Keith rarely had cases that were solved this quickly. Despite what he initially believed, he had time this Saturday. Which is why he called Pidge to inform her of the good news.

This was how he found himself on top of one of the most comfortable beds in the whole world.
Pidge's room was messy, sure, but she had a collection of video games and movies that left even the town's local video store pale in comparison.

Tonight, they had decided to watch an old show about giant robots. They were almost half way through, since they had started the show a few month ago. They got from seven to ten episodes each session. Keith loved those nights. As exhausting as they may be. One of the reasons was that Pidge seemed to know the cheapest brands of the best snacks and always had a high amount of soda or unhealthy caffeinated energy drinks in stock. So, in short, they only ever moved for the bathroom.

In return for the snacks, he helped her whenever she needed help with research about robotic or engineering related stuff. Additionally, with his connections to ghosts, alias gossip and his experience with tempering with technical stuff (mostly his bike), he knew were to get the best tools and knew how to entertain them both well.

He lent her his tools and showed her how to use some of them. Pidge was smart, she knew a lot about technical things. But she was clumsy. And she needed a lab rat, here and there. And Hunk, her science buddy, wasn't always available.

"Hey, Keith?"

"Yeah?" 

"Is Allura here right now?", Pidge asked. She was in thought, Keith could tell, because she wasn't focused on the flying robots like she usually was.

"No, not that I know of, why?"

"I was wondering-", she stopped and sighed, as she put the show on silence, with the press of a button on the remote.

"You were wondering?", Keith asked, a bit too tired for ghost related questions.

"Why do you think she's still here?", she asked. Keith fidgeted in his position and wrapped the blanked closer around him. Keith didn't answer at first, as he wasn't sure what she meant by that. Until she elaborated: "I mean, she helps people move to the after life, right? But she herself is a ghost. She also died, but is still here. Why?"

Keith hesitated. He had asked himself the very same question multiple times. Of course he asked Allura before. But her answers were a bit vague. And he didn't dare question her further. She was a frightening person.

"She told me, she is searching for someone to take over her job. In her previous life, she was a medium, just like me. And since I am apparently not doing my job, she has to show me how it's done."

"Do you know why is she so obsessed with releasing these ghosts? Does she even know what comes after they, as you say, just disappear into light?"

Keith put down the bag of chips. He turned to her, now equally deep in thought. "I – I don't know honestly. She just disappears with them all the time. And some time after, when the next ghost appears, she pops up again."

Pidge scanned him from where she sat. "That sounds – random."

"It does, doesn't it? She doesn't even care how I convince the souls to come with her. I barely know why she needs my help anyway. Can't she just force them to come with her? I mean, I once threatened a ghost to destroy his piano if he didn't leave with her. She didn't even glare at me. It really doesn't make sense.", Keith explained.

"Well, it's probably not her moral then. Can you draw her for me one more time? I'd like to see what she looks like. Perhaps I can find some information on her online."

"Sure, I'll try." Keith grabbed his sketchbook. He always had some paper and a pen with him wherever he went. Well, not always. One of his sketchbook pages was once published on the school magazine. It was a page someone had ripped out of it, when he hadn't paid attention.
He had been drawing the schools cheerleading team. He remembered that back then, he had been unsure whether or not to draw them instead of the male swim team. Now he was glad he had drawn the girls. He figured that if someone saw him draw half naked men, people would start talking. Now he was called a pervert, but at least nobody made homophobic comments.

Pidge watched him, as she took out her phone. She tapped frantically. And for a while, the tapping noises and the scribbling sound of pen on rough paper were the only sounds filling the silence, while the screen of the TV still illuminated the room with ever changing colors.

Keith had a pretty decent memory. Which is why he was able to capture most of Allura's essence pretty accurately. Of course, it would still be a lot easier if she were here to let herself be drawn. Keith feared that she'd only flick him the bird though. 

"I think this is probably useless.", Pidge suddenly declared. Keith wasn't even halfway done with his drawing.

"What? Why?"

"You said she was ten thousand years old, right? The only stories I can find about humans and human culture are archaeological findings. For someone who wants to study history, I would have figured you'd check this out already. Perhaps she lied?"

"That – may be possible. Anyway, this is what she looks like.", Keith looked up. Barely surprised by her answer. It was true. Allura knew way too much stuff about modern society and how to behave, to be a reminder of the new stone age. He had always suspected it a lie.

But then again, who knew how time passes for ghosts? "That's her?", Pidge asked, squinting her eyes in focus of the picture. "She looks like Coran's niece, don't you think?"

Keith turned to her. "She what? Wait, you know Coran?"

"Ehm- well, not exactly. But he came to town like what, ten years ago? I didn't trust people who suddenly appeared out of nowhere back then, so I did some research. I mean, she does look older in your drawing, but the shape of the face and her eyes and hair are fairly the same. Also, Coran moved here right after she died. Apparently he could not bear staying in his home town, so soon after her father, his best friend and brother in law died as well."

Keith's eyes widened. "Wait, that would make sense. I've been talking to Allura in front of Coran before. He tends to look weirdly sad when I say her name. Is that is why he helps me out?" Well, that would certainly explain a lot. "Still, why does she pretend to be ten thousand years old?", he asked again, knowing Pidge wouldn't have an answer.

"Perhaps time works differently for ghosts? I mean, she did age up, didn't she? Can ghosts grow older?"

"I have absolutely no idea. I don't even know how she died?"

"I don't know? Perhaps she was sick or something?"

"All I know is he moved here from Miami. If you can call it that. She just appeared out of nowhere one day. " Keith nodded at himself. "Could you search for Mediums in Miami?"

"Oh, yeah, right.", again, Pidge got lost in her phone. "Oh look, there it is! Oh man, that's her, isn't it?", Pidge showed him a picture and sure enough, that was her. Younger, sure, but Pidge was right. She had barely changed.

The photo belonged to an old article. The girl was murdered. Apparently she had been too close to a crime scene that she was investigating. The girl, according to the article, was known to be a medium that helped people converse with the dead. In this particular case, however, she had been investigating unauthorized, according to the report.

Keith sighed. As informative as this article may be, it was useless information. He knew that much already. Allura was a medium who died. This was only proof on her behalf. Keith shook his head, why did he even ask.

Pidge looked at him in thought. "You know, I've known you for a couple of years now, Keith. And I know you've never proven that you can see ghosts and it really seems hard to believe, but I doubt you're the kind of person who could make all of this up. I'm starting to believe that perhaps, you're not that big of a liar after all. I don't know why, but you know this girl. You talk to her. She lived all the way in Miami, Keith. There is no way you ever met her before. You're from Texas. This article was not as easy to find as it may seem. And it even claims she is a medium.
You tend to know things about dead people that nobody else seems to know. I'm honestly about to consider you're the real deal.
However, don't think my trust comes lightly. If it turns out you're lying to me, I will destroy your life."

With that, she put down her phone and turned up the volume of the episode again.

Keith kept looking at her. That was – unexpected. Frightening, sure. But he'd lie if he said it was not also a relief. 

---------------------------

"Hey Allura, say, does time work differently for you?"

"It does.", came the simple answer.

"Why?" 

"My job requires a lot of time."

"Don't we have the same job?"

"Not exactly, no."

-------------------------

As every week, Sunday came far too soon. Moreover, Sunday itself passed with every page Keith turned in his book. At some point he had lost count of how many stories he had finished that day, while Kosmo lay next to him. Bored.

But when he heard the soft noise of keys turning in the door, Kosmo jumped to his feel in excitement. And Keith felt relief as he realized what this meant. Shiro was home. However, the relief slowly washed away, as the door opened with less force than usual. A sign that something was amiss. When Shiro entered, slowly, sweat on his forehead and a dreaded look in his eyes, Keith knew immediately that something was wrong.

"Shiro? Are you ok? What happened?" Keith jumped to his feet, throwing his book somewhere on the couch, maneuvering around it and confronted his brother head on. But Shiro didn't respond. "Tell me what happened!" It was not a question anymore, but a demand. Shiro looked up, the stress creeping up his face as tears stained his cheeks.

"Adam and I – we – we broke up."

Despite the heaviness dragging down Shiro's voice, Keith couldn't help but exhale a breath. For a second he'd thought - Last time Shiro wore that expression, he had been convinced he'd killed someone. "Come in, sit down. I'll make you some hot chocolate."

Keith led his brother towards the small kitchen and instantly started heating up some milk.

"You want to talk about it?", Keith asked, forcing his voice to keep calm. Shiro was under a lot of stress, he reminded himself. Do not add to it! Even if Keith had seen this coming a long time ago.

"I – just – he told me he couldn't do this anymore. Me being all stressed out and stuff. And then the distance and all that. He gave me back the ring, he's serious, Keith! I just. I need some rest. I really need to go to sleep, Keith."

"I understand. It's fine, Shiro. Drink your chocolate and go to sleep. And take the day off tomorrow. Call your boss, I'm sure he'll understand. "

Shiro blanched. "You want me to call Iversion and tell him that Adam broke up with me?" Shiro attempted to laugh, but failed miserably.

Keith twitched a smile at the attempted humor. "No, I mean, the school would understand that you're sick and need time. They can manage one day without a gym teacher."

"Yeah, yeah right – just..."

Keith put both hands on the man's shoulder. "Shiro, listen! You haven't called a day off in the past three years! Not even when you were practically on your deathbed with that crazy fever you had last year. Lay down, you need this."

"Yeah, yeah. Alright." Shiro's voice was distant. Keith sighed. His brother surely was a lost cause.

"Here, drink your chocolate."
They sat there in silence for a solid hour, until Shiro had stopped shaking and went to bed. Keith helped him take of his prosthetic and tugged him in. He shut of the light and closed the door, except for one small gap. He couldn't bring himself to leave him all alone in the darkness. Especially since he never knew whether or not Shiro actually fell asleep. The man had trouble closing his eyes.

Keith shook his head and sighed once more this evening, until he went outside into the shivering cold. It was dark, but out here, close to the country side, he could hear the wolves whistling in the distance and could see the stars shining brightly in all the blackness. Keith crossed his arms over his chest as he shivered from the cold. He needed this sometimes. Especially when Shiro was so out of it. Keith barely had anyone to turn to when it came to his brother. And right now, he needed a clear head. Just sitting on the steps to the front door of their small shack, eyes glued to his motorcycle that stood right next to Shiro's car would surely calm him down. The way it usually did.

Shiro's car.

Keith stood up. He could be wrong, but -
The closer he stepped towards the car, the more clear it became. Right there, on the shining silver metal of the front of the small vehicle was a dent.
It hadn't been there on Friday, he was sure of it. He checked on Shiro's car in secret every week, to make sure Shiro would not have a problem on his way towards Adam.
But there it was, clear as day. A small blood trail remained on it. Keith looked at it, his eyes widening in horror as fear struck him. For a moment, he expected Allura to appear again, right this instance. And it scared him. Frightened him. Horrified him to his very core.

Not again.

He stood there, staring at the bad omen, unable to move or say anything. At some point, he started shouting Allura's name into the darkness. It was 2 am when he realized she wouldn't answer him. At least not tonight.

So he went inside again, praying to the gods that Shiro just hit a deer. And that it was the shock of killing an animal that resurfaced the memories of the incident three years ago and not a living, breathing, human being.

Later, Keith would have wished, that he hadn't gone back into the house that night.
That he hadn't waited for Allura to tell him what had happened. That perhaps he had dared to ask Shiro what he was hiding. And that he had taken his motorcycle to follow the road Shiro had come from. To find out what had happened that night. Perhaps, he could have prevented something worse from happening. 

But Keith was a coward, used to people solving his problems for him, while he himself hid behind a curtain of arrogance and ignorant bliss. His job wasn't to save people, it was to help them move on. So he didn't search for corpses, he waited for the dead. It would take a while until he realized his horrible, horrible mistake.

-----------------------------

When Keith stood up the next morning, 7 am as usual, Shiro was still asleep. At least, he had not left his room. So Keith called the school, to inform them of Shiro's current condition, without telling them the details. For some reason, people liked to take mental illnesses less seriously than physical ones, so he just told them Shiro was unavailable for today. By law he was not required to give an excuse, so the school would have to accept it.

After he got himself some breakfast, prepared himself lunch for school and something for Shiro as well, he left a note for his brother. 

"Just rest, Shiro. I called the school, you're excused."

He left after that, closed the door, grabbed his keys and drove to school. For once, Keith felt unusually awake. He didn't get much sleep last night. The anticipation kept him awake.
He was still waiting for Allura to inform him of a tragedy.

But what if something had happened, only that there was no ghost to take care of? If the ghost had just moved on? There was no guarantee Allura even needed his help. Would Keith ever find out? What had happened exactly? Keith really had to talk to Shiro this afternoon.

When he finally reached school, he couldn't even remember if he stopped at the stop sign some streets prior. Did he even take his usual route?

In fact, he was so distracted, he passed by the popular kids without turning or lowering his head.
He felt them look at him. The piercing eyes of arrogant pricks who thought he was a creep.
Keith only forgot to avoid them today. And despite his quietness, it was as though they made a fuss about him. He noticed some of the things they were doing, though. Like how they pointed out that he was alone today. Right, were was Pidge again?
Or how Lance raised an eyebrow at his attire. He could hear him whispering something about his 'stupid mullet', or whatever Lance liked to call his hair cut. Again, he ignored him.

He also noticed how Nyma practically repeated his comment and threw some random insult back at him. Keith only scoffed at them, throwing them the bird and heading straight to class.

It didn't take long for class to start. But Keith wasn't in it. His mind was already occupied. How to start the talk with Shiro later that day?

"Hey, Shiro, you didn't perhaps – kill someone last night?" Yeah, no, he couldn't do that. "Hey, Shiro, we should talk about that dent in your car." Keith really, really hoped, it was a deer. An animal or anything, really. Anything unspectacular and not important enough to mention. Hell, maybe Shiro had hit his own car with a red spray can when Adam rejected him. How nice that thought sounded.

First period went by fast. Faster than Keith liked. That was surely saying something, since he hated chemistry. Usually it took forever, but today everything just went by in a blurr.

And Pidge wasn't even there! He only shared a few classes with her and apparently today was the first day of some kind of event for the IT club, so she was unavailable for like, the rest of the week. He should absolutely not disturb her, or else she may throw the project at his head. Which was the only reason she did not win the first price last year. (She came in second. Up until this day, she had not forgiven him. And she made sure to remind him of his debt at least once a week.)

Still, when the bell rang to initiate break time, Keith felt himself take a breath he hadn't known he was holding. So he went outside, towards the tree where he always spent his free time. Only that now, he was considering whether or not to sent Shiro a message per phone.

The moment he saw Allura waiting for him, expression all sad and grim (as usual), all previous thoughts were forgotten. All the relief he had felt before was replaced by dread and cold fear. For a second, he considered escape. But what would that do? So he decided against it. He'd have to figure this out either way. He braced himself. "Allura!", he immediately started the conversation, ignoring that perhaps his voice was a bit, let's say, loud.

"Oh hey Keith. Wow, never thought you'd ever talk to me this – excited. Changed your mind about the job?", she cracked a suspicious smile.

Keith shook his head and gulped before he kept on talking. "Please tell me that whoever died, died because of some kind of disease or something. Please tell me, it was not an accident." Allura raised one eyebrow at that.

"Why? Was someone you know in a car accident this morning?" Keith eyes widened in horror as his face paled instantly.

However, Something about the question was amiss and as he noticed what it was, irritation mixed into his fear. "Well, yeah, my brother was. But not this morning. Last night.", he told her.

"Well, lucky then. Nobody died last night. He's probably fine -"

"Yeah, no, I know he is, but-"

"Keith, nobody died in a car accident." Allura tried to calm him down and Keith sat down, relieved. "Thank god!", he murmured.

"Anyway, you really need to help this guy move on. He's been following me around ever since I found him and he doesn't stop annoying me!", she gritted her teeth. And that was a first.

Only then did Keith noticed the tall person standing behind Allura. He could barely make out the way light traveled through his soft sun kissed skin. Illuminating the last person he had expected to ever see like this.
It was one thing, going to crime scenes, meeting ghosts right next to their corpses or perhaps some of them following around their loved ones. It was a whole different story to see one coming to school like nothing had happened.
Keith jumped at the sight, as he finally realized that he had seen this ghost this morning already. Just that he hadn't noticed he was a ghost. Right in front of him, watching him with suspicion and mistrust, was Lance McClain. "What?!", Keith stuttered out in shock.

Lance glanced at him, anxiously looking around, as if to make sure Keith was actually looking at him and not someone who was standing right behind him.

"You died?", Keith whispered to himself and stared right into those widened eyes. Of course it was a surprise to Keith. But it didn't take long for him to move passed his initial shock. Yeah sure, people died all the time. Age had little to do with it. It had only been a matter of time before someone his age kicked the bucket, right?

Lance, however, only now realized that Keith could actually see him. Keith could practically hear the wheels turning in his head. He was proven correct as Lance gaped at him. "Holy shit, you can actually see me!"

"No shit, Sherlock. Why are you so surprised? I can see Allura, too.", Keith crossed his arms with a pout in defense.

Lance blinked. "Wait, seriously? She's dead, too?", Lance asked, looking between Allura and him. "I thought she was a medium or something."

Keith narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "Seriously? You used to make fun of me for seeing ghosts and this is your conclusion?"

Lance shrugged. "Well, what did you expect? I just woke up, minding my own business and suddenly she told me I died! It's not like I believed her. Well until I noticed everyone was ignoring me. Unless this is just a sick prank. Which, if so, haha, you got me." Lance turned once more, shouting the last part, but nobody even looked up at him. Lance sighed and looked at Keith again. "But I can see them pointing at you and laughing. And I'm pretty sure, they're laughing at the fact that you're talking to yourself right now."

Keith squinted his eyes and crossed his arms defiantly. "And whose fault do you think that is?"

Lance glared back. "Not mine, if that's what your implying!"

Silence stretched between the two of them, Allura only watching their little interaction. Already annoyed by their antagonistic behavior. "Soo... I take it you two know each other."

"No" Keith said at the same time Lance said "yes." They glared at each other.

"Don't lie! You just accused me of bullying you! Of course you know me. We share almost all our classes!", Lance complained.

Keith hissed back at him. "That doesn't make me know anything about you other than that you're mean and obnoxious!"

Lance soaked in a breath to answer, probably equally pissed, but Allura stopped them. "Keith, Lance! Zip it! Keith, you are supposed to help him get to the after life, not argue with him about your childish issues. Lance, just – shut up please."

"Excuse you?!", Lance stumbled back in one swift motion, but he wore a mocking grin.

"You're right, Allura. Except that I don't care. If you really want him to move on, convince him yourself."

Lance's grin faltered as it was now him who squinted his eyes at Keith. "Seriously, do you talk to everyone like this? No wonder you don't have a girlfriend. Like, do you help people go to the afterlife with that loose mouth of yours?", Lance shook his head. "Forget it, even if you actually did managed to be nice, I already told your friend here, I'm staying."

That was it. Lance had made his life impossible, now he wanted to annoy Keith in his afterlife as well? "What is your problem?! "

"I don't have a problem! I have my reasons and those are private, so leave me alone." Lance crossed his arms, and averted his eyes.

The glaring contest continued for a while. But only until the school bell rang. Keith sighed, more out of annoyance than defeat, but it was clear Lance took this as his win. According to his smug grin that is.

------------------------

When Keith came home that day, he had completely forgotten about Shiro.

The door was still locked, when Keith forced his keys in. Keith just wished Allura wasn't so persistent. And somehow, she had managed to convince Lance to follow him home. Perhaps she used force. Perhaps Lance was just eager to annoy someone who could actually hear him. Allura was lucky she could disappear into thin air. The biggest problem was, Lance never stopped talking.

He didn't even stop in class. Which is even more annoying, since Keith had decided to actually pay attention for once. So, eventually, Keith told him "this is the reason why your grades are barely above average!". Which was an information Lance had slipped in his waterfall of a monologue. Lance had wanted revenge, obviously, but he didn't even have to lift a finger, because their teacher had called Keith out for "bullying his neighbor". The guy next to him, his name was Jamie, or James or whatever, had been asleep through the whole lecture, so he as well got a ted talk by Iversion.

Lance had just laughed at both of them. Perhaps that was why he had calmed down and just patiently stalked Keith everywhere. Sure, he still annoyed him, while trying to make him respond to him. But this was not Keith's first ghost that tried to make a fool of him in public. So he continued his silent treatment, even all the way home.

But then, again, Keith was left with one more problem. Now he would be confronted with Shiro. And he did not know what to say to him. Especially when he now had this idiot as a witness to everything they were saying. And Keith SWORE, if Lance made an inappropriate comment about Shiro, he would kill himself only to be able to kick this guy over the yonder himself. He groaned internally, but sighed anyway. There was no way around this. "Lance, may I ask for a favor?"

"Oh, I don't know if I'm up to that. Spill it, but I can't promise anything." Lance grinned. Clearly he was not interested in listening to Keith at all.

"It's not for me. I just need to talk to my brother. As you've probably overheard this morning, he was in a car accident yesterday. And he seems a little out of it. I need a clear head for that. You can bother me again, later." Keith tried. But he knew it was pointless. What was it to a ghost, if a mortal was suffering from mental illness?

"I didn't know you had a brother.", Lance replied slowly. Eyes stern as he considered the request. He considered the request?

"Yeah. I don't want people to know.", Keith admitted hesitantly, as he let Lance into his house.
Keith noticed how Lance waited for him to open the door, which irritated him at first. Allura would have long gone through the door without a warning. Keith was used to her lacking sense of privacy. Then again, Lance was also new to the whole ghost thing.

"Why not?", Lance asked. They entered the living room, still no sign of Shiro.

"Well, he is an elementary gym teacher with PTSD, depression and – well - I guess people would probably question his sanity, if mental illnesses run in his family. I mean, I'm adopted, but that is something HE would not take as an excuse.", Keith whispered, hoping for everything that is holy that Lance got the hint. And that Keith himself was reading the small gestures of decency and pity on Lance's face correctly.

"Oh, hell. That's harsh. Why exactly are we whispering?", certainly, Lance had started whispering too.

"I'm not sure if he's still asleep. And to him, I would be talking very loudly to myself. I don't need him to worry about me right now. Not with his fiancé breaking up with him already weighing him down. Why are YOU whispering?", Keith retorted with a smile. Pointing out the break up on purpose. How would Lance react to that? It was a test to see, whether or not Lance actually cared.

But Lance had stopped actively listening to him. Some kind of realization spread on his face at an alarming rate as he shoved Keith to the side. Surprised, Keith had to catch himself before he stumbled to fall over.

"What the, how did you -", he started, but was interrupted by the glassy look Lance wore as he stared ahead of him. 

Right there, through the kitchen door, they could see Shiro sitting at the table. A coffee, half empty, probably long forgotten stood in front of him. Shiro stared at his prosthetic that lay lifelessly beside him. His eyes were widened, sweat running down his neck and he was shivering, despite the warmth of the sun that shone through the window, leaving bright yellow rectangles on the kitchen table. The light was casting shadows only where his cup and prosthetic lay.

Shiro was still in his night clothes, which were basically just some pants and a shirt.

"Your brother is Takashi Shirogane.", Lance said, his voice empty, almost lost at the sight.

Keith looked at him, surprise taking over his initial instinct to test Lance. Then again, Shiro's story was known to the whole town. So, perhaps he should feign ignorance.

"Yeah, he looks horrible, doesn't he? I mean, it's common knowledge he has PTSD, but people underestimate what that actually means. I hear him screaming almost every night, since that accident three years ago. There was a car crash, too. Which is why he's so upset about what happened yesterday. A man died, his daughter is in a coma. Shiro visits her at least once a week. He hasn't forgiven himself. His relationship suffered a lot from that and yesterday, A- I mean, I mentioned this before, his fiancé broke up with him.
I hit something on his way home and that must have triggered his memories. Perhaps I should not have gone to school today." Regret was weighing down Keith's voice as he moved towards the kitchen, knocking on the door frame to not scare his brother to death. He had to make sure, Lance understood this. And by the nodding he received at his story, he had enough reason to belief that perhaps, he could trust Lance in this.

Like a cat, Keith quietly snuck into the room, as silent as possible, as he approached Shiro carefully.

"Hey, Shiro.", he whispered. "Have you eaten?", he asked as gentle as possible, startling Shiro anyway. He already knew the answer. The plate, Keith had left that morning for him was still untouched.

Shiro looked up, tired and sad. Lance followed a few feet behind Keith, scared to interfere with the interaction. Keith had been right. Lance did understand the situation.

"Did you sleep?," Keith asked softly.
Shiro shook his head, slowly. Of all the people in this room, Shiro was the palest. Giving him a look that screamed of death. Ironic, if you recalled Lance's current state of existence.
"Hey, Shiro, look at me. At least you made it out of bed. Come on. I'll make us some pancakes. I know it's a bit late for that, but you love them, right? Hurry up, go get a shower and put on some clothes or I'll force you." Keith's mockery was gentle and caring. His voice as soft and soothing as he managed to utter. Shiro nodded in silence.

Perhaps this was not the best time to ask about that dent.

Keith led his brother up the stairs, as Lance waited in the kitchen, still staring at the prosthetic on the kitchen table. Heavy steps and noises of cracking wood told him how slowly they actually walked. Shiro must be quite the mess.

Then, the sound of rummaging and soon after, the sound of rushing water replaced the little tapping sound of their steps. It took Keith about half an hour to come back down. "He'll be fine. He's just living through that hell of his once more.", he said as he entered through the same door he had left earlier.

Lance didn't say anything to that, until he noticed Keith awkwardly standing around in the kitchen. A heavy silence settled between the two of them.

"Didn't you promise him some pancakes?", Lance halfheartedly tried to break it.

"I did." , Keith nodded, but awkwardly stood there anyway.

Lance frowned. "Dude, you can move. I mean, like, I'm not going to make the pancakes for you. You're the medium here, you should at least know how to cook."

"What the hell do you think being a medium means, exactly? I can talk to ghosts! I mean, of course I can make pancakes, but I'm not a master chief. Would probably be more useful though.", Keith rolled his eyes. But there was something in that conversation that gave him reason to keep moving.

"Really? Have you ever tried anything but talking to ghosts? Like, cheat on a math test with an Ouija board or telekinesis like some kind of jedi?", Lance grinned at his own joke, but as Keith hesitated to answer and went to the oven instead, he could not help but crack a grin. "Oh my god, you totally did!"

Keith blushed at that, as he threw the ingredients and tools he needed onto his workplace. Still, no response. Is that how he acted when he was embarrassed? "I was 7!"

"No way, really?", now the cackling had turned to full on laughter.

"Oh, come on, shut up. I tried to curse Lotor once, because he spilled the beans that I'm a medium."

The laughing quieted at that, then. "So, it's true then. The two of you were friends."

"Once, until he betrayed my trust.", Keith spat at the memory. "Not, that you'd care."

Now the ghost felt a bit bad. "You know, Lotor is a dick to everyone. He betrayed many people. He – well -" Lance hesitated. "Last week he – let's just say I broke up with my girlfriend, because she cheated on me.", he confessed. A bit embarrassed himself. Also uncertain whether or not it was a good idea to tell Keith. Then again, Keith had told him about Shiro's rather private condition.

Keith looked up at him, his eyes widened in surprise and regret. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I-"

"You don't care, and you shouldn't. It has nothing to do with you. That's a decision she made. I'm just mad at Lotor, because we were about to become friends. I'm not wasting any tears for assholes like that myself either. Let's forget about that." Perhaps it was not the best idea to confide in Keith about this.

Keith nodded in understanding. "You're surprisingly mature, considering you usually act like a child around girls. I already wondered why you were flirting with Allura before while you have a girlfriend. And here I thought, YOU were the cheating kind."

Lance chuckled at that, relief settling at the attempted humor. "Yeah, people tend to believe that for some reason. I am actually really loyal though. Patient too, if I dare say so myself.
I once waited two hours in a parking lot for Rolo to get his car to work."

"Really?", the incredulous glance he received by Keith was worth it, Lance decided, before continuing.

"He never got it to work. Later that day I found out the car belonged to his boss, and he had tampered with it a bit. He basically broke the car and I was supposed to be his alibi.", Lance smiled at the memory. Did it matter he altered the story a bit? Never mind.

"Wow, and there I thought you were a decent human being."

"Hey! I woke up Hunk in the middle of the night to go back and repair the thing, before anyone would find out. We fixed almost everything, except for the radio. We put a CD in that he had in his car and made it stuck on a song that I know he hates. I wonder why he even had that CD in the first place. I know for sure he does not listen to ABBA. Apparently it was enough to satisfy Rolo and not damage the car permanently. With Hunk on it, it probably never worked better than it does now."

Keith stopped, as he cracked an egg open into a bowl.

"Wow, that's impressive.", he said, honesty in his voice. "Hunk, I mean.", after contemplating his words.

Lance laughed once more, as he sat down on one of the chairs. "Yeah, yeah he is." Suddenly, sadness washed over Lance. "Hunk went back to his aunt in California last week. She's sick, but lives alone. Someone has to take care of her – so - ", Lance sighed.

He could see Keith nodding, despite the fact he had his back turned to him now.

"That explains, why Pidge and I haven't seen him lately. I was wondering if he was sick or something.", he said.

"Pidge? Oh, you mean Katie, right?"

"Yes, of course.", Keith nodded again.

Lance meddled with his fingers. Silence filled the room after that. They could hear the soft sound of the shower running. The silence was not exactly unsettling now, but it was no warm atmosphere either. However, it gave Lance the chance to rethink the events of the past few days. And it dawned on him that he was in fact, dead. The thought felt dreading, heavy in his chest.
Perhaps he should not have refused Allura. Perhaps he should not be here right now.
He was here, sure, but he would never speak to Hunk again. His mom, his friends. Hell, even Nyma, despite everything. Or – Lotor.

Lotor must be mad. But there was nothing he could do anymore.
Lance was dead.