They spent the night in Hifosa. Xen was so excited to learn that her uncle was staying the night that she insisted that she sleep with him instead of in her room. Lance laughed and said it was fine. "Early birthday present," Lance mused as he remembered little Xen's birthday was tomorrow.
Lance slept on his back with Xen sleeping on his chest. She was small, so having her whole body laying on his rib cage didn't impair him too much. He spent the whole night thinking anyway.
Hunk's snores and Shiro's constant shifting filled the air while Lance stared up at the ceiling. Keith didn't lay too far away and he wondered if he was still awake. He knew the red paladin didn't sleep much, maybe because of paranoia, or maybe it was insomnia, he'd never know.
He had a lot to think about, and the "silence" was nice. Xen's soft breathing helped too, it kept him grounded.
His mind swam with strategic plans and theories about how Garnet would react. Every plan he made ended up being crossed out and removed from the planning board. Even as the sun peaked over the horizon, nothing was solid enough to act out.
Lance carefully picked Xen up and laid her down on Hunk's chest. He was normally an early riser and Lance figured he was comfy enough that Xen wouldn't notice.
He snuck out the front door and sat against the hut's wall. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through the list of agents currently stationed at HQ. Only he and Garnet had access to this list, otherwise, it could put their agents in danger.
No names stuck out to him. He knew each of the agents, but either they were way too invested in Garnet's clause to ever feed information to Lance, or they rarely had contact with the temporary director. After a while, the color-themed names blurred in Lance's mind. He ignored the non-colored names, knowing it meant they weren't human, and thus, weren't going to help him any when dealing with Garnet's racist ass.
In the end, Lance took a deep breath and pocketed his phone. He watched as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky. A Hifosian sunrise was the most colorful thing on this planet. While it wasn't nearly as bright as the sunrises on Earth, you could clearly make out the faded orange, yellow, red, and pinks that marked the sky. Slowly birds started waking up, each of them just as grey as the world they live in. Lance wasn't there when Zeno first came to Earth, but even still, Lance would catch him staring at something particularly colorful or he'd ask what the name of a certain shade was.
From inside the hut, Lance could hear as his team woke up.
"What the-" Hunk's voice cut off, most likely as he realized the figure on him was still sleeping. The door to Lance's right opened and Keith's head poked out.
"There you are, you scared the crap out of Hunk," Keith sighed.
"Just needed some space. Did Xen wake up?" Lance yawned, feeling how tired he was after the day he had yesterday and the fact that he didn't sleep last night.
"Nah, but Hunk's trapped. He doesn't want to move her but he's scared she'll freak once she realizes she's not laying on you anymore," Keith filled him in. Lance leaned his head back against the hut wall, feeling the sun on his face and the stress that raked across his chest.
"I'll get her," Lance sighed as he sat up. "Thanks," Lance pecked Keith on the cheek as he passed, watching as Keith turned bright red.
"We need to talk once you have the time," Keith stage whispered to Lance once he got his brain functioning again. Lance turned on his heel and gave a mock salute before continuing his way to Hunk.
Hunk didn't look uncomfortable, simply worried. Lance knew Hunk was good and comfortable with kids, that's why he chose him, but he was determined to stay as still as possible for Xen's sake.
Lance chuckled at him as he picked Xen up, gaining a soft glare from the Yellow Paladin. Xen was a heavy sleeper, same with her mother and father. He lifted her into his arms and let her sleep there.
"How are you feeling, Lance?" Shiro asked softly.
"I'm fine," Lance shrugged, looking down on his sleeping Niece.
"You don't look fine, did you sleep at all?" Allura chimed in from where she was folding the blankets she was using last night.
"A little. I'm fine, seriously,"
"Bullshit, you look like crap," Zeno yawned, rubbing his eyes. Once he caught sight of his sleeping daughter his tired face disappeared to be replaced by awe and joy. He took the sleeping girl from Lance's arms and danced around the room with her.
"I look how I always look," Lance frowned, but he knew that wasn't true.
"You look like you just rose from a graveyard after dying from exhaustion," Zeno continued.
"You're just jealous you don't look as good as me," Lance struck a half-assed pose while Pidge and Hunk giggled at him.
"Workaholic is what they call people like you, correct?" Kazera asked as she walked into the room. Her hair was tidy, her eyes wide open and without sleep, she looked completely rested and put together.
"You wound me! I thought you loved me!" Lance frowned.
"I do, little Blue, but you work to the point you drop and it's unhealthy," Kazera smiled sadly. Lance's face turned clean of any emotion. He let out a shaky breath as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Too much is going on for me to relax," he muttered. Hunk frowned and ran to hug his best friend.
"You're not alone, Lance. We're here for you," Allura patted Lance on the shoulder.
"It's not that simple, but thank you," Lance gave a small smile as he hugged Hunk back.
All the commotion woke Xen up who stretched out in her father's arms. She looked around the room with hooded eyes before she locked onto Keith. She leaned as far as she could out of her father's hands, making grabby hands for the one person who least wanted to hold a child. Zeno - oblivious to Keith's horrified face - chuckled and handed the little girl over.
"Uncle Red!" Xen giggled.
"It's Keith," Keith tried.
"Uncle Red!" Xen insisted.
"It's Keith," he tried again.
"Red!" Xen shouted.
"Give it up, at this point, I think she believes all humans have color names," Zeno laughed. Still, it looked like Keith wanted to hold her as far away from his body as possible, but Xen had her arms around his neck at this point and there was no way she was letting go. He was stuck and Lance found that hilarious.
"Play! Play!" Xen cried out, wiggling out of Keith's grip, much to his relief, but that all went away when she grabbed his hand instead and yanked him out of the hut.
"How is she so strong!" Was the last thing the team heard before the hut door shut after him. Pidge was practically on the floor rolling with laughter at this point.
Lance stared at the closed door for a moment longer before he closed his eyes and rubbed his temple.
Kazera tried to hand Lance a cup of tea but he politely shook his head. "I prefer my caffeine a lot stronger," He tried, but Kazera shoved the cup into his hands anyways.
"Some caffeine is better than none, and right now I can tell you need as much as you can get," She smiled. Lance gave in and took the cup from her. It was strong and earthy, unlike the ones back at home. He found that it did well as a substitute for coffee, though, it could use a few sugars.
"When do you all have to leave? It's Xen's birthday and I'm sure she'd like the company," Kazera asked the group. They all turned to look at Lance, knowing that he was the decider of stuff like this.
"I don't think we can stay another night, but I'm sure the team has no problem flying back late tonight," Lance looked to his team for confirmation, all of them nodding their heads with a smile.
"Xen is so cute!" Hunk cried out as he grabbed the nearest person to squeeze in his arms, that person happened to be Pidge who looked less than comfortable.
"She's growing up fast," Kazera nodded with a light smile. Zeno stepped forward and wrapped an arm around his wife.
"I remember when she was just a babe. Kept Kaz and me up all night with her crying," Zeno smiled and looked off into the distance. Kazura smiled at her husband.
"You have a lovely family," Shiro smiled.
"I just wish her uncle came to see her more," Kazura closed her eyes with a smile while Lance's jaw dropped.
"I visit when I can! It's not like my schedule is free all the time!" Lance cried out.
"And yet you haven't seen us in 6 months," Kazura raised an eyebrow.
"Because I was kidnapped by a metal lion!" Lance insisted.
"Excuses. I don't think we should have someone irresponsible like you being the godfather of our child," Kazura narrowed her eyes at the blue paladin while he wrinkled his nose - very childlike- back at her.
"I don't know how you two do it, but you make me feel like the 3rd wheel in my own relationship," Zeno sighed and shook his head.
"Watch your wife or she'll become mine!" Lance smiled with his chin in the air and a bright gleam in his eye.
"I just called you irresponsible, little blue," Kazura reminded lightly.
"Just some friendly bickering, every relationship has it," Lance shrugged.
"Are you sure Keith likes you making comments like that? He might get jealous," The Hifosian's eyes flashed over Lance's shoulder towards the closed door. Lance's cheeks puffed out as he considered her words.
"If he can't take me flirting with you then it's not meant to be. You're my one true love," Lance smirked and did the thing with his eyes that he always did when flirting with women on missions. Kazura smiled and tucked some hair behind her ear, also in a very flirtatious manner.
"What the fuck!?" Zeno threw his arms into the air and looked between his best friend and his wife.
"Didn't take Lance to be a homewrecker," Pidge smiled.
"Is it really being a homewrecker if I was flirting with her before they got married?" Lance asked.
"Yes, Lance!" Hunk yelled, but it was clear he was having a good time.
"If it wasn't Xen's birthday I would have thrown you to the curb hours ago," Zeno grumble under his breath as he made his way to the kitchen to start breakfast.
Xen's birthday was full of games and laughter. Everyone made sure to give the little girl all the attention she wanted. Even with all the people here, she always returned to sit in her uncle's lap. Lance let her play with his hands and arms, listening to the girl giggle as she forced his hands to interlace.
The Gray-scale world became darker as the sun began to set. In no time, the others were stretching and getting ready for the short flight back to Earth. Zeno rode with Lance, hovering behind him while Lance got ready for takeoff.
"I've heard stories of how you fly as the Blue Paladin, are you completely sure I won't die?" He asked nervously.
"I'm a good pilot!" Lance shouted over his shoulder as he commanded the lion to lift off the ground. "And it's not like this is your first time flying with me!"
"Yes, but you get invested in your characters, if you're the blue paladin, then you might kill me with your reckless flying," Zeno explained. "Agent blue is careful, the blue paladin is not!"
"Who the hell told him I'm a reckless flyer?" Lance asked into the comms, hearing Pidge's muffled laughter that told him exactly who was behind this betrayal.
"You want reckless? I'll give you reckless," Lance muttered as he turned his lion into a barrel roll that caused Zeno to grab onto the nearest wall.
"You're an asshole, blue!" Zeno cried out.
"And yet I'm your best friend," Lance gave him a sickly sweet smile.
The ride back to earth was quick, and everyone realized how late it was getting. Even as they all said their goodbyes and headed off to their rooms, they all knew Lance wouldn't be sleeping just yet.