Lance hated eating.
He was the type of person who loved having brunches, noon-time teas, and midnight snacks with his closest friends and family but now...it just sucked. The company more than the food he enjoyed and was important since his life was centered around building and maintaining relationships. He was a happy guy, going through life with a smile on his face.
He loved connecting with others; one way to do that was during mealtimes.
But now it was bad.
It was horrible.
And mealtimes were on his mind a lot lately because of certain...reactions.
He spooned the green goop, raising it to his mouth. Then tilted the spoon and let the goop drop into the bowl. He gave a pale sigh and leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms. He didn't have the energy to care. He didn't want to do this...food.
"We get it Lance: the food is especially gross today." Pidge remarked, rolling her eyes.
Coran chimed in with, "We all have to eat the same thing you know."
Lance sighed in response.
"Yeah, but I just don't feel well after eating it." He sighed again.
"That was the same excuse you used three days ago." Hunk said, sticking some into his mouth, "And yesterday." He added, mouth full of the stuff.
"Paladins at least try to finish your dinner. It is very nutritionally dense and will aid you in your missions." Allura said, taking a big spoonful and putting it into her mouth for context.
She couldn't help but making a face as she swallowed, Lance noticed.
With a disgruntled look, he went back to his bowl and kept stirring the disgusting mixture. It was chunky as well as viscous but somehow kind of watery. It was just gross and clumpy. Keith to the right of him at the table was spooning the substance into his mouth, small spoonful after small mouthful while Shiro on his other side was eating the stuff like it was actually good.
Shiro was almost done.
Lance stared at the bowl and the bowl stared back at him, only a couple bites down.
He didn't want it.
This whole act of going through the motions of telling the crew that the green goop made him feel bad was starting to get old.
The green stuff made him feel sick, like something was crawling up his throat. He also always had these bad bumps and rashes all over his arms after the mealtimes he ate the green stuff. On top of these symptoms, he would be in the bathroom...uh...emptying himself for long painful periods. These symptoms went into the night and made it impossible to get his beauty rest. He also had less energy after eating and a strong urge to lay down after mealtimes. This reminded him of urges in the garrison days, but he ignored it, made the thought disappear.
He willed the bad thoughts about food away.
Most of all, he hated the feeling of the fake food in him.
He felt like he was going crazy.
He was fine earlier in the day when other foods were available during breakfast and lunch, but dinner was mandatory, and they all had to have the same thing, the gross nutrient goo. It was just after he ate the stuff was when he would feel bad. He kept on telling the team that it made him feel bad but...they didn't believe him. Maybe he should tell them of the less...nice symptoms. But going in depth, would they still believe him?
He didn't know and he didn't want to let down the others all the gory details.
So, his friendly bonds and close connections he had formed on Voltron...got bad.
It was only because the food made him feel bad!
Which it did.
A week later and he was feeling, not the best. It was the same scene, again. This time Lance had glass tears in his eyes, threatening to spill. Lance sniffled and looked down at his bowl.
"Lance, we know." Pidge said, venom in her voice.
Lance didn't say anything back.
"Just take your time bud." Hunk said encouragingly.
Lance gave an appreciative smile to Hunk. Hunk was always on his side; he was the best. Hunk understood Lance, at least tried to be nice. Unlike Allura, who didn't talk to Lance. Keith ignored him. Shiro just stared, waiting to step in as the leader. Coran encouraged Lance but at a distance which didn't help.
But one thing they all had in common was they stared at him, eyeing his food-goo progress.
He mustered up the courage, wanting to show them.
With Hunk's encouragement and soft smile, he shoved the stuff into his mouth. Spoonful after spoonful, he felt his arms get itchier, his throat closing up, and his head spinning. His stomach felt like it expanded three times its usual size.
He spooned the last bite into his mouth and looked down at the empty bowl.
"Oh wow." Shiro stood and looked at Lance's bowl, "Great job."
Lance looked up, smiled back at Shiro, stomach flipping.
"Hey, look at you go." Keith nodded.
Validation from Keith, wow.
Lance's stomach flipped again as his full-watt smile fell into a frown.
"Guys. I'm going to be-" Lance said.
His chair fell to the floor as he bolted from the room, a full sprint.
Hunk was the most confused, "What...just happened?" He asked.
"He ate all his food finally and then ran from the room, what do you think?" Pidge started to stand, worry creasing her tone.
Hunk stood too, worried, a bit frantic.
"He did look a little green. Are humans supposed to be green?" Allura wondered aloud.
Then it dawned on Hunk.
"Guys...oh no." He sank into his chair, "I think we should have believed him."
"Wait...can he though?" Allura asked, "Be green I mean."
"That green-nutrient-goo is a new substance by Altenas, right Princess?" Hunk asked her, and she broke out of her train of thought.
Allura nodded, "Correct. So, it obviously hasn't been tested on humans. Wait- Oh."
"So, he's allergic to it." Hunk said.
"Oh." Pidge's cheeks went red.
Shiro's shoulders stiffened.
Keith just nodded once and said, "It's probably a lot worse than he's letting on. I know him, he's good at hiding stuff."
Hunk gave him a quizzical look, because that was true, but why would Keith know that?
The whole team stared at the doorway where Lance exited out of...they all felt bad.
a/n: hellooooo. Back with another voltron fic and projecting with food again. And of course, Langst.