With Lotor being untraceable for the time being, the team took a small rest in a quiet galaxy towards the edge of Zarkon's empire. Shiro had suggested that they try to regrow their bond through piloting, and try to work on forming Voltron again.
Lance thought Allura would suggest herself to fly Blue and was very surprised when she asked him to.
"Don't you want to go out there?"
"With Zarkon blind to our location, now is the best time to get some practice in since you haven't had a chance to pilot," Allura tells him. Hesitant at first, he agreed and got into his gear.
Landing in his shuttle a few minutes later to head down to his Lion, he eyed her warily with his approach. He had spent so much time on sparring and hand to hand combat that he hadn't had a chance to even take their lions for a test drive, let alone fight in combat with them.
He just hoped he wouldn't embarrass himself out there.
Those worries faded the moment he sat down in his seat, sliding up to the controls. Gripping the handles, he felt a wave of familiarity and Blue purr against his mind.
"Hey beautiful," he cooed, "Ready to do this?"
She rose, roaring into the hangar before shooting out.
Lance cheered as they spun out of the castle, forgetting what it felt like to pilot. This rush… he had missed it.
"You doing okay, Lance?" Shiro asks from the comms.
"Better than okay," He shot around Hunk, who chuckled.
"It's like you never left,"
Lance was half tempted to tell Hunk not to be friendly with him right now but he let that thought go. He was too happy to just be flying again to stay mad at them anyway.
"Alright, let's work on some flight maneuvers to give Lance a chance to recall all the controls of his lion, then work on forming Voltron," Shiro instructed.
"Right," everyone agreed. Once Lance started to relearn how to pilot his lion, it didn't take long to recall everything from those months lost.
Lance and Keith cheered, forgetting what it felt like to do this. They felt powerful, in sync.
They flew around for at least an hour, practicing their moves and recalling how to fight as a unit.
He just had to get used to the speed and general body size of the lion. He almost ran right into Hunk when passing him.
"Sorry," he called.
"It's fine," Hunk assured him.
"Just don't freeze us, Lance," Pidge tells him.
"It would be funny if he did," Keith grumbled. He hadn't meant for Lance to actually do it…
There was probably one, or maybe two seconds of silence before Pidge was screaming, the head of her lion frozen over from the ice beam. "LANCE!"
A wail of laughter quickly followed. If Pidge wasn't busy nose diving because she could see past her screen, the team would have been shocked to hear the Red paladin cackling in such a way.
Lance's ears were in heaven at the sound, grinning at Keith through the screens peering into their lions.
Okay, so it was childish, and probably severely mean. Lance knew this, and honestly, he wouldn't have done it normally- but he couldn't help it right now.
Shiro's voice was deep when he barked at the Blue paladin. "Lance! We are supposed to be bonding right now!"
"I am bonding." he explained. "Keith said it would be funny, and look- it was funny. Perfect bonding moment between us two,"
"I feel closer already," Keith snickered. "Ice looks good on you, Pidge."
"Looking 'cool' Pidge," Lance tells her.
Keith snorts and turn to Pidge, firing his own Lion to unfreeze it. Pidge sighed in relief, looking at the screen testingly. Then… her lips curled, almost like she was about to smile and laugh with them.
Lance held his breath, and then Shiro spoke.
"Team!" he barked. "Let's show a little maturity here and focus. I know we are all a little stressed and we wish things could be better between us right now, but we need to focus. Let's work on maneuvering around each other at our fastest speeds so we don't run into one another during battle." reluctantly the team agreed and they started moving their lions in circles, picking up the speed.
Lance began to find the drill boring after a while.
"Good reaction time team. Keith, you're slowing down," Shiro announced. The fastest lion of them all, Keith's lion seemed to be moving at the same speed to the Black lion, which definitely wasn't normal. Keith hardly replied at his announcement, giving the camera a sour look.
Lance frowned.
He would be passing by Keith here soon….
He adjusted his controls, speeding up his lion just a little more. He could see Keith getting closer and an idea sparked within. The closer they got, the more Lance began to tilt Blue, "A little bit more...Anddddd angle it just right~" he suddenly bumped into Keith. Blue slide against the side of the Red lion, and Keith let out a yell of shock followed by a grunt when his lion was pulled back.
Not sure what happened he looked back to see Lance had intertwined the tails of their lions, causing them to spin in a wild circle.
"Lance," Shiro says
"By accident~" he insists, "This could totally be a new attack. The spinning lions of death!"
He could hear Shiro sighing, the very definition of disappointment. He wanted Lance to take this seriously and be a more mature member of the team.
He wanted Lance to be strong out in the lines if Allura could not.
Lance understood that, but Keith has said an approximate of 20 words today. 20 words!
He never talked to anyone if he could avoid it, he only stared at his feet- Lance didn't want Keith to fall back into how he was before. The team didn't know- they didn't see the change Lance saw.
They were used to this Keith, but Lance knew better. Keith had grown gentler. He wanted to talk and be approachable and he had been that was on Iespion. He wasn't some loner… he just had trouble connecting with people sometimes. He had loved talking with Dravla, Tellru, Ruru and all the other Coeihns.
It was obvious to Lance just how much Keith wanted to become good friends with the team when they first found him. But he was hurt.
Lance was too.
So he didn't care if it made him look like a fool in Shiro's eyes- he was going to get Keith laughing and smiling if it killed him.
"Spin master~!"
He could hear Keith laughing, but it was faint. A quiet nose like a snicker- like he was trying to hold back but he just couldn't do it.
"Both of you separate this instant," Allura commanded from the castle, not happy one bit. Lance defiantly held the spin for a few seconds longer before deciding it was best to pull apart. When he tried, he found himself unable to move.
"Oh well great, now we are actually stuck," he sighs. Keith was howling on his end of the transmission.
"They've been hooked by the tails~" Coran says in a deep voice like a sports announcer
Lance swears he thought he heard Hunk, and maybe even Pidge giggle a little bit. It made him happy.
He should be mad at them. He shouldn't care if they found this funny and he definitely shouldn't be happy that they found this funny.
But he did.
He wanted everyone to smile and just be happy in the scarce moments they could be in this war.
Hunk slowly flew up to their tails, voice high pitched, "H-Here, let me help," he giggled, pawing at their tails. It did little to help.
"Come on, Hunk," Lance laughed
"I'm trying~" he covers his mouth, laughing into his palm.
"Team," Shiro sighs.
"We might need some space butter," Pidge suggested.
Lance threw his head back and laughed, "What even is that?"
"Space butter! Butter for space," Pidge came up to their tails, pressing the head of her lion to them. She didn't move. Keith was looking up, arms crossed, his smile crooked.
"How is that supposed to help Pidge?"
"I'm calling upon the energy of the universe to separate you two," she insists. The four of them share a laugh, and man, it's great.
Lance wonders why it couldn't just be like this? Why did things have to be complicated?
"Team!" Allura yelled at them. The mood snapped in two, everyone's expressions dropping, "It will only be a matter of time before Zarkon arrives and you still haven't learned how to form Voltron! Separate, now!"
Lance gave her a sour look, moving his controls to try and get free. Not sure why they were stuck together, he could see Keith's hands slowly moving. Red's tail suddenly untangled, and Lance realized Keith had been purposively holding on- keeping them together.
His heart swelled, his smile sad, but he said nothing.
Getting back into training, the mood dull from a few minutes before, they flew in silence.
"Good formation team," Shiro says, "Now-" he sounded hesitant, "Let's form voltron!"
A moment later, they were moving, their lions angling up.
"Alright, stay in formation," Shiro instructed. Lance held his breath as they shot upward. He wanted to form Voltron- he did. So he closed his eyes, squinting them shut and quietly wished for a miracle.
Making wishes only got a person so far though, and he found himself simply flying upward for a good couple of minutes.
"We didn't form voltron," Hunk says, dejected.
"Of course we didn't!" Keith snaps, pulling away from the unit, similar to the day before during their try with Allura present. The team return dejected, landing in their hangars and sauntering out- looking awful.
"Alright, let's take a small break and get back out there team," Shiro tells them, attempting to stay optimistic.
"And do what? Not form Voltron again?" Pidge sighs.
"We tried," Shiro says.
"And we failed," Keith concluded. "No surprise,"
"Keith, we don't need attitude right now," their leader sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. Keith seemed to take this like a challenge however and his eyes flared.
"I wouldn't give it in the first place if it wasn't for you," he jabbed a finger out, "We would probably be able to form voltron too if it wasn't for all of you and how you have been!"
Shiro lowers his hand, jaw set, "Keith, not now,"
"When is a good time then? You expect me just nod my head and just go with whatever you say?"
"We need to focus on defeating Zarkon-"
"Exactly!" The red paladin barks, "That should be our focus! So how come all you three seem to care about is what's going on between Lance and I?"
Lance lifts his hand, not wanting to start such a heated argument with all of them so tired. "H-Hey-"
"Not now, Lance!" Shiro turned to snap at him. Keith was quick to his defence. You never yelled at Lance. He had done nothing wrong.
"Don't yell at him!" Keith stepped forward. To Lance's horror, he realized he was going to punch Shiro and quickly stepped forward to stop him.
"Keith, no!" he snagged his wrist, pulling back.
Keith froze, looking back at him in surprise, "But he-"
"Starting a fight won't do anything," he fingers slide down, pressing to Keith's fist. Looking down, he slowly uncurled his fingers and wrapped them around Lance's.
With a squeeze the two stepped back, the fuse on this bomb too short for anyone's comfort.
"L-Let's just calm down," Hunk offered,
"Yeah, we're just tired," Pidge says softly. Shiro looked over the team, eyes growing heavy. He nodded, running a hand up and through his bangs.
Opening his mouth, perhaps to tell them they were excused, or perhaps to apologize, Lance would never know, for Allura had walked into the room.
"What are you all doing in here? You should be out there, re-learning how to form Voltron," she snapped irritably.
"We're trying," Shiro tells her gently, "The team needed a break."
"We were out there for hours," Pidge added with a yawn. Lance felt reminded of those first few days they were at the castle. How all of them had been tossed headfirst into training- Allura expecting all of them to have it mastered in a matter of hours.
Back then, she had tried her best to get them to work as a team- and secretly had them look to her almost as an enemy to help grow their bond. Well, she was definitely an enemy now- but it wasn't an act this time.
"Just lazing about will get nothing done!' she scoffs.
"Pushing ourselves past our limits isn't going to help either," Shiro tells her firmly, "We haven't had 5 lions for months and Lance and Keith haven't had a chance to get used to their piloting fully yet either. Things like this take time."
"Zarkon will give you no such time," she says curtly. Her gaze turned to the Blue and Red paladins in question. "As for you two-" her gaze snapped to their hands. "Separate,"
"No," Keith growled, his hand tightening around Lance's.
Allura stepped forward, taking this sign of defiance unwell, "I said separate, right now. You two can't seem to handle being together. I am very disappointed in the behavior I saw out there. You two were goofing off instead of taking the training seriously,"
"We took it seriously," Keith disagreed, his eyes heavy.
"Your spinning lions connected by the tails says otherwise," she jabbed a finger at him. He barely batted his eyes at her. He was too tired to even try.
Lance could see it from the moment they had breakfast that Keith hadn't seemed to sleep that well the night before. He was sluggish, his movements slow in training compared to the day before. "I expect Lance to be at a lower skill set than the others, but I know you are still up to par with them, Keith. Today your movements were lazy, uncoordinated, sloopy-"
Keith opened his mouth, a dark look in his eyes, "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
Allura hesitates for a moment, narrowing her eyes. "Exactly as I say. You aren't giving your full effort-"
"No," he holds up his hand, "About Lance,"
The paladin in question was pale, hurt by Allura's words then shocked to Keith's defense towards him. "K-Keith, it's fine-"
"No, it isn't." he steps towards Allura, furious,
"Lance has put his all in for this team since coming back and you just insulted him."
Allura arches her eyebrow, "He's goofed around in training, has taken nothing serious-"
"Right here," Lance lifts a hand to remind everyone he was present for this talk. His chest felt painfully tight. "I take this team very seriously,"
"I don't see that,"
"Allura," Shiro tries to calm her, "Lance has been putting in a good effort considering the circumstances-"
"Are you saying he doesn't distract Keith with his antics? He doesn't purposively go out of his way to draw Keith's attention to him instead of training?" she turns to him so suddenly he goes pale. Opening his mouth, he slowly lowered his gaze.
"He does that."
"I do it to get a laugh, yeah- but that's just because Keith needs it," Lance steps forward to defend himself.
"So you admit you do it on purpose?" Allura seethed.
"Because he needs it!" he motions to Keith, "He- Look at him! He looks like a zombie walking around!" he turns to Keith, his tone turning gentle, "Have you even been sleeping well?" Caught off guard, Keith averted his gaze, shrugging meekly.
"If he is having trouble sleeping then he can come to Coran for sleeping pills." Allura rolls her eyes.
"Oh, right. Cause that will help the issue. I can't rely on any of you to try and get his spirits up, so I do it!" Lance says.
"Lance," Keith says softly, not even realizing that is why he had been doing it. It was actually very touching, but hurt to know Lance put himself in bad light just to get him to laugh.
"You'll never form Voltron if you can't focus," Allura is back to yelling, pointing at Lance. "Your immaturity is endangering the team!"
"What team?!" he motions around, "This? This isn't a team. I'm not the reason we can't form Voltron. If I was, you guys would have been able to do it when you were flying! Oh wait, that's right. Even when you were the Blue paladin, you still couldn't form Voltron!"
Allura stepped back, as if Lance had slapped her.
"We can't form voltron because this stupid team is in shambles!" he roared, his blood pumping like hot lava in his veins. He was so angry…. He had never felt this angry in all of his life. "So what is the point of having two blue paladins if neither of us can do it? Honestly, it's probably better you are the paladin instead of me. You're, as you say, 'mature' right?" he takes off his helmet and tosses it to her, "If you think you are better at this than me, then maybe you are right. Maybe you are. So you take it, Allura. You are at better standings with the rest of the team anyway! We probably have a better chance of forming Voltron with you since you aren't pissed off at everyone else in the room, minus Keith and Coran, like I am! And I say Coran because he is an amazing mustached man!"
On cue, Coran's fluffy mustache seems to puff out, eyes wide with everyone's quick look in his direction.
"I…." Allura's voice cracks weakly, "What are you saying, Lance?"
"I'm saying you can have it," he is already ripping off the armor, chucking it to the floor. The team flinched with each heavy crack that followed. Keith was holding arm up in the air to stop him, but couldn't seem to form the words.
"S-so you're-?" Hunk trailed off.
"That's right Hunk. I quit,"
"You can't do that…!" Allura shakes her head.
"I just did! You can pilot Blue, Allura. So you don't need me," he is grinning, feeling like he might throw up. How could he feel both defeated and victorious in one stead?
Standing in just the undergear, he gives a peace out sign to the team. He turns to leave- wait wait.
He back tracks, snagging Keith's hand and tugging him along.
When he tries to walk off with the fumbling red paladin, Allura attempted to stop them, but he cut her off. "Not a paladin," his voice overtops hers, "Your dumb code doesn't apply to me,"
"Lance," Shiro is narrowing his eyes. Looking self righteous, his eyebrows rising like they always did when he was about to lecture them, Lance cuts him off with his hand.
"Not my leader anymore, definitely not my Dad- I don't have to listen to a single thing you say," he lists them off one by one, taking the time to watch Shiro's mouth falling open. He left them then- stuck in their utter shock, jaws hanging open and eyes wide.
Lance wondered if he would regret this later, but right now, running through the castle halls hand in hand with a shocked Keith- it was totally worth it.
"L-Lance… Lance!' Keith is calling him frantically, his tone panicked. Lance pants, not even realizing how long they had been running. Aimless with no set location, he tugged them into another hall.
"What?"
"You can't do this!"
Lance stumbles to a stop, confused, "Why not?"
Keith gulps for air, "Because piloting is everything you have ever wanted!"
"I don't want to spend another day apart from you Keith," he releases his hand and turns to face him. Parlogs, Keith was so beautiful. Creamy skin framed too perfectly by black tousled hair. His eyes shining like the stars themselves.
He is talking for a while before Lance returns his focus to his words, "Allura doesn't deserve to be the blue paladin. You do," he grips Lance's arms. "I don't want you giving this up this dream because of me!
"This dream isn't worth it if you can't be in the picture," his voice comes out clear, certainty ringing through every word.
Keith falters, "I don't-" His eyes flicker downward when the Blue paladin steps closer. One step, two- their noses touch. When Lance brushes his mouth against the corner of Keith's it takes every ounce of the not-inconsiderable restraint he's established to fend off the urge to kiss him and tug him into the closet bedroom.
"Lance," he warns, voice hushed to a whisper. They are looking at each other, too many emotions fighting back and forth in their eyes to come to a reasonable conclusion. The seconds tick by like heavy bells banging against each other in their chests.
Keith's voice cracks an octave, a cue for Lance to surge forward.
He cuts off whatever Keith was going to say the moment his mouth slides against his- their first kiss in days. One second, two, Keith's eyes are sliding closed. Pressed against the wall behind him, the two pulled back gasping. Keith can hardly think before he is tugging Lance back in.
The buzz in their heads was blinding and before they knew it, Keith's upper paladin armor had been removed and they were straddling each other on the floor.
"Wait…" Keith finds enough sense to pull back a few inches. Lance follows after him, blocked by Keith's hand between their mouths. "I can't let you do this,"
"Kiss you?" Lance pouted.
"What? No. No you- you can do that whenever you want," he swallows, "I mean letting you quit being a paladin."
"If I'm a paladin, I can't kiss you. I can't hug you or cherish you,"
The brush of Lance's hand to his cheek breaks Keith's heart. It wasn't fair. It could be so easy to just let Lance quit and keep him by his side, but it wouldn't feel right by him. Lance could say he was happy with the choice now but what if down the line he grew bitter from it?
"You'll regret it." he insists, "You'll be mad at me for tearing you away from it."
"One, I would never do that," Lance pokes his nose, eyes narrowed, "And secondly, I'm doing this for a lot of reasons, Keith. The team needs you a lot more than they need me,"
"That isn't true…"
Lance wasn't sure he could ever believe him on this, "You heard Allura. She is a better pilot than me anyway. They don't need me."
"I need you on the team," Keith cups his face, "I don't care what Allura thinks. She's wrong,"
His heart hurts, feeling like if they kept talking about this, he might not be able to contain the tears he so desperately wanted to shed. "Sweetheart," he pleads with him, lifting his chin, "Can't we talk about this later?"
The red paladin's eyes waver, "Why later?"
"Because right now I want to kiss you and make up for lost time," Lance can see the argument dying off, hidden away to go back to later. Because they would definitely be talking about this later. Keith was stubborn like that.
But for now, they were happy just to kiss the other senseless.
0000-0000
The next day things were both great and fantastic- which hadn't been something he could say about the recent week. Lance didn't care about the looks Shiro and the others gave him as he walked into the room, hand in hand with Keith. They didn't like it then boo hoo for them.
He was able to kiss, snuggle, or flirt with Keith whenever he wanted now. Best part, Allura just let it happen. Mostly.
She seemed like she wanted to argue it sometimes, but with the code not in play she had no power over them. So she just let it be, going back to her own responsibilities.
Keith, on the other hand, was being a little difficult. He seemed to adore this time with Lance, but the blue paladin could practically feel the guilt oozing off of him.
He was blaming himself and despite how much Lance tried to tell him it wasn't his fault, the mullet was stubborn.
Of course, Lance also had to find something to do with his time as the team did their training exercises. He wandered the halls at first, then took to Coran, asking him to show him how to castle worked. It was extremely complicated, as he assumed it would be, but Coran did his best to explain it in a way he would understand.
At least he got some alone time with Keith. That is what made this all worth it.
That is untill Keith started to get grumpy with him about who was supposed to be the Blue paladin or not.
"Keith," Lance pouted at him, moving his hair to the side to lather the back of his neck with kisses. Keith refused to look at him, staring out the window into deep space. "I want attention."
"I want you to be a paladin," Keith countered.
Lance groans, "Keith~"
"I mean it."
Folding his arms, Lance turned away, "Fine. No kisses then."
A decent 5 minutes passed before Keith was tugging on his sleeve, cheeks flushed, "I... I want kisses,"
Lance smiles, "You gotta drop this Paladin thing then."
"I can't. Using kisses against me is cheating," he frowned.
Lance considered that as he reached out to grip Keith's chin and turn his head upward. Sharing a small kiss, they pull back smiling. "How was that?"
"I still call it cheating," Keith says. his heart starting to pound heavily against his rib cage. He inched closer, taking Lance's face into his hands.
There is a smile, "At least I'm not a thief."
Keith was taken aback, "I've never stolen anything."
In response, Lance's eyes fluttered shut, his long lashes fanning over smooth skin, "You stole my heart," he said, and the softness in his voice almost undid Keith. Lance wasn't allowed to be corny like this and have Keith melting at his words alone. He was so cheesy.
Keith loved it.
Their lips touched and that was it. All the self-control he'd exerted over the past two weeks shattered. Lance's arms came up around his neck and he pulled him against him, Keith's hands flattening against his back. Lance kissed him fiercely.
Prepared to sink into this moment, Keith heard a soft slide of the door in his ears, and it jolted him back to reality. He pulled away from Lance to turn his head. Shiro stood at the door, eyes wide and frozen.
A second passed before his eyes washed away any emotion to signify how he might feel about the display. "It's time for training, Keith."
Keith kept eye contact, his hand tightening to Lance's hips. "I'll be right there."
Shiro's voice was tight, "Now, Keith."
There was a moment of disobedience, Keith challenging their leader with his eyes to try and get him to leave- but Lance's soothing hand to his shoulder was the final deciding factor. He got to his feet, leaving Lance along the couch towards the western hall of the castle to stare at the stars alone.
Knowing they were heading towards their lions to go attempt to form Voltron once again, he stayed where he was so he could watch them. It took only a few minutes before Coran was screaming over the intercom.
His voice was loud and panicked, calling for aid from the paladins.
"Something is wrong with the Blue lion!"
Lance's breath caught in his throat. He shot off of his seat, dashing down the hall.
When he finally got down there Blue is roaring like mad, jumping around the hangar bay in a tantrum. Lance had never seen her move on her own before now- especially not in such a show of aggression. "What happened?!"
"I do not know!" Allura says, staying close to the sides to avoid the wrath of the lion "I tried to go in for training and then she suddenly went wild!"
The team quickly ducked to the side when Blue tossed herself over.
"Is she hungry?" Hunk asked.
"She's a robot, she doesn't eat!" Pidge says.
"Coran?" Shiro called upward. Coran was looking over his scanners but couldn't seem to find anything affecting the mighty beast. Allura did her best to quell her Lion, but her words didn't seem to reach it all.
"She isn't listening to me..."
Lance cupped his hands around his mouth, "BLUE! You gotta stop! You are destroying the place!" a few seconds passed, then Blue froze. She turned slowly, her yellows eyes locking in on Lance's form. He tensed for a moment then smiled. "Hey beautiful. Hey," he lifts his hands up gently. "It's okay. You are safe- but you gotta tell us what's up. Why are you doing this?"
Blue moved closer, sitting in front of the paladins.
Then, like a hungry hungry hippo, a game Lance enjoyed a lot as a child, Blue's head shot out and swallowed him up like a little ball.
The screams that followed were almost comedic if he wasn't seeing his life flash before his eyes. Death as a chew toy for a giant killer lion. Was she mad at him? Upset that he had quit?
"Lance!" Keith yelled when Blue lifted her mouth, tossing him deeper down her throat. Sliding down the metal, her jaws clamping down, entrapping him, Lance rammed into the back wall. He groaned, making a tight noise.
The next thing he realized they were moving- or more of flying? Getting to the pilot seat to see what was happening, he realized they were out of the Castle and shooting into space. "What the- Blue stop!" he stumbled to the seat, struggling to sit down.
Lance screamed when Blue shot to the left without his meaning too. "Blue?! Blue stop!"
She was booking it, angling down to the planet below, moving through an asteroid belt.
"Lance?" Shiro called in shock from Blue's communication set, "What's happening? Are you alright?"
Lance tugged on the controls but they seemed to do nothing for his situation. He reached forward to click the button, pulling up the screens connecting to the other Lions. The others were leaving the castle as they spoke, attempting to follow, "I don't know! Blue is acting on her own- AGH!" they ducked right again, almost slamming into an asteroid.
Keith was already turning his Lion, attempting to follow after him. Since he was faster and more skilled, he was able to maneuver through the asteroid field with ease, catching up to Lance in no time. "Lance?"
"I'm fine, it is just Blue-" Blue did a nose dive and they were moving around the planet, Keith hot on their tail. "Girl! Where's the fire?! What's up?!" he shrieked. Up, down, left right, swirly motions- Lance was starting to feel sick. "Gonna... throw... up..." he covered his mouth, gagging.
Tossed in his chair, almost falling out several times, they suddenly started to pick up speed and he realized it was because they were entering the atmosphere of a planet. Not even sure how long they had been flying, he pressed a hand to his controls.
Static echoed around him, making it virtually impossible to contact the team.
Was Blue kidnapping him?
A few minutes later they were landing, and Lance was stumbling out, pissed, "What…. In the world?!" he gasped, turning to jab an accusing finger at his lion. "I just reunited with the team- we can't just ditch now!" Blue didn't respond. "Are you ignoring me?! We gotta go back!" He yelled and hollered, ignored completely. Stomping his feet angrilly, he yelled whatever he could think of, not understanding what his lion- what.. what Allura's Lion, was trying to do. "Blue, we gotta go back!"
Blue turned. Recognizing the sound of approaching engines, Lance followed her gaze upward. To his surprise, the Red Lion was coming down for a landing.
At least Keith was able to keep up with him, but none of the others seemed to follow. The black and yellow lion were too big and too slow to keep up with his pace, and Pidge still wasn't as expert a flier to maneuver here way through an asteroid belt.
"Lance!" The jaw of the red lion opened and Keith leaped out. He ran out to meet him, chucking off his helmet. Lance lifted a hand in greeting, almost falling over when Keith barrelled into him.
"What happened?" he cupped his face, looking for damage, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he smiles, "Blue didn't do anything. I mean, she never would. She just kidnapped me... I guess." he shrugs.
They sat there for a while, the situation sounding strange, even to them. Looking up at the accused kidnapper, they titled their heads. "Blue?" she didn't respond, though it wasn't like she could talk. Confused, Keith took Lance's hands and helped him up.
"We should get back to the castle-" He jumped when Blue suddenly fell over like a dying cat.
"BLUE?!" Lance freaked, running up to check on her. Placing a hand to her head he was desperate for a response. Her thoughts echoed in his mind... She was the epitome of drama queen, insisting that she couldn't go on and was seeing the light. He faintly heard the thoughts of something like "Guess Keith and you will have to stick around" or something like that. Wait... what?
"I can give you a ride back in my lion and we can get to the castle. It's too big to get through the asteroid field so we'll have to go around it. That'll take some time but we can come back for Blue," Keith offered.
Lance faintly heard him as he took a look at their surroundings.
The planet they had landed on was peaceful, covered in heavenly flowers. They stretched out to the distance, moving over a few hills that eventually changed to yellow sand.
An ocean lay beyond that.
The gears were moving in his mind, Keith's words fading away.
Curiously, he looked up at their lions, "You brought us here for a reason, didn't you?" He smiles. Keith stops tapping on his helmet, confused
"A reason?" He frowns, "What possible reason-?"
He cuts off when Lance reached between them, intertwining their fingers. The sensation was startling, sending sparks up Keith's spine.
He doesn't even have a chance to breathe before Lance is stepped forward to embrace him. He melts into him, his chest loosening.
"Lance?" he whispers into his shoulder, sinking into his arms.
"We get a moment alone," the other smiles, "I missed you, Keith,"
His fingers tremble, clawing up Lance's back to curl into his hair. "Oh…" he glances up at red with a similar realization, "I've missed you too," pressing against him as hard as they can, he chuckles weakly,
"Kidnapped to go on a date- what sassy lions we have," Lance snickers,
"Yeah…"
They fell into each other's arms and kissed like they were coming up for air after being underwater for days. The melding of their mouths was sweeter than oxygen. Together they took huge, deep gulps of each other as they struggled with worldly constraints like clothing and gravity, seeking to transcend it all in their coming together.
"I'm thinking some legit poetic stuff right now," Lance murmurs against Keith's lower lip.
"L-Like what?"
"I can't even remember now, something about gravity and transcending. I've missed you," Lance manages to gasp through the small parting of their lips.
"Me too,"
They had seen each other all day, but to Lance, it felt like it had been an eternity since he was truly able to have Keith here with him.
"Wanna go on a stroll down the beach?" Lance grins.
"I would love to."
With small smiles, the took off into the sand. Keith was so dashing in his paladin gear. It highlights his hips, broadened his shoulders and chest- showed off his legs nicely.
"What?" Keith asked when Lance had stared just a little longer than usual.
"You look nice," Lance nuzzled into him. "So, what's up lately? We haven't had a chance to talk."
Keith, who seemed to have a pact of silence all week, was a chatterbox during their walk along the shore. Hand in hand with Lance, he talked about how much he had missed piloting red. How he forgot how fast she was or what their bond felt like.
He talked about hating the goo but liking the stuff Hunk made, talked about getting lost in the castle because he forget where everything was, showed Lance the Star Guider watch in person, showing the different information and fawning over it.
He just had so much to say but no one to share it with. Because Keith had gotten used to that.
In the last 7 months he got used to telling Lance about every little thought that came into his head instead of just keeping it to his thoughts like he used to.
He did the same with Tellru, Dravla and Ruru because they didn't expect him to be quiet. They didn't give him weird looks if he suddenly laughed a little too loud at a joke, or smiled just to smile.
He know understood why Lance was the way he was. Why he talked so much.
It felt good to talk to others.
But he didn't feel like talking with the team. He didn't want to, and when he did try, they thought it was strange. To them, he was the grumpy loner...
Sometimes he thought that was all Shiro expected him to be. Of course, before Keith was grateful that Shiro accepted even despite being that. He just wished Shiro could understand that he didn't always want to be that. He wanted to change and be a different person, and being with Lance inspired him to do just that.
"It's not the same if you aren't out there..." his voice grew soft. Lance's hand tightened.
"Keith," he sighs.
"I mean it," he turns to face him, refusing to let this go. "You are the Blue paladin. Maybe Allura is able to do it too, but that doesn't mean you aren't any less important. Blue picked you first,"
Lance lowers his gaze. "I can't be with you if I'm a paladin Keith."
Keith steps closer, gripping his shoulders. "We'll figure that out. They can't stop us, Lance. But I don't want them or even me to be the reason that you stop piloting." He looked up at Lance with those sparkling eyes that had swept him up the first time. Perhaps Keith had a point but... If he was going to even consider being a paladin again, he was going to make sure he soaked in every second he could.
"Keith..." he gripped his hips and pressed him backwards. The paladin helmet slipped from his fingers and fell into the sand.
Keith was startled when he was shoved against the side of a tree. Gulping when Lance placed both his arms at the sides of Keith's head, pinning him, he blinked up at him with wide eyes. "W...What are you doing?" he asks, his voice weak and raspy.
Brushing the side of Keith's face, Lance whispers between them, "I want to show my Equivalent how much I love him," at this, Lance leaned in impossibly close, the slender muscles in his forearm flexing as he bent his elbows, bringing himself closer, their lips almost touching.
Keith grew legitimately concerned that his heart might explode.
Even though they'd been together all day, Keith couldn't get over the feel of him- Of Lance. His taste, or even that potent, delicious smell of his neck.
"S-Show me," he pleads.
Lance smiles, kissing him softly before saying, "Keith, I adore you," he murmured, his eyes hazy, "And your views. I think of you as an equal. My equal. I respect your brains, your spirit, and all those crazy conspiracies you like to think about. But I also want to rip your clothes off and have sex with you until you scream. All the time."
Keith's blood was boiling, his breathing already sounding more like panting. So many details were coming into focus that Keith couldn't process them all in the time had had. The shape of Lance's lips, the line of his neck, the slight curl of his hair peeking out from behind his ears.
"What are you waiting for then?" he challenged.
Pressing together, they kissed. Minutes passed, perhaps even an hour, Lance's jacket and the top of Keith's armor has been tossed to the side. If Lance assumed correctly, he knew where this was headed. He could see the urge in Keith's eyes, and was willing to give it to him, but he heard a faint beeping. Their eyes slide over to the helmet, a blue light blinking, showing they were getting a call.
The team was getting close.
"We... should probably head back," Lance whispers.
"Yeah." Keith stood, cheeks flushed and raven hair tousled. To Lance, he was so beautiful that it made his soul ache. He wished desperately that Keith could always look like this during the day, with that look in his eyes. There was a softness in them that he rarely saw at other times- a total and complete vulnerability compared to his normally guarded and analytical outlook.
At the same time, Lance didn't want anyone else to see this side of Keith.
Taking his face into his hands, he kissed him, murmuring, "I love you,"
With that smile that sent his heart racing, Keith mused, "Me too," Collecting the top of Keith's paladin armor, Lance paused. Instantly he grinned mischievously and threw it on.
A few moments later Keith stops, looks down to see that his chest plate was around Lance's chest, "Give it back,"
"Give what back?" he muses.
"You have mine, give it back," Keith tells him, trying to reach for him. Lance is already running.
"I don't see what you mean!" he cackles, "This is totally my armor. I mean, don't you see how snug it is on me? Squeezes me in all the right way! "
"Lance!" Keith yells, despite grinning from ear to ear, "Don't make that sound dirty!"
When Keith tackled him, they rolled into the sand laughing. Falling onto their backs, taking a few more minutes to themselves, they sigh content. "Why can't it be just like this?" Keith asked quietly.
"I don't know. I wonder why relationships aren't allowed in the paladin code," Lance admits
Keith shrugs, "Probably decided a long time ago,"
"But why?" Lance frowns, "I mean, it wasn't the Lions who decided it,"
"Huh?" Keith asked
"The lions choose their paladins, but Blue and Red have been completely supportive of this. Blue was thrilled when I told her,"
"Red too," Keith agreed, nodding slowly. "They uh- geez, they don't shut up about it."
Lance chuckles, "So then, obviously it wasn't the lions who decided this dumb rule."
"It was the Alteans," Keith realized
"Yeah, it has to be. But why? I just- Allura was so…"
"Mad?" Keith grumbled, pissed just at the thought of her
Lance shakes his head, "Well yeah but she also seemed…" he trailed off not sure how to describe it,
"Furious?"
"No,"
"Over exaggerating?"
"No." Lance sat up. He spoke softly, "She looked afraid,"
Keith tilts his head, staring at Lance for a long time, "What would she have to fear from this?"
"That is what I would want to know," Lance tightens his grip on Keith's hands, "I just wish I knew why the paladin code was decided that way. I don't know if it'll change anything, but maybe knowing would help me convince Allura."
"I don't see why you have to 'convince' her of anything," Keith says sourly, "She made her choice. She picked a dumb code over us and that's that." Hurt resonates in his voice and Lance takes him into his arms. "The entire team… Shiro…" he buries his face into Lance's chest, "You should have seen the way Shiro looked at me…"
"What do you mean, sweetheart?"
Keith sighs, "It was like… he looked like he couldn't believe his eyes that I could love someone. Or that someone could love me. Am I that unapproachable to him?"
"I don't think that's it, Keith. I mean-" his attempts die, because the fact is, he doesn't know what Shiro is thinking.
He truly believes that Shiro is doing this for their sake or the sake of the Universe. He has to believe that, or it'll just hurt too much.
"Just a little while longer and this will be behind us," Lance says
Keith blinks, his eyes downcast, "Will it?" He mumbled, "Will it truly just be over and we can just move on? I don't know if I can't just… Forget that they turned against us. That we had to go through all of this because of them."
"Keith,"Lance whispered, not realizing just how upsetting this was to him.
Or
Perhaps Lance just didn't want to think about it. He wanted to believe that everything would just be fixed by the end of the few weeks, but would it? Would he ever move on from that sting he felt in his chest from all of this?
He wasn't sure.
"Sorry," Keith squeezes his hand, "I don't mean to bring the mood down,"
"No, it's okay. You're right. I guess we just have to- wait till then and hope for the best,"
"Yeah…"
Getting to their feet, arms wrapped around each other, they made the march back to their lions.
When they returned to the castle, Allura scolded them. "Why didn't you contact us? We were worried sick!" The team swarmed them with similar expressions. Lance felt guilty at the tears in Hunk's eyes.
"We thought something happened! We thought it was..." he cuts off, his voice growing soft, "We thought it was like before... Where we wouldn't be able to find you." Pidge reached her hand up to touch his shoulder.
"Oh... I-I'm sorry Hunk. Guys. Blue cut connections for a little while." he bows his head.
"The lions wanted to give us some time together," Keith explains, folding his arms. There was a small pause. Allura and Shiro seemed to tense.
"Nothing happened between you two, right?" she frowns.
"I couldn't possibly know what you mean," Lance tilts his head and smiles, cause like hell they needed to know details.
"I do," Keith raises his hand, oblivious
Lance gives him a long look, side by side with Allura's furious one. Blinking once then twice, naive as ever, Keith steps back
"Oh, we were playing dumb,"
"Yes, sweetheart. Yes we were," Lance pinches the bridge of his nose
"Ah," the red paladin's nod, clearing his throat awkwardly, "Then I also don't know what we are talking about," he gives Allura a blank face and Lance is keeling over, because it's too late.
"She knows Keith. She knows,"
"Oh, then good, cause I made out with Lance a lot while we were gone,"
"Sweet parlog!" Lance shrieks, not realizing Keith would just openly state their activities, "Keith, shhh! Shhh your mouth!"
Allura doubles over in shock and Shiro looks close to blowing a gasket, his eyes wide. Keith beat him to the catch, and Lance knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth.
That spark of defiance in his eyes was the best warning he could get.
"Lance pushed me against a tree and-"
"No!" He tackled him to the floor, blushing furiously. "Not this time, Keef!"
-0000-000-
"Lance, my boy, you don't have to stand next to me during this. You can go sit in your seat," Coran motioned to his old seat along the deck of the Castle. Lance shook his head, feeling like that would be imposing.
"That's Allura's seat now. She is the Blue paladin." he tells Coran, folding his arms behind his back, mimicking the mustached Altean. Coran titled his head with a soft look.
"Allura still stands there within the center of the room, so it is okay for you to sit at that spot." he informs him. That might be true, but it didn't feel right for Lance to sit there. He wasn't a paladin.
"I'll pass."
With nothing else to be said, Coran looked down to the comms. The paladins were shooting down to their lions as they spoke, heading off to start some well needed Lion training. There was a catch however.
The Blue lion had lifted its particle barrier and was refusing to let Allura inside.
"What?" Allura looked up at Blue, confused, "What is the matter now?" she pressed her hand to the force field,
Lance pressed his finger to the speaker, "Allura, what is going on?"
"It's the Blue Lion. It's not letting me in," she moved around it, frowning.
"Did you try giving it a knock? Blue likes being greeted with knocks… or knock knock jokes," he tells her. Allura tries, but nothing seems to work.
"Knock knock," she says to blue. The Lion doesn't respond. "Is that not how the joke works?" she mumbled to herself.
"Who's there," Lance attempted to help her.
Allura looked to the camera, perplexed, "It's me, Lance,"
He slaps his forehead, "N-No, no sorry. Do you know what a knock knock joke is?"
She blinked as his response. It was naive and cute, how Allura usually was with many Earth customs. Lance bit his lip when he felt a bubble of affection in his chest- like how he felt with his own siblings. He didn't want to feel that way with her. So he cleared his voice and attempted to be stern- which was hard, given the situation.
"Okay, follow my lead. I'll say knock knock, and you say, who's there. Ready? Knock knock,"
"Who is there?" she folded her arms.
"Boo,"
Allura was quiet.
"Now you say, Boo who?"
"Boo who?" she repeated.
"Stop being a baby Allura," Lance burst into a fit of giggles, and the Lion roared. Gawking over her shoulder at it, she stepped back.
"Did it find that funny?"
"Allura, that is comedy gold~ Of course Blue found that funny," Lance snickered.
Allura attempted another one of Lance's knock knock jokes, but it was no closer to lowering the barrier. But, it did seem to respond to Lance's voice. "I- Lance, I think she is wanting you,"
"What?" he blinks a few times. "No she doesn't."
"Yes, she does." Allura lowers her gaze. "Will you come down here and try?"
Lance opened and closed his mouth, looking at Coran. He shrugged, motioning for Lance to get a move on. "I...I'll be right down,"
Placing on the Blue paladin armor, he shot down the tube similar to how Allura did. When he arrived, he took one step towards Blue and the barrier shimmered away. Allura and him shared a glance.
"It..." she swallows, voice tight. "I believe it wishes for you to be it's pilot, Lance."
Lance shook his head, "But you're the Blue paladin."
She steps back, bowing her head. "I do not decide that Lance. The Blue lion does." she looked upset, but was willing to step down. "I can't be selfish in who pilots what lion. Only accept what the Lion wishes..."
"Allura..."
"Go on." she turns to head back up to the deck. "They are waiting for you to train."
He could do nothing else but nod and enter Blue. When he shot outside to join the others, they were all perplexed.
"Lance?" Shiro questions, "Where is Allura?"
Allura responds on the communicator a moment later, standing on the bridge and looking out to watch them, "The Blue lion wouldn't respond to me, so Lance went instead,"
Lance patted the controls thoughtfully, "What's up with you, huh girl?" he inquired. The Lion allowed Allura to pilot before when Lotor attacked. So what was the issue now?
Closing his eyes to inquire the problem, he could feel the Lion's thoughts. It was like he could see threw Blue's eyes, recalling yesterday morning.
He could see Allura and himself, looking so much smaller. Allura was yelling at him, scolding him for holding Keith's hand. Blue hadn't known of the deal they had made with the team, and learning the information had angered her.
"Oh…" he opened his eyes, feeling Blue's frustration and protectiveness in waves. "Blue," he smiled softly. So he did have more than just Coran on his side.
"Well you are the Blue paladin, not Allura," Keith says, not very subtle in the way he made sure Allura could hear him pointing that out.
"So then..." Pidge trailed off.
"The blue lion doesn't accept Allura any longer," Lance concluded, "Which means... "
"You are the Blue paladin once again," Shiro finished for him. Lance leaned back. He felt happy to hear that- but there was one problem with being a paladin.
The code.
The choice between piloting the lion or Keith. He could never choose anything over Keith.
Before he could voice this, Keith was speaking up. "That is how it should be,"
Allura slowly folds her arms, looking like a pouting child. She inhales, then says, "Shiro is right. You are the Blue paladin, Lance. You must take up the title."
"We can't have any more goofing off though," Shiro gives him a stern look, "We have to be able to form Voltron before we take Lotor on again,"
He opened his mouth, his words falling flat. "B-But..."
"The universe needs you, Lance."
He turns, his worry evident on his face when the video connection with the Red Lion appeared on his screen, "But Keith-"
"I'm not going to let some dumb code tear you away from me," he smiles, "Allura can throw everything she has at us- My feelings are never going to change,"
In rebuttal she snorts, "The paladin Code cannot be broken."
"Are we seriously still on that?" Lance demanded at her. "After everything you've seen from the last two days...?"
"It was the law of my people and my Father, Lance. I shall follow it as Princess of Altea."
The good mood Lance had felt before depleted within a second. Are you serious...? He looked at Keith through the screen. There was a tight look in his eyes, but he smiled.
"Welcome back, Paladin."
000- Lotor-000
"Prince Lotor," Acxa placed her hand over her chest and bowed to him when she entered the room. He turned to her, nodding.
"Any news?"
"The paladins of Voltron have not been located. The rebel forces have been catching most of the empire's attention. It seems that Voltron has been untraceable."
"I see." He snapped his fingers, summoning the rest of his Generals. A soldier had brought every known recording they had of the paladins for observation. Together, the generals and him watched the footage, watching closely in how the paladins fought, learning their styles to the best of their ability with the resources they had
Since they knew nothing of the blue or red paladin other than the blue seemed to prefer shooting type of weaponry, they were thrilled to find two old recordings taken from a galran ship of the two.
The red paladin fought with a sword, and seemed to be able to fight valiantly with both hands. His moves were precise and strong- holding nothing back and almost brash on his impulses.
"He fights like a Galra," Zathrid grunted.
Lotor leaned forward, "Interesting," his eyes spotted the blue paladin and lingered. Not one for close combat, he was quick on his feet. Lotor could see his head moving constantly, surveying the area and keeping track of his team.
He watched over them, taking out soldiers before they managed to even get close to his allies. It seemed too often leave him open for attack, but he could always get out of the situation. A large team player kind of person.
"Lotor." Ezor pipped in, "If you don't mind me asking, why are we watching footage of the paladins?"
"Obviously to learn their fightings styles and hold an edge against them in combat," Acxa said automatically. Lotor nodded.
"That is the reason. With the Rebellion forces growing, Voltron stands at the center of their allies. They are a beacon of hope to the people. If they were to fall, the rebellion would fall with it."
"Then our plan is to take down Voltron?" Zethrid grinned. Lotor shook his head.
"No, that is not the plan at all."
His generals shared small confused looks. They did not understand their leader's plan. "Then... what is the plan?" Ezora asked.
Lotor's lips curled in a smirk, "We are going to use Voltron to gain what we need. With the power we have, we have no hope of completing our goals. My Father will assure that. However, if Voltron can step in and distract him, perhaps even get him out of the way, then we can finish our objective."
Narti lifted her head, her cat flickering its ears excitedly.
Acxa's eyes widened, "Do you mean...?"
"Yes. As I promised all of you when I first met you, I will take you away to something better." His gaze wandered over all four of them, standing tall. They swallowed and narrowed their eyes, hope burning brightly. They bowed to him, willingly following in his plan.
In this life, all they had was each other.
WHOOOP CHAPTER FOUR~~ YAYYYYYYYYYY
IN this story I kind of like Lotor and his generals having a much more prominent family dynamic. AND NARTI WILL NO DIE! I refuse to let that happen!
Reviews:
Ewink18: Aww, thank you so much Ewink! That means so much to me!
DeityOfDeath: Of course! I hope you like these next two chapters!
xSavageNinja: Thank you!
KnightOwl247: That is the best compliment I've ever heard. THANK YOU ;-; I really hope I stay in character, and hearing that I am makes me so happy :D
ClaireBearXXxx: Oh don't you worry friend, that chapter is coming soon, I promise. They'll both see the errors of their ways very soon. :D
Godess Bubbles: YESH! Get 'em Keith! Show that Prince who is the boss!
KHRandothersFORLIFE666: *salutes* I definitely will!
CometTail: Thank you!
YokaiAngel: Oh my gosh thank you! I'm so excited to get the angst and drama out and about for you all to see!
Anamilia: THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME THAT I HAVEN"T UPDATE THE STORY HERE YET 0.0 I didn't even realize.
Lola: Don't you worry friend, all of that will come into the light soon enough~ And jealous Keith shall be strong in this fanfic~ BWAHAHAA
Guest: YES FOR MATTX SHIRO!
AirenLag: Oh my gosh XD That is funny XD Lance is such a precious bean and needs to be surrounded by love and affection and Keith shall be that person!
Pinkdoughnuts: Right? And it's sad cause I think a lot of people are like that to each other. But don't worry, the team will see the errors of their ways soon enough. :3 And boy will they have to do a lot to make up for everything they did to Keith and Lance.
Guest: That is a very good point. Keith could always give his spot to Lance since he can indeed fly the red lion~ But don't worry, everything worked out... Kind of...
: Yeah, that Lotor gonna be falling hard! If I was Keith I would ignore all my jerk friends too if they were pulling this stunt on me!
Agrainna Agray: This chapter was so much fun, I hope you enjoyed it just as much as you did the last chapter!