Bootyful boi ^

Yee, I'm back! I realized I left you on a cliffhanger so... yeah... have this chapter:

Lance's POV

O O O 

I stumble out of my room, breath caught in my throat, and I almost trip over my own feet in the process. The doors closes automatically behind me and I sprint through the corridors, every possible thought corrupting my mind and making my breathing more shallow. I start to run full speed, like this really is a life or death situation. Like every step counts down to something disastrous. 

But there is only one thing driving me forward; Keith. Here. In the castle. For a reason I have yet to know. He heard my ranting. He's here. I run faster, like he could suddenly disappear if I didn't get there sooner. 

When I reach the living room, I see that no one is there. They probably got a message from Keith already, and they're all in the hangar. I run to that destination, sweat running down my back. I sometimes forget how huge this freaking castle is.

When the doors open, I see that everyone is gathered around a ship. A galra ship. I can't see Keith, everyone is blocking him. But I now he's there. He is. Dios mio, he really is. And it's ridiculous how giddy and out of breath I am. But he's here. In person. I can finally tell him everything I had in mind face to face.

Just when I'm about to run towards him, I feel someone stumble into me. I puff out and turn around, seeing Hunk, just as out of breath as I am. He's doubled over, hands resting on his thigs as he's breathing harshly.

"Sorry", he breathes. Then he straighten his back, wiping his forehead. "I was... going to tell you we got a call from... Keith, but... you know... the food goo got to me." He pats his stomach like he's proud of the dump he accomplished. I grimace, but then remember why I'm here, and I turn around again. I still can't see him, so I run there, pushing everyone aside.

There he is. Wait, this isn't how he's supposed to look. He shouldn't be sitting on the floor, beaten up and all bloody. And there shouldn't be a galra woman sitting hunched beside him, giving everyone a deadly look.

"Oh my God, Keith... you're wounded..." I try to reach for him but a hand stops me. I look down and see a metallic arm. When I look up at Shiro, he's giving me a stern look. 

"No, Lance, you can't put any pressure on him now." He must be implying on a hug, and in this madness I blush fiercely, but I know Shiro wouldn't care in the slightest, because there sits Keith, barely conscious. My breath is still caught in my throat, and my stomach tightens at the sight of the hurt boy. His gaze isn't focused, and his breathing reminds me of when he got sick, and I gulp. The beauty in his face is stained with blood and flecked with bruises and scratches. I need to force myself to look away.

"Quickly, we need to get him to a healing pod", Allura says, and for a moment I forgot everyone was here. 

"I'll carry him there", Shiro says. He has that distant voice again, and it scares me. But the healing pods are miracles. They will heal him now. Physically, at least.

When Shiro nears Keith, the galra woman instinctively scoots closer to the wounded boy, having this face and posture of protection. I wonder who the hell she is.

Shiro doesn't even bother to ask who she is, he's too busy picking Keith up bridal style, and he grunts against Shiro's arm. The galra lets him carry him out of the hangar, and we all watch as the doors closes behind the two boys. My heart hasn't calmed down yet. If anything, it just started beating faster. He's here, but he's wounded. Who hurt him? I need to engulf him in my arms first. I need to get some sort of proof that he's really here and that this isn't something I'm imagining.

We now focus on the unfamiliar galra. Although, she does have some resemblance. Something about her eyes. If anything, they look like Keith's. And she holds that same serious face, the I could murder everyone in this room if I was in the mood to do so - look. I find myself staring at her, just like everyone else. They must think the same as me.

"I trust that you will heal my son, or else there will be tuff consequences", she says in a hard voice.

Everyone gasps.

"You're what?" everyone screams in unison, our voices echoing in the big space around us. The galra looks at us like she really thinks we're crazy, not believing Keith would chose this place to come to for help.

Keith. His mom. Right in front of us. How the hell did they find each other? What gave her the right to act this motherly all of a sudden, when all Keith's life she spent up here in space? It must be like that, right? She never really raised him. It's just now they collide.

I decide that I hate this woman.

"My name is Krolia", the galra introduces, standing up slowly, crossing her arms over her chest. Gosh, Keith looks so much alike her it's terrifying. It's like looking at a female version of him. "I suppose you must be paladins of Voltron. And that must either make Keith a really good friend of yours or just an ex-paladin."

"Both, actually", I chime in, taking several steps towards her to somewhat seem intimedating, but either I'm failing miserably or Krolia is just unaffected by everything. Or maybe it's both. "He's our true friend, a very valuable part of the team. He was perfect as the red paladin. But you wouldn't know that, right? Because I don't think Keith's planning on telling you anything for a while." I dare to poke her chest harshly and she looks like she might just take out her weapon and shoot me right here and now. "We were the one being there for him, not you."

"Hey hey, Lance...", Hunk warns and he's slowly pulling me backwards. Me and Krolia give each other death stares. "No starting poking mom galras." He gives her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry ma'am, he's just concerned about your son, that's all."

"Yeah, your son that you didn't raise!" I state, my abashment ejected out into open space.

"Lance!" Hunk hisses. "Stop it! You're provoking the galra mommy!"

"I believe you're head is too clouded with nonsense, so there is no reason to get angry with you", Krolia says, still wearing that unaffected look on her face. 

"Yeah, well, I'm angry! Veeery angry, actually, so if you'll excuse me, I'll go and check on Keith, you're son, because I'm a true friend."

I wriggle myself out of Hunk's grasp and start to make my way for the exit. I feel everyone looking at me.

"Are true friend, I said!" I shout behind me before I let the door close after me.

O O O

I have no time to quiet down my thoughts on my way to the healing pods, because suddenly Shiro is walking towards me, almost bumping into me in his haze. He blinks, baffled and confused that I'm suddenly in front of him, but then his gaze turns urgent, and he grips my shoulders so suddenly I flinch.

"Lance, good that you're here, you need to get Keith into the healing pod."

I blink up at him. "What? Me? Why isn't he in the healing pod already?"

Shiro runs a hand over his face, sighing deeply. "He refuses. He says that he needs to talk to you first."

My stomach flips drastically, and I almost squeak because of it. We have cuddled, two times, we have kissed, two times, and this simple sentence makes me so woozy and overly happy. It surprises me how just Keith, him in particular, makes me feel all sort of things. Every possible feeling there is to feel. Sometimes bad, sometimes good, but that's what just makes everything so much more real. So pure. 

"He wants to talk... to me?"

"Yeah", Shiro says impatiently, trying to cut the romantic bull crap short between us because in the healing room, Keith is laying there, probably bleeding himself into unconsciousness. "Just... get him into that pod." 

"Yeah", I say determinedly. "Yeah, I will."

A sign of gratitude flashes before his face, but I think he's too tired and worried to show more than that. But it makes me happy that I managed to give him this hope.

"Good", he says, and we part ways. I continue down the corridor, feeling like I really need to complete this mission. To prove things for the whole team. Like I really can do useful things. I can. I will do it now.

Sure enough, Keith is sitting on the floor, leaning against the healing pod while he breathes sharply, his eyes closed in pain. He whines occasionally, having the possibility of healing just behind him, but he chooses to decline it. It makes me angry, and I stomp up to him.

"What the hell, Keith!" When I reach to him, I hunch down in front of him, cupping his bruised cheek ever so lightly to turn his head up. He can't even meet my eyes completely. I can't bare watching him in this state. "Why the hell aren't you in the healing pod yet?"

"Lance", he wheeze. "Please don't raise you're voice. My ears are ringing."

My chest tightens, and I lean closer to him, pressing a soft kiss against his temple. Seeing him like this, this vulnerable and wounded, makes me want to patch him all up, to just hold him to a better state. I press another kiss, against his other temple, not caring about the saltness of his blood. His breath gets harsher, and I wonder if it really is a good idea to show him this kind of affection right now, knowing how he receives it and reacts to it.

I press my forehead against his and close my eyes, my hands resting on his head. "Get into that goddamn pod."

Our breaths intertwine into the most beautiful symphony. Sure, his breathing is rapid and harsh, but he's breathing, at least, mixing it with mine. It let's me know that he's here, and he's alive, and I can touch him. I run my fingers through his hair and it's him. Right here. In front of me.

"Lance", he says again, seemingly having a hard time keeping his eyes on me and open. "Lance, I need to...to know if everything you said was true. It sounded ture. I really hope it is."

I press soft kisses over his forehead, my lips lingering for just a second too long in each kiss, and I let them trail down his nose, all the time twirling his hair around my fingers. I want to say everything but nothing at all. I want him to understand, through the kisses, everything I want to say but just can't express into words. So I express them like this instead.

"Are this answering your question?" I ask in between my kisses. I can't stop kissing his face, all the time coming incredibly close to his lips, but never touching them with my own. Instead I continue to dot the rest of his face with different kind of kisses. Sometimes soft ones, sometimes hard.
"If not, I wouldn't mind continuing this. I wouldn't mind at all, actually."

I paus to look at him. He has that subtle change on his face - subtle because of all those wounds - but still it manages to overlap all his features with something new. If I'm not mistaken, he's smiling, just in the slightest. Smiling with as much energy he has left inside of him.

"Yeah", he breathes like he really can't believe what's happening. "Yeah, it does answer my question. It's the best answer I could have gotten."

I smile back at him, and for a moment I forget the situation we're in, that he really is under me, bleeding and half conscious. But then he moves, and everything just comes knocking on my mind again.

"I should probably get inside", he mumbles, making a weak gesture with his head to point at the pod behind him.

"You should." I back away slightly and help him up on wobbly legs. He grunts all the way up, leaning against me heavily to not fall face forward. "I'll wait for you. Don't sleep for a month this time, please."

He laughs a breathless laugh against my shoulder. I start to activate the pod over his head, starting to push him back when the pod opens. But Keith puts a hand on my chest to stop me. I look down at him.

"When I...wake... up... I want to do... something. Okay? You'll see what it... is", he says, his words becoming slurry because of the blood loss. He needs to get into that goddam think now. I continue to push him backwards.

"Yeah, when you wake up", I say, because he will. He will wake up, and he'll be here. I'll make sure he doesn't leave this time. I don't know how, but somehow. I don't care how. Just let him stay.

O O O

Sooo, France won, huh? France and Croatia both played good in my opinion.

Sweden, for that part... Ya, I'm surprised they got as far as they did.
Yeah, I'm from Sweden🇸🇪✨

Anywho, here you got the too short chapter that you probably wanted in another way but I'm writing this at twelve o'clock while melting in the heat so... yeah...