After Heartbreak

by A.I. Kaede

It's been a little over a year since Allura died. Keith finally takes time off to go visit Lance on his family farm. (Co author: Lillithrose)

1. Chapter 1: Visit Day One

Chapter One: Visit Day 1

It's been a year since Allura died. They recently had their anniversary dinner to honor her sacrifice. He's been so busy until now since his mom is forcing him to take a break. The first thing he decides to do is go check on Lance. He has heard from a few people that he isn't doing as well as he says he is.

Lance had been busy tending to the garden. When Keith came around, he didn't even hear him. Most days, Lance just took his time, headphones in as he weeds and preps everything. It had been nice to see everyone, even if it...sorta...hurt at the same time. Putting on a face had been easy enough though, everyone assumes he would be over things quick. After all, he use to be lover boy Lance. When Keith walks out back to the garden, Lance is lost in the music of his headphones and gently toying with the petals of one of the flowers as though debating whether to snip it.

Keith sees the headphones and slows his approach. "Lance!" He tries calling but gets no response. He doesn't watch to touch Lance, causing him to jump and possibly ruin his hard work so he waits a bit. Once it seems like the best opportunity, he taps the red paladin's shoulder.

Lance doesn't jump, not even a little bit. It's odd in a way, especially when he looks up to see Keith looking down at him. Pulling the headphones from his ears and struggling to not show his surprise, Lance dusts his hands off and smiles to Keith. "Hey Keith, what has you in this area?"

Keith doesn't like the vibe Lance is giving off. "I finally have a day off so I wanted to come check on you." He always found it odd Lance chose to be a farmer. "Anything exciting happened since the last time we talked?"

Lance offers his typical soft smile and shrugs. "Nothing new really happens around here, don't you know?" He laughs playfully before elbowing Keith and snickering. "Day off and you come visit your old rival? Should I at least make horchatas for us?"

Keith playfully rolls his eyes. "You're the one who started the rival thing." If anything... He is visiting one of the very few he hold most dear. "Horchatas would be great, haven't had human food in a while. But nothing new with the kids you talk to?"

Lance nods and sighs. "Yeah yeah I know." He motions for Keith to join him inside and gathers the things to make his drinks. As he does, the forced smile fades but he stays sounding chipper at least. "Oh you know kids. Every day is a new adventure for them. But, all in all it's pretty much the same." Once the drinks are mixed he hands one to Keith then leans against the counter. "Didn't bring Kosmo?"

"No, he's too big to fit in the small ship. I can actually ride on his back now." They don't really use the Lions for short or vacational travels. "I can bring him next time if you really miss him. Or I'm sure he can pop up at any moment." He takes a sip of the drink and hums at how good it is.

"Oh yeah I guess that makes sense huh." Lance smiles a little, remembering the previously dog sized...space...wolf? With a shrug, he looks around and clears his throat. "Well, anything in particular you were interested in or... just here for the view and good food?" He is half teasing, of course, but Lance really hasn't had much for visitors since everything calmed down so he can't help but wonder.

"Like I said, I wanted to check up on you. You and Shiro are the only ones who we don't get to see often." That's a partial lie since he sees Shiro and his new family almost every other weekend. Keith leans closer to Lance unintentionally. "Seriously, how have you been? Never thought you would end up a farmer."

"That's fair enough." He gives a small smile and finishes his drink before hiding his "distant" eyes as the townsfolk put it. Lance cleans his cup then nods and shrugs. "I mean, maybe finding Kaltenecker was when I found my calling. That and I...really kinda missed solid ground, you know?" This was a lie Lance had prepared long ago. He knew it would be asked and he didn't have the heart to tell the real reason. No one would forget how much he cares for that cow so it seems a good enough lie...right? "Did you want to look around?"

"Sure," Keith says. He believes missing ground more than this being his calling. Lance wanted to be a fighter pilot, his calling is more likely being in the coalition. Or at the very least, being some sort of teacher for young kids. At least, in Keith's mind. He doesn't continue to push the subject. Keith takes a few big gulps of the drink to finish it.

Lance doesn't say much as he leads Keith through the building first. Every once in a while, he will point out some random thing and force a smile. It isn't too noticeable at first, but when they walk past the bathroom, Keith can likely spy the lack of a mirror at the sink. "The house is nothing special really. I spend more of the time outside anymore, you know?"

Keith feels lost. Everything feels so off. He feels like there is this huge gap between him and Lance. "Do you ever get a break?" He asks. His eyes can't help but get attracted to the altean marks on Lance's face.

"A break?" Lance looks a bit confused then looks around. "Oh you mean from the farming stuff?" He shrugs and gives a small smile. "I like it. So it doesn't feel like work." Why does that sound like such a...lie almost? As though he is telling himself this more than he is telling Keith. "Why? In need of ol' sharpshooter for something?" He gives a small chuckle and shakes his head, opening his mouth to say more, Lance decides it best to stop.

Keith smiles slightly. "Not necessarily need but... It would be nice having you around more often." Everyone misses Lance, even if they don't actively go out of their way to visit. "Your family help with the farm right? Why not take a day or two off and visit us more often?"

Lance rubs the back of his head and smiles. Not really having a good answer, he just shrugs. "I like it here." He muses at last, not able to make eye contact with Keith as he tells this. "It's...peaceful, you know?" Trying to be more like himself, Lance smirks. "Why don't you days days off and visit me more often huh?"

Keith laughs. He deserves that. "It's been so hectic. Like I said before, they wanted me to be the next emperor. Even though I said no, they still treat me like I have to give them orders all the time." Why doesn't anyone go to Kolivan? He's typically the one with all the answers.

"I can only imagine." Lance gives a soft smile as he looks over to Keith. "I bet you'd be good at it...you know, all things considered." He smirks a bit and shrugs. "Even an emperor needs days off right?" Stretching, Lance looks to the sky then to his feet. "How long were you planning on sticking around?"

"A day or two," Keith answers. "If you don't mind of course." His mom coded the ship to not be able to return to base until three days have passed. "And I wasn't a great leader. You heard my speeches, sounded like they came straight from a cliche action movie."

"what's wrong with cliche action movies? They're some of my favorites." Lance laughs a bit then elbows Keith. "Of course I don't mind. There are spare rooms. Feel free to stay however long. But know that my mom will force you to join us with dinner."

Keith chuckles. "I don't mind." He has only met her a few times but he already knows. She is a very loving mom. "Like I said, haven't eaten human food in a while."

"Good. Then we can have dinner and watch some cheezy action films so you can get more speech inspiration." He offers a muted smile before motioning for Keith to follow him. Lance heads to the garden out back and takes a seat back where he'd been working before. "Unless that sounds too awful to you? I don't really know what you are in to anymore, you know?"

"I'm willing to watch anything actions so long as it isn't the show they made about us." Keith still remembers when Pidge was obsessed with it. None of them sound like that. He takes a seat next to Lance. "Are you still into the same stuff? Videogames and everything action related?"

Lance chuckles a bit. "Yeah none of that. I deal with myself enough on a daily basis." He watches as Keith sits next to him, eyes tiredly lingering just a bit longer than they should. "Video games are still a pass time, of course, but anymore I guess I spend more time out here and teaching the kids little things. I got boring. Nothing compared to you." Starting to pull the little bits of weeds and grass from between the vegetation, Lance peeks at Keith from the corner of his eye. "I'm sure I could still beat you in just about any game you wanted to play though."

Keith is about to argue about his life being so much better. He doesn't really do much other than just hand out supplies. At least, that's most of what he does. The words don't leave his mouth because it turns into a playful scoff. "I doubt that." He leans back on his hands and looks up at the sky. "We have video games up in space too." While having his head still tilted back, he turns it to look at Lance. "Wanna give it a go?"

Lance smirks back at Keith and nods. "Obviously. Gotta keep the rivalry fresh right?" He swallows hard before picking up his weeding tools and putting them away. Once that's done, he leads Keith inside and to the far end of the house were his room is. Compared to the fanciful room he kept on the castle, this feels somehow different. It isn't something easily placed but it certainly has a different feel. "Well, what do you want to play then?"

Not that Keith has ever seen Lance's room before, on the castle or on the Atlas. He does however notice the lack of a mirror and the picture of Lance's first date with Allura still framed on the nightstand. "Let's play this one. It's really popular on the base," he says as he picks up one very similar to mortal kombat.

Lance plops down into his bean bag chair then pushes the other toward Keith. "One of my favorites. Good to know it's popular everywhere." He laughs a bit then picks up the controllers and hands one to Keith with a lopsided smile. "You'll be surprised to know, I love the gunner."

"Of course that would be your character," Keith playfully rolls his eyes with a soft smile before putting in the game. He takes the controller and plops down on the bean bag chair. "You can probably guess which is mine."

"Hmmmm," Lance playfully touches his lower lip. "The brooding, quiet one?" He chuckles then starts up the game. "I'm kidding. I'm kidding." Quietly, he looks Keith over and smiles again. "The furry-looking one obviously."

Keith clicks his tongue and gently back hands Lance's arm. "Jerk," he laughs and picks the sword wielder. "From what I've heard, you're the actual furry here."

Lance just squints his eyes at Keith and shrugs. "I take what I can get I guess." If that isn't the truest thing Lance has said in ages, he doesn't know what is. He picks his character then selects a level and relaxes back into his seat. Once the two of them are well off in the game, Lance peeks over at Keith again. "So, still too busy being a badass to have a fellow Kogane, if you catch my drift."

Keith's eyebrows scrunch together. "I don't catch your drift," he says while glancing at Lance for a second. "My mom is a Kogane." He hasn't told anyone yet, but he thinks her and Kolivan are getting pretty close. Though it could just be from being the only other two original marmora survivors.

Lance facepalms and sighs. "I meant like...do you have a...significant other or whatever now." He scratches his arm and shrugs. "I know a lot of the others have someone nowadays so I was curious if there would be..someone else I'd be meeting sooner or later." Trying to be silly (and likely failing), Lance smirks and runs a hand through his hair. "Gotta clean up if that's the case."

Keith chuckles. This is probably the most he has laughed in awhile. "No. I haven't met anyone out there that has caught my attention." Though, others seem to try to surround him and he doesn't like it. It's always his mom or someone else in the marmora that points out when someone is being flirty since he is just so dense. "Has anyone caught your eye?" He asks softly.

Lance...almost looks sad when Keith says no but somehow manages to look just as pleased. "You know, I'm not surprised really." He waves a hand. "Not that I mean any offense by it or anything. You've just always had...I dunno, mission tunnel vision?" He shrugs and had almost pulled off looking like himself until Keith asked the same of him. It's easy to say the next line, since it's true...but it still hurts. "Not since Allura. I...haven't really been looking." His voice is quiet, almost broken but he does well enough to hide it. "Most of the time I'm too busy anyway, if I'm honest." Hoping this alleviates some of the suspicion, Lance smiles again.

Keith hums. It's not healthy to be stuck on someone. He knows far too well. "Honestly, I haven't been looking either," he says, bringing the topic back onto him. "I need to get to know someone before I develop a crush on them."

"Fitting for you." Lance admits with a small smile. "Sometimes it's easier not to." He agrees and sinks back in his seat to focus on the game a bit more. "That's called demi right? Is that a thing? I don't know." He taps his head, thinking about what Keith said and shrugs. "Ah what does that matter? You're gonna go back to kicking ass in a couple of days so what's it matter what that's called, right?"

"I'm not going to be kicking ass. All I do is hand out food and supplies." Who is there left to fight anyways? "I think Pidge called it that, since they are the same way." Keith huffs and sinks further into the bean bags when he losses the first round. He had taken another glance at Lance which resulted in him being shot in the head.

"Yeah, but you are out there, helping everyone right? That's still kicking ass in my book." When Lance looks over to see pouty Keith, he can't help but laugh a bit before turning and playfully shoving him. "Oh stop that. You kick ass and you know it." He chuckles ones more. "Hell, even I admit it anymore ok?"

Keith deepens his pout and let's the shove push him to the edge of the chair. "But I'm not actually kicking anyone's butt," he tries to say it in a childish way. Due to being on the edge of a bean bag chair, he slowly sinks down to the floor.

"Oh my god Keith." Lance rolls his eyes and laughs. "Need someone to fight again? Is that why you came to see me?" He shoves him again and laughs a bit. When he shoves him again, Lance actually lights up a bit. "Just needed to kick someone's ass again? Or at least try."

Keith dramatically rolls onto his stomach from the last shove. He has learned how to be like this with the many kids who gather around him and the female half Galrans in his squad. "I will kick your ass eventually. I'm just getting warmed up." He rolls back onto the bean bag and smiles widely at Lance.

Something about seeing Keith act like this makes Lance...floaty. He actually smiles at it and gives a small laugh. Especially when Keith smiles at him in response. Man, he has missed that smile. "I'm sure it would be easy for you." He puts down the remote and takes a playful fighting stance.

Keith's eyes widen a little and his heart flutters. He puts down the control and mimics Lance. "I am the better close range fighter after all," he smirks. To go along with the theme of video games, he bounces a bit.

Lance shrugs. "Yeah but apparently handing out food isn't very difficult you know? And I do hard labor practically every day." He starts to bounce to match Keith and throws a weak punch, landing it on Keith's arm.

Keith grunts and fakes a flinch. "Then we'll see who is truly stronger now." He goes back to his original pose then gives a weak punch to Lance's shoulder. "hyah," he grunt.

Lance smirks and rolls his eyes. "You kidding?" He jumps a bit out of the way and moves to fight again. "You can't deny that you still work out every day." Dodging, Keith's next swing, Lance smiles. "You're still as built as you were when you first came back from your space vacation with your mom."

Keith blushes slightly. "So? We didn't say anything about training." Is his clothing that tight to where it's noticeable? He just didn't want to lose all that he gained just in case he did need to fight again. "Are we gonna keep play fighting or somewhat actual spar?"

"Up to you." He charges forward and tries to tackle Keith to no avail. "But I never asked about training." Speaking as the two of them spar, Lance seems to come more to life. "I knew better than to assume Keith would stop training."

Keith can't help but laugh. That's probably what everyone thinks too. The smile stays as he pretty much wrestled with Lance to see who can knock down who first. "For a farm boy, you're surprisingly strong," he teases.

"Farm kids are strong. Thank you very much." Lance pretends to be offended as he wrestles with Keith before ducking a bit and trying to use the lower pose to his advantage. "I'm not sure what was so funny about that. You know it's true. When did you ever stop training?" He can't help it, Lance gets distracted by the brilliant smile on Keith's face and because of it, he loses.

Keith laughs as he falls on top of Lance. Luckily he doesn't crush him due to catching himself with his hand and elbow. He wasn't expecting to win so suddenly. "You'd be surprised how often my mom made me take a break on that whale planet."

Lance shoves Keith off of him with a shake of his head. "Oh yeah? She got tired of hearing it huh?" He sits up and sighs. "My mom has me take breaks from everything here so I can only imagine." Plopping back down into the bean bag chair, Lance smiles over at Keith before looking suddenly mildly horrified. "Oh man! Did you need food? I didn't even think to ask if you wanted food."

Keith stays on the floor and laughs. "No, I'm alright. I ate before leaving base. Mom even made me bring snacks for the ride. Do you want to try any?" He pulls out a few Galran snacks from his pocket. "Not sure if they taste any different to someone without Galran blood but... I like them."

"Sure. I miss that crazy stuff...sometimes. If I never have food goo again it'll be too soon." Scooting closer to Keith, Lance offers a smile. "Oh yeah, and any requests for dinner? It's suppose to be Vern's day but she will want me to cook if 'i have company'." He snatches up one of the snacks and takes a bite. "Not bad."

"Your cooking? I think I'll pass," Keith jokes, but then instantly takes it back. "I'm kidding. I would love to try whatever you make. I don't have a request." He smiles at Lance and rolls onto his stomach. "Anything you want me to try? We can do like a food exchange."

Before Keith takes the joke back, Lance pouts a bit but then plays into it when Keith tries to take it back. He shoves the rest of the snack in his mouth and crosses his arms over his chest. "Oh totally fine. I don't have to cook for you." He huffs then shakes his head. "I dunno. Ever had ropa vieja? If not we will go traditional."

For a split second, his heart painfully clenches thinking he actually offended Lance. Keith smiles softly when it's not the case. "I've never even heard of that before." He looks through the snacks he has left in his hands. Maybe he'll let the whole family try some. There is still a bunch left in the ship.

"Then good. Dinner is decided." Lance looked back to Keith then sighs and relaxes back into his seat. "It's weird but, I kinda miss bickering with you like we use to back in the day." He smiles a bit more and gives a...laugh(?) That is so small it's hard to decipher.

"It's so weird not having you around." He can't say his right hand man is around. "Should we make it a plan to fight more often?" Keith laughs. He finally sits up and moves on to the edge of Lance's bean bag chair. "I could try coming around more often."

Lance can't help but grow soft at Keith's words. He (almost literally) glows just thinking about it. "It would be nice to have company every now and again." He does his best to hide his utter excitement at the mere thought. "And it would guarantee good food for you too." With a playful elbow to Keith's side, Lance smiles. "If you can manage, you should visit around the holidays. Mom makes the best food then. Plus, holidays with a houseful of kids? Sounds like a riot right?" He is half joking.

Keith chuckles. "I don't know if I can handle a houseful of kids. Especially if they are all related to you. I'm going to be called Mullet the entire time." He's still smiling despite his words. "Or they'll would use Kosmo like a carnival ride if no one stops them." Kids have before on other plants.

"More likely, they would ask you to tell them about ALLLLL your adventures. And I mean, all of them." Lance gets a bit soft watching Keith smile. It's still such a change from before, even after all this time. "But absolutely they would be trying to use Cosmo as a makeshift horse." He laughs a bit. "To be fair, he did grow up to be one big pup. Stands taller than you right?"

Keith's eyes shine. It's very obvious he loves his space wolf. "By an inch, yeah. I never knew he would grow so big! If you had seen him when we first met him, he was pretty small." Talking about his companion makes him miss them. "I don't think Kosmo would actually mind, and maybe the kids can finally teach them how to play fetch."

Lance actually laughs at the end of Keith talking. Between watching his friend light up and remembering Keith trying to get Kosmo to fetch, he cant hold it back. "I think he does it just to annoy you. Kosmo is too smart not to get it." Lance smiles and wipes his eyes as laughing had made them water. "Did you want to help me cook? I know dinner isn't for a while, but I like picking things fresh and starting early."

Keith smiles more when Lance laughs. It's so nice to hear and see. "Sure, you'll just have to give me step by step instructions." He knows how to cook galran meals which is very different from Earth cooking. He stands up and stretches. One of the stretches is reaching down to place his palm on the floor. "So what do we need first?"

"Helping usually entails telling and or showing what to do, yes." Lance rolls his eyes and slips flip flops on, strategically avoiding looking at Keith as he stretches. "But we need tomatoes, potatoes and peppers. The black beans we will use from a can because I am lazy as far aa that is concerned."

Keith let's out a chuckle as he follows Lance. "Your farm is pretty big, huh," he says as they step outside. He could see how big it was as he landed but standing in it is a whole different story.

Lance stands proudly and nods. "It's a good size, yeah." He nods then shrugs. "I mean, not the biggest around and I regularly get teased for so much of it being flowers but," for the slightest second, Lance looks sad and distant. "But I think it's perfect like this."

"If this is how you want it, then it's fine," Keith says. It kinda hurts knowing how much Lance still thinks of Allura but he gets it. "The flowers are very pretty." There is a similar one on his planet. They look the same but just purple and black.

"They're peaceful. I appreciate that." Lance shrugs and heads over to where the peppers grow. There are a pretty wide variety of them. Not sure whether Keith is down for spice, Lance grabs a couple of the more tame ones. While there, Lance seems to get lost in his own head for a minute then just shrugs at whatever he was thinking about. Trying to be himself, Lance puts a hand on his hip and smirks at Keith. "If you like them, take some with you." Being playfully dramatic, Lance touches the back of his hand to his forehead. "That way you can think of me even when you are light years away." He laughs quietly under his breath.

Keith doesn't know which he should be picking so he just holds the basket. "Then I guess you'll have to remind me to take some before I leave. The base could use more color other than greys and purple." He gently brushes his finger across the petal of the closest flower. Would be cute to have them next to the ones already there.

Lance's marks glow a bit. He had expected Keith to react...different? And somehow it makes him feel far more flustered than it should. "Y-yeah. I'll grab you a handful. Maybe even give you some in a pot so they stay alive for a bit." He grabs a couple of tomatoes as he speaks. "Yeah galra always had a thing for those colors don't they?" He chuckles.

"Actually what's surprising, is they they see far more shades of grey and blue than humans," Keith says. He has no idea why but his mom mentioned it during one of their longer travels. He gets down on one knee and helps picking the tomatoes.

"Really?" Lance looks over to Keith and touches his chin. "Maybe that's why they dress how they do then, huh?" He shrugs and glances over Keith longer than he should before quickly standing and stretching. "Time for potatoes then we gotta prep dinner."

Keith stands up too. He does his best not to watch Lance stretch for too long. "Is your entire family going to be here for dinner?" He asks. Lance's family is pretty big but there has been so sign of anyone yet.

"Most will be at least." He admits then nods. "They all go all over town but dinner time we all get back together. Think you'll be alright with that?" Lance smiles and nudges him playfully. "It get pretty loud so you'll have to use your big, loud voice."

Keith rolls his eyes and nudges back. "I'll most likely just be answering whatever questions they throw at me than actually conversing." He can't remember how many little kids were there. Three? Four?

"Hey i just wanted to warn you." Lance holds his hands up and shrugs then smirks. "Then any plans for after dinner? I have boring night habits sooo..." He trails off, not wanting to say he regularly just sits in the field of flowers and watches the sky.

"We could play more video games," he suggests but knowing kids, they'll probably want to play too. "Or watch some movies." It's really odd trying to think of what he would do to pass the time before Voltron.

Lance nods and smiles. "I vote for a movie." He looks at his hands and groans. "After a shower. I hadn't exactly been expecting to see anyone today." For a minute, he stares up at the sky with a soft smile. "Alright. Potatoes!" He darts that way and starts digging them up and tossing them at Keith to put in the basket.

Keith's heart hurts for a second. Even though he told himself to give up... The flying potato brings him back to this reality just in time to catch it. "You're lucky I have cat like reflexes," he mumbles, more to himself than to Lance.

"It's cuz you're part galra." Lance teases then looks back to Keith. The marks on his cheeks flair a bit again when he faces Keith. "Alright. Not we get to do what is surely your favorite part...cut all of this up." He offers an oddly soft smile before playfully putting an arm over Keith's shoulders. He pouts when he does. "Man that's not as fun now that you are the taller of us."

Keith smiles back. This will definitely be his favorite part. "I'm only taller by an inch!" Sure he was pretty short before but being taller doesn't make him feel any different. It's actually a little harder to hide and sneak around like he used to.

"Yeah but now my armrest isn't a perfect height!" Lance complains then pulls his stuff to the sink and starts to clean it. "You grew almost as much as your hair did." Lance teases ad he pulls his arm away and shrugs. "Knives are in the third drawer over there, grab two."

Keith rolls his eyes. He likes his hair long, so what? At least he didn't decide to cut it super short like Matt. "Does it matter what type?" He asks as he opens the drawer. He knows what knives are used for what but Lance doesn't know he knows.

"Sharp is usually helpful." He had seen the eye roll and smirks. "But as far as your hair, I dig it." Waiting just long enough to throw Keith off, Lance adds, "wouldn't be able to call you mullet if it was short."

Keith huffs. "You do know what an actual mullet is, right?" He hands Lance a knife, keeping the sharper one for himself. Grabbing a potato, he starts to skin it.

"Yeah." Lance takes the knife and hand Keith a cutting board. "You. You're the realest mullet I know." He laughs again the starts cutting the peppers. "About this size. I don't know." He tosses a piece at Keith.

"You were growing mullet too before. You're just jealous I can pull it off better than you." Keith quickly cuts part of the potato to match the size of the pepper. "Like this?" he asks as he tosses it to Lance.

"Maybe you're right. What then?" Lance purposefully tries to catch Keith off guard. He puts a hand on his hip then when the potato unexpectedly hits him, Lance jumps. "Hey!" He grabs it and judgingly looks it over. "I dunno..." He muses then throws it back at Keith. "Looks a bit mullety to me."

Keith bursts out laughing. "Good because yours looked a bit mullety too!" Does he understand what he is saying? Not at all, but he loves this moment so much. While still trying to calm down, he goes back to cutting more pieces. "Are the tomatoes going to be the same size too?"

Lance gives a playful pout then shakes his head. "Just in fourths. Actually. They cook down more, you know?" He elbows Keith, acting like it was an accident. For the first time in longer than Lance will ever admit, Lance is smiling...really smiling. And maybe that's why Veronica had walked in with the intention to interrupt them and found herself watching her brother finally look...happy again. Seeing it brings a gentle smile to her face and her eyes almost water.

Keith sprinkled some of his potatoes into Lance's hands. He knows bumping someone's cutting arm is a terrible idea. "No, I don't know," he says in a matter of fact tone. He takes tomato and cuts it in half before throwing a piece at Lance. "All I know is that it's juicy."

Lance's jaw drops and he huffs angrily then grabs a tomato and shoves it at Keith, letting it squish into his hair. "Oh my bad that one was bad so I thought I'd put it in the trash!" He laughs at Keith's expression then grabs more of the cut food and throws it at him. When Keith goes to retort, Lance dodges and takes off outside. Veronica rolls her eyes but decides not to interrupt. It's so refreshing to see Lance acting like himself for once.

Keith grabs another tomato as he bolts for Lance. "Get back here!" He yells. Some of the juice drips down onto his forehead so he momentarily blinds himself to whip it away.

"Not a chance, Mullet!" He has darted around the corner and now waits for Keith, ready to tackle his opponent.

Having lost track of where Lance went, he tries to sneak around. He has his tomato ready. He mentally laughs at himself for trying to be so serious during a food fight.

Lance jumps onto Keith when he come around him. He is on his back and knocking the tomato out of his hand before Keith can react. "Hah! Lance is victorious again!" He teases with a laugh.

Keith laughs and them smirks at Lance. "Oh yeah?" Since they are outside and on grass, he maneuvers in a way that has them both falling without him fully landing on Lance. "Whose victorious now?" He taunts as he keeps Lance pinned down.

Lance pouts and squints his eyes. "Eh...still me. You got a tomato to the hair." The altean marks on his face glow slightly and the faintest hint of blush is on his cheeks, but Lance sighs. "Now we have to pick more tomatoes and get back or we will never get done in time." Any excuse not to focus one right now.

Keith smiles and rolls his eyes. "How about now?" He asks as he rubs his hair against Lance's. "There is tomato in your hair too." He gets up and holds out a hand to help Lance up. "Truce now?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Truce." He grabs Keith's hand then bumps his hip against Keith's. "Let's get dinner cooked. I can't wait to watch a cheezy action film and pretend the hero is you every time he says something cliche." Smirking, Lance swipes up a couple tomatoes before heading back toward the kitchen.

Keith groans. "Now I can never escape my past." His smile still hasn't disappeared. "We'll need to shower before we eat or watch the movie." He'll also need to get his small bag from the ship later. Once back in the kitchen, he picks up the knife and goes back to cutting up potatoes.

"Really Kogane?" Veronica finally interrupts when Keith starts cutting the food. "You could at least wash your hands first." She teases before walking up and giving him a side hug. "Nice seeing you again." She then points a finger at Lance. "You two will be cleaning this mess by the way. It had better be clean." Lance holds his hands up in acceptance. "Will do. Promise." He then washes his hands and grabs meat from the fridge and starts prepping it.

Keith blushes at his own mistake. That's definitely something that come back later to haunt him. He was just so distracted by Lance he forgot. "Hi," he greets and side hugs her back. "Have you been here the whole time?" he asks as he slips out of her grip to watch his hands.

"Eh, not really. Just saw you two make a mess then dart outside." She lies with a shrug then starts grabbing things to help out a bit. "So should I be honoured to be in your presence?" Veronica teases. Lance watches his sister interact and finally takes his as his chance to let his guard down a bit. He sighs as quietly as he can and stops smiling, hopi g Keith is distracted enough with Veronica not to notice. It's nice to see him, that much is true. But it hurts knowing he is only here because he is bored and was forced to take time off. In a day or two, Keith will be gone again and he will be back to being lonely. Somehow, thinking that makes Lance want this day to continue forever.

"No," Keith groans. "Do I even want to know what you've heard about?" Krolia and Kolivan are the ones who represent the whole golran race but rumors are impossible to stop. He wipes his hands on the hanging hand towel then goes back to cutting. He takes a very quick glance at Lance and notices his expression.

"With that reaction? Probably not." Veronica chuckles. "Well, I'll leave you two to be. Just wanted to say hi and give you a hard time." She messes up Lance's hair before exiting the room again. Lance had, if he was asked, gotten super focused on cooking. All the spark that had been there a bit ago seems to have vanished.

The room fall silent except for the sound of cooking. After seeing Lance's expression, he couldn't form any words. Of course he isn't enough to help Lance. When is he ever enough? He bites the inside of his lips as he cuts the rest of the tomatoes faster.

Lance glances over to see Keith biting his lip and pouts. He gets the food in the oven and pulls Keith back outside. Sitting down and motioning for him to join, Lance reaches over and picks some of the tomato seeds out of Keith's hair before offering a sad smile. "Sorry. I didn't mean to bring down the mood." He sighs again and reaches over to pick a flower and turns it around in his fingers slowly. "It's stupid to...nevermind." He starts, eyes refusing to look back up to Keith. Admitting why he is upset is too hard. Especially since Keith is just going to leave again soon anyway.

Keith shifts to laying down. "It's okay... It's really hard smiling all the time." He smiles softly as he tries to lift the mood back up. "There have been times where a kid would ask why I'm not smiling and then wouldn't stop bothering me until I genuinely smiled." He rolls onto his side to face Lance. The angle of the sun makes Lance look like he is glowing and it's breathtaking. His gaze is so soft. "Don't be sorry for something you can't control."

Lance's heart hurts when he looks down at Keith. The marks on his cheeks glow brightly. Why does love have to be so stupid?! That dumb smile is one of his favorite things and...well, it's not like Keith feels the same. Not even Allura really did. Maybe he just...isn't loveable. Though he tries to smile, it only comes out as a frown. "It's...not what you think though." He sighs heavily then sits back and looks back up to the sky. After a few minutes of silence, he looks back over to Keith and finally smiles again. "It's just...Nice to see you again."

"It's really nice to see you too," Keith sighs softly. "Maybe you should take time away from the farm. Hang out with Hunk and Pidge for a week," he suggests. "I can't guarantee I'll be available often and you should definitely not just hang out with me. You might start growing a mullet again." He nudges Lance's side. "They really do want to see you more often. They mention it from time to time."

Lance gives a small sideways at Keith. "They are always busy. Last time I tried to visit Hunk, he was catering some big meal. And Pidge was so lost in tinkering with some new thing that they kinda forgot I was around after a while." He pretends that doesn't add salt to his wounds. With a weak elbow into Keith's arm, Lance smiles a bit more. "You all have more going on than me. I just do my thing here and occasionally talk to local kids." Looking back toward the sky, Lance's smile fades a bit. "I kinda miss it all sometimes. Not like, the war or anything, but...the closeness we all had when our goals were all the same." With a heavy sigh, Lance looks back over to Keith and his eyes are sad despite the smile on his face. "I know it's silly."

"It's not silly. Why did you decide to be a farmer? You would have been an amazing teacher!" Keith finally explodes. He sits up and half glares at Lance. "What happened to the amazing sharpshooter? No one could teach others how to shoot like you." If Lance worked at the Garrison, they would see each other far more often. Lance would be actually busy and surrounded by more than just cows and plants. "At the very least, you could have been a teacher at a regular school or some guest speaker all over the universe."

Lance curls in on himself a bit and shakes his head. Hearing how Keith sees him despite everything...it's flatteringly painful. He swallows hard and just stares at Keith without saying anything. Keith wants answers, sure, but Lance can't answer them. Not right now. "I..." He starts then stands up. "Need to go check on the food." He bows his head and turns to walk away.

Once Lance is gone, Keith sighs and flops back down onto the grass. Of course he messed that up. It's just that... This farm is just so far from what the Lance he knew would have wanted to do for the rest of his life. Sure he was one of the most homesick out of everyone but this? Does Lance even want him sticking around anymore? Either way, he needs a shower. He gets up to go get the clothes he brought from the ship. "Where's Keith?" Veronica asks when he sees Lance alone in the kitchen.

Lance feels bad for not just...telling Keith the truth but the truth is, well, the truth hurts. He sighs while looking into the oven and making sure everything seems to be cooking well. When he hears Veronica, Lance stands and shrugs. "Last I knew he was outside." No longer does he hide himself from Veronica. She knows how broken he is anyway so what does it matter? "Did you need him for something? I'm sure I can go find him."

"No, it's just odd seeing you without him suddenly," She answers. Veronica leans against the counter and crosses her arms. "You should find him for yourself. It was so nice seeing you actually happy." She also knows about Lance's old crush on Keith. Lance's reaction when she asked him to help them hook up more than a year ago was pretty funny.

Lance has a guilty expression as he turns his eyes to the ground. "He asked why I'm a farmer and...I didnt have the heart to tell him why." He speaks at last. With a sigh, Lance looks over to Veronica. "He's only gonna be around a day or two then he's going back out there." Lance unconsciously hugs himself.

Veronica sighs and hugs Lance. "But he is the only one who has ever come here to see you. Just say that you like him, I'm sure the two of you can work something out. Me and Acxa did and she is a part of his group."

Lance blushes, marks glowing brilliantly at her words, but hugs back. "Yeah but you two are good at talking." He sighs heavily and pulls back. "Sure I'm good at talking, when its mindless and unimportant but...I never know what to say to Keith." He bites his lower lip and touches one of the marks, eyes lowering. "Especially now. How do I...how do I tell him after this long?"

"Why can't you?" Veronica pulls away a bit. "If you still have a crush on him after all that's happened, that means you really do like him. It's not some fling or in the moment type of thing." She personally love stories where one had a crush on the other years before confessing. "You just need to find your own way of telling him."

Lance just sighs and huffs. "Why?" Even this much he has never said out loud...even to Veronica. "Even Allura never really loved me. I think Keith is just...lonely like she was." He sighs heavily, as though some invisible weight was just dropped from his shoulders. "I just don't...think I could pretend to not notice that again."

"I understand you're scared but that's part of being in a relationship. You need to talk things out and if it doesn't work, then it's just not meant to be." Veronica pulls Lance in for another hug. "But from what you've told me, I bet he has felt lonely for most of his life. He doesn't seem like he would attach to someone just to feel loved."

Lance shivers a bit and takes in a shaky breath. "But..." He hugs her back tightly and exhales. "I don't want to lose what we have." He bows his head. "I'm good at losing what really matters you know."

"Take your time, test the waters a bit. I can always be your wingwoman," Veronica winks. "Once you know for sure you won't lose anything, then you can confess." She ruffles her younger brother's hair. "It's so nice to finally be able to help with your romantic problems."

Lance pouts a bit. "You really...think I should? Like ...what do I even do? I can't just ask." He looks back at the food and pulls it out of the oven at last. "I...would break for good if i ruined this too."

Veronica frowns. Lance hasn't ever been all that serious about someone until after returning from space. "I'm sure I can get some info out of him or Shiro." She doubts Acxa would know much and talking to Krolia about her son would be... Possibly really awkward. "Just have fun while he is here."

"You don't need to get info out of him." Lance laughs a bit and shakes his head. He looks up and gives a small, nervous smile. "I'll do my best. Hopefully didn't fuck it up." He starts to prep plates and as he does, more and more family members filter into the diner room.

Keith finally comes back in new clothes. He gets a little nervous from the amount of voices he hears inside now. Does anyone else know he is here? Does Lance's parents mind? He bites his tongue and knocks on the door.

Hearing the knock, Lance knows who it is so he hurries over. After taking a deep breath, he pulls the door open and puts his arm over Keith's shoulder to lead him in. "Everyone, we have a guest of honor tonight." The family hollers happily and they all shift to let Keith sit next to Lance. "You alright buddy?" Lance whispers as they take their seat.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just cleaned off on the ship." Keith scans the family members and feels his nervousness increase. It only gets worse when he sees what the food they were making looks like finished.

Lance sees Keith's nervousness and frowns. "Too much? We don't have to eat with them all I'm sorry." He glances over to Veronica for a split second with sad, worried eyes. "Or-or I can step away? Whatever you need Keith."

Keith grips onto Lance's arm underneath the table. "No... Please stay," he whispers. He swallows thickly before using his other hand to scoops some of the food onto his plate. At least he is the one scooping the food for himself but he can't help but stare at it longer than necessary.

Lance's heart jumps at Keith grabbing him. He looks over to Keith and tilts his head. "Does it look bad? I tried hard I swear." Sadly looking to his plate, Lance takes a bite, suddenly sure the meal isn't going to be good.

Keith grabs his fork and then his vision starts to play tricks on him. "N-nothing is moving, right?" he asks even quieter. Something about his tone makes him sound very vulnerable.

Lance's eyebrows furrow. He grabs Keith's hand and angles to meet his eyes. "You helped me make it. Of course nothing is moving. Keith?" Lance tilts his head and grips tighter. When they meet eyes, Lance's words vanish. He can feel Veronica's eyes burning into them. "Talk to me after? Or-or now?" Then, hoping it will help alleviate Keith's worries, Lance takes a bite from his plate. "Oh my god. I actually got the seasoning right!" He smiles over to his mom happily. "It tastes just like yours!" At last, he is smiling again.

Keith sees Lance smile and relaxes a little. "After," he tells Lance and shakily takes his first bite. It tastes amazing but with each bite he is just constantly making sure that there isn't anything moving. Lucky for him, everyone seems to be leaving him alone and just talking to each other. When one of the little kids would try to talk to him, Veronica would redirect their attention.

Lance has his food gone faster than he should. Honestly, he is worried about Keith so he wants to make sure he is ready to talk as soon as Keith is. A few times during dinner, Lance plays with the kids and has to wave off compliments from the well cooked meal. As everyone nears finishing, Veronica clears her throat. "Because I really love you, I will clean up so you two can spend some time together, ok? But you owe me!"

He grabs Lance's arm again. "Can we talk in your room?" Keith asks softly. He feels horrible for having such a reaction over food. It's just food that he helped with.

Lance nods and waves goodbye to everyone before leading Keith away to his room. He sits down on his larger-than-is-necessary bed and pats for Keith to join. It almost seems odd to watch Lance be so calm and mature, but time has changed all of them. "Talk to me." He speaks once Keith is comfortable.

Keith takes a seat and stared down at his lap. "I... I have eaten that before, I just never knew what it was called," he says," It was back when I was still being passed around from house to house." He claws at Lance's sheets to keep himself steady.

Lance frowns. He never knew much about how Keith grew up other than he was a foster kid until Shiro. Though...how a meal could make Keith frazzled like this does leave Lance a bit worried. "Oh, I...I think I should say sorry then. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." He swallows his pride and holds a hand out before motioning for Keith to have a hug if he wants it.

Keith grabs onto Lance's hand and holds on tight. "It's not your fault. It was really good and you didn't know." He takes a second to breath before explaining further. "This was back when I was 10. My foster parents had dished everything out ahead of time and their biological kids didn't like me as much so..." He bites his lip and his nails start to dig into Lance a little. "There was worms in my food," he whispers very quietly.

"Keith..." Lance frowns. He couldn't imagine how miserable that would be. "Makes sense why you asked what you did now." Not giving Keith a choice any longer, Lance pulls him in to a hug. "Well, we all like you here so you don't have to worry." He hugs him tight and doesn't let go. "I would have made something else had I known."

"Thank you," He whispers as he hugs back. Keith really appreciates this. He lets out a shaky breath before burying his face into Lance's shoulder. "It didn't help I didn't know what it was called. It was really good though."

Lance nods and smiles. "It's not a big deal, ok?" He runs his hand through Keith's hair and the marks on his cheeks burn a brighter color than ever. "I'm here for you. I'm also glad you liked it." Closing his eyes, Lance etches this moment into his memory. Hoping to lighten the mood a bit, he chuckles. "Maybe this is...payback?"

Keith smiles slightly. Despite having been a farmer for a whole year, Lance still has the smell of the ocean. He wonders if Lance has always been this warm. "Hmm? Payback for what?" He asks pulls away from Lance's shoulder.

Knowing the outrage that is sure to follow, Lance ignores the blush growing on his face and his glowing marks. "Oh...you know. For that time back in the Castle of Lions..." He smirks a bit and waits to see if Keith catches on.

Keith takes a moment to think back. Then it finally clocks. He gasps loudly and pulls out of the hug. "Asshole! You do remember!" He looks more shocked than actually angry. He pushes Lance's shoulder and asks, "Why did you keep saying you didn't?"

Lance laughs then rubs the back of his head and looks down. He debates telling the truth...he really does. "It...was kinda funny watching you be so mad that I didn't remember. Why did it bother you so much anyway?" Hoping for a silly reason, Lance chuckles and shoves Keith - who was still giving him the shocked look - and smiles again.

Keith blushes slightly. "Because we had a bonding moment! I thought we had gotten closer," he answers. Hopefully that didn't give too much away. "Thought you stopped seeing me as a rival."

"I stopped seeing you as a rival long before I told you." Lance admits with a shrug then lays back on his bed and crosses his arms under his head. "Still up for a movie?" He asks while looking over to Keith, trying not to overthink the slight color on his cheeks.

"Yeah. Just the two of us or with the family? I feel bad for ignoring them," Keith says. The kids were really cute, especially when playing with Lance.

"Just us." Lance nods and tilts his head to look Keith over. "You ever try to watch a movie with that many people in one room?" He shakes his head and looks up to the glow star colored ceiling. "And really, you don't have to feel bad. There's no rule we all have to be together all the time."

Keith nods. "What movie are we gonna watch?" He looks up and is amazed by the glowing stars. He always wanted them as a kid but was never able to get them.

"Cheesy action film, beyond that no idea." He watches Keith look to the ceiling with a smile. "I guess I missed sleeping literally in the stars every night." Lance is surprised by his honestly in that statement. "Something about having glow stars makes me feel...I dunno like things are easy." Glancing to Keith to admire for just a second, Lance smiles softly. "I'll just hand you the remote and you pick what sounds good."

"Mkay," Keith says, unable to tear his dry es away from the stars until he feels the remote against his hand. He picks it up and looks through all the different movies Lance has. There is actually quite a bit he doesn't recognize. "Let's watch this one," he says as he stops on an interesting superhero looking one.

Lance nods and rolls so he can watch the movie easier. He stays quiet next to Keith as the movie starts. After a bit, Lance looks over to Keith and smiles a bit before turning back to the movie. "Thanks again for coming to visit. Even if it was just your mom making you take a break."

"No problem. It is really nice here," Keith says. He takes a quick glance at Lance. "Would you mind if I came by more often? I'm sure it won't be too long until I'm kicked out of the base again." Kosmo would also probably really like it here too.

Lance nods. "It is nice, isn't it?" He smiles and gives a quiet sigh. After a minute or two, Lance looks away from the screen again to face Keith. "The guest room is yours as often as you'd like it, Keith. Please, make use of it." He offers a soft smile and puts a hand on his own chest, struggling to keep his heart from exploding with nerves and excitement. "Just don't tell the little ones or they will wake you up at dawn by telling you about their dreams."

Keith laughs. "What type of dreams have they told you about?" He turned back to the movie but his head is slightly tilted towards Lance. His heart needs a small break from all those soft smiles. They don't mean anything anyways.

"What kind don't they have is more like it." Lance looks back up to the ceiling with a tired smile. "They dream of being cats, they dream of being pirates, sometimes they dream that they a mini sized and adventuring through the house. A few times they have dreamt about being paladins like us and flying around the universe." He looks back to Keith and smiles. "Im sure with you here there would be more of the latter."

"I'm sure if they wanted to, in the future they'll be actually able to fly around the universe," Keith says. He can't really imagine there being a new group of Voltron paladins but Pidge's family is working on making teams just in case. "Do you ever wonder where the lions went?"

Lance's half smile fades a bit and he nods but then jumps up and pulls a stuffed blue out from under his pillows. "Blue didn't go far!" He laughs then shakes his head as he lays back down. "But, yeah. I wonder about it a lot. I just hope they are all safe." As he speaks, Lance grips the plushie tight.

The blue lion breaks Keith's heart. His smile turns into a frown. "Wasn't that supposed to be a gift? Why do you still have it?" If Lance is really this stuck on Allura, it's really bad. Then again, what was he expecting? The farm is filled with the Altean flower and the date photo is still on the nightstand. Though, the photo is facing away from the bed.

Lance looks down to blue and pouts dramatically. "Blue is important to me." He grips it tight and doesn't look back to Keith. It's not like Keith cares how he sees Blue. He doesn't think of that lion as how they started on their journey. He doesn't see blue as how Lance realized how much he actually cared for his stupid rival. With a big sigh, Lance looks back to Keith, still pouting. "What's it matter? It's not like..." He shakes his head and rolls onto his side to cuddle the lion more. "Nevermind." He mumbles.

Keith sighs. He is just going to say it. "It's not healthy to keep so many reminders of Allura. You should donate it or something." He leans a little closer, ready to take the lion out of Lance's grip. At this point, he isn't paying a lick of attention to the movie.

Lance grips Blue tighter and stares daggers at Keith. "Blue isn't about Allura." He snaps and looks ready to growl if Keith goes to take it. Between the venomous glare and the snarl, Lance is hardly able to keep himself back. "The the stupid photos or whatever. But this is mine." His words sound double edged, to put it lightly. Reminders of Allura...how dare he? If he needs a reminder of her and all his fuck up, all he needs to do us look at his reflection…

Keith backs away with wide eyes. Guess that explains a few things... "I'm sorry, I thought..." He really needs to stop messing things up. "Sorry," he mumbles again. He glances at the tv and debates if he should leave or not. He knows running away won't solve anything and his heart clenches painfully at the thought of just leaving the farm.

Lance sees the look on Keith's face and swallows hard. "It's ok." He sits up and scoots closer to Keith. "I just..." Lance looks down, still holding blue. "I get it, ok? I do." After taking a deep breath, Lance looks over to Keith. "My whole world looks like it's full of Allura still. Even I can see that, ok? But...it's more than that. I promise." He pulls his legs up to his, curling in around Blue. "So, don't be sorry. You were just trying to help."

Keith clenches the bed sheets with the hand hidden on the other side of him. "I... I need to get something from the ship. You should probably go to sleep. It's getting pretty late." He watches the movie for a minute though, getting distracted by the fight scene.

Lance grabs Keith's arm. "Don't leave." It seems hard for him to say the words. "I know that face. And those lame excuses. I'm not ready to sleep." He relaxes, sighs and shoulders Keith. "Stay." His voice is quiet but almost playful again.

Keith looks at Lance, showing an expression close to a sad puppy. Though a second later, he is very slightly smiling. "Okay," he says softly. "Do you mind if... I lay down?" He doesn't know how awkward it would be, since this bed isn't all that big but there is still room.

"Nah. Beds are made for sitting." Lance chuckles and tosses a spare pillow at him. "Of course it's fine." He lays back down and stares up at the stars, quiet despite the many thoughts spinning in his mind. "Thanks for staying." He whispers at last.

Keith chuckles softly. He grabs the pillow and lays down to take as little space as possible. He can't overthink this, Lance just needs emotional support. "No problem," he whispers back before burying his face into the pillow. It's really soft and smells of Lance.

Lance watches Keith bury his face and sighs. As Keith struggles internally, Lance chooses to stay quiet. In doing so, he lulls himself to sleep in nearly no time flat. Once asleep, he rolls onto his side, now facing Keith and grips tight to Blue.

When Keith turns his face to breath, his heart jumps at Lance's face being so close. His gazes softly as he watches him breathing steadily. Slowly, he sits up to grab the remote to turn the TV off. They'll need to rewatch is later. Since he feels bad for taking up space on Lance's bed, he tries to maneuver around said sleeping boy to get out.

A knock comes to the basically open door about two seconds after the tv is turned off. "Lance, Kogane, Mom wants to know-" Veronica peeks her head in and her eyes go a bit wide. "He...is asleep. What'd you do? Drug him?" She snickers playfully.

"No!" Keith harshly whispers. He struggles a bit more to get off the bed without waking Lance up. "We were just talking and then he fell asleep during a little bit of silence. Does he not get much sleep?" He hadn't noticed any dark bags under Lance's eyes.

Veronica leans against the doorframe. "He doesn't sleep as much as he should anymore. Honestly, this is the earliest I've seen him asleep since...well since you all came back." She sighs and tilts her head. "Planning to leave?"

"No, I was just going to the guest room. I'll be around for another day or two. I have to wait until my mom lets me go home." Saying that outloud is so weird. Keith scratches the back of his neck as he glances back at Lance.

"You know he won't care if you stay in here, right?" Veronica chuckles. "He isn't well versed in sleeping alone. Between all the kids and animals, he rarely gets a bed to himself." She notices the glance back to Lance and raises an eyebrow. "Everything ok? Lance usually only pulls out Blue after a rough day."

"I mentioned the lions and he pulled it out," Keith answers. "Wouldn't it be weird if I staid? I'm not part of his family." He doesn't know if he can take waking up to Lance possibly either being in his face or cuddling him. He might die on the spot.

"Oh. Yeah he misses them I think." Veronica snickers. "Not part of his family. Right. Ok." She counts on her fingers as she speaks now. "You guys grew up in school together, got thrown into the middle of an alien war together, became the paladins of voltron together, spent years in space together, saved the universe together and after all of it, you are the only one to visit him. Not family? Right ok." She shrugs. "But if you want to go to the guest room, I can show you the way."

Keith blushes and looks at the floor. Veronica isn't helping his situation. "Lance showed me around earlier but I can't remember which is the guest room." There is just so many rooms here. It kind of reminds him of the castle.

"Well, then come on." She waves her hand and motions for him to follow. "It's not like anyone expected you to remember which room was which." When they reach the room, Veronica stops and leans against the door frame. She taps her toes, debating whether to say the next bit or not. "Hey." She starts, sure Lance will probably yell at her if he finds out about this. "Look, I know Lance is...not himself anymore but, it really does mean a lot to him that you visited. So thanks."

Keith smiles softly. "You don't have to thank me." He is a little happy he is the only one that has come to visit Lance, makes him feel special. "What has he been like since Allura?" He asks, wanting to know the truth.

"Yes. I do." Veronica seems more serious than usual. "It's not like he will." She bites her lip and sighs. Of course Keith wants to know. "It was rough for a while. He was...pretty broken. But, he...dealt with it in his own way." She looks to Keith and sighs. "There is a lot he hasn't told you. And, I feel like it isn't really my place to say it all. But, there are things about him and Allura's relationship that he doesn't talk about." She rubs one arm and looks...almost angry. "If you catch him in the morning, he's more likely to talk. His weak time if you will. Ask him then."

Keith nods. "Thanks Veronica. Oh!" He just remembered something and starts digging into his pocket. After a moment of fiddling around, he pulls out an odd shaped wrapped candy and two small rose charms. One is orange and the other is blue. "Acxa wanted me to give these to you," he says as he holds his hand open for her to take them. "The candy is her favorite."

Veronica lightens up and takes it with a huge smile. She looks them over then hugs Keith tight. "Thank you." She looks them over again and melts. "Give her hell for not visiting again when you go back for me will you?" Veronica waits for Krith's response then finally walks away. "Sleep well." She calls before rounding the corner.

Keith chuckles. "I will," he says then waves," Night." He pulls out his communicator as he enters the room. He sends Acxa a message to say that Veronica loved the gifts. He sits on the bed before flopping down onto the pillow. Does Lance's phone connect to Galran communicators? He messages mom to see if she can drop off one for him before putting the communicator down and going to sleep.

"Of course she did. I know what my girlfriend likes." Acxa teases a bit but is glad. Krolia doesn't respond right away but sends a message that comes early, likes, as the sun is rising. "I'll bring one by soon." Lance is surprisingly still asleep when the sun starts to rise but curls up tighter, trying to hide from the light.