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"Hey, beautiful," Lance greeted his Lion. The huge mechanical creature looked down at him. Seeing Blue looming over him, Lance was struck by how gigantic and ancient she was. He didn't usually think about that part too much. He liked Blue and saw her as a friend—as much as you can befriend a 10,000-year-old, giant alien robot… But now that he was supposed to deepen his connection with said robot, he realized how crazy it all was. How could he understand a being so different?
"Bond with your Lions," Shiro had said. And that was the only instruction he had given. Everyone had dispersed to their respective hangars as if they knew what to do.
The Lion lowered her head to the ground and opened its mouth to let Lance in.
"Might as well," he agreed as he stepped, quite literally, into the Lion's mouth.
Lance reached the cockpit and leaned back into the pilot chair. As usual, the navigation tools sprung to life, and energy powered up. Blue was ready to fly.
"Oh, wait, we're not going anywhere," Lance told her apologetically. "I mean, I guess we could… But I figured. Maybe a little chat?"
He could feel Blue's mood shift from excited to slightly disappointed and then to friendly and curious. He tried to focus on the part of his mind where his link to Blue seemed to reside; it got itchy and uncomfortable really quick. Like he was trying to wrap his mind around something too big and unfathomable for his small human brain. Chatting it was, then.
"So, uh, what's up?"
Lance wasn't bad at small talk usually, but this all felt so… forced. There was no response from Blue, or at least not anything he could understand. Still, there was this feeling of patient curiosity.
"Umm, so can I ask… Why did you choose me? Since, you know, Keith was the one who found you first. Or well, Hunk found you. But Keith said he felt your presence, so you two had a connection already, right?"
There was some fondness and amusement on Blue's side. In Lance's mind, an image of Keith superimposed with an active volcano. Lance frowned.
"So, Keith and fire. I get that. You mean you knew from the start he'd pilot Red?"
Smug agreement on Blue's side. Okay, then. Keith was somehow destined to pilot the coolest Lion. Wait, no, Blue was the best! But when Allura had announced Red was the fastest, Lance had felt a spike of jealousy.
"So, why me, then? You did choose me, right? It wasn't just by default, because the others would fit the other Lions better?"
Blue's energy had shifted again, like she was trying to be patient but with a hint of annoyance. He must have offended her when he had thought of Red as "the coolest". Somehow, he was messing up the simple task of bonding with a Lion that already liked him. That was, if Blue did like him.
Blue became even more tense. Then a warm, soft sensation enveloped Lance. And the Lion quiznacking purred.
"Awww, you do love me!" Lance exclaimed, relieved. He petted the dashboard. "I love you too. You're the best!"
He sighed, reclining in the pilot seat again.
"You know, the others all are good at something. Shiro is our leader, and the best pilot ever! He's strong, too. Not just physically, but mentally. He survived a year in the Arena through sheer force of will. Allura is… well, she's perfect. She's a literal princess, so she's our diplomat, and she's better in combat than all of us combined."
Lance's heartbeat kicked up, and his cheeks heated at the thought of Allura. He hoped Blue hadn't noticed. He quickly moved on to avoid things getting awkward.
"Pidge's a genius with computers! And Hunk's a genius too, and he's even an amazing cook and engineer on top of that. And I hate to say this, but Keith kinda rocks at piloting and fighting. I mean, I can still beat him! Easy! They don't call me the Tailor for nothing!"
Lance went for a cocky smile but immediately deflated. There was no point in trying to show off when your interlocutor could read your mind.
"Nah, we both know I'm not on Keith's level. I couldn't dash through asteroid fields like he does. And no comment on fighting skills." Lance swallowed hard. He was sharing way more than he ever intended.
"Don't—Don't tell him I said that!!"
Amused agreement from Blue.
"I'm counting on you, Blue."
Okay. Okay. Calm down, Lance.
He needed to get back to their conversation. Where was he? Oh, right.
"So, anyway, I've been working on the sharpshooting thing. I feel a bit more useful now. But I still feel like I'm not… I don't know… contributing enough?"
Silence, sort of sad. It put Lance on edge.
"Is that what I'm meant to do? Being the sharpshooter?"
At least, Shiro seemed to approve of his new skill.
If Lance had to describe the answer he got from Blue, he would have said it was like a noncommittal shrug. As if his Lion was saying, "you do you".
"I'm still not sure why you chose me," Lance admitted. "Allura explained what the other Lions cared about, but she didn't tell me about you."
He got a vision of himself and of the ocean, in the same way Blue had shown him an image of Keith and a volcano.
"Ah, it's the elements, then?" Lance asked. "You're right about that. I do love the ocean!"
Giddy excitement stemmed from the Lion. Blue seemed fond of that topic.
Lance chuckled. "You too, uh? Guess we have that in common. In fact, I'm quiznacking good at swimming! Oh, and surfing! It's not been super useful so far, but…"
Speaking of it, he missed swimming. Maybe he could try to swing by the Castle's swimming pool after this training session.
Blue's fondness was still there, but there was an undercurrent of nostalgia.
"You miss the ocean too? Yeah, that's a mood. I bet you'd like our Blue Planet!"
Enthusiastic assent from the Lion.
"But weren't you in a desert?"
Images of Blue arriving in a marshy area with lush green vegetation by a large river sprung to Lance's mind. Huge animals were walking around. Lance thought they were elephants at first but then realized they were mammoths. A small group of humans was gathered in the distance.
"Whoa. Is that what it looked like when you arrived?"
The Lion gave him a little mental nudge, as if to agree.
"All right. 10,000 years is a long time; I get it now! Still, you haven't seen much of Earth and its oceans, trapped in a cave for so long. I hope when this is all done, I can take you there! You'll love it!! You could meet my family."
Blue radiated warm approval. Lance's heart made a happy little somersault. Maybe this bonding session was working, after all. Still, thinking of his family did make him wistful.
"I really miss my family, Blue. I hope you can meet them one day." He sighed. "Oh, wow, Marco would be so jealous!! None of them have ever piloted a giant robot!"
They both stayed silent for a while, lost in thought. Just when Lance thought the conversation was over, an image of the Paladins with Allura and Coran showed up in his mind.
"Hu, is this about how the Paladins are supposed to be like a family, like Coran always says?"
Blue agreed.
"Well, that's not the same! They can't ever replace my family. But it's nice to have them. Hunk was my bro even before all of this. I guess everyone is pretty cool. Besides Keith!"
Lance grimaced. Why did his conversation with Blue always come back to that guy?
Blue gave him a mental push, like telling him to be nicer. He crossed his arms, annoyed.
The vision of Voltron forming was blasted in his mind, just like when they had first found Blue on Earth. There was an overwhelming power to it, but this time Lance felt even more of a connection to it and to forming the leg. Being the support for everyone else.
"Woah, that was awesome!" Lance exclaimed, once he had caught his breath. "Like, when Hunk says it's cool to be a leg? I really felt it this time!"
He was full of restless energy, so he jumped off the pilot seat and punched the air enthusiastically.
"So, that's what it means, being a leg? Being support for the others?"
He sobered.
"Oh, no. Come on, do you mean I'm supposed to be like Hunk? Nice to everyone? I mean, I am. I'm the team's coolest guy; everybody loves me!"
Blue waited, expectantly.
Lance threw his hands up.
"Fine. I'll try to get along with him better. But he's so annoying sometimes!!" Lance thought a minute before adding. "And, maybe I should talk to Shiro more. Don't get me wrong, I think he's amazing! But I'm a little bit intimidated."
Lance stretched his back. He felt like he had sat too long and was getting stiff and antsy.
As if on cue, Shiro appeared on the holoscreen. "Paladins, is everyone done? "
The other paladins appeared as well, and all agreed.
"Then meet me in the hangar so we can debrief!"
"Thanks for the chat, beautiful!" Lance said cheerfully, and he received a warm wave of affection from Blue as a response.
As they gathered in the hangar, Keith was the last to join them. He was wearing a frown, but then, that was pretty much his default expression.
Lance remembered what Blue had taught him and decided to reach out.
"So, how did it go for you?"
Keith looked at him with big eyes, as if he hadn't expected Lance to address him.
"Hm, fine."
"Yeah, I thought so. Red likes you a lot, right?"
There was a short silence. Keith seemed to hesitate. "Thank you?"
"No problem, buddy."
Keith frowned again, looking for something to say. "How did it go for you?"
"Awesome! Blue and I had the best chat."
"Oh. Congrats."
And, oh, did Keith seem a little impressed? Lance couldn't help feeling proud. He beamed at his teammate.
"I didn't really know what to do," Keith admitted quietly. "Red and I, we don't really chat like that. We just went for a flight. Tried out some maneuvers."
"Oh, right, I hesitated to do that," Lance agreed. "But I wasn't sure if that counted as bonding."
Keith shrugged. "Dunno. It was fun, at least."
"If you had fun together, it should count, right?" Lance suggested.
That earned him an awkward smile from Keith.
"What did you talk about?"
"With Blue? Oh, I had some questions." Lance winked. "But that's a secret! It stays between us."
Keith raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yeah! Why would you want to know?" Lance snapped.
"I wasn't—I just wanted to know what kind of questions you asked! In case I could ask the same questions to Red!"
"Oh, right." Now Lance felt kind of bad. He had gotten angry, thinking Keith was prying. But in fact he was just asking for advice. Keith! was asking Lance for advice! In that case he should try his best. "Well, they were kind of personal questions. I think that's the point! Is there anything you'd like to know? Or that you worry about?"
"Yes."
Lance was surprised at the subdued intensity of Keith's answer, at the way his voice cracked. He waited for Keith to add something, but the red paladin stayed silent.
"Well, maybe you could ask those to Red? She might be able to help. The Lions are pretty clever."
"You're right."
Lance scratched his head. Keith looked so tense, now.
"Well, also… I know we fight sometimes, but if there's something you want to talk about, you can talk to me, too."
Keith blinked. "Thanks."
He had said that with utmost sincerity, and now Lance was feeling weirdly emotional. He patted Keith's arm.
"Sure, buddy. We're a good team, remember?"
Keith smiled again, ruefully.
"All right team, now that everyone is here, let's discuss today's training," Shiro started.
Lance and Keith both turned to Shiro and Allura to listen to the debrief.
Keith wasn't too bad to talk to when you gave him a chance, Lance thought. Maybe the team bonding was worth it after all.