Find your element

Bonding (edited)

"What do you mean it didn't work?"  Keith growled. The mask clutched tightly in his shaking hands.

"Your powers just aren't ready to be used. You have them it's just your emotions aren't stable enough for us to find the trigger." Coran explains calmly his fingers tapping away on the screen.

Shiro places his hand on Keith's shoulder. "I'm sure you'll get there. You just need to-"

"I'm going to my room." He mumbles shrugging off the hand and storming out.

The doors slide shut leaving the rest of the team in silence. "He'll get it." Lance says confidently.

"Yes but until then we should work on forming a team empathy bond. However we need Keith in order for it to work." Allura sighs.

"I'll get him!" Lance exclaims awkwardly cutting off The older paladin.

Shiro gives Lance a smirk. "Go ahead Lance," Fighting the heat on his face he nods disappearing through the same door.

"Oh and Lance?" The princess calls.
His head pops back in an eyebrow raised in question. "We will be in the Kings quarters." He nods vanishing once more.

His steps towards the room are careful and slow. His mind wandering until he reaches the door. Lance clears his throat, "Keith, buddy?"

"Go away."

"I'm coming in. We need to talk." Keith opens the door a frown set deep into his face.

"What."

"Listen I know your upset but we need to practice forming our- uhm, our team empathy bond?" Lance scrambles to remember what The princess had called it.

"Can't you do it without me?" He was getting more aggravated annoyance making his cords venomous.

"Keith we Can't form a team bond with a member of the team missing."

"What does it matter! It's not like I can do anything right now," He snapped. His eyes were glossy as his hands lay limply by his side.

"Listen man, just because you aren't able to summon your powers now doesn't mean that you won't be able to later on. That shouldn't stop you from connecting with the team." Lance sat on the edge of his mattress leaning back on his hands. A look on his face Keith had never seen before.

"There's always going to be something you can never do. Always that thing that will hold you back. But you can't give in. Staying locked up in your room isn't going to help you master the ability. Keith just give it time." His blue eyes poured out a sense of comfort despite then tension racking his shoulders.

The red paladin nods following the slightly tense Cuban back down the hall. "We're heading to the Kings quarters." He answers seeing Keith's confused face as they pass the training room.  The raven haired boy only nods. The rest of the walk is silent but not awkward.

The chatter in the room dies instantly when the two shuffle in taking their seats and filling the holes in the circle. "Princess? Can I ask why we are doing this here instead of the training room?" Pidge asks glasses glinting under the bright crystal lights.

"This is the room the original paladins bonded in. This room was special to my father then as it is to me now." Her hands shake as she places a small bronze band on each of their heads.

"What do these do exactly?" Lance asks shifting slightly in his spot.

"When I turn them on they should make it harder to hide anything from each other. You will sort these thoughts and emotions until they match the paladin you have paired them with, only then will your minds be ready for the link."

"We can't block anything?" He squeaks.

The princess shakes her head a smile blooming as she motions for Coran to click a button. Then there is nothing but darkness and silence. It all comes forward at once. Lance does his best to hold onto his own feelings as he sorts the others first.

He matches the anxiousness, love of cooking, booming humor, and overall positivity to Hunk. The large words, family worries, and snarky quips or jokes to Pidge. Carefully he snaps together Keith's ambition, his will to do what's right, the feeling of abandonment, and his social awkwardness. Ending with Shiro's hope to lead well, the pain of past experiences, the feeling of protectiveness over the people here, and the shy quirky dad habits.

Despite not wearing a head band he can reach out to Allura and Coran. He sorts theirs and marvels at the love radiating from Corans side.

Lance can feel the others searching for him as well. They're poking around at the wall he's put up. Somewhere in the distance he can hear Allura reprimand him. He loses his grip for a second and out it spills. The crippling homesickness, his love for the team, the fear of never being good enough, his gross crush on an unknown person who is not Allura, the constant feeling of being a burden, and finally the confident flirty mask he hides behind.

The bands shut off and the light flickers back on as they all sit in silence. His team stares at him mouths opening only for no words to come out. Until he speaks not vocally but mentally.

Guys? You ok? He plays off what just happened   Putting back on the happy go lucky mask he uses so often. It doesn't work because the new bond betrays him. It sends the pained fear to the others.

"Lance," Hunk whispers sadly.

We are not going to discus this right now. Practice using this first.

P: fine but later your ass better explain.

S: Lance what-

L: not now, please. The hesitation makes the others nod.

He turns happily to Allura who is now smiling proudly. "Judging from the tense silence I'm assuming it's been done?"

"Yup!" Lance beams popping the P with his signature smile. The others now know this is fake. This whole happy act. Pidge wonders why she didn't realize how forced the smile was before. Hunk can't believe he hadn't thought about Lance's feelings up here. He knew Lance was insecure but not this much.

"Good now that the longest three Vargas of our life is over you may have the rest of the day to relax." Coran pats Shiro on the back waltzing out of the room.

Keith pushes himself to his feet hearing his joints pop from lack of use. "We we're doing this for three hours!"

Allura shrugs jabbing a finger in Lances direction, "Lance didn't want to open up. Quiet a wall he had." Hearing this a wave of regret flows threw.

"Speaking of Lance," Shiro begins grabbing the teen by his hood. "Well all meet in his room in five minutes. Okay?"  Although he asks this the bond they feel is heavy with questions.

As the team files out Lance hangs back. "Allura?"

"Yes Lance."

"Were you and Coran wearing the bands too?"

She shakes her head. "No why?"

His breath catches in his throat. "No reason. Bye," before she could respond he dashed around the corner.