one shots

Love is Trouble & Life's A Witch

"Kolivan!" Lance whispered loudly, peeking his head around the corner into the brightly-lit medic bay. Neither of the two people in the room looked at him, and he huffed. He tried again, raising his voice just a little, leaning even farther into the room to help project his voice. The old apothecary finally turned his head to look at him after several more attempts at attention-grabbing on Lance's part, raising an eyebrow in silent question. The other boy in the room, the one Lance had just recently seen for the first time, had followed here, and was subsequently asking Kolivan about, didn't look up, still seemingly unaware of Lance's presence somehow.

Lance inclined his head toward the hall where he was standing and Kolivan put down the vial in his hand, moving closer to Lance with a small sigh and a barely hidden amused smile. Once he was close enough, Lance reached forward and grabbed his arm eagerly, pulling him out into the hallway.

"What do you need, Your Highness?" Kolivan asked, his features a mix of fond and exasperated. Lance ignored them, intent on learning who the (admittedly cute) stranger walking around in his castle was. He may have only been fourteen, but palace security was nothing to joke about.

"Who is that strange boy? How did he get in here? Why did you let him into the medic bay? Are you letting him make something ? What if he tries to kill me!? Oh my God, he's here to kill me," Lance hissed, getting more and more worked up as he let his mind run wild, his eyes widening as he continued to grip Kolivan's arm.

Kolivan chuckled, prying Lance's fingers from his arm and squeezing them gently. "It's alright, Prince Lance. Nothing to worry about; he's my new apprentice. I'm an old man now, and someone has to take my place when I'm gone, so I'm training him to be the next palace apothecary." Lance mulled his words over, frowning a bit.

"Where did he come from, though?"

"He was an orphan," Kolivan shrugged. "The monastery took him in when he was young—and he's a very smart and studious boy—so I chose him as my replacement." Lance frowned even bigger, peeking around the door frame again to look at the boy a second time.

"He doesn't have a family?" As far as Lance knew, this boy had only been in the castle for a few days, but watching him work wasn't that different from watching Kolivan. It looked like he'd been here for years, making and mixing potions, and his hands looked skilled and steady. It made Lance a little bit jealous, because he was still just learning how to be a prince, and they looked to be the same age.

Kolivan nodded his head when he regained Lance's attention, giving him the warning look that he'd come to recognize as "don't ask him any stupid or insensitive questions about it". Lance huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. It wasn't his fault he was curious. Maybe people should just stop being so sensitive about everything.

"What's his name, then?"

"His name is Keith," Kolivan answered, nodding in his direction. "He's the same age as you, and I bet you'll get along splendidly, just like your father and I did."

"You're the same age as my dad? Like, the king?" Lance asked, raising his eyebrow skeptically. Kolivan laughed again, his shoulders shaking with the action.

"Yes, my prince. Now, I really must get back to work. Is there anything else you'd like to ask?"

Lance pouted, kicking at the ground. "No, I guess not. Have fun doing stupid boring stuff." With that, Lance turned around and ran off, leaving Kolivan to laugh once more and shake his head before returning to work.

Lance raced up the stairs, upset with himself for going to visit the basement. The basement wasn't a bad place to go, and he found himself down there quite a lot, but now he was excited and he wanted to talk to Pidge and Hunk, which meant he had to run up about a million staircases before he could reach them, which was just, a lot.