A/N: I wrote this a while back and posted it on A03 but never posted here. This is meant to take place shortly after they leave planet Arus (season one), and I tried to be pretty true to their rival relationship full of bickering from that season, lol, so this isn't very Klance-y (sorry). You can definitely see it as (early) Klance if you want to, but I don't explore it here.

I hope it's a good read, even though it's short! Constructive criticism is welcome because this was the first thing I had written in a long time when I first wrote it, and I haven't written anything new since, so I could still use advice where it's needed. If it isn't clear what I was trying to do when writing this (because there's supposed to be some implied stuff here that I don't spell out), please let me know! Thanks!


Homesick

When Keith wandered into the lounge from the training deck of the Castle of Lions, he found Lance lying down on the near end of the circular couch, staring absently at the screen of a cell phone he must have had on him when they left Earth. Keith had almost overlooked him, due to the wall of the couch obscuring Lance from view, and he would have crossed the room and left through the doors that led to their rooms without ever noticing him if Lance hadn't suddenly yelped in surprise as Keith was walking by.

"Where the hell did you come from?!" Lance yelled as he jolted upright.

Keith glared down at Lance where he was sitting. "The door. What the hell are you doing there?"

"I'm – " Lance glanced down at his phone suddenly and grimaced. "I'm not doing anything. Mind your own business."

"Hmph. Go to your room if you want to look at weird things on your phone at night without anyone knowing." Keith turned sharply and continued walking to the other side of the room.

"Hey, I'm not – !" But the door was already sliding shut behind Keith as he walked out into the hall and continued making his way toward his room.

ooo

It was late at night – well, there was no day or night out here in the middle of space, but the rest of the team was fast asleep, and the halls were completely silent apart from Keith's echoing footsteps. The closer he got to his room, the more he wondered what Lance was doing up so late in the lounge. But he wasn't about to go back to ask and act like he cared at all about what Lance was doing just to satisfy his curiosity.

As Keith approached his room, the doors slid open automatically for him and he slipped inside. The lack of a lock to stop just anyone from wandering in made him uneasy. After so much time living alone in the desert, the small, windowless room of the Castle felt simultaneously cramped and too open. Even though he was glad to see Shiro again, glad to feel part of something important again, he couldn't help feeling homesick for the run-down shack he'd called home back on Earth.

He thought back to Lance, alone in the lounge staring at the screen of a phone that couldn't possibly work out in space. A feeling he couldn't name welled up inside him and he pushed it away, uncomfortable.

He's going to make training difficult for us tomorrow if he stays up all night, Keith thought tiredly. He pulled off his shoes and jacket, and his muscles ached in protest. Sighing, he crawled into bed and closed his eyes. The hum of the ship filled his ears, and he tried to ignore it and its reminder of how far they were from home as he slowly drifted into sleep.