Langst One-Shots

Starboy

When Lance still lived on Earth, his ceiling was covered in glow-in-the-dark stars. He created constellations and even made a few of his own. He always counted them as he was falling asleep.

Now, he just sits and stares at the blank canvas above him sadly.

It was so bare. The white ceiling made for a boring sight and didn't make him feel at home.

Home.

Such a lonely and cold word for the insomniac. Definitely something he would rather not hear nor talk about.

Poor Lance slept so little he could barely stand, let alone train. He was always so tired, and yet he played it off as being lazy.

The sad thing was that nobody cared to look into it.

Not until later, anyways.

♤♤♤♤♤♤

Lance stumbled into the dining area. The bags underneath his eyes were concealed just barely by some make up he borrowed from Allura.

His trademark smile was forced onto his face as he slid into his seat. Food was waiting for him and he focused on the goo. Lance's eyes blinked wildly in hopes of gaining some sort of energy, but to no avail.

He was glad he didn't look as dead as he felt.

He was the fourth person in the room, beaten by Shiro, Allura, Keith and Hunk. Pidge and Coran had yet to come in, but he suspected they were both awake.

"What took you so long, Lance? Did you have something better to do?" Keith sneered at the energy-depleted boy. Lance just let out a fake laugh and made up some bullshit excuse.

"Sorry, beauty sleep takes time." He almost winced as he heard how quiet he was. Hunk and Keith seemed to notice too, the others being locked in a conversation about strategic moves against the Empire.

Hunk gave him a concerned look, but luckily avoided the topic. Keith, on the other hand, vocalized his concerns.

"Hey, are you alright?" His rival's question brought the attention of Shiro and Allura now as well. Lance could feel his mask slipping, but he pulled it up full force before they saw.

Or so he thought.

"Yeah, I'm good, Mullet. So Shiro, what's the plan for today?" He desperately made an effort to change the subject, and nobody seemed to question it.

"We are going to do some endurance training. We need to work on our stamina if we ever need to flee on foot."

Lance groaned internally, playing it off as a dramatic sigh. Keith rolled his eyes and Hunk returned to his food goo.

Pidge and Coran entered the room, and soon everything was back to normal.

Lance silently stared down at his food, missing the questioning glances Pidge and Hunk share.

♤♤♤♤♤♤

When the paladins finally finished their food (with the exception of Lance, who just threw his away), they all herded to the training room. Shiro stood, back straight, and turned to face the others. Allura and Coran were beside him.

"Alright. As you know, we need to work on our endurance. We are only as fast as our slowest member. Keep in mind that you shouldn't push yourself too hard in case of a sudden attack. Got it?" Lance and the others nodded when Shiro paused. He continued to speak once everyone was ready.

"We will start with a simple jog for fifteen minutes. As we jog, we must remain in formation. Every two minutes, you will need to run three laps around the room. When you complete them, you must continue jogging. I understand if you need to take a break, but be back after one minute, alright?"