quiznak × klance

iii.

iii. "Someone's been training in secret," Hunk's deepish voice rings. He's finishing a supplementary shake (courtesy of Coran) now that our training session has ended. Allura has finally enforced our intensive workouts; I would have started them on my own, but I'm still hung up about Keith.

I shake my head skeptically. "No, I just have the natural talent of beating you."

Later, we're going to combat the gladiators and work on reactions to threats. Now, though, we're all sparring one-on-one, and the first round just ended. Shiro and Pidge are up now, but I went against Hunk. Coran ended our session before Hunk crushed the life out of me in the last fifteen ticks.

"Nice defense, Hunk," Keith pipes up from behind us. He hasn't gone yet, so he doesn't know how desperate Hunk was getting, being the wide-receiver of my ruthless invasions. We get a laugh out of Keith's daily dose of sarcasm.

"My genius really showed there, didn't it?" Yellow plays along. I continue chuckling, my eyes never leaving the platforms below us. "Hey, look how good Pidge is doing."

"Shiro must be going easy on him," I hum subconsciously. "Or else he installed new software on his suit because he's totally obliterating the boss man."

"I'm betting my money on statement number two," Keith adds. Yeah, that's the more probable option.

"I have to pee," Hunk announces. "A word of advice: don't drink the supplementary shake in, like, two sips!"

He runs out of the training deck and hunts for bathrooms. Meanwhile, Keith assumes Hunk's chair and leans back, his vision landing on my facial features. I acknowledge his little smirk peripherally but don't bring it up.

"What's on your mind?" I ask, removing my eyes from Shiro's rebuttal to Pidge's clever technological advantages. Keith looks happy.

"Take a guess," he hums absentmindedly.

I rub my chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... sunshine and butterflies?"

"Close enough," Keith admits. Okay, that one made me blush. I reach over and nudge his knee, and he returns the gesture.

"Next up: Keith versus Lance," Allura announces over an intercom. He and I exchange a you're-so-going-to-die glance, and the first thing that pops into my head is Keith being grumpy because he lost to me yet again. "Step onto your platform with a weapon, please."

I grab a double-edged harpoon from off the wall on my left and make a dash for the platform beneath the skybox, where Pidge and Shiro report accordingly, their faces covered in sweat and their limbs red and throbbing.

Yesterday, I completed several hours of weight training, but because I'm used to much worse than a standard workout, I'm not at all sore. Keith, on the other hand, is constantly pushing himself and exercised like the Hulk last night. He might have a harder time than me.

A commencement bell rings in a few ticks. I step forward and strike Keith with the side of my steel javelin, throwing him off while I bound to an easier vantage point. I always seem to work better at a distance than back-to-back, but I know I have limited abilities here and cannot simply fly to safety, hence the spear and not a plasma blaster. Keith's expertise is the opposite of mine, so he's fortunate. From above, I hear Hunk cheering us on, not specifically choosing one person to side with, but eventually he starts offering Keith some advice, so I know I'm doing well. My focus is honed on defeating Keith, though, and I can't let Hunk's encouragement distract me.

I'm shocked with a tough blow on my left outer knee, and it makes me stumble forward a little too close to Keith for my liking; it's sure to leave a bruise. With thirty ticks on the timer, my decision is to throw him off to the side and turn up behind him, where I can easily attack his back, an obvious blindspot. Actually getting to Keith's backside soaks up some valuable time.