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When Lance woke up that morning, he could already tell he was sick.
For the past few days, he was exhausted and constantly felt groggy. Even so, he went to practice just like everyone else. There were no exceptions or excuses when fighting a war.
But he knew that day, he had enough and had to throw in the towel.
He was the last one to show up to breakfast as usual, but even Hunk’s cooking looked unappetizing. Even so, he spooned the food into his mouth, only to feel nothing. His tongue started to sting after a so he settled for pushing the meal until it was nothing but mush on the side of his bowl.
His head started to pound even though the other paladins were relatively quiet. Only Hunk and Pidge were really talking, something about a machine they were working together to make.
Breakfast officially came to an end when Allura walked in with her training gear on. “Get up paladins! It’s time for training.”
Lance wasn’t the only one who groaned, so did Hunk and Pidge. Keith and Shiro seemed indifferent, but that was because Lance didn’t think they ever left the training room. Gymrats, both of them.
They all shuffled down the corridor when Lance gained the guts to talk to Allura. His neck was starting to hurt a lot, which wasn’t a good sign. Not to mention how light headed he felt already before getting an ounce of work done.
He placed a hand on Allura’s shoulder. The princess looked at him over her shoulder, her expression confused.
“Can I talk to you real fast?”
The rest of the team paused, but Allura waved her hand. “No, no, the rest of you head off to the training room. Coran is already in there.”
When they were alone, Allura spoke up. “What is it, Lance? You know we have a busy schedule with all the meetings we have with allies, so I hope you didn’t stop me for no reason.”
Lance bit his bottom lip. Allura looked really stressed with the dark circles under her eyes. They really were busy lately, they had made a lot of allies and needed to hold meetings with them every other day. That had to be taxing for her, there was no way it couldn’t
He could hold out for one more day.
“Sorry, princess, I was just checking up on you. You look a little tired, have you been sleeping well?”
The princess seemed to relax a bit and rubbed at her eyes. “Can’t say I have. I’m especially nervous about our meeting with the Harphodes tomorrow and I can’t stop thinking about it. They have always been a bit…”
“Uptight?”
Allura sighed which melted into a small laugh. She ran a hand through her hair. “That’s an understatement.”
Lance patted her on the back. “Ey, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Who wouldn’t love you?” He threw in one of his trademark winks for good measure.
“I hope so.” She patted Lance on the back. “Thank you for checking on me, Lance.”
He snapped and pointed finger guns at her. “No problemo, princess.”
“Now, let’s go meet with the others, yes?”
“Lead the way,” Lance said, a cool grin on his face. He focused on keeping up his façade and tried to ignore the aching all over his body.
They were starting with sparring. Shiro and Hunk were set against each other first, which gave the latter a bit of anxiety.
“Lance, switch with me. He’s gonna beat my ass into the ground.”
Lance gave him a hearty slap. “Hey, who’s this talking to me? You’re a big strong dude, you’ve got nothing to worry about. They don’t call you a Hunk just for your looks, dude.”
Hunk’s nerves weren’t settled all the way, but Lance’s words helped. “Thanks, bud."
“Yep,” Lance said, popping the p, “Now go get ‘em, tiger.”
Lance slumped down in his chair as the other two sparred. He felt sore all over and i t felt like someone had stuffed cotton into his mouth. He tried stretching his arms and legs, but he still hurt. Was it just him or had someone turned down the temperature?
He shivered pathetically in his armor, ignoring Keith and Pidge’s concerned glances. He was perfectly fine, thank you. Just had to make it through one more training session and it would all be fine.
Hunk and Shiro finished up, Shiro winning because Hunk was too afraid to hit him hard. Lance rubbed his back when he came back in with a dejected face, telling him he did great. Then Allura told him it was his turn against Pidge.
He was just about to exit onto the floor when he was stopped by someone grabbing his shoulder. To his surprise, it was Keith. “Hey, are you doing alright? You don’t look so hot.”
Lance tried not to show his shock on his face and faked annoyance. “I’m always hot, duh.”
Keith didn’t seem to understand the sentence, but Lance wasn’t going to stick around to explain things to him again. He shrugged the other’s hand off and ran out after Pidge with his bayard in hand.
Pidge was already in stance when he came out to join her. He came to a stop just across from her, startled when he lost his balance for a second after stopping. Lance activated his bayard and squinted at the green paladin through his visor. He ignored the way his hands shook from the cold.
It was Pidge who struck first, dashing forward and swiping at him with her bayard. His reaction time was off and he just barely managed to dodge her blow before he got electrocuted. Jeez, his limbs felt so heavy.
For the time being, he was in defense mode. He dodged every strike she delivered, blocking her with his shield. She looked like she was enjoying herself from what Lance could tell, but he sure wasn’t. It felt stifling hot and freezing at the same time and his throat felt as if someone was strangling him. Standing was a conscious task.
When he didn’t attack, Pidge started to throw taunts. “Come on, Lance! Afraid to hit a girl?”
He chuckled stiffly, barely holding himself up. “You wish, I just haven’t gotten warmed up yet!” With that, he propelled himself up using his jetpack, pulling his trigger a few times and letting off warning shots. It was just to spook her, the bullets landed by her and not meant to hit.
Lance heard Pidge’s scoff from up in the air. “That’s all you got?”
Unfortunately, the jetpack couldn’t keep Lance suspended forever. He fell back to the ground and Pidge immediately lunged at him, to which he groggily blocked. His head felt light from all the movement and the blaring lights weren’t helping him. As each second passed, it got harder and harder for him to focus.
He wasn’t fast enough to block Pidge’s weapon when it jabbed him in the chest, delivering a small shock. His ankle twisted and he fell to the ground, not even bothering to fight anymore.
Pidge placed a foot on his stomach like he was a hunting prize. “I have killed the beast!” She shouted, waving her arms in the air.
Lance huffed from on the ground, groaning and holding his middle. “Yeah, you really got me that time.”
“Damn straight I did- Whoa, dude, are you okay? You look like you got hit by a bus.”
He struggled to sit up, but it felt like his muscles were on fire as he did. As he pulled off his helmet, he realized just how violently he was shaking. His face was drenched with sweat which he wiped away with disgust.
Lance realized Pidge was waiting for him to answer. “Yeah, I’m fine. You just did a damn good job, but don’t think you can beat me again!”
Pidge looked skeptical. “No, dude, you seriously look bad, have you been sleeping alright?”
He really hadn’t been, but that was besides the point. “Are you insulting my godly looks? Why, Pidge, I am offended.”
She scowled. “Lance, I’m serious! Here.” She reached out and pressed her hand against Lance’s forehead, even with him trying to turn away, it was too late.
“Holy shit, you’re burning up! How were you even standing?!”
Lance pouted. “I’m perfectly fine. My head just hurts.”
“Head just hurts, my ass!” Pidge yelled. “Get up, we are going to the medbay this second.”
Lance tried to stand, but his body screamed in pain. Every time he pushed himself up, he collapsed onto his knees. Even so, he tried not to make it a big deal and suppressed his groaning and whining.
Pidge offered her hand and he took it gratefully. “Thanks, Pidge, I appreciate it…” He started to trail off as his vision got blurry and spotted. He didn’t even realize he was leaning until Pidge steadied him.
“Whoa! Can you walk?”
Lance sputtered. “Of course I can walk, who do you think I am?”
Last thing he remembered before he blacked out was taking a step forward and crashing to the ground.
When he woke up next, he was in his bed. Hunk was sitting there next to him, too invested in a book to realized that Lance was awake. Lance tried to sit up, but yelped when his neck seized in pain. He made his buddy jump and he immediately put the book down.
“Whoa! Careful, you don’t want to hurt yourself.” Hunk helped him lay back down and supported his head.
Lance coughed, his throat scratchy and clogged at the same time. “What happened? Is Pidge alright?”
Hunk nodded to which Lance sighed in relief. “Yeah, she’s fine. A bit shaken up at you collapsing like that though. Thought you had died or something.”
Lance felt guilt set heavy in his throat. He covered his face with his hands as he remembered what happened. “God, I didn’t really faint, did I?”
“Dead ass fell to the ground.”
Lance wanted to die right then and there. How embarrassing.
“Allura did mention you stopping to talk to her and she noticed you weren’t looking too hot. But when we took you to the medbay, turns out you have some sort of space flu. There’s these things in your neck Coran said were all swollen, so that’s why you’re probably all stiff right now.”
Lance let his hands slide off his face and whispered darkly, “Am I going to die?”
Hunk laughed. “No, it’s just like the regular flu. Coran gave me these nutrient bars he told me to make you eat, so dig in.” Lance took one of the bars and unwrapped it, taking a bite. His tongue was numb in his mouth and it was difficult to chew, so he ended up putting it down half finished, his stomach unsettled.
“What is it? Is it really that bad?” Hunk asked, concerned.
Lance tried to shake his head, but hissed when his neck protested. The air was too cold again and he felt himself shivering under the covers. “Not hungry, that’s all.”
Hunk looked doubtful. “Okay, if you’re sure. Go ahead and go back to sleep, I’ll be right here.”
Lance yawned. “Thanks, bud.” He coughed one last time and pulled the blankets closer, desperate for some warmth. Hunk combed his fingers through Lance’s hair until he was lulled into a fitful sleep.