The Best Klance Fanfictions

A Shove Towards Love

A Shove Towards Love

found here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7906597?view_full_work=true

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Lance jerked his shoulder, trying to dislodge the hands that held him down.

For all that these people claimed that they were peaceful, they sure as hell knew how to throw down. Lance may have not been the strongest of the paladins of Voltron, but even Hunk was having a tough time breaking free of the aliens' grip on him. He was red-faced and panting, chest heaving as he tried to wrench himself free.

"Hunk, this isn't working!" Lance called, only to have the hand on his shoulder tighten to the point of pain. The alien made a strange, gurgle-like sound, one that meant nothing to Lance, but insinuated a clear threat: 'don't move, or you'll get it'.

What he would get, Lance wasn't sure, but whatever it was couldn't be good. He obeyed and went still, but only so he could look at their surroundings.

They were in front of some sort of altar, shining crystal sparkling on all sides. In the middle of a pool of water was what looked like a gigantic statue of some kind of a holy figure holding its palms outward. Water gushed from the ceiling of the cave, pouring over the statue's palms and spilling into the pool below.

Right where they were taking Keith.

"What are you doing with him?" Allura demanded waveringly. "Please, tell me what's going on. I know you don't want to fight us. I can feel it!"

"Who cares about that!" Pidge shouted. "Let me go! Let all of us go! Why does this always happen to us? We go to a peaceful planet, and then people start trying to kill us!"

It hadn't started out that way. At least, not that Lance could tell. How a mission could have gone so wrong, so quickly was a mystery.

They were travelling through the galaxy, trying to pinpoint a civilization of peoples that needed assistance on the outskirts of Zarkon's territory. So far, they hadn't found anything that wouldn't take a large-scale plan of action to accomplish anything significant. That was when they suddenly received a distress signal.

A nearby planet was hailing any nearby ships in the vicinity, and as soon as the signal came in, Allura called the paladins into the control room.

"Paladins!" Allura said once the team was assembled. "We've just received word from a planet nearby that they need our help."

"We're sure this is a legitimate distress call, right?" Hunk ventured. "You remember what happened last time."

Last time, it had been a trap set by Zarkon's forces and they barely escaped intact. They all looked at Allura, who returned their gazes unflinchingly.

"You are correct, Hunk," she said. "Last time was a disaster, but we will not make the same mistake again. I had Coran look through our ships files for any information pertaining to this planet. You will be surprised to find out that we knew this planet long, long ago, many years before I was born. Coran, if you will."

She gestured to the ship's console. Coran scrambled to obey, and soon the planetarium display had popped up. Muttering to himself, Coran swiped across the galaxy until he had reached a small, but beautiful planet. Like the Balmera, its surface was glimmering with light, its land forming intricate patterns.

"Wow," Pidge breathed. "It's pretty."

"Yes." Allura smiled. "It was a wondrous place, from what I can see. Before our war with Zarkon, we had many dealings with them. Their land carries rare riches and minerals, making them a target for theft, but their collective life energy somehow works as a shield for the planet. Only those they trust are allowed in. However..."

Allura frowned, going quiet.

"They're being attacked," Coran finished solemnly. "I know not how they stayed protected, but Zarkon must have finally penetrated their defenses after ten thousand years."

"Just now, after ten thousand years?" Lance asked. "Sure seems convenient now that the paladins are back together. Are we sure Zarkon isn't behind this somehow?"

"I'm certain of it," Allura replied. "I can feel it. Their energy, it....it calls to me. Something about it is telling me we must go. It's nothing like I've ever felt before, and it's not something Zarkon is capable of."

"What kind of feeling is it?" Shiro asked.

"It's so difficult to describe. It's....warm." She touched the center of her chest, smiling. "Kind. Something good will come of this; I feel it."

"I don't know if I trust this," Hunk whispered loudly.

Allura glared at Hunk, gearing up with a scathing retort, but Shiro stepped forward, hands raised.

"We trust you, princess." He bowed his head. "If you think this is what we should do, then we're right behind you."

Allura's expression softened in the face of Shiro's confidence.

"Thank you, Shiro. Diplomacy is an important part of being a paladin of Voltron. Suit up and meet Coran in the training room as soon as you can. He'll brief you on the customs of the people of this planet: the planet Novaria."

She nodded, dismissing them, and they scattered. Pidge and Keith immediately headed for their suits, but Lance hung back, staring at the still open display. Hunk was doing the same thing, observing the small orb up close.

"Hey, Hunk?" Lance started, walking up alongside him. "Does something feel...weird about this?"

"Weird?" He looked at Lance. "Not really. Is your gut telling you something's off?"

"Yes. No. I don't know." Lance stepped closer, peering directly at the planet. The closer he got, the weirder he felt. And the strangest part was that it wasn't necessary a bad feeling, just weird.

"Well until you figure that you, I guess we should suit up," Hunk said unconvincingly. "Another space trip that will hopefully end in peace and harmony."

"Yeah." Lance stepped back, giving the planet one last look before he turned around. "We should. Let's move out."

They walked to the training room together, clad in their gear and bayards. Pidge and Keith were already there, but Coran and Shiro hadn't shown up yet, leaving the four of them to mingle.

"'Sup, Pidge," Lance called, stepping into the room. He glanced at Keith, his lips curling a little. "Keith."

They weren't mortal enemies any longer, but Keith wasn't exactly his best friend. Now that they'd gotten to know each other a little, Lance could admit that Keith was a good pilot, a good fighter, and maybe-just maybe-a good friend, but he wasn't about to tell him that.

"Lance," Keith greeted, eyes flicking up at him briefly. He was studying his bayard, brow furrowed in concentration. Lance and Hunk settled down in front of them, following Keith's example and pulling out their bayards for inspection.

"So," Keith started, "does something about this whole thing feel kind of...off?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Pidge. She was busy typing something on her laptop, fingers flying across the keyboard. The light glinted off of her glasses when she glanced up at the three of them. "I'm trying to scan the planet-just to make sure what Allura said is true-and everything seems to check out. There's some sort of forcefield jamming my signals, but I'm not able to trace it. It's probably coming from the Novarians."

"Okay, but that doesn't mean something's not weird about this," Hunk argued. "How do we know we can trust them?"

"We don't," Lance said. "But we do have to follow Allura's orders."

"You think she's wrong about this?" Keith looked up at Lance, his eyebrow raised. Lance opened his mouth to defend himself when he felt a firm hand land on his shoulder.

"The princess knows what's best," came Shiro's voice from behind them. "If she says we're going down there, then we're going down there. They need our help. It would be good if you three could remember that."

An awkward, guilty silence fell over the trio, broken only by the sound of Pidge's frantic typing.

Keith was the first to speak.

"Sorry, Shiro," he said, sounding sincere.

"It's just-" At Shiro's pointed look, Hunk stopped. "Nevermind. Sorry. I'll be quiet now."

"See that you are." Shiro nodded, lips lifting into a smile. "I understand you're all concerned, but this is nothing we can't handle."

Somehow, that wasn't comforting.

By the time Coran entered the room, they were all seated in a circle, waiting patiently for his tutelage.

"Ready, paladins?" he chirped, wiggling a pad with a bunch of what looked like gibberish on it. "I have the communications from our Novarian friends right here. It appears that they don't speak any form of English or Altean-or anything at all, really-but the signal was coded to indicate that they need immediate assistance."

"What kind of help?" Pidge asked. "Do you think it's Zarkon?"

"Should we take the ship into orbit?" Shiro added.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Coran replied. He poked the screen, bringing up another display. "Don't you worry; leave that to Allura and myself. For now, it's time to learn about the Novarian customs!"

Lance groaned. Why did he have a feeling this was going to be boring?

Coran went on for about half an hour on the greetings alone. Apparently when he said that they made use of the mind, he meant that the people of Novaria didn't speak from any type of orifice, relying on touch to communicate ideas. Lance tried to imagine one of them hugging a communication panel and had to stop himself from snickering.

Hunk shot him a reproachful look.

"Imagine someone probing your brain," Coran explained. "Your thoughts, your memories; all of it open for the world to see. It's just like that!"

"Great," Keith drawled. "I love having my brain probed. Can we say no to this whole greeting thing?"

"I'm afraid not, Keith." Coran twirled his mustache. "As much as I'd like to allow you to escape with your mind untouched, it would be terribly rude to the Novarians. You shouldn't have to worry, though! I'm certain they won't care about anything holed up in there."

This time Lance did snicker. Loudly. Keith shot him a dirty look.

"I'm not so sure about this either." Hunk shuddered. "Anything involving aliens touching my brain makes me nervous. What if they, like, take over our minds? What then?!"

"That won't happen," Shiro said. "We can't be afraid to try new things. Not everyone in the universe will act like we do. We'd better get used to it."

"Easy for you to say," Lance grumbled, leaning his back against Hunk. He didn't like the thought of his mind being invaded. What if they started broadcasting it to everyone around them? What if Keith heard his thoughts?

Lance pushed the thought out of his mind; thinking about it made his skin crawl.

Pidge sighed. "Can we move on? We have a distress signal to answer, don't we?"

"Righto." Coran coughed. "So, after greetings, we have general etiquette..."

After learning the basics of Nova customs, they were just shy of reaching the planet, which left them with just enough time to get to their lions and be ready for whatever awaited them. Allura was at the helm, dressed for battle and approaching the planet with care. When they reached the outskirts, it was obvious that the distress signal wasn't in vain; there was a small hole where Zarkon's forces were streaming into the planet.

"Paladins, be careful," Allura warned them. "Try to avoid causing any damage to the planet's surface."

"Got it," Lance said, swinging his lion around to the front of the pack. "Ready to kick some Zarkon butt?"

"We're not going in guns blazing," Shiro admonished. "We should be careful. Hunk, you're up front. Keith, you're with me. Lance and Pidge will hold up our rear and fire if necessary."

The forces had only just arrived, which meant that they didn't even need to form Voltron to take them down. Hunk held up the front, using his defense as a barrier while the other slipped around him and wreaked havoc. When it appeared that the enemy was ill-prepared to face the sudden appearance of the legendary Voltron, Hunk, Shiro, and Lance took off to destroy the largest of the ships while Keith and Pidge attacked the transportation vessels.

It was an easy win, and after everything that had happened in the last few weeks, Lance should have been overjoyed.

So why did he feel like he was missing something? The closer they got to the planet, the more he felt like something was pulling him in, encouraging him to do something, to go somewhere. He couldn't tell what it was, but the feeling in his gut was similar to...anticipation.

Lance warily followed the rest of the paladins down onto the planet, taking care not to crush any of the civilians as they descended to the surface and stepped out of their lions.

The people on Novaria weren't exactly what they were expecting.

For one, they seemed to be made of some kind of energy. Whatever it was, it made them glow, as if their bodies could barely contain the light held within. They were vaguely human-shaped, and they towered over their visitors by at least a few feet. The funny thing was, even though they were blindingly bright, it didn't hurt to look at them. The light was beautiful; welcoming, even, much like the rest of the planet.

The planet's surface was covered in stark white foliage, with huge pillars of what looked like glass erupting from the ground. The Novarians had taken advantage of this, building their civilization around the beauty and splendor, erecting towering buildings that punctured the sky high above the clouds.

"Whoa," Keith breathed beside him. "It's beautiful here."

"Yeah." Lance shot a glance at Keith, watching the wonderment play across his face. "It is."

A cursory look around informed him that while they'd been admiring the planet's beauty, Allura was already chatting away with the tallest of the Novarians, its hands clutched tightly between hers.

"Thank you for welcoming us," she said. "I am princess Allura of Altea, and these are the paladins of Voltron. You may not remember us, but long ago-oh?"

She narrowed her eyes, concentrating.

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand," she said slowly. "Can you repeat that?"

"What is it, princess?" Coran leaned forward, hesitating over their joined hands. "Perhaps I might be able to help."

Another separate Novarian citizen took Coran by the shoulder and lowered its head until their foreheads were pressed together.

"Oh." Coran went stiff. "That's-oh, that's very strange. You're in my head now, I see."

One of the Novarians approached Lance and Keith, extending a hand-or what looked like a cross between a mitten and a hand-for them to take.

"Ooh, I think it likes us," Lance purred. "You go first, Keith."

"Why don't you go first?"

Keith and Lance shared a glare, challenging each other to be the first to take the bait.

Lance was the first to give.

"Fine, I will!" He didn't want to be rude, after all, so he took the Novarian's hand in his own, braced for impact. "I hope this alien is ready to dive into the greatest mind it's ever seen."

"Whatever." Keith rolled his eyes and stepped back to watch.

It wasn't like anything Lance expected.

It was warm.

He felt the Novarian's mind connect with his own, a wave of that same warmth encompassing his entire being. His body started to tingle from his head to his toes.

Then he felt it; it was like there was something that didn't belong inside him, pushing gently, inexorably, and Lance was powerless to resist. It entered his mind, searching through his memories and thoughts and feelings. Images that Lance couldn't understand flashed inside his head, telling a story that didn't make any sense.

"That kinda tickles, but in my brain."

The Novarian went deeper, tugging at his childhood, pulling apart the times he fell and hurt himself; it picked through his time at the academy, watching the back of Keith's head, always, always watching. Fast forward years, and they were in space; there was Keith, smiling at him, laughing with him.

The images were coming faster now. He saw a pool of water, glittering, and water cascaded over him, in his mouth, his throat, filling him with something unrecognizable. Something like want.

It retreated from his and went back to his time at the academy, hesitating, hovering over the memories. Then they shifted, turning to the rest of the crew. They saw Pidge, Shiro, Coran, and Allura. At Hunk's wide, bright-eyed smile, it stilled, and then buried its claws in Lance's mind, searching for something, looking for-

"No!" Lance shouted, snatching his hand out of the alien's grasp. He opened his eyes, which had previously been held shut, and paled in realizing what he'd done. "I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to let go, but I...that was..."

His heart was hammering in his chest. His head felt fuzzy, his breathing short.

"What are you doing?!" Keith hissed, watching the alien warily. It swayed, emitting a strange humming sound. Then it turned to Keith.

"I think, I think it wants you now," Lance muttered, still out of sorts. The experience had been uncomfortable, but at the same time, he felt bereft, like something was missing. Like a piece of something important had been taken, lying just out reach.

"Yeah, thanks for that." Keith sighed, and then offered his hand for the Novarian to take. It did so gingerly, covering Keith's palm with its own. Keith gasped, his whole body going rigid.

Lance eyed him uneasily. Did I look that stupid?

He didn't have a chance to find out. After a few seconds of connecting with Keith, the being suddenly snatched its hand away from him, humming something unintelligible. Then it gurgled, waving its arms at its comrades to gather their attention.

"What's happening?" Lance muttered, watching as the Novarians turned their heads and started coming their way.

Soon, half of the population was gathering around Keith, chittering and humming and gurgling. The Novarian alongside Allura lifted its head and emitted a booming sound, and the others suddenly ceased.

Lance looked at Keith. "What was that?"

"I-I don't know. It was looking through my mind one second, then the next, it was gone."

What Keith said puzzled Lance, but before he could inquire further, one of the Novarians approached him.

Keith reached out to offer his mind, but instead they took hold of his arms instead and started hauling him away.

"Wait, what's going on?" Keith jerked weakly in their grip, hesitant to struggle, but still unnerved by what was happening. "What are you doing?"

Having noticed the commotion, Allura started to push her way through the crowd, reaching out towards Keith. "Excuse me, but where are you taking him?"

They received no answer, and one of the Novarians took Allura by the arm, restraining her from reaching Keith. Alarmed by the sudden turn of events, the rest of the paladins whipped out their bayards, training them on the Novarians.

Allura held up her free hand.

"Don't!" she shouted. "Don't hurt them! We don't know what's happening, but we mustn't resort to violence. Just-if I could speak with your leader again, please!"

Meanwhile, Lance hadn't moved an inch. It was like his brain was filled with molasses, his thoughts processing too slowly for his body to follow. Hunk came up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder, tugging him forward.

"What happened over here?" he asked, concerned. "Did Keith do something to them?"

Lance shook his head, mind starting to clear. There was something he was supposed to be doing. Someone he was saving. Who was it? Right. Keith.

"What are we supposed to do? Just sit here while they take him away?" Pidge waved her bayard at the nearest exiting Novarians. "We have no idea if they're about to eat his brains, or-or worse!"

Holy crow, Keith was kidnapped! What was he doing just standing here?

"Keith! We have to save Keith!" He shot forward, ignoring Coran's enraged shout and lunged at the nearest Novarian, bayard at the ready. These aliens moved pretty slowly, so Lance was expecting an easy fight, which was why he was shocked when the Novarian's hand shot out like lightning and wrapped around Lance's wrist, sending his bayard clattering to the ground.

As if a switch had been pulled, the Novarians turned and grabbed the remaining paladins and Coran, pulling them in the same direction that Keith had been taken.

"What the hell is going on?" Shiro snapped, apparently finished playing the responsible adult. "I thought things were going well. Why are they attacking us?"

"They aren't trying to hurt us. Don't worry: I'm trying to find out," Allura grit out. Her arms were being restrained by two Novarians, but she made no more attempts to get free. "They're blocking me somehow! I'm getting images-flashes. Something about a pool and a mind." Her brow was knit with concentration, sweat beading down her neck. "I see Lance and Keith. I-I can't make it out."

"Lance! What did you do?" Pidge squirmed, pointing her foot accusingly in Lance's direction.

"I didn't do anything!" he cried. "Okay, maybe one of the Novarians got kind of brain-handsy with me and started digging around in my memories, so I pulled out of our mind meld. So what?"

"Maybe you insulted him," Hunk guessed.

"But they didn't start going crazy until they got to Keith! If anything, it's his fault."

Hunk opened his mouth to answer, but his attention was stolen by their arrival at the edge of a large cave. Glittering crystals lined every inch of the walls, sending light dancing along the crystals in a dazzling display. Even though they were effectively in a hostage situation, Lance couldn't help but gape.

"I've got something," Allura gasped. Her hair was damp with sweat, her limbs trembling in the Novarians' grip.

"Princess, don't strain yourself!"

"I'm fine," she snapped. "Trying to force our minds together is difficult, but I can handle it. I learned that there's a ritual that's going to happen. And Keith is going to take part in it."

"Uh oh." Hunk swallowed, glancing at the front of the pack. "Rituals are never a good sign."

As if on cue, the Novarians got louder, their voices echoing off of the walls. Keith could still be heard shouting at the front of the pack, crying out for help. The sound was grating, setting Lance's nerves on edge. He never wanted to hear that sound come out of Keith's mouth again.

"Let me go! Whatever you're doing, it needs to stop! Keith! Keith!" he shouted. There was an answering shout, but it was fading fast. He was getting farther away. Lance wracked his brain for any sort of plan, but his mind was suspiciously blank.

How had things gone so wrong? It was after they went into Keith's mind that they started going crazy. What if what they saw there made them want to take over his brain, like Hunk had ludicrously suggested just hours ago?

Think, Lance, think. What could they want with Keith?

Aside from his looks and combat skills, Lance couldn't imagine anything the Novarians might want with a human.

While he was trying to concoct a plan, they had arrived at a large cavern, which brought them back to the present situation. Keith was in trouble, and Lance was completely and totally useless.

The Novarians had lined them up in front of the altar, their hands held aloft. The rest of the Novarians that weren't occupied with their guests were starting to disperse, forming a tight ring around the walls of the cave. In the center was Keith, still pulling at the leader's hold as it dragged him forward.

"Let me go!" He let out an enraged shout, kicking his legs wildly. The Novarian leader remained unfazed, dragging him near the center of the pool of pouring water.

"I'm guessing nobody has a plan," Pidge added helpfully, her glasses slipping messily down her nose as she tugged at the hands binding her.

"Of course not! I can't even move," Hunk groaned. "These guys are too strong. Isn't there a way we can call our lions?"

"I don't know!" Shiro craned his neck to look at the way they'd come. "They usually just come when we're in trouble."

"Maybe we're really not in trouble," Pidge suggested, sounding like she didn't believe it.

"I don't know." Shiro frowned. "This isn't looking good. If they don't want to hurt us, why can't they just explain what's happening?"

They didn't have time to find out. As Keith was held up by the Novarian leader, the humming grew even louder, echoing in the cave, along the walls, in their heads. In Lance's head.

"Keith! Let me go, you-" Lance managed to wrench his arm from the Novarian's grasp and fell forward, fingers scraping the ground for purchase. The sounds grew louder, scraping at the walls of his mind, and he knew without a doubt that something was about to happen to Keith. Icy cold fear washed over him, and he felt it when they plunged Keith into the freezing water. "Keith! Keith! Keith!"

His head ached. It felt like someone had plunged their hand into his chest and given his heart a good squeeze. His vision swam, eyes trying and failing to lock onto Keith as he was forced mercilessly back into the freezing cold water. It felt like he was being branded, like his skin was melting off, exposing bone and blood and pain, so much pain.

He screamed, mouth forming Keith's name, and then there was nothing.

Lance was spinning. He couldn't see, could barely hear his panicked breathes over the dull roaring in his ears. He was spinning, and he kept spinning, floating through-space? He couldn't tell where he was. Lights were flashing in front of his eyes, so fast that he couldn't make out what was going on. He tried to move, but his body wouldn't cooperate.

Where am I? What happened?

The memories were fuzzy, slipping away. He couldn't think properly; his thoughts were muddled, broken into bits and pieces.

His eyes fluttered open and he saw a flash of red, and an endless, endless light. He closed them again, trying not to panic, remembering to breathe.

What was I doing?

I was rescuing someone. A friend?

A friend? Who?

Someone, someone important. It was...

Keith!

Light exploded behind his eyes at the revelation. He squeezed them shut, trying to block it out, to block everything out. There were voices sounding in the background, calling out, but before he could reach out a grasp them, the voices faded. Something cool rushed over him, filling his mouth and nose and lungs. He coughed and coughed, choking and spitting until he felt like he was able to breathe again.

His head hurt. His neck hurt. Everything hurt. Lance felt like his body had been ripped apart and then put back together.

"...nce."

".....ance!"

"No," he groaned, his head throbbing as the voices grew louder. "No, don't. Leave me alone. I can't, I need-"

He didn't know what he needed. But it was something important, he was sure of it.

The voices faded. He was alone.

A hand landed on his shoulder, and for a brief moment, the pain eased, simmering in the back of his mind where it was easier to bear. Then the hand left, and the pain returned. Lance buried his face in his arms, destitute. At this rate, he'd be in pain forever. He'd never find what he needed!

Someone shoved a warm body against his side, and something in his brain clicked. Relief flooded him, engulfing the pain and sending it away. He turned without opening his eyes, knowing that this was it; this was what he'd been looking for. This was what he needed.

He wrapped his arms around the warmth, burying his nose in something soft. A whiff of a familiar scent gave him pause, but he was too exhausted to investigate it further.

He fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Lance woke up with his face shoved in something fuzzy and dark. The pain from before was thankfully nowhere to be found, and his head felt clear, alert.

He felt heavy. Warm. Something-scratch that, someone was leaning against his chest, breath tickling his skin. Lance frowned, trying to remember when something like that could have happened. Did they get drunk? The last thing he remembered was being on Novaria, and then-

Keith!

His eyes snapped open, and he was immediately greeted by the sight of Keith's sleeping face.

It took Lance a few seconds for his brain to catch up with the unexpected turn of events.

"What the hell!" Lance screeched, recoiling. Heat flooding his cheeks. He'd been cuddling Keith. "Why is Keith in my bed?"

"Ah. Good, you're awake." Allura said from the doorway, drawing Lance's attention. "We were worried you might be out for longer than expected. I'm relieved that isn't the case."

"Allura, what are you doing here?" Lance took a deep breath. "Am I crazy, or am I missing something?"

"What do you recall?" Allura asked, gently. "Do you remember Novaria, and Keith's, er, capture?"

"Yeah, I remember that." Lance frowned at his lap. "I remember yelling, trying to reach Keith, and then...nothing." He shook his head, trying to dislodge the memories. "What happened? How did we get here? And more importantly, why am I in bed with Keith?"

"Ah." Allura pursed her lips. Lance had a feeling he wasn't going to like what she was about to say. "It turns out the ritual that they performed on Keith had a....binding quality to it."

Chapter 2

Notes:

This won't be as long as my other fics, so we'll see how that works out. Hope you enjoy!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"Binding? What are you talking about?" he asked suspiciously. "How-how long was I out?"

"You were asleep for about five hours after we left the planet Novaria. You've been here in this room ever since."

"Where exactly is 'here'? This is still on the ship, right?"

"Correct. This room is normally reserved for couples; however-well, perhaps it would be best if I explained."

"That'd be nice."

Allura sat in front of him, speaking slowly but firmly, her tone banking no argument.

"You are aware that the Novarians are a race that are not like us, but they rely on more than just the mind. They are connected to not only each other, but also the planet and its surface-" she gestured around them, "-the very air that they breathe. It is fascinating, and if I had the time...well, in any case, If they spoke to you, you would have noticed that they speak through impressions and images."

"What does that have to do with anything?" he pressed. "What did they want with Keith?"

"That is where it gets interesting. You see, when they connect with us, they connect to not only our minds, but who we are as a people. When the Novarians connect with you, there is some amount of energy transference. We learned that they-" She pressed her hands together, carefully avoiding Lance's eye, "-noticed something in both you and Keith."

Oh no.

"At first we didn't understand it. We were still wary after they restrained us, but after they explained their reasoning, it made sense. What they saw in you is best described as the partner to one's soul."

"Wait, what? Hold the phone. They attacked us and you just accepted it?"

"It wasn't an attack," Allura said. "Now let me finish, Lance." She cleared her throat. "Now, in many cultures, it is believed that there are those who are destined to be together, connected through time and space. When they melded with your mind, as I understand it, they unlocked the potential for this."

"The...potential."

No, no, no. Lance couldn't breathe. He felt Keith stir beside him, but he didn't look away from Allura. He couldn't.

"In Novarian culture, their life forces are intertwined. It was difficult to understand this part, but it appeared that they thought humans would function similarly, and if this potential was not exploited immediately, you would perish. They thought we might not understand and waited until after the ritual was complete to explain. That was when they poured purified water over the two of you, by the way." He met her eyes, which were glinting with something like humor. "It is thanks to them that you, Lance, have found the partner to your soul."

"Wait, wait, wait. So let me get this straight. You're telling me that by dunking us under some water, they, what, bound our souls together?"

"Essentially, yes. As luck would have it, we were very near the holy sites of their people."

"Okay, that's nice, but you're saying they put me." He gestured to the sleeping paladin beside him. "With Keith."

Her lips twitched. "That is correct."

"Then why did they bring the rest of you guys along?"

"As I explained, they worried we would interfere. Their leader was very apologetic when I confronted them."

"Apologetic? They kidnapped Keith, dragged us into some cave, and they're apologetic about it? I was scared for my life back there!"

"Yes." Allura gave him a look that suggested she believed nothing of the sort. "But they meant no harm, I assure you. Otherwise, we escaped relatively unscathed."

"What about this soul bond thing? You don't call that collateral damage? How can they just leave us with this, this whatever and expect us to forget everything that happened!"

"It's more complicated than that," Allura explained. "I'm sorry, Lance. I know this isn't what you or any of us expected, but we can't change the past. Once we know more about what's happening, we can adjust accordingly."

"Right. I get it now." Lance nodded sagely. "This is joke, isn't it? Very funny guys!" he called, leaning over to look at the open doorway. "I know what you're up to and it isn't going to work."

"Huh?" Finally having woken, Keith sat up, blinking at them blearily. His hair was mussed, sticking in all directions, and something in Lance's chest tightened at the image.

"It's not a joke, I'm afraid," said Coran from the doorway. He walked inside, followed closely by Shiro. Hunk and Pidge stayed back by the door, whispering conspiratorially to each other. "You and Keith have a very special bond. This is a cause for celebration!"

Lance's heart sank into his stomach. "No. No! This has to be a joke. I-take it back! I don't want my soul bound to anyone, let alone Keith!"

"What?" Keith rubbed at his eyes, looking more alert. "What's this about souls?" His eyes widened. "Why are we in bed together? What's going on?"

Shiro and Allura exchanged a glance. Allura nodded, and Shiro took her place, sitting in front of the two of them.

"This isn't going to be easy to hear, Keith. I want you to know that we're here for you if you need to talk."

"What are you talking about?" Shiro's speech didn't seem to comfort Keith in the least. If anything, he looked even more startled.

"The Novarians did something while we were down there. It involves you and Lance."

He explained the situation to Keith, who looked increasingly disturbed the longer that he spoke. When he got to the part about binding their souls, he leapt out of bed, shaking his head.

"That's ridiculous! Lance and I aren't-no. That's stupid. How would dumping some purified energy water on us even..." he trailed off and started swaying, and that was when Lance felt it.

A dull pressure started in the back of his head; it was like someone had pressed their thumb against his skull pushed. It wasn't comfortable. He rubbed at the back of his head, trying to alleviate the feeling, but it only got worse, and soon it felt like someone was pounding the inside of his head with a hammer.

Keith leaned against the wall, fairing no better than Lance. "Wha...What's happening to me?"

"I don't know." Allura looked alarmed. "The Novarians warned us that it could affect them in ways we don't expect. What-what do you feel?"

"I-" Lance couldn't describe it. The pressure was similar to a headache, but way worse. He looked at Keith, and just like that, he knew that if he could get to him, it would make things better. He'd feel better.

He was reaching out before he could stop himself, and made it to the edge of the bed before he came to his senses. He jerked backwards, snatching his hand back to his side, cradling it against his chest. Looking at Keith felt like it made it worse, so Lance tried to concentrate on something, anything other than Keith.

Pain exploded in the back of his head. Lance bit back a groan.

Keith seemed to think something along the same vein. He inched away from the bed, fingers white against the wall. He was taking deep, solid breaths, eyes flicking between Lance and a random spot on the bedsheets.

Their resolve lasted maybe five seconds.

Keith was already crawling on the bed by the time that Lance launched forward, reaching for him, fingers clawing at Lance's arms with thinly veiled desperation. Lance pulled Keith by his arms, yanking him backwards into his embrace. Keith's hands when they settled on his back were warm; he was shaking, fingers bunching up the fabric of Lance's shirt. He whimpered, burying his face in Lance's shoulder.

Almost immediately the awful feeling started to abate, leaving behind a sense of intense relief.

Lance blinked, realizing what he'd just done. What they had just done.

"That's not something I thought I'd ever see," Hunk whispered loudly.

"Can somebody please explain what just happened?" Lance pushed Keith away from him, his hands annoyingly reluctant to leave his body. "I am seriously freaking out right now!"

"You're freaking out? I'm freaking out!" Keith cried, his voice cracking. "I didn't ask to be bonded to you!"

"Oh, you think I wanted this?" Lance pointed an accusing finger at his chest. "You just had to go and provoke them with your-your-"

"What?" Keith snapped. "My what?"

"Your mullet, your mind! I don't know! But clearly, this is your fault."

"My fault?" Keith jabbed him in the shoulder. "How is this my fault? You got invaded first."

"Boys, boys!" Coran called, approaching the pair with care. "I'm aware that this isn't the most, erm, opportune situation, but let's look at the bright side."

"What bright side? I'm stuck with him!" He gestured viciously at Keith. "Can't we call the Novarians back and have them fix this?"

"I agree, Lance." Keith nodded. "I don't think this bonding this is going to work."

"I don't think it's meant to 'work'," Allura insisted. "It wasn't something that the Novarians created; it was always there, sitting under the surface." She took their hands and placed them together, laying her hand atop theirs. "What you two share surpasses time and space. It can't be forced, and it can't be broken. Not all share such a gift."

"Gift? I don't see what's so great about this 'gift' except I can't stop touching Keith for some reason." Realizing what he'd just implied, he rapidly backpedaled. "That was sarcasm, by the way. I don't want to touch Keith. I mean, not any more than usual." He winced. "Which is to say not at all."

Keith went pink. "S-Same here. Shiro, are we gonna be stuck like this forever?"

"The affects should fade in time," he offered.

"That's worryingly unspecific."

"This is uncharted territory," he replied. "I'm just sorry I don't have more information."

"Great." Keith let out an explosive sigh. "What are we supposed to do then? What if I have to pee?"

Lance wrinkled his nose. "You can do that on your own. I think I can deal with a little pain if it means I don't have to see you go to the bathroom."

"It's painful for me too, you know."

"Whatever, dude. Just keep your pee away from me."

"Like I want you to see me pee, Lance."

"Uh, yeah, that's what it sounds like. Creepy, dude."

"Are you serious right now?" Keith let out a frustrated growl. "I don't, okay? I don't want anything-I repeat-anything to do with you."

Lance tried to ignore how much the statement stung. As much as he pretended that their relationship was one big rivalry, a small-very, very small-part of him sought out Keith's attention for other reasons, like friendship, and comradery, and maybe even-

Well, it didn't matter.

"Right back at ya, pal," he shot back. "I'd rather be attached to Pidge!"

"Hey, don't bring me into this."

"Yeah? Well I'd rather be with Coran than you!"

"For the time being," Shiro cut in, eyeing them both like they were naughty schoolchildren, "we'll try to keep things up and running as usual. Once the effects wear off, I'm sure it will go back to normal. You'll just have to hold out until then."

"Fine," Lance spat. "I can handle it. How long do you think? A few days? A week?"

"I don't know." Allura folded her hands in front of her, lips pursed. "Even if the affects do fade with time, you two should be sure to inform either Coran or myself of whatever occurs between now and then. We have regrettably little information on a subject such as this."

"We'll do that, but first I'd like to change my clothes. And eat. I'm starving."

"Of course. Come find us if you need anything." Allura turned to the rest of those loitering inside the room and started ushering them outside.

Once they were alone, awkwardness ensued. Neither of them were equipped to deal with a situation like this. Lance had a big family, so getting handsy with other people wasn't unusual for him, but this wasn't family: this was Keith.

Keith, for his part looked...lost. His hands were fisted in the sheets, shoulders hunched forward with something akin to trepidation, or maybe fear. Lance opened his mouth to say something, but then he faltered. What could he possibly say that would make this better?

"I actually do have to go to the bathroom," Keith muttered, pulling away from Lance. "I'll just go on my own."

He got up and left before Lance could get a word in edgewise.

The room seemed to double inside when he was on his own, threatening to swallow him whole. The back of his head started to throb the moment that Keith left, but it wasn't completely horrible-yet. He took the opportunity to observe their surroundings. This room was clearly a whole lot bigger than the barrack-sized rooms he was used to sleeping in. Lance slid out of bed and headed for the closet on the other end of the room, holding out hope that Allura had left them some clothing while they were sleeping.

No dice. That meant that they'd have to visit each of their rooms and grab their stuff. Which begged the question: were they supposed to sleep together now? Lance shuddered.

Nothing about this paladin stuff seems to be working out. I didn't sign up to pilot a big blue cat, and I definitely never signed up to be soul bonded to Keith.

When Lance stepped away from the wall, his vision swam. Keith must have been gone for at most thirty seconds, but it already felt like something was crawling inside his mind and tearing it apart. He hovered by the door, biting his nails while he waited and waited and waited. It felt like ages until Keith returned, and when he did, Lance couldn't keep his hands off of him. Keith was similarly disposed, shoving himself full-bodied into Lance's arms, hands roaming over him as if to assure him that Lance was still there.

"This is really weird," Lance murmured, currently in the process of trying to ignore how nice Keith's hair smelled.

"You're telling me." Keith sighed into his shoulder, playing absently with the hem of his jacket. "How are we supposed to function like this?"

"Don't ask me. How do people normally do this kind of thing?"

"I don't think anything about this is normal. But if we have to move around like this, maybe we could, um, hold hands?"

Lance opened his mouth to argue out of force of habit, but then conceded to Keith's idea. It the only thing that made an unfortunate amount of sense.

It was so, so awkward.

It was not how Lance imagined the first time he would hold someone's hand going. For one, Keith couldn't stop blushing, which made Lance feel embarrassed, which then made his hand sweaty, subsequently embarrassing both of them, starting the cycle all over again.

Thankfully, they made it to their rooms without any trouble, getting dressed as quickly as possible before latching back onto each other. The burst of relief when they touched was mind-boggling.

Lance didn't understand it. He'd never felt something like this before. Yes, it was strange that an invisible force that neither of them could deny was bringing them together, but it was more than that. Lance wanted to touch Keith. Something about being near Keith made him feel so-so satisfied.

Not that he admitted any of this to Keith, who likewise didn't acknowledge their bond any more than he had to. For all he knew, Keith could have felt the opposite. In fact, Lance would bet his money on it.

They walked to the cafeteria hand in hand and found Pidge and Hunk chowing down on everyone's favorite green goo. After exchanging greetings and ignoring their stares, they moved to the goo machine. Getting food one-handed was a trial all on its own, but actually sitting at the table was a whole new level of weird.

"This sucks," Lance griped, lifting their linked hands. "Keith's all clammy and I'm trying to focus on eating my food."

"Like you're any better," Keith retorted. "My fingers will prune if you sweat anymore."

"I resent that, Keith. I have never once in my life suffered from clammy hands. I am a natural when it comes to handholding."

"Oh, is that right."

"It is."

"Can you two knock it off?" Hunk interjected, sounding more irritated than he had a right to be. Lance was the one that should be angry here! "I can't properly enjoy this delicious goo meal when you two are arguing like an old married couple."

"We are not like an old married couple," Keith said, offended.

"Whatever, man. This is super weird and I don't really get it, but I also think this whole soulmate thing could be good."

"What?" Lance gaped. "Why would you ever think that?"

"Well," Hunk swallowed his food. "You two have always been kind of volatile."

"Volatile? Me? Keith is the one-"

"And if you're meant to be together," Hunk continued as if Lance hadn't spoken, "then things can only go up from here, right?"

"'Meant to be together?' Are we even talking about the same thing? Why is everyone so supportive of this happening?"

Lance didn't ask for this. He didn't ask for any of it. And everyone seemed to have an opinion about this bonding thing without even consulting him, or asking how he felt about it. All the negative emotions simmering inside Lance reached their boiling point and he leaned forward, pointing a finger at Hunk, his words coming out with a savagery he didn't anticipate.

"Don't even joke about that, Hunk," he hissed. "The last person, and I mean the last person, I'm meant to be with is Keith."

"Okay!" Hunk's eyes widened, and he raised his hand in placating. "Jeez, I get it. I'm not the one that said you were soulmates; blame the universe for that."

All the anger trickled out of Lance at the admission. Hunk had a point. None of them-not even the Novarians-could have predicted this, and everyone was just doing their best to deal with it and treat everything like it was normal.

Lance sighed, chancing a glance at Keith to gauge his reaction. He'd been silent for the exchange, and now he was staring at his bowl, chewing on his spoon with unnecessary viciousness.

"If you're going to be like this all day, then I'm leaving," Pidge announced. "I need peace and quiet to work."

Keith nodded wordlessly, which was worrying on its own. Had Lance gone too far? He shot Hunk a look that voiced his concerns, but he only offered a pointed look in return.

'What am I supposed to do?' he mouthed.

Hunk motioned to Keith.

'What?'

Hunk rolled his eyes, and then stood.

"You figure it out, Lance," he said. "Coran promised he'd show me some of the mechanics involved in the cryo-pods, so I'll see you guys later."

"Wait-" Lance reached out, but Hunk was already moving away, leaving Lance and Keith alone.

Great.

Lance had barely touched his food, but he wasn't feeling hungry any longer. He shoved the plate away and sighed explosively. He was going to have to do this, wasn't he?

"Look, Keith-"

"I'm not interested," he said, cutting Lance off mid-sentence. "I don't care what you think, because you know what? I feel the same way. Let's just live out our lives until this is over and then we don't have to deal with this ever again."

Lance faltered, then nodded.

"Sounds-sounds great to me," he said unconvincingly. "We should check with Coran to make sure that's our room and then...move our stuff, I guess."

"Yeah, we should do that." Keith stood, drawing Lance to his feet, and started in the direction of the door. He all but dragged Lance behind him, staying one step ahead and refusing to look back at Lance.

This is what I wanted, Lance tried to tell himself. We fight all the time, and we don't get along. This is normal for us.

It didn't make Lance feel any better. Guilt ate at him as Keith dragged him into the control room and tapped Coran on the shoulder.

"Oh! Welcome," he greeted, eyeing their hands with amusement. "What can I do for you? How are you holding up? Any new information for me?"

"Fine," Keith grit out. "We just wanted to know if the room we slept in was ours for now."

"For now, yes." He frowned, realizing that something was amiss. "Everything all right?"

"Just peachy," Lance answered. "Nothing new here."

"Right." Coran looked between the two of them, and his gaze softened. He placed a hand on Lance's shoulder and gave it a good squeeze. "I know this is hard for you two, but I promise it will get better. Probably."

"Sure. Whatever." Keith tugged on Lance's hand and started for the door. "Thanks for the help, Coran."

"No problem," he called after them. He stepped forward, cupping his hands around his mouth. "If-if you need anything, I'll be around!"

Keith raised a hand in acknowledgement.

They traveled to Keith's room first. It took two trips, but eventually they managed to throw everything in the bigger room. Then it was Lance's turn, which took four trips to take all of his necessities, including the beauty products and luxury items. Whenever Keith picked up a bottle of lotion or one of his slippers Lance expected him to make a comment, but he was quiet, barely giving the items a cursory glance before he shoved them into his arms.

Maybe this really was for the best; this way, they didn't have to acknowledge anything weird or bicker. Sure, Lance felt like shit for hurting Keith's feelings, but he was a big boy. He could handle himself.

Once they finished moving everything, Keith walked into their new quarts and pointed at the bed.

"I'm going to take a nap," he announced. Then he took out his headphones and pushed them into his ears, effectively ignoring Lance.

"Okay, I'll just...sit here," Lance said lamely, after following him onto the bed. He could let go of Keith for a second to get his own headphones, but he'd already done the bathroom thing and twice was enough for one day. So instead he followed Keith onto the bed and settled back against the pillows, making sure their thighs were touching before he relaxed fully.

They didn't get a lot of time to chill while fighting Zarkon's many armies, and in between missions Allura often enforced further training. The only reason that she was leaving them alone now was probably due to their new bond; they'd be useless on the battlefield, after all.

It was a little bizarre. Everything about this situation was bizarre.

He looked at Keith, whose eyes were closed, eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks. From this distance Lance could make out the quiet thrumming of his music, something that he didn't recognize. It occurred to him that he didn't know what kind of music Keith listened to. In fact, he didn't know much about Keith at all.

The remnants of his previous guilt came back at him full force, sitting heavily on his chest. He swallowed against the souring taste building in the back to his throat and turned his head to look at the ceiling.

Is this really such a bad thing? said a voice that sounded suspiciously like Shiro. You've always admired him since the day you saw him first fly. Out of all the people in the universe, you're with Keith. Shouldn't you be at least a little glad?

He shot another glance at Keith. He was frowning, fingers curled tightly around the sheets. Lance found himself wanting to reach over and brush away the lines that had formed along his forehead.

I don't know, he thought, startled by the impulse. He found himself opening his mouth before he could stop himself.

"Hey, Keith?"

He didn't receive an answer, but Keith twitched, which made Lance believe that he could hear him-at least somewhat. He decided to get it over with, even if Keith couldn't hear him.

"About what I said before," he started, then stopped. Apologizing had never been his forte. Usually he'd just make a few jokes and be forgiven for his boorish behavior.

Come on, you can do this. It's just one apology.

"I'm sorry," he blurted, his face feeling warm. "I didn't mean what I said. I was frustrated and-and I was an asshole. Out of all the people in the universe-I mean-" Lance gripped his courage by the throat and forged ahead: "What I'm trying to is that out of everyone here, I guess I'm glad it was you."

He waited, refusing to look at Keith, but there was no immediate response. Just when he was about to give up and resign himself to his fate, he felt Keith's fingers brush his, nearly jumping out of his skin in the process. Then, to his utter shock, Keith's fingers curled, making it impossible to mistake it for an accident. A feeling like electricity passed through Lance.

When he looked over, Keith was staring at him.

Heat crawled up his neck and flooded his cheeks. His heart was pounding so hard that he felt like he was about to pass out. And of course, because Lance was Lance, his mouth started moving on its own again.

"I mean, Hunk is my best friend, so we can't count him out, but I don't want to be tied to my best friend for life, so I guess you're the next best thing." He leaned away from Keith, trying to figure out why he suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. "Did I ever tell you that you're pretty-" Shut up shut up SHUT UP "A pretty good pilot!" he squeaked, unable to tear his gaze away from Keith. "Yeah. You're-good."

Keith's lips parted, eyes going wide with surprise.

"Uh, wow." He raised an eyebrow. "That's a big compliment coming from you."

"Wha-what's that supposed to mean?"

"You've never had anything nice to say to me before. You're the master of back-handed compliments."

"I-" Lance wanted to deny it, but he realized that it was true. He hadn't ever been very nice to Keith, and Keith hadn't even known who he was at first. Lance had always known that most of the antagonizing came from him, but he was beginning to realize that maybe he'd been imagining how much Keith understood that it was all in good fun.

"Sorry," he mumbled, looking down at his lap. "You have every right to hate me-"

"Hate you?" Keith interrupted. His fingers moved, sliding warmly against Lance's. Lance could barely hear Keith over his pounding pulse. "I don't hate you, Lance."

"You-you don't?"

"No!" Keith leaned forward, gesturing emphatically. "You can be really annoying-and I mean really annoying-"

"Hey!"

"-but you're smart, you have good instincts, and despite what everyone says, you're not a bad pilot."

Lance blinked, then pinched himself, trying to reconcile what he was hearing with reality.

"Did I hear you wrong, or did you just say I'm not a bad pilot?"

Keith smiled, revealing a dimple and a flash of teeth, and Lance's heart stuttered a stop.

"You heard me. I forgive you, by the way. And I'm sorry for being a jerk, too. This soulmate stuff is weird, but if it fades with time, we shouldn't have to worry too much."

"Uh huh," Lance squeaked. Again. Why couldn't he get a hold of himself?

"Lance?" Keith leaned closer, causing Lance to lean back. His face felt like it was engulfed in glames. "You okay? You look a little red."

"Fine!" he nearly shouted, then reeled it in, offering Keith a wavering smile. "I'm fine. Just tired." It wasn't a complete lie; he was tired from the day's events.

"Same," Keith said, relieved that they were on the same page. "I slept half the day and I still feel like I could sleep another ten hours. I wonder if it's the soulmate thing."

"Yeah, maybe. You know what?" he said suddenly. "I think I'm gonna follow your example and take a nap. Care to join me?"

Keith smirked. "Sure. Just try not to cuddle me in my sleep."

"Wha-" Lance floundered for a response, "maybe you should try not to sweat all over me this time."

"I do not sweat in my sleep."

"Tell that to my poor skin."

Keith made a frustrated sound, reflective of their interactions this morning, but his following smile was decidedly better than real anger.

While Lance was preoccupied by his thoughts, Keith had turned away, reaching for his backpack by the bed.

"I'm going to set my alarm for a few hours from now, okay?"

"Oh, uh. Fine by me. I'll wake up when you do."

Now that he'd calmed down, Lance was able to settle back against the pillows and close his eyes. He could still recall the feeling of Keith's fingers curling around his oh so gently, and a part of him was suddenly aching for the contact. Lance brought his hands to his chest in an effort to keep himself from making the mistake of reaching out. It had probably been a one time thing; Keith wouldn't...

He wouldn't do something like that. Not to him.

Lance turned away. He really was tired, so listening to the sound of Keith rustling and messing around with his stuff quickly lured Lance into a light doze. And soon, he was drifting off, a strange, new feeling bubbling inside him. It felt different. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but it rang with something like...acceptance.

An interminable amount of time later, Lance woke up. He yawned, and ended up nearly swallowing strands of Keith's curly hair in the process. He batted them away from his face, spitting out the stubborn strands clinging to his lips. Realizing that something was strange about that, he looked down and had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from making a sound that would undoubtedly wake Keith.

Somehow, in the course of their sleep they had gravitated towards each other and ended up tangled in the middle of the bed. Keith was pressed up against his chest and his hands were buried under his shirt, fingertips twitching warmly over Lance's bare skin.

He shifted, preparing to get up, but before he could move, Keith made a soft sound in his sleep, sliding his leg further in between Lance's thighs. A bolt of heat shot through his stomach, settling hotly in his groin.

Fuck, Lance thought, closing his eyes. I'm so fucked.

Notes:

I always end up doing soulmate au's where soulmates don't already exist in the universe, making it a lot harder for me to rationalize. No idea why I do this to myself lmao.

Chapter 3

Summary:

Lance has some doubts.

Notes:

Thanks for all the support. Love you guys.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Lance tried shifting away again, inching backwards as he shoved his arm between them in hopes that it would loosen Keith's hold, but he didn't seem to get the memo; if anything, it made him hold on tighter, pulling Lance flush against his body.

This is bad, Lance thought, his heart hammering in his chest. He took Keith by the shoulders and gently extracted him, relieved when he went willingly this time. As Lance was pulling his arm out from under Keith, he snorted. Lance froze, waiting, but when it appeared that Keith hadn't woken, he carefully climbed off the bed and darted for the bathroom to get it over with.

It was when he was washing his hands that he realized something was off. Instead of the pain that he had been expecting in being separated with Keith, he felt...fine. The pain was suspiciously absent, leaving Lance to believe that either the effects had faded faster than they anticipated; that or something strange was going on.

He peeked around the bathroom door to confirm his suspicions. Keith certainly didn't seem affected negatively by the distance. In Lance's absence he had curled up around the pillow, looking adorably ruffled.

Lance's heart seized in his chest.

He returned to the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror. Get a hold of yourself, Lance. Don't let a little crush get the best of you.

There: he'd finally admitted it to himself. He, Lance McClain, had a crush on Keith. After years of pretending that it was all teenage hormones and misplaced admiration, admitting it didn't make Lance feel any better.

He twisted the faucet and leaned down, splashing his face with ice cold water and mentally counting off the reasons that this was a bad-scratch that, a terrible thing.

Firstly, he didn't even know if Keith was into guys-or into anyone at all. And secondly, Keith would never be interested in him.

He was finally on common ground with Keith as his friend, which was more than he'd ever expected when he entered the classroom on day one at the academy and immediately spotted Keith sitting a few rows from the back.

That was enough for him, and he wasn't about to ruin it with some lame-brained crush that would go nowhere. Besides, who said that they were actually soulmates? Maybe the Novarians had been lying when they thrust them together just to get out of the line of fire. It made a terrible amount of sense.

That settled it.

Returning to the bedroom, Lance gathered up his things and quietly carried them out into the hallway. It was nighttime-at least by their Earth standards-so most of the castle's inhabitants were sound asleep, giving Lance ample time to scurry back and forth without anyone asking questions.

By the time he finished, the exhaustion that a few hours of sleep staved off was back full-force, weighing heavily over him. He trudged his way uneasily back to the room where Keith was still sleeping, and strangely enough, when he crossed over the threshold, his fatigue had all but dissipated.

Must have just been some leftovers from my nap and space jet lag, he reasoned, ignoring the warning signs that were going off inside his head.

Lance carefully crawled onto the bed, his hands hesitating over Keith's sleeping form. Keith's eyelids fluttered, his breath coming out in soft huffs. His hair was splayed across his cheeks and neck wildly, and Lance had to restrain himself from reaching over and brushing the wild strands away from his face.

If this was the last time he was going to see him like this, then he wanted a memento. Lance quietly pulled out his phone and angled the camera at Keith.

And one for the road...there. He swiped the photo off the screen and shoved his phone back into his pocket. Then he leaned over and shook Keith until he startled awake.

"Wha-huh? Lance?"

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!"

"What time is it?" Keith reached blindly behind him for his phone, fingers skating the edge and knocking it onto the floor. Lance hopped off of the bed and grabbed it for him, barely able to contain his catlike grin.

It took Keith about a minute of playing with his screen to realize what had happened.

"Wait," he looked up at Lance with wide eyes, "you're not touching me."

"Yep!" Lance spread his arms. "We did it, Keith! Somehow we beat the system!"

"I don't know if that applies here," he said, setting his phone down onto the table. A slow, cautious smile spread onto his face, "but that's great!"

Keith stretched his arms high above his head, tugging his shirt up past his navel. Lance watched the play of muscles across his abdomen, realizing only too late that Keith had been speaking.

"Huh?"

"I said, any ideas why it happened?"

"Oh." Lance shrugged. "Nope. Something definitely feels different, though. Yesterday it was like-like things weren't all together. Now it's different. I feel better."

"Yeah." Keith looked down at his hand, curling his fingers into a fist. "Yeah, I think I get it. Maybe we just had to get used to it?"

"Probably." Lance bounced on the balls of his feet. "It's technically night time, but that shouldn't stop us from getting some grub. Or getting me some grub. I'm hungry again."

"You go ahead," Keith said, covering a yawn with his palm. "I think I'm gonna take a shower and then tell Allura about this, if she's awake."

"Right. Awesome. I'll just-" Lance pointed to the door, inching away. He waited until Keith was preoccupied with pulling his socks off before he escaped, headed in the direction of the kitchen.

It was silent when he got there. The bowl that he'd left on the table was still sitting on there, implying that no one had come by. He brought it to disposal and then pulled out a fresh tray, filling it with the green goo.

"Sure wish Hunk had more of those spices," he said to no one in particular, sighing. The food wasn't terrible, but it wasn't like anything on Earth. And every day that they were out in space made him miss Earth food all the more.

At least you found your soulmate, his mind offered, which didn't make Lance feel any more at ease. Being stuck to Keith hadn't been one of the most pleasant experiences in his life, but on some level it had been comforting to have a constant companion. Now that it was over, things could go back to normal.

"Right," he murmured, swirling his spoon in his bowl, "normal."

Ever since they'd first formed Voltron, Lance had to reevaluate his definition of the word 'normal'. When he was young, normal had been life at home on Earth, surrounded by his family. At the academy, normal had been staring at the back of Keith's head, desperate to get him to notice Lance, and hanging out with Hunk, luring him in with his stupid schemes, or occasionally bothering Pidge. Now normal was spending his time training in between defending the universe and trying not to die.

Depressed by the turn that his thoughts had taken, he shoveled the rest of his food into his mouth and stood, determined to do something productive that would take his mind off all the weirdness going on. Lance set his bowl in the dishwasher and then headed for the control room, holding out hope that Allura or Coran were in there.

It turned out Keith had beat him to the punch. By the time that Lance arrived, he was in deep conversation with Coran, gesturing wildly with one of his hands.

"Hey," Lance called, drawing their attention. "Having fun without me?"

"Lance," Coran greeted, nodding at him. "Keith was just filling me in your situation. I'm glad to hear the both of you are feeling better."

"Ah. Ha." Lance rubbed the back of his neck. "Better is a word."

"What do you mean?" Keith asked. Lance opened his mouth to remind him of the lingering exhaustion, but Keith was staring at him with genuine confusion, and something akin to concern. It occurred to him that maybe he didn't have any idea what Lance was talking about.

"Oh. Uh, nothing. I didn't mean anything. It's just weird, y'know." Lance shrugged. "Finding your soulmate and all."

"Right," Keith said. He turned to Coran. "Does this mean we can start training again?"

"Dude, Keith, you had a vacation that lasted a few hours and you want to go back to training already?"

"I like to stay in shape," Keith said, narrowing his eyes. "You could use some practice. Your aim's been pretty bad lately."

"Hey!" If that one thing that Lance could boast about, it was his sharpshooter skills. "I'll show you who's out of shape. I'll take you on right here, right now, Keith."

Keith smirked, well aware of the affect his words had on Lance. "Meet me on the training deck and we'll see."

"Actually, I have something else in mind," Coran piped in, inserting himself neatly between the two of them. "Although you paladins have been doing wonderfully, it occurred to both Allura and me that we have severely neglected keeping up on team bonding exercises. Once Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk are awake, we're going do a run-through of the program. Doesn't that sound exciting!"

"Wait, really?" Lance groaned. "We're a great team! Keith and I are mated for life now; how is that not enough bonding?"

"Did you really have to use the word 'mated'?" Keith's lips curled in disgust. "That makes us sound like animals."

"Look, I can't speak for everyone, but some of us here-"

"Finish that sentence, McClain."

"What are you gonna do about it, Kogane?"

"Whoop your butt."

"Oh, yeah?" Lance stepped into Keith's space, spreading his arms threateningly. He tried to ignore how nice it felt to be this close to Keith, and focused instead on the challenge issued. "You're on."

"After we have our team bonding exercises," Coran said from the sidelines. He'd been watching the exchange with some amusement, but decided it was time to cut in and get the ball rolling.

"Right, but if everyone's still asleep, then we have time, don't we? You won't have to worry, Coran; we'll still be good to go when we do the exercises. You ready, Lance?"

Lance thought about his weariness and hesitated to jump on the training bandwagon.

"Y'know, I...I think I'm actually going to go back to sleep," he said.

"Oh." Keith blinked. "Are you still tired? We slept for almost a day."

Lance shrugged as if it was one big mystery, when in reality he had been feeling strange ever since he'd woken up. He felt fine now, but earlier when he'd been eating, it had felt like his limbs were being held down by heavy weights. He figured that if it was the bond talking, some more sleep might help with whatever was plaguing him.

"When should I set my alarm?" Lance asked, directing the question at Coran.

"Five of your Earth hours should be plenty of time, but I'll give you a tip, Lance: you shouldn't have to worry about alarms." Then he winked, which, if it was supposed to make his meaning anymore clear, it only served to puzzle Lance.

"Right." He started backing away, taking his exit while he had the chance. "See you two in the morning then. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

He'd barely made it a few steps into the hallway before Keith was calling his name, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Why'd you move your stuff?"

"Huh?"

"Earlier, I-" Keith's cheeks went slightly pink, "I noticed you took your stuff back to your room."

"Oh, yeah." Lance had to remind himself that it was curiosity and nothing else. Keith didn't care; he was curious. "Well we were done being stuck together, so I just, uh, moved back."

"Right. Of course." Keith looked away, shuffling from foot to foot. "Yeah, that makes sense. Guess I'd better move then, too."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Lance smiled, scuffing his shoe along the pristine floor. "I'll-see you in a little bit, Keith. Night."

"'Kay. Goodnight, Lance. Sleep well."

He felt Keith's eyes on his back long after he'd started down the hallway, and when he turned the corner, headed for his old quarters, it was like everything he'd been staving off came back full force. He was so tired all of a sudden. When he slipped into his room, he made immediately for the bed and flopped onto it, barely having the presence to rip off his shoes before he fell asleep.

Lance woke up to the sound of alarms blaring throughout the castle and nearly slammed his head into the ceiling when he jumped out of bed.

"Paladins!" Allura's voice filtered through the coms. "Gather in the control room. We need you to form Voltron, now."

Lance groaned and fell back against the sheets, blinking bleary at the bright lights. Despite his hope that his condition would improve overnight, he felt no better than he had before he went to sleep. After a few seconds of lamenting time lost to alarms and Voltron, Lance flopped out of bed and made for his suit. It took some work, but once he had it on, he shoved his helmet under his arm and made a mad dash for the control room, struggling to stay alert.

Why do I still feel so tired? Last night it had made sense that he'd feel this way, but now he was beginning to think maybe there was something wrong with him. He rubbed furiously at his eyes, turning the corner that would lead to the control room, and nearly slammed straight into Hunk.

"Oh, Hunk. Didn't see you there, buddy."

"Morning, Lance." He turned, but not before he did a double take, eyes skating across Lance suspiciously. "Where's Keith? I thought you two were stuck together."

"Oh, right, forgot you guys didn't know about that. Turns out," he paused to yawn, "we don't have to anymore. I guess the universe decided one day was enough."

"Really." Hunk looked doubtful, his gaze lingering on Lance's face. "Dude, not to be rude, but you kind of look like shit."

"I do?" Lance touched the skin under his eyelid self-consciously. "I feel kind of tired, but is it that bad?"

"I mean, I guess." Hunk leaned in to study him at a closer distance. "You look tired, but it's like-more."

Lance opened his mouth but before he could speak, Allura's voice filtered into the hallway. "Paladins! Hurry!"

"No time to chat, Hunk. Gotta go."

"We're going the same way," Hunk called.

A few seconds later, Lance skidded into the control room, followed closely by Hunk. As they both approached the group, it was clear that their chat had held them up longer that they had anticipated. Keith and Shiro were standing off to Allura's right, giving Lance a disapproving stare-one that he was steadily growing used to-and Pidge was saying something to Coran and gesturing to rover, which probably meant that it was boring engineering talk and Lance had already stopped caring.

As he drew closer, he shoved his helmet over his head, recalling Hunk's words. Knowing his friends, if he looked tired, there would be questions, and he didn't want anyone worrying needlessly about it. At least, not when he was sure something was actually going on.

"Sorry, guys," he said, stopping in front of the group. "Hunk got caught in his suit and I had to help him."

"I did not get caught in my suit, Lance. Just admit it: we were late."

"Semantics," Lance drawled. "So, what's the emergency? Why are you all standing around?"

He looked at Coran, who was shaking his head and muttering something under his breath. He suddenly remembered what he said the night before about not needing alarms, and the truth hit him.

"Ooh, I get it. This was a drill."

"Uh, yeah," said Pidge. "Duh. If we were really going to form Voltron, we wouldn't go to the control room."

Hunk yawned beside him. "Does that mean I can go back to sleep?"

"Nope!" Coran replied, far too jovial for the length of time that he must have been awake. He gestured to the lot of them and then pointed to the hallway. "It's time for more paladin training!"

"What?" Pidge crossed her arms. "I thought we already did all that. We can form Voltron no problem now."

"While that is true," Allura started, "it occurred to Coran and me that you all lack the team spirit we should have come to expect." She shot Lance a pointed look. "Our newly bound paladins are a perfect example; until just some hours ago, they were at each other's throats. Because of this, we decided that another run-through to determine your fortitude as a team would be beneficial for everyone."

"I think it's a great idea, princess," Shiro said.

"Of course you do," Lance mumbled under his breath. Shiro all but worshipped the ground Allura walked on.

"So, what, it's the same stuff as before? Last time I recall, those didn't go so well," Hunk said.

"That's why it's called training, Hunk." She smiled, placing one hand on her hip. "You five just worry about doing your best to work as a team. Meet me at the training deck in one hundred ticks. Good luck, everyone."

As Allura and Coran departed, the paladins all gazed at each other with mirrored expressions of trepidation.

Pidge raised her fist awkwardly in the air. "Go team Voltron?"

"Ooh! Remember our chant? I say vol, you say-" Lance pointed at Keith.

"Vol....tron?" Keith shrugged, awaiting approval.

"I swear it's like you're doing this on purpose, Keith." Lance pinched the bridge of his nose. "The instructions are in the chant! Hunk, you show 'im how it's done."

"We should probably head to the training room first," he said. "Then we can chant until we're blue in the face."

"Fine, but you, Keith, are going to learn that chant at some point."

"I-okay?" He looked bewildered, which only made Lance want to strangle him. How was he so adorable even when he was being so stupid?

They left the control room as a group and made it to the training deck just as Coran poked his head out to see if they were coming around.

"Oh, good! You're all here. Get inside, everyone. We don't need to try and link your minds to form Voltron any longer, but most of the exercises still apply. I thought we'd start with everyone's favorite: the ancient paladin maze."

"Do we have to?" Lance groaned loudly.

"Yeah, I-I would really not like to be electrocuted today." Hunk rubbed his arms, shuddering from the memory. "Maybe we can replace the electrocution with, like, hugs."

"Enough whining," Allura said from her mic, seated in the room's control center. "Lance, you're up here with me. Keith will start inside the maze."

Keith and Lance exchanged looks. Lance grinned.

"You heard the lady! This time I get to be the one to electrocute you."

"Oh, great."

"Try to remember that you're trying to get him through the maze," Coran added helpfully.

"Don't worry, guys, I've got this in the bag."

Keith shot him a look that spoke volumes, then soldiered on into the middle of the room. The rest of the paladins scooted out of the way, and once Keith was in position, Coran signaled for Allura to start the maze.

"You better not mess this up," Keith called.

Up in the control room, Lance snorted. "I know how to lead somebody. I am a natural born leader, I'll have you know. Now take two steps to your right and turn left."

Keith followed his instructions gingerly, arms cinched to his side to avoid touching any walls.

"Two steps forward, then turn right again and walk three steps."

Again, Keith followed. Lance continued to give instructions, and things were going surprisingly well. It was near the end when Keith was taking tentative steps towards the exit that Lance smirked, leaned into the mic, and said: "one step to your left."

Lance let out a peal of laughter as Keith shouted, slamming straight into one of the maze walls.

"You did that on purpose!" Keith snapped.

"Oh, come on. It was just a little fun. Take four steps forward and you'll be out of the maze. For real this time. I promise."

"You'd better." Keith hesitated, looking like he'd rather be doing anything else, but eventually charged ahead, eyes squeezed shut. His shoulders sagged with relief when nothing happened and he passed over the threshold to where Coran was waiting.

"See?" Lance teased. "Told you I could do it."

"Good job, Lance." Allura laid her hand on Lance's shoulder, leaning forward. "I want to see Hunk up here next. Shiro, you're in the maze this time."

The rest of the exercise went well. There were only a few mishaps, where the recipients of the instructions got confused, but otherwise, they finished in record time. It was amazing for Lance to see how far they'd come since that first week out in space. He was starting to think that maybe these training exercises weren't such a bad idea after all.

Naturally that was when things got really weird, really fast.

The next exercise involved them being huddled in a circle with their shields up as the enemy drones fired relentlessly at them. Just like the first time, it was up to them to focus on protecting their teammates. A few hits nearly landed on Lance's feet, but his teammates were quick to make up for it, crouching low while the others went high.

Lance was in the middle of angling his shield to protect Pidge from an oncoming bolt when out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the drones fire. Now, normally this wouldn't be an issue, but something was different this time. Somehow, Lance knew that this one was headed for Keith. From his position he could see that Shiro and Hunk were angled away from him, and without looking, he knew that Keith's was turned away, reaching for Hunk, leaving his head wide open for an attack.

Instincts kicked in, and he was moving before he could even blink. Shoving Shiro out of the way, Lance dove in front of Keith and raised his shield, absorbing the blow.

"Yes!" Lance shouted, relief flooding him. He had about one second of triumph before he realized that in trying to get to Keith, he'd left an opening. Both Shiro and Pidge were shot and sent away, leaving Hunk to scrambling to protect himself from attacks on all sides.

"What are you doing, Lance?!" Keith hissed, darting around Lance to help Hunk.

"I-I don't know," he admitted, but Keith was no longer in range. Lance moved just in time for one of the drones to shoot him in the leg, sending him falling into the black hole in the ground.

The exercise ended a few minutes later when Hunk and Keith succumbed to fire. Lance received more than enough criticism for his performance, but he was hardly paying attention; he couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. What he'd felt.

"What were you thinking out there?" Keith asked afterwards, and it sounded more like genuine curiosity than harsh criticism.

Lance looked down at his hands, curling them into fists.

It must have been a fluke, he reasoned. Maybe I saw Keith's reflection in someone's helmet and reacted without thinking. Yeah, that had to be it.

"I wasn't," he said at length. He flashed a smile at Keith. "Sorry, Keith. I'll do better next time."

The look that Keith gave him was odd, but he accepted Lance's answer and slapped him lightly on the back. "Try not to mess up this time."

"Pfft. I just hope you can keep up with me when we-wait, what are we doing?"

"Fighting the Gladiator!" Coran said, much to Lance's disappointment. "Isn't this exciting? We'll get to test out your new skills as a team."

"Actually, Coran, they'll be fighting two," Allura corrected, holding up the appropriate number of fingers. "You've been here long enough that I believe you can handle it. Good luck paladins, and remember: try to work as a team. Focus on each other's strengths and weaknesses."

In theory, that was all there was to it.

In practice, it didn't go quite as planned. At first, things were going well. Keith and Shiro were the most experienced at hand-to-hand combat, so they separated the two gladiators and drew them towards opposite sides of the room. Lance crept up behind Shiro's gladiator, working in fire alongside Hunk. Meanwhile, Pidge was darting around Keith's gladiator, avoiding its attacks with surprising ease and grace.

Lance stayed at least a few feet from the robot at all times, aiming his shots mainly around its ass just for kicks.

"Take that!" he jeered. "And that!"

"Lance, stop playing around," Shiro warned, his gaze flicking between Lance and the gladiator. Unfortunately, that split second gave the gladiator the opening it needed to knock Shiro out of the way, sending him flying across the floor.

Then it turned around, raising its charged weapon at Lance.

"Uh, Hunk! A little help?" he called. A quick glance showed that Hunk had gravitated towards Keith and Pidge. He was preoccupied with their gladiator, shooting massive bolts directly at its chest.

"Oh this is great," he grumbled. "Fine. You want some, gladiator dude? Well come get it!"

The gladiator lurched into motion, sending a download slice at Lance, who sidestepped at the last second. It did it again, and then again, pace unerring, slowly forcing Lance to fall back away from the others.

"Crap," he squawked, ducking another swing, "crap," leaning right, then left, "crap."

All the air left Lance at once when it shoved the butt of its pole into his abdomen. He landed against the wall with a bang, cradling his stomach. He looked to his left, where his bayard was just out of reach, and then past the gladiator where the others were, where Keith was. He was facing away from Lance, in the process of blocking a strong forward swing. There was no way he'd be able to help him.

"Damn it," he sighed. "Just hit me already."

Then two things happened at once. First, the gladiator raised its pole and aimed it at Lance, but before it struck him, out of the corner of his eye Lance noticed Keith was suddenly running at them full speed, the expression on his face like nothing Lance had ever seen before. He looked furious. The gladiator turned, but was too late to stop Keith from thrusting his sword through its middle with an angry snarl.

Lance gaped, watching as the gladiator disintegrated into pixelated form right in front of him.

"Keith, that was...that was awesome!" He whooped. "Thanks, man!"

"I-" Keith went lax, staring at the sword in his hand in amazement. "I don't know what happened. That was-so weird. I didn't mean to move like that; I wasn't even watching you and it was-I just had to."

"Whoa, slow down there, buddy."

"What's wrong?" Shiro called. "Is everything all right over there?"

While they'd been speaking, the second gladiator had been disarmed and Shiro had picked himself up off the floor, approaching Lance and Keith.

"You did very well, Keith," Coran said. "You look a little shocked. Surprised your own skill?"

"That's not it," Keith said, turning around to face the group. "Did you see what I did there? One second I was fighting the gladiator, and then I-I felt Lance. I knew he was in trouble and I just...moved."

"You mean you followed your instincts?"

"No, no. I wasn't even thinking about you. I mean-" he floundered, searching for the right words, "I was thinking about the gladiator, and then it was like-I can't really describe it. I felt you, and I knew I had to be there, and my feet moved on their own."

Oh, shit. Lance was suddenly reminded of what had transpired during the exercise with the drones. At that time, he had felt something similar. If Keith was feeling it, then that meant it hadn't been his imagination. The look on his face must have given him away, because Keith's eyes narrowed and he raised a finger at Lance.

"You knew, didn't you?"

"What?"

"You knew about this. I thought you were acting weird before. That time when you dove in front of that shot to protect me, it was the same for you, wasn't it?"

"Why has training stopped?" Allura cut in. "Why are you all standing around?"

"I think they just figured something out about their soul bond thing," Hunk explained. "Something about feeling each other. Which sounds really weird, in my opinion."

"Really." Allura's eyebrows rose to her forehead. "What have you discovered?"

"I think we have more of a connection than we thought. Isn't that right, Lance?"

"Hey," Lance started, finding his voice. "I wasn't trying to hide it from you. I just thought I was imagining things!"

At that Keith seemed to calm. "Well you could have mentioned it. If it was like what I felt, that definitely wasn't normal."

"Would you have believed me? Besides, this is just as weird for you as it is for me. Cut me some slack."

"Sorry," Keith said, sounding sincere.

"Would you care to explain what exactly you found so strange?" Allura asked. "Something about a connection?"

Keith attempted to explain, and Lance interjected on occasion, adding his own opinion on the matter. From what they could gather, their bond had morphed, or changed, and now they were able to sense each other's presence in the room. Or something. Lance couldn't feel anything at that moment, but during a tense situation, they theorized it could be triggered.

"Ooh!" Pidge snapped her fingers. "Maybe this is like Voltron."

"What do you mean 'like Voltron'?" Hunk asked. "Last time I checked, these two weren't a bunch of giant flying cats."

"I've actually been giving this some thought. Like, this whole Voltron thing had always been weird, but the soul part was what really interested me. Isn't Voltron all about how we're connected to our lions by our souls? Something drew us together, and I bet that something is similar to what brought Keith and Lance to the Novarians' place."

"Now that you mention it, I did get this weird feeling when we were near the planet," said Keith.

"Me, too," Lance admitted. "What does that have to do with Voltron?"

"Wait, I think I get it." Hunk raised his fist in triumph and then turned to Allura. "Remember when you asked us to dive bomb the surface of Arus to practice tuning in with our lions?" He was starting to sound excited. "You wanted us to connect with our lions. What if-what if this is like that? If they concentrate hard enough, maybe they can sense each other or, or sense what the other senses. Does that make any sense?"

"I think you two might be onto something," Allura said, a cautious smile spreading across her face.

"Perhaps we should test them," Coran added.

"Hey, wait a minute. I'm not some lab rat," Lance said, irritated. How was everyone accepting this so easily? Lance felt like he was still trying to process the fact that he was apparently tied to Keith by his soul, and they wanted to run tests.

"Yeah, maybe saving testing for later," Keith said in agreement. "We don't even really know how it works."

"Can't hurt to try," Shiro said. "This could be useful."

"Useful?" Lance said, incredulous. "I can't-I can't even believe you guys! All this super weird crap is happening to us and you're worried about how useful we'll be."

"That's not what we meant, Lance."

"Then please, enlighten me, Shiro. I'd love to know what you really meant."

"Hey!" Keith stepped in front of Lance. "This isn't Shiro's fault. What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Lance didn't know where the explosion came from; it was sudden, bubbling up to surface until it was all he could do to keep from shouting profanities. "What's wrong with you! Doesn't this weird you out at all? You and I just happened to be soulmates and everything's just fine. Nothing new to see here!"

"No one said it was fine," Keith said, frowning. "We're just trying to make the best out of a weird situation. Why are you so against this?"

"I'm not against it!" Lance said, but it felt like a lie. "I just..."

He recalled the fatigue he'd felt earlier, the confusion. He thought about when his world hadn't been spun on its axis and he was just one cadet out of hundreds, doing his best to survive and make in the real world. He thought of Earth. He thought of his family, his friends; the academy and the garrison. Family and friends that would never hear about him piloting Voltron, or being 'soulmates' with Keith, or any of it.

I want to go home. He bit his lip to keep it from trembling.

"I just need some time to think," he said quietly. Then he turned around and walked out of the training deck, leaving Keith and the rest of them behind.

Notes:

Cue the angst! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Chapter 4

Notes:

Things are happening very quickly. I also changed the title because I didn't like the previous one. Thanks for all the support <3

Chapter Text

After leaving the training deck, Lance found himself gravitating towards the main control room. Once there, he bypassed the main panel and headed straight for the front of the room where the universe hologram thingy was stored. Hesitating over the blank panel for a few seconds, Lance eventually just pressed his palm onto the surface; not a moment later, stars exploded into the room and all around him.

Lance gaped, still amazed at just how big the universe was, even in relation to their ship that could travel through wormholes.

He reached forward and tentatively tried moving the display. Whatever technology they had set up must have been able to sense his body heat or something, because it moved with his hands, crossing galaxies and star systems with the flick of a finger.

It was relaxing in some way to shuffle through the stars and poke his way through planets with no particular destination in mind. Lance had always known how large space was-he'd read all the books, taken all the classes, and messed with all the simulations-but being surrounded by the beauty and splendor of space had given him a new appreciation for the subject. Yeah, he missed Earth like hell, but there was no denying that he loved space.

And then Earth appeared on the map, and he froze, his good feelings fading. Keith's words flashed in the back of his mind.

Why are you against this?

Sighing, Lance flopped onto his back and stared at the stars surrounding Earth. He didn't know the exact calculations, but if the nearest star system to Earth was four light-years away, then how far was the ship?

Thousands of light-years? Millions? Billions?

He closed his eyes, a mixture of building frustrations and heavy exhaustion causing tears to spring in his eyes.

I just want...

An image of Keith flashed in the back of his mind.

What do I want?

"Mind if a join you?"

Startled, Lance sat up, wiping at the tears clinging to his eyelashes as Coran hopped down next to him, just like he had weeks ago when Lance had been similarly homesick for Earth.

"Didn't you hear me?" He turned to him and glared. "I said I wanted to be alone."

"You know, in my experience, being alone isn't always the best thing when we're feeling down."

"Yeah, well you're not me." Lance scoffed. "What do you want, Coran? Gonna try to convince me to come back for more training?"

"No, no, of course not," said Coran, waving his hand in the air as if the assumption was absolutely ridiculous. When Lance shot him a questioning look, he plopped down next to him and sat, resting his arms over his knees.

"I think I owe you an apology, Lance."

"Look, it's not your fault." Lance sighed. "You don't owe me anything, Coran. I just-I just don't know what I'm supposed to think right now. Everything's confusing as hell and I can't-I can't deal with it like you guys do." He brought his knees to his chest and stared at Earth, a feeling of helplessness rising inside him. "You guys act like everything is normal, but it's not normal. This is all new to me-everything is new to me. I don't get it; I don't get any of it."

He sucked in a sharp breath, realizing that he'd gone on a bit of rant. "Sorry, I-"

"Lance, you don't have to apologize for anything," Coran insisted. He placed his hand on Lance's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, and Lance had to resist the urge to lean into his shoulder, fearing that he might fall asleep, or worse. "After you left, we started talking. Allura and I realized that we might have jumped the sub-atomic neutrodestabilizer when it came to you and Keith."

"The what? Is that like a space gun?"

"Yes! Actually, it's a-but I'm getting ahead of myself." He cleared his throat. "Do you know what I miss most about Altea?"

"The razor sharp rain rocks?"

"No, although I do miss that." Coran smiled. "The one thing I miss the most is the people."

"The people?" Lance sat back, regarding Coran curiously.

"It was a beautiful civilization. People from all walks of life, all ends of the galaxy, they would come and visit just to see our planet. I was always so proud." He paused, and the fingers twirling his beard were trembling. "I still am. But I think that our feelings for our old planet and people that once resided there have gotten in the way of other things."

"What do you mean?"

"Both Allura and I know what it means to have all of you so far away from Earth. We know that we've ripped you from your families and asked you not to return, all in hopes that we'll be able to stop the greatest evil in the entire universe. It's a choice that's necessary, but not an easy one to live with."

"Coran-" Lance faltered, the words dying on his tongue.

Coran stood and walked over to where Earth was, reaching out and tracing his finger over the planet's edge. "Sometimes I wake up in the morning, and for a moment, I can imagine that I'm back at Altea, waiting for orders from King Alfor. Altea-this castle-that's where I grew up. It's the only home I know, and the only one I left."

"I'm sorry," Lance whispered. "I know that's gotta be hard. I mean, your entire planet got destroyed. Compared to that, this is nothing."

"Oh, blast. Lance, that's not what I meant at all." Coran covered his eyes with the palm of his hand, shaking his head. "What I'm trying to say is that I understand what you're going through. And that I'm sorry. When we learned about your bond with Keith, instead of being concerned, Allura and I were excited. Two paladins as soulmates? Who would have thought!"

Coran turned and approached Lance, kneeling down in front of Lance.

"We were so thrilled, caught up in our own ambitions that we forgot to ask how you were feeling about it. That's why I'd like you tell me, if you feel up to it."

Lance averted his gaze somewhere to the left and stared at a cluster of stars, cradling his arms against his chest. "I feel...scared." He winced at the small burst of honesty. "I mean-I'm not scared, no way. Me? Scared? Ha! But-but it's a lot to take in, y'know. A day ago I didn't even know that soulmates existed and now..."

"Now you have one," Coran finished.

"Yeah." Lance thought of Keith and his stupid, stupid crush, which made him feel even more miserable. "I do."

"Does it bother you that it's Keith? I know you two haven't always gotten along."

It did, but not for the reasons he was suggesting.

"No, no. As crazy as it sounds, I actually like Keith." He could feel his face turning red. "He's-" nice, gorgeous, an amazing pilot, a huge dork, "-not so bad once you get to know him."

"Good." Coran smiled and stepped away. "I'm glad to hear it. Is there anything else? Keith did the explaining this morning, but I'd like to hear it from you."

"No, Keith probably nailed it." Lance scratched his elbow, avoiding Coran's eye. "Thanks for talking to me though. I appreciate it."

"Oh, anytime. And I mean that, Lance. Now how about we go to the food court and get a nutritious meal? By now I think the others will have arrived there and there's a plate of my special paladin lunch with your name on it!"

Lance made a face. "Thanks, but I don't know if I'm really up for that. I'm... kind of tired, actually."

"Now that you mention it, you do look somewhat worse for wear." Coran squinted at him. "Have you not been sleeping well? I can get you another bed if you'd like."

"Actually, I've been sleeping great. It's just-" Lance stopped, hesitant to admit that he'd been hiding something. The words rested on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't force them past his lips. "I just need some more adjusting, I think. It's been a long few days."

"Of course." Coran's gaze softened and he took Lance by the shoulder, leading him towards the door. "You get some rest and I'll let the others know. After you've rested, you can join us whenever you please."

"Got it." Lance smiled and pulled away from Coran. "Thanks, Coran."

"It's my pleasure. Now you go on and I'll take care of the rest."

Lance nodded and turned in the opposite direction, trying to make it to his room before he passed out. Unfortunately, On his way back, he ran into one of the people he'd been least looking forward.

"Shiro!" He tried for friendly, and ended up sounding like he was being strangled. After his humiliating display, he could barely look him in the eye. God, what had he been thinking? He'd almost picked a fight with Shiro! "Fancy meeting you here. I, uh, thought you were at lunch."

"I was, but I finished eating a while ago. I actually wanted to talk to you, if you'll hear me out."

"I don't know," Lance said. "I just had a long heart-to-heart with Coran, and you know how draining that guy can be. I mean, his accent alone-"

"Lance," Shiro said, stopping him with a hand. "I'm not going to force you, okay? I just wanted to say that I'm here to talk if you want."

Tension that Lance didn't know he was harboring bled out of his shoulders, replaced with stark relief. He hadn't realized how much it meant to have Shiro on his side until now.

"Okay," he said. "I, uh, I can talk."

Lance led Shiro back to his quarters, whereupon he sat down on the bed, patting the space beside to encourage Shiro to sit. He did so gingerly, and then he just sat there for a few seconds, fiddling with his thumbs.

"I don't think we've had the chance to talk before. Just the two of us, I mean."

"With all this Voltron stuff going on, not really," Lance said. He waited, not sure where he was going with this.

"First, I wanted to apologize. Back there I wasn't thinking. I was thinking about the good of the team, and how your powers would aid us in a tough fight, but I wasn't thinking about how you might be taking all this."

"Powers? I don't know if I'd go that far."

Shiro smiled, and then looked down at his right hand.

"I get that. I don't really consider my arm to be a special power either, but it's come to show me things about myself I didn't expect." He took a fortifying breath. "With everything happening so quickly, I almost forgot that you guys are just a bunch of kids; not experienced war heroes or failed pilots."

"Hey, you're not a failure, Shiro. You're awesome. You have a metal arm. That's way cooler than having a soulmate." At least one that's not into you.

"Thanks, Lance." Shiro curled his arms around himself, exposing himself in a moment of rare vulnerability. "Cool is one word for it. Mostly? It just serves to remind me of the time I spent on the galra ship." He clenched his fists and then looked sideways at Lance, his gaze sympathetic. "I know what it's like to have aliens mess with you. They-they get inside your head and then they do things to you; they change you." He reached up and ran his forefinger and thumb over the tuft of white hair over his forehead. "When I was on the galra ship, it was terrifying. Granted, your experience was less violent, but if you felt even an iota of what I did, and I made it worse? Then I've failed as a leader."

"Shiro, no you haven't." Lance swallowed. All these heart-wrenching confessions were great and all, but he was really fucking tired, and it was getting harder to keep his eyes open.

"Yes. I have. But I want you to know that from now on, I am one-hundred percent in your corner." He wrapped his arm around Lance's shoulder and brought him in, which made Lance both incredibly happy and incredibly sleepy. "We'll figure this out, Lance. And if there are any tests you want to run, they'll be on your terms."

"That's great," Lance slurred, his vision blurring. He closed his eyes. His stomach felt hot, like he'd eaten a pepper and it was still making its way through him.

"Lance?" Shiro pulled away, shaking Lance gently. "Hey, you okay?"

"Sorry. Just tired," he breathed, blinking rapidly to focus the images in front of his face. "I was gonna sleep before I saw you."

"Oh." Shiro looked relieved. "I'll let you sleep then. Com us if you need anything," he cautioned, stepping away from the bed.

Lance nodded and reached down to take off his jacket, but his fingers slipped away from the buttons, so he tried again. The problem persisted, and he frowned. Something felt wrong. He felt wrong. His fingers wouldn't cooperate, as if all his strength had been sapped.

I'm so tired, he thought. He tried to stand, but his strength leaked out of him and he sat back heavily onto the bed. He opened his mouth, but no sound would come out.

Before he knew it, he was blinking blearily up at the ceiling, his head cushioned by his pillow. His body felt heavy, his eyelids weighing tons. His concern was mounting, but he was also slipping under, fast. He tried to turn and call for Shiro, but the room was empty. He'd already left. Lance struggled to sit up, wanting to make himself get out of bed, but he was powerless to resist as his body sank back and succumbed to slumber.

He floated in and out of consciousness for what felt like hours. The heat in his stomach had spread, moving throughout the rest of his limbs. He threw the covers off when he'd started to sweat, but it wasn't long before the temperature of the room changed and then he was suddenly freezing. Delirious and shivering violently, Lanced in around himself, trying to retain his body heat.

At one point when he was drifting in and out of sleep, he heard someone knocking at the door, but he didn't have the presence of mind to even think about getting up. He curled in tighter around himself, and the sound eventually faded. Then it came back, only louder this time, exacerbating the ache inside his head. Lance clutched at the sheets blindly, willing the pounding to stop.

Then it was mercifully quiet. A soft hiss echoed from across the room, and Lance groaned as light filtered in front of face and turned away.

"He's in here!" a voice shouted. "Shit. He looks-Lance. Lance! Somebody get help!"

There were footsteps, and then Lance felt fingers grip his chin. His eyes fluttered open, trying in vain to focus on the person in front of him.

"H-Hunk?"

"Oh, thank god." Warm hands cupped his cheeks, turning his head this way and that, passing over his forehead. "Lance, you're burning up. Why didn't you tell anyone you were feeling this bad? You're lucky Keith said he felt something was wrong, or we wouldn't have come looking for you."

Lance couldn't find the will to reply. He hadn't felt sick a while ago; in fact, he'd felt fine. He broke free of Hunk's grasp and curled into a ball, clutching at his stomach as it rolled and ached, sending waves up pain ricocheting up his spine.

"What's wrong? Are you gonna be sick? Coran is getting a thermometer and I think Pidge went after Keith. Just-just hand on tight and try not to puke on me."

"I c-can't-" Lance shook his head, breath coming out in short, panicked huffs. It wasn't like that. It was like no sickness he'd ever felt. His entire body felt like it was on fire, burning him from the inside out.

"Hey, hey, I'm supposed to be the panicky one," Hunk joked, sounding like he was about three seconds from hyperventilating himself. "Just breathe. Can you do that, Lance? In and out, slowly. Come on, man, in and out."

Lance tried to match his breathing to Hunk's, but it was difficult. His vision was swimming, whiting out, and he clenched his eyes shut, hoping that it would pass, that it would stop. A sound from the doorway made him wrench his eyes open again.

"What happened to him?" Keith asked, storming into the room. Hunk wordlessly stood, allowing Keith to take his place on the bed. He brushed his fingers over Lance's sweaty forehead, and Lance took in a shuddering breath, his airways opening up and giving him the breathing room he needed. He gasped and clutched at Keith's arm, taking in huge lungfuls of air.

Hunk and Keith exchanged worried looks.

"Lance, we're going to get you help," Keith said, then turned to Hunk. "We should bring him to the healing pods."

"Keith," Lance rasped, yanking him back down as he started to move away, "wait. I, I think it has something to do with us."

"What?"

"The bond. Don't leave. It's-when you're around, I feel better."

"Wait, if it's the bond, then why is it just you? How do you know?"

"I was hiding it from you," Lance said through gritted teeth. He was beginning to regret that decision at this point in time.

"What?" Keith sucked in a sharp breath. "I can't believe you, Lance. Why would you do that? Did you know about this, Hunk?"

"No!" Hunk raised his hands. "I knew he was tired, but I didn't realize it was this bad. Shouldn't you have noticed or something? You guys are the ones with the weird space bond."

"No," Keith said, sounding miserable. "I didn't notice at all."

Before Lance could reply, they were interrupted by Coran's arrival. He rushed into the room and immediately knelt down in front of Lance, inserting the thermometer into his mouth. They waited a few seconds before it beeped and Coran looked at the dial, shaking his head.

"It's on the cusp of climbing over 102 degrees. Anymore and it could be very dangerous for him. We should get him in the healing pod immediately."

"Do you think it will help?" Keith asked. His fingers were resting overtop Lance's head, gently carding through his hair.

Coran smiled. "Don't you worry; he'll feel better in a jiff. Now we just need to get him there. Lance, can you stand?"

The thought of standing made Lance's head start spinning. He shook his head.

"Righto. I'm going to need both of your help. Hunk, can you carry him? I'll go get the pod ready."

"Yeah, I can do that." Hunk nodded and reached down to scoop Lance into his arms. It took some adjusting, but then Lance had his arms wrapped loosely around Hunk's neck, his head resting over his shoulder. The moment that he stopped touching Keith, his breathing became labored and he started shivering.

Wasting no time, Keith snatched Lance's hand and held it between his palms, encouraged when he shuddered and his breathing slowed.

"When you get better, we are having a serious talk," Keith hissed.

"Uh huh," Lance rasped.

"I'm serious."

Lance didn't say anything, and instead kept his gaze squarely in front of him while Hunk walked them towards the healing center.

"As much as I'd love to hear you two have your lover's spat, I think Keith's right," Hunk said. "Lance, you should have told him about this."

"I just didn't think it was a big deal," Lance murmured, closing his eyes. Keith looked like he had something to say to that, but they had reached the healing pods, and the top priority was getting Lance into one of them immediately.

Coran waved them over to the nearest pod. "I'm just finishing up the settings here. It's should heal his fever in a jiff. Just set him inside and he'll be good to go."

Hunk nodded and set Lance on his feet. Keith was the one to lead him into the pod, holding onto his shoulder with a death grip. Lance wouldn't look at him, a mixture of shame and misplaced pride forcing his silence. Not to be deterred, as Keith set Lance against the back of the pod, he pressed their foreheads together.

The look on his face was soft. It only made Lance feel even worse. Anger he could deal with, but that? The look in Keith's eyes terrified a part of him; the one that still held stupid, blind hope.

"Feel better," Keith said firmly. Then he stepped away, and Lance nodded, closing his eyes. The door hissed, and then he was alone and ready to start the healing process. Some strange smoke filled the chamber, and before he knew it, he fell back into unconsciousness.

"Why does he have to be asleep?" Keith asked, watching as Lance went under.

"It's a matter of procedure," Coran explained. "In order to facilitate healing, a relaxed state is necessary. Some people don't like small spaces, and I can't imagine sitting inside a pod for hours on end would be very interesting."

"That makes sense, I guess." Keith sighed. "I feel like an idiot. How did I not notice something was wrong with him? He looks awful."

"I think-and I might be wrong, so don't quote me on this-but I think Lance did everything he could to hide it from you," Hunk said. "So I can see why you wouldn't notice."

"Why!" Keith cried. "Why would he do something so stupid and reckless?"

"You know, that kinda rings a bell," Hunk said cautiously.

"What? Are you trying to say that I-"

"I don't think you'd go that far," Hunk assured him, "but I do think Lance and you are similar in a lot of ways. I think he was just scared and dealt with it the only way he knew how, even if he put himself in danger."

"I don't get it," Keith huffed. "He's not alone, so why does he act like it? If we're supposed to be soulmates..." He pressed his knuckles against his mouth to stop himself from talking.

"Coran!" Allura came running into the room, Pidge and Shiro trailing behind her. "We got your message. How's Lance?"

"He should be fine, princess." Coran gestured to the pod. "He's in healing now."

She breathed a sigh of relief, pressing her palm against the center of her chest.

"I was so worried when we couldn't find him. What was his condition?"

"He has a high fever," Keith answered. "But that's not all. I think this has something to do with the soul bond."

"What?" Shiro stood next to Hunk and crossed his arms while Pidge crept up the pod. "How would the bond make him sick?"

"I don't know," Keith spat. "I didn't get much out of him. He just said he'd been hiding it from me. Didn't think it was a big deal, apparently."

"All we know is that he was tired," Hunk said. "He really didn't look good yesterday, but I thought..." He lowered his gaze to the ground. "I thought he'd tell me if something was really wrong."

The room went quiet, reflections rendering its inhabitants silent.

"We'll be there to support him when he comes out better than ever," Shiro said, wrapped his arms around Hunk and Keith's shoulders. "Keep your chin up. We're team Voltron, aren't we?"

"Yeah." Keith flashed Shiro a watery smile, then turned his head and stared at Lance within the pod. "Go team Voltron."

They watched the pod work for a while, trying to discern the effects of the healing in vain. Coran was was standing in front of the observation panel with Lance's vitals on display, doing something with the settings. Keith observed him briefly, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Lance for long, more than ready to have him brought back to health.

Naturally, that was when things went downhill.

"Um, bit of a setback, paladins." Coran sounded distraught. He pressed a few buttons and the image in front of him flickered, but appeared unchanged.

"Setback? What kind of setback?" Keith stepped up beside him and tried to make sense of the display.

"According to these readings, the healing has appeared to have started, but Lance's condition hasn't improved. I tried to refresh the system in case it was a malfunction, but these are the correct readings."

"That's impossible," Allura said. "These are our best machines."

"Yes, I ran through checks myself earlier. We used this same pod a few weeks ago." Coran scratched the back of his head, puzzled. "This is very odd."

"Maybe we should try another," Keith suggested. "Get him out of there."

"Wait," Hunk interjected. "Didn't he say something about how he only felt better when Keith was touching him? Maybe you guys weren't really done doing that part of the, uh, bonding process?"

"Then why do I feel fine?" Keith challenged.

"I don't know." Hunk frowned. "Maybe we should pull him out."

"Whatever we're doing, we should do it fast." Coran stepped away from the panel, looking disturbed by his findings. "Lance isn't just not getting better. He's getting worse."

In the pod, Lance didn't dream. His mind was blissfully blank, aware of nothing-not even himself. He was drifting, surrounded by warmth, but at the same time he felt so, so cold. When consciousness trickled back in, an accompanying hiss sounding from the door, he was almost sorry to leave the peace of the pod. He stirred, trying to recall what he'd been doing, and felt hot brands wrap around his arms, tugging him forward.

As his eyes fluttered open, the first thing he saw was Keith's face. Then the events previous came back to him in a rush and he tried to sit up, but Keith's hand was wrapped around his wrist like a vice, holding him down. He forced Lance back onto his lap, head cushioned by his thighs.

"It's okay. Don't move," he said. "You're going to make it worse."

Lance opened his mouth, but the words wouldn't form on his tongue. He let out a sound to indicate his confusion, which was enough for Keith to continue.

"The pod didn't work. They're trying to work on a solution, so I need you to stay still."

Lance's brain tried desperately to understand what Keith was saying, but he was so cold, and Keith was so warm. He wanted to crawl into his lap and absorb his body heat, but he knew better than to trust those impulses.

"It...didn't?"

"I need you to tell me everything you know about what's happening to you," Keith continued. Lance heard whispering behind him and turned his head; Shiro was hovering, looking concerned, while Allura and Coran were prodding at the control panel.

"Please," Keith said, squeezing his fingers, "just tell me."

"Okay." Lance didn't understand exactly what was happening, but he didn't really feel any better, which probably wasn't a good sign. "Um, I just felt really tired, but I, I think it was better with you. That's pretty much it."

"You'd better not be lying to me, Lance."

"I'm not!" he snapped, wincing at the volume. "That's really all there was to it. If you want to know why this is happening so badly, why don't you ask the Novarians? They started this mess."

It was offered as an angry jest, but Allura cocked her head at Lance, her eyes going wide.

"Of course! That's a great idea, Lance. Who better to ask than those who have intimate knowledge of such bonds? Coran, to the control room. We're setting a course for Novaria."

"But how far away is their planet?" asked Pidge. "Is Lance gonna be okay?"

"From our position, it'll take us just a few minutes to get there, give or take," Coran said. "But you let us worry about that. For now, focus on keeping your teammate alive and well."

"Got it," Hunk said. "Not-not that there's any way he'd actually die, right?" He swallowed, looking at Lance with wide eyes. "Right?"

No one said anything for a few, long seconds, not even Lance.

"He's going to be fine," Keith said, his tone firm. "I'll make sure of it."

"Exactly. We'll all make sure of it," Shiro said solemnly. "We just have to get to Novaria."

Allura nodded.

Chapter 5

Notes:

∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

As they readied to travel through the wormhole, Keith tried to draw answers out of Lance, but it was like pulling teeth. Lance was tight-lipped, giving him responses that were probably meant to satisfy his curiosities, but only made him work harder.

"Why did you hide it from me?" Keith repeated for the third time, in the process of helping Lance to his feet. He was unsteady and had to loop his arm around Keith's shoulder to stay upright. He felt like complete and utter crap, and if the faces of the people around him were any indication, he looked it.

"It just didn't seem like a big deal," Lance said for the third time, which didn't make Keith look any less irritated.

"I don't understand how a healing pod wouldn't heal you because of some bond," Pidge commented, plucking at Lance's shirt as if it would reveal the secrets lying underneath. "It's all about chemicals and advanced science. How could it fail?"

"Beats me," Lance sighed, letting her have her way.

"Maybe if you'd told us earlier, this wouldn't be an issue at all," Keith accused, poking Lance in the side with his finger.

"Honestly, nothing has made sense since we saw Shiro crash that ship on Earth," said Hunk. "I'm still considering that idea this is one big fever dream."

"It sure feels like one," Lance added.

"All right, enough talk. We should bring Lance to the front entrance," Shiro cut in. "Since he can't pilot a lion in his state, we'll have to meet the Novarians that way. Keith, would you like me to take him off your shoulders?"

Keith's grip tightened around Lance, which was answer enough. Shiro smiled.

"Thought so. Come on, let's move out."

They Shiro and Pidge took the lead while Hunk held up the rear, hovering behind Keith and Lance in case one of them needed any help. Keith's hold was sturdy and warm, speaking of hidden strength that Lance had never noticed before. He sort of hated himself for enjoying it so much.

"So," Keith said, keeping his voice low, "Hunk mentioned that you might have hid this from me because you were afraid."

That traitor. Lance opened his mouth to deny the accusation as both ridiculous and impossible, but his body betrayed him, going rigid with sudden nervous tension.

"I, uh, have no idea where he got that idea. Why would I be afraid? Maybe you're the one who's afraid, ever think of that?"

He would blame the fever for his lack of wit. Normally his banter in response to Keith's prodding was adequate enough, but he felt tongue-tied and more than a little distracted by their current closeness. If he could, he would have stepped away and given himself some space. As it stood, all he could was look away and hope Keith let it drop.

Besides, it wasn't fear, so much as...doubt.

"I'm not afraid," Keith stated, and it didn't sound like a lie; Lance envied him for that.

"Well I'm not either, so we can stop talking about it."

"Lance, come on."

"Can we just-can we just drop it? I'm not feeling so great right now."

Keith's lips went thin with restraint, but he nodded, looking straight ahead. Lance could tell that he was pissed, but he wasn't up for apologies-not yet. Besides, once they got to Novarians, maybe they'd be able to break the bond it fix all of this. Then they could talk about fear all they wanted.

Is that what you really want?

Lance repressed a sigh. He didn't have much time for more thought because they had reached the front of the castle's entrance where Allura stood in waiting. She explained that as they'd been walking and talking, they had moved and were now hovering just on the outskirts of Novaria territory.

"Coran is currently creating a signal that should transmit as a request to enter into their territory," she continued.

"How long will that take?" Keith asked.

"Not long," Allura assured. As she was speaking, the coms came to life and then Coran's voice echoed through the speakers.

"I'm happy to report that we've received access. The Novarians should be opening the barriers shortly." There was a pause and heaving breathing, as if Coran was leaning too close to the mic. Hunk shot Lance a curious look and he shrugged in return.

Meanwhile, Allura was peering at Lance, her expression wavering, as if she couldn't decide whether or not she wanted to hide her concern.

"I look like crap, I know," Lance said. "But it isn't getting any worse, I think."

"Yes, it appears that whatever is affecting you is linked to your bond," she said slowly. "I feel horrible that I failed to help as much as I should have. Forgive me for my inattentiveness, Lance."

"Eh," Lance shrugged. "I'll still need someone to nurse me back to help. You offering?"

Allura made a face, rolling her eyes, and there was a collective groan around the room. Lance's heart wasn't really into it, but it had the added side effect of cheering up his friends. Score one for Lance!

He glanced at Keith, noting with some surprise how he seemed unamused. In fact, he looked even angrier than before. He was glaring daggers at Allura, his grip painfully tight, and when he realized Lance was staring at him, he averted his eyes.

"You jealous?" Lance jeered.

"Wha-I am not jealous," Keith said, his voice rising to an unnaturally high pitch. "I don't get jealous. That's stupid."

It had been clearly intended as a joke, but Keith wouldn't meet Lance's eye, his cheeks colored pink, and a horrible, awful feeling rose inside Lance. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from sounding as bitter as he felt. Of all people, of course it had to be her.

"So, Allura, huh?"

"Huh?" Keith blinked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb," he whispered. "I saw how you were looking at her."

"Saw how I was...looking at her?"

"Yeah. I get it. Hot alien space princess, being secluded in a big castle; come on, do I really have to say it?"

"I literally have no idea what you're talking about."

"You don't have to play dumb, Keith. I'll admit, I wanted a chance with her too at first, but I think you should give it up. I've got my money on Shiro."

Keith was staring at him like he'd grown a second head, but before he could answer, the door to the castle was lowered, and the planet was once again in view. Lance sucked in a sharp breath; it was just as pretty as he remembered, and a part of him wished they were coming on better terms so they could look around. He'd really like to see one of those buildings up close sometime.

"Your grace," Allura greeted as she stepped outside the castle. She immediately approached the largest Novarian and offered her palm. "Thank you for allowing us to visit again. We have unfortunate news."

The Novarian moved its head in an approximation of a nod, taking her by the wrist to connect with her mind. Allura closed her eyes, looking very peaceful as she was essentially invaded by the alien. After a few minutes, the Novarian pulled away and gurgled to its comrades. It took Allura's hand again and relayed a message.

"I see. Thank you." She turned to the paladins. "They're calling specialists that deal in these matters. They'll be able to look at Lance and Keith and determine what must be done. The leader here said that they're already on their way."

"Oh, great, more waiting," Pidge grumbled. "Can I at least take a look around? I'd like to see what kind of tech they're using here." One of the Novarians approached Pidge, but she moved out of the way and narrowly avoided touching it, disturbed.

"You shouldn't be rude, Pidge," Lance teased. "Say hello to the nice aliens."

"Hey, I don't want to catch whatever you guys have if I can help it. I think one pair of soulmates is enough."

"This isn't a joke," Keith barked. "Lance is in serious trouble."

Pidge looked properly chagrined, but Lance's hackles rose as he came to her defense.

"Don't blame Pidge," he said. "I for one thought it was funny. And it kinda feels like a disease with the way things have been going for me."

"Well it's not," Keith said in retort. "Why can't you take this seriously?"

"I'm taking it plenty serious!" Lance brought his hand to his chest in pseudo-shock. He was better at pretending to be the class clown than treating things as seriously as he should. "What do you take me for?"

"That's enough, you two," Shiro admonished. "I think they're here."

Lance looked up. By 'they' he meant the two very tall Novarians that were pushing their way through the crowd. They didn't look all that different from the other Novarians, but as they approached Lance, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Keith's grip tightened on his arm.

The one of the left reached for Lance, who glanced at Keith before reluctantly leaving his embrace. Keith's fingers stayed curled around his until he was in the Novarian's grasp, at which point he lost all sense of time as he was swallowed by its mind-tingling brain invasion.

It was like before, but the way that it picked through his memories was decidedly much gentler than the other Novarian had been. It pieced through his memories, carefully pulling them apart and examining the ins and outs until it had satisfied its curiosity before searching for something in particular.

It fed him images, but they didn't make any sense. It showed him the pool of water, and replayed the memory of him reaching for Keith. Then it flipped through their quiet moments together, showing him Keith's smiling face and holding it there, encouraging him to understand. There was a wall and something else he couldn't pinpoint.

"I...I don't get it. Sorry."

He got the inkling that the being was frustrated, but it continued on, examining the portion where all the weirdness with Keith started. It stayed inside his head for a little while longer, but when it was clear that it was done speaking with him, and it gingerly broke free of their mind meld. Lance blinked, rubbing his forehead to rid himself of the strange feeling of someone being inside his head. A quick glance to his right showed him that Keith was just finishing up as well.

"Did you get any of that?"

"Kind of?" Keith stared into space for a moment, then refocused his attention on Lance. "It said something about us, but it was hard to piece together. I don't know how Allura does it."

The two Novarians turned to each other and motioned with their hands, their bodies trembling. Lance got the distinct feeling that they were being made fun of. Then the taller one walked over to Allura and took her by the shoulder, offering its mind.

Curious, she touched the side of its face and closed her eyes with a nod. Whatever she saw there must have surprised her, because as the moment dragged on, her eyebrows rose higher and higher.

Lance waited, his patience running thin. What could they be talking about? Was it something really bad?

"Oh, that makes a lot of sense. I see now." She stroked its cheek, fingers lingering on its chin. "Thank you so much for the help. I'll tell them right away."

"What is it?" he pressed. "Did you figure it out? Can they fix us?"

"I did." Allura turned sharply and pointed her finger at Lance. "There's good news and bad news. The good news is that there's nothing to fix, thankfully. The bad news is-" Her words came to a halt. "Perhaps we should talk in private," she continued, walking over to Lance. "How does that sound?"

"Okay." Lance blinked. "That's fine. How 'bout it, Keith?"

"Sounds great." He jerked his head in the direction of the ship. "We can move out of earshot over there. Unless this is gonna take a while."

"No, no it shouldn't. It's-hard to say." She pursed her lips, said nothing more, and motioned for them to follow her. All this moving and talking was more draining than it had any right to be; Lance was pretty much leaning most of his weight onto Keith, who showed some signs of struggling, but soldiered on in his usual fashion.

Once they were out of earshot, Allura turned to the duo and folded her hands in front of her, wearing an expression than Lance recognized as her diplomatic face. Great.

"I don't know how to tell you this, Lance, so I'm just going to come out and say it. According to the Novarians, it appears that the cause of this sickness is your own doing."

"What? That's impossible. How?"

"What I mean is that you, in essence, are rejecting the bond and that is causing this rift."

"I'm...what?"

"What does that even mean?" asked Keith. "Is his body literally being rejected?"

"Not quite, Keith, but you're close. What I'm talking about is Lance not wanting the bond. According to our friends, Lance is-unknowingly or not-rejecting it, which in turn has started a destruction process that as you can see will not end well."

"So what do we do?" Keith asked.

"The Novarians explained that in order for you to heal, you need to first accept the bond and then spend more time in contact with your bond mate, ensuring a fruitful connection," she explained, looking supremely uncomfortable. "I'm sorry to say that, as I understand it, that is the crux of the problem."

"What? That's-that's crazy talk." He let out a nervous laugh. It all made a horrible amount of sense. Lance couldn't believe it. "I'm not rejecting it. How would I even do that?"

"Yeah." Keith side-eyed Lance. "I'd like to know, too."

"Think of it like this," she said, holding out her open palms in front of them. "This is both of you at the start of your bond. You are open and sharing information with each other in ways none of us understand, but make sense on perhaps a spiritual level." She curled the hand in front of Lance into a fist. "This is you now. You've started to cut yourself off from Keith-or tried to-and in response, you're breaking down."

"But-but that doesn't make sense! I'm not rejecting it, I swear. How am I rejecting it?"

"I think you have the answer to that," she replied gently. "A part of you isn't being honest with yourself. How do you really feel about this, Lance? How do you feel about Keith?"

How I feel? He thought of the bond and how all it had done was make him feel off-kilter with the world. He thought of Keith, and the images that the Novarian had planted in the forefront of his mind.

Then he asked the same question that he'd been asking himself since he'd been bonded with Keith: What do I want?

"I..." Lance's mouth moved uselessly, his cheeks growing hot under their stares. "I don't know, okay?" he blurted. "I didn't ask to be soul bound to Keith! Why am I expected to have all the answers here?" He thought of Keith staring at Allura and the bitter, ugly jealousy that had bubbled inside him, and it felt like all the air had left his lungs.

"Maybe I don't want it." To his horror, his voice cracked, and tears that he'd been holding back came rushing forward, flooding his vision. He swallowed around a lump in his throat, struggling to speak. "I-Is that so wrong?"

"Oh, Lance." Allura covered her mouth with her hand. "Of-of course not."

Her pity made him feel even worse. Lacking the ability to run and hide on his own, Lance covered his face with his arm and grit his teeth against a gut-wrenching sob. While the rest of the paladins were out of earshot, they froze at the sight of his tears, his unexpected breakdown halting them in their tracks. Lance didn't dare look at Keith; he didn't want to see the look on his face.

He started when he felt a hand press onto his shoulder.

"I think we should return to the ship," said Coran from beside him. "Let these two sort it out."

"Right." Allura collected herself and then walked over to the Novarian people, taking the leader's hand. "Thank you for your hospitality. We will let you know when we're ready to leave."

Keith was silent as they trudged back towards the ship. Lance didn't try to start any conversations; he was still trying to get over the fact that he had just cried in front of everyone. He was never, ever going to live that down.

As they stepped over the threshold, Lance felt a hand on his back and looked over to find Hunk staring at him. Then, the weirdest thing happened. He nodded, gave Lance's shoulder a solid squeeze, and moved on ahead of the duo.

While Lance was still trying to figure out what he'd meant by that, Keith had come to a stop not far from the entrance, near one of the many grooves in the wall where there was a strip of metal that doubled as a bench. His hold loosened, allowing Lance to move away and make himself comfortable on the surface. Once he was seated, Keith sat down beside him, and Lance finally gave in to the urge to look over.

Keith looked gutted, misery written into every line of his features. Lance's throat closed up, and it was a moment before he could speak.

"Keith-"

"I'm sorry," Keith said, averting his eyes. "I didn't know you hated being bonded to me that much."

"That's not it, Keith."

"Then what is it?" he said, his voice cracking. "If you don't hate being with me that much, then what is it? Did I make you angry? Did I upset you somehow? Because if so, I apologize."

"It's not really what you did," Lance hastened to say.

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better." Keith crossed his arms. "So it's just me as a person. I thought you were done hating me." He huffed. "So, what, you want to break the bond?"

"No. Yes. I don't know." Lance let out a sound of pure frustration. "Look, it's not about you, Keith. I mean, not...all of it. Not everything is about you, you know."

"Then what is it about!" Keith exploded. "What bothers you so much? Is the aliens?"

"No."

"Is it the sensing each other thing?"

"That is super weird, you have to admit. But no."

"Then what?" Keith leaned into his personal space until Lance's back hit the wall, peering into Lance's eyes like he'd find the answer if he squinted hard enough.

"Why me?" he burst out. And now that he'd said it, he couldn't stop himself from talking, laying all his insecurities on the table. "Out of everyone in the universe, why me? What's so good about me? How do we even know that I'm your only soulmate? What if there's someone out there who's more suited than I am? I mean, I barely even know you." He laughed, and it was near hysterical. "I don't even know what music you like or your favorite foods, or if you have any family. All I know is that you're Keith and I'm Lance. You're an amazing pilot and I'm-" he looked away, unable to bear Keith's gaze. "I'm just some cargo pilot that got lucky."

Silence reigned in response to Lance's outburst. Then, Keith spoke.

"If you really think that, then you're an idiot."

"What?" Lance whipped around to look at him. Keith gripped Lance by the shoulders and backed him against the wall, his gaze fierce.

"You want to know my favorite food? I really like chicken wings."

"Keith, what are you-"

"Kpop." Keith's cheeks went red. "I'm really into kpop. And other stuff, but I was getting into kpop before I got kicked out of the garrison. It's kind of most of what I have on my music player, actually."

"Oh my god, are you serious?"

"Yes. And I don't have any family, if you don't count Shiro. I'm an orphan. That shack you saw out there was basically my home."

Lance found that he didn't have a response to that. No family? It was unthinkable.

"I think that's why it's easier for me." Keith looked down, his fingers slipping off of Lance's shoulders. "I had to adjust all my life; adjusting is what I do. Since, I was already by myself when I met all of you, it was easy. I'd been out there for months and I was...lost. Alone. Searching for an answer without any idea where to look. So when we came here, when we formed Voltron, I was happy. And when I found out we were bonded, I was happy about that, too."

"Why?" Lance couldn't help but ask. "Why would you be happy we were bonded? Didn't it freak you out?"

"At first." Keith scratched the back of his neck, cheeks slowly gaining color. "Maybe you won't believe me, but I never hated you, Lance. Maybe I didn't remember you at first, but I never hated you."

"You never hated me," he parroted, feeling like an idiot. "But why would you be happy? Wouldn't Shiro be a better pick? Or Allura?"

"Allura? I can't even-are you really that blind?"

"Uh, yeah, apparently! I have no idea why you would want to bond with me, of all people."

Keith shook his head, his face as red as a tomato, and mumbled something under his breath.

"What? I didn't catch that, Keith. You're gonna have to speak up."

"It's because I like you, you idiot!" he shouted. He then proceeded to turn away from Lance as fast as physically possible, his shoulders hiked up to his ears. From his position, Lance could see that the redness had crawled up his neck and onto his ears, coloring them an adorable shade of pink.

Wait a second.

"Did you just say that you..." he let out his breath in a rush, "you...liked me?"

Keith's nod was barely perceptible.

Lance went quiet, his brain was currently in the middle of short-circuiting.

"Are you serious?"

Keith nodded wordlessly.

"You're not joking. You, Keith, like me, Lance."

Another nod, firmer this time.

Lance pinched himself. "Ow. That proves this isn't a dream. Okay, so let me get this straight," he started, the dying embers of his hope rekindling, "when you say like, you don't mean as a friend."

"No. Not as a friend," Keith said quietly, sounding like he was preparing for the worst. "You know what I mean, Lance."

"Oh my god." Mixture of glee and happiness swelled in Lance's chest and up into his throat until it was all he could do to keep from shouting. "I can't believe this."

"Just get it out of your system," Keith grit out. "Make fun of me for it. I don't care."

"No, no, no, that's-no." Lance took Keith by the shoulders and turned him around to showcase him what he meant, because words were failing him. Whatever Keith saw on his face made his expression brighten, cautious hope flitting over his face.

"Ilikeyoutoo," Lance said in a rush, his cheeks burning hot. Keith's eyes widened, and a slow, heart-melting smile spread across his face.

"What?" he asked, as if he couldn't believe it.

"I like you. Yes," Lance squeaked. Honest to god squeaked. He needed to stop doing that. "Do you know what this means?"

"What?" Keith asked. He couldn't stop grinning, and Lance was in a similar boat. This was more than what he'd ever imagined; more than he could have ever hoped.

"We like each other." Then he did something even more embarrassing; he giggled, like he was a kid again. And once he'd started, he couldn't stop. Soon Keith was chuckling along with him, until they were both laughing uncontrollably, leaning against each other in mirth.

Lance pressed his knuckles against his mouth to stop himself from laughing, and succeeded to some extent, his shoulders trembling long after he'd stopped. When he looked at Keith, he was smiling goofily at Lance, his fingers in the process of curling around his wrist. Their eyes met, and it felt like a inhaling a breath of fresh air. The weight of his sickness and the heavy exhaustion weighing him down lifted, and everything suddenly felt right.

"Whoa," he breathed. "Did you feel that?"

Keith nodded, eyes wide, and Lance thought not for the first time that he would have loved to leaned down and kiss him. Thankfully, before any urges could be followed, Keith sat up, but moved his hand so his fingers were threaded through Lance's.

"So, what now?" he asked tentatively.

"Are we going out now?"

"We're soul bonded, Lance. I think we're past that."

"Keith, we're in the prime of our youth. After being messed with by aliens for the last few months, the least we can do is participate in a normal, human ritual."

"Fine." Keith let out a harsh breath. "Lance, would you go out with me?"

"Y'know, I'm not so sure..."

"Lance!"

"I'm kidding!" He laughed, full to the brim with happiness. He'd been so depressed these last few days-weeks-that indulging in something that was normal like this made him feel ten times lighter.

"You'd better be." Keith pouted, scooting closer, which was murder on Lance's heart.

"I guess we just tell the others everything's all good now."

"But what about-" Keith gestured between them. "I mean, we don't have to keep it a secret, but I thought it might be weird."

"Yeah, maybe." Lance shrugged noncommittally. "I mean, I know Hunk would be cool with it, but I'm sure the others think we're fighting like cats and dogs right now."

"Guess this means we really were meant to be soulmates, huh," Keith teased.

"I'm not so sure I buy into this soulmate thing just yet, but I could be convinced." Lance smirked. "Does this mean I can flirt with you all I want? You turn an adorable shade of pink when you blush."

"What-I don't-" Keith's mouth moved soundlessly, the apples of his cheeks turning that same shade that Lance admired. "Are you always going to be like this?"

"Maybe." His smile faded, nerves settling back in. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Only for my health," Keith replied. "I don't get how you do that so easily."

"What, flirt? It just comes naturally to some of us. Others just have to resign themselves to living in our shadow."

"You are so dramatic," Keith said, but he was smiling. "Speaking of flirting, did you really think I was jealous of you when you were flirting with Allura?"

"Well, yeah. Haven't you seen her?" Lance gestured wildly. "Hot space princess!"

"Just because she's attractive doesn't mean I have to like her."

Lance pondered this for a moment. "Fair enough. I sometimes forget that not all share my appreciation for style and grace."

"Uh huh." Keith rolled his eyes. "We probably should get back to others before they start searching for us."

"Yeah, I guess." Lance peeked down the hallway, which was virtually deserted, and then looked back at Keith. He was fiddling with his hair, brushing it out of his face, only to have it fall back into place. His front teeth were worrying his lower lip, drawing Lance's attention to them and giving him evil, evil thoughts.

Stop it, Lance. Control yourself.

"Um." He swallowed. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Keith's eyes flickered to him, and then he smiled, and Lance considered himself totally and utterly lost. "Can you stand alone?"

"Oh." Lance braced himself on the wall and tried to do just that. Surprisingly, he felt significantly more alert than he had just minutes ago, and his vision only swayed a little bit. "Yep, I think so. Whatever just happened, it must have worked. I feel great!"

"You still look like crap."

"Thank you, Keith. I love you, too."

Keith froze.

Oh, quiznak.

"We should go now," Lance blurted, starting ahead of Keith. He didn't even wait to see if he was following; Lance didn't feel all that different, so he decided whatever side effects popped up from minimal distance, he could deal with it.

When he did manage to look back, he saw that Keith was trailing behind him, giving him his space without letting him too far. He liked Keith-hell, he really, really liked him-but he wasn't so sure about the love part yet. Thankfully, Keith didn't bring it up again, probably thinking similar thoughts, and Lance's heart calmed by the time they found the paladins standing in the hallway just inside the control room, discussing something quite seriously with Allura and Coran.

"Why the long faces, guys?" Lance prompted. Keith slid up beside him, his fingertips brushing the back of Lance's hand. He had to restrain himself from reaching over and taking it.

"Lance!" Pidge cried, bounding over to the two of them. "Allura filled us in. Is everything okay?"

"You look better," Hunk remarked.

"Yep, everything's good," Lance said. They look at Keith for further confirmation and he nodded.

"We talked it out and he accepted the bond. It was easier than I thought it would be."

"That's wonderful." Allura pressed her palms together in glee. "A bond like that only comes once every thousand years. You should treasure it."

"Is there anything you'd like to tell us?" Coran prompted. "Anything at all?"

"No, not this time. Promise. We're still trying to figure it out like you guys. I think we just need to stay in contact and I'll get better?"

"Good to hear it," said Shiro. He turned to Allura. "Should we stay on planet in case something else comes up?"

"I believe so," Allura replied, nodding. "And I think Lance could use some food. With all the sleeping that you've been doing, I'm certain your body is hungry for nourishment."

"Now that you mention it, I could eat." Lance rubbed his stomach. "Still feel pretty terrible, but I'll risk it."

"All right." Hunk rubbed his hands together. "If the Novarians don't mind, I'm gonna go down and see if I can find any herbs or spices I can take for the road. Space goo is awesome and all, but it gets pretty boring."

"I'm certain that if you ask, they'll show you just where to find some. Hopefully non-toxic." She wrinkled her nose at that thought and shot a glance at the entrance. "Why don't you bring any of your findings to Coran and he can use our scanners to ascertain if anything is toxic to humans. Can you do that, Coran?"

"Right away, princess!"

"Maybe I should go with you, Hunk," Shiro said. "Just to be safe. We don't know much about this planet."

As they continued to discuss the logistics of Hunk's departure, Lance took the opportunity to slide his fingers along Keith's briefly, earning a shy smile in return.

"Ha!" Pidge, who Lance had almost forgotten about, was staring at their hands, her eyes hidden by the glint of her glasses. "I knew it! Hunk owes me."

"What?" Lance snatched his hand away, cradling it against his chest. "Knew what? You didn't see anything!"

"Way to play it cool," Keith murmured. He didn't seem all that bothered by her knowing. Not that Lance was bothered, per se, but he was known for being a lady's man and a flirt: this could ruin his reputation.

Pidge flashed him a shit-eating grin but drew her fingers across her mouth in a zipper motion, indicating that she wasn't going to out them anytime soon.

Relieved by her discretion, Lance relaxed and turned to Keith.

"While they're busy, how about we eat?"

"Sure. Hey, guys!" he called. "We're gonna eat!"

Allura nodded absently at them before returning to their conversation, and Hunk gave them two thumbs up. Relieved of duty, they left, standing a little too close to be mistaken for casual friends. Lance waited only until they were in the hallway before he took Keith's hand.

"I feel like all I've done has been eat and sleep lately," he said. "I'm ready for some action now. I mean, once I don't feel like quiznak."

"I don't think you understand what that word means," Keith replied, chuckling. "And I'd say go thank the Novarians for that, but I'm not too mad about it."

"Nah." He waved his hand. "Guess being mated to you isn't the worst thing ever."

"Do you have to use the word 'mated'?"

"Yep!" Lance chirped, swinging their hands. Keith sighed.

"You're impossible-"

"-ly handsome?" Lance cut in.

Keith looked at him, deadpan, and said, "Yes."

Not expecting to have the tables turned, it was Lance's turn to blush.

"What, you're no gonna say I have the face only a mother could love?"

"Nope," Keith said, popping the 'P'. "Is it bad I think you're attractive?"

"What, no. No, that's-that makes total sense. I'm a beautiful guy. I just wasn't sure you could handle it until now."

"Right," Keith drawled, bumping their shoulders. "What about me?"

Lance's heart caught in his throat.

"Never mind; you don't have to answer," Keith continued, mistaking his silence for disapproval. "I just-didn't know you were into guys until now. I've only seen you hit on women. Although I'm not sure how aliens play into that."

There was a note of self-deprecation in his tone, which made what Lance said next a lot easier despite his raging embarrassment.

"You're beautiful, Keith."

Keith ducked his head, using the length of his hair to his advantage to hide his face.

"You're joking."

"I'm serious!" Lance stopped, drawing Keith to his side. "I never thought anyone would be able to rock the mullet, and yet here we are."

Keith brushed a lock of hair behind his ear, shrugging. "It's easy and I don't like going to the barber's."

"What, are you afraid of scissors or something?" At Keith's silence, he let out a bark of laughter. "Holy crow, you are!"

"I'm not! I just don't like people messing with my hair." He fingered a lock over his forehead. "I'm always afraid they'll mess it up. Doing it myself is easier."

"Wait wait wait. Are you telling me that you have been doing your own hair all this time?"

"So what?"

Lance groaned. "I can't believe we're soulmates. From now on, I am going to teach you how to take care of yourself."

"I take care of myself just fine," Keith grumbled, but he didn't seem too put out by Lance's suggestion.

They reached the dining hall, and as they approached the goo machine, Lance realized how hungry he really was. He pulled Keith towards the trays and bowls, grabbing to and handing one to Keith before he pulled him towards the machine.

"Hungry?" Keith asked, lips quirking into a smile.

"Starving." Lance filled his bowl to the brim, and Keith followed suit, albeit in less of a rush to start eating.

"You can let go of my hand if you need to," Keith said, struggling to contain his laughter as Lance tried to balance his tray on his arm and reach for a spoon.

"Oh, right." He missed Keith's warm the moment they parted, but he reminded himself that it wouldn't last long. He grabbed a spoon and started leading the way back into the dining room, eager to get started. Lance's sole attention was on his food and shoving it into his mouth as fast as physically possible, which made for an unfortunate situation when he realized only so much goo could fit down his throat and he started choking.

Sitting next to him, Keith had been idly watching him as he ate, and when he doubled over, pounding at his chest, instead of being a helpful Samaritan, he started laughing. Once he'd collected himself Lance opened his mouth to admonish him, but the words died on his tongue when he saw the look on Keith's face.

His cheeks were flushed, eyes crinkled and smiling that huge, dorky smile of his. He even snorted, and god help him, Lance loved it. The spell of laughter didn't last long, but Lance's heart took a plunge.

I really am screwed, he thought. His spoon clattered to the tabletop.

"Uh, Lance?" Keith let out a latent chuckle, lips trembling. "You okay?"

"Fine," Lance replied, his mouth gone dry. "Just thinking that maybe I am pretty lucky."

"Yeah?" Keith leaned in, bringing himself an iota closer to Lance. "I thought you didn't believe in this whole soulmate thing yet."

"Maybe that's not what I'm talking about," he said, realizing he was close enough to see the swirling patterns in Keith's irises. Their fingertips brushed on the table, and he was reminded of the time that he'd apologized to Keith in their shared room. This time, he didn't hesitate to take his hand, his heart pounding.

"Hey, Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it okay if I kiss you?"

If he was surprised by the request, Keith did a remarkable job of hiding it. He flashed Lance a brief smile and Lance wasn't sure which of them leaned forward first, but then they were kissing, and Keith's mouth was warmed and a little chapped. Additionally, Lance realized that he'd completely forgotten to close his eyes; they were staring at each other.

The broke apart, Keith smothering his laughter against Lance's shoulder.

"Second time's the charm?" Lance quipped.

Keith nodded, bringing his face close again. This time he closed his eyes, and Lance followed suit. Again, there was a slight mishap; he realized the error of their ways when he caught the corner of Keith's mouth, but Keith's hand came up around the back of his neck and he slid his lips into the right place, causing shivers to break out down Lance's spine. He cupped Keith's cheek, angling his head so he could deepen the kiss, and Keith all but melted, sighing into his mouth. A sharp thrill shot through Lance. Even though Keith kissed like he'd never kissed anyone before-which was probably true-it didn't really matter; it was the best kiss that Lance had ever had to date.

Which was why it was so unfortunate when they needed room to breathe. Lance pulled away reluctantly, keeping his hand braced on Keith's neck.

"Third time's the charm?" Keith rasped he'd caught his breath, a mischievous glint in his eye. Before Lance could regain his composure and even think of a reply, the coms overhead came to life.

"Paladins, we have a situation. To your lions, now!"

Lance smirked at Keith.

"You up for some more action?"

"You know it."

Notes:

I was gonna write a lot more for another separate plot, but then I realized that everything wrapped up so nicely and I'm really not that cruel. So I apologize if anyone thought this was going to be a lot longer than it is. One more to go~

Chapter 6: Epilogue

Notes:

∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

After they patched things up and officially became a couple, it was time to move back into the big room. Lance was still in a fragile state, so neither of them had accompanied the paladins on the away mission after visiting the Novarian planet, instead focusing on healing.

And healing involved kissing. Lots of kissing. Maybe a little fondling here and there, but that was mostly coming from Lance, and Keith was quick to remind him that they were supposed to be relaxing, not messing around.

"Thanks, mom," Lance had drawled, earning a sharp look.

"Would your mom do this?" Keith hissed, proceeding to kiss the living daylights out of Lance, which he had to admit was not something he wanted to imagine his mom doing.

Things continued like that for the next few days, and Lance subsequently learned a lot more about Keith than he had previously. For one, aside from chicken wings-which was something he'd gotten a taste for at the garrison-he liked rice pudding and a bunch of other stuff Lance had never heard of but would love to get his hands on if they ever-when they went back to Earth.

"So you never knew your parents?" Lance asked later, drawing meaningless patterns along the scope of Keith's back.

"Nope. Shiro's the closest thing I have to a dad, but I'd consider him more of a teacher, or a friend, I s'pose."

"Huh. Y'know, if you'd asked me a year ago if I thought I'd be trying to save the universe from an evil overlord with the one and only Takashi Shirogane, my best friend, Pidge, two aliens, and my soulmate, all while riding a bunch of cats, I probably would have called the cops."

Keith turned around, sliding his palms warmly up Lance's chest, right over his heart. "Guess it's a good thing nobody did, huh?" he said, eyes fluttering closed and lips parting in what Lance had come to recognize as his 'I want you to kiss me' face; kiss face for short.

He obliged, swallowing Keith's sighs and soft, quiet moans with his mouth, resting his hands on Keith's hips.

They hadn't done much more than makeout yet, which was fine with Lance. He didn't want to pressure Keith into anything so soon, and he wasn't even sure how he felt about it. He'd never done it with a guy; hell, he'd never done anything with anyone, which didn't give him much in the way of confidence. He was happy to take it slow and steady, so long as they were happy.

And man, was he happy.

Lance grinned down at Keith's sleeping form, currently trying to reign in the impulse to wake him up and a heady good-morning kiss and accompanying morning-breath. The best part about their new routine, Lance found, was waking up.

Unlike Lance, Keith slept lightly and soundlessly. Whereas Lance could have slept through a thunderstorm if it came down to it, Keith was quieter and more prone to waking up at odd hours of the night when he heard some sound off in the distance. Lance quickly discovered that the best part of his morning was when he woke up first and he was able to bring Keith into a state of half-wakefulness, looking sleepy-eyed and adorably ruffled.

"Keith," he whispered, leaning down to press a kiss against the exposed part of his neck. "Hey, Earth to Keith."

Keith jerked and made a sound in the back of his throat, his eyes snapping open, only to go half-lidded when he realized that it was only Lance.

"Let me sleep," he rasped, letting his eyes fall shut.

"Not so fast, Keith. We have important soulmate business to conduct today."

"Really?" he slurred, cracking an eye open only to give Lance a look that suggested he didn't believe anything of the sort. "What kinda business."

"The kind that involves cuddling."

Keith snorted and turned away, exposing the broad, tempting plane of his back. "Lemme sleep."

"Come on, Keith." Lance wrapped his arms around Keith's waist, pulling him flush against his body. He was warm and soft, and it always felt good whenever they were touching. There was a connection there that probably had to do with their soulmate status that he didn't understand, but as far as he was concerned, ignorance was bliss.

He pressed his mouth to the back of Keith's neck, peppering his skin with kisses. Keith shuddered, reaching back and scraping his fingers weakly along Lance's hip.

"Don't," he said, his words lacking heat. "What time even is it?"

"One o'clock."

"Are you serious?!" Keith shot up in bed, sending Lance flying backwards.

"Nah, I was just messing with you," Lance said. He started snickering. "Dude, this is the second time you've fallen for that."

Keith fell back onto the pillow with a groan and scrubbed his hands over his face.

"I hate you," he moaned.

"No you don't!" Lance sang. "Now's prime cuddling time. Let's do it before everyone else wakes up and-"

"Paladins!" Came a voice overheard, a voice that Lance had come to despise because he still wasn't included in missions yet. "Come to the control room. We have a new mission to further our alliance with the people of Silst."

"See?" Lance gestured to the ceiling. "This is what happens when you don't listen to me. You have to go on missions and I get to stay here, bored out of my mind, ugh!"

Keith rolled his eyes and then sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Maybe she'll let you come along if you can prove that you're feeling better." Keith eyed him. "Are you feeling better?"

"Totally," Lance replied, even though it wasn't completely true. He felt fine-mostly. It was just that on occasion he'd get a weird dizzy spell and have to cling to Keith for a while, but that too was starting to disappear with time.

Unfortunately, Allura didn't seem to believe him when he explained it later that morning.

"Come on!" Lance cried, throwing his hands above his head. "Keith, please, talk some sense into them. I can do this."

"She has a point. I mean, last night you were complaining-"

"Complaining? What complaining. I have no idea what you're talking about, Keith," Lance interrupted, slapping his hand over Keith's mouth to halt his words. "I'm fine. Totally fine. I feel better than ever. How long are you guys going to keep me grounded?"

"Until we're sure that you're completely healed," Shiro said. Standing next to Allura, looking down at him sternly, they gave the impression that they really were his parents, which was a disgusting trail of thought and Lance would not stand for it.

"I can totally fly my lion. Let me show you," he begged, lifting his hands imploringly. "Just for a little while."

"Lance, I will not risk your life when you aren't in top form," Allura said. "If we were truly in danger, I would consider it, but it's a simple mission. You would find it tedious."

"That's what I said," Keith chimed in helpfully, having removed Lance's hand from his mouth. "But he insisted we come here anyway. What's the situation?"

"Just a routine run with the Silst population. They feared that Zarkon would send armies to take their stores and requested aid."

"Oh." Keith crossed his arms, his distaste for the weird lizard-like population very clear. "Didn't we do this just a few days ago?"

"The Voltron Alliance does not refuse any requests to aid our allies," Allura declared. Her lips quirked. "That being said, normally I would agree with you; however, there are very important trade agreements being initiated at this time and any interruptions could scare off those involved. This way, we ensure a fruitful alliance with another species."

"If it's that easy, I should be a shoo-in for this job," Lance tried.

"I have an even more important job for you, Lance," Coran said. Lance perked up, but his following words made Lance deflate like a sorry balloon. "The pods are still filthy from the time that we saved the Silst refugees, so we're going to need you to help me clean them. Doesn't that sound like fun! Much better than flying around in space, eh?"

"Aw, come on," he whined. "Why do you guys get to do all the cool stuff while I just sit around?"

"Not all of what we do is going to be action-packed," Shiro pointed out, which, while true, didn't make him feel any better.

"Trust me, you wouldn't want to do this anyway," Hunk said. "Last time was insanely boring. I think I fell asleep at my lion at least, like, twice."

"Better than sitting around here," Lance grumbled. "Look, I can show you that I feel fine now. And Keith and I have our bond, so if anything happens, he'll be around to protect me."

"Really." Pidge walked over to Lance and calmly pushed him, causing him to stumble; then the world started spinning, and Lance was surprised to find himself struggling to stay on his feet. Thankfully, Keith was behind him, and caught him just before he fell onto his ass and embarrassed himself even further.

"Case in point," Keith said, pushing Lance back onto his feet. "If you can't handle a little push, how are you going to pilot your lion?"

Lance sighed, relenting to their logic. He didn't understand why after two weeks of resting he still wasn't in shape for going on missions and saving the galaxy. He was getting better, that much was clear, but it was a slow process.

"I'll miss you," Lance said, breathing his words into a dreamy sigh. For all his antics, Keith was never able to resist Lance's advances, and even now in front of everyone he didn't protest as Lance stood up, turned around, and pulled him into a kiss.

"Gross," Pidge said, wrinkling her nose. "Do you always have to do that around me?"

"Jealous?" Lance teased, shooting Pidge a smirk.

Coming out to his friends had been surprising in that none of them had been surprised. It made it a hell of a lot easier to be affectionate with Keith when he didn't have to care. He wrapped his arms around Keith's waist and tugged him closer, pressing brief kisses along his cheeks and nose.

"Lance!" Keith wasn't as prone to public displays as him, so almost as soon as it became more than a simple kiss, he was already ending it, shoving Lance away from him, his cheeks enflamed.

Pidge rolled her eyes at their antics. "Just try not to get slobber all over the floor."

"'Kay, as much as I love it when you guys flirt and do your-relationship, soulmate, whatever thing," said Hunk, "we've got a job to do. Keith?"

"Yeah." Keith braced his hand on Lance's chest and pushed him away, much to Lance's disappointment. "Hunk's right. I've gotta get ready for the mission." He shrugged. "Sorry, Lance."

"Ugh, no, it's fine." It wasn't fine, but Lance had already resigned himself to his fate. "Just find and kick some alien butt for me, okay?"

"You got it." Keith smiled, then hesitated, looking as if he wanted to kiss or hug Lance, but he wasn't sure how to when he'd just been the one to push him away. Lance found it absolutely adorable, and made no attempts to help him out. Eventually, when Keith became fed up with his own indecisiveness, he yanked Lance towards him by his collar and planted an awkward, fierce kiss onto his lips.

"Don't do anything stupid," Keith warned. Then he turned and started towards the door, leaving Lance blinking dumbly after him. Hunk and Pidge trailed closely behind him, shooting Lance sympathetic glances as they departed.

"I think I'm in love," Lance said quietly, which was frankly a terrifying realization, but he didn't have time to contemplate it. Coran slapped his hand onto Lance's shoulder and steered him towards the door, turning in the opposite direction of the other paladins.

"You'll have plenty of time to think about your soulmate while we're cleaning the pods," Coran said. "Let's not waste a moment sitting around, since this could take hours. I can't wait!"

"Oh, great." Lance's shoulders sagged, hoping that if he hung low enough his body would melt into a puddle on the floor. "Me neither."

"Have fun, you two!" Allura called before turning to her attention to the controls.

Fun was the last thing on Lance's mind. It wouldn't have been so bad to wipe strange alien goop off of the pods if they didn't also stink. He was already gagging by the time they entered the room, and as he got to cleaning, the mixture of cleaning products and alien dung or whatever it was made him come close to vomiting more than once.

Coran appeared unaffected, cleaning the pods with an efficiency and ease that Lance envied.

"How are you not dying?" he asked. "I can barely stand the stuff."

"You get used to it," Coran answered, which was vague enough that Lance wondered if there was more to his easy cadet days cleaning pods than he'd thought.

As they each worked on their respective pods, and once Lance got into the groove, he really did get used to the smell. While he didn't enjoy it, doing something-even if it was cleaning pods-was better than sitting around waiting like a lost puppy. Plus, it was therapeutic to take out his frustrations on the pods, scrubbing them with an intensity that garnered a concerned look from Coran every so often.

He was just starting to somewhat the enjoy the experience when Allura came rushing into the room, followed quickly by Pidge and a group of injured Silsts.

"What the hell-?"

"We need functional pods, now," she barked. "It appears that the Silsts were not worried needlessly. A Zarkon freighter and a small grouping of fighter ships came barreling through and destroyed one of the Silst vessels before we could as much as blink."

"Are they okay?" Lance demanded, his concern for the pods largely overshadowed by his need to know if Keith was all right. "Is Keith okay?"

She looked at him, her gaze softening. "They are fine. This was the only casualty to occur, thankfully. Our paladins can handle it." She winked at him and then walked over to Coran, who looked seriously put out that all his hard work was for naught.

Thank quiznak, Lance thought, watching the Silst people crawl into the pods and start the healing process. There were only four of them, which either meant it had been a small transportation vessel, or there had been some serious casualties.

A giant Zarkon ship was no joke. Was Allura telling the truth, or was she hiding it so Lance wouldn't worry? Either way, it didn't make him feel any less concerned. He glanced at the door, and then closed his eyes, concentrating. Over time Lance noticed that Keith's and his ability to sense each other had started to sharpen; slowly but surely, he was able to tell where Keith was on the ship even when he wasn't nearby, which made finding and bothering him incredibly easy.

He focused now, channeling all his energy into searching for Keith.

Come on, come on. Soulmate powers, show me Keith!

Nothing. Nada. Zip. Ziltch. Lance let out a frustrated sound.

He jumped when he felt a hand on his back.

"Are you all right?" Allura asked. "You look like you're about to fall into a faint. Do you need something? Should I send word to Keith?"

"No! No, no, I'm fine." Lance answered, trying to sound like he wasn't slightly drained. Searching far and wide for a soulmate via some weird telepathic connection was surprisingly tiring.

"If you need anything, please let me know." She pulled away, inching back towards the Silsts. "And don't worry, Lance. Shiro will be leaving again momentarily. Keith isn't alone."

"Right. Yeah." Lance rubbed the back of his neck. It wasn't that he doubted her, per se, but he wanted to be out there. He wanted to be where the action was. He wanted to be with Keith.

He glanced at the door. Pidge had already left after transporting the Silsts, meaning that it was at least dangerous enough that she didn't want to be away for long. He walked over and peeked into the hallway, debating whether or not it would be worth it if he left now and trusted Coran to deal with the Silsts on his own.

While he was pondering this, he felt something inside him...shift. It began small, like something inside of him was being pulled, and then he was being tugged, as if he was holding onto a fishing pole and a fish was trying desperately to escape, weaving in and around the water.

It occurred to Lance a moment later that this wasn't just any fish; this was Keith. And Keith wasn't in water, he was in space, probably putting up a fight.

Whoa. He'd found Keith.

Lance turned in the direction that he felt the pull, eventually reaching the wall of the ship. He pressed his hand against the cool metal and closed his eyes, concentrating harder. But no matter how much he strained, the connection stayed faint; barely there.

If he wanted to find Keith, he'd have to get closer, but he was stuck here cleaning pods with Coran.

I should be out there, he thought, clenching his fists. I can't just stay still while Zarkon attacks my friends.

His feet were moving before he'd even finished the thought. At the door, Allura called his name, her brows furrowed.

"Lance, where are you going?"

He stopped, considering his words carefully. "I'll be back soon!"

It wasn't technically a lie; he would be back. Eventually.

Lance darted down the hallway, ignoring the slight vertigo that made running a little bit harder and focused on reaching his suit. He threw it on without much concern for making sure it was adjusted correctly, and immediately dashed back into the hallway, headed straight for his lion. The vertigo sent him spinning a few times, but it was easier the longer he sustained his pace. By the time he got to his lion, he was feeling pretty good; good enough to fly, at least.

Well, mostly.

At first, it was torture. Space wasn't like a long hallway; there were ups and downs and sideways motions, and he was having a surprisingly difficult time controlling his lion.

But then something strange happened. As he was thinking of Keith and the fact that he might be fighting a battle, about whether or not he might be injured-or worse-he felt his lion reaching out to him, trying to tell him something, and he suddenly knew what he needed to do. He stilled his lion and closed his eyes, concentrating on the pull of the bond.

Come on, lion. We can do this.

Then, it was as if the world opened up to him. Even though his eyes were closed, he could see. He could see everything. He moved forward with his eyes closed, his hands jerking the controls with much more ease than before.

"Good kitty," he purred, letting his lion be his eyes. "Let's go find my boyfriend."

He'd made sure to turn his coms off until he was being ejected out of the castle, and as he exited the ship and started towards where he felt the pull of their bond, he waited until he had the lions in sight before he switched it back on.

"What's up, guys? Did you miss me?"

"Lance?" Keith shrieked, nearly colliding into Hunk in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought you were helping Allura," Shiro said.

"Yeah, well now I'm saving your butts, apparently," he said, watching as Keith was thrown by a blast from the freighter. "That thing has some serious armor, huh?"

"Uh, yeah," Pidge said. "Are you even able to fly right now, Lance?"

"I'll have you know I'm flying just fine. Lion and I have an agreement. A bond, you might say."

"Is it an agreement that involves helping us?" Hunk cried. "Because that would be really nice right now! I mean, this thing isn't all that good at hitting us, but man can it take a beating!"

"I will, but on one condition," Lance said, as if he hadn't directly disobeyed Allura's orders and come out here for the sole purpose of offering his help. "We all do the team cheer. I say vol, you say tron. Vol-"

"Come on, Lance," said Keith, exasperated. "This is stupid."

"You know you want to, Keith. I say vol, you saaay-?" Lance tried, urging his lion closer to the fray. There was an explosive sigh on the other end of the line and then Keith spoke up.

"...tron."

"Yes!" Lance cheered. "I knew you could do it. Oh, baby, we are back in business." He steered his lion closer to Keith's and then fired an experimental shot at the freighter, which did little in the way of damage to its shield.

"How about we form Voltron and give this thing a run for its money?" Hunk suggested. "I'm tired of throwing myself at it and getting nowhere."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Lance said. "Let's do this thing!"

Keith's laughter could be heard over the coms. He'd lost his edge and slid his lion closer to Lance, accepting the events as inevitable.

"Glad to have you back, Lance."

"Glad to be back," he replied. "I can't wait to give this ship a good, solid kick in the face."

"It doesn't have a face," Pidge said. "I could make one, though. Hold on, let me just aim..."

"Let's form Voltron first," Shiro cut in. "Before they destroys any more of the Silst transportation ships. Everyone, Into formation."

"Got it."

Forming Voltron felt like coming home; Lance hadn't realized how much he'd missing working as a team until he had to stay behind and play house. As they swung Keith's sword, and then shot the freighter using Hunk's gun, he'd never felt so alive.

"I know I say this like every day, and I mean it," Hunk started, "but even though I miss Earth like crazy, being the leg of Voltron is always awesome. I love all you guys."

"Yeah." Lance glanced up ahead, sensing Keith moving above him. "Me, too."

If being stuck in space also meant he found his soulmate and got to fight in a space war as a bunch of giant flying cats, well, maybe it wasn't so bad after all.