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Lance was in his room’s small connected bathroom, in the middle of his nightly routine when he heard the knock at his door.
It had been a long, but fun day at a planet just similar enough to earth to cause a twinge in his chest, but just different enough that he could still enjoy his time there. The team had fought off the Galra yesterday, stopping them before they could reach the planet. Today was spent celebrating at the beach.
The sand was grayish white, and the water greener than any ocean he’d seen on earth, but the feeling of weightlessness in the waves was the same. Lance had spent half of the day just floating, and the other half screwing around with his teammates.
At first it was only him and Hunk in the water, other than the citizens of the planet of course. Slowly they’d coaxed Pidge away from her electronics and into the ocean. Soon after they’d convinced Shiro to come in with them, and he’d dragged Keith in with him, pouting and brooding all the way.
Allura spent most of the day sunbathing on the shore. She had come inside for maybe a few minutes, swimming deeper and being pushed around by the crashing waves a bit before coming back out. Lance had been just about to join her in the deeper waters when she’d left, but it didn’t seem like she’d enjoyed her time if her face was any indication.
When the beach began to empty, Shiro called everyone back to shore. Lance wished they could’ve stayed a bit more, maybe seen the stars. It might have been stupid, but he missed the feeling of floating, looking up and seeing the universe peering back at him. Of being weightless in the dark water as if he was swimming among the stars themselves. Technically, he was more among the stars when they got back to the castle ship, but the feeling wasn’t the same.
Currently, Lance had just finished skin care and was about to ready his room for sleep. That was, before he’d heard someone knocking at his door.
Lance made his way there curiously, and when the metal slid open to reveal Allura he felt his eyes widen.
Until recently the princess had mostly kept to herself, only really spending time with Shiro. Then, a few weeks ago, the Black Paladin had announced that she would be joining their team building exercises. Apparently they’d decided that it would be in everyone’s best interest to get along with everyone on the ship, and Allura, always one to complete necessary tasks, had begun to spend more time with the team.
Lance could honestly say he was proud of the relationship he’d built with her. She was wary at first, considering his ample flirting, but when he finally got the hint and toned it down they’d started an actually really nice friendship. Allura was the only person on the ship who was into all of the ‘girly’ things Lance liked, and gossip sessions and heart to hearts alike flowed naturally between them.
Sometimes being with her felt astonishingly close to being with one of his sisters. Lance may or may not have started crying once when Allura let him braid her hair. If he did it was no one’s business but theirs, and Allura was already sworn to secrecy.
All in all their friendship was building nicely, and they often hung out when they accidentally crossed paths. But they didn’t usually seek each other out. It was quite a surprise to see her at his room, though not an unwelcome one.
“Lance.” She said, arms crossed and shoulders slightly hunched. She was half turned away from the door, as if she was just about to leave when he’d opened it.
“Hey, Allura.” Lance replied, starting to wave his hand a bit, but feeling stupid and aborting the movement half way through.
They looked at each other for a few moments. If he didn’t know any better, Lance would say Allura looked unsure. It was an unsettling look to see on the normally confident princess. As the tension built, Lance decided to break the silence.
“Do-“
“Can-“
They both shut their mouths again, the silence even louder than before. Lance tried a humorous smile and gestured for Allura to continue.
“Ah- yes. I wanted to ask if I could come in? I’ve been wanting to talk to you.” Allura seemed to consciously move her shoulders back and lift her chin.
“Sure, no problem.” Lance hurried to reply. He moved out of the doorway allowing her to come in after him.
They both stood motionless for a few more moments before Lance sat down on his bed and gestured for her to do the same.
When she was seated she took a breath and finally began to talk.
“Well, something happened at the beach that I wasn’t expecting and I suppose I wanted someone else’s input on the matter. And I feel you are the correct person to consult.” She glanced up at him for a moment from where her eyes were glued to the bedcover.
“Yeah I can totally give my, uh, input. But I’m like, not really a science buff so if it’s some kind of weird natural phenomenon I’d probably ask Pidge.”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Okay.”
Lance waited for Allura to continue. And waited. Fidgeted with his hands a bit.
“Uh, Allura?” He finally asked.
“Yes. Yes, well.” She was back to not meeting his eyes. “Well while I was in the water the waves were rather large. They jostled me and my clothing quite a bit. And I was a little ways off from this group of men, and it seemed like they were looking my way. And, well, at first I thought it was because of Voltron and that they’d recognized me. But, ah, I heard them start yelling, well, things. Especially when the waves jostled me.”
Lance’s heart sank. Things like this had happened once in a while to his sisters back home, older and younger. Memories resurfaced of beach trips cut short, and certain swimsuits discarded at the bottoms of drawers, never to be used again. The protective spark he’d felt back then resurfaced.
“God, Allura, I’m so sorry that happened to you.” He looked into her eyes, and waited until she met his gaze to continue. “They were disgusting for doing that. You shouldn’t have had to deal with creeps like that, especially on what should’ve been a vacation. Some people are just shitty for no reason, and you didn’t deserve to have to deal with all that.”
Tears began to well up in Allura’s eyes, and she looked down at his hand that rested on his knee. He held his hands out to her, and she took them. He squeezed and she sniffled, squeezing back.
“They said- ugh…” her face pinched. Lance began to run his thumb over her knuckles, like his sister used to do for him when he was upset.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” He told her softly.
“I want to tell you.” She asserted, squeezing his hands again. “They called me fertile. They were chanting it. And then,” her cheeks reddened, “there was a particularly strong wave and my- my chest slipped out, and they cheered.”
“Jesus Christ.” Lance spoke up, disgust and fury warring in his stomach. “Seriously, I don’t get how people like that can show their faces in public. I hope those waves drowned them.” The corner of Allura’s mouth drew slightly up.
They sat together in silence for a few minutes, Lance tracing Allura’s knuckles, and Allura sniffling just a bit. If thought alone could harm someone, Lance would have cursed the creeps’ entire bloodlines. That was not was Allura needed, though. Allura just needed someone safe and calm to be with, and that Lance could do.
After a few more minutes, when they’d both fully calmed down, Lance broke the silence.
“Do you want to watch a movie together?” He asked. Allura smiled at him.
“That would be nice . The mice told me that Pidge has secret movies downloaded onto her computer. They said that they all have a sparkly castle at the beginning?”
“Sparkly..? Wait. Wait a second. Does Pidge have Disney movies on her computer?” Lance leapt to his feet. “And she never told me? Allura you have to see these, they’re the pinnacles of cinema.” He turned back to the bed to see Allura fighting back a laugh. He pouted. “You won’t be laughing when you watch them. Well, you might, because they’re funny, but you get what I mean. Now come on! That computer isn’t gonna steal itself.”
In the end Allura got the mice to sneak the computer out from under Pidge’s sleeping nose. They spent the rest of the night catching her up on the classic Disney films, and even though he almost fell asleep in the middle of training the next day, Lance felt it was worth it. Allura hadn’t stopped smiling for the rest of the night.