Three Stars in the Night Sky

        A/N: Howdy folks! This is the first one-shot in a series I am starting. It will be following the adventures of Romelle, Lance, and Keith as they slowly become their own trio. Enjoy, and feel free to check out my other works! I am currently working on a multi-chapter Lance-Centric fic, too! Have fun!

        Lance sighed and watched the stars twinkle above him.

        A cool breeze silently blew past and ruffled his hair as he leaned against a rock. Voltron was currently stopped on yet another planet as they made their way back to Earth. This one looked a lot like Earth if you ignored the lemon-yellow grass and purple rocks.

        Their journey back home was dragging on and on, and with each day that went by, Lance felt lonelier and lonelier. Sure, the other paladins would talk to him when they were having a meal or something of that like, but for the majority of the day, they were off in their own groups, doing their own things, with their own people. Lance? Lance wasn't in any of these.

         Pidge and Hunk were always working on projects to keep themselves occupied (and to stop them from dismantling a lion). Every time Lance tried to join them, they either subtly started ignoring him, or just flat out told him that he wasn't smart enough to understand what they were doing.

         Allura and Coran were always with Romelle, telling her about Altea and discussing the captured Alteans. That was a whole other level of not understanding what someone was talking about. Romelle didn't seem to know much about Altea, so a lot of times it was Coran or Allura telling long, unconnected stories about what Altea was like.

        Shiro, Keith, and Krolia constantly trained near the Black Lion in their spare time. Lance could only guess what those three were talking about, but whatever it was, Keith still hardly added anything to the conversation from what Lance could see.

       That left Lance with Kosmo, Kaltenecker, and the mice to talk to. They were good company for a while, but... Lance really just wanted to talk to someone who could actually respond back.

        Kosmo broke Lance out of his pity session by nudging his legs and whining. Lance looked down and gave the space wolf a half-smile.

       "What's up, buddy? Need someone to give you some love?" Kosmo started wagging as Lance kneeled down and started petting him, burying his face in Kosmo's scruff.

       "Me too, pal. Me too."

       The mice popped out of Kosmo's fur and started demanding cuddles as well, startling Lance at first.

       "Woah! You guys are like tiny ninjas or something!" The mice all struck ninja poses, before scrambling up his arms to find places to snuggle in his hood.

        "Heh, we have a whole party going on here! Too bad the other paladins are missing out on hanging out with such a cool guy!" Lance stopped, suddenly feeling like thorns were wrapped around his throat and clogging his airway. He wrapped his arms around himself and ducked his head into his shoulder.

       "Or maybe not. I mean, they don't seem to be upset. They have all the friends and family they need. Why would they need me? I'm just the Red Paladin, right? Lance McClain, paladin and animal babysitter." Lance slumped over even more before looking up at the animals again. Kosmo and the mice were looking at him pitifully. It was sad the animals were the only ones who could see how lonely he was.

        "But hey! We can have fun by ourselves anyway! Who needs them? All we are missing is Kaltenec-"

       "Mooooo."

       Low and behold, Kaltenecker was grazing behind a nearby tree and walking over now.

       "Now the party can start!" Kosmo laid down, making Lance flop down on top of the fluffy space-wolf. The mice all curled up around him, while Kaltenecker plopped down next to Lance. He was completely encircled by animals.