This is an old chapter that I rewrote!

"Five!" Lance exclaimed, "Suck it losers!" He moved his pawn five spaces. Really, his pawn was an old wrapper to a piece of alien candy. On a recent diplomatic mission, there was a meeting where they sat at these large grandiose tables. They seemed miles long and they were so wide that Lance couldn't even whisper to Hunk who was sitting opposite of him. Though, at the center of the table was a basket of candies. The one, and only one, that Lance "ate" tasted of mushrooms. Needless to say, he immediately spat it out and cut a look to the others—a silent warning not to try it. Pidge was using a pebble as her pawn. He couldn't remember what planet she had snatched it from, but it was a pale blue color. Hunk was initially using a marble that the mice had produced for him; however, after enough berating from Lance and Pidge, he switched it to a hairpiece that Allura let him borrow instead. They had all pleaded their case to her, explaining how frustrating it was using the marble since it kept rolling and he would lose his spot (and lie about where he was, Lance might add). They begged for any small trinket she could muster, and she rolled her eyes and pulled the little clip from her hair. "Don't lose it" she had warned them.

Hunk, Pidge, and Lance were using the pieces for their own homemade version of candy land. Again, most of it was drawn out by them, but the landmarks were mostly made of junk they managed to collect on their adventures or gifts from the mice. Keith sat on the couch beside them. He insisted he didn't want to play, but he kept watching them and alerting the others anytime Pidge got the bright idea to cheat. His mouth would quirk up at the end in a crooked smile, "she's doing it again."

"No one likes a snitch." She would sneer.

The alarm began to blare, thus interrupting their game. Allura's voice cut in through the coms. "Paladins! To your lions now! We're under attack!"

In a rush, they knocked over the game, spilling its contents; their homemade pieces scattered across the ground. They scrambled to the hanger to suit up and take the zip line down to their awaiting lions. Together they flew out of the castle to see three battleships, all getting closer by the second. The castle's particle barrier activated behind them. "The castle's defenses have already taken quite a hit. You all need to form Voltron right away." Allura shouted.

"You heard her. Form Voltron!" Shiro ordered. He was of course the first to make it out of the hanger and had already picked off several drones.

The paladins synchronized and flew in formation. Their lions contorted until they all fit together like pieces of a puzzle. "Ignore the drones for now, the castle will be able to withstand them. For now, we will focus on the closest battleship." Shiro ordered.

The droids were difficult to ignore and evade, but Voltron held steady. Keith summoned his blade and as a collective effort, him and Pidge swung the sword around and lodged it into the side of the ship. Hunk and Lance both activated their thrusters, moving quickly out of the way of a fleet of oncoming drones. This caused the sword to create a deep slash down the length of the ship. With the breach, the ship quickly exploded in a quick fireless flash. Pidge had activated her shield in the nick of time, protecting them from the debris. Many of the drones were swept away from the blast, and it allowed time for Voltron to rebound.

Voltron took aim with the lion head at the second ship's ion cannon and fired a blast that effectively caused the cannon to explode. The action brought an aggressive fleet of drones with it, and Voltron launched the missiles from its back in retaliation. The drones exploded with each missile impact; however, the explosions of the tiny ships managed to hit each other causing a wave of debris and light flashes.

Voltron used the cover of chaos to rush to the battleship and damage it with a mighty swing of its sword. However, at this point the third ship was close to the castle. It released another blast of the ion cannon and the castles defenses flashed and dimmed before coming back online. "We can't take another hit!" Allura shouted.

"Voltron disassemble!" Shiro shouted. "Lance, Pidge, and Keith go after the third! Hunk and I will finish this one!"

Everyone followed orders, breaking apart immediately and flying to their directed targets. They were more vulnerable to drones this way, but by dividing up, they could handle more targets and thus avert the attention of the third ship away from the castle.

Shiro made quick work of activating his side blade and swiping down the length of the ship. Hunk rammed the helm and the battleship lost stability and began to glide off course. "Let's finish this Hunk!" Shiro swiped with the blade again and Hunk mirrored his actions. With enough damage to the ship, it could no longer withstand the pressure change and imploded with a bright flash.

Simultaneously, the other three approached the third ship firing quickly. They threw everything they had at the ship, momentarily stunning it. "These drones are getting on my nerves!" Pidge gritted her teeth.

"You could say that again." Keith grunted. His lion shook as he narrowly dodged an attack.

"You two take the ship, I can fend off the drones." Lance shouted. They were getting no where with the drones clipping their attacks short. This way, the other two could focus their energy and attack only the places that mattered. "There's a spot on the underbelly that looks weak. There's a partial exposure." Lance informed. He used the blast from his tail and picked off drones. He grabbed one with the jaws of his lion and tossed it at another pair.

"Keep it up, Lance! It's working!" Pidge hollered. Lance took a swift glance to the ship. They were right, the tactic was working. Though, he was still horribly outnumbered by the drones. Keeping them at bay from the other lions was growing increasingly more impossible.

"Keith! Watch out!" Pidge shouted.

Lance hardly had a moment to think. His hands turned white with how tightly he grabbed and pushed the yolk forward. His lion careened into the line of fire of an exceptionally good shot that was heading for Keith. Lance gasped at the impact, his body jolting forward smashing his head against the panel and recoiling back against the seat. The moment the back of his head made contact with the seat, his vision went black.

Lance woke up in a cryopod. His eyes barely managed to pry apart and he winced at the harsh light. He felt heavy, so heavy. He barely managed to lift his hand high enough, and he pressed it against the cool glass. In response, it opened and he no longer felt glued in place. With the heaviness in his body, he couldn't keep himself from collapsing. He fell out of the pod, but he felt hands catch him before he could make it to the floor.

"Are you okay?" It was Keith's voice. Lance pulled together his energy to lift his eyes to Keith. He blinked a few times and his vision came into focus on dark raven hair, amethyst eyes (how could they have been surprised he was part alien? I mean seriously, who has eyes like that?) and his pinched, furrowed brow. Lance smiled and raised his hand to run it through his hair. He hated the way he felt leaving the pod. He always felt gross and drowsy. He wanted nothing more than to shower and then sleep for days. "Yeah," Lance answered reluctantly, "how long was I in there?"

"Three years." Keith said seriously.

"WHAT?!" Lance screeched in disbelief.

"No, try two days." Keith chuckled.

"Asshole." Lance huffed hitting him in the shoulder; it wasn't very hard, still weak. "Were my injuries bad?"

"You had a severe concussion and bruised a few bones." Keith helped him to sit down.

"Yeesh..." Lance breathed, "What about Blue?"

"A little damaged, but Pidge got her fixed up."

"Good." Lance smiled.

"You're probably hungry, do you want anything?" Keith asked.

Lance considered it. Was he even hungry? He really felt more like sleeping. But his stomach made a sound of disagreement and he nodded. "I could eat."

Keith supported him standing up, but Lance tripped over his own foot and fell into the raven haired man. They were really close, and Lance could feel Keith's breath ghosting over his cheek. "It would be easier if I just carried you." Keith said. It wasn't really a question because he bent over and grabbed Lance by the legs, and Lance was thus forced over Keith's shoulder. When the man lifted Lance, he let out a grunt as he felt his world turn upside down.

"Keith! I'm not a sack of potatoes!" Lance beat his fists on Keith's back, but the man continued, completely unaffected.

When Lance realized how effortless it was for Keith to carry him, he relaxed a bit. His elbow rested against Keith's back and he used his hand to prop up his head. His eyes trailed down to look at the only thing he really could look at, so it's really not his fault.

Lance was half asleep when they made it to the kitchen and Keith set him down on the counter. "I can't imagine the wrath you'd endure if Hunk found out you sat me here."

"Well, he's not here." Keith smiled. He grabbed a tray and Lance silently begged Keith was not about to just fill it with food goo.

"Come to think of it, where are the others?" Lance asked.

"Oh, they went out, Coran needed to get a new modulator. The castle's defenses were fried after the battle. They can't go back to the same space mall we went to, so I think they went to this other place. The name slipped my mind." Keith informed, as he rummaged through Hunk's things. Hunk would be appalled. "I stayed in case you woke up."

"Oh," Lance's eyes followed Keith as the man plopped a mysterious food item onto the tray. It was purple with something blue chopped up. Next to that was what looked like a roll if it was orange and coated in something powdered and pink.

"Thank you," Lance took the tray, "I think." He crinkled his nose.

Keith leaned back on his elbows against the counter, just next to Lance. "Trust me, it tastes much better than goo." Keith laughed, his head tilting back and exposing the soft porcelain skin of his neck.

Lance shoved down the tingling sensation in his chest and poked at the food on his plate before trying it. "It does taste better than goo. What I would do for my momma's cooking right about now." He sighed.

Keith cocked his head to the side to look at Lance. "Maybe sometime soon. I'll make sure of it."

Lance smiled. He knew that Keith didn't have much waiting for him back on Earth. One time, Keith and him had been stranded in a dense forest and they had had a vulnerable conversation. Keith had told him about his tragic childhood, and Lance had promised to share his family with Keith. It was at that time that Keith had admitted that his biggest motivation for them to get back to Earth was to reunite Lance with his family. Lance had cried. And then he threw a rock at Keith's head for making him cry. Then they had reverted back to their bickering. But Lance thought of that conversation often.

"When I get home, I bet she'll make a big feast. All my favorite foods—ropa vieja, léchon asado, tostones, and god, her croquetas!" Lance was listing the dishes off on his fingers as he shoveled down bites of his alien grub. "You'll be invited too, of course."

"I'd like that." Keith smiled. It was a deep and genuine smile. The kind that revealed the shallow dimple of his left cheek. Keith took the empty tray from Lance's hands and brought it to the sink to wash it. Lance watched him fondly.

When Keith finished, he came to stand in front of Lance. "Are you feeling good enough to walk?"

"I think so." Lance gripped the edge of the counter. "Or maybe I just really don't want to hang upside down the whole way to my room. Especially after eating."

Keith laughed.

Lance slid off the counter and found that maybe Keith was standing a little closer than he anticipated. Suddenly, he could only see Keith's broad shoulders, and his thin, chaste smile. Lance let out a shaky breath as he could feel the warmth emanating from Keith's skin. He could smell that natural Keith smell that he couldn't quite place, but it was adjacent to firewood and pine. Lance tipped forward subconsciously to chase the heat and the comforting scent.

Keith hadn't moved, but he quickly picked up on the way Lance instinctively moved closer. Keith's hands hesitantly gripped the counter behind Lance, thus closing more distance between them. Lance's hand reached out and grabbed the front of Keith's black shirt tight in his fist. Then Lance's breath hitched when Keith's head dipped down to even their height. His lips were close, reachable, there for the taking. Lance could feel Keith's breath ghosting over his own lips.

Lance pulled Keith's shirt, closing the barely existing distance between their lips. The moment their lips made contact, Keith's hands let go of the counter and held Lance by the waist and Lance's hands traveled up Keith's torso to hook over his shoulders and pull him closer. Lance grabbed handfuls of hair and Keith deepened the kiss with fervor. One of Keith's hands reached down and pulled up Lance's leg, lifting him back up onto the counter. With the added height of Lance sitting there, Keith didn't have to duck his head at all to kiss. Keith's hands ran up Lance's highs and held him firmly at the hips while Lance wrapped his legs around Keith and hooked them together at the ankles. A while had passed before Keith seemed to blink himself back to reality and pulled away from the kiss. His body however, made no attempt at pulling away. Keith chuckled just a bit nervously. "I'm not reading this wrong, am I?"

Lance quirked up an eyebrow. "I don't think there's many ways to read this Keith."

"Right." Keith leaned forward and began to kiss him again. A moment passed before he pulled away again. "Are you sure you're not so tired that you're hallucinating I'm someone else?"

"I'm pretty sure, Keith." Lance rolled his eyes and grabbed Keith by the shoulders to kiss him again.

Another moment passed and Keith was pulling away once more. "You were concussed—"

"Keith." Lance warned.

"Okay, okay. I believe you." Keith smiled giddily. And Lance was so pleased by the prospect that he could make Keith so happy just by kissing him. That had to be some kind of superpower or something. To make this aloof, moody guy so happy with something so simple, it had to be supernatural.

Lance smiled back, albeit a little sleepy.

"Sorry, you're probably exhausted." Keith brushed hair from Lance's face and tucked some behind his ear.

Lance yawned at the thought of his bed. "I could sleep." Lance wasn't sure that was true. Even though his body felt like it weighed 500 pounds, he didn't think he could sleep a wink.

Keith turned around and grabbed under each of Lance's legs. Lance took the hint and wrapped his arms around Keith's neck. Keith picked him up effortlessly and carried Lance out of the kitchen. Lance rested his head on Keith's shoulder and brushed his nose gently across Keith's neck. Lance reveled in how good Keith smelled. It was familiar and comforting.

When the others came back, they found the cryopod room empty and Shiro went to knock on Lance's door, only, Keith was the one who answered. "Oh, hey Shiro. I didn't realize you were back."

"How is he doing?" Shiro asked.

Keith put his finger to his lips and slipped out shutting the door. "He just fell asleep. He was pretty exhausted when he came out."

"Right. Well, when he wakes up, we should be sure to have Coran give him a quick once over." Shiro nodded.

"Yeah, we'll do that." Keith turned around to go back into the room and Shiro stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

Keith seemed puzzled for a moment. "Oh. Uh... he asked me to stay with him while he slept."

"Oh. I didn't know you two were that close." Shiro looked surprised, but maybe just a little proud.

"I guess you could say we had another bonding moment." Keith flashed a smile and Shiro laughed.

"Hey, whatever got you two to get along, I'm not questioning it."

Yeah, they were getting along alright.

Lance sat up quickly in his bed clutching the sheets tightly in his fists. He felt sweaty and his chest was heaving with big gulps of breath. Keith was hovering above him, worry pinching his brow. "Hey, you were having a nightmare."

"Yeah." Lance swallowed. "Yeah, I dreamt I was still in the cryopod. I hate that thing."

Keith settled a hand on his back and pressed a kiss to Lance's temple. "Me too."

It took some adjustment from the other paladins. At first they were surprised to see the two getting along. Lance had even convinced Keith to join their game of Candyland which Pidge had repaired while Lance was asleep.

"Since when did you two become all buddy-buddy." Hunk narrowed his eyes at Keith with playful jealously.

"Since I woke up from the pod." Lance kicked his foot at Pidge. "It's your turn."

"Ah, if we had known the only way to stop you two bickering was to throw your ass in a pod, we would have done it ages ago." Pidge drew a card and frowned as she moved her pawn almost back to the start.

"Yeah, maybe we should have done it ages ago." Lance cut a look to Keith eliciting a blush.

Keith coughed as he drew his card. "You really shouldn't have convinced me to play. I'm kicking all of your asses." Keith moved his pawn to the very last landmark.

"This is rigged!" Pidge slammed her fist down.

The others didn't really begin to pick up on the nature of their relationship until a small, very minor accident which was blown waaayyy out of proportion.

"What did you think of the movie?" Lance asked, stealing a look at Keith.

"I enjoyed Allura and Coran's attempts to do voice overs, but I still missed the entire plot." Keith laughed recalling the two acting out the most dramatic dialogue.

"Me too! I think it was a cultural thing because it went way over my head." Lance smiled as they came to a stop in front of their doors. "My room?"

"Always is." Keith took Lance's hands in his own.

"Wait, that doesn't bother you does it?" Lance suddenly looked a bit panicked.

"No, of course not." Keith rolled his eyes. "Your room is more homey than mine."

"Imagine if we told Allura, maybe she would hook us up with a suite or something." Lance wiggled his eyebrows.

Keith laughed. "Doubt it." He leaned forward and pressed what was meant to be a chaste kiss to Lance's lips, but Lance had other plans. When Keith was going to pull away, Lance shoved upward on his tippy toes to keep the gap closed. His hands snuck up into Keith's hair and his fingers danced around the soft locks. Keith pressed forward until Lance's back met the wall, and when it did, his head tilted back. Keith took the opportunity, letting his lips move down to his neck. Lance sighed at the feeling.

"Oh my god! Oh my god, my eyes!" Pidge yelped, immediately slapping her hands over her glasses.

The two lovers jerked away from each other at the speed of light. "Pidge, we are so sorry." Lance practically begged for forgiveness. "Aren't we Keith?" Lance cut a sharp look to Keith.

"I'm not that sorry." Keith shrugged but winced at the elbow he got to the gut from Lance.

"You two owe me BIG TIME." She cussed them out a bit, but it was pretty much blown over. "What's the deal though, am I supposed to keep this secret or not?"

Lance and Keith looked at each other and sort of shrugged. "I wouldn't say it's a secret. I guess we just intended for it to come out naturally."

"You call this natural?!" Pidge stomped. "Are you two decent?"

"Oh my— yes Pidge we are descent." Lance rolled his eyes and Pidge hesitantly lowered her hands.

"So uh, how long?"

"Since I came out of the cryopod."

"That was two weeks ago!" She put her hands on her hips. "I just don't know how I didn't see this coming."

Pidge told the rest of the crew that she caught them practically making love in the hallway which was so far from the truth, but they all knew it was in good fun. And slowly, it just became the normal for the team. Allura did not give them the suite they were hoping for, but Keith stayed in Lance's room most nights anyway. At first, Keith was hesitant to enter the room uninvited. But one night after some late night training and a shower, Keith gently knocked on the door and got no answer so he slept in his own room. The next morning Lance banged on his door frantically asking if Keith was mad at him. From then on, Keith didn't really bother knocking.

Part of the reason Lance was hellbent on Keith sleeping with him every night was that he had frequent nightmares. A few times a week, Lance would shoot up from the bed in a panic and Keith would wrap his warm arms around Lance and lull him back to bed. Lance always had nightmares about the pods. He hated being in them so much. They felt cramped and suffocating. But Keith's warm embrace kept him grounded and reminded him that he was safe and far from the pod.

It had been a few months of the two dating, and they had grown close fast. Faster than most people would have anticipated. But Lance didn't think of it that way. He thought the timing made sense. They live together and they have already bonded through the lions. They've already seen each other's best and worst so there wasn't anything to prove, and there was never a need to pretend.

Lance woke up but didn't dare open his eyes. He felt cold. He reached and felt around the bed for Keith to find nothing. The door slid open and shut and Lance opened one eye just enough to see dark hair and a tall sturdy figure making its way back to the bed.

"Where'd you go?" Lance pouted. "I'm freezing."

"Bathroom." Keith crawled under the sheets and pulled Lance against him. "Sorry."

Lance used Keith as his own personal furnace and pressed his cold hands against Keith's chest. Lance felt Keith shiver and goosebumps break out along the smooth skin. He heard the growl Keith's stomach made and tried to ignore it. When it happened a second time, it was loud and impossible to ignore. "Eat your own hand, I'm not letting you up."

Keith laughed and Lance's head bobbed up and down with his chest. And then Keith was moving, eliciting a groan from Lance. Though, when Lance peeked, Keith was hovering above him with a devious look in his eyes. "Eat my own hand? I can think of something much better."

Lance shivered, and this time, it wasn't because he was cold.

An hour later, Keith and Lance strutted into the kitchen in their pajamas. "Morning lovebirds!" Hunk chimed. He was cooking up a storm with three different pans of food over the cook top. "Good timing too, Lance chop these please."

Lance sighed and washed his hands, moving to cut the strange alien vegetables. Keith stalked over, yawning in the process. He wrapped his arms around Lance's middle and rested his head on Lance's shoulder.

Coran came in and gawked at the ingredients. "Ahh! Using the ingredients from the Tregledos planet! Quite a combination I might say!"

"Maybe I'll pay Kaltenecker a visit and make milkshakes!" Lance beamed.

"Don't tell me you're making milkshakes." Allura walked in, just catching the end of the conversation.

"It's mind over matter Allura!" Hunk laughed.

"Are we talking about milkshakes again?" Shiro walked in fully dressed and ready with Pidge following close behind still in her pajamas.

"Oooh, milkshakes..." Pidge pushed up her glasses.

The alarms began to blare and the paladins all went stiff. "Paladins! To the hangers now!" Shiro shouted. Hunk shut off the burners and everyone bolted down the hall. Within moments they were changed and flying out of the castle.

"It... it can't be." Shiro froze in the air. His lion hovering in fear.

A large fleet of hundreds of battleships were outside. "This... it's impossible!" Lance cried. He watched as ion cannons charged, getting ready to fire.

"Lance!" He heard Keith yell.

He watched as several cannons were fired and the lions were torn apart. He watched the red lion as it was blown to pieces and heard the screams of his teammates.

Another blast and white light tore through his vision.

He screamed.

His vision turned blue and he felt like he was falling.

Warm hands wrapped around him and he felt suspended in the air. Lance opened his eyes, tears falling from his cheeks. He could see the floor. He could see shoes and his own body and hands holding him around his middle. Gloves and pale arms. Lance reached his hands up and buried them in the solid black shirt, underneath was that familiar sturdy frame. "Keith..." he said breathlessly and closed him in a tight embrace. He buried his face in Keith's neck and tried to control his sobs. Lance raised his head to see his teammates all alive and well. Not a scratch on them.

"How did... how did we survive? There were hundreds of battleships." Lance caught his breath and wiped his eyes.

"Hundreds of battleships? That sounds unlikely." Coran informed, his normal, chipper self. Though, everyone looked a bit weary.

"Oh. It must have been another of my nightmares." Lance took a breath of relief. "Sorry." He leaned forward and pressed a thankful kiss to Keith's lips. It was gentle and safe and Keith pressed back if only for a fraction of a second before jerking away. His expression looked horrified. "It's okay, Corazón. It was just a nightmare. I'm fine."

Keith shook his head. "You kissed me."

Lance was taken back. "Should I not?"

"You... kissed me, Lance." Keith said with more emphasis as if Lance was misunderstanding.

"Am I missing something?" Lance laughed looking around at the others to see they were just as appalled. "Guys, I love your pranks, but I kinda could go without it right now."

"Lance, I think we're a bit confused here. Perhaps we should talk." Allura said softly as if she was dealing with a fragile situation.

Lance stood up and brushed himself off, he caught sight of the white suit. "Did I just come from the healing pod?"

"Yes." Keith ran a hand through his hair.

"How long was I in there?" Lance pinched his eyebrows together in confusion.

"Two days. You had a severe concussion and a few bruised bones." Shiro explained.

"Huh, just like last time." Lance put his hands on his hips.

"Last time?"

"Yeah, like three months ago." Lance took Keith's hand in his. He was a little offended that he had to clarify. It's not like he was in the pod often. Keith stared at where their hands met with a bewildered look. "I think I'll take a shower and then you guys can maybe brush me up after. Keith, you coming?"

"Coming with? With you? Lance I think we really need to—" Keith began.

"Oh, I know what this is about." Lance frowned. "Are you still mad that I knocked your toothbrush in the toilet? Because I told you numerous times that it was an accident and you brought it upon yourself. You know I can't control my limbs when you're ticking me! Everything is in the kill zone!" Lance rolled his eyes.

"You what? I what?" Keith shook his head only more befuddled. Lance pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Fine, be mad. But I'm going to take a shower." Lance laughed and then left.

"You all saw that, right?" Keith turned to his teammates. His face was a bright, striking red.

Allura bit her lip. "I think I know what's going on."

"By all means, please enlighten us." Shiro shook his head.

Allura sighed and gave a pitiful look. "It appears Lance had been in something we call 'cryo-lucid chimera'."

"That would explain it." Coran nodded.

"What's cryo-lucid chim...chim..." Hunk struggled to repeat the word.

"Cryo-lucid chimera." Allura corrected. "Lance may have been in a sort of deep sleep and experienced a vivid dreamlike state. It is relatively rare, but has been known to happen with the pods. Often, those who experience this dream state create a sense of comfort and peace. The dream is hyper realistic and can feel much longer than the true time that passed. Like he said previously, he believes he sustained these injuries three months ago."

"That is quite true Princess." Coran interjected. "It is often that people who awaken from cryo-lucid chimera do so in a violent manner. The once peaceful dream quickly spirals into a nightmare and then they awaken. Much like he described with the battleships."

"So, what should we do to help him? He still doesn't understand it's a dream." Shiro set his jaw. While he was trying to be a leader, it was obvious to Keith that Shiro was really worried about Lance.

"Well, we do the only thing we can do. We tell him it was a dream." Allura sighed.

"He could be really fragile hearing this news. It's impossible to know what occurred in these three months." Coran added.

"Poor Lance." Hunk shook his head.

"This doesn't really explain the... well... sudden infatuation with Keith." Pidge hesitantly shifted her gaze to Keith. "No offense."

"I agree. He was supposed to be having a comforting peaceful dream, not a nightmare." Keith scoffed. "Shouldn't he be with his family, or on some sort of tropical island surrounded by women?"

Allura rolled her eyes. "It's impossible for us outsiders to know what Lance wants and what he finds comforting. You should feel elated that Lance sees you as someone he can be safe with and that you bring him such comfort."

"But you're wrong. I'm not that for Lance at all." Keith shook his head.

Coran chuckled, "These sorts of things are never wrong."

Lance heard a knock on his door. "Who is it?"

"It's Keith."

Lance laughed. "Why are you knocking?"

Keith opened the door. "Can I come in?"

"Sure?" Lance smiled. "Why are you acting so strange? And what's with the cold shoulder earlier?"

"Look, Lance. I've been the one tasked with giving you some news. It... it might be devastating." Keith came to stand beside Lance.

"Oh." Lance turned serious. "Sit down. It's okay. Whatever it is, we'll handle it together." Lance took his hand.

Keith pulled his hand back, but then thought better of it and grabbed Lance's warm hand in his own, giving it an assuring squeeze. And then, Keith told Lance exactly what Coran and Allura had told them before. Lance's face fell with each word. Lance withdrew his hand, and Keith could see that he was shaking.

"Lance, I'm sorry." Keith reached out but Lance moved away from his hand.

"We're not then...?" Lance looked away, his head tilting to the other side of the room. "And I... I just sprung that on you. God, and the others were all there to watch."

"It's okay, you didn't know." Keith breathed.

Lance lifted a shaky hand to suppress a sob. "This is horrible. This is by far the worst thing that has ever happened to me. I feel like I'm being swallowed up," Lance choked on a sob, "from the inside."

"Lance," Keith worried his lip between his teeth, "could you tell me what happened in the dream? What I missed?"

Lance shook his head. "I don't think I can right now."

"Were we... were we together?" Keith asked softly.

Lance's glossy eyes flicked to Keith and a pained expression twisted in his face. "I-I-I don't understand. It was so real."

"Allura said it would feel that way." Keith assured, but it didn't seem to help.

"It feels like everyone has amnesia but me." Lance ran his hands through his hair and tugged on it. It reminded him of all the times he dug his fingers into those black locks.

"Then, enlighten me. Help me remember then." Keith swallowed.

"Keith, don't ask for something you don't want." Lance tried to wipe his face but the tears kept coming.

"Were you happy?"

"What?"

"Were you happy? Really?"

"Of course." Lance breathed out.

"Even though you were with me?"

"Of course I was." Lance's eyebrows pinched together in the middle, his hand reaching out to grab Keith's arm comfortingly. Then Lance pulled his hand away. "I... I don't even know how to act with you. I'm sorry, this is just—" Lance stood up and began to pace the room. "You don't understand. It was a long time for me, Keith. Going back to the way things were, it's so wrong."

"What do you mean?" Keith stood up and stilled Lance's pacing.

"I mean, how am I supposed to go back to bickering with you and pretending we weren't... weren't dating." Lance's voice broke at the word and suddenly he was crying again which tore Keith in half. Lance was crying for him. Never in a million years would Keith expect anyone to cry for him like that. Let alone Lance. Why was he crying for Keith? Was their relationship really all it was cracked up to be in Lance's head? Maybe Lance changed Keith in the dream, changed him to be someone better than he is. "Oh my god, Keith. You have to say something here."

"What was it like? What was I like?" Keith asked, almost a whisper.

Lance sighed. "You were you. How you've always been." Lance shrugged. "Only, I got to know more. I guess, I just knew you better. You were more open with me. I got to know how you hate prunes with a passion, you would rant forever about much you hated them. You called them the devil fruit. Or uh, you told me stories. Like the time you were playing in a barn as a kid and you fell and cut open your knee. You still have a small scar. I know that you played the cello for a month before quitting because you hated it. The foster program you were in kept trying to make you pick a hobby that didn't include fighting. They eventually just let you do karate." It suddenly dawned on Lance. "Is any of that even true? Or did I make it all up?" Lance looked up to meet Keith's gaze only to find him absolutely stunned into oblivion.

"How do you know all that?" Keith grabbed Lance by the shoulder, his face impossibly close.

"You told me." Lance responded, his eyes wide and unsure.

Keith's breath caught. "I have to talk to Coran. This is... I mean this is crazy." Keith shook his head. He almost looked upset.

"Keith, wait!" Lance pleased, but Keith was already storming out the door and down the hall. And in any normal circumstance, Lance would have let him go. Let him storm off and brood by his lonesome, but it was different now. Lance was normally who Keith would be storming off to, at least in Lance's dream world. So he did what he would have been doing for the last three months, and he chased after Keith. And when he caught up, Keith was bursting into the medical bay where Coran was going over Lance's results.

"Hey my boy—!"

"You said it was just a dream!" Keith snapped.

"Yes. Of course it was. I'm afraid I don't understand." Coran twirled his mustache.

"He knows things about me. Things I've never told anyone, but apparently told him in his dream." Keith was stern with his tone, and Lance had to keep from reaching out to grab him.

Coran looked past Keith to stare at Lance. "That is... quite unusual. I've never heard of such a thing."

"Then how?" Keith demanded.

"I suppose it could be possible that" Coran paused to consider the idea, "perhaps through the bond of the lions he could have obtained such personal information. Though, I still don't see how he could access such information without your permission."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—" Lance started. He felt horrible. Not only are he and Keith no longer together, but Keith was also upset with him. It was nearly unbearable.

"You're apologizing?" Keith shook his head. "This is just—can you not see how crazy this is?! A few days ago, you would have chosen death before you ever apologized to me. I just find it a bit hard to believe that you are dating me in your dream."

"I mean, is it though?" Lance threw his hands up. Coran took the opportunity to slink out of the room and avoid the private matter. "Yeah we would bicker and argue, but there was never any real hatred behind it. It was always like we never knew what to do with the awkwardness between us. We were never alone, never without the team. The few times we have been is the few times we ever had a heart to heart about frankly anything. And waking up from the pod with only you there, it couldn't have made more sense. And it's not like we don't still argue and bicker, we've been known to do plenty of that still."

"You really can't act like I'm the crazy one here." Keith laughed humorlessly. "You were the one who initiated all those fights and the hostility. You made it pretty clear that you hated me, Lance."

"I do not hate you Keith! I never have!" Lance grabbed a bottle of supplements and hurled them at Keith's head to which he effortlessly dodged. "You were the one who pretended not to know me when we were saving Shiro!" He grabbed some sort of foam 3D anatomical model of a brain, though it had to be of alien biology, and hurled that at Keith's head as well which hit right on target and bounced off.

"Pretended?!" Keith growled.

"Yeah, don't think you didn't tell me about that too!" Lance taunted. He grabbed for another alien anatomical model, though he thinks it could be of a reproductive organ and hurled that at Keith too.

"Would you stop that?!" Keith rushed forward.

Lance grabbed another model and raised it above his head to throw. Keith grabbed Lance by the wrist to keep him from throwing it, but suddenly they were close. Keith hardly gave any indication of what he was about to do, only a flick of a look to Lance's lips before he was leaning in. Lance dropped the model the moment Keith's lips made contact with his own.

"You're going to have a lot of catching up to do." Lance smiled.