Planet Pecriea was near void of life. There were plants and bugs which led the team to hypothesize that the planet was either on its way to sentient life or had sentient life hidden in the depths of its oceans, just as Earth originally did. Well, Pidge and Coran hypothesized. Keith couldn't care less. Lance was excited and insistent on a beach day, Hunk and Shiro were both very intrigued at the idea of spending all day lounging on the beach, and Allura's attention seemed torn between the two conversations.

The vote in the end, Lance, Hunk, Allura, and Shiro in favor of taking a break, led to them all flying down to Pecriea and settling down on the pink sands of the beach. Keith settled on a towel under the large Voltron-colored umbrella with Pidge as the others ran about. Lance and Hunk wasted no time in tearing off their shirts and shoes and racing towards the deep violet water. Shiro and Coran stood behind Keith and Pidge as they went over their checklist for all their belongings. Allura stood on the shore and watched Lance and Hunk splash around for all of fifteen ticks before diving in after them.

Pidge dug her hands into the pink sand and began to dig a hole in front of her, just outside the umbrella's shadow, "They get to have all the fun because they don't burn," She grumbled, "I hate sunscreen."

Keith huffed in agreement, "It's so sticky, and dirt gets stuck in it which makes it so much worse."

"And it only works for like ten minutes before you start to burn!" Pidge added with annoyance, "The sun is my enemy and that's why I stay indoors with my computers and robots."

"Also because you're a loser," Keith kicked his leg out and pushed some of the sand back into the hold she was digging.

Pidge glared at him and aggressively dug the sand back out and placed it on his towel, "Says the loner who didn't make friends until he was launched into space and forced to interact with the same six people."

"I had friends!" Keith defended himself, the words empty as he knew Pidge was right.

"No, you didn't," Shiro cut in, "you spent every Friday night playing Scrabble with Adam like a nerd. The only person you interacted with at the Garrison, besides Adam and I, was James and it was always a fight with you two."

Keith shot his brother a look, "And what did you do Sunday nights? Oh yeah…you played Guitar Hero with me instead of going on dates like any self-respecting man in a relationship would."

"I only played Guitar Hero with you so you would let out your frustrations on the drumset instead of your classmates." Shiro responded, "I took Adam on dates every Saturday."

Keith blinked, "No, Saturdays were for sleepovers at Grammy's."

Pidge snorted, "Grammy?"

Shiro barked a laugh, "Kid, she was babysitting you."

"What?" Keith shook his head, "No, she wasn't. I mean, you and Adam always-"

"Dropped you off at her's and didn't pick you up until Sunday morning?" Shiro interrupted, "Yeah because that was date night."

Pidge whistled into her sand pit, "All night? Shiro, you freak."

"Oh my God," Keith groaned and squeezed his eyes shut, "shut up, Pidge."

The conversation ended there, but Keith could never seem to find peace. His attention was drawn by droplets of water hitting his face. He flinched back a bit and opened his eyes to see Lance standing in front of him and Pidge. Shirtless. With water trailing down his chest. And down his toned stomach. Before sinking into his swimming trunks. Swimming trunks that were soaked and clinging to his body like a second skin. His body which was outlined by the rays of the sun as if he were some kind of divine being.

Keith squinted up at his face and hoped he'd brush the red in his face off as a result of the heat. Lance tilted his head at Keith and Pidge who were still hiding in the shadows, "What're you doing?"

"Digging," Pidge answered.

"I can see that," Lance's foot nudged a mountain of sand and it collapsed back into the hole.

Pidge sighed, "The next person to push the sand back into this hole will be buried in it."

"Why aren't you guys getting in the water?" Lance ignored her threat.

"The sun is our enemy," Keith said flatly, "An enemy I cannot best through sword fighting. A losing battle."

"And people say I'm the dramatic one." Lance rolled his eyes.

"That's because you are." Keith shot back.

"You know, if we formed Voltron and pulled out its sword, it might be big enough to fight the sun." Pidge commented.

"No, it wouldn't," Lance said.

"I'm gonna fight the fucking sun," Keith leaned back on his towel and closed his eyes, "That son of a bitch doesn't stand a chance."

"No one is fighting the sun," Shiro interjected, "not with swords anyways." Something thumped on the sand next to Keith's head and he turned his head to look at the glowing blue bottle Shiro had tossed, "Try sunscreen."

Pidge and Keith groaned in unison, "So you hate us and want us dead." Pidge nodded, "Got it."

Shiro sighed, "Coran, hand me some nunvill." Coran chortled as he opened the cooler Shiro had dragged with them and handed Shiro a glass bottle with swirling, sparkly purple liquid before grabbing one of his own. They both popped open their bottles and cheered before taking a swig.

Lance snapped his fingers a few times, catching their attention, "Come on, put on some sunscreen and have fun."

"Why are you so desperate to get us out there?" Keith asked, "We're having fun here digging this hole." Keith shifted to gesture at the hole with his whole hand but his foot kicked over a tall mound of pink sand to fall into the pit Pidge had made. All three stared at the half-full hole for five seconds before Keith muttered, "Oh, shit."

"You have three seconds," Pidge said quietly, which was more terrifying than it should have been.

Keith shot up from the towel, ducked out from under the umbrella, and raced past Lance towards the water. Lance laughed loudly as he passed and followed two feet behind him, "You're a dead man!" Lance shouted after him.

Keith's feet kicked at the cool, violet water as he entered the ocean and met up with Hunk and Allura who were wrestling in the water. Keith huffed as he came to a stop, shooting a quick glance over his shoulder to see Pidge sitting under the umbrella, glaring at him from the over fifty feet of distance between them.

Lance pushed his arm through the water and sprayed the water over the two of them, catching their attention, "I got one! We can play Chicken."

Keith cursed under his breath, "If I thought you were capable of it, I'd think you'd planned the whole thing."

Lance shot an offended look at Keith, "I'm going against Keith first."

Allura stood in the water, Hunk stuck in a headlock, "Alright, I can hold him up."

Hunk pulled one of his hands from Allura's arm and gave Lance a thumbs up, "We can take them, dude! Now, just let me show this princess who's king." Hunk then wrapped his arms around Allura's middle and dipped slightly before standing to his full height, pulling Allura off her feet and into the air, and falling back in the water, submerging Allura's head first.

"How does an alien princess know what Chicken is?" Keith watched the two of them thrash about in the water, random limbs poking above the water before being pulled back under.

"We told her. Obviously," Lance swept his arm through the water again and it sprayed against Keith's chest, "I bet I can hold my breath longer than you."

Even though Keith knew Lance was right, he was never one to turn down a challenge, "You wish."

As Keith expected, Lance won all the water challenges he levied against Keith. It wasn't fair as Lance grew up on a beach and Keith grew up in the desert, but he wasn't going to whine about it like a baby. He took his losses by turning the resounding aggression into energy for the next challenge, growing steadily more and more determined to beat Lance at one of them. His wish never came, but he had hope for Chicken as it was more fighting than swimming.

After the third handstand competition between him and Lance, Allura and Hunk finally stood apart from one another and shook hands, declaring it a draw. Lance climbed Hunk like a tree and settled on his shoulders. In comparison, Allura practically threw Keith up on her shoulders and stood across from Hunk.

"Yesterday, we were a team. We fought side by side against our enemies." Allura declared, "Today, we face each other as foes. We will engage in a battle for honor."

"And bragging rights." Lance added.

"And bragging rights." Allura nodded, "May the best fighters win."

Lance and Hunk dipped their heads in sync and Keith and Allura tried the same, but they were off by just a tick. Allura and Hunk raised their hands to hover in front of each other's. Lance and Keith did the same. Allura gave a countdown and soon they were grappling with each other. Hunk and Allura stood strong beneath them, pushing against each other with equal strength and not sliding back an inch.

Lance and Keith's hands slid against each other and they grabbed at one another's arms and pushed against each other's chest. Lance had a wild grin on his face, eyes shining with excitement and a challenge. Keith met him with equal energy, fueled with determination to finally win a challenge and beat Lance for the first time that day. Plus, he had an excuse to touch the miles of glistening, brown skin that Lance offered up. And, in turn, Lance's hands ran over Keith's own skin.

It was fun for multiple reasons.

The sun beat down on them for a while, heating Keith's skin to an uncomfortable degree. He longed to take a dip in the water before retreating back under the umbrella with the lethal Green Paladin, but he had a fight to win. He watched as Lance twitched every time Keith's hands brushed against his ribs and his grin took on a dangerous edge.

Keith went in for a shove but instead focused his hands on running themselves over his ribs. Lance jerked away, eyes going slightly wider, but Keith kept going. Keith's hands returned to Lance's ribs and began to tickle his sides and Lance flung his body back a bit, destabilizing him on Hunk's shoulders, but his reflexes reacted and he pulled himself back onto Hunk's shoulders.

Instead of yelling how it wasn't fair, Lance's eyes narrowed at him and the heat of Keith's skin was scorching. Lance leaned forward and attacked Keith with renewed vigor. Lance's hands seemed to be everywhere all at once, pinching his sides and shoving his chest and pulling his arms and gently scratching his hips with blunt nails. Keith tried to get the upper hand and go for his ribs again, but Lance had learned his lesson and protected his ribs as if his life depended on it.

Just as Lance gave one more harsh shove to Keith's chest, Hunk shifted below Lance and did something that Keith didn't have time to see before he and Allura were both falling back into the water behind them. Lance and Hunk gave loud, victorious cheers as Keith submerged in the water. Relief came as the cool water enveloped his skin and soothed the heat from the sun and Lance's hands.

Keith's body floated up to the surface of the water and he took in a deep breath of air. Lance and Hunk were still cheering victoriously and Allura stood from the water, laughing as she wiped the water from her eyes and nose. Keith sighed and closed his eyes to bask in his demise. There was a splash and the resulting waves arced over Keith's face to waterboard him. He coughed and wiped at his face, but didn't stand. He didn't even open his eyes until the sun disappeared from over him.

Lance stood above him, grinning down smugly, "You suck."

"Shut up," Keith sighed out and closed his eyes again.

There was a shriek from the shore, cutting off any response Lance might've had to that. Keith stuck his feet down into the sand and stood at attention, staring over at the shore where the last three members of the team were. Coran was doubled over in laughter, spilling some of his nunvill into the sand at his feet. Pidge was standing next to the potential grave she was digging, hands held out in outrage. Shiro lay in the sand pit, his bottle of nunvill missing from his hand. Pink sand covered him from head to toe and he looked terribly confused.

Pidge began yelling at Shiro though they were far enough away that they couldn't hear what she was saying. Hunk wrapped his arms around Keith and Lance and hummed, "What do you think that's about?"

"Probably Shiro's fault." Keith answered.

"Come on," Lance swung his hand back to gently slap the back of his hand against Hunk's chest, "let's make it worse."

"Why do you love causing problems?" Allura swam past slowly, face to the sky and arms sweeping through the calm waters.

"I don't cause problems," Lance defended himself, "I make existing problems worse. For entertainment."

"Didn't Pidge threaten that the next person who messed with her pit would be buried in it?" Keith said.

Lance and Hunk exchanged a look before racing through the water towards the shore. Keith sighed as he watched them stumble over themselves to get to the scene of the crime, "We're surrounded by idiots."

"I am," Allura agreed, "but you're part of the problem."

"What? No, I'm not."

"Weren't you the one who, when we went to Xerloxia to invite their royals to the Coalition, found an underground fight ring and spent all your time there fighting various enemies until you beat the Crown Prince in a fight and caused tensions between us?"

"Okay, but everyone always fails to ask why the Crown Prince was fighting in an underground fight ring. Everyone just jumps on me for being there." Keith rolled his eyes. Honestly, how was he supposed to know that the stuck-up prince was sneaking out at night to fistfight his subjects?

"Yes, because you were meant to be at the meetings, but you kept feigning ill."

"Honestly, you all should've seen right through that. Especially Shiro."

"We thought it had something to do with your unique genetics. The universe hasn't met a Galran-Human hybrid before. We thought that was why you were sick." Allura explained.

The two of them finally made their way out of the water to find Pidge, Lance, and Hunk piling pink sand on top of Shiro who was lying in Pidge's sand pit. It looked oddly comfortable. Coran sat next to Shiro's head and occasionally poured some of his bottle of nunvill in Shiro's mouth. After digging around in the cooler for a bottle of her own nunvill, Allura sat next to Keith under the umbrella and watched as the team buried their Black Paladin alive.