defines you or defines our friendship. We can work through anything no matter what it is.” Lance held up his hand for a fist bump. “And I’ve always got your back, no matter what.”
Tears welled in Hunk’s eyes as he ignored the fist and instead brought his best friend in for another hug, “I love you so much.”
Returning the hug at full force, Lance said, “I love you too, Hunk.”
When they broke away, Hunk rested his head on Lance’s shoulder. “Well, that’s one down. One to go.”
Lance looked down at Hunk curiously. “What are you talking about?”
“I mean apologies. Next is Keith.”
“You too?!” Lance asked voice tinged with disbelief.
Hunk snorted. “What, you couldn’t tell from earlier that we’re both on Keith’s hit list? Yeah, me too. I asked him to give me flying lessons and kind of blew up in his face when we ended up crashing… I said some pretty terrible stuff. I don’t know if he’ll forgive me.”
Sighing, Lance said, “You and me both, buddy. At least you’re not the one with the pathetic crush.”
“That does make it a lot easier. Want me to test the waters for you? See how forgiving he is?” Hunk offered.
Putting a hand to his heart, Lance asked dramatically, “You’d do that for me?”
Hunk snickered. “Yeah, I’ll be your sacrificial pawn as long as you promise me that you’ll actually talk to Keith about your feelings when you apologize.”
Laughing anxiously, Lance said, “Do I really have to?”
“Yes, doofus. How else are you going to explain yourself? You just spent like the last ten minutes telling me why your crush on Keith makes you a sorry excuse for a human being and is basically to blame for 90 of your 99 problems.”
“Huuuuunnnkkk. Don’t make me,” Lance whined as he tugged on Hunk’s shirt.
Hunk stood up, prying Lance’s fingers from his shirt. “Nope, I am going to talk to Keith right now and as soon as we’re done I’m sending him your way. You’re not getting out of this one.”
Sniffling, Lance said, “You’re the worst.”
“Love you too, buddy. Love you too.”
“Keith, are you in here?” Hunk asked tentatively only to be answered by the clanging of clashing metal dangerously close to his face.
“Holy quiznak!” Hunk screamed as he fell backward.
“Hunk?!” Keith yelled as he continued to fight the gladiator. “What are you doing here?! Wait, hold on a sec. End training sequence.” The gladiator stopped mid-swing and lowered its arms to a neutral position before being sucked into the floor.
Wiping his sweat away with his shirt, Keith looked up at Hunk. “So what brings you here?”
Hunk offered out a hand and said, “I’m apologizing.”
Keith started. “You’re apologizing? For what?”
Averting his gaze, Hunk admitted, “I was pretty harsh on you yesterday. I know you were trying your best to help, but it was frustrating that I couldn’t do anything right so I took it out on you. I shouldn’t have.”
Keith immediately protested, “What? No. You were right… I wasn’t really being a teacher. I’ve never had to teach anyone to fly before and it does come pretty easy to me. I was just so excited that you came to me for help that I stopped thinking about everything else.”
Hunk cringed with guilt. “Ah, actually that’s another thing. I… you weren’t my first pick with teachers.” A flash of shock crossed Keith’s face. “I was going to ask Lance first but we got into a fight and I felt like I couldn’t ask him anymore. Not that I don’t think you’re a great pilot, but it’s just… Lance and I are closer.” Waving his hands in front of him, Hunk quickly added, “But I think that you and I could be good friends, too. And I think you could be a good teacher too with some practice. Seriously, your passion for flying was contagious. I really thought that I could get the hang of it easily with you. I’ve never felt like that before.” Hoping he had appeased Keith somewhat, Hunk said, “So really I am glad I asked you.”
“Just so you know, Lance isn’t a good teacher,” Keith muttered.
Hunk laughed nervously. “Oh well, I’m sure that he just does things… differently. I really am sorry I wasn’t honest about why I asked you to teach me.”
Keith shook his head. “No, it’s alright. I’m not mad about that. I’m honestly angrier with myself. I was too cocky. I thought that since I was a natural flier, I would be a natural teacher too, but clearly, that was an overestimation of my abilities. I should’ve really taken into consideration who you were and what you wanted to gain from me.” A faraway look suddenly came into Keith’s eyes before he snapped back to his train of thought. “Anyways, I promise I’ll try harder to come up with something better for you next time. I’m still willing to be your teacher.” Keith smirked. “That is, unless you’ve made up with Lance.”
Hunk smiled. “Well, I did make up with Lance, but I’ll still take you as my teacher. He’d probably let it go to his head anyways.” Keith snorted at that. “I’m looking forward to the next lesson already.”
Hesitating for a moment, Keith asked, “You really mean that?”
With a nod, Hunk said, “Yeah I do. I gave you a lot of shit but I actually sort of had fun. At least before we crashed into that giant tree.” They laughed at the memory and Hunk smirked. “So are you still down to teach this hopeless case?”
Keith suddenly remembered Hunk’s hand, still outstretched. Taking it in his, he shook it and said, “Yeah, I am.” Relieved, he took a seat against the wall and motioned for Hunk to join him while he took a swig from his water bottle.
Hunk chuckled as he sat. “Your teaching style was so you though. It was like you threw me into a pool and expected me to learn how to swim through sheer willpower alone.”
Swatting at Hunk, Keith said, “Yeah, yeah. I got it. At least I can’t be nearly as bad as Lance when it comes to being a teacher.”
Hunk winced. “Do you really think that?”
“Obviously,” Keith said quickly, but the way he averted his eyes said otherwise.
“You’re not really that angry, are you?” Hunk asked carefully.
Pinching the top of his nose, Keith let out a sharp exhalation. “No… I’m not. And actually, Lance was a decent instructor.” Seeing Hunk’s eyebrow quirked inquisitively, Keith elaborated. “You know how I said I should’ve asked what you wanted to learn from me? Well, that’s because Lance actually did that before our lesson even started. He was being considerate and thoughtful…”
Hunk furrowed his brow and drawled, “Soooooo why are you pretending like you’re mad at him?”
Keith exclaimed, “Because then he had to screw it all up and make his terrible jokes like always.” He paused and said quietly, “For a second I thought we were finally having a moment, but I should’ve known better.”
“So you’re mad at him because he didn’t take being your teacher seriously?”
Throwing his hands in the air, Keith exclaimed, “No I’m mad because he doesn’t take himself seriously and it pisses me off. He’s always hiding behind that stupid goofy smile or a stupid prank.” Lowering his hands, Keith muttered, “Does he really think that can fool me?”
Hunk assessed Keith for a moment before putting his hand on the other boy’s shoulder. “I know Lance isn’t exactly the most honest when it comes to how he’s feeling, but he has his reasons. You should talk to him about it. Tell him how you’re feeling.”
“Ugh, I know but…” Keith felt a blush creep up his neck. “There’s more to it than that.”
“Oh?” Hunk asked innocently.
“I maybe, might… think of him in not a friend way,” Keith stammered. “It’s more like… I might see him as more like, you know, a potentially… a possible person of interest in my life.”
“Keith, just say you have a crush on the boy,” Hunk deadpanned.
Completely red now, Keith spluttered, “Hunk! It’s not like that.”
“Is it really not? You asked him for yoga lessons.”
“No! The yoga lessons were just because I’ve seen him doing it in the living room sometimes after training and he looked really graceful and thoughtful that I almost didn’t recognize him for a second… so I thought maybe it’d be nice to see that again. I mean… I thought I could learn from it too.” Hunk snorted into his palm and Keith sighed with defeat. “Alright, fine so my intentions weren’t exactly pure when I asked Lance to teach me, but it’s not like I have a crush on him. I just think he’s cute sometimes when he’s making his stupid jokes and having a good time, even if it’s at my expense. Not to mention, he can be pretty smart when he wants to be and I can always trust him to cover me in battle. And I like the way he looks when he’s concentrating on something. And his voice is soothing when he’s not screeching in my ear. And sometimes I catch him dancing while he’s cleaning the pods, which is also pretty adorable and… Quiznak, I have a crush on him,” Keith said under his breath.
“You think?”
“I’m an idiot,” Keith said as he pressed his hands into his face.
“If it’s any consolation, you both are.” Leaning up against Keith, Hunk said. “Don’t feel like you have to act or be a certain way towards Lance. If you’re not actually mad at him, don’t waste your energy pretending like you are. Life’s too short when you’re a defender of the universe. You should try to spend all those moments telling the people you love how you truly feel, right?”
Keith nodded slowly. “You’re right, but even if I’m not mad, Lance probably hates me by now. I mean he didn’t even take me that seriously to begin with. He’s always messing around and goading me into doing stupid shit. He’s not like that with everyone else! I’ve seen him when he’s by himself or just hanging out with you. He’s completely different.”
Hunk brought his mouth into a tight line and said, completely devoid of feeling, “Huh, I wonder why Lance, master of masking his emotions behind puns and bad pick-up lines would go to such lengths to constantly be a complete ass only whenever he’s around you. It just makes no sense at all doesn’t it?”
Keith frowned. “I mean, yeah. It’s almost like he’s trying to hide some—“ His eyes widened. “You can’t be serious.”
“I told you that you were both idiots. He’s even less perceptive than you are.”
Keith suddenly stood up and said, “Hunk, I love you and this was great and I promise I’ll learn how to be a better teacher and that you’ll be the best pilot in the galaxy, but I have to go like right now.”
He started to race out the door and Hunk called out from behind him, “I know, dude. Love you too. Now go get your man or whatever.”
“Has anyone seen Lance?” Keith inquired as he walked into the living room.
Pidge shook her head. “Not since breakfast this morning when you all self-destructed.”
Keith blushed. “Yeah, sorry about that. Any ideas where he might be?”
Shaking her head, Pidge said, “Not sure, but maybe check the control room? He hangs out there sometimes.”
Keith perked up and said, “You’re brilliant. Thanks, Pidge!”
As Keith turned around to run to the control room, Pidge called, “You can thank me by cleaning Green for a week,” but Keith pretended not to hear her as he made his way down the corridor.
When he walked through the entrance of the control room, the first thing he saw was Lance perched on the control panel, looking out at the stars.
“Lance?” Keith started to say, but was cut off by Lance’s high-pitched squeak followed by a mad dash to his deployment tube.
“Where the hell are you going?” Keith asked frantically as Lance started to open the door to his hangar. “Oh no, you don’t.”
Keith launched himself on top of Lance just as the other boy grabbed onto the zip line.
Lance briefly fumbled on the handles before getting a firmer grasp on them. Trying not to panic too much, he attempted to turn his head as he yelled, “Keith, what the fuck are you doing?? It’s dangerous.”
“Shut up. I know you took Nyma here without a second thought so don’t start complaining about how this is dangerous to me now,” Keith grumbled as he tightened his grip around Lance’s shoulders. “It shouldn’t be a problem right?”
Lance was silent for a few moments before he murmured under his breath, “It’s dangerous having you this close.”
Keith pulled his head forward a bit so it was directly next to Lance’s. “Did you just—“ Keith started to say before they were unceremoniously dropped into the small hovercraft.
“Your knee is digging into my side,” Lance wheezed.
“Yeah, well your elbow basically stabbed me through the jugular,” Keith coughed back. “Would you get off already?”
Lance said sarcastically, “Oh I’m terribly sorry. How rude of me. I would love to do that. Let me just move somewhere else—OH WAIT WE’RE IN A FUCKING MOVING VEHICLE.”
“Just shift over to the side a little,” Keith shot back.
“What side. There’s no side. This is built for one person for a reason, Keith, and you were not supposed to follow me here to—Oh we made it.”
Keith strained his neck to look over Lance’s shoulder and was greeted with the gentle beeps of Blue starting up.
“Nice to see you too, Blue,” Lance said, voice laced with affection. The happy purrs that echoed back made Lance laugh and Keith found himself getting so lost in the sound that he forgot the situation they were in.
That is, until Lance got up and said, “You should go back, Keith. I can drop you off at the castle.”
Keith ignored the fact that he kind of missed the weight of Lance’s body pressed against his and furrowed his brow. “Why are you trying so hard to kick me out? I just want to talk about what happened last night.”
Lance laughed again but it was strained this time. “Oh right… that. I still haven’t apologized. It was shitty of me to do that when you trusted me to teach you. It meant a lot to me that you asked me of all people and…” He looked out into the expanse of space before sighing. “You were completely right. I was making light of something I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry. I’ll be more considerate in the future. I promise.” He offered Keith a hand to help him get up.
Keith briefly looked at the hand and back at Lance before taking it. But as Lance moved to pull him up, Keith held firm and stayed rooted in his seat. “Apology not accepted.”
“What?!” Lance spluttered. “What more do you want me to say?!”
“The truth, Lance. I want the truth,” Keith said as gently as he could, desperately trying to meet Lance’s eyes. “You and I both know that you weren’t just being insensitive and I’m sorry for assuming that’s what you were doing. So tell me. What’s really going on?”
Lance, now staring hard at the ground, muttered, “You’re reading too much into this. I’m just like you said. I don’t take things seriously enough and I was happy that I was better than you at something.”
Squeezing Lance’s hand, Keith replied, “But I was wrong about the reason, wasn’t I?”
Lance gave Keith a quick once over before blushing and attempting to pull away, but Keith only gripped tighter. “Keith, let me go.”
With a shake of his head, Keith said, “I won’t. I can’t. Not until you talk to me properly.”
Lance released a deep, shuddering breath and finally locked eyes with Keith. “Okay, fine. You win. I made those jokes so I could occupy my brain with something other than how good you look in a tank top with your hair tied up like that. Honestly, I should’ve known from the start that yoga with you was a bad idea. Like the way you stretch is criminal and I am still convinced you did it all on purpose.” Looking at Keith’s startled face, Lance smirked before sighing again. “And I was so happy to finally have the opportunity to be better at you something at something for once in my goddamn life because I wanted you to be impressed and think I was cool and junk.” He paused and admitted with a blush, “So yeah, I just wanted you to like me more. Are you happy now?”
Keith smiled. “Not yet.”
Despite himself, Lance smiled back. “You’re impossible.”
“I know.”
“You’re so stubborn.”
“You are too.”
“You look terrible in the morning.”
“Okay, ouch. What the fu—“
“You always act before thinking.”
“Wow. Try telling me something I don’t know.”
“I love you.”
Keith’s head snapped up and he tugged Lance closer to him. “Say that again.”
Lance averted his gaze and looked and the ground before mumbling, “You have terrible taste in music and you think you’re singing under your breath when you’re making yourself breakfast in the morning, but you totally aren’t and you sing off-key.”
Keith groaned. “Lance, no that’s not what you said.”
But Lance kept on rambling, “You think you’re so great in fights but only because I shoot down half the bad guys coming for your skinny ass.”
Smacking his hand against his face, Keith said, “I’m pretty sure you weigh less than me but still not the point Lance!”
“You look like a wet cat when you come out of the shower.”
“In what universe is this still an apology? Because it doesn’t sound like one to me and also stop changing the subject.”
“I don’t want to lose you,” Lance said softly, so softly, that Keith actually almost didn’t hear him. “Not again. I want to be stronger, for this team, for my family, for the universe, but also for you. I need to be so much better than I am right now.”
Keith traced circles onto Lance’s hand with his thumb. “No, you don’t. You’re amazing the way you are. You’re smart. You’re observant. You’re resourceful. Don’t force yourself to change because you think that’s what I need.”
Lance shook his head slowly. “You don’t get it. I want to do this. I want to support you. Protect you. Be able to stand next to you.”
Bringing Lance closer to him, Keith whispered, “You already can. Lance, we’re partners, remember? The supporting and protecting is mutual. I have your back and you have mine, right?”
The corners of Lance’s lips tugged upwards. “Space ranger partners?”
Keith snorted. “Yeah, space ranger partners.”
“Good,” Lance said as he brought a hand up to Keith’s face and gently ran his thumb down Keith’s cheek, causing the other boy to shudder. “Oh, I think I like that,” Lance said, voice low.
Keith rolled his eyes to hide the faint flush on his cheeks. “Would you shut up and kiss me already?”
“Gladly,” Lance murmured as he brought their lips together, moving achingly slow against Keith’s parted lips. Pressing himself closer to Keith, Lance pushed Keith up onto the hover cart again and tangled their legs together.
“Lance,” Keith whispered into the kiss.
“Yeah?”
“The joystick is digging into my side.”
Lance made an amused noise but didn’t stop their languid kiss. “Isn’t this the part where you’re supposed to say that you love me too?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” Keith huffed.
Moving away from Keith, Lance asked innocently, “What’s obvious?”
“Lance,” Keith whined, trying to drag his face closer again, but Lance tugged himself free.
“I’m sorry but I still have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lance teased.
Pouting, Keith huffed something quickly under his breath.
“Hm, nope, doesn’t count. Try again.”
Keith groaned and sat up in frustration. “I love you too, asshole. Now can we please go back to what we were doing?”
With a grin, Lance said, “Wow, you really do need a lesson in patience.”
Keith smirked and traced his hand down Lance’s face. “Oh, so would you rather give me those lessons instead? We can just go back to the castle and do that now if that’s what you want.”
Keith started to move away from Lance, but the other boy quickly grabbed onto Keith’s arms firmly and squeaked, “Well, we don’t need to go right now. I’m sure a few more doboshes couldn’t hurt. Or a few vargas. But I mean who’s counting?”
Closing the distance between them, Keith pressed his lips to Lance’s cheek and said with a playful lilt in his voice, “So we can take our time then?”
Laughing nervously as Keith lightly pressed kisses to his neck, Lance replied shakily, “Well you know there are other ways to teach patience.”
A wicked grin spread across Keith’s face. “I like the sound of that.”
“I know I’ve been saying this a lot this quintant, but what the quiznak is going on here?”
Coran turned to see Allura standing in the doorway, an eyebrow quirked in amusement. He nodded his head over to the boys sprawled out side by side on the floor and said plainly, “They seem to have fallen asleep.”
With a giggle, Allura clarified, “I meant more along the lines of what happened to get them all like this.”
Shiro walked up next to her, giant blanket in his arms, and said, “They told me they were going to do yoga together but…” He tossed the blanket over them and smiled. “Well, looks like they got a little too relaxed.”
“After the day they’ve had, I’m not surprised. I’ve never seen them so excited to do errands before,” Coran said with a chuckle. “Though I do feel sorry for Hunk having those two as backseat drivers, they did complete everything at a shocking speed. Guess he just needed the right motivation.”
“The errands or getting those two to shut up?” Pidge joked as she walked into the room.
“Probably both.”
Allura smiled fondly at the sleeping boys as she picked up a few papers that were strewn on the floor. “They’ve really started taking this saving the universe thing seriously, huh?”
Poking her head through the crook of Allura’s arm, Pidge said, “Oh I was wondering why Hunk asked me for the lions’ schematics earlier.” Looking more carefully at the blueprints, she narrowed her eyes and asked, “Why is there a drawing of a salt shaker next to the stabilizers?”
“I guess Hunk has been putting his food metaphors to good use,” Shiro said, taking the schematics from Allura. “Is that shrimp tempura?”
Nodding, Pidge said, “Actually that’s a pretty good description of the way the lions’ fuel cells work. A delicate outer layer that protects the soft and squishy inside.” With a pout, she muttered, “No fair. I want to be part of the study session, too.”
Mussing her hair, Shiro said, “We should let them rest for now, but you can tutor me anytime, Pidge.”
Pidge brightened. “Really?”
“Really. I can’t keep relying on you to do maintenance on my arm.”
Flushing slightly, she admitted. “You know, I was hoping to get some hand-to-hand combat lessons from you and Allura.”
At the sound of her name, Allura grinned and leaned onto Pidge’s shoulder. “Now that sounds like some quality bonding time.” Looking over her shoulder, she asked, “Coran, would you like to join us?”
“There’s nothing I’d like more, princess.”
As they left the room, the three boys curled up closer to each other while dreaming of flying together to the ends of the universe.