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Keith

"That's it! I'm done! I'm never going on one of those ever again! Lance, at first, I liked it, I thought it was cool, but I've spent more time in an airplane in one month than anyone should have to in their whole lifetime!"

Lance, deliriously exhausted, nodded and smiled as we walked up the ramp from the plane that we'd just spent a good 12 hours in. 12 hours of absolute hell. 

"Hopefully, that's the last time we should have to fly," Lance replied thoughtfully and I felt a pang in my chest. He was right. This was our last stop. By process of elimination, I knew that this journey would be the 'find a forest' task, which I was actually looking forward to a lot. 

Plants seemed like a common theme on my list, I guess, but it was only because we didn't have many plants down in the Underworld, just some terrariums and aquariums with plants that could use chemosynthesis or depend on the artificial sunlamps we had. But trees and flowering plants were foreign to me, so I wanted to see them up here, in the Midworld. 

As we emerged into the airport, I was shocked to discover familiarity with the environment. Especially with the signs everywhere. Japanese characters? I turned to the angel beside me, who was hefting his bag on his shoulder. I, too, carried a tote with some keepsakes, my dagger from the SAL, and other mementos and such I'd collected, along with some clothes. 

"Are we in Japan?" I asked, squinting around at the giant airport, which was even more crowded than the one in San Jose. 

"Yeah," Lance smiled, "Good Job."

I looked around the airport in admiration. It's giant, cavernous infrastructure was serious and businesslike, and a little intimidating if I had to admit it. I knew Japanese fluently, as well as a multitude of other languages that Father had made me study, but in the books I had read at home, the culture of Japan had always intrigued me. I was glad that Lance had picked this location for our final destination.

"Alright..." Lance said, looking at his phone with concentration. "So we gained 5 hours, which is going to be hell adjusting to, but it's nothing we haven't experienced before. Jet Lag is a bitch but we can sleep it off. Right now it's 6:00 pm and our hotel is about..." he paused, typing something into his phone, "45 minutes away." He looked up at me, cocking his head to the side, "Do you wanna grab something to eat?"

"Oh, hell yeah."

...

"Lance..." I muttered under my breath, "This is a lot fancier than I was expecting."

"That's why we're wearing tuxes," he muttered back, then gave the waitress a brilliant smile as she poured us each a glass of red wine.

"I'll be back in a moment to take your orders, sirs," she said politely, then whisked away, leaving the pricey wine on the table. 

We were seated at a table-for-two in a dimly-lit restaurant, live jazz playing somewhere in the background as elegant patrons in sharp suits and floor-length dresses dined gracefully on the foreign food. 

Lance had been smart to make us change into suitable clothing at the airport, even if I'd groaned a little, I appreciated it now- we probably would have been denied entry if we'd asked for a table in jeans and t-shirts. 

Lance had provided me with a black suit with a red tie and himself with a white suit and blue tie. Now that I thought about it, we kind of matched. 

I looked down at the menu that I held, scanning over words and dishes that I'd never heard of before. Biting my lip, I looked around at the tables around us, surveying the food that others were eating. Mostly sushi, I confirmed. I decided to play it safe with california and spicy tuna rolls while Lance ordered Katsudon. 

"What's that?" I asked him after we'd ordered. 

He gave me a guilty smile. "I take it you've never seen 'Yuri on Ice', then."

Confused, I started to ask him what he meant, but the angel interrupted me, asking me if there was anything else I wanted to do here before we arrived at our final stop. 

I felt my throat close up. I almost didn't want to leave.

No- I definitely didn't.

But I had to. And after I returned to the Underworld once again, I wouldn't ever see Lance again.

Pushing the awful thoughts out of my mind, I refocused, discussing the different places we could go before the last attraction. Our conversation was light, but I knew that we both felt the same dread creeping over our spirits, knowing that our time was growing short.

When our food arrived, Lance held out his glass to me, his eyes flashing with the flame of the candle on our table. "To us," he said simply. 

I clinked my glass against his. "To us."

...

One bottle of wine and a plate of assorted mochis later, Lance and I were struggling to keep our composure, lips pressed together as we kept from giggling, our cheeks rosy and our movements clumsy. 

As Lance signed the check with a flourish and tried his best to conjure up the correct amount of bills that we needed to pay without looking odd, I'd lounged lazily back in my seat, yawning as I struggled to act moderately sober. 

"Okiiie dokiiie," Lance drawled, snapping the check-holder closed and scooting his seat away from the table, shooking me a lopsided smirk, "We're way too drunk for this."

I nodded solemnly, whispering, "Absolutely shitfaced."

Lance erupted in a fit of giggles, trying hard to contain himself and failing. Our waitress gave us a deserved glare and we darted out of the restaurant, our arms around each other's shoulders, snickering to each other as we wandered out onto the sidewalk. 

Lance pointed to the street before us. "Remember that one time when-" he hiccupped, "when you almost got hit by a car 'cause you didn't know how to cross a street?"

I scowled at him. "I know how to cross a street."

"Riiight," Lance nodded, wide-eyed. His breath smelled stale, lips tinted dark red from the wine and I wondered if they tasted like it too. Swinging my head away from him, my rationality scolded me, catching me just in time. 

"We'd better call and Uber," Lance groaned, and did so with a few clumsy taps on his phone, explaining with a stunning act of sobriety where we were and where we needed to go. "They'll be here soon," he whispered to me, his lips accidentally brushing the shell of my ear and sending a shiver down my spine.

Suddenly uncomfortable, I pushed away from the angel, then, feeling bad, pretended to look for a place to sit. I knew that sober Lance would have noticed my distaste at the physical touch, but drunk Lance was as giggly as he was oblivious. I was thankful when the Uber arrived.

...

"I miss Hunk's," I muttered, dumbfounded, as we entered our hotel room. It was, by far, the nicest one we'd stayed at, so much so that I felt uncomfortable even standing on the soft, off-white carpet. A kingsized bed took up most of the front room, but there was also a small table with three chairs, a kitchen area with a kettle and teacups set up on the stovetop, a fridge, and a microwave. Sparkling water sat on the table and there was a sweet little sitting area by the balcony with pillows and a small, low-sitting sofa. 

Lance walked over to the balcony, gazing out over the city, and smiled sadly. "I know. I wish we could have stayed longer." He turned to look at me, the light from outside vaguely illuminating his silhouette. I could still see how he forced his smile, though. "But we have a new adventure here, waiting for us."

Again, that pang in my chest. This time, it almost felt real. I pressed my hand against where my heart would be, inhaling deeply. Frowning, I dismissed it as nothing.

"Well, it's getting late," I said, feeling the weight of both the alcohol and jet lag seep into my pores, bringing with them the inevitability of sleep. I knew that I'd be out as soon as my head hit the pillow, which I was thankful for. I needed some good sleep to recharge and take a break from all the thoughts that had been bombarding my head all of today.

Lance and I changed separately, which, again, I was grateful for, but I then realized that, unlike at Hunk's, there was no air mattress here. We'd be sharing the bed. As I entered the room again, now wearing soft flannel sweatpants, Lance looked up at me. It seemed like he'd sobered up a little bit.

"Do you mind?" he asked, looking a little distressed, "I just figured..." 

Something about the way he said it made me feel frustrated, but I nodded anyway. "It's fine. Just stay on your side of the bed." 

I didn't know why I said it, but I couldn't take it back either, even when Lance's hopeful eyes sunk like the Titanic, his sweet smile dropping off his face.

Nodding, he slipped under the covers, his back facing me. I turned off the lights. 

...

big oof lmao. guess who doesn't want to go to school tomorrow? meeeeee.

uhhhh so yeah. happy december. tis the season lol. i really enjoy christmas and the christmas season, just because everyone seems so happy and giving, so i hope that you all have a wonderful last month of 2018 as we continue on with keith and lance's final journey together.

what do you think will happen? tell me your predictioooooons lolol

i'm feeling a lot better than i have all week, probably because we don't have alpine practice on the weekends, so i may write a bit more today after i finish up my work, if possible.

speaking of which, this is your time to tell me what you'd like to see as this book comes to a close! tell me one thing that you'd love to see happen with keith, lance, or any other characters that are in this story, and i'll read through them and maybe see if i can add anything in for you guys <3

voltron season 8 countdown: 12 days!

qotd: what's your favorite word? it could be because of how it's spelled, how it sounds, just the general meaning of it... this may seem bland, i know, but we did a prompt for it in creative writing and i thought it was interesting. (i really hope that i haven't used this qotd yet yeet)

iiiiii lo00o00o00ve youuu <333