Keith laughed. Shiro had just cracked a stupid joke, Allura and Coran were extremely confused, Hunk was trying not to laugh, the Holt siblings were laughing the hardest, and Lance was smiling.
All of them were sitting on the floor of the training deck. They stayed there for a while. Lance and Pidge both fell asleep on Hunk's shoulder. Allura and Shiro went to the bridge, where Coran and the mice were replacing some crystals.
An alarm went off. Nobody had to say anything. Everyone took their place, whether it be in a giant futuristic cat head or on the bridge. Matt went to the black lion with Shiro. Kuro followed Coran and Allura to the bridge.
"Planet Aloya? What's that?" Lance asked, reading the prompt on his lion's dashboard.
"It's a planet populated primarily by creatures that resemble a mix between a du-flax and what you would call a butterfly," Coran answered. "They can be harmful, though, so be vigilant and don't get on their bad side!"
Lance contacted Keith. Nobody else. Who else would understand how badly he could mess this up? Who else would be able to make him feel like he wouldn't destroy any chance of them doing... whatever they had to do for this mission? Maybe Shiro. But when Keith said that he was relevant... when he said that there was no reason for him to hate himself... it made him feel like he meant it. Like he mattered to someone.
Keith's face appeared on the screen in front of Lance. "You okay, Lance?" The concern on his face was apparent.
Lance fidgeted awkwardly. "I feel like I'm going to mess this up. I don't even know what we're doing and I know I'll mess it up."
"No, you won't." Keith looked Lance in the eyes. "There is no way for the Sharpshooter to mess up. And if you do mess up, that's okay. Everyone messes up sometimes. But if you're worried about messing up, I'll be there."
Lance half-smiled. "Thanks."
The message was simple. It made Lance want to be as close to Keith as he could be. But he couldn't; they were on a mission. They had things to do.
YOU ARE READING
I Wasn't Ready For This
FanfictionA mission to a distant planet goes awry, and everyone deals with a very, very small consequence... But not everything is as small as it first seems. Get ready for some next-level babysitting, because even Shiro can't do this alone!
