"Party. Party." Lance began to dance excitedly when the Arusians had started to file into the Castle. Mesmerized by the Castle's interior, they waved joyfully to Lance.
"Great Warrior!"
"Welcome! Klyzap, hey buddy!" Lance ran to him when he entered, "Is Munto here?"
"S-She is arriving shortly," Klyzap glanced behind him towards the bridge, "Thank you for welcoming us, Great Warrior Lance."
"You can just call me Lance,"
"I did,"
"You don't need to add the great warrior, Klyzap," he paused, "Though it is appreciated."
"Lance," Klyzap tested. Seeing that his tall friend was not upset with using his name so formally, Klyzap grinned, "Lance!"
"Klyzap," Lance mimics him, "Come on in! Make yourself at home!" noticing one of the drinks floating around on the moving trays Coran has set up, he handed one to Klyzap. Taking a large gulp, Klyzap cheered.
"This is delicious!"
"Yeah?" Lance forgot to grab himself one. He would have to later. "Oh hey look- There is Munto." he motioned to the pink Arusian. "This is your chance, go talk to her."
"R-Right now?" Klyzap panicked.
"Yes, right now. She is alone. Go before some other guy Arusian tries to." Lance nudged him. Stumbling forward Klyzap approached Munto as stiffly as a robot, eyes wide with panic. Lance watched with a slight chuckle- the poor guy.
"Lance." Keith said behind him. Turning to the red paladin, he was surprised to be handed one of the cups from the trays. Not sure why Keith had grabbed him one, he took it anyway.
"Oh uh… thanks." he tried to be as polite and mature as he could about the situation, but as the hours passed, it was getting harder to look Keith in the eyes. It wasn't like he was worried about anything but- those eyes had been his downfall during Garrison.
Not saying that he was worried that would happen again here! No! Not at all. He was just being cautious of it- that was all.
Swishing his drink around a little, he cleared his throat, "… Good party, huh?"
"Yeah."
"..." He tapped his glass awkwardly. Noticing the King approaching Allura, he cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention.
"Great Warriors and Arusians! In honor of our new friends, we have prepared a performance in their honor!" he announced. If this was like the dancing, it should be interesting.
With that said, several Arusians ran forward, climbing on top of each other like a pyramid. Five Arusians seemed to combine to make one person, while two formed a second.
"We are Voltron!" One of the five proclaimed.
"We are the evil robot!" the other said.
"Oh my god…" Lance couldn't believe his eyes when they started to reenact the fight from earlier today. It was kind of touching, but also really cute.
"The monster fell from the sky. It was an epic battle but Voltron was victorious!" The king said, only to pale when the Arusians forming Voltron fell over in defeat, "No." he corrects them, "I said Voltron was victorious."
Quick to get back on their feet, they kicked at the other one, making him fall over. The Arusians let out a cheer.
Lance turned to laugh into his hand, "So…" he smirked at Keith, "Still consider these guys a threat?"
Keith gave him an angry pout, "They approached the castle with weapons."
"Yeah, a sword the size of a knife we use at dinner." Lance scoffed, "Not to mention, and I will forever repeat this, they barely come up to your knee- and that is only if they are tall Arusians. Just admit it, you jumped the gun."
"I did not- they could still have been a threat."
"Yeah, sure."
Allura was handing the King a device on the stairs, explaining that if the Arusians ever needed help, they could use that device to contact them. Taking it, the King lifted it into the air.
"Oooh-raa!" he exclaimed. The Arusians pumped their fists into the air.
"Eeeeeee!"
"We oughta get something like that." Hunk approached them
'Like what?' Lance inquired.
"You know, like a cheer." Hunk grinned.
"Hmm." Lance liked the idea of that, "Hey yeah. Okay, how about this one. I say Vol and you say-?"
Keith blinked rapidly when Lance looked at him, "uh… Voltron?"
Lance frowned, "No. Nonono, the cheer includes the instructions. I say Vol and you say~?"
The obliviousness that was Keith had never changed, not even since leaving Earth because he says, "...Voltron?" with a little frown.
"No, you say Tron. Do it with me. I say Vol and you say-"
"I say Vol and you say-" Keith repeated.
"Wha- no, don't copy me. Just say tron again." Lance ordered, "I say Vol and you say-?"
"Voltron... tron?"
Lance threw his arms up in defeat, "We'll work on it." he assured him. Turning he took a sip of the drink Keith had gotten for him. The taste was horrendous. Struggling to keep it down, Lance twisted and turned, gagging loudly, "Coran! What is this?" he demanded, shifting towards him.
"Oh, this is Nunvill, the nectar of the gods." he explained after his own sip of it.
"It tastes like hotdog water and feet." He barfed
"Yeah, it makes a wonderful hair tonic as well." sprinkling a few drops on his mustache, Lance watched in horror as it grew. The sight being too much for his stomach to bare, he covered his mouth and turned away.
Hunk and Keith watched curiously as he stood, shifting from side to side to get a better look at him, amazed at the different shades of green his face morphed into. His very stomach was twisting within, threatening to burst from this horrible stuff.
"Lance?" Keith poked his shoulder. He fell over.
Peeking at him from above, Hunk and Keith glanced at each other, not sure exactly what to do. "...You okay buddy?' Hunk inquired.
"Ugh…" he clutched his stomach, rolling onto his stomach, "I'm never drinking purple alien water again."
"..." Hunk slowly put his cup back onto the tray passing by, "Noted." he was willing to test his taste buds if Lance reacted this badly.
Helping him to his feet, they let Lance lean against a wall for a little while, leaving him there to go talk with a few Arusians. Allura has suggested they talk with as many as they could to practice their diplomatic part of being Paladins.
Lance was great with talking with people, as was most of the Paladins… but how in the world was Keith going to survive this? He was horrible with talking to other people.
Deciding it was best to move to keep himself going, Lance stumbled around aimlessly. Stomach still feeling ablaze, he noticed Klyzap running up the stairs. Curious to what he was doing, he followed.
He smiled to find a few dancing Arusians on the next floor of the ballroom, "Look at you guys go." he chuckled. Noticing Keith on the other side, he snorted when he saw the Arusians pulling on his arms, trying to get him to dance with them.
He was refusing with everything he had, pulling against their iron grip. "Hey, Keith." he teased, causing the other to freeze, "What's the problem? Don't know how to dance?"
"No." Keith grumbled, "I just prefer not to."
"Oh, I get it. Chicken." he mimicked said animal.
The Arusians were mesmerized by his dance, copying it. Not intending this, but going with it, Lance started to cluck around. "Chicken. Chicken!"
Keith's fists were shaking, wavering between walking away and punching Lance straight in the face. "I'm warning you-"
"You are just jealous because I am a better dancer."
"I am not-"
"Indeed, the blue hero is a much better dance than the red." One Arusian concurs.
"Hear that Keith?" Lance pointed at him, "I'm a better dancer."
Keith stormed forward at the challenge. "Oh yeah?!"
"Ooh, back up! The beast is coming through with his big old monster feet!" Lance stomped heavily into the ground to show his point.
"Lance." Keith barked
Lance snickered, having a little fun with. Twirling once, mimicking the Arusian's dance, he motioned to Keith to give it a try. As angry was he was a second ago, he suddenly seemed a little put out of place and stood awkwardly amongst the crowd. Looking around, watching the Arusians cautiously, he hesitantly moved his feet with them.
It was horrible, honestly. His body was stiff, shoulders squared all the way up to his ears. Keith really was not one who danced often- if ever.
It was strange, as much as Lance loved to dance, he couldn't recall ever taking Keith dancing with him back at Garrison. It had just never come to mind. He was almost grateful he didn't after seeing this sad sight.
"How are you doing Keith?" He didn't bother to even look back at him.
"Fine." Keith glanced at him. Everything about this situation was utterly unfair to him. Why did he have to start dancing with these things? Why did Lance of all people have to challenge him to it?
If that wasn't the worst of it- why did every Arusian have to look at Lance like he was some godly figure gracing them with his presence? They couldn't pull their eyes away from the way he moved, turning their bizarre way of dancing into the very definition of elegance.
It was very distracting in Keith's battle to prove Lance wrong- but the way he would swing his hips was- and his sinfully long legs-
Keith's head was spinning. Maybe he was just spinning too much? Was he even spinning? He was just kind of standing there, gawking at Lance. Start moving before he notices!
Tripping forward, he ran into an Arusian. It yelled in surprise.
Lance laughed at the sight as he twirled a few of the Arusians, following the way they moved their arms and legs. "Come on Keith, it isn't that hard."
"Shut up."
"Just go with the flow," he stomped his feet into the ground with the beat of the drums. Keith was doing the same behind him- or at least trying to. He was stepping on every Arusian's toes as he passed them, causing them to cry out and make Keith panic, stumbling from side to side.
"Uh- Sorry. Didn't mean to- Jeez!" Of course he was starting to get angry from this. Lance was sure he wouldn't be able to keep his anger in check and keep going- he just had to wait him out. Then he could brag about it to him for the rest of his life- sounded like a goal.
When the music stopped, they all cheered. "Well done Warriors!" Munto approached them. "Quickly! The next dance!" she called to the musicians. "We shall show you our most beloved dance." she explains. A different tempo began to sound and Lance noticed the Arusian's splitting off into partners.
Grabbing the closest Arusian he could, he had to bend down as low as possible to dance with it. He didn't mind, liking how brightly it smiled at him, giggling cheerfully. Following it as a guide, snorting to see Keith struggling very hard with this dance in particular, he was shocked when suddenly they switched partners.
"Oh? Is this one of those switching one? Cool!" he took a hold of the next Arusian without much complaint. Keith was yelling in frustration on the other side. Lance had this battle in the bag.
"Lance!" Klyzap seemed to be his next partner within this sea of dancing Arusians.
"Hey buddy!" he spun him,
"You dance well! You could be a top dancer to Arusian people!" he compliments.
"Aww, thanks. You dance with Munto yet?"
Klyzap lowered his gaze, "No. I do not know how to ask her. Klyzap's dancing is terrible."
"You seem fine to me." Lance insisted. "Here-" he spotted Munto, "I got a plan, follow my lead." He pulled Klyzap to the left, turning and weaving amongst the dancing Arusians till they were close to where Munto was dancing.
"Alright, when we switch partners, I'll push you towards her," he explained. Klyzap straightened and nodded nervously.
"A-Alright."
Taking a few more dancing steps, Lance could hear the tempo change, "Ready? Here is your moment." they both turned and spun to their next partner. Mid-turn, Lance could see Klyzap run into Munto, catching her when she fell off balance at his sudden approach. Sharing a nervous laugh, they smiled.
Mission accomplished- Oof!
Turning within the dance, he expected to start dance with another Arusian as he had before, instead he ran into a paladin. A red Paladin.
Caught in Keith's arm, the two stopped dead in their tracks, the music and dancers still moving rapidly around them.
"Dance! Dance!" The Arusians were cheering. By their command, and unable to even think on their own accord in their panicked states, the two moved in small circles. Keith's arm was caught around Lance's waist as his own arms rested on Keith's shoulders.
Their gazes could not be more startled, chained to each other in a way that made it impossible to look away. Dizzied by the spinning, Lance lowering his head, quietly gasping for air. He found himself staring at Keith's chin, then his neck, feeling horribly hot.
His adam's apple stuck out as much as Lance remembered it did- he had kissed that spot more times than he could count, treating it with such care- loving the way it moved whenever Keith swallowed or talked.
He gulped a the realization that his thoughts were taking him to dangerous territory- he couldn't breath. Everything felt tight enough to make him tremble when Keith tightened his grip.
Oh god...
Keith's eyes were still focused on him, turning Lance's legs to jelly.
Everything was hitting him too hard- this situation. Their proximity, Keith's raven hair- the way he parted his lips when he lost focus… Lance should pull away before this got out of hand.
'...Is this breaking rule two?" Keith broke the silence, eyes wide and pleading. His breath brushed against Lance's cheek and he shivered.
"No." he says quietly. Why didn't he say yes? He should have! This was an obvious breaking of a simple rule that HE made up!
When the time came to switch partners, Lance pulled away so fast he almost knocked the next Arusian over, having to scoop them up and spin to act as if he meant to do that. It didn't mind and cheered, causing a few others to clap at them.
Keith was still standing in the spot Lance left him, hand extended out slightly, mouth hanging open. Closing it, he stepped back, "I'm… I'm done dancing." he turned and left before anyone could stop him.
Lance had won the challenge in the end.
Yeah…
Lowering himself to his knees, the Arusian he held was puzzled, "Great Warrior?" it inquired.
"Wh-What?" he asked quietly.
"Your face…"
Lance lifted his hand to touch his cheek, "Is there something on my face?"
"No… but it is a brilliant red. Are you ill?"
Lance bit his lip and shook his head, "N-No. No I'm fine. I'm fine."
00000-0000
Allura watched joyfully from above the ballroom. It had been so long since they had this many guests within the Castle. It reminded her of when she was a child and traveled with her Father to far away planets, welcoming the residents within to discuss politics and strengthen their bond with the people.
While it wasn't quite the same, it still filled her with nostalgic warmth. "Look at them." she says to the mice by her side, "The new Paladins of Voltron. The fate of the Universe rests on their shoulders." Watching Keith push his way through the crowd, looking frustrated, he paused when an Arusian handed him a drink.
Usually one to turn down whatever attempts they made to interact with him, he snatched the glass away, desperate to wash away whatever was on his mind. Chugging down the drink, he gagged and spit it at Hunk.
Hunk reeled back, turning away to yell, "MY EYES!" he shot forward, using the food they were passing out as eyeballs. The Arusians burst into laughter.
Keith, who hadn't prepared himself for the joke, especially from Hunk, snorted, grinning goofily. Hunk was gaping at him, pointing at him in shock, as if he had never seen Keith laugh before. Allura wasn't surprised if he hadn't.
But still… the very sight of the scenario made her worried for the universe. Could she really rely on Paladin so young and inexperienced?
Sighing, she straightened, "I must portray strength." she told herself, "No one must know how worried I truly am over the fate of our mission." when the mouse squeaked next to her, she tensed, realizing they had heard everything she just said. "Let's keep that a secret." she requested. The mice jumped down to the railing. Curious, she blinked, "Who else has secrets?"
The mice squished the big mouse's cheeks.
"Hunk tried to eat what?" she chuckled, "That does sound hilarious." a second mouse stepped forward, changing its hair a bit. "Lance?"
The serious face mouse stepped forward next, and the two of them leaned towards each other, forming a heart with their tails.
Allura almost fell over, gasping, "What? No! No way!" she looked to the two in shock, "Are you serious?" she couldn't see Lance, but Keith was close enough for her to gawk at him.
The mice were quick to catch her attention, showing a broken heart with their tails. "They broke up? Oh but they- I mean I suppose-" she was thrilled at this news, feeling like a giddy schoolgirl, "That is completely adorable. They would be perfect for one another. Why in the world would they break up?" she demanded.
The mice shrugged, they hadn't figured that part out yet.
"Oh," Allura frowned, "But I guess that makes sense. They do seem to hate each other now."
The stern mouse stepped forward again, giving goo goo eyes to the Lance mouse. "...Except for Keith," she smirked. "Then… perhaps Lance still feels the same too? I should look into this." she decided. "Anything else?" she should talk gossip to the mice too often. If she had earlier, she would have appreciated any interaction Keith and Lance had earlier.
Finally, one of the smallest mice stepped forward, giving her large eyes, blushing a bit. Alluraspit on her drink, "Pidge is a what?!"
00000-00000
Feeling unable to dance, Lance retreated to the lower level of the ballroom, his heart heavy.
Finding Hunk, Lance took another glass of the stuff floating around. It was nasty, but he needed to drink something to quench the dryness in his throat. "Hey."
"Hey," Hunk says, staring at his drink. "Man I hate this stuff."
"Yeah, me too. But I guess we have to get used to this space juice. Who knows when we'll get back home again."
"Yeah, if ever." Hunk sighed
"What do you mean?" he frowned,
"I mean, if this Zarkon guy has been around for 10,000 years, who knows how long it will take for us to fix it. If we live."
"Right… that."
"Hey, what do you think the chances are of us landing on a nacho planet?" Hunk inquired.
Lance chuckled at him, "Well, there is only one planet with Varadero Beach, Pizza Shack looking over the water, and the garlic knots-" the more he began to list things, the more Lance missed Earth, "My Mom's hugs…" feeling oddly emotional, wondering if the nunvill was getting to him, he spotted Keith across the ballroom. Too many emotions were hitting him too hard for him to take. "I'm sorry." he looked down, sniffing when he felt the urge to cry hitting him, "I think this nunvill is getting to me. I gotta go." quick to run, he shot up the stairs before Hunk could stop him.
Ugh, he hated this!
Why couldn't he just be stuck on an alien planet in peace and not worry about every little thing like everybody else? Sure, they were all in the same situation, but Lance seemed to be the only one that was struggling to get through this.
Sighing, Lance trudged his way into the projection room. It least from here he could see Earth… even if it was just a speck on a screen.
"Mind if I join you?' Coran appeared from the halls. Shocked he was there, Lance turned to him.
"Oh… Coran." he says.
"You seem a little down." the older man notes, "Is there a problem?"
Lance sighed, "...How far away from Earth do you think we are?"
"Let's take a look." turning on the panel, the map of the universe appeared before them. "Earth is over here" Coran pointed to it, "And we're all the wayyyyyyyyyy overrrrrrrrr~" he started to spin the map. It was going and going and going-
Lance couldn't believe how far they really were. "You ever notice how far away the planets are from each other, Coran." Lance realized sadly, the fact turning into a cold hard reality for him.
"Yes. Haven't you been paying attention?"
"Yeah but I mean-" Lance got to his feet to approach the milky way, touching it delicately with his finger tips, "They are really far away. Like, Earth- it is so far, I can't even see it. T-The blue oceans, the white clouds… green grass." it broke his heart to think about it, "I can't see any of it." He could see in his dreams sometimes, but whenever he awoke, it was hard to remember that he wasn't there anymore. He was somewhere else, too far away to even tell his family he was okay.
That was the part that was killing him. They just left- without a word. His family would get a notice that he was missing class, and then it would change to that Garrison couldn't find him at all. Without so much of an explanation they would just have to deal with the fact that Lance was gone and wouldn't even know where.
And if he died out here, he could never tell them.
"You miss earth," Coran says gently, "I understand. I miss Altea." the hand Coran put on his back was comforting, and Lance sent him a grateful nod.
"I know we are suppose to be brave paladin defenders of the universe or whatever… but honestly, I just want to go home."
Coran nodded, "If I could go home I would." he admits.
"I miss rain and splashing in puddles.
"Rain?"
"Yeah, it's water that falls from the sky."
"Oh, we had that on Altea- only it wasn't water, more like rocks! Razor sharp and boiling hot!" he laughed, "They could knock a hole right in your head."
"Sounds… fun?" Lance cringed.
"Yeah." Coran sniffed. "Well Lance, I can't show you Earth- but I can be here if you need to talk." he put a hand on the younger man's shoulder.
"Thanks Coran."
Pulling at his mustache a bit, he gave Lance a little look, "So… I do have one question for you."
"Hmm? What's that?"
"Well, I was just taking a stroll on the upper levels and saw the Arusians dancing… I just so happened to see Keith and you. It was quite a sight, the two of you."
Feeling the blood rising to his face, Lance looked away, "Oh that? That was uh-" he chuckled nervously.
"You two were quite the pair." Coran smiled, "Haven't seen two as intensely focused as you both were. Made my heart go all a flutter."
Lance felt uneasy hearing that, "What do you mean?"
"Well, you have feelings for Keith, don't you" Coran says slyly.
"NO!" Lance yelled in a panic. Startled, Coran took a step back. Realizing he raised his voice, Lance flinched, "I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell that. I just-" his mind was pounding, too many thoughts to think straight. "I don't know."
Coran seemed to realize something just then, "...Perhaps not anymore, but you loved him once?" he guessed. When Lance took in a heavy gulp of air he knew he was correct. "I see." he nodded. "It must be hard being on the same team then…"
Lance sighed and nodded, "Yeah. It is."
"When did you two split apart?"
"A year ago."
"Then it is all still very fresh." Coran cringed, rubbing his chin, "I'm sorry, Lance. You do not have to tell me any more."
Grateful Coran didn't ask the details to their breakup, or the very relationship itself, Lance thanked him, "I appreciate it, Coran."
Patting Lance's back, Coran turned off the Universe map and motioned for Lance to follow, "Come along, I'm sure the others will start to wonder where we went."
"Gotcha." trudging after him, Lance lifted a hand to the small little robot Pidge had brought with them from the Galra ship. "Hey Rover." it was a cute little floating device that had been following Pidge around.
It floated past him without so much of even a beep. Frowning, Lance glanced back down the hall, expecting to see a green Paladin. When he didn't he asked, 'Hey, where is Pidge?"
Turning to look at Rover, he noticed it rising up to the crystal structure above. Pressing itself to it, Rover turned red and started to blink.
It wasn't Rover.
Gasping, dreading shooting through him, Lance recognized this type of device. It wasn't exactly like the stuff on Earth, but he could spot a bomb any day.
"Coran Look out!" he dove forward just as the machine exploding, erupting within the entire room.