life goes on (but it seems we can't) || vogel & atmosphere

[cherubim]

◤xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx◥
lance mcclain never thought that
he'd be back in his childhood to
wn, yet when the news of shiro's
death reached him, he knew it w
as time to return.
however, with returning comes n
ew bonds, reestablished links an
d surprising turns of events. the
mystery behind shiro's death bec
omes a murder story, and lance
bands together with his childhood
friends to uncover the mystery.
what he didn't expect, however, wa
s keith's newfound power to turn
back small amounts of time.

or - a life is strange-esque au betw
een atmosphere. and vogelbiene
◣xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx◢

[cherubim]

word count|| 701

The day Keith found out that his brother-figure's body was found was the day that the young man lost all faith in the world.
He had lost so many things in his life, and Shiro was the only thing - only person - he could count on to not leave him, to not give up on him. And now?
Now he was gone at the hands of a cold-blooded murderer, and Keith couldn't even stop it.

His rubbed his eyes forcefully, digging into his eyesockets with his fists, trying to chase the tears away. He couldn't cry, not now; people were around him, expecting him to be the strong trooper he always was cut out to be.

A soft tap on his shoulder made Keith jump, instantly spinning around with a defensive stature.
"Woah there buddy, you alright?"
Keith's smile was thin and watery as he looked up at Hunk's darker face, noting how his eyes looked red and swollen. At least Hunk had no shame in crying.

Hunk took Keith's silence as a 'no' and wrapped his arms around him in a close embrace, whilst obviously trying not to cry. Keith pat his back awkwardly, returning the embrace and resting his chin on Hunk's broad shoulder, hunched over and trembling with emotion.

Really, it was expected that Hunk would be so emotional over Shiro's death; they all grew up with him, and though Hunk and Pidge weren't as close as Keith was to him, they all still looked up to him as a fatherly figure.

And yet, Keith still managed to feel surprised over the amount of tears spilling onto his suit jacket. It was as if Hunk was an actual sprinkler, and at the rate he was going, the entirety of his back would be soaked. Not that he really minded - he just didn't know what to do, how to respond.

After another minute, Hunk let go of Keith, bottom lip trembling, yet still managing to pull off a smile. Keith could only smile back.
"It's going to be okay, Keith. We gotta keep going; that's what Shiro wanted, right?"
He winced at the words, yet nodded and smiled anyway. He knew what Shiro wanted of them, knew he didn't want to be mourned too much, but it was hard. This was hard.

"Yeah, you're right, Hunk."
The other smiled warmly at him, and it felt as though someone had covered him in a warm, fleeced blanket; Hunk had that effect on people.

"Where did Pidge go?" He asked after a beat, eyes scanning the groups of people gathered together closely.
Hunk shrugged, following Keith's line of sight. "I saw her run off after the service, but I haven't seen her since. She's probably comforting Matt."

Keith sighed, running a hand through his thick hair. Matt would have been especially hurt by this too; Shiro was practically his mentor, after all.
Biting his lip, Keith scanned the area once more before closing his eyes and rubbing his temples, trying to will away the sudden onslaught of a headache. It was all just getting too much to handle. If - and only if - he decided to accept the situation right now was happening, then he would also have to accept the fact that the only person he fully trusted was never going to come back.

He subconciously gripped Hunk's large wrist, willing himself to remember that he wasn't alone in this. He could do this, he could still make Shiro proud.

However, that confidence soon left him as he watched a lanky figure walk towards him, face grim and shoulders tense. No, no he- he couldn't do this. It had been far too long since his closest childhood friend decided to leave and effectively cut off all communications with him.

He let go of Hunk's wrist, turning away from him and ignoring the footsteps that grew closer and closer. Did he think that it was going to be that easy to just pop back into Keith's life like that? As though he had never left? Had never completely abandoned him?

He huffed, blinking away tears and folding his arms over his chest, opting not to say anything. He'll let Hunk do the talking.

[icxacruz]

❝𝑳 a n c e. ♙
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i. lance mcclain ii. dazzle dazzlewc. 875 ♙ i was v exited to get this up. hope its okay c:

It'd been years.
So many years since he'd been back. So many years since he'd seen him.

Lance was sitting in the car, driving to the funeral. his family replied, saying that they would be late,
but they would be coming. He didn't know when Shiro died, he just heard that he was in fact, dead. He
promised he wouldn't cry, but it was expected of him to break promises. After all, he promised Keith--
his childhood friend-- that they'd be friends forever, but he doubted that now. It hurt too much to talk
to him, so Lance decided not to. He was young, but keith was something special. he meant something
big to Lance.

"You okay back there?" His mother asked from behind the wheel. The question pushed tears to Lance's eyes,
but he forced them down. He managed a small yes. He greatly admired Shiro, he was like a second dad.
Maybe even more than that. He wanted to he just like him, strong and tall and admired by other flashy
little boys. If younger Lance heard the news, he would've refused to believe it. He would've stormed up
to his room and refused dinner and would've thrown a tantrum. But he wasn't young Lance anymore.
When his mother knocked softly on his door and said the words to him, "Lance sweetie, I don't know how to
tell you. But Shiro is dead." He just nodded and hugged her as she cried. He hasn't cried yet. He can't remember
the last time he cried. His siblings were not coming to the funeral. Well really, neither were his parents. But
they talked to the host. Lance couldn't take it. There were so many things he would like to say to Shiro, but
he wound't be there when he said them. He'd moved away too soon. He'd been so upset about the move, but
he knew it had to happen so he didn't complain. He thought about the times that he missed, talking with him
and how just being with him made his happy. He wasn't ready for someone so important to him to just die like this.
And he knew it was a murder, but hew wasn't ready. He wished someone would've told him that he was in the good
old days, when he was in them.

He tapped his foot on the car floor, trying as hard as he could to stay strong. He was wearing a black suit that
belonged to his father. The man who raised him, tied his black tie and hugged him before they left. He said
it was okay to cry, Lance said the he knew. Honestly, Lance was scared to cry. He wanted to be strong and
stand his ground. Because sometimes, he didn't know how to. he wanted to show maturity, that he had forgotten
about this town and he'd moved on. He didn't know if he wanted that though, to move on. He had such sweet
memories, did he want to loose them?

They passed familiar houses and turns. He shifted in his seat, feeling tears more now than ever. He passed
the playground that he played in with the swing that was hating off the chain. And where he skinned his
knee playing tag with Hunk and Pidge and Keith. God he missed Keith. They passes the corner store where
he helped stock a shelf with easter chocolates when a worker had a sore back once in the early spring. All
the memories came flooding back, the good ones along with the bad ones. He'd missed so many things when
he moved. So many birthdays and funny stories. He's lost so many good times. He was coming late to this
funeral but he wasn't going to miss it, he wasn't going to miss anything ever again.

They pulled into the funeral home that Lane never wanted to enter. The service was over by the time he and
his mother got there. People were milling about, crying and hugging each other. He was a slow scene, deep
to take in.

And he knew it was him before he saw his face. he was sitting, crying obviously, with Hunk. He wasn't ready
for this. All the times he'd said that he was okay. That he moved on. he wasn't prepared to see his again. It was
then when Lance realized just how much he missed Keith. Yes he missed Hunk and Pidge, but nothing like
he missed keith. And he knew Keith saw him because he stood up and started walking faster than Lance could
process. He wasn't ready. He knew that Keith didn't want to see him. He thought that was obvious. He understood
that Keith didn't want to see him. But Lance really did want to see him.

And the tears came before he was ready but he didn't stop them. It was pain, but up over the years. It hurt, everything
hurt. Lance figured that being stabbed would be less painful. He stopped walking.

"K-keith," he stammered shakily. he knew Keith didn't want to hear it. And Lance didn't know if this would have a
happy ending or a bad one and he didn't know if he wanted to find out. "It's you."

[cherubim]

word count || 739
ooc || that's alright! it's completely fine ♡ someone give these boys a hug

Ignoring the comforting squeeze of his shoulder from Hunk, Keith tried to hightail it away from Lance. Why now, of all times, would he decide to approach him? In his most vulnerable state? Sure, Lance had seen him in worse situations beforehand, but that was before he left them. Left him.
Yet he still felt the urge to wrap his arms around Lance and bury his face into his shoulder as the other stroked his hair, just like he used to.

However, he refused to allow himself to be so weak in the face of such desires - even if his heart said otherwise.

He glared over at Lance, who was steadily approaching him now, getting closer and closer. Keith had moved away from Hunk now, thinling that Lance would stop to talk to him rather than himself. After all, he was close to Hunk as well; they were friends well before Keith met Lance.
However, his efforts were in vain and Lance had approached him, calling out his name and looking as broken - if not moreso - than himself.

"Yes, Lance," he sneered, voice slightly wavering, "It's me."
The silence that ensued was not a pleasant one; Keith wasn't about to say much. He bit his lip and folded his arms once more in a defensive way, looking anywhere but Lance.
"You- you finally decide to show up, huh?" he mumbled, angry, yet unable to raise his voice. This was Shiro's day - he couldn't make a scene.

He could, however stay silent and wallow in his own self-pity, choosing not to reach out and comfort the other. Lance hasn't been there to comfort him for the last few turmoil-filled years, so why should he give him that? It was unfair.
'Shiro's death was unfair, yet it still happened.' The thought was uncalled for, yet still managed to wedge itself into his head. Shiro- Shiro would have forgiven Lance, would have welcomed back with open arms.
But he wasn't Shiro.

"I'm assuming you're staying for this and then leaving again?" Keith asked after a while, eyes now slowly trailing up to look at Lance's face. It was pain-stricken and tear-streaked, and it broke Keith's heart - it really did. But he couldn't cave, not now. He couldn't allow himself to grow attached to someone who was just going to leave once this was over with.
He didn't wait for an answer before continuing on, eyes now meeting Lance's. "You only visit once one of us is dead, and then you up and leave." He ignored the telltale sting of tears in the corners of his eyes. "I didn't think you could get any more shallow, McClain, but I guess I was wrong."
He quickly wiped away the stray tears on his cheeks, angry that he was allowing himself to look so weak in front of Lance.
"You didn't contact me, didn't bother to find me, and now I'm supposed to be able to forgive you?" Keith knew that his anger was building and voice was slowly getting louder, but after suppressing so much for so long, it was hard not to control it. "I hope you realise that though Hunk and Pidge may forgive you, I will never do the same."
With that, Keith turned on his heel and stalked off, feeling the tears roll down his cheeks. It wasn't fair; just when he was alright with the fact that his closest friend didn't want him, he just had to show up and crawl his way back to Keith. The universe hated him, he was sure.

Keith wasn't quite sure where he was heading to; letting his legs work on autopilot. He just wanted to get away from Lance.
He walked out of the funeral home and into the graveyard, scowling at the sun. Shiro loved days like this.
He walked through the graves, weaving his way through the lot of them, mood darkening the further he got. His tears still hadn't stopped.

Eventually he reached a plot with upturned dirt and no headstone. Keith collapsed in front of it, sitting cross-legged and sighing shakily. It was always Shiro that would put a comforting hand on his back whenever he were upset.
"What do I do, Shiro?" He mumbled, letting his head hang. "He's not meant to be here."
Gritting his teeth, Keith wiped away the tears once more. God, this was pathetic. "I promised you I wouldn't cry. I'm sorry, Shiro."

[icxacruz]

❝𝑳 a n c e. ♙
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i. lance mcclain ii. dazzle dazzlewc. 622 ♙ c:

It almost made him feel better when Keith started talking, but it didn't. It almost made Lance cry
harder, but he was almost all cried out. And he was right, about Keith not wanting to see him. He wanted to expl
ain, to explode but he knew Keith didn't want to hear it. He didn't know why he was expecting him to give him a
hug or something. He didn't deserve a hug. He wanted to tell him that he was sorry, even though it would mean n
othing. He wanted to say that he'd be staying, forever, but that would mean nothing too. He wanted to hug him,
but he would probably be rejected. Lance regretted everything at that point, moving away, not contacting Keith,
not feeling bad, meeting them. But he couldn't see his life without Keith and Hunk and Pidge and Shiro. Even tho
ugh he lived years without them, they were still there with him. And even though they were all there with him,
they seemed farther away. He didn't know what to feel.

When Keith stormed off, Lance wanted to follow. And he tried but Hunk told him not to. Hunk didn't go after him
either. Keith was hard to read, like a novel that was too difficult to understand. Or a movie series when you start
watching on the third one. It was too hard. And Lance tried to read him, but failed. He didn't want to seem desper
ate, even though he was desperate.

He saw his mother milling around the crowd and eventually stop near Keith, but didn't talk to him. Maybe she was
looking at the grave, maybe at him. But she didn't bother him. Lance went and sat down, he needed it. His mother
came at sat beside him.
"I haven't seen that boy in decades," she was exaggerating of course. He mascara was smudged on her face and her
usually smiling face was pulled in a grim frown,"he looks so hurt. You guys were so close when you were younger. I
wished we haven't of broken that." Lance was crying again, they were mostly dry sobs. Hunk had gone off, possibly
sitting behind them. But Lance didn't bother to look. He hadn't seen Pidge throughout the whole time he'd been her
e. Mind you, he'd only been there for about five minuets.
"Go talk to him, even though he doesn't want to hear it," his mother's words surprised him, "I heard your short conve
rsation. Go talk to him." Lance didn't hesitate, he shakily stood up and walked over to Keith. He knew he had to make
it up to him, all the things he did. He didn't know if explaining would be enough. He knew he'd changed through the
years, he probably wound't accept a toy dinosaur or a lego set as an apology gift. Doing favours for years? Probably not.

He heard the last statement Keith said, the same promise he made. "I broke my promise too." He said quietly, but loud
enough for Keith to hear,"I promised I won't cry, but I'm slobbering all over myself. I mean," he almost chuckled, "I brea
ak a lot of promises." He looked at the grave, it scared him almost. Shiro was dead.

He wanted to say that he was staying, that he was sorry. He wanted to start over; so that's what he did.
"Let's start over, I know you don't want to hear me. But…" he stopped to sigh and take a breath, "I'm Lance, I'm gonna li
ve across the street from you in a couple hours, nice to meet you." He moved so that he was facing Keith. With his tear
streaked face, he put a weak smile on his face, even though it hurt.

[cherubim]

word count || 735
ooc || aaaaaah my previous post was so bad haha, hopefully this will make up for it! also, i hope keith not being too stubborn isn't too ooc ;; don't worry, he still has a lot of repressed anger and hurt towards lance that will show later on uwu

Keith, even if he had hoped within himself that Lance had followed him, was still not ready to face him. He was in such a vulnerable state and felt so open - too open - to others. He wasn't used to this. Sure, he usually felt emotions stronger than others, but he had learnt to repress them, to hide them - a tactic that had helped him at times in his turbulent childhood. Yet, sitting here, walls down and the only brother he ever knew buried below him, Keith knew such tactics wouldn't help him now - not that he could hide them, anyway.
He watched through the corner of his eye as Lance slowly ambled over, face ashen and shattered, biting his lip and looking nervous. "So he should" he thought, quickly averting his eyes back to the grave. Keith waited for Lance to speak once he stopped behind him before turning his head, looking over his shoulder to see him. He was rather surprised at Lance's rather uncharacteristic speech, (normally he would joke about this, right?) yet was still unable to fully face him. So he slowly stood, sighing as he did so, and turned to the left. He wasn't about to leave, but he also didn't want to give off the impression he was happy to see Lance.
"Yeah," Keith hummed, swallowing audibly. "You do break a lot of promises, Lance. It takes a toll on someone after a while, you know."
Normally Keith would have no remorse for the bite in his words, no remorse for the effect it had on people, but as he watched Lance's face contort into something that could only be classed as heart-wrenching guilt, Keith felt himself start to regret his words. He hadn't even given Lance a change to speak before jumping down his throat. He shut his mouth abruptly, teeth clacking together forcefully, and allowed Lance to speak. Those carefully constructed walls around him slowly started to crumble as he watched Lance slowly start to reintroduce himself.

Lance looked as vulnerable as he felt, speaking like that, and Keith couldn't help but bite his lip and look on with a soft gaze. Here he was, after years of never contacting him, asking to be let back into Keith's life, asking for another chance. His brain screamed for him to run, to close himself off, to allow himself safety away from possible hurt, yet his heart stayed with him, wanting nothing more than to stay with Lance. For once, Keith ignored his brain and stayed with Lance, trembling as he kept in the tears that threatened to fall. He smiled weakly, exhaling softly, before nodding and stepping closer to Lance. "I may not forgive you," he mumbled, omitting the 'yet' that threatened to follow his words, "but, just this once, we- we can start over."

As happy as Keith was that Lance was back, that he was staying, the deep-rooted fear that he would leave once more still bloomed within his chest, leaving Keith conflicted. It could just be a repeat performance, could just be a farce, but Keith hoped Lance wouldn't do that to him. After all, he wanted to move back, right?
Right?

Keith rarely initiated hugs - or any kind of affection, in that matter - but for once, he allowed himself to slowly wrap his arms around Lance. It had been a while since the two had embraced, and it felt foreign to Keith, yet it also felt comforting in a way; grudges were never good, as his mum always said. He allowed himself to be an open book, just this once - Shiro would have been happy.

"You're really coming back?" he asked after a while, arms still curled around Lance, the suit bunched up underneath his balled fists. He was well aware how feeble, how small he must of sounded, but it was somewhat of a nice thought that he didn't need to stay strong. Lance had seen him like this before countless times, and hopefully nothing had changed.
'Except the fact that he was never there for a good six years.' Part of him thought bitterly, a sour intrusion to a tender moment. As he did with everything else, he pushed it away and repressed it, not wanting to ruin anything. Sure, he still had ways to go before he could forgive Lance, but they were starting afresh, and Keith wasn't about to ruin that.

[icxacruz]

❝𝑳 a n c e. ♙
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
i. lance mcclain ii. dazzle dazzlewc. ♙ edit is done c:

Relief filled in Lance when Keith said they could start over. He'd been so afraid, so scared that he wouldn't be enough.
That he wouldn't have time to repay him. he was almost happy for a moment, but then he remembered that Shiro was
dead and almost started crying once more. Keith seemed to fragile in this moment, like a new butterfly coming out of
it's cocoon, so frail. Lance didn't want to say anything because he didn't want Keith to break. he didn't want to start crying
again, even though he was on the verge of tears.

He didn't want to be here. He wanted to be at his home across the street from keith, their families eating dinner together
like they used to. He wanted to he somewhere happy, he wanted to be happy. He doubted things would be the same after
this funeral. Well, they both have gotten older and probably wouldn't play man hunt in the park anymore, but with Shiro
gone, Lance doubted that things would go back to normal. Whatever 'normal' was.

He wasn't surprised when Keith said he wouldn't forgive him, or may not. Lance suspected that, he didn't deserve to he
forgiven. There were so many things he wanted to say he was sorry for, so many people he wanted to say sorry to. Like Shiro.
Lance, not being very good in english class, could probably write a three page essay on things he wanted to apologize to Shiro
for. But Lance being Lance, he wouldn't.

He was surprised however, when Keith hugged him. He wasn't expecting words out of the boy let alone physical contact.
And Lance didn't know how to feel. At first, he didn't return the hug, but didn't hesitate afterwards to wrap his arms around
Keith. It felt good, someone he'd been so far away from, now so close. And he felt happy.

He wanted it to be like this forever. Lance almost forgot about the funeral, or the death, or the sadness. All he could think
about was Keith. And warm tears started running down his cheeks, he wasn't shaking. It felt so natural, to hug Keith even
though they haven't talked for almost six years straight. He wrapped his arm tighter around Keith, almost squeezing but
careful not to give him a painful bear hug. He turned his face slightly into Keith's hair, hoping he wound't notice. He wanted
this moment to last forever.

"Yeah, I'm really staying," he said, answering Keith's question. He voice cracked a couple times through the tears. Lance,
after pushing down years of feelings and becoming practically a rock for years on end, had a breaking point; and this was
it. His heart was pounding out of his chest, he was almost certain Keith could feel it. So he slowly pulled away. He wiped
tears off his face and tried to man up. It was strange what he felt towards Keith. On one hand he wanted to run away, to
hide. he didn't want to see keith. But on the other hand, he never wanted to leave. He opened his mouth to say sorry,
but closed it after realizing that would be lame and probably ruin the moment.

He knew it wasn't the time to talk about something as light as how their lives were, but he needed to break the ice,
"So what have you been doing in the six years since i've been gone?" He almost regretted talking about this at Shiro's
funeral right after he said it.

[cherubim]

word count || 841
ooc || oop this took longer than expected ;v; I hope it's alright though! also, you can choose whether lance knows of the time-travel or not ;)

Keith genuinely didn’t want to leave the embrace; a content feeling had washed over him and it was as though all worries had disappeared. Lance had still wanted him in his life, that much was proven from his return, right? Sighing to himself, he detangled himself from Lance once he felt the other’s grip lessen, and stood back, smiling wryly as the other wiped away the few stray tears that appeared on his cheeks.

He frowned then, cursing himself for being so open; he was supposed to be angry at Lance, not throw himself into his arms! What came over him, Keith would never know. Putting it down to the emotional atmosphere around them, Keith took another step back and folded his arms in front of him defensively, even if he still felt as though Lance could see through him.
He was quite surprised at the fact that Lance would bring up such a light topic at that point, no matter how much he knew that the man coped with humour. This wasn’t humour; this is simple small talk, and Keith wasn’t about to bite. There had been too much that had happened in those past six years; Keith couldn’t simply narrow down every event that had changed his life. Instead, he settled on looking at Lance with a rather unimpressed expression. “That’s a lot to cover, Lance.” His eyes landed on Shiro’s grave once more and his tense shoulders fell, voice growing quiet. “Too much to cover.”

It was hard; he wanted to divulge in the past few years and tell Lance exactly what he missed just to make him feel guilty, but at the same time, he bit his tongue, not wanting to trust Lance just to be left once more. Keith knew it was an unjustified mindset, but it was hard to rid himself of it; once it was ingrained within you, it was almost impossible to rip it out.
Before he could say anything else, Hunk approached the duo, grinning from ear to ear with his eyes still red and puffy. Keith thanked the lucky stars above that he didn’t have to continue on with an awkward conversation; Hunk always knew what to say, especially when it came to Lance.

“I was wondering where you two had gotten to.” Hunk chuckled, stopping beside Lance. His eyes fell upon Shiro’s grave and the mood seemed to sour once more. Keith exhaled slowly, turning his head to the side to hide the emotion welling up inside him once more.
Hunk seemed to have picked up on this, casually directing them back into the funeral home with promises of food and drinks. Keith tagged along, making sure he was walking behind Lance and Hunk, staring at the ground. He really just wanted to find a dark corner to cry in, away from prying eyes, but it was his moral obligation to Shiro that stopped him from doing so. That, and there was some part of him that wanted to stay with Lance – just to ensure that he wasn’t about to go anywhere. So, he tagged along, watching as Hunk chattered mindlessly to Lance about the big changes in town and his own family, falling back into what Keith could only call old habits.

Oh, how he wished it were that easy for him to simply talk as though nothing had changed. Keith fell back slightly once more, creating a little more distance between them. His primitive instincts screamed at him to run, to hide, to lick his wounds and he was so very close to doing so. What else was there for him to do here? Study all the grieving faces? Provide empty comforts for people he didn’t even know?

“Hunk,” he said after a while, grabbing the other’s arm, “I might go home soon. There’s not much to be done here.” Letting go, Keith ignored the pitying look on Hunk’s face as he nodded, patting Keith’s shoulder warmly. “Whatever’s best for you man.”
He smiled half-heartedly before spinning on his heel, raising a hand as a makeshift goodbye. It was then that a wave of nausea rolled over him, accompanied by a splitting headache, making him rub his temples forcefully. Keith stopped walking, waiting for the dots that swam in his vision disappear, before biting his lip and sitting down on the nearest seat, still clutching his head. Whatever was being said to him sounded as though it were underwater, and Keith couldn’t bring himself to respond to anyone. He closed his eyes, hoping that the lack of light would help him regain his composure and rid himself of the headache.

He didn’t, however, anticipate that upon opening his eyes, he’d be right back at Shiro’s grave, facing Lance, who looked almost as confused and dazed as Keith felt. Though his previous headache was now gone, Keith felt as though he was about to develop another one. He looked up at Lance, eyes wide and questioning, hoping that he genuinely wasn’t crazy. “You… do you know what just happened?”

[icxacruz]

❝𝑳 a n c e. ♙
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i. lance mcclain ii. dazzle dazzlewc. 517 ♙ sorry for the late reply, also i chose for lance not to know

Six years had been too long. Lance should have come home years ago, he shouldn't have left. He felt awful for having
so many things change, so many things happen to everyone and not know about most of it. He still had the sweet
memories of when he was still living in the town, but he didn't know that there would be such a big gap before he
would make new ones.

He hadn't of seen his mother in a while, he assumed she was at the house or something. Lance would have to take the
bus home. He also haven't seen Hunk or Pidge in a while. Just like on cue, Hunk came wandering over, a smile on his
face like usual. lance returned the smile along with a happy greetings. He was glad to be back, he missed every one of
his friends. It hit him, but not as hard as he expected, that Shiro was dead. He tried not to think about it, he wanted to
smile for once. He wanted all this pain and suffering to be over but he doubted that it would ever go away. The pain of
Shiro's death would hit him a couple days later or so, like he was in a state of shock while walking alongside Hunk. They
talked about how they were and their new interests. He listened as Hunk talked about things in the town and his life,
Lance wanted to hear it all. He wanted to hear every little detail, every unimportant fact that happened in the six years
he was away. He wanted to be there but since he couldn't, knowing it would be second best.

He noticed when Keith wasn't walking in step with them and he noticed when he was, but then fell back shortly after.
Lance wanted to pull his arm and have him walk with them, but decided not to. Before he and Hunk could delve into
the topic of school, Keith stopped them and announced he was probably leaving. It almost saddened Lance, even though
he would be living across the street from his in a couple hours. He was about to say goodbye when Keith trailed off.
"I'm just gonna say goodbye. I'll catch you later man," Lance said to Hunk, while making his way towards Keith.
"Yeah sure, I'll see you round. Great to have you back." Hunk said in response. Lance smiled. Turning to Keith, Lance
started to catch up with him. He was a couple steps behind when Keith stumbled to the nearest seat, holding his head.
He looked like he was in pain, so Lance hurried over. He hovered over the boy but kept his distance as well,
"Keith what happened? Are you okay? Is there anything I can do, are you okay? Keith!" He was genuinely scared. He
wasn't sure if he should call to someone for help. but Keith seemed to be better as he started talking.
"What do you mean?" Lance answered, "What happened?" Still nervous and not confused, Lance kneeled down so he
was at eye level with Keith.