Once at the palace, Keith was handed over to a woman named Colleen. She reminded Keith a lot of Pidge, the same eyes, skin colour, and hair colour that was tied behind her head in a bun. She was dressed in a red dress with white sleeves that ended above her ankles, a white apron was wrapped around her waist, and black heels adorned her feet. Her jewelry was simple, she wore white stud earrings in her ears and a simple gold chain around her neck.
Keith had been taken to one of the bathrooms in the palace and Colleen had filled the tub with warm water. She had also taken the time to add bubbles, the tub filled with bubbles. Keith had been stripped of the clothing Pidge sewed him and shugged into the tub. Keith had been content with playing with the soap bubbles.
"Washed up from a shipwreck. Oh, the poor thing," Colleen commented as she poured a bucket of warm water over Keith's head to wash away the soap. "We'll have you feeling better in no time," she said giving Keith a kind smile and placed the bucket down, she picked up Keith's clothes and stared at them as if she could tell they were made from a piece of an old sail.
"I'll just--I'll just get this washed for you," she said heading out of the room while Keith continued to play with the bubbles. Unknown to her, Slav was inside the pants pocket still.
_______________________________________________________
"Well, you must have at least heard about this guy," one of the ladies doing laundry said. The other ladies shook their heads, Slav was then tossed into the laundry with the shirt and pants.
"Well, Nyma says--." One of the laundry ladies grabbed the pants and started to wash them against the washboard. The rest of the ladies sentence was tuned out under the water. When she pulled the pants out Slav burped and out popped a bubble which quickly popped.
"--Since when has Nyma got anything right. I mean really, this guy shows up in rags and doesn't speak."
The pants were then tossed through the drying machine and Slav ended up being squished under the pressure, he popped out the other side and landed in the laundry bin. The same lady that washed the pants grabbed them and hung them on the clothes rack, Slav hid in the pocket as the line started to move.
"...Not my idea of a prince. If Lance looking for a spouse, I know a couple of highly available ones right here."
As the line moved Slav jumped out of the pocket and jumped through a window. He landed on a table and groaned at the way he landed. He looked up and his eyes widened at the sight. A fish sat on a block of wood with a huge knife through it, pots boiled with tentacles falling out of one. What made him the most anxious was when he looked and saw crabs, dead, and stuffed with stuffing each crab had a toothpick with an olive poking out of it's back.
At the sight, Slav ended up fainting.
_______________________________________________________
Meanwhile, Lance and Coran were in the dining room. Waiting for Lance's guest to appear and for dinner to be served. Coran was sitting at the table while Lance stared out the window.
"Oh, Lance, be reasonable. Nice young men just don't - swim around rescuing people in the middle of the ocean and then - flutter off into oblivion, like some -," Lance turned to Coran, who was cleaning his pipe.
"I'm telling you, Coran, he was real! I'm gonna find that boy - and I'm gonna marry him," Lance said as he turned back to the window. Colleen's laughter from the hallway caught both men's attention.
"Come on honey. Don't be shy." Colleen pulled Keith into the dining room and Lance's eyes widened. Keith was dressed in a pair of black pants, a purple shirt, a grey jacket with long sleeves, brown boots, and a brown belt around his waist.
"Oh, Lance, isn't he a vision?" Coran said as Keith walked towards the two. Keith blushed as he felt the prince's eyes on him.
"You look - wonderful," Keith smiled and Coran wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"Come come, you must be famished. Let me help you, my boy," Coran pulled Keith towards the table and sat him down in one of the chairs "there we go - ah - quite comfy?" Keith nodded and Lance pushed his chair in before sitting down at the table, as did Coran.
"Uh. It's - It's not often that we have such a lovely dinner guest, eh Lance?" Lance, however, had taken to staring at the boy. Keith's eyes lit up when he saw the fork on the table. He remembered what Matt had said and picked it off the table. He started to run it through his hair and glanced up at the two, who just gave him a weird look. Keith quickly put the fork down and bit his lip, avoiding eye contact with the two.
Coran lit a match and started to light his pipe. Keith heard the match and glanced up, he smiled seeing the pipe. Coran caught his gaze and smiled at the boy.
"Uh, do you like it? It is rather - fine," Coran handed Keith the pipe and the prince studied it. Before Coran could finish his sentence, Keith blew the pipe and smoke ended up blowing into Coran's face. When the smoke cleared, Coran's face had been darkened by the smoke. Lance and Colleen burst out laughing.
"Oh, my!" Colleen cried out as she handed Coran a napkin. Lance coughed and tried to cover his laughing.
"Ahem, so sorry Coran". Colleen caught the smiled and handed over to the prince, whose smile was now gone.
"Why, Lance, that's the first time I've seen you smile in weeks," Keith smiled, he was overjoyed knowing that he brought a much-needed smile to the prince.
"Oh, very amusing. Colleen, my dear, what's for dinner?" Coran asked as he wiped his face and set the napkin down, Colleen smiled.
"Oooh, you're gonna love it. Chef's been fixing his specialty, stuffed crab."
_______________________________________________________
Colleen soon returned with their dishes and Coran turned to Lance.
"You know, Lance, perhaps our young guest might enjoy seeing some of the sights of the kingdom. Something in the way of a tour?" Lance was still staring at the boy and turned to Coran with a smile."
I'm sorry, Coran, what was that?" Coran gave Lance a look and sighed.
"You can't spend all your time moping about, you need to get out," Coran lifted the lid off his plate and Keith's eyes widened when he saw Slav on the plate. The crab gave him a look of help and Keith lifted the top of his plate and motioned for Slav to hurry over. "Do something, have a life," Coran said just as Slav ran across the table and onto Keith's plate. "Get your mind off -," Lance chuckled.
"Easy, Coran, Easy," Keith then lifted Slav off the plate and into his pant pocket. "It's not a bad idea. If he's interested. Well--," Lance turned to Keith who slammed the lid shut on his plate. "Whaddaya say? Would you like to join me on a tour of Arus tomorrow?" Keith nodded and Coran clapped his hands.
"Wonderful, now let's eat, before this crab wanders off my plate," Coran went to stab his fork into the crab on his plate but his eyes widened when he saw that there was no crab on his plate.
_______________________________________________________
Come evening, Colleen showed Keith his bedroom and he was given a pair of pajamas. The pajamas consisted of a pair of loose purple pants with a match long-sleeved pajama shirt. Keith was now standing on the balcony of his bedroom watched as Lance played with Blue.
"Come here girl!" Lance smiled as the energetic dog licked his face as he kneeled down. As if feeling eyes on him Lance slowly looked up towards Keith, smiled, and then waved. The prince jumped and his cheeks flushed, Keith shyly waved back and headed back into his room, closing the balcony door behind him.
Slav watched as the prince combed through his hair with the fork.
"This has got to be, without a doubt, the single most humiliating day of my life," Keith set the fork down and patted Slav's head and headed towards the bed. "I hope you appreciate what I go through for you, young man," Keith went to sit on the bed and his eyes widened as he sank into the edge. "Now - we got to make a plan to get that boy to kiss you," Keith smiled and jumped onto the bed, the bed bounced and the prince laid his head down on the pillow.
"Tomorrow, when he takes you for that ride, you gotta look your best. You gotta bat your eyes, like this," Slav said as he batted his eyes like a girl. "You gotta pucker up your lips, like this," Slav stopped talking and his eyes softened when he saw the young prince was fast asleep. It was times like this around Keith everyone cherished. When he was asleep, he was like the innocent child he was when he was younger.
Slav hummed and blew out the candle on the bedside, he jumped onto the bed and pushed Keith's bangs out of his face. "Hm. You are hopeless child," Slav then laid down on the pillow and yawned "you know that? Completely hopeless."
_______________________________________________________
Meanwhile, in Altea, Shiro was pacing back and forth. A seahorse swam up and Shiro turned.
"Any sign of them?". The seahorse shook his head sadly.
"No, Your Majesty. We've searched everywhere. We've found no trace of your son, Slav, Hunk, or Pidge." Shiro sighed and waved the seahorse away, his heart breaking when he heard the news.
"Well, keep looking. Leave no shell unturned, no coral unexplored. Let no one in this kingdom sleep until he's safe at home," the seahorse nodded and bowed.
"Yes sire," He swam out of the throne room and Shiro collapsed on the throne.
"Oh, what have I done? What have I done?" Shiro asked himself as tears filled his eyes.
_______________________________________________________
The next morning Colleen had helped Keith get dressed for the tour. She had dressed him in black pants, a blue blouse with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, brown boots, and a brown belt around his waist.
Keith and Lance were seated in the carriage, Slav sitting on Keith's left side out of view. Colleen and Coran waved as the two left the palace and headed towards the town. Keith was pointing and smiling at things he'd never seen before. Lance smiled at the prince's curiosity and turned to talk to him. However, what he found was the prince upside staring under the carriage at the horse's hooves.
As they went over a bridge, Hunk in his fish form was jumping up to see.
"Has he kissed her yet?" Slav shook his head and yelled back to Hunk.
"Not yet," Hunk's face fell.
"Ohh . . . "
Lance helped Keith out of the carriage once they stopped in town. Keith watched with amazement as cages holding chickens and other animals passed by. He turned and saw a puppet show going on. One puppet was hitting another with a club. Keith grabbed the puppet in wonder and was surprised to find a hand was controlling the puppet. Lance handed the puppet back and soon found himself being dragged to where the music was playing.
Lance smiled and grabbed Keith around the waist and the two started a dance, while other couples danced around them. Lance spun Keith around in the air and after the dance ended, heading back to the carriage. Along the way, Lance bought them bread, Keith a red hat, a pair of brown boots, and a bouquet of flowers.
"Yo, Pidge! Any kissing?" Pidge shook her head.
"No, not yet," Matt pouted and sighed.
"Hmm. Well they - they better get cracking," Pidge nodded in agreement. The two exited the town and Lance turned to Keith, the horse's reins in his hands.
"Do you want to drive?" Lance asked. Keith nodded and tossed the gifts into Lance's arms and took the reigns from his hands.
Keith snapped the reigns and the horses took off running, the carriage being dragged behind it. A branch ended up hitting Lance in the face, the leaves exploding in his face. Lance shook the leaves off and his eyes traveled up. Ahead of them was a ravine, the gap between the two was fairly wide. Lance's eyes widened as Keith made no plan to stop.
Lance closed his eyes as he felt the horses and the carriage left one side and flew in the air. He grunted when the carriage landed safely on the other side. Lance sat back up straight and Keith pulled on the reigns to slow the horses down. Lance turned to the prince and upon seeing the smile still present on his face, he leaned back and allowed Keith to be in charge of the horses.
_______________________________________________________
At one point during their ride, Lance had taken back the horses and directed them towards a small dock. The two climbed out of the carriage and headed to the dock where a wooden boat sat. Lance climbed in first and then turned to help Keith in. The prince almost fell, but Lance helped him sit down without falling.
Once the two were seated, Lance started to row the boat away from the dock.
"Move over--move your big feathers. I can't see a thing," Hunk said sending a glare to Matt who was blocking his view. Currently, Pidge, Hunk, and Matt were hiding behind some tall grass out of the water, watching as Lance rowed the boat around. Matt groaned.
"Nothing is happening. . . . Only one day left, and that boy ain't puckered up once".
Keith sent a smile to Lance but in the back of his head, he couldn't help but worry. Tomorrow was his last day to get Lance to kiss him, and now the sun was starting to set on the second day. Matt turned to Hunk and Pidge.
"O.K. All right, this calls for a little vocal romantic stimulation," Matt took flight and landed on a branch with some little blue birds who watching the couple in the boat. "Stand back," he said as he landed, the bluebirds flying away.
Matt, while he was a very good friend, he wasn't a very good singer. As he started to coon as Lance and Keith floated past underneath the branch, Lance winced as he heard the very bad singing.
"Wow. Somebody should find that poor animal and put it out of its misery," Matt didn't hear his comment and continued singing. Keith grimaced at the 'singing' and facepalmed as Matt sent him a wink. Slav covered his 'ears' and climbed onto the edge of the boat.
"Jeez, man, I'm surrounded by amateurs!" Slav whined as he jumped off the boat and into the water. He dove down and plucked a piece of underwater grass.
"You want something done, you've got to do it yourself," he muttered to himself and resurfaced. Three ducks and three turtles swam by and when Slav surfaced they stopped and turned to the small crab with a conductor's stick. "First, we got to create the mood," Slav said, the turtles then flipped on their shells and the ducks raised their wings.
" Percussion " Slav whispered and the ducks started to play on the turtles' stomachs.
" Strings " Slav said as grasshoppers started to rub their hind legs together.
" Winds " Slav said as hollow grass broke in half and wind started to blow through.
" Words " Slav said finally as he started to sing.
Matt had been grabbed by Pidge and Hunk as Slav started to sing, the bird finally quieting down. Slav leaned in from a reed, towards the boat as it floated by. Lance was staring at Keith as the prince glanced around.
"There you see him
Sitting there across the way
He don't got a lot to say
But there's something about him "
Lance's head rose as he realized something was still fairly familiar about the boy. He also realized that in the back of his head, a voice was telling him to forget his mysterious saviour that didn't want to be found, and go for the boy in front of him. Keith turned his head towards the prince with a smile on his face, the smile faded when he saw Slav leaning in towards the prince.
" And you don't know why
But you're dying to try
You wanna kiss the boy "
Lance turned his head as Slav whispered in his ear and then disappeared out of sight.
"Did you hear something?" Lance asked Keith, the prince just shrugged his shoulders and sent a smile towards Lance.
" Yes, you want him
Look at him, you know you do "
Lance turned back towards Keith who was playing with the knees of his pants. Keith felt eyes on him and glanced up, his cheeks growing faint pink as he realized the prince was staring at him.
" Possible he wants you too
There is one way to ask him
It don't take a word
Not a single word
Go on and kiss the boy "
Lance and Keith leaned in, but Lance pulled back and started rowing again. Keith sighed and glanced away as Lance's head was looking over his shoulder to direct the boat where he wanted it to go.
" Sing with me, now "
Slav poked his head under the water and motioned to the creatures underneath. As Lance lifted the oars, frogs were stationed on each oar s they sang along. Keith had his chin in his hand and looked very unimpressed and annoyed.
" Sha-la-la-la-la-la
My, oh, my!
Look like the boy too shy
Ain't gonna kiss the boy
Sha-la-la-la-la-la
Ain't that sad?
Ain't it a shame?
Too bad
He gonna miss the boy "
Lance stopped rowing and turned to Keith.
"You know I feel really bad not knowing your name," Lance said with a chuckle as he grabbed Keith's attention. Lance leaned back and let go of the oars. The boat still moving on its own. "Maybe I could guess. Is it Steven? " Keith made a face and Lance laughed. "Okay no. how about Jeremy?" Keith shook his head as Lance kept trying to guess, but coming anywhere close. "Josh?" Keith glared and looked away. Pidge had finally had enough of his guessing and swam up next to the boat.
"Keith, his name is Keith," Lance glanced around, but Pidge was already out of sight.
"Keith?" Lance whispered, Keith heard it and his eyes lit up. He nodded and grabbed Lance's hand gently in confirmation. "Keith!?" Keith nodded again and Lance smiled. "Well that's kind of unique, it suits you," Keith blushed and smiled. "Okay, Keith."
" Now's your moment(ya, ya, ya)
Floating in the blue lagoon(ya, ya, ya) "
As the boat continued to float along, it ended up taking the two towards some blue willows. Two birds flew down and parted the willows like a curtain, the boat floating in and the willows closing in after them.
" Boy, you better do it soon
No time will be better (Ya, ya, ya, ya, ya)
He don't say a word
And he won't say a word
Until ya kiss the boy "
Slav dove under the water and motioned for the creatures in the lagoon to join in. Several colourful fish swam up and circled around the boat, the current causing the boat the spin. Lance and Keith didn't notice, they were lost in their own bubble.
" Sha-la-la-la-la-la
Don't be scared (sha-la-la-la-la-la)
You got the mood prepared
Go on and kiss the boy (whoa, whoa)
As the boat spun, the fish swam, and fireflies flew around them, it created a perfect mood. Pidge and Hunk watched from the sidelines with smiles on their faces.
" Sha-la-la-la-la-la
Don't stop now
Don't try to hide it how
You wanna kiss the boy (whoa, whoa) "
Fish popped out of birds beaks as they sang the backtracks. Keith made a mental note to thank Slav later.
" Sha-la-la-la-la-la
Float along
And listen to the song (WA WA WA WA LAAAA!!)
Song say kiss the boy (whoa, whoa) "
As flamingos danced, Matt flew down and started singing again, the flamingos grabbed his beak and shoved him under the water with glares. They then continued to sing as Matt turned into his mermaid form and swam up beside Pidge with a pout. Pidge gave her brother a smiled and then turned back to the magical scene.
" Sha-la-la-la-la-la
Music play
Do what the music say
You gotta kiss the boy "
Small fish popped out of the water and laid on their backs as they swam around. Hunk, in fish form, had joined the circle as they spewed water out of their mouths like a fountain. Pidge rolled her eyes as Hunk rejoined them as they finished.
" Kiss the boy "
Keith and Lance stared into each other's eyes and shared twin smiles. The animals and friends were leaning in to see if they would kiss.
" Kiss the boy "
The animals were whispering "kiss him" over and over. As if listening to them, the two started to lean in closer.
" Kiss the boy "
The two were getting closer now. Unknown to everyone, underneath the boat, Sendak and Ladnock were waiting underneath. They were waiting for orders from Haggar to strike.
" Go on and kiss the boy "
Keith and Lance continued to lean in until they were almost kissing, their eyes closed as the last line of the song played. They almost kissed when suddenly the boat was overturned. Both males eyes widened as they splashed into the water. The animals quickly left with the commotion and Lance helped Keith stand up.
"Whoa, hang on - I've gotcha," Lance laughed as he and Keith stood up. Out of view, Sendak and Ladnock wrapped tails and laughed.
_______________________________________________________
Back at Haggar's lair, she was glaring at the floating bubble image of the pair as they stood out of the water.
"Nice work, boys. That was a close one. Too close," Haggar growled and ran angry fingers through her hair. "The little player! Oh, he's better than I thought," Haggar said as he stood up off the couch she was sitting on.
She swam up to her cupboards and searched for what she needed. "At this rate, he'll be kissing him by sunset for sure," she yelled as she threw bottles and jars off the shelves. She pulled out two bottles and a glass ball with a butterfly in it. "Well, it's time Haggar took matters into her own tentacles!" she yelled as she threw the ingredients into her cauldron.
"Shiro's son will be mine-" Haggar said as she grabbed the golden seashell around her neck in her hands "-and then I'll make him writhe". "I'll see him wriggle like a worm on a hook!" golden orbs flew up and surrounded Haggar as she pushed herself off the ground.
She laughed as she started to change. She changed into a man with light tan skin, brown hair that fell to her shoulders, and had yellow eyes. Her voice grew deeper as she used Keith's voice to mask her own.
With a change of plans, Haggar formed a new plan as she swam to the surface, using her magic to keep her breath until she reached the beach.