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Thace had come up with this...pre-bedtime ritual. He didn’t mean for it to come about, really. But as he seemed to be the only person on this ship who managed to keep a regular sleep schedule, he had deemed it necessary and useful to all parties involved. Plus, it made him relax. He knew where everyone was at the end of the day because he had put them there. He knew what emotional states they were in and any potential problems that might occur.
True, he could just ask the paladins how they were feeling, but as Haggar had proven, it was easy to work their minds into a frenzy of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness. They were children, after all. They were easy to mold and shape to the whims of Haggar. So Thace put everyone to bed, one by one, in the same order every night.
There was a reason for this. Trial and error had proven the most effective way to get everyone to bed the fastest and with the least amount of distractions.
First, he had to find Hunk. The reason for this was because Hunk often worked out his anxiety in the kitchen. If Thace were to put someone else to bed first and they walked by to smell some amazing pastries, they would become distracted and Thace would have to start the ritual all over again.
So, Hunk was first.
Thace would walk slowly to the kitchen to see if he smelled something baking. If something was cooking, he’d engage in some idle chatter with Hunk while they waited for whatever food he had concocted to finish. Then, Thace would assure the boy that they would still be fine tomorrow and it would make everyone happy to wake up to a sweet treat.
Of course, sometimes, Hunk was suffering from anxiety and Thace felt it his duty to help him calm down.
He could tell by now when he was anxious or upset. There was a tell in the way he moved his hands. Tonight it appeared as though he was anxious about something.
“What are you making?” Thace asked. It smelled sweet whatever it was.
Hunk went on to describe what a Snickerdoodle was and Thace was pretty sure he was more confused by the end than he was in the beginning. Still, he let the boy ramble.
“Is everything going okay?” He asked while Hunk pulled the freshly baked ‘snickerdoodles’ out of the oven (sometimes he thought the paladins were messing with him when it came to names from Earth. He still couldn’t get anyone to tell him what a ‘yeet’ was).
“Hm, oh, yeah, everything’s fine.” His tone was too light and airy to be true.
“You can talk to me if you need to. I am here to help.” Thace reminded him. He decided to take a stab at the problem. “Are you feeling like you’re not as useful as the rest of the team again?”
Hunk sighed. “It’s not that. I’m just worried about Earth. We’ve been away for what feels like years.” He wiped his eyes. “My family… I wonder how they’re dealing with me disappearing. I’m worried they’re going to be consumed by this and it’ll end up killing them.”
Thace put a hand on his shoulder and led him to a stool to sit. “If they are as strong as you, they’ll keep fighting every day to find you. Then, when you get back, you’ll be greeted by a group of people who did not give up on you and who did not believe you were dead. Imagine how happy they’ll be to see you again.”
Hunk laughed. “Victoria, my sister, will be so mad that I snuck out of the dorms. She’ll go into a rant about how this proves that breaking the rules leads to disastrous consequences.”
Thace nodded and decided that if Hunk were to be believed, he would like his sister. “That’s right. Follow the rules or else something terrible will happen.”
Now that he got Hunk laughing, it was safe to start getting him to his room.
Hunk let himself be led out of the kitchen. “Doesn’t Ulaz break the rules all of the time?”
“Ulaz is a terrible influence and you would do well to not follow any of his examples.”
The cloud had lifted slightly but was not completely gone. Still, it was better than nothing and with each passing day, it was getting better and better.
They stopped at Hunk’s door.
“You have a support network here,” Thace reminded him. “Coran, Ulaz and I are more than happy to listen and help wherever we can.”
“I know, I know.” Hunk looked to his feet.
“And if you are uncomfortable with us, the other children would be perfectly happy to help. Up here, we’re all we have for support. Lean on them and let them lean on you.”
Hunk looked up at him and smiled. “You’re right. I don’t like feeling like I’m bothering everyone else, though. Is there anything you need to talk about?”
There was, but it could wait.
“No, not right now. Off you go. Get a good night’s sleep.”
Once he was certain Hunk was in his room and wouldn’t be leaving for the next few vargas, it was time to go get Lance.
The reason why Lance was put to bed after Hunk was because he was often the easiest to get into bed. Unlike the rest of the paladins (save for Hunk), he actually understood the benefits of a good night’s sleep and was usually fairly easy to cart off to bed.
Sometimes, though, he was sitting, staring at the star map Coran had shown them, looking at a little blue planet.
Thace sighed. It looked like it was going to be a harder night. He stepped in the room.
“Lance, it’s time for bed,” he reminded gently.
Lance didn’t move. “Why haven’t the Galra attacked Earth yet?” he asked. “They know where it’s at. They took Shiro from it years ago and chased us through the solar system when I found the Blue Lion. If they’re so bloodthirsty, why haven’t they enslaved us yet?”
Thace sat down beside the boy and stared at the planet. “Zarkon’s first priority is getting all of the lions. Now that he knows where all of them are, he likely has no use for Earth and to capture and control it would just leach resources away from his actual goal.”
Lance nodded and continued to stare at the planet.
“You mentioned you lived with your family? Was it a big one?” Thace continued.
“Yeah. I had my maternal grandmother, paternal grandfather, mom, dad, and then four siblings. Veronica’s the oldest. She works at the Garrison.”
“As a pilot?”
“No, she does research.” Lance buried his head in his knees and his shoulders started to shake. Thace patted him on the back.
“Everyone was so happy when I got in. I thought I finally proved that I was worth something.”
This gave Thace pause. Lance had never spoken about his family in anything less than loving terms of endearment. Was there something lurking beneath the surface, like with Shiro and his family.
“Did they ever indicate that they weren’t proud of you?” He asked.
Lance shook his head. “It’s not that. Coming from such a large family it can be hard to stand out. I-I feel like I mess up so much. If I hadn’t forced Hunk to follow Pidge that night, we never would have freed the clone and then maybe we’d still be on Earth and I feel like everything that’s happened is my fault. Shiro and Keith wouldn’t have had to go through any of this. Allura and Coran would still be sleeping peacefully. Ulaz would be on the Balmera-”
“And I would have been undercover in an evil empire and only allowed to see my husband twice a decaphoeb if I’m lucky.” Thace reminded him.
Lance peaked at him, his eyes rimmed red and tears streaking his face.
He continued. “Whether or not you made the right decision is irrelevant now. You have to live with the consequences and these are the consequences. That doesn’t mean I like the fact that any of you are fighting. I wish that none of this would have happened. But if you remained on Earth it is entirely possible that your planet would have been enslaved and the Blue Lion captured along with the Red Lion. It’s also possible that both Keith and Ulaz would have been executed for crimes against the Empire and Allura and Coran could have been killed if Zarkon were to discover their whereabouts.”
“I guess so.” He sat back and stared at Earth for a bit longer.
“Lance, you’re not stupid. You are reckless, but you are also a child who has been forced into an unbelievably difficult situation.” Thace stood and pulled Lance up with him. “But none of this is your fault. This is Zarkon and Haggar’s fault. Do you understand?”
He nodded.
Thace smiled and led him to his room. “Get some rest. I have quite the training program for tomorrow and I want no one to be tired.”
Lance sniffed, wiped his eyes, and nodded. “Yeah, thanks Thace. I’m glad you’re here.”
“Any time.”
Next up were Allura and Coran. These two could be more or less interchangeable and it often depended on who he found first. Tonight it just so happened that Coran was found first, mumbling to himself and flipping through tactical notes they had gone over earlier.
“Coran,”
The man jumped and smiled at Thace. “Ah, is something the matter Lieutenant?”
“It’s getting late. You should probably head to bed.”
With Coran, things could be difficult. He often was over paranoid about events that could happen, so much so that he could sit for hours checking and rechecking everything just to ensure all systems were working. Thace couldn’t blame him, after the attacks they had suffered, it was hard to trust the security systems in place.
“Just a moment, running one more diagnostic.”
The trick was to get him thinking about the future, remind him of the things that were to come. The diagnostic on the security sensors blinked green, so it was working.
Thace turned back to him. “I was thinking tomorrow we could try the bonding exercises again,” he said, knowing full well what his training plan was. Still, it never hurt to at least pretend like Coran had a say in things. “I want Keith and Lance to get through that maze tomorrow.”
Coran put down the pad and stared thoughtfully for a moment. “Perhaps if we do the mind melds first, they’ll be more likely to trust one another.”
Thace started walking out the door. “I also want to try another obstacle flying course with Voltron fully engaged.” As expected, Coran followed him out and down the hall. “Individually, they are all getting much better, but their handling of Voltron could use some work.”
“Perhaps I can use that time to help train Allura on the weapons system of the Castle. She still hasn’t mastered the Ion Cannons.”
They chatted amicably on their way to Coran’s corridors. When they arrived, Coran chuckled. “You’re a sly one, Lieutenant. No wonder you’re such an asset to the Blades.”
Thace shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Good night.”
Coran waved and went into his room. Now that he was in there, the real work began. Hunk, Lance, and Coran were all relatively easy to get to bed. The rest of the people in the Castle, it was always a fight.
He searched out Allura next. She, like Coran, was running diagnostics and looking through reports. Unlike Coran, she was less concerned with what could happen in the future and more concerned with what happened in the past. It was tricky to deal with, but Thace had managed a system.
“Princess, you should get some rest.”
Allura jumped and looked at him. “Do you think Pidge was slower during the training than normal?”
She was, but not extremely slow to the point of worry. They all had off days and as long as their off days weren’t any better or worse than usual, it was fine.
“No, I thought she performed well today.” Thace sat down next to her. The trick with Allura was to get her thinking about the good things that had happened in the past, to break the cycle of rumination that would likely keep her up for hours.
“Did you enjoy the planet Uisce today?” He asked.
Allura nodded and smiled. “Yes, the people were lovely. I know they can’t offer much in the way of an ally against Zarkon--”
Thace held up a hand. “Not everyone will, but that doesn’t mean that our time here was wasted. Sometimes, visiting the little planets, the ones with no hope of standing up to Zarkon, help remind us of why we’re fighting, and not someone else.”
Allura stared at her hands. “I suppose.”
“I especially loved the fruits they gave us. Hunk said they tasted like what?”
“Strawberries. They were awfully sweet and I’m excited to see what he’s going to do with them tomorrow.” She smiled, her eyes softening as she remembered the events of the day.
Thace continued to talk to her about the various planets they had visited. He couldn’t leave as he did with the others; there was no guarantee that she would follow. He just had to wait until… yes! The space mice were yawning and looking sleepy.
“Princess, I hate to interrupt, but I think the mice would like to go to bed.”
“What? Oh! I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think about you.” Allura cooed as she scooped the mice up and carried them to her room. Thace followed to ensure she actually went to bed and didn’t just dump them and come back.
“Thank you, Thace. I know this isn’t what you asked to be doing…”
“Actually, I did ask for this,” Thace said. “Shiro may have suggested it to Kolivan, but I was the one who spoke to him afterward to let him know this was something I was willing to take on. This is the third time I’ve made an active decision to do something and not follow someone else’s orders.”
“What were the other two times?”
“Joining the Blades and saving Ulaz.” He smiled at her. “For that, I should be thanking you. Now, get some sleep.” He shooed her into her room and let out a sigh of relief when the door closed.
Onto the next group.
Keith and Pidge were another pair that were interchangeable depending on who he found first. However, they had to be after Hunk, Lance, Coran, and Allura because then they were tired enough to be easily controlled.
He stumbled on Pidge first, staring at her screen in a room that was too dark to be healthy for her eyes.
“Pidge, it’s time for bed.”
She jumped and stared at him as if she had never seen him before. She blinked a few times and turned back to her computer. “Just a few more minutes. I’ve almost cracked it.”
He didn’t know what exactly she was cracking, but from experience, he knew it would not be a few more minutes. “How long have you been working on it?”
He squatted down beside her and attempted to make sense of the mess of code that was on the screen. He quickly gave up. It was too late for this shit.
“I don’t know, since this morning. I’m so close, I’m almost there.”
“You know,” he said as innocently as he could, “didn’t you tell me once that the human brain solves problems even when it sleeps?”
Pidge blinked at him a few times.
“Perhaps sleeping thirty doboshes will be enough to work through it.” He had to start small. If he tried to convince her to go to bed for any longer, she would resist, but she was normally tired enough that thirty minutes felt reasonable.
She turned back to the computer. “But I’m so close.”
“Is this information that will be gone if you don’t solve it right this second?”
She shook her head.
“Then thirty minutes won’t hurt. Come on, let’s get you to bed.”
Pidge yawned and followed Thace. “Just thirty minutes?”
“That’s all you have to sleep.” He didn’t remind her to set an alarm. She suffered from insomnia and sometimes thirty minutes was all she could force her body to do. Something was better than nothing.
“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call.” He reminded her as she stumbled through her room, not tripping on anything, which was amazing considering the pile of junk that had accumulated on every flat surface, and fell face first into bed.
He tiptoed in after her and removed her glasses and boots, the child already out like a light before he even got out of the room.
Keith was easy to find, he was in the training room as always. It worried Thace how much the boy pushed himself. He was a capable fighter, one of the best on the team. And despite clearly being exhausted, he was holding his own against a level 5 gladiator. Still, his movements were sluggish and sloppy and Thace couldn’t let him continue.
“End training sequence.” The gladiator disappeared and Keith whipped around to see Thace standing there.
Sweat was pouring from him and he was covered in bruises and small cuts. Thace reminded himself to block off the training deck during certain hours. Keith would probably find some other way to train, but hopefully, it would be harder.
“What was that for?” He yelled.
Yep, this night wasn’t going to be an easy one.
“It’s time for bed, Keith,” he said in his most authoritative voice.
Keith wasn’t backing down. Perhaps he was still high on adrenaline. Perhaps he was frustrated at something. Either way, he was looking for a fight.
“I wasn’t finished!”
“I don’t care. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“You want us to improve.”
Thace’s patience was wearing thin and he needed to keep control. There was trauma in Keith’s past and if he made the wrong move, he could spook the boy and lose him, likely forever.
“Under my guidance so that you don’t get hurt.” He tried to keep his voice even and calm.
Keith was still in a defensive stance, his Bayard bared and swinging around.
“I can do it without your help.” The bayard deactivated and hung limply at his side.
Thace stepped forward and put a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “You may be able to, that doesn’t mean that you have to. You’ve already made great improvements, but if you work like this, you won’t. You’ll become a burden to the team.”
The way Keith flinched told Thace that was a low blow, but it was true. “I’ve seen young Blades like you who are so fixated on improving that they burn themselves out. If you want to get stronger, it requires you rest.”
Keith seemed to have unshed tears in his eyes and he hunched in on himself, not looking at Thace.
“Keith?” Thace bent down and tried to get the boy to look at him. “Do you trust me?”
He nodded.
“Then trust me. I’m not keeping you from training because I want you to get worse.”
Finally, he deflated completely, almost collapsing into Thace’s chest. He caught him and held him upright, peeling the Bayard from his hand and leading him over to get some water.
Once Keith was sitting and seemed to have regained some control, Thace started leading him to his room.
“I want to go to Shiro’s room tonight,” he said quietly.
Thace nodded and helped him to the other room. Galra were supposed to be incredibly social creatures and it wasn’t uncommon for entire families to share one sleeping chamber or even one bed. Humans didn’t appear to work that way, but Keith wasn’t fully human. However, this actually made Thace’s job easier.
“I’ll go find Shiro,” he said. “And Keith, train when I tell you to train and rest when I tell you to rest. I want what’s best for you and for the rebellion.”
Keith nodded and sat stiffly on Shiro’s bed.
Shiro was perhaps the hardest Paladin to get into bed. First off, he didn’t gravitate to one place like the rest of them did which meant that Thace actually had to search for him. Secondly, like Pidge his unwillingness to go to bed sometimes wasn’t a desire not to sleep, but an inability. He knew he suffered from night terrors, PTSD, paranoia, and a host of other problems caused by his time in the Empire. Thace and Ulaz both suffered as well, and, he suspected, Coran did too.
So for Shiro, Thace focused less on getting him to sleep and more on making sure he was in a safe headspace before he went to bed. Especially after the events with the stone, Shiro seemed especially vulnerable, though he never disclosed what he was shown.
Finally, he found Shiro at the feet of the Black Lion, staring at nothing in particular. He studied him for a bit to ensure he wasn’t dissociating, decided he was just lost in thought, and stepped forward.
“Shiro?”
He jumped, turning to Thace, arm briefly glowing. He relaxed a bit when he saw it was just him.
“Yeah, I know it’s late.” He returned to stare at the wall.
Thace came and sat next to him. “And yet you don’t seem to be in any hurry to sleep.”
He shrugged. “I don’t really feel like sleeping tonight.”
“Any particular reason.”
Shiro paused for too long. He wasn’t going to tell Thace the truth, at least not the whole truth. “It’s too quiet,” he finally said.
Thace nodded and cataloged the answer. The more he knew about what Shiro was feeling, the better he could help him in the future.
“Is there anything else that’s bothering you. You can tell me, you know? I’m here to help.”
Once again Shiro paused for too long. “No, Thace. No, I don’t think so.”
He thought about his next steps, thought about his previous interactions with the man and how he last got him to bed. He settled on using Keith, as underhanded as that was since Shiro did not want to talk tonight. Hopefully, over time, he could get him to open up.
The small voice in the back of his head reminded him that they may not have enough time, but he ignored it. They had time. Everyone was safe here and they were healing. They had time.
“Keith is in your room tonight.”
Shiro turned towards him, his face creased with worry. “What happened?”
“He overworked himself training again. I think he’s afraid that if he slows down, he won’t be good enough.”
He heard Shiro curse under his breath in a Haon dialect and caught the words ‘bastard’ and ‘mother’ and decided not to press. It was pretty well known what Shiro’s feelings were towards Keith’s mother.
“He’s going to be fine, Shiro.”
“I hope so. I feel like I’m not doing anything to help.”
How did a conversation that was supposed to be about helping Shiro turn into helping Keith?
Thace tried to get them back on track. “It’s good that you let him lean on you, but remember you need help as well. You’re not alone in this.”
Shiro nodded and stood up. “Yeah, I think I’m going to bed. Thank, Thace.”
He watched Shiro’s retreating form and sighed. It wasn’t as beneficial as some of the other conversations he had had tonight, but then again it never was. Shiro didn’t seem to ever let anyone see his vulnerable side. He’d get through to it. He had to if they were going to make it out of this alive. He’d figure out why Shiro seemed to bent on not talking to anyone.
For now, though, he had one last person to usher to bed. He stood up and made his way to the medical ward. Ulaz was, predictably, hunched over the bench making notes and muttering to himself. The lights were low in this room as well and Thace marveled at everyone’s abilities to ignore the Castle cues. He stood at the door, watching his mate. It didn’t feel real, being here with him. It didn’t feel right.
It did feel right; he loved Ulaz and wanted to be with him. But it didn’t feel like it was supposed to happen. He still felt as though he were dreaming and one day he’d wake up, back at his post with Ulaz out of his reach. The words of his parents came creeping back into his mind.
He pushed them away, the guilt from thinking about them again burning in his chest. He didn’t think those things. The stone created them, invented them for the purpose of torturing Thace to suicide.
Perhaps he should talk to Coran about what he had seen and heard. No, no, it wasn’t worth it. They were just words after all. Thace didn’t try and kill himself and it had only been for a few vargas. He could deal with it on his own. A good night’s sleep with everyone safe was what he needed.
“Laz, it’s time for bed.” Thace made a show to yawn, hoping that would catch his mate’s attention enough to pull him away from his work.
Ulaz turned to look at him. “Oh, oh yes I suppose it is.” He got up, walked over to Thace, and kissed him on the cheek. “Good night, my love.”
To Thace’s disappointment, he then went back to his bench and continued typing.
“I was kind of hoping you’d join me.” He knew this would happen, it always happened. It didn’t make it much less frustrating to deal with.
“I’ll only be a bit longer. You can go on without me. Be there in a tick.” He waved a hand at Thace.
Once again, Thace had experience on his side and knew that Ulaz was going to be more than a tick. If he left now, there was a good chance Ulaz would be here all night and he’d be lucky if he fell asleep at the bench instead of staying up.
“If that’s the case then I’ll wait for you.” He made a show of pulling up a chair, letting it scrape loudly across the floor, and plopping into it. His muscles ached from working all day and his back was starting to twinge again. He made another note to have Ulaz check it tomorrow.
Ulaz turned to him and then back to his work, biting his lip. “Um, no, that’s really alright. I’ll only be a few more ticks.”
The reason why Ulaz had to be last was because he didn’t go to bed unless Thace stayed up with him. He was horrible at taking care of himself, but relentless in taking care of others. If Thace was going to stay up as long as him, the Ulaz was going to make sure he got to bed. This didn’t work if Thace had other people to put to bed afterward. Besides, it was nice to collapse in bed with his mate after a long day, finally able to hold him and feel his heartbeat clear and strong enough to assure him this wasn’t all a dream.
“If it’s only going to be a few more ticks, then I don’t mind staying up a bit longer. Besides, I don’t think I’ve touched you all day and I’d like to hold your hand.”
Ulaz stilled and his ears flicked towards Thace.
“Perhaps walk arm and arm with you to our room.”
Ulaz sighed and sat back. He was almost there.
“Perhaps my arm around your shoulders, or the other way around. Pressing each other as close as we can possibly be while still keeping it decent for the hallway.” He wasn’t lying, all of that would be nice.
Ulaz put away his datapad and turned to Thace, smiling. “Alright, you’ve convinced me. Let’s go to bed.” He held out his hand and Thace pulled him up, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and leading him out of the med bay.
“You play dirty,” Ulaz said, leaning against him as they walked.
“I have no idea what you mean.” He opened the door to their room and the two stumbled into their pajamas and then collapsed onto the bed.
Thace kissed Ulaz’s forehead. “I love you.”
Ulaz wrapped his arms around Thace’s torso and snuggled closer. “Love you too.”
There were still words echoing in the back of Thace’s mind and he struggled to quiet them. Eventually, with Ulaz’s even breathing and the knowledge that they were safe for the time being, Thace closed his eyes and drifted off, ready to repeat the process again tomorrow night.