[ there's a lot they don't know about each other. even now, even after all those times forming voltron, being inside each other's heads. there are things lance has done outside of the others' periphery, and vice versa, both as part of alastair and as a member of voltron. back home, they had the excuse of the fast-paced race to defeat zarkon. there wasn't really a lot of time afforded them to sit still, catch up, compare.

not that they should be comparing in the first place.

but if there's supposed to be a team — if they're supposed to be together — they can't really afford not to talk, can they?

when keith presses for more, lance grimaces out of reflex. his talk with sonia made him realize he had to acknowledge it if he wanted to move on, to do better. but he can't help but fear keith would look at him differently after all this. they just got to a point of admitting some kind of happiness in being together (though such words were never really used), did lance really want to ruin it now?

but keith is his teammate above all else. and despite the banter and arguments, he respects him too much to lie now. ]

I made a mistake. I thought if we could just talk to the Deemers, we'd be able to come to some kind of agreement or impasse or, or something.... [ depsite lance's usual flair for dramatics, he speaks candidly now. it's "worse" because he believes it to be worse, not because he wants to ham a story up to make himself look better. ]

But they didn't want to talk. They started shooting, and Lucina was there with me. There were too many of them, and they all had guns, and she just had a sword. Up until then, I'd been good, you know? Hit the arms, the legs, just enough to get hem to stop. But there was one too far away from her... I took him out before he could make the shot. Right between the eyes. [ his trigger hand clenches reflexively. ] I panicked.