"Ugh!" Lance groaned as he was thrown to the ground hard, gasping as the wind was knocked from his chest. He coughed a few times and shot Shiro a glare from the training deck floor. "You can't go a little easy on me? Geez…"

"Hey, you're the one who came to me asking to help teach you combat training." Shiro cocked a smile. He offered Lance a hand, which he accepted and Shiro pulled him back to his feet. He resumed a fighting stance and waited for Lance to do the same. "Did you really expect me to go easy on you?"

"Maybe a little." Lance tried to stretch his sore back out a little before mimicking Shiro's stance. "I'm not Keith, you know. I don't spend all my time training. I'm not used to this."

"No, but you want to be." Shiro stepped towards him, swinging his arm down hard. Lance caught it with his forearm and deflected it, throwing his other hand towards Shiro's gut. He dodged it with a twist to his right and retaliated with a kick to Lance's knees, which caused him to jump back. "Otherwise you wouldn't have come to me."

"Okay, but maybe not as extreme as Keith." Lance clarified, being sure to keep Shiro at a good distance as they circled each other, both waiting for the other to make a move. "But the Galra seem to really like hand to hand combat, so I need to at least be able to match up."

"Wouldn't Keith have been a better one to ask to train with then?" Shiro inquired as Lance lunged at him, throwing a punch at his jaw. Shiro ducked quickly, and landed a solid punch to Lance's stomach, which doubled him over in a fit of coughing.

"Jesus, Shiro." Lance choked as he cradled his stomach. "At least use your left hand."

"Sorry." Shiro apologized, again, offering a hand. Lance took it and straightened, taking a breath to try to ignore the pain.

"You're starting to make me wish I had asked Keith." He frowned, glaring. They hadn't even been at it for long yet, and he was already sore all over. This guy was ruthless. Nonetheless, Lance kept getting back up and he fell back into stance.

"Why didn't you?" Shiro followed suit, casting him a curious glance. When it came to learning how to fight a Galra, Keith was the best option they had. Aside from asking one of the other Blades.

"Come on, I can already hear the ridicule now. 'You? You want me to train you? Yeah, right, you won't ever reach my level.'" Lance impersonated Keith's voice, adding a bit of narcissism that earned a raised eyebrow from Shiro.

"He wouldn't say that." He swung left to avoid a kick from Lance, and dodged left again to barely avoid an elbow. "I think he would have been happy to train with you."

"Yeah right. He trains for hours up here, if I trained with him I wouldn't ever get a break." Lance swung again, brushing Shiro's shoulder. "He'd be like a drill sergeant, and I can't exactly say I miss Iverson."

"I don't think you have the right impression of Keith." Shiro forced a flattened palm towards Lance's chest, but he ducked down quickly and knocked his hand away while swinging a fist at Shiro's stomach. Shiro caught his wrist with his free hand and twisted it, making the boy yelp slightly before he let go. "Why do you dislike him so much?"

Lance jumped back from him, shaking his sore wrist. He was growing more and more frustrated at his inability to land a hit on Shiro. "I don't dislike him. He doesn't like me. I just see him as a rival."

"Why is that?" Shiro was starting to ask the questions that had bothered him for a while now. Ever since they teamed up Keith and Lance were always arguing and bickering. It never really made sense, because when he asked Keith about it, he would just always say Lance just hated him for some unknown reason. Keith didn't hate Lance, he just wasn't good at befriending people, and he was under the impression that Lance didn't want to be friends. So maybe knowing what this rivalry was about would shed some light on the whole ordeal.

"I mean, I guess it started at the Garrison. We were in the same class." Lance jumped back as Shiro lunged at him, swiping his hand where Lance's chest has just been. Lance ducked down and kicked Shiro's knees out from under him, causing him to stumble. He tried to take his chance and swung for his chest, but Shiro caught his arm and twisted it behind Lance's back before shoving him away.

"I'm never going to hit you." Lance groaned, running his arm across his forehead to stop the sweat from running into his eyes. He was panting pretty heavily and Shiro was starting to sweat too.

"Yes, you will. Let's take a break for now." Shiro went and grabbed the water bottles that they had left in the corner of the room and passed Lance's to him. Lance caught it and took a seat on the floor for a minute, gulping down the water. Shiro took a seat beside him.

"So this rivalry, what all happened at the Garrison?" He took a few sips of his water and let Lance catch his breath.

"Nothing really." Lance gave a small shrug. "I mean, it was kind of one sided, I guess. Keith was the best in the class, so I mean, naturally I wanted to beat him. I'm sure everyone did. But I was just a cargo pilot and he was this super cool fighter pilot who did cool junk all the time. If it wasn't for him getting expelled I probably wouldn't have ever become a fighter pilot…" Lance's words drifted a little and Shiro watched him. He looked sad when he talked about this. Why…? He couldn't possibly still think he wasn't a decent pilot…right?

"Are you kidding?" Shiro gave a half a laugh, which made Lance look up at him. "Haven't you seen the things you've done with the blue lion? That's not something some cargo pilot could have done. You were clearly meant to be fighter class."

"Maybe." Lance gave a soft smile, seeming to perk a little bit as he recalled some of the missions they had gone on as Voltron. "I guess when we ended up on this team, me and Keith, I just wanted to prove that I wasn't just…some cargo pilot. But man, everyone here is so cool. Pidge is super smart and Hunk is super strong. Allura can fly an entire castle and Coran does everything and then there's Keith and you. I can't even land a hit on you! I'm just…okay with a gun, I guess."

"You need to have more confidence in yourself." Shiro patted Lance on the back. "You're our sharpshooter. You prove that every day, Beta Traz being a recent example. You shouldn't sell yourself short. You're a Paladin of Voltron. That's a big deal. You are a big deal."

"You're just saying that." Lance frowned, looking away. Shiro caught a slight flush on his cheeks of embarrassment. "You won't even let me land a hit on you."

Shiro laughed. "Well, If I let you, that wouldn't be satisfying at all. Besides, the Galra aren't just going to let you either. You'll manage it in time. This is only our second session. Besides, once you hit me five times, you'll have to go up to the next level."

He stood up and started to stretch, readying himself for another round. Lance raised an eyebrow and stood up as well. "What's the next level?"

"Keith." Shiro laughed at the sullen look that crossed Lance's face. "He's better at this then me. He's the one you want to be training with. Trust me, I spar with him, and I lose more times than I win. I think he would be happy to train with you."

"You keep saying that." Lance stretched out his sore limbs for a few minutes before falling into position again. "I still think he would just get mad and tell me how bad I am."

"I've known Keith for a long time." Shiro lowered himself and ran at Lance who tried to dodge, but still got some of the hit. He brushed off the hit and retaliated quickly, bringing his knee up to catch Shiro in the gut. Shiro used his robotic arm to catch his knee, and slammed his other palm to Lance's chest, swiftly flipping him onto the ground. "He wants to be friends with you."

Lance wheezed out a groan but it only took a minute to catch his breath and get back to his feet. "Telling me that while beating me up isn't super convincing."

"Believe me. He's been alone his entire life. He doesn't know how to interact with people. Your fighting and bickering with him just makes him think you hate him." Shiro was probably saying too much, but he was focused on the fight and the words just sort of spilled out. Lance came at him again with a high kick this time, which Shiro dodged by spinning left. He tried to grab Lance's foot, but he was catching on and pulled away faster than he could grab. "Just give him a chance."

"He's hot headed, erratic and broody. The dude tried to fight Zarkon head on single handedly. Why would I want to spar with someone like that?" Lance swung away from Shiro's swing and went to grab his wrist, but he surprised himself when he actually got it, and his second of hesitation gave Shiro the chance to pull away. Lance groaned and got focused.

"You have a point there." Shiro chuckled. "You don't have to spar with him right away. Just…talk to him. Get to know him. You were the one that said you two made a good team, after all. He was so happy to hear that."

"Wait…I said what? When?" Lance cocked an eyebrow and spun behind Shiro, aiming an elbow at his neck, but Shiro ducked down and back, picking Lance up and flipping him over his back. Luckily, he managed to land on his feet and jump away before Shiro could elbow him in the back.

"When Sendak attacked the ship, and you got hurt. When you woke from your coma, you and Keith worked together to take him down. You told Keith you two made a good team." Shiro panted as he avoided more swings from Lance. "He was happy to hear that. It was an acceptance of sorts. He thought you were friends. He insisted on carrying you to the cryo-pod."

Lance dug through his memories, but he couldn't recall any of it. Guess being in a coma would do that.

"He was pretty upset when you didn't remember any of it. He thought he'd made a friend but everything was back to the way it was before, with you hating him." Shiro was sweating heavily now, which was an accomplishment in itself. It meant Lance was challenging him at least. "He's trying to accept everyone here, but he's so used to rejection that it's difficult for him. So a little acceptance is all he needs. It's the same for you, isn't it? You two aren't really all that different ."

Shiro lunged at him, and Lance was ready. He lowered himself and grabbed Shiro's hand, pushing it up and away from him. He swung to his left to avoid being body slammed by the larger paladin, but kept a firm hold on his wrist. Shiro stayed low and slammed his free fist into Lance's ribs, but he didn't crumble. He held Shiro tight and brought his knee up, hitting Shiro hard in his ribs. It was enough to draw a gasp and a series of coughs from Shiro and they they both let each other go, falling to the ground.

"I told you not to use your robot hand." Lance rubbed his chest, sure that a bruise was already forming.

Shiro gave a weak, but happy laugh. "I can't go too easy on you. You only have four more hits, after all."

Lance laughed and just laid on the ground, breathing hard. He'd managed one hit on Shiro. Maybe he could do this. If he could…maybe he really could take on Keith. He thought about Shiro's words for a moment. It wasn't like he hated Keith. It wasn't like that. He just seemed so...untouchable. Lance couldn't seem himself ever being equal to him in either piloting or combat. But maybe, if he kept this up, he could get a little closer.

Shiro set his hand on Lance's shoulder, smiling down at him reassuringly. "You're a good pilot, Lance, and a good fighter. Your lack of confidence is what's holding you back. Talk to Keith. If you get to know him you'll realize you're both on the same level. You can build each other up. You said it yourself. You two make a good team."

Lance sighed and sat up, stretching out his arms and chest. He stood up and held his hand out to Shiro. "Alright, fine. If I can land four more hits on you, I'll spar with Keith. But don't go easy on me. I can't go and lose to him."

Shiro laughed and accepted the hand, getting back to his feet. "You got it."