Not So Human

Chapter Four

"You have white hair?" Shiro asked curiously, walking over to Keith and Lance to get a closer look.

Lance sighed, lifting a hand up to move Keith's hand out of his hair. He had had bright white hair since the day he was born, and if he wasn't as tan as he was, he would have called himself an albino. Keith watched him, his eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.

"It's almost as white as Allura's," Shiro said slowly. "You sure you're not Altean, Lance?"

Deep down, Lance knew that his words were supposed to be a joke, but he shot up from his chair, turning towards Shiro. "I was born on Earth! I'm not Altean." The others were taken aback by the boy's third outburst that day.

It took Lance a moment to calm down, but when he did, he couldn't help but notice that Allura and Coran were looking anywhere but at him. He furrowed his eyebrows slightly as he looked at them. What the hell was up with them?

"Lance, do you think we can talk to you alone?" Coran asked, gesturing to himself and Allura. "I think we need to tell you something we've been debating on for a while."

The blue paladin frowned slightly before nodding slowly, following them as they began walking out of the dining hall. He ignore the quiet rumble in his stomach as he realized he hadn't eaten much of his food, but the looks on the two Alteans' faces made it seem like this was going to be an important conversation. Lance tried to think about what their conversation was going to be like, especially when he saw the look of relief on Allura's face.

"Lance, how about you sit down?" Allura suggested. "This might shock you, and I don't want you to get hurt."

He was actually getting a little nervous. What could they possibly tell him that would be a shock to him? It was bad enough he was having a private conversation with the two. This never happened with any of the other paladins, even when something horrible had just happened. Coran glanced at Allura, back at Lance a moment later, and then took a deep breath as he started his story.

"When Altea was still intact, Allura and I were really close friends. I was her guardian, and I wanted to have a good relationship with her so that she could trust me in a dangerous event. We got a little too close, and we ended up... doing the do, if you know what I mean."

I put a hand up, making a face as I tried to get him to stop talking. "I don't need to hear about your sex life," he complained.

"Lance, you need to listen," Allura said softly. "He has a reason for saying that."

He sighed and looked back at Coran, who waited patiently for me to stop making faces at him. He started talking again. "Allura got pregnant and had a child," he restarted. "King Alfor was not pleased by the fact that we had had a child and ordered the baby away. We sent him to earth in an Altean crytopod."

"We thought the child would have been long gone by now, but it seems like the pod had locked him inside like ours had done," Allura took a deep breath. "We put a tag inside the pod, claiming that his name was Lance. When we heard your name, we got hopeful, but your ears weren't like ours... we decided it wasn't possible that you were the Lance we sent to Earth."

"Keith said you had white hair," Coran said, motioning for Lance to lean down. Lance obliged. "It appears you do. Lance, imagine you had the marking Allura and I do. Can you imagine them appearing on your face?"Lance did as asked, and sure enough they appeared on his cheekbones. Allura and Coran gasped happily, making Lance frown in confusion. When Coran showed him his reflection, Lance passed out in his chair. Allura had been right - he would be shocked.

10/4/17