Work Text:
It was a simple mission, find and destroy all Galra ships and bases on the planet. Get in, kick some ass and get out. Simple right? It was, until a distress beacon gets deployed on said planet on their way back to the Castle of Lions.
"Uhhh, is it just me or is there a distress beacon right where we just kicked major ass and blew up everything?" Lance inquired as soon as he saw the red blip appear on his screen, turning his lion back to face the weirdly coloured planet. It was a mix of puke green and maroon, it was pretty ugly to say the least.
"Oh really, I haven't noticed." Came the sarcastic reply from none other than Keith. "Hey! What's your problem Keith? I didn't even say anything annoying!" he exclaimed exasperated from his teammate's crappy attitude. He threw up his arms as if Keith could see how offended he was. He just made a statement, and a valid statement at that. Keith was just about to retort before Shiro cut him off over their headset. "Enough! This is no time to be arguing. Allura, what would you like us to do?" he calmly asked, ignoring the grumbling from both the red and blue paladins.
Allura took a second to reply looking at the signal from the castle maps. "Yes, it definitely is a distress signal, you should all head down and try to locate it, whoever deployed it will most likely need our help."
"Alright team, you heard the princess, let's head back." Shiro stated, turning his lion around and leading the other lions back towards the gross planet.
"Isn't it a little weird though? I mean, we were just there and there wasn't anything before…" Hunk commented, not wanting to walk into a trap plotted by some shifty alien. Again.
"It is oddly suspicious. Should we really be checking on it like this? What if its the remaining Galra trying to trick us to go back and into a trap?" Pidge added.
"Paladins, do you not remember the Paladin code?" Allura so helpfully reminded them.
"We gotta help anyone and everyone who's in need, got it." Lance mechanically replied, hearing this more times than he could count.
"Perfect! So you do remember~!" Allura cheerfully replied.
Lance resisted the urge to groan.
The lions all landed a good distance away from the actual signal, unable to land their lions in the dense foliage area where the beacon was coming from. A very monstrous, oversized, and ugly version of a rainforest, if it could even be called that.
"Guess we'll have to go on foot. The air is breathable so there shouldn't be any problems with us walking around." Pidge informed them as she hopped off of her lion, waiting for the rest of the team to join her by the trees.
"Alright team, stick together and be on guard, we'll check out the signal and then head back as soon as we can. got it?" Shiro purposely eyed Lance and Keith in particular knowing full well that they were going to most likely argue. Again.
Keith looked away, frowning at nothing in particular, he didn't like being scolded like some mischievous kid. He glared at Lance who seemed blissfully unaware to Shiro's stern look. Pidge started walking first, having the map of the area pulled up and leading them towards the distress beacon. Shiro followed closely behind her before the rest of team filed into a line heading into the thicket of the trees.
___________________________
"Oh my god, why is it so hooooot here?" Lance whined, trying to fan himself with his hands but without much success. "Yeah man, I'm sweating buckets over here. Does anyone else want to jump into a pond or something? Even that gross looking swamp looks tempting" Hunk agreed pulling at his armour.
"No jumping into unknown swamps…even if It really is warm here." Shiro admitted, even he had sweat dripping down his neck. All of them had removed their helmets in favour for a little air. Honestly it was almost suffocating.
The distance itself wasn't super far, but with the moist and hot atmosphere surrounding them, as well as the insane amount of foliage in their way, it definitely made walking much harder than it should have been. Pidge, and (begrudgingly) Keith were forced to use their weapons to hack a path for them to walk through. The plant life was ridiculously huge and kind of scary; a lot of them seemed to have teeth and were very much alive. Well, more alive than plants should ever be. Even the weird off-pink sky was obscured by the monstrous plant life surrounding them.
Lance lagged behind the group with Hunk taking in their surroundings with annoyance. Everything was coloured wrong and smelled weird. And Hot. It was so damn hot. "Is it just me or do these plants look… alive? Like I mean alive alive." Lance gestured to a particularly large blue lily-like plant with varied pink spots. "What do you mean Lance?" Hunk questioned next to him raising an eyebrow, too focused on putting one foot after the other to notice. "They're like, moving…" Lance squinted at the plant, a hand on his chin as he inspected it. He screamed (totally not like a girl) and jumped into Hunk's arms when the thing HISSED at him, unfurling its yellow leaves and shaking them as if it was angry.
Lance blinked still in Hunk's arms and quickly collected himself, scrambling to get off of him. He definitely did not just get scared by a plant. Nope. Nope. Nope. Didn't happen. That was when he noticed the others were still here, and hadn't kept walking. in fact, Pidge was laughing so hard she was in tears. Even Shiro chuckled a little, and Keith was smirking amusedly at him with a smug look in his eyes. Keith wasn't going to let him live that one down for awhile. "Scared of some plants Lance?" Keith jabbed, Lance's stupid antics was a surprisingly nice distraction from the sweltering heat and gross plants he had been hacking away at. "Sh-Shut up! I wasn't scared I was just - surprised." he grumbled, stomping ahead of them, clearly embarrassed with a light flush on his cheeks. "Come on, let's hurry the hell up I want to leave this place already!" Lance huffed.
The rest of the team share an amused look from one another before they followed after the fuming blue paladin.
After another hour or so of walking, almost all of them were out of breath, and at their limit. Their sweat had soaked the suits of armour and was rather uncomfortable. "Are we almost there yet Pidge?" Keith asked, wiping sweat from his chin. He wasn't one to complain but this was getting ridiculous, he even had to tie his hair up into a low ponytail to try and alleviate some of the heat.
"Yes, just up ahead, we're finally here." she huffed also out of breath. Pidge headed into what looked like a series of caves first, Shiro following closely behind.
Keith glanced back, rolling his eyes at Lance and Hunk who were walking like zombies. "Come on guys, we're almost there." he commented before following Shiro. Lance groaned loudly. This sucked. He managed to get into the cave and sighed in relief, running a hand through his sweaty bangs which were now plastered to his forehead. Thankfully the cave was much cooler than it had been outside. Hunk was the last to enter the cave and looked around in awe. "Holy crow, theres light in here? But how?" He walked in further the walls seemingly glowing on its own, colours changing in a calming manner. It was really pretty actually. "It seems to be some sort of bioluminescent algea on the walls." Pidge explained running a hand along some rocks.
"Don't let your guard down team, the signal is close and we don't know what we'll find." Shiro warned. The further they walked into the caves, water started making itself known, their feet splashing and making noise with each step.
As they approached the opening where the signal was coming from, they all approached it cautiously, weapons drawn just in case. Shiro made his way in first. His expression changed from cautious to confused as soon as he saw what was in the cave. "Uh, I think the coast is clear guys." he mumbled sounding a little confused.
"What is it?" Keith asked walking in after him and paused as well. The distress beacon was there sure, but it was the "people" that confused them.
"Awwwwww, look at them they're so cute!" Hunk pushed in past the two and moved to look at the tiny people, animals… aliens? They resembled little chipmunks of sorts, but with an assortment of flowers and leaves growing from their ears and tail, standing on two tiny feet. They were colourful, and fluffy.
"Greetings naked ones, we are the Fufuu have you come to save us?" One of the larger ones asked, though it was no bigger than a stuffed animal.
"Naked?" Lance raised an eyebrow glancing around his team. No one was undressed so why naked.
"They have fur, and we don't." Keith explained as if reading his mind.
"I knew that!" Lance huffed indignantly. Keith was such a know-it-all.
"Yes, we are. Were you enslaved by the Galra? Why didn't you deploy a beacon before?" Pidge questioned, even she had to crouch to speak to the little fluffy beings. "We don't have any fancy tech stuff you see, we only managed to grab one of these magical devices after the sky creatures saved us!" It's eyes sparkled remembering the lions destroying the Galra and liberating them. It was awesome.
"Awwwwwwwwwww -- Ow." Hunk rubbed his side pouting at Shiro who elbowed him gently. As cute as they were it was disrespectful to coo at them.
"The Galra has ruined our homeland. Though the forest is abundant here, the plains where we once lived are no more. This forest is also too hostile for my people to live, so will you help us?" Its nose twitched hopefully, ears pulled back. Hunk had to suppress a squeal. Even Keith couldn't help but find the little aliens endearing.
"Yes of course, that's what we came for. Come, let's get you all out of here." Shiro gestured to the aliens who whooped and cheered happily before following them out eagerly, their small feet splashing behind the paladins.
___________________________
The trek back was a little better, it was a good thing they had hacked their way through the foliage first. It made the journey back much more bearable.
Every Paladin had some of the little Fufuus perched on them, not wanting to be stepped on, they opted to sit on their shoulders, head or latch onto anywhere they could grab. They were all enjoying their company, especially Hunk. He was ecstatic, they were just too adorable.
All except one. Keith had a few approach him but he just frowned at them, not sure if he liked the idea of having them cling all over him. The Fufuu would back away from Keith, disappointed, before they jumped onto one of the other paladins instead.
"Scared of cute little aliens Keith?" Lance teased, trying to get him back for laughing at him earlier.
"What? Don't be stupid Lance." Keith glared at him like he was the dumbest person on earth.
"Then why are you avoiding them like the plague? They're cute! Oh I know, you're just so mean that even cute aliens don't dare to go near you. Or maybe its your mullet. Yeah, definitely the mullet." Lance snickered. The Fufuus on Lance's head and shoulders giggled at Lance's comment, only serving making Keith exponentially more annoyed.
"Shut up Lance, I wasn't the one who was scared of a plant!" Keith got more angry than he intended, but he couldn't help it. It was hot he was tired, annoyed, and Lance was clearly trying to pick a fight with him.
Lance frowned his teasing mood gone hearing Keith's anger in his statement. "Hey chill out dude, no need to get your mullet in a bunch." he scoffed.
Keith glared at him and shoved Lance into the foliage out of frustration. It was satisfying to hear him yelp indignantly before falling backwards against a weird bulbous crimson looking plant. The Fufuu were quick to react and hopped off of Lance before he even made contact.
Lance blinked not expecting to be shoved by Keith of all things and glared at Keith's retreating back. "I can't believe you just pushed me! What are you 5?!" He was pissed. He was about to go and shove stupid Keith back but then he felt something shift behind him. He turned around, anger forgotten for a moment when the plant he landed began to undulate and expand. He didn't have time to register what was happening until it was too late. The thing exploded. Right in his face. He was covered in disgusting purple goop, some of it getting into his mouth before falling back on his ass and wiping at his face.
"UGH GROSS!" He spat out what he could, but knew he had swallowed some of it. The goop was sweet yet bitter and it was disgusting.
"Lance!" Keith rushed over to him, not meaning to get him hurt or anything when he had pushed him. His brows were knitted in worry as he helped Lance wipe the excessive goop off of him. "A-Are you alright?" he asked a little nervousness present in his voice.
"What the hell is going on back here?!" Shiro stomped back hearing the commotion, walking past Pidge and Hunk towards the pair and frowned. "What happened?" he glanced at Keith for answers.
Keith looked away, knowing it was probably his fault this time around and sighed. "Sorry, I kind of pushed him and I guess something exploded…?" he mumbled lowly, ashamed of himself for letting his temper get to him.
Lance glanced back and forth between Shiro and Keith as he stood up, able to feel the tension. "Its fine. I'm fine, its just gross, it didn't even hurt." He shrugged, flicking the last of bits of goo from his shoulders. He could still smell it though. He needed a shower even more than before now.
Keith glanced at Lance confusedly. He was surprised, thinking Lance would try to get him into more trouble, but did the opposite instead.
Shiro's expression softened, just glad neither of them were hurt. "As long as you'r both okay it's fine. Just…try not to get into any more arguments alright?" he placed a hand on Keith's shoulder before he went back to the head of the group.
Keith opened his mouth wanting to say something to Lance but he stopped him, nudging him in the side lightly. "It's fine. It was kind of my bad for starting it. Let's just head back, I really need a nice long bath after all this." He gave Keith a reassuring grin before he moved up to join Hunk.
"You okay buddy? What was all that about?" Hunk inquired when Lance caught up with him.
"Nothing much, just some weird alien plant doing weird things." Lance shrugged. He didn't want to talk about it anymore, honestly it wasn't a big deal. It was gross but nothing he couldn't handle.
Keith sighed, feeling butterflies in his stomach as he watched Lance walk like nothing happened. Dammit how could Lance be such an arrogant ass yet be nice and caring at the same time? He didn't get it. But oddly he found himself in a better mood for the rest of their walk back as their lions came into view.
___________________________
"Great work paladins! We successfully made a dent in the Galra control in this system, and saved their people. I say that is a job well done." Allura praised, she was in a rather good mood after several successful missions in a row without any mishaps.
"Yes! To celebrate the occasion we should have my special Paladin dinner!" Coran exclaimed but was promptly dismissed. Shiro spoke over him like he didn't even hear it, making Coran grumble under his breath. He huffed sitting down at the table. His food was good, but he guessed the earthlings just didn't know how to appreciate his cooking.
"Thanks princess, I'm glad we all made it back safely." Shiro commented, smiling at the team as they ate dinner together at the table, taking a big bite of green goo himself.
They all worked rather hard today and they were all starving. Hunk was on his third plate, even Keith and Pidge were on their seconds.
Pidge and Shiro started speaking to Allura about what had happened on their mission today as Keith returned with his second helping. He continued to eat when he noticed something was off. Lance had only finished half of his first plate and was pushing it around like a kid who didn't want to eat his vegetables. He was about to ask him what was wrong but Hunk beat him to it first.
"Hey Lance you not hungry?" Hunk spoke over a mouth full of goo.
Lance blinked almost as if he didn't hear him. "Hm what? O-Oh yea, I'm just, more tired than I am hungry." he smiled sheepishly. "Mind finishing mine buddy?" he pushed his plate over to Hunk who accepted it. "Go to bed early then dude." Hunk patted his friend's back and Lance gave him a thumbs up. "You know I can't live without my beauty sleep." he exclaimed nose poised up in the air as if he just said something profound.
Keith rolled his eyes. The idiot was fine. He almost felt stupid for thinking anything was wrong in the first place. Turning back to his food, he watched Lance excuse himself from the table yawning way more dramatically than necessary before sauntering out of the kitchen and headed to his quarters. Keith found it a little weird, but then again when was Lance not weird.
He brushed it off. They were all pretty tired after today, including himself. Keith finished up his own food before he also headed to bed, bidding the others a goodnight.
___________________________
"Aaaaand time. Very good paladins! You're all very diligent and timely now, you've all come so far!" Coran shed a tear dramatically. Allura rolled her eyes at his antics and sighed rubbing her temples. "Yes, all except one. Where is Lance?" She frowned crossing her arms in an annoyed fashion.
The other paladins exchanged questioning glances, all of them shrugging having no idea where Lance could be.
"He probably overslept again." Hunk piped up, it wasn't unusual for Lance. But it was a little unusual for him to be a no show.
Keith pushed off the wall he was leaning on. "I'll go get him." He offered. Everyone seemed surprised he'd offer to do something like waking Lance. He furrowed his brows at them. "What?" he questioned.
"It's nothing Keith, yes go wake Lance, we'll wait for him before we start training." Shiro nodded encouraging Keith to go.
Keith shoved his hands in his pockets, not really sure why he volunteered to do this. Maybe he was still feeling bad about yesterday and wanted to try and make it up to the blue paladin in some weird way.
He stopped in front of Lance's quarters and knocked on the door. "Lance?" He tested, though he didn't really expect an answer since Lance was known to sleep with headphones and an eyemask no less. "I'm coming in."Keith announced, placing a hand on the hand scanner before the door opened.
"Lance." he shifted closer and frowned noticing something was wrong, he hurried towards the bed.
Lance was curled up tightly in his blankets and was shivering. Keith inspected closer and noticed that his face was abnormally flushed as well. His hand instinctively moved to feel his forehead, pushing Lance's damp bangs to the side to feel his temperature.
He was burning up. Shit.
"Lance…?" He shook his shoulder gently trying to rouse him, when he didn't respond he felt his throat tighten. Lance was sick. Out of all the things, he hadn't expected this. He almost wished Lance was just pranking him right now so he could hit him for being stupid, but he knew he wasn't. Keith bit his lip and quickly ran back to the others.
Keith panted leaning against the door as he made it back in record speed, his face having worry written all over it. "Guys-- Lance, he won't wake up. I - I think he's sick…" he panted, managing to get what he wanted to say out properly.
The room was silent, everyone's expression turned worried. Allura was the first to react.
"I will take a look at him, Coran come with me." she walked past keith in a half jog. The others quickly followed uninvited or not they all wanted to see if Lance was alright.
___________________________
Allura moved quickly towards the bed, turning Lance gently onto his back. Putting a cool hand to his heated face before checking his pulse. She had a serious expression, speaking to Coran in hushed whispers while trying to determine what was wrong with the blue paladin.
The rest of the team waited at the door, all anxious and feeling rather useless.
"Maybe its just a normal cold? You know we all get sick once in awhile?" Pidge tried to reason. From here she could tell he had a fever, but that was normal right? She glanced at the others to see if they agreed.
"Y-Yeah man that's probably it." Hunk seemed to relax at the thought. They could deal with a cold, he just hoped it wasn't anything else.
Shiro kept silent as did Keith. Both looking on with pinched expressions.
Allura carefully shifted Lance to sit up, his body slumping forward emitting a soft groan from his lips.
"Lance!" Hunk exclaimed, he was awake, that was good right?
Lance opened his eyes blearily, holding his head the light making his head pound. "wa's goin on?.." he mumbled seeing everyone in his room and turning to Allura confusedly.
They all sighed in collective relief, Keith's shoulders eased up a little as well.
"Lance you seem to be running a fever, come, Coran and I will need to run a few tests, can you stand?" she explained softly.
Lance seemed dazed but nodded, swinging his legs over the bed shakily. Keith moved without even thinking to help him but Allura stopped him with a gentle hand shaking her head at him.
Keith was taken aback. " I was just going to--" he was cut off as Allura shook her head again. "You paladins should give Lance some space. Whatever he's got could spread to all of you as well."
Keith's fist clenched. Did she really just say that? He knew it made sense and that she was probably right, but he couldn't help but feel offended in Lance's stead who seemed too dazed to understand. They were a team. They couldn't just abandon Lance because he was sick with something that could possibly be contageous…could they? He stepped back watching numbly as Coran half supported Lance to the infirmary.
Shiro placed a hand on Keith's shoulder squeezing gently. His expression was a mix between upset and understanding. So Keith wasn't the only one who thought it.
___________________________
Later in the afternoon, after their practice was over, the rest of the team waited in the castle's main deck anxiously. None of them had really been able to focus on training after what happened earlier in the morning.
"Good work team, let's take a break." (and find out whats wrong with Lance) hung in the air even though Shiro didn't voice it. It was oddly quiet without the blue paladin, and the silence hung like a cloud over them.
Allura entered with a perplexed expression. All of them turned towards her, wondering what she and Coran had found out.
"Did you find out what was wrong with Lance?" Hunk asked first. All this waiting was killing him, was his buddy going to be okay?
"Y-yes we believe so." she informed them though she sounded unsure.
"Whats wrong?" Shiro asked able to tell something was bothering her.
"It shouldn't be life threatening, it seems similar to what we Alteans have seen before. Its not exactly the same but it seems close. He's infected by some sort of… bacteria. These types of bacteria are specific to a single plant or animal. It shouldn't be life threatening if we can find what infected him and devise a cure from that plant or animal. However, if we can't pinpoint what had caused it in the first place then…" She hesitated for a moment. " …then the chances of him recovering are slim."
The room was silent, everyone was trying to take in this new information.
"You mean we have to know what infected him to cure him?" Pidge asked, brows furrowed as she tried to think of how to go about this. That could have an infinite amount of possibilities. There were so many planets and so much biology, it would be almost impossible to pinpoint one without any clues.
"There's no way for you to tell what caused it?" Shiro added, the prospect of having Lance die because of some sort of mysterious alien bacteria made his stomach flip.
Allura shook her head looking away, not quite sure what else to say.
"S-So if we don't find it Lance is--- Lance is going to--…." Hunk couldn't even finish the sentence, a lump forming in his throat.
Shiro couldn't bare to look at Hunk. He was thinking back to the past few days to see if it offered any clues before he noticed Keith was oddly quiet. Glancing over at the red paladin, he saw that he was unusually pale with a confused expression. Shiro was almost afraid he was getting sick too and moved to touch his shoulder and ask but Keith looked up at him eyes wide as if he had realized something they hadn't.
"How does one get infected by it?" Keith suddenly asked Allura who flinched at the sudden question.
"I… well its usually ingested, but it could also be-"
"That plant." Keith mumbled, disbelief in his own voice. "That stupid plant from yesterday." He wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or the others but understanding dawned on Shiro's face.
"That plant- that goo that Lance was covered in yesterday?" Shiro mumbled to Keith.
Keith could only nod. "I - It has to be. We need to go back!" Keith all but yelled. He couldn't stop his hammering heart. the feeling of dread and guilt building in his chest. He caused this, he was the one who pushed Lance like an idiot into that stupid thing, and now Lance could die because of it.
Allura and the other two paladins seemed confused not understanding what was going on. Shiro quickly explained to them what happened yesterday and they all seemed more relaxed after he did. They now had a goal. That was something to go on.
"Alright, lets head back there, get that plant and cure Lance together." Shiro smiled at Pidge and Hunk. He spared a worrying glance at Keith, knowing he probably felt like he was at fault. He would have to speak to him about that later.
"Can we see him though?" Hunk asked hopefully.
"Oh! Yes, he is doing alright. Since we know that it will not spread it should be safe for you all to see him. As long as we get him a cure soon he will be just fine." She smiled as she lead towards the medical bay.
___________________________
"LAAAAANCE!" Hunk hugged him as soon as he saw him sitting up on the medical bed. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"W-Woah woah there why wouldn't I be?" he patted his friend on the back lightly. Though he was still feverish, he was a lot more alert now after Coran and Allura gave him something to hold him over.
"Lance, don't ever scare us like that again." Shiro spoke up, glad to see he was up and about.
"Be more careful next time, you should've said something if you were feeling ill." Pidge shook her head.
Keith was quiet not wanting to face Lance right now.
Lance noticed and moved to poke Keith in the face. "Stop frowning, you'll get wrinkles." he teased, but not in a mean manner. Keith relaxed a little, searching Lance's eyes to see if he was angry at him but found nothing in those blue irises. Lance did seem a lot better, despite the flush high on his cheek bones which gave it away. Plus they knew how to get a cure for him now, so it will all be okay. "Go lie down you idiot. You shouldn't be up." he finally mumbled only making Lance grin more. "Awww didn't know you cared mullet~" he joked only to be elbowed by Keith.
Everything seemed to return to normal with Lance seemingly much better.
After they wormhole jumped back to said planet, they were all geared up and ready to go, minus Lance.
"What, why can't I go?" Lance frowned, feeling bad about being left out; even if he knew he was supposed to be sick. He felt perfectly fine right now, minus the slight headache he had.
"Are you crazy!? Stay put and rest. We'll be back in less than a few hours." Keith frowned. Honestly was he even sick anymore? Maybe he WAS being punked.
"I agree with Keith, Lance you shouldn't be moving around." Shiro tried to reason with him.
"Uhhhh you guys do realize that I'm the only one who knows what the stupid plant looks like right?" Lance raised an eyebrow at them. Allura had filled him in on the situation earlier.
All of them looked like they wanted to tell him off but realized that he was right.
Shiro turned to Keith with a questioning gaze and Keith realized Lance WAS right. He had only saw the goo after the thing had exploded, not the plant itself. He hadn't been paying attention. Shit.
Lance looked at them his eyebrow going up even higher at the silence.
"I can't believe this." Pidge grumbled, exasperated. Hunk could only hang his mouth open. They were going to take sick Lance with them on their mission? That seemed stupid and counter productive. But, it wasn't really a choice now was it.
"I mean I can say 'its a red flower' but that really doesn't help right?" Lance added, knowing he had a winning argument. He didn't want to be left alone sitting in bed all day. He'd much rather be out there with the rest of them, even if it was going back to the hot and shitty rainforest, jungle… place.
Shiro sighed a long suffering sigh. He shook his head but caved in. "Alright Lance, you can come, but on a few conditions. One, you have to stick close to one of us at ALL times, and two, you will ride with one of us. There no way we can let you pilot while you're sick." Lance nodded, not going to argue with that as he headed off to get his gear. Shiro had a bad feeling about this. Lance could barely stand this morning, and now he seemed as normal as ever, it just seemed too good to be true. Whatever medicine they gave him must really be working, he just hoped it stayed that way until they got him the proper cure.
Allura and Coran exchanged worried glances but they couldn't argue with Lance this time round. She pulled Shiro to the side, telling him to keep a close eye on Lance since the medication they gave him will wear off in a few earth hours, so they would have to hurry back.
"I will send the coordinates of your previous path to your lions, come back safely, all of you." she smiled a little as she sent them on their way.
___________________________
The lions landed easily enough with no complications, back in the same open area they had landed on yesterday.
They met up at the treeline, and started walking into the familiar path they made the day before. Yup. Still fucking hot.
Lance almost regretted his decision to come. Just a little bit. They made him walk in the middle of the group to make sure he didn't get into any trouble. He was grateful really, knowing his team was all there for him and he tried his best not to cause them any trouble, minus the horrible puns and bad jokes along the way. Even keith was being uncharacteristically pleasant towards him, keeping him in his sight the whole time, sword ready just in case and kept asking periodically how he was holding up. He was tempted to tease him for caring about him so openly but decided against it, not wanting to ruin the pleasant moment they were all having. Or as Keith would call it a "bonding moment".
The walk was rather uneventful to say the least. That was until halfway through their journey Lance's conditioned worsened just as they had feared. Lance started to struggle to keep up with Shiro and Pidge's pace and had to stop, panting heavily, hunching over to lean on his knees trying to catch his breath.
"Lance buddy…" Hunk rubbed his back trying to comfort him.
Lance raised a hand letting them know he was fine. He just needed a breather. "Just a sec." he panted, his head pounding and his body feeling like it was on fire. Okay maybe he wasn't fine, but he wouldn't let the others know that.
The rest of the paladins exchanged worried glances. They all decided to take a quick break as well. Lance sat down on a rock, head in his hands, trying to stop the world from spinning.
"How much farther Pidge?" Shiro asked.
"Almost there, we're a little more than halfway." She tried her best to sound positive even though she knew they were all worried for Lance. This was a bad idea.
Keith frowned not liking to see Lance like this, he was looking even worse than this morning, the idiot was clearly pushing himself.
"Hey Lance I don't really mind carrying you if you aren't feeling too hot." Hunk suggested. Lance could cry at how ironic his friend's phrasing was. Yes he was hot, he felt like his insides were on fire. He shook his head lightly.
"I'm fine, let's just keep going." Lance stood shakily but managed to stay upright taking unsteady steps forward.
They all knew Lance hated to be babied or manhandled but if he got worse they really would have to carry him, with or without permission.
By the time they got towards the area where they saw that accursed flower half an hour later, Lance looked like he was about to keel over. His eyes were bright with fever and he was dragging his feet. Hunk was surprised he even lasted this long.
"Lance, do you see the flower anywhere?" Keith asked wanting to grab the damn thing and leave as quickly as possible.
It took a minute for Lance to process what he asked, glancing hazily into the foliage and squinting. He couldn't really pretend to be fine anymore, despite his valiant efforts. "Ya…those ugly ones over there." He pointed a little ways away, a few large bulbous looking plants hidden among other red flowers. It would be pretty hard to spot if they didn't know exactly what to look for since they had passed countless red flowers along the way that looked more or less not that different.
"Alright you two stay here with Lance and get some rest, Keith and I will go grab it." Shiro instructed placing a hand on Hunk's and Pidge's shoulders in a reassuring manner before moving over towards the targeted plants cautiously.
"Remember Keith, keep your mouth closed." Keith nodded mutely, approaching the flowers which seemed to undulate when they got closer. Keith lunged at the flower closest to them with his bayard and cut it open before it could explode, wrinkling his nose in disgust as the goo spilled out. The flower made a high pitched shrieking as it shrivelled up, making both of them uncomfortable. Shiro quickly filled a specimen pod with the goo before closing it, the pod closing with a hiss. They both sighed in relief, glad they managed to get what they needed without incident.
"Lets head back." Keith was already moving, Shiro not far behind.
Then they heard screaming and shouts of alarm. It was Lance and the others. Both of them shared a panicked glance before they sprinted the rest of the way back.
___________________________
"Lance! Lance?! What's wrong?!" Hunk sounded like he was on the verge crying. Pidge wasn't much better not even able to say anything as she watched Lance helplessly.
Shiro and Keith finally made it back, their hearts in their throats as soon as they heard the shouts from afar.
"What happened?!" Keith demanded staring at Lance who was hunched over on the ground, one hand on his mouth as if he was trying to stop himself from vomiting and the other pressed tightly against his stomach. He was shaking like a leaf. Keith quickly rushed over trying to see what was wrong.
"Did something attack?!" Shiro asked, his voice unsteady. Pidge spoke up first. "I - I don't know he was just fine and then he just doubled over and started screaming in pain-" she bit her lip wishing she could help somehow.
Keith managed to gently pry Lance's hand away from his mouth only for blood to come spilling down his chin. He vomited blood onto the dirt. Keith swore his heart stopped beating. Shit. Shit. SHIT, what the hell was happening to Lance he wasn't nearly this bad before. He found that his own hands were shaking holding onto Lance's shoulders to steady him but at a loss of how to help him.
"W- we need to do something!! Anything!" Hunk was in tears now, seeing Lance throw up blood just wasn't okay. Shiro was frozen to the spot. This couldn't be happening, they were so close, had they been wrong about his illness? He quickly contacted Allura.
"Allura! Lance he- He's throwing up blood we're coming back immediately get a pod ready." He quickly moved to pick up Lance, they had to go. If there wasn't anything they could do for him then the best they could do was get him into a healing pod asap.
Just as Shiro's hand touched Lance's shoulder, Lance gasped and hunched over clearly in pain, both hands holding his stomach now. and that's when Keith noticed something was seriously wrong. Blood was seeping from his stomach and bleeding over his clasped hands.
"Shiro! Help me hold him still for a second!" Shiro had rarely seen Keith this worried before, he was sure his own expression was just as bad. Shiro held Lance's arms firmly so Keith could take a better look. Keith's curse was loud. He quickly removed Lance's armour and ripped open the suit to look at Lance's bloody stomach more clearly. When did Lance get a wound on his stomach?
They all gasped in disbelief and disgust, at what they saw. Hunk had to move away to throw up. There was something GROWING out of his stomach. It looked like some sort of sick twisted plant with crimson leaves that were slick with blood. Lance's blood. It was still growing, spreading over Lance's body, it's red roots spanning from where it was sprouting like some sort of virus.
Shiro was disturbed at but also grateful that Lance had finally lost consciousness as he went limp in his hold. Shiro held him up carefully. Lance's pained gasps for breath and listless expression were hard to watch. Lance should never look this lifeless. Loud obnoxious Lance who usually couldn't shut his mouth for more than a minute, was now unable to respond.
Keith met Lance's dull, unseeing blue eyes, his body was shaking and convulsing with pain and Keith had had enough.
"Im getting my lion here NOW." He hissed knowing they didn't have much time, they couldn't just sit there and watch Lance die.
Shiro nodded holding Lance protectively as the red lion roared in the distance, landing right next to them not a few ticks later. Fuck the forest and foliage, Keith didn't give a shit about that right now. He felt satisfied actually, seeing Red just crush the trees like they were twigs. Screw the plants and screw this forest.
Keith helped Shiro move Lance into Red's mouth, as Hunk and Pidge followed not knowing what else to do. Both of them were badly shaken from earlier. Shiro couldn't blame them.
"We'll come get our lions later, Lance needs to get back immediately." Shiro mumbled to Allura. "C-Copy we're ready as soon as you get back." She informed them, her voice wavering, able to hear everything that happened earlier. Shiro focused on keeping Lance still as Red blasted through the atmosphere and back to the castle at top speed.
___________________________
The second they touched down in the hanger Allura and Coran were already waiting. Shiro moved quickly but also being careful not to jar Lance too much, Keith following heatedly behind him. They were all running on adrenaline and everyone was on edge. Pidge and Hunk followed not soon after.
Lance was rushed to the medical bay and put down on the bed. Thankfully the bleeding seemed to have lessened but the alien plant was steadily growing larger which was a cause for concern. It made Hunk want to puke again. Pidge couldn't get herself to look at it anymore hoping that Allura and Coran would be able to help Lance somehow.
They quickly scanned him pulling up the results and Allura could only frown. Coran gasped. "Oh no, this is serious, we have to remove it immediately!" He exclaimed realizing what this was. "Its a parasitic plant. It infects its host and then grows while using the host for nutrients. He must've ingested one of its seeds and its taken root. It's only in the stomach for now but if it spreads further..." Coran glanced at Allura who swallowed, her mouth was dry.
"We have to perform an operation to get it out, we have no choice." She sounded afraid but trying her best to keep them grounded. Operation? None of them were doctors, hell none of them knew any medical skills minus the basics of first aid.
Keith's nails dug into his palm. They had to try it, they had to do something, if they didn't then it was over, Lance would die.
Shiro also knew that it wasn't a choice at this point as well, they had to take the risk. "We need to do this..." he mumbled.
They all glanced at Shiro, fear and uncertainty hanging in the room.
"Shiro's right, we have to try, we can't just give up on Lance just because we're scared." Keith added.
Pidge nodded as did Hunk, understanding the situation, determination returning to their faces.
Allura nodded, proud of them for making the difficult decision. "Coran and I will get Lance ready for the procedure…as for the actual removal of the plant…" she trailed off, she had no idea how. Coran wasn't any better, usually healing pods were sufficient for any wounds they could possible have, but they've never had to do anything like this before. She was also aware that humans were quite different from Alteans despite how similar they seemed and she wouldn't really know where to start.
"I'll do it." Keith mumbled, brows knitted together. Shiro patted Keith's shoulder and gave it an encouraging squeeze. "I'll help."
"Hunk, Pidge, we will need you two to get an operating room ready, we haven't used it before and it will need to be rebooted and checked.
"Okay, we got this, don't worry Lance." Hunk spoke mostly to comfort himself as he watched his unconscious friend.
"Let's go." Pidge tugged on Hunk's arm gently glad she was finally able to do something that could help Lance. Allura and Coran following closely behind.
Keith sighed slumping next to the bed, head in his hands. He glanced over at Lance, laying there covered in his own blood. Thankfully his eyes were closed now and he wasn't vomiting blood anymore, but his breathing was shallow and his eyebrows were drawn in pain. Lance looked like he was almost dead already. He fought back the dread in his stomach. He needed to do this. It was his fault Lance was in this mess to begin with.
"Keith, you do know that it isn't your fault right?" Shiro mumbled sitting next to him as if reading his mind. He knew how close Keith and Lance were, despite their constant fighting. They were a lot closer than they made themselves out to be. It was painfully obvious. Especially now. Keith looked so distraught it almost hurt Shiro to watch him.
Shiro turned to face Lance, putting a comforting hand in the boy's damp hair before turning back to Keith. "You know Lance doesn't blame you either, no one does. So stop beating yourself up alright? We can pull through this together." He had to believe in his own words. Lance couldn't just die like this, he can't. Not just for Voltron, but for the sake of everyone in the castle, he had to make it through this.
Keith tried to take in Shiro's words. Although it didn't help his guilt, it did help him feel a little more confident about what he was going to have to do next. He moved closer and clasped Lance's cold and clammy hand into his own, not caring that it was covered in blood. Shiro was right. It had to work. He won't let the Lance die. Not if he could do something about it.
The silence was broken by soft whimpers coming from Lance who squeezed Keith's hand back weakly. Keith felt a lump form in his throat, the thought of Lance dying scared him. A lot. He wasn't sure he was ever this scared to lose someone before, especially an annoying blue paladin he had only started to interact with seriously a few months ago.
Shiro was about to say something to Keith, but he was interrupted by Coran who rushed back in to take Lance and relocate him into the operation room. "Everything's ready, we need to get started." Coran informed them. Time wasn't on their side, they had to act fast. He made eye contact with both paladins, nodding encouragingly before he lifted Lance carefully and carried him out of the room.
Coran gently laid Lance down on the operating table, Pidge and Hunk made quick work of hooking Lance up to the system and double checking to make sure everything was working properly.
Allura grabbed an administering device they had prepared earlier, and carefully injected the anesthesia into Lance's neck, the device making a hiss. Lance jolted a little but otherwise remained unresponsive. She was nervous, unsure if Altean anesthesia worked the same on humans. She could only hope that it did.
"We'll start in a few ticks, the anesthetics will take some time to work." Allura stated as she turned to Pidge for any changes in Lance's condition. "His vitals show that it's working, he should be completely out in a in minute or two..." Pidge finally found her voice again since the forest incident. She just had to focus on the task at hand, there was no use just being scared right now.
Hunk approached Keith and Shiro handing Keith an Altean knife of sorts which he had fixed earlier. "Allura says they used this back in the day for things like this-- medical things, It seems to be a laser scalpel, dagger thing..." he squeezed Keiths much smaller hand in his larger ones. "I know we can save Lance together. So, just try your best. It's all we can really do right now for him...You got this buddy." he smiled at Keith before letting go of his hand.
Keith held the tool in his hand, the blade humming a light blue once activated. He squeezed it in his hand tightly. His stomach was full of nervous butterflies, he knew that in about a minute he was going to be cutting into another human being. And not just any human being, but cutting into Lance. It unsettled him. As he was sure it disturbed the rest of his teammates. He turned to Shiro who nodded and gave him pat on the back. "I'm here if you need me." Keith could only nod numbly, waiting for Pidge and the others to give him the okay.
"Listen carefully, we will need to remove the seed thats growing inside of him and clear as much of the parasitic plant out the best we can. Once we do, we will immediately put him into a healing pod. Coran already has it ready and is on standby. Shiro, do you think you can rush Lance over as soon as we finish?" Allura asked.
"Yes, I'll make sure to take him there when the time comes." he replied.
"Keith, although I don't have much advice to give... just try to be quick and careful." Allura suggested.
"Okay I- I got it." Keith mumbled. he didn't have anything to say.
"He seems to be under now, we can start." Pidge said clicking a few buttons on the screen.
Keith felt like he was going to throw up already, but steels himself. He approached Lance on the table, glad to see he was out cold. At least Lance wouldn't have to suffer through this. He activated the blade again, hands hovering over the parasitic plant which shifted away and made weird noises. Shiro watched closely next to him, ready to help him if he needed it. Hunk and Pidge kept their eyes on the screen as Allura watched on nervously, hands clutched to her chest in worry.
Keith's hands were shaking, he bit his lip willing them not to shake as he brought the blade down. First he cut the leaves and whatever the hell was sticking out from the wound. He winced when the plant made high pitched screeching noises that sent shivers down his spine, he ignored it and finished the job removing the leaves and buds completely. With the easy part done, Keith moved to cut around where the main roots sprouted from, holding back the urge to vomit seeing blood spill from where he cut. This felt all sorts of wrong. The knife stopped. He wanted to stop doing this. But Shiro held his elbow still. "Its okay, we're almost there."
Keith took a deep shuddering breath and tried to calm down. He needed to focus on the task at hand. He had to cut deeper. Angling the knife to a 90 degree angle he pushed it in a few inches trying to find the seed and pull it out. Placing the knife down, he used a finger to try and fish it out.
Pidge, Allura and Hunk were all looking away, unable to watch what Keith was doing anymore. His hands were slick with warm blood that kept seeping from the wound. It wasn't a pleasant sight.
Shiro grabbed at the remaining protruding roots, pulling at it while Keith's fingers went deeper to find purchase on the core of the plant. Shit, it was so deep and this was all sorts of fucked up. Sweat was running down Keith's face, his heart hammering in his chest. His eyes widened once he found it and started to pull it out carefully. Shiro kept his grip on the blood soaked stem and was helping Keith ease the dammed parasite out. It was slowly giving way, its roots unable to hold from their pulling. The main seed was almost out, both if them held their breath when it got harder to pull. "Shit it won't come out...we're so close..." Keith was way past his limit. This was driving him insane, being knuckle deep inside of someones stomach just wasn't fucking okay. Shiro and Keith both started to pull with more force, determined to get it out. But then their hearts stopped. Lance moaned in pain.
"W-What? He-He's not awake is he?!" Keith was freaking out, the idea of Lance be able to feel all of this and wake up to see himself like this terrified him.
Pidge quickly ran an analysis and her eyes widened. "W-We don't have much time he's coming to." she said fearfully.
Allura bit her lip, she was afraid this would happen. Both her and Coran agreed that it was probably safer to lower the standard dosage of anesthetics for an adult Altean for Lance. Humans did seem to have lower tolerance levels overall so it was their best bet. Maybe that had been a bad choice, but it was better than accidentally giving him and overdose which in itself could be fatal. "We need to hurry! We're so close...." she exclaimed feeling awfully guilty for causing Lance more pain.
Keith was shaking more than before, he wanted to get away from this, it was too much. His breaths coming out in short gasps. Shiro grit his teeth and shook Keith gently to try and get him to focus. "On three." he commanded. He wasn't giving him a choice. There was no time to hesitate, the longer this dragged on for, the worse it was going to get. Keith's mind wanted to say he should just quit now, but he had already nodded.
"One...two...three." Shiro pulled with both hands, Keith helping him.
But Lance was arching his back in pain. and he was screaming. Loudly. Lance started to thrash in pain and Shiro had to move away from pulling to holding Lance's arms down to prevent him from hurting himself. "Hunk! Grab his legs!" Hunk was a mess of tears and snot but he did as he was told, stumbling over to hold Lance's leg's down and babbling apologies the whole way. Lance's whimpering and pained noises went straight through Keith's heart. He felt like he was going to faint. This was just too fucked up. He felt like he wouldn't be able to forget Lance's pained screams for the rest of his life.
"Keith now!" Shiro shouted over Lance's distress, and Keith snapped out if his stupor. He grabbed onto the roots and pried the redt out forcefully, using all of his remaining strength, he shouted as he pulled it free. Lance's screams finally died down as soon as it was removed, turning into sobs and whimpers. Lance's chest was heaving, his heart rate dangerously erratic, and heavily losing blood. Even Shiro had to look away from the mess that was Lance for a moment. It hurt too much to watch and listen to the poor boy suffering like this.
Allura quickly moved in to staunch the bleeding. Shiro picked Lance up as soon as she did and practically ran towards the medical pods. Pidge and Hunk sunk to the floor unable to stay upright anymore. Pidge leaned against Hunk for comfort, tears in her eyes. Hunk held her close.
"I'll be back." Keith mumbled. He followed after Shiro needing to make sure Lance made it to the pod safely ignoring the fact that blood was everywhere, including on himself. By the time he got there Lance was already in the pod. He wasn't in pain anymore hopefully. They did it, they made it. Lance would be okay now right? His legs gave way, falling onto the ground and tugged at his hair with his blood soaked hands, closing his eyes tightly. His whole body shook. He had never been that scared before. He didn't have the strength to stand anymore, whatever adrenaline he had was gone. He fought back the lump in his throat and the pricks at the edge of his eyes.
It wasn't until Shiro and Coran's worried faces were hovering over him did he notice he was crying. He quickly moved to wipe away the tears but Shiro stopped him, holding his wrists gently so he wouldn't smear blood all over his face. "It's over now, we did everything we could. You did a great job Keith. it's up to Lance to pull through now, and I know he's going to pull through."
Keith nodded weakly looking away. He just wanted to be alone right now and wash all the blood from his hands even though he knew it would never help him get rid of it from his mind. The blood was a stark reminder of what had just happened, he could almost hear Lance's screams again just thinking about it. He was so drained now, both mentally and physically he could barely move.
"Come on lads, let's get you all cleaned up and get something to eat shall we?" Coran piped up hoping to lighten the mood a little.
"Yea... sounds great Coran." Shiro replied gratefully, also looking worse for ware but kept a hand on Keith's shoulder for a bit longer before standing up to leave. "Keith, do you need help?" Shiro offered but Keith shook his head. "I'm fine…I'll come in a bit." he mumbled in response. Shiro nodded and left the room quietly going to check up on the others.
Keith got up unsteadily after awhile of just sitting, trying to calm himself down, his tears starting to dry on his cheeks. He shuffled over to stand in front if Lance's pod and put a bloodied hand on the pod cautiously, as if afraid he would hurt him again. "I'm sorry.... Lance." he whispered brokenly. "Please come back soon so I can tell you in person." He gave Lance a long grieving look before leaving the medical bay, shoulders hunched and nails digging painfully into his palms.
___________________________
A week later and with the cure administered successfully, Lance finally recovered enough to be released from the pod. Everyone was anxious to see him again. It had been a depressing and stressful week, fighting without Lance and in turn without Voltron had made everything that much harder. The remaining paladins were drained and at their limits. They had all been eagerly waiting for Lance to get out, so everything could go back to normal again.
Coran pushed a few buttons once everyone was assembled. The pod opened with a hiss, the steam dissipating as Lance fell forward right into Hunk's arms. He was crying already. "Lance? Buddy?" he sniffled waiting for him to respond.
Lance groaned a few ticks later and blinked confusedly, wondering where he was and what had happened. The last thing he remembered was being stuck in a jungle and then…nothing.
"H- Hunk?" wow his voice was so hoarse and badly scratched he winced at how bad he sounded. What the hell happened to his voice?
All that screaming and shouting must've hurt his vocal chords, Keith thought to himself, balling up his fists remembering them.
Lance didn't have time to dwell on it before he was enveloped in a crushing hug. Hunk squeezed him tightly babbling about how happy he was to see him, everyone had smiles on their faces as they welcome Lance back. It was nice, but he honestly couldn't remember what happened. But that could wait till later.
"I'm so glad you're back buddy, I was so worried…" Hunk sniffled finally letting go of Lance who was now leaning on the side of the pod for support.
"We all were, it's so nice to see you up Lance." Shiro ruffled his hair lightly, glad that Lance had pulled through, he was proud of him.
"W-woah its uh-- Good to be back." he smiled lightly hugging them both back in return. Pidge moved in to hug him wordlessly, fighting the urge to cry in front of him. Lance's expression softened as he pet her gently. "Sorry, I'm fine now though, thanks to you guys." he grinned feeling like he had more energy already. He wasn't sure why they all seemed so devastated, but he knew it probably wasn't the right time to ask.
Allura and Coran were both smiling and wiping tears from their eyes.
"Welcome back Lance, it's so good to see you well again." Allura smiled.
"Y-Yea thanks a lot guys…" Lance felt like his heart was going to explode. Everyone's affections was making his own eyes misty. He didn't know they all cared that much about him, at least not to the extent that it was. All except for one that is. Lance glanced over at Keith who stood near the doorway, not looking in his direction at all. He frowned worriedly. Why was Keith acting so distant? It's not like he expected a hug from from Keith or anything, and they weren't the best of buddies sure. Any reaction would've been acceptable really. Lance had to fight the look of hurt and disappointment from showing on his face. Did he do something while he was out? What did he miss?
The whole room was silent everyone able to feel the sudden tension.
Shiro frowned, he had thought Keith had gotten over it, but apparently he hadn't. Guess his talks with Keith didn't do what he had hoped.
Coran quickly swooped in and declared a feast and Lance's worry was all but forgotten at the prospect of food, but that was when he noticed all the dried blood on his stomach. When had that happened? "U-Uh guys? what exactly happened after the forest part?" He raised an eyebrow and all of them were shocked he didn't remember a thing.
Good, so he didn't remember waking up with a parasitic alien plant growing in him with Keith cutting him open. Keith let go of a breath he didn't know he had been holding.
Shiro smiled at him, also thanking whatever god there was for sparing Lance from remembering all the pain he had suffered only a week ago. "We can talk about it a little later, let's go celebrate first." he lead Lance out of the room and towards the kitchen.
___________________________
None of them had the courage to tell Lance exactly what happened. It still was still a touchy subject for all of them, seeing Lance so broken and suffering so much didn't just go away that easily. Shiro and Allura had informed him generally what had happened, but left out any details that would allow Lance to know just how close he was to dying.
Lance had dropped the subject, able to feel they were holding back from telling him for a reason, and so he feigned ignorance in favour of making them feel better.
A few days later he was feeling more like himself again. Back to his usual antics and cracking bad jokes. One could say that everything was back to normal.
Except for Keith, it felt like the whole incident had happened only yesterday.
He couldn't face Lance right now. Sure he was happy he was healthy again, more than happy. He felt more relaxed than he had the past week, and he wanted to tell him he was sorry. But he found that he just couldn't. Maybe he felt that he didn't deserve to be forgiven, or maybe he was just a coward. But for whatever reason he had been avoiding Lance ever since he woke up. It's fine right? It's not like Lance was best buddies with him anyway. This was probably for the best. He wasn't mean towards him or anything he just acted, indifferently.
Not to mention every time he looked at Lance directly in the eyes, he was reminded of the pain, the blood, and the ungodly screaming. He had nightmares of it countless times already throughout the week. All in all, he just felt like avoiding Lance alright? He needed some space.
"Keith. I need to talk to you." Shiro stated frowning down at him. They had just finished training and Keith had walked off away from the group.
"Shiro, we talked about this-- I - don't know why but I can't face him right now." he mumbled, already knowing what this was about.
Shiro sighed and crouched down to look at him. "You care about Lance don't you?"
Keith almost felt offended. Yeah he did, of course he did, what did Shiro take him for? "Of course I do!" he said more forcefully than he had intended.
"Then you must've noticed the looks he's been giving you." Shiro stood, putting a hand on his hip, this was becoming ridiculous, could these boys not communicate with one another?
"Looks? What looks?" Keith frowned. He hadn't noticed. He hasn't even been looking in his direction.
Shiro could only shake his head at him. "You can't avoid this forever Keith, this isn't going to just go away unless you deal with it. Lance is going to come talk to you."
Keith almost choked on air. "What?" he wanted to say more but Shiro was already gone.
___________________________
Later that night, he heard a knock on his door. He sighed, thinking it was Shiro again. Their leader had spoken to him for a few days in a row now. He opened the door automatically.
"I told you Shiro I--" he paused seeing who it was standing there. It was Lance, only dressed in a blue t-shirt and black pants while wearing those rudiculous blue lion slippers.
He backed away and was tempted to close the door on him but managed to stop himself from doing that. "What do you wa-"
"Do you hate me that badly? Why have you been avoiding me?" Lance cut him off, his voice wasn't confrontational, but rather it sounded upset.
Keith opened his mouth to respond but Lance kept going.
"Look I know we aren't the best of buddies or anything and I know you think I'm annoying but-" he paused frowning realizing Keith wasn't even looking at him.
"Keith. I know what you did for me." he blurted out. Shiro had told him earlier, it was hard to take everything in and it was pretty gruesome and fucked up and he was glad he didn't remember too much even though he remembered bits and pieces of agony, but he was also glad that Shiro had told him the truth.
Keith still refused to look at Lance fists clenched. "Wh-what are you talking about, what do you want me to-"
"You saved my life Keith! You saved my life and now you're acting like I don't exist! Whats your deal? I should be thanking you, and I'm super grateful, and I want to thank you, but you've been such an ass lately that I don't even know if you even like me anymore?!" he was heaving, weeks of pent up emotions coming out all at once. Keith avoiding and ignoring him had hurt. It hurt more than Lance would ever care to admit.
Keith was speechless. Lance cared that much about what he thought? Sure he had been a pretty big ass to him lately, but now, finally looking at Lance and into his blue eyes in the dimly lit room, he could really see the hurt that he had caused him. Keith's throat tightened and familiat guilt wound up in his stomach.
"I'm sorry…Lance. It's not your fault, you didn't do anything wrong. it's just…I was the one who pushed you into that thing and…" Now that he was confronted about it he wasn't sure how to explain why he had been avoiding Lance the way he did.
"Aaaand? You were the one who also saved me? I mean you all did, but especially you! Hell I should be saying sorry to you guys." He huffed leaning against the doorframe pouting while crossing his arms.
Keith blinked at the childish reaction and suddenly, he couldn't remember what he was upset about anymore. This was okay wasn't it? Lance was better now and he had been mulling over something that wasn't worth mulling over. Keith suddenly felt a small laugh bubbling up in his chest. This was all kind of ridiculous now that he thought about it. Maybe it was all the pent up stress making him loopy, but they had been acting like little kids. Shiro was right. Of course he was.
Lance had to do a double take thinking he was dreaming or something seeing KEITH laugh of all things. He was trying to be serious here why was he laughing? But he found himself smiling too. "So… you're going to stop being an asshat now?" he inquired.
Keith smirked at him, something he hadn't done in awhile. "I'll think about it. But did you say something about, me liking you? Where did you get that idea?"
Lance was about to say a snarky comment before he processed what he said, trying fight off the blush staining his cheeks and failing miserably. "I - I DID NOT! You heard wrong!" he yelled indignantly shoulders stiff. Keith only laughed harder.
"Don't laugh! It's mean! -- You're mean Keith!" Lance wanted to run now, this was so embarrassing. He came to have a serious conversation with brooding Keith and here he was laughing at him. "Keith I swear to god if you don't stop I'll-" he was cut off as Keith pulled him in by his shirt for a kiss.
It was soft but firm, and it was surprisingly nice. Lance thought his brain was going to short circuit, his whole face red up to the tips of his ears when Keith pulled away, his smirk still in place. "Does that answer the "do you still like me" question?"
Lance could only stare with his mouth open. He just got one upped by Keith Kogane in flirting. Unacceptable.
"Y- Yes but, would you like to know if I feel the same?" Lance stuttered, completely unable to recollect himself after that, his heart was still thudding loudly in his chest. Shit he was being out suav-ed by Keith, he could die now.
"Yea I would actually." Keith mumbled as he pulled Lance down to kiss him again, gently closing the door behind him.
Everything's okay. Lance was alive and well, and Keith was pretty sure that his nightmares of Lance would probably fade over time.
He also vowed to never go hiking in alien planets, or get close to plants ever again.
Mother nature could be a real bitch.