What they don't know

Part 9

"Lance."

Lance glanced to the foot of his pod, catching Matt's eyes. The hangar was bustling with a variety of prep. Lance wasn't the only one leaving for a mission today but he was the only one Matt had stopped to talk to. 

The former Paladin set down his box of non-perishables and clambered down the ramp to close the distance between them. 
Matt's brows were crinkled, leaving his face furrowed to the point of puppy dog eyes.

"Hey."

Matt's eyes softened, "You forgot something."

"Oh," Lance pulled his pendant out from between his clothes and held it out to Matt, "Take care of it."

Matt let it slide into his grasp, wrapping the chain around his hand, and moved forward to pull Lance into an embrace. His free hand dipped into Lance's hair, twisting the strands as he squeezed him against him. Lance noticed, not for the first time, the height difference between them. Matt had been a little taller when they first met on the Castle but the difference had grown since then since Lance had pretty much stopped growing - at least vertically. 

His hair was growing out too, easily coming down below his shoulders before Lance trimmed it back a bit. Lance's had been growing out too, which he felt in Matt's fingers stroking through it, but Matt had a head start.

The rebel gave him one more squeeze before pulling back just so he could look at Lance's face. A hand took to Lance's cheek, thumbing the skin of his cheekbones but pausing over the markings, "They've stopped glowing."

"They'll start again when I get closer."

"Does it feel weird?"

Lance leant into the touch, letting Matt's fingers drift over the pads as his eyes to drift shut, "...A bit. I already knew I was altean so... I've even tried shapeshifting a bit before but I never had the markings." The markings showed up in the middle of their breakfast. Salik had brought their ship closer while they'd been on their break. Luckily, they hadn't gotten close enough to lose all power.

"Didn't they show up before?"

"If they did I was asleep and didn't know."

Amber eyes flicked between the blue markings and Lance's eyes, "They suit you." Lance could feel his breath ghosting over his cheeks, "How are you altean, anyway?" There was a slight edge of accusation in his voice but Lance recognised the curiosity in his eyes. 

Lance sighed, resisting the urge to lean in and balance his head on Matt's shoulder, "I don't know. Alec was the whole reason I knew to begin with. Before we figured out I was altean too, we thought the druids could have messed with his DNA."

"But Alec didn't know either?"

"No. Logically, one of our parents should be altean but the timeline doesn't match up. Alteans don't live that long. It's possible it's just a really distant ancestor but I don't think altean genetics are strong enough to show up after that long.

"Also, I've been captured plenty of times before - back when I was a Paladin - and Alec practically grew up in captivity. They could have easily altered our DNA before."

"But would Oriande react to an artificial altean the same way?"

Lance shrugged, "I don't know." His arms wound themselves around Matt's shoulders, leaning closer, "Honestly, it seems like a rabbit hole of..." He fumbled, "I don't feel like there are any leads."

Matt squeezed his waist and finally stepped back, "We'll figure it out." He shook his head, rolling his eyes a little, "Somehow. Now get going!" He shoved Lance playfully up the ramp, the younger of the two skipping away out of his reach with a wave.