Klance- How to Save a Life

Are you okay?

Lance PoV

Keith has been different lately. It's difficult to tell, but if you look closely you can see that he has dark circles under his eyes, his skin seems paler (if that's even possible), and he's losing weight. He doesn't eat as well as he used to and barely trains unless it's necessary. Everything he does lacks the energy and concentration it used to, he looks distracted, focused on something else.

Even as his rival, I'm allowed to be worried about his safety, whether physical or otherwise. If team Voltron's aggressive emo powerhouse isn't doing so hot, how are we supposed to win the war? Someone needs to talk some sense into the guy, and it's beginning to look like that 'someone' will be me. Everyone else is too focused on on their own issues- Allura and Coran are keeping the Castle up and running, Pidge, Hunk, and Matt are busy doing engineer... things, and Shiro (A/N this is the REAL Shiro, not Kuron) is trying to do whatever he can to help either two groups. But I'm not being very useful in any way, this is how I can help things be a little better for everyone.

—-

Training was easy today, even if it was more exhausting than usual.

Allura dismisses us for the day- Shiro following Matt and Pidge to the lab, Hunk going to the kitchen to prepare lunch, Allura and Coran heading toward the control room, which left Keith and I in the lounge... by ourselves. I took this chance to assess the situation by asking a few, extremely subtle questions.

"You've been different lately, are you okay?" I blurted, trying my best not to sound pushy or desperate for answers.

"W-what?" He asked, his voice low and filled with confusion. I quickly composed myself and thought up a better question.

"Are you... okay? You don't seem like yourself lately." I cautiously worded the question, not wanting him to leave.

Ummm, I mean, he can definitely leave if he wants to, I won't stop him. Yeah, I don't care what he does- I'm just making sure we'll still be able to form Voltron... that's it.

"Why, exactly, do you care?" He scoffed, looking away from my general area.

"I don't want you to be hurt, and you haven't really been your usual self as of now." I spoke before thinking. I've found it's the best way to tell the truth- not thinking before you answer something. "Well, there's a few other things, but I thought I'd start somewhere a little more simple than that." I added.

"I-I'm not sure." He muttered, looking to the floor. It made him look more innocent, he wasn't the hardcore emo child that he usually appeared as. He seemed almost... melancholy.

"You know what- never mind, I- I don't know why I said that. I'm just going to go... Bye, Lance. I'll see you later, I guess." He stood from the couch, exiting to the hall before I could think of something to say that would make him stay. I sighed, slumping in my seat.

This is going to be harder than I thought...

—-

The rest of the day went by uneventfully, but everyone was looking forward to dinner.

Hunk told is this morning that he had been experimenting with the ingredients in the castle, and was pretty sure he could make a (very heavily improvised) version of spaghetti. He told us that the sauce was still red, but the noodles were an unorthodox shade of plum. Judging by some of the things we've eaten in space so far, I'm sure it won't make much of a difference to the team, and Allura and Coran were excited to try and Earth food for the first time.

The dishes were set out, and everyone waited eagerly as Hunk emerged from the kitchen with a large pot, Coran following with one about 3/4 as big. Hunk scooped big spoonfuls of spaghetti onto everyone's plates, and Coran followed with sauce.