Blood Tied (Galtean Klance)

- TWENTY -

Keith's POV

Even though Melvark was bubbly and energetic when Keith returned to base with Lieutenant Xarvok, Keith could see the circles under his eyes. 

Is this a good time to ask about happened while I was gone? Would a good subordinate ask? Ah, it doesn't matter. I'm not a good subordinate, and I'm curious. 

"Pardon me for asking, sir," Keith inclined his head slightly. "Are you feeling alright?"

Melvark stopped jumping with the container holding the yellow substance, and gave Keith a confused look. 

"You just... look a little tired, sir."

Melvark's face brightened in understanding. "Oh! Yes, yes. I had been running into difficulties with my work, that's all. Nothing for you to worry about." He waved his hand dismissively. "Good work, you two. Especially you, Keith! Well done for your first mission! Lieutenant Korvok will pack this away, and you two can take a break. Lieutenant Xarvok, give him a guest room."

Xarvok led Keith down a hallway, away from the docking port. 

This must be a different entrance than the one Lance and I discovered... We had landed at an abandoned Galran post, but the Lieutenant set us down on a platform on the opposite side of the asteroid. Which means the Lions are in a different part of the base. I wonder how the two bases are connected...

The two walked through the halls, past many rooms, and through quite a few turns. 

The whole base must be connected...! It looks like all the halls in this intersection connect to the last one. 

Finally, they stopped at a hallway that ended in a dead-end. There were six portions of the wall with glowing stripes, three on each side.

Xarvok turned around, facing Keith. "Choose." He said, gruffly. 

Keith shrugged. "I don't really care." He stepped past Xarvok to stand in front of the first door on the left. "I'll take this one."

The room was sparsely decorated: a bed, a table, and two strips of light on the ceiling that dimmed and glowed. The only thing that stood out was the glowing purple designs on one of the walls. 

Is that supposed to be a mural? It'd be funny if it was actually a door...

Keith exhaled, amused. "There's no way it's one of those door-walls." He reached out, letting his fingers brush the wall. And then he pushed them through. 

It was a small room, lit faintly by the purple marks on the wall Keith came from. In the farthest corner, a figure was huddled. They seemed to shrink when Keith entered the room.

It took Keith a moment for his eyes to adjust, before he could identify the person in the corner. When he did, it took his breath away.

"...Lance? Is that you?"

The Blue Paladin flinched upon hearing his name.

"What are you doing in this room? Are you okay?" Keith took a step forward, but stopped when Lance only shrunk further into the corner, arms over his head. 

Why is Lance acting so strange? It's like he's scared of me. Why? What happened while I was gone? 

"Hey, it's okay," Keith exhaled, dissolving his Galran form. "I'm not here to hurt you, Lance." He took a few more steps and crouched next to Lance. 

"Oh... is that you, Keith?" Lance's voice was gravelly and thin. "Keith?"

"Yeah, it's me. How are you feeling?" Keith's eyebrow's knit with concern. "What's that under your eyes?"