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Something pops.
Lance groans in pleasure as he continues to roll his right shoulder back, sighing once he feels it lose its tension. God, he’s barely seventeen but after that match with the Gladiator, he may even need a new spine.
Is it even a match when the Gladiator whooped all of their asses?
Allura seems to think so.
After cracking his neck and his lower back one more time for good measure, Lance sighs contently and decides that it’s time for a well-deserved nap in his given quarters. He hopes for
King Alfor’s ghost itself that Allura doesn't start another attack simulation she’s so fond of.
Lance’s pretty sure he would eject himself from the airlock if something interrupted his nap.
And while it’s not interrupted, Lance thinks as he turns the corner of the hallway, he can’t call it a victory neither when he didn’t even get the chance to start his nap.
He’s quick to press his back on the wall behind the wall, heart pounding in fear at the mere thought of Coran seeing him from the corner of his eye from where he stands in front of Lance’s bedroom.
Lance’s no fool, he can see the bucket full of altean cleaning soap and a wobbly sponge in the older man’s hand.
Nuh-huh. Lance likes the dude, so far for the four (five, six days? Who even knows by now) they have been here, but he needs a nap.
Lance’s almost fully convinced to go with his airlock idea before there’s a loud but soothing purr echoing inside his mind.
He blinks, a shiver running down his spine as warmth spreads through his limbs before he grins and hisses a small cheer of victory at his own lion’s message.
His lady cares for him.
Lance makes it to Blue’s hangar in record time. Even Allura would have been proud of how fast he arrived if it wasn’t for the fact it was to hide from his ‘paladin duty’.
“Hey, gorgeous,” Lance greets warmly, grinning brightly when Blue’s eyes glow a gentle yellow at his presence. He feels her purr in greeting back at him before she’s lowering herself to grant him access.
Lance could almost skip a step as he walks in excitement, his giddiness for taking a nap increasing by the second. He’s on his way to the cockpit when Blue calls for him and makes him slow down.
He hums with curiosity as Blue starts flashing him brief images of some sort of quarters in his head, similar to the ones Allura had let them borrow for the time being inside the castle.
“You wanna show me something?” he asks bemused when she’s done, lips pursed in thought as Blue sends her confirmation via gentle waves in his mind.
‘Follow me,’ Lance can hear almost hear her say as she continues to send him constant light pushes towards a certain direction.
Lance frowns in confusion but his curiosity gets the best of him and allows Blue to guide him through her walls.
The small and short hallways are nothing he hasn’t seen before by now, but it’s when Blue urges him to press his palm against one of her walls that a door opens before him.
Lance gasps in surprise, eyes widening at the sight before him.
“I know you’re over ten thousand years old,” Lance says in a quiet voice as his fingers caress Blue’s walls and walks through the hidden hallways. “But all this? It’s new.”
He hears the resemble of a faint huff of laughter in the back of his head and he grins sheepishly at the fond feeling that grows on his chest.
“Hey, don’t laugh at me,” Lance jokes as he walks through a door Blue opens on his right. He hums pleased as he steps forward, his mouth hanging open in surprise at the room before him.
“Oh, wow,” he whispers quietly, letting out a small whistle as he looks around him. It’s smaller than his quarters back in the castle, but homier.
Lance whistles in awe as he walks around it, taking in the multiple boxes spread around the room along with some things he doesn’t recognize scattered around the floor.
“This reminds me of Vero’s room,” Lance mumbles quietly as he takes in the light mess at his feet before he turns and catches sight of the bed on the far corner of the room along with the blue paladin’s helmet laying on top of it.
He arches an eyebrow at it before he steps forward and takes the helmet in his hands.
“That’s weird, I left my helmet on the training room,” he mumbles, eyes narrowing in suspicion as he turns it in his hands.
It’s blue and white like his own but there’s something different about it. It’s bigger, that’s a fact, and no matter how much Marco used to tease him about having a big head, Lance’s sure his head isn’t this big.
“I didn’t know we got two helmets,” Lance says casually but frowns when Blue stays silent. It’s odd, because he can feel her presence in the back of his mind but it’s like she decides to stay back.
Lance considers asking her about it when the sudden taste of bittersweet fills his mouth. He shudders in both surprise and distress, the heavy feeling of grief digging deep into his bones.
“Blue?” he calls softly, voice small as stays still, waiting for her.
But then Blue is nuzzling mentally against his mind once again with comfort and reassurances and Lance allows himself to exhale in relief.
“Story for another time?” he asks quietly as he puts the helmet down, his fingertips grazing its surface before he steps back.
‘Keep looking,’ Blue tells him gently instead and Lance doesn’t dare to pry on his own lion’s past.
Not right now.
Lance hums and does what he’s told.
He sings quietly to himself as he looks around, putting some of the things he finds on some top shelves and picking up a few blankets that lied on the floor just to tidy up the small room.
“Wow, nope,” Lance murmurs when a book almost falls from his grasp, grinning in victory when he catches just in time by using the wall next to him as support.
And then he’s lying on the floor.
“What the –” Lance groans in pain, his entire body spread all over the floor before he opens his eyes and takes in the new room he had crashed into. “Wha – wait, wait, wait.”
He sits up quickly, doing half turns to look behind him and his excitement grows ten folds.
“Holy cheese, a personal bathroom?” Lance exclaims when he presses his hand over the wall and it opens wide open to the side. “Blue, baby, you are the whole package.”
Blue purrs in amusement back at him, sending him a brief flash of his own quarters in the castle.
“Wait,” he says, eyebrows furrowed once he stands up and steps out of the bathroom, the door sliding shut behind him. “Are you telling me I have a bathroom in my room but didn’t know because the door is the freaking wall?”
Blue doesn’t answer him, per se, but she does laughs good-heartily at him.
“You and your secrets,” Lance grumbles, shaking his finger in the air as he clicks his tongue. “This better not be a common occurrence, my lady.”
Blue hums at him playfully. Lance chuckles back at her, shaking his head in amusement with his hands on his hips before he looks up and blinks.
“Hey, what’s with the hatch?” he asks, tilting his head to the side with curiosity as he stands on the right corner next to the bed and points at the odd square above him. “Is it another secret passage?”
‘Go and find out,’ Blue tells him.
“You’re so ominous, you know that?” Lance laughs before steps forward anyways, climbing the short ladder that appears once Blue makes the panel for it to glow.
The hatch opens with a low hiss when Lance twist its handle and then he’s poking his head out.
He blinks in surprise when he faces the back of his own pilot chair.
“Oh, nice, a shortcut!” Lance cheers, grin wide and excited as he climbs the rest of the ladder and stands in the middle of his cockpit with his hands on his hips. “I can definitely work with this.”
Blue purrs at his commentary and it makes him grin proudly. She then shows him a few new images, similar to those she showed him earlier but slightly different.
“There’s more?” Lance gasps, letting Blue to guide him once again out of the cockpit. He takes a few turns on his way, climbing down a set of ladders before he’s standing on what he recognizes as the cargo room inside his lion.
“Oh,” Lance whistles when Blue opens a wide door on the right wall next to him. He blinks confused before a smirk grows on his lips.
“You have a sleepover mode, huh?” he teases, laughing when his lion huffs at him in mock exasperation. “No but really, this is amazing; how many beds are here?”
Blue shows him around, telling him all about the hidden beds and the shared bathroom inside the wide space, along with the small kitchenette on the far corner of the room.
She tells him its meant for guests and Lance can’t help but think Voltron would be the best RV if they ever decide to make a road trip around the universe.
“Blue,” Lance calls gently, stroking her walls as he smiles brightly. “I hope you’re ready for the sleepovers to come, beautiful.”
Lance wakes up from his nap the moment he feels warm lips pressed against his skin.
He smiles at the sensation, eyes still closed just to enjoy the kisses his boyfriend keeps dropping on him a little longer before he sighs.
“Hello to you too,” Lance mumbles groggily, his free hand reaching to rub his eyes lazily before he looks down.
Keith greets him with a small soft smile, his chin now resting on Lance’s chest. “Nice nap?”
“Beyond nice,” Lance replies quietly, leaning down to press his own kiss on his boyfriend’s head. “Red is warm most of the times, but with you by my side? It’s heaven.”
Keith snorts, rolling his eyes in exasperation but Lance easily catches the raging blush on his pale cheeks. That’s a win.
“You know,” Keith starts quietly after a few seconds in silence, propping his chin on his palm but keeping his free hand pressed on Lance’s chest, stroking the skin aimlessly. “This discovery explains a lot.”
Lance hums in question. “About what?”
Keith shrugs half-heartedly. “Your bond with both Blue and Red,” he says softly, hand reaching out to stroke his boyfriend’s jaw. “It’s been only a few times since I started napping with you on Red and I feel this kind of...connection, I guess?”
He furrows his eyebrows in concentration as he looks for the right words before he chuckles.
“It sounds ridiculous but it’s almost physical, as if I could touch it. I never felt that before with him.”
Keith sighs contently, hand now resting on the side of his boyfriend’s cheek as he cups it tenderly. He pushes himself forward to brush his lips against Lance’s gently.
“You’re amazing, you know that?”
Lance’s eyelids flutter in excitement at the faint touch of their lips, effectively melting his entire body. The brunet hums in appreciation, sighing contently once he opens his eyes once again and sees his boyfriend staring right back at him with equal wonder.
“You’re giving me too much credit,” Lance says with a small laugh, his right hand leaving its place on Keith’s small back just to place it on top of his boyfriend’s head. He starts tugging the tangled knots on his scalp slowly. “Your bond with Black is the strongest one, it has a pulse on its own and everyone is able to feel it when we form Voltron.”
“It’s like a heartbeat,” Lance continues quietly, eyelids half-open as he traces Keith’s lips with his fingertips, his mouth turning into a small smirk when his boyfriend's breath hitches in surprise. “It’s enchanting, just like you.”
Keith chuckles, a small snort leaving his lips as he shakes his head but smiles down at him lovingly. “And you call me a sap.”
Lance beams, sending a wink to his boyfriend shamelessly.
“We can share the title.”