Borderline

chapter four.

Just as Keith guessed, Allura had began jumping into conclusion the same quintant. Conclusions that were very much correct, and formed beads of sweat at my temples.

"Are you crossing the boundary, Lance?" my sister asked me as we stepped as quietly as possible into the castle again.

I whirled around, my eyebrows raised in shock, and I made an offended sound that sounded like a strangled crow. "What?! How could you accuse me for such a thing? I was playing perfectly by the rules, and you just can't handle how good I have become! Wow, I thought better of you, Allura." I felt the droplets slither down to my cheeks, and it took me everything to not wipe them off.

Allura looked startled by my words, and she raised her hands defensively. "Relax, Lance, I was not accusing. Just wondering. Can't blame me to." Her eyes narrowed, as if trying to search deep within me, for any trace of lie. So I turned around, starting to walk through the corridors and to my room.

"Accusiiiinnngg", I yelled, only breathing out when I reached the door to my room.

۝ ۝ ۝

I had to play the searcher for three quintants before I was safe to hide again. By the third quintant, I was hoping that Allura's suspicion was fading away a little, and sure enough it did. She gave me no questioning look when we ran out to the garden, and she started counting with no dispute. I started running immediately. It felt like I was flying through the woods, and my feet leaped over the very familiar route, even if I had only ran here three times.

The cave was lit up today too, and I flew in, my breathing uneven from all the running.

"Guess who's he.... OH MY VOLTRON, YOU'RE BLEEDING!"

Keith rolled his eyes as he sat and opened up a metallic box beside him, rummaging through the content and picking up what he needed. A cotton wad, and a transparent bottle with a transparent liquid inside. A piece of his suit on the middle of his underarm had been ripped apart, and I had a clear view of the gash that had been formed and was releasing an awful amount of blood down the rest of his arm. The smokey smell from the fire had no power to overpower the metallic smell his wound was giving, and I wrinkled my nose.

"What happened to your arm... Oh mighty Quiznack, there is so much blood~"

"It's nothing, Lance", he muttered as he ripped apart his suit a little more to get more access to the injury, and he took the wad and poured some liquid on the soft object, and immediately dabbed the little piece of cotton onto the gash, no even wincing. He must have done this a thousands of times.

"That doesn't look like nothing", I argued, stepping forward and sitting down beside him, trying not to glance down at the blood, instead keeping my eyes on his non-moving face, wondering if it hurt him at all.

He didn't say anything, only gritting his teeth when he pressed the wad harder against his arm, but other than that, his expression stayed the same.

"Can I do something?" I wailed, feeling uncomfortable just watching him patch up himself like that. But what could I do? I had zero experiences with how to handle injuries, because there was always someone doing it for me. It could be just a little bruise, and I would immediately be pushed to the infirmary to get a ten minutes long treatment for just that little bruise. Sometimes I would even be asked to go into one of the healing pods, and I had to decline everytime, swatting the crazy suggestion away instantly.

"Waiting for me to finish is the best thing you can do", Keith mumbled, throwing the wad to the side when he was done, probing the box with his free hand again, and fishing up a bundle of bandage, rolling it free and tying it around his arm.