Home is where the heart is

by Rlybro

The Voltron team is FINALLY going home! - In which Lance finally get to see his family again, the family and team bonds, and the Keith and Lance are stuck as roommates.

1. Chapter 1

They were going home.

Finally, after overthrowing an empire, flying multiple magical space lions, and becoming one of the faces of the rebellion, Lance was going back to Earth.

He just wished that they didn't have to take so many detours. Sure, Lance understood that it was important to inform their allies of what'd happened, and of course, they had to pick up Matt from the rebel base. But you couldn't blame Lance for being impatient. He was so close to being back into his mother's arms again, and every stop on their way back frustrated him to no end.

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Lance sat in the corner of the rebel base' common room, playing with Cosmo. He still couldn't believe Keith managed to tame a cosmic wolf, much less raise him into a decent and friendly pet.

Cosmo licked Lance's face and he couldn't help but giggle. 'Stop it!' He gasped. 'It tickles!'

Cosmo reminded him of Luca, his dog. Lance buried his face in the wolf's fur. One more day, then he'd see everyone again.

Suddenly, Cosmo teleported away, causing Lance to fall flat on his face. A warm laughter filled the room. Lance's heart fluttered for a moment, but he pushed the feeling away.

'Shut it, Yorak!' Lance snapped, rubbing his sore nose.

Keith groaned. 'I never should've told you that.' He crouched down to cuddle his wolf.

Lance whistled and Cosmo came rushing back to him. 'Good boy', Lance cooed. 'You spent so long alone with Mr. Grumpy Pants, but it's all right. Lancy Lance is here to save you from his anti-social clutches.' He broke off a piece of Hunk's cookie and gave it to Cosmo. 'If you stay with me, I'll forgive you for letting me fall and give you tons of cookies.' Cosmo's tail started waggling faster as if he understood what Lance was saying.

'Hey!' Keith protested. 'Stop turning my wolf against me!'

Lance looked up at Keith and smirked. 'Whatcha gonna do about it?'

Keith held his gaze for a moment and gave him a cat-like smirk. Lance wondered what the other boy was planning, but before he could ask, Keith whistled an unfamiliar tune and Cosmo started sprinting around the room before he leaped onto Lance, knocking him over.

'That', Keith answered, and Lance could hear the smirk in his voice. Cosmo's paws were planted on Lance's chest, pushing him down and holding him in place even when he struggled to push the wolf off.

Lance looked up at Keith, ready to complain, but the words died on his lips when he saw Keith's face. He was laughing again, loud and carefree with his nose slightly scrunched and his eyebrows furrowed. He has changed, Lance noted. He let himself look and take in the boy in front of him. Keith was taller, maybe even taller than Lance. His hair is longer, but he still had that horrible mullet. His shoulders seemed broader and his proportions were evened out. Overall, he just seemed more mature.

Lance forced himself to snap out of it. 'Okay, okay, that's enough. I get it, you can train a wolf. Now get him off me.'

'Hmm…. I don't know, Lance', Keith said. There was a mischievous glimmer in his eyes. 'Aren't you forgetting something?'

'Are you serious?' Lance groaned. 'Just call Cosmo off already!'

'I thought you liked hanging out with him', Keith said innocently.

'Fine!' Lance huffed. 'Will you please get Cosmo off me?'

'Well, since you asked so nicely…' Keith whistled the same tune again and Cosmo teleported to his side.

Suddenly, the door opened and Pidge rushed in. 'C'mon guys, we're leaving!'

Lance was up on his feet in an instant. 'I thought we were leaving tomorrow!'

'Allura said they finished up early', Pidge said impatiently. 'If we leave now, we'll arrive in time for dinner. Now hurry up!'

Lance didn't need to be told twice. Without thinking, he grabbed Keith's hand and dragged him along to follow Pidge.

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Within a couple of minutes, they were ready to go. Keith, Krolia, and Cosmo would go in the Black Lion, Lance and Coran in Red, Allura, Shiro, and the mice in Blue, the Holts and Pidge's alien pets in Green, and Kaltenecker would travel with Hunk.

The journey home took a couple of hours longer since they couldn't form Voltron or create a wormhole. To pass the time, they talked about the things they wanted to do when they were back on earth.

'I'd kill to get my hands on some chocolate right now', Hunk said. 'I mean, the stuff Coran found at the Space Mall was good, but it's just not the same, you know.'

Lance hummed in agreement. 'Chocolate is great, but what I want is my mom's home-made meal', he said. 'She's an even better cook than Hunk!'

'Oh that's definitely true', Hunk agreed. 'No one is a better chef than tía Maria.'

'You guys really have to try her ropa vieja', Lance told them. 'It's to die for.' He could see his friends' fond smiles through the screens.

'But only if it's not too much to ask of your mother', Shiro said.

'Nonsense! I'm from a large family, mamá only knows how to cook for crowds!'

'Hey, are we splitting up when we arrive?' Keith asked. 'Cause you're all from different places, right?'

Lance raised an eyebrow at Keith. 'What are you talking about, Mullet? We're all going to America.'

'I thought you were Cuban', Keith frowned.

'I am!' Lance answered. 'Cuban born and raised… until the age of ten. We moved to America when Papá got a job at the Garrison. We all live near the Garrison, Keith. I thought you knew that.'

'Well apparently I didn't', Keith said, a bit harsher than necessary.

'Jeez, relax dude', Lance told him.

Keith scowled. 'I'm-'

'Okay guys, enough', Shiro scolded.

'Sorry', Lance muttered. He heard Hunk, Pidge and Matt snicker.

'We'll be entering our solar system in a few minutes', Pidge announced. 'We're almost there.'

'I wonder if dad managed to build that defence system', Matt mused.

'Well, there's only one way to find out', Lance said. Kaltenecker mooed in agreement.

'Hey, did anyone sent a message that we're coming?' Hunk asked.

Nobody answered.

'I can't believe we forgot to do that', Pidge groaned.

'I'm sure they'll be glad to see you', Allura assured them.

'Yes, after all, the return of the warriors is always the best cause for a celebration', Coran added, twisting his mustache.

'Let's hope you're right', Lance muttered.

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They entered the Earth's atmosphere without too much trouble. The ocean was all Lance could see outside his cockpit he was home. He'd dreamt of this moment for so long.

'Where are we landing our lions?' Pidge asked. 'We can't attract too much attention.'

'We can land them in the desert, near my shack', Keith answered. 'Then we can take our bikes.'

'But then we'd have to leave Kaltenecker behind', Hunk pointed out. 'He can't stay in the desert alone.'

'We can land behind my abuelo's farm', Lance suggested. 'It's closer to the city, but also empty enough so we can stay out of sight.'

'Great idea, Lance', Shiro said. 'Lead the way.'

Lance saw the farm in the distance. It was a house facing towards the ocean, but with fields spread out behind it. Lance couldn't hold still anymore. His feet tapped nervously and he wished he could go faster without accidentally crashing into the city. The last few ticks felt like an eternity, but finally, he was able to land his lion. Lance wasted no time and jumped out of Red before its mouth even touched the ground.

His family always spent the summer at abuelo's farm. Pidge had told him that it was probably around summer vacation on earth right now, and Lance was almost certain that the rest of his family would be there. Lance didn't know what kind of welcome he expected. He'd given up on parades and statues a long time ago, but he imagined that there'd be a lot of hugs and tears.

He didn't expect the gunshots.

The bullet missed him by a hair. Lance had his shield up in a second. Lance was shocked. He could see his teammates prepare for battle, but he motioned for them to stay behind. On second thought, he probably should've seen this coming. His abuelo was a brave man, and he definitely wouldn't like giant mechanical lions descending onto his backyard.

'Espera Abuelo!' lance called, getting closer. He deflected another bullet with his shield. 'Soy yo! Lance!' His abuelo didn't seem to hear him, so he called again. Suddenly, there were two figures running out of the house. A man and a woman. 'Para papá!' The woman called. Lance would recognize his mother's voice anywhere. 'Es Lance!' The gunshots stopped and Lance saw his abuelo lower his shotgun. Lance dropped his shield and started sprinting with all his might. He only slowed down to prevent himself from bulldozering his parents to the ground when he tackled them into a hug.

'Mamá! Papá!' Lance cried out. The tears were streaming down his face and he sobbed as he buried his face in his mother's neck. His abuelo joined the hug too, apologizing for shooting at him. Eventually, his mother pulled back and cupped his face with her hands. She looked older that he remembered. They all did. 'Oh, mijo', she breathed. 'I've missed you so much.'

'I missed you too, mamá', lance told her. 'Every day.' He heard footsteps getting closer and saw other family members rushing towards him. They were calling out his name and suddenly he was being hugged by everyone at the same time. Everyone was there: His older brother Luis, his sister Veronica, his little brother Marco, Luis' wife Leah and their daughter Sofiá, and of course his abuela.

The Voltron team had also arrived at the scene and Lance took a deep breath to steady himself before introducing everyone. 'Everyone,' he said, 'this is my team. We've been figh- in space together for the past year.' He walked over to his teammates. 'You already know Hunk. He pilots the yellow lion.' Hunk greeted Lance's family and was immediately pulled into a hug by Lance's mother. 'This is Pidge,' Lance continued, 'and their brother Matt. Pidge pilots the green lion and is the smartest of us all. Those floating things are their pets. Matt was captured by the Galra, but he escaped and joined the rebellion.' Lance saw Marco gape in awe. He also noted that Marco was filming everything, so he put on his best and brightest smile for his little brother. 'This is Shiro, I think you guys know him as well. He and Matt were on the Kerberos mission together and he got captured as well. He had to fight in an arena- like those Roman ones. But he escaped and came back to earth before we all left in Blue and he became the black paladin. But he disappeared and-' Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder. 'Lance', he said gently.

'Yeah, sorry,' Lance apologized, 'I'm rambling. Anyway, this is Shiro, also known as Space dad.' Shiro groaned at the nickname, but still politely greeted Lance's family. 'That's Keith', Lance continued. 'Our current hot-headed and impulsive leader of Voltron.' 'Hey!' Keith protested. Lance ignored him. 'The Alien next to him is his mom-' Lance heard his family gasp in surprise- 'yeah, he's half Galra, but his dad's human though.'

'Wait', Veronica said. 'Weren't Galras the bad guys?'

'Yeah but she's with The Blade- the Galran resistance so she's cool. Oh, and that's Keith's cosmic wolf Cosmo. But Luca's still better- where is he?'

'Don't worry mijo', his mom reassured him. 'He's inside.' 'Oh, okay', Lance shrugged. He could see his dog later. 'This is princess Allura of Altea, and the man with the mustache is her royal advisor Coran.'

'It's an honor to meet you', Allura said.

'Your boy has been a worthy paladin of Voltron', Coran added. 'Selfless and pure at heart. He's one of the best men I've met.'

'Oh Coran', Lance grinned, 'You're making me blush.'

'Ehm, sorry for interrupting', Hunk said. 'I'd love to stay, but I haven't seen my moms in ages so if you don't mind-'

'Don't worry, they're already on their way over', Lance's dad told him. 'Really?' Hunk asked in surprise.

'I don't think you keep track of time in space, but you guys disappeared a year ago today', Veronica said.

'Oh', Lance breathed.

'We kept in touch with Natia and Chasity', his mother continued. 'And we also reached out to Colleen Holt. She was devastated, having lost her entire family.' Lance hear Pidge sniffle behind him. 'We would come together often, trying to find you guys and helping each other cope. But then Sam came home and told us everything. He brought us the messages and after that, we also reached out to Hoshiko.'

Shiro perked up at the name. 'You-'

Lance's mother smiled. 'Yes, your mother is also on her way.'

Lance had never seen Shiro this close to tears. 'Thank you', he whispered as he pulled her into a hug. 'Thank you so much, Ms. McClain.'

'Please, call me Maria', she said. 'Now come on, I'm sure you're all hungry.'

'Oh my god, earth food!' Hunk cheered. The rest of the paladins cheered along with him as they made their way to the house.

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They couldn't all fit inside, so they brought the food out and settled on the large picnic table.

'Slow down lance', his mother scolded. 'You're going to choke.'

'Well at least I'd die happily', Lance answered as he continued to wolf down his dinner. The other paladins were also inhaling the food in front of them. Lance reached out to take the last piece of medianoche at the same time Keith did. The two paladins exchanged a look. Neither of them were ready to give up the heavenly food. But before either of them could make a move, Coran reached out and snatched the medianoche from the two of them.

'I must say,' Coran said after finishing the medianoche, 'this is one of the best meals I've ever had! Who would've thought that a small planet at the edge of the galaxy would possess such a culinary treasure!'

'Indeed', Allura agreed.

'We Towld-'

'Pidge, don't talk with your mouth full', Shiro scolded. They swallowed. 'We told you so', they repeated. Everyone laughed and continued talking while eating as they waited for the others to show up. Lance could see how nervous and excited his teammates were.

They'd just finished dinner when a car pulled up in the driveway. It could've been Luis and Veronica, who'd been sent out to get more groceries, but it didn't sound like the blue pickup truck. 'We're in the backyard!' Mamá called. Hurried footsteps followed. Both Luca and Cosmo started barking. Hunk jumped out of his seat and stumbled forward. 'Mom! Momma!' He cried out, rushing to get to his mothers. 'Hunk!' The three of them sank to the ground, not letting each other go. Lance had to blink back tears as he watched his best friend reunite with his mothers. Eventually, the Garrets managed to stand up and wipe their tears. Hunk's mothers wanted answers. They all wanted answers. But they decided to wait until the others had arrived too.

A few minutes later, a woman rushed into the garden. 'Where are my-' She stopped when she spotted the two Holts sitting at the table. Pidge and Matt jumped up and sprinted towards their mother. Sobbing and bawling as they clung onto each other. 'I did it mom', Pidge said through their sobs. 'I found dad and Matt.' As if on cue, Sam Holt walked into the garden. He joined their hug and shed a few tears of his own. Lance looked away to give them some privacy. After a while, Sam cleared his throat and said, 'I contacted the Garrison when I received Matt's message. I told them not to open fire when you entered our atmosphere. But I'm afraid they're already on their way over.'

'We've fought vicious aliens and saved the universe', Pidge sniffled. 'I'm sure we can handle a few diplomats.'

'Speak for yourself', Lance huffed. 'I hate diplomatic missions.'

'That's because you always end up insulting people', Keith muttered.

'Hey! I heard that!'

'That's enough, mijo', Lance's mother warned.

'Si mamá', Lance murmured. But it didn't stop him from sticking his tongue out at Keith. Another car pulled up, and Lance could see Shiro glance up hopefully. But it turned out to be Luis and Veronica. They continued their conversations, but it was rather obvious that they were all waiting for the last person to arrive.

Finally, after fifteen minutes, they heard an engine turn off. A moment later, a small Asian woman with greying hair came into view. Her eyes scanned the crowd and landed on Shiro.

'Takashi', she whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. Lance saw Shiro stand up. 'Kaasan', he breathed. He didn't rush forward like the others did. Instead, he slowly staggered towards her as if he couldn't believe that she was in front of him. His mother touched his hair with a shaking hand. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at the scar on his face and his bionic arm. They exchanged a few words in Japanese before they melted into an embrace.

Shiro's mom also gestured for Keith to come over. Lance knew Keith and Shiro were basically brothers, of course Keith knew Shiro's mother. But Lance didn't expect Keith to be speaking Japanese as well. Lance knew it was a private moment, but he couldn't help his curiosity. 'What are they saying?' He whispered at Coran, who sat next to him. Allura, Coran and Krolia all brought their communicators. They were the only one who could understand everything the others said.

'Some words are only meant for each other, my boy', Coran answered. Coran was right, and Lance didn't ask again.

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Lance helped his mother clean the dishes while the others started the preparations for the campfire. The two of them worked in a comfortable silence, one that Lance had missed so much when he was in space. The castle of lions was a great, but it wasn't home. And even though Voltron had become his family, it just wasn't same. Suddenly, Lance's senses started to tingle, something he'd picked up during the war. He ran out of the house, and checked the surroundings. He could see Keith and Krolia do the same. He heard helicopters and suddenly people in black were dropping out of the sky. Cars and hovercrafts screeched to a stop around the farm and they were being surrounded. Lance had already changed out of his armor, but his Bayard was still in his hand.

'This is the Galaxy Garrison', someone announced through a megaphone. 'We come in peace, do not engage.'

Jeez, Lance thought, is this what they consider peaceful?

Everyone was out in the yard. Sofía was crying in Leah's arms, Luca was barking like crazy and Alpha teleported around while growling and intimidating the intruders. A man wearing the Garrison uniform walked into the yard. Iverson. He was followed by a few others, also wearing uniforms. Lance recognized them as some of his old teachers.

Allura, always the diplomate, stepped forward and introduced herself. 'I am princess Allura of Altea', she said, her voice as steady and confident as usual. 'We also come in peace. I suppose Mr. Holt has informed you of our arrival.'

'Indeed', Iverson answered. 'He had also informed us about the Galra-' His eyes shifted to Krolia- 'and the threat they form. I think you understand that this is only the necessary precautions we had to undertake when unknown spacecraft land on our planet.'

'Of course', Allura said. 'I understand. 'We have come to earth in hope that you would join the coalition, but also to reunite our paladins with their family.'

'In that case', Iverson said, 'I ask you to come with us to the Garrison headquarters where we can discuss this further.'

'I'm afraid we won't be coming with you, sir', Shiro said, waking up to stand next to Allura. 'And why won't you, Shirogane?' Iverson asked, gritting his teeth.

'The paladins have just fought a crucial battle in our fight against the Galra', Shiro explained, keeping his voice calm. 'They deserve to rest. At least for the day. We can schedule a meeting with the Garrison and the United Nations. It's best if both parties are fully prepared.'

'Of course', Iverson said. Lance could see his frustration even when he tried his best to remain polite. 'That seems reasonable.'

'We also have the knowledge to help you built earth's defense system', Pidge piped in. 'Since it's not exactly up and running yet.'

'You can just hand that information over to us', Iverson ordered them. Pidge definitely hit a sore point. Pidge readjusted their glasses. 'No can't do, sir', Pidge said. Lance knew they were trying to suppress a smirk. 'Since it's all up here.' They pointed to the side of their head. Lance could barely hold down his snicker when he saw Iverson's face redden in annoyance. It was so easy to push the man's buttons.

Allura cleared her throat. 'I think we're settled here', she said. 'You can contact us when you're ready. Mr. Holt will handle the communication on our behalf.' Sam nodded.

'Very well', Iverson said. 'We'll be leaving now.' They all stayed still until all the men in black flew away in the helicopters and the vehicles disappeared from sight. Shiro let out a breath and the rest took it as their cue to relax. 'I was so close to punching him in the face', Shiro confessed. They all laughed at his comment. 'I'm still not over the fact they strapped me to that table.'

Keith grinned. 'As someone who has actually punched him in the face, I can assure you that it's extremely satisfying.' Shiro spun around. 'Wait, when did that happen?' He asked.

'Uuuh….' Keith was suddenly at a loss of words.

'It's the reason he got kicked out of the Garrison', Lance said. Keith glared at him angrily.

'What?!' Shiro exclaimed. 'You got kicked out of the Garrison?!'

'You didn't know?' Hunk asked.

'No, I didn't', Shiro gritted. Lance saw Keith pale a bit. 'I- ugh.' Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose.

'Why does it matter anyway,' Keith snapped. 'It was four deca-phoebs ago!'

'Actually, it was only two deca-phoebs ago', Pidge corrected. 'Your trip to the colony was only about a quintant for us.'

'Uum, what's a quintant or deca-whatever and why isn't it the same for you?' Veronica asked.

'Those are Altean time units', Coran explained. 'A deca-phoeb is about the same amount of time the duration of the earth's cycle around your sun.'

'And a quintant is a day', Lance finished. 'It's different because of space and time and gravity and that kind of thingies.'

Pidge rolled their eyes. 'Wow Lance, that's such a great explanation', they said sarcastically.

'Oh shut your quiznak', Lance snapped.

'Okay, how about we continue the preparations for the campfire?' Colleen Suggested.

'Great idea', Maria agreed. 'Lance, go help your brother start the fire.'

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'So,' Lance said, sitting on the ground next to the pile of firewood, 'what have you been doing for the past dec- year?'

'I finished my tour in Afghanistan about two months ago', Luis answered, crouching in front of the wood and trying to light the matches. 'Well, that's what they believed I was doing. I was part of the special ops. I was in deep, no communication with anyone except my team. Didn't even know you were missing until I came back.' He looked up at Lance. 'I tried looking for you. Called in every single favor I had, but nothing. No one knew where you were, you disappeared off the face of the earth. It was only when Sam returned that we found out that you weren't on earth anymore. My little brother was out there fighting a war and defending the universe. I didn't believe it of course, not even after Sam showed us your recorded message. Hell, I can barely belief it now and I'm staring at a giant mechanical lion. I just- just didn't want you to go through the same thing I did. I didn't want my little brother to be roped into a war.'

'I didn't want to join at first', Lance admitted after a while. 'Didn't think I had it in me to defend the universe. But Blue, she chose me to be part of Voltron, part of something bigger. I was scared that I'd mess everything up the way I always did. But after seeing what then Galra did to all the innocent people in the universe, I knew I had to help, or at least try my best to do so. I couldn't let them take over the universe and enslave everyone else. I wanted to come home, we all did. But to do so could've brought you all in danger so we stayed as far away as possible.'

'You're home now', Luis said gently, placing a hand on Lance's shoulder. 'That's what matters.'

Lance nodded. He didn't want to tell Luis that they would be leaving as soon as they managed to build a replacement for the castle so he took the matches out of Luis' hands.

Lance smirked. 'You don't need that when you have this.' He took his Bayard and it transformed into his rifle.

'Uhm, Lance', Luis said nervously. 'I don't think that's a good idea.'

'Nonsense!' Lance waved off his concerns. 'I've done this a million times already.' He aimed his rifle at the pile of wood. Luis took a couple of steps back. Lance pulled the trigger, but he realized at the last millisecond that it was still at maximum power. The blue laser shot out of his rifle and the pile exploded. Splinters of burnt wood and ash flew into the air. Both Lance and Luis coughed when they breathed it in.

'Oops', Lance wheezed. 'But-' he coughed- 'at least the fire's on.'

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Everyone sat around the fire. The sun was slowly dipping into the sea and the smell of burning wood and smores filled the air. Shiro started to tell his story. He told them about the kidnapping on Kerberos, the line at the arena, how he'd injured Matt so the other could escape. He told them how he'd earned his title as the champion, how the druids experimented on him, and how he managed to escape. Lance continued the story. He told them about sneaking out of the dorms, about finding Pidge on the roof, and about rescuing Shiro from the Garrison. Everyone added to the story: Pidge told them about the systems they'd hacked and the stuff they'd built to find information about Matt and their dad, Keith told them about his search for the Blue lion in the desert, Hunk told them about the Voltron Geiger counter he'd built to help find the lion and so on. They teased each other when they could (Mostly about Hunk's crush on Shay), and they supported each other when they needed. They showed their Bayards and other weapons, they showed pictures on the phones Pidge made and they demonstrated the way they'd defeated certain enemies. Anything to give their family a better picture of what had happened when they were gone. Of course, none of their parents were fond of the idea that their children were fighting a war, but they did respect the choices and sacrifices they'd made to protect the universe. They talked and talked until the early hours of the day. Everyone was tired when they finished. One by one, they decided to leave for home. The Holts left first. Matt carried a grumpy and drowsy Pidge in his arms as they said goodbye. Hunk left with his mothers soon after, and Shiro's mom agreed to take in the Alteans for the time being.

'Where are you guys staying?' Lance asked Keith.

'I think we'll go back to the shack together', he answered.

'Nonsense!' Lance's mom cut in. 'You can't stay there! We always have place for people to stay, we just need to change the room arrangements.'

'Krolia can take my room', Veronica offered. 'I'll stay with Marco.' Marco's protest were cut off by their mother's glare.

'And Keith can room with Lance', his sister added with a knowing smirk. Lance didn't know whether he should thank his sister or slap her. Of course she'd tried to set them up. 'Well, that's settled then', his mother concluded. She wouldn't take no for an answer and soon Lance found himself alone in his room with Keith.

Oh sure, Lance though as Keith took in his room. What's the worst thing that could happen?