#starlitcore

   In the end, he doesn’t borrow Black.

   It’s kind of a silly excuse to borrow the Lion post intergalactic-war while Keith is on a diplomatic mission, and honestly, he hasn’t tries since the ATLAS happened, but it would have been nice. It’s not that silly of a reason.

   So the ATLAS gives him a ship.

   It’s small, bigger than a fighter but only fit for two people, which is great because it’s all he needs.

   Unfortunately he can’t excuse shirking all of his responsibilities, but he can excuse some—clearing a pocket in his schedule nearly breaks his head open with the shift of tasks that get toggled for Future Him to deal with, but he’ll deal with them as they come.

   For now, he snags Lance right after training—literally, in fact, the fingers of his floating arm hooking into Lance’s belt from right around the corner and holding him fast before he can get too far.

     even keith feels the spike of anxiety along the metal spine of his lion. the entire planet they’ve landed on is overcast by clouds, midnight, and the sun doesn’t seem to even exist in it’s orbit. there’s proof in the plant-life, dark and gnarling brambles of branches that rub ash off on red’s panels and dusts them up like charcoal. keith should be more careful where he lands, swerving between the thicket arms until he gives up. red’s claws dig in to a limb, which crackles and creaks under the weight, dropping sharply enough to make the lion grumble in a GROWL, and JOLT keith out of his own body. he’s lucky enough it doesn’t snap completely, a mumble to the beast under his hands. ❛ easy... ❜

     there’s the other thing━ the mist that swirls around the trunks and makes it difficult to keep track of the rest of the paladins. the blue lion is a blip in keith’s vision, foggy but there, and the coms are holding strong with flicks of static and fuzz.❛ you got anything, lance? ❜

     “you know, they keep asking about you over there. here i thought i’d be most popular mcclain,” her undertone was one of seriousness but to save them both from an awkward conversation where she knew it would lead to, she tried to mask it with humour. in all reality, lance had been the topic of many of her conversations- especially now with the new defenders project in the works-, but she was not home for that. she was home for her family and him.

     Should be an easy mission, Shiro tells them over breakfast as they orbit Olkarion, in and out. It sounds easy, at least-- a quick infiltration, Pidge tasked with retrieve-and-destroy and Lance her eyes in the sky while they sneak into a Galra base. She’s going to be going in essentially blind, Shiro tells her, based on the intel they have, a panopticon-style base with mazelike corridors on the ground floor. He shows them a map, and it’s only because Keith is busy on another op with Hunk that he’s not going with them. Pidge is no slouch in combat, but her skills are nowhere near Keith’s.

     ‘’I got you. it’s gonna be okay, you’re going to be okay.’’ Matt quickly worked, not really feeling like being hit by any Galra weapon at all. He took his belt out of his pants and used it to tightly bind off Lance’s bloodstream to his leg, the cut in said leg being really big.

     “Okay, first off. I need to give you a big hug after what had happened today!” Hunk had been busy putting the plates into place for the Galra to realize that Lance almost got himself killed for saving Allura. After he heard that, he wanted to go over and never let Lance out of his sights.

Hunk squeezed him. More than his strength allowed before finally letting go of the smaller paladin, “I’m so glad that you’re safe, buddy! You almost scared me half to death back there!”