Taking Shiro’s advice to heart, Lance soon set out to find Viltri after a few more rounds of his game to muster up the courage. He still wasn’t quite ready to talk to Keith and make amends, but he figured talking to Viltri was a step in the right direction. What had him worried the most, however, was the thought of talking to Allura about his feelings for her. It was no secret that he liked her, but he had never had open with her about it; all his effort went into flirting with her rather than have an honest conversation. Having that talk would confirm his worries that she didn’t see any future with him, so it was always easier to keep a comfortable distance with his flirting both with her and other girls. He hoped talking to both Viltri and Allura would help clear things up. He hoped Shiro was right…

He made his way to the Kafa, remembering that Viltri had gone on patrol with Jira earlier that morning. If she wasn’t there, there was a good chance she was at the barracks. When he entered, he spotted Drundlo talking to a Galra who felt oddly familiar to Lance. As he neared them, the Galra turned to him and smiled. Her hair held a striking resemblance to Viltri’s and Lance realized with dread that she had to be Viltri mother, Zati. Lance slowed down, now regretting coming to the Kafa. Drundlo was always so busy, that Lance assumed that Viltri didn’t go into great detail about her dating life with him. But when they first spent time together, Viltri noted that she was really close with her mom. Seeing her now drained Lance of any courage he previously had.

Zati waved him over, noticing his hesitation. “Are you Lance?” She asked him.

“Yes,” he said meekly.

“I’m Zati, Viltri’s mother. She’s told me a lot about you.” Zati smiled again.

“Sh-she has?”

“Of course! I just got back from Bezirk, so we had a lot of catching up to do. You’re every bit as handsome as she described.”

“Oh, thanks…” Lance’s face flushed and Drundlo smirked at him.

“She wanted me to make sure that I met you before you two leave Olorin.”

“You two? What…” Unease crept into the back of Lance’s mind, remembering the other night when Viltri said she wasn’t going to stay in Olorin forever. “Wait, where’s Viltri going?”

“Oh…” Zati glanced over to her husband. “I thought she would have told you by now.”

“Tell me what?”

“You should hear it from Viltri herself,” Drundlo said with finality.

“Um… okay,” Lance said, trying not to panic. “Where is she?”

“I think she went back to the barracks to change,” Zati said. “She took it upon herself to keep Hurb entertained today, so she’ll have her hands full dealing with him.”

“Hurb?” Lance backed away from Viltri’s parents, feeling like he was quickly losing control of the situation. First, Viltri was leaving Olorin, now she was spending her time with another guy. “I’ll try and find her,” Lance said quickly. “It was nice to meet you,” he smiled weakly.

“You too,” Zati smiled, but she looked guilty. Lance walked briskly out of the Kafa and broke out into a run once he was out of the line of sight of Drundlo and Zati. He swiftly made his way to the barracks where Wunrik was staying with his troops. He hadn’t been to Viltri’s room before, but he caught Jinx outside and hoped he would be of some help.

“What’s up with you?” Jinx asked. “Your face is all sweaty and red. Does that happen a lot with humans?”

“Do you know where Viltri’s room is?”

“Maybe…” A cruel smile played at Jinx’s lips. “Why do you need to know?”

“Jinx, just tell me. I need to talk to her.”

“Okay, but I don’t see why you need to be in her room to just talk-”

“Dude!”

Jinx rolled his eyes and laughed. “You’re no fun. Her room is the last one on the left. First floor.”

“Thanks,” Lance mumbled as he pushed his way through the doors and down the hall. His apprehension grew as he approached her door. She was warning him the other night that she wasn't going to stay in Olorid, but he was too worried about his own feelings to consider what her words meant.

His knuckles rapped on the door nervously and his heart sunk when there was no immediate answer. Lance tried again, bit louder and more frantic.

“Hurb, I said to wait-” Viltri’s voice sounded on the other side of the door. She swung the door open, wrapped in a long towel, her hair wet and hanging loosely off her shoulders. “Lance?”

She looked unphased from being seen in a towel, but Lance more than made up for the embarrassment. He caught himself from looking down her body and turned his head away from her, face and ears burning.

“Uh-” He looked down at her feet.

“What are you doing here?” She asked calmly. Lance swallowed a lump in his throat, unable to move his gaze off the floor.

“Would you at least look at me?”

Lance crossed his arms and hesitantly looked at Viltri, trying to focus on just her face. She told him that it probably wasn’t a good idea for them to spend a lot of alone time together, but they hadn’t put themselves in the best situation to follow her advice.

“I think I should go…” Lance muttered.

“Have you never seen a girl in a towel?” Viltri laughed.

“Well, I mean there’s Pidge, but I thought she was a guy at the time...”

“Okay… So what are you doing here?”

“Um… I met your mom… She said you’re leaving Olorin,” Lance said slowly. “Where are you going?”

Viltri sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m planning on joining the Blade when they leave.”

A knot in Lance’s stomach tightened, but a weak tremor of hope remained. If she joined, he wouldn’t have to just leave her on Eioa. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want it to affect your decision on what to do with Allura. I waited until my mom got back to talk to my parents about it, and I haven’t even said anything to Jira yet… I wanted to give you time to talk to Allura and decide what you wanted.”

“But…” Lance fumbled to speak. He knew he had no right to be mad that she hadn’t said anything. Still, the fact that she had kept if from him hurt. “You don’t know if it wouldn’t have changed things…”

“Well have you even talked to her yet?” Viltri raised an eyebrow. “Regardless of if you try to work things out with her or not, I’m joining. I’ve wanted to since they got to Olorin.”

“No, I get that…” Lance’s eyes fell to floor once more. He couldn’t keep up with Viltri and still hold onto his feelings for Allura. “I haven’t talked to her… but I’m going to. It’s just hard.”

“Hard because you’re afraid she won’t like you back?” Viltri asked. Lance nodded slightly, not wanting to look at her.

“It’s also hard liking a guy who can’t make up his mind,” Viltri said quietly.

The knot in Lance’s stomach tightened. “Viltri…”

Viltri gave him a small smile and put her hand on the handle of the door. “I don’t want to pressure you. That’s why I didn’t say anything, and I don’t expect you to make a decision so quickly… but I’m still going to stand by what I said the other day. I don’t think it’s a good idea that you’re here.” She glanced down at her chest and gave a weak laugh. “Especially now.”

“Okay,” Lance said hoarsely, guilt eating at him. “Um… I’ll just go. Sorry to bother you-”

“Lance,” Viltri said softly. She reached out to him, but stopped before touching his arm. She brought her hand back to the door and shut it slightly, hiding half of her body behind it. “You haven’t once bothered me. I want you to stay, but…”

Lance didn’t want to leave, but he knew it would only make things worse if he stayed. Viltri didn’t seem embarrassed or angry, but he could tell she was hurt, despite being patient with him. The fact that she wasn’t angry somehow pained Lance even more. Keith’s words echoed in his head; Keith was right. He didn’t deserve Viltri. Or Allura. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything, though she deserved an apology. He simply nodded and backed away from her bedroom.

He could hear Viltri shut the door behind him as he numbly made his way down the hallway again. Head down and feet shuffling, Lance was stopped abruptly when he bumped into someone outside.

“Watch it, will ya?” Said a gruff voice. Lance looked down to see a short Eioan with light gray skin and large black eyes. Lance had to guess that he was no taller than Pidge, but he was stout and well built. He scowled up at Lance and shoved a pudgy finger into his chest.

“Sorry,” Lance mumbled, pushing past him. It only upset the Eioan more.

“Don’t you realize who you’re talking to?” He snapped at Lance.

“Only the biggest flubgrubber in Eioa,” Jinx mused from the corner of the barracks. The Eioan whipped around and glared at him. “Hurb, to what do we owe the displeasure?”

“Shut up, Jinx.”

“You’re Hurb?” Lance asked, admittedly a bit relieved after seeing him in person.

“Who else would I be, idiot?”

Jinx approached Hurb and Lance, a wide grin on his face. “If you’re looking for Viltri she’s not in her room.”

“That’s where she told me she was going,” Hurb frowned.

“No, she had to go on another patrol last minute. Junx got sick. She’s covering for him.”

Hurb pouted. “Well I’m not going to wait around for her here.”

“Well I can take you to her. I know what route she’s on.”

“Are you sure…” Hurb eyes him skeptically. “I don’t think I’d be allowed out on patrol.”

Jinx shrugged. “I don’t see why you couldn’t. She mentioned that she wanted to see you, but had to go to the northernmost tower. You can surprise her!”

Hurb glared at Jinx again. “Fine, but you can’t stick around. I’m not going to be in Olorin very long, so I want to make sure I get to spend quality time with her while I’m here.”

“I may not like you Hurb, but I can see where you’re coming from. I’ll take you to see Viltri out of my respect for her.”

Jinx led Hurb away from Lance and gave a him discreet wink as they passed by. If anything, at least Lance could be grateful that Hurb wouldn’t get to see Viltri fresh out of the shower.

*********

After Shiro left the Fountain, Keith stayed for a bit longer. He knew what he needed to do now, but he just wasn’t sure how to get started. Things with Jira had escalated faster than he intended and now he felt himself floundering as to what to do or say. At this point, it would be easier to avoid her until he had a better grasp on his emotions. For the first time, he had admitted his feelings aloud, which was relieving, but he knew he wouldn’t feel better about things until he had told Jira himself. He needed a place to start; to work up his courage to be open with her.

Shiro had told him he should talk to Lance about their argument, and Keith thought it was a better alternative to apologize to him than talk to Jira. He dried off and got dressed, reluctantly leaving the Fountain. Taking his time to get back to the castle, most of the day had slipped away from Keith by the time he found Lance sulking in his room. Keith knocked softly on the doorframe, and Lance pulled his head up from his pillow.

“What do you want? I’m busy.” Lance mumbled, turning towards the wall once he had seen it was Keith.

Keith frowned and stepped inside. “Have you just been moping around all day?”

“Don’t see why you care.”

Keith inhaled, trying to fire back with a sarcastic comment. “Look… I just wanted to say I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I was out of line.”

Lance lifted his head from the pillow again and smirked at Keith. “Wow, that’s surprising that you were humble enough to come apologize.”

“I’m trying to be serious here, the least you could do is pretend to care,” Keith said, his frustration flaring up. Keith started to back out the door, doubtful Lance would actually be candid with him.

Lance sat up and looked sheepishly at the ground. “Wait… I’m sorry. What I said earlier today was out of line too…”

Keith stopped at the door and Lance continued. “... I think I just got defensive about what you said cuz uh… You weren’t exactly wrong. I don’t think I deserve either of them.”

“I didn’t mean to make it sound so harsh,” Keith said, folding his arms. “I got mad because you made some good points… I am kind of a loner,” he laughed softly. “And liking Jira kinda freaks me out.”

Lance’s eyes widened, but he smiled. “So you do admit you like Jira. Have you told her?”

Keith shook his head. “No, not yet… I’m not… very good at this sort of thing.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“Well that’s the thing,” Keith laughed nervously. “I did see her today, and um, we almost kissed-”

“Why didn’t you?” lance demanded, his eyes growing larger.

“Shiro showed up-”

“Oh… that’s rough,man.”

“I mean, I will, I just don’t know when or how I’ll go about it, but… I’ll figure it out.”

“I’m sure you will,” Lance shrugged. “Sorry again for being a jerk this morning.”

“It’s okay… I was a jerk too.” Keith slowly made his way back into the room and sat on the far edge of the bed. Despite their time together as paladins, he didn’t spent a lot of one on one time with Lance and a lot of their interaction was spent arguing. But there were rare moments when they were able to open up to each other and Keith would be slow to vocalize it, but he did consider Lance his friend. “... Do you know what you’re going to do?”

Lance shook his head. “I don’t know, man… Can I tell you something and you have to promise not to tell anyone else? Especially Jira.”

“Um… Sure,” Keith said hesitantly.

“I talked to Viltri today and I found out she’s planning on joining the Blade-”

Keith raised his eyebrows. “Really? I’m kinda surprised.”

“She hasn’t told anyone but her parents, and her mom let it slip to me. So I confronted her about it…”

“Why didn’t she tell you?”

“She didn’t want it to affect my decision in what to do about her and Allura.”

“Now that you know, does it change things?”

Lance looked at the ground and shrugged, hesitant to speak. “This might sound weird, but it really made me realize that I can’t keep up with Viltri.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… I really like her, but she knows what she’s doing and what she wants and she’s not going to wait around for me forever. I think I’ve been taking that for granted? I thought I had more time to decide what I wanted, but I realized that I can’t like both of them and have it work out the way I want it to… because I don’t know what that would even look like. For so long, I’ve been holding onto this idea that Allura would break down, especially lately I felt like we’ve been closer, but maybe I’ve been wishing for something that won’t ever happen… and I think I’ve been avoiding actually talking to Allura about it because I’m afraid that will actually be the case… That she really doesn’t have feelings for me.” Lance put his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes. “I feel like an idiot.”

Keith sat awkwardly on the bed, unsure of what to say. He wished Shiro was here; he always said the right thing. Keith could only go off of his own experience, as limited as it was, but maybe Lance just needed someone to listen to him. Whatever Lance needed, Keith couldn’t just sit there in silence.

“Look…” Keith finally piped up, still unsure of how he wanted to proceed. “I don’t really know what you’re going through, to be honest. I’ve never been in this kind of situation… But I don’t think you’ll feel any better unless you talk to Allura. It sounds like you’re not going to move anywhere with Viltri until you’ve talked to Allura… And even if Allura doesn’t feel the same way about you, you do mean a lot to her.”

“I should probably prepare myself for rejection, huh?” Lance said, giving a forced laugh. “But you’re right… Thanks Keith. You sounded a lot like Shiro there.”

Keith chuckled, taking Lance’s comment as a compliment. “You’re welcome, buddy.” Lance did look more relieved and Keith was grateful that he came to see him. He didn’t know what to expect for him from this point on, but he was glad that they were able to come to some better understanding. “And uh… If you ever need someone to talk to, Hunk is right down the hall.”

Lance laughed and leaned back on his elbows. “I’ll try to remember that… Hey, I gotta ask… I know I said not to say anything about Viltri joining the Blade to Jira, but I said that because I wanted Viltri to be the one to tell her. But, have you talked to Jira about Joining the Blade? Viltri said that Jira’s wanted to leave Eioa for years, but has never done anything about because of her mom or something. I was just wondering how you would feel about it if she did join.”

“I haven’t talked to her about it, but I’m going to,” Keith said. “I want her to, but mostly because that’s what she wants. Even if she’s too afraid to admit it.”

“Well, good luck talking to her. I hope she joins,” Lance smirked. “Maybe then, you wouldn’t be so grumpy all the time.”

Keith scoffed and got off Lance’s bed. He didn’t really have a comeback for him, but at that point he didn’t care. The more he thought about Jira joining the Blade, the more he liked the idea and after to talking to Shiro about, he knew he wanted her to join for the right reasons.

Keith left Lance’s room, feeling better after talking to him. The thought of approaching Jira again made him nervous, but he owed it to her to talk to her, especially after leaving the training deck in such a hurry. Even though he knew she’d no longer be there, he check just in case before making his way back to the Kafa. He promised himself that if she was still free, he’d talk to her about the Blade and about how he felt tonight. His footsteps weight him down as he entered the Kafa, almost relieved when he didn’t see her in there.

Instead, he found Horm and Chalna speaking with Rixel. Keith hesitated to approach them, especially Chalna. She had never done anything unkind to Keith, but He always felt as if she could read his thoughts when he was around and considering his feelings toward her daughter, he didn’t like that idea. He waited for them to finish talking to ask Rixel since he would be one of the best people to ask about Jira’s location. Rixel neared him at the door and grinned.

“If you’re looking for a tridi racing rematch, you’ll have to wait until I get back,” Rixel laughed. Keith followed him outside.

“Where are you going?”

“Drundlo actually approved for Lotor to venture outside of the Kafa, so we’re taking him on a scouting trip to check up on the Hauhet. After the other day, we want to be sure that everything is okay and that it’s not hurt. It shouldn’t be a long trip, but with the other district leaders coming, Drundlo thought it might be a good idea to give Lotor a way to blow off some steam, rather than just have him cooped up here. Things are gonna be interesting from here on out...”

“What, like they haven’t been already?”

Rixel laughed again. “That’s true. Things have been a lot more exciting since the Blade and Paladins got here.”

“Who’s all going on the scouting mission?” Keith asked.

“Wunrik and some of his Elites, of course. Along with Kolivan since he wants to keep an eye on Lotor still. But from Zalko’s troop, I’ll be going with Jira and Junx. From the trackers we’ve set out, the Hauhet went back to the newly discovered tunnel, so we should be back by tomorrow.”

Keith nodded, but he couldn’t help but be disappointed. He could see what Jira would be wanted for the mission with Lotor being there, but he wished he had the chance to talk to her before she left. “When are you leaving?”

“Really soon. It was kinda last minute notice for me, to be honest, but I’m glad to be going.”

“Where’s everyone else?”

“At the hangar nearest the barracks.”

“Mind if I come and see everyone off?”

“Not at all.”

Keith followed Rixel to the hangar where the others were preparing to leave. He spotted Jira by a hoverbike with Junx, her hair secured in her signature long braid that draped down her white suit. His heart leapt into his throat when she turned and gave him a brief smile. Junx frowned at him, and didn’t leave once Keith had gotten to them.

“I just heard from Rixel that you’re leaving for a scouting mission,” Keith said, feeling his face burning just from being near Jira again.

“It won’t take very long, but Zalko let us know about it not too long ago.”

“So you didn’t know about it when we-” Keith glanced at Junx and reconsidered his words.

“- I didn’t know until I came back from the castle,” Jira finished carefully. “I guess if I had gone to see Rixel sooner today like I was supposed to, I would have known about it earlier…”

“Yeah, Rixel asked where you went after you were done with your patrol shift,” Junx said to Jira, though his eyes bore into Keith. Keith’s throat tightened and he thought it best to just stay silent.

“Well it doesn’t matter now,” Jira said, nudging Junx in the arm. “... We should get going.”

“I’m driving,” Junx said, climbing onto the bike before Jira had a chance to protest.

“Where’s Jinx?” Keith asked.

“Not sure. I saw him earlier and he said he was helping Lance with something?”

“That’s weird, I just talked to Lance back at the castle.”

“I never really know what’s up with Jinx,” Jira shrugged. Her expression softened and she lowered her voice. “Did uh… did Shiro ever have a chance to talk to you?”

Keith’s face flushed again and he stood uncomfortably warm in front of Jira. “Yeah, he did.”

“Oh… okay,” Jira smiled nervously. “Good… that’s great.”

“What he talk to you about?” Keith asked, not wanting to tell her what they had talked about with everyone else around.

“... He wanted me to read him, to make sure that he wouldn’t hurt anyone like his clone did.”

“And?”

“We don’t need to worry about that.”

“I’m glad he came to see you then,” Keith said softly. He knew he couldn’t talk to Jira there, but he wanted to let her know that he wanted to. He glanced around at Junx and the others who were getting on the bikes. He looked back to Jira who seemed like there was more she wanted to say and he felt like there was more that she and Shiro talked about. Knowing Shiro, he probably brought Keith up, especially after walking in on them on the training deck.

“Um… when you get back, can we go to the tree?” Keith asked, anxious to hear her response. “I feel like it’s been a while since we’ve been and I just… want to make sure that I get to see it one last time before I leave.”

“Of course,” Jira smiled genuinely up at him. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Okay… be careful,” Keith said, moving to hug her, but he doubted himself and stopped.

“I will…” Jira said, noticing his hesitation. She rested a hand on his arm, giving Keith the que to embrace her. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, resting his head next to hers. Jira tightened her grip around him and he wished once again that they were alone. It was a brief hug, but he didn’t fail to notice Lotor watching them from a distance and give Keith an amused look. Keith pulled away from Jira and held her by the shoulders.

“Keep an eye on him?” He said to her, not moving his attention away from Lotor.

“That’s why I’m here, actually. No one really trusts him still, but he does a good job of avoiding me.”

“Just be careful.”

Jira squeezed Keith’s elbow and grinned. “You already said that. I’ll be fine. Keep an eye on Jinx for me? Just make sure he’s not doing something stupid with Lance.”

“Yeah.” Keith let go of Jira and waited as she mounted the bike behind Junx. He knew Jira could handle herself, but as the group left into the jungle, he could help but feel uneasy at the thought of Lotor being there with her. Even if Jira could sense people’s true intentions, Keith believed Lotor had a way of manipulating others to doubt themselves. He wondered how much Lotor had manipulated them already in the past month without them realizing it, which did nothing to help his unease as he watched him disappear into the trees.