shining like the stars

92

It was the distant cry of circling gulls that made Lance finally open his eyes. He squinted, expecting the bright expanse of a blue summer sky as felt the board rock with the waves. Instead of a summer sky though, the expanse above him was midnight blue and black, with a paintbrush spray of stars that seemed never-ending. It was vast and unfathomable and all at once made Lance feel very, very small.

He sat up and discovered to his surprise that he wasn't laid out on a surfboard like he had imagine, rocked gently by unseen waves. The canvas of the universe had expanded around him, past a horizon line until it felt like he was floating motionless in the emptiness of deep space. It was profoundly disorienting, and Lance flailed his hand back until it hit something strong and solid. He flattened his hand, feeling warmth and sturdiness beneath it. Lance put both of his hands back and leaned his weight on them, legs sticking out straight and relaxed, letting go of the fear that had seized him as he looked up at the endless stretch of sky.

"Am I dead?" Lance asked aloud, mostly rhetorically since he didn't expect an answer. If he was, he was going to be really pissed. He felt the Blue Lion rumble a bit and when he shifted to look at the Blue Lion's eyes they were lit gold. "It's not a stupid question," he said defensively. "If I'm not dead, where the heck am I?"

There was no response to that, just the same gentle rumble of the Blue Lion's systems being active. Lance sighed, and then drew one leg up, draping his arm over it. His shirt stuck to him with the motion, tacky with blood, and he pulled at it. There was no wound underneath, and he traced his fingers over the spot where the blade – Keith's blade – had cut into him. Lance shuddered and leaned forward, squeezing his eyes shut and folding his arms, trying to curl in on himself and forget about what he had seen.

That wasn't Keith.

But it was, and the knowledge curdled in Lance's belly like old milk. He wanted to yell and scream and cry but instead sat there, still tilted forward, and shook. He took a deep, gasping breath, and then another, and when he opened his eyes he realized that he was no longer alone.

Seated, perched on the very edge of the Blue Lion's nose, was an Altean. Lance scrambled to his knees but hesitated, realizing that he didn't feel threatened by this presence. "...Blue...?" he asked, and the Blue Lion rumbled something that he didn't quite understand.

"Hey," Lance said again, and the Altean cocked their head but didn't turn around. "This is a private Lion, buddy." He stood up finally, and the Altean stood too. "I don't know what you're doing here – or where here even is, to be honest –" Lance didn't take a step back when the Altean turned, and with one hand lowered the hood that covered their hair.

Lance didn't know what he was expecting. He had seen a hundred Alteans in the memory core, he knew Allura and Coran and Illianya and Rian. He didn't know this Altean. Their hair was the color of icewater frozen to glaciers, their eyes and markings a deep blue. Lance furrowed his brow as the Altean smiled at him, almost sadly. "Blue...?" he said again, suspicious, but the Blue Lion rumbled at him indignantly. "Okay, okay, jeez."

The Altean didn't speak. "So, um," Lance said. "I'm Lance," he pointed to himself. "And you are...?" When the Altean still did not speak, he folded his arms and sighed. "This is supposed to be some sort of great revelatory dream, right? I'm dead or I'm dying or--" another rumble from the Blue Lion "or I'm apparently in a healing pod, thank you, Blue, so that just leaves the question: who the holy swiss cheese are you?"

Still no response. Lance took a step closer and the Altean did not shrink away. Instead, they put their hands out, cupped together, like they were holding something. "What, is this the key to the universe or something?" Lance asked. "The secret to defeating Zarkon? The Colonel's eleven herbs and spices?" He wasn't getting any response so Lance instead put out his hands, because the Altean was clearly waiting on him to do so. "You know, I'm not the one in charge of this operation," he said. "You should be leaving the hinky mystical shit in Shiro's dreams."