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“I think he’s breathing weird,” Pidge noted, squinting at the faint vitals monitor located within the healing pod. Inside, Lance stood frozen as the pod worked to heal the wounds inflicted by the Galran bomb. The last 24-hours had been a nightmare, but Sendak was locked away and everyone was in one-piece…well, almost.
“Oh, come on,” Keith tapped on the glass of the cryo-pod impatiently. When they had placed Lance inside the pod yesterday, Allura had mentioned that it would only take one day to fully heal Lance.
“Not yet!” Allura scolded. “He needs a few more ticks, and he’ll be good as new!”
“It’ll take more than a few ‘ticks’ to fix him…” Keith muttered under his breath.
“What exactly is a ‘tick’?” Hunk asked with a raised eyebrow.
And that’s how the rest of the team became preoccupied with the difference between a tick and a second. It was stupid really, Keith thought. Time was time and it was going to pass whether it was a tick or a second. Pidge seemed to think so too. Keith watched as she whipped out a small Altean handheld device from her back pocket, effortlessly hacking into the ship’s mainframe and locating the status of the healing pods. Numbers and symbols quickly scrolled up the screen.
“Oh, cool!” she breathed, staring captivated at her device.
“What?” Keith was curious too, trying to look over her shoulder and see Lance’s stats on the tiny screen. Maybe he could find something embarrassing to tease him about later.
Pidge slid her glasses back up her nose. “You can watch his body start to thaw from its cryo-healing state. His heart rate is starting to rise to normal.” She pointed to the corner of the screen where Keith could see a faint beating glow.
“Wait, let me see!” Keith made a grab for the device, but Pidge stepped away from him.
“Hey!! I’m watching this!” Pidge glared. However, at that moment, the rest of the team decided to experimentally test the length of a tick versus a second, capturing her attention long enough for Keith to swipe the device out of her hands. “Hey!”
Keith turned the handheld over a couple times in his hands, staring at it blankly. Altean symbols flashed around the screen tauntingly. Wasn’t there a translate button? “Wait, how to do you use this?”
-BEEEEEP-
Everyone’s head whipped around as the healing pod sounded off. Hunk’s happy “Yay, Lance is ready!” was lost when Allura and Coran locked eyes, immediately concerned.
“That’s not…supposed to happen,” Allura quickly walked back to the pod, Coran in tow.
“It’s still a couple ticks too early!” Coran said concerned, trying desperately to look over the pod’s controls. “I don’t understand why he’s being released!”
Pidge turned accusingly to Keith, her face seething. “What did you do?!”
“Uhhh…” Keith watched as everyone turned from Lance’s pod to him, shocked. Keith recoiled. He didn’t do anything! All he did was grab the stupid device to look at Lance’s stupid vitals, and-. Keith looked down at the device, saw how his thumb was still sitting perfectly on a large red button that Keith could only guess was the Altean word for ‘EJECT.’ The heartbeat sensor in the corner was beating rapidly. Oh crap…
Keith ran to the pod just as the door hissed open and Lance’s body fell out without support. Allura and Coran screamed as they caught him, quickly laying him down on the floor.
“Lance. Lance! Can you hear me?” Allura yelled, shaking his shoulders.
Lance groaned and stirred, everyone instantly sighing in relief. “Guys?” Lance croaked as he started blinking his eyes open.
“Lance, how do you feel?” “You ok, buddy?” “You’re ok, right?” “Good to have you back, man!” The layers of voices were too much, and Lance gave another loud groan.
“Stop! …stop. I’m ok.” Everyone sighed. “Aug, I feel like shit. Where are we? Are we captured?”
Hunk laughed. “What are you talking about, man? Of course not!”
“Well, then, who turned off the lights? Don’t tell me Sendak destroyed our lighting controls, the bastard…” Lance mumbled, gritting his teeth as blood started flowing to his outer extremities.
“It’s dark? Lance…uh, the lights are on, buddy,” Hunk pointed out nervously.
“Huh? You're kidding, right? It's pitch black out!”
“Lance, he’s not kidding. Are you sure you can’t see anything?” Shiro asked, crouching down by the blue paladin.
Everyone watched as Lance squeezed his eyes shut, pressing his palms against his sockets for several long seconds. He blinked slowly after opening them again, his face scrunched in concentration, hoping to see a faint glimmer of light but his eyes remained unfocused. In a panic, Lance reached his arms out in front of him, desperately trying to grab onto something or someone. Allura quickly grabbed his hand, cradling it in her lap. “Why the FUCK can’t I see?”
Coran sighed dejectedly, patting the young paladin’s arm. “This…has happened before. When someone is ejected from the cryopod early, their body is still in the middle of the healing process. Usually that button is used only in the case of extreme emergency, like if the need to evacuate the ship is immanent. Even though it was only a little early, looks like the pod wasn’t done healing your eyes…”
Keith didn’t understand. Was Lance blind now? Forever? Guilt punched him in the stomach as he looked at Lance’s scared face. Pidge’s handheld fell out of Keith’s limp hand and hit the ground, the sound echoing off the metal walls
Allura stirred into action. “Shiro, help me get him to the medic bay. We can check the state of his eyes better there.” Shiro quickly scooped Lance into his arms after the blind paladin gave no effort to move.
As the team exited the room, Keith could only stand in shock. He did this? He ejected Lance too early from the healing pod and now he was blind? This had to be some sick joke. If Lance was blind, how could he pilot the blue lion? How could they form Voltron and beat Zarkon? Keith felt the crushing weight of the galaxy’s fate on his shoulders.
“Hey, he’ll be ok,” Pidge tugged on Keith’s jacket, trying to get his attention. Her chin was tucked in to her chest, eyes lowered. The guilt of hacking into the pod’s data in the first place hurt. “The pod probably shut down the visual center in his brain so his body could focus all it’s energy on healing his injuries. I’m sure he’s fine…”
“Probably?”
Pidge couldn’t answer. “Come on, let’s go see if he’s ok.”
The two walked slowly towards the medic bay.
Entering the medic bay, Keith could see Lance sitting on a hospital bed in the corner, his tan skin looking ashen against the bright white sheets and the damp cryo uniform he was still wearing. The rest of the team surrounded him as Coran scanned Lance’s head with a 10,000-year-old Altean medical instrument.
“That has to be out of date…” Keith thought skeptically as the machine rotated around Lance’s head.
“Hmm, I see, I see,” Coran muttered, making various nonsensical noises as the machine continued to buzz.
The rest of the room was silent. Everyone shifted nervously waiting to hear Lance’s diagnosis. Keith clenched his hands shut. “He can’t be blind…right? Did he somehow get hit during the fight against Sendak? But…he shot at Sendak and hit him straight on! He must have been able to see then.” Keith stared at his feet, unable to meet anyone’s eyes.
“Well!” Coran shouted, causing everyone to jump. “The good news is it appears there’s no permanent damage!” An audible sigh filtered through the room, and Lance’s shoulders relaxed fractionally.
“Why do I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming,” Lance murmured, his head turned towards Coran.
“Yes, well,” Coran cleared his throat. “The healing pod isn’t meant to be used consecutively by one person. It takes a toll on the body as you reach cooler temperatures and it wouldn’t be safe to put you back in yet. So, without the cryopod’s accelerated healing power, we’ll just have to wait for your eyesight to come back naturally.”
Lance groaned. “And how long is THAT going to take?”
“We’re not sure,” Allura piped in. “Thankfully, you were only released from the pod a few ticks early so it could be anywhere from a day to a week. It’s hard to say.”
Lance whined, annoyed, but the mood in the room was lighter. Keith was visibly relieved that this wasn’t a permanent state. Lance would still be able to pilot his lion, they’d still be able to form Voltron. They’d still be a team.
“That’s great news, Lance,” Shiro smiled gently, placing a hand on Lance’s shoulder. He turned to the rest of the group, “While Lance is healing, we’ll need someone to watch him.”
“Allura and I just started working on how to eliminate the Galran crystal’s dark energy from the ship’s system,” Pidge commented. “Sorry Lance, but we’re not sure how long it’s going to take…that dark crystal did some damage.”
“Yes, and I’m still working on bolstering the ship’s defenses. Maybe adding a backup recognition system so nothing like this happens again,” Coran added.
Shiro nodded. “Alright. Hunk and I will continue helping with repairs around the castle, which leaves…” Keith stepped back as five pairs of eyes locked onto him.
“NO!” Keith and Lance yelled simultaneously.
“Do NOT make me babysit this loser. I can help with repairs!” Keith pleaded. A overshadowed cry of “hey!” came from Lance.
Shiro folded his arms, scowling. “You know Hunk and I are better engineers than you.” Keith frowned but couldn’t argue. “The team needs you to help Lance get around and with anything he might need. Plus…I think you owe him that much.” Shiro gave a very pointed look.
Keith glared, knowing Shiro was right.
Lance flashed an evil smirk, “Keith as my servant, huh? That doesn’t sound half bad.”
“No way in hell will I be your servant!”
“Hate the sin not the sinner.”
“…what the fuck does that even mean!?”
As the two squabbled, Hunk leaned towards Shiro. “You sure they won’t kill each other?” he whispered.
Shiro gave a knowing smirk. “Nah. This actually might be good for them.” Hunk just looked at him confused, clearly not convinced.
“Alright, everyone. Let’s head out and get to work. We’ll see you later, Lance. Get better soon,” Shiro once again patted Lance’s arm, causing the blue palidin to smile.
“Lovin’ all the fuss, guys,” he joked.
Keith watched as the rest of the team said goodbye, wishing he was leaving with them. He didn’t think he could survive being around Lance 24/7.
As the footsteps died away, Lance’s shoulders slumped forward and a tired sigh escaped from his lips.
“So…ah, I’m sure you’re hungry, yeah? You haven’t eaten in 24 hours. I’ll go get you some food,” Keith offered, trying to break the silence while doing his job as official Lance-watcher.
Lance started to shake his head, but stopped and reached to grip the bed’s safety rail in order to steady himself. Keith winced, only imagining how disorienting that must be. “I’m not hungry, just tired. This is all a bit overwhelming,” he mumbled.
“Food will help speed up your recovery. We need you to recover if we’re ever going to form Voltron again,” Keith pointed out logically.
“Dude, I know, ok? I said I’m not hungry!” Lance snapped, exhaustion shortening his temper.
“Let me just-”
“Keith, I’m fine, ok? Just leave me alone!” Lance yelled, glaring so fiercely that Keith was almost convinced he could see.
“FINE!” Keith threw his arms in the air, irritated at how quickly Lance could get under his skin. “Whatever. If you don’t want help, I’ll just leave. You don’t even want me here!”
“What?”
“You don’t need me right now so I’m going to train. I’ll be back later.”
“No, Keith, wait-”
Keith stormed out of the bay, leaving Lace gaping in shock behind him. He stomped to the training facility, his bayard already transformed before he even entered in the room. After yelling out a command for Training Level 2, he assumed his fighting position. He knew he was overreacting, but he couldn’t help it. Lance had the ability to make his skin itch and his emotions flare. Everything was exemplified when he was around the blue paladin. He needed a release.
“Stupid Lance, he just has to be an annoying prick all the time,” Keith thought as he twisted and turned, dodging the oncoming attacks from the training drone. “All I was trying to do was help him and he doesn’t even want my help!” Keith narrowly rolled out of the way from a sword attack. Drone after drone surged towards him. While he efficiently evaded them, his mind continued to be preoccupied. “God, if I hadn’t fucking pressed that eject button early we wouldn’t even be in this mess. Lance would be fully healed, sight and all. If there was an attack right now, we wouldn’t even be able to form Voltron.” Keith’s movements slowed as realization dawned. “It’s all my fault…and I freaking yelled at him…I’m such a jerk.”
Keith yelled out to stop the training simulation, mentally exhausted. He wiped the sweat that was starting to drip down his forehead, his stomach churning with guilt. “I need to go back to him.”
With his sword retracted in his bayard, Keith started making his way back down the castle’s labyrinth of hallways to the medic bay. With each step a sense of urgency to get back to Lance grew stronger.
“…what…gon-…do…”
Keith stopped suddenly, hearing a distant voice coming from an adjacent hallway. “Who could that be? Pidge?” Keith thought, taking a quick detour down the dark hallway as he followed the voice. Instead of finding Pidge, Keith turned the corner to spot Lance curled up into a ball against the wall, his face in his hands and his body rocking back and forth.
“Lance! What the HELL are you doing here?!?” Keith yelled out, running up to the broken paladin. Lance recoiled at the sudden shout, his hands shooting out to try and grab onto the wall.
“K-keith?” his voice was quiet, which scared Keith more than it should.
“I can’t fucking believe you. Why did you leave your bed? This is just going to set your recovery back further-” Keith stopped short as he crouched down next to Lance. Lance quickly tried to hide his face but not before Keith noticed his red rimmed eyes. What Keith had thought was rocking was actually small tremors that wracked through the blue paladin’s body. “Hey…hey, it’s ok, I found you,” Keith reached out to grab Lance’s arm, noticing it was ice cold. Lance immediately tried to move into the warmth, covering Keith’s hand with his own, pressing it into his arm.
“Hey, man. Are you ok? What are you doing out here?” Keith tried again.
Keith grimaced as Lance broke out into a small smile. “Fine day for a stroll, yeah? Thought I’d…you know, stretch my legs.” Lance let out a forced, small laugh, his hand coming up again to wipe at his eyes.
Keith frowned. “I don’t understand?”
“I…I tried to find you. I thought I could get to the training arena without being able to see. I…I guess I couldn’t remember as well as I thought,” Lance muttered, his hand gripping Keith’s tightly. Keith felt a shameful blush splash across his face at the thought of Lance trying to find him.
“You’re an idiot. You could have gotten lost who-knows-where in this castle!” Keith scolded, trying to cover up his own guilt for leaving Lance in the first place. Lance stayed silent, and Keith sighed. “You’re impossible. Come on, let’s get you back to the medic bay.” He wanted to get Lance as far away from this cold, dark hallway as he could.
Keith stood up, dragging Lance into a standing position in the process. “Woah!” Lance gasped, clutching onto Keith’s chest at the sudden change in altitude. “Jeez, dude. Warn a guy!” Lance placed one hand on the wall to ground himself, the feeling of vertigo overwhelming.
“Sorry, sorry.” Keith held Lance steady.
“Take me back to my room!”
“What? No.” Keith responded.
“Hey! The medic bay smells weird! Like sickness and 10,000 year old sterilizer. And it’s cold…and lonely. If I’m going to be holed up in a bed recovering, it might as well be my own!”
Keith scowled, “It’s going to be lonely in your room too.”
“Not if you’re there,” Lance said lightly.
Keith felt his face blush as he imagined him and Lance alone in his room together.
“Plus, I’ll just try to get there myself eventually when you’re not looking…” Lance continued with a threatening tone.
“You wouldn’t even know when I’m not looking,” Keith countered. However, at Lance’s unblinking stare, Keith relented. “Fine, fine! You’re a horrible patient, you know that?”
Keith rolled his eyes, slightly irritated but couldn’t help feeling satisfied as a big stupid grin formed on Lance’s face. Keith let go of Lance and started walking back down the hallway towards Lance’s bedroom. However, at the lack of following footsteps, he turned back to see Lance frozen in the same spot. “Oh right…blind,” he mentally slapped himself.
“Right, um, follow my voice?” Keith suggested. He watched as Lance’s face whipped in his direction and on shaky legs started moving towards him, both hands touching the wall for guidance and support. Keith felt his heart drop at the sight and quickly walked back to the struggling pilot.
“Here, let me help you.” Keith took Lance’s arm, swinging it over his shoulders as Keith snaked an arm around Lance’s waist to support him. He left Lance’s other arm free to touch the wall, looking like it might be the guy’s lifeline.
“…Thanks,” Lance chirped, once again leaning into Keith’s warm body.
“He’s still so cold,” Keith thought, realizing it must be residual from the cryo-healing process. Keith unconsciously gripped Lance’s body closer to his in an attempt to warm him. They walked like that for a while, taking slow steps.
“I’m sorry…for leaving you earlier,” Keith said suddenly, the words leaving his mouth before he could stop them. “I shouldn’t have left you alone like that.”
Lance flashed him a grin. “It’s my fault too. I shouldn’t have left the medical bed. I was just bored and wanted to hear your butt get handed to you by the training robots.”
Keith huffed, “Yeah, whatever, dude.”
Keith knew Lance was lying. But Keith also knew what it was like to be alone and scared with no one to comfort you. Growing up in the orphanage had been like that. The kids were constantly being shuffled between different locations in an effort to get adopted, but that meant friendships never lasted long. After a while, Keith stopped trying. He looked after himself, and he survived. But growing up, Lance must have been constantly surrounded by people, loved by his family and friends. It must have been important to be strong in front of younger siblings, to pretend that everything was fine when it wasn’t. Keith did the same thing with the younger kids at the orphanage.
Walking into Lance’s bedroom, Keith deposited the blue paladin on the bed and looked around. Piles of clothes were towering in a nearby corner, and shit was randomly thrown around the room. All the blankets and pillows had been kicked off the bed at some point and left there.
“Your room is an absolute pigsty. Actually, that might be an insult to pigs. Didn’t your mother teach you how to clean?” Keith complained, gathering up the discarded sheets and piling them on top of Lance.
“Yeah, yeah,” was the only response as Lance quickly made a warm cocoon out of the blankets, nestling into them as they covered his entire body.
“Hey, hey! No sleeping yet. You still haven’t eaten since you got out of the pod. I’ll be right back-”
Lance immediately popped his head out of the covers and sat up, starting to feel for the edge of the bed. “I’ll come with!”
Keith frowned. “I’m just going to the kitchen; I will literally be back in 2 minutes. You’re exhausted. Stay in bed.”
“I..I know..but..um,” Lance’s hands gripped tight onto his blankets, his knuckles turning white. Keith knew Lance was experiencing some sort of separation anxiety from losing his vision but it was unsettling to see him so frazzled. “OH! OH! Here…or wait…I think this is where it is. Look on my desk, or actually, maybe under my bed? I have an old set of walkie-talkies that Coran gave me a while back.”
“Are you serious right now?”
“Just fucking find the walkie-talkies, Keith.”
“Attitude…” Keith mumbled, but his stomach fluttered uncomfortably as Lance said his name. “You are so needy.” Keith started rummaging around Lance’s desk, searching behind old Altean magazines and various Voltron paraphernalia that Keith wasn’t even aware existed. When shifting everything off the desk, a photo fell to the floor. Keith picked it up and saw 10 or so smiling faces from people of various ages. From the tanned skin and brown hair, Keith assumed it was a family photo and felt a little jealous.
“Have you found it yet? Jeez, I could find it faster blind!”
“SHUT UP already! Your desk is a disaster zone!” Keith yelled flustered, and quickly put the picture down to start the search under Lance’s desk. Behind some dirty clothes and plates of old goo (“ew, GROSS”) Keith finally located the old walkie-talkie set.
“Ok found them. Here,” Keith held one of the walkie-talkies out in front of Lance’s face. Lance just stared back unmoving. “Oh right…um…” Keith picked up Lance’s hand, directly placing it into his grip, noticing that Lance was starting to feel warmer.
“Great! Ok, now just tell me everything that happens to you when you walk to the kitchen and back!” Lance smiled a little too cheerfully.
“…you can’t be serious.”
“I am DEAD serious! Who left me, a poor BLIND paladin to wander the hallways alone for DAYS-”
“It was not days you idiot!” Keith knew Lance needed this reassurance…but he was going to feel like such an idiot. “FINE! Fine, I’ll talk into the stupid walkie-talkie.”
“Good.” Lance curled his walkie-talkie to his chest, a genuine smile forming on his face.
Keith huffed, leaving the room with Lance cuddled under the mounds of blankets. His chest felt fluttery. It was probably good he was leaving the room. Immediately upon stepping away a crackly voice came through the transceiver, “You there?”
Keith rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m walking to the kitchen…like I just told you! I’m not even 5 feet from your door.”
“Ok, well, just keep talking.”
“What am I even supposed to talk about?”
“I don’t know, anything! What do you see?”
“Um…white walls?”
“You’re really bad at this,” came the monotone response.
“Shut up! You’re the one with awkward separation issues right now!” Keith yelled. Silence ensued, and Keith immediately wished he could take the words back. “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have said that.” Lanced still said nothing. Keith felt the guilt creeping in again. Why was he so bad at this? Taking care of people shouldn’t be this hard! “It’s ok, you know. If I woke up blind I’d be freaking out. So…you’re handling this really well.” He sounded like an idiot. Why did he always sound so stupid when he talked to Lance?
Lance’s voice finally emitted from the transceiver, “Yeah, well, I’m more upset that I could have to wait a WHOLE WEEK before I’m able to stare at my beautiful face again in the mirror.”
“You’re like, next level egotistical, you know that right?” Keith bantered back easily.
“Tell me what you miss about Earth?” Lance asked, almost dreamily.
“Seriously, dude?”
“Humor the blind man, please!”
Keith sighed. He’d been doing that a lot recently. “Um, I don’t know! Nothing much, really.”
“You’re lying, you have to miss something! Earth, you remember it right? The blue and green planet orbiting the sun?” Lance teased.
“I don’t have to miss anything. I didn’t have a family, was constantly moving from place to place, shuffled around the system. It wasn’t until I turned 16 that I finally…” Keith stopped, memories suddenly flooding back.
“What?” Lance asked, genuinely curious.
“Well…that was the year I bought my first bike. I had worked shitty odd-and-end jobs since I was 14 to save up the money. So…I guess more than anything, I miss riding my bike around.”
“THAT’S the thing you miss? Dude, that’s so lame.”
“You are the worst, you know that?” Keith felt embarrassed as laughter filtered through the walkie-talkie.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding, Keith!” Again with the name! “Please, tell me about your bike. Like, I don’t know…what color was it?”
Keith almost lied. “It was…red.” That got more laughter and Keith almost didn’t mind, happy to cause such a reaction.
“YOU WOULD! Only red for the red paladin! Hahahaha!”
“Shut up,” Keith mumbled back, but his heart wasn’t in it. Keith would never admit the smile that cracked on his face. It really was ridiculous. As Keith continued walking to the kitchen, he told Lance about purchasing the bike, riding it everywhere, finally feeling free. But it was more than that. For the first time, Keith owned something, had something to call his own and that that had felt amazing. Keith hadn’t thought of his bike since joining the pilot program, vowing to put his Earth life behind him.
Keith entered the kitchen, finding it vacant. “Alright, I’m in the kitchen now.”
“OH! Is there any purple goo today? It’s slightly less nauseating than the other colors,” Lance requested. None of the colored goo had flavors per say…more like various textures.
“Ahhh, sorry, Lance. It looks like the ship is giving us green today.”
Lance groaned loudly, “Yeah, that’s fine I guess. Thanks.”
Keith immediately felt irritated. How dare the ship give them green goo when Lance wanted purple? He wanted to demand the ship give them purple goo! Lance had it hard enough! But...that was a stupid thought. Green goo was green goo and it would have to suffice. Keith grabbed a plate, filling it with the gelatinous substance.
Walking back, per Lance’s request, Keith described the hallways, the different shapes of the doors and how tall the ceilings were, how the green goo jiggled a little too much to be editable (“but you WILL eat it!”). Keith talked about how his room was different than Lance’s (“In the fact that you can actually SEE the floor”) but really how it lacked personality. Lance had so many things, items collected from their adventures and from Earth (“How did you even get those here?”). Keith’s room had the bare necessities. As he continued his light commentary, he noticed that the dark, cold hallways seemed lighter and warmer. He blamed Lance.
Keith didn’t realize how long he’d been talking until he was standing in front of Lance’s bedroom door.
“Alright, Lance, food time,” he called as he entered the room, putting the plate down on the desk. “Lance?” There was no response. Keith scanned the room and was scared to see there was no trace of the blind paladin. “Goddamn it, where did he go to now?” he thought, nervously checking the conjoining bathroom and kicking the piles of clothes scattered on the floor. Where did he even GET this many clothes?! It was then that he noticed the gentle rise and fall of the comforter-blanket pile on the bed. Keith walked over, perching on the edge of the bed and slowly peeled back a corner of the pile to reveal Lance’s sleeping face. Keith felt his chest tighten as he noted how smooth and relaxed Lance’s expression was. His face had more color in it than before, his cheeks tinted rose, and there was a slight trail of drool escaping the corner of his mouth. Keith couldn’t help but smile. “Hey, sleepy. Food first, sleep second, remember?” Keith shook the blanket pile.
Lance groaned, “Mmmm….huh? Wah?” Keith watched as the exhausted paladin rubbed his eyes open, blinking once…twice… Suddenly, Lance hissed in a short breath. His eyes went wide in an effort to see, and his hands once again clenched at the blankets surrounding him as he started to spiral into a panic.
“Lance? Lance! You’re ok, it’s ok, it’s ok,” Keith grabbed Lance’s shoulders, pushing him gently into the bed, trying to ground him. “You’re in your room. You woke up from the healing pod blind, remember? But you’re ok,” Keith tried to mutter reassurances but Lance’s breathing continued to get shorter. “Ok, deep breaths, right? Breath with me, in…and out. One more, in…and out.” Lance tried to copy Keith’s timing, his breaths still shaky, but eventually his breathing became more controlled and the adrenalin started to wane. In its place, tears sprung up in Lance’s eyes.
“Aug I’m such a…freakin’ mess.” Lance tried desperately to wipe the tears away, his face blotchy red. Keith didn’t say anything, instead looking at Lance with sad eyes. “I…thought it was a nightmare…and then I woke up…and…”
Keith didn’t know what to say so instead he lay down next to Lance, grabbing on to one of his arms so Lance would know where he was. “It’s ok,” was the only thing Keith could muster to say. He let Lance cry silent tears with one arm thrown over his eyes, his breath hiccupping every so often.
“After the bomb blew up and you were knocked out, Allura and I went down to the Arusian village…but we fell right into their trap,” Keith started to explain, filling the silence as Lance continued to recover. He realized Lance never got the full story of what happened while he was hurt. He rambled on, telling Lance how stupid he felt falling for the Galran trick, about the shield that was put up around the ship, preventing their entry and about Pidge sabotaging their efforts from the inside. Keith even told Lance how scared he was seeing Lance unresponsive and injured on the ground with Shiro tied up. Keith’s story successfully distracted Lance, who asked a couple questions here and there but for the most part stayed silent and just listened to Keith’s re-telling.
“…When Coran and Allura put you in that healing pod, we weren’t sure when you were going to come out again…”
“Aww, did someone miss me?” Keith could have sworn Lance was wiggling his eyebrows. Keith rolled his eyes, glad Lance was back to his old self.
“I voted for letting you bleed out, but I was overruled."
“HEY NOW!!!”
In reality, Keith had been the most disturbed. Once Sendak had been successfully detained behind the internal barrier, Keith had slid towards Lance’s limp body screaming his name. He hadn’t realized how attached to the blue paladin he had become and thinking he might be dead scared Keith to his very core. Coran and Allura had to pry Lance out of Keith’s arms in order to stick him into the healing pod. Keith never wanted to let go.
“I think I’m starting to get hungry,” Lance finally admitted, tapping his stomach, which was still hidden underneath the blankets.
Keith was snapped out of his thoughts as he got off the bed, immediately missing the warmth of the covers and definitely NOT Lance’s (finally warm) body heat. “Alright, sit up! We have the green goo special for you!”
Keith carefully placed the plate in Lance’s left hand and the spoon in his right after they settled in to their new upright position. He watched as Lance very carefully scooped at an area of the plate he hoped had goo on it, lifting it very, very slowly into his mouth, his hand shaking slightly during the entire process.
“Ah, this is…strange…eating when you can’t see,” Lance informed, nervous laughter following. Keith felt his stomach twist and heart drop at the scene.
“Here…just, um, let me help,” Keith said, reaching for the plate and spoon.
“What? Like, feed me?”
“Yeah.”
“Um…” A mighty blush flushed over Lance’s face as he squirmed. “…this is so pathetic.”
Keith felt his own blush mirroring the blue paladin’s. “It’s logical,” Keith supplied. “The universe needs Voltron. Voltron needs you. You need to get better, and that’s not going to happen with you eating at the pace of a snail."
“HEY! I was doing just fine, thank you very much,” Lance grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. Keith chuckled. “I mean, if we had normal SOLID food around here, this wouldn’t even be a problem! Like poptarts, oh man, you remember poptarts, right, Keith?”
Keith felt his blush deepen as his name rolled off Lance’s tongue. “Those things are disgusting.”
“WHAT!? They are delicious and you take that back!”
Keith proceeded to carefully spoon out goo, unconsciously touching Lance’s arm or shoulder or neck while saying “ok, open.” Lance wouldn’t stop talking. Keith wasn’t even sure what he was talking about, but he stopped long enough for Keith to plop the spoon in his mouth. And Keith couldn’t stop looking at the way Lance’s lips closed around the spoon as Keith dragged it out of his mouth, suddenly feeling hot. It was a little awkward, but the two got into a rhythm and soon after (maybe too soon for Keith’s liking) the goo was gone.
“How are you feeling?” Keith asked, setting the plate down.
“Good. Full. But I’m still pretty tired. I think I’m going to take another nap.”
Keith nodded before realizing (once again) Lance couldn’t see. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
“Thanks for…you know. Uh, helping me eat.” Lance was blushing again, staring at his knees, that stupid impish grin on his face.
Keith immediately blushed too, quickly finding this to be a common occurrence around Lance. He realized that it was a fairly intimate thing, feeding someone. “No problem…” Silence fell on the room.
“WELL! Ok, yes, I’m going to go to the bathroom. NO, I do NOT need any help, I’ll figure it out!” Lance yelled, shifting to the edge of the bed.
“I wasn’t going to offer, idiot!”
“Stay out of the bathroom, Keith!”
“You are such a prick, I swear!”
Lance suddenly flashed him a saucy grin, the one that’s always been able to make Keith’s heart beat a little faster. Keith watched as Lance got off the bed on shaky feet, hands held out in front of him as he took one step at a time towards the direction of the bathroom. Lance was only gone for a couple of minutes, and Keith only heard mild cursing and “where did I put that again…OUCH!” only a couple of times so Keith tried not to worry too much.
How did he end up here? Alone in Lance’s bedroom? Stupid Lance and stupid Galran bomb! Stupid Lance using the last of his energy to save Pidge from Sendak! He had a goddamn hero complex and it pissed Keith off. And there was Lance, blind, grinning and joking and trying to make everyone else feel better. Keith had been so worried while Lance was in the pod, obsessively checking on the injured paladin throughout the night. He had been so scared of losing him, because somewhere along the way, Keith had become infatuated with the blue paladin. He loved watching Lance’s expressions fluctuate so easily as they bickered, and while his over-egotistical nature was aggravating, it was also enduring. Because it was Lance. And Lance wanted to help others and Lance wanted to be friends and be a team. And those were things Keith always wanted but never had. And now that Keith had Lance, he didn’t think he could let go.
Lance finally emerged from the bathroom, mummy-walking back to the bed. Keith noticed Lance had changed into his pajamas, grateful to see him out of the cryo-uniform. He let out a relieved sigh as he plopped down next to Keith.
“Hey, watch it!” Keith teased.
“I will sit where I please! This is my room!” He smacked the bed for added effect.
Keith smiled silently. Lance looked so calm and relaxed now. Keith might not be very good at taking care of people, but he was happy he was able to do this much for him. As Lance tipped his head to the side, arms stretched above him, Keith noticed a smudge of toothpaste in the corner of Lance’s lips. “Does your toothpaste also have that privilege?”
“Huh?” Lance sounded confused.
“Here,” Keith reached over, cupping Lance’s jaw with one hand to hold him still and gently wiping the smudge with the other. Keith smelled the peppermint puff of Lance’s breath and realized how close they were. He quickly scooted away, his heart beating too fast. “Um, there you go.”
“Ah, thanks,” Lance stuttered, caught off guard. “Can’t see and all...”
The room immediately felt hotter, the air thicker. Stupid Lance with his stupid toothpaste. “Um, yes, so,” Keith was looking everywhere but at Lance. “If you want to take a nap, I can leave, or, you know…wait outside or something. I can take the walkie-talkie with me too…for when you wake up…” Keith managed to say, his hands pointing around the room even though Lance couldn’t see. He recognized the nervous habit, annoyed.
Lance immediately reached towards Keith, coming in contact with his arm. He gripped his jacket tightly. “Actually, could you stay here?”
“What, am I going to watch you sleep?” Keith had better things to do than watch Lance sleep….right?
“No, idiot! Well…only if that’s your thing,” Lance winked. Keith almost lost it.
“I hate you and I won’t stay and watch you sleep,” Keith attempted to stand up off the bed but Lance’s grip on him tightened.
“Wait, wait! Ok, sorry, I didn’t mean that…I don’t care what you do. You could read those Altean magazines, maybe? They’re around here somewhere,” Lance started frantically feeling for his nightstand before quickly giving up, his body going still. “Please, just…don’t leave me alone.”
Keith immediately sat back down, Lance sighing in relief. “It’s just…so dark, you know? And even though I’ve walked this castle so many times, I’m suddenly second guessing everything. I don’t know where I am or how long distances are and I feel like an idiot and needy and…kinda scared, you know? Like, if something attacked, I’d be defenseless,” Lance explained and Keith listened intently. “But, it’s nice having you here with me…I feel safer.” A small smile bloomed on Lance’s face. Keith feels his heart jump into his throat.
Keith wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, but he understood. “Just go to bed, Lance.”
Lance leaned back, shifting his body until he found the pillow and blanket fortress he had made earlier, and wrapped himself up. “You could sit at the desk if you wanted…or you know, you could stay on the bed. It’s more comfortable so it makes sense,” Lance managed to stutter, holding out an armful of blankets in Keith’s direction. Keith couldn’t stop his face from burning up at the thought of being next to Lance while he slept.
“Um, yeah sure, I don’t mind the bed.”
Lance shifted over, giving Keith space. It was weird at first, both boys refusing to move or barely even breath. Keith was thankful when Lance to broke the silence.
“Hey, wait! I never told what I miss on Earth!!” Lance exclaimed. Keith was about to find out that Lance missed a lot of things. As they lay there, Lance started describing his family and friends, being at the ocean and seeing the mountains behind him. He talked about the sunrises after staying up way too late, ice cream at summer fairs, and the rustle of the wind in autumn leaves. He missed hanging icicle ornaments on the Christmas tree and the smell of home. He even missed the sound of the stupid school bell that would always ring before Lance made it to his first hour class. As Lance went on and on, Keith realized Lance was full of love. He wanted to see the good in everything and everyone. He had a way of affecting the people he came in contact with. Not in a million years did Keith think he could forget the blue paladin lying next to him.
Lance slowly trailed off and Keith thought he’d talked himself to sleep until he felt Lance’s legs shift nervously under the covers as he turned on his side, facing Keith.
“Can I feel your face?”
Keith lay there, stunned. Freaking Lance, where does he even come up with this stuff? “What the hell are you talking about?!”
“I don’t know, I see it a lot in movies, ok? Blind people are always touching peoples’ faces! Like, maybe if you can’t see, you’re able to feel something…on their face.”
“No. Lance, that’s just…weird. Touch your own face!” Keith squirmed.
“But I touch my face all the time!! My face is boring!!” Lance whined. Keith didn’t think Lance’s face was boring. He thought it was the opposite of boring in fact. “Please, please, please, please! I’ll go to sleep after I promise!!”
“AUG!! FINE! Whatever.” What was he agreeing to? “Just…hurry up…”
A stupid grin spread onto Lance’s face. “Ok, we have to sit up,” he said eagerly.
“What? Why?” Keith wanted to melt through the floor. This had to be one of the most embarrassing things he’d ever agreed to. Definitely worse than the walkie-talkie.
“So I can use both hands! That’s what they do in the movies!”
Keith rolled his eyes, but sat up in the bed, sitting cross-legged facing Lance. The blue paladin slowly reached out in front of him, not quite sure where Keith was relative to his body. Keith frowned, grabbing Lance’s hands midair and bringing them to rest at the nook of his neck. Goosebumps immediately rose at the touch of Lance’s still slightly chilled hands.
Lance shifted his body a little closer, now knowing where Keith was and slowly moved his thin fingers up Keith’s neck, resting them under his jaw. Lance let out a shaky breath before sweeping his thumbs underneath Keith’s eyes, following up his cheekbones. He lightly brushed his fingers over his nose down to the corners of his mouth. With one hand cradled under Keith’s jaw, he reached up with the other to outline his forehead, pushing a stray hair behind Keith’s ear. Keith felt Lance use both hands to brush against his eyebrows, his eyes fluttering shut as Lance dragged his fingers gently over his eyes.
Keith felt his breath hitch as his heart beat wildly in his chest. In that moment, Keith felt so close, so connected, and so incredibly turned on to the blind, loudmouth brat sitting across from him; it was overwhelming.
“See anything you didn’t before?” Keith breathed after feeling Lance’s hands still, not sure he’d be able to find his voice.
“I think so…” Instead of taking his hands away, Lance slowly slid them down to Keith’s hands, bringing them up to Lance’s face. “Feel my face now! And close your eyes!”
Keith knew Lance wouldn’t be able to tell if his eyes were closed or not, but he did it anyway. He could feel the slight tremor in his hands and hoped Lance wouldn’t notice. He began in a similar path. His fingers swept over Lance’s thin nose and pointy chin; he felt the soft skin of his lips and the tiny hairs of his eyebrows. Lance’s face was radiating warmth. He could feel the short hitches of breath against his wrist and the flutter of a heartbeat as he moved his hands down to rest at Lance’s neck. This was Lance, exposing himself bare for him…and Keith realized he was doing the same.
Keith felt Lance cup his jaw, as he brought their faces together so that their foreheads bumped softly. Keith didn’t dare open his eyes. Lance’s minty breath washed over Keith’s face as he leaned forward, meeting Lance’s lips with his own. The kiss was gentle, almost sweet. Keith could feel Lance’s warmth radiating out of him, drawing him in.
Keith leaned forward, not daring to break their connection as he guided Lance down to the bed. He felt Lance nibble at his lips and Keith willingly parted his, moaning as the kiss deepened. Keith moved so he was laying on top of Lance, his hips moving forward to find friction.
“Ah, fuck,” Lance gasped, pulling at Keith’s hair. “Do you know…how long…”
“Shut. Up.” Keith grinned, covering Lance’s month with his own. Keith felt like his body was on fire, the blood pumping so fast that his skin tingled. He could feel every touch, every point of contact between them. It was exhilarating.
Keith wasn’t sure how long they kissed. It seemed like a minute and hours all in one paradoxical moment. In the back of his mind, he wondered if things would change now between them, between them and the team, because kissing Lance was addicting and he didn’t think he could give this up. He wanted to be the cause of every groan, every shift of his hips and bruised lips. It was too much and not enough all at once.
Eventually, their movements slowed to a rest as exhaustion finally caught up with Lance. The blind paladin periodically raked a hand through Keith’s hair, making Keith melt further into the bed. Their heartbeats slowed and their breathing stilled. Keith thought maybe Lance would say something about them. What were they now? Were they even something? But as Lance snuggled close, yawning and wrapping an arm around Keith’s stomach, Keith realized they just were. Maybe it was something that didn’t need to be discussed. Maybe they would have eventually made it here. Keith would have liked to think so.
Keith felt his eyes grow heavy as he drifted to sleep.
--
Lance stirred awake, the heavy weight of Keith still at his side. Lance smiled, taking a deep breath and recalling the last 24 hours. He could barely believe that Keith was here, in his bed. He’d have thought the red paladin would have picked up on his flirtatious hints weeks ago! Lance had all but given up, ready to move on, but apparently Keith was just as blind as he was. Lance couldn’t help but smirk at the irony.
When he had woken up from the cryo-pod, Lance didn’t remember ever being so scared. Even the thought of fighting Zarkon throughout the galaxy wasn’t as terrifying as suddenly being blind and alone. Having Keith by his side yesterday had quelled his anxiety and had made him feel safe…not to mention, that kiss had been amazing. Lance felt his lips tingle at the memory.
Lance lay awake for a while. He knew he had to open his eyes soon, but he was nervous. Would he see light or dark? He almost just wanted to leave them shut, and not break this secure bubble Keith and him had created. But Lance felt reassured knowing Keith would be by his side regardless. He could do this.
Taking a deep breath, Lance slowly opened them. It was blurred at first, but light quickly filled his vision. Lance almost cried as relief washed over him. After a couple more blinks, his vision refocused just as perfectly as it had before the healing pod. He wanted to jump out of bed, run down the halls screaming to the other paladins. His muscles clenched with untapped energy now that he finally felt comfortable to move again.
Lance turned to shake Keith awake, but stopped at seeing Keith’s sleeping face. How could such a prick look so adorable asleep? Lance grinned, leaning over to softly kiss the top of Keith’s head. Letting the others know his sight returned could wait…for now, he didn’t want this moment to end.
“We make a great team, don’t we?” Lance hummed, cuddling the sleeping form next to him as he drifted back to sleep.