Chapter 2 – No connection

Lance's gaze wandered to the photos on the wall. He brushed them with his fingertips, lost in his thoughts. Under his skin were not only pictures of his friends but also the reality of what felt like a dream. A really very painful dream. He had been feeling as if his heart was torn ever since he had left the team, and Blue's roar was still echoing in his mind.

He coughed dryly and looked at the phone lying beside him, the screen dead black. The device had been dead since Lance's first day back home. It had been raining heavily and the sharpshooter had missed it so much he had immediately ran out to enjoy the feeling of the cold water running down his body. His phone had fallen in a puddle when he was dancing under the rain.

From then, his phone was broken. RIP Garry the phone, he will be forever in our hearts. That's also how Lance got sick and was condemned to stay in bed for a whole week. It wasn't a bad thing since he had his family to take care of him –and God, he had missed that so much- but it also meant he was alone with his own thoughts. And the Internet. The internet was a good thing, definitely.

A marvellous invention he was glad to have back, even if he hadn't had the opportunity to use it yet.

"Lance, Lance! Let's watch a movie together! Laaaance!"

The door opened abruptly on a little girl who ran straight onto her uncle's bed. She snuck under the blanket that Lance still had around his shoulders and rested her head against his chest. Her brown hair was covering her face like a silk curtain, hiding the huge smile that spread on her lips.

"Lilí, get out of my room, you'll get sick," Lance slightly admonished her, a smile in his voice.

"But Nathan and I have missed you so much!" Lilí complained, her eyes beginning to water.

The ex-paladin sighed and finally nodded. He couldn't resist her teary eyes and even if he knew she used this argument every time she wanted him to do something, he was weak to it.

Lilí howled in excitement, any evidence of upset completely gone, and jumped out of Lance's lap to announce to her brother that they had won.

"Please, tell me they're not planning to watch Frozen again," Lance begged to whatever God there could be. Even if he loved her from the bottom of his heart, Lance wouldn't bear his niece singing "Let it Go" one more time, especially considering she hollered more than she sang.

He barely had taken a step out of his room before his mother was suddenly standing in front of him, arms folded and a dangerous look in her eyes. The young man struggled to hide a smile in front of this woman who was a head smaller than him.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Mamá?"

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked back, her voice warm despite her threatening attitude.

"I'm being the best uncle my niece and nephew could ever hope for?" Lance hazarded with a sly smile.

His mother couldn't help but smile too.

"You already are, hijo mío," she sighed, "but you shouldn't give in to all of their whims."

"But she gave me the look again! You know, teary eyes and shaking voice and she did this thing with her lips!" Lance defended himself, mimicking his niece's signature pout.

To this, his mother laughed wholeheartedly.

"Alright, alright, you can go. Pero, por favor, remember to take care of yourself as much as you take care of those two little monsters," Lance's mother asked him.

The boy only smiled back, they both knew Lance was the kind of person who cared for others before they cared for themselves. Even in space he would have put his life on the line in order to save his friends.

Lance walked to the living room, his blanket flying like a cape behind him. Nathan and Lilí were waiting for him, sat on each side of the sofa so that Lance had to sit in the middle.

"What do you want me to suffer?" the young man teased the children.

Nathan frowned and his uncle realised how much the kid looked like him when he was his age. Lance wondered if he had been as difficult to handle when he was a child… Well, he was sure he was.

"We're not going to make you suffer anything," the little boy started. "You will love the movie."

It was more an order than a reassurance and Lance raised one brow, grinning. Yup, Nathan was definitely a younger version of him.

"What movie, then?"

The kids answered immediately in unison.

"The Little Mermaid!"

Oh, God, no.

"Under the sea, under the sea…"

There was Lance, singing along with the kids to annoy their father, Lance's big brother, Alonzo. The latter had a frying pan in hand and was threatening to hit his little brother if he didn't shut up.

"Nobody beat us, fry us or eat us in fricassee!" Lance kept on singing while dodging the pan that was heading to his chest.

He was going to carry on with the song when a violent coughing spell left him breathless. The teenager was forced to lean against the table in order to stand. He raised a begging look to his brother, asking him for help.

"Hah! See! It's karma!" Alonzo triumphantly stated with a grin.

It was unbelievable how much Alonzo reminded Lance of Hunk. The older man handed his little brother a glass of water with a more genuine smile.

"Don't die on me now, Lance! Who would take care of the kids for me if you weren't there anymore?" he said jokingly at first, but then his look became darker as he remembered Lance had been gone for years.

When the ex-pilot of the Blue Lion finally managed to breathe properly again, he had a similar sadness in his eyes. The little kids father was sure his sibling's thoughts had followed the same path as his own.

"Tell me, Alonzo… How long have I been away?" Lance asked, not daring to look the other in the eyes. "I mean… I don't even know how old I am, now…"

Lilí wrapped her arms around her uncle's torso, snuggling her head against Lance's chest. Her breath was suddenly very irregular, and Lance lifted her in his arms to hug her tight. He ran a comforting hand through the girl's hair to calm her down, though his gaze was intensely focused on the floor near Alonzo.

"We… We didn't hear from you for two years, Lance…"

Lance gasped and he quickly put his niece back on the ground. Considering they were in August, he was now nineteen years old. He had surely spent his birthday fighting the Galra without even noticing… this was such a weird, sudden realisation. He wondered how his mother had felt the whole time he was missing. He suddenly felt very faint.

"Lance?! Lance, can you hear me? Lance?! LANCE!" Alonzo shouted while catching his little brother in his arms.

Lance's eyelids slowly shut down and for one second he heard someone else's voice calling his name. Keith's voice was echoing in his mind when Lance passed out.

Keith was trapped in a room he didn't recognize. It was dark, except for a bright light that was shining directly into his eyes, blinding him, and a stale smell hung in the air. He needed to escape, he needed to hide and flee. If they found him, the red paladin was sure they would kill him.

Slowly, cautious not to make any noise, Keith stood up and ran along the wall, one hand on the cold surface to give him some direction. His breathing was jerky and he tried not to gulp in too much air every time he took a breath.

Eventually, he came across what Keith assumed was the door, and he noticed there weren't any windows in the room. He tried to push the door, in vain, and suddenly he noted a hole at eye level, he recognized a gap where light was pouring through. When the paladin looked through the gap, he saw one of his friends standing there.

"Lance! Lance, can you hear me? I can't find a way out of here!" Keith begged.

The sharpshooter stared down at Keith, his expression ice cold.

"You need help, buddy?" Lance asked in a sharp tone, a sinister smile on his lips.

"Yes! Lance, we're going to die here if you don't help me!"

The blue paladin laughed scornfully.

"It's too late, Keith," the Cuban spat, his harsh stare boring right into Keith's eyes. "The last time I offered to help you, you turned it down."

At these words, the blue paladin walked away without a glance. Keith hit the door desperately several times with his fists, wanting his friend to come back, to help him get out of this dark place.

"Hey, you're on your own, now," Lance's voice echoed in Keith's mind. "You should be delighted."

Keith woke up with a start, panting and sweating heavily. He frantically searched for the lightswitch and light flooded the bedroom when the paladin finally hit the button. Keith looked around, dizzy and lost, and he ran a hand through his hair to try calm down his panic attack. The nightmare had been way too real, and it still felt so real that the red paladin needed to keep reminding himself that Lance and he were fine and that the dark place had never existed…

Hah, who was he kidding? The Dark Place existed, and it always would. It had always been about this "Dark Place". It was all in his head, anyway.

Nonetheless, Keith picked up his phone which was lying beside him.

'Hey, Lance. You okay?' #sent

Minutes had passed and Lance hadn't messaged him back yet. Was he so angry that Keith declined his invitation to come home with him that he didn't want to talk to him anymore?

Keith's fingers started typing without even him realising, and the new message was sent before he could read it.

'Lance, I need to be sure you're fine. Please, answer me.'

#sent

Lance's eyelids slowly opened, revealing his storm blue eyes. He was feeling dizzy and his vision was blurred by tears.

"What happened?" the ex-paladin struggled to ask, his mouth dry.

Someone sighed in relief beside him and his youngest sister, Selena, appeared in his vision.

"Alonzo told me you passed out when you realised how much time you'd spent in space," the woman explained, helping her little brother to drink a bit of water. "Are you feeling better now?"

"I think so… uh, Selena? Where's Keith?"

The way the woman's eyebrows drew together suggested to Lance that the question was unexpected.

"What are you talking about? Who's Keith? Is he cute?"

"Stop it, Sé'!" a man's voice ordered, young but imperious. "Don't you dare try stealing Lance's mystery boyfriend!" the voice then added in a much more joking tone.

The ex-pilot of the Blue Lion had a hard time following the conversation, and the intervention of his brother, Leo, wasn't helping him at all.

"No, he's not my boyfriend. Keith. Mullet. I heard him say my name. Or did I?... god, why does my head hurt so much?"

"I may or may not have hit your head against the doorway when I carried you in here," Leo admitted with an almost proud grin.

Meanwhile, Selena was yelling so loudly that everyone in the house could hear: "MAMÁ! LANCE SAID HE HEARD HIS BOYFRIEND'S VOICE, I THINK HE MAY HAVE A CONCUSSION! WHAT DO WE DO?"

"No, I never said he was my boyfriend, Sé!" Lance complained, grimacing with pain.

"MAMÁ, HE SAYS THE GUY ISN'T HIS BOYFRIEND BUT HE KEEPS TALKING ABOUT HIM! HE DIDN'T ANSWER WHEN I ASKED IF HE WAS CUTE!"

"Quiznak, stop being so loud…" Lance begged her, hands covering his ears to try and muffle the sound of her voice.

"MAMÁ! HE'S NOW USING WORDS THAT DON'T EXIST!"

Leaning against the sofa to keep his balance, Leo was having the time of his life, almost choking with uncontrollable laughter. Selena's reactions and Lance's confused and angry looks were the best things he had ever seen, and it could have continued for a while if their mother hadn't showed up.

"Selena, stop bothering your brother!" the woman scolded her with a disapproving twist of her lips. "I'm sure he'll tell us about his boyfriend later if he chooses to, let him rest for the moment."

Leo's laughter returned with a greater intensity and Lance couldn't help but shout.

"MAMÁ! KEITH IS NOT-"

"Oh, his name is Keith? That's a cute name. Why haven't you mentioned him before?"

With a hopeless shrug, Lance gave up and put the blanket back over his head, desperately trying to avoid his family's embarrassing behaviour. When Lance finally managed to dispose of the three of them, it was Nathan's turn to come back to his uncle, Lilí following close behind.

"Are you okay, Lance?" the little boy asked worriedly, twisting his fingers.

"I'm sorry if I scared you," the ex-space pilot reassured with a slight smile. "Don't worry about me, I just need to… get used to things again."

The two children jumped on his lap in less than a second, hugging him tight without knowing what to say. They stayed like that for a while before sharing a look and running away. Once they were gone, Lance let out a long sigh and gazed at the ceiling. He had never thought being back on Earth would be so... awkward. He had been away from his family for two long years and yet he felt like he had only been gone for two months. He couldn't even imagine what his family had had to cope with.

Lance reached for his pocket but remembered his phone wasn't working. He needed to hear from his team, he missed them so much, especially after this weird awakening. He was heading to the computer in his room when a high-pitched voice stopped him.

"You're not allowed to be up and about!" Lilí scolded her uncle, hands on her hips in the same fashion Lance's mom did. "Nathan and I are going to take care of you!"

Lance swallowed and nodded slowly, going back to sit on the couch with a tense smile. He made a silent prayer for his life and patted the sofa next to him. The kids decided to watch another movie –please not Frozen again- which turned out to be Lilo & Stitch. Lance glanced at the children beside him. Aliens, huh? He cracked a smile and put his arms around the siblings who sighed happily. The movie hadn't been on for two minutes before Lilí jumped on her feet and started dancing like the characters on screen. Nathan quickly joined his sister and tried copying her moves, struggling with the coordination. He was clearly finding it hard to move his hips, arms and feet at the same time.

With a huge grin, Lance leapt up and positioned himself between the kids. He clapped his hands and showed the kids what dancing really was.

"Smile for the camera!" Selena exclaimed, standing in the doorway, a hand on her hips and the other one wielding her phone.

Her little brother winked to the device and carried on with his dance, now encouraged by his family. He was having so much fun he was heavily disappointed when the music ended and Lance glanced at the television with a frown.

"We definitely need to find you a grass skirt!" Selena announced with a grin. "I bet you wouldn't even dare to wear it."

"Watch me," Lance challenged with an evil smile, already picturing himself rocking the outfit.

At the end of the movie, the whole family was sitting in the living-room, including Lance's grandparents. Twelve pairs of eyes were focused on the TV screen, either sat on the floor, on chairs, on the table, on the sofa or just leaning against a wall.

"Hey, Lance. Were the aliens as weird as these ones?" Leo asked, genuinely interested, lying on the floor, his head propped up by his arm.

"I would have loved to have an alien like Stitch on the ship!" the ex-pilot laughed wholeheartedly. "But no, I mean, most of them are so evolved… Like, the Arusians are basically dramatic humanoid snails, and—"

"Are some aliens really cute? And, I mean cute cute." Leo teased him again, his smile growing wider when the ex-paladin blushed. "Oooh, that cute, huh?"

"I-I mean, most of them look like us… Just a different skin colour, or they just have some horns or tails, but… Yeah."

Nyma appeared in his mind, and the shame of having been fooled by her flirting heated his cheeks again.

"A-And there were mermaids, too," Lance added to distract his thoughts. "Like, real mermaids, living under water, with tails, and jellyfish. The place was… safe and warm!"

At these words, Lance burst out with laugher and his siblings glanced at each other, assuming he was mad with fever. Nathan took his uncle's hand and put a cookie in it. It was black, looked like ashes, and smelt like sulphur. However, Lance forced a smile and ate it under the concerned gaze of his siblings. His face rapidly turned to green and he ran to the nearest plant pot to throw up the cookie, sweating heavily.

"Was it good?" Lilí asked with a big smile, only just coming back from the kitchen where she had been.

"Y-Yes, delicious," Lance muttered, struggling against his stomach which was making leaps in his belly.

"There's another one for you!" the little girl announced proudly, her smile bright.

"I think I'll pass," his uncle excused himself while taking deep breaths.

Alonzo was trying not to laugh and ended up biting his fist, weird noises coming from his shattered breath.

"Keith, are you alright?" Shiro questioned with a frown. "I've been here watching you for ten doboshes and you haven't even noticed… Is there something that's bothering you?"

The younger man turned to his leader.

"End training sequence", Keith commanded to the AI whilst reaching for a towel. He took the time to wipe the sweat off of his face before he spoke again. "Nothing is bothering me, Shiro, I was just… I needed to exercise," the red paladin evaded.

The paladin of the Black Lion seemed particularly unconvinced. He sighed, noticing how remarkably Keith had dodged his first question, but the black paladin wasn't going to make him spill the beans. That was something the younger man really liked about Shiro, he was never one to force him to express his feelings, but Keith knew he would be there if he needed someone to talk to.

The paladin of the Red Lion sheepishly made a crooked smile.

"Have you been here all day?" Shiro asked, raising one brow.

"No, I've been with the Lions most of the day, I've just got here a few vargas ago." Keith lied, the same smile still on his lips.

Shiro nodded with a tired smile. He had been in the hangar with Black all day long, thus he was fully aware of the man's lie.

"Are you coming to dinner?"

Keith looked back to his jacket which was lying on the ground, then to Shiro who was holding the door open.

"Yeah..." he answered after a hesitation.

He gathered his things, rolled them into a ball and followed Shiro. All they could hear was the sound of their footsteps on the floor. The ship sounded so empty when the rest of the team wasn't there with them. Every corridor seemed too large and too long, as if the castle was now the size of a planet.

Coran and Allura tried their best to lift the atmosphere at lunch. Shiro was smiling, chatting happily with the Alteans as he had done for a week, and Keith was eating, quiet as always. Maybe even quieter than he was usually.

The younger paladin didn't even realise his friends had stopped talking until he felt something moving on his neck. A naked tail suddenly appeared in front of his eyes which belonged to a tiny mouse which was hanging on a strand of his black hair.

"What are you doing here?" Keith asked, surprised. He held his hand so that the alien animal could climb on. His brows frowned when he felt more little paws moving in his hair. "Hey, stop it, already!" the man cried, but it was already too late.

He heard the shutter of a camera and glared at Shiro angrily.

"I'm sending that to Pidge", the black paladin teased with a sly smile. Allura definitely had a bad influence on the guy.

Keith gritted his teeth and quickly removed the mice from his head, counting them to make sure that he hadn't missed any of them. Allura guffawed, covering her mouth with one hand to hide the smile that spread on her face, and Coran turned his back to the red paladin, his shoulders shaking under his laughter.

"What the…" Keith began, quickly stopped from cursing by an upset gaze from the ginger haired man.

The black haired boy ran a hand through his hair and found regular knots. After a few ticks, he realized that the mice had been braiding his hair He swore under his breath, already picturing Pidge laughing out loud and sending the photo to all of her contacts, and walked out of the room.

"Keith, wait!" Allura voiced in concern, but he was already too far away.

The princess sighed, worried for her friend. She exchanged a look with her two companions and together they started working on a way to lift their friend's mood, putting all their hearts into the elaboration of a plan.

Keith's steps led him to the common room and he dropped down on a couch. His head hit the back of the sofa and he stayed in this position for a long time, staring at the wall in front of him without actually seeing it. He closed his eyes and listened to the quiet sound of the room. Half asleep from the terrible nightmares he kept having, his mind began playing tricks on him. Suddenly, he could hear the distant echoes of past conversations that had happened in this room. He could hear Shiro motivating them for the fights to come; he could hear Allura scolding them when they couldn't work as a team; he could hear Hunk dreaming about meals he couldn't cook on board; and, eventually, he could hear Lance's annoying voice challenging him. Keith swore he could still hear Lance's laughter even after he opened his eyes. Several vargas had passed without him noticing, and he straightened himself up, his whole body stiff.

When he stood up, a thick, blue blanket fell on the ground and Keith looked around, searching for whoever had covered him with it. Coran was nowhere to be found, though, and the red paladin caught himself smiling at pictures that had been pinned on the common room wall. Some of them had been taken by Pidge when the team had gone their separate ways, but some others were older. There were even some pictures of the ancient paladins of Voltron and some that Keith guessed to be of Altea.

There was a digital panel like the ones that were in the navigation room, and the paladin of the Red Lion went from one picture to another, sometimes zooming in on them. Once more, he found himself staring at one photo in particular, his favourite. In this one, Pidge had asked her father and her brother to take the photo so that the whole crew could be in the picture.

Pidge was at the top right of the picture, a bright smile on her face, she was holding two of the mice in her arms and the other two were on her shoulders. Sitting on the ground, closer to the camera was Hunk, wiping a tear away as if someone had just told him a good joke. Shiro was in the middle of the picture, arms folded, a discreet smile showing on his lips. Coran and Allura were standing in front. The man had an arm lightly resting on the princess's shoulders in a protecting and paternal manner. On the bottom left of the picture, sat on the ground, Lance had a wide grin on his face, as self-confident as he had always been. Standing between Shiro and him was Keith, close to his team leader and for once facing the others. His posture and the soft smile on his face said a lot about his feelings towards the other members of the crew. They were his family, he finally had a place he belonged...

And now it all was gone.

"Mooooo!"

Keith was startled from his wistful reminiscing and instantly turned round in a defensive pose. Even without his bayard, Keith was an exceptional fighter, and hand-to-hand was his speciality. He had been consistently visiting the training deck in an aim to keep up with his skills and to improve his reflexes.

Two big teary eyes greeted him and the paladin soon relaxed, adopting a more casual stance.

"Hey, Kaltenecker," Keith saluted him with a soft voice. "What are you doing in the common room?"

"Moooo!"

"Let's get you back to your… field? C'mon, don't be like Lance!" he added when the cow refused to move. He let out a sigh, giving up. "Don't you dare come into my room, Kaltenecker. That's not your place."

The thunder was rumbling and lightning was lighting the cloudy night sky. Nathan and Lilí had gone home with Alonzo, and only Lance, Leo, Selena, and their parents remained in the house. Their grandparents lived in the neighbouring house, which was tinier but had much a bigger garden.

Lance was curled up in his bed, he'd pulled the blanket up to his nose and his eyes were focused on the photos on the wall. He was no longer motivated to go on his computer, and it would have been a bad idea anyway considering the weather. His little star-shaped nightlight was glowing on the opposite wall, bathing the room with a soft, calming light.

The ex-paladin was still feeling sick after the intake of his nephew's poisonous cookies and the fatigue was beginning to get to him. He twitched in shock when a thunderbolt hit an electricity pole nearby and the neighbourhood fell into darkness.

"What the hell?!" Lance shouted, throwing the blanket away and getting to his feet.

He heard the sound of steps in the other rooms and concluded that his siblings were reacting the same as he was. The ex-spaceship pilot jumped on his chair, frantically praying his computer would start up. It was just as he thought, the electricity was down, and there were no way for him to go on the Internet anymore.

Lance swore several times before retreating back to bed, his fist clenched tightly as he realised he no longer had any way to contact his friends.

The day after the blackout, the McClains found out their router had crashed, and Lance stayed a whole hour kneeling in front of the white box, whining. While Leo and Selena were using 4G, Lance was wearing an empty gaze he couldn't shake off. His social life was gone, as simple as that.

"Is everything alright, pequeño?" a soft voice asked the boy when he was spacing out.

Lance raised his head to see his abuela staring at him intensely. A sheepish smile spread on his lips when he answered.

"I was just thinking." He waited for a sarcastic answer, oblivious to the fact he was talking to his grandmother instead of any other person he knew. "My phone is broken, the router is too, so I have no way of contacting my friends. You know, the ones I was in space with. Some of them are back on Earth and some are still up there, but I don't even know if they're alright. I'm a terrible friend, aren't I?" he added in a breath, his smile still there but it wasn't reaching his eyes.

"Is it being a terrible friend to worry about them, pequeño?" the woman questioned with a smile and a glow of her glasses that reminded the boy of Pidge. "Does it make you a terrible friend to miss them? Remember that your friends see you brighter than you can see yourself, mi cielito."

Her grandson smiled more softly as she walked away. He knew she was right, even if it was sometimes hard for him to believe.

In the early afternoon, while Lance was lying on the sofa without anything to do or think about, he was surprised to see two people enter his eyesight. Selena bent over him, fists on her hips, and Leo folded his arms in a determined manner.

"What do you want?" Lance asked with a suspicious frown.

"We gotta walk you." Leo affirmed with a firm nod.

"Mamá said." Selena emphasized, already gripping Lance's arm and dragging him with her.

"Wait, waiiiit! I don't want to go out, especially not with you! And I don't need to be walked!" the younger one yelled. "Guys, let me at least put some shoes on!" he whined one last time, glancing at the sky while he was thrown into a car.

Selena threw his sneakers on the back seat and Leo drove the three of them to the town, ignoring his brother's constant complaining.

"We need to get you new clothes", Selena commanded imperiously. "You've been wearing the same clothes in space for two years, hermanito, they're old and dirty. And you need to do something about your hair."

"I love my clothes, and- WAIT, WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM WITH MY HAIR?!"

"Old-fashioned," Leo instantly affirmed.

"Too long," their sister added with a grave nod.

Lance dramatically gasped, offended, but he couldn't think of a way to disprove them. He lifted one hand to his forehead and observed a strand of his hair. It was now so long it could touch the bottom of his nose. Perhaps his siblings weren't so wrong, after all. He rubbed the back of his neck and felt that the hair had grown much longer than he'd thought.

"Haircut first," the boy whispered, defeated.

After all, he needed to be presentable if he had to hang out in town: many people were going to be there, including potential cuties, and Lance would have hated to disappoint them.

As soon as he entered the hairdresser's, the man was blessed by the view of two beautiful young women working hard. He put on his most handsome smile and walked straight to the reception. One of the employees noticed him and she tucked her razor blade away before coming toward him.

"Hello, sir," she welcomed him with a pretty smile he wasn't going to forget soon. "How can I help you?"

Lance's heart raced as he looked into her eyes. He had a thing for dark-eyed people, and the girl was definitely appealing. He opened his mouth to speak in his most charming voice, leisurely leaning against the desk, when someone else spoke up.

"I'm going to attend to him, Megan, you can go back to your work."

Lance frowned heavily, frustrated to be hushed like that. Megan gave him an apologetic smile and Lance had to struggle to stay polite with the woman who was now coming to him. She had large shoulders and short hair cut in a military style. Clearly, this person wasn't engaging at all.

"Aw, man…" he thought desperately.

Fortunately, the military woman was more skilled with scissors and razors than she was when it came to talking to people. Lance anxiously saw his hair fall on the ground, again and again, more and more brown strands dropping, and he was starting to get truly scared when she announced it was over.

The man had to blink a few time to realize it was really his reflection in the mirror. He ran a hand through his hair, making the woman sigh because he was already destroying her work, and his eyes suddenly brightened.

"That's awesome!" he declared with a huge grin to the woman.

She raised her eyebrows, obviously not expecting it, and she addressed him a slight smile.

"The others won't believe it!" Lance added while getting on his feet.

He quickly paid the woman and left the shop in a hurry. Only when he walked out he remembered his team wasn't there with him anymore. He took a deep breath to clear his mind, shook his head, and headed to his brother and his sister with a big smile.

"What have you done to your hair?!" Leo screamed with a high-pitched cry. "Lance, I trusted you!"

"You're jealous", the other replied with confidence. "I can have all the girls I want, now."

Selena waved to mean that, for once, she agreed with her youngest brother.

"You can't have all the girls you want", Leo challenged his brother with an almost angry look.

"Let me get some new clothes, and fucking watch me," Lance affirmed with a wink which pissed his brother off.

Making Leo angry was by far one of the funniest activities the ex-paladin could do, and he was eventually glad that his siblings had dragged him with them.

Fortunately, Leo and Selena both shared the same love as their brother for shopping. They spent half the afternoon going from store to store and trying on clothes. Most of them were for fun, and Leo even ended up with a skin-tight bright pink dress. "I'll wear it for New Year's Eve!" he announced with a proud grin when he bought it, receiving weird looks from the saleswoman.

Lance was in the main aisle of another clothes shop when he noticed a huddle of three girls laughing. He greeted them with his brightest smile which made two of them blush and look away. The boy quickly glanced at the shelf in front of him and grabbed two shirts.

"Excuse me, beautiful ladies… I have a slight case of colour blindness and I can't figure out which one would suit me the best… These t-shirts are both red, when I look at them." He lied with a sheepish smile.

One of the girls, who had long dark curly hair, pointed at the shirt he was holding in his left hand and politely indicated to him it was the blue one while the other one was red. Lance noticed how slowly she was talking, as if he was dumb, but didn't show it. Instead, he smiled even wider.

"The red one would suit you the best!" the girl in the middle intervened.

"Definitely the blue one!" her friend frowned, her black hair getting into her eyes at each blink.

They were both having a pretty bad argument when their third friend joined them, much shier. She was holding another fabric in her hands and offered it to Lance.

"This one is purple," she said in a soft voice. "The fabric is light and loose, and the colour will suit your blue eyes. You should take this one."

"Thank you," Lance spoke up, astonished. "Hey, wait! Please, I don't even know your name!" he shouted when she started to walk away, dragging her friends with her, but she never looked back. "I guess I should buy it", he whispered to himself with a bit of sadness piercing through his voice.

When he got back to the car, he had bought an impressive amount of clothes, and the only one to outcompete him was his brother. Surprisingly, Selena had been much more reasonable this time, but it must have had to do with the purchase of her new tablet.

Lance got into some new clothes before he agreed to go and eat crepes with his siblings. He chose the purple shirt he had got earlier, black skinny jeans and added a three quarter-length sleeved jacket he had bought to complete his outfit. Now, he felt irresistible.

"Hey, Leo. Watch me!" Lance challenged his brother when they arrived near the crêperie.

He noticed a girl with a side braid who was nonchalantly sipping her soda. She was wearing sunglasses and he saw her raise an eyebrow when he approached.

"Hello, pretty lady. Why do you need to hide those beautiful eyes when the brightest star in this world is you?"

"Excuse me, you are?" she said while looking over her glasses at him.

"The name's Lance, and I'm already falling for you," the man grinned while dropping to one knee. "May I know the name of the beautiful creature standing in front of me?"

He winked, holding a hand to her with the most seductive voice he could muster.

"Sure. I'm taken." The girl snorted with a snobbish twist of lips.

Lance blinked a few times before he got up with a confused look, not able to make any sound. Leo was laughing out loud, earning weird glares from onlookers and Selena was desperately trying to hide her laughter.

"Shut up" Lance groaned when he re-joined them, sitting in the nearest chair and burying his face into his arms.

"That was so lame!" Leo kept laughing while taking a chair in front of his brother.

"Did it work in space?" their sister mocked.

The ex-pilot was about to tell her to fuck off when a very pretty boy came to their table.

"Good afternoon, lady and gentlemen. My name is Gabriel, and I will be your waiter," the man introduced himself, staring intensely at Lance.

"Hi, Gabriel," Selena chuckled, eyes on her little brother. "It's a real pleasure."

Leo had a huge smirk while he noticed the change in Lance's attitude, his phone ready to take a photo.

Lance raised an eyebrow to take in the waiter. He had dark brown, chocolatey eyes and his soft-looking medium-length hair was tied up into a ponytail. His uniform fit him just right and Lance couldn't help but grin widely in appreciation.

"Hey, Gabriel. Do you work here every day? 'cause I would be heavily disappointed if I came and you were nowhere to be found."

"I don't, but I would definitely enjoy seeing you around."

Lance beamed, and so did Gabriel. Hey, Lance thought, smugly, maybe the day wasn't wasted, after all!