WHO: Lance & Keith WHEN: Over the course of the last 2 weeks. WHERE: Errywhur. WHAT: A series of vignettes from the misadventures of Lance and Keith. This isn't even all of them. Voltron is a soul-sucking pit. WARNINGS: Teenage boys being stupid in turns, p. much.
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The Bus Station
Keith stood in the small bus station lobby studying the screen of departures and routes, his arms crossed and hood down. Not that the hood had mattered much once Lance latched on for the ride, but he wasn’t going to give up his small attempt at incognito on the walk over just because of the other teen. The other teen who he could almost forget had tagged along now that he had something more to focus on.
He frowned. Except that most of names on the screen didn’t mean much to him. The large cities, yes. The states too. But he didn’t know the area well enough for the smaller towns to make sense in terms of the areas he thought might lead to… something… Patience yields focus, right? It’s how he’d found Red. Maybe… He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, hoping that maybe one of the names would jump out. One of them would have that call of ‘go here’.
Lance’s focus was drifting, but he eventually pulled it back to the screen that Keith had been staring down for what felt like an hour. There was a slight sigh given, though Lance had expected things to go this way. No plan? No destination? Of course they were stalled here.
Finally, Lance reached out tapping a westbound bus route that was highlighted to leave in half an hour. “What about going west? Look, maybe once we’re moving, you’ll… I don’t know, get some inspiration or your inner compass will start working.” It was meant to be a helpful suggestion, which is why he took care to pace the words and meter the tone. He knew what Keith was going through. Indecisiveness, not knowing where you belonged…
Sometimes you needed a little push.
Keith started slightly, blinking his eyes back into focus at the hand entering his range of vision. The words took a bit to sink in if just because his mind had been wandering in that direction. New Mexico, Arizona, Utah… If worlds’ matched up, they had landscapes that could work… So aside from the other Paladin’s word choice, he really wouldn’t have been surprised if he had just started to speak without realizing it. On one hand, it was reassuring to have the thought process echoed. On the other…
He glanced over at Lance before scanning the other options for the next thirty minutes. Considering the other teen was hitching along for the ride, he wasn’t sure he really wanted to give Lance another clear win. Even if he was just trying to be helpful. Even if all the other busses leaving in the next half hour looked like they were all heading the wrong way. He swung his bag off his back enough to pull the map out. He shifted the folds, keeping the map small, but still showing the southwest corner he needed. A few quick looks between the paper and screen before he shrugged and puffed out a sigh.
“It’s ok…” he said as he reached to stuff his map back in his bag. “About as good as anything else.”
At that much, Lance beamed. It was almost like pulling teeth with Keith at times, but that didn’t take the shine off knowing even Keith had to bow to logic every so often. ...even if it took another minute or two of stalling. Still, the concession was a start in the right direction, and Lance smacked Keith on the shoulder to signal him to follow.
“C’mon, man. Let’s get tickets. People are glaring holes in the back of your head for blocking the screens.”
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The Rest Stop:
The rest stop wasn’t exactly bursting with people at this time of the evening, and maybe that was working against them right now. Or so Lance thought. At least if the general atmosphere was more lively, it would distract from the fact that there was a half-eaten sandwich just sitting on his tray, neglected as the conversation between himself and Keith. Cold, left unfinished. Kind of pathetic.
Sure, the initial reaction to finding out Keith had left the team for the Blade of Marmora wasn’t anything to brag about. Maybe he’d been too quick to capslock. Maybe. But Lance felt he’d settled down enough to believe that when Keith said that he wasn’t the same Keith who’d left… Keith was telling the truth. So why was it so hard for Keith to promise that he wouldn’t up and leave?
Lance stared across at the other paladin, the frown on his face almost comically sharp in its downward turn. He reached for a straw wrapper, balled it up, and tossed it at stupid Keith’s stupid mullet hair.
Keith knew he wasn’t the best company most days. Generally, he felt it worked in his favor. It was easier to have some peace and quiet when people weren’t too keen on seeking out your company. But even he’d admit that the mood had took a massive turn for the worse since Pidge dropped that bit of future news.
Ok, no, that had started the talk and far too many possibilities to focus on, but he knew full well when the real mood sourer hit the scene and that was all on him. He just didn’t know how to answer without skirting around the question that’d border close to full out lying or opening a big old can of worms he wasn’t sure he wanted opened. So… dinner with a side of awkward silence…
He frowned as something bounced of his head and plopped on his tray. Annoyed, awkward silence… He glanced up from the paper ball to shoot Lance an unimpressed glare through his bangs.
It was something about needing any kind of reaction. Maybe if Lance forced the other teenager to lose his temper, they could either argue for a while or maybe… maybe talk this out. Either way, it was satisfying to know that he’d found one way to get Keith’s attention.
Lance grabbed Keith’s straw wrapper, repeating the motions, and flicking it at the spot right between Keith’s eyes this time.
Unimpressed quickly shifted to annoyed and aggravated, which wasn’t really new. Even if his temper wasn’t something Keith needed to work on, Lance somehow knew just the right way to stoke it. The go to retort would be because he’d perfected being an annoyance over his life, but it didn’t feel like just that. So he wasn’t too surprised when Lance wasn’t deterred by the glare. Or by the fact that his target wasn’t so easy to hit considering his attention was on Lance and all it took was a lean to avoid getting a wad of paper between the eyes.
He thought he could handle this. That he could wait out the other paladin. But then Lance was reaching for another projectile. The flare of anger was quick as was his movement, his fingers handling the plastic knife too easily as he picked it up and flipped it around. He stabbed it down on the next projectile to stop Lance from grabbing it. “Don’t.”
“Or what?” Lance dared, giving the paper a few tugs before finally letting it go. He crossed his arms and slumped backward dramatically into his chair. The neglected sandwich on his tray shook a bit when he caught the corner of the table with a stray foot.
“I was trying to talk to you, and you went all ghost on me. This -- this! This is why I wasn’t letting you run off alone. You get a chance, and…” Lance waved his hand with some annoyance in Keith’s direction. “And sometimes I think maybe we’ll never see you again.”
Keith held his position. Even if the slouch could be counted a win, he wouldn’t put it past Lance to just go for the paper again once it was unprotected. Sighing heavily, half exhaustion half exasperation, his head bowed.
“Did you ever think that maybe I don’t want to talk about it?” he countered. He didn’t have all the information and he still hadn’t decided if he wanted to hear the whole story yet. He could piece things together well enough though considering the doubts and fears that had already started to nest in him. He was trying to focus on the relief that the team was ok (minus near death experience, but… that was how Voltron was) despite whatever had happened. His grip loosened slightly on the knife. “I always plan to come back.”
“I think that's when you say, ‘Hey, let's talk about something else,’” Lance snapped back. A second later he realized his tone and sighed, deflating a little more into his seat. It would've been the right time to apologize, but a shred of stubborn pride stopped him from it.
“I was trying to have your back, okay? I thought maybe you needed that.” They had been co-leading the team, hadn't they? Keith in charge, Lance at his side. It felt like they were getting closer to figuring out how to get the team on track -- and earlier in the day, that felt more possible. But if Keith left, what did that mean for them? What did that mean for Lance?
“Look…” But Lance trailed off before he could manage another word.
“And you just would’ve let it drop?” Keith had a hard time believing that. Especially when with just those view words, Pidge had flipped what they’d known on its head.
Or flipped what Lance knew on its head. While the specifics had been a shock, Keith couldn’t really say he’d been surprised. It was only a matter of time, right? He’d just figured he’d be in the Castle, watching the team’s backs and protecting them from there. Maybe not the same as being out and fighting himself, but it’d be better for the team and that’s all that mattered. His thumb rubbing against his first knuckle, he breathed out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I… I couldn’t think of anything to say that didn’t sound like a lie, so…” He shrugged.
Lance ducked sheepishly his head at the first question. Probably not, he had to admit to himself. He wouldn’t let it go. It may not be as much of a sore spot to him as it was for Keith, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a hope that if he could figure out what made Keith bolt… maybe he could sway his teammate the other way. They were just starting to get somewhere.
“Yeah, I getcha,” Lance finally answered. “Just don’t -- like, I’m not trying to pry, right? I just feel like casually pointing out that we’re both in the middle of the southwest, so if you get any flighty feelings, please don’t leave me to figure out what bus route gets back to Tumbleweed on my own. It would be boring without you around to be…” Another loose hand gesture at Keith, as if to frame his entire person. “You.”
“Can’t have you picking your own bus routes,” Keith joked wryly. “Who knows where you’d end up in this ‘journey of self discovery’.” The knife was actually let go of so he could air quote the last part. Crossing his arms in front of him and leaning against the table edge, he thought over the rest of it.
“I’m not going to run away from the team,” he said softly. “Not like…” He frowned. “... however you think I’m running. I just…” He puffed out a breath. “Do you realize how weird this is? Having to try and talk about something that hasn’t even happened yet?”
“The beach,” Lance answered, to Keith’s hypothetical. “I would end up at the beach because we’re basically halfway there, so what’s another day spent if I get to work on my tan... impress a few ladies…” At that much, Lance linked his hands behind his head, turning his slumped posture into a leisurely recline. He took another few seconds to reflect on that slice of imaginary paradise before giving his attention back to the conversation.
“Kind of? Okay, so you run off to become a space ninja, right? I’m sure there’s a good reason. How about that? You’re just off on a few missions to help them out, and then you’ll be back in Black once you complete your character arc or something.” Feeling a bit more at ease, Lance reached for the rest of his sandwich. He’d paid for it, so might as well eat the whole thing. “That totally happens in the movies.”
Keith rolled his eyes. He really didn’t know what he’d been expecting. “You’re going to have to work on more than that to impress them,” he jibed as he poked at his own food.
It was a nice story, wasn’t it? But the Blade was more than that. He knew the sorts of missions they ran. The sort of focus on the cause they had. Just that was enough to give him pause even without the personal aspect. If Pidge had the time to find Matt…. maybe leaving hadn’t been a ‘space ninja’ sort of mission. “This isn’t a movie,” he pointed out before taking a deep breath. Lance was just trying to be helpful…. there should be give on both sides there. “Lance…. I don’t know why or how it happened, but…”. Another steadying breath. “I wouldn’t have left unless the Black Lion was squared away. I wouldn’t jeopardize you guys for the Blade again.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I have all my best lines ready to go,” Lance assured. He gave a small sigh, but only allowed himself to skim the top of that pleasant thought for a brief moment before grabbing for a few french fries. Hunk might be able to do some great stuff with space food, but you couldn’t beat french fries some days.
But as Keith continued, Lance’s expression wavered a little. It wasn’t as if Keith didn’t have a point. If Shiro was back, the obvious answer was that he’d reclaim the Black Lion. That would free up Keith, right? A small, uncomfortable twist of Lance’s heart made him dart his eyes downward. He shook it off.
“Guess it is pretty hard to talk about something that we both don’t remember happening, huh?” he finally admitted.
“Yeah,” Keith agreed before reaching out to grab a few of Lance’s fries. “Just a whole lot of guess work with the little you hear and even then.” He shrugged. “Makes ghosting a whole lot better option.”
“Whoa, whoa.” There was a gentle swat at Keith’s hand as it reached. “I forgive you and you think all fries are open invitation?” Lance tugged his tray back a little, narrowing his eyes into suspicion-filled half moons.
Keith pressed his lips together, his hand still out. “No, not all.” The corner of his lip twitched up in amusement at Lance being back to his usual self. “Just yours. And two.” His other hand flicked at the balled up straw wrapper on his own tray. “As payback.”
______________
Hiking:
Even if Keith felt he didn’t miss Earth nearly as much as the others did, he couldn’t deny that he was enjoying this. Familiar territory instead of the vastness of space or the constant surprise of alien landscapes. Just nature around. Mostly quiet aside from the rare ringing of voices against stone, the rustle of dry brush, or crunch of dirt under foot. The barren terrain felt enough like the territory around his shack and the garrison that he could almost believe he was right back there and the whole Voltron thing had never happened. Almost.
Plus, well, it was nice to be walking instead of stuck inside a bus for a bit. They’d been walking through the canyon for a few hours now. Luckily for them, even if it was dry, the air wasn’t that hot. The chill from the nights hung on longer, the sun not able to quite burn them away at this altitude. He took in the landscape as they followed the trail, hoping to see something that matched home or gave a hint that there may be some shared history.
Not that they’d see that on a trail….
Spotting another wall of petroglyphs up ahead, he frowned, his eyes scanning up along the ridge and rocks. Alright then. Turning, he scrambled up some rocks, making his own path through the dusty wilderness.
The thing about space was that you got used to all levels of gravitational force, but most of that was negated when you did missions with a jet pack. Lance stopped at the bottom of the slope that Keith had just scaled in his own effortless way; he stooped a bit, hands on his knees as he eyed it with that same sort of accepting defeat that you mind find in someone about to brave a rainstorm to run to their car that was parked at the far end of the parking lot.
Lance sighed. He lurched forward, stumbling a bit as some loose rock gave way under his feet. It took a quick correction of his balance to upright himself again, but by then Keith was disappearing.
“Hey! Wait!”
And there’d be one of those not so rare voices… Keith sighed. The desire to just keep trekking at his current speed and make Lance work for it was there. Except that now there really wasn’t a path for Lance to just follow and… all things aside, he didn’t really want Lance getting lost or worse hurt. His steps slowed before he came to a stop on a sturdy rock.
“If you’re going to tag along, you better keep up,” he called back as he unhooked a strap of his pack. Might as well make use of standing still… He pulled his water bottle out and took a swig as he waited.
“Thanks for... the words of... encouragement, Keith,” Lance huffed between quick bursts of trying to get foot holds to vault himself up to the next landing. His sneakers weren’t overly suited to the terrain, what with having little to no grip on the bottom. If only he’d known Keith would want to run clear off the beaten path into some random canyon.
When Lance finally reached the top, he slapped the water bottle out of Keith’s hand and caught it with his other. If Keith was going to be like that, he could spare a drink.
“Hey!” The indignant huff had less to do with Lance stealing his water and more with the fact that Keith had already been planning to offer him some before it was so rudely taken. He scowled at the other boy a good long moment before rolling his eyes. “Don’t drink it all,” he muttered before scanning the terrain from their new vantage point, trying to map out the next best course for them to go.
The decision didn’t take too long. His weight shifted to the balls of his feet, ready to step out. But before his foot even lifted, he hesitated. He could just go, just strike out again and hope Lance wouldn’t be too far behind. Or…
He crossed his arms as his weight went back on his heels. “Whenever you’re ready,” he puffed out as he glanced over at the other boy.
Lance finished off his drain on the bottle, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. In all fairness, despite being as thirsty as he was, he hadn’t planned to take much. He wasn’t like that. And since Keith seemed ready to go again, Lance swung the backpack he was wearing around to drop it inside.
There was a stray thought about Keith in that moment. Being part Galra -- or just knowing there was that variable -- made Lance wonder if maybe that was to blame for this. Stamina to burn? A thicker-than-usual skull?
“Okay,” Lance finally said, even though he could’ve used another minute. He just wasn’t about to let Keith mock him over it. “Yeah, let’s keep hiking through all these random bushes. I feel like I’m really getting in tune with nature.”
Keith raised an eyebrow as he watched Lance for a moment. Despite everything that’d been said, he still didn’t really understand why the other boy was sticking out this whole ‘I’ll come with you’ thing, but he had to give him credit. Most would’ve given up long before now. He nodded and turned in the direction he’d planned to set out on.
Then he paused. Again. He knew it was likely just Lance talking, words to fill the silence. Even so… getting in tune… “Is nature telling you anything? A direction maybe.” He frowned. “Other than the beach.”
It took a second to catch Keith’s meaning, at which point Lance’s mouth turned downward into a small frown. “Not like that, buddy, sorry.”
Then, a second thought occurred to him. Lance ducked his head, a hand rubbing at the back of his neck absently. “Even if Blue was here, she doesn’t talk to me anymore. That one day I went back to her hangar, and she actually put a wall up. I mean, I told her goodbye after, but that… you know, I don’t think she’d reach out to me.”
Keith wasn’t sure if the fact Lance wasn’t getting either was reassuring or just depressing. Possibly the latter considering… he hadn’t meant to open old wounds. The shake-up with the lions had been necessary for the sake of Voltron at the time, but that didn’t mean it had been easy mentally. Obviously they’d had their problems making it work, but none of them had really gotten a chance to deal with the personal aspect of it.
Turning back to Lance, he breathed out a sigh. “Things could be different here,” he said softly. “You’re the first one she opened up to, Lance. That counts for something.”
At that, Lance turned his attention up to Keith. You know, it was a funny thing about the other paladin. Sandwiched between all those layers of pent-up frustration and borderline reckless determination was an occasional moment of… kindness? Lance knew he’d seen and heard it before, but there was usually a battle going or something else that pulled their focus. Out here in the middle of the rocks, it was in full view.
“It counts for being the right match at the time,” Lance replied, his expression warming up somewhat. “But the things we want aren’t always the things we get, right? Or the things we need.”
He took a few steps forward, having noticed the direction Keith was ready to bare down a bit earlier. “This way, fearless leader?”
A smile started at the change in Lance only to dim as he continued to talk. The words hit a little too close to home. But then Keith couldn’t really say how much of what he got was actually what he wanted. There were bigger things to focus on. More important matters. Had to save the universe, right? Although that had filled a big ‘want’, hadn’t it? Some reason for why he was around. Some purpose…
“Yeah,” he said as he stepped out, although slower this time. He should give more than that, right? Maybe he should give more. “More than just the right match. You knocked and she answered. We wouldn’t be where we are without you.”
With Keith pacing himself, it was easier to fall into step at his side. Lance heaved his shoulders into a shrug at the response almost instinctively, but he’d reclaimed a wide grin.
“Well, you know she couldn’t have resisted. I bet she misses me just as much as I miss her, but we’re both meant for other people… other lions…” Of course, no sooner than making such a proclamation did Lance decide to link his hands behind his head, closing his eyes for a brief moment to bask in his own star’s glow -- and promptly tripped up on a large stone in his path. His yelp was overly undignified as he teetered backwards on his footing, trying to get his balance.
And there was Lance. Full steam back. Keith really shouldn’t have given him that much credit. He was regretting it one hundred percent right now. But it had seemed like the thing to do. Especially since, well, he knew what it was like to be locked out. He’d had to fight to get Red’s attention and he had to admit a small part of him was still surprised he just didn’t end up floating forever in space. He didn’t really want to imagine how the lion might react to him now even if they’d been through so much together. That plus that glimpse at Lance’s… insecurity?... whatever it was that had him coming to his room, an ego boost seemed like maybe it was needed. Boy was he wrong.
Despite the aggravation though, he jumped into action as soon as Lance yelped. His feet planted as his arm shot out, snaking behind the other boy’s back to help stop his tilt backwards and get his balance more centered. “Maybe you should focus more on your own feet, Loverboy Lance.”
Keith’s assist was more than enough to help Lance catch himself. He steadied himself with an additional latch of his hand onto Keith's shoulder. Smooth.
“Totally meant to do that,” Lance insisted, although he let go the second he realized that he was practically clinging to the other teenager in a way that suggested how unintentional it all was. He wriggled free of the supporting arm, as well, feeling a weird sort heat flushing his face. Where did that come from?
“...So, how much longer is this hike, anyway?”
Keith’s eyebrows pulled together and down in slight confusion as he pulled his hand away at the first wiggle away. It was a situation he generally expected. People pulling away from contact. His contact. He usually didn’t hold on that tight just for that reason.
Then why did this feel different? Maybe because the stumble hadn’t been that bad. Yeah, there was joking about it, but compared to so many other things to be embarrassed by, it was pretty low on the list.
“Uh huh… sure you did,” he said before striding off again. Honestly, they could probably turn back now. Call it a day. But after whatever that was, he felt more inclined to annoy the other boy right back. He shrugged. “I’ll let you know when I get to the end.”
______________
Rain:
The search wasn’t going as well as Keith had hoped. Even if he’d known it was a long shot, he’d still expected there’d be something. Some tug. Some feeling. Some clue somewhere. There had to be something, right? Why else would they have gotten dragged here when the war wasn’t anywhere close to being done? They had to be here for a reason.
Right?
Sighing, he rested his head back against the wall of the motel that was providing them bed for the night. Once Lance had started whatever that pre-bed routine of his was, he’d slipped outside for some quiet, but left the door cracked open so the other teen could have a guarantee he hadn’t tried to run off. Again. His fingers traced over the map spread across his thighs. There was no distinction of the printed colors on the smooth paper, but he could pick out the indentations from the notes he’d scrawled across.
“Come on….” he breathed out quietly. “Give me something... anything... I’m here…”
He waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing. Except… His brow furrowed as he heard a ‘tink’. Then another. And another. Familiar even though it was rare. Night falling, temperatures dropping, the pressure changing, and then… He opened his eyes, just staring at the wave of droplets moving across the parking lot as the sound revved up to near deafening. Not nearly as bad as the downpours on the tin roof of the shack, but it was still something. Rain. He frowned. Rain...
I miss rain.
He folded the map as he pushed himself up to his feet. “Hey Lance,” he called out as he pushed the door further open and stepped into the room. Ah. Actually asleep. “Lance,” he tried, louder. “Lance.” Getting no response, he huffed out an aggravated breath. How could he actually sleep so heavily. He shifted the map to one hand, judging the weight of his moleskin in the other before he lobbed it at the sleeping teen. “LANCE.”
“WHAT THE ACTUAL F--”
The word was cut off before it escaped Lance’s mouth, mostly because having a notebook bounce off your chest when you weren’t expecting it prompted some survival instincts. His headphones flew off as he scrambled to his feet, fumbling for his bayard until realizing that it was just Keith. He stopped. Then, he glowered.
“We need to talk about how you wake people up,” he huffed, rubbing at his eyes with a mild agitation that was clearly showing in his frown. “What’s the deal? And what…?” The notebook on the bed came into view, and Lance snatched it with one hand. “Really, man? There were, like, eight pillows to choose!”
Keith just stood where he was, his arms crossing over his chest as Lance ranted, his face unimpressed. While, ok, maybe not the best way to wake someone up, he was sure that ninety percent of this was just Lance dramatics. And was really just supporting his tossing wake up methods as he really wouldn’t want to be within arm’s length of that flailing.
“A pillow wasn’t already in my hand,” he pointed out before raising an eyebrow. “You done?”
“Eight!” Lance half-yelled. “Pillows!” He framed the discarded set which were stacked on the armchair in the corner. For some reason, the motel had decided you could never have seven too many.
Then, Lance threw his arms upward. Whatever sleep he’d fallen so peacefully into was scattered at this point. “I’m done. What am I waking up for? This better be good.”
One hand rose from his folded arms to gesture at the pillows as Keith rolled his eyes. Because, again, the pillows were way over there on the chair and not right in his hand where he stood by the door. Plus with how fluffy some of the hotel pillows were, who knew if they’d even wake Lance up if they landed on him.
But that wasn’t the point. The important part wasn’t how Lance got woken up, but that he was awake now. And why he’d been woken up. He nodded as the free hand pointed up towards the ceiling, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He could just state it, just rip the bandaid off, but considering how much Lance talked about so many things and how long they’d been away from Earth, he wanted to see that moment of realization once the other boy actually caught up to what was going on outside.
Lance squinted at Keith, his shoulders cresting into a small shrug. “Our… upstairs neighbors… did something?” Did they even have those? They were on the top floor of a grand total of two.
But then he caught the slightest noise over his voice. It was a gentle pitter-pat at first, until he trained his focus. It was easier to hear it after: the strong beat of raindrops hitting the roof, broken up by winds turning them into cascading sheets. Lance looked back to Keith, momentarily silent. There was a lingering question about how Keith knew -- maybe even of why Keith remembered -- but it was shoved aside by a frantic rush to the door.
The first few drops sprinkled Lance’s nose, but it only took a second or two before water was streaming down from his hair. He slicked it back, tilting his face upward even more. It felt like forever since the last time it rained. He breathed out against the warm night air. In this climate, the rain felt good. It almost felt like the home tucked away on an island that he’d left for the Garrison…
His smile faded as for a brief moment Keith thought that subtle might not work and he’d have to go for a blunt statement. Except, yes, there it was. Recognition and then… The look caught him off guard and for a second he worried that he had remembered things wrong or misheard them and another round of yelling was in order. Luckily no yelling and it was an easy enough step back to make sure Lance had a clear path outside.
Leaning against the doorframe of the room, the smile inched back. Yeah… worth it to pause his planning and wake up the other teen. Especially since…. It felt strange. To see Lance bask in something this way. Just… honest enjoyment… They didn’t really get much time for that lately, did they? Except here -- what had Shiro said? -- long stretches of calm with some weird things… His gaze went down to the map in his hand. That would change though, right? If he found something, he wasn’t sure what it’d mean, but it wouldn’t be calm. It’d be the start of whatever was needed on this universe or a way back home, straight into the next battle… He breathed out a sigh. “Good?”
Water was freely streaming down Lance’s face as the rain carried on. He’d been soaked in a matter of seconds. Now, he was just saturated. But it felt… like a little missing piece had been momentarily fitted back inside one of the hollows that he’d developed ever since leaving Earth. Even as the rain turned from refreshing to cool, he felt warmed by it. There were days out fighting the Galra that he feared never getting to experience this again -- either because their fight never left time to come back, or… well, they knew it was a war. Risks were part of it. They all put their lives on the line.
“Oh… oh, yeah. Good,” Lance replied. He let himself stand there, a veil of rain around him, for another second. Then he turned to look back at Keith in the doorway. Keith, who clearly thought that he was safe. A grin shaped up on Lance’s face right before he whipped his sleeves at the other paladin.
Keith didn’t even see it coming. Despite nodding at Lance’s reply, his mind circled so heavily with his thoughts that Lance’s plan went unnoticed up until water splattered against him. He flinched back and tried to shake the water off as his attention turned back outside. Even if for some reason he’d think the splash was an accident, the grin on Lance’s face made it all too obvious that it wasn’t. He scowled at the attack, but only briefly before it slid into a devious smirk.
“Oh, you’re paying for that.” He balled up the map and chucked it at Lance.
______________
The Bed:
The last vacancy? It felt like luck was on their side, Lance had to think. Without being anywhere near another hotel, they’d snatched the final room for the night, and that meant a roof overhead and at least something to sleep on.
He stopped in front of room number 503 and whipped out the keycard. Honestly, with all the hiking and walking -- even for a Paladin of Voltron -- Lance felt beat. The sun had gone down hours ago, and they’d been getting by on the cheapest meals. Eventually, they’d have to head home. The cost was going to outpace them both. Still… for now…
A soft bed, a decent night’s sleep. Lance shoved the door open, then took a step inside. And then he stopped.
Keith was glad they’d managed to grab a room. Sure, they could manage otherwise somehow. Maybe find an overnight bus or bum a ride to another town hours away to try their luck, but neither of those options were as appealing as the certainty of being able to stretch out and relax. Maybe take a shower.
He’d gotten so used to a rhythm with this that when Lance opened the door, he blindly followed the other boy in. Or would’ve if Lance had actually kept walking. Instead, he ended up running smack dab into the back of the taller Paladin before stumbling back a step. “What the hell, Lance,” he grumbled.
Lance winced at the collision, even staggering forward into the room. He turned around, half glaring Keith down, half wondering how long it would take for Keith to spot the same problem he was seeing.
“Look.” Lance half-turned, waving a hand at the room. There was a small desk with a chair, two side tables with lamps, and one bed. One. “They got it wrong. The guy at the desk said it was two beds. Check my math, will you?”
Rubbing at his nose, Keith returned the glare although his was half muddled with confusion. What even was he going on about. “Again with the math,” he puffed out before turning to take a step forward and lean past Lance and-
Oh. Ok. He got it now. So much for stretching out. Because that indeed was not two beds. His shoulders sunk in slow acceptance. “Are you seeing one bed?”
“I’m seeing one bed,” Lance echoed, his words steeped in the same sort of downward deflection of tone that came with realizing you were doomed. “Last room available. They wouldn’t even be able to switch us to anything else,” he continued. There was a slow shuffle towards the offending bed, as if staring at it with a pleading expression would somehow magic it apart for the sake of a peaceful night.
Lance looked up at Keith. “The world hates us.”
Yeah, the situation wasn’t ideal. It really wasn’t ideal. But Lance’s reaction… Keith met his look with a long blank stare before he shook his head. Unhooking his back from his shoulder, he plopped it on the desk.
“If the world hated us, it’d be a twin,” he pointed out before flopping down on the far side of the bed. “Look, just stay on your side and I’ll stay on mine and it’ll be fine. It’s just a night.”
Lance’s eyes fell on Keith as he took his half of the bed. There was a moment where he crossed his arms, as if maybe he could think his way out of this somehow, but after a few seconds, he got tired of standing there. He was tired in general. His own backpack was dumped next to Keith’s, and he took a few steps around the bed to the open side.
“Yeah, just a night,” Lance echoed. He tipped over and collapsed into the bed. It was impossible to block Keith’s profile from his peripheral vision as he stared at the ceiling. “This is fiiiiiine.”
Keith tried to just ignore Lance. He did. But it was harder to do when he could easily spot the boy out of the corner of his eye and feel the waves of dissatisfied coming from the other side of the bed. Truth be told, he’d probably be fine on the floor. He’d slept worse places. The roof and walls to keep out the elements and other creatures were really the key parts in a place to stay, but moving to the floor now felt like Lance winning after his dramatics.
“Look, there’s eight pillows, right?” he pointed out. “We split up the sheets and blankets and make a wall if that helps.”
It wasn’t even that the situation was impossible. Lance couldn’t explain why it bothered him so much, either. It was just knowing that Keith would be sharing such a small space, and something about that just… made it hard to relax. This was crazy. It wasn’t like they weren’t routinely in weird places, crammed into each other in space, right?
Maybe it was just because he hadn’t been caught up in the same place as Keith for this long. No other paladin was around to cut the tension when it strained things. Lance forced himself to sit up, distractedly reaching for his set of pillows.
“Yeah, let’s… yep, that should help.”
Well, at least it was something to do. A way to make this situation a bit more endurable. Then why was a low level annoyance anger creeping along Keith’s spine, like the feeling when a knife scraped the wrong way against glass? Not whatever normal buttons the other Paladin would push, but… different yet vaguely familiar…
Brushing the thought aside, he rolled out of bed, tugging at the blanket. “Get up and we can get this set up. I’ll take the sheet.”
It wasn't such a hard thing to get up; Lance almost felt a swell of relief that he had a good reason for a little space. There wasn't any reason to freak out, so why was this so trying? He squinted a weary eye at the bed. Maybe it was all from being overtired. Sure, that made sense. They were both at risk for getting on each other's nerves when sleep was scant.
“Here, I'll hold these.” Lance reached for the pillows atop the bed, hugging the lot of them to his chest so that Keith could sort the blankets. “You do your thing.”
With the pillows and bodies out of the way, stripping the bed went quickly. Just a good yank to pull the blankets and sheet free and a few more to separate the lengths of fabric. Keith kept the sheet for himself and went to toss the blankets over to Lance’s side, except the smooth motion hiccuped when he caught sight of Lance. Maybe it was the long day, but the other boy just standing there with his arms full of pillows, gripping them like maybe they were a life raft that could save him from the horrible single bed monster, well, it was an amusing image.
So amusing, he couldn’t help the short snort of a laugh and fond smile as he hooked the desk chair over to plop down into. “Now do your thing, Mr. Builder,” he said as he worked at getting his boots off.
“What?” Lance asked, not realizing how ridiculous it had to look with his lanky arms gripping a bunch of pillows such that only his nose and the top of his head peeked over it all. “I didn’t want them to touch the floor,” he explained, feeling a small need to point out that he was just thinking of hygiene.
Still, since Keith was done, Lance moved back to the bed and dropped the fluffy load. He set two pillows on either side, then wedged some in the middle. Except that just made the bed’s available space shrink down to half. Lance sighed, looking down at the problem before him, before tossing the spare pillows onto the nearby desk.
“You know? This is fine. Just don’t kick me in the middle of the night.”
The reasoning really didn’t matter. The image was still ridiculous, but then hygiene wasn’t as big an issue for him either. Even if Keith didn’t have any desire to know what might’ve cross the floor in this place.
Done with his boots and gloves, he glanced up at Lance’s words, his eyebrows pulling down in confusion when the bed was, well, the same really. Maybe he’d realized how ridiculous the pillow wall idea actually was. Or how much space it’d take up. Rolling his eyes, he stood up. “I’m only going to kick you for a reason,” he pointed out, although considering his last time waking Lance up, he could understand not having too much faith in that statement. The belt pouches joined the pillows on the desk, but the knife in its sheath landed on the nightstand within easy reaching distance.
“It’ll be fine, Lance,” he reassured as he arranged his sheet on his side. “Stop worrying.”
Finally feeling a little settled with the bed situation, Lance followed suit with taking off his sneakers, then jacket. He rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a t-shirt and pair of shorts. They weren’t much, but without having actual pyjamas, they did the trick. He’d worry about a shower in the morning. At this point, he’d just nod off under the water, and that would be a whole big deal in itself. ‘What happened to Lance, Keith?’ ‘Oh, he drowned in the shower.’ No thanks.
“I’m not worrying. I’m just completely aware of the fact that you’re twitchy, and I’m used to sleeping in the center of the bed.” Lance breathed out, but forced his baseball shirt off over his head and wrestled the t-shirt on in a fast, fluid motion. “I just want to make it back to Tumbleweed in one, unbruised piece.”
Keith shot a scowl in Lance’s direction. Even if Lance might be right about some situations, there were so many other people who were more flaily than him. Especially on the team. Keith would even argue especially in this room.
“Chances of that getting lower and lower every day,” he muttered as he glanced at his bag. PJs weren’t really a thing for him. First it was being on his own so much and then at the Castle, the less he had to get dressed the better in case of emergency. But there was a decent amount of dust and sweat from the day out and with sharing the bed… Even if just flopping asleep sounded like a better idea… Puffing out a sigh, he shucked off his shirt before rummaging through his bag for another. He pulled it on before doing the same with swapping his pants for some shorts. “Look, like I said before, stay on your side and you’ll be fine.”
Lance had just finished switching his pants for shorts, as well, straightening up in time to ready some sass in response to Keith…
But stopping when his eyes caught sight of a long scar that was carved around the other teen’s shoulder. He’d seen it before, but never for more than a fleeting second. Keith never mentioned it, either. Of course, that just made Lance more interested in knowing just what the deal was. And what better time to ask than when they were both stuck with each other, anyway, right?
“Hey,” Lance started, “What… you know.” He gestured at his own shoulder in the same location as the scar. “What happened here?”
“Hmm?” Keith turned to focus on Lance, not really getting the meaning of the words. Even taking in the gesture, he didn’t fully get it until he mimicked Lance’s movement. What happened… oh… Scars were nothing new for any of them really. They went into battles. They fought all sorts of foes. Even if by some chance they honestly were the best at what they did, the odds of never coming out unharmed were low. Very low. But most of the scars, well, they were a team, right? They saw the action that caused the scars. Witnessed the aftermath. Heard the stories.
But what happened with the Blade… Shiro had been the only one there. There’d been time between the trials and coming back to the Castle. Once they were there, well… there were more important matters. Kolivan’s introduction. His plan. Actions that needed to be taken. The most that’d been spoken of the actual trials was that he was somehow one of them. Part Galra, whatever that meant…
Glancing over at the nightstand, he considered brushing the question off. Especially considering that the Blade felt like a dangerous topic. But would avoiding it just make things more awkward? He breathed out a heavy sigh. “The Blade of Marmora. When Shiro and I went to their base between the black holes.”
Finally, Lance settled onto his half of the bed, legs stretched out and pillow propping him up against the headboard. His nerves weren’t as on edge, so that was progress. Maybe they’d get through the night after all. Whatever that earlier… thing was, it was nowhere to be found or felt.
He raised a brow at Keith, though. He knew which base Keith meant, and he knew that Shiro and Keith had both gone in to see about forging an alliance. No one ever mentioned a fight. No one ever mentioned getting hurt.
“Is that like an initiation thing?” Lance asked. He wasn’t being coy about it. His voice was genuine, maybe even a bit concerned.
Keith turned his attention to Lance, not because of the actual question but because of the tone. It wasn’t one that most would expect from Lance, but he seemed to be hearing it more and more often since Shiro disappeared. No jokes, no space ninja barbs. Just… honest curiosity and maybe more?
He almost felt like he could have dealt with the jokes better. So much had happened on that mission that he still hadn’t really unpacked and… His head bowed slightly as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the desk. He’d been selfish. He knew if Shiro hadn’t picked him for the mission, he would have fought to be on it. He’d been so desperate for an answer, some sort of confirmation of what he’d been dreading, that he’d nearly blown the entire mission. If his knife hadn’t activated… Even if it had all turned out for the best, he still couldn’t ignore that he’d risked the team and their goal for the sake of… just more questions…
“Yeah…” he said softly as he shrugged. “Yeah, I guess you could call it that. Trials is what they called it.”
“Oh.” Lance wasn’t sure what he’d expected. A dismissal? Maybe a side step. It still wasn’t much in the way of information, but from what he knew about Keith, that was a huge admission. “I mean, you guys didn’t really say what happened out there. I figured you just talked.”
There was a silent pause. Lance found himself looking across the room at Keith, and he couldn’t help thinking how much more the other paladin was keeping locked up inside. It changed the perspective a little. A small adjustment of context. Each time he found himself alone with Keith, this seemed to happen -- if Keith was ever really his rival, that title faded every time Lance realized just how different they were. How different their paths were.
Lance lowered his gaze. There would be a day when Keith left for the Blade of Marmora. Maybe that was just inevitable.
“We should have,” Keith admitted, breaking the silence. He should’ve left the knife back at the Castle when they said no weapons. He shouldn’t have pushed the matter. He shouldn’t have kept going to the point that Red was willing to tear their whole base apart just for him. He was just too focused on what he wanted, what he thought was his only chance to learn more about his past, that everything else had just faded away and he didn’t realize how much he’d risked until it was almost too late.
His mouth opened a moment, an explanation on his tongue. Because the other boy would understand. After all, it wasn’t the first or last time he’d done something stupid like that and Lance had been there in the aftermath to pick up the pieces. Except… this hadn’t been just some Voltron mission and he felt like tugging at one string of the Blade of Marmora would just have every other issue tangled with it coming apart.
Snapping his mouth shut, he shook his head as he pushed himself up off the desk. “Hey, it… it’s late… Need to get an early start tomorrow,” he said as he lowered himself onto the bed, settling on his side facing away from the other boy. “Should get some rest.”
And just like that, the conversation was buttoned-up. Lance managed a small nod before Keith had claimed his half of the bed, but he was sure that it had been overlooked in favor whatever was turning the gears in that brain. Or maybe Keith was just that tired. As the thought struck Lance, he realized his eyes were stinging just to stay open.
“Yeah… yeah, good night, buddy,” Lance muttered, turning to face the opposite wall with his back to the other boy. He reached for the lamp’s switch and flipped it off. With any luck, sleep would find them both soon.