Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron Dreamworks and Netflix does. This is written for all the fans out there. Sorry for the wait. This took a little longer to edit than I thought it would. Really wanted to get it perfect. So some of my Lance head canon is coming into play in this chapter. Hope you enjoy!
~Tidal Wave~
Unfortunately, things did not improve from there...
Twenty minutes later, poor Hunk was still in abject misery. He tried his best to focus on what Instructor Maria was saying, but the 'show' being performed in the background became rather distracting. Earlier, Hunk had spotted the blond boy, "Nick," whispering to his friend while glancing in Hunk's general direction. The dark-haired boy did his best to ignore him, but it was extremely difficult. The brat was clearly taking about him.
A little while later, muffled giggling could be heard drifting over from the deep end. Curious, Hunk turned to see what was going on. The blond made exaggerated gestures over his body; as if to indicate that he was bigger, and heavy set. After which, Nick lumbered over to the water's edge and took a huge belly flop into the pool. His arms and legs flailed wildly around as he sunk to the bottom, pretending to drown. This cracked the other kids up in loud, uproarious laughter. Maria scolded them for their disruption, but didn't catch what they were really doing. Most older folks missed it. This had happened to Hunk a lot over the years. They were making fun of him. And like always, it filled him with a deep, aching hurt.
"Great," he sarcastically thought, sinking further into the water to hide in shame. "And knowing my luck? That kid will go to the exact same school as me and totally ruin my chances of having a happy year."
Bubbles of annoyance fluttered out of Hunk's nose as he once again tried to forget about Nick and his stupid friends.
Little did the dark-haired boy know, that his luck was just about to change...
While Maria demonstrated a simple arm stroke for the class, an old, beat up pickup truck turned into the parking lot. Even through the rolled up windows, you could hear the loud Hispanic beats thumping in the speakers. Before the vehicle came to a complete stop, the passenger door suddenly flung wide open.
A high pitched shout of "YEAH! Finally!" filled the air, along with a reprimanding cry of "LANCE!"
Hunk's eyes widened in shock; as a small, scrawny, wild-haired boy haphazardly leapt out the door and onto the hot asphalt. He was wearing blue swimming trunks and had a huge toothy grin. Well, mostly toothy; a few of his baby teeth were missing here and there.
"Oh, man," Nick groaned to his other friends. "Look who it is, Lance 'Loose My Pants' McClain. Knew he was dumb, just not this much."
Hunk's eyes narrowed at hearing that. Jeeze! This kid had a problem with just about everyone, huh?
The loud slamming of the truck's door, brought Hunk's attention back to "Lance" and the car's driver. Who Hunk assumed was most likely his brother.
"Seriously, dude?!" the older boy yelled, walking over to Lance's side. " Mom and Dad told you a million times! Wait until the car comes to a stop!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he hurriedly agreed, with a dismissive wave. "Got it. Thanks, bye!"
His unruly brown hair flapped wildly in the breeze as he ran. Lance raced to the entrance as fast as his short little legs could carry him. Excitedly, the young boy yanked the pool gate open and charged right inside.
Then with reckless abandonment, he sprinted full speed towards the deep end and launched himself off the side, screaming, "CANNON BALLLLL!"
"LANCE!" The incurring tidal wave of water splashed over the older kids, drenching them all from head to toe. Hunk had to immediately clamp a hand over his mouth to contain his laughter.
"Serves them right, jerks" he thought to himself as Maria let out a groan irritation from behind. "Daniel, you were supposed to watch him today!"
"Sorry, sis," apologized the teen, who had brought Lance, with a wave. "Just got an emergency text from work. I've got to go! Please watch him, okay?"
Not even waiting for a reply, Daniel climbed back into his truck and started to make a speedy getaway.
"What?!" she screeched in return, before quickly relenting. "Okay, fine! But you so owe me!"
Meanwhile, the rest of the kids were trying to enact their vengeance upon Lance. Every time one of them would splash him, the boy would duck under the water and escape. "You'll never get me puny humans! This is my domain!" he cackled evilly, dodging the watery shots with a carefree smile.
That is until Nick called out, "Well, if it isn't Lance 'Loose My Pants' McClain. Thought you'd be too chicken to bring your scrawny butt back here again!"
The grin froze on Lance's face, becoming sharp and bitter. Loosing all the fluidity it once held before. "Really? Because I thought this was a public pool, doofus. That pretty much means anyone can swim here. Not just you."
"I-"
"Nick! Lance! Out of the pool, now!" Maria commanded, pointing next to her side. Both boys got a thorough talking to, but Lance didn't seem to listen or really care. Whatever she was saying, he'd probably it heard several times before. As the brown-haired boy's attention waned, his gaze drifted over the swimming area.
And that was when, Lance's eyes finally met his. "Uh oh," thought Hunk, shrinking himself down as far as he possibly could. "Oh man, what does he want? Why the heck is he staring at me like that?" Lance's head cocked to the side in thought as his curious eyes blinked back at Hunk.
"And that's why you shouldn't-"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Lance rudely interrupted, then pointed Hunk out. "Who's that?"
Embarrassment burned across his skin as he released a terrified squawk. Humiliation overload complete! This day, had officially become the worst!
"Oh, him?" Maria asked, quickly glancing at the pool. "That's Hunk Garrett. He just moved here."
"Yeah, and he can't swim," added Nick with a nasty snicker. "He's an even bigger loser than you, McClain."
And Hunk's gentle heart sunk like a stone. Nervously, he wrung his hands together and adverted his gaze. Entirely, unable to continue looking Lance in the eye. Who'd want to be his friend after an introduction like that? Lance's body had coldly stiffen hearing the rude comment. The other boy would probably avoid him like the plague now, knowing that Nick had it out for him.
Luckily though, Maria had heard the arrogant child this time.
"That's it! 'Time Out' for you mister!" she declared, dragging away Nick by the arm towards the supply shed.
The blond nearly tripped over his own feet trying to follow her. "Me?" he incredulity asked. "Your brother's the one who drained half the pool with his stupid stunt earlier!"
"Well, guess what? I don't care! Do you want me to speak to your mother, again?"
"I-I-" the blond stammered as Maria pulled the boy off to the side. Hunk let out a sigh of relief. Maybe he could finally calm down now that Nick was gone. Then all he'd have to do, was wait another hour or so for his mom to come pick him up, and everything would be-
"Hi, there!" came a bubbly voice from right next to Hunk.
With a dramatic gasp, the boy's arms shot up in shock. Dumbfounded, Hunk simply stared slack-jawed at Lance happily floating beside him. When? How did he get there! Hunk hadn't even seen him jump back into the pool!
"You're new here right? Well, welcome!"
Hunk's eyes darted warily around the pool. This... had never happened before. It was almost like, Lance actually wanted to talk to him. W-Was this some sort of prank?
The small boy didn't notice Hunk's distress and just excitedly babbled on, "So your name's Hunk, huh? That's super cool! Mine's Lance!" The boy flashed him a bright grin. "I have a nickname, too! But it isn't a very nice one. Where did you used to live? I'm guessing it wasn't near water? Is that why you can't swim? Because that must supremely suck, I love it! My mom says I swim better than the fish! Playing in the ocean is so much fun! Have you been there yet? It's really cool-"
The energetic boy floated closer to Hunk with every word. And he just barely, contained a shriek of terror. Discreetly, Hunk inched away from the intensely friendly child. Yeah, Lance was being super nice, but this was way too much for him! Hunk's anxiety suddenly kicked up again, and his breathing became sharp and ragged.
But then, something strange happened. Lance's freely spilling words came to an abrupt halt. A tight line of concern stretched across his brow as he drew back. "Are you okay? I-" He let out an embarrassed cough. "S-Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you. I've been told I come on a little strong sometimes," he admitted with a nervous laugh.
The sudden change in demeanor struck Hunk as odd. The boy almost seemed as timid as Hunk just now.
How strange... Wait a sec, this was his chance! This kid was reaching out to him! Hunk took a sharp gasp, he could make a friend!
Doing his best to shake off his initial fear, Hunk stuttered out a reply, "I- oh, no! I actually kinda do that too. I- not the intensely strong thing, b-but the rambling. Yeah, that's me; anxious, rambly, and sorta queasy. They have to call my mom a lot for that."
"Oh, man," thought Hunk as Lance stared up at him in confusion. "Why am saying all this? He's going to think I'm weird and not-"
Lance let out a loud snort of laughter. For someone so tiny, the boy certainly had a huge personality. "You're funny, dude. I like you."
"I- wha, s-seriously?!" he croaked in return.
Lance's mouth took on a goofy grin. "Yeah! Totally!"
"Oh, cool... I-"
But before Hunk could say anything else, Maria's annoyed cry of "Lance!" interrupted him.
The wild-haired boy spun around and let out an indignant shout, "WHAT? I'm not doing anything!"
"Go to the deep end so I can get back to teaching the class!" she demanded, pointing away from Hunk.
"I- oh," Lance gazed back at him for a second in thought. Then his eyes lit up with an idea.
"Huh, they're blue. Like, really dark blue. Did not notice that before," Hunk observed before turning listen to what the siblings were saying.
"Hunk asked me to help teach him how to swim," the small boy said, wrapping a friendly arm around his back. The gesture felt so warm and comforting that Hunk couldn't help but smile.
"Uh, right, sure!" he quickly agreed.
Maria gave them both an uncertain stare.
"Oh, come on!" Lance exclaimed in exasperation. "You know what an awesome swimmer I am! I taught Elena and she's like three. So just focus on the rest of the class and I'll help Hunk, cool?"
The teen narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the pair. "Okay."
"Woot!" they cheered, giving one another an enthusiastic high five.
Lance's sister simply rolled her eyes. "Just try not to disturb the class, alright?"
"No, prob!" the brown-haired boy promised with a quick salute. He then grabbed Hunk's hand and dragged him away from the crowd, so that they had more room to work. Hunk felt his hand reflexively tighten in Lance's hold, as he led the way.
And the young boy could help but wonder, if this what it was like to have a friend...
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: So lots of my own head canon coming into play here. I like to think Lance was really short as a child. Then when he hit puberty, shot up like a gangly, acne covered weed. (Also explaining the skin care regiment) I came to this conclusion because I found it odd that Lance never teases Keith or Pidge about being shorter than him. Because at one time, I think he was short too. It also explains why Lance is kinda klutzy, since he'd still getting used to his body again. And in such a large household, Lance would often be underfoot, which would explain his intense need to be loud and noticed, along with his feelings of insecurity.
Anyway, those are my two cents. Next chapter! Lance teaches Hunk how to swim! More to come soon!
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