Star-Crossed Rivals || [Keith x Reader]

A fateful night

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"Simulation failed" The screen lit up, as the doors to the simulator opened.

"Roll out, donkeys!" Commander Iverson yelled and a glum-looking Lance, Pidge, and Hunk- whose nausea was written all over his green face- exited.

"Well, let's see if we can't use this complete failure as a lesson for the rest of you students. Can anyone point out the mistakes these three so-called cadets made in the simulator? You, (Y/N)?"

Why me...

You hesitated for a second. You didn't want to be the one to point out their failures and criticize them, but you had no choice. All the student's eyes were on you and making Iverson wait for an answer for too long never ended well.

So you explained, "The engineer puked in the main gearbox, the Comm spec removed his safety harness and the pilot crashed."

"Correct," Iverson exclaimed. You gave your three friends an apologetic look.

"And worst of all, the whole jump, they're arguing with each other! Heck, if you're going to be this bad individually, you'd better at least be able to work as a team!"

He straightened his back and gave us students the kind of look that meant we had to listen carefully. Some people took out pens and paper. You rolled your eyes at that.

How unnecessary.

"Galaxy Garrison exists to turn young cadets like you into the next generation of elite astroexplorers, but these kinds of mental mistakes are exactly what cost the lives of the men in the Kerberos Mission."

"That's not true, Sir!" Pidge interrupted. She looked offended, kind of like a kid whose toy you just stole.

"What did you say?!" The class shuddered. His tone meant trouble, but Lance came to the rescue and clasped his hand over Pidge's mouth.

"Sorry, Sir! I- I- I think he may have hit his head when he fell out of his chair. But point taken."

Commander Iverson took a step in their direction, getting dangerously close.

"I hope I don't need to remind you that the only reason you're here is that the best pilot in your class had a discipline issue and flunked out. Don't follow in his footsteps."

You could tell from the look on Lance's face that what Iverson said hurt him. He could barely hide it, pressing his lips into a line and averting his gaze.

"Next!" Commander Iverson yelled. Three other students passed them and entered the simulator, as Lance, Hunk, and Pidge made their way back and took their place next to you and the rest of the class.

You softly hit Lance's arm with your elbow, "Lance, are you ok?". He responded with a mere "mh-mh", looking at the ground.

Oh man, Iverson sure knows how to ruin people's moods..