Lance stirred from his uncomfortable sitting position on the bed at Coran's voice booming through the loudspeakers, demanding that all of the castle's inhabitants come directly to the bridge.

He groaned, face-planting into the pillow.

Coran probably just meant the paladins. He'd just stay in bed. The last thing he wanted was to have to socialise.

---

All the others had arrived at the bridge, and Coran quickly scanned the group, becoming slightly worried when Lance was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Lance?"

"... not here." Pidge added unhelpfully.

"Yes, thank you Pidge. Clearly none of us could work that out for ourselves." Keith snapped sarcastically. He had been rather irritable even since his return to the castle.

"Why isn't he here? I told everyone to co-"

"Coran, just tell us what this is about." Shiro interrupted.

"The mice have come down with something. We need to go to the space mall and collect some medication."

Everyone exchanged a glance.

"... seriously? You needed everyone?"

"Well, I thought that it would be a nice change. The team has been working hard lately, and a trip to the mall might be just what we need."

"Lance especially." Allura added.

"Yes, but, Lance isn't here."

"So what? If he doesn't want to go, he shouldn't have to."

Before anyone could tell him otherwise, Coran was speaking into the loudspeakers, telling Lance to get to the bridge straight away.

"... doesn't the mall guard guy hate us?" Hunk asked.

"I think he's been replaced now."

After about five minutes, Lance moodily trudged into the room, hood pulled up over his head and setting a shadow over his eyes.

"So, Lance, how'd you fancy a trip to the space mall?" Coran beamed, over dramatically.

Lance shrugged, not saying anything. What he had been contemplating for the last hour had left him rather shaky and quiet.

The silence was awkward, so Allura quickly filled it with forced positivity and encouragement to get going. Lance stayed at the back of the pack, avoiding eye contact, avoiding anything that could prompt anyone to talk to him.

---

Coran and Allura sped off to the intergalactic pet shop, leaving the rest of the group to find some means of entertainment.

Hunk sped off to the nearest café while Pidge went straight to the nearest electronics shop, leaving Keith and Lance standing in the middle of the plaza, uncomfortable and silent. They made awkward eye contact and then walked quickly away in opposite directions.

Lance wandered around for quite a while, scanning over shops and cafés, getting nowhere, but he didn't have anywhere that he had intended to get to.

Eventually, the casual mall music eased him into a false sense of security, and his depressive state started to lift.

A cute group of alien girls entered his field of vision, and a little smile appeared on his lips.

Making his way over, he decided on the pickup line he would use first of all. Play it goofy, cute, and polite. Girls loved that.

Getting closer, he realised how much cuter they were than he previously thought. Oh... lucky days.

Eventually, they noticed him coming, and he put a lovable smirk on his face as he addressed them.

"Hello! Ladies... I have to say, you must be from outer space, because damn! You're out of this world!"

Lance expected them to giggle and blush like they usually did. Like all girls usually did - with the rare exception of Allura - but they didn't. They just grimaced, turning their noses up at him.

"Ugh. Lame."

They walked off, not looking back.

Lance stared after them. He didn't get it... that line usually worked...

He wasn't used to rejection. At least, not in space.

What had changed? What had...

Oh.

He wasn't wearing his paladin armour. He had no sign of being a famous paladin of Voltron.

The girls had only ever reacted well to his flirting because he was a paladin. That was he only reason.

He didn't know why he hadn't realised this sooner. What other reason would they have? He wasn't all that great in the looks department, he didn't have any redeeming qualities and his methods were, quite frankly, stupid and childish.

Lance went straight to the bathroom and locked himself in a stall, staying there in silence until there was a buzzing in his pocket. Someone messaged him, telling him to meet the rest at the fountain to get back to the castle.

With a loud sigh, he exited the cubicle, quickly splashing his face and leaving the bathroom, pulling up his hood and feeling the depression sink back down onto him, much heavier than before.

Nobody talked to him. He was glad of that.

Nobody argued when he went straight back to his room.

Nobody did anything when he didn't turn up to the evening meal. He hadn't turned up for the last few quintants.

They saw no point in trying to make him turn up today.