Lance was bouncing on his feet on the curb of his street, a backpack on his shoulders with a duffle bag in one hand and a guitar case in the other. He had already said goodbye to his family and was now waiting anxiously with the biggest grin on his face for his official tour bus to roll up and sweep him away.
He still couldn't believe that his little garage band had not only signed a record deal, but were traveling across the country for numerous concerts! What started out as him just messing around with his two best friends, Pidge and Hunk, at the school's annual talent show turned to them performing at local parties and events.
It was at one of those events that had brought them to Shiro's attention. When the older boy had approached them as they were getting off the stage, Lance had to repress a squeal of excitement at being face to face with his hero, his role model.
While Shiro wasn't know around the country at the time, he was a well-respected guitarist in their town. And, somehow, three teens had impressed him and he wanted to join the band. Voltron! had a new member. With Lance as the lead singer, Shiro with his guitar, Hunk with his drums, and Pidge manning the electric keyboard, they started catching wind and were approached by Allura and Coran a little over six months after Shiro joined the band.
The two adults had sat down with the teens and their parents and presented the idea of Voltron! going on tour. While they were ecstatic about the prospect, they politely asked if the tour could wait until Lance, Hunk, and Pidge finished school. When their two new managers agreed, contracts were signed and parties were celebrated.
Now, as a full-fledged adult ready to take on the world with his best friends, Lance was bursting with excitement to be picked up. He hadn't seen the tour bus yet, and he was borderline impatient to see how well the design Coran had shown him turned out.
After what felt like an eternity, a bus rounded the corner and road the cul-de-sac before stopping in front of him. Lance began shaking with glee as he saw how amazing and cool the bus looked. Storing his things in one of the baggage holds, he took in the space-themed design. When the doors opened, he rushed inside and was grateful to be met with the cool breeze that contradicted the early June heat.
"Lance!" Hunk and Pidge exclaimed from their seats on the leather couch that looked oh so comfortable.
"Hey guys!"
"You ready to go around the country?" Coran asked enthusiastically from the driver's seat.
"Heck yeah! Let's do this thing!"
Coran releases the emergency brake and the bus begins moving away from their small town.
"Shiro's in the back with Allura an-" Pidge begins to explain before Lance accidentally cuts her off.
"Awesome!"
Lance moves across the bus towards the rear where all the beds were. The space was separated from the rest of the space by a curtain, and he slid it over, the grin still wide on his face. His eyes move from Shiro to Allura to-
"What's he doing here?"
"Oh, hey Lance! You remember my brother, Keith, right?"
"Keith will be travelling with us as we tour around the country," Allura says, filling him in.
"What? Why?"
"Lance, please, he's my brother! I'm not just going to leave him alone!"
"You make me sound like a baby," Keith grumbles, finally saying something.
Biting his tongue, Lance turns around to go sit on the couch, not wanting there to already be bad blood in the cramped space.
"I'm guessing you've figured out that Keith's here too," Pidge remarks sarcastically.
"Why do you hate him so much?" Hunk asks.
"The guy's a year older than us!"
"Shiro's two years," Pidge points out.
"That's not what I meant. I mean, he's not a little kid and yet he's always tagging along with us and butting in!"
Hunk and Pidge share a glance before narrowing their eyes.
"A: Keith hardly talks when Shiro brings him to practice and has always politely stayed seated with the audience during our shows."
"And B: he's 'always tagging along' because it makes Shiro feel better to know that Keith isn't alone all the time. You've seen how worried Big Brother can get," Pidge points out, being right yet again much to the annoyance of Lance.
"Whatever," he grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest and stretching his legs out.
"Oh! Matt got the hair dye you wanted!" Pidge exclaims, opening her small, green backpack and tossing a box to Lance.
His mood shifts suddenly back to joyful and he springs up from his seat.
"Thanks, Pidge!" he exclaims before rushing to the bathroom.
Reading the instructions, Lance carefully begins applying the blue dye to his brown hair, setting a timer for when he's supposed to rinse it out. Willing the time to go by, Lance scrolls through his phone and reading messages from loved ones that were busy that morning and couldn't see him off.
While he would miss his family dearly, he knew in his heart that he would have been even more sad than he was now if he hadn't taken the opportunity. His family will still be there when he gets back is what he would often assure himself whenever his stomach twisted in knots in worry that he made the wrong decision.
Finally, 20 minutes pass and Lance begins rinsing the dye out of his hair. With his eyes closed and his head under the sink's faucet, he doesn't hear the knock at the bathroom door or see Keith enter the room.
"Oh, sorry," he mumbled, realising who it is he walked in on.
Closing the door back behind him, Keith wanders back to his and Shiro's bed, crawling on it and lying down with his back to the rest of the room.
He never could understand why Lance seemed to hate him. He had been excited when his brother had invited him to one of his band practices and was even looking forward to asking if he could sing and play the guitar with them. But, when he walked into the garage behind Shiro, Lance had immediately given Keith an icy look without saying a word to him.
Suddenly feeling out of place and like an intruder, he had resided himself to a spot in the corner, out of the way, and not saying a single word. He watched as Lance slowly relaxed and forgot he was there, and he listened with butterflies in his stomach as the other boy sang into a microphone connected to a small speaker.
The next time Shiro had practice, Keith was invited again and he came along in the hopes that Lance would warm up to him and invite him to sing with him. However, Lance didn't even look at Keith that time and he resided himself to return to his corner, not making a sound.
The third time, Keith said no to going until he heard that it was at Hunk's house this time because Lance had the flu. He retracted his decline and rode happily with Shiro with his own red electric guitar in his lap. When Pidge and Hunk saw his guitar, they asked him to plug it in to one of the speakers with excitement that spread to Keith quickly. He had complied, and, while he didn't sing, he played the guitar in Lance's place. He had quickly bonded with the two and he and Shiro ended up staying the night, having too much fun to go home.
Keith tagged along to the next band practice, which was back at Lance's house. With his guitar in his hands once again, he had high hopes that Lance would want to be his friend and maybe even let him in the band if he could just hear him play. But his dreams and heart were crushed when Lance halfheartedly explained that there weren't enough ports in the sound system to have Keith's guitar plugged in as well.
Keith stopped bringing his guitar after that and just stayed on his phone in the corner during practices, there only because it made Shiro happy. He always made sure to stay out of Lance's way, and acted cold right back to him when he couldn't.
Now they were going to be on a tour bus together for over three months, and Keith wasn't sure how he felt. But he sure knew how Lance felt when he overheard him complaining to Pidge and Hunk about him being there. Hearing his words echo in Keith's head made him curl up slightly, wanting to both support his brother and also have it done with already.
When he hears footsteps behind him, he turns and gazes at Lance with shock as he crosses to his own bed with blue hair and a towel drying it off. Keith pretends to be absorbed in his phone, and no small talk is exchanged. After a few minutes, he remembers what he had in his own carryon bag and grabs it before going to find Shiro.
"You wanna dye our hair now?" he asks, pulling his brother's attention from talking to Hunk.
"You guys are dying your hair too?" Pidge asks, cocking her head to the side slightly.
"Oh, yeah! I've been planning to dye part of my hair white and I convinced Keith to dye his tips red! It's gonna look really cool!" Shiro explains enthusiastically before following Keith to the bathroom.
Hunk and Pidge stare after them for a moment before turning to each other.
"I bet five bucks Lance flips out and accuses Keith of copying him as soon as he seems him," Pidge says with a cheshire smile.
The two hold their sides as they laugh, knowing how childish their best friend can be sometimes.
"Maybe you should all dye your hair," Allura pipes in, looking up from the schedule on her tablet.
"That's not a bad idea, Princess," Hunk exclaims, using the nickname that they all gave her.
Like 'Big Brother' was given to Shiro, 'Princess' was given to her based on her behavior. No, she didn't act like royalty. She commanded the respect of one when she was in work mode.
She requested that they make a quick stop at the nearest drugstore before getting on the highway, and Coran happily obliged, turning the map on his phone off before scanning the streets for a store.
"I think I'll get tips, like Keith, but yellow!"
"I'm just gonna have a green streak."
"Maybe you could dye your hair pink, Allura," Coran called to his co-manager from the driver's seat without taking his eyes off the road.
"Mm, maybe."
"Ah, that would look so cool!" Hunk remarks, imagining it.
"What're you guys talking about?" Lance asks, emerging from the bedroom with a new shirt on and his hair dry now.
"Killer new look, Lance!" Pidge compliments.
"We were just talking about getting our hair dyed too!"
"Sweet! It can be, like, our band thing!" Lance exclaims, high-fiving Hunk.
"Shiro and Keith are in the bathroom dying their hair now."
"Wait, hold up! Keith's dying his hair too? I told you guys he's a copycat!"
Hunk and Pidge glance at each other again and smirk before looking back to Lance.
"Actually, it had been Shiro's idea."
That seemed to flip a switch for Lance, and he sighs before calming down. He reclaims his seat and settles in, envisioning them all up on stage, performing their first of many shows.