O VALIANT BLUE.

she found him in the training room, sprawled along the floor. there were no training bots or gladiators coming at him, so she could only assume that the red paladin was ( finally ) taking a break.

               good.                it was far too late for him to be up, anyway.

                                                   padding into the room on near silent paws,                                                    she canted her head, staring down at him                                                    before raising a paw & nudging his shoulder.                                                    sleeping here couldn’t be good for him.

         "oh that? that, my friend, is a dog.“ the corners of his mouth curve with a soft, fond smile as he eyed the dog for a moment before looking back at blue. "wanna pet it? we have to ask if we can first, but—- do you wanna?”

the castle was quiet, lights dimmed in the darkened cycle the alteans & humans all had agreed to, a poor imitation of ‘days’ & ‘nights’ the paladins had known all their lives. it was in the silence that blue padded toward the other hangers, checking up on her siblings despite the limp she herself carried. they all had taken damage in their last fight & despite pidge, hunk & coran’s help, they still needed time to repair their own damages.

satisfied with how the others were faring ( for now ) blue made her way to green’s bay, easily finding the other in the darkness. carefully she eased down beside her sister, nudging her in silent question.

        "oh— hey, blue !“

not unfamiliar to the other lions, a hand is raised, only to rest at the top of her head to scratch. his gaze moved from the lion to the plate of FRESH cookies sitting on the counter. with a quick glance around, he grabbed one, holding it out for her.

        ”—-wanna try one?“

oh that felt nice.

not nearly as nice as lance’s, of course, but nice nonetheless. tilting her head, she leaned forward, nudging his hand because she has absolutely no idea those cookie things are.

       "whoa — ! “

a foot moved forward to support the added weight to his back, eyes widening before he realized it was just blue and not someone trying to attack him… with hugs. his surprise was followed by a laugh, hands coming up to touch paws ; his laugh only grew louder as she nuzzled him and he turned his head to nuzzle her back, giddiness and warmth spreading from his chest to his toes and fingertips.

       "hey there, beautiful.”

beautiful. 

it was a strange word but one that blue wholeheartedly adored because it was lance who gave it to her. she didn’t need to know the exact meaning to understand the images & emotions that poured from him in order to know.

a purr erupted from her throat once more, leaning just a bit more of her weight against him until they both sprawled to the ground ( making sure that her cub didn’t actually hurt his head or anything; such fragile beings humans were ) & promptly started to lick & nuzzle his face.

             ❛         You   know,     we   would   all   be   happy   to   help   clear   anything   up   if   you   ever   need   it.     Can’t   say   any   of   us   are   experts   but   we’ll   do    the   best   we   can.  ❜

it was rare for the others to come by unless they needed something. 

              ❛         It’s   a   time   slice   term   we   use   back   on   earth.     In   Altean,     it’s   something   equivalent   to   a   deca-phoeb.     ❜      If   he’s   remembering   that   right.

               ❛         Don’t   worry.     You   got   them   right.     I   just…     wasn’t    exactly   expecting   to   hear   them   coming   from   a   thousand   year   old   lion…     ess     ??     ❜

                ❛         How…     ??     Did   Lance   teach   you   that   song     ??     ❜