Catch the Stars ||Keith Kogane||

29

"Zarkon is the original black paladin?" Trip asks for clarification after the brief rundown that was given to her.

"Exactly," Allura says, happy that her explanation made sense, "so Shiro needs to form a bond with the lion that's stronger than Zarkon's."

Oh. That was simple. Trip cracks her knuckles against her opposite forearm, "okay," she says simply, with no room for more information today.

"While he's doing that," Coran pulls attention to him, "we need to find some new lenses for the teleduv or we won't be wormholing anywhere."

Trip wasn't listening anymore, her head starting to hurt. It had been one of the longest days of her life; and she'd had a few that felt like an eternity. It was easier managing a planet of bloodthirsty barbarians than it was to try and work with these paladins some days, and this was one of those days.

But that was probably the cracked rib talking. It was starting to hurt; meaning her adrenaline was gone and now she had to deal with the consequences of taking down a Galra squad on her own. Her head was throbbing, her rib pulsing, her knuckles aching. She was a mess, but she couldn't afford to be.

She comes back to reality when a nudge to her shoulder jolts her crossed arms into her ribs. She flinches, noticing that everyone had moved without her knowledge. It was unlike her.

Damn, I'm getting distracted, she thinks, looking towards where the nudge came from to see if Lance had just wanted to bug her. But it wasn't Lance.

Keith had moved to stand beside her and had noticed her pained flinch when he nudged her. he raises an eyebrow as if to say, you okay?

She looks around, taking in where everyone stood now out of habit. They were all crowded a few paces in front of her and Keith. He had hung back to stand beside her while Coran pulled up pictures of what he was calling a "swamp moon" and rambling about space pirates and gambling.

Her surroundings were important to her, so she took them in slowly to get her bearing at the pain subsided in her side. Expecting Keith to have moved on from her flinch and back to the mission, she glanced back over. Surprisingly, he was still looking at her and patiently awaiting an answer.

She gives a nod, turning her eyes back to the screen that was covered in pictures of young Coran on a swamp moon. He and Allura were laughing at something, but she hadn't caught what. But no one else was laughing, so she assumed it was an Altean joke lost to the times.

She could still feel his eyes boring into the side of her head. He knew she was lying, but hopefully, he wouldn't say anything in front of anyone else. Or at all. The last thing she wanted was to spend another day in a healing pod in an uncomfortable white suit. She was finally back into her comfortable training clothes.

"While Coran is looking for his lenses," Lance says, sliding towards Allura with a cocky smile on his face, "I'll take you shopping for something sparkly."

Trip already knew Coran wasn't going to like that. She wasn't shocked when Coran shoved his way between the two of them, glaring at Lance, "it will not be shopping!"

But when Trip looked at the coordinates of this "swap moon" they would be going to, she already knew that it was shopping. It was a giant mall. They sent teams there all the time for things they couldn't get on Olympia: pain medication, medical supplies, sometimes leather when it was winter. It would be full of kids, families, and Galra guards. Their teams from home had to go undercover to avoid being followed.

"I can't allow Allura to go anywhere near those filthy, lowballing, hoodlums!" Coran is saying, stomping his foot on the ground.

Maybe malls were different 10,000 years ago. It was actually a nice place. Yeah, there were some sleaze bags around but it was a nice place to spend a day off. Trip hadn't been in years.