The base was busy the following morning as the final preparations were being made for the next scouting mission. Viltri explained to Allura the night before that their last mission led them to discover that the Hauhet was somewhere east of the Kafa before they lost track of it. The Eioans used technology fused with Quinessence that they gathered slowly over the years as to not attract the Hauhet's attention. While it meant their supplies were limited, this technology enabled them to track the Hauhet more effectively, especially when it camouflage itself or buried into the ground. Drundlo suggested to Allura that she accompanied the scouts while he waited to hear back from all of the district presidents and Allura was more than willing to tag along. He allowed Viltri to bring Lance as well, though Allura suspected Drundlo's decision was made mostly on the fact that he had such a soft spot for his daughter.

After breakfast, Allura made her way inside the Kafa to find Pidge and Hunk with Horm; they had worked tirelessly with him to better understand the planet and its unique Quintessence, but Allura really hadn't had the chance to talk to them about it yet. Pidge was spinning around slowly in a chair, reading one of the large monitors near the wells.

"Hey Allura," Pidge greeted, not taking her eyes off the monitor. "You excited to leave today?"

"I am. I'm sorry that Wunrik is only allowing me and Lance to go."

"It's okay. Horm has actually been showing me and Hunk a lot of cool stuff so we've been kept busy-" Pidge's eyes grew large. "Whoa!"

"What?"

Pidge looked at her. "Move closer to that well," she said, pointing to the one nearest to them. Allura stepped closer to is while Pidge eyed the monitor closely.

"How cool! Hunk, come check this out."

"What's going on?" Allura asked. Hunk came over from a different monitor and his expression lit up as well.

"That's one of the biggest reactions we've seen," he noted.

"Would you care to explain what's going on?" Allura asked, hating the feeling of being out of the loop.

"Well we've learned some interesting things about this form of Quintessence from the Grangint and Horm," Pidge said. "We already know that this form is unique to anything else we've seen, which you can obviously see from its color."

"Right…"

"But the scientists here told us that the Quintessence in the Kafa is more concentrated than in other areas in Eioa, like the Fountain for example."

"But if that were the case, wouldn't it be a different color? We've seen concentrated Quintessence before," Allura said.

"Right, the theory is that it's concentrated, but it's also somehow refined because of the Hauhet," Hunk said. "The Grangint believes that areas where the Quintessence is more refined in areas where the Hauhet has lived for a good amount of time."

"So where the Kafa stands now was once where the Hauhet lived? Horm did mention that they believe the Hauhet has the ability to filter it, or at least I remember him describing it that way… and they think it's doing something to the Quintessence to where some Eioans are born with abilities."

"Exactly," Hunk beamed. "But even still, the Quintessence in the wells reacts differently to people. The monitor went pretty crazy and that was just you standing close to the well."

Allura peered down into the well, seeing nothing but a glowing green light shining back at her. "Strange… What is the monitor recording exactly?"

"It's uh-" Pidge looked away from the monitor and was suddenly very fidgety. She smoothed down her hair and adjusted her glasses.

Hunk and Allura gave her concerned looks.

"What's wrong with you?" Hunk asked.

"Nothing," Pidge giggled. She glanced over her shoulder to where Jinx and Junx were talking with Lance. Jinx and Lance were trying to stifle their laugher while Junx held a concentrated expression on his face.

Pidge shook her head and cleared her throat. "Sorry about that." She giggled again and covered her mouth with horror. "... Something's wrong with me!" She peered over her shoulder again and gave Jinx a timid wave.

"Oh I see what's going on," Hunk smirked. "You have a crush on somebody!"

"NO I DON'T." Pidge crossed her arms and rocked back and forth on the chair. "It's like I don't have control over my emotions."

Hunk patted her shoulder. "I know this can be a confusing time in your life-"

"Shut up!"

By that point, Lance had lost all composure and howled with laughter. "Oh man, please do someone else now!"

Pidge stood up and stormed over to them. "What did you do to me?!"

Jinx wiped the tears from his eyes and nudged Junx. "We finally convinced Junx to show off his ability," he said.

"You did this?" She demanded of Junx. "Make it stop!"

Junx shrugged and Pidge breathed in a sigh of relief. "That was the worst."

"Are you alright Pidge?" Allura asked.

"Do someone else now," Jinx said.

"Ooh! Let me choose!" Lance said excitedly, waving his arms in front of Junx. Junx frowned at him and Lance stopped immediately and lowered his head.

"I...just-" Lance's voice quivered and he wrapped his arms around Junx as he stood there stoically. "What is this feeling?" He sobbed into Junx's chest.

"Don't cry buddy," Hunk said, patting lance gently on the back of his head while trying to keep himself from laughing.

Lance pulled away form Junx and wiped his eyes. "I don't like this," he blubbered.

"Yeah, now you know how I felt," Pidge fumed.

Lance fell to his knees and cried out. "No one understands me!" He curled into fetal position and a blank look fell over his face.

Allura nudged his shoulder. "Lance… get up."

"Just leave me here," he bemoaned.

"Man, emo Lance is a real bummer," Hunk said. "Good thing Viltri isn't here to see this." They watched for a moment as Lance whimpered pathetically on the ground. Footsteps approached them and they turned to see Keith and Jira joining them from outside. They slowed down and eyed the group warily after seeing the state Lance was in.

"Why is he crying in the middle of the floor?" Keith asked while looking at Junx.

Lance suddenly sprung to his feet and ran at Jira. "I'm so glad you're okay!" He pulled Jira into a tight hug and pressed his face against hers.

Jira shoved him off of her, and fought to keep him at arms length. "What are you talking about?"

"You left the castle so suddenly yesterday, I haven't seen you since you left." He said, holding onto her arms tightly, worry in his expression. Allura noticed Jira and Keith share a brief and nervous look.

"Uh-" Jira tried pulling away from him again.

"Were you hurt? Were you upset about something? ARE YOU OKAY?" He shook her firmly. "Don't go running off like that again, you'll give me a heart attack!"

"Who are you, my mom?"

"-His emotions are actually really easy to manipulate," Junx chuckled.

"And you, young man-" Lance turned to Keith and jabbed a finger in his chest. "You need to watch your temper!"

Keith flicked Lance's finger away from him and Lance screamed in horror and grabbed his hand. He jumped behind Junx and cowered behind his broad shoulders, his eyes wide with fear.

"Do you see them too?" Lance hissed, clinging to Junx's suit. "I see them… they steal tiny bits of my breakfast each morning. They think they're so sneaky, but I see them."

"See what?" Jinx asked with a wide grin. "Where?"

"They're allll over the place," Lance replied in a sing songy voice. He let go of Junx.

"Wait, what was I talking about?" He closed his eyes and hummed, swaying like a mad man. He leapt to Pidge and swung her around.

"Let go," She growled at him. Lance, now with a wistful and dazed look, came up to Hunk and rubbed his hand over Hunk's face. "You're my best friend." he said, embracing him around the neck.

"Ah, thanks dude."

Lance laughed and slumped forward, Hunk catching him in his arms. "I'm a little sleepy," Lance mumbled, his body limp.

"Oops. Pushed him too hard." Junx said. He and Hunk helped Lance stand back on his feet and Lance wobbled for balance.

"That was… so awesome!" He cried. "Do it again!"

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea," Allura said. "You looked like you were about to faint."

"I'll be fine," Lance argued, but he started to fall forward again and Hunk propped him up.

"How does it affect you?" Keith asked Junx.

"As long as I can maintain my concentration, it doesn't have too much of an effect on me emotionally or physically. And don't worry too much about him," he said, patting Lance firmly on the back. "The effects aren't long lasting, but in the moment they're pretty intense."

"You said Lance was pretty easy to manipulate. What makes it different from person to person?" Pidge asked.

"Well, for one, teens are probably the easiest because… well hormones and stuff… but If someone's more reserved or level headed, they tend to be a bit more difficult."

"Level headed, huh?" Pidge said, a smug grin spreading across her face. "What if you tried it out on Shiro?" She pointed to the other side of the wells where Shiro was speaking with Chalna.

"Hmm, I'll try… he's kinda far away though."

Allura looked at Shiro anxiously. She had been somewhat avoiding him since they spoke after their meeting with Drundlo, but he seemed as calm and put together as ever. A part of her was curious to see what Junx could do to him with his ability.

They watched as he and Chalna parted ways and he started to make his way over to them. He smiled at them, but his smile slowly fell and was replaced with a grimace. He slowed his pace, eventually stopping by one of the monitors and leaning against it.

"Junx…" Keith said hesitantly. "What emotion are you manipulating?"

Shiro started visibly shaking and grabbed onto the monitor, his breathing heavy. He squinted his eyes and shook his head violently as if he were trying to dispel an unpleasant memory.

"Junx, stop!" Allura said harshly and Shiro fell to his knees. She rushed over to him and approached him carefully and laid a hand on his shoulder. Shiro whipped his head up and looked at her with a terrified expression. Keith appeared next to her, angry and worried.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice slightly trembling. "I- it was just another-" he quickly tried to push himself to his feet and Allura and Keith helped him.

Junx and the others soon followed and Keith turned to Junx furiously.

"Sorry," Junx said. "I didn't realize it would be that effective."

"Just lay off him," Keith said.

"No, it's okay," Shiro said in a strained voice. "I was… just caught off guard. That's all." He gave Junx a smile, but it was clear Junx still felt guilty.

Lance stepped in and gave Junx a reassuring pat. "Uh, you have patrol today, right? Why don't you show us around some more before we leave this afternoon?"

"Okay," Junx said, and Jinx and Lance followed him out of the Kafa, Junx giving Shiro one last sorry look before turning away.

"Hmm, well this turned awkward pretty fast," Hunk mumbled to Pidge.

"Ah, yeah, we should probably go monitor… something," Pidge said, and they took their excuse to leave as well. Jira stayed, but didn't come much closer to Shiro. Allura had noticed that while she was becoming closer with the other paladins, she didn't interact with Shiro, which made Allura a bit curious in regards to what her opinions of Shiro were and if it had anything to do with her ability. Allura could feel Jira's steady gaze on her, which only made her nervous considering she was still holding onto Shiro. She promptly let go of him and put some distance between them.

"You sure you're okay?" Keith asked, stepping away from him.

"I'm fine," he said. "Junx didn't mean any harm by it. Go easy on him."

Keith nodded slightly and Allura noted that he again made a quick glance at Jira. "I should get going too…" he said. "I told Omek I'd be back soon."

Before Keith left with Jira, she caught Allura's attention and gave her a small smile which immediately filled Allura with nervous dread. Just as Allura had noticed something growing between Jira and Keith, Jira must have had some inclination as to what Allura was feeling in regards to Shiro. Allura tried to play it off like she's wasn't shaken by the small gesture, and it helped that Shiro seemed completely oblivious to it all.

"I take it it's not the first time something like that has happened," Allura said to him quietly.

Shiro's expression softened and he looked relieved, but he quickly covered it up. "Nothing that intense."

"It's understandable if you do struggle with that… after everything you've been through. I can't imagine what horrors still haunt you."

"It's getting better," Shiro smiled, but his eyes told a different story.

"Right, well if you ever need someone to talk to…"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," Allura returned the smile, but she realized that it was just as forced as his.

********

There were very few times in his life that Lance would have considered himself more blessed than right now. He wouldn't normally consider tromping through a hot jungle an ideal activity for him, but he couldn't complain that he was surrounded by three beautiful women…. Well, and Wunrik and his lieutenant general, Manazu; that he wasn't too thrilled about. He was grateful that Viltri invited him along, but he was a little nervous about Allura being there. Lance still liked and respected Allura, and didn't want to pass over a chance to be with her if she wanted that, but he had to admit that Viltri was different. She was certainly beautiful, outgoing, and brilliant, but she was a lot more straightforward when it came to her romantic intentions; almost to the point where it intimidated him.

He wasn't used to a girl being so flirty with him; he was usually the one that did most of the pursuing and now being on the other side of that left him in uncharted territory. While he had spent a few hours with her the other day, it was mostly just light hearted flirting. For the most part, he felt like he was over being nervous around her, but sometimes she still surprised him. He was hoping this scouting mission would be a good chance to pin down exactly how he felt about her.

After leaving the Kafa earlier that day, they travelled far east into the Olorin jungle. The trip was made quick with the hoverbikes and they were able to make it to where they last saw the Hauhet in good time. Before settling in for the night, Wunrik wanted them to scout the area for any evidence that it had either burrowed underground or camouflaged itself.

Lance spotted Allura near one of the hoverbikes, inspecting a massive flower that was shedding large, iridescent petals. Since she was alone, it was as good as any a time to get some flirting in with her; just to give him a better idea as to who he should be pursuing. It was the least he could do for the benefit of his love life. He smoothed his hair down and approached her.

"You know, if Wunrik has us split up to go search the area, I'm looking for a partner," he beamed at her.

"I would have thought you already had one, considering you've been spending a lot of time with Viltri," Allura said sharply.

Lance's face flushed, but he recovered quickly. "I like to leave myself available for all my fans," he winked.

"Lance, we really need to focus. If you're looking for someone to flirt with, I'm sure Viltri will gladly take you up on that offer."

"Playing hard to get, still." Lance leaned casually against a tree. "That's okay. Eioa is pretty romantic, so maybe we can find some alone time after we get back from this mission."

"Did you ever consider that maybe I'm not playing?" She raised an eyebrow at him and Lance smiled back at her nervously. "We really need to remember why we're here. Being at Eioa may seem like a vacation in many ways, but we need to stay focused on the task at hand. We can't waste time when we don't know what neither Zarkon nor Lotor are up to."

"Yeah, no, absolutely..." Lance said, a bit crestfallen. "I am 100% ready for anything."

"Good…" Allura said, looking a bit uncomfortable. "... We should see what Wunrik wants us to do tonight."

"Okay, cool," Lance said casually, but he lingered behind after Allura walked away. Admittedly, he was a little hurt by her words. He usually got positive responses from girls when he flirted with them, but Allura was an exception. Maybe that was part of the reason that he still tried with her; it was a fun challenge for him because he always held out hope that she did have some feelings for him. They had grown closer lately, especially since she was now the pilot for the Blue Lion and he was starting to see that she was more comfortable around him, for the most part. Even still, that didn't guarantee that she actually liked him. Maybe he was just thinking too much into it.

He watched as Allura spoke with Jira and helped her finish setting up the tent. He thought about her a lot, but he doubted that she spent even half that time thinking about him. She was probably preoccupied with more important things. He pulled his gaze away from her and caught Viltri's attention. She was sitting casually on a hoverbike and smirking at him as if she had been watching him for while. If that was the case, she probably watched him strikeout Allura. Lance cleared his throat and walked away, trying to look busy, but from the corner of his eye, he could see Viltri grin with satisfaction and hop off the bike. He had embarrassed himself in front of Viltri a number of times, which was kind of sad considering he hadn't known her that long. He could normally brush things off when it came to girls, but he felt like Vitri could see right through him. Maybe that was part of the reason she intimidated him; he couldn't just effortlessly flirt his way through things with her. While she was a huge flirt herself, she seemed to expect more from him.

Trying to convince himself that he was thinking too much into it, he joined Wunrik and Manazu.

"Manazu and I will head further East," Wunrik said. "Jira and Allura, you go North. Viltri and lance, I want you to secure the area. Since we're in Zeloo territory, we'll want to make sure we won't be bothered tonight."

"Yes sir," Viltri said, coming up beside Lance.

"Uh, what the quiznak is a Zeloo?" he whispered to her.

"You'll see," she grinned and started to walk away from the camp. The sun was starting to sink as she led them into a denser part of the jungle. He thought about explaining himself about what happened with Allura, but thought against it since she hadn't brought it up. Instead, he frantically thought of something else to say before she actually had a chance to tease him about it.

"So are you going to explain them, or… am I just going to have to wait until one jumps out of nowhere and attacks me?" He asked.

Viltri looked back and snickered at him. "Don't worry so much. They're pretty harmless. They just secrete a really gross and sometimes poisonous mucus if they feel threatened. That's why we just need to find some so they get familiar with our scent."

"Gotcha. So what do they look like?"

Viltri stopped abruptly and Lance bumped into her. "Sorry."

She pointed up into the trees and Lance could see small, white creatures in the branches and hanging off the vines.

"Don't move," Viltri whispered. "Let them come to you."

Lance stood close behind her and waited as several crawled down the trees and made their way towards them. He could now see them better; they were completely white with thin bodies,flat faces, and large black eyes that took up a good portion of their heads. Flowing from the top of their heads were stringy tentacles that reminded him of sea anemone. One made its way close to Lance, stopping at a branch just a couple of feet from his face. He slowly turned his head and made eye contact with it. It made a high clicking sound and smiled at him.

"Hey, they're actually pretty cute," He smiled back at it. The Zeloo reached out an arm towards him and Lance slowly extended his finger. "Ah, they're friendly!"

The Zeloo opened its mouth and white foam started to fall from its lips. It reared back its head, ready to fire.

"Oh no-"

Viltri shoved Lance to the ground and landed on top of him just as the Zeloo shot out a surprisingly powerful stream of mucus. "I said… don't move," Viltri said, her voice a bit strained. Lance froze under her, aware that her face was just inches from his.

He swallowed hard. "... Okay."

The Zeloo that shot at Lance was followed by the rest as they swarmed Viltri and Lance. He instinctively pulled her head down into his neck to protect her face. Zeloo crawled over them and he closed his eyes, hoping that they would at least spare his face since he wasn't wearing his helmet. To his surprise though, they just crawled over them, making the same clicking noises. Afraid to move, Lance laid there rigidly as one approached his face; it purred and rubbed tiny hands over his chin. Viltri laughed softly, her breath hot on his skin, and lifted her head.

"That went better than I expected," She said. "... But we should wait a little bit, in case they change their minds." Her lips were painfully close to Lance's and her hair fell down, softly brushing against his skin and his body burned beneath her. He tried to speak, but gawked instead, embarrassed that he was reverting back to when they had first met and he couldn't even greet her properly.

Viltri gave Lance a satisfied grin and pushed herself off of him, the Zeloo jumping off of her as she did so. She crouched over him and helped him into a sitting position. Lance managed to close his mouth, but still was a little shaken.

"You surprise me," she said and a few Zeloo started to climb on them again, getting comfortable with their presence.

"What… what do you mean?" He asked, mind still preoccupied about how close she was to him.

"There's just a lot of things I'm learning about you," she shrugged. "You're really selfless, even if you put on this act that you're the cool guy."

"Act?!"

"Yeah… come on, you think I don't notice what you're like when you don't realize I'm watching? You put on this face that you're sauve and collected, but everyone can see through it."

"Gee, thanks," Lance said, his face now burning with humiliation.

"And I peg you as someone who's a huge flirt, but a lot of times, you act nervous around me. Why is that?"

"Well, I- um…"

"Are you not used to a girl chasing you in the way you chase other girls?" She asked. "Or maybe you're not as smooth as you think you are?"

Lance looked away from her, now self conscious from all her questions. Viltri laid a hand on his cheek and turned his face back to her. Her expression was soft and inviting, different from her usual energetic and flirtatious one. "To be honest, I first picked you out because I thought you were cute and would be fun to flirt with," she said, gently running her thumb along his cheek. "But I knew I made the right choice once I got to know you more. You go out of your way to protect others-"

"How do you know-"

"I did my homework. Talked to Shiro and Hunk. ," Viltri smiled at him. "Why don't you let that side of you show more?"

His throat felt dry as he tried to speak. "Um…"

"You seem really insecure," she said bluntly and Lance pulled away from her hand, stung by her words.

"Well, not everyone can be like you," he said defensively and Viltri just laughed again.

"No, you're right... But I just don't get why you're that way."

Lance glanced back at Viltri, trying to find the right words to explain himself. "I don't-" he sighed. "... Nevermind, It's stupid."

Viltri smiled again, but he could tell she was a bit disappointed. "You can tell me in your own time... but you're exactly where you need to be and you're here for a reason. Don't discount that just because you can't see past your own nose."

"I'll try to remember that," he said, glad that she wasn't pushing him on the matter. He was right; she easily saw right through him, but still wasn't demanding answers as to why he sometimes felt insecure in his place in Voltron. For that he was grateful and he thought that he'd be able to tell her eventually, though right now it was too sore of a subject for him.

Viltri's eyes narrowed and she gave him a mischievous grin, her demeanor changing suddenly. "Now in terms of flirting," she said, grabbing his suit and pulling him close to her face again. ""Was I right in thinking that you're not as experienced as you'd like people to believe? Because I can teach you a few things." She smirked at him. His eyes fell to her lips again and he could feel himself starting to sweat nervously under his suit. Viltri held him there, their faces almost touching, waiting for him to make the next move.

Lance brought a timid hand up and rested it around her waist, but he hesitated to move in for the kiss. He hated himself for not being able to move or take his eyes off her mouth. Viltri leaned in even closer, lips nearly brushing against his.

"That's what I thought," she whispered, smiling, and pushed him away. Lance fell back in defeat and was ready to let the Zeloo carry him away from his shame and humiliation.

"Come on, lover boy," Viltri said, helping him to his feet once she had stood up. "You can try again next time."