Langst One-Shots

Batteries Not Included

¤Mentions of abuse¤

-Lance's POV-

I stood in the elevator, towel hanging around my neck. I yawned, staring at the doors, waiting for them to open and take me to the pool.

At least, Allura said there was a pool.

The doors slid open, revealing not the blue, watery wonder, but the face of none other than Keith Kogane. "What are you doing?" I asked, confused. He glared at me. "Swimming, obviously." I noted that he was wearing red swim-trunks. "Noted." I said, the elevator beginning it's decent yet again. "I stay on one side of the pool, you stay on the other. Deal?" He said, standing on the other side of the elevator. I shrugged. "Whatever." I tapped my foot impatiently, fidgeting with my towel.

I did NOT like small spaces.

"Knock it off." Keith growled, and my foot slowed to a stop. "Sorry." I mumbled, staring at the ground. Keith raised an eyebrow. "What, no snarky comment?" I shook my head. "I-Is it supposed to take this long to get there?" I asked nervously. He shrugged. "I dunno." I laced my fingers together, untwining them and repeating the process. Minutes passed. The elevator slowed. "Finally!" I sighed, relieved.

The lights flickered out.

"Oh quiznak." I said, the darkness already eating away at my mind.
____________
-Keith's POV-

Lance was extra fidgety, and it was driving me insane. The elevator finally slowed, and Lance sighed in relief. When we stopped moving, the doors didn't open.

Instead, the lights flickered off.

"Oh quiznak." Lance whispered. I growled. "Fantastic." I muttered, "This is just great." Lance didn't respond, and I squinted, trying to make out his shape in the dark. "We'll just have to climb out the top." I grumbled, searching the roof for an exit hatch.

There wasn't one.

"Great." I growled, "I guess we're stuck until the power comes back on." There wasn't a response. "Lance?" I questioned, sticking my arms out into the elevator, trying to feel where Lance was. My hand connected with a shaking figure. "Lance? Why the quiznak are you shaking?" He didn't respond, my eyes adjusting enough to see that he was staring straight forwards with wide eyes. "K-Keith." His voice shook as violently as he did,

"I-I have Claustrophobia."

I froze. "What?!" I growled, "Are you serious?" He flinched. "I-I'm sorry." His breathing sped up, and he held his hands together, closing his eyes.

No wonder he was so fidgety, he was scared of small spaces.

Lance slid down the wall, curling up in the corner. His his breathing came in short gasps, and his hands shook so violently, I wouldn't be surprised if he couldn't even exit the elevator when the power kicked back on. "Get yourself together!" I hissed, glaring at him. Lance buried his face in his hands, folding into himself. There was a moment of silence before guilt hit me like a bullet, Lance's sobs filling the air.

"Lance, I'm sorry."

I said gently, slowly making my way over to him, stumbling slightly in the dark. Lance didn't respond, his breathing heavy and his eyes wild with panic.

"I- I can't do this." Lance's voice broke. "I can't-I can't, I'm not strong enough." I flinched at how broken he sounded. "Lance, you're fine. It'll be okay." I sat down beside him, "If you can handle piloting in Blue, you can handle this." Lance took a shaky breath, "The only reason I can pilot Blue is because she helps me, makes sure I don't remember." His voice wavered. "Remember what?" I asked cautiously.

"Remember him," Lance whispered, "My dad."

I froze as my brain slowly processed the meaning behind his statement. "Y-You don't mean...." I was at a loss of words. Lance couldn't mean what I thought he did. "He's the reason I can't stand small spaces." Lance gave a weak smile, "But it's okay." Lance forced himself to his feet, roughly wiping at his eyes. "I'll figure it out." My eyes were wide as the gears turned in my head.

Lance was abused?

"Lance, I'm sorry, I-I didn't know." I pushed myself to my feet, mind reeling. Lance shrugged. "It's okay, I didn't expect you to." He wrapped his arms around himself, shivering. That's when I realized that this was the first time I've ever seen Lance without a shirt on. I could almost see the bruises and scars that littered his body.

I flinched when I found that I didn't have to imagine, they were real.

If you knew what to look for, the white lines and splotches stood out from Lance's mocha skin easily. I turned away, looking at the wall. Silence smothered us, the only sound was Lance's labored breathing. There was a loud click, and the elevator's lights flickered back on. Lance gave a sigh of relief, his shaking calming slightly. The elevator moved, going up instead of decending to the pool. The doors slid open, and Hunk and Pidge welcomed us with worried faces. "Thank Quiznak!" Pidge yelled, "We couldn't find you anywhere!" Hunk turned to Lance, visibly worried. "Lance buddy, you okay?" Lance was still shaking, and dried tear tracks glistened in the harsh light of the castle. "Y-Yeah." His voice cracked, "I'm fine. Thanks for getting us out of there." Lance shuddered. "I-I'll be right back."  He hurried away. Hunk looked at me with a look of concern. "Did he-?" Hunk asked cautiously.

I nodded.

Hunk flinched and ran after Lance, leaving Pidge and I in tense silence. "What the quiznak just happened?" Pidge asked, confused. I shook my head. "I honestly don't know," I answered,

"But what happened in that elevator stays there."