Chapter 10: Healing Diamond Dust
A deep, thrumming bass sent tingling vibrations from Allura's chest and outward to her arms. Morphing frequencies made an elegant, nonsensical chorus of sound in the blackness of her unconscious. Lightweight, cool liquid surrounded her, tickling her skin like soft cilia tracing never ending lines down her upper body as she floated directionlessly. Her lower body felt heavy, yet empty at the same time. None of the soft cilia tickled past her waist. All at once, she was experiencing every sensation her waking mind would be able to perceive while she was certain that the shadows of unconsciousness surrounded her.
It felt like her body was spinning slowly. She wasn't sure if it felt more like front flips or back flips. It was too slow to comprehend and her mind did the best that it could to make sense of all the strange sensations.
Finally, she opened her eyes. Nothing. Her stomach sank and she felt panic rising up in her as her heart quickened. She closed her eyes again and breathed deeply, hugging her arms around her. Everything was somehow heavy and weightless at the same time as the nothingness surrounded her.
She tried to think. She tried to come up with anything at all that would put her at ease. Images of her father...Altea...the Paladins...The Blue Lion? While floating aimlessly and ever slower, images of anything that calmed her before rushed through her mind. None of them stuck. She hugged her arms tightly around her and blinked away the tears she couldn't feel dripping down her face.
Suddenly, a soft golden glow appeared. Droplets of shimmering, gold water cooled the fire of despair and warmed her aching heart. Strong arms wrapped around her in a comforting embrace. She breathed a sigh of relief. Tingling sensations began trickling down her torso and into her legs. The arms had shape and substance, but no defining characteristics, almost like a silhouette of a man embracing her like a cherished prize.
She relished that moment. This time, she could feel the cool tears streak down her face as the image in her mind morphed into a beautiful sunset. The man who had taken her in his arms was a little ways away now, standing at the top of a hill. Long, amber blades of silky grass grazed against her hand as she walked towards him, his silhouette shining in front of the large setting sun. Each step she took towards him sent healing energy up through her legs and into her chest, easing the panic in her soul. He turned to her. She couldn't see his face. He held out a hand, beckoning her to come to him. Warmth radiated from his spirit as joyous tears streamed down her face. She reached for him.
He turned fully to face her, his features still obscured because of the bright light of the sun. She quickened her pace as delighted, breathless sobs escaped her mouth. Picking up the hem of her flowing white gown, she ran to him.
She neared, though it seemed like she'd never get to him. The wind blew his long, silk-like hair and revealed two pointed ears on either side of his head. She recognized the shape of his frame now; it was familiar, but this energy. This essence. It was different than before.
Before?
There was a before?
She slowed her pace and she finally drew close to him. His hand was still outstretched to her. Sniffing, she dropped her handful of dress. She did not bother to wipe her tears, instead letting them freely flow down her face and neck. Steadily, she reached up and wafted the fingers of her right hand over his. The feather-light touch was a cool, tingling sensation as her hand ghosted into his. Time slowed as their hands came together. She slid her fingers down into his palm as slow as honey flowed from its glassy container. The tips of her fingers reached his palm as his reached hers. Trembling, they closed the distance between their palms, feeling each and every sensation of the others' touch on the delicate nerves.
Rotating their hands around, their palms finally came together and their fingers aligned. His hand was large enough that his long fingers could encase the top of her slender hand. Slowly, as if constantly asking for permission, he gently grasped her hand. And she grasped his, laying her fingers in the crook of his thumb and index finger.
Light and warmth seemed to dance between the soft touch. A faint white glow emanated from their palms as their hands tightened the embrace ever so slowly. As the light grew, she began to reach up with her left hand. He mirrored her, moving just as slowly and tentatively. The light from their first touch grew as their other hands inched closer to each other. She splayed the fingers of her left hand loosely; the white light from their first touch was now beginning to obscure her vision. It did not hurt her eyes however. Everything about the interaction displayed only warm, healing light that coursed through her body and flowed out of her heart in a continual sharing of wholeness.
The tips of her left finger tips softly touched his and the white light grew exponentially, engulfing their whole bodies almost instantly. They folded their hands together, fingers intertwining with one another.
They became completely enveloped as Allura felt warm surges of healing from the figure's energy. Weightless bliss swelled in her chest as an endless expanse whited-out everything in an instant.
"Be well, Allura."
The sound of his voice made her heave in a gasping breath.
Allura sat bolt upright, breathing heavily, as she hastily flashed her gaze all around her to orient herself. A strange, bug-like creature stood above her, a stunned look somehow apparent in his large black eyes.
"Allura!" she heard a familiar voice call out to her as her chest continued to heave up and down in hyperventilating breaths.
An Altean girl with blonde hair done up in two buns high on her head hurried over and crouched next to her. "Are you alright!?"
Allura's breath slowed as she saw two other familiar faces close by the Altean girl. Her mouth hung open as she tried to shake the stupor from her mind. She took in a deep breath through her nose and gazed at the younger woman's visage. "Romelle?"
The girl almost laughed as tears danced in her eyes. "Everything's ok! You're ok! You should lay back down. Tsk-ng said you wouldn't be up for another eight vargas! How are you sitting up right now?" Romelle put gentle hands on Allura's shoulders and tried to usher her back down to the ground.
Allura grabbed hold of Romelle's forearm and furrowed her brow at her curiously. Memories from the day slowly streamed back into her mind as she attempted to make sense of everything. "Y-Your helmet. Are we back in the Lions?"
Romelle shook her head. "It was too far to try and take you there with your broken back. Tsk-ng, this native Murichlorian, saved us from the blidgor and brought you in here for treatment," she said, motioning to the insectoid.
"Broken back?" Allura pushed Romelle's arms away and looked down at her body. She was both surprised, and admittedly disturbed to see that bandages and a brace had been wrapped around her abdomen and chest. A large majority of her skin was exposed, revealing the ribbons of pink Altean marks that adorned her shoulders, back, arms, and thighs as well as bruises all over her exposed skin and one large hand-shaped bruise on her left leg. "What happened?" the princess asked, her voice quiet and full of bewilderment.
"Before, or after that blinding flash of light?" Hunk asked.
Coran elbowed him hard in the side and Hunk let out a pained groan. "We can tell you all the details later. Right now, you should rest, Princess."
Allura furrowed her brows in offense to Coran's response. Why wouldn't he just tell her what happened? And what was that Hunk said about a flash of light? "I feel fine," she answered sternly. Even though she certainly didn't look fine. She didn't feel any pain from any of the bruises that she saw. What was going on?
Coran raised one of his thick orange eyebrows and put a gloved hand on his bare chin. He had taken off his protective suit completely and was left in his typical blue outfit. "Are you sure? It's unlikely, but your body could still be in shock from the incident."
"I am not in shock," Allura protested. Well, maybe she was in shock. But it was not from an injury. Certainly not from a broken back. She could feel everything in her limbs just fine. She wiggled her toes, testing her statement. The toes on each foot moved without any trouble. Everything felt in order. "See?" she said, motioning to her wiggling toes.
Coran's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Wait! You can feel that?! You really healed a lot faster than we could have ever thought!"
"Yes! I understand that," Allura snapped. "Now, tell me what happened," she demanded, and she didn't really care that her voice too aggressive.
"Whoa, it's ok, Allura. Everything is fine," Hunk said, lowering his hands in an attempt to calm her down. "After we gathered fruits and vegetables, we got chased by this giant crocogatorrilla across the river."
"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Romelle turned back at him and raised one eyebrow high.
"Ok! That thing looked like a giant crocodile, alligator, gorilla hybrid. They're animals back on Earth," Hunk heatedly explained, throwing his arms up in the air.
"What strange names for animals," Romelle commented. Had Allura not been so shaken, she might have had it in her to laugh.
"Oh! And blidgor, or ufflyuff aren't? Whatever, anyway," Hunk squeezed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger before continuing. "After we crossed, you hurt your ankle. Then the monster came back and nearly killed you. Romelle and I tried to fight it, but every time we hit it, it just got stronger and faster. If not for Tsk-ng, we might not have made it. Oh yeah, and he has x-ray vision. That's how he knew you broke your back. And a rib or two… or four or five. And you may or may not have fractured your collarbone. Honestly, you really shouldn't be able to sit up right now. How are you not in pain?"
"Hunk!" Romelle chided.
"What? She asked what happened, so I told her!"
Allura cast her gaze down at her lap, her black, skin-tight shorts covering only a small portion of her thighs. She closed her eyes and tried to recall the events as Hunk described. Fruits and vegetables? That sounded familiar. They had to hike quite a long way to get to them. Blidgor? That sounded familiar too. Suddenly, everything up to the point where the giant black hand shot out of the water became clear to her, but she couldn't remember anything else after that. A broken back? She thought back to the numbness in her lower body she had felt in her vision. That would explain the strange conflicting sensations she felt. Had she really gotten so hurt by that monster?
While Allura thought, Coran spoke to the insect-like person who was examining what looked like a wooden data pad. "Tsk-ng, I tell you, your healing technology is truly astounding. I had no idea Murichlorian medicine had gained the ability to heal people so quickly!"
The insect-person looked up from the data pad with a look of utter surprise and shook his head, making a gurgling click-like sound.
"What do you mean it wasn't you!?" Coran exclaimed.
The Murichlorian shrugged his top two arms and cocked his head to the side. He then pushed the data pad up to Coran's face. The Altean man lowered his head and examined it closely as the insect-being explained something in its language.
Romelle put a hand on Allura's upper arm, covering part of one of the elegant, pink designs that twisted around it. "Are you sure you're alright?" she asked, a concerned smile painted on her face.
Allura glanced down at Romelle's hand. Strange. It was an almost imperceptible and inexplicable sensation: sort of like Romelle's quintessential energy had briefly reached out in a gentle, prodding caress on Allura's.
"Allura?"
"Huh? Oh, yes. Thank you, Romelle."
"You mean that bright light wasn't part of your treatment?" Coran asked the Murichlorian rather loudly.
Tsk-ng shook his head.
"Then what could possibly have happened?" Coran gesticulated widely with his arms.
Hunk crossed one arm over his chest and put his chin in the other hand. "Maybe Allura healed herself?"
Coran took in a deep breath, seemingly ready to dispute Hunk's suggestion but then stroked his mustache pensively. "I guess that could be a possibility. That would explain why her spine looks as if there was never any damage to it at all."
"I mean, she's brought people back from the dead before, and healed an entire planet creature, I don't see why it would be that far out of left field," said Hunk.
"May I see those scans, Coran?" Allura asked.
"Of course. The before and after are right here." Coran handed her the wooden data pad.
Allura took the pad and looked at the 3D image of her skeleton on the screen as Romelle peered over her shoulder. The image was a blue background while her bones were white, like normal. No broken bones, no fractures, no injuries of any kind. Allura swiped to the left to reveal a scan that was a much more disturbing picture with so many alerts of injury that the blue background was almost all red. Her spinal cord had been completely severed, offset by a considerable distance, several broken ribs, and multiple fractures on her shoulders and collarbone, as well as numerous other smaller injuries, including her sprained ankle.
"Agh!" Romelle squirmed and looked away while Allura stared at it, shocked by the severity of injury. No wonder Coran was so concerned. No wonder Romelle tried to push her back down. She shouldn't have been able to sit up! Allura lowered the screen and reached to touch her back. Her skin and muscles were sensitive to the touch, but it just felt like a large bruise in the middle of her back. Just as the first scan she looked at revealed, she had no serious injuries. She knew, in that state, there was no way she would have been able to heal herself.
She then thought back to her vision. That warmth, that refreshing energy, she had felt it before when she went into the quintessence field. But the figure she saw… could it really have been?
Allura handed the data pad back to Tsk-ng. Memories of the events that had recently taken place bombarded her mind. She understood what happened, but that didn't mean she wanted to accept it as the truth. Or rather, she was not sure how to accept it. Part of her was relieved and thankful not to have to recover from such drastic injuries, but the other part of her couldn't understand the reason why. Or… maybe she did understand, and that's what made her angry.
"How long was I unconscious?" Allura finally asked. Coran and Hunk were huddled together around Hunk's helmet chatting over the com with Pidge.
"IS THAT ALLURA!?" Pidge exclaimed over the device in Hunk's helmet.
Allura began to pick herself up and earned a worried look from Romelle. Allura smiled at her, thankful for the concern, but convinced that it was really not necessary. Her injuries were healed and she could get up and walk to go speak to Pidge.
Romelle furrowed her eyebrows and stuck a hand out. "At least let me help you up."
A slight humored breath escaped Allura's lips as she accepted the woman's help. "Thank you, Romelle."
The two walked over to their other teammates and Hunk handed Allura the helmet. "Yes, Pidge. It's me. I'm alright," the princess confirmed.
"Oh, thank goodness! Shiro! Allura's awake!" Pidge's voice diminished somewhat and fumbling noises sounded as the girl probably ran to go get Shiro.
There were a few ticks of silence before Pidge's voice came back over the com. "…rently she's perfectly fine, save for a few bruises. But look at these scans! Oh, I wish I was there so I could have gotten readings on what that flash of light was that came from her!"
"Got'cha covered, Pidge. Sending them over to you now," Hunk replied.
"Ah, yes! Hunk, you're the best!"
"Allura?" came Shiro's voice.
"Yes, Shiro. I'm here."
"How are you feeling?"
"I feel fine. I do have some bruises, but all my former injuries have healed completely."
"Wow, that's amazing! I'm glad you're ok. I don't know what we would have done if we didn't have you."
"Thank you." Allura turned her attention back to the team members in front of her. "No one ever answered me though. How long was I unconscious?"
"Only about four vargas," Hunk answered.
"Tsk-ng said that his normal treatment would have taken at least twelve, so I'm interested in seeing what those scans you took yield, Hunk." Coran pointed to the Yellow Paladin and flashed him a smile from beneath his mustache.
While the teammates chatted excitedly about her miraculous recovery Allura caught Romelle gazing at her with a concerned expression. She was sure that her own confusion was written on her own face, which was probably why Romelle was looking so intently at her. Allura mustered a thin smile, knowing it wouldn't do much good to ease the younger woman's concern, but she had to give her some sort of sign. Soon enough, she'd be back to her normal self. Before she knew it, her eyes were glued back on the ground, previous thoughts continuing to run through her mind.
"Right then!" Coran clapped his hands. He said something in his usual excited, effervescent tone, but Allura was so concentrated on her own private thoughts that she hardly heard what he said, keeping her hands clenched at her side for a few ticks.
"Allura?" Romelle gently urged.
Finally pulled out of her reverie, she gave a gentle shake of her head and looked up at her companions. "Huh? I'm sorry. What did you say, Coran?"
"I said, if you're up for it, once you get a bite to eat and change your clothes, we can be on our way. Tsk-ng has arranged a ride for us back to the Lions!"
"Oh, yes. That's perfect," Allura affirmed, trying her very best not to sound weak and detached.
"Brilliant! Food and the rest of your clothes are on the second flood, which is just through that hole in the ceiling." Coran grinned, pointing to it.
Allura looked up and to the left to see a small opening, just barely big enough for her to fit through. "Alright. I'll do that, then."
"Take your time, Princess. We're in no rush."
Chapter 10.2: We Kill the Kraken
"We need to move to positions immediately. Remember that the tauner leaves will be aflame nearly immediately after friction is applied, so do not," a quick glare was cast at Lance, whose arms shot out in a defensive gesture, "Set yourself on fire. You both have your strekt branches?"
Lance and Keith nodded, clutching their makeshift satchels a little tighter. It was incredible what Krolia had constructed out of only leaves and vines.
"Excellent," she continued. "Remember as you run, not to let those tauner leaves rub against each other or against yourselves. You put them down as you scatter the strekt branches in an area, and then pick them back up when you're done. It's tedious work but it's safer to just take it slow. Understand?"
Another nod.
"Good." She turned her body to fully face Lance, reaching a hand out to his shoulder as she did so. "Lance, I'm relying on you as our sharpshooter. Remember the plan. After the spakerlin are scared off, Keith and I will be trying our best to get that thing's mouth open. When you have a clear shot, you take it. The Spakern won't keep its mouth open if it thinks it's in danger - it knows how vulnerable it is in that area. We need you to find your perch and watch closely. You'll have a small window and you can't miss."
Lance's mouth was already open to retort, but before Keith knew what he was doing, he was already speaking. "He won't miss, mom. He's Team Voltron's sharpshooter. And he's… pretty good at what he does. Isn't that right, Lance?"
Lance gaped at Keith like he had grown another head, and nodded, masking his surprise behind the motion. "Yeah," he muttered, "Uh, thanks Keith. Yeah, I- I won't miss. You can count on me, Mama K!"
Krolia nodded her thanks and turned to Keith. "Keith… I know this has been a long day for you. I know that you've had to show a side of yourself that none of your human friends have seen before now. But here, you cannot be shy. You must give in to your Galra instincts, use them to guide you through this battle. As I have mentioned, the Spakern is fast, it's tentacles strong. Too fast and strong for a human to successfully fight. But for two Galra fighters… difficult, but not impossible. We must keep Lance hidden, safe. I'm sorry, Lance, but if it senses you-"
Lance nodded, and Keith was surprised by how grim he suddenly looked. "It's okay, I get it. I won't be able to fight it."
She took a breath, and shook her head. "I wish you could… I wish we could say we could defend you, but even with our speed… a creature this big, with this many tentacles…"
He nodded. "I get it. You and Keith… can you promise me that if it gets one of you in its grasp, you're both strong enough to shake free?"
"You'll need to use your discretion for that, Lance. We don't want to give your position away, and hopefully neither of us fall into its clutches. But if the situation looks dire - a shot to the tentacle should do the trick."
Lance nodded again, eyebrows creased in concentration. "Got it. And I might not have super hearing like you guys, but yell if you need me, okay? I'll keep you both in my scope."
Krolia hummed in agreement, and then gasped suddenly. "I almost forgot! After the spakerlin have been scared away, Lance, you need to tell Keith when you've found a good vantage point. Somewhere you can see the whole battle, just in case we need support. One of those places we were looking at before. When you get there, tell Keith, and he and I will start our attack. You'll be too far away for my hearing, but Keith should be able to hear you just fine. Be warned, Galra ears try to adjust to noise input. The spakerlin will be deafening after they see the fire. The noise will overwhelm Keith's hearing, and his ears will try to adjust to that noise level. Since his hearing is so sensitive as a pup, it will be painful. Keith, you'll have to tough it out until the spakerlin have flown away. And Lance, when you have your vantage point, whisper. Keith's ears will need a few minutes to re-adjust to a normal noise level, and he won't be able to hear you until they do. By that point, he'll really be listening for you. His ears will have adjusted to trying to pick up your whisper from across the pit. So even talking normally will be almost deafening for him. Just give him some time to adjust. If he can't, he won't be able to hear either of us if we need help, or the sounds of the battle. It could cost him. So, air on the side of caution and let his ears adjust and eventually, he'll hear you. When he's completely back to normal and he starts fighting, you can speak at normal volume. Until then, his ears will be extremely sensitive, so don't expect him to launch into battle right away."
Keith swallowed, hoping his mother was right. So much of their success relied on his ability to give in to his Galra instincts, which… made him nervous, to put it lightly. He couldn't mess this up, not when it could cost him his mother, or Lance.
Lance seemed to sense his stress, and those blue eyes were immediately trained on him. "Hey, Keith? You can do this, man. I believe in you, okay? You'll hear me, buddy."
Keith nodded with gratitude, and turned back to hear his mother finish her debriefing. "Keith, once Lance is settled, you and I will distract it, hurt it, evade its tentacles. Irritate it into roaring, into exposing its weakness. And once we do, Lance takes the shot, and it's all over. We get your helmet, find a safe place to stay the night, and then get back to the Lions and off of this terrible planet."
Keith exhaled as Lance nodded. Yeah. They could do this.
...
Half an hour later Lance found Keith alone, standing at the edge of the ridge hidden in the shadows. It had been slow work, but he had dropped his portion of the strekt branches around his side of the circle, and now had nothing to do but wait for the signal from Lance.
He and Krolia had both decided that Lance would be the one to give this first signal by setting his tauner leaves on fire. It made sense that it should be him, seeing as how Krolia, and now Keith, were both faster than him. It also made sense, considering the probability of Lance seeing a signal from the other two with his human eyesight was low.
So now Keith just had to wait, scanning Lance's area of the circle across from his own for a spark, a sign of fire. He had dug into his Galra senses on the way to his vantage point, and was now hyper aware of every tiny detail, like the fact that he could smell Lance on the wind, or the fact that if he really concentrated, he could make out every scar covering the body of the beast below them…
Keith shuddered. This had to go well, it had to. He couldn't mess this one up. Keith liked to think that he normally did a pretty good job when it came to executing a mission successfully. But with the Blade, the emotional component had been… lacking.
But this. This was Krolia. This was Lance. His screw up here meant possibly losing his mother. It meant losing…
Losing the man I love.
Keith shook himself out of it, disappointed that he'd even let his mind wander there. No. He wasn't going to mess up, he wouldn't let Lance down like that. He couldn't let Lance down.
Keith's eyes caught a glint on the horizon, which quickly became two glints. He bent and gathered both his tauner leaves, holding one huge leaf in each hand. He stepped inside the circle of branches that now surrounded the perimeter of the nest. He firmly grasped the stems, rubbing the ends of the leaves together.
The reaction was almost instantaneous. The edges of the leaves burst into flame, and Keith held his arms and the leaves away from his sides, mirroring Lance's position to signal that he was ready. A second pair of glinting leaves on the rim of the circle told Keith that his mother was ready as well.
Quickly, he turned around, touching the edges of the tauner leaves to the strekt branches, dropping the leaves immediately as they made contact with the branches. He yanked his hands back as Krolia had instructed, remembering her warning that the fire would be instantaneous…
She hadn't been kidding. Keith shielded his face, as instructed, as a wall of fire roared to life, stretching upwards as it immediately burned the foliage. The heat was immense, and if Keith wasn't already sweating, he would have been in an instant. From either side of the impact area, the fire raced along the ridge as fast as falling dominos, creating a circular wall of flame.
Huh, would you look at that. Ring of fire. Swim through that, Nemo.
Keith knew what would happen next. Krolia had adequately prepared himself and Lance. Her words echoed through his head.
Danger on both sides. Stay down. Cover your head and make yourselves as small as possible. And Keith, your Galra ears will be too sensitive for the noise the spakerlin will make as they leave. Cover them as soon as you hit the ground.
As Keith threw himself on the floor, he realized that nothing could have truly prepared him for what he witnessed.
Hundreds of spakerlin shrieked at once, Keith's hands doing little to shield his ears from the onslaught of sound. The entire flock of spakerlin shot into the sky all at once, wings flapping in a sloppy mess as they tried all at once to make their escape. It seemed like their were torrents of them, shooting upwards, and Keith began to think that the screeching would never end. He jammed his eyes shut and yelled in pain as the noise overwhelmed him, curling into a ball and using his elbows to shield his head.
He thought it would go on forever, but soon...he realized that the noise had stopped, and it was replaced by a noise that was far, far softer, almost like the buzz of a fly. Momentarily confused, Keith opened his eyes, hands still over his ears, as he surveyed the empty nest below him. The Spakern writhed in anger, as if trying to order its minions back to it.
The soft noise started up again, this time sounding more like a muffled voice. It was more urgent than the previous time, and Keith uncovered his ears hastily, realizing exactly what, or rather who, it was.
Still muffled. Keith let out a noise of frustration, straining his ears to decipher the panicked sounding noises. As he concentrated, they slowly became more distinguishable as… words! Those were words! And… was that his name? Over and over? He strained, focusing every fiber of his body on hearing Lance's faint whispers, focusing on Lance's scent, anything that would help connect him to the other paladin…
And suddenly, as if cotton balls were removed from his ears, they had adjusted to the whisper, and Keith could hear him as clearly as if he was standing right next to him.
"Keith! Keith, buddy, are you there? Are you okay man? Ah, quiznak, your mom said your hearing might be fried afterwards, but...oh, dude, that really looked like it hurt! Come on Keith! If you can hear me, I've been at my post a couple minutes now, I've got my rifle and scope all set up! You and Krolia can start, you just gotta get up, bud, give me a signal you're okay...something, anything...Keith?!"
Keith got to his feet, legs shaking slightly, shocked by the panic in the other paladin's voice.
I'm fine, Lance, he thought, wishing the other boy could hear him from here. Just stay alive. I can't lose you...not now.
As soon as he was on his feet, Lance practically shrieked, a noise his human ears wouldn't have heard, but one that was nearly deafening as he strained to hear Lance. He recoiled, almost losing his balance, as his hands shot back over his ears. Oblivious, Lance continued to exclaim loudly. "Keith! You're okay! Whoa, for a second there, I thought you were super hurt or something! I'm so glad you're okay!"
Keith winced again, his Galra hearing exaggeratedly amplifying Lance's voice. "Lance!" he started, fully aware that the other boy couldn't hear him. "Galra hearing, remember? You don't have to yell! You gotta whisper!" He gestured at his ears, and then made a lowering motion with his hands, praying that Lance would see the movement through his scope and understand. It seemed to work.
"OH! Oh. Keith," Lance was whispering again, and Keith gave a sigh of relief, "I'm so so so sorry. Did I just deafen you again? Is this better?"
Keith gave him a thumbs up, to which Lance responded bashfully with, "Okay, good. Uh, sorry, again."
Hoping Lance was still watching him, Keith gave a small smile and shook his head, trying to convey that Lance hadn't really done anything wrong.
"Okay. So your hearing is… I mean, damn, that's sensitive, bro! Alright, uh… keeping that in mind. Anyways! You ready, Keith?"
He shook his head, holding up a finger. Give me a minute?
The gesture was immediately met with a sound of understanding from Lance. "Right! You need a couple minutes to get your hearing back to normal, right? Take your time, man. You just start attacking that thing when you're ready."
Keith nodded and ran a hand through his hair, hyper aware that the Red Paladin was probably still watching him. Of course, Lance was probably watching to make sure he was okay, but still...some part of him felt self-conscious having Lance's eyes on him.
And some part of him...deep, deep down, some part of him liked it.
Keith felt like slapping himself. What was wrong with him?! It was almost like he liked torturing himself.
He couldn't help it. Being around the Red Paladin was becoming a struggle, and as much as he begged his heart not to fall further than it already had, it didn't seem to want to listen to him.
And it wasn't like the events of the past day had helped.
Maybe Lance would never be his. Maybe Keith was doomed to be alone, longing after a boy that he'd never have. He couldn't do anything about that.
What he could do was get Lance out of here alive.
Before he could procrastinate another minute, he turned back to Lance, shooting him a quick thumbs up before turning towards the pit and activating his bayard.
Keith yelled, running at ramming speed down the pit, straight towards the Kraken. He was vaguely aware that his mother had also begun to charge on the other side of the pit, taking Keith's cue like they had planned. The beast made an angry rumbling noise, shooting out a tentacle towards Keith's chest. Keith sidestepped, swiping his sword. The creature barely retracted its tentacle on time, squealing in pain as Keith's bayard left a deep gash in the limb, green pus oozing out of the wound.
"Alright! Nice one, Keith! You can still hear me, right?"
Keith almost jumped out of his skin as Lance's voice made its way to his ears. Reflexively, he turned his head in the other paladin's direction, scanning the ridge, distracted-
"KEITH! Watch out!"
Lance's warning didn't come quick enough. Keith turned around in time to see a tentacle unfurling towards him at full speed, before it slammed into him, smashing him back into the side of the crater. Keith groaned, pain coursing through his body.
"KEITH!" That was his mother's voice, frantic as she continued her assault on the Spakern from the other side. She rolled to avoid a tentacle, sprinting towards Keith as fast as she could across the bottom of the basin.
The creature had other plans, smashing an enormous tentacle down between Keith and his mother, separating himself from help.
"Keith!" That was Lance again. He raised his eyes to the top of the ridge, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Red Paladin… no such luck. "Keith, buddy, listen to me, I have a plan, but you gotta get up, man!" Lance shrieked the last three words, just as another tentacle hovered above Keith, smashing down to the jungle floor and narrowly missing the Black Paladin as he rolled out of the way.
"That was close, Mullet! Come on, you can do this! Get up!"
Keith groaned, still winded from where the tentacle had smashed into him before. With more effort than he thought he was capable of, he pushed himself off the ground, leaping out of the way to narrowly avoid another attack.
"Yeah! Nice job, another point for Keith!" Lance cheered. "Okay, you keep dodging, I think I've got a plan! Give me a sec!"
"Lance?!" Keith yelled, at nothing in particular. He knew the other boy couldn't hear him but...where had he gone?
Please don't do anything stupid, Keith begged.
He had just managed to get a shallow cut in on another tentacle when Lance spoke to him again.
"Hey! Okay so. I know you're thinking," Lance's voice raised in pitch, "'Oh no! Lance is doing something crazy and putting himself in danger'-"
"That is not how I sound," Keith growled, narrowly avoiding a sideswipe.
"-But I'm not, I promise! Krolia said to stay hidden, but she didn't say I couldn't come up with a plan. I can see everything from up here!"
"Spit it out, Lance!" Keith practically yelled. He had no idea why he was bothering talking out loud to the other boy. He just knew that something about pretending Lance was by his side made him feel safer.
"Everytime you cut the Kraken, it sort of… growls. And it's mouth opens a little. Not enough for me to get a shot in, but a little. Keith… I think if we want it to roar, you gotta take an entire tentacle off."
As though the beast could hear Lance, it brought another tentacle smashing down over Keith's head, who quickly evaded it this time.
"Do you see the tentacle you cut at the beginning? You caught it off guard, so that's the deepest cut you made. I say you hack at that one. I know it's a huge tentacle to try to hack off… but combine your Galran strength, and maybe some velocity, and you might be able to make it work."
Keith staggered as he collided with a tentacle in his efforts to escape another.
Lance continued, oblivious. "I had to shift to get a clearer look through the scope before, but up that ridge to your right is one of those huge vine things. I think if you get a running start, you can use it to swing over the pit. It'll be tough; you're gonna have to aim for that tentacle with the deep cut. We also have to time it well...that's where I come in. When you're ready to swing, give me a thumbs up or something, and I'll shoot at a tentacle close to me. Hopefully that draws its attention a little, giving you a window to aim and swing. It's a gamble, but Keith… I don't think we have a better option. Your mom isn't doing so great either."
Keith winced at that. Lance was right. This wasn't working. The Spakerlin was getting used to their slashing and stabbing game, starting to anticipate their moves. And there were only so many direct hits Keith could take, even with his Galran endurance protecting him. He knew a human body would have been in tatters by now. He might not be dead, but that didn't stop him from being in pain.
Keith stood as Lance finished speaking, having just been knocked to the floor for what felt like the hundredth time.
Huge vine thing...ridge to my right, ridge to my right, ridge to my-
Bingo.
Keith sprinted towards the edge of the basin, beginning his ascent towards the top of the ridge, but before he knew it, all the air had been knocked out of him, and he was…
He yelled.
He was in the air.
The beast had grabbed him by the lower part of his torso, tentacle wrapped tightly around his legs as he was dragged upside down and high into the air, coming to a stop over the thing's closed mouth. He was vaguely aware that Lance was yelling something at him, but it was so hard to concentrate over the overwhelming stench of the creature's mouth. The blood rushed to Keith's head, making his brain feel like cotton. It was difficult to process what was happening at this height, but it dawned on him that he hadn't stopped yelling, because -
I'm going to die and I never even got to tell him.
Everything happened in a matter of seconds.
A shot rang out through the jungle, exaggeratedly loud to Keith's sensitive ears. The Kraken screeched, the tentacle that had been holding Keith releasing him as it shot upward in pain and surprise.
His brain went into overdrive as he was dropped, still screaming, to the jungle floor far below. Keith's Blade knife was in his hands in an instant, and he plunged it into the closest tentacle, trying desperately to slow his fall.
He was rewarded with a piercing shriek from the Kraken as he fell down the length of the tentacle, leaving a long cut in its scaly hide. The knife did little to slow his fall, and he landed on his feet, the shock of landing jarring his entire body and leaving black spots in his vision. He groaned, half in pain and half in disgust as more of the creature's green goopy pus rained down on him from the cut. He shuddered violently, resisting the urge to wipe the stuff off of his bare head. He had to get to that vine-
"Keith! Go now, while it's distracted! I'm not sure how long it'll be before it loses interest in me!"
He shook his head, trying to clear his disorientation, desperately attempting to re-orient himself with his surroundings. The second he located the vine, he ran, this time without interruption, up the side of the basin.
Before he knew it, he was at the top, short of breath, and wondering why the thing hadn't attacked him again. He froze, Lance's last words echoing in his brain.
Loses interest in… NO.
Keith's head whipped around to survey the battle below him, and felt anxiety creep into his throat. The Kraken was far from focused on him, and certainly not focused on Krolia, who was still slashing away at its tentacles towards the other end of the basin. As Keith watched, the beast lazily slammed Krolia backwards with a single tentacle, as if it couldn't be bothered to spend more effort on her. It's focus seemed to be on the hillside, a majority of its tentacles perked in a watchful position, as if looking for something.
Keith's stomach sank.
Lance. It was looking for Lance.
Even as he watched, the Kraken unfroze, and sent a boulder hurtling towards the cliffside, far too close to Lance's hidden position for comfort. Another boulder followed, until the beast was sending a volley of rocks towards Lance's hiding place.
Keith sucked up his exhaustion and dove towards the vine. He hadn't heard Lance's voice for a couple minutes, and hoped that it was because he was trying to get himself to a safer position. He screwed his eyes shut, concentrating on the memory of Lance's scent, trying his hardest to pinpoint him with his nose. The more he focused, the more he thought he could even hear the Red Paladin's panicked panting, and then… there! Keith's eyes shot open, suddenly focused on a distant spot on the ridge that was a few yards away from where the Kraken was mounting its boulder attack. Keith felt a grin slip onto his face. How had he ever doubted Lance? He'd always been able to take care of himself. Keith would never admit it, but it was one of the things he liked most about the Red Paladin. He always found a way, no matter how difficult the situation.
Grinning, Keith grabbed the vine, walking towards the edge of the basin so that Lance, who had hopefully settled into a new position, could see that he was ready. For a couple seconds, the only sound was the repetitive thud of rocks hitting the hillside.
Come on, Lance, talk to me.
As if the other boy could hear his thoughts, Lance's voice finally came to life in his ears.
"Keith! You're okay! I'm so sorry man, that thing… boulders are really, really hard to dodge. I'm okay though! Uh, if you were wondering. I'm in a new position, so, all good!" the Red Paladin rambled.
Keith turned his head so that he was looking at the exact spot where Lance was hiding. He hoped he wouldn't weird the other boy out, but he wanted Lance to know that he could hear him.
Lance's reaction was enough to make Keith snort. "Whoa man! You're looking right at me! I- you can't see me, right? Because if you can see me, the Kraken can see me, and-"
He stopped as Keith frantically shook his head, still keeping his eyes trained on the Red Paladin's hiding spot. He was glad he didn't have to answer Lance with words in that second.
Nah buddy, can't see you, just sniffed you out!
A shriek down in the basin pulled Keith's focus away from Lance. As he turned back towards the Kraken, it was clear that the beast had abandoned its assault on the unknown threat, instead returning its focus to the Galra soldier that was desperately trying to hack away at its limbs.
With the beast's attention back on Krolia, Keith knew that his mother didn't have much time. There was no way even a Galra soldier could emerge victorious from a one on one fight with something this big.
Finally seeming to realize that she was alone in her endeavors, Krolia scanned the ridge, eyes landing on Keith before speaking. He didn't miss the panic and fatigue in her voice.
"Keith, I have no idea what you're doing up there, but whatever you're planning- oof!" she barely avoided a particularly close call from a tentacle, "DO IT FAST!"
Keith returned his gaze to Lance, hoping the other boy couldn't see the panic in his eyes through his bayard's scope. He pointed a finger sharply at Lance, hoping the other paladin would get the message.
Your turn. NOW.
"Right! Remember, after I take the shot, it'll hopefully throw its tentacles up like last time, and then, you go all Tarzan, and maybe… maybe we can kill this thing."
Keith nodded, frantically waving his hands at Lance. "Just do it, Lance, come on!" he growled.
Keith could have sworn he heard Lance suck in his breath as he lined up his shot. The Black Paladin tightened his grip on the vine, eyes returning to the enormous beast below. He located the tentacle he'd damaged, close to his side of the ridge. He felt his eyebrows furrow in concentration as he backed up a considerable distance into the foliage. He'd need a good running start and all the speed and strength his Galra side could give him. He closed his eyes, trying to make peace with his alien instincts, letting them wash over him, consume him...
You can do this. You're Galra, and human. You can DO this.
His eyes snapped open as the shot rang out through the jungle.
The rest happened so fast that Keith barely processed what happened until it was all over.
He was a blur, running faster than he ever had, clinging onto the thick vine for dear life. He jumped, tangling his legs into the vine as he was propelled towards the beast. As Lance had predicted, the sniper's shot had once again confused the Kraken, it's tentacles suspended in midair in alarm. Keith swung overhead, praying the thing wouldn't notice him. He was going so fast, whipping through the air, his targeted tentacle zooming towards him.
His bayard materialized in his freed hand, and Keith yelled, swinging the sword as hard as he could upon impact with the limb-
Everything happened at once.
The tentacle, already deeply cut, came off in a clean cut thanks to the combination of Keith's speed, strength, and the sharpness of his blade. The severed limb flew upwards, raining green goo into the sky as Keith swung past.
And finally, the Kraken roared.
Keith had half expected that upon his sword's impact with the tentacle, he would be sent careening backwards. Instead, his velocity and the force of his blow sent him whizzing past the beast, swinging almost to the other side of the basin. He swung over the beast's mouth as it roared, and he was treated to the most terrifying sight he had ever witnessed. Rows and rows of jagged teeth descended into darkness. His bayard stowed once again, Keith clutched the vine tightly with both hands and screamed louder than ever as he passed the deafeningly roaring mouth. His could feel his hair blow away from his face with the force of the roar, and he was rewarded with globs of spit flying into his face, forcing him to screw his eyes shut.
Lance! he wanted to scream, Take the shot! End it!
Once again, it was as if the other boy could hear Keith's thoughts.
Another shot, and this time, the creature didn't roar. It screamed.
The noise it made was so piercing, so full of anguish, that Keith wanted desperately to let go of the vine and slam both hands on his overly sensitive ears. The dying scream rang out across the jungle, and Keith desperately hoped it wouldn't attract any more creatures.
He had bigger problems to worry about at the time being, as he reached the end of his swing. He was almost on the other side of the basin now, and maybe if he just swung off the vine, he would land on the crest of the hill. The vine just needed to swing a little farther and he'd be able to make the jump. Just a little farther…
The vine did not swing any farther. Instead, Keith almost felt like he was suspended in the air as the vine reached the top of its arc, leaving him to stare into the foliage above him. Keith's mind momentarily flashed back to swing sets at his orphanages. He'd loved that moment, the height of the swing. Loved being suspended in the air before coming back down.
He couldn't say he loved that sensation in this scenario. He also couldn't, with a clear conscience, say that he didn't scream as the vine reversed direction, momentum pulling Keith backwards in the direction he had come from.
And although he'd try to deny it for years to come, he'd never forget how his screaming voice cracked as the vine brought him directly back over the mouth at the exact moment that the beast died, projectile vomiting a geyser of its own organs and green goop into the air.
Into the air… with a screaming Keith at the center of the stream.
He should have shut his mouth.
In a matter of seconds, the vine had deposited him back in Keith's starting point on the ridge. He blinked, momentarily frozen in shock and disgust, looking down at the carnage below him. Tentacles lay limp on the jungle floor, yellow and green pus oozing out of the mouth area and steaming. Intestines, animal parts, and bones were scattered all over the basin floor, and a good deal of the Kraken's stomach contents had also made it as high as the ridge of the basin. Leaves were spattered with goop, innards hung off the vines. The sight was enough to make anyone vomit.
Which he did, almost immediately.
He stood, the need to puke having pulled him out of his shock. He wiped at his mouth with his sleeve, hoping that Lance hadn't seen him throw up. He shuddered as a glob of green fell into his eye, and remembering he was covered in the stuff, he hastily attempted (in vain) to wipe it out of his hair and off his face. It took every ounce of control he had not to vomit or scream again.
With the goo plastering his hair to his head and dripping slowly from his body, Keith gave up on his attempt to clean himself, gladly distracted when Lance spoke again.
"Keith! Quiznak, man, are you okay? Ay, dios mío! You flew right through the… ugh… Keith, I'm so sorry, bro! That must have been disgusting."
Keith blinked. That was an understatement.
Lance continued. "Anyways, uh… I think we killed it, man, but we should get down there and make sure, right? And see if your mom's okay?"
Quiznak. His mother!
He raced down the hill, thoughts of his mother's safety invading his brain. He could make out Lance's figure scrambling hastily down the hill towards them, Keith's enhanced speed allowing him to reach his mother well before Lance.
She knelt on the floor next to a steaming tentacle, looking exhausted and just as stunned as Keith felt. Also like Keith, she was drenched in green slime, holding her hands up in surprise and disgust. Her eyes, which had been squeezed shut as Keith approached, shot open and locked onto his as he came to stand in front of her.
"I'm going to vomit," she muttered quietly, sounding just as shell shocked as she looked.
"Already did that," Keith admitted, extending a hand out to her.
She unfroze, eyes darting to his hand and returning quickly to his face with a venomous glare. "A little warning would be great next time," she muttered darkly.
Keith felt guilt overwhelm him as his face reddened. "I know, I'm so sorry, it's just… Lance had this plan, and there was no time, we had to move quickly, we were scared it was going to hurt you-"
Krolia grabbed at his outstretched hand, pulling herself up and effectively silencing him with the suddenness of her movement. "I get it, Keith. That was just…" she trailed of, surveying the carnage around her as she clicked her tongue, searching for the right word. "Disgusting," she finished with a sudder.
Keith nodded. "I can confidently say that I'm scarred for life."
Krolia snorted. "I probably shouldn't be laughing, but… me too."
Their moment ended as Lance noisily found his way to the bottom of the basin, panting as he jogged over to where Krolia and Keith stood, narrowly avoiding tripping on about three stray rocks on the way. It was immediately clear that even Lance's hiding spot had not even been enough to shield him from the range of the messy explosion, and the other paladin looked almost as rough as Keith and his mother. Like them, Lance was covered in slime and goopy innards, and, Keith noted with disgust, had an intestine wrapped around his head and shoulders. Lance didn't seem to notice, his eyes glued to the unmoving body of the giant beast next to them. As he came to a stop at Keith's side, the Red Paladin opened and closed his mouth a couple times before he finally spoke.
"That… was… AWESOME!" Lance shrieked, throwing his arms into the air on the last word. The action caused Keith to flinch as some extra goo flecked onto his face. Lance turned to face his two companions, childlike joy written on his face. "You GUYS! We did it! We actually DID it! We killed the Kraken!"
Keith cleared his throat awkwardly, hoping that when he spoke he'd sound a little more composed than he felt. Blue eyes met his, and for a second, Keith contemplated not saying anything that would rid those eyes of such immense joy.
Somehow, Keith thought, the Red Paladin had never looked more beautiful.
But the stray intestine was… really starting to gross Keith out.
Keith gestured to his own neck and shoulder area, and not thinking of anything remotely coherent to say, he spoke.
"Uh, Lance? You've got a little something… right here…"
Just as Keith had predicted, Lance's eyes lost their shine as his glee was replaced by confusion. Which was replaced quickly by panic and disgust as Lance looked down and realized that he had an intestine draped over him like a scarf.
The boy released one of his signature, ear-splitting shrieks, swatting at the snake-like organ with gloved hands, gracelessly shimmying out of it. The entire ordeal was accompanied by Lance's disgusted whines until he'd finally freed himself, intestine flopping to the floor with a sickening squelch.
...He's...still beautiful? Maybe? Keith's brain tried as he and his mother watched the display with raised eyebrows.
Lance kicked the intestine away from himself with a final, undignified noise, before looking back up to his companions. Realizing they'd been staring at him the entire time, he did his best to arrange his face into a calm, neutral expression. He cleared his throat.
"Uh… thank you, Keith. For, um… for letting me know," Lance stated, matter of factly. His voice falsely portrayed calm, as if he hadn't been a shrieking mess five seconds prior.
Keith couldn't help but snort in response in a failed attempt to suppress his laughter. "Yeah. No problem."
Lance raised an eyebrow, hands going to his hips in mock anger.
"Something funny, Kogane?"
Keith shook his head quickly, lips pressed together tightly. He could feel laughter bubbling inside him, he just had to keep it contained-
To Keith's surprise, it was Krolia who broke first. She guffawed loudly, instantly setting off a chain reaction. Keith's laughter finally bubbled over, as he threw his head backwards, clutching at his stomach and laughing hysterically. In the span of a couple seconds, they were all roaring with laughter. Keith couldn't even pinpoint what they were laughing about.
Lance's shimmy and his shrieking.
They were all covered in slime.
They almost died.
The monster was dead.
They were all still alive.
Keith laughed himself to tears, and beside him his companions had similarly subsided into hysterics. Krolia laughed loudly with a hand clutched to her heart, while Lance was doubled over, his normally boisterous laughter devolving into wheezing.
Eventually, their laughter subsided, and Keith wiped the tears from his eyes, fixing a fond gaze on the others.
Lance finally straightened up and placed his palms together, pointing his hands towards Krolia. "Well! That was terrifyingly fun. Let's never, ever, ever do that again? Please?"
Krolia chuckled, shaking her head. "Shouldn't be a problem."
The Red Paladin took a deep breath. "Cool, cool cool! I'm gonna go scout for a river or something so we can rinse off. Don't worry Mama K, I won't go past the ridge. Sound good?"
Krolia and Keith both nodded as the other boy walked off, shaking his head and chuckling to himself. Keith thought he heard Lance mutter something about Jack Sparrow as he left, but he couldn't be sure.
"He's not going to die if he wanders off alone, is he?" Keith asked, concern lacing his voice as he followed Lance with his eyes.
"I think he's proven that he can take care of himself, Keith." Krolia's hand on his shoulder nearly made him jump, his eyes seeking hers instantly.
"Hey," she said, grinning.
He smiled back. "Hey," he answered softly.
"You did it, Keith. Do you know how proud I am of you?"
Keith once again felt himself blush. The praise from his mother sent a warm feeling into his chest, but-
"We all did it, mom."
Krolia shook her head with a small smile. "No, Keith. That's not what I meant. We took the creature down, yes, and I am extremely proud of both of you, but… you embraced your instincts, your reflexes. You fought like a Galra, and it saved your life. Our lives," she corrected, gesturing to herself. "I know you've been scared to do that, and I couldn't be more in awe of you."
Keith's face felt so hot he could have sworn it was going to melt. "Thanks, mom. You… you've really helped me embrace myself. I know I still have a lot farther to go, but… thank you."
So much.
His mother gave him a wry smile. "Well, I can't take all the credit. After all, Lance did get his hand licked by you today. And played it off as if it were nothing. You should probably thank him too before you lick him aga-"
Keith gave an uncharacteristic screech and surged forward, throwing his hand over his mother's mouth and looking frantically around for Lance, who thankfully wasn't in the immediate vicinity. Krolia laughed under his hand, humor dancing in his eyes.
"MOM! We're not gonna talk about that! EVER! Please just let me forget about it?"
She shook her head and Keith sighed, removing his hand. It'd been worth a try.
"Just don't bring it up in front of Lance?" Keith pleaded.
She pretended to think, finger tapping her chin repeatedly. "Hmmm… yeah, no promises."
She sniggered as Keith folded his arms, frown deepening and pulling the corners of his mouth down dramatically.
"Speaking of, I was thinking...the two of you are a good team."
Keith gaped. He'd known that his mother had seen that particular memory of himself and Lance on the space whale, but…
The inflection she used, the way she batted her eyes as she said it…
Flustered, he did what any sane, Galra pup would have done.
He charged at her and in seconds had tackled her to the ground. They rolled with Keith's momentum, Krolia's entire body shaking with laughter. They finally came to a stop lying next to each other on their backs.
"Stop making fun of me," Keith growled, although he was almost disappointed to find not a hint of real venom in his voice.
He felt his mother shrug next to him. "I thought it was funny."
"It wasn't."
"Sure, Keith."
She giggled, and Keith fought hard to suppress the smile edging its way onto his face.
They lay there for a few seconds in a comfortable silence, both too exhausted to stand. Keith had been about to laboriously try to stand when she spoke again, this time so quietly that the change in mood shocked him.
"You really love him, don't you?"
Keith glanced over to find her eyes on him, searching his face for the truth. The Black Paladin had accepted that his face was probably permanently red at this point.
Yeah. I love him.
He took a shuddering breath. "Yeah, I really do," he whispered. "I- I care about him, so much. But I just… can't afford to get my hopes up, you know?" Keith sighed and opened his eyes, avoiding his mother's gaze. He shrugged. "I can't see him ever feeling the same way about me."
His mother shifted so that she could see him better, and Keith averted his gaze to the canopy above him. "Keith… you never know unless you try. You don't know what's going on in his mind. Tell him how you feel, ask him how he feels. Don't make assumptions for him."
When Keith remained quiet, chewing his lip absentmindedly, Krolia spoke again, sounding almost defeated. "I just… I don't want to see you hurt, Keith. I can't see you in pain like this."
Keith winced as her words shot through him like a bullet. How did she already know him so well? How could she read him so well? He frowned, feeling slightly defensive, before remembering that his mother cared about him. She was just trying to help.
He still couldn't help the dry, humorless laugh as he responded. "Yeah, well, I resigned myself to pain a long time ago."
Her voice was filled with quiet sympathy, her tone sounding hurt. "Keith-"
"Keith! Gotcha a little gift! Heads up!"
Keith sat up just in time to snatch the object Lance had thrown at him out of the air. His heart leapt into his throat.
"My helmet," he muttered quietly, rubbing a layer of slime off of the visor. His eyes found Lance's. "Thank you, Lance."
The other boy blushed, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand. "Well yeah, figured we can't head back until you have it, and it was just in that junk pile over there, thankfully it rolled down the side…"
He trailed off awkwardly. "So anyways, there's a river over thataways," he jerked his thumb back the way he came, "And, uh… whatcha guys doing on the floor?"
Keith had no idea what to say. For some reason, he still opened his mouth, and gave the most intelligent explanation he could think of.
"Uh…"
I tackled my mom because I'm hopelessly in love with you and she wouldn't stop teasing me.
Thankfully, Krolia rescued him, pushing herself up to a standing position as Keith stood, stunned.
"We just needed to lie down for a bit. Exhausted, you know?"
Lance gave her a sympathetic look and nodded. "Makes sense, you two worked hard. Here."
He turned back to Keith, offering his arm with a soft smile. Keith's brain nearly short-circuited.
His mother grinned smugly at him from behind Lance's back.
Keith groaned at her, doing his best to make the noise sound like a display of exhaustion. He took Lance's hand, heaving himself up to a standing position.
Lance clapped him on the shoulder, still smiling sweetly. "Alright! Let's get cleaned off! By the way, Kogane, awesome job with the super hearing and the running and-"
Lance cut himself off abruptly, eyebrows pulling together tightly as he frowned, mood switching drastically in a second. He leaned forward, peering at… something on Keith's face. Feeling self-conscious, Keith felt his hand drift up to his face. Lance reached out his own hand, looking almost like he was in a daze, and wiped it along Keith's cheek, removing a good amount of goo that had dripped onto his face from his hair.
Keith jumped slightly and recoiled at the contact, heart hammering ferociously in his chest.
"Lance?! What are you doing?"
Lance's hand whipped back like he'd burnt, his face immediately going beet red. The look of confusion was gone, replaced instead by embarrassment and fascination.
"Sorry! Sorry, I wasn't thinking! I didn't mean to just touch you… I should have asked but… Krolia! LOOK AT THIS!" Lance's face was completely lit up, wearing the same look of awe that he'd graced Keith with earlier that day.
His mother stepped forward, frown relaxing as she saw whatever it was that Lance was pointing at. She made a small humming noise as she nodded. "Good catch, Lance."
Lance grinned like a crazy person.
"Uh," Keith started, "I hate to interrupt, but would somebody please tell me what's on my face?"
"Keith!" Lance exclaimed, holding his hands up in a gesture that Keith supposed was meant to be placating. "Don't freak out okay-"
Keith felt his eyes go wide. His hand shot to his face, feeling around his cheek, but he couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary. Was he hurt?
A second thought crossed his mind, and his hands went directly to his ears as he panicked.
Please don't be pointy, please don't be pointy!
They felt round, and...normal.
"Lance!" he nearly yelped. "What's going on? Am- am I purple?"
"Wha-" the other boy spluttered, "No!" He turned back to Krolia, rolling his eyes. "Look at him! I tell him not to freak out and what's the first thing he does?"
"He freaks out," Krolia stated, matter of factly.
"GUYS!" Keith practically roared. "What the quiznak is on my face?"
Lance's hands shot up defensively. "Keith! Chill! You got another mark!"
Keith blinked. "I… what?"
"You got another mark. Like the one on your other cheek. Probably from when you were fighting the Kraken. You match your mom." Lance grinned and jutted a thumb at Krolia, who smiled kindly at him.
"That… that's it?" Keith asked, looking from one to the other eagerly.
Lance rolled his eyes. "Yes, you big baby. I told you, nothing to freak out about! You just… match your mom now."
Keith bit his lip nervously. "It… doesn't look weird?" he asked both of them.
Lance had apparently taken it upon himself to answer Keith's every question, because he shook his head wildly and spoke before Krolia had even opened her mouth.
"No way! It looks great, bro! You look super cool!"
Keith swore he felt his heart stop.
Lance thinks I look great. And cool. Okay. Cool. Cool! I can be cool.
Keith ducked his head, pushing a goopy clump of hair out of his face and behind his ears. Blushing furiously, he opened his mouth to say something he hoped was cool, but all that came out was a sort of strangled wheezing sound.
SERIOUSLY?!
Once again, Krolia came to his rescue, placing a hand on Lance's shoulder and turning him towards her. "Lance, why don't you show us the river you found? The longer this stuff stays on us… the more we're going to smell. And believe me… it's rancid."
Lance screwed up his nose in anticipation. "Oh, I believe you. That thing was nasty." He turned on his heel, walking swiftly as he called over his shoulder. "Follow me!"
After waiting until Lance had walked a short distance away, Krolia refocused her attention on Keith, raising an eyebrow. "You're welcome," she muttered, pointedly.
Keith glared at her, desperately trying to ignore his burning cheeks. "I had it under control! I would have thought of something to say eventually," he snapped.
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, sure. Would this have been before or after you made more super attractive noises? You sounded like a dying Garfle."
Keith's eyes narrowed. "First of all," he hissed, "I don't know what that is. Second, I can flirt just fine, okay? Third, I- you- the- urgh! Shut uuuuuup!" Keith whined, shoving at his mother with a puppy-like growl.
Krolia laughed so hard that for a second, Keith thought she'd lose it again. "Wow," she teased, recovering. "Eloquent!"
"Guys?" Lance's voice rang out from a little ways in front of them. Having noticed he wasn't being closely followed, he had stopped and turned back to find them. "You coming or what!"
"We're coming, Lance!" Krolia called, her voice deceptively sweet. Keith rolled his eyes. His mother's gaze met his once again as she continued, voice lowered. "Come on, Keith, let's go! Can't keep your knight in shining armor waiting."
Keith groaned, a smile slipping onto his face despite how hard he tried to keep it away. "Mom! Staaaaaaaahp!" he moaned, as she snorted with laughter and fondly ruffled his hair.
As the two of them followed Lance, she wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him closer to her in a sweet display of affection and pressing a kiss to the side of his temple. It hit him, in that moment. There were so many directions that his life could have gone in, so many different outcomes. He felt incredibly lucky that out of infinite outcomes, he was here. Alive, on a weird alien planet, laughing with the mother he never thought he'd meet. And, teasing and all...
There was nowhere else he'd rather be.