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“Yeah!” Allura watched as Keith laughed. They were all driving hoverbike vehicles from the planet they were on. As far as she gathered, they were much like the machines the paladins had back on Earth. In fact, she had heard the whispers the five had muttered about how the one Keith was driving looked almost exactly like the one he'd left back at home. It was red like Keith's jacket with some silver trimming.
They all had one. They were color-coded to the lions and what color they wore most often. Allura liked that hers was pink. It felt right. It was also the color to honor the fallen in Altea. Even Coran was there with an orange one.
Shiro and Keith pulled up to a stop a bit of distance ahead of them as they moved forward. As Allura and the others settled to a stop, not quite as good at flying as the older two paladins, the two shared a look. Allura wasn't sure what the two friends were up to.
“Hey,” Shiro smiled as he looked away from the raven-haired boy to them, “Anyone up to a race?”
“No thanks,” Pidge deadpanned as she tapped one of her portable tablets, “I'd rather be doing other stuff.”
“That's a ditto on that for me,” Hunk smiled sheepishly as he peered over the smaller paladin’s shoulder to the device, “I’m not really a pilot so…”
“I would like to,” Coran spoke as he inspected a grey flower nearby, “But I think I will collect some of these Poliyaties for later. They are quite useful for injuries, food, and such.”
“Stay behind and let mullet have all the fun?” Lance scoffed as he lined his sapphire bike up with Keith's ruby and Shiro's ebony ones, “No way. I'm in. I'm going to beat you, man.”
“Sure,” Keith rolled his eyes before he shared a smirk with the Black Paladin, “If you say so.”
Allura spoke before Lance could say anything else.
“I would also like to join in with your race,” she smiled as she moved her own vehicle forward much to their surprise, “It will be fun.”
Shiro and Keith's faces relaxed as they both smiled at her, happy to have her along. Lance looked ready to protest but must have thought better of it because he just nodded silently. Allura herself smiled as she lined hers with the three.
“The course starts here,” Shiro pointed at the spot they were at, “And ends over there about at that purple mushroom plant over there. Once there, just turn and come back up this cliff up to here.”
“First back to this point wins,” Keith smirked as he settled down on the machine, confident smile on his face, “You better keep up with us, Lance.”
“Oh I will,” the darker-skinned boy grinned as he leaned forward, “You're gonna be eating my dust.”
“Heh,” Keith smirked even more as he and Shiro shared another grin, “We'll see.”
“I'll get you going!” Coran shouted in a loud voice as they started the engines up, “Get ready. Get set. GO!”
Shiro and Keith pushed their bikes forward right off the edge to the long drop below. Allura didn't hesitate to chase after them, wind flowing through her long hair as she grinned. She heard Lance let out a squeak of surprise before his engine roared right behind her. Controlling her descent, she pulled up just in time. Floating over the ground, she pushed onward through the low trees. Ducking under one yellow branch, she glanced forward to see Keith and Shiro. They were neck to neck, racing like they were having the best time of their lives. Big smiles covered their faces as they swirled and swerved in opposite ways. At one point, they flew so close to each other that the princess was afraid they'd smash into each other. Luckily, they both flattened out as soon as their fingers brushed each other.
Allura leaned to the right, jumping over a small stream of misty water as she landed back down shakily. Lance was just a few feet behind her. She glanced back as she looked at his face. He was concentrating on his driving but brightened when he noticed her looking. He put a thumb up and almost lost control but somehow got it back before anything could go wrong. Allura snickered as she gunned the machine, going even faster. Rounding the corner, she let out a yelp as Keith's bike jumped over her head, blocking out the sunlight for a moment. Another shadow passed over her as their oldest paladin flew by with a loud laugh and closed eyes.
Allura pushed forward, spinning the corner as she drove around the giant mushroom. Rushing forward, she watched as the two in front raced side by side. Smiling at that, she continued maneuvering her bike as best she could. About four more doboshes and they were at the cliff's base. Before her eyes, the two rushed straight upward. Allura pulled her bike to a stop as shock made her pause. The two scaled the cliff side without any problems, soaring and laughing all the way up until they disappeared over the edge at the same time.
“Did they just…” Lance sputtered as he waved his hand up to the cliff and back, “They didn't even pause!”
“No,” Allura revved up her hoverbike as she raised a brow, “They didn't.”
With that, she pushed forward. The rush of the pull of gravity made her stomach flip in a way it hadn't before. She grinned as a laugh burst from her lips. A couple ticks later, she climbed over the ledge and onto the dirt. Settling the bike down as she killed the engine, she jumped off the bike.
“That was fun!” She exclaimed as she rushed forward, hair flying out in clumps, “We should do stuff like this more often.”
“Told you,” Shiro grinned at her as he kept his hand on Keith's shoulder, “It was fun.”
“Just like old times,” Keith smiled at the older man who nodded back, “We need to take the lions out like this more often.”
“We do,” Shiro stared back at Keith, off in their own world. Allura raised a brow as she thought about the race. She knew they were good with piloting, but she had no idea they were this good at it.
“Geez,” Lance interrupted as he walked up to them, covered in golden dust, “I still could have won. I took it easy on you.”
That pulled them out of their stare as they both sent the boy twin looks of annoyance. Allura put a hand over her mouth as she giggled. She placed her hand on the boy's shoulder as he suddenly stopped walking. His face was bright red with a blush.
“Perhaps next time,” she grinned as he nodded, “We should be getting back.”
“Yeah, we should be and-" they paused as they heard the noise engines in the distance, “They left! Race you guys! I'm gonna get you for sure this time!”
The human jumped on his bike and raced past them. Allura headed to hers. About to race off, she saw the Black and Red Paladin shaking their heads as they shared another smile. She took off as she gave one last glance at them. She saw them both place a hand on each other before pulling away to their own bikes.