Gone and Mute

Chapter 8

Days had passed since that conversation and no Galra activity had been detected. The Paladins- at least, the ones still in commission- were starting to get a bit antsy. Shiro and Allura found themselves in the bridge a lot, discussing battle and training tactics. Hunk spent most of his time in the kitchen, as did Pidge, although they worked on separate projects. Keith either trained, slept, or spent his time with Lance. Lance lately hadn't seemed to keen on learning any more sign language, but Keith could tell Lance was grateful for the company.

One day, Shiro decided he'd had enough of them sitting around doing nothing, and said they should try out a couple training exercises he and Allura had planned. Hunk and Pidge seemed annoyed by this suggestion, but went along with it and they walked towards the training room regardless.

Keith stood by Lance in the hallway Shiro had informed them of this plan, watching the other four walk down the hallway with their backs to the two. Lance looked down at the floor after a moment and turned to find his way back to the kitchen, or his room. Keith glanced at Lance before looking at Shiro.

"Actually, I think I'm gonna sit this one out."

Everyone turned to look at him in shock and maybe even concern. Shiro furrowed his brow at the Paladin. "Are you sure?"

Keith rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'm not feeling too hot today. I think I overworked myself yesterday."

The group exchanged glances before Shiro nodded. "Alright. Take a day off, then."

Keith nodded and watched the group continue on before looking at Lance, who was staring at Keith with a look of confusion.

"What, you think I'm gonna just leave you alone to watch everyone else? No way, Lance."

Lance's cheeks tinged pink and Keith could feel his own face heat up before turning to the training room. "We should probably go watch them, though, so we can at least understand what they might be doing."

Lance nodded quickly and sped up so he could walk in step with Keith. They walked just past the training room and into the observation deck where Coran was standing and monitoring the simulation. Lance sat down in a chair in front of the control panel, and Keith pulled another one over, sitting down beside him.

Things seemed to be going well at first. Shiro told the other three what to do, who to protect, and they followed through. Lance first noticed it when Hunk got in the way of Pidge's shot, causing her to miss by just a couple inches. They thought nothing of it at first, but the mistake made Lance sit forward a bit and be more attentive to the round. Keith glanced at Lance, not having noticed the slip up, before looking back at the session and focusing on Shiro's movements.

The next mistake was a bigger one that caused the whole group to fall back. Allura had lost her balance during a flip and crashed into Pidge, causing Pidge to stop protecting Hunk's back and Hunk toppled forward as a bot threw a hit at him.

"Paladins!" Shiro snapped. "If this was a real battle, you would all be dead."

Pidge scowled. "Well good thing this isn't a real battle, isn't it?"

Lance fingered the stitches on his throat. Coran and Keith both looked over at this before glancing at each other.

Allura stood up with a small scowl. "Let's just move on."

Shiro nodded and Coran fiddled with some of the controls before another simulation started. The formerly well oiled machine Lance had felt so secluded from was starting to fall apart bit by bit, and he couldn't understand why.

Keith seemed to be noticing this as well, but in a different light. With every mistake came another snappy, disappointed remark. And with each remark, Lance seemed to grow more and more desperate to say something. Keith's gaze flickered between Lance and the training room before Coran tapped Keith's shoulder. He turned around a bit suddenly to look at Coran's frown.

Coran glanced at Lance before turning and motioning for Keith to follow him. Keith also looked at Lance's longing gaze before standing up and following Coran out of the deck and ear shot of Lance.

"I cannot be the only one who's noticed the Paladins poor training," Coran said quickly, twisting the ends of his mustache.

Keith shook his head. "No, I noticed it. And Lance definitely did."

"He does seem a bit... on edge."

"I think we got used to Lance joking around during training," Keith said decisively.

"Oh... right. Yes. That is what I was thinking too," Coran agreed quickly.

Keith raised a brow. "Did you think it was something else?"

"I'm not sure..." Coran folded his arms. "It just... Lance looked most troubled when someone yelled at someone else. It's making me worried Lance got used to being... a human punching bag."

Keith's eyes widened and a sick feeling settled in his stomach. "I... hadn't thought of that..."

"But we can cross that bridge when we get there," Coran said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Maybe you're right and I'm wrong. But if you are, we should try something to get Lance to talk again. This could affect the formation of Voltron, and that's the last thing we want. If Lance being the 'comic relief' is what kept us together, then so be it. We can deal with the repercussions when we get there."

Keith blinked at Coran before smiling faintly. God, Lance had good friends.

"Sounds like a plan."