Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Summer Of Year 10, July 2nd, 9:43am

Lance wasn’t exactly thrilled about his plans to join his sister as she worked as a camp counsellor at a high school summer camp – albeit his situation was slightly different to Veronica’s as he would be a camper over a counsellor – but staying with his frankly overbearing family for the entire summer was not all that appealing to him. So, here he was, in the passenger seat of his sister’s car for a drive that was far too long for him to be comfortable considering how little time had passed since she’d gotten her licence, on their way to a summer camp that Lance hadn’t really cared very much to learn the name of.

Lance was at the camp around a week too early, thankfully nobody else at home really had time in their schedule to drive him around 3 hours to the countryside for something that Veronica would be at anyways, so they just had her beg her boss if her brother could come with her when she showed up for the briefings she had to sit through. The guy was basically an angel, so he agreed and let Lance tag along early. The camp was two weeks long for everyone else, three for Lance (and majority of the counsellors), and around a month for the counsellors that stayed to help pack up after all the kids left. Veronica, thankfully, was not one of those due to this being a summer job she rather carelessly picked up. So, when they pulled into a parking lot that seemed suspiciously more like a plot of sand that people just decided to leave their cars on, and started pulling out their luggage, everything was rather quiet.

The place was built around a lake that literally anyone could guess was going to be the main focal point of most of the activities done. Lance didn’t really mind this – he had always loved being around bodies of water, he had found it calming. But despite an already well known appreciation for such things, this was different. This lake was huge, but not in the daunting way that large bodies of water often are. It was beautiful. Surrounded by a sparse forest that had evidently been cleared out, making room for cabins, a mess hall, and a large and slightly worn dock. Possibly too beautiful to be used for a secondary school summer camp. Lance thought it could easily qualify for National Park status, but he didn’t really have half a mind to care. Any other day he would be concerned with the amount of people that were simply missing out on this view, but for some reason, he was selfish this time. He wasn’t missing out on this view. He had this huge glistening lake that was all his, at least for the week while the camp counsellors were getting briefed and trained before the horde of annoying 14–17-year-olds showed up.

There wouldn’t really be an issue with him not having anything to do while waiting for the camp to officially start; he didn’t think he could ever get tired of this. He began to regret the lack of knowledge he had collected on this place before showing up - he found himself wanting to know everything about it. And as he and Veronica walked down in complete silence (that he would’ve usually filled easily, but he was clearly a bit preoccupied), he analysed everything his eyes set on. The cabins were slightly worn, as if they were relatively new, but clearly loved – enough to take a toll on the way they looked far earlier than it probably should have. The paths were mainly desire paths, only visible due to hordes of people running down them, trying to find the fastest way to any one place. Lance wasn’t sure what feeling seeing all this was putting into his chest, but he wasn’t exactly too fussed about finding out. He could tell he would like it here. Enough to finally break the silence between him and his sister as they approached a group of counsellors perched on a staircase that he assumed led to the counsellor cabins and ask her,

“Are you planning on making this summer job an annual thing?”

Year 12, September 3rd, 6:53pm

Eight months ago.

“Dude, don’t you start in like three days, please do not waste college prep time obsessing over this girl that is definitely not into you like that.” Pidge sighed, lifting their legs so Lance could slide his own beneath them and prop himself up on the wall Pidge was laying by.

“I’m just saying, I might have found the love of my life!” He retorted, smiling to himself. He definitely hadn’t, and he wasn’t even all that interested in pursuing this girl romantically; he didn’t even know her name – him gravely overestimating his chances however, gave them all something to talk about.

“Oh my god, three days?” Hunk whispered as he walked into the living room and slouched onto the sofa. “I’m so not ready for that.”

Pidge groaned from where they were sprawled out on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. “Nobody is.”

Hunk groaned into his palms, and Lance sucked in his breath through his teeth, listening to Pidge’s small hum of agreement, realising his attempts to make conversation at the expense of his dire love life had fallen through.

Lance has been alive for a decently long time. The majority of it he’s spent with Pidge and Hunk; they went to the same primary school, the same secondary school, and eventually had ended up in the same college. It was definitely planned, despite how often they would adamantly insist that it was anything other than “just how life ended up” when asked about it. Technically, Pidge wasn’t even in their college yet; they still had to finish their GCSEs before getting in with Hunk and Lance, but everyone knew that they’d get in. They’d pass and follow Hunk and Lance, and the three of them would stay as attached at the hip as they’d been for the past eight years.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t live without the others – each would absolutely thrive on their own if torn away from their other pieces – it was just insanely easy to end up in the same place, and why opt for anything else if they could just stay together?

And therefore, here they were, three days away from classes starting, sitting in Pidge’s living room and decidedly not talking about how quickly everything was changing.

It was always a little bittersweet, starting a new school year. Nobody ever liked to talk about the fact that Pidge was always one year behind. They liked to claim that none of it mattered and that all three of them would always be together – which was true to some extent – but the idea that Hunk and Lance would be starting college, moving to a new school without Pidge? It was putting all of them in a funk.

Not one that they’d like to acknowledge however.

Year 11, June 13rd, 11:37am

School was out for summer next week, and Lance was a little too excited. Sure, any kid likes being on summer break, but he genuinely could not wait. In any other scenario he would be pretty pissed right now; History GCSE was possibly only ever created to torture people, and Iverson had moved him away from Hunk for being too ‘disruptive’ (valid), it was at least like 30 degrees in this godawful classroom, and Pidge was on lunch right now, probably having the time of their life without having to worry about stupid exam season – just to rub it in the face of Lance’s misery. He would’ve been perfectly happy being huffy and moody in the back of the classroom about all this, but he really couldn’t care less.

School was out for summer next week.

And then he’d have a week of doing nothing.

And then he’d be back at the lake.

He was probably far too excited about this to be considered normal. But it felt like a part of him at this point, if that makes it any better. He had stayed at that lake almost every day while Veronica was doing her counsellor duties during his week of freedom, and after the camp had officially started, it had gotten like 10 times better. He’d made a couple friends his age, snuck around in the woods after curfew, and had a lot more vodka than his body could probably take. The lake was much more calming with the faint sounds of a summer camp going on in the background. Plus, for one of the team building activities, they had to kayak out onto the lake, which was miles better than just sitting on the dock with his feet dangling into the shallower end of the water (Before someone had fucked up their rhythm, flipping over the entire kayak and Lance was suddenly much more wet than he had anticipated.) Regardless of all his memories of his first year, he liked Camp Voltron. And when Veronica said he could tag along again after year 11, he was over the moon. He couldn’t wait to have that blissful week of quiet, where he could do whatever he wanted, and spend most of it sitting at that stupid lake he seemed to love so much.

June 2nd, 09:17am

“Lance, wake up! We’re here.”

Lance groaned, attempting to stretch but forgetting that a.) he was in a car, and b.) said car was rather small as opposed to others. It had been fine in the past, but Lance was promptly getting much taller at a freakish rate, and it seemed like everything around him was designed to make his knees knock together and his neck strain ever so slightly.

He realised that he’d probably gotten himself too worked up in anticipation for the trip, because as soon as they’d gotten onto a main road, he was out cold. Much to Veronica’s relief, because he was possibly the most talkative he’d been in a while. Not that she was ever one to ignore Lance, she engaged in conversation almost every time he initiated it, it’s just much easier to drive a long way when you don't have your excitable 15-year-old brother in the passenger seat commenting on every field you drive past for no reason other than to simply make noise. He was still half asleep as they walked down to the cabins, which was annoying because he felt like he didn’t get a chance to look around as much as he’d wanted to, and he’d also realised far too late that Veronica was talking to him.

“- And I was going to tell you earlier, but I only remembered like halfway through the drive and you were pretty solidly passed out so I didn’t wanna wake you or anything.” She rambled.

“What?”

“Shiro! Y’know the guy with the white streak and the huge shoulders and that.” She sighed, gesturing vaguely to her own hair as if that would clarify anything.

Lance’s face burned. He knew Shiro. He had a tiny two-day crush on some random guy at camp that had absolutely challenged everything he knew about himself. Shiro had helped him talk through it. He had told Hunk and Pidge about Shiro when he came out to them. He hadn’t told Veronica about Shiro, and furthermore, his sexuality. He did not want to.

“Yeah, I know Shiro.” He said, hoping it wouldn’t prompt any questions from Veronica, which it probably wouldn’t but there were far too many things in Lance’s head right now to focus on how absurd that thought was.

“Anyways.” Veronica continued, making less eye contact with Lance as she kept talking, keeping her eyes trained to the cabins in the distance that they were slowly making their way towards. “I’m not that worried about you, I know you don’t really struggle with meeting new people or whatever, but I figured it would be decent of me to tell you beforehand-”

Huh?

“Wait,” Lance replied, rubbing the bridge of his nose with the hand that wasn’t tugging along his luggage. “Start over, what are we talking about?”

“Shiro.” she huffed, as Lance nodded, “He has a younger brother, and he’s here as well. Same situation as you, so it’ll just be you two while we do our week of prep before camp officially starts.”

Oh. Okay? It’s not really the best thing ever, but it’s not like a big deal or anything. If Veronica hadn’t told him he’d still probably be okay with it. It’s not like he needed a debriefing on this dude or anything.

Most likely, anyways.

Chapter Text

Year 12, September 8th, 10:49pm

Eight months ago. 

Everything was going scarily perfect in Lance’s life as of current. He was never one to be overly sceptical whenever good things came his way – he was an awesome guy, it makes sense that the universe wants to give him a little kiss for everything that's gone wrong in his life, yet the smooth sailing that these past couple of weeks after starting college had been was putting Lance unusually on edge. There was quite literally no reason for it, though. So, he’d come to the conclusion that it was just general nerves. That made sense. A lot of it, in fact. He was nervous – it couldn’t be helped. He’d sat through the worst of all the icebreakers and surely soon he’d fall into routine.

Lance was prone to stress. He would let things get to him easily and he would let it all build up until he couldn’t take it anymore. He'd learnt that the hard way during year 10. He'd also learnt how much he liked being in nature during year 10. So, when things got too much, he’d go for a walk.

Stay awake for hours laying in some field somewhere looking at the stars, or sat on an outdoor bench, or by whatever river stream he could find. It wasn’t a foolproof fix, and it wasn’t something that he’d rely on constantly; but it was something that allowed him just a moment to stay alone with the one thing that could never complain back to him, and it kept him grounded. He’d lost count of how often he’d been doing it. It was easy, there was always something nearby. Some plot of land that had been worn down over the years and was slowly forming into a pond, or some tiny little stream that he could watch for what seemed like hours.

And right now, he was exhausted. He thought he slept it all off when he’d gotten home from Pidge’s; but he was still so tired. A kind of tiredness he hadn’t felt in a while. A kind of tiredness that was just ever-present throughout his life. A kind of tiredness he knew how to fix.

But everything was changing. It wasn’t like he was moving halfway across the country or anything, but everything was uncertain. As if he’d yet to discover if the town he’d lived in his whole life was still safe.

If that made any sense.

Year 11, June 3rd, 1:42pm

Keith could’ve sworn he was losing his mind. It was so Shiro to conveniently forget to mention the other kid that was also staying at camp in the exact same situation as him. It was definitely some sort of ploy to give Keith a ‘lifelong friend’ or some other bullshit that his brother was always up to.

He was fully content in ignoring this guy for the majority of their extra week, and only being cordial. He was convinced that with how big the camp was, there wasn’t really any need for them to interact. And he’d gone the first day and a half without any real interactions with this guy, so he figured they were on the same page.

They, evidently, were not.

He stood above Keith, leaning over his face in a way that at any other moment would’ve been looming. He blocked out the sun that Keith was letting lull him to sleep, and made it really hard to get a solid look at his face.

He'd decide later how he felt about that.

In an ideal world, Keith would be able to claim that he only realised that he was being spoken to halfway through his very, very lacklustre speech. However, he isn’t one to lie to himself. Keith was paying attention. From the moment he said “Hi,” and promptly had not stopped talking, despite Keith actively attempting to ignore it.

“I’m Lance. McClain. I’m staying at camp too, obviously. My sister’s a counsellor here, kinda like your brother. Um, I’m Veronica’s brother - you know Veronica? She’s like...” he trailed off, perhaps realising he was rambling. And that the person he was rambling to was actively attempting to ignore him. “She looks like me, I guess.” He finished.

Neither of them said anything for at least 30 seconds. Keith would rather wait for him to leave than to specifically ask to be left alone, it doesn’t always fare well for him when he does. But this Lance kid did not move. He stood relatively still, leaning over Keith, blocking out the sun, and perhaps studying his face in a way that Keith did not care to open his eyes to catch a glimpse of.

“Wanna go to the lake?”

“What?” Keith opened his eyes.

Lance finally stood up straight, kicking at the ground beneath his feet while stuffing his hands into his pockets. The sun got in Keith’s eyes.

“The lake.” Lance repeated, as if it was common sense. “You haven’t seen it before, have you?”

“I... have not. Why does it matter?” Keith sat up - he could guess this conversation wasn’t ending soon.

“Dude, I'm trying to be nice. Just come to the stupid lake with me.” Lance huffed, clearly a little frustrated, but attempting to make a light joke. Keith was pissing him off. It was kind of funny.

“Why would I go to the stupid lake?” Keith pushed back, deciding instead to play into this.

“Why do you ask so many stupid questions?” Lance moved ever-so-slightly forward. Keith could see his face now that he was sat up. He let himself stare for a second.

Lance was objectively handsome - for a 16-year-old boy, anyway. Keith couldn’t properly see the colour of his eyes, but they looked decently blue – in a way that suited him a tad bit unfairly. He was tan and tall – taller than Keith at least, and his hair was the perfect shade of brown for this weather, and the way the sun bounced off it made it seem more golden than anything.

Was that weird to notice? Who knows. Keith had noticed.

He’d noticed Lance’s absurd amount of freckles, and the way he rocked back and forth on his legs. He’d noticed the way the bottom of his shorts were a little wet, and the way his eyes darted around, sneaking glances at Keith, but not quite too sure of anything they were doing. He hadn’t noticed that he was definitely staring. Enough to make it weird.

Keith cleared his throat. “I think they’re pretty rational questions.”

Lance rolled his eyes at that, and threw his hands up in exasperation. “Why are you being so difficult about this?”

“I don’t know you, man.” Keith lay back down on his bench, deciding to not close his eyes this time. At least not fully. “I don’t see the point in going to a boring lake with a random guy just so we can sit in awkward silence or something.”

“Silence is only awkward if you make it awkward.”

“And it’ll very easily be made awkward.”

“Only if it gets silent. I’m good at talking.”

“I can see that.”

“What’s your deal, dude? You never even told me your name.” Lance sighed. “Most people do that, y’know.”

The moment he noticed the shift in the way Lance was holding himself, Keith had a bit of a realisation. He was being a total dick. And he would be lying if he didn’t feel a little shitty about it. Yeah, he didn’t know Lance, but they would essentially be all alone for a week while the counsellors were off doing important adult stuff, and the whole reason Shiro brought him to this camp was to meet people and get out of his shell so-

“Keith.” he blurted, scrambling to his feet to attempt to follow Lance as he turned to walk away. “My name. I am. Keith... and, uh, yeah, sure I’ll go to the lake... If you’re still down.”

Lance smiled. The same kind of toothy grin he had when he’d first tried to talk to Keith. He hadn’t realised he’d noticed Lance’s smile.

“C’mon then. It's like, way far from here.”

Year 12, November 15th, 5:49pm

Six months ago.

Keith kicked up his skateboard, using his shoulders to push open the heavy doors of the studio. He’d been coming to Atlas studio for years; he honestly could not remember a moment in his life without it. It felt like such a big part of his identity at this point, and so there he was, on another Thursday, making his way up to the abandoned rooms at the very back of the third floor. Sometimes, the newer art students would refuse to come up here, wholeheartedly believing them to be haunted. Keith loved them for that exact reason.

He’d hated everything about secondary school. With an intense passion. He figured that college would be better. And it was, to some extent. While yeah, he did love art, it was a little different doing it as a graded subject. The only thing keeping him stable at this point was going to Atlas every week, and also the fact that there wasn’t pastoral up his asshole at every corner. He’d settled into college decently fine, and everything seemed to be actually… enjoyable for him.

New territory, he supposed.

He dropped his bag off his shoulders, letting his board fall out of his hands and roll into a corner somewhere. Sometimes, when Keith came to Atlas he was struggling, and wanted a way to vent. Other times, he was doing great, and just wanted to put his happiness into a painting. Sometimes painting felt like a chore. Sometimes it was all he wanted to do for hours. Currently, he wasn’t sure what he was doing. It wasn’t like he needed to paint to relax, more so that Atlas was a routine of his, and he’d rather keep it up during a period of change. So, he was just allowing himself to paint. Whatever happened would happen.

He let himself get lost in his painting, letting whatever playlist he’d put on drown out any possibilities of a thought forming. Possibly let himself get too lost - he didn’t even notice the sound of someone coming upstairs until he peered over his canvas, spotting them standing in the door frame, watching him.

“Hey, Keith.”

“Gross. Why're you watching me, creep?” Keith whispers, sitting up and stretching his arms. God, how long had he been here?

“Y’know most people say ‘hello’.” He chuckles, taking a few strides into the room and sitting on a stool a few feet away from Keith.

“Yeah, hi Matt.”

For as long as Keith had been coming to Atlas, he’d been in Matt’s life as well. His mother was the one who owned the studio, and Matt was there almost every time Keith was, despite claiming that they only knew each other through Shiro. Matt was a dork, and Keith was perfectly fine being that emo kid that pretends to not laugh at any of his jokes.

“What time are you thinking of heading home, man?”

“Kicking me out already?” Keith snickers, deciding that he wasn’t really getting anywhere with his painting anyways, and he probably should start heading home.

“Keith, it's like almost seven. And we both know how Shiro throws a fit if you’re not home for dinner.” Matt groans, crossing his arms across his chest and sinking further down the stool, watching as Keith begins packing up. “Plus, I basically got promoted, and my first duty as of right now, is cleaning up. Figured I’d start up here since you’re the only one here.”

“What’s happened to Colleen that she’s actually making you do shit around here?” Keith snorts.

“Funny.” Matt deadpans. “Mum wants to partner with this college so the T-level students can work as marketing for their media course, and mum wants me to be their 'mentor'.”

“Yikes.”

“I’m pretty good at my job, actually-”

“Could’ve fooled me,”  Keith interjects.

“It won’t be that bad! He only starts in a few weeks anyways, I’ve got time.”

“You won’t need time.” Keith sighs, turning to face Matt before stuffing his paints back in bag. “You’ll be fine. You’re 20, act your age. Plus, you’re good with people.”

“Aww, thanks Keith,” Matt coos.

Keith scoffs. “That was not me being nice.”

“Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night. See you next week, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Keith slings his bag over his shoulder and scoops his board up from where Matt had rolled it over to him. “Later.”

Atlas has never really put much effort into their marketing, Keith mused on his way out. Not that it’s any of his business.

Year 11, June 3rd, 2:05 pm

Keith was an interesting person, to put it… nicely. Despite how much Lance had proudly claimed that he was a good talker and it definitely wouldn’t be awkward, it was almost as if everything Keith did was to ensure that their conversation - or lack thereof - was indeed, awkward.

Every time he looked over at Keith, however, he seemed to be far more content with the silence than he claimed he’d be 20 minutes ago. It was weird, and Lance wondered if he looked anything like this the first time he came to the lake. Keith sat next to him, legs crossed and eyes lidded, swaying ever so slightly to the sound of the wind dancing through the trees and the lake splashing every so often. That was the issue, though. Keith looked like peace personified, and Lance was just there. Sat on the dock a few feet away, gripping one of his legs to his chest as the other dangled off the side, grazing the surface of the water every so often. He sort of felt as though he was intruding, sitting there watching Keith. This was possibly the first time Lance had sat at this lake and not felt at ease, and he had no clue why. Was Keith really that okay with sitting in silence like this? Did he just not want to talk to Lance? Maybe he should’ve just left him alone. They would’ve probably had a better meeting that way, maybe Shiro or Veronica would’ve introduced them rather than Lance making an absolute fool out of himself trying to be cool and outgoing-

“So, why are you at camp?”

“What?”

Keith sat back, leaning on his arms, legs still crossed. “Camp. Why’d you tag along early?”

Lance sighed. “Nobody else at home would have time to come drive me down, so I just came with my sister. Less hassle that way.”

Keith hummed, eyes still trained on the forest across the lake, and still slightly lidded. He never seemed to make eye contact with Lance.

“What about you?”

“Eh.” Keith muttered. “Long story.”

“You don’t wanna talk about it?”

“Not exactly.” Keith shrugged.

"Why'd you bring it up then?" Lance snorts, but Keith doesn't really find it that funny.

Silence fell again, comfortable - he assumed - for Keith, restless for Lance. He wanted to feel as at ease as Keith looked. It was his idea to go to the lake anyways, and he didn’t want to ruin it by being embarrassing and antsy. Keith put him on edge, and if he was going to be stuck with him for a week he’d rather not make a fool out of himself and have them awkwardly dance around each other.

It was strange, what happened next. Almost as though him sitting and doubting himself had made him particularly aware of where they were, and how the water sloshed around his shoes every time he moved his leg a little. It was calming, focusing on the water. It was why he loved the lake so much to begin with. It was why he decided to bring Keith here. Yet they just sat on the dock in silence. It felt to Lance as though they weren’t even doing… whatever this was, **right.

So, he got up. He tugged his shoes off, tossing them to the side a little too haphazardly, and having to scramble to make sure they didn’t fall off the dock and into the lake. He turned to Keith, who was watching him out of the corner of his eye - sceptical, yet he didn’t ask any questions. Alright, Lance had to give him the answers unprompted. That was fine.

“Take your shoes off,” He beamed, rising to his feet.

“Yeah, no.” Keith said, rolling his eyes. He was smiling though, Lance noticed.

“Keith!” Lance whined, “Please? Are you not bored?”

Keith stared ahead for a few seconds longer, that same ghost of a smile still present on his lips. Lance could never tell what he was thinking.

Until he got up, and started taking his shoes off. Leaving lance watching him, lips slightly agape, shocked that it didn’t take much convincing.

Keith placed his shoes down next to Lance’s, and stood up again, watching Lance as he did so. “What now?”

Lance… did not know the answer to that question. And against everything in him that had any sense of better judgement, he held out his hand for Keith to take. Which Keith did take, he’ll have you know.

Lance moved fast. Possibly so he could deprive his brain of any time to think of why this wouldn’t be a good idea. He didn’t miss Keith’s surprised squeak as he tugged him away from the edge of the deck, and towards the lakefront, and did not miss the way Keith yelled curses as Lance practically threw himself into the water, splashing Keith and letting go of his hand at the same time.

“What the fuck, man?” Keith shrieked, wiping water away from his face.

Lance couldn’t help but laugh. “C’mon! It’s way better than just watching from the dock!”

“You are insane.”

“Eh, you’re fine, as long as you can swim.” Lance paused. “You… can swim, right?”

Keith grimaced, slowly wading into the water until he was at waist level - similar to Lance - sucking in his breath the further he walked in.  “I can swim.”

“Good!” Lance chimed. He studied Keith’s face, and while he looked uncomfortable, he’d had that look on his face since the moment Lance had seen him. Either Keith hated him, or that was sort of just the way he looked. Only one way to really find out.

“Loosen up, my guy.” Lance giggled, moving his arms to send the slightest splash of water Keith’s way, studying his face as the slightest smile made its way onto his lips. Okay. That’s good.

“I’m plenty loose.” Keith retorted, splashing Lance in retaliation, with much more force than Lance had used, and he seems to realise this at the same time Lance does, because for a split second, his expression falters to something unsure. Not good. Lance can fix that though.

“Oh, you’re so dead,” he snorted, jumping over to Keith, only briefly hearing his yelp over the sounds of the water hitting its surface one more, before they’re both soaked.

Lance loses track of how long they’re messing around in the shallow ends of the water, splashing each other, collecting stones from the lake bed, and seeing who can float on their back the longest before getting lost at sea - lake? - between fits of giggles and competitions that held little to no weight.

By the time Keith brings up the fact that it’s getting dark, Lance is fairly sure Veronica would be calling him back for dinner regardless. So, they grab their shoes from the deck, and walk back to the cabins absolutely drenched, still laughing about nothing in particular. Lance shares stories about the things he did during his first year at camp and watches Keith’s face light up, as though he’s building up anticipation for the camp to actually start. Lance feels as though the good part has already begun, but he doesn’t pay much mind to that train of thought.

When the two of them get back to the cabins, Lance watches as Veronica sets her eyes on the pair of them, and very poorly stifles his giggles as she pulls her glasses off and massages the bridge of her nose.

“Lance, my love?” She whispered, eyes flicking between him and Keith.

“Mhm?” Lance beamed, feigning innocence.

“What is wrong with you?” Veronica sighed, although with no real discontempt behind her voice.

“I keep telling you - I was definitely a mermaid in my past life.” Lance taunted, wringing out water from his shirt for dramatic effect.

“Oh my God, just go change before dinner, I beg of you.” She turns on her heel, waving her hand at the two of them.

Lance doesn’t miss the way that Shiro smiles at them, and the way that Keith pointedly avoids looking at him as they turn towards their dorm to go change before heading back to the Mess Hall.

He’ll bring it up later, he supposes.