Disclaimer: I do not own VLD.

Chapter 3: A Dance? Why, The Honour Is All Mine!

"It has come to my attention," said Coran when they were all in the central control room once more, "that we may be in need for more bonding exercises."

Lance raised an eyebrow skeptically, and he wasn't alone. It hadn't even been that long since they left Catola and bid Princess Iva farewell. He was sure that more bonding exercises were the last thing on everyone's minds, as they had come to find the treaty item that alluded them. "I thought everyone had seen enough of everyone's head holes," grumbled Pidge, a hand going up to her glasses. "Who exactly told you that we needed more of that, Coran?"

"Paladins could always use more bonding with one another," said Coran with the air of wisdom. If Lance didn't know any better, he would have assumed that Coran was avoiding the question. "That is simply a fact. Beyond simple bonding for Voltron, the exercises we'll be doing today have a purpose." He beamed widely at them. "We're going to a wedding!"

All the Paladins looked at one another in confusion. While everyone else remained in shock, Lance spoke up. "I thought we were going to that planet with the really long name. What was it again? Round Table something?"

"Close," corrected Pidge with a smirk. "Rontolobalaix."

"Right, that one." Lance snapped his fingers. Man, that was a long name. "Why are we going to a wedding instead?"

Allura stepped forward, her dress trailing behind her as she stepped forward to join them. "We had already resolved to go to Rontolobalaix, as it is the closest planet to Catola that we can access," began Allura. "However, Princess Iva informed me last night that there is another place in this system that has advanced knowledge on the Kalafin and its whereabouts."

"Really?" asked Lance, perking up. "Is the planet still close by?"

"It is, Lance. In fact, it has remained mostly untouched by Galran influence by hiding in plain sight. Which is to say, that it is not a planet. It's actually one of the more popular moons of Rontolobalaix; Pas'ar."

"The informant lives on a moon?" Pidge perked up considerably. "Oh, that is so cool. I know we've been to a lot of moons for rest stops, but I don't think we've ever properly been to an inhabited moon. How did Princess Iva find out about them?"

"Apparently, she is old friends with one of the chief warriors on Pas'ar. The two of them intended to meet up in this upcoming cycle for a wedding. As Princess Iva prefers to stay on her planet until Princess Lilalim awakens, we will be attending in her stead," said Princess Allura.

"But why the bonding in particular?" asked Pidge. "We don't need more bonding exercises just to attend a wedding, right?"

"If we are truly to represent Princess Iva's planet, then we must represent the values of her people, and that means beings quite close in proximity and spirit. Besides, I've had a conversation with Princess Iva and her Whistle Pond. They've been quite insightful," added Coran.

Pidge wrinkled her nose at the idea. "See, the whole proximity thing doesn't strike me as particularly pleasant," she said.

"I'm gonna have to second that," said Lance firmly, his arms crossed. "Why do we have to be so close anyway?"

"The Catolians were very clear that distances were seen as rude by the neighbouring planet," answered Shiro from Allura's side. It was clear that he had been debriefed on this before hand. "If a wedding is truly taking place, then we'll have to show that we are also open to closeness. The best and easiest way to display that is to pair you all off. This way, we'll be able to avoid you unintentionally getting too close to any of the planet's natives. We wouldn't want any unintentional entanglements that might jeopardize future alliances, would we?"

Lance felt Hunk's gaze on him and scowled to himself. Guess he was going to be babysat. Again.

"Now," continued Allura, "as for the pairs, we've already discussed it with Princess Iva. She and the Pond have indicated which pairs would bring the most positive energy to the wedding." She smiled broadly as she waved a hand at the holoscreen so that it displayed three pairs of outfits, each one a pale white with the shoulder bands matching their lion colours. "These outfits were given to us by Princess Iva. She had intended to be accompanied by her fiancée and about four guards, but, as you can tell, the Princess is more concerned for her fiancée's health. She's been gracious enough to alter the outfits so to you're your lions. Shiro and I will go as her personal representatives, and you four will be paired together, less as guards, but as couples."

Lance eyed each outfit, finding the blue of his formal wear hovering next to Keith's red one. Could it be a coincidence too? "I'm with Keith?"

"You are," said Allura, frowning a little at his tone, "and before you complain-"

"Complain? Allura, aren't we supposed to be bringing the good, positive vibes?"

Allura's look was firm. "And you will," she said. "You and Keith are more compatible than you think. Princess Iva was only in your presence for only a few doboshes before she concluded the same thing!"

Lance knew for a fact that wasn't true (compatible? Psshh. No way.) but didn't say anything. He was starting to feel like perhaps Princess Iva had more to do with his and Keith's pairing at the wedding than he initially thought. He pretended to ignore the disappointment that lingered in the wake of that particular idea. "But-"

Coran raised a hand from Allura's other side. "If I might, Lance," he clarified, "I'm sorry, but regardless of the feelings involved, I'm afraid that you and Keith must be paired," said Coran solemnly. "Pas'ar has a great love for colours. Red and blue in particular are the family colours of the couple that will be getting married. To pair you and Keith with any other colour would be an insult to the union."

"Seriously?" Lance felt his frown start to hurt his cheeks. Ever since that fortune teller had started talking to him about being destined for Keith, it seemed like everyone and their mother decided that they were perfect for one another. Since when did the universe decide who he was meant to love? He didn't love Keith. He maybe admired him (only a little) and found his looks more than average (maybe a lot, when Lance was feeling particularly weak) but so what? His disappointment returned with vengeance.

That didn't mean he loved Keith, and it certainly didn't mean that Keith would ever love him back.

"There is no other option," said Allura. She opened her mouth to say something else, likely gearing up for a lecture on the importance of duty, but Lance put up a hand to stop her. She was right. There was no other option. This was a mission. They had to do this in order to properly secure more information about the Kalafin. Calming himself and trying to lighten the mood, he grinned instead. Think positive.

"It'll be fine, princess. We'll handle it. How hard could it be?" said Lance, locking eyes with Keith and winking at him.

The corner of Keith's mouth twitched up (Lance counted that as a win) and he turned away to look at Allura. "I hope you know what you're doing, though," he said. "We've never exactly attended a royal wedding before. None of us have."

"You're all lucky to have me, then," replied Coran, straightening his uniform with pride. "I actually do know a little bit about Pas'ar. It won't take us very long to get there, so I want you all to follow me to the training deck for some information on the planet, its people, and the customs you'll be expected to follow at the wedding."

They all nodded with varying degrees of enthusiasm and walked with Coran out of the control room. Lance fell into step with Hunk and Keith, while Pidge had caught up with Shiro and Coran at the forefront to ask some questions about wedding ceremonies on Pas'ar.

"You know, I know that we don't have a lot of this diplomacy stuff down," said Hunk, "but I'm excited to be going to a wedding. Plus, it's going to be on the moon."

Lance scrunched up his brows in thought. When was the last time he'd been to a wedding? His cousins had been married before, when he was younger, but there was a fledging memory stuck to the edges of his mind where he could recall Veronica trying on wedding dresses. There had been a ceremony that he likely slept through, and then there was a party, wild and enjoyable on Veradero beach. Lance remembered Veronica's reception fondly, recalled the sweets he'd been allowed to eat late into the night and dancing with his grandmother at the edge of the water. "Man, me too," he said wistfully. "Weddings are so awesome."

"Are they?" asked Keith. "It seems like a pretty big deal, but it's just like a huge party for one day."

His heart practically stopped beating. "Keith, that's the best part!" Lance exclaimed. "There's food, dancing, a huge celebration." Lance turned to Hunk for support and his friend simply nodded along in agreement.

"They have their whole lives together," said Keith with a shrug. "I just don't see the appeal of holding a big wedding. Why not just make it a small, intimate thing, you know?"

"Keith, have you ever been to a wedding?"

There was a hesitation on Keith's part that Lance found curious, but he didn't call him out on it. When Keith finally answered, his voice was low and soft. "There was one that I was supposed to be going to when I was younger, but in the end, it never happened," said Keith with careful casualty. "Besides, I agree that the food sounds interesting, but the dancing?"

Lance paused, his mind turning over that tidbit of information before drawling, "Keith, are you telling me that you don't know how to dance?"

"It's not that I don't know how to dance," Keith clarified quickly. "It's just that I'm not really into it. I don't dance."

"I know you can," said Lance teasingly, curious to see if Keith would play along.

Keith raised an eyebrow in challenge and responded with, "Not a chance."

Hunk and Lance laughed loud enough that Shiro turned around to make sure they were okay. Lance shot Shiro his best thumbs up, and their leader rolled his eyes and faced forward again.

"Be real with me, though," said Lance, despite enjoying this playful side of Keith that seemed to like hiding most of the time, "you do know how to dance, right?"

"Everyone can dance, but I can't dance well," Keith clarified. Lance felt a smile overtake his features, and Keith groaned at him. "Don't get excited."

"It's too late. I'm excited. Way too excited. Hunk?"

"Lance is very excited," assured Hunk from Keith's other side. "Lance was a big dancer back at the Garrison, not that he had many chances to show off his moves."

"Please, Hunk, I was great at those clubs we used to go to." Lance shimmied his shoulders. "My moves got all the ladies."

Keith's eye twitched, but Hunk merely laughed. "Yeah, when you weren't making them laugh."

"Hey!"

Keith looked halfway between a smile and a scowl, but Lance couldn't begrudge him for it. He'd be jealous of his own skills too if he didn't already know how to dance.

"It's true!" Hunk was saying. "You may have been a good dancer, but then you'd get distracted by someone and mess up."

"Fine," Lance stretched his arms in front of him, "maybe I was… easily distracted, but I knew what I was doing. This wedding may be my chance to finally get back on the dancefloor after so long. Hunk, do you still remember that really cool lift thing we used to do at the clubs?"

"You did lifts?" said Keith incredulously.

"We used to do lifts," said Hunk seriously, gazing far off in a memory that looked both pleasant and painful. "We had some intense choreography that Lance made up," he eyed his friend, "not that we can do it now because we're not dance partners, Lance."

"Aw, buddy, come on." Lance draped an arm around Hunk's broad shoulders and batted his eyelashes at his friend. "Just once? For old time's sake?"

"No, man. You're Keith's partner now. Teach him the dance."

"Keith?" Keith stiffened a little as both of their eyes flitted to him, and Lance gave him a once over reminiscent of the one from the throne room just a day prior. Keith had strong arms, he used them to wield his bayard, and Lance knew without a doubt that Keith would be able to lift him considering how often Keith took to flipping him in the training room. "I guess I could."

"You definitely could," encouraged Hunk. "You guys could be great dance partners."

"Hmm," Lance seemed to genuinely consider the possibility. "We'll have to discover what kind of dance practice Coran has in mind first before we start deciding on other things."

"You assume that I'm going to want to dance with you," pointed out Keith, but Lance just grinned at him.

"You forget that I am very persistent." He stepped away from Hunk to bump his hip against Keith's. Keith huffed at the mild assault but was quick to bump him back. "Besides, you're not going to embarrass yourself, Keith. If I'm going to be your partner, there's no way you're going to look bad."

"I'm not embarrassed," said Keith first before shifting slightly. "You know," said Keith, "I just realized something."

"Realized that you are embarrassed?"

Keith didn't rise to it and instead said, "For someone who sounded so against being my partner earlier, you are awfully enthusiastic about dancing with me."

"Being your dance partner and being your date to a wedding are very different things," said Lance, easing away from Keith and hating the heat that was beginning to fill his cheeks. He didn't know why he felt embarrassed by saying that out loud. This was just a mission and he wasn't actually dating Keith. He didn't know why he felt more strongly about being Keith's date than being his dance partner.

"Right, of course." Keith's voice sounded soft, distant, and Lance might have asked about it if Coran wasn't filing them onto the training deck.

"In you go, Paladins," said Coran cheerily, giving each of them a hearty slap on the back as they crossed through the doors. "I hope you're all quite ready to give it your all today. Learning this dance will be integral at the wedding. It's one of the most traditional dances and will most definitely be performed in the early stages of the ceremony."

"Is that the only dance we'll have to learn?" Keith asked, his voice hopeful.

Coran rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "There are actually two dances in particular that you will need to know, but after that, you are free to keep to yourselves and enjoy the festivities that Pas'ar has to offer. It will be encouraged to eat, drink, dance, and socialize, of course," Coran's expression grew a little more serious as he said, "but I must tell you all the exact weight that colours are going to have on Pas'ar."

"I thought you said that they were just special colours for the people getting married." Hunk nodded in agreement as Lance continued with, "How exactly can there be more to it?"

"It's quite simple, really," said Coran, pressing a few buttons on his handheld tablet and pulling up the holographic image of their wedding uniforms once again. "The whole planet is made of Amayo, a living substance on the Rontolobalaix moons that actually changes colour due to individuals and their emotions. Amayo is actually named after what the Pas'arites call the Great Guardian, Amayorous. It has some fascinating historical stories tied to it," Coran sobered a little at Allura's keen look, "but I'm afraid I'll have to save that for another time. Regardless, the Pas'arites have been living, breathing, and eating Amayo for so long that they have gained similar abilities."

"No," breathed Lance, "you mean…?"

"Why yes, number 3." Coran practically beamed at him. "The Pas'arites can change their colour."

"They're like shapeshifters but just with fancy colours," gushed Lance. "Man, that's so awesome."

"I'm glad you think so," said Coran, "however this particular skill can prove dangerous if we accidentally use it to offend someone."

"How exactly would that work?" asked Pidge.

"Pas'arites cannot change their colours on their own. Upon hatching, their colour may range anywhere from the palest whites to the darkest of hues. Once they become of age, their colours settle, and they can no longer change it on their own."

"But you said they can change it!" Lance leaned against Hunk. "Does that mean I got my hopes up for nothing?"

"They cannot change their own colours," clarified Coran, "but their colours may be changed by other people. An embrace or an accidental brush of the shoulder can completely change the colours of any Pas'arite. A quick tap on their hand could change the golden skin of a Pas'arite a dark blue instead. Going from one extreme emotion to another can provoke a similar reaction in some Pas'arites."

"That's cool," said Pidge, "but none of us consume Amayo. We won't have the same effect, right?"

"Not quite. While you won't physically change colour, you could change the colour of any Pas'arite you touch. Each individual carries a colour, a unique shade that cannot be replicated anywhere in the universe. It's similar to your differences in quintessence. The clothes that Princess Iva gifted us for the wedding is actually made of Amayo, and once you wear it, the colours will change to match the colours inside you. The decorative pieces on the shoulders of your uniforms is merely to ensure that the people of Pas'ar know which Lion you fly. Since colours are so integral to them, the five colours of Voltron are very iconic and serve deep meaning."

"Wait, let me get this right: we each have a colour, and that colour is what the uniform is going to turn into?" asked Hunk.

Coran beamed at him. "Quite right."

"Does that mean our colours could be completely different from that of our lion?"

The look of pride and joy on Coran's face faltered. "I have to admit," said Coran with a sheepish smile, "I hadn't quite thought of that."

"Oh man, it is possible." Hunk twisted his fingers together nervously. "I don't want Yellow to be offended if I turn, like, orange or something."

"The lions know more about the colour of your quintessence than you do," explained Coran, "so they won't be offended. The real catch comes to offending the Pas'arites. The wedding will be between the chiefs of Pas'ar's mightiest villages, Chief Eliteo and Chief Angual. Where Chief Eliteo's colour is blue, her husband's is red. Their families, regardless of their quintessence colours, will be wearing the blue and red colours of their couple. The other Pas'arites invites will be in whatever colour coincides with their moods and quintessence." Coran turned to give Lance and Keith more pointed look. "While everyone is encouraged to have fun, I'm afraid the two of you will be stuck together all night. To get any colour on your clothes besides blue, red, or an amalgamation of the two, would be an insult to the couple. You'll only be able to encounter each other and members of the wedding party."

"I can't dance with Hunk?" Lance looked at his friend and touched his shoulder dramatically. "Our friendship is forbidden, Hunk. What are we going to do?"

"Always wear gloves?" he offered with a smile and Lance laughed.

"Good point." Lance gave Coran a smile. "Coran, can we wear gloves?"

"Certainly not! Any form of coverings on your hands goes against the Catolian traditions of closeness, and since we are representing them, we are representing their traditions as well." Lance peeked over at Keith as Coran continued with, "That means you can't be wearing those gloves Number 4. You too, Number 2."

"But they're so comfy," protested Hunk, but he was already tugging them off and slipping them into his side pockets. "I feel so naked," he said, splaying out his bare fingers. "Keith? Thoughts?"

Meanwhile, it looked like Keith was staring with a great deal of confliction at his hands. "Do I have to take them off?" he asked Coran, and Lance felt the words like a punch to the gut. Keith looked so upset at the prospect of taking off his gloves. He always had them on, just like Hunk did, but only Keith would be visibly distressed at removing them.

"Maybe they don't have to take it off yet," Lance said, trying to appease both parties but mostly trying to stop that horrifically distraught look on Keith's face. "They can deal with the real deal stuff once we land on Pas'ar, right?"

Coran's nod was reassuring. "Quite right, Number 3. Excellent point."

"Alright," said Lance, stretching his arms high above his head, "what's this first dance we have to learn? I'm feeling good about it already."

"You have the right enthusiasm," said Coran approvingly. "This first dance is spa'kiz, the Dance of Celebration. We'll be starting out with that. The dance doesn't necessarily require partners, so we'll learn it all separately first. The second dance is very much a paired dance, but we'll save that for the last half of the day. It's a little more… complicated than the Dance of Celebration."

Lance bounced on the balls of his feet. "Sounds like a challenge that I'm ready to absolutely to be amazing at." He wiggled his fingers at Coran. "Let's get this started!"

"Perfect. I'll put the dance video on the holoscreen, and you can all try to work through it. I've already learned the dance and have provided a step by step process for it."

"You won't be staying with us?" asked Shiro, sounding just a tad bit uncertain at the idea of Coran leaving them in the training room unattended with his hologram. "You are the expert on these sorts of things."

"I will be back in a moment," he promised. "I've just got to ensure that your outfits are brought in here, so you can all practice in the actual clothes you'll be wearing at the wedding. It will certainly help you remember the movements." Coran tapped a little more on the tablet and the image of their uniforms disappeared. Instead, the center of the training deck came to life, a life-size project of Coran appearing in the middle.

Pidge instinctively took a step closer to Lance and Hunk, no doubt reminded of her time trying to learn Altean and being scared out of her mind by being attacked by the bear-like hologram of the Klanmüirl. While Lance had never personally tried to learn Altean, he had heard plenty from Pidge about how dangerous the system had been, how it had come alive and almost killed her. Still, he thought as he regarded the hologram floating in the middle of the room, it didn't seem so bad. What could an angry holo-Coran even do? Talk them to death?

"Have fun practicing, paladins," said Coran, place the tablet on the floor and heading towards the exit while the hologram of Coran had already started talking about the type of dance they were about to attempt.

"Wait, Coran, is this dangerous?" called Pidge, but Coran just waved a hand.

"Dangerous? Of course not!" He laughed. "It's just dancing. This is no more dangerous than learning Altean."

If Pidge could get paler, then she would have. "Oh dear."

The training deck doors slid shut behind Coran, and all five paladins looked at one another with varying expressions of apprehension. The hologram said nothing and just smiled at them in a blue transparent mockery of Coran himself.

"Maybe all we're supposed to follow the video and learn the moves without the deadliness?" offered Hunk quietly.

Pidge eyed the projection warily instead, mistrust written all over her features. "As long as Coran turned on the safety, we should be fine." She took a small step out from her hiding place. "Probably."

The holo-Coran spoke suddenly, his voice just as boisterous as Coran's real one as it asked them to get into a line. The paladins followed its instructions nervously. "It can't be that bad," said Lance, trying to be optimistic. "Do you think it'll be like Just Dance style? Or maybe, instructional work-out video style?"

Holo-Coran pressed a button on his fake remote, and the training deck grew full of music. For something so celebratory, it sounded a great deal like the old Earth music. The beats were firm and rhythmic, and there was a series of potentially violin-like instruments squealing in the background. If Lance had to equate it to anything, it would probably be the awkward marriage of heavy metal and classical orchestral music. Lance didn't expect it to sound as good as it did. "Are we ready to begin?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." Lance beamed at the projection and shook out the last of his stiffness. This was his element. He loved dancing, even if he didn't get to do it very often, and this was such a golden opportunity. If what Keith had disclosed was true, then it was possible that Lance wouldn't be upstaged here.

"We'll be started," chirped holo-Coran, "with your hands on your chests. Yup, just like that," he said happily as the paladins followed his lead. "Next, you're going to turn your hands, putting your right foot forward."

They carefully practiced the movements, twisting into new positions and sliding into others, for about ten Earth minutes before Lance began to grow bored. They were carefully shaped, purposeful, but so unlike the fun movements Lance was used to. Thankfully he was not the only one, as Pidge seemed to have the same idea. After a few more moments of dancing, she spoke, the first paladin of the five of them to break the silence. "You know," said Pidge conversationally from between Hunk and Lance, "this is turning out to be a lot nicer than I thought."

Lance moved his foot to the sporadic beats as holo-Coran instructed and smiled. "I think I agree," he said. "It's going pretty well. Kinda slow, but good."

"Do you think real Coran's okay?" Pidge asked as she leaned into a move that reminded Lance of a flamingo. "I feel like he's been gone a while."

He frowned, easing into the next position thoughtfully. "I don't know if he could have done better if his own video is our guide," said Lance. "I mean, the moves aren't too hard. For a celebration dance, it's not very complicated."

"Agreed. The footwork is easy enough," added Hunk, his hands up in the air, "but I can imagine that this would be a lot more difficult if they sped up the music."

Speeding up the music would make the experience more entertaining, that was for sure. Lance could only imagine how the dance would look at double the speed. "It'd be a lot cooler, you mean." Lance looked at the tablet that Coran had left, an idea sparkling across his mind. "Hey, do you guys think we could speed-run a dance?"

"Lance," said Shiro, and though his eyes were fixed on holo-Coran, his tone insinuated all the warning that Lance needed.

"Come on, Shiro, it wouldn't be so- hold on." All five of them did a roll forward, ensuring they got up quick enough to do the appropriate arm movements that holo-Coran was excitedly demonstrating. "It wouldn't be so bad. If anything, it'd be a good test to see how quickly we could adapt. Like good old training."

Shiro let out a measured breath and rolled his shoulders to the music. Lance could see that the seed had been planted, but before Shiro could say anything, Keith spoke up. "Lance, do you even know how to speed up the video?"

"I can try. Or Pidge could try?" He looked over at Pidge and fluttered his eyelashes at her just for the fun of it. "Pretty please, Pidgeon?"

Pidge smiled, the appeal to her curiosity not going unrewarded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it." She walked over to the tablet and fiddled around with the buttons while holo-Coran continued to shout encouragements over the music.

"Speed-running a dance video doesn't sound like a good idea when it's our first time doing this dance," Keith said, although he was hard to take seriously when his hands were creating wavelike movements around his face. Keith looked so awkward that Lance had to laugh, despite doing the exact same dance moves. He looked so silly, thought Lance, helpless to the fond feeling in his chest.

"You saying you don't want to try it?" challenged Lance lightly.

"I already told you that my dancing isn't good, Lance," said Keith.

"Yeah, but we'll be going so fast that it's not even going to matter. Nobody cares if you mess up or look silly," Lance did a movement that was very reminiscent of rowing a boat at holo-Coran's request, "because we're all going to look ridiculous trying to speed up the moves. None of us are actually going to be good when it's going fast."

"Except you, Lance," put in Hunk. "Knowing him, he has the whole thing down already."

Lance looked at Hunk from around his own elevated arms, chest warm with happiness, and quickly blew him a kiss. "You, Hunk, are a true friend."

Hunk returned the motion with a wink. "Thanks, buddy," said Hunk.

"Okay, okay, I think I've got it," said Pidge from her spot behind the hologram. She waved the tablet a bit. "You guys better try to dance. We don't tolerate quitters on this team."

"Of course?" Lance finished up the flourishing jump that ended the dance and grinned at his friends. "Let's do it!"

"You're too hyped up," grumbled Keith, but Lance couldn't help but smile at him. This was his element. Even Keith couldn't bring him down.

"You're not hyped enough, Keith. Come on, Hunk, let's show this guy how it's done."

Hunk's laugh was more apologetic than anything. "This is gonna be too fast for me, Lance. If I drop out halfway, don't hate me."

"I could never hate you, buddy." Lance flashed Hunk his most charming smile and got into his starting position. He nodded to Pidge. "Hit it."

One of the things Lance loved the most about Pidge was that she never did anything half-way. As cadets, she had been their communications officer and had thorough knowledge of the whole Garrison training manual before their first simulation. Knowing later that she was also delving deeply (and probably illegally) into the Garrison database in search for information on her family just put things in perspective. Pidge immersed herself in her role at the Garrison and juggled her personal projects with a great deal of effectiveness. When given a task, Pidge fulfilled it to the best of her ability; she poured her heart and soul into anything she was asked to do.

"Speed up the music" had been one trap of a request.

"Dance, McClain," cackled Pidge, watching on as Lance and Hunk struggled to keep time with the dance that was sped up more than twice as fast.

"Shit, shit, shit," Lance chanted, trying hard to keep up his rhythmic movements when his feet wanted to tangle with each other and drop him to the ground.

"I hate this, I hate this," said Hunk somewhere to Lance's left. Lance couldn't even be bothered to see if Keith and Shiro were keeping up as well. He didn't doubt that they would be able to, what with their constant training and endlessly toned bodies. They had been ridiculously fit at the Garrison –anyone with eyes could have seen that –and people didn't stop being fit just because they were in space.

Lance was so deep in his thoughts that he narrowly missed delicate hand movements associated by the sudden skip in the music. It turned out looking a lot more like he was trying to imitate someone washing their hands in a public bathroom.

"Oh god," he said, mind desperately trying to flit through moves in an attempt to beat his body but failing.

"Pidge, can we go slower?" begged Hunk, but Pidge merely laughed louder.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the music." Pidge put a hand up to her ear theatrically. "Did you say faster?"

"Pidge!" wailed Hunk, but Pidge was merciless, high on her power.

"Gotta go fast, Hunk." The music was practically a series of high-pitched squealing, really unattractive at this point, and Lance's laboured breathing was soon drowning out the music in its entirety. The rapid beats were the only thing guiding any of Lance's movements, and he was about to fall into what he was sure to be the fifth roll in the last eight minutes when the music cut off sharply and he fell onto his stomach.

"My, Lance, you've really thrown yourself into this dance, haven't you?" Lance looked up to see Coran and Allura standing next to one another, watching him from next to holo-Coran. Coran was holding the tablet that had previously been in Pidge's demonic hands, and he was smiling with amusement.

"Princess?" gasped Lance from the floor.

"That was some impressive work," said Princess Allura, and Lance cursed the fact that he could barely acknowledge the compliment because he was too busy heaving, the sound of blood rushing in his ears. His heartbeat thundered in his chest, and Lance, exhaustion heavy on his chest, gave both Alteans a thumbs up.

"Agreed," chirped Coran. "It was quite a sight to behold. I highly doubt the Dance of Celebration would ever be played that quickly." Lance managed to wink at Pidge who merely winked back. "And thank goodness for that! Imagine, all five paladins incapacitated by one very quick spa'kiz."

"It'd be a shame, but on the bright side, we would be incapacitated and completely unable to dance the rest of the night," Pidge was grinning so wide that Lance was certain her cheeks were in pain as she added "which actually wouldn't really be a shame at all, so I rescind my statement."

"Nice try, Number 5, but I'm afraid that this is just what we've got to deal with." Coran turned to the group with an appraising smile. "Take a quick water break, all of you. I'm going to assume that you've all effectively learned the basics of this dance. We'll be moving on the second dance you're required to perform. The name is very difficult without the right number of tongues, but translated, it roughly means the Dance of Eternity." He gestured over to the door. "I've brought your wedding uniforms to the door, so change into them when you can and meet us back here in about ten doboshes for the rest of the training."

"Yay, another dance," cheered Pidge with fake enthusiasm. Her feigned cheer dropped comically fast from her face once Coran's back was turned. "I'm going to go and take a long drink break," she announced to her fellow paladins. She walked towards Lance, stopped at his shoulder, and looked down at him with a sly smile. "I feel like I've laughed too much."

"Karma," wheezed Lance from his position on the floor, and Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Nice work, Lance," she said as she passed him, making a beeline for the water pouches at the door by their wedding uniforms. "Your superfast dancing actually looked kind of cool. Almost made me think that I should have agreed to those club sneak outs you and Hunk used to do."

Lance relaxed back onto the floor and closed his eyes. He tried to focus on his uneven panting and worked to slow it until he felt the potential ability to speak return to him.

"Hunk," he groaned as he threw a weak arm up in the air. Everything felt hot and achy. "Help me."

Hunk's reply came happily. "I got you, buddy, don't worry."

Lance felt a hand at his shoulder and another in his outstretched hand help him up into a sitting position. He sighed happily, allowing himself to slump into Hunk's shoulder and rest a little longer. Maybe Hunk would carry him to the bathroom so that they could change up into their uniforms. That would be nice, he thought. Maybe he could just stop walking entirely. This position was comfortable and familiar and required very little thinking on Lance's part. It was practically perfect to his lanky, dance-exhausted body. Bless Hunk's kindness, willing to put up with Lance's sweat. He truly was the best friend Lance had ever had.

Only, he felt the firm warmth of Keith's chest against his head instead of Hunk's smooth, muscled shoulder, and Lance immediately opened his eyes in a panic. Lance could see Hunk on the other side of the room with his back turned, gathering up their uniforms and water pouches. Allura and Coran had disappeared to god knows where, while Shiro and Pidge had just walked past the sliding, training deck doors, their arms filled with their clothes. And Keith?

And Keith was cradling him in his arms. Again.

"Shit," said Lance, trying to roll away, and Keith let him, just as surprised as Lance was at being so close to one another. His pulse kicked up wildly again, face maintaining the intense burn from earlier, simply under a different context. "Sorry, Keith," said Lance, "I thought you were Hunk."

Lance could hardly hear what Keith said next with his own heartbeat thundering in his ears. "Yup, it's cool," breathed Keith, standing up quickly and quickly passing Hunk on his way towards to door. He swore that Keith's cheeks might have been pink, but that was likely more from trying to keep up with the insanely fast music Pidge was playing.

Lance felt like he was about to burst with embarrassment. "Hunk," whined Lance as Hunk, the real Hunk, approached him.

Hunk paused, countenance shifting into one of concern. "Dude, you feeling okay?"

"Hunk, why did you get the water instead of come get me? That was the most embarrassing moment of my life!"

"I'm not following," said Hunk, throwing Lance one of the water pouches. Lance fumbled for the pouch with weak limbs and waited for Hunk to sit next to him so that he could lean against his friend once more.

"I asked you for help!"

"I thought you meant getting you water! You really needed it after all that dancing," Hunk protested, gesturing as Lance poked his straw through the juice pouch and took a very long, drawn out sip. "Also, you're going to down the whole thing, and it hasn't even been a minute. Slow down."

Lance swallowed hard. "Sorry. The point," said Lance, discarding the empty water pouch and eagerly taking Hunk's spare, "is that while you were being a good friend and getting this -thank you, by the way- Keith came over to pull me up. Only I thought it was you, and I practically cuddled with him!"

Hunk's eyebrows shot up. "You cuddled? With Keith?" Hunk took a thoughtful sip of his water pouch, flitting through different expressions until he landed on teasing. "Was I really that replaceable?"

"Hunk, you know that your cuddles are my number one," said Lance, bumping his back against Hunk's for emphasis, "but I was really tired! And my eyes were closed. I thought it was you because you let me lay on you sometimes, and I…" Lance sighed. "At least he didn't punch me out."

"We both know Keith wouldn't do that. Besides," said Hunk slowly, "did you at least thank him?"

A beat passed between them. "For what?"

"For helping you up?"

Lance went over the interaction again, spacing all his thoughts out, and shook his head as the realization dawned on him. "No. I just apologized."

"Maybe you should thank him," recommended Hunk, "and soon. I can tell you're overthinking it, and it'll just get worse if you don't thank him. You'll make it awkward."

The sound that came out Lance's mouth sounded like he was choking. "I don't make things awkward!"

Hunk turned around completely just to give him a fixed look. "Dude."

"Okay, maybe I do. Sometimes. I don't know." Lance ran a hand through his short hair. "I'll figure it out, okay?"

"I hope so," said Hunk, turning back to his water pouch, "because if you don't and Shiro finds out that it affects Voltron?" Hunk blew out air noisily. "I don't want to hear another lecture."

"I've got it, buddy. I'll fix it before we get to Pas'ar. I promise."

"I hope so," said Hunk. "Now, come on," he said, standing up and giving Lance a hand. "Let's get changed up. These outfits are so cool."

Lance hadn't even really registered the bright, golden colour of the clothes in Hunk's arms. But now that he had, he couldn't look away. "And they don't stay this colour?"

"No, of course not. Watch." Hunk handed Lance one of the button-up shirts, and they watched as the cloth turned blue wherever Lance's skin touched it.

"Okay, now that is cool." Lance smiled at Hunk. "What do you want to bet that Pidge is trying to dissect her own shirt right now?"

His friend laughed, loud and happy. It was the kind of laugh that comforted Lance, soothed him with memorizes of the past. "It would be really cool to figure out how these things work," Hunk said.

"After the wedding," reminded Lance.

Hunk nodded. "After the wedding."

The pair of them headed to the change room and exchanged their sweaty clothes for a quick shower and the new uniforms. Lance tried not to think too much on Keith and focussed instead on the uniforms they would be wearing to the wedding. And it was easy to focus on the new clothes. They changed relatively quickly, in awe of the way that the white uniform changed immediately (and luckily) to their respective lion colours.

"Nice," said Lance, admiring himself in one of the long mirrors of the change room. The uniform seemed to have automatically adjusted to his body type but remained airy, a welcome change from his Earth clothes, which, in comparison, had hung on him like an uncomfortable blanket. Coran had left them Pas'arian shoes as well, which served much more like slippers and had Lance feeling absolutely light on his feet.

"This material is actually blowing my mind the longer I wear it," said Hunk, who had just finished slipping on his shirt. The gold all over Hunk's clothes made him look like the sun, and his smooth, dark skin complimented the whole look. "Amayo is freakin' amazing."

"It feels amazing." He turned to Hunk and struck a pose. "How do I look?"

"Dashing. And me?" Hunk struck a pose as well, and Lance held in his laugh.

"Gorgeous."

"I thought so." Hunk and Lance left the change room, chuckling every time they so much as grazed each other and marvelling the result. Every time their clothes so much as brushed, the uniforms changed quickly into a vibrant green before mellowing back into their original colours. It was fascinating just to watch.

"Do you think we'll all be a perfect mix of colours?" asked Lance. "Like, when Keith and I dance, it'll be purple, or if you and Keith danced, it would be orange?"

"Probably?" Hunk waved the long sleeves of his uniform together, admiring the gold. "I feel like King Midas or something."

"You are looking very royal," said Lance in agreement as they re-entered the training deck. The rest of their team was waiting for them, and they sat in a rainbow coloured circle by Coran, who was currently monologuing about something that Lance was sure was semi-important.

"Hunk! Lance! Come quick," called Pidge, standing up eagerly despite interrupting Coran. "I want to-"

"Way ahead of you," said Hunk, racing up to Pidge. They high-fived and eagerly awaited the changing of colour in the uniforms, however, it never came. The colours stayed solid and unchanging, much to the disappointment of both parties.

"Do you know what they were trying to do?" asked Keith softly as Lance came to sit next to him.

Lance merely shrugged. "No idea."

Pidge and Hunk frowned at one another. "We were trying to see if skin to skin contact would elicit any change in the uniform, but nothing," said Pidge, their voice growing more calculated. "Since we haven't consumed any Amayo, I can't imagine us having a proper effect on the clothing, although it was worth a try. I was kind of hoping that it would still affect our clothes even if we didn't touch them."

"If the Amayo is truly alive, maybe it would sense itself being consumed and make the appropriate changes in colour," offered Hunk. "Skin has to touch the cloth separately for the colours to change."

"As great as these theories are, we must begin the second dance," cut in Coran's voice. Hunk and Pidge pretended to sober up appropriately as they took a seat by Lance. "Allura and I will be demonstrating it for you, and then we'll have you all paired up for some practice." Coran took Allura's hand and got into their starting position. "Thank you, Princess. Now, paladins, I want you to watch very closely at this demonstration."

Which they did. They did watch very closely, in Lance's opinion. They were watching super closely. In fact, Keith, Lance and Hunk were commenting on the dance moves with accuracy almost the entire dance, despite a few giggles shared in between as they named the dance moves after Earth things. The move 'Silent But Deadly' was Lance's personal favourite, however after they made that particular name up, Shiro had given the three of them a very stern look that had silenced them for the rest of the demonstration. So all in all, Lance felt like they had been dutiful enough in watching very closely.

Except that when Coran had them paired and in position, he and Keith were looking at one another with the same confused expression.

"So."

"So," echoed Keith.

"I think we were like this first?" Lance turned around so that their hands could link together. They stood back to back, feeling the heat of one another through their uniforms. Lance didn't even need to look down to know that Keith's red was seeping across the back of his shirt and over his shoulders.

Coran had started the music off nice and slow, which would have been helpful if they remembered all the moves. They had the starting position, which was good, but after that Lance was trying desperately to recall the moves that followed. Thank goodness there was an intro bit to the dance, otherwise, Lance and Keith would be making fools of themselves. Granted, if they couldn't remember what the correct moves were by the time the first movement of the song started to play, then they were sure to get a lecture and be treated like fools anyhow.

"Coran was right," mumbled Keith. "We should have paid closer attention."

"No, we've got this," assured Lance, wracking his brain for the correct information. They had paid attention. Not, necessarily, with the intention of dancing to it; much more to make fun of it. "There were just a lot of steps."

"Do you remember what's after the starting position?"

"Not really," said Lance sheepishly. "Do you?"

Keith's hand squeezed at Lance's. "I remember the names. Kind of. But I've completely forgotten the moves themselves."

"Okay." Lance took a breath to steady himself as the music introductory music was coming to a close. "Okay. I know you have a good memory," Keith almost turned all the way around to look at him, but Lance persisted, keeping their hands in position. If he paused to think about complimenting Keith, he'd overthink himself right out of his plan. "Even at the Garrison, you knew what order you should be doing everything in, even if you screwed around. But dancing's not quite like flying, so we're gonna have to teamwork our way out of this," said Lance. "That's the only way to pull it off."

"Teamwork, huh?" Lance could hear the smile in Keith's voice and found his own mouth quirking up in response.

"Teamwork."

"Even if we didn't name the last bit of the dance together?"

"I trust you," said Lance. Keith's fingers tightened imperceptibly along his wrist, but he said nothing. "We might look like silly, but if I'm going down, so are you. That's a consequence that I can deal with it."

Keith snorted. "Teamwork, he says."

"Alright, alright." Lance listened to the humming of the speakers, the first movement of the dance approaching with every drum beat. "We've got to think fast. What's the first move after this one?"

"It's called 'Tug-of-War'."

Lance leaned forward, the word triggering the move for him. He was half afraid that Keith would miss the cue and let him fall, but Keith tipped forward too so that the pair of them were held by the tension of their arms.

"Next?" asked Lance as the music flowed onwards.

"'Turtles, The Chocolate Kind'."

Lance nodded slowly to himself. "Okay, let go, and follow my lead."

"Got it." They let go and dropped to the floor, curling into balls and turning until they faced one another again. Lance counted seconds softly between them and then lay flat against the floor on his stomach. "'Patrick Star'." They stretched their limbs, the tops of their heads touching. "'Weird Puppets', 'Kermit the Frog', and 'Double Scoop Ice Cream'."

Lance remembered the steps with Keith's hints, and Keith followed him with unparalleled accuracy. Keith might not have been a great dancer, but he was apt at picking things up quickly. Lance snuck a look at the other pairs as he and Keith went through the motions and laughed gleefully as Coran set to helping the others with their forms and moves. Every so often, Coran would point over to Lance and Keith as an example to be followed and coached the others into the same positions that Lance and Keith were performing.

"We are kicking ass," said Lance excitedly.

"Are we?" asked Keith, breathless from the dance. The Dance of Eternity was faster in tempo than the first dance.

"Yes, Keith, of course we are." He flashed him a charming smile as they circled each other. "We've got to celebrate the little successes."

"If you say so," Keith said, finishing off the motion before saying another cue word.

"So?"

"So what?"

"The dancing," said Lance casually. "How is it? Keeping up?"

Keith seemed to be half in pain as he admitted, "This…isn't as bad as I thought."

"Told you I was a good partner," boasted Lance.

"I guess you were right." Keith's airy response was followed with, "we make a good team." Lance nearly tripped at that comment but quickly recovered himself. It was a coincidence. Nothing to worry about. Keith saying something like that to Lance… he must have misheard. Keith must have misspoken.

"Yeah," he said, his mouth dry, "yeah we do."

Keith gave him a smile. "'Cinderella'."

Lance snorted and got to his knees, hands moving dramatically at Keith's feet before he stood so Keith could do the same.

"Hey, Keith?" he said, trying to get the words out while Keith's eyes were away from him. "I really am sorry about earlier."

There was a thoughtful pause as Keith tried to work out what exactly Lance was apologizing for. "With the hand thing?"

"Yeah. Thanks for helping me up, but I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"It's…fine." Keith stood across from Lance as the dance ended. They put their hands out, palms hovering over one another's. "It just surprised me, that's all."

"Yeah, I can imagine." Lance laughed a little to himself, and as the song came to a close, he lowered his hands to grasp at Keith's wrists. Keith did the same for Lance and leaned in carefully. Lance echoed the movement, dropping down so that he could press his forehead to Keith's.

"Nice work." Lance had to strain his ears to hear Keith, whose eyes had shut completely. Keith was completely relaxed, no doubt glad the song was easing into its transitional outro.

"Thanks," said Lance just as softly.

He was so close, and Lance's pulse tripled with thoughts of a million reckless things he could do. He'd been lucky enough to keep his distance from Keith over the last year or so. The Garrison was one thing. Being trapped on a ship with him fighting an intergalactic war was another. Besides, they weren't just classmates or teammates. They were friends, which was why he was careful not to spend too much time with Keith alone, too afraid to acknowledge what Hunk had been hinting since their Garrison days.

So this? Dancing around, trading quips, being so close that Lance could see the flecks in Keith's gray eyes? This was so dangerous. Getting his hopes up was dangerous. Entertaining the fortune teller's idealistic, romantic future for him was dangerous.

Keith was dangerous.

And he'd just resolved to ignore it all as of last night too.

"I didn't even have to say the name," Keith was saying, completely unaware of Lance's inner turmoil.

"Yeah, well," said Lance, shutting his eyes and willing his jitters away, "I'm a good dancer. Also, there was no way I'd forget a move named 'Pacific Rim'."

Keith gave a short, breathy laugh, one that squeezed at Lance's heart without permission. "You didn't know I'd name it that."

"No, but I knew that I would have. What were you going to name it?"

"…Pacific Rim."

"Really?" Keith pulled back to nod, and Lance opened his eyes to see that familiar smirk on Keith's mouth. "Thank god we agree then. What a coincidence."

"Yup." Keith completed the customary bow the signalled the end of the dance as Lance did the same. "What are the odds?"

"The odds that we both think the forehead touch of Pacific Rim is iconic?" Lance chuckled and peeked up to smile at Keith. "In our favour, preferably."

Keith laughed too and opened his mouth to say something when the music cut off sharply. Both paladins scanned the room to see Coran and the rest of their team watching them with various levels of amusement.

"Hey, guys," called Lance, dragging out the vowels and he turned to properly face them. He and Keith pulled away from other another as casually as possible. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing," said Coran happily, "nothing at all! We're all just admiring your technique for the dance. There were little pauses between the moves, but, for your first time practicing it, it looked quite good!"

"Thanks!" Lance nudged Keith's shoulder, watching as it turned purple for a moment before Keith's red swallowed it up again. "We're just that intuitive."

"We'll be looking to you both as an example," said Allura, her smile absolutely stunning. "Great work, you two. Do you think you could come over and demonstrate some of those dance moves to help us get them more accurately?"

"Of course, Princess. Anything for you," said Lance sweetly, sauntering across the training deck to Allura's side. "Which group would you like us to help?"

"You know Hunk and Pidge's style better, so I'd like you to work with them. Keith?" Lance looked to his left but realized that Keith wasn't there at all. Instead, Keith was still where he had left him, on the other side of the training deck, watching them with some unreadable expression. It was a similar expression to one Keith had shown before, and Lance still didn't know what to make of it.

"Keith?" Princess Allura tried again, and this time Keith jolted out of whatever thought he was in. He walked over briskly, cheeks coloured with embarrassment.

"Sorry, what would you like?"

"You'll be helping Shiro and I with our moves. Do you think that would be possible?"

"Um," he glanced over at Lance, and Lance found a matching nervous look in his eyes.

It wasn't often that Keith deferred to Lance for an answer, but Lance felt more compelled than ever to try and help him, to speak for the both of them. Maybe this whole dancing thing really did strengthen their bond, because Lance felt like he knew what Keith was trying to convey without speaking. "Because this is a paired dance," cut in Lance, "I feel that Keith and I should really be demonstrating together. We could help each group individually, but I think it would be more beneficial to show them as a pair. Wouldn't you agree, Keith?"

"Yes, yeah." Keith nodded quickly, his tone too hurried to be casual but Allura didn't seem to notice.

"Perfect." Allura took Shiro's hand and smiled at them. "You'll be able to help both groups fine, then. I have faith in you."

"Shall we take it from the top?" Coran brandished the tablet with his free hand. "Are we ready?"

Lance and Keith exchanged a determined look. "Let's do it."