Langst One-Shots

Bleeding Colors

[Contains mentions of Self-Harm and Suicidal Thoughts/Actions. Please Read at your own risk]

-Lance's POV-

I stared down at my wrists, wrapped in white bandages. I curled into myself, tears dripping down my cheeks. "God, I'm such a failure." I mumbled, staring into the dark. My thighs ached, a constant throb of dull pain. It helped ground me, it took my focus off of everything.

"Paladins, report to the training room for Team Bonding." Allura's strong voice rang through the castle. I took a deep breath and forced myself to my feet, roughly wiping my face with the sleeve of my jacket, erasing any sign of tears. I closed my eyes and sighed, opening them and plastering on a smile. I bounded into the training room, late as usual. "Lance! You're late, like usual!" Allura growled. I laughed, "Yeah, sorry about that Princess." Keith glared.

Coran cleared his throat. "Today's Team Bonding Exercise will be completely different from previous exercises." Coran said. Allura nodded. "Today, I will be casting a spell on all of you, one that warriors on Altea used to use to better understand each other." She explained. "The spell will show any injuries that your teammates have received recently." She gestured to us, "You won't feel pain, and no extreme injuries, like losing an arm." Shiro looked away. "Just injuries from the past few days. They will appear on your bodies temporarily, and they will be in the color of the person who has the injury." Allura paused. "For example, Hunk's injuries will be yellow, Pidge's will be green, Shiro's will be black, Keith's will be red, and Lance's will be blue." I paled. "This exercise is to try and understand your teammates deeper, and better protect them in battle." I tried to contain my shaking. "Um, Allura, can I pretty please skip this one?" I smiled shakily. "No. Absolutely Not." My smile fell. "Please? I'm begging you, just this one!" I felt my anxiety rise.

They would find out. 

Shiro sighed. "No, Lance." I trained my gaze on the ground. Allura started to chant, and I couldn't take it. I bolted to my feet and sprinted out of the training room, ignoring my teammates protests.

They were going to find out.

I skidded into my room, slamming the door closed and locking it, curling into a ball on my bed, eyes wide and breath heavy. I felt tingles appear on my body, and I slowly looked down to see colors pop up on my body.

There were a few green bruises from Pidge, and a couple of burns on my hands from Hunk and his cooking. I swallowed as several bruises and cuts in bright red spread on my body, Keith's injuries from his habit of excessive training. There were a few minor gashes and bruises from Shiro, but that was it. I squeezed my eyes closed, knowing what was going to appear next.

I felt the tingling spread to my wrists and my thighs, and I slowly opened my eyes, flinching at the neon blue lines that littered my arms and legs. I started to hyperventilate, beginning to laugh.

Oh, Quiznak.

____________

-Keith's POV-

As soon as Allura began to chant, Lance took off sprinting like his life depended on it. It would, as soon as I got a hold of him after this stupid spell or whatever. I sighed as tingles began to appear on my body, and Allura stopped chanting. "You may open your eyes now." I slowly peeled my eyes open, shedding my jacket and laying it on the floor.

My breath caught in my chest. 

Blue cuts littered my arms and thighs, standing out from my pale skin.

Silence.

"G-Guys?" Hunk's voice shook. Pidge looked confused, staring at her multi-colored injuries. Shiro was frozen, eyes wide. I couldn't breathe, eyes locked onto the thick lines on my arms, painted in bright blue.

"Lance-?" My voice gave out. Hunk began to shake, clutching his arms to his chest. "He told me he stopped, oh quiznak." Hunk muttered, staring at the floor. "Shiro, why are there so many cuts from Lance?" Pidge asked, confused. I sometimes forgot she was barely 14. Shiro opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. I staggered to my feet, tearing my eyes away from the many cuts that coated my body in blue. "Oh my God." I ran through the halls, slamming into Lance's door.

"LANCE! OPEN THIS DOOR, RIGHT NOW!" I roared, pounding on his door.

There wasn't a response. "LANCE!" I yelled, "PLEASE OPEN THIS DOOR!" There was only a hushed whisper, "Please go away." I pounded harder, "Lance, Please." I felt tears start to slide down my face.

"I can't lose you." I sobbed, sliding down the door. There was a pause before Lance slowly opened the door. "Keith, don't cry." He wrapped his arms around me. "It's okay." I felt something splatter on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Lance crying, tears silently sliding down his face. "It's okay." He repeated, wiping his eyes roughly with his sleeve.

"Why? How-how could you do this to yourself?" I whispered, Lance sliding down the wall and sitting next to me. "It's kind of ironic actually." He whispered, "It's always Blue. The exact color I'm drowning in." He laughed hollowly.

"The only way I can see other colors is when they're bleeding out of me."