Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Shiro was sure that something was very, very wrong with the team.

The first one to tip him off was, surprisingly, Pidge.

Now, Shiro was aware that Pidge's drive was even more personal than the rest. Her focus and passion for finding her family were admirable if nothing else, they all knew she was doing her best to find her father and her brother. Hell, Shiro himself wanted to find them badly enough to understand that hard work was a must.

That didn't mean, though, that she shouldn't rest once in a while. It looked, nonetheless, like no one had told Pidge that ever, and so Shiro couldn't do anything to make her stop, even for just a few hours. No matter who talked to her, she was always busy: plans to make, things to program, tons of data to pick apart. And she wasn't gonna stop.

Now, Shiro knew enough about life in space in general to recognize a distraction, a very convenient skill that was also a very convenient crouch to avoid facing reality. Her family had been prisoners of the Galra way too long; anything could have happened in that period of time. Everything was uncertain and could fall apart at any given minute.

Plus, Pidge left her mother all alone on Earth, and by now they all knew that was a detail that it was better left ignored.

Shiro had tried to at least give her a schedule that she could follow in which hours of full sleep were mandatory but no amount of authority or even friendship could put her at ease. So Shiro let her be, although he reminded her to rest a bit every few days.

Kieth, in his own way, was very much like Pidge.

He kept and kept practicing and fighting drones and picking fights with Lance. Shiro would be ok with it all if it wasn't because Keith was obviously bored. So much so that half of the time his heart wasn't in the confrontation at all; not even against Lance. Keith wasn't training just to get better, he was helping the time to pass faster.

Lance, on the other hand, was handling his boredom by getting numb and detached from hobbies and all the small tasks that a millennial castle could provide him. That was very alarming if you asked Shiro.

Just as Hunk was the emotional strength of Voltron, Lance was the heart and the will of it; the force that balanced all the others. Even when they could form Voltron as a team with no problem, Shiro had been wondering when the fact that Lance had been way too still lately, looking at nothing at all for longer periods of time was going to become a problem.

Because, Lance without energy? Lance with no running commentary about what Coran got him to do? Lance being silent?

No. That was very, very wrong. Shiro was positive that some days ago Lance didn't laugh once. Talk about getting worried.

Ok, so, maybe Shiro's concerns were a bit biased. So what? That didn't mean they were less true.

And that was the very scary part.

--

The tension was growing.

Or rather, the depressing feelings were increasing.

The day before, Shiro saw Keith helping Coran to fix something in one of the many rooms of the castle. Willingly. Keith had also reported to Shiro that there were 42 steps in the biggest ladder of the ballroom, just because. He'd added that Lance's ass had counted the last 10 and then Keith went away before Shiro could ask about Lance's ass wellbeing.

Which... Yeah. Better that way.

A few hours ago (or so), Shiro was in the common space with Pidge (who was doing God knows what on her computer) and with Lance, who had been sitting there, just across Shiro, humming a song quietly.

“Hey,” Said Pigde stopping her work and looking at Lance with genuine curiosity written all over her face. “What are you signing?”

“Mh?” Lance answered effectively stopping his humming.

“You were signing something. What was it? Sounds familiar.”

“I wasn't signing anything.”

“You were humming, Lance,” Shiro said with a slight frown.

Lance looked really confused.

“No. No... I wasn't.”

A few ticks of silence and then:

“Whatever you said, buddy.” And Pidge had carried on working as if nothing important had just happened.

Lance's expression transformed into something neutral, totally void of anything alive yet again. The signing and humming stopped for good.

Shiro was worried, alright? Like, he was starting to feel down as well because his team was depressed in space with nothing else to do besides training and fighting.

No relaxing or off-duty days. And even if they did have those kinds of days... What would they do? More nothing?

And then, suddenly, Hunk made clear the fact that they couldn't keep going on like that; and now they all knew it. Both Altean included.

Because Hunk was, by far, the better one at stress management. Hunk was the reason why Shiro still had hope that someday, somehow, all of them were going to be so accustomed to being in space, that they won't be homesick anymore with Earth as pleasant memory in the background. Hunk with his big heart and open disposition was the one carrying the team when they weren't fighting the Galra, if Shiro was honest.

But then, Hunk started crying, right in the kitchen, above his goo-food.

“This doesn't taste right. It just doesn't. I know it's dumb but the taste is so wrong. I-I'm sorry, guys. I'm just... I guess I'm just tired.”

“Bro,” said Keith with more sympathy than Shiro had ever heard from him. Lance hugged Hunk. Pidge looked close to tears herself.

Shiro guessed that whoever said that the best things in life were hidden in the small, little things was right.

And so, Shiro stopped ignoring the awful taste of the goo on his tongue, stopped being the leader that was always trying to find a common ground between the personal life of everyone and the space war; quitted trying to find a balance in every situation and finally allowed himself to be the voice of his team's deepest desires.

Shiro let his cutlery fall to the table with a loud sound. He looked straight at Allura while getting to his feet.

“Princess. A word?”

They were his team, his priority. And he would be damned if he didn't do everything in his power to make them happy whenever he could.

--

“Wait, what?”, asked Keith while blinking.

Shiro smiled.
“You heard right, Keith.”

“One of you is going to Earth,” Allura explained patiently. Shiro knew that Allura wasn't entirely convinced about the plan and didn't particularly like the fact that Shiro didn't ask for permission rather than pointedly emphasized that human psychology was particular and if she didn't give them a break, the outcome was going to make Zarkon pretty happy.

“No. Really. What?” Hunk this time.

“Look that them tryin' to understand us. It can move anyone to tears,” Coran said while doing the exaggerated gesture of taking a tear out of his eye.

They all shared a distrustful and synchronized blink. Allura should be proud of their natural bond.

But no. In fact, Allura looked more serious and concerned than she had in a while.

“Pidge, I suggest you go to check and run a test on the duration of the invisible cloak on the Green Lion. You are going to need it for as long as you can hold it. The rest of you, go make sure your Lions are well and ready to face a fight on their own if needed. Coran, Shiro, and I are going to adjust the plan accordingly to your reports,” she commanded.

Shiro was not surprised when non of them moved.

“Well?” Allura asked, raising an eyebrow. She looked clearly uncomfortable with everything she was saying; her patience was diminishing by the second. She stood even taller. “I gave you an order, Paladins!”

Predictably, instead of doing just that, Hunk, Keith, Lance, and Pidge exploded with questions, inquiries, and very explicit phrases, all their voices crashing with one another.

Shiro sighed.

This is why we can't have nice things, he thought.

Or he believed he had but a tick later Lance was staring at him, blue eyes wide with surprise, mouth open in a silent gasp. Then, he pointed at him and laughed as Shiro had just said the best joke in the Universe.

Well, what a nice feeling. Shiro could get used to it.

“Oh, my man,” said Lance in such a joyful tone that effectively silenced everyone else. “I know you have been patiently waiting to use that one.”

Shiro, feeling oddly proud, didn't even try to fight the smile that was taking over his features.

“We're bringing a little bit of home to us, guys,” Shiro said, feeling a lot better than a few hours ago.

--

The plan was simple enough for them to hope that everything was going to end well.

Allura was going to open not two, not three but four wormholes, one for each Lion on the mission, all of them a shortcut to different and very distant parts of the Universe.

Keith, Lance, Pidge, and Shiro himself were going to jump into their respective wormhole and then, try to find cover and lay low wherever the hell they could.

Pidge was the one going to Earth. She was supposed to arrive at the outside of the Solar System where she would take refuge in the nearest surface available. Only when she could be totally sure that the Galra wasn't around, and only then, she would activate the invisibility cloak and then fly as fast as the Green Lion could to Earth.

It was planned that she would stay on Earth no longer than 30 hours. She knew what to do.

Meanwhile, Hunk would stay in the Castle, not only monitoring the whole operation but also on protection duty. The Castle should be protected against any surprise attack from the Galra; especially when the rest of the Lions depended on it to return home. Leaving Allura and Coran, hypothetically, to fight all by themselves was pretty idiotic, in Shiro's opinion.

With that in mind, and always trying to mislead any attempt of the Galra to sabotage their plan (if any), Keith was going to be the first one of them to return to the Castle at the 18 hours mark. With the Red Lion and the Yellow Lion as guardians of both the Castle and the rest of the Paladin's butts, Shiro and Coran hoped that all the bases were covered.

Lance was the next one, 23 hours later. Then, after 28 hours doing (hopefully) nothing on space, Shiro was going to get back. All of them in a permanent low-key high-alert state because if Pidge was intercepted in the last part of their plan, even with the invisibility cloak, all of them would fly to her and form Voltron at once. No questions asked.

Earth had been safe so far. They would be damned if they changed that just because they'd drove attention to it.

30 hours later, Pidge was supposed to be back in space, flying to the end of the system, back to the planet or moon or asteroid or whatever she first came in contact with. Only when she was completely and absolutely sure that no Galra was preying on Earth, and only then, she was going to communicate with the Castle and come back.

And then... Victory for Team Voltron!

Shiro really wished everything went according to plan. He wished no Galra was spying on them and tracking their movements. And he really, really wished no one attacked any of them when they were on their own, acting as decoys so Pidge didn't have all the (possible) attention.

When Allura was explaining the plan, Shiro was pleasantly surprised to find that none of the other Paladins were offended or deeply hurt because only Pigde was going to Earth, even if it was a very short visit.

On the contrary, Hunk, Lance and Keith started to make lists on top of lists with the things they had been missing all the time they had been out of Earth.

Apparently, certain kinds of food were expected (chocolate and nachos and something called arequipe). They all wanted seeds of a great variety of fruits and vegetables. “And soil, Pigde. You can find good soil in the same nursery garden where you get the seeds. No worries, that comes in a bag. I bet Green is going to love carrying those!” Hunk pointed.

Lance and Keith discovered they had been watching the same retro TV shows before the whole Zarkon thing exploded, and they both asked Pigde to download so many TV shows and movies that Coran had been impressed about how humankind had had time to make all those but hadn't contacted any alien life yet.

Shiro could admit that he'd put down some suggestions as well. He had always liked the Sons of Anarchy, now that he thought about it. He was down to watch it again, even with all the drama.

Hunk asked for a specific brand of toothpaste. Keith asked for a diary and a constellation map he left in his desert shack. Lance asked for an up-to-date family photo.

Shiro didn't know what to ask for besides entertainment. His family history if tragically short was a happy one and any other thing that he might have missed while being a prisoner of the Galra he simply couldn't remember.

He'd tried not to feel nostalgic about his own younger, now lost self and wrote e-books as his request followed by a list with all the genres he knew he enjoyed once upon a time.

It was a testament to how much they all missed their old lives that Pidge didn't complain once about all their requests. She was all focus, all empathy; already planning on a schedule so she could indulge them all.

“How are you going to pay for all the stuff that we are asking you for?” Shiro asked, genuinely concerned about the Holt's bank account.

“What do you mean by 'pay'?” Pigde replayed with her glasses glowing with malice.

Shiro decided then that he wouldn't question Pigde about her methods on this particular mission because, well, desperate measures and all that.

“Are you ready, paladins?” Asked Allura, wearing her full fighting gear, hair in a bun included. “Alright then. Go to your Lions and good luck.”

Shiro's wormhole was the first one to be created. When he leaped through it his hands were lightly shaking, half in worry, half in excitement. A look at the open screens with the faces of his team, all in different places, showed him that they all were sharing the same feeling.

Lance's smile and wink were the last things he saw before the wormhole magic cut all communication for the short duration of the trip.

--

The thing about having to spend 28 hours in space laying low on a desolate and pretty rocky moon was... Well, there was nothing to do. In fact, it was the mission to do nothing.

They were trying not to get any kind of attention so communication with the rest of the team was at minimum, only to be engaged to report every few hours and in case of an emergency. Allura was very clear with that order. “We have no way of knowing if a Galra Ship is near enough to pick in our transmission. If so, they'll know you are all alone and with no immediate backup,” she'd said. "I'm serious, Lance. No unnecessary communication.”

Gosh. How was Lance coping with all the silence?

Keith, Shiro could imagine that would be practicing with his sword right in the little space that his Lion provided him. Shiro remembered how Keith had never been one of those kids who could stare at a wall and be entertained; Keith liked to move around and explore and read weird but interesting stuff. That's why Shiro was willing to bet that he took all his weapons with him, either to clean them or practice. Keith, Shiro knew, was undoubtedly doing something.

(Please, don't let it be running around his small cockpit with all of his knives at the same time. Please. He just couldn't handle another safety talk about it.)

Hunk was probably all stressed out over the coms, waiting patiently on the rest of them to report back. Most likely, Coran would keep him company all the while trying to ease the anxious atmosphere around him.

Pigde was already approaching Earth, with nothing alarming to report. Shiro knew that because Allura had told him the last time they'd talked.

Now, Lance...

Lance was, maybe... Talking to Blue? For the 6 hours they had been in space so far?

Blue would like that, Black informed him in a quiet purr. She loves company.

Ah. So, yeah.

“Thanks, pal.”

At least non of them were truly alone in space. Their Lions kept them company. Shiro and Black were close enough to feel at ease with each other for hours, even without talking. They were mates. And Shiro was fairly sure Black didn't judge him for his slight obsession with the Blue Paladin. If Black was cool about it then so was Shiro. It was fine.

Ok, so, Shiro wasn't uncomfortable anymore. Black had never mocked him for it and Shiro was grateful. Even more grateful when Black shared little bits and pieces of information that could help him understand Blue's personality, and so, Lance's mind a little more.

It wasn't an invasion of Lance and Blue's privacy! It was just... You know... Random data. To... Be prepared in battle... and―and. And to help predict stuff, you know, useful stuff and―.

Fine. So it was a little more than him being a cautious leader.

Shiro had this hobby―That wasn't a hobby at all. It was a coping mechanism that Shiro himself was pretty sure was unhealthy. It was also a guilty pleasure.

He liked to imagine Lance doing normal stuff in pretty normal scenarios.

Bear with him on this one, okay?

Yes, sometimes those scenarios were a little more R rated than others but usually, Shiro's imagination would create a whole story (with lots of contexts!) of so much normalcy that Shiro's heart ached with confused longing.

You see, to Shiro, Lance was the most normal of them all. And, believe him, he said that with his most regards.

Lance had insecurities and many flaws but all of them were expected at his age, they were acceptable and manageable. They were all human and raw and normal.

Lance was pretty easygoing, yes. He also was a constant explosion of emotion and intent, even when he was sitting still on the couch because it made his numb depression even more obvious. Any other day, Lance would be shining in a way that made Shiro remember that Lance's family was a big one, and in a family with that many people, Shiro supposed, you learn to just be yourself; always accepted, and always loved no matter what.

Lance didn't have the lay-back attitude that Hunk had, for example. Shiro didn't know much about Hunk's family but he suspected that even when it wasn't as big as Lance's, Hunk had been given way more responsibility over his kin than it should be given to someone that young. Not for nothing Hunk default mood was to take care of them. Pretty much like someone accustomed to acting like a mother would.

Even though, Shiro categorized Hunk as the second most normal paladin. Because, well...

Neither Lance nor Hunk had (thank God) the awful experience of the foster-child system. Didn't have the memory of their heart being broken over the news that half of their family was dead. Keith and Pidge had a history of raw pain that was obvious if you were looking for it. But those experiences although traumatic, were still human, still relatable in a universal way.

Thankfully, none of them had a whole alien arm attached to them, always a reminder that they weren't completely human anymore.

Shiro wasn't normal. He used to be, yes, a long time ago. Now he was anything but. He really missed the stability that being normal could bring, the easy happiness, the way that your problems seem all-encompassing for a while, and then something happens and you're happy again.

Shiro found that normality in Lance, in his smile, in the way he was both smart and cocky even when he didn't understand what was he talking about. The way, sometimes, Shiro could hear Lance taking in an awed breath over a new galaxy that they were seeing for the first time.

Lance was normal. In a way so attractive and so great and full of dreams and kindness that Shiro felt pulled toward him, Shiro wanted.

Shiro wanted to hug Lance and then bask in the warmth of all his being.

Cue the weird coping mechanism/guilty pleasure that made him enjoy picturing Lance in very normal scenarios. All quite different, but all with Lance living a pretty ordinary life (ordinary, yes, but so, so beautiful), with an all-normal Shiro included. A completely human, very much interested Shiro inserted in them.

Oh yes, it was that fucked up.

The first time that Shiro had let his imagination run wild, it had been so innocent Shiro's consciousness hadn't suspected a thing.

The first time it'd happened, Shiro pictured them all in the garrison, actually.

It had been a made-out story about how, through very possible ways, they would have all met each other even if they weren't destined to fly giant lion robots. It has been a pretty simple story: Shiro met Lance and Hunk through Keith, because that imaginary Keith had paid attention to his peers eventually, and then Shiro brought Matt and his little sister to a tutor session to help the boys because the Holt siblings were just that smart. They were all friends in the end and all was good.

Except that wasn't the end of his daydream. Oh no.

Somehow, imaginary-Lance had gotten his individual attention when he asked for help in a particular fly-sim scenario that was driving him nuts. “I'm against Keith, Shiro,” Imaginary-Lance said. “This is my last chance to get out of the cargo pilot class,” so of course Shiro helped him. How could he not, knowing how much Lance wanted to explore space?

That's why imaginary-Shiro took imaginary-Lance to the simulator and ran with him the whole flight. Imaginary-Lance had a problem with the same maneuver that real-Lance had with his Lion, and so Shiro thought it was about time to imaginary-teach Lance what to do.

Everything went to real-hell after that imaginary-decision.

Because imaginary-Shiro sat on the simulator pilot seat and then moved imaginary-Lance to sit on his lap, taking Lance's hands between his, showing him through movement what to do and talking in smooth whispers. Then imaginary-Lance had turned his head around wearing a smile that Shiro had seen in real-Lance, a smile normally aimed at Allura or even Nyma that one time, and said in a very cocky-sure voice: “Oh Shiro, you sure can teach me anything, eh?”

Shiro didn't want to remember the near asthma attack that he had had after imagining that. The shock had been that big. It was the worst wake-up call that he had ever pulled on himself.

At the time, he had panicked because he thought he was just attracted to Lance. That wasn't exactly acceptable even when Shiro regrettably admitted that Lance fit his type pretty much all the way. He liked guys who were tall enough to look into Shiro's eyes easily, confident enough to share his thoughts, with an open disposition to adventure. The caramel skin and the blue eyes were a great, great bonus.

But still. He was the leader, for God's sake.

Gosh. In retrospect, those weeks had been very awkward.

But then, after the equivalent of plenty of nights hours invested in understanding why he had imagined Lance that way, Shiro concluded that, yes, Lance was handsome and all, but he had unconsciously picked him out of everyone else on the team because he was the one that reminded him the most of home. Home in an abstract way that not even Keith or Pidge could evoke. A home that didn't exist and wouldn't. A home where the Kerberos mission didn't change him so badly, as a place where he could relax and just be. Home as somewhere safe and familiar. Where you were allowed to just be happy.

That and, well. Yeah―Lance was pretty attractive.

After that, Shiro tried with all his might to keep his daydreams, especially when he was about to fall asleep, to be all focused on normal things. Routines and familiar habits in different scenarios. Pretty ordinary days that somehow were never boring in his mind. Sometimes those fantasies were about their original lives other times about a hypothetical universe.

Most of them Lance focused. Because really, Shiro couldn't fight that many wars at the same time.

And if sometimes in those daydreams things got shifted a bit and Lance hugged him while pressing his lips on Shiro's neck, well...

Whatever. Let the record say that Shiro was tired enough in general that he didn't feel guilty about being self-indulgent in his most vulnerable hours.

Ok, sue him. He was attracted to Lance, so what? It wasn't like he was doing anything about it.

Except, you know, kinda imagining their life together in worlds that didn't exist. But that was it.

One of his favorites was a universe where Lance was studying astronomy and Shiro was a space pilot, very similar to his old life. Galra empire, non existing.

Shiro liked to imagine Lance with a portable telescope, plus a big backpack full of books and notebooks and a few maps of the galaxy sticking out at the top of it. In that universe, Lance would be dressed as the total cliché of a nerd. Bowtie and suspenders included. And glasses. Thick, black glasses, framing his blue eyes.

Eyes that would shine very bright when Shiro, both arms human, would present himself as the pilot of Lance's first space travel. Lance would look at him with an open expression of admiration (that may or may not had been taken straight out of their real-Voltron life) and would follow every word that Shiro said as he was as interesting as the stars that Lance would love to study up close.

Shiro didn't fool himself into thinking that that Lance, the astronomer one, was real. He knew real-Lance and knew that he was merely exaggerating all the (few) shy and obedient parts of him. But man, it was fun to picture him just being so purely innocent and cute; smiling pretty much all the time.

Until some weird space-sickness (but not a gross one) would get hold of Shiro and it was Lance's duty to take care of him. And that's when astronomer-Lance would start behaving a lot more like real-Lance, instinctively knowing what to do while asking questions and talking his way out of an anxiety attack. Then, after Shiro would get better, Lance would proceed to behave half like astronomer-Lance, half real-Lance, and Shiro would offer a sexual reward for his help.

And that part was a lot of fun (because astronomer-Lance wouldn't have much experience but a lot of curiosity) but Shiro would be damned if he started to imagine that while he was in Black. Nop. The line had to be drawn somewhere.

He he, Shiro felt from his lion but ignored it.

Yes. Astronomer-Lance was definitely a favorite. Shiro was fond of him almost as much as he was fond of marine biologist-Lance.

Oh, man, marine biologist-Lance. If astronomer-Lance was all about Lance being cute in a nerdy and shy way, biologist-Lance was all about passion and slyness and a blinding personality. Always caring a big, big, big smile. Again, real-Lance exaggerated.

Biologist-Lance would meet chef-Shiro in a sushi restaurant (because why not! Even when in real life Shiro's cocking expertise could be summarised to 'pour cereal in bowl, add milk after, then end'). Lance would enter the establishment, almost too tired after a whole afternoon of lobbying in favor of the sea turtles' rights, and would order the least expensive item on the menu. Shiro, sometimes just the chef on duty, sometimes the owner of the restaurant (the scenarios would change with his mood, honestly), would take pity on the poor biologist and would give him an extra plate of something delicious, on the house.

Biologist-Lance would be so, so grateful, smiling just for him. After just a few questions, he would be telling chef-Shiro everything about his research and his favorite spots on the sea. All about his love for the sea, actually. All in a high-speed speech and with elaborated arms movements.

“Can you believe that the government spends waaaay too much money on space exploration, which has never been that successful or practical or useful, by the way, instead of exploring our own sea?! I mean, the one person who had been at the bottom of the Mariana's Trench is freaking James Cameron! He couldn't do much, grant you, but if it's already possible to go there, why are they wasting all the tax money on fucking space?!” Biologist-Lance would say, just for Shiro's amusement.

Chef-Shiro would lie that he couldn't understand the government's logic either. “What's the point to know what's hidden in the universe when you wouldn't even know how to deal with all the garbage that is endangering all the marine life, am I right?” Chef-Shiro would eloquently say.

Lance's face would be so happy at that. At which point, biologist-Lance would start flirting with him with everything he got: his blue eyes would somehow shine, his smile would be seductive, and his hands would be sexily messing with his own hair.

“You made my day, Shiro,” marine biologist-Lance would say just before remarking that he lived close, would Shiro like to go to his place? He could make the day even better. He promised.

Ehrm... Yes. Right. That fantasy was better suspended for the day as well.

And while all those scenarios were fun and usually ended in a pretty sexy time, his ultimate most favorite fantasy was... Pretty tame. So much so, Shiro normally didn't indulge himself with it because it made his heart ache, feeling hollow with longing for a life that was never going to be his, and space dust would fight its way inside his eyes.

He reserved that one for the especially tiresome days. For those hours that everything felt wrong or meaningless. For when he needed something he couldn't pinpoint.

Lance was a student in that one.

His imagination had never decided what was he studying but Shiro thought it was something to do with maths. Lance was also a surfer; expending all the free time he could spare riding waves on the ocean. Shiro would be a space pilot in that one as well. A cargo pilot one. He would take one shipment of required stuff, then he would fly it to one space-station in specific, almost on autopilot, and then repeat the process for the rest of the week.

Being a cargo pilot was weirdly liberating. It also meant that he got to go home almost every night. Although, in this scenario, he had had a very long trip to make and hadn't been home for a week. Now it was time to come back.

Lance would kill time surfing the afternoon away. Then, he would stop and go to his jeep to put away all his beach stuff, his beautiful blue lion surfboard included.

“Hey, man, wanna hang out tonight?” Someone, a faceless man, would ask him.

But Lance wouldn't even look at him that much, his joyful mood and excitement contained but clear.

“Sorry, bro. Shiro is getting home tonight!”

“Oooh. Gotta go to pick up the boyfriend?”

“You know it!”

And that's exactly what he would do. Shiro even imagined Lance driving the windowless jeep on the highway. A small smile adorning his features, sunglasses protecting his eyes. Lance would arrive at the space station, and his whole physical language would change to a relaxed and joyful one, waiting patiently for Shiro to come out.

Shiro and a couple more cargo-pilots would be leaving the facilities to theirs awaiting cars. Shiro knew without a doubt, that no one was as happy as he was watching Lance removing his sunglasses to reveal blue eyes that were shining with mirth and a smile so full of love that Shiro's breath would get lost for a full second.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Lance would greet while helping Shiro's luggage to the back of his jeep, just below his surfboard.

Later, Shiro would laugh out loud when Lance didn't even bother to try to create a decent mix with all the ingredients they respectively liked on pizza, so he bought three pizzas instead: one just for Shiro, one for Lance, and one with just cheese on it to share and maybe even have as breakfast in the morning.

After that, they would go to their apartment. Shiro imagine it as a not-that-big of a place, on the contrary, it would look really small with all the things that co-existed within its walls: Lance's posters and videogames and shoes, Shiro's magazines and books and space maps. Nonetheless, it would feel very warm and cozy. It would smell like Lance's cologne and it would be home.

It would be the only place where Shiro would feel safe enough to remove his shirt and let his prosthetic arm on sight. A normal, robotic, not-alien, prosthetic arm.

Lance and Shiro would take the pizzas to the sofa while telling each other the highlights of the days they were separated (Lance almost lost his surfboard after a particularly wild wave, Shiro saw the weird pyramid-like asteroid again). Then, they would turn on the TV (“Pacific Rim, Shiro!” “Again? Yancy dies every time, Lance. You need to accept that,”) and just kinda cuddle, but not quite, on the sofa for the rest of the night.

Before going to bed, Lance would hug him and in a very soft voice he would say: “I missed you so much. I was worried about you.”

Shiro would close his eyes and pull Lance even closer to his chest and reply: “I'm here.”

And that was it. No weird accident along the way so the fantasy would have some kind of story, no prolonged speeches against the system, not even the slight indication that sexy times were ahead.

Nothing at all. Just that. Just a day in any ordinary life.

As usual, Shiro took a very deep breath after that scenario. His chest felt compressed beneath the armor and half of his brain was calling him a masochist.

Yes, well. Shiro didn't have an explanation for that one so he tried not to dwell much on it.

Black purred around him. A silent comfort.

“Shiro?” Allura's serious voice cut suddenly the silence in the cockpit, submitting all of Shiro's attention to her.

“I'm here, princess.”

“Keith is already in the castle and everything is going well, it seems. Is anything new to report? Has something changed over there?”

Shiro's eyes roamed through the cabin while he silently sighed. No, nothing had changed at all. Not Shiro's life, not anyone else's on the team, not their mission, not their destiny. Maybe all of that was good news but Shiro felt a little empty at the moment to be a good, optimistic leader.

“Everything is still the same, princess,” he reported at last.

--

The mission was a total success.

To Shiro's complete astonishment, everything went according to plan. All of them returned to the castle when they were supposed to. Pigde completed all her tasks in record time and then went back without raising any alarms. When the Green Lion entered her hangar, Allura finally let herself relax, smiling at everyone and everything.

The rest of the team was ecstatic. Coran included.

Shiro himself felt an almost uncontrollable emotion that he couldn't describe. So he just smiled as wide as Pigde was smiling when she came out of her Lion declaring that there were too many stuff, that she already carried them in, so no way she was going to carry them out, you lazy asses, and just enjoyed the high spirit that was so present around them all.

Pigde wasn't kidding. There was a lot of stuff. Some of them were in boxes, others in backpacks. And then there were the obviously heavy earthbags, full of Earth soil that Hunk was going to cultivate so they could finally eat something nice in the future.

Shiro almost cried thinking about that. Lance did cry a little bit, though. Dramatically hugging Pidge and everything.

“Yeah, yeah. I have your laptop and your face-creams, you big baby,” Pidge patted Lance's back a few hours later when another happy hug went her way and all their earthling things were scattered all over the common area waiting to be arranged. “Also, um, I met your family. They are amazing,” Pidge tightened her arms around him and her voice went calm and watery. “That's from your mom. You have no idea how happy she was when I told her you are well and alive.”

That was the point that Lance actually cried, although he tried with all his might not to, separating himself from Pigde and blinking his eyes repeatedly while looking at the ceiling.

“Yours too, Hunk,” Pidge went to Hunk then and hugged him as well. “Your grandpa and your mom send you a lot of love... And some weird seeds that apparently are very important when you're flavoring up food.”

Hunk, oppose to Lance, didn't try to hide his tears or his deeply moved smile.

“Thanks, Pidge,” Hunk said while hugging her back.

Shiro knew he wouldn't have a message from his non-existing family. Sometimes weird things happened and all you had left of your real family was with you in space, piloting a robotic Red Lion. Shiro made a point of walking to Keith and putting his left hand on his shoulder. Keith dedicated him a soft smile. A silent support for both of them.

It turned out they were all reported missing. Even Keith, apparently. There were Have you seen me somewhere? posters with their cadet pictures on the streets and everything. The description said that they were all last seen with a very suspicious and believed to be dangerous unknown man who was obviously described as Shiro, even without telling his name.

Pidge took it upon herself to explain everything to Lance's and Hunk's families. And her own mom, of course. Their relief had been, in Pigde's words, palpable. Neither of the families wanted her to go, all the moms wanted to feed her and listen to all their adventures. Regrettably, Pigde hadn't had the time to do so; but they all understood the importance of her mission, and it had been because of all of them working together that she could bring so many things back into space in the first place.

And man, Lance's family was huge.

At the end of her story, Lance was smiling again, his eyes still suspiciously bright.

“Your mom has like an altar for us, Lance. I thought it was kinda weird but she said that they have been praying for all of us. She... She said that she will keep praying until she can meet us all, and that she'll ask for us to be fine. Plus, I'm pretty sure she is Hunk's mom's best friend as well so I... I introduced them to my mom. And, now... Well, now nobody is alone.”

Hunk started crying again.
“Oh, duuudee! I love you so much, Pidge!” Hunk exclaimed while hugging her. “Thank you soooo muuuch!”

“Sure, big guy. No problemo,” Pidge smiled. “Your mom said you looked so handsome in your paladin armor in the photo I gave her. I think she said something about a gigantography to put on the window.”

“Oh, God,” Hunk's cheeks turned seriously red. “Yep. That's her alright.”

“Now, your mom, Lance, said that you need to eat more and that she couldn't believe you finally met your ultimate idol. You know? The one from the poster in your room...?” Pidge said while moving her eyebrows up and down and smirking mischievously. “The one that you wouldn't shut up when he graduated just before you entered the garrison...? You know, your hero...?”

Lance's face turned a shocking shade of red, his eyes huge.

“WHAT?! You told her―Wait, she told you―What?!! What are you talking about? Haha, oh Pidge, you're... Hahahaha, who knew you'd have such a sense of humor and vivid imagination?! Ppfffff! Pleh-ase. Ppppfffff. No idea what you're talking about, dude. Nada. No.”

Pigde continued, her voice tone practical and evil.

“Anyway, now Shiro's poster is on the altar with all of our pictures, it's what I wanted to say.”

“Nooooooo!” Lance screamed with enough feeling to make his body roll to the ground and disappear behind one of the boxes. All the while prolonging the 'oooooo’.

Shiro couldn't even fight the big smile that took over his mouth. He felt his cheeks getting warm so he immediately tried to hide his face from everyone but it was impossible. Shiro just couldn't keep from smiling, feeling a sharp wave of satisfaction and pleasure in his chest, spreading downwards with fury.

He already knew Lance looked up to him a bit but he never imagined (not even in any of his fictional universes) that Lance would have a poster of him in his room. Oh, the things that his printed self must have seen.

Anyway, he might have been Lance's hero once. When he was a whole human and all. But now not only Shiro himself was completely changed but also Lance was getting to know him as Shiro. He could tell that he was no longer an idol in Lance's eyes. Yes, there was admiration but not that much awe anymore.

Shiro didn't want to analyze why that made him feel simultaneously happy and unhappy at the same time.

Right now he was smiling, though. Because Lance's embarrassment was funny in a very flattering way.

Keith's joyful laughter was a great plus, even when it was at Lance's expense.

Coran intervened at that point making Lance drop his still prolonged vocal sound to just background voice.

“Ok. We are all happy with Lance's misfortune and all that but where are all these movies I keep hearing about?”

Lance finally stopped screaming and looked a Pidge curious for an answer from behind his box. Shiro saw Pidge's smile turn pleased. A tick later, she was revealing a whole backpack full of external memories, all of them of ridiculous capacity, that had been resting innocently at her left.

Keith sighed, relieved.

“Pidge. I love you so much.”

“And these are just the movies,” she kicked lightly another backpack at her right. “These're the TV shows and music.”

After that, Pidge, Keith, Lance and Hunk tried (all at the same damn time) to convince Coran to start his TV experience with “the best TV show ever”, in a very vocal way. Unspoken, they all agreed that the Altean should begin with a comedy.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Lance, who apparently 'shaped his all' from someone called Jake Peralta), Community (Hunk), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (surprisingly, Keith) and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Pidge, not as surprising with really worrisome) were the titles that keep coming up in loud and euphoric exclamations.

Shiro decided that was enough when Coran started to look panicked.

“Alright, alright! Everybody knock it off!” As he knew it would happen, all of them finally got quiet. But he didn't want to waste the opportunity so he concluded: “Plus, Coran should start with something somewhat familiar. So, Star Trek it is.” And because everybody was still watching him attentively, he added. “And the best comedy ever is 3rd Rock from The Sun and don't you forget it.”

They all started talking at the same time again but Shiro smiled through the whole thing. Allura, who had been silently resting on the couch with her mice sleeping on her, throw him a tired but very pleased smile and recognized all their effort and troubles with a nod of her head, regally pleased that her paladins were happy again.

Yes, thought Shiro. They'll be alright.

--

So now they all watched Star Trek: The Original Series in between missions, fights, and training sessions, which was an excellent choice because, as it turns out, Allura and Coran found it incredibly hilarious.

“They―They think that the dark matter―Hahahaha! Coran! Coran! Are you seeing this?”

“Oooh, princess! This is even funnier than that time they confused the abilities of the Andorian with the Osshkics!”

The paladins tried very hard to play it cool but Shiro gave both Lance and Keith two more nights of these kinds of comments before they exploded in fanboy-ing rage.

Shiro was counting on it, actually. If he had to listen to another backhanded insult to Hikaru Sulu's pilot abilities he was going to scream. And he really didn't want that.

When it wasn't family-quality-time (Hunk coined that), they all have things to do by themselves, at last. Shiro could easily see how happy and hopeful Allura was now that all the paladins were less inclined to depression, extreme moodiness, and incurable boredom.

“You were right,” Allura told Shiro one day after a particularly well-performed practice. “They are getting better, faster now. They look happier. Even you. It was a good call.”

She seemed so calm and pleased, even when she was irradiating power in that low-key way that royalty people pulled off without trying. Shiro reasserted just how good of a great leader she was.

“Zarkon is not going to know what hit him!” Coran declared, full of energy.

Coran was right. Because the newfound happiness in familiar stuff and routines was paying off in both practice and real-time battles. In Voltron. They all could feel it.

As Allura pointed out, even Shiro himself was feeling better in a way that he didn't know he had been missing. All that time away from home, after all the things that had happened to him, he kinda thought it was going to be difficult to reconnect with the mundane stuff that he used to like. He was wrong. Re-reading a book that he knew he liked once brought him joy and relaxed him, just as usual.

To know that he hadn't changed that much was a great relief.

On the other hand, watching movies with his team was a great bonding experience. Yes, Lance and Keith and Pidge and Hunk sometimes started petty arguments about the plot just in the middle of the movies (sometimes it was a two vs. two heated debate, instead of an all against all; and that was very interesting, even if it only Shiro thought so) but it was fine because even Allura seemed to have a nice time out of it.

Shiro liked it. Loved the normality of it all, in fact.

(And that one time he found Keith and Lance just silently watching a new TV show that Pidge and Hunk had recommended, both engrossed in the plot, looking comfortable and at ease even though their legs were touching and Shiro's breathing pattern got messed up because that was his brother and... And Lance. Getting along. Totally alright with each other despite their differences. Being friends. And Shiro didn't play favorites, he really didn't―ok, maybe Pidge―, so he couldn't explain it, not even to himself, why that felt so monstrously important, so good to see.)

And then they were fighting an especially hard battle against three battleships of the Galra empire, all seven of them trying to save a small planet that had been crying for help in real-time, and that was normal as well. Shiro's world was complicated like that.

They had formed Voltron to defeat them all but it took a long while, lots of in-the-moment strategies, and a surprise attack from Coran all the way from the Castle to beat them. There had been just a moment of anguish in between but then Hunk's bayard finally did the trick and they were victorious.

They all were feeling pretty euphoric after that spectacular and well-deserved victory. Nevertheless, the feeling was washing over quite quickly, the toll of the battle taking over their bodies. Even with the Lions separated once more, Shiro could feel just how tired everyone was.

“Ok, team,” he said, controlling his voice to a serious one. “Let's go to the planet and see what else can we do. We might encounter more Galra once on land so be prepared.”

“Roger that!” Replied three voices.

Just three.

“Uhm. Lance?” Shiro asked, paying special attention to the Blue Lion's feed.

“I say I'll rule the world!” Suddenly sounded all around his cabin, like his cockpit was turned into a big speaker and music was playing from it.

Exactly like his cockpit was a big speaker because the music was playing from everywhere inside his cabin.

But Lance's voice, half singing half yelling the song, was on the feed of his helmet as usual.

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!

“Check out what Blue can do!” Lance said over the music that was still playing in the background. “She can broadcast live to all of you!”

“What the hell?!” Keith asked. Shiro wasn't certain if his tone was exasperated or just surprised.

“Owh, Lance...”

“Again with this song?!”

“What's going on?!” Allura demanded.

Lance kept singing the song.

Hunk explained:
“This is one of Lance's favorite songs.”

“It was his ringtone for months!” Pidge yelled to be heard above all the noise.

“And he used to make us listen to it before going inside the simulator, remember Pidge?”

“I couldn't stop singing this in my head for hours after that.”

“Hey, cry-babies! How about you enjoy the infinite delight that this tune is, because it's absolutely awesome, and embrace the fact that is perfect, just like this moment?” Lance spoke again, over the music.

“Well. It is a good song!” Hunk relented.

“They say no way, oh, I say I'll rule the world!” Keith started singing, half shouting.

Keith.

Shiro felt his jaw separating from the rest of his face.

Lance wasn't as speechless.
“Holy shit! Keith knows this song!”

“Shut up, idiot. I'm enjoying the fucking moment.”

“Holy shit! Keith loves my song!”

“It's not your song!”

“It is to--”

“I say yeah yeah yeah, they say no no no!” Hunk started singing as well, effectively interrupting any kind of fight between Keith and Lance.

Pidge jumped in after that.

“What kind of music is this?” Asked Allura again, her voice uncertain.

Uhm. Well, at least Shiro wasn't the only one who didn't know the song. But he had to admit that not only it was quite catchy, it was also fitting for the occasion. Although the others obviously liked it (they were still shouting the lyrics on the feed), the song was so Lance.

“I don't know, Princess. But it is perfect indeed,” Shiro answered and then instantaneously felt the happiness that his words brought to Lance thanks to both the residual bond that Voltron always felt behind between them and the fact that Lance's blissful laughter paused his singing for a few seconds.

I materialize the feeling
To carry on, to carry on.
I know some will say I'm dreaming
But I carry on, I carry on.

In the end, even Shiro was singing/shouting with the rest of his team.

I say I'll rule the world!

They reached the planet's atmosphere full of confidence once again. Joyful smiles on their features, an ease and playful mood tiding them together.

“Good one, Lance,” Shiro told him through the private video cam they had, just a few minutes before they landed.

Lance's embarrassed and bright smile told him: “Naaah. It's nothing, my man! I mean... It was just a song,” his eyes were impossibly blue, all thanks to the lights from inside his own cockpit, Shiro knew, but his cheeks were red and he looked beautiful and alluring, happy and approachable.

Shiro dedicated him what he hoped wasn't an enamored smile and then hurried to close the communication. It wasn't the time for that. It was never going to be a time for that.

And that was ok.

Black half-growled in protest.

“Come on, girl,” he ignored his Lion, searching for the perfect angle for their landing. “Let's save this planet.”

--

Another thing that was typical after Pidge's trip to Earth: impromptu dance sessions.

And, seriously, Shiro was ashamed he didn't see that one coming.

Hunk started the whole thing, though. Even when it was unintentional.

Pidge, Coran, and Hunk were working on a new project somewhere when Hunk decided that he wanted some music in the background, still a thrilling treat after going for so long thinking that they needed the galactic war to be over before they could hear any kind of human melody again.

Hunk's music taste was quite diverse so it didn't take long before some hype-up song started playing and for Coran's body to rock side to side.

“What's this?!” Coran asked as if he was shocked to discover that his body could follow any kind of rhythm.

“You're dancing, man!” Replied Hunk, smiling at him.

“You go, Coran!” Pidge cheered.

That was the moment that Lance arrived at the room, of course. Apparently, he took one look at Coran and decided on the spot that Coran had it, 'it' being the supernatural ability to dance whatever he wanted. And then Lance distracted everyone from working because he insisted on having an incredibly annoying dance-off that Pidge would have totally won if it wasn't for the fact that Hunk could pull off some B-boys moves that were the equivalent of cheating.

Or at least, that was the story that Pidge told Shiro when she summed up the whole thing.

“And that's why Coran is in the cryopod, because he twisted his back trying to imitate Hunk,” Pidge finalized in a deceiving nonchalant tone.

Shiro didn't say anything about it although he could feel both of his eyebrows reaching as far as they could into his forehead. Pidge looked happier and healthier and way more relaxed than he had ever seen her, all things considered. Besides, what could he possibly add?! He tried to school his features to less amused ones.

“Ehrm. Uh. Just be more careful next time,” supplied Allura, sporting an odd smile.

After that, there was music in the background almost all the time when more than two of them were together. Coran was under strict Princess-watch almost constantly.

Right away, Shiro could tell that the situation was very okay with Keith (the music part, Shiro didn't think Keith had any strong opinions about Allura's tendencies to over-protect her advisor). Keith apparently used to listen to music non-stop while he was living in his desert shack so “yeah, I'm cool with the music and the dancing. Stop worrying about me all the time, Shiro, geee. I'm not Coran."

Ungrateful brat. See if Shiro worried about maintaining the right and silent atmosphere of his skulking times again.

Lance seemed very content singing all the lyrics he knew at any opportunity. Even the mice sometimes moved in with patterns with the music.

Admittedly, Shiro was the only one who had to get used to the lack of silence. Nevertheless, it took way less than he expected to feel his shoulders relax every time he entered a room that was full of music, voices, and unconscious feets marking the rhythm.

He supposed that seeing his team happy helped him a lot.

And so Shiro learned that whenever a song had a catchy trumpet or a heavy come-let's-dance vibe, it was from Lance's selection. He had seen plenty of dance sessions to prove it.

“Ooohhh,” said Hunk one day with a dreamy voice when one of Lance's songs started playing in the background. All the paladins were simply hanging out in the common area, resting after their regularly scheduled training session, tired and just starting to decompress. “I have good memories of this song,” then he promptly blushed all the way to his ears.

Lance crackled, body lazily stretched on the floor a foot shy from being all over Hunk's legs.

“Oh, buddy. Don't we all?” He said smiling in a very mischievous way.

“What do you mean?" Keith asked.

Lance's eyebrow moved up and down at that. Hunk's blush got brighter.

“Oh, you knoooow. This and that in the club, with our favorite wingmate, Jason Derulo. Yeah, a bit old but a classic.”

Keith looked lost. Pigde rolled her eyes. Shiro sat straighter on the couch, curious. Maybe a little bit more curious that it was healthy because of course that he had a strong suspicion of what Lance was talking about.

Hunk tried to divert the conversation to a safer zone.
“Oh, man. That night Iverson caught us going back to our quarters but he thought we were coming from the kitchen instead, thank God. Do you remember all the cleaning that we had to do that week?”

Lance folded his arms.
“Yeah, dude. We played Iverson really good that night. I thought his head was going to explode with rage and he didn't even know the truth!”

Shiro remembered Iverson and not in a totally good light. He smiled before commenting:

“I'd say you two got lucky with him giving you cleaning duty as punishment.”

Lance smirked.
“Yeah. But not as lucky as Hunk,” Lance lightly elbowed the yellow paladin, a greasy grin on his lips. “Tell them, buddy. Tell them how that gorgeous brunette climbed you like a tree on the dance floor just before you disappeared on me for 38 minutes.”

Pidge whistled, impressed. Shiro could honestly say that he was impressed as well. Hunk's face got worryingly red.

“Oh―Oh, yeah?!” Hunk said, defensive mode easily activated now that he was embarrassed. “At least I could walk after that, buddy. Not like that time that I had to carry your happy ass back to our room after your time with―what was his name? Todd? Bry--?!”

Lance screamed while he jumped over Hunk trying with all the power of his long, uncoordinated arms to literally shut Hunk's mouth. Lance's whole face was red, his eyes wide with alarm.

Shiro felt his whole body tense up, a shocked expression taking over his face. His hands suddenly turned into fits, gripping his legs in warning so they didn't decide they wanted to move closer to Lance and keep asking, using any and all of his tricks as a way to ensure that he would be getting the truth out of the blue paladin because he seriously wanted to know more.

He wanted to know everything about that night. The sudden and low flame-like feeling in his gut possibly wanted to study the memory with all of its attention and then use all the information in a creative way. A better one. A 'I know I can make you scream louder than anyone else' one.

The intensity of his own feelings took him off guard. He had to force himself to take concealed deep breaths to calm himself. He knew he was attracted to Lance, but the possessive feeling was certainly brand new and raw. It felt like a powerful creature that had just opened its eyes for the first time after a long period of hibernation and promptly recognized how hungry it was.

It took him a while to calm down and so he didn't realize right away that Lance's worried eyes were on him. Obviously on high alert, looking for any sign of danger. Silently asking Shiro if this new piece of himself was going to be a problem, a rejection from the team.

Shiro intimately knew those kinds of stares. He had seen them all in the mirror before, years ago. When knowing himself was more about life carrying on and less about convincing himself he was still more human than not.

Shiro wanted to talk to him, truly. He wanted to be near Lance and reassured him that it was okay, nothing to worry about. But Shiro was busy trying not to lose his shit over the new information so he couldn't think of anything to say that wasn't over the lines of: was this Todd important or you just remember him because he gave it at you so hard that you needed help walking? He wasn't even sure if he could talk without growling.

That was bad. Very, very bad. Not to mention absurd.

Luckily, Keith broke the silence.

“Stop looking so shocked, you idiot. Nobody is really surprised that you're bi. We don't care.”

Lance's intense staring moved to Keith.

“Hey! I―I don't care if you care! And I'm not bi, I'm pan, thank you very much,” Lance tried very hard to sound nonchalant but the red on his face was so fierce that the effect was completely lost.

“Right. Whatever. Just don't flirt with the wrong alien and start another war, ok?” Keith finished.

“What―Whatever, man.”

“Oh no. Lance, buddy, I'm sorry. It kinda just slip out. Plus we're so close and everything that I didn't think―” Hunk panicked.

“It really doesn't matter,” Pidge interrupted. “But I'm with Keith in this. If you feel the urge to flirt with an entire planet, refrain yourself.”

“That's not how being pan works!”

“I know that. I'm saying it because you are you, not because of your sexuality, really.”

Lance grumbled, his arms raised up in clear proof of exasperation.

“I won't! Believe it or not, I have plenty of self-control.”

“Yeah, that I don't believe,” Keith said high-fiving Pidge.

Hunk smiled at him, putting in hand on Lance's shoulder and calming him a bit.

“I believe you, man. I know you do, ok?”

Lance smiled sweetly a few seconds after, taking refuge in Hunk's half hug.

“Thanks, Hunk.”

Shiro wanted out. Shiro wanted to walk out of the room. He also wanted to steal Hunk away and then interrogated him about every little detail that he knew about Lance. He kinda also wanted Lance to tell him everything.

Furthermore, Shiro wanted to stop feeling all the eyes of his paladins on him waiting for an answer, inconspicuous as they were. He needed to say something like “no, yeah, everything is fine. We could all be gay for all I care,” but he freaking couldn't.

He didn't even know why he felt so overwhelmed.

But he had to get it over with because he was the leader. And Lance was looking seconds away from an anxiety attack.

He had to. He took another deep breath and hoped that his voice sounded normal.

In the end, it sounded two notches away from being flat.
“You don't need to worry, Lance. I know you'll do fine. Maybe you'll flirt with the right alien and they help us stop the war,” aaaand then I would have to figure out what to do with the impulse of killing an ally. Now that sounds fun.

Lance's whole focus shifted completely to him and Shiro felt incredibly self-conscious, willing his face to remain neutral. A few ticks went by and then Lance gave him a slow and breathtaking smile, full of gratitude and affection.

“Thanks, Shiro.”

Shiro vaguely returned the smile before getting up from the couch and out of the room. He honestly believed he was going to pass out if he stayed a little longer. Especially after he heard Pidge demand that Hunk showed them his moves. No, he couldn't bear the mere thought of Lance dancing right there.

Shiro would have liked to say that he didn't sprint to his room looking for solitude but that would be a lie.

--

Of course, that meant that Shiro had another fantasy now. Of course.

Welcome to the club, dancer-Lance (in one universe he was a professional dancer; in another, they met in a dance club).

Welcome to Shiro's personal hell.

“Best day ever,” Shiro fake-cheered.

Black laughed at him again, all the way from her hangar. That was Shiro's life now.

--

Dear God. He just couldn't escape, could he? No matter what he did, Shiro felt like he was slowly being asphyxiated by all aspects of his life.

There was simply no mental peace to be had. Not one part of his day that he didn't make him feel like he was fighting something bigger than himself.

It had been a long week and they didn't have any time to unwind from all the Galra attacks that they had had going on. Shiro knew his team was giving all they could in battle, so they were tired and trying to squeeze in time for both sleep and eat, and just keeping everything on balance so fighting this war didn't feel like a futile act.

Maybe that was the reason why Shiro himself was more snappish than was necessary with everyone, his speech precise and on point and leaving no room for jokes. All the paladins seemed to be in great tension and alert when he was in the room, all having the extra task of being careful with their words. Even Keith shifted into his military attention stance whenever Shiro was as much a calling them over for dinner.

But no one had it worst than Lance if Shiro was honest.

He tried not to, but lashing out at Lance felt instinctive with everything that was going on. Too much in too little time and when Shiro wasn't seriously taming the reins of his self-control he would discover himself being way too hard on Lance. Shiro felt downright ugly and uncertain whenever he was interacting with Lance nowadays, even when he had promised himself that he was going to sound friendly or reassuring.

At the very least he hoped to never came out as cruel, but he was doubting even that when he finally noticed that Coran had started to cautiously study Shiro every time Lance was near him, orbiting casually to the blue paladin as if the Altean was waiting for Lance to physically collapse thanks to Shiro's treatment.

Shiro didn't mean it, really, and felt bad about it at the end of the day. But it wasn't like he was doing it on purpose. Usually, he wouldn't even realize he was doing it until it was too late to take it back.

On the other hand, (on the ugliest part of himself, the one that felt like the creature devouring itself because there was nothing else to consume), he was starting to think that they all would be better, fight better, if Lance wasn't so Lance all the time.

There, he said it.

But no, of course not. Of course that Lance had to be the leg with a problem in a hard landing, the one who wanted to use his bayard when there was no logical reason behind it, and the one who smiled as if he wasn't as tired and fed up as everybody else, looking for a humorous relief when everything was serious for a reason. The one that just couldn't behave the way Shiro needed him to.

Shiro knew that everything would be fine again if only he could take some time off, cool off his head, and reset. But, as usual, that was impossible. And if he closed his eyes and tried to relax, Lance's image from only God-knows-which imaginary universe would infiltrate his thought asking What's wrong? What do you need? What do you want? in a very real and warm and worried voice. And Shiro just couldn't take it anymore.

Shiro might not be completely human anymore, but he was still more human than anything else and he simply couldn't.

So when he entered the common area one day and found Lance dancing all over Pidge, his hips moving from side to side forming an imaginary number 8 to fucking Rihanna, Shiro felt both that the whole universe was mocking him and that Lance didn't understand the magnitude of their situation.

“What do you think you're doing?” Shiro asked in a voice far colder than he expected.

All the paladins' eyes were on him in an instant. A blue pair more alarmed than the others.

“Just... You know... Dancing?” Lance answered in that way of his that made him look even younger than he was, looking lost. Shiro hated it.

He wasn't there to babysit or to help raise boys. Hell, he wasn't even there to be happy and find love. He was there to free the universe from the worst kind of parasite imaginable. He was there to win the war. Surely they all knew that.

But maybe they needed a reminder.

“Dancing? We just came back from a 6 hours battle. Just came back from an unsuccessful mission that made us lose a whole ship of new prisoners that looked up to us, to you, to save them. And we failed. And you're dancing?”

Shiro focused his glare on Hunk and Keith for a few seconds before going to Pidge for just a beat. His attention returned to Lance, who looked paler than ever.

“Must I remind you that you should be using your time more wisely? You should be sleeping or eating, not fooling around.”

“I know. I just thought...”

“No, Lance! You don't need to think at all! Just be the soldier the universe needs you to be and stop everything else! I don't need you to be you right now! I need you to―”

“Shiro!”

He stopped before going further with his completely absurd speech ―he knew it was absurd as he was talking, as the creature was lighting itself on fire in his stomach―, all full of misplaced rage and frustration only because it was Keith who had interrupted him. Keith. Keith who had never raised his voice to him before, who was always by his side, who was his brother before anything else.

Keith, who was now in front of Shiro, frowning at him with anger, shielding Lance behind himself. Effectively protecting Lance from Shiro.

If that wasn't enough of a wake-up call, Pidge's looked one second away from using her bayard on him, all her tiny frame ready to spring into action. Hunk put one of his hands on Lance's shoulder and was glaring at Shiro with the most shocking and disappointed eyes the black paladin had ever seen on him.

Shiro felt his whole body turn cold, the realization of what he had been saying dawning on him.

Oh, no, he thought feeling his mouth going numb, his hand shaking a little, the creature quiet inside of him. He screwed up. He screwed up big time. Did he really just tell Lance―

The worst part, though, was Lance's face. His expression was completely neutral, completely devoid of emotions. His natural color hadn't returned yet and he looked vaguely sick, but the rest of him? All blank.

Shiro's panicking heart was beating so fast that he could hear it.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Keith asked, still confronting Shiro as if he was the enemy.

He shivered a bit at the harsh tone but Shiro said nothing about it. He deserved it.

“No, no, Keith, it's ok,” Lance calmly said, distancing himself from Hunk and gently removing Keith out of the way with easy, controlled movements until he was facing Shiro once again. “I can take it,” he serenely declared.

Shiro was stunned. His legs froze where he stood making the rest of his body feel its accumulated stiffness all at once. Speechless as if Lance had just sucker-punched him instead of disarming him with his body language, with his unnaturally neutral voice.

It took more than a couple of seconds but finally, Shiro forced himself to talk, trying not to stammer much. Fighting his shoulders to drop down, to make himself look less dangerous, less ready to attack.

“W-What? No, Lance. I'm-I'm sorry, I should have never―”

“No, no, no,” Lance repeated, patiently. His face was still void of emotion. “You obviously have a lot to say. You have for a while now, in fact, I can tell. So come on, man. Let's get this over with.”

And then there was Lance, with his arms wide open, as if he was a human target for all of Shiro's rage. Open and vulnerable; easy to pick apart. He looked ready to take on words that could cut him to pieces and yet strong enough to keep on his feet. His eyes dark with decision, with a fortitude that made Shiro tremble.

Lance was way more centered at that moment than Shiro had been for years. All calm, collected and resigned.
“Come on then. Let's hear it,” Lance insisted.

Shiro forced his legs to move, his mouth to swallow. He backwardly retrieved his way to the door, still looking at Lance's progressively less composed features, avoiding the rest of his team. Whispering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the whole way out.

Once he was out of the room, Shiro made himself breathe.

The next thing he knew, he was sitting in Black's cockpit, shaking.

--

Coran hated him.

Shiro knew that because Coran told him, both in actions and in words.

“I hate you and that's why I didn't make you dinner,” were his exact words. Then, he proceeded to over-enjoy his food-goo, letting out a couple of “Ummm, yummy!” and “This is delicious!” as if to torment Shiro's empty stomach.

Allura, the other one sitting at the table, sighed at loud and said nothing.

Shiro wasn't hungry but he got the point. Allura and Coran undoubtedly knew about his monumental fuck-up and were disappointed with him. Allura was probably trying to behave like a princess would: letting her paladins deal with the issue by themselves first. Coran, who was a protector to his very core, didn't feel the need to pretend that he wasn't pissed.

Plus, they all knew that Lance was his favorite after Allura, that was far from a secret. Shiro was ought to see this coming.

At the end of dinner, Allura just looked at Shiro with a kindness that he didn't deserve and told him to fix the situation. Then she went away.

Coran, though, had more to say.

“If you hurt him again like that I'll do everything in my power to make your life miserable. Remember, paladin: I have all of the Castle's codes, I can make your way back to your quarters a very difficult one.”

Shiro had half the mind to think that Coran was being a little bit unfair with that one but he swallow the temper that wanted out because he knew it was a reaction born out of feeling so ashamed of himself. No leader, no matter how stressed out they felt, should talk like that to their people.

So Shiro just sucked it up and nodded. Coran left him alone after that.

Not one tick later, another wave of shamefulness roamed all over his body. If everything was awkward with Coran, Shiro couldn't even begin to imagine how awful it was going to be with the rest of his team.

He needed to apologize.

--

“I know you probably don't wanna see me but. Can we talk? Please?” Shiro said not even a second after Lance's room door opened.

Shiro felt so anxious and nervous that it took him a moment to actually see Lance. The blue paladin suffered an impressive transformation while Shiro was looking at him. Obviously, Lance wasn't expecting him when he opened the door, his expression had been a tired and sad one, and then it shifted to the same blank face that Shiro had seen on Lance a couple of hours ago.

Lance was armoring himself for an attack, Shiro realized. Another shiver of shame and regret took over his body but he paid no attention to it.

“Sure, man. What's up?” Although Lance's words were pretty friendly, his voice was close to shaking. He didn't invite Shiro inside his room nor did he step out of it, Shiro noticed.

Shiro wanted to punch himself. You did this, he thought, now face the consequences. He will never trust you fully again. And that's for the best because you are way less human than you let on, you aren't human at all, feel this, remember this, you're a monst―.

Shiro cleared his throat before talking.

“Would you mind coming with me?” He asked hunching his shoulders and ducking his head a bit, trying his very best to look as non-threatening as possible. “Please?”

The five whole seconds that Lance took to answer felt like five different eternities. Nonetheless, there it was, a simple nod, a brave one. And then Lance pushed himself out of his room and stood beside Shiro waiting for him to lead the way.

Shiro's human hand was shaking uncontrollably so he put it inside his pocket and started walking, over-conscious of all of Lance's movements at his side. Shiro could tell how jittery and nervous Lance actually was just looking at his rigid arms.

Shiro took them both through the same path he usually walked to the Black Lion hangar. A while ago he had discovered a very small room with a comfy couch in it, for those occasions when whoever was the black paladin was too tired to get to their room after a battle Shiro supposed. Besides the couch, there was a holo-projector machine that, when activated, would show in soft blue light all the stars and constellations that were close to the castle.

A map for strategy, Shiro believed, for rushed emergency meetings.

Right now, he wasn't leading Lance into the room for any kind of war meeting. He honestly hoped that the holo-projector would put both Lance's and his own nerves at ease. That the stars made the whole room look inviting and comfortable. A safe space. A place to reconnect and maybe be forgiven.

He turned on the machine once he made sure Lance was inside the room, looking over the couch with curiosity. Shiro used his mechanical hand because he didn't think he could make his own fingers work correctly.

A second later the whole room was showing lots and lots of a variety of blue dots, all of them moving in and out of existence at a fairly slow pace, reflecting the current speed of the castle. Shiro smiled when he heard Lance's surprised gasp.

“Pretty cool, eh?” Shiro said just to break the ice.

“Yeah.”

“Believe it or not, the couch is not the best spot for watching these stars. But right here,” and then he promptly sat on the floor, a meter from the couch, being in the literal center of the small universe that the holo-machine was projecting. He finally looked at Lance, forcing another smile into his lips, and invited him over with his Galra hand.

Lance didn't hesitate. He was sitting by his side just a moment later, studying the fake stars with quiet wonder.

Shiro decided to take a few seconds to organize his thoughts. He wanted to be gentle while apologizing. He wanted to make Lance know how sorry he really was. Shiro needed to fix this right or more than his own stupid heart would suffer for it.

Shiro sighed, wondering where to start.

“It's very pretty,” Lance commented after the silence stretched itself too much.

Don't be a coward now, Shiro reprimanded himself. He took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

“Lance, I'm really sorry―”
“You don't need to apologize―”

They said at the exact same second. Lance's eyes were fixed on some big stars in front of him, obviously avoiding looking at Shiro. Shiro felt his barely-there calm facade break.

“What do you mean I don't need to apologize?! 'Course I have to! I was way out of line and full of myself. You didn't deserve that I took my frustrations on you.”

Lance shrugged.

“I mean I get it, man. I hear you. It's just," Lance shrugged again. "That's a talent of mine.”

Shiro blinked, trying to understand what Lance was telling him, especially when it was crystal clear that he felt uncomfortable talking about it. Shiro could see in the way his hands were restless over his legs, his shoulders were way too high on his ears, his eyes still fixed on the projection.

“What do you mean?”

“I just make people angry, I guess,” Lance put his hands behind himself, taking a bit of his own weight on his arms. He was still looking at anything but Shiro. “It's ok. I'm used to taking on other people's rage. I'm not saying that I'm always at fault. But. Yeah. I know that I'm a good outlet.”

Shiro was speechless. His mind was studying Lance who was trying to look as nonchalant as he could, while simultaneously processing what he had just heard.

His silence must have been a powerful one because a tick later Lance was looking at him, eyes completely open and alarmed.

“I didn't―I mean, it's not a big deal! Honest. I know myself and I know people just... Feel comfortable being angry at me, I think. Ehrm... What I'm saying is... I get it. I'm not the best company to have around in a moment of crisis and I tend to push people to their limits so, yeah. It's fine if they want to explode at me. I'm used to it. They feel better after, and everything. A win-win situation, am I right?”

Lance smiled, looking sad and more defeated than Shiro had ever seen him. He didn't think Lance was aware of how vulnerable and dejected he looked. Shiro was still feeling overwhelmed with all that new information, seeing Lance in a completely new light. Getting a glimpse of how he looked at himself.

The creature in Shiro's gut woke up, still hungry but now protective. Shiro let it burn.

“Where exactly are you winning anything?” Shiro asked, his voice sounded like concrete thanks to his very tight gritted teeth. Shiro was feeling angry again, and very frustrated.

“I... Help them feel better...?” Lance offered, panicking a bit, hands quickly moving in a placating way. “I―I―Shiro, I know it's not personal. I mean, yeah, sure, a bit, but I know it's just the easiest thing in the world to just―”

“To just, what?! Let you handle their―our rage?!”

“Eh... Yes?” Suddenly Lance frowned as if he was finally done with Shiro's attitude. “Hey! Are you not listening to what I'm saying? I'm saying that everything's fine! I know you didn't mean all that. It's ok! You don't need to apo―“

“Of course I need to apologize, Lance! I have to! You don't deserve that kind of treatment from anyone. No matter how much you sometimes annoy other people, you aren't supposed to be their very convenient outlet!”

Lance kept frowning, now in clear confusion. Shiro continued talking, wanting to explain his point a little more, trying his best to sound reasonable and calm. He didn't think he succeeded.

“You are an amazing person. You are―You are an excellent pilot. You are, so stop giving me that look! I seriously think you were always destined to pilot Blue and that's why you didn't feel totally at home in the simulator back at the garrison. You are too fluid for such an inflexible school. I know you're incredibly good at planning strategies on the spot and that you are our leg because you can carry so much.”

Shiro half hugged Lance before he kept going, moving slowly and giving Lance plenty of time to move away, studying his features in case his touch wasn't welcome, his voice getting more intimate with the new closeness. Lance didn't move away. His wide eyes didn't even blink, focused on Shiro's.

“You are our heart, Lance. You keep us sane and make us laugh and help us feel happy and you constantly remind us―remind me why we're fighting. You―You keep me on balance, you make me feel human. I mean, also the others but you... You're just so, so special to me. You're everything I―.”

Lance's surprised and quiet gasp made him stop before he said something even more embarrassing. Lance looked stunned.

Shiro took a slow big breath. Mind as well get this over with, Shiro thought. The burning creature agreed. He tried to make his voice sound calm and collected but he had no way of knowing if it was working.

“What I'm trying to tell you is that... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I made you feel it was your responsibility to take my frustration on you. I'm sorry I made you feel the same way that other assholes had made you feel. And I'm sorry I lied. I think I need you to be you, just you, more than anything else. You deserve better. I apologize, both as your leader and as... Me. Just me.”

Lance needed more than a few seconds to collect himself, judging by the fact that he hadn't moved at all. Shiro was selfishly grateful because he needed time as well. He didn't mean to say all that but he supposed it was inevitable; Shiro felt too much for Lance. His feelings were just too big and all-encompassing to be kept out of his apology.

After a moment, Lance tentatively smiled at him, his eyes a bit watery on the sides. After a few false starts, he cleared his throat before talking.

“You know, if I didn't know better I'd say you just confessed to me,” Lance teased.

And maybe Shiro was even more tired than he thought because he just let himself keep looking at Lance, absorbing the blue of his eyes from that close, making sure to save all the details on his memory. He said nothing else.

So what if Lance knew? Maybe that was the best. To just let it all out in the open. To finally let go of something.

Shiro could tell the moment Lance understood his silence as an affirmation because his whole face transformed into a really surprised one. His eyes turned so big the lights of the fake stars were reflecting on them.

“W-What? But that's impossible!” Lance moved out of the half hug, turning to see Shiro completely.

Shiro shrugged, apparently affirming the impossible. His brain in calm for the first time in forever. The creature suddenly extinguished from his inside, as it had never been there in the first place.

Suddenly, to Shiro's eternal puzzlement, then was the moment that Lance's whole posture changed to an angry one. A really furious one.

“Stop that!” He yelled, separating himself from Shiro's reach. “Fine. I accept your apology but you don't have to lie to me to make me believe you. Don't mock me with this Shiro, 'cause that is too much and it does make me mad!”

Shiro frowned.

“Why would I lie about this?”

“Because is freaking impossible!” Lance shouted even when Shiro was still sitting pretty close to him, moving his hands around as if he was making a point. “Come on! You want me to believe that you―you look at me and think 'yeah, I want that'. Pleh-ase! We know each other too much for that!”

Shiro was flabbergasted. He also felt a tiny bit offended on Lance's behalf. As if Shiro needed to defend Lance's honor from, well, from Lance himself.

“What?! Lance, what the hell is that supposed to mean?! And what if we know each other too much? So what? That's good, isn't it?!”

“Not if you're going to lie to me! You can't get away with it!”

“I'm not lying!” Now Shiro was yelling too. “I really like you! Why don't you believe me?”

“Because I'm me and you are you!” Lance said moving his hands away from one another, as if to say that Shiro and Lance were just too different, too far removed for Shiro to like him.

Shiro was feeling frustrated again. He wondered if it was a Lance thing being this difficult when Shiro was actually saying something nice.

Unless of course, it wasn't nice at all. Maybe Shiro wasn't getting the right message here. Maybe Lance was panicking because he thought Shiro wanted something out of his confession and Lance really, really didn't.

He sighed, willing his temper to stay calm.

“Lance... I don't―I don't want you to feel pressured to do anything here. I didn't even plan to tell you, it just... slipped out and it felt like it was too late to take it back. I don't want to fight anymore, especially not about this. Which, for the record, I knew you'd be smart enough to reject, so. Let's just―Let's just move past it, okay? Let's just move past everything and be fine again. I can pretend that all is fine, I've been doing it all this time so, we don't need to talk about this anymore. Everything going back to normal. Can we do that?”

Lance looked at him, blue eyes openly studying Shiro. After a moment and with an exhalation, all the fight visibly came out of him, his features slack with astonishment. Shiro tried to hold his gaze the whole time but, in the end, he felt the way his cheeks were gaining color and Shiro turned his embarrassing eyes to the moving fake stars surrounding them.

“Holy shit,” he heard Lance whisper. “Holy shit. Are―Are you serious? You. You really...?”

Shiro sighed, he had nothing else to say.

Lance was silent for a couple of minutes. Then, without warning and surprising Shiro again, he started laughing. Not in a loud, obnoxious way, but in a delighted, giggly way. Shiro needed to look at him for just one second to know that Lance was really happy.

Shiro's heart went crazy at sight. Still, he tried to seem collected and compose when Lance finally stopped his obviously pleased laughter. He couldn't help but smile back, though.

“Why?” Lance asked in a very soft voice. At Shiro's noticeable confusion, he continued. “Why do you like me? I mean, you're the best of the best. Seriously, I haven't met anyone that is as awesome as you are, and believe me, I've traveled the universe. So, what could I ever do for you?”

Shiro was a little ashamed to admit that he was still confused. There was Lance, now completely relaxed by his side, smiling tenderly at him but with a sad aura around him. Shiro didn't understand him.

He wanted to shake Lance out of his surprising pessimist space of mind. He wanted to say that he wasn't awesome, that he wasn't even totally human. He also wanted to kiss him to prove a million points that were starting to get relevant and urgent.

He did neither. He decided for the truth.

“You make me happy. You make me feel... Normal. But, in a good way! I mean... You're, I don't know. I honestly just think you're great so, yeah, I do look at you sometimes and think 'oh, if only I could have him'. Because, Lance, you're so important to me, to all of us.” Feeling self-conscious, Shiro added. “Again, I don't want you to feel like you need to do anything about my feelings, that's on me. I'll deal with them but I promise I would never make you feel like you're the outlet of my frustration again. You shouldn't―You are too amazing to allow that from anyone.”

Shiro knew he was furiously blushing. Hell, even Lance was blushing, evidently surprised and pleased.

“So. Umh. What do I do that makes you happy?” Lance timidly asked, a teasing grin adorning his lips.

Shiro swallowed a groan. Lance was Lance no matter what, it seemed. The thought made him smile.

“I think that's enough for your ego for one night.”

“Nooo! Oh, come on, Shiro! Come oooonnn! Tell me~!”

“Well, I can assure you that that tone doesn't make me happy.”

Lance pouted.

“But-But, I need to know! It's―You know, it's important! Oh! OH! I know! Tell you what, you tell me what can I do to make you happy and I give you a head massage, because, dude, no offense, but you look like you need one.”

Shiro started at him. Something incredibly similar to joy jumping in his chest.

“I―” He wanted to say no, truly, but then Lance crossed his leg, Indian style, and patted his lap in an invitation, sporting the most charming smile ever and...

Ok, so maybe Shiro wanted a head massage. He had never had one before. Better if he knew what the hell that was before he was dead. And since he could easily die the next day, well...

He stretched his body on the floor, his head now surrounded by Lance's legs, and trying not to think too hard about it. He closed his eyes when he saw that Lance's smile turned sweet once more and his hands started to lightly comb his hair.

It was nice. But then Lance's finger pressed a seemly random spot on his temple, then moving into his hair to reach the base of his neck, and God, Lance knew what he was doing.

He growled before he could stop himself.

“Oh, I see. This makes you happy, then,” Shiro heard Lance's happy smile in his voice.

Shiro felt himself blush again but said nothing. He just kept enjoying the glorious massage, not knowing when the occasion would repeat itself. Especially now that he knew that he needed to put some distance between him and Lance.

But that was a thought for another time, a less pleasured one.

“Hey, Shiro?” Lance said with a soft, delicate tone.

“Mmh?”

“I still think you're incredible. Even now that―ehmmg―that you aren't my ultimate hero anymore. I mean, I admire you lots but... I know you enough now to respect you and like you as well. You make us strong; you make me feel strong and brave. You deserve the best. And I want to keep making you happy, ok? And I can. I will. But. Would you―Would you let me? Can we... Be happy?”

Shiro opened his eyes. He believed shock was written all over his features, but Lance's shy smile calmed his nerves a bit.

Shiro closed his eyes again, dizzied with all the things he was feeling at the same time.

“Uhm. We shall see,” he said at last.

A few seconds after, Lance started his massage again.

He also started to sing a song softly. Shiro smiled, content. For once this reality didn't have anything to envy his imagination.

--

For the first time in years, Shiro overslept the next day.

He also felt lighter on the shoulders and the habitual morning headache didn't show up.

Shiro didn't want to think it got anything to do with Lance but he smiled at the memory of the last night, nonetheless. Feeling effortlessly happy.

Now what? He thought.

We shall see, he repeated, feeling giddy.

He arrived at the dining room fully expecting an awkward breakfast with his team before he had the chance to clear the air. Fortunately, though, Lance saved all of them from a very embarrassing talk.

“Gooood morning, Shiro!” He greeted, overjoyed and smiling.

Shiro couldn't help but smile back.

“Oh, right. Shiro apologized yesterday and he even said that he was going to make it up to me by giving me the morning off. So, yeah, really. I would love to train with the rest of you but our leader has spoken and all.”

“I don't recall saying that. Ever.”

Keith snarked.

“If Shiro ever said that, then he's not Shiro. Unless is for Pidge but we all made peace with that.”

“But-But the space looks so beautiful this morning! Maybe we can do something else?” Lance adventured.

Shiro smirked.

“Sure. After practice.”

Lance groaned.

“Fine, fine.”

Keith smiled at him. Shiro felt the last couple of knots in his stomach give in a little. When he roamed his gaze around the table, he noticed that Hunk was giving him a thump-up, Coran nodded his head once, pleased, and Pidge and Allura were smiling at him as well.

Suddenly, he could breathe again. He didn't even know he had been that worried.

“So, for today's practice, I was thinking about the maze?”

A collective groan went around the table, the Altean seemed satisfied with his selection.

All was well.